Train-spotting

Many people around the world have seen Danny Boyle’s movie Train spotting starring Ewan McGregor, but how many of us really know what train-spotting is all about? Now this is not considered cool in town and the word “train-spotter” in Britain is related to “geek” or “nerd” (someone who seems very ridiculous). But is this reputation really deserved?

First of all, let’s see what train-spotting is. It is said that there are some 100,000 train spotters in the UK. Exactly as the title suggests, they spot trains, that is, they stand in train stations, look at the number of each train that leaves and arrives and write it down. The eventual aim is to have seen every train in the country.

    Being crazy about railways and trains is not modern and it dates back to 1804. As the number of trains grew and they got faster and faster, so did the interest in them grow? Is this any stranger than people who love cars?

    So, what do you need to be a train-spotter? Well, all you really need is a pen or pencil and a notebook to write down the train numbers. Other equipment(装备) includes hot tea in a thermos, a camera and some sandwiches for those long afternoons spent on train platforms when you don’t want to risk the delights of railway station food.

    It’s interesting to note that despite the “bad name” of train-spotting, there have been famous railway lovers in history, such as Alfred Hitchcock, who filmed them regularly, especially The 39 Steps. There is evidence, too, that being a train-spotter is not necessarily a strange phenomenon（现象）in Britain.

    One glance at the US train stations should be enough to convince you that train-spotters there are alive and well. In America, they try to call rail lovers “train-fans” and talk of “train-fanning”. Don’t let this fool you—these people are train spotters and there are a lot of them. Each month, two million pages are visited on the website TrainWeb.org.                      

340words

1.What is train-spotting according to the passage?

A. A kind of hobby.             B. A type of sport.

C. A strange phenomenon.        D. A special job.

2.Which of the following about train-spotters is true according to the passage?

A. They number each train they see.

B. They keep a careful path of every train.

C. They count the trains passing in front of them.

D. They produce films about trains with video cameras.

3.The writer writes the passage to        .

A. introduce some famous train-spotters

B. encourage readers to do more train-spotting

C. try to present a true picture of train-spotting

D. describe the necessary equipment in train-spotting

4. What do we learn from the passage?

A. Train-spotters in the UK want to fool people.

B. Train-spotting is more acceptable in America.

C. Train-spotters are much stranger than car lovers.

D. Train-spotting relates to（与…有关）a dangerous lifestyle.

Look! Here’s a pencil box, it’s orange, it’s my pencil box, it’s on the desk. Look! This is a pen, it’s black. And this is an eraser, it’s blue and white. They’re both（都）in the pencil box. This is a ruler, it’s red, it’s on the pencil box. That is a ruler, too. It’s yellow. It’s in the drawer. Where’s my math book? Ah, it’s there, under the sofa.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。

1.The pencil box is____________.

A．yellow            B．white             C．blue              D．orange

2.The yellow ruler is____________.

A．in the school bag                        B．in the drawer

C．on the pencil box                       D．on the sofa

3.______in the pencil box.

A．A pen is                              B．An eraser is

C．A ruler and a pen are                    D．A pen and an eraser are

4.The red ruler is______.  

A．under the sofa                         B．in the pencil box

C．on the pencil box                       D．under the pencil box

5.Where is my English book?

A．Under the sofa.                         B．On the desk.

C．Sorry, I don’t know.                     D．On the sofa.

A boy was walking home from school when he saw a large, red apple on the tree near a house. The boy didn’t like eating __35__ very much. He preferred a piece of chocolate if he was given the choice, but this time, seeing the nice apple, the boy wanted it very much. The more he looked at the apple, the __36__ he felt and the more he wanted it.
He stood on tiptoe (脚尖), stretching (伸展) as high as he could, but he was still unable to touch it. He began to __37__ up and down, as high as he could, at the top of each jump stretching his arms to get the apple. Still it remained out of __38__.
Not giving up, he thought, if he had something to __39__ on, he could reach it. His school bag wouldn’t give enough height and he didn’t want to __40__ the things inside, like his lunch box, pencil case, and Gameboy. Looking __41__, he hoped he might find an old box, a rock, or, with luck, even a ladder, but he found nothing that he could __42__. 
He had tried everything he could think to do. Without seeing any other choices, he gave up and started to walk away. At first he felt angry and disappointed (失望的) thinking about how hungry he had become from his __43__, and how he really wanted that apple. The more he thought like this, the more unhappy he became.
However, the boy of our story was a __44__ one, even if he couldn’t always get what he wanted. He started to say to himself, “This isn’t helpful. I don’t have the apple and I’m feeling unhappy as well. There’s __45__ more I can do to get the apple. That is unchangeable. But we should try to __46__ our feelings. If that’s the case (情况), what can I do to feel better?”