“ Dining out”, or “ eating out ”,is a phrase people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or a pub. Eating out is more popular in Britain today than ever before.

However, eating out can be expensive. Restaurants are normally more expensive than pubs, though many pubs serve very good ，simple food. As British people don’t dine out every night of the week ,eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion. When going for the first date， or if celebrating an anniversary or a birthday, many people like to go to a restaurant. People often eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theatre.

As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette (礼节)surrounding food and eating, and nowhere is this more pronounced than when eating in a smart restaurant. People are almost always expected to eat with a knife and fork and these should be held in the correct hand and used in the correct way. It is also impolite to have your elbows on the dining table when you are eating.

There’re many such “unspoken” rules — they are normally only important when eating in a very elegant and expensive restaurant, and vary slightly from restaurant to restaurant and place to place. A recent nationwide survey showed that there was a divide in manners between the north and south of Britain ---the “worst” manners were in Scotland and the northeast, and the “best” in Wales and the southeast! However, this survey was almost certainly conducted by someone in the southeast, so it may not be entirely fair.

Naturally, restaurants vary greatly in quality and price. However, almost all British cities have a vast range of food and cooking styles to choose from as well as traditional British food, from the very cheap to the very expensive — French, Italian, Indian, Greek, Thai, Japanese and many more. In fact, when asked what their favorite food is, many British people say an Indian curry (咖喱菜)rather than any other dish!

As well as dining in a restaurant ，when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a “takeaway”. This means they order from a takeaway or takeout restaurant by phone, then go to collect it and take it home to eat. Many takeout restaurants also deliver to your house. While you can normally find a takeout restaurant for almost any cuisine, the most popular are Italian, Indian and Chinese — and all you have to do is to open the door, pay and eat!

1. What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?

A.      The British spend more eating out than cooking at home.

B.      The British pay great attention to eating in a restaurant.

C.      The British often dine out when celebrating festivals.

D.      People tend to eat in a restaurant after watching a movie.

2. The underlined word “pronounced" in Paragraph 3 probably means “_____

A.      polite        B. expensive     C. strange D. obvious

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A.      There exist great differences of rules in different restaurants.

B.      People from Wales and southeast Britain are the most polite.

C.      Your order in a takeout restaurant can be sent to your home.

D.      Traditional British food is seldom served in British restaurants.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Restaurant culture in Britain.        

B. Table manners in Britain.

C. Different restaurants in Britain.

D. Traditional and foreign foods in Britain.

Famous centenarians (百岁老人) still active in arts, science are in no mood to retire. "Those who stand still, die," is one of Oliveira's favorite phrases. He knows from experience what it means, as the Portuguese film director has reached the age of 102 and is still active in his profession. Every year, Oliveira shoots a film and is currently working on his next project. "You have to work, work, work in order to forget that death is not far away," he said. When asked about his age, Oliveira said with some humility: "It's down to mother nature. It gave to me what it took from others."

   Being both mentally and physically fit in old age is partly a matter of luck, but it also has something to do with character. Not every white-haired person is wise and social skills, openness and the ability to train the brain are essential for senior citizens.

   Along with the architect Oscar Niemeyer (103), Nobel laureate Montalcini (101) and director Kurt Maetzig (100), Oliveira is one of those people of whom it would be very wrong to think as members of a listless elderly generation.

   Another master in his profession is the architect Oscar Niemeyer. The 103-year-old Brazilian is best known for his futuristic-looking buildings in Brasilia, but he also speaks out on behalf of the poor. "The role of the architect is to struggle for a better world where we can develop a form of architecture that serves everyone and not just a privileged few," said Niemeyer recently. He spends almost every day working in his office in Copacabana, and even when he falls ill he keeps working on ideas: After a gallbladder (胆囊) operation he composed a samba tune (桑巴舞曲) in the clinic.

   Another man who could sing a song about age is 107-year-old Heesters. The Dutch-born opera singer spent most of his life performing in Germany, where he still works. Recently Heesters said: "I want to be at least 108-years-old." He also plans to keep performing. "Should I just sit at home and wait until they come and pick me up?" Heesters has not given up trying to add to his tally of awards and is looking for a "good stage role".

