A man walked into a small Irish pub and ordered three beers. Bartender was surprised, but he served that man three beers. One hour later the man ordered three beers again. The very next day that man ordered three beers again and drank quietly at a table. This repeated several times and shortly after the people of the town were whispering about the man, who was ordering three beers at once.

A couple of weeks later, the bartender decided to clear this out and inquired: “I do not want to pry, but could you explain, why do you order three beers all the time?” The man replied: “It seems strange, isn’t it? You see, my two brothers live abroad at the moment, one – in France and another – in Italy. We have made an agreement, that every time we go to pub each of us will order extra two beers and it will help keeping up the family bond”.

Soon all the town have heard about the man’s answer and liked it a lot. The man became a local celebrity. Residents of the town were telling this story to newcomers or tourists and even invited them to that pub to look at Three Beer Man.

However, one day the man came to pub and ordered only two beers, not three as usual. The bartender served him with bad feeling. All that evening the man ordered and drank only two beers. The very next day all the town was talking about this news, some people pray for the soul of one of the brothers, others quietly grieve.

When the man came to pub the next time and ordered two beers again, the bartender asked him: “I would like to offer condolences to you, due to the death of your dear brother”. The man considered this for a moment and then replied: “Oh, you are probably surprised that I order only two beers now? Well, my two brothers are alive and well. It’s just because of my decision. I promised myself to give up drinking.”

1.The man ordered three beers all the time because ________.

A. people were fond of drinking beers in this pub

B. he missed his two brothers living abroad very much

C. it was an agreement with his brothers to keep up the family bond

D. this would help him become a local celebrity

2.We can infer from the passage that ________.

A. news traveled fast in the town

B. the man became famous in the town because he was a heavy drinker

C. the man’s brothers liked drinking beer very much

D. the man was strong-minded to give up drinking

3.The bartender served the man with bad feeling because ________.

A. he would earn less money

B. he thought the man should order three beers

C. he thought one of the man’s brothers had passed away

D. the man decided to drink two beers

4.The underlined word “condolences” in the last paragraph can be replaced by ________.

A. gratitudeB. appreciationC. surpriseD. sympathy

The Parthenon(帕特农神庙) in Athens is a building with a long and complex(复杂的) history. Built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple celebrating the Greek goddess Athena, it was for thousands of years the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque (清真寺), and finally a ruin. The building was changed and the sculptures(塑像) much damaged over the centuries. By 1800 only about half of the original sculptural decoration remained.

Between 1801 and 1805, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire(奥斯曼帝国), which controlled Athens, acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities,removed about half of the remaining sculptures from the fallen ruins and from the building itself. Lord Elgin loved Greek history and transported the sculptures back to Britain. The arrival of the sculptures in London had a huge effect on the European public, greatly increasing interest in ancient Greek culture and influencing contemporary artistic trends. These sculptures were gained from Lord Elgin by the British Museum in 1816 and since then they have all been on show to the public, free of charge.

Since the early 1980s, however, the Greek government has argued for the return of all the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum. They have also challenged the British Museum Board of Trustees’ legal title to the sculptures.

The British Museum, however, insists that it exists to tell the story of cultural achievement throughout the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day. The museum considers itself an important resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allows the world public to re-examine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected world cultures.

It also says that, within the context of this unparalleled collection, the Parthenon sculptures are an important representation of ancient Athenian civilization. Each year millions of visitors admire the artistry of the sculptures and gain insights on how ancient Greece influenced — and was influenced by — the other civilizations that it came across.

1.For most of its history people went to the Parthenon to ________.

A. admire the goddess Athena

B. pray to their god

C. search for sculptures

D. learn about its complex history

2.What can we infer from the passage?

A. The sculptures introduced ancient Greek culture to the west.

B. Ancient Greek culture has greatly influenced world culture.

C. The British Museum has made much money from the Parthenon sculptures.

D. The British Museum is the most suitable place for protecting these sculptures.

3.What can we learn about Lord Elgin from the passage?

A. He is greatly admired in Greece.

B. He worked for the Ottoman Empire.

C. He saved the Parthenon sculptures from being destroyed.

D. He had a deep interest in Greek culture.

4.The author’s main purpose in writing this passage is to tell________.

A. the history of the Parthenon and its sculptures

B. what people can see in the British Museum

C. why the British Museum refuses to return the sculptures

D. the influence of Greece on British culture

Stockholm’s street magazine sellers no longer only take cash — they now take cards too.

“More and more sellers were telling us that people wanted our magazine but weren’t carrying cash,” says Pia Stolt, the magazine’s publisher. “So with the help of a local computer company, we came up with a way to accept payment electronically.

“We didn’t know how it would turn out, or whether people would be unwilling to give the credit card information to a stranger on the street,” says Stolt, “but the results have been great—sales are up 59%.” “Swedes are pretty trusting and we’re used to taking up new technology so this was the perfect solution,” adds Stolt. “The cashless society campaign we’re seeing in Sweden is definitely a good move as far as we are concerned—it’s unstoppable.”

Banks and stores invested heavily in card payment systems in the 1990s and now local consumers are using them in huge numbers. Today, four out of five purchases are made electronically in Sweden and going totally cash-free is the next step.

Sweden’s public transport system has already been cashless for several years, after local public transport workers complained that handling cash had become dangerous. “Bus drivers were getting attacked for their money so Sweden banned cash on public transport,” says Arn Arvidsson, the president of Cashless, an organization supporting the move to a cash-free society. “There were also a number of bank robberies, so four years ago, the banks began to move away from cash. Now, all of Sweden’s big banks operate cash free wherever possible, and the number of bank robberies is at a 30-year low.”

There is, however, concern about how well Sweden’s 1.8 million pensioners—out of a total population of 10 million—will adapt. “A lot of elderly people feel excluded,” says Johanna Hallen of the Swedish National Pensioners’ Organization. “Only 50% of older people use cash cards regularly and 7% never use cash cards. So we want the government to take things slowly.”

The digital payment revolution is also a challenge for tourists, who need pre-paid tickets or a Swedish mobile to catch a bus in the capital. “There’s a worry about crime and theft as well,” says Arvidsson. “Figures show that computer-related credit card crime has almost doubled in the last decade.”

1.The demand for a cashless public transport system first came from _______.

A. transport companies to reduce their costs

B. banks so they could increase their profits

C. transport workers to protect their safety

D. the government to improve transport times

2.Which of the following about Sweden is true according to the passage?

A. No new banknotes will be produced in the future

B. There has been a huge reduction in bank robberies.

C. Local people don’t feel comfortable carrying cash.

D. It is the first country to have cash-free buses.

3.Why does Johanna Hallen think the cashless society should be introduced slowly?

A. She worries that computer-related crime will increase.

B. She is concerned about the inconvenience to foreign travellers.

C. She believes that it’s not easy for older people to get used to it.

D. She feels it is everyone’s right to be able to use cash if they wish.

4.What information is most likely to follow the last paragraph?

A. Some possible solutions to the problems of a cashless society.

B. The reasons for the change in customers’ attitudes to cards.

C. Some benefits a cashless society will bring to banks

D. The difficulties people face in a cashless society.

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