After a 15-year ban on the sale of fireworks in Beijing, Kang Guoliang, 51, was able to start his old trade again yesterday.

       As a salesman in Xinhui store in Dongcheng District, he is happy about the increasing number of buying fireworks wrapped in red paper — a color standing for happiness and good luck.

       “Fireworks are available for the first time in town for more than a decade,” Kang said happily.“People will buy them.”

       The store has 300 boxes of fireworks piled up and is open 24 hours at the moment.Residents are buying the fireworks and firecrackers for the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on February 18.

       Citywide, 2,116 registered stores and retailers, 585 in the centre and 1,600 on the outskirts are trading fireworks in the Chinese capital.Sales of fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road started yesterday and will last until March 4, Xinhua reported.Among the stores, 117 stores are permitted to operate 24 hours.About 600,000 boxes of firecrackers worth more than 100 million yuan have been carried to registered stores.

       The Chinese capital began a ban in 1993 to reduce fireworks-related deaths and fires during the holiday season.Last September the ban was removed in response to residents’ fondness for fireworks when celebrating Spring Festival.

       According to new rules, Beijing residents are allowed to set off fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road all day on Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s day, from 7 a.m.to midnight every day from February 19 to March 4.

       “Spring Festival without fireworks is not Spring Festival,” said Sheng Hefei, who was buying fireworks in the store.“It was fun to light the firecrackers when I was little,” he said.“The sound and view of fireworks make a real holiday.” However, not all residents welcome the return of firecrackers because of injuries, pollution and noise.“My child is scared of the sudden sound of firecrackers, and it is annoying to hear it all night long,” complained Lu Jun, a local resident.

(China Daily02/11/2008)

The passage is likely to belong to a(n)__________?

       A.description   B.argument       C.advertisement        D.news report

What’s the main idea of the passage?

       A.Beijing fireworks sales start after a 15-year ban.

       B.People go to buy fireworks and firecrackers every where in Beijing.

       C.Beijing residents all welcome the return of firecrackers.

       D.Many stores began to sell fireworks and firecrackers.

We can learn from the passage that ____________.

       A.every Spring Festival falls on February 18

       B.Beijing residents can set off fireworks everywhere .

       C.fireworks are allowed to be sold because people like them.

       D.from February 19 to March 4, Beijing residents can set off fireworks twenty four hours every day.

What is the writer’s attitude towards the sales of fireworks in Beijing?

       A.Negative   B.Not mentioned C.Positive    D.Satisfactory 

Prague is an ancient European city, featuring one of the most magnificent Old Towns in Europe, along with delicious food, inexpensive shopping and friendly people. Prague is also famous as being home to one of the most famous 20th century writers, Franz Kafka. The famous Czech beer is also one of the reasons to visit Prague.

The narrow streets of the older parts of the town are appealing the visitors to take nice long walk and settle in some of the many restaurants, which offer top-quality foods at a low price. The buildings there are mostly tower-shaped,and so Prague is called “city of a hundred spires.”

Mauritius

Also known as the Paradise on Earth, Mauritius lies about 560 miles (900 km) east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is a place of magnificent natural beauty coupled with excellent customer service, which makes for an unforgettable romantic experience at the edge of the world’s warmest ocean.

There are lots to see and do in Mauritius: the coral reefs (珊瑚礁) surrounding the island offer stunning beauty and great underwater adventures to those who want to dive into the precious waters. The nature of Mauritius mostly resembles that of Paradise, allowing every couple visiting this island to feel like Adam and Eve. That is an experience nobody would want to miss!

Cyprus

The very name Cyprus, it has been said, glitters with an age-old myth. Today, history and hedonism (快乐论) are comfortably mixed on the island. Some five-star resorts within walking distance of well-preserved Greek and Roman ruins offer the convenience the modern traveler has come to expect.

Cyprus features a romantic history, as it was Anthony’s gift to his beloved Cleopatra during the glorious days of the Roman Empire. Maybe that is why you feel always a little special once you set foot on Cyprus.

For more information about many other most romantic places in the world, just log on at http://www.jurgita.com.

