The Wal-Mart in Cleburne, Texas, was crowded. People were waiting in long lines at checkout counters to pay for small things that would be next-morning treasures under someone’s Christmas tree.

       The woman standing in cashier Jeffrey Kandt’s line seemed to be living on the edge of subsistence(生计). Her clothes were worn and her hands were those of a person who’d worked hard for what she had. She held a single item in her arms as she patiently waited to move to the front of the line — a Sony CD player. She had saved all year for this. With tax, the total would be close to $ 220.

       As the woman got close to the cashier, she suddenly shouted, “Where’s my money? All of my money fro my son’s gift! Oh no!”

       “Why my line?” Kandt thought as he watched the poor woman searching through her clothes. He was going to have to call his manager to avoid the sale but it would mean a long wait for the customers behind her. “I am going to go home late tonight,” Kandt thought.

       Then an amazing thing happened. At the back of the line, a man took out his wallet, pulled out $100 and passed it forward. As the cash moved up the line, a twen5ty-dollar bill was added here, and a ten-dollar bill was added there. When the collection finally reached the registewr, Kandt counted $ 220.

       Strangers had fulfilled a poor woman’s Christmas wish.

       The poor in his line at the Wal-Mart in Cleburne, Texas, had come together on Christmas Eve, 2002.

According to the passage, the woman’s Christmas wish was to ______.

       A.collect $ 220 for her family    B.buy her son a CD player as a gift

       C.buy enough food for her family     D.organize a big party for her son

Which of the following statements is TRUE about Jeffrey Kandt when the woman couldn’t find her money?

       A.He was impatient and wanted to go home.

       B.He wanted to see whether the woman had money or not.

       C.He wanted the woman to stand in another line.

       D.He didn’t think about the customers waiting behind the woman.

What does paragraph 5 mainly talk about?

       A.a description of a man standing in the line           

       B.the cashier, Jeffery Kandt

       C.the collection of $ 220

       D.a reason why the strangers collected he money

What can we learn from the passage?

       A.The woman collected money by herself.

       B.The woman seemed to be poor, but in fact had lots of money.

       C.Strangers in the line volunteered to help the woman.

       D.The woman had never ay money.

The Worst Part

Mom is usually home on Sunday but this week she was going to a big golf game and I was all alone in the house. I was mad at Mom for divorcing Dad.

I kept looking at the telephone until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I picked up the receiver and dialed Dad’s number over in Bakersfield. I even remembered to dial I first because it was long distance. “You promised to phone me this week but you didn’t,” I said, feeling I had to talk to him.

“Take it easy, kid,” he said. “I just didn’t get around to it. I was going to call this evening. The week isn’t over yet.”

I thought about that.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

“I hoped you would call, so I waited and waited.” Then I was sorry I said it.

“There was heavy snow in the morning,” he said, “I had to chain up on highway 80 and lost time.”

I know putting chains on eight big wheels in the snow is no fun. I felt a little better, as long as we were talking. “How is Bandit?” I asked.

There was a funny silence. For a minute I thought the line was dead. Then I knew something must have happened to my dog.

“Well, kid—”, he began. “My name is Leigh!” I almost yelled. “I’m not just some kid you met on the street!”

Keep your shirt on, Leigh,” he said. “When I had to stop along with some other truckers to put on chains, I left Bandit out of the cab, I thought he would get back … I have sent out a call to CB radio, but I didn’t get an answer yet.” I was about to say I understood when there came the bad part, the really bad part. I heard a boy’s voice say, “Hey, Bill, Mom wants to know when we’re going out to get the pizza?”

From the story we know that _______.

A. Leigh’s dad never had a rest on Sundays       B. Leigh was a deserted boy

C. Leigh’s dad lived in another city             D. Leigh’s mother often went to golf games

What happened to Bandit?

A. It was frozen to death.      B. It was let out of the cab and got lost

C. It was killed by a truck.    D. It ran off Highway 80 and into the mountain.

The underlined sentence “Keep your shirt on” probably means “_______”.

A. Listen to reason   B. Stop talking   C. Calm down         D. Keep warm

In Leigh’s eye, “the worst part” may be that ________.

A. his dad got remarried              B. his parents got divorced

C. his dad didn’t love him     D. his mom didn’t take him to pizza

America, has always had people of many different nationalities and languages. The 1990 census (人口普查) indicates that almost 14% of Americans speak a non-English language at home. Yet only 3% reported that they spoke English “not well” or “not at all ”. That means that slightly more than one out of 10 Americans could be considered bilingual. Besides that, many high school and college students---and even some elementary school students---are required to take a foreign language. Actually, a growing number of Americans are coming to appreciate the benefits of using different languages.

    Ethnic enclaves (少数民族聚居地) have preserved the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can function quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. Regions such as southern Florida and the Southwest have numerous Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. In fact, Spanish speakers---numbering over 17 million---form the largest non-English linguistic group in America. But Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish and many other ethnic group add to the linguistic flavor of America. Foreign languages are so commonly used in some ethnic neighborhoods that visitors might think they are in another country!

    Although some Americans welcome this linguistic and cultural diversity, others have begun to fear that the English language is being threatened. Since the 1980s, the “English Only ” movement has sought to promote legislation (立法) which would establish English as the “official language” and restrict the use of non-English language. However, some groups, including TESOL, the organization for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other language, object to such “language restrictionism”. But so far, 19 states have passed “English Only” legislation, and the topic is the focus of an ongoing debate.

