The Same Story, Different Reports

Belton and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart. Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday- makers and other tourists(觀光者).

Last August there was a fire at the Sea breeze Hotel in Belton. The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper, The Belton Post:

FIRE AT SEABREEZE

Late last night firemen hurried to the Sea breeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom. The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire. We say again to all our visitors: “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed.” This was Belton’s first hotel fire for five years.

The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one.

ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE

Last night Belton firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Sea breeze Hotel. An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire. The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels. When I put my bedside light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp.” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield.

What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident. There was a fire at the Sea breeze Hotel last August: that is one fact. Do we know anything else? Yes—we know that firemen went to the hotel.

Now what do you think of the rest of the “news”?

Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?

A. Belton and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer.

B. A fire broke out one night in Sea breeze Hotel last summer.

C. It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers.

D. Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter.

Which of the following are probably facts?

a. The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel.

b. A cigarette started the fire.

c. An old lamp started the fire.

d. The fire broke out at night.

e. There has never been a fire in Canfield.

A. b and c      B. a and d

C. c and e       D. a and c

The Canfield Times used the headline (標(biāo)題) like this in order to make its readers think _______.

A. hotels in Belton often catch fire

B. hotels in Belton don’t often catch fire

C. this was the second fire at the Sea breeze Hotel

D. Belton was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe

The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Belton Post by saying that _______.

A. the bedroom lamps were very old at the Sea breeze Hotel

B. the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place

C. the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things

D. such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years

Although man has known asbestos for many hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H. W. Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers, was responsible for(對(duì)…負(fù)責(zé)) the opening of that first mine.

Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves, which looked much like ordinary work gloves, he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increasing business in asbestos roofing materials. However, because it was very expensive to transport (carry) them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein(巖脈), in the province of Quebec in Canada.

Ever since 1881 Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral, which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated, a strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibres(纖維).

Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads(線(xiàn)), but they have found thousands of uses of this fireproof material, of the so-called “cloth of stone”.

Which title best expresses the main idea of this passage?

A. Asbestos mined in Canada        B. Fireproof matter

C. A “wonder” mineral                 D. A new roofing material

Johns proved his ability as a salesman by_______.

A. going into roofing business      B. carrying asbestos from Italy

C. sending a trained scientist         D. showing the use of asbestos gloves

Which is the most important character of asbestos that the author wants to show us?

A. It is like thread.               B. It feels soapy.

C. It burns easily.                 D. It is unusually heavy.

The author’s main purpose in writing this passage was to _______.

A. show the need for more scientists

B. compare asbestos with other minerals

C. increase the sales of asbestos

D. present facts about asbestos

Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style(風(fēng)格). But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.

Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.

Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top. But Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality(質(zhì)量) of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.

Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.

Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tough problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation.

Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are ____.

A. more interesting    B. unusually popular    C. more detailed    D. more formal

Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows____.

A. remain interested in them         B. are ready to face up to them

C. remain cold to them                D. are willing to get away from them

Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?

A. A new type of robot.               B. Nation hatred.

C. Family income planning.         D. Street accident.

We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows_____.

A. have become the only ones of its kind

B. exploit the weaknesses in human nature

C. appear at different times of the day

D. attract different people

D

Seeing a volcano erupt (噴發(fā)) is a wonderful experience, and you can really feel the beat by climbing to the summit(山頂) of Pacaya for a close-up view. There are guided tours every day up this highly active volcano from Antigua. Giving travelers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most powerful.

Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua, a beautiful city with many colorful houses along its old streets that are turned into art-works during its Holy Week festival. No matter when you come to Antigua, you won’t miss the Pacaya-tour companies.

But climbing Pacaya is no easy job: it is 2560 metres high, and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one-step-forward and two-step-back movements. As you climb, you hear the dull sounds of eruptions high above. Steaming. Hot remains from recent eruptions begin to line the path as you near the active summit; the McKenney Cone(火山錐). Just as though you were going to walk over to the edge of the cone, the road turns to the left and up to the relative safety of the old, inactive summit.

Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano is plenty of time for sunset and the full contrast between the erupting red lava(熔巖) and the darkening sky. On a good day the view from the summit is extremely exciting. The active mouth boils, sending red lava over its sides, and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air. There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you take care to be upwind of the cone. As evening turns deeper into the night. the burning lava quietly falls down tae side of the volcano. For you, too, it is time to get down .

