Why does most of the world travel on the right side today? Theories differ, but there's no doubt Napoleon was a major influence. The French have used the right since at least the late 18th century. Some say that before the French Revolution, noblemen drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasants to the right. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-hand control, like Great Britain, followed their left-hand tradition.
The U.S. has not always been a nation of right-hand drivers; earlier in its history, carriage and horse traffic travelled on the left, as it did in England. But by the late 1700s, people driving large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses began promoting a shift (改变) to the right. A driver would sit on the rear (后面的) left horse in order to wave his whip (鞭子) with his right hand; to see opposite traffic clearly, they travelled on the right.
One of the final moves to firmly standardize traffic directions in the U.S. occurred in the 20th century, when Henry Ford decided to mass-produce his cars with controls on the left ( the reason was stated in a 1908 catalog: the convenience for passengers exiting directly onto the edge, especially if there is a lady to be considered).Once these rules were set, many countries eventually adjusted to the right-hand standard, including Canada in the 1920s, Sweden in 1967 and Burma in 1970.The U.K. and former colonies such as Australia and India are among the Western world's few remaining holdouts(坚持不变者).Several Asian nations, including Japan, use the left as well—though many places use both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive cars.
1.Why did people in Switzerland travel on the right?
A. They had used the right-hand traffic since the 18th century.
B. Rich people enjoyed driving their carriages on the right.
C. Napoleon introduced the right-hand traffic to this country.
D. Hitler ordered them to go against their left-hand tradition.
2.Of all the countries below, the one that travels on the right is ______.
A. Austria B. England C. Japan D. Australia
3.Henry Ford produced cars with controls on the left ______.
A. in order to change traffic directions in the U.S.
B. so that passengers could get off conveniently
C. because rules at that time weren't perfect
D. though many countries were strongly against that
4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Before the French Revolution, all the French people used the right.
B. People in Britain and the U.S. travel on the same side nowadays.
C. The Burmese began to travel on the right in 1970.
D. All the Asian nations use the left at present.
I love charity shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won't find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity's appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful that it had been flooded with donations. They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favorite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children's books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don't encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs, and all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better places to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and step lightly on the environment.
1.The author loves the charity shop mainly because of ______.
A. its convenient location
B. its great variety of goods
C. its spirit of goodwill
D. its nice shopping environment
2. The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ______ .
A. sell cheap products
B. deal with unwanted things
C. raise money for patients
D. help a foreign country
3. Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?
A. The operating costs are very low.
B. The staff are usually well paid.
C. 90% of the donations are second-hand.
D. They are open twenty-four hours a day.
The health and welfare of every person in America will be affected by global warming, especially children, the elderly and the poor, according to a new White House science report.
The report said every region (地区) of the country will suffer worse health from heat waves and drought. All but a handful of states would have worse air quality and flooding. It predicts an increase in diseases spread by tainted (腐烂的) food, bad water and bugs (臭虫).
The report concludes that climate change causes real risk to human health and human system that supports the way of life in the United States.
Man-made global warming is caused by greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. At current emission (放射) levels, global temperatures are likely to rise by about 2 degrees by midcentury and about 7.5 degrees by the end of the century.
The most vulnerable (脆弱的) Americans — the poor, elderly, sick, very young and immigrants — will suffer more. That’s at least 10 percent of the country’s population, probably more. It will be tougher for these people to get enough health care for climate-related illnesses, to cool down in heat waves, to escape extreme events such as Hurricane Katrina, and even to get enough food.
While every region of America is vulnerable to global warming’s health and welfare effects, more people are moving to coastal regions, which are most vulnerable to climate change because of drought and hurricanes.
1.According to the report, we learn all of the following will risk human’s health EXCEPT ______.
A. heat waves and drought
B. increase in the number of bugs
C. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
D. global warming and climate change
2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. All of states would suffer flooding.
B. Air quality in few states is not high.
C. About half of all states would have clear air.
D. Flooding would occur in almost all the states.
3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Global warming is caused by human beings.
B. It is wise for the Americans to move into coastal regions.
C. Global temperatures are increasing year by year because of carbon dioxide.
D. At least one tenth of Americans are more likely to suffer climate-related illnesses.
4. The writer wrote this passage to ______.
A. explain how the phenomenon of global warming forms
B. protect the vulnerable Americans from suffering from diseases
C. provide evidence that global warming and climate change risk human’s health
D. warn every American of the danger of global warming to their health
Put sunscreen (防晒油) on before going out in the sun.
·Take it with you.
·Use it
— after a swim.
— every hour or so while playing outdoors.
— if you get sweaty.
·Cover up when the sun is overhead
— 10 a.m.—2 p.m..
— especially at lunch time.
·Get your suntan (晒黑) gradually and not too much.
·Controlled exposure (暴露) to sunshine helps avoid skin cancer.
Ask your chemist to recommend a suitable sunscreen.
Queensland Cancer Fund
P. O. Box
Spring Hill, QLD.4000
Phone (07) 8397077
Provided for community awareness by the Queensland Cancer
1.This passage is most likely to be ______.
A. an article from a student text book
B. a direction from a bottle of medicine
C. a suggestion from a chemist
D. an advertisement from a newspaper
2.Which statement is TRUE?
A. You should frequently put on sunscreen while playing outdoors.
B. You’ll never have skin cancer with controlled exposure.
C. You mustn’t stay outside from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
D. The more you get sunshine, the better your health will be.
3. According to the passage we can see that Queensland Cancer Fund wants to _____.
A. sell sunscreen, shirt and hat
B. help people guard against skin cancer
C. encourage people to play in the sun
D. make money out of sunscreen
4. If you want a sunscreen, you should ask _____ for advice.
A. the seller B. the advertiser
C. your doctor D. your parents
书面表达
假设你是李华， 你的美国朋友Jack 来信询问你校开展的“光盘行动”（Clear Your Plate Campaign）的有关事宜。请根据提示给他写一封回信。内容包括：
1.“光盘行动”的目的；
2.“光盘行动”后学生的变化；
3. 你的体会。
注意：
1. 词数100 左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jack,
I am writing to tell you something about the activity Clear Your Plate Campaign you referred to in your last letter.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
I’m looking forward to having your opinions of the campaign.
Yours,
Li Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加: 在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除: 把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。
修改: 在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意: 1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
It was on Sunday so I didn’t have to go to school as usually. My parents went to the countryside to see my grandparents, left me alone. After finishing my homework, I began to play football at home. All of a sudden, I kicked the ball so hardly that it flew right onto a vase and broke it. It was great favorite of my mother’s. I decided to tell my parents it was the fault of the cat for fear that she should punish me. Therefore, when they got home, I hesitated for a moment and told them that truly happened. Instead of punishing me, they just hoped that I will never make so a foolish mistake again.