   Italian scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini, who is 101-year-old and is still active in medical science, has described the force that keeps driving her on: "Progress is created through imperfection." In 1986 she and her lab colleague were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work on nerve growth factor. She's convinced that humans grow on challenges.

   With so many brilliant examples given, we can see clearly that age is no barrier to some high achievers.

1.From the first two paragraphs, we can see ______.

  A. being active at 102 is achievable for everybody

  B. Oliveira owes his long life to his mother’s help

  C. being fit in old age is a matter of luck and character

  D. social skills and wisdom are difficult for the senior

2.How many centenarians are mentioned in this passage?

  A. 4          B. 5            C. 6           D. 7

3.By saying "Should I just sit at home and wait until they come and pick me up?” in Paragraph 5, Heesters shows us he ________.

  A. wants to sit or lie in comfort

B. is waiting for people to pick him up

  C. is willing to work till he dies

D. prefers to give performance at home

4.In the passage so many examples were given to show ________.

  A. old age is a big problem if you want to succeed

  B. as a senior citizen, you have to be open-minded and optimistic

  C. old people should never think of themselves as old

  D. old age cannot prevent a great person from achieving a lot

5.In the writer’s opinion, the architect Oscar Niemeyer is not ________.

 A. intelligent       B. pessimistic          C. positive             D. diligent

When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarette? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modem life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
The costs are becoming more and more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr.Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on -one personal contact, and an escape from reality. Sounds extreme, but we' ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell - phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e - mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only l million cell phones in use. Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.
【小题1】From the first two paragraphs, we can know                   ．

The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage（短缺）seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfull country, many of the world’s agricultural industries experience constant water shortages.
Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seaons, the costs of water redistribution(重新分配)are very high. Notonly is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys(山谷)are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water many flow easily through pipes to fields,but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.
This is particularly troubling ro countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation（灌溉）. In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrigation water be resulted in a 25% redcution of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of south eastern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry vallege, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.
Saudi Arabia’s attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have been the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.
1. From the first two paragraphs we learnt that _______.
A.much of the world’s water is available for use
B.people in high rainfll countries feel lucky
C.the costs of water redistribution should be considered
D.water can be easily carried through pipes across the world
2.Which of the following is true?
A.The water  in Texas have been reduced by 75%.
B.Most industries in the world suffer from water shortagers.
C.The underground water in Saudi Arabia might run out in 50 years.
D.Good management of water use resulted from the project in the Central Valley.
3.What is most likely to be discussed in the paragreh that follows?
A.Steps to improving water use managet.
B.Ways tor redjuce the costs of builing dams.
C.Measured to dmal with worldwide water shortages.
D.Appmihes to handling the pressure on water supply.
4.The text is mainly about____________.
A.water supply and increasing population
B.water use management and agriculture
C.water redistribution and wildlife protection
D.water shornages and environmental protection.

A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C．Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended．In a natural reflex （反应）, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her．I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar．But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money．I just need help finding the post office.”

     In an instant, I realized what I had done．I judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be．I hated what I saw in myself．This incident re-awakened my belief in humility(谦恭), even though I’d lost it for a moment．

     The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant．I left Honduras and arrived in the U.S．at the age of 15．I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother and sister, and a strong, serious-minded mother．Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other humble jobs, and eventually I became a network engineer.

     In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice (偏见)．I remember a time, at age 17 ----- I worked as a waiter, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me．I have also witnessed the same treatment of my family and friends, so I know what it’s like, and I should have known better．

     But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going．That blind woman on the streets of Washington, D.C., cured me of my blindness．She reminded me of my belief in humility and to always keep my eyes and heart open．By the way, I helped that lady to the post office．And in writing this essay, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson．

We can learn from the first two paragraphs that __________ ．

       A．the author regretted his act of prejudice

       B．the blind woman needed the money badly

       C．the author was as poor as the blind woman

       D．the author was a native American

According to Paragraph 4, hearing the father’s words, the author was probably _____ ．

       A．rather hurt     B．very excited      C．deeply moved      D．greatly inspired

According to the passage, the author probably agrees that one should ________ ．

       A．be nice to the elderly and the disabled

       B．try to experience different kinds of life

       C．treat others equally with love and respect

       D．think about one’s past as often as possible

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

       A．Learn from your past

       B．How my dream comes true

       C．A belief that will never change

       D．A priceless lesson in the street