AN upper class British lady once declared: “Anyone seen on a bus after the age o

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AN upper class British lady once declared: “Anyone seen on a bus after the age of 30 has been a failure in life.”

I guess she meant that if you’re middle aged and don’t have a car then you are a loser. How arrogant (傲慢) and ignorant！
Unfortunately, there are still people who think that way: that somehow public transport is only for the poor. And the rest have a right to their cars. Some wealthy folk in the West look down on buses and boast (吹嘘) about how many years it has been since they last traveled by one.
How sad is that? Our roads are packed with cars and the air is full of the pollution they emit (排放). But still, many car users are u

nwillingly to get on a bus or a bike or a train to take themselves to work.
It’s convenient to drive, they’ll say. Buses are so unreliable, they’ll claim. And trains are expensive ---- at least in the UK.
It’s an attitude which may have to change. It doesn’t make sense to drive a car in a city where there’s a public transport system. Also, these rush hour commuters (往返上班者) usually travel alone.
As a result, transport authorities in the UK are looking at solutions to city center congestion (拥堵).
One is to increase the number of parking spaces at out-of-town railway stations. More motorists (乘汽车的人) can then leave their cars and travel into the city by train.
Light rail or tramways are another environmentally friendly solution. Many cities across Europe have installed light rail or tramway systems.
The subway in London is used by everyone, rich and poor. It’s the quickest way of getting around the city, whatever your bank balance.
And then there are the cycle hire schemes you find in many modern cities. In London and Paris, you can hire a bike by the hour to get you where you need to go.
While commuters in Beijing abandon their bicycles for cars, cycling to work grows in popularity in the West.
Many cyclists are willing to pay more than 10,000 yuan for their bicycles. Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is often pictured cycling to work. David Cameron, the British prime minister, cycled to the House of Commons before he became leader. These days he takes the prime ministerial limousine (豪华轿车).
小题1:. According to the article, some British people, like the upper class woman, think that .

A．buses are inconvenient	B．bus services are unnecessary
C．having a car is a sign of success	D．only the upper class should have cars

小题2:Which of the following measures is taken by transport authorities in the UK to solve city center congestion?

A．The development of cycle hire schemes.

B．Increasing the number of parking spaces in the city center.

C．Installing light rail or tramway systems in out-of-town areas.

D．Banning commuters from traveling alone during rush hour.

小题3:The author mentions the example of Boris Johnson in the last paragraph to .

A．express his respect for the mayor of London

B．point to the growing popularity of cycling to work in the West

C．criticize Beijing commuters for abandoning their bicycles for cars

D．show that cars are still the most common means of transportation for famous people in Britain

小题4:Which of the following might the writer agree with?
A. The British prime minister should give up his limousine.
B. Beijing commuters should learn from British commuters.
C. British solutions to public transport problems are inadequate.

答案

D. Many car owners need to change their attitudes if the traffic problem is to
小题1:. C
小题1:.A
小题1:.B
小题1:.D

解析

略

举一反三

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that he planned to give away almost all of his vast fortune, largely to the cause of global health, during the course of his lifetime. With an estimated (估计) worth of more than $40 billion, according to Forbes, the project will be no small feat (功绩) for Gates. Having already provided the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with $24 billion to address global health issues, Gates said that eventually his entire fortune will be put towards the cause except “a few percent left for the kids”.
So what has made the richest man in the world to channel his resources so heavily into one interest? Gates believes that “the equality of opportu

nity” in which Americans take such pride needs to extend to other nations around the world. Improving the health of the population, he says, has proven to be an essential (实质的) method in helping poor countries to be financially successful. “National borders allow inequalities,” said Gates: “We all need to take a more global view, rather than just saying my country is doing well. We have to step up these health issues, knowing how few resources are going into them.”
Gates said that both his parents set an example for him as a child. His father, William H. Gates, was the head of the local Planned Parenthood, and his mother, Mary, volunteered for the United Way. As he gathered his fortune, Gates knew he would eventually want to give back as well, but he didn’t expect to devote himself whole-heartedly to one project until he was about 60.
However, Gates, 47, began to question his ability to wait that long. “It seemed there was a real time urgency (紧迫),” Gates said. “I started to think, how many lives could I save before then?”
小题1:.. Bill Gates will give away his vast fortune to ___.

