Joe Biggs was a butcher. His shop was in a village in the beautiful south of England, and he  31  in it for many years while his father was there. Then when his father reached the age of 65, he stopped working in the shop, and Joe was alone in it, so he had to work  32 .

   Joe worked five and a half days a week. His shop  33  at one o’clock on Thursday, and it was closed the whole of Sunday. Saturdays were the  34  days.

   Most of Joe’s  35  came to his shop from the nearest town, but sometimes he got up earlier than usual in the morning and  36  into the city to choose meat. It was  37  there.

   Joe had a big  38  in his shop, but he tried not to buy too  39  meat at a time, and to  40  it before he bought more.

   One  41  a woman came into the shop at five minutes to one. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, “but some friends have just telephoned to say that they are coming to  42  tonight, and I need more  43 .”

   Joe only had one piece of meat in the shop. He had sold all the others  44  in the day. He took the piece  45  and said to the woman, “This is 6.5 pounds.”

   “That piece is too  46 .” the woman said. “Haven’t you got anything bigger?”

   Joe went  47  the room behind his shop, opened the refrigerator, put the piece of meat into it, took it out  48  and shut the door of the refrigerator  49 , then he brought the piece of meat back to the woman and said, “This piece is bigger and more expensive. It’s 8.75 pounds.”

   “Good,” the woman answered with a smile, “give me  50  of them, please.”

1.A. lived          B. studied          C. worked           D. played.

2.A. more          B. harder           C. later             D. again

3.A. shut           B. started           C. opened           D. served

4.A. hardest        B. easiest           C. quietest           D. busiest

5.A. customers      B. meat            C. buyers            D. friends

6.A. walked        B. flew             C. drove             D. ran

7.A. easier         B. fresher           C. nearer            D. cheaper

8.A. refrigerator     B. room            C. kitchen           D. cupboard

9.A. much         B. expensive         C. fresh             D. adequate

10.A. eat           B. cook             C. sell              D. freeze

11.A. Thursday      B. Sunday           C. Monday          D. Saturday

12.A. party         B. dinner            C. lunch            D. dance

13.A. food          B. vegetable         C. meat             D. fruit

14.A. later          B. earlier            C. quicker           D. cheaper

15.A. in            B. up               C. away             D. out

16.A. small         B. large             C. cheap            D. bad

17.A. outside        B. from             C. into             D. through

18.A. still          B. again             C. even             D. back

19.A. carefully      B. quickly           C. lightly            D. heavily

20.A. both          B. none             C. each             D. all

Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.

First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.

Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”. 

Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time.  Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.

Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in “Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook”.

1.This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to ________.

A．improve their listening ability

B．read fast

C．write better English and read faster

D．speak correctly

2.If you want to understand the English news program on the radio, you should ________.

A．read the Chinese-language newspaper step by step

B．read again and again the Chinese-language newspaper

C．go through the Chinese-language newspaper first

D．be able to recite the Chinese-language newspaper

3.The author advised that once you have taken up a course, you ________.

A．should stick to it

B．should begin with the last book

C．should take up other courses if they are more fashionable

D．shouldn’t do anything else

4.In this passage, V.O.A. stands for ________.

A.  a book         B. a magazine       C. a text-book      D. a radio station

America’s greatest technological achievement, the Hoover Dam, now has a companion piece, a bridge held up by the longest arch in the Western Hemisphere（半球）. The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which opened this month and connects the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, crosses the vast chasm（峡谷）890 feet above the Colorado River that is controlled by the dam.

The striking 1,900-foot-long structure will improve traffic in the region and help protect the dam from being destroyed. It is the seventh highest bridge in the world, behind four in China, one in Papua New Guinea and one in the US state of Colorado.

“The Hoover Dam is the greatest civil engineering achievement in America’s history,” said the bridge project manager Dave Zanatell. “Our goal was not to outdo or outshine it. Our goal was to, in a respectful way, do something that would be great for our generation and that would stand besides Hoover Dam in a respectful and quality way that would become a part of Hoover’s legacy（遗产）.”

Just as the Hoover Dam was built in the heart of the Great Depression（大萧条）and was seen as an example of the nation’s can-do spirit, some hope this project can also provide some uplift.

The bridge is surprising: at 1,050 feet, its support arch holds up a roadway that lies on 300-foot-long concrete pillars（柱子）, some of the tallest in the world. It contains 16 million pounds of steel.

　　The idea of the bridge came into being in the 1960s because the top of the Hoover Dam has been a narrow two-lane road that is the fastest route from Arizona to Las Vegas and then the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

  　Access to the dam from each direction is a dangerously winding route, but massive trucks and passenger vehicles shared it for decades. During the day, when thousands of tourists travel to the dam from Las Vegas three times as many accidents as on a normal road will happen.

  　The bridge has a sidewalk on the side facing the dam. The wall on both sides is 54 inches high, so walkers can take photos there.

1.Which of the following is true of the Hoover Dam?

   A. It was completed recently.

   B. It was built during the hard times.

   C. It has the longest arch.

   D. It’s the seventh highest dam in the world.

2.What is one of the purposes of building the bridge?

   A. To protect the dam.                                            B. To save the cultures.

   C. To outdo the dam.                                                   D. To develop the tourism.

3.The underlined word “uplift” in Paragraph 4 means _____.

   A. lift of the heavy object                              B. support in money

   C. spiritual encouragement                                   D. instruction in technology

4.Which of the followings shows the right position of the bridge and dam?

5.The text is mainly about ______.

   A. the Hoover Dam                                                 

   B. American western development

   C. a tour along the Colorado River                      

   D. a recently built bridge

It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry , but there was not any meat in the house.

Considering that there was no better way. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it：“Give my dog half a pound of meat.”Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently：“Take this to the butcher（* person whose job is selling meat）and he's going to give you your lunch today.”

Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.

At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.

The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers.

But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled . He said to himeself,“This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today？”

Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it！

1.Mrs. Smith treated her little dog quite  　　　.

2.It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs. Smith gave it 　　　.

3.The butcher did not give any meat to the dog  　　　.

4.From its experience, the dog found that  　　　.

5.At the end of the story, you'll find that 　　　.

It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
　　Considering that there was no better way. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it：“Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently：“Take this to the butcher（* person whose job is selling meat）and he's going to give you your lunch today.”
　　Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.
　　At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
　　The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers.
　　But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it！
【小题1】 Mrs. Smith treated her little dog quite______.