People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog’s life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

56.   To achieve success, you must       .

      A. feel dog-tired                                               B. work like a dog

      C. become sick as a dog                                    D. be meaner than a junkyard dog

57. To everyone’s surprise, Jack has been employed by a big company, about which we can say, “_______”.

      A. Every dog has its day                                     B. Jack works like a dog

      C. His bark is worse than his bite                       D. Jack really lives in a dog-eat-dog world

58. If you are in the doghouse,       .

      A. you must be forgetful                                     B. you are living a hard life

      C. someone is annoyed with you                          D. you can’t get along with your partner

59. What kind of people live a difficult life?

      A. Those who lead a dog’s life.                            B. Those who have the dog days.

      C. Those who are in the doghouse.                      D. Those whose bark is worse than his bite.

60. What does the article mainly talk about?

      A. Dogs’ life in America.                                   B. How to treat dogs well.

      C. Why Americans love dogs.                             D. Expressions with the word “dog”.

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy life. 

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog. 

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things. 

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. But mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite. 

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

1.A person who lives an unhappy life can be described as “_______”.

A. becoming sick as a dog          B. leading a dog’s life

C. living in a dog-eat-dog world     D. Working like a dog

2.The underlined word “mean” in Paragraph 4 most probably means “_______”.

A. violent         B. selfish          C. wild          D. Poor

3.What can we learn from the text?

A. Everyone can be successful if he learns from the old.

B. It might be difficult for the young to learn new skills.

C. Junkyard dogs are careful in money arrangement.

D. Fierce persons aren’t so awful as their appearance sometimes.

4.To support his idea, the author develops the text mainly by _______.

A. listing reasons                 B. using idioms

C. giving examples               D. Making comparisons

阅读理解

　　In Kansas City, Missouri, a computer helps fire-fighters. The computer contains information about everyone of the 35, 000 streets addressed in the city. When fire-fighters answer a call, the computer will give them important information about the burning building, its position, size, type and so on. In fact the computer system has almost unlimited ways of helping fire-fighters with the problems facing them.

　　For example, it can give medical information about invalid living in a burning building. With this information, the fire-fighters can take special care to find these sick persons and remove them quickly and safely.

　　The Kansas City Computer System also keeps a medical record of each of the city's 9. 000 fire-fighters. This kind of information is especially useful when a fireman is injured. With this information, doctors at the hospital call treat the injured fire-fighters more quickly and easily.

1．The computer can give ________ .

[　　]

A．useful and useless information about the city

B．useful information about everyone living in the city

C．useful information about every street addressed in the city

D．information about every city in the country

2．In this passage the word “invalid” means ________ .

[　　]

A．a person who is badly injured

B．a person who has become weak through illness or injury

C．a person who is helped by firemen

D．a person who wants to be a firemen

3．The computer centre can ________ .

[　　]

A．give the firemen important help almost in every way

B．have limited ways of helping firemen

C．hardly give any useful information for the firemen

D．put out every fire immediately

4．If injured, the firemen will ________ .

[　　]

A．be treated at once with the computer’s help

B．hardly get any treatment

C．be taken to hospital by the computer

D．ask doctors and nurses for help

5．According to the passage, which statement is true? ________ .

[　　]

A．With computers, doctors can cure the injured firefighters.

B．Without computers, fire-fighters can not find the burning building.

C．With the information, the injured fire-fighters can be treated more quickly and easily at the hospital.

D．Without the information. we can't find the position of the building quickly and easily.

While I was on my way to Walmart, I was greeted by an elder woman who was working at the door as a greeter, I had a return to make so she stopped me and asked to tag my bag. Usually I would have gotten annoyed because I know I don’t steal, so why does my bag need to be tagged? I’d just witnessed someone ahead of me being not so nice, and treating the lady like she was a nobody. I could see this lady looked to be at retirement age, trying to make ends meet. The look on her face and the energy she gave was that of someone afraid and not knowing where they stood in life. Not to mention the person ahead of me who’d just snatched(夺) a bag back from her and stormed off without even saying thank you. I could tell this woman was hurt by that, and no one knows how many people had been treating her that way all day long.
What if she was a grandmother who’d recently taken care of her grandchildren for whatever season? What if her husband she had to support recently fell sick and they couldn’t afford the medical expenses, so she had to go back to work? What if she just lost everything she had in her retirement and now she had to go back to work?
All she wants is to do her job and do it well. All she wants is to serve customers the way she was trained. All she needs is to be appreciated. Can I be that someone she needs, just for the moment?
I looked her in her eyes as she scanned my bag, smiled and said, “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well!” Her face lit up and she smiled back and began to tell me how much easier it is to manage. It was salt-and-pepper hair and was cut in the prettiest style. She handed my bag back, smiled and told me the service desk was straight down to my left. I said “Thank you!”
【小题1】At the door of Walmart, the old woman_____.

While I was on my way to Walmart, I was greeted by an elder woman who was working at the door as a greeter, I had a return to make so she stopped me and asked to tag my bag. Usually I would have gotten annoyed because I know I don’t steal, so why does my bag need to be tagged? I’d just witnessed someone ahead of me being not so nice, and treating the lady like she was a nobody. I could see this lady looked to be at retirement age, trying to make ends meet. The look on her face and the energy she gave was that of someone afraid and not knowing where they stood in life. Not to mention the person ahead of me who’d just snatched(夺) a bag back from her and stormed off without even saying thank you. I could tell this woman was hurt by that, and no one knows how many people had been treating her that way all day long.

What if she was a grandmother who’d recently taken care of her grandchildren for whatever season? What if her husband she had to support recently fell sick and they couldn’t afford the medical expenses, so she had to go back to work? What if she just lost everything she had in her retirement and now she had to go back to work?

All she wants is to do her job and do it well. All she wants is to serve customers the way she was trained. All she needs is to be appreciated. Can I be that someone she needs, just for the moment?

I looked her in her eyes as she scanned my bag, smiled and said, “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well!” Her face lit up and she smiled back and began to tell me how much easier it is to manage. It was salt-and-pepper hair and was cut in the prettiest style. She handed my bag back, smiled and told me the service desk was straight down to my left. I said “Thank you!”

1.At the door of Walmart, the old woman_____.

A．asked every customer for money to feed her family

B．was made to welcome customers and check their bags

C．was asked to keep the door open all the time

D．worked as guide to give customers direction

2.Seeing the look of the old woman and the treatment she received, the author_____.

A．became annoyed                       B．showed sympathy

C．was puzzled                            D．turned generous

3.It could be learned from paragraph2 that the author_____.

A．didn’t understand why the old woman did such a job

B．insisted the old woman should stay at home comfortably

C．was sure the old woman was respected by people

D．supposed the old woman might be in trouble for some reason

4.By saying “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well.” the author wanted to ____.

A．make the old woman feel appreciated

B．please her so as not to let her bag tagged

C．praise her for her hair style and clothes

D．confirm her hard work and special beauty