The underlined word “spires” in Paragraph 2 means         .

   A. narrow streets                                                B. inexpensive restaurants

   C. top-quality foods                                           D. tower-shaped buildings    

We learn from the text that Mauritius         .

   A. is part of Madagascar                                     B. is an ideal destination for couples

   C. is in central Indian Ocean                               D. is most famous for its good service

What makes Cyprus different from the other two places?

   A. It is located on an island.                                B. It offers charming resorts.

   C. It was given as a present.                                D. It has a very long history.

A common feature of Mauritius and Cyprus is that they are         .

   A. old                                                               B. romantic

   C. rich                                                              D. mysterious

What is the main purpose of the author?

A. To attract more visitors.                                B. To tell traveling experiences.

C. To sell information on line.                                 D. To introduce historical places.

It’s a Christmas tradition that’s more than half a century old. And it happened completely by accident.
It started in 1955, when a local Sears store in Colorado Springs, Colorado printed an ad, which included a spedial phone mumber kids could call to know where Santa’s sleigh was at any given moment. Unfortunately, someone made a mistake in printing the phone mumber and kids were calling the wrong line.
A Colonel(上校) named Henry Shoup began answering his phong at what would become NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. At first, he thought it was a simple error of one caller.
But as the phone ketp ringing and tiny voices kept asking about Santa, Shoup realized he couldn’t disappoint them. So he told the staff to issue updates to any one asking about the location of Santa.
The wrong turned into a custom of the holiday and kept growing in popularity, and NORAD finally decided to make it permanent.
It’s become a holiday favourite ever since, adapting to whatever new technology has come along since. In the early days, it was a phone line. Then in the 60s, NORAD put out a special series of “reports” that was played on hundreds of radio stations across North America, broadcasting the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position on Christmas Eve.
Think of it as kind of an early GPS without the computer gear.
Finally ,came the Internet and NORAD has now transferred its annual watch onto the Web, with a site devoted to keeping tabs on the most famous journey in the world—what you might call the real amazing race, an around-the-world mission that has to be finished within 24hours.
This year’s entry allows kids to track Santa in 3Dusing Google Earth and play games at the North Pole using the Kids Countdown Section, and it even offers Santa Cams which are only operational on the night before Christmas.
36.Why did children keep calling Henry Shoup?
A.Because they wanted to play a joke on him.
B. Because they wanted to amuse him.
C.Because he knew where Santa exactly was.
D.Because they wanted to know where Santa’s sleigh was.
37.What did Colonel Henry Shoup do when more and more children kept calling?
A.He became annoyed and decided to tell them the truth.
B.He became excited and jioned them in searching Santa.
C.He thought quickly and took it seriously to satisfy their needs.
D.He laughed at them and took no notice of their calls.
38.What does “Jolly Old Elf” in Paragraph 6 most probably refer to?
A.Santa Claus.
B.Colonel Henry Shoup.
C.NOARD.
D.The staff in Henry Shoup’s charge.
39.According to the passage, how did people learn about the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position in the 1960s?
A.By calling a special phone mumber.
B.By listening to a special series of reports over the radio.
C.With the help of a kind of early GPS.
D.By scanning the spedial column in the newspaper.
40.The passage mainly tells us       .
A.an old favorite holiday that develops along with new technology
B.50-year-old tracking Santa tradition that started by accident
C.a real amazing race, an around-the-world mission within 24 hours
D.a Colonel and the North American Aerospace Defence Command

The 30-mile road that runs through the mountains of Willie Valley makes most drivers′ hands sweat. But Andersen, a 46-year-old father of four, wasn’t expecting any trouble on the road last New Year’s Eve, when he set off for a ski trip to the Bear Mountains with nine-year-old daughter Mia, four-old son Baylor, and nine-year-old neighbor Kenya. Andersen had driven through the Valley hundreds of times over the years.

The weather was fine. But the higher they drove, the more slippery the road became. Rounding a sharp U-turn, Andersen saw a heavy truck off the road and immediately hit his brakes. In a minute, the car was going at 25 miles per hour down the mountain before falling down from a ten-foot dam into the extremely cold Logan River.

