Driving a car at a high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You need only to follow the bright traffic signs beside the highways and it will take you to where you wish. But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver has to have not only skills but also a good knowledge of the city of London, from the smaller road to the most popular bar around. He has to be at service of all kinds of passengers at all times.

A certain London taxi driver told of his job as follows.

During the night it is quite usual for him to stop two or three times for some refreshments (提神). He said, “I never drink when I’m working --- I would lose my license.”

He usually goes home between 2 and 3 o’clock in the night. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, “That’s the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don’t make any money, no one is going to give it to you.”

London taxi drivers not only “take” but also “give”. Every summer hundreds of children from London will go for a day at the sea --- by taxi! Their rides are paid by the taxi drivers, and these all go to the “London Taxi for Underprivileged Children”. At the sea, they are met by the mayor (市长), and a lunch party is also held in honor of the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day running around the sea beaches and visiting the markets, the children go home again --- by taxi, and free of charge (支出), of course!

1.From the first paragraph, we can see that________.

A．highways are developing very fast and there are more and more taxis.

B．it is easy to get to any place of the country now

C．it is fun to travel everywhere in a car

D．the writer wants to tell us that a London taxi driver has many difficulties in his driving

2.It is not easy to be a taxi driver in London because ________.

A．he has to know all the places in the city and serve all kinds of passengers at all the time

B．there is much traffic in London and people there like traveling by taxi

C．he has to follow the bright traffic sighs

D．although he works hard he earns little money

3.The underlined phrase “Underprivileged Children” in the last paragraph is about the children ________.

A. who have little knowledge              B. whose families are poor

C. who will go to sea                     C. who like taking a taxi

4.What is the passage about?

A．Traffic in London.                       B．London taxi for children

C．Taxi divers’ job in London.               D．Drivers disliking taxis in London

补全对话(本大题满分10分，每空2分)

A: Why are you in such a hurry, Mr. Wang?

B: My parents are coming to our school from my hometown for the first time.

A: 1.__________________

B: By train.

A: Do they know the way to our school?

B: 2.__________________

A: Do you know how to get to the station?

B: 3.__________________

A: It’s a long way from here to the station. First you can take the No. 537 bus or No. 405 bus, then change to the No. 130 bus at the bus stop South Lake Square. It will take you right there.

B: 4.__________________

A: Yes, of course. It takes about 60 yuan.

B: 60 yuan? It takes too much.

A: 5.__________________

B: That’s great! Thank you.

A．No. You know I’m new here for a few days.

B．It’s faster if you take a taxi.

C．Really? By bus or train?

D．Just take the bus. Let me go with you.

E. You can buy a map of our city.

F. I see. Can I take a taxi to get there?

G. No. So I am going to meet them at the station.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出适当的选项补全短文。（共5小题，每小题1分；计5分）

My uncle has a very beautiful umbrella. He's had it for years. As he is very careful with it, so it still looks as good as new.   1   He shook his head. "Then how did you get it?" I asked. "Well," he answered, "there' s a strange true story about the umbrella. About ten years ago, I was walking along a quiet London street one evening when it suddenly rained. I had no raincoat or umbrella.   2   And the people in the streets were fewer and fewer. As I was on my way to a party, I was afraid to get wet. So I stood in a doorway and waited for the rain to stop.   3   What was worse, there even wasn't a person around, and still it rained and rained. At last a young man came to the place where I was standing.   4   As I hoped he would allow me to walk to the next corner with him, where I could get a taxi, I stepped out of the dark doorway where I had been standing.   5    As I suddenly appeared before him, the young man was so shocked that he dropped the umbrella. He ran away and disappeared into the darkness. I picked up the umbrella and continued my walk. I knew it would be hard in this big city to find the owner, so I've kept it ever since."

George and Betty didn’t have much money, but they wanted to buy a car. Betty didn’t have a  36  , so she was always finding ways to save money.

She  37   vegetables in her garden so that she wouldn’t have to buy any. She made sandwiches for George to  38   to work so that he wouldn’t have to buy his lunch.

Every day George took the bus to go to work and go home. It was not a long trip  39   the bus was slow because of the traffic.

One day, the traffic was even  40  than usual.

“I could run faster than this bus!” thought George.

The next day   41  work he decided to have a try. He went to the bus stop but didn’t take the bus. He ran along beside it on the sidewalk. He had to run quite fast to  42  the bus.

He arrived home. Betty was  43  to see him panting (喘气). She was worried. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“I ran along beside the bus,” said George. “I saved two dollars and fifty cents without paying the fare.” He thought it would make Betty   44 , but it didn’t.

“ 45   didn’t you run beside a taxi?” she said. “You would have saved six dollars!”

1.A. work       B. job        C. child             D. house

2.A. grew          B. gave    C. bought        D. knew

3.A. make          B. carry         C. bring            D. take

4.A. or             B. and        C. but               D. so

5.A. larger         B. bigger      C. worse            D. better

6.A. after         B. before      C. finished             D. began

7.A. get out of                   B. get along with 

      C. come up with                  D. catch up with

8.A. excited        B. surprised    C. interested           D. bored

9.A. tired        B. sad          C. clean               D. happy

10.A. When     B. What         C. Why            D. Where

When I crossed a small road on my first day in Kolkata, I was surprised because I heard a bell-not a horn (喇叭),  It was a tiny man pulling a rickshaw, He stopped and picked up two children from the front door of their house and pulled them to school. For many people, the rickshaw in Kolkata has many advantages. When the traffic is bad, rickshaws find a way through the traffic. If your miss your bus and there aren't any taxis, you can always find a rickshaw in Kolkata. Rickshaws are from your house to the market and waits for you. Then he loads (装载)all your things, drops you off outside your home and helps you unload, No other type of public transport offers this kind of service.
From June to September, Kolkata gets heavy rain. Sometimes it rains for 48 hours without a break. In some parts of the city, the roads flood (水淹), and anything with an engine(发动机) is useless, But the rickshaw drivers never stop working, even with water all around them.
But not everyone thinks rickshaws are a good thing. The local government want to ban rickshaws. They believe it is wrong for one man to pull another person when there is modern transport in the city. However, there is a problem with this plan. Many of the rickshaw drivers come from the countryside. The only job they can find in Kolkata is pulling a rickshaw, If the city bans rickshaws, these men won't have a job. So for the moment, the people of Kolkata still go by rickshaw.
【小题1】What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?