For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet plane fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured . The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move again to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and can not turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. Speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.
1.What does the writer try to express in Paragraph1?
A. Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages．
B. The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short．
C. The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams．
D. Man has been fond of travelling rather than staying in one place．
2.How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph2?
A. By giving instructions.
B. By analyzing cause and effect.
C. By following the order of time.
D. By giving examples.
3.According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because______．
A. they pay less for the tickets
B. they feel safer during the travel
C. they can enjoy higher speed of travel
D. they don’t have to be “processed”
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Air travel benefits people and industries．
B. Train Travel has some advantages over air travel．
C. Great changes have taken place in modern travel.
D. The high speed of air travel is gained at a cost.
Ladies and Gentlemen, some strange, wild and wonderful stories colored the news in 2010, you may like them.
● A Copenhagen bus company has put "love seats" on 103 of its buses for people looking for a partner. "Even love at first sight is possible on the bus," said a spokesman for the company to explain the two seats on each bus that are covered in red cloth and a "love seat" sign.
● Shoppers at an international luxury fair in Italy, found a cell-phone-equipped golden coffin（棺材）among the items on display. The phones will help "the dead" contact relatives if they have been buried alive by mistake.
● A man in New York came up with a disarming（手无寸铁的）way to perform his latest bank robbery, approaching the clerk’s window with a large bunch of flowers and handing over a note saying “give me the money!”
● An Englishman who lost all his legs and arms in an electrical accident successfully swam across the Channel, a challenge he had been preparing for two years. The whole cost is 400 dollars.
● A set of artificial teeth made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill known as "the teeth that saved the world" sold for nearly 18,000 pounds (21,500 euros, 24,000 dollars) at auction（拍卖）.
● A British woman caused an Internet hate campaign after she was caught on camera dumping（抛弃）a cat in a rubbish bin. She was fined 250 pounds (400 dollars, 280 euros) after pleading guilty.
● The BBC apologized completely and without any doubts after a radio presenter jokingly announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died.
● Two Australian men needed surgery after shooting each other in the bottoms during a drinking session to see if it would hurt and they were charged 400 dollars separately.
● A Kuwaiti MP(议员) suggested state-aid for male citizens to take second wives, in an effort to reduce the large number of unmarried women in the oil-rich state.
1.What is special about the coffin in the second news?
A. It is golden. B. It has a cell phone.
C. It is new. D. It has many items.
2.Who has to spend 400 dollars to do the surgery?
A. An Australian man who was shot in bottom to test the hurt.
B. One who bought Winston Churchill’s artificial teeth.
C. A British woman who dumped a cat in a rubbish bin.
D. An Englishman crossing the Channel without legs and arms.
3.Which of the following is true according the news above?
A. The love seats on the buses are only for married couples.
B. The man in New York robbed the bank with a gun.
C. Winston Churchill’s set of artificial teeth is worth a lot.
D. A British woman dumped the cat because she hated it.
4.From the last news we can infer that _________.
A. in Kuwait many men are eager to get married
B. a lot of rich single men lived in Kuwait
C. there are quantities of oil in Kuwait
D. there are many single women in Kuwait
We are not rich by what we possess but rather by what we can do without.
——Immauel Kant
Many times my friend June would say, “If I ever get rich, I’m getting a completely new wardrobe （大衣柜）and moving into a bigger apartment.” I thought of her words and her chances of being rich are about as good as mine. But, to everyone’s surprise, a few years ago June did come to large inheritance（遗产）.
At first June said very little about the money. As the initial shock disappeared, she became excited, June is a great believer in making lists, so I was surprised to find her writing down all the ways she would spend her new wealth.
As time went on, she started revising the list. What had been midway down the list was now at the top. At last, I said to her, “You know, it isn’t necessary to spend all your inheritance at once. Take come time; think about it.” “I know, I know,” she answered with a little bit anger.
Then one morning June called, “I’ve decided how I want to use my new inheritance. I want to see what you think,” she said. This wasn’t something I looked forward to, but we had been friends so long.
As we sat, June spread a sheet of paper on the table. To my great surprise, she had written only two words: Charities, and Grandchildren-in that order. Though I had promised to keep quiet, I couldn’t keep from asking how she came to this decision.
“Well,” she said, “I took your advice and thought about it.” She added, “Helping others means a lot to me, so I’m hoping this gift will help people in need.”
I interrupted, “But what about this big apartment you most hope to have?”
“At first it was hard, but it doesn’t seem as important any more”, she answered with a smile.
Then June moved her hand, and I could see a few words written in tiny letters at the bottom of the page. After having a look at the small print, I burst into laughter. June had written: AND one new wardrobe.