The crash had broken a few windows, and within seconds, the car was filled with water. “It was frightening that we were going fast into deep water,” remembers Andersen, a soft-spoken manager.

Having lost all sense of direction, Andersen began to search the freezing water for the kids. Mia had been right next to him in the front seat; now, in the blackness, he couldn’t find her. “I thought, if I don’t get out, maybe none of us are going to get out.” Andersen got out of his seat belt, swam through a broken window, and, deeply and quickly, breathed air at the surface. That’s when he saw a group of men, about ten in all, appear at the top of the dam. One after another, they rushed down into the water. Helping onto safety all the three children, they began to shout at the father, “Who else is in the car?”

Andersen says respectfully, “It was like the sight of angels.”

1. What might be the main cause of the car accident?

A. The bad weather.                        B. The high dam.

C. The sudden brake.                                D. The heavy truck.

2. Andersen didn’t expect any trouble on the road because _____.

A. he was familiar with the road

B. he was good at driving

C. his hands didn’t have sweat

D. the weather was fine

3. What can be learned from the last paragraph?

A. Andersen lost consciousness in the water.

B. Strangers helped Andersen out of the car.

C. Andersen liked Mia most among the children.

D. Strangers teamed together to save three children.

4.The underlined sentence is to express Andersen’s feeling of being _____.

A. tired                     B. excited                     C. doubtful                    D. thankful

5.Which of the following can be the best title of the text?

A. Stay calm when in trouble

B. Drive rounding a U-turn

C. Miracle rescue from a river

D. Mystery of the Bear Mountains

 

Prague is an ancient European city, featuring one of the most magnificent Old Towns in Europe, along with delicious food, inexpensive shopping and friendly people. Prague is also famous as being home to one of the most famous 20th century writers, Franz Kafka. The famous Czech beer is also one of the reasons to visit Prague.

The narrow streets of the older parts of the town are appealing the visitors to take nice long walk and settle in some of the many restaurants, which offer top-quality foods at a low price. The buildings there are mostly tower-shaped,and so Prague is called “city of a hundred spires.”

Mauritius

Also known as the Paradise on Earth, Mauritius lies about 560 miles (900 km) east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is a place of magnificent natural beauty coupled with excellent customer service, which makes for an unforgettable romantic experience at the edge of the world’s warmest ocean.

There are lots to see and do in Mauritius: the coral reefs (珊瑚礁) surrounding the island offer stunning beauty and great underwater adventures to those who want to dive into the precious waters. The nature of Mauritius mostly resembles that of Paradise, allowing every couple visiting this island to feel like Adam and Eve. That is an experience nobody would want to miss!

Cyprus

The very name Cyprus, it has been said, glitters with an age-old myth. Today, history and hedonism (快乐论) are comfortably mixed on the island. Some five-star resorts within walking distance of well-preserved Greek and Roman ruins offer the convenience the modern traveler has come to expect.

Cyprus features a romantic history, as it was Anthony’s gift to his beloved Cleopatra during the glorious days of the Roman Empire. Maybe that is why you feel always a little special once you set foot on Cyprus.

For more information about many other most romantic places in the world, just log on at http://www.jurgita.com.

 

1.The underlined word “spires” in Paragraph 2 means         .

   A. narrow streets                                                              B. inexpensive restaurants

   C. top-quality foods                                                           D. tower-shaped buildings      

2.We learn from the text that Mauritius         .

   A. is part of Madagascar                                                 B. is an ideal destination for couples

   C. is in central Indian Ocean                                           D. is most famous for its good service

3.What makes Cyprus different from the other two places?

   A. It is located on an island.                                            B. It offers charming resorts.

   C. It was given as a present.                                          D. It has a very long history.

4.A common feature of Mauritius and Cyprus is that they are         .

   A. old                                                                            B. romantic

   C. rich                                                                                    D. mysterious

5.What is the main purpose of the author?

A. To attract more visitors.                                             B. To tell traveling experiences.

C. To sell information on line.                                        D. To introduce historical places.

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网