In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become “twins” with a sister city relationship.
The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.
Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.
Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town!
Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin town in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan(巴尔干半岛的) country!
Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skills, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.
70. Twin towns develop ______.
A. between European countries and China
B. in the English-speaking countries only
C. in the same country
D. between different countries
71. How many countries are mentioned in the passage?
| A. 4 | B. 5 | C. 6 | D. 7 |
72. One of the advantages of town twinning is _____.
A. to earn more money
B. to set up schools
C. to improve students’ language skills
D. to develop industry and agriculture
As you are students of English, it’s very possible that you’ll be interested in England. That’s where the language was first spoken. But England is often called by other names. This often confuses people and I wonder if you know what these names mean. So, now I would like to tell you about this matter of names. I believe that you have heard people use the names—England, Britain or Great Britain. Let’s see what each of these names means.
If you look at a map of Europe, you’ll see a group of islands--one larger island off the northwest coast, one smaller and many tiny ones. These make up what is called the British Isles. The largest island of the British Isles is Britain. It is also called Great Britain. The smaller island is Ireland.
Britain is divided into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England. But sometimes the word “England” is used instead of “Britain”. Why so?
In ancient times, what is Britain now used to be three different countries. People in these different countries spoke different languages. Over many years the three countries became one. England is the largest and richest of the three and it has the most people. So the English people take it for granted that their own name stands for the whole island.
There’s another thing that confuses people: sometimes you may hear people say “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. That is the official name of the country. Northern Ireland is only one sixth of the island of Ireland. The rest of the island is an independent state, called the Republic of Ireland. So we have the names of “England”, “Britain”, “Great Britain”, and “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Now do you know what each of them means?
66. English was first spoken in ____.
A. Britain | B. England | C. Great Britain | D. Ireland |
67. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. Wales is the richest of the three.
B. Scotland is the largest of the three.
C. Sometimes England is used instead of Britain.
D. Britain is the only name of the largest island of British Isles.
68. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is _____.
A. part of Britain
B. part of British Isles
C. the official name of the whole country
D. the largest country of all mentioned in the passage
69. Which of the following is the best title?
A. Students of English
B. Different Names of England
C. Different Languages Spoken in England
D. The Republic of Ireland
I’d been proud that I’d never lost my cellphone until my husband Jack got a call one evening.
We went to visit a friend in hospital last year. When Jack’s 36 rang, it was my mother calling from my 37 . She asked if I had 38 my mobile. I checked my purse. It was 39 !
I used Jack’s phone to call my number. Then a boy, whom I’ll call Rhys, 40 it. “I found your phone!” he said, excitedly. “I have been trying to find you, but 41 it was getting late, I decided to leave.” He gave me the address of a 42 near his home.
Later that evening, I went to 43 him there. I didn’t dare to go 44 , worrying this was some cheater. So Jack came along. After 45 10km, we got to the coffee shop which Rhys 46 .
My 47 were gone. Rhys was just a young boy. “How did you 48 my mum?” I asked. He 49 that when he found my mobile by the roadside, he started calling people in my list of contacts. But all they 50 was my mobile phone number—which didn’t 51 . He’d called many names, starting with the letter A. Finally he got Adam, one of my friends, who 52 my house.
I was 53 to get my phone back with all the contacts, messages and photos I could have lost for ever. I was so 54 to Rhys and offered him some money, but he 55 .
As we drove back, we praised Rhys for his honesty.
| 36. | A. electric car | B. mobile phone | C. radio | D. doorbell |
| 37. | A. hospital | B. company | C. school | D. home |
| 38. | A. found | B. changed | C. lost | D. bought |
| 39. | A. gone | B. new | C. busy | D. broken |
| 40. | A. accepted | B. returned | C. got | D. answered |
| 41. | A. before | B. because | C. after | D. if |
| 42. | A. coffee shop | B. post office | C. hotel | D. supermarket |
| 43. | A. follow | B. meet | C. catch | D. punish |
| 44. | A. slowly | B. back | C. alone | D. finally |
| 45. | A. driving | B. running | C. walking | D. riding |
| 46 | A. talked about | B. looked for | C. heard of | D. knew about |
| 47 | A. difficulties | B. fears | C. diseases | D. hopes |
| 48 | A. remember | B. know | C. tell | D. understand |
| 49 | A. realized | B. repeated | C. explained | D. believed |
| 50 | A. had | B. noticed | C. expected | D. finished |
| 51 | A. happen | B. matter | C. help | D. fit |
| 52 | A. called | B. visited | C. shared | D. sold |
| 53 | A. sorry | B. glad | C. sad | D. proud |
| 54 | A. useful | B. strange | C. grateful | D. polite |
| 55 | A. missed | B. appeared | C. agreed | D. refused |