When traveling in England, here are some things to keep in mind.

When taking the underground in England, once on the underground train，stand clear of closing doors. They can give you a pretty hurtful knock if they hit you. When getting on or off the tube train, make sure you mind the gap (间隙)! This varies from a few inches to a foot at some of the stations.

The saying that English food is boring and tasteless isn’t true, at least not anymore. You’ll find a huge variety (种类) of international restaurants and foods, especially in London. Make sure you eat some of the old-fashioned traditional foods in pubs, and wash it down with some local beer!

Come prepared for any sort of weather — even if the day starts off well, it’s likely that the temperature will change. The best thing to do is layer (分层穿套) your clothes so that you can add or reduce as necessary.

The British are, in general, very polite people and will expect at least basic politeness from travelers. Pleases and thanks go a long way! At the same time, they like playing jokes on others.

Don’t be surprised or angry if you’re called darling, dear, dearie, flower, love, chick, chuck, me duck, son，ma’am or any other similar pet name by someone you don’t know. It’s quite normal.

England is generally quite safe, but you’ll need to be more careful in London and the other large cities，especially at night. Choose an underground train that has plenty of people in it and avoid suburban underground stations at night. There are many night buses you can catch, but try not to do this alone. A licensed taxi is often the best choice. Try and leave valuable things in your hotel room, as pickpockets (扒手) do operate in some areas. Be careful of bags especially when in some busy areas.

16. What does the author think of foods in London now?

A. They are old-fashioned.                                                 B. They are of huge variety.

C. They are simple yet delicious.                                        D. They are boring and tasteless.

17. What is advised to do in the text?

A. Have good manners in front of the British.

B. Be serious when talking with the British.

C. Avoid taking the underground in England.

D. Call others pet names to show your care.

18. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. It’s dangerous to travel in England. .

B. Stealing is very common around England.

C. People shouldn’t travel by public transportation at night.

D. You should be careful when traveling in large cities in England.

Children grow quickly, especially their feet. But many families cannot buy shoes each time a child needs them. As a result, about 300 million children around the world go without shoes. Those children risk picking up diseases and parasites (寄生虫) from the soil.

An American man may have a solution for those kids a shoe that grows with the child. Kenton Lee is the creator of the shoe that grows. He says, “The shoe can grow in the front; it can also grow on the side with Velcro fastener and on the back a buckle (锁扣). It can last up to five years. The bottom is compressed (压缩的) rubber like what is used for a tire. The top is high-quality leather.” The shoes come in two sizes: small ones that fit children aged 4 to 9 and large ones for children aged 9 to 14.

Lee says he got the idea for the shoe while working as a volunteer in an orphanage (孤儿院) in Kenya. He says, “There was a little girl in a white dress walking next to me. And I just remember looking down and seeing how small her shoes were. They were so small for her feet that she had to cut open the front of her shoes to let her toes stick out. And I just remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a pair of shoes that could grow with her?’”

However, Lee says it was not easy to turn his idea into a reality. “The real reason why it was important for me to try to make the shoes that could grow was to help. So I made a promise to myself.”

In 2009 Lee founded a non-profit organization called Because International. In the office of Because International，Lee kept a pair of his own shoes to help him remember his promise. “I told myself I would not get new shoes until the idea was done. So, those are the shoes that I wore for a little over five years. But once we finally made the shoe that grows, then I got some new shoes.”

19. What’s the purpose of Kenton Lee’s words in Paragraph 2?

A. To encourage us to buy the shoes.

B. To tell us the shoes are of high quality.

G. To show us the shoes have various types.

D. To give us general information about the shoes.

20. How did Kenton Lee respond when seeing the little girl?

A. He thought the girl was really small.

B. He couldn’t believe what he saw at all.

C. He wanted to invent shoes that grow.

D. He was determined to collect money to help her.

21. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A. Many children need shoes in poor countries.

B. An American man helped poor people in Kenya.

C. Children should wear shoes to protect themselves.

D. An American man invented shoes that grow with a child.

Years ago my husband and I were in Acapulco, Mexcio, and we wanted to go to the local open-air market, “Mercado”, but the taxi took us to Walmart. When we told him that we wanted to go where the locals shopped, the driver took us to Safeway, a supemarket. I explained that I was a cook and wanted to see local fruits, vegetables and spices at a big open-air market. He said it wasn’t safe but he’d drive by so we could look from the taxi. We were going to miss the adventure across the street. But, when the taxi stopped in traffic, we got out and began an afternoon of exploring.

