David Cameron mistakenly left his eight-year-old daughter in a pub by herself when he drove off without her, as was reported last night.
The Prime Minister(首相)--who had been enjoying Sunday drinks with his family near Chequers--only realized his eldest daughter was missing when he arrived back at his official country house.
The Camerons had been drinking at the Plough Inn, in Cadsden, Buckinghamshire, with their three children and two other families. As they were to leave, Nancy went off to the toilet without telling them.
The Prime Minister was driven back to Chequers, which is two miles from the pub, with protection officers in one car. Mr Cameron thought that Nancy was in the car with his wife, while she thought that their daughter had jumped in with the Prime Minister.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister last night said he was worried when he realized what had happened. They later confirmed that Mr Cameron returned to the pub to pick up Nancy.
“Thankfully when they phoned the pub she was there safe and well,” the spokesman said. “The Prime Minister went down straight away to get her.”
When Mr Cameron arrived back at the pub, he found his daughter happily helping the owner of the pub. It is understood she had been left by herself for 15 minutes.
The spokesman refused to discuss whether Mr Cameron had drunk alcohol. “He had gone with friends at lunchtime, with a number of families with children, and they left in various different vehicles. As you know, the Prime Minister is a very busy man but he always tries to live as normal a life as possible with his family.” he said.
Last night a pub “insider” said: “You’d have thought that someone would have done a headcount or something.”
It’s not like you can look up David Cameron in the phonebook and then ring to say you’ve left your daughter behind. It’s frightening that the Prime Minister of Britain can forget something so important as his own daughter.
1.What can we learn about the Camerons?
A. Mr Cameron drove home alone.
B. Nancy was left at the pub by chance.
C. Mrs Cameron drove to see her friends.
D. The children went to the pub for a party.
2.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. The British can telephone the Camerons easily.
B. The Prime Minister has the design to live a normal life.
C. The Prime Minister’s drunk driving annoyed the public.
D. The British were shocked at the news about the Camerons.
3.Where is the passage probably taken from?
A. A story book. B. A biography.
C. A magazine. D. A newspaper.
When I was a kid, I was just like every other kid. As usual, I liked being with friends and having fun. But I didn’t like school much. I didn’t like the rule of learning, studying, memorizing, etc. Too much work. As I got into high school, things changed for me. I started reading a lot of books. Books taught me about life and helped me learn about the world. I read around 30 books during each senior year. I learned to love reading then.
Little did I know at that time that I would write books by myself. I’ve written 7 books since then. One book I wrote, Powerful Attitudes, was a huge success within a network marketing company in the USA.
When I was 17 years old, I took about a dozen guitar lessons. I fell in love with guitar music no matter if it is blues, rock, flamenco or classical. I’ve attended concerts and have heard some great guitarists through the years. Recently, I bought myself a piano and began to learn to play it. I’ve made great progress. My knowledge of music and playing guitar has helped me a lot in learning the piano.
Last week, I employed a Chinese teacher to teach me Chinese. I’ve learned about 200 words in my first week. I’m inspired and motivated to learn. In fact, I feel a bit obsessed, thinking of learning Chinese. It’s like a mountain I want to climb and conquer. I’m 56 years old and my love to learn it runs deep in my heart, mind and soul.
What I certainly learned while growing up is to love learning. I never want to stop learning. I never want to stop studying people, life, processes and new things. I think the openness of admitting what you don’t know, makes you a good learner. You never lie to yourself or to others about your knowledge and experience. I have the attitude that if I don’t know something, I will learn to know it.
1.What can we learn about the author from the passage?
A. He fell in love with reading when he was a child.
B. One of his books enjoyed a lot of success.
C. He began to love music recently.
D. He is good at Chinese.
2.What does the underlined word “obsessed” mean?
A. Absorbed. B. Satisfied.
C. Concerned. D. Difficult.
3.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Learning skills. B. Learning methods.
C. Learning attitudes. D. Learning experience.
Have you dreamed of building your own machine? Do you wish you could invent something new? Here we look at a few British inventions of recent times.
Adaptable Glasses
Do you wear glasses? If so, can you imagine life without them? In 1985, Joshua Silver, a professor at Oxford University, asked himself, “Can I invent a pair of glasses that could be changed by the wearer?” He designed two plastic lenses(透镜) that are filled with a special liquid. The liquid can be changed between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make.
The Wind-up Radio
When you switch your TV on tonight, think about all those people without electricity. Thinking about this, Trevor Baylis came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. The radio has a generator (发电机) which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won a BBC Design Award for Best Protect and Best Design.
The Dyson Cleaner
In many homes around the world you can see a cleaner that looks like a spaceship. This is the Dyson vacuum (真空) cleaner which uses something called “cyclonic separation” to separate the dirt. You do not need a bag for your cleaner and it does not get blocked so it is very practical. The idea came to Sir James Dyson after he kept having problems with his vacuum cleaner. He decided he could design a better one and in 1993 he opened his own factory. The Dyson is now one of the best-selling cleaners in the UK and Dyson is believed to have earned over a billion pounds.
The Zapata Fly-board
Ever dreamed of rising through the water and jumping high in the air like a dolphin? Now you can try a fly-board, built by water sports fan Frank Zapata. With it you can dive back in the water and out again. It’s possible to jump to unbelievable heights out of the water—over 30 feet. The basic fly-board model comes in at ￡4,200.
So keep dreaming and inventing. One day you might get it right.
1.Who invented Adaptable Glasses?
A. Joshua Silver. B. Trevor Baylis.
C. James Dyson. D. Frank Zapata.
2.Which invention won an award?
A. Adaptable Glasses. B. The Wind-up Radio.
C. The Dyson Cleaner. D. The Zapata Fly-board.
3.Who might be interested in the invention of the Dyson cleaner?
A. Those who need radios.
B. Those who have eye problems.
C. Those who are fond of diving.
D. Those who want to use cleaners more easily.
4.What might be the best title for the passage?
A. Kind Inventors. B. Cheap Inventions.
C. Creative Minds. D. Future Dreams.
完形填空,阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从各题A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳答案。
In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about attack in other animals. This sometimes happens with ________ also. But I have found that my weakness brings out the ________ in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or ________ me to put on my coat. And I have ________ that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best ________ people. Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and ________ more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get ________ , with some speeding up alongside me, horning(按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At the moment I ________ to do something I had never done in twenty-four years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really ________ speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I turned on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, “I have a(n) ________ here. I am weak and doing the best I can.” And everyone ________ . Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn’t get around me because of the ________ of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they ________ , knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even ________ we don’t feel that way. But those seldom happen. More often, it would be better if we don’t pretend we feel strong when we feel ________ , which can bring out the best in humans.
1.A. humans B. plants C. animals D. insects
2.A. coldness B. respect C. cruelty D. kindness
3.A. ask B. help C. order D. allow
4.A. argued B. promised C. doubted D. discovered
5.A. in B. for C. to D. from
6.A. cycled B. rode C. drove D. followed
7.A. energetic B. careful C. unfair D. impatient
8.A. planned B. decided C. agreed D. forgot
9.A. low B. different C. variable D. top
10.A. chance B. accident C. problem D. danger
11.A. removed B. stopped C. regretted D. understood
12.A. direction B. stream C. light D. size
13.A. waited B. struggled C. cornered D. raced
14.A. although B. because C. when D. since
15.A. healthy B. weak C. confident D. mistaken
The teacher along with her students _________ the Palace Museum when we came across her.
A. were visiting B. was visiting
C. has visited D. have visited
The news that Helen won the first prize _________ her family and friends.
A. challenged B. supported
C. defeated D. delighted
