题目内容

Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said. “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said.” Yes, I saw that. It’s nothing.”

Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I'll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean?” “You've just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I am sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You're right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer_________.

A. was rather impolite

B. was warmly received

C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2.The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ____.

A. changed his mind

B. accepted the offer

C. saw the writer's purpose

D. decided to help the writer

3.From the text, we can learn that the writer was _________.

A. honest B. careful C. smart D. funny

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Today, many species of animals and plants are endangered. This means they are in danger of becoming extinct and living on only in the pages of history books. The famous dodo is a classic example of a creature that became extinct. A flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius, it was discovered by sailors in 1598 but was hunted to extinction by 1681.

Hunting has caused the Bengal tiger and the African elephant to be endangered today but habitat destruction can also lead to extinction. This is equally true for plants. Animals and plants disappear for other reasons too, but the main cause is often a disruption(打乱,破坏) in the natural food chain, whether due to hunting, habitat destruction, or even the introduction of alien species.

The natural food chain is the cycle that governs the existence of all life on this planet. It is a carefully balanced cycle and any imbalance that occurs can cause knock-on effects that have serious consequences. At the beginning of the natural food chain are plants which turn sunlight into energy and draw nutrients from the earth. Plants are called producers.

After the producers come the consumers. There are three tiers of consumers. First are creatures such as plant-eating animals, fish and insects which feed off the producers. These animals that only eat plants are called herbivores. The second tier of consumers are carnivores - animals that live off other animals. The third tier of consumers eats both other animals and plants. These consumers, including most humans, are called omnivores.

After animals and plants die, they become food for other smaller creatures, such as bacteria and some plants, such as fungi. As they feed, these creatures turn the dead bodies back into gases and minerals which are again food for the producers at the beginning of the food chain. And so the cycle continues.

All of nature is connected and governed by hundreds of these delicate food chains and if a single plant in the chain cannot survive, then the insects that live off the plant start to die and the animals that eat the insects also start to die.

When a food chain is disrupted, the consequences can be extremely serious. One estimate suggests that for each plant species that is lost, up to 30 animals and insects may also die out. One wonders how many species were affected by the extinction of the dodo?

Humans can have disastrous effects on food chains. We've already mentioned hunting but now let's look at travel. When people first started to explore the world they took plant and animal species from their home countries and introduced them wherever they went. They didn't realize that by introducing alien species they were disrupting the natural food chains of the areas they discovered. Although there are strict rules in place today controlling the import and export of alien species, some places are still fighting the effects of aliens introduced hundreds of years ago.

For example, Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean is a breeding ground for albatrosses that have been nesting there for centuries. But in the 19th century, mice from passing ships were brought to the island. Being a species alien to the island, they had no natural predators and have now grown to such a size that they are attacking and killing albatross chicks. If they are allowed to continue, they will wipe out the albatross population.

With import laws and people's rising awareness of how humans affect the natural environment, hopefully we can learn to fit better into the natural food chains that govern our world. Otherwise we need to accept that the loss of any more plants and animals could eventually mean our own extinction.

1.What do the first two paragraphs mainly tell us?

A. Hunting and habitat destruction lead to extinction.

B. Many species of animals and plants are endangered.

C. Plants and animals become extinct for the same reasons.

D. The main cause of extinction is often a disruption in the natural food chain.

2.Which of the following sentence is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Strict rules alone can remove the bad effects of alien species.

B. Plants, herbivores and carnivores are the three tiers of consumers.

C. If a bird becomes extinct, the relevant food chain will be disrupted.

D. Animals and plants become extinct because alien species are imported.

3.By mentioning the mice in Gough Island, the author intends to highlight ______.

A. mice worldwide are growing all the time

B. being aliens, they had no natural predators

C. some places are still fighting the effects of aliens

D. traveling can have disastrous effects on food chains

4.What is the best title of the passage?

A. Survival of the fittest.

B. Endangered animals and plants.

C. How to protect the natural environment.

D. The link between food chains and extinction.

A I was very disappointed not to be able to go to the jazz concert last Friday.The advertisement in the paper said that you could buy tickets at the theatre box in Richland Hills any day between 10:00 and 4:00.Since I work from 9:00 to 5:30, the only time I could go to the theatre was during my 45-minute lunch break.

Unfortunately, the theatre is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good.But if you are lucky, you can make the round trip in 45 minutes.Last Monday.I stood at the bus stop for 15 minutes waiting for the bus, By the time I saw one come around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip.

So I gave up and went back to the office.The same thing happened on Tuesday, and again next day.On Thursday, my luck changed.I got on a bus right away and arrived at the theatre in exactly 20 minutes.When I got there, however, I found a long line of people at the box office, I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for over an hour.Realizing I would not have enough time to wait in line.I caught the next bus and headed back across the town.

By Friday I realized my only hope was to make the trip by taxi, it was expensive, but I felt it would be worth it to hear the concert.The trip by taxi only took 10 minutes, but felt like an hour to me.When I got to the theatre, I was relieved to see that nobody was waiting in line.The reason, however, I quickly discovered, was that they had already sold all the tickets.

1.The man learned that there would be a concert last Friday.

A.from the newspaper

B.from his friends

C.from one of his work-mates

D.over the radio

2.He tried to go to the theatre every day but managed to get there only _______.

A.once

B.three times

C.twice

D.four times

3.One day the man took _______ to get to the theatre by bus.

A.forty-five minutes

B.fifteen minutes

C.over an hour

D.just twenty minutes

4.The underlined word “relieved” may best be replaced by ___________.

A.surprised

B.puzzled

C.pleased

D.sorry

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