As Danny put his lunch tray onto the cafeteria table, milk spilled all over his sandwich. He sat down, hung his head forward, looking at the food in front of him. Frowning, he began peeling the soggy milk-soaked bread (浸透牛奶的) from his sandwich. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever done!” he said, “It’s not that bad,” said his friend Elena, who was sitting across from him. “Just get another sandwich.”

“Sandwich? What sandwich? I am talking about the talent contest. It’s only two weeks away and I don’t know what I’m doing! Everybody will laugh at me. There’s no way to avoid it!”
“Don’t be so negative, Danny,” said Elena as she rolled her eyes. “You’re going to be great, You’re very capable. You have the skills to do just about anything.”
Danny moved his lunch tray to the side and rested his head on the table.
“Sit up Danny,” ordered Elena, “I have an idea. Let’s brainstorm a list of things you could do. We’ll divide the list into categories or groups. Let’s start with music. You play the piano, right?”
“I stopped taking lessons in the third grade,” said Danny.
“What about singing a song?” suggested Elena.
Danny shook his head no. “Let’s move on to another category.”
“What about performing magic tricks?” asked Elena, as she twisted thin strands of hair around her finger.
“I don’t know how to play magic tricks!” Danny almost shouted. “Elena, how did I get myself into this huge mess?”
“Stop being so…” Elena paused, “That’s it, DRAMATIC!” Elena shouted excitedly. “You could do a dramatic reading. You definitely have the talent for it. Mrs. Pace always calls on you to read aloud in class. You could read a play aloud. Maybe you could even get extra credit from Mrs. Pace. She rewards students with points for doing extra reading work.”
Danny thought for a minute. Then he smiled. “Elena,” Danny said, “You are a great friend!”
Elena smiled back. “I just want to make sure you are a bright, shiny star when you step out on stage.”
【小题1】Elena and Danny were talking ______.

When I was 16 years old, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn’t the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children, I learnt French at school and I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand English. But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems.
How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to give my American friend Danny a ring and tell her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking like being lost and asked if he could help me.
“Yes,”I said.“I want to give my friend a ring.”
“Well, that’s nice,”he exclaimed (惊呼).“Are you getting married? But aren’t you a bit young？”
“Who is talking about marriage?” I replied. “I just want to give my friend a ring to tell her I’ve arrived. Can you tell me where there’s a phone box?”
“Oh!”he said.“There’s a phone downstairs.”
When at last we did meet up, Danny explained the misunderstanding to me.“Don’t worry,” she said to me.“I had many difficulties at first. There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from us British. You’ll soon get used to all the funny things they say. But most of the time British and American people can understand each other!”
【小题1】When the writer arrived at the airport, he wanted to _____.

Like most English children, I learned foreign languages at school. When I made my first visit to the United States, I was sure I could have a nice and easy holiday without any language problem. But how wrong I was!

    At the American airport, I was looking for a public telephone to tell my friend Danny that I had arrived. An American asked if he could help me. "Yes," I said, '1 want to give my friend a ring."

"Well, that's nice. Are you getting married?" he asked. "No," I replied, "I just want to tell him I have arrived." "Oh," he said, "there is a phone downstairs on the first floor." "But we're on the first floor now," I said.

    "Well, I don't know what you are talking about Maybe you aren't feeling too well after your journey," he said. "Just go and wash up, and you will feel a lot better." And he went off, leaving me wondering where on earth I was: At home we wash up after a meal to get the cups and plates clean. How can I wash up at an airport?

    At last we did meet. Danny explained the misunderstanding: Americans say "to give someone a call", but we English say "to give somebody a ring". When we say "to wash your hands", they say "to wash up". And Englishmen start numbering from the ground floor so the first floor is the second for Americans.

1.The writer went to America by ______.

A. plane             B. ship               C. bus                 D. train

2.The writer went to America for______  .

A. education       B. business         C. holiday           D. friendship

3.The American thought "a ring" should be a________ .

A. phone call       B. present         C. person                 D. letter

4.Englishmen usually wash up________    .

    A. after dinner         B. after a journey

    C. when they are tired  D. before they telephone someone

5.The third floor in England is the ______floor in America.

    A. first              B. second        C. third                 D. Fourth

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
【小题1】What is train-spotting according to the passage?