What is the main purpose of this passage?

  A. To attract tourists to Pacaya.           B. To describe the beauty of Pacaya.

  C. To introduce guided tours to Pacaya.    D. To explain the power of nature at Pacaya.

Antigua is a city      .

   A. where people can enjoy cultural festivals    B. where the daring Pacaya tour starts

   C. that gives a close-up view of Paraya      D. that is famous for its tour companies

Climbing to the McKenney Cone, people will     .

   A. walk directly to the active summit    B. hear the continuous loud noise from above

   C. make greater efforts than to other summits

   D. see a path lined with remains of earlier eruptions

Many tours are timed for people to      .

   A. get down the mountain in time when night falls

   B. avoid the smell from the upwind direction of the cone

   C. enjoy the fantastic eruption against the darkening sky

   D. appreciate the scenery of the 2560-metre-high mountain

There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving subway trains. and some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on, water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by “feedback”(反饋). Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us. So robots are like human beings in two ways.

They work and they have feedback.

In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes. They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be shown how the job is done. A person moves the robot’s “arms” and “hands” through each part of the job.

The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such job as handling radioactive materials.

In this passage the author tells us that ________.

A. robots are very popular

B. there are various kinds of robots

C. we see robots only at certain times

D. robots can be easily controlled

What does the author seem to inform you about robots?

A. They should be greatly improved.

B. They will probably take over in the future.

C. They are very helpful and useful to humans.

D. They are machines that break down a lot.

The author says that in industry ________.

A. robots break down a lot    

B. robots can do many jobs

C. robots only get in the way

D. robots sometimes cause troubles

The fact that a robot never gets bored doing the same job means that _______.

A. it is very much like human beings

B. it can do boring jobs for people

C. it will never bore people

D. it will work much better than human beings

The robots used for scientific research _______.

A. are not very clever     

B. are very cheap

C. are very big

D. are very costly

改正下面短文中的錯(cuò)誤。對(duì)標(biāo)有題號(hào)的每一行作出判斷：如無(wú)錯(cuò)誤，在答題卡該行右邊橫線(xiàn)上畫(huà)一個(gè)勾（√），請(qǐng)?jiān)谟绣e(cuò)誤的地方增加、刪除或修改某個(gè)單詞。

注意：1.每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；

      2.原行沒(méi)有錯(cuò)的不要改。

Behind my apartment, there is used to be a dirty and                1.___________

messy comer. Bits of plastic bags hanged on the trees.              2.___________

Broken bottles were left laying here and there. There was         3.___________

a damaging car in the center. The whole comer gave off an     4.________

unpleasant smell. One year ago, we decided to turn it in a       5.___________

beautiful park. Since then, great changes have been taken place       6.________

in that comer. All the rubbish have been cleared away. Flowers      7.____

and young trees have planted all over. Now birds come            8.___________

here to sing, children come here to play, and adults come here       9.________

to enjoy our peaceful life. It has taken on a new look.             10.__________

短文改錯(cuò)（共10小題；每小題1分，滿(mǎn)分10分）

改正下面短文中的錯(cuò)誤。對(duì)標(biāo)有題號(hào)的每一行作出判斷：如無(wú)錯(cuò)誤，在答題卡該行右邊橫線(xiàn)上畫(huà)一個(gè)勾（√），請(qǐng)?jiān)谟绣e(cuò)誤的地方增加、刪除或修改某個(gè)單詞。

注意：1.每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；

      2.原行沒(méi)有錯(cuò)的不要改。

Last week I went to a movie, which was very touched. It was a sad      1.          .

 movie about a mother and her sons. When the child was a little            2.          .                         

 boy, his mother was very poor that she had to send him to a rich           3.          .

 family who had no child. The boy received a very good educa tion         4.          .    

and twenty years later he became doctor. In his hospital, he had a           5.          ..

patient, who was an old lady. He did care too much about her,              6.          . .

for she could hardly afford for the medical care . One evening, the          7.          .

lady died quietly of a serious illness but on her bed the doctor found        8.          ..

a letter, in it he discovered the truth and felt the love of a great             9.          . .

mother. He had wanted to call her mother, but it was too late.              10.          .

Everybody in the theatre was moved to tears.

