Mr. Selfridge, the Wisconsin-born retailer (零售商) who left school at 14, rose to become a partner in Marshall Field's. Chicago. Founded in 1852, it was one of the first and most ambitious US department scores. Mr. Selfridge had done well with Marshall Field's. He liked to say, “The customer is always right,” which made the Chicago store popular. And he is believed to have invented the phrase “Only [so many] Shopping Days until Christmas”.

When he visited London on holiday in 1906 he was surprised to find most of the city's department stores were no match of their American and Parisian competitors. This led Selfridge to leave the US and establish Selfridges. a department store named after him. at the west end of London's Oxford Street. In Oxford Street, Selfridge's design team shaped an ambitious classical palacc building with a wall of plate glass windows.

Opened in 1909, Selfridges offered customers a hundred departments along with restaurants, a roof garden, reading and writing rooms, reception areas for foreign visitors, a first aid room and. most importantly, a small army of knowledgeable floor-walking assistants who served as guides as well as being thoroughly instructed in the art of making a sale.

Mr. Selfridge did much to make the department store a destination rather than just a big and comprehensively stocked city shop. It became a place to meet and for ladies to lunch. Mr. Selfridge later introduced the department store as a key element of the 20th Century culture, and Chaplin acknowledged the growing trend for shopping in the department store in his film The Floorwalker.

1.What can be learned about Mr. Selfridge from Paragraph I ?

A. lie was well-educated.

B. He was a gifted businessman.

C. He was a modest man.

D. He was dishonest.

2.What made Selfridge build a department store in London?

A. The large population in London.

B. His desire to own a department store.

C. His confidence in business success.

D. Affection for London architecture.

3.What was Selfridges' most impressive characteristic?

A. The number of departments.

B. The broad choice of goods.

C. The small group of guards.

D. The well-trained sales guides.

4.What is the main purpose of the article?

A. To introduce the history of Selfridge .

B. To compare different department stores.

C. To encourage readers to spend more.

D. To explain how to start a department store.

Owls(猫头鹰) are mysterious creatures. We often think of them as scary. They sometimes live in abandoned houses. They fly without a sound through backyards at night. In stories, they appear with ghosts. When we hear an owl's familiar “wh?ooo...whooo...”,it can make us feel very frightened. Owls fly silently, without even a whisper of wings moving through the air. It's as though they appear out of nowhere—like ghosts on wings. Owls fly and hunt on the darkest of nights. An owl's night habits make it unique. Do these creatures of the night possess strange powers?

Owls possess unusual powers of sight and hearing, but they are not supernatural powers. They are natural adaptations that let them live most efficiently(高效地) at night. There is no reason to fear owls. Their habits make them helpful to humans. By hunting mice and other rodents(啮齿目动物),owls help to keep a natural balance between plant and animal life. Without owls, there would be a large number of rodents in farmers' fields and storage barns.

More than 100 species of owls occupy a variety of habitats around the world. A few oceanic islands and the Antarctic have no owls. The world's owls come in different sizes. For example, the Eurasian eagle owl—one of the largest—has a body that is two to three feet long, with a wingspan(翼展) of up to five and one?half feet. The North American elf owl (the world's smallest owl) is five to six inches long and has a wingspan that measures slightly more than one foot.

Most male and female owls of the same species look alike, although females are usually larger. In some species, the female's colors are like those of the trees or grass where she makes her nest.

Baby owls, called chicks, stay with their parents until they are about three months old. They soon find their own hunting areas, where they may stay for the rest of their lives. Some owls can live 20 years or more.

1.Most people regard owls as________.

A.clever B.hard?working C.shy D.terrifying

2.Owls help humans in that they________.

A.frighten rodents away from humans

B.help preserve the balance of nature

C.have unusual powers

D.help guard backyards

3.What is special about owls?

A.They fly silently.

B.They are night hunters.

C.They possess supernatural powers.

D.They can be found around the world.

