In 1943, when I was 4, my parents moved from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to Fairbanks, Alaska, where adventure was never very far away.

We arrived in the summer, just in time to enjoy the midnight sun. All that sunlight was fantastic for Mom's vegetable garden. Working in the garden at midnight tended to throw her timing off, so she didn't care much about my bedtime.

Dad was a Railway Express agent and Mom was his clerk. That left me in a mess. I usually managed to find some trouble to get into. Once I had a little Are going in the dirt basement of a hotel. I had tried to light a barrel(桶) of paint but couldn't really get a good fire going. The smoke got pretty bad, though, and when 1 made my exit, a crowd and the police were there to greet me. The policemen took my matches and drove me

Mom and Dad were occupied in the garden and Dad told the police to keep me, and they did! I had a tour of the prison before Mom rescued me. 1 hadn't turned 5 yet.

As I entered kindergarten, the serious cold began to set in. Would it surprise you to know that I soon left part of my tongue on a metal handrail at school?

As for Leonhard Seppala, famous as a dog sledder (驾雪橇者), I think I knew him well because I was taken for a ride with his white dog team one Sunday. At the time I didn't realize what a superstar he was, but I do remember the ride well. I was wrapped (包裹) heavily and well sheltered from the freezing and blowing weather.

In 1950, we moved back to Coeur d'Alene, but we got one more Alaskan adventure when Leonhard invited us eight years later by paying a visit to Idaho to attend a gathering of former neighbors of Alaska.

1.What can be inferred about the author's family?

A. His father was a cruel man. B. His parents didn't love him.

C. His parents used to be very busy. D. His mother didn't have any jobs.

2.What happened when the author was 4?

A. He learned to smoke. B. He was locked in a basement.

C. He was arrested by the poli D. He nearly caused a fire accident.

3.Which of the following is true?

A. Leonhard was good at driving dog sleds.

B. The author spent his whole childhood in Alaska.

C. Leonhard often visited the author's family after 1950.

D. The author suffered a lot while taking the dog sled in Alaska.

4.What is the author's purpose of writing the text?

A. To look back on his childhood with adventures.

B. To describe the extreme weather of Alaska.

C. To express how much he misses Leonhard.

D. To show off his pride in making trouble.

 

Commuters (上下班往返的人) who drive to work will face a parking charge of up to £350 a year.Ministers are backing a workplace parking charge which will come into force in Nottingham in 2013 and is likely to be adopted across the country.The scheme will see firms with more than ten parking places for staff charged £350 a year for each space in two years.

Employers would be free to pass on the charge to their staff—meaning it would effectively be a tax on driving to work.The scheme aims to reduce traffic by preventing unnecessary car journeys and raise funds to improve public transport,but critics say it is just an excuse for councils to fill their coffers (金库).

Some ten million Britons drive to work each day,and the British Chambers of Commerce says the new charge could total £3.4 billion a year if rolled out nationwide.

Already some firms in Nottingham have threatened to leave the city,where 40,000 commuters use their cars to get to work.A spokesman said the scheme was nothing more than a tax on jobs.“It is very unfair to discriminate against those employers who have parking spaces,which get vehicles off the streets,” he said.“And these charges apply around the clock,which is especially unfair on shift workers who rely on their cars because public transport is not available.This is more about increasing the government’s income than reducing traffic.”

However,Transport Minister Sadiq Khan gave the plan an official approval during a visit to Nottingham. The council says the tax will raise as much as £100 million over ten years—one fifth of the cost of a new transport system for the city.

Another transport spokesman Theresa Villiers said the tax would have a devastating impact on businesses struggling to cope with the economic decline.

But Richard Hebditch of the Campaign for Better Transport said the tax would raise money to invest in better transport.“We put forward the idea of workplace parking taxes as a fairer way to raise money to invest in the future local transport services.We are pleased that the people of Nottingham will be the first to benefit.”

1.Supporters argue that the scheme________.

A.can help improve the parking conditions for the staff

B.should be applied to ail commuters driving to work

C.is certain to be carried out despite the objections

D.will relieve traffic pressure and improve public transport

2.According to the objectors,the scheme is unfair for________.

A.the firms with parking lots

B.the workforce without cars

C.the employees parking their cars on the streets

D.the staff driving to work in the daytime

3.Which word can best describe Theresa Villiers’s attitude towards the scheme?

A.Neutral. B.Negative.

C.Understanding. D.Positive.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A.many firms are willing to pay the charges for their staff

B.the public transport in Nottingham is in great need of improvement

C.the author believes Britons will benefit from the scheme

D.those firms with more commuters will leave Nottingham

 

Most students hate their endless homework. The students from Class 2, Senior 2 of the High School Affiliated to Peking University certainly did so before they published their own collection of English novels at home.

Their small book contains stories about a holy (神圣的) war, the happy life of a self-taught artist and the story of a laid-off worker who devoted his last breath to playing his beloved accordion (手风琴). The book becomes an instant hit on campus. About 3,000 copies have been sold and the class is already working on the second volume.

"We're up to our ears in homework. Exercises and exams make us out of breath. But to do something creative and full of imagination is such a great achievement," said Yu Xiaoxiao, 16. "I took the writing as an ordinary homework at the beginning, but after I finished the first part of my story, I could not help but let it flow," said Wang An, who wrote "Accordion".

Inspired by "Lord of the Rings", Jiang Lu wrote his story about magic wins between angels from the light and the dark side. "The main message of the story was to look at the balance of the world. Both dark and light angels fight with love as their weapons. I want to tell people that selfish love might bring hate," Jiang said.

"I was shocked by their work and felt so proud to be the editor of my students' book," said Nathaniel Timmermann, the oral English teacher at the school. Liu Xiuqin, an English teacher, started the project by asking students to write whatever was in their mind every week. "They have performed beyond expectation," Liu said. "They wrote interesting stories and their English has improved after they started to express their real minds."

"We never imagined that our homework would be so popular and profitable (盈利的). We sell the novels at five yuan, but many teachers pay more to encourage us," said Yuan Mengyao.

1.After Wang An finished the first part of his story, he ________.

A. couldn't go on B. had to put aside

C. just wanted to express it freely D. lost it

2.What was NOT the outcome of the students 'homework of writing whatever was in their mind?

A. Being popular. B. Being profitable.

C. Improving their English. D. Winning prize.

3.What is the reason for the students ' liking to write interesting stories?

A. It is creative and imaginative. B. It is profitable.

C. Interesting stories are sure to be popular. D. Interesting stories can be well sold.

4.What is the best title of this passage?

A. Creative homework leads to a popular book. B. Writing interesting stories.

C. Students' new book. D. A popular book.

 

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