Suppose we built a robot to explore the planet Mars. We provide the robot with seeing detectors(探測(cè)器) to keep it away from danger. It is powered entirely by the sun. Should we program the robot to be equally active at all times? No, the robot would be using up energy at a time when it was not receiving any. So we would probably program it to stop its activity at night and to wake up at dawn the next morning.

According to evolutionary(進(jìn)化的) theory of sleep, evolution equipped us with a regular pattern of sleeping and waking for the same reason. The theory does not deny that sleep provides some important restorative functions. It merely says that evolution has programmed us to perform those functions at a time when activity would be inefficient and possibly dangerous. However, sleep protects us only from the sort of trouble we might walk into; it does not protect us from trouble that comes looking for us. So we sleep well when we are in a familiar, safe place, but we sleep lightly, if at all, when we fear that bears will nose into the tent.

The evolutionary theory explain the differences in sleep among creatures. Why do cats, for instance, sleep so much, while horses sleep so little? Surely cats do not need five times as much repair and restoration as horses do. But cats can afford to have long periods of inactivity because they spend little time eating and are unlikely to be attacked while they sleep. Horses must spend almost all their waking hours eating, because what they eat is very low in energy value. Moreover, they cannot afford to sleep too long or too deeply, because their survival depends on their ability to run away from attackers.

The author uses the example of the robot in space exploration to tell us _______.

A. the differences between robots and men

B. the reason why men need to sleep

C. about the need for robots to save power

D. about the danger of men working at night

Evolution has programmed man to sleep at night chiefly to help him ______.

A. keep up a regular pattern of life

B. prevent trouble that comes looking for him

C. avoid danger and inefficient labor  

D. restore his bodily functions

Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

A. Evolution has equipped all creatures with a regular pattern of sleeping and waking.

B. The study of sleep is an important art of the evolutionary theory.

C. Sleeping patterns must be taken into consideration in the designing of robots.

D. The sleeping pattern of a living creature is determined by the food it eats.

TODAY, Friday, November 12

JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at The Derby Arms. Upper Richmond Road West, Sheen.

DISCO Satin Sounds Disco. Free at The Lord Napier, Mort lake High St., from 8a. m. to 8p. m. Tel: 682—1158.

SATURDAY, November 13

JAZZ Lysis at The Bull’s Head, Barnes. Admission 60p.

MUSICAL HALL at The Star and Garter, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company. Good food and entertainment fair price. Tel: 789—6749.

FAMILY night out? Join the sing-along at The Black Horse. Sheen Road, Richmond.

JAZZ The John Bennett Big Band at The Bull’s Head, Barnes. Admission 80p.

THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion(手風(fēng)琴). Tel: 789—4536

SUNDAY, November 14

DISCO Satin Sounds Disco, free at The Lord Napier, Mort Lake High Street, from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.

FOLK MUSIC at The Derby Arms. The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio. Non-remembers 70p. Tel: 688—4626.

HEAVY MUSIC with Tony Simon at The Bull, Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen.

THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion.

Where and when can you hear the Norman Chop Trio?

A. At the Bull’s Head on Sunday.

B. At the Derby Arms on Sunday.

C. At the Bull on Saturday.

D. At the Black Horse on Saturday.

Where and when can you hear the Mike Thomas Jazz Band?

A. At the Derby Arms on Friday.

B. At the Black Horse on Friday.

C. At the Star and Garter on Saturday.

D. At the Derby Arms on Sunday.

You want to enjoy the electric accordion on Saturday. Which telephone number do you have to ring to find out what time it starts?

A. 789—6749.             B. 789—4536.            C. 682—1158.  D. 688—4626.

You want to spend the Saturday by joining the entertainment with your family. Where should you go?

A. Disco at The Lord Napier.

B. The sing-along at The Black Horse.

C. The electric accordion at The Derby Arms.

D. Jazz at The Bull’s Head.

You want to spend the same day at two different places and don’t want to cross any street. Which of the following is your best choice?

A. The sing-along at the Black Horse and Jazz at The Bull’s Head.

B. The sing-along at The Black Horse and Folk Music at The Derby Arms.

C. Folk Music at The Derby Arms and Heavy Music with Tony Simon at The Bull.

D. Musical Hal lat The Star ＆Garter and Disco at The Lord Napier.

“The HD fake notes do not have so-called high quality. They have obvious distinctions and it is not hard to       them from the real ones with naked eyes and hands,” the statement said.

A. tell   B. divide   C. prevent   D. protect