完形填空

阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

One day a woodcutter took his grandson into the forest for his first experience of selecting and cutting oak trees. They would later _________ them to the boat builders. As they walked along, the woodcutter explained the _________ of each tree is decided by its _________shape: some are straight for planks (木壳板) and some are _________ for masts (桅杆). By paying attention to the _________ of each tree, and with experience in _________ these characteristics, someday he too might become the _________ of the forest.

A little way leading to the forest, the grandson saw an old oak tree that had never been _________ . The boy asked his grandfather if he could cut it down because it was _________ for boat building —there were no straight limbs (树杈) and the _________ was short. “We could cut it down for _________ ,” the grandson said. “_________ , it will be of some use to us.”

The woodcutter replied that now they should pay attention to their work—cutting the _________ trees for the boat builders; maybe later they could _________ to the old oak tree.

After a few hours of cutting, the grandson grew _________ and asked if they could stop for a rest in some cool shade. The woodcutter took his grandson over to the old oak tree, where they _________ against its trunk under the cool shade. After a while, the woodcutter explained to his grandson, “You must _________ to pay careful attention every day. For it is this old oak tree, which you so _________ considered useless except for firewood, that now _________ us to rest against its trunk in the coolness of its shade. Remember, grandson, not everything is as it _________ appears.”

1.A. devote B. push C. introduce D. sell

2.A. price B. expense C. usageD. request

3.A. huge B. normal C. good D. natural

4.A. tall B. heavy C. short D. thin

5.A. tasks B. details C. position D. color

6.A. recognizingB. explaining C. adjusting D. maintaining

7.A. hunter B. woodcutter C. owner D. guard

8.A. watered B. broken C. covered D. cut

9.A. valuable B. rare C. useless D. uncommon

10.A. flower B. branch C. root D. trunk

11.A. protectionB. building C. firewood D. goods

12.A. In additionB. As usualC. By accident D. At least

13.A. proper B. strongC. young D. beautiful

14.A. climb B. return C. move D. rush

15.A. tired B. embarrassedC. impatient D. worried

16.A. watched B. stood C. rested D. waited

17.A. ask B. learn C. expect D. agree

18.A. proudly B. abruptlyC. happily D. quickly

19.A. encouragesB. advises C. allows D. calls

20.A. first B. last C. eventually D. usually

信息匹配(共1小题)

They Just Can't Help It My theory is that the female brain is mainly built for empathy — the ability to understand other people — and that the male brain is mainly built for building systems.____ For example,women are more likely to read magazines on fashion and parenting,while men will choose magazines that feature computers and sport.

You may think that these preferences are influenced by the way people are taught to behave when they are growing up.However,this is not the case.A new study carried out at Cambridge University shows that newborn girls look longer at a face,and newborn boys look longer at a mobile.1.____ It has also been observed (that girls are better at noticing signs of changes in other people's feelings.Boys,however,seem to enjoy building toy towers and playing with toys which have clear functions.2.____ People whose jobs are in the construction industries are almost male.Math and engineering,which require high levels of systems-thinking,are also male-chosen disciplines.Why do men and women have the difference? Actually women have four times as many brain neurons (神经) that connect the right and left part of their brains.Because of it,women have a better ability to multitask than men.3.____ Men tend to focus on a limited number of problems at a time.They will separate themselves from problems and view tasks as independent from one another.

Some people may worry that I am suggesting one gender (性别) is better than the other,but this is not the case.My theory says that males and females differ in the kinds of things that they find easy,but that both genders have their strengths and weaknesses._4._ It is not true.The study simply looks at males and females as two groups,and asks what differences exist,and why they are there.

A.Generally speaking,there are clear differences.

B.Their preference for building systems may change over time.

C.You can see the same kind of pattern in the adult workplace.

D.They will consider many sources of information at the same time.

E.It is important to stress that the female brain may be built more for empathy.

F.That suggests certain differences between male and female brains are biological.

G.Others may think the theory creates a belief of what a particular type of person is like.

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