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

How the iron of tomorrow (the first Self Clean Iron)can change your lifestyle today?

General Electric introduces the iron of tomorrow. The iron can clean itself. Inside where irons get dirty. Because it cleans itself each and every time you empty it.How? With a push of a magic blue button.

The magic blue button.The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this iron is the blue button on the side. It’s marked “Self Clean”. Push this blue button, and you can wash out loose mineral deposits  that remain and block up inside. Push this button, and you’ve made life a lot easier.

Less chance of brown spotsSure, Self Cleaning Iron is going to cut down on brown spots. (Those ugly spots that happen on nice, cleanly pressed clothes.) Because a Self Cleaning Iron becomes clean each time you press that magic blue button.Steams much longerCommon sense tells you that if you’ve an iron that blocks less often it has to stay younger for a long period of time. In other words, it steams much longer. That’s another joy of owning General Electric’s Self Cleaning Iron.What does it mean to youToday you are doing so much more than just running a house and running after the kids. You’re working. You’re going to school. It’s all part of your lifestyle. The iron can change that lifestyle. By giving you less trouble before you iron. If we can make it easier for you to be a better wife, a better mother, a better housemaker, we want to. The new Self Cleaning Iron is another one of Home-Makers from General Electric.

Lifestlye.We’re with yours. GENERAL ELECTRIC

9.This passage is ______.

A.an introduction to General Electric     B.an operating instruction of Self Cleaning Iron

C.an advertisement of Self Cleaning Iron  D.a description of the change of lifestyle

10.This iron can clean itself by ______.

A.empting itself                       B.washing out mineral deposits 

C.blocking up mineral deposits          D.giving off more steam

11.According to the passage, what is most likely to attract the customers?

A.It is made by General Electric.            

B.The iron will not produce mineral deposits.

C.There will be fewer brown spots on pressed clothes.

D.Their clothes will be cleaned at the same time.

12.Self Cleaning Iron can help change your lifestyle because ______.

A.you can run your house better         B.you don’t have to run after the kids

C.you can use it while you are working    D.we want you to be a better housemaker

How to protect children Web fans from unsuitable material on-line while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in the U.S.

For some parents, the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children. But jungles contain wonders as well as dangers and with good guides, some education, and a few precautions(预防措施), the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated(航行). “Kids have to be on-line. If we tell our kids they can’t have access(机会) to the Internet, we’re cutting them off from their future,” said an expert.

Most kids have started to use search engines. Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting Internet sites, and they can also locate places where you might not want your kids to go. There are search engines designed just for kids. A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe. The most popular way to limit access would be to use what is known as a “content screener(过滤器)”. But this can’t be wholly reliable(可靠), and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what is OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet. Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing(浏览) the Internet.

A few other tips

●Don’t put the PC in a child’s room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things. That also makes the Internet more of a family activity.

●Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make on-line.

●Tell your child not to give on-line strangers personal information, especially like address and phone number.

●And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet on-line over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet with them unless you go along.

The passage is mainly about the subject of _______.

A. American children going on-line             B. Internet in America

C. appreciating Internet                              D. opposing children’s on-line

The best way to protect children from improper material is _______.

A. to install(安装) a content screener on the computer

B. to buy some search engines for the children

C. to be nearby when they are surfing the Internet

D. to talk to the children and persuade them to tell right from wrong

Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A. Surfing the Internet is the best method of educating children.

B. Children’s not having access to Internet may have effect on their progress.

C. Using a content screener is most reliable for keeping children having access to Internet.

D. Searching engines can help children to select materials fit for them.

According to the passage, we can infer that _______.

A. soft wares fit for children want programming

B. a child who is on-line is in danger

C. Internet is a jungle full of danger

D. Internet contains a lot of harmful sites

A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C．Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended．In a natural reflex （反应）, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her．I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar．But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money．I just need help finding the post office.”

     In an instant, I realized what I had done．I judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be．I hated what I saw in myself．This incident re-awakened my belief in humility(谦恭), even though I’d lost it for a moment．

     The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant．I left Honduras and arrived in the U.S．at the age of 15．I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother and sister, and a strong, serious-minded mother．Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other humble jobs, and eventually I became a network engineer.

     In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice (偏见)．I remember a time, at age 17 ----- I worked as a waiter, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me．I have also witnessed the same treatment of my family and friends, so I know what it’s like, and I should have known better．

     But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going．That blind woman on the streets of Washington, D.C., cured me of my blindness．She reminded me of my belief in humility and to always keep my eyes and heart open．By the way, I helped that lady to the post office．And in writing this essay, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson．

We can learn from the first two paragraphs that __________ ．

       A．the author regretted his act of prejudice

       B．the blind woman needed the money badly

       C．the author was as poor as the blind woman

       D．the author was a native American

According to Paragraph 4, hearing the father’s words, the author was probably _____ ．

       A．rather hurt     B．very excited      C．deeply moved      D．greatly inspired

According to the passage, the author probably agrees that one should ________ ．

       A．be nice to the elderly and the disabled

       B．try to experience different kinds of life

       C．treat others equally with love and respect

       D．think about one’s past as often as possible

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

       A．Learn from your past

       B．How my dream comes true

       C．A belief that will never change

       D．A priceless lesson in the street

Where is that noise coming from? Not sure? Try living with your eyes closed for a few years.

Blind people are better at locating sounds than people who can see, a new study says, without the benefits of vision the ears seem to work much better.

Previous studies have shown that blind people are better than others at reaching out and touching the sources of sounds that are close by. Researchers from the University of Montreal wanted to see if blind people were also better at locating sounds that are far away.

Twenty-three blind people participated in the study. All had been sightless for at least 20 years. Fourteen of them had lost their vision before age 11. the rest went blind after age 16. The experiment also included 10 people who could see but were wearing blind-folds.

In one task, volunteers had to pick the direction of a sound coming from about 3 meters away. When the sound was in front of them or slightly off center in front, both groups performed equally well.

When sounds came from the side or the back, however, the blind group performed much better than the blindfolded group. The participants who had been blind since childhood did slightly better than those who lost their sight later.

Recognizing the locations of distant sounds can be a matter of life-or-death for blind people, say the researchers. Crossing the street, for instance, is much harder when you can’t see the cars coming.

Still, the researchers were surprised by how well the blind participants did, especially those who went blind after age 16. In another experiment, the scientists also found that parts of the brain that normally deal with visual information became active in locating sound in the people who were blind by age 11. These brain parts didn’t show sound-location activity in the other group of blind people or in the sighted people. The scientists now want to learn more about the working of brains of “late-onset” blind people.

The recent study shows blind people are better at telling __________.

A. The sources of loud sounds.     B. the locations of distant sounds

C. the direction of sharp sounds    D. the distance of a sound in front of them

Which would be a proper title for the passage?

A. A Research on Blind People     B. Where is That Noise Coming from?

C. Hearing Better in the Dark      D. What If Living Without Your Eyes?

If people were asked to tell the direction of a sound from the side, who would perform best?

A. Those who are blind.              B. Those who have gone blind since children.

C. Those who went blind at age 16.     D. Those who are blindfolded.

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Whether to be able to locate the sounds can be of vital importance for the blind.

B. All the volunteers in the experiment are sightless.

C. All the participants did equally well when picking sounds from whatever direction.

D. The later people become blind, the better they can perform in telling the direction of sounds.

What do we know about that parts of brain dealing with visual information are active in locating sounds?

A. This happens in almost all the testers.

B. This only occurs in the people who were blind after age 16.

C. It remains nothing new to the scientists any more.

D. It remains a mystery why it is so.