In winter Hammerfest is a thirty-hour ride by bus from Oslo, though why anyone would want to go there in winter is a question worth considering. It is on the edge of the world, the northernmost town in Europe, as far from London as London is from Tunis, a place of dark and cruel winters, where the sun sinks into the Arctic Ocean in November and does not rise again for ten weeks.
I wanted to see the Northern Lights. Also, I had long harboured a half-formed urge to
experience what life was like in such a remote and forbidding place. Sitting at home in England with a glass of whisky and a book of maps, this had seemed an excellent idea. But now as I picked my way through the grey, late-December slush（融雪） of Oslo I was beginning to have my doubts.
Things had not started well. I had overslept at the hotel, missing breakfast, and had to leap into my clothes. I couldn't find a cab and had to drag my unreasonably overweighted bag eight blocks through slush to the central bus station. I had had huge difficulty persuading the staff at the Kreditkassen Bank on Karl Johans Gate to cash sufficient traveller's cheques to pay the overcharged 1,200-kroner bus fare-they simply could not be made to grasp that the William McGuire Bryson on my passport and the Bill Bryson on my traveller's cheques were both me-and now here I was arriving at the station two minutes before departure, breathless and steaming from the endless uphill exertion（费力）that is my life, and the girl at the ticket counter was telling me that she had no record of my reservation.
"This isn't happening," I said. "I'm still at home in England enjoying Christmas．Pass me a
drop more port, will you, darling?" Actually, I said, "There must be some mistake. Please look
again."
The girl studied the passenger list. "No, Mr Bryson, your name is not here·”
But I could see it, even upside-down. "There it is, second from the bottom.”
"No," the girl decided, "that says Bemt Bjornson. That's a Norwegian name·”
"It doesn't say Bernt Bjornson. It says Bill Bryson. Look at the loop（圆圈） of the 'y', the two
‘I's. Miss, please." But she wouldn't have it. "If I miss this bus when does the next one go?"
"Next week at the same time．，，
Oh, splendid.
"Miss, believe me, it says Bill Bryson."
"No, it doesn't."
"Miss, look, I've come from England. I'm carrying some medicine that could save a child's
life.”She didn't buy this. "I want to see the manager."
"He's in Stavanger.”
"Listen, I made a reservation by telephone．If I don't get on this bus I’m going to write a letter to your manager that will cast a shadow over your career prospects（前景）for the rest of this century." This clearly did not alarm her. Then it occurred to me. "If this Bemt Bjornson doesn't show up, can I have his seat?"
"Sure.”
Why don't I think of these things in the first place and save myself the suffering? "Thank you," I said, and dragged my bag outside.
1.What words can best describe Hammerfest in winter?
A. Grey and dirty. B. Dark and cold.
C. Unfriendly and expensive. D. Wild and forbidden.
2.Why did the author mention the Kreditkassen Bank on Karl Johans Gate?
A. To suggest that people there could be ridiculous and stubborn.
B. To introduce the cultural differences in northern Europe and England.
C. To give an example of an interesting story during his journey.
D. To indicate that the bus fare was very expensive．
3.What could be inferred from the passage?
A. The author booked his bus ticket with a Norwegian name.
B. The author paid the bus fare by traveller's cheque.
C. The author would hopefully get on the bus．
D. The girl at the ticket counter cared about the author's complaints.
4.According to the last paragraph, the author probably felt＿at that moment.
A. embarrassed B. contented
C. regretful D. grateful
5.We can learn from the passage that＿．
A. the author's journey to the north was not worthwhile
B. the Europeans didn't welcome visitors
C. the author wrote a letter to the girl's manager
D. the author's journey to the north was not smooth
I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief at a Chinese funeral.
My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral.
Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy(悼词) and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute, weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. She almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.
In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.
Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.
1.At the funeral, ________.
A. five individuals made speeches
B. the boss’s speech was best thought of
C. the writer was astonished by the scene
D. everyone was crying out loudly
2.According to the writer, people in the West ________.
A. prefer to control their sadness in public
B. cry their eyes out at the public funeral
C. are not willing to be sad for the dead
D. have better way to express sadness
3.It is implied that ________.
A. Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples
B. the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time
C. victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored
D. English funeral culture is more civilized than the others
4.This passage talks mainly about_______.
A. an editor’s death B. funeral customs
C. cultural differences D. western ways of grief
Flood damage cleanup is an unforgettable experience for me. I have seen a number of news reports on television showing houses that have been by natural flooding and how the different there are coping and starting their flood damage cleanup. I have always felt for the families that have become victims of flooding however I couldn’t imagine what they were because I have never experienced flooding or flood damage cleanup at first until two years back.
My experience happened when I woke up early one morning because of the of water. As I started to get out of bed to turn on the light, I felt cold muddy water at my . I then realized that the power was . This probably happened due to the heavy and strong wind that were brought by a hurricane during the .
As the rains stopped, I decided to do my flood damage cleanup . Because I had only moved in the house and had only a few belongings, the amount of damage was . It involved only washing shoes and bags soap and water.
It was a good thing that most of my things were inside plastic buckets and most of the furniture that I bought was made of and plastic. This made my flood damage cleanup a lot easier. My cleanup work only the removal of mud from the apartment floors. It was also a good thing that the had hardwood floors. Had the apartment been covered with carpet, I would have had to a lot having the carpet cleaned if not replaced with a new one.
1.A. drownedB. washedC. affectedD. removed
2.A. citizensB. householdersC. ownersD. residents
3.A. sorryB. worriedC. excitedD. glad
4.A. feelingB. doingC. speakingD. thinking
5.A. viewB. handC. thoughtD. sight
6.A. cleanupB. floodingC. earthquakeD. landslide
7.A. smellB. shapeC. tasteD. sound
8.A. headB. neckC. feet D. breast
9.A. outB. inC. onD. down
10.A. rainB. snowC. frost D. fog
11.A. morningB. afternoonC.eveningD. night
12.A. slowly B. graduallyC. quicklyD. frequently
13.A. unfoldedB. unpackedC. uncoveredD. unloaded
14.A. greatB. bigC. smallD. tiny
15.A. withB. byC. throughD. in
16.A. thrownB. dippedC. displayedD. stored
17.A. woodB. metalC. paperD. leather
18.A. undertookB. beganC. involved D. engaged
19.A. bedroomB. kitchenC. building D. apartment
20.A. spendB. costC. pay D. take
In our international engagement, we will uphold principles, promote justice and practice equality. , we will advance and protect the rights and interests of developing countries.
A. As a result B. In a sense
C. In particular D. By choice
China's exchanges and cooperation with other developing countries reached a new level. China's relations with other major countries grew through interaction.
A. stiffly B. steadily
C. virtually D. entirely
We should place emphasis on development and security, and develop nuclear energy on the base of security.
A. equal B. central
C. superior D. maximum
