Whatever we may need to buy，we can use our credit cards．This is a change from th

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Whatever we may need to buy，we can use our credit cards．This is a change from the older days when we had to first check whether cards were accepted．Today，everybody, from retailers（零售商) to lenders，accepts credit cards．Attitudes towards credit cards have also changed a lot．People used to be
very careful of using their cards；but this is no longer the case. People today prefer to take out their c

ards as soon as they get to the cash counter．A swipe (刷卡) and a sign are all it takes，and you can walk home with the bill and all the things you buy．
The credit card is much easier to carry than cash and it is not at all surprising that the former becomes the most preferred way of payment．A credit card takes up very little space in our wallets，and yet，it holds the

power of a large sum of cash．Paying by credit cards is also a good way of keeping bills on where all of our money goes．
Moreover，it has become much easier to get credit cards these days．I constantly have cold callers calling up to offer me “great new credit card deals”．Salesmen occasionally walk into our office offering discounts if a group of people decide to sign up a certain kind of credit card plan at the same time．However，this can also cause a problem．Nowadays，we always run the
risk of getting some kinds of wastes．When the terms seem too good to be true，we should make sure that we always read the printed items carefully．Before signing for a creditcard，it is necessary to know its advantages and disadvantages．The only way to deal with this is to do our homework, before we go credit card hunting．
小题1:We learn from Paragraph 1 that      ．

A．people can use credit cards anytime，anywhere

B．people used to have to check up on credit cards

C．people are more careful using credit cards nowadays

D．people can take their goods home just by swiping their cards

小题2:One of the main advantages of credit cards is that ．

A．they occupy less space compared with other modes of payment

B．they are more powerful than cash

C．they are easy to get，and save money

D．they help users keep track of what they spend on

小题3:When signing for a credit card，people should .

A．ask for a discount

B．understand the dangers

C．read every word of the contract carefully

D．understand that the salesman is most likely to offer false information

小题4:In the last sentence the writer tells us that ．

A．we should know the advantages and disadvantages of credit cards before using them

B．we should finish work before going shopping with a credit card

C．we should check which credit cards are accepted before using them

D．we should make sure that our credit cards are real before using them

答案

小题1:B
小题1:D
小题1:C
小题1:A

解析

略

举一反三

Britain and Ireland
　　The British Isles is made up of two large islands: One is called Ireland and the other __16 . Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of these two islands, and it is17 into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England.
　　The United Kingdom is that 18  of the British Isles ruled over by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the 19  ofBritain, and also about one sixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The 20 of Ireland is self-governing. The 21 name of the United Kingdom is 22  “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.
　23 is larger and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and has the largest 24   of the United Kingdom, so people often use the 25 “England” and “English” when they 26  “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little 27 . The Scots in particular are very 28 of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not regard   29 as English, and have a culture and even a   30 of their own.
　　Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish 31  ” was the greatest headache of the United Kingdom. 32 , Ireland is divided into two: Northern Ireland still 33 to the United Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland   34  to found an Irish Free State, later called Eire and now the Republic of Ireland.
　　The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as part of Britain, and is not now even a supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations (英联邦). Unlike the major Commonwealth countries it did not lift a finger to   35 British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.

小题1:

A．Wales

B．Britain

C．England

D．Scotland

小题2:

A．divided

B．cut

C．broken

D．separated

小题3:

A．piece

B．island

C．country

D．part

小题4:

A．south

B．north

C．part

D．whole

小题5:

A．smaller

B．larger

C．rest

D．island

小题6:

A．correct

B．true

C．full

D．complete

小题7:

A．also

B．therefore

C．likely

D．perhaps

小题8:

A．The UK

B．The British isles

C．Great Britain

D．England

小题9:

A．colleges

B．officials

C．cities

D．population

小题10:

A．words

B．names

C．spellings

D．pronunciations

小题11:

A．call

B．forget

C．speak

D．write

小题12:

A．angry

B．difficult

C．tired

D．lonely

小题13:

A．proud

B．fond

C．full

D．kind

小题14:

A．it

B．Wales

C．them

D．themselves

小题15:

A．capital

B．language

C．history

D．programs

小题16:

A．Country

B．Question

C．Disease

D．Republic

小题17:

A．At last

B．So

C．Meanwhile

D．Also

小题18:

A．returns

B．belongs

C．gets

D．speaks

小题19:

A．hoped

B．refused

C．broke away

D．used

小题20:

A．feel

B．touch

C．fight

D．help

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Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn"t matter where you live--in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village--the chances are that you" ll be disturbed by jet planes, radios, oil - powered engines, etc. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they" re working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration(专心) suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn"t change too much(music, for example) may even help people to concentrate.
小题1:According to this passage, the noise pollution .

A．has become the worst in the countryside	B．has become better in big cities
C．has spread from cities to villages	D．has been controlled in modern cities

小题2:Some people have their hearing harmed .

A．while listening to pop music	B．in complete silence
C．when speaking loudly	D．while watching TV

小题3:Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating on something is .

A．all kinds of noise	B．changes in the level of noise
C．background noise	D．popular music

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For a commuter rushing to catch a train, a minute can mean the difference between dinner with the family and leftovers (剩饭) in the microwave. What most passengers don’t realize is that their minute is already there.
Every commuter train that departs from New York City — about 900 a day — leaves a minute later than scheduled. If the timetable says 8:14, the train will actually leave at 8:15. In other words, if you think you have only a minute to get that train — well, relax. You have two.
The courtesy (礼貌) minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period（宽限期）for those who need the extra time to get off the platform and onto the train.
“If everyone knows they get an extra minute, they’re going to waste time doing unimportant things,” explained Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North Railroad. Told of this article, Ms. Anders laughed. “Don’t blow our cover!” she said.
Entirely hidden from the riding public, the secret minute is an odd departure from the railroad culture of down-to-the-second accuracy. The railroad industry helped invent the concept of standard time, and time zones were established in the United States in the 1880s, 35 years before they were written into law. And most commuters know their train by the precise minute it departs. The trains quickly make up the minute: at all other stops, the public timetable prevails. The phantom minute does not exist at commuter railroads in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. But in New York, the secret minute dates back decades.
“That’s been done forever, from my knowledge,” said Jack Swanberg, 70, an unofficial historian of Metro-North. “I was the trainmaster starting in 1970 and I’m sure it’s been the case since 1870 for all I know.”
小题1:The courtesy minute was hidden from the public to _____.

A．prevent the passengers’ idleness	B．help invent the concept of standard time
C．show the railroad company’s consideration	D．follow the ancient tradition of New York City

小题2: The underlined part “Don’t blow our cover” in Para. 4 probably means “_____”.

A．Don’t publish the timetable	B．Don’t blame commuter trains
C．Don’t make it known by the public	D．Don’t forget our chances of catching trains

小题3:What can we conclude from the passage?

A．The courtesy minute exists in many cities in the US.

B．One minute means a lot for most of the commuters.

C．The courtesy minute has been in place for about ten years.

D．Most railroad staff in New York have no idea of the courtesy minute.

小题4: The passage mainly talks about _____.

A．the railroads in the US	B．the secret New York minute
C．the mistake of the railroad industry	D．the history of New York commuter trains