1.From the passage we can learn that the writer at first .
A．was richer than her friend June
B．was no richer than her friend June
C．was poorer than her friend June
D．was interested in money as June
2.When making a list of how to deal with her inheritance, June .
A．didn’t change it at all
B．had a quarrel with the writer
C．kept it secret from the writer
D．made some changes to it
3.When June called the writer to talk about her new decision, the writer .
A．felt that June would do something meaningful
B．refused the invitation at first, but changed her mind later
C．had decided not to make any comments on June’s list
D．was eager to learn more about the new list
4.What did the writer think of her friend’s new decision?
A. She found it funny and wrong.
B. She found it unacceptable and unbelievable.
C. She found it surprising and meaningful.
D. She found it difficult and meaningless.
“Choo, Choo!” Here comes the Chunnel train. Get aboard if you want to learn more about this underground transportation system. This is an unusual form of transportation, because it is a tunnel that trains travel through and not an actual form of transportation.
The Chunnel is actually the English nickname for the Channel Tunnel. In French, it is called le tunnel sous la Manche. It is a rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover. It connects Cheriton in Kent, England with Sangatte in northern France. It is the second longest rail tunnel in the world.
Did you know that the British and the French had a race whi1e they were building the Chunnel? The race was to see who could get to the middle of the tunnel first. The British won by a little bit. It took 15,000 workers over seven years to dig the tunnel. The tunnel was finished in 1994.
The completed Chunnel cost about $ 21 billion. But it all paid off, because it became very popular, very quick. Millions of people use it. Now it is getting even more popular.
There are three complete tunnels in the Chunnel. The two outside ones are the passenger trains. The small inner one is a guidance train. The guidance train is not used for transportation. Each track is exactly parallel to each other.
There are four different train systems in the Chunnel. The Eurostar is a high speed passenger service that connects London, Paris, Brussels, and Lille. The Eurotunnel shuttle is a rail ferry service. These shuttles carry cars. These are railcars that allow drivers to drive their vehicles on and off. There are also two Eurotunnel goods service trains.
Now you know more about the Chunnel. Everybody off, this is the last stop.
1.The Channel Tunnel links ______ with _______.
A. Dover; Kent B. London; Paris
C. Lille; Brussels D. Cheriton; Sangatte
2.Which of the following shows the structure of the tunnels in the Chunnel?
3.The Eurotunnel shuttle is intended to carry _________.
A. passengers B. drivers and their vehicles
C. goods D. staff members of the Chunnel
4.The text can most probably be __________.
A. found in a textbook B. read in a magazine
C. broadcast on a train D. heard in a railway station
When a person is curious about something, it means he is interested in it and wishes to know more about it. There is wrong with curiosity in itself. Whether it is good or bad on what people are curious about.
Curiosity is silly or wrong. Some persons with nothing to do are of curiosity about what their neighbors are doing. They are to know what they are eating or drinking, what they are bringing home or taking out or they have come home so early or late. To be interested in these things is because they are not at all important. It is none of their to know what neighbors do or are doing. Such curiosity is not only foolish but also harmful. For most probably, it to small talk which often brings , shame or disrespect to others, and thus hurt their feelings.
On the other , there is a noble curiosity—the curiosity of the wise, who at all the great things and try to find out all they about them. Columbus could have found America if he had not been . James Watt would not have made the steam engine his curiosity about the raising of the kettle lid(水壶盖). All the great discoveries and inventions in human history have been made a result of curiosity. the curiosity is never about unimportant things, which have or nothing to do with the happiness of the public.
1.A. something B. nothing C. everything D. anything
2.A. works B. puts C. takes D. depends
3.A. always B. sometimes C. seldom D. neither
4.A. full B. fond C. proud D. lack
5.A. angry B. worried C. pleased D. anxious
6.A. how B. when C. why D. where
7.A. silly B. necessary C. possible D. funny
8.A. work B. homework C. duty D. business
9.A. both B. anything C. something D. everything
10.A. refers B. leads C. causes D. results
11.A. pride B. harm C. nervousness D. selfishness
12.A. face B. side C. way D. hand
13.A. expect B. like C. wonder D. doubt
14.A. need B. dare C. must D. can
15.A. never B. ever C. probably D. finally
16.A. famous B. careful C. curious D. hard
17.A. for B. without C. in D. from
18.A. before B. as C. after D. during
19.A. So B. And C. But D. Or
20.A. much B. little C. some D. few
It's everyone's desire that every effort ___ to realize the China Dream.
A. was made B. be made
C. will be made D. would be made
