A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price. A more recent definition（定义）is: a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent（涉世不深的）people.
The cost of producing a new - for example - toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it, so we will market it at £1.20. It is not a bad toothpaste, and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with; but the attraction of novelty soon fades, so sales will fall. When that happens we will reduce the price to £1.15. And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it.
Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF. What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever! Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult (侮辱), but he doesn’t. A bargain must not be missed. People say one has to have washing powder (or whatever) and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper.
The real danger starts when unnecessary things become ‘bargains’. Many people just cannot resist bargains. Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for. Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day. But he had no regrets: the saw had been truly cheap.
Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains. A lady once told me: “ I’ve had a lucky day today. I bought a dress for £120, reduced from £400; and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for £600, reduced from £900.” It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted £720. She feels as though she had made £580. She also feels, I am sure, that if she had more time for shopping, she could make a living out of it.
Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper. Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. They thought it a bargain not to be missed. When the sugar arrived they didn’t know where to store it – until they realized that their toilet was a very spacious one. So that was where they piled up their sugar. Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee, but the toilet became extremely sticky.
To offer bargains is a commercial（商业的）trick to make the poor poorer. When greedy（贪婪的）fools fall for this trick, it serves them right.
1.Which word best describes the language style of the passage?
A. Polite. B. Foolish. C. Humorous. D. Serious.
2.What does the underlined word “novelty” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. Good quality. B. Low price.
C. Curiosity. D. Newness
3. How does the author feel about 1p OFF a product?
A. It’s a gift for poor people.
B. It’s an offense to shoppers.
C. It’s a bargain worth trying.
D. It’s a real reduction in price.
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Why do we bargain?
B. Be careful when bargaining.
C. Bargains help people make a living.
D. Bargains play tricks on people.
In 1992, when Xi Jinping worked in Fuzhou, he came across a newspaper report about “My Guling,” written by a Chinese student studying in the United States.
The report described an American couple who tried in vain to revisit a southern Chinese town called Guling, where the husband, Milton Gardner, had spent 10 years of his childhood before moving back to the united States in 1911.
Gardner, who later became a professor of physics at the University of California, had been longing to revisit Guling since 1979 when the diplomatic ties between China and the US were set up. But he had never made the trip due to his failing health.
According to the newspaper, Gardner kept uttering（叨念） “Kuling, Kuling” in the final hours of his life.
After he passed away, his wife Elizabeth Gardner decided to carry out the dying wish of her husband and since then made several trips to China in an attempt to find the small town that her husband had so much affection about. Her efforts ended in vain as she had few clues（线索）about the exact spot of the town. But a Chinese student lodging（寄宿）at the Gardners’ recognized the small town as Guling near Fuzhou City from postmarks on some old mails of late Mr. Gardner. The student wrote an article about Gardners’ story and sent it to the People’s Daily, one of the major newspapers in China.
“After I read the story, I immediately contacted Mrs. Gardner through the departments concerned and invited her to visit Guling,” Xi told the media. Thanks to Xi’s arrangement, Mrs. Gardner finally arrived at Guling in August 1992. She met there with nine childhood friends of her husband, all of whom were over 90 years old at that time.
It was a happy occasion for Mrs. Gardner, who was later awarded the honorary citizenship of Fuzhou City, Xi recalled.
“She said that she would value this bond（纽带）of friendship between her husband and the people of China, because after seeing for herself the beautiful Guling and the warmth and goodwill of the Chinese people, she now understood why her husband had been so deeply attached to China.”
“I believe there are many such touching stories between our two peoples,” said Xi.
1. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were brought up in a southern Chinese town.
B. The name of the town changed shortly after Milton Gardner left.
C. Guling might have originally been pronounced as Kuling in English.
D. Mrs. Gardner knew exactly where the small town lay in south China.
2.According to the passage, Mr. Gardner_________.
A. lived and worked in Guling for ten years
B. had few memories about the small Chinese town
C. kept in touch with his childhood playmates until he passed away
D. was deeply impressed by Guling’s people and environment
3.What played the most important part in making Milton Gardner’s wish come true?
A. The help from newspapers.
B. Mrs. Gardner’s hard efforts.
C. Mr. Xi’s concern and arrangement.
D. The Chinese student’s letter to Mr. Xi.
4.From the passage we can learn that_____.