A．improve the health of population in America alone

B．improve the health of population all over the world

C．avoid leaving his children too much money

D．spare the American government the burden of health care

小题2:.. Bill Gates believes that one important way of developing poor countries is ___.

A．to set up more foundations for them	B．to aid them with natural resources
C．to put more effort into the health issues in them	D．to help them take a more global view

小题3:. It can be learned from the text that Bill Gates thinks ___.

A．Americans should care about people in other countries

B．Americans should treat fellow citizens well

C．Americans should devote themselves to certain projects

D．

Americans can be world-famous by giving away vast fortune

小题4:.. Bill Gates gave away his vast fortune earlier than he had expected because of ___.

A．his weakening health condition	B．his parents’ suggestions
C．his great success in business	D．his concern for suffering people

小题5:. The underlined word “channel” probably has a similar meaning as it is used in sentence “___”.

A．Try to channel your abilities into something useful
B．We ought to channel this street so that water can flow away easily
C．Ships must follow the channel into the port	D．Which channel will you be broadcasting tonight

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It turns out that being voted “Most likely to succeed” in high school might actually be a good predictor of one’s financial and educational success in the future.
According to a University of Illinois professor who studies the sociology of education, high school sophomores who were rated by their teachers as having good social skills and work habits, and who participated in extracurricular activities in high school, made more money and completed higher levels of education 10 years later

than their classmates who had similar standardized test scores but were less socially adroit(熟练的)and participated in fewer extracurricular activiti

es.
Christy Lleras, a professor of human and community development, says that “soft skills” such as sociability, punctuality, conscientiousness(负责任) and an ability to get along well with others, along with participation in extracurricular activities, are better predictors of earnings and higher educational achievement later in life than having good grades and high standardized test scores.
“That’s not tosay that academic achiecement in high school doesn’t matter—it does,”Lleras said. “But if we only look at standardized test scores, we’re only considering part of the equation for success as an adult in a global marketplace. Academic achievement is part of the story, but it’s not the whole story. You’ve got to have the social skills and work habits to back th

ose achievements up.”
With the generational shift from a manufacturing-hased economy to a service-and-information-based one, employers value workers who can not only boast about their GPAs and SAT scores, but are also able to get along well with t

he public and co-workers, Lleras.
“I think we’ve known this intuitively for a long time that employers are looking for something beyond cognitive (认知的)skills” Lleras said. “Leadership now is not an individual thing , it’s how well you get along in a team and get people organized.”
小题1: Which of the following is NOT considered as a “soft skill”?
A.Being able to make others at ease in a group.
B Being able to get to an appointment on time.
CAlways ticking to one’s own opinion.
D Being willing to take responsibility.
小题2:. Now employers would prfe to hire someone who ________？
A earned high scores in standardized test in high school
B can work independently
C has high cognitive skills
D can cooperat well with other teammates
小题3:.Christy Lleras would agree that a high school student should____.
A spend more time in extracurricular activities
B omit classes to take part in extracurricular activities
C pay more attention to standardized test scores
D keep a good balance between learning and relaxation

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There were red faces at one of Britain’s biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone order to buy ￡100,000 worth of shares from a 15-year-old schoolboy (they thought he was 21). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost ￡20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back, because, for one thing, the young boy does not have the money, for another, being under 18, he is not legally liable for his debts. If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed ￡20,000 profit. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In another case, a boy of 14 found, in his grandmother’s house, a suitcase full of foreign banknotes. But they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realize the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took ￡200,000 from nine different banks. Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this before the police caught up with him. Because he is also under 18 the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several cashiers have lost their jobs.
Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers. These youngsters saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it.
Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six-year-old daughter￡300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate a few coins for her piggy bank（存钱灌）“She will soon learn the value of money, ” he said. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better.” At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children, While even the most hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know of people in their twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?
小题1:.
Recently one of Britain’s biggest banks _____.

A．bought a lot of shares for a customer and brought him a great loss

B．lost money as its young customer had no money to pay his debts

C．lost much money because the shares they bought fell in value

D．received a telephone order to buy shares for a 21-year-old boy

小题2:.
. The author’s attitude to the example of the two boys who cheated the banks is _____.

A．objective

B．subjective

C．questioning

D．negative

小题3:.
The man paid his daughter ￡300 a week pocket money and then required her to pay for her living expenses because _____.

