When I was at University I studied very hard. But a lot of my friends did very little work. Some did just enough to pass exams. Others didn’t do quite enough. Fred Baines was one of them. He spent more time playing than working in the library.

Once at the end of the term, we had to take an important test in chemistry. The test had a hundred questions. Beside each question we had to write “True” or “False”. While I was studying in my room the night before the test, Fred was watching TV. Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test. But on that night he looked perfectly calm. Then he told me of his plan. “It’s very simple. There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test. I’ll just toss（掷）the coin to decide the answers. That way, I’m sure I’ll get half the questions right.”

The next day, Fred came happily into the exam room. As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers. Then he left, half an hour before the rest of us.

    The next day, he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor. “Oh, good,” he said to the teacher, “Have you got the result of the test?” The teacher reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He threw it into the air, caught it in his hand and looked at it.

“I’m terribly sorry, Fred,” he said, “You failed!”

1.This story mainly wants to tell us           .

A. chemistry is really hard to learn            

B. there are many questions for students to prepare.

C. good exam results really need studying hard              

D. tossing a coin can not always decide the result

2.Fred Baines was one of those who          .

A. did just enough to pass an exam         

B. didn’t work hard enough for their studies

C. had more important work to do than study 

D. were quite good at passing exams

3. Fred came happily into the exam room because           .

A. he had got ready for the exam           

B. he knew the answers already

C. one excellent student would help him     

D. he had his special way to finish the exam

4.Which of the following about the chemistry exam is TRUE?

A.The chemisty exam was not very difficult at all.    

B. It in fact took an hour to finish the chemisty exam

C. The chemisty exam had more than one hundred questions.        

D. The chemisty exam needed to be done by tossing a coin.

5.The professor tossed a coin to tell Baines that          .

A. he was satisfied with Baines’ way for the exam 

B. he wanted to make friends with Baines

C. Baines’ way for the exam would never work   

D. the exam result depended on the coin

---Are you going to the cinema this evening?  ----No, the ticket is _____ for us.

A. terribly expensive                    B. far too expensive  

C. so much expensive                   D. highly expensive

My own experiment with culture shock came to a fruitless end when I returned with homesick from a year’s study in Italy. I had never heard of culture shock. All I knew was that I was unhappy and wanted to go home.

That was twenty years ago, and since then culture shock has become a real field of study. It is now understood that any normal person, finding him or herself for an extended time in a new culture, is in for trouble.

The process of “culture shock” is now recognized as so predictable that its four stages have been noticeable. The first is the honeymoon stage, familiar to those of us who love to travel, but never stay in one place long enough to find out what follows. In this stage, the new country and its people seem delightful. Everything is better than home. Everything is so different and charming.

Then the bloom comes off the rose. Now the people start to look shallow, selfish and stupid. The different ways of doing things don’t seem interesting any more. You start to feel tired all the time. Culture shock has set in. You feel at sea.

The emotional response to culture shock in stage two can be extreme. Confusion, depression and anxiety, and resentment can all enter to varying degrees. You may become physically ill. Little things seem terribly annoying.

The happier resolution is to move on to stage three. Adjusting. Rather than itemizing（列举） what’s “wrong” with Americans, you remind yourself that “right” and “wrong” are not meaningful terms in cultural matters.

Instead, you try to understand what motivates Americans, perhaps realizing that many of the things you don’t like are related to the things you do like.

As time goes on, you should be moving into stage four. Acceptance. At this point, you simply don’t think any more about the specialties of Americans. You accept them as individuals. You have started to feel at home; you know how to do things. You have not rejected your old culture; but the American ways have settled upon you. You feel optimistic about your future here. You have truly arrived.

1.Why do people not suffer from culture shock when they first arrive in a foreign country?

A．They love to travel.

B．They don’t stay in one place long enough.

C．The new country and its people are delightful.

D．Everything is so different and charming.

2.What do you understand by the underlined sentence “Then the bloom comes off the rose”?.

A．The rose comes up.                      B．The rose blooms.

C．Something good comes about.              D．Something good goes away.

3.Which one is the possible psychological effect of culture shock on the second stage?

A．Anxiety.           B．Excitement.        C．Shock.            D．Delight.

4.Which of the following statements will the writer agree with?

A．Any normal person facing a new culture will be in trouble.

B．Culture shock is now recognized as unpredictable.

C．There is no “right” and “wrong” in terms of cultural matters.

D．When you reject your old culture, you can accept the new one.

5.The passage is mainly about __________.

A．the study of culture shock

B．how to get rid of culture shock

C．the writer’s own experiment with culture shock

D．the four stages of culture shock and their features

The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.

The most widespread fallacy(谬误) of all is that colds caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses(病毒) passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.

During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.

In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.

If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter？Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.

No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms(症状).

1. The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.

A. 4              B. 5              C. 6              D. 3

2. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?

A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.

B. Colds are not caused by cold.

C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.

D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one.

3. Arctic explorers may catch colds when _______.

A. they are working in the isolated arctic regions

B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather

C. they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions

D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world

4. Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit _______.

A. suffered a lot                       B. never caught colds

C. often caught colds                  D. became very strong

5. The passage mainly discusses _______.

A. the experiments on the common cold

B. the fallacy about the common cold

C. the reason and the way people catch colds

D. the continued spread of common colds

Farmer John and Farmer Bob were neighbours. For more than 30 years, they had been getting along very well.

Then their good relationship broke. It began with a small thing, then bitter words, and then weeks of silence. One morning Farmer John woke up to find a stream between the two farms. “It must be Bob,” John thought.

Then one day there was a knock on John’s door. He opened it to find a carpenter(木匠) standing at the doorway.

“I’m looking for a few days’ work,” the carpenter said.

“I do have a job for you,” John said. “Look across the stream at that farm. That’s my neighbour Bob. He dug a stream between the two farms. I want you to build a fence—an 8-foot fence. I don’t want to see his place or his face any more. I don’t have such a neighbour!”

The carpenter said, “I think I know what to do, sir, and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.”

Farmer John helped the carpenter get the materials(材料) ready and then he was off for the day.

About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide. There was no fence there at all!

It was a bridge! And the neighbour, Bob, was coming across, with his hand outstretched(伸出). “Hi, John! You’re quite a fellow to build this bridge!”

Then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. “I’m terribly sorry for what I have said and done. We should be good to each other.” said Farmer Bob.

Then they turned to see the carpenter, who was ready to go. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I have a lot of other jobs for you,” said Farmer John. “I’d love to stay,” the carpenter said, “but I have more bridges to build.”

Just before the carpenter came, John and Bob             each other.

A. didn’t speak to                 B. were friendly to     

C. often fought with                 D. never had bitter words with

Farmer John asked the carpenter to build a fence because            .

         A. he wanted to protect his farm   B. he didn’t want to do it himself

         C. he wouldn’t like to see Bob     D. he wanted to find him something to do

What does the sentence “You’re quite a fellow to build this bridge!” mean?

A. John was great to build this bridge.

B. John was not good at building bridges.

C. John was foolish to build such a bridge.

D. John should build the bridge earlier.

What is the best title for the passage?

         A. What a Big Fence!                    B. A Strong Bridge

         C. Three Kind Men                      D. A Fence or a Bridge?