8.(★★★★★) The　 phrase “standard hit” most nearly means ________.

A.Bennett’s favourite song but it’s not very popular

B.a song that is always popular

C.a song which makes him standard

D.a song which is like a heavy blow to his audience

7.(★★★★)The word “reprimanded”in the last paragraph most exactly means “________”.

A.frightened　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.scolded

C.warned　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　forted

H

Tony Bennett,the American singer recently touring Britain,can’t remember how many times he has sung his standard hit “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.”He sang it again to his audience at the London Palladium last night.

“I never get tired of singing it,”he said,“I like it too much.It’s a great city and it’s a good song.”

Bennett is to record a TV special with American singer Lena Home while he is here.And a new LP recorded by him in London for Philips titled “Listen Easy” will be published in June.

“I like it here,”he added quietly over whiskey.“I would like to live here so many months of the year.”

He already keeps a large flat in Grosvenor Square,where he is staying with his actress wife Sandie Grant and their three-year-old daughter Joanna.It has a studio where he likes to paint.Tony plans to have his first exhibition later in the year and he has already sold one picture ＄4 000.At the end of the year Tony is to star in a musical film which has been specially written for him called “Two Bits,” an informal expression for 50 cents.It’s about an Italian immigrant(移民) who goes to America,but he becomes a failure.

“In many ways it’s very close to my life the way the story has been written,”said Bennett.“My father,an Italian,was ill and died when I was nine.He always wanted me to sing,but he never lived long enough to be a part of my success.”

The film is to be made by Italy’s top director Vittoria De Sica.

6.(★★★★)In the article, the word“productivity” means________.

A.the activity of producing something 　　　　　　　 B.the production volume in a time unit

C.the plan and the method of production　　　　　　 D.both the quantity and quality of a product

G

One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes.It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that,”and it is even harder to say,“I was wrong,and you were right about that.”

I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago.He told me he had been the manager of a certain store in the neighbourhood where I grew up,and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons (in many countries,eggs are sold by the dozen and are put in cartons).Then he related an incident (event,matter)and I began to remember unclearly the incident he was describing.

I was about eight years old at the time.I went into the store with my mother to do some shopping.On that particular day,I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.

There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there were lots of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons.The cartons were put three or four feet high.I must have stopped in front of the piles of egg cartons.Just then a woman came by pushing her shopping cart and knocked off the cartons.For some reason,I decided it was up to me to put the eggs back together,so I went to work.

The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened.When he appeared,I was on my knees looking at some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken,but to him it looked as though I was the one who just did it.He severely reprimanded me and wanted me to pay for any broken eggs.I tried to explain,but it did no good.Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident,it is plain that the manager did not.

5.(★★★★)The word “saturated”in the second paragraph may probably mean ________.

A.satisfied　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　pletely wet

C.shameful　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.separated

F

In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied . But do more various jobs lead to greater productivity ?There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker’s life more enjoyable, it does not actually makes him work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor.

Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important , and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice may be important , there is usually very little that can be done to create it .

Another very important consideration is how each worker contributes to the product he is making . In most factories the worker sees only one part of the product. Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one,so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line.It would seem that not only is degree of the worker contribution an important factor, therefore, but it is also one we can do something about.

To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity?The workers themselves certainly think this is important . But perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more.A similar argument may explain　 demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting , they will neither want more money, nor will shorten working hours be so important to them.

4.(★★★★★)By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”,the writer means that ______.

A.women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at

B.women are better able to put up with discomfort

C.men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers

D.men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion

E

I had applied for the nuclear submarine (潜艇)program,and Admiral Rickover was interviewing me for the job.It was the first time I met Admiral Rickover,and we sat in a large room by ourselves for more than two hours,and he let me choose any subjects I wished to discuss.Very carefully,I chose those about which I knew most at the time-current events,seamanship,music,literature,

naval tactics,electronics,gunnery-and he began to ask me a series of questions of increasing difficulty.In each instance,he soon proved that I knew relatively little about the subjects I had chosen.

He always looked right into my eyes,and he never smiled.I was saturated with cold sweat.

