This past week, the world lost an icon and I lost one of my favorite musicians when Michael Jackson, 50, died of a heart attack on June 25. Jackson, a famous person nearly all his life, was admired by fans for signature dance moves like the Moonwalk and his album Thriller, which has sold over 100 million copies.

One of the greatest hits from Thriller is Beat It. In the song, Jackson sings: “Just beat it, beat it/ No one wants to be defeated/ It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right/ Just beat it, beat it!”

Just what does he mean?

“Beat it” is a very common expression with a few different meanings. One of the most popular is the command form, which is similar to “Get out of here!” or “Get out of my face, stop bothering me!” You might tell your dog to “beat it” when he keeps begging you for food.

“Beat it” can also be used as a suggestion, to describe the act of leaving suddenly: “This party is so boring, let’s beat it.”

The expression can be taken more literally, in its traditional sense of “ to strike or hit something”: “Tell me the answer before I beat it out of you.”

“To beat” also means “to win”. “She struggled with her illness, and in the end she beat it.” When Jackson sings, “No one wants to be defeated…Just beat it!” he may be encouraging his audience to overcome their struggles. Or maybe he means the opposite: that it’s better to run than stay and fight. Just beat it!

The underlined word “icon” in the first paragraph most probably means ______.

A. a small symbol on a computer screen that represents a programme

B. a famous person or thing that people admire and see as a symbol of a particular idea etc.

C. a person who has talent in songs or music

D. a man or woman who is very good-looking in appearance

The author mentions Michael Jackson mainly to _____.

A. show his or her honor to him

B. inform readers of his death

C. introduce the expression “beat it”

D. get us to know more about his career

According to the passage the expression “Beat it” has all the following meanings EXCEPT “_____”.

A.  Away with you!             B. Get out of my face!

C.  See or understand            D. Win

What’s the purpose of the writer’s writing this passages?

A. To make the expression “Beat it” known.

B. To tell us that Michael Jackson’ death is a great loss to the world.

C. To show the origin of the expression “Beat it”.

D. To amuse or entertain readers.

Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California’s Santa Ana Freeway. It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn’t reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I figured I’d just head east.

A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going. “Four more lights,” she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night.

She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for. After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus pulled up. There was no lighted number above its windshield(挡风玻璃). It was out of service. But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver.

“I just can’t leave you here,” she said. “This isn’t the nicest place. I’ll give you a ride home.”

“You’ll drive me home in the bus?” I asked, perplexed(困惑).

“No, I’ll take you in my car,” she said.

“It’s a long way,” I protested.

“Come on, ” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”

As we drove from the station in her car, she began telling me a story. A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good Samaritan picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car. “I’m just passing the favor along, ” she said.

When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn’t hear of it. “That wouldn’t make it a favor, ” she said. “Just do something nice for somebody. Pass it along.”

1. Why did the writer say that he would have a long night?

A. He wondered how long he had to wait for the next bus.   B. No driver would give him a ride.

C. He didn’t know the routes.                            D. He perhaps would have to take a taxi.

2. Judging from its context, the place where the writer waited for the second bus was _______.

A. very quiet and peaceful                 B. dark without street lights

C. neither clean nor beautiful              D. a little unsafe

3. Why did the writer change his mind after waiting for 30 minutes at the end of the route?

A. No bus would come at the time.          B. A taxi ride would be more comfortable.

C. He became impatient and a bit worried.   D. He knew the driver would never return.

4. The bus driver drove the writer home later because ________.

A. she happened to go in the same direction  B. she wanted to do something good for other people

C. her brother told her to do so              D. she wanted to earn more money

5. The bus driver hoped that the writer ________

A. would do as she did                     B. would keep her in memory

C. would give the money to others          D. would do her a favor

An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal. If a friend of yours asks you to have lunch with him. You may say something like this, “I’m afraid it’ll have to be some place cheap, as I have very little money.” The other person may say, “OK, I’ll meet you at McDonald’s.” This means that two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself. He may also say, “Oh, no. I want to take you to lunch at Johnson’s”, or “I want you to try the steak(牛排) there. It’s great.” This means the person wants to pay for both of you. If you feel friendly towards this person, you can go with him and you needn’t pay for the meal. You may just say, “Thank you. That would be very nice.”

American customs about who pays for dates(约会) are much the same as in other parts of the world. In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals. But, today, a university girl or a woman in the business world will usually pay her own way during the day. If a man asks her to dinner or a dance outside the working hours, it means “come as my guest”. So as you can see, it is a polite thing to make the question clear at the very beginning.

In the old days _______ often paid for all the meals.

A. women      B. men

C. university students     D. businessmen

“To go Dutch” means to _______.

A. go to play outside     B. eat out

C. pay for oneself   D. go to a cheaper eating place

“McDonald’s” here means _______.

A. a tea house B. a gate

C. an office    D. an eating place

If you feel friendly to the person, _______.

A. you should pay for him    B. you needn’t pay for him

C. you can accept his invitation     D. you can’t accept his invitation

We’d better know who will pay for the meal _______.

A. at the beginning B. at the end

C. in the middle of the meal  D. after drinking

You ______ be driven out of the school if you dare to cheat in the exam.

         A. should B. would C. will D. shall

A tourist comes out of the airport．There are a lot of taxis，but the tourist asks every taxi—driver his name．He takes the third taxi．It costs￡5 from the airport to the hotel．“How much does it cost for the whole day?” the tourist asks．“￡100”，says the taxi-driver．This is very expensive，the tourist accepts the price．

    The taxi—driver takes the tourist everywhere．He shows him all monuments and all the museums．In the evening they go back to the hotel．The tourist gives the taxi-driver￡100 and says，“What about tomorrow?” The taxi-driver looks at the tourist．“Tomorrow? It’s another￡ 100 tomorrow．”But the tourist says，“That’s OK．If that’s the price，that is the price．See you tomorrow．”The taxi—driver is very pleased．

    The next day the taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere again．They visit all the museums and all the monuments again．And in the second evening they go back to the hotel．The tourist gives the taxi—driver another￡100 and says，“I’m going home tomorrow．”The taxi-driver is sorry．He likes the tourist and，above all，￡100 a day is good money．“So you are going home．Where do you come from?” he asks．

    “I come from New York．”

    “New York!” says the taxi-driver，“I have a sister in New York．Her name is Susannah．Do you know her?”

    “Of course 1 know her．She gave me￡200 for you．”

The tourist is______   ．

  A．an Englishman    B．a Frenchman    C．a Swedish D．an American

The tourist asks every taxi—driver his name because______    ．

  A．he is afraid of being cheated      B．he wants to remember all of the taxi—drivers’names

  C．he knows of one of the taxi-drivers D．there is a friend of his among the taxi drivers

Why is the taxi-driver very pleased with the tourist?

  A．None but the tourist agrees to the price given without arguing with him．

  B．His sister knows the tourist．

  C．His sister has brought so much money to him．

  D．He wants to be the guide of the tourist．

We can conclude that ______  ．

  A．the tourist will give the taxi-driver another￡200

  B．the tourist makes fun of the taxi—driver

  C．the tourist will give the taxi—driver half of the sum

  D．the taxi-driver insists that the tourist should pay him another￡200