When I was 16 years old, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn’t the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children I learned French at school. And I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand English. But when I went to America, I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems.

How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to give my friend Danny a call and tell her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking lost and asked if he could help me.

“Yes,” I said. “I want to give my friend a ring.”

“Well, that’s nice,” he said. “Are you getting married? But aren’t you a bit young?”

“Who is talking about marriage?” I replied. “ I only want to give my friend a ring to tell her I’ve arrived. Can you tell me where’s a phone box?”

“Oh!” he said, “there’s a phone downstairs.”

When at last we met, Danny explained the misunderstanding to me.

“ Don’t worry,” she said to me, “ I had so many difficulties at first. There are lost of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from the British. You will soon get used to all the funny things they say. Most of the time British and American people understand each other!”

1. Where was the writer from?

A. He was from America.                               

B. He was from France

C. He was from England                                

D. He was from China

2. The writer thought ______ in America.

A. he wouldn’t have any language difficulties     

B. he would not understand the Americans

C. the Americans might not understand him        

D. he would have difficulties at the airport

3. The writer wanted________.

A. to buy a ring for his friend                                  

B. to make a call to his friend

C. to go to the telephone company                           

D. his friend to see him off

4．From the passage , we can see that “give somebody a ring”______.

A. means the same in America as in England

B. means “call somebody” to the old man

C. means “be going to get married”

D. has two different meanings in America and in England

5. In the last paragraph, the word “they” refers to _______.

A. the old man and the boy                               

B. the Americans

C. the British                                                   

D. the French

BLUE SKY RESTAURANT

Telephone:4444872

Address: 8090 White Road

Open: Mon. to Fri. 7:30 am —2:30 pm and 5:00 pm—9:00 pm

Sat. 7:30 am—11:30 am and 5:00 pm—9:30 pm

Sun. 11:00 am—2:00 pm and 5:00 pm—9:30 pm

NEW YORK MUSEUM

America’s largest museum in American history.

Telephone: 2751352

Address: Vanier Park, 1200 Chestnut St. New York

Open: Mon. to Fri. 9:00 am—5:00 pm (Monday free)

Sat, 9:00 am—1:00 pm

TONGCHENG SHOPPING CENTER

Telephone: 5674398

Address: Furong Road

Open: Mon. Wed. and Fri. 9:30am—5:30 pm

Tues. Thurs. and Sat. 9:30am—9:00 pm

Sun. 11:00 am—9:00 pm

HUATIAN HOTEL

Telephone: 7868432

Address: 5200 No. 7 Road (at Sea Island Way)

The Dining Hall: Wed. to Sun. Lunch from 10:30 am

Coffee Shop: Mon. to Fri. 6:00 am

Sat. 6:30 am and Sun. 7:00 am

Mon. to Wed. to 10:00 pm

Thurs. to Sun. to 11:00 pm

6. You do not have to pay money on Mondays if you go to ______.

A.Blue Sky Restaurant                                   B. New York Museum

C.Tongcheng Shopping Center                          D.Huatian Hotel

7. What can’t you do after 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon?

A. Go to Blue Sky Restaurant.                         B. Have coffee in Huatian Hotel.

C. Pay a visit to New York Museum.                 D. Do shopping in Tongcheng Shopping Center.

8. If you are free on early Sunday mornings, you can go to ______.

A. Furong Road                               B. 8090 White Road

C. Coffee Shop on 5200 No. 7 Road              D. Vanier Park, 1200 Chestnut St. New York

9. If you want to go out for lunch on Sunday, you can dial the number ______.

A. 4444872 or 7868432                                 B. 7868432 or 2751352

C. 7868432 or 5674398                                 D. 2751352 or 4444872

10. Which place is still open after 10:00 pm on Thursday?

A. Blue Sky Restaurant                                    B. New York Museum

C. Tongcheng Shopping Center                         D. Huatian Hotel

Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.

    The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.

    The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables (音节), they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionary.

11. The writer thinks that        .

     A. choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English

     B. dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English

     C. it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly

     D. using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing

12. According to the passage, which of the following is wrong?

      A. Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English.

     B. Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries.

     C. Small two-language dictionaries have serious defects (缺陷).

     D. Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries.

13. When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?

     A. At the beginning of the reading                       B. At the end of the reading

     C. During the first reading                               D. After the first reading

14. This passage mainly tells us        .

     A. students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries

     B. what were the defects of small two-language dictionaries

     C. why students should use large college edition dictionaries

ziyuanku.com         D. what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

15. Which is not mentioned in this passage?

     A. How to make good use of a dictionary.         B. When to use a dictionary.

     C. How to improve spoken English.                 D. How to practise reading fast.

Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again．They want to bring water to the deserts，so people can live and grow food．They are learning a lot about the deserts．But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time．Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time．

 Why is more and more land becoming desert？Scientists think that people make deserts．People are doing bad things to the earth．

 Some places on the earth don’t get much rain．But they still don’t become deserts．This is because some green plants are growing there．Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places．Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier．Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away．When a bit of rain falls，the plants hold the water．Without plants，the land can become desert more easily．

16．Deserts ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

A．never have any plants or animals in them       B．can all be turned into good land before long

C．are becoming smaller and smaller                 D．get very little rain

17．Small green plants are very important to dry places because ＿＿＿．

A．they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier

资*源%库B．they don’t let the wind blow the soil away

C．they hold water

D．All of the above．

18．Land is becoming desert little by little because ＿＿＿＿＿＿．

A．plants can’t grow there

B．there is not enough rain

C．people haven’t done what scientists wish them to do

D．scientists know little about the deserts

19．After reading this passage， we learn that ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

A．plants can keep dry land from becoming desert

B．it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts

C．all places without much rain will become deserts

D．it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them

20．Why is more and more land becoming desert according to this passage？

    A．Earthquakes make deserts.                       B. Wind makes deserts.

C. Lack of water makes deserts.                     D. People make deserts．

Ali is from a Middle Eastern country. He now stays in the USA. He smokes a lot of cigarettes every day. He has smoked for nine years. Ali says, “ I tried to quit (放弃) smoking in my hometown, but it was impossible. My parents smoke. My brothers smoke. All my friends smoke. At parties and at meetings, almost all the men smoke. Here in the United States, not as many people smoke.  ____21____”

Many smokers are like Ali: they want to stop smoking.  ____22____ They know it can cause cancer and heart disease. But it is difficult for them to give up smoking because cigarettes have a drug in them. The drug is nicotine. People who smoke a lot need nicotine.

____23___The nicotine makes him sick. In a few days, the smoker’s body is used to the nicotine, and he feels fine. Later, the smoker needs nicotine to keep feeling fine. Without nicotine, he feels bad.

    ____24____Many people who quit will soon smoke again. At a party or at work they will decide to smoke “just one” cigarette. Then they will smoke another cigarette, and another. Soon they become smokers again.  ____25____     

A. It is very hard to quit smoking. 

B. It will be easier to change the smoking habit here. 

C. Thus nicotine makes smokers addicted to cigarettes.   

D. The smokers know that smoking is bad for their health.  

E. When a person first begins to smoke, he usually feels terrible. 

F. Maybe there is only one easy way to quit smoking: never start. 

G. But it is said that medicine is needed to stop them from smoking.