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American parents usually think that their child should not have more pocket money than the children with whom he regularly connects, even if they are wealthier．But neither are children expected to compare with the richer if a large family, heavy responsibilities, or other conditions make it necessary to give a child less spending money than is customary （惯例的）in the neighborhood．
Whatever the pocket money is, its entire use is not controlled by the parents, because a child learns to use money correctly only through dealing with it himself．If a seven-year-old child gets a quarter as a week pocket money and is made to put it all in his piggy bank to save it up, he gets no idea what the real use for the money is．He gets the shiny coins and they soon disappear．
The idea of a bank account is too early for so small a child, although he can be made to understand and enjoy saving his coins—not all of them, only a part of what he receives—to buy something he especially wants．By the time he is eight he is old enough to take part in the opening of his own savings account, parents may take him to the bank, open a savings account for him and encourage him to put a certain quantity or any checks he receives as gifts into the bank and watch his bank savings grow as entry by entry（存入） is made．
He will be saving, earning, and spending suitable quantities all along in order to learn how to manage money and to keep him in a favorable position with his friend．The boy who can"t join his fellows in a sweet shop once in a while, because he has to save every cent he gets or earns for some big unknown project his parents have chosen for him, is a sorry child．
小题1:Choose the best exolaration for the underlined part in the second paragraph.

A．It is a kind of bank run by children．

B．It is a contralre in the shape of a pig for saving coins.

C．It is a certain place in which pigs are raise．

D．It is a bank whose building looks like a pig

小题2:Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Most of the rich people in America give children much pocket money．

B．American children usually have their bank accounts until they are eight．

C．American parents seldom care for their children"s spending money．

D．American children begin to learn how to manage money when very young．

小题3:Suppose an 8-year-old child receives 10 dollars as his birthday gift, he may probably ____．

A．spend the money on the things he wants

B．compare the gift with that of his friend

C．have most of it saved in the bank

D．put all the money in his piggy bank

小题4:Why does the writer think the boy is a sorry one if he saves every cent he gets or earns?

A．Because he can not manage his money and is kept himself in an unfavorable position

B．Because he can not join the fellows in a sweet shop once in a while

C．Because he can not learn the use of money through spending it himself

D．Because he can not have any other choice but save, earn of spend money

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In only two decades Asian Americans have become the fastest-growing US minority．As their children began moving up through the nation’s schools，it became clear that a new kind of culture was coming out．Their achievements are made in the nation’s best universities，where mathematics，science and engineering departments have taken on a decidedly Asian character.This special liking for mathematics and science is partly explained by the fact that Asian-American students who began their education abroad arrived in the U.S. with a solid grounding in mathematics but little or no knowledge of English.They are also influenced by the promise of a good job after college．Asians feel there will be less unfair treatment in areas like mathematics and science because they will be judged more objectively(客观)．And the money spent on education is more immediately returned in something like engineering than with an arts degree．
Most Asian-American students owe their success to the influence of parents who are determined that their children should take full advantage of what the American educational system has to offer.An effective measure of parental attention is homework. Asian parents spend more time with their children than American parents do，and it helps．Many researchers also believe there is something in Asian culture，such as family value，the importance of education and so on that lead to their success.
Both explanations for academic success worry Asian Americans because of fears that they could cause the native Americans’unhappiness．Many can remember when Chinese,Japanese and Filipino immigrants(移民)were unequally treated because of social separation．Indeed，it was not until 1952 that laws were laid down giving all Asian immigrants the right to citizenship.
小题1:Few Asian-American students major in human sciences mainly because .

A．they are afraid they might meet with unfair judgement in these areas

B．there is a wide difference between Asian and Western cultures

C．they know little about American cultures and Western cultures

D．their English is not good enough

小题2:Asian-Americans prefer something like engineering to an arts degree because________.

A．people majoring in engineering are respected

B．people with an arts degree are looked down upon

C．they can’t find a job with an arts degree

D．they can earn more money after graduation

小题3:While making great achievements at college，Asian-American students________.

A．are afraid that their academic successes take on a strong Asian character

B．still worry about unfair treatment in society

C．generally feel it a shame to have to depend on their parents

D．feel they are mistreated because of limited knowledge of English

小题4:According to the passage，the major factors determining the success of Asian-Americans are .

A．Asian culture and the American educational system

B．Asian culture and a solid base in basic mathematics

C．hard work and parental help

D．hard work and a limited knowledge of English

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