Whether or not English is the official language of the United States, it remains the “language of wider communication”. Nearly everyone recognizes the need to develop the ability in using English in order to do well in America. American also recognize that English is the international language, and people with good English skills can get by in many international settings. On the other hand, in a world growing increasingly smaller, second language skills can be a great favor. They can build cross-cultural bridges and give people an edge in a variety of career field. Indeed, lack of foreign language skill can limit one’s chances for advancement and keep one in a cultural dead-end street. 

Ethnic groups have preserved their native languages because ______.

       A. their native languages are commonly used in their neighborhoods

       B. ethnic groups are not allowed to speak English

       C. ethnic groups can do very well in their native languages

       D. ethnic groups don’t allow their natives to learn English

The underlined word “bilingual” in paragraph 1 probably means ______.

       A. being able to speak two languages    B. being able to speak one language

       C. being able to speak different languages    D. being able to speak many foreign languages

Which of the following is TRUE about “English Only” movement?

       A. Its purpose was to establish a legislation of restricting the use of English.

       B. TESOL was in favor of “English Only ” by objecting to “English plus”.

       C. It was launched because English was being threatened.

       D. A large majority of American states support the movement.

What can be the best title of this passage?

       A. The English Only Movement        B. Learn to speak English

       C. English---an International Language D. Being Bilingual

 Directions: Read the following passage, Answer the questions according to the

information given in the passage.

Secret Santas

      On Christmas morning, Linda wakes up, and tries to imagine the wide-eyed surprise of children in another household as they unwrap the presents she carefully chose for them. Linda has never met the children, but that’s all part of the joy of giving as secret Santas, she says.

      "It's an amazing feeling to buy gifts on an anonymous (匿名的) basis," says Linda.

"It brings a whole new meaning to the holidays."

      Linda and Tony are an American couple living in Toronto, Canada, and Linda did charitable work as a member of the American Women's Club of Toronto. As the name suggests, members are U.S. citizens living in Toronto, who join together for fellowship and community service.

      To find her "adopted" family, Linda goes to the local schools and requests a wish list for a family that's struggling to survive. Last year she helped a single mother with three children. The mother works as a cleaning lady in a nursing home.

      "The list is always heartbreaking. They have an opportunity to ask for anything and do just the opposite, asking for basic clothes or simple toys," she says. "We always buy the kids a new winter coat, hats, and gloves." She also buys gifts for the parents.

      Last year Linda asked the mother for a second wish list--one that didn't include the basics. "Every child should have a Christmas that sticks with them for a lifetime." She purchased iPods for the two older children and a video game system for the youngest."I have learned a very valuable lesson in all of this," says Linda. "Pay attention to what's going on in your own backyard--no matter where you live."

      The joy of giving as secret Santas is much sweeter when the gift is anonymous.

1.What reaction does Linda imagine the children will have?

 (No more than 5 words)                                       (2 marks)

                                                                          

2.Why did Linda join the American Women's Club of Toronto?

 (No more than 10 words)                                      (2 marks)

                                                                          

3.Why did Linda ask for a second wish list?

(No more than 15 words)                                      (3 marks)

                                                                         

4.What kind of people does "secret Santas" in the passage refer to?

 (No more than 12 words)                                      (3 marks)

                                                                         

 

The producers of instant coffee found their product strongly resisted in the market places despite their manifest advantages. Furthermore, the advertising cost for instant coffee was far greater than that for regular coffee. Efforts were made to find the cause of the consumers “seemingly unreasonable resistance to the product”. The reason given by most people was dislike for the taste. The producers suspected that there might be deeper reasons. However, this was confirmed by one of motivation research's classic studies, one often cited(引用)in the trade.

Mason Haire, professor of the University of California, constructed two shopping lists that were the same except for one item. There were six items common to both lists: hamburger, carrots, baking powder, bread, canned peaches and potatoes, with the bands or amounts specified. The seventh item, in the fifth place on both lists, read “1 Ib. Maxwell House coffee” on one list and “Nescafe instant coffee” on the other. One list was given to each person in a group of fifty women, and the other list to those in another group of the same size. The women were asked to study their lists and then to describe, as far as they could, the kind of woman(“personality and character”)who would draw up(制定)that shopping list. Nearly half of those who had received the list including instant coffee described a housewife who was lazy and a poor planner. On the other hand, only one woman in the other group described the housewife, who had included regular coffee on her list, as lazy; only six of that group suggested that she was a poor planner. Eight women felt that the instant-coffee user was probably not a good wife. No one in the other group drew such a conclusion about the house-wife who intended to buy regular coffee.

53. In this instance, the purpose of motivation research was to discover      .

why people drink coffee

B. why instant coffee was successful

C. why regular coffee was successful

D. the real reason why people would not buy instant coffee

54. This investigation indicates that       .

50 percent of housewives are lazy

B. housewives who use instant coffee are lazy

C. many women believe that wives who use instant coffee are lazy

D. wives who use regular coffee are good planners

55. On the results of this test, the producers probably revised their advertising to show a     .

lazy housewife using regular coffee

B. hard-working housewife using instant coffee

C. lazy housewife using instant coffee

D. man obviously enjoying the taste of instant coffee

56. It is implied but not stated that       .

A. Despite its advantages, most people dislike instant coffee because of its taste.

B. The advertising cost for instant coffee was greater than for regular coffee.

C. Very often we do not know the real reasons for doing things.

D. Taste is the principal factor in determining what we buy.

 

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