After about an hour we came to a stall (货摊) where an old woman was selling cacao (可可豆). I wondered what the locals did with the cacao. My husband spoke Spanish and tried to translate, but the woman was speaking fast and using a lot of local “food words”. No matter how much she smiled, nodded and waved her hands, her words meant nothing to us.

Finally, she took my hand，left her stall，and walked us through the market for a few minutes. She brought us to a couple of women who were pouring a liquid back-and-forth between two of 5-gallon buckets (桶). She found some glasses and they poured us some fresh chocolate.

Now we were faced with a dilemma. Could we refuse the drink so generously offered? We had a quick low-voiced chat about the safety of the drinking water in Mexico. Neither of us wanted to make the women offering the drink unhappy. It was an offer, and no payment was accepted, even after we tried.

We drank. The chocolate drink was slightly sweet. We never got sick. We also began taking sortie medicine as soon as we got back to our room. We were polite, not stupid.

22. Why did the taxi driver refuse to take the author and her husband to the “Mercado”？

A. Because the market was not open that day.

B. Because he was worried about their safety.

C. Because they did not pay him enough money.

D. Because the prices of things there were too high.

23. What can we know about the old woman from the passage?

A. She was kind and friendly.

B. She asked for a lot of money for the drink.

C. She was eager to sell her cacao to the author.

D. She pretended not to understand the author’s husband.

24. What does the underlined word “dilemma” in Paragraph 4 most probably mean?

A. A warm feeling.

B. An unexpected gift.

C. An exciting moment.

D. A difficult, often embarrassing situation.

25. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The author didn’t think the chocolate safe to drink.

B. The author wanted to go to the supermarket for shopping.

C. The author’s husband could understand the old woman well.

D. The author refused to drink the chocolate offered by the women.

I learned Japanese a few years ago. I can say that learning a language is a huge challenge to me.   26   Here are a few tips from experts which can help you become fluent.

Know why you’re studying a language.

Learning a language is not something you can just pick up and put away as you please. As Language Testing International points out, some languages can take up to 2,760 hours to learn well. Even easier languages, like French and Spanish, will take 720 hours. No one can do that much work on their own without serious motivation (动力).   27   Write it down where you can see it to keep yourself motivated.

Practice.

You can’t just do a lot of practice for one day and then take three days off.   28   Set a regular schedule and stick to it. If you can make learning a language a routine(常规，惯例), the battle is partly won.

Speak with native speakers.

Talking with a native speaker is the single best way to improve your language skills. But how can you find one?   29   Also ask your friends and family to see if they know someone who speaks your aim language.

  30 

A language represents people and their culture. If you don’t value the people or the culture, then you don’t value the language. So make efforts to learn about the native culture if you want to know the native language. Films and TV shows are a good place to start. Newspapers and news shows can also teach you what the people you are studying are interested in.

A. Look into the foreign culture.

B. But it is also quite worthwhile.

C. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

D. No one can master every word in a language.

E. So make sure you have a real reason to learn a language.

F. The knowledge you learn in one day will be forgotten in those few days.

G. Websites, like italki and weSpeke, can help you connect with others across the globe.

The summer I turned 16, I decided to help support my family. Therefore, I told my father that I was going to a factory   51   (get) a job. He immediately said, “You need to pack your lunch.” I said to   52   (my), “Why do I need a lunch? We live so close to the factory.” But I said nothing. Instead, I packed my lunch, and took it   53   me.

  54   I arrived at the factory at 6 a. m., 15 men had already been sitting on a bench,   55   (wait) to get a job. Then one of the company’s trucks pulled up, and the person in charge of hiring   56   (quick) came out of the front office. He looked at everybody and said, “Who has lunch?” I was   57   last person on that long bench，and I raised my hand. He said, “You’re hired. Get in that truck, and go with these men.” It was until then that I realized that my father   58   (prepare) me for getting the job. I turned out to be a very good   59   (work), and every summer, as soon as I walked into the employment office, I   60   (hire) immediately.