【题目】For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub. Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, where the people gather together to socialize and exchange news.

As a result, British pubs are often old and well preserved. Many of them have become historic sites. The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called “The Old Trip to Jerusalem”, which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England.

However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society. On a cold night, the pub’s landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire. There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drink available at an affordable price.

That’s how things used to be. Things are beginning to change. It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩) is causing 39 British pubs a week to go out of business. People do not have enough spare money to spend on beer. Recently, the UK government banned smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs.

This decline is happening despite the fact that in 2005 the UK government started to allow pubs to stay open after 1l pm. Previously, with 1l pm as closing time, customers would have to drink quite quickly, meaning they sometimes got more drunk than they would if allowed to drink slowly. The British habit of drinking a lot very quickly is known as “binge drinking”, and it causes long-term health problems for people and problems with violent crime for communities.

In order to save their businesses, pubs are trying to change with the market. British pubs now offer something for everyone. A lot of pubs used to be “Working Men’s Clubs”, meaning that women could not usually enter. Today, however, women can freely enter 99% of pubs without experiencing any problems. Perhaps things are changing for the better after all.

【1】 The passage mainly tells us something about ______.

A. the importance of British pubs

B. the decline of British pubs

C. the long history of British pubs

D. the past and present of British pubs

【2】 Which may not be the cause of the decline of British pubs?

A. The present closing time.

B. The ban of smoking.

C. The lack of enough spare money.

D. The credit crunch.

【3】We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. binge drinking means drinking less beer

B. closing the pubs early will reduce social problems

C. British people used to like drinking slowly

D. British government aims to discourage people from binge drinking

【4】 We can see from the last paragraph that the author _______.

A. holds an optimistic attitude towards the British pubs

B. thinks that British pubs should offer everything you need

C. thinks that women in the pubs will cause less social problems

D. is against the admission of too many women to the pubs

【题目】John Milton was born in 1606. His father expected him to enter the church of England, but Milton wanted to be a poet. At twenty-nine Milton set off for a travel on the continent. He traveled in France, Switzerland and Italy, winning the friendship of many artists and scientists, including Galileo, the famous Italian scientist who suffered for his discovery in prison. In 1639, he was planning to go on this journey when the news reached him of the break between the king and Parliament(国会). Milton returned to England immediately, and put himself into the struggle against the king, for which he had long been prepared. During the Civil war, Milton worked as the spokesman of the revolution. By the beginning of 1652, Milton had become completely blind, yet he didn’t stop fighting. After the Restoration(复辟), his books were burnt, and he himself avoided being killed because of his blindness.

John Milton was not only a brave revolutionary but also a great poet. His famous poem Paradise Lost(失乐园 was an immediate success. But, for its publication (being published), Milton received only 18 pounds. He died in 1671.

【1】Milton set off for a travel on the continent here “continent” means ________.

A.Asia B.Europe C.America D.Africa

【2】What can we learn from the passage?

A.In 1635 Milton made friends with many artists and poets

B.Milton was put in prison for his discovery.

C.Paradise Lost was popular and was a hit at that time.

D.Milton was determined to be a poet because he didn’t like churches.

【3】Milton would have been killed if ________________.

A.he had been the spokesman of the revolution

B.his books hadn’t been burnt

C.he hadn’t written the poem Paradise Lost

D.he hadn’t been completely blind

【题目】Dear Guys,

I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.

One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.

Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.

However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, and threw it as hard as I could.

It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.

Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, and then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.

The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.

This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.

Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.

Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.

“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.

“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.

And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”

I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.

Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.

It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.

I surprised myself—and I’m sure you as well—by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.

Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”

Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period were just enough blows for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”

And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.

Sincerely, Jen Cordery

【1】 The writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.

A. she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries

B. she wanted to refresh her childhood memories

C. she could not refuse the polite request from the young man

D. she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight

【2】 Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined word “game”?

A. anxious B. brave C. afraid D. curious

【3】 Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?

A. To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back.

B. To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills.

C. To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were.

D. To express her dislike towards softball.

【4】 What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer ________.

A. encouraged B. moved C. awkward D. depressed

【5】 What happened to the ball at last?

A. The writer managed to throw the ball back.

B. The boy got the ball back by himself.

C. The writer threw the ball away out of anger.

D. The boys got angry and left without the ball.

【6】 What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this open letter?

A. To express her regret over what she did the day before.

B. To announce that she would never play all games again.

C. To reflect upon an embarrassing incident in her life.

D. To criticize the young men for their cruelty to her dignity.

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