Finally,he asked me a question and I thought I could recover myself.He said,“How did you stand in your class at Georgia Tech before entering Annapolis as a first year student?”I had done very well,and I swelled my chest with pride and answered,“Sir,I stood fifty-ninth in a class of 820!”I sat back to wait for the congratulations-which never came.Instead,the question:“Did you do your best?”I started to say,“Yes,sir,”but I remembered who this was,and recalled several of my times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies(二战时的同盟国),our enemies,weapons strategy,and so forth.I was just human.I finally gulped and said,“No.Sir,I didn’t always do my best.”

He looked at me for a long time,and then turned his chair around to end the interview.He asked one final question,which I have never been able to forget-or to answer.He said,“Why not?”I sat there for a while,shaken,and then slowly left the room.

3.(★★★★)The word“casualty”in the last sentence means________.

A.the house that is being built

B.the money that is given to the victims

C.the person killed or injured in an accident

D.the things lost in the flood

D

If women are exploited(剥削) year after year,they have only themselves to blame.Because they shake at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion(时髦),they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores.Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.When you come to think of it,only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe(衣柜) packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.

Changing fashions are nothing more than the creation of waste on purpose.Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn.Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way,waste hours of their time changing the dresses they have.Skirts are lengthened or shortened;neck-lines are lowered or raised,and so on.

No one can declare that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society.Fashion designers are seldom concerned with important things like warmth,comfort and durability(耐用).They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort,as long as they look right.There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day,or picking her away through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.

When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious.Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes,one wonders,show basic qualities of inconstancy and instability(不稳定性)?Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers.Do their unchanging styles of dress show basic qualities of stability and reliability?That is for you　 to decide.

2.(★★★★)The phrase “physical products” in　 the second paragraph means things _____.

A.that can be seen or felt　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.useful for health care

C.that help you keep fit　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ected with sports

C

TERNANG，Mon-More than 10 000 people were made homeless in Ternang when the Sungai Mas overflowed its banks yesterday after six days of continuous heavy rain.

Flooding first appeared at mid-afternoon yesterday along the river banks.People straggling higher ground were just in time to get away from the destroy of the flood.Most of the flood victims had to leave their possessions behind.

The flood victims are now housed in various make-shift relief centers in the nearby town of Tulang.

“Everything possible is being done to help the unfortunate people.”A government spokesman said,“In fact,money,food and clothing have begun to come in from public-spirited organizations and generous persons.”

According to latest reports it is still raining heavily at Ternang.The whole town is expected to be totally covered by water.So far no casualty has been reported.

1.(★★★★★)The underlined word “monitor” in the passage means “________”.

A.find　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.follow

C.check　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.form

B

Internet shopping is a new way of shopping. You no longer need to walk round hundreds of shops looking for the items you need. Nowadays, you can shop for just about anything from your armchair. All you need is a computer which is linked to the Internet. Shopping on the Internet is becoming increasingly popular. In the United States, 50 per cent of families have computers at home and almost one third are linked to the Internet. Americans spent over US ＄2.5 billion on Internet shopping in 1998. This figure is expected to reach US ＄11 billion by the year 2004.

People can shop for a variety of products on the Internet. Physical products include things such as books, CDs, clothes and food. These types of products are the most common purchases(购入品) through the Internet. You can also buy information products such as on-line news or magazine stories, or you can download computer software through the Internet. Services such as booking airline tickets, reserving(预定) hotels or renting cars are also available(可得到的) on the Internet. You can also go shopping on the Internet for entertainment services and take part in on-line games or e-mail “chats”.

4.依靠自己的生活常识和社会经验进行判断。

●歼灭难点训练

A

For more than twenty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone in outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages on spaceships traveling through space,on the chance that someone may be receptive to such messages.

Scientists are using powerful radio telescopes to listen to signals from about 1 000 stars,all within 100 light years of Earth.In addition,they will scan(扫视) the entire sky to “listen” for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight channels at one time. Scientists are looking for any signal that stands out from the background noise.

Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy(银河星系), scientists find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like Earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for the evolution(进化) of　 life. Based on the inhabitable(that can be lived in) planets in our galaxy,most scientists agree that chances are likely that one or more of these planets support some life.

However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent(有智力的) life exists on other planets.Some believe that twenty years of searching without any intelligible messages shows that no one is out there. They say that the evolution of intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.

Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family is only about five billion years old, our galaxy is about 20 billion years old. In that time,some scientists think it is likely that civilization(文明) much more advanced than ours have developed. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.

3.利用同义词、反义词、近义词、构词法(派生、合成、转化)等推测词义。