Your phone ______ for several minutes now. Why don’t you answer it?

A. had rung                                    B. rang

C. has been ringing                   D. was ringing

Walking around the corner and into the hall at three in the morning, lost in thought and dragging a mop bucket, I raised my eyes to the front counter in indifference. A man, looking to be in his mid 40’s, stood in a pink dress. A wide-edged hat stuck out over his massive frame resembling an umbrella that was a little too shabby and worn-out, making him look like a woman. The shock at seeing such a strong proud man in a cheap disgusting dress broke my heart, as well as frightened me.

  Dropping my mop on the floor in surprise and picking up my face that had temporarily fallen off, I confidently walked over to the desk.

  “I’m sorry,” I began to say but was confused on whether sir or madam was appropriate. “Can I help you?”

  “I need a room,” he said in a gruff (粗哑的) powerful voice.

  “Sure thing,” I said bringing up the registry. “Can I get your last name?”

  “Hurgan,” he said briefly.

  “And your first name?”

  “Amanda.”

  Suddenly I had to direct all of my concentration on holding back a smile. A ten second pause of silence passed while I tried to stay calm.

  “Okay,” I said getting back to the job, “can I get your phone number, Amanda?”

All of the information was acquired and stored and Amanda received her room key for the night. All was well as I returned to the neglected mop bucket. Suddenly a low throaty cough drew me out of my temporary mental disorder. Looking over at the desk where Amanda stood touching her thick biceps (二头肌) I once again dropped the mop in shock.

  “I’m sorry about that,” I said coming around to the desk. Amanda stared with unease twisting her sleeve with her right index finger.

  “I have a cat,” she said in a low voice.

  “I’m sorry you what?” I asked leaning in closer. She drew back a bit as if I was some kind of threat.

  “I have a cat.”

  Looking up into her tall frame, I replied, “That’s fine. We just need to add an extra $10 fee.” She handed me her credit card once again. I swiped it, returned it, and grabbed the printing receipt.

  “You just need to sign here,” I said handing over the pen. She hesitantly grabbed it from my hand and signed. As she began to return it, my hand came a bit too close to connecting with hers. Scared and possibly a little disgusted she dropped the pen, causing it to bounce off the counter and onto the floor.

  “Sorry,” she said, looking down. “I have to go get my cat.”

  While Amanda was getting her cat, an unpleasant thought was circling around my head. Here I was just doing my job and this, this WO-MAN was acting as if I was the monster! He was wearing a pink dress! And I was the monster? Was he even still a man? The sliding doors opened and in came Amanda passing the front desk without even giving me a polite nod. 

The story most probably happened at a ________.

A. pub              B. hotel                C. hospital         D. shop

We can conclude that the author’s attitude towards the man is _______.

A. objective            B. indifferent          C. critical             D. considerate

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. The author was on the edge of smiling when he heard the man’s first name.

B. When the man checked in, he tipped the author $10.

C. After signing, the man grasped the author’s hand and thanked him.

D. The man gave the author a friendly nod while going toward his room.

What might be the best title of this passage?

A. A disgusting cat                         B. A considerate waiter

C. A fierce monster                         D. A strange-looking WO-MAN

For those who are tired doing the laundry, Samsung has found an answer: a washing machine that can tell you when your laundry is done via a smartphone app(application).
Strange though it may seem — “my wife already does that” was a common response among attendees viewing the device when it was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week — Samsung is just one of many appliance makers racing to install (安装) a large number of internet-connected features in machines in an effort to make them “smart”.
Last year, it was a refrigerator that tweeted. This year, it’s Wi-Fi-enabled laundry machines and fridges that can tell you when your groceries are going bad.
The washers and dryers, available starting in the spring, connect to any smartphone through a downloadable application. The phone can then be used as a remote control, so the machines can be turned on and off while their owners is at work or on the bus.
Samsung says it’s not just something new — the app connection actually has some practical uses.
“If you started to dry clothes in the morning and forgot to take them out, you can go to your phone and restart your dryer for the time when come home, so your clothes are refreshed and ready to go,” said spokesperson Amy Schmidt.
The company also says that with electricity rate(电价)varying depending on the time of day, more control over when the machines are used can help save money.
Perhaps, but what they will probably really accomplish is what all good technologies do —enable laziness. Rather than getting up to check on whether the laundry is done, users will instead monitor it on their phones while watching TV.
【小题1】What can be inferred from the common response of the attendees at the CES?

Kelly Reeves was getting ready for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new mobile at full price.

A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.

Fortunately, there’s a solution.

The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.

Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.

Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone.

Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a website and see the phone’s location.

He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety：“60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”

1.Why does the author mention Kelly’s experience in the first paragraph? 

A. To introduce the topic for discussion.

B. To inform us that mobile phones are useful.

C. To warn us that we should be careful.

D. To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip.

2.The underlined word “nomophobia” in Paragraph 2 means “     ” .

A. habits of using mobile phones

B. fear of losing mobile phones

C. eagerness for new mobile phones

D. independence of mobile phones

3. Which of the following is a way to treat nomophobia?

A. Avoiding using a phone for some time

B. Learning more about modern technology

C. Protecting one’s phone against any damage

D. Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Attitude toward mobile phones

B. New mobile phone technology

C. Disadvantages of mobile phones

D. Solutions to nomophobia

“Your phone number again? I _____ quite catch it.” “It’s 9568442.”

A. didn’t       B. couldn’t       C. don’t       D. can’t