How do you pay for things? Do you usually use cash(现金), or do you like to pay by credit card(信用卡)? If you are like a lot of people, you probably have at least one credit card. Also, you might use it more often than you probably should.
Credit cards first became popular in the 1920s, At that time, businesses, such as hotels and companies, gave credit cards to their best customers(顾客). Unlike today's credit cards, customers could only use these cards at the Store or business that gave out the card. Customers had to pay for things in full. They couldn't pay for something a little at a time.
In 1950, a businessman named McNamara started a credit card company — Diners Club. Unlike earlier credit cards, this card could be used by customers at many restaurants. Customers liked the card because they didn't have to carry a lot of cash with them. Restaurant owners liked the card, too. Why? They found out that customers usually spent more money when they could pay by credit card.
In its first year of business, Diners Club issued 200 cards, The customers who got the cards from the Diners Club could use them at 27 different restaurants. Today, Diners Club has about 8 million customers, and they can use their cards in over 7. 6 million businesses in more than 200 countries.
【小题1】What can we know about the earlier credit cards from the passage?

Are you interested in country music? I like it very much !It will take me away for a while after I am tired . The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It’s the spirit（精神） of America ,easy to understand ,slow and simple.

Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of famers . They talk about love, crops（庄家） or death.

The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s,people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.

When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.

John Denver was one of America’s most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is well-known and people still play it today.

根据短文内容,选择正确答案，并将其字母代号填入答题卷相应空格内。 (共

小题，每小题2分，满分10分)

1.Country music is usually about _______.

A. students’ feelings B. farmers’s feelings

C. the lives of workers D. crops

2.Country music developed ________.

A. in John Denver’s city B. in the Southern United States

C. in the Northern United States D. the United States

3.People bagan to make country song records _______.

A. in the 1920s B. in 1920 C. in the 1970s D. in 1970s

4.Why did Country music become popular in America?

A. Because city people liked the music.

B. Because people in the city moved to the countryside.

C. Because country music talked about city people’s lives.

D. Because farmers moved to cities with their music and it continued to change.

5.Who is famous for the song “Take Me Home,Country Roads”?

A. A farmer in the countryside. B. A person who moved to towns

C. John Denver. D. Denver John.

In the 1920s and 30s the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants to look after the passengers(乘客). Young men ,or “stewards” helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers’ luggage(行李)but they did not provide food or drinks. But then in 1930,a woman called Ellen Church invented the “stewardess”.

Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn’t want to work on a farm or marry a farmer —she wanted a more adventurous life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital but also took flying lessons and got her pilot’s license.

Ellen was twenty-five years old when she first got in touch with Boeing Air Transport. She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man’s world. Although women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot .But she had another idea. Most people were frightened of flying because. flying was still an unreliable(不可靠的) way to travel. There were often delays(延误),many crashes and the bad weathers made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and B.A.T. agreed.

The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.

At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early “stewardesses” had to be under twenty-five-year-old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was a hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and earned ＄1 an hour.

In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, “stewardesses” have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.

1.The underlined word “adventurous” means _____________.

A. 奇怪的?????? B. 平淡的????? C. 有趣的????? D. 冒险的

2.The main reason for Boeing Air Transport offering Ellen the job was ________.

A. her flying experience????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. her university education

C. her nursing experience ????????????? ????????????? D. her life attitudes

3.According to the passage, in the 1940s a woman had to ________ if she wanted to be a stewardess.

A. be a nurse????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. be married????????????? ????????????? C. be a mother????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. be young

4.The passage mainly talks about _______.

A. the background of early flying pilots????????????? ?????????????

B. the experience of flying passengers

C. the history of early flight attendants????????????? ?????????????

D. the development of airplanes????????????? ?????????????

How do you pay for things? Do you usually use cash(现金), or do you like to pay by credit card(信用卡)? If you are like a lot of people, you probably have at least one credit card. Also, you might use it more often than you probably should.

Credit cards first became popular in the 1920s, At that time, businesses, such as hotels and companies, gave credit cards to their best customers(顾客). Unlike today's credit cards, customers could only use these cards at the Store or business that gave out the card. Customers had to pay for things in full. They couldn't pay for something a little at a time.

In 1950, a businessman named McNamara started a credit card company — Diners Club. Unlike earlier credit cards, this card could be used by customers at many restaurants. Customers liked the card because they didn't have to carry a lot of cash with them. Restaurant owners liked the card, too. Why? They found out that customers usually spent more money when they could pay by credit card.

In its first year of business, Diners Club issued 200 cards, The customers who got the cards from the Diners Club could use them at 27 different restaurants. Today, Diners Club has about 8 million customers, and they can use their cards in over 7. 6 million businesses in more than 200 countries.

1.What can we know about the earlier credit cards from the passage?

A. They could be used everywhere.

B. Customers had to pay for things in full.

C. They were very popular before the 1920s.

D. Everyone could get this kind of credit card.

2. The underlined word "issued" here probably means "       ".

A. showed   B. took   C. borrowed     D. provided

3. This passage is mainly about        .    

A. part of the development of credit cards

B. how to use cash

C. the number of people who use credit cards in the world

D. how credit cards help businessmen

In the 1920s and 30s the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants to look after the passengers. Young men, or "stewards" helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers' luggage (行李) but they did not provide food and drinks. But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the "stewardess".
Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn't want to work on a farm or marry a farmer—she wanted a more adventurous (冒险的) life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital but also took flying lessons and got her pilot's license.
Ellen was twenty-five years old when she first got in touch with Boeing Air Transport. She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man's world. Although women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot. But she had another idea. Most people were frightened of flying because flying was still an unreliable (不可靠的) way to travel. There were often delays (延误), many crashes and the bad weathers made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and B.A.T. Agreed.
The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.
At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early "stewardesses" had to be under twenty-five-year old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and earned $1 an hour.
In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, "stewardesses" have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.
【小题1】The last sentence of the first paragraph suggests that _________.