London taxis, with their friendly drivers who actually know where they are going, are ranked best in the world, according to an annual taxi survey.

The survey by travel website hotels.com found London taxis, despite being the most expensive, beat rivals (对手) across the globe to head the list for the third consecutive (连续的) years, scoring a total of 59 percent in votes on several categories by travelers.

London taxi drivers were voted both friendliest and most knowledgeable. Drivers in the English capital must pass a rigorous examination called The Knowledge to earn their taxi license.

New York's yellow taxis came second in the list, scoring 27 percent which was up 10 percentage points from last year even though Manhattan's cab drivers tied (打成平局) with Parisian taxi drivers as the rudest.

Travelers said New York had the most convenient taxis.

Taxi drivers in Rome were voted the worst drivers in the world with almost one in ten travelers thinking the Italian capital had the world's worst taxi drivers when it came to the quality of driving.

“Traveling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travellers have upon arrival in a new city. In fact, the research found that cabs are by far the most popular method of traveling from the airport to their hotel,” a spokesman for hotels.com said in a statement.

The global survey scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and convenience.

Rounding out the top five were Tokyo with a total score of 26 percent, Berlin with 17 percent, and Bangkok famed for its tuk?tuks scoring 14 percent.

The survey for hotels.com, part of the Expedia group, was conducted among over 1,900 travellers between May 11?28 this year.

1.Which of the following about London's taxi drivers is wrong?

A. They are the friendliest.

B. They are the most knowledgeable.

C. They charge the most money.

D. They drive fastest.

2.What does the underlined word “rigorous” mean in the third paragraph?

A. strict B. important

C. official D. lawful

3.Rome's taxi drivers are lack of ________.

A. good manners

B. driving skills

C. the sense of cleanliness

D. the sense of safety

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Have you ever heard of homecoming? It’s a tradition celebrated every year in the US. At homecoming a school or university welcome back former students or alumni(校友). 1. . It means, “coming home.”

This is a time when everyone can get together. 2. . There are events that encourage school spirit all throughout homecoming week, which leads to the big day on Friday.

A major activity that most students will take part in is choosing the homecoming king and queen. 3. . This is a group of boys and girls who represent school spirit. At the end of the week, students vote for a boy and a girl to be the king and the queen.

Then it’s time for the football game, the main event of homecoming week! 4. . Almost everyone from school goes to the game: students, parents, teachers, and alumni visitors. If they win everyone is very happy.

5. . Students dress up, and some might even bring a date to go with them. After the dance, homecoming is officially over, and everyone can’t wait for next year!

A. The last event is the homecoming dance.

B. That is where the name comes from.

C. Homecoming usually lasts a week and happens in the fall.

D. The football team faces a lot of pressure to do well for the big crowd.

E. The tradition began more than 100 years ago in the United States.

F. Students get to pick who will be on homecoming list early in the week.

G. Homecoming week was not just about fun, but also a chance to try out new things.

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)中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

My class and I visited Chris Care Center in Phoenix, Arizona to comfort the old people who needed a little cheering up during the holiday season.

The first two ________ there were for persons requiring ________ in taking care of themselves. We sang beautifully for them. They loved our sweet songs and the flowers that we left with them.

As we were ________ on the third floor for old people with Alzheimer (老年痴呆症), most of them ________ off at the walls or floor. However, one lady ________ my eye. She was sitting by the door, in a wheelchair, singing songs to herself. They weren’t the songs that we were singing, at least they didn’t ________ like that. As we got ________ with each festive song, she did as well. The louder we got, the louder she got. ________ she was singing, she was also ________ out to us with her hands and body. I knew that I should have gone over to her, but I thought that my________ were to my students. People who worked at the care center could ________ to her, I thought. Just when I stopped feeling ________ about not giving her the attention she needed, one of my students, Justin, showed me what the holiday season is really about.

Justin also ________ the same lady. The difference between us is that he ________ on her needs, but I didn’t. During the last song, “Silent Night,” Justin walked over to her and held her hand. He looked this aged lady in her ________ and with his actions said, “You are important, and I will take my ________ to let you know that.” This tired, elderly lady stopped singing and held his hand. Then she touched his cheek with the other hand. Tears began to fall down her face. No ________ can completely describe that touching moment.

It took a boy to ________ me, a man, about kindness and love. Justin’s example of a complete, selfless attitude toward another was a ________that I will never forget. He was the teacher that day, and I consider myself _______ to have witnessed his lesson.

1.A. rooms B. buildings C. floors D. groups

2.A. comfort B. help C. music D. happiness

3.A. singing B. meeting C. gathering D. dancing

4.A. glared B. shut C. paid D. stared

5.A. looked B. caught C. escaped D. hurt

6.A. appear B. hear C. sound D. feel

7.A. higher B. nearer C. faster D. louder

8.A. As B. Because C. Since D. Though

9.A. moving B. reaching C. coming D. spreading

10.A. interests B. abilities C. feelings D. responsibilities

11.A. speak B. attend C. object D. compare

12.A. guilty B. sure C. afraid D. scary

13.A. feared B. avoided C. helped D. noticed

14.A. called B. acted C. insisted D. kept

15.A. tears B. hands C. eye D. face

16.A. body B. flower C. time D. cheek

17.A. words B. poems C. expressions D. songs

18.A. help B. waste C. cause D. teach

19.A. message B. lesson C. activity D. class

20.A. clever B. foolish C. lucky D. right

If you want to become a fluent English speaker you should take some advice: There are four skills in learning English. They are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills you should first master the skills of reading and listening.

Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentence, the meaning of the unfamiliar words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammars or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come_across,_but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example in other passages or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it.

As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practise listening.

For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children. Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programmes every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.

If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve automatically, and you can be sure that with a little effort they will become perfect.

1.To improve your reading, when you read you should ________.

A.think about what you are reading actively

B.look up all the new words in the dictionary

C.spend more time studying grammars

D.copy as many words and sentences as possible

2.The underlined phrase“come across” in the second paragraph can probably be replaced by“________”.

A.find on purpose B.Discover

C.meet by accident D.look for

3.The author seems to agree with the view that ________.

A.everyone should listen to VOA or BBC programmes every day

B.you needn't practise listening if you keep on reading every day

C.you should take notes of whatever you are hearing

D.being good at reading is helpful in improving your listening

4.The passage is mainly about how to ________.

A.become fluent in speaking and writing English

B.choose suitable listening materials

C.deal with new words in reading

D.improve your English as quickly as possible

The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she walked slowly to the elevator, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it.” she said with the happiness of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs Jones, you haven't seen the room...just wait.”

“That doesn't matter.” she replied.“Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. It's how I arranged my mind. I have already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away.”She went on to explain,“Old age is like a bank account. You take what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.”And with a smile, she said,“All my memories are happy ones.”

1.We can infer from the passage that the author ________.

A.is one of Mrs Jones' children

B.works in the nursing home

C.is a relative of Mrs Jones

D.is the owner of the nursing home

2.Mrs Jones was very happy when told about her room because she ________.

A.couldn't see what her room was like

B.thought the nursing home was her home

C.had already made up her mind to be happy

D.would have to live in the nursing home

3.Which of the following words can best describe Mrs Jones?

A.Proud. B.Determined. C.Cheerful. D.Honest.

If there is a building which symbolizes a country—such as the Eiffel Tower for France and Sydney Opera House for Australia—then it has to be the Taj Mahal for India.

It was set up by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653 in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. From the time they got married, they wouldn't be separated. She followed him to wars, advised him on affairs of state, and was loved by his people for her good work. But she died in 1631 during childbirth. The emperor was heart-broken and had the Taj Mahal built as a sign of his love.

It took more than 20 years for the Taj Mahal to be built. Workers were brought in, not only from all over India, but from Central Asia too. A total of 20,000 people worked on the building.

In 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill, and in 1658 his son Aurangzeb, imprisoned (囚禁) his father and seized power. Shah Jahan stayed in prison until his death in 1666. He was finally buried there with his wife he could never forget.

The Taj Mahal is definitely worth more than a single visit. As it is built with white marble stones, its character changes in different lights. It looks more beautiful at sunrise and sunset. At sunset, for example, the colour of the Taj changes from white to yellow, then to pink. As the moon rises, it turns a silvery white.

To show respect to the Taj, tourists are asked to take off their shoes during their visit.

1.Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal to ________.

A.make it symbolize India B.memorise his wife

C.show his great power D.give his wife a present

2.Which of the following about the Taj Mahal is NOT true?

A.It is a symbol of India.

B.It took over 20 years to build the Taj Mahal.

C.All workers building the Taj Mahal came from Central Asia.

D.The Taj Mahal was built with white marble stones.

3.According to the passage, we know that Shah Jahan ______.

A.lived a hard life in his last few years

B.lost his life just because of his old age

C.was not popular with his people at that time

D.treated his son badly when he was young

4.The word “seize” in the fourth paragraph may most probably mean ________.

A.throw B.memorise C.give D.capture

One is not born able to speak a language. One is born able to make a noise. I have heard babies cry in America and in China. I can’t tell any difference. But when I hear someone from America speak English and hear someone speak Chinese, I can tell you there are a lot of differences.

I believe a common(普遍的) problem with Chinese students’ learning English is that they were not taught to think in English. They have an idea spoken in English and want to translate the idea into Chinese, then they think in Chinese of the proper reply and translate it into English. After along period of speaking the language, one begins to think in the foreign language naturally. You will learn faster if you begin to think in English at the very beginning of your study. Many students ask me: What can I do to improve my spoken English?

My reply is: The more English you speak, the better English you will speak. There are many things you can do to improve your spoken English. Of course, the best way is to live where English is spoken as a language of the country.

1.The cries of American and Chinese babies are _______.

A. different B. not like each other

C. the same D. like each other

2.The underlined sentence (in Paragraph 2) means that______.

A. teachers never gave the students the way of learning English

B. some teachers didn’t teach students to think in English

C. students didn’t remember the way teachers taught them

D. teachers didn’t want their students to think in English

3.The underlined word “they” (in Paragraph 2) refers to “_____”.

A. English students B. Chinese teachers

C. Chinese students D. English teachers

4.According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

A. You must think in English all the time.

B. After speaking English for a long time, you may probably think in English naturally(自然地).

C. You should always translate English into Chinese.

D. The best way of learning English is to live in America.

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