A. the Gardners’ story is a moving one with a happy ending
B. the Chinese student studying in the US must be from Fuzhou
C. the mails which became clues of Guling were sent by Gardner
D. the American couple revisited China trying to find Guling but in vain
Food festivals around the world
Stilton Cheese Rolling
May Day is a traditional day for celebrations, but the 2,000 English villagers of Stilton must be the only people in the world who include checsc rolling in their annual plans. Teams of four,dressed in a variety of strange and funny clothes , roll a complete cheese along a 50-metre course. On the way, they must not kick or throw their cheese, or go into their competitors' lane. Competition is fierce and the chief prize is a complete Stilton cheese weighing about four kilos (disappointingly, but understandably the cheeses used in the race are wooden ones). All the competitors arc served with beer or port wine, the traditional accompaniment for Stilton cheese.
Fiery Foods Festival—The Hottest Festival on Earth
Every year more than 10,000 people head for the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They come from as far away as Australia, the Caribbean and China, but they all share a common addiction—food that is not just spicy ,but hot enough to make your mouth burn, your head spin and your eyes water. Their destination is the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival which is held over a period of three days every March. You might like to try a chocolate-covered habanero pepper—officially the hottest pepper in the world—or any one of the thousands of products that are on show. But one thing's for sure—if you don't like the feeling of a burning tongue, this festival isn't for you!
La Tomatina—The World's Biggest Food Fight
On the last Wednesday of every August, the Spanish town of Bunol hosts Ea Tomatina—the world's largest food fight. A week-long celebration leads up to an exciting tomato battle as the highlight of the week's events. The early morning sees the arrival of large trucks with tomatoes—official fight-starters get things going by casting tomatoes at the crowd.
The battle lasts little more than half an hour, in which time around 50,000 kilograms of tomatoes have been thrown at anyone or anything that moves, runs, or fights back. Then everyone heads down to the river to make friends again—and for a much-needed wash!
1.In the Stilton cheese rolling competition, competitors on each team must _________.
A. wear various formal clothes
B. kick or throw their cheese
C. roll a wooden cheese in their own lane
D. use a real cheese weighing about four kilos
2. The celebration of La Tomatina lasts __________.
A. three days B. seven days
C. more than half an hour D. more than seven days
3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The chief prize for the Stilton cheese rolling competition is beer or port wine.
B. More than 10,000 Chinese take pail in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival.
C. Thousands of spicy foods are on show in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival.
D. An exciting tomato battle takes place at the beginning of La Tomatina.
书面表达
假定你是李华。你的笔友晓东是某学校一名高一学生。最近他来信说不知道如何学好高中英语，感到苦恼。请你给他写一封回信，提出你的建议。建议内容如下:
1 尽力用英语交流，不要怕犯错误。
2 坚持每天早晚朗读英语。
3 多读英文报纸，看英文电影。
注意: 1 词数100左右； 2 可以适当增加细节，使行文连贯；
3 开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。
Dear Xiao Dong,
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
I hope you will find these ideas useful.
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。
My father go fishing alone every Sunday. This morning when we were got up, it was fine. Father decided to go fishing, so mother stopped him, said that it was going to rain according to the weather forecast. She asked him to put off his raincoat, but he did not take her advices. When he got to the river, it was cloud. Soon the rain began to fall heavily and he was caught in it. After she got home, he was wet through. “Did you catch some fish?” asked my mother. “No, but I caught bad cold,” he answered.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Robert is fourteen 1. (year) old and in the ninth grade at a middle school near his home. Life is hard for his family. His father, 2. was once a doctor, is now ill in bed. Every morning, after finishing delivering (递送) the newspapers, he 3. (hurry) to school. The school begins 4. 8 o’clock every morning. He 5. (usual) earns about 80 dollars a month and 6. (much) during his holidays. He wants to buy a new bike, but he has to spend some of the money 7. ( buy) books and clothes for himself, and he has to spend some of his money on food for his family. He saves the rest 8.__ (pay) for his college fees. He 9. (do) hope to go to college after he graduates from middle school and find a good job 10. he graduates from college. He hopes to earn much more money to support his poor family in the future.