A．he wanted her to know making money was not easy

B．he wanted to save money for her future education

C．he thought it useful for family members to bear life hardships together

D．he wanted her to learn the value of money

小题4:.
It can be concluded from the passage that the author believes that _____.

A．children should leave the parental nest as soon as possible

B．grown-up children should live on their own

C．children should be taught not to cheat others

D．parents should give more pocket money to their children

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Great literary works do not fade with time. Shakespeare’s plays, for example, have been read again and again by generation after generation; they have also been adapted for the big screen and shown at places other than the theater. Great literature also knows no language boundaries. For example, Chinese classical novels like The Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey of the Monkey have been widely read not only by Chinese but also by sinologists, people who study Chinese culture, from many language backgrounds.
People read literature to enjoy great writers’ ways with words and their humor. In the English language world, William Somerest Maugham is a novelist who is good at irony, i.e., saying the opposite of what is meant, to create humor. Another reason why Maugham’s novels are well-loved is that he never fails to provide a surprise ending to amuse his readers.
When readers become involved with what they are reading, they may behave as if they have traveled through time to live with the characters in the story. Readers of Maugham’s short story, The Luncheon, may often stop and wonder about how the main character is so easily fooled when hehas lunch with a woman he met once in Paris. They may also grow to love or hate this woman in the course of their reading.
Literary works often provide room for different interpretations. For example, poetry, because of its succinct use of words, can often be interpreted in a number of different ways. Short plays, on the other hand, contain more elaborate descriptions of the setting and the moods of the characters, not to mention the stage directions. However, almost all literary works make use of symbols to suggest ideas indirectly. Because symbols can carry different meanings in different cultures, one person’s interpretation of a symbol can be very different from another person’s.
Great literature is not bound by time or language barriers. It will continue to speak to generations of people.
小题1:In Paragraph 3, whom does “he” refer to?

A．The author.

B．The reader.

C．The main character.

D．Somerest Maugham.

小题2:What would be the best title for this article?

A．The Many Languages of Literature	B．Great Literature Has No Barriers
C．Great Literature Has Time	D．The Irony of Literature

小题3:According to the passage, all the following things may draw readers’ attention EXCEPT______

A．language backgrounds	B．humorous words
C．surprising endings	D．the use of symbols

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The Japanese government has launched(发起)a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions(二氧化碳排放).
The Morning Challenge campaign，put forward by the Environment Ministry, is based on the idea that swapping late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could greatly cut the nation’s carbon footprint．
A typical family can reduce its carbon dioxide footprint by 85 kg a year if everyone goes to bed and gets up one hour earlier，according to the campaign．The amount of carbon dioxide emissions potentially saved from going to bed an hour early was equal to 20 percent of annual emissions from household lights，“Many Japanese people waste electric power at night time，for example by watching TV until very late,”a ministry spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.“But going to bed early and getting up e

arly can avoid wasting electrical power which causes carbon dioxide emissions.” The campaign also proposes that people take advantage of an extra hour of morning sunlight by improving their lifestyles in general by running, doing yoga and eating a nutritious breakfast.
It is the latest action dealing with climate change by the Japanese environment ministry，which is faced with the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels within the next decade．
It was the same government department that launched the Cool Business cam

paign five years ago, which encouraged workers to wear short—sleeved shirts and offices not to turn air conditioning lower than 28 degrees during the summer.
小题1:. Why are Japanese encouraged to go to bed and get up early?

A．Because it is of great benefit to their health．
B．Because Japan is a country without enough electricity.
C．Because it can give off less carbon dioxide．	D．Because it is a good habit．

小题2:.. The underlined word“swapping” means___________.

A．comparing

B．exchanging

C．turning

D．competing

小题3:.. In general，a Japanese family gives off _________of carbon dioxide every year.

A．85 kg

B．170 kg

C．425 kg

D．850 kg

小题4:. We can draw a conclusion that_________.

A．People can save energy and reduce emissions by changing their lifestyle

B．Japanese often don’t have nutritious breakfast

C．Japanese prefer to wear short—sleeved shirts in summer

D．Yoga is very popular with the old Japanese

小题5:.. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The Japanese government has launched the Cool Business campaign．

B．What can we do to cut carbon emissions?

C．Change your lifestyle and you can become healthy．

D．Japanese are encouraged to go to bed an hour early to cut carbon emissions．

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