Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours, and then, after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there.
Sounds unusual, doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic, with the development of China’s high—speed railway system. And that’s not all. China has an even greater high-speed railway plan—to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and eventually Eastern Europe.
China is negotiating to extend its own high·-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually reaching London and Singapore.
China has proposed three such projects. The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia. Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and possibly to Germany. The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe.
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Berlin in under two days.
The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard. And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as some airplanes.
China’s bullet train(高速客车),the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou, already has the World’s fastest average speed. It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours.
Of course, there are some technical challenges to overcome. There are so many issues that need to be settled, such as safety, rail gauge(轨距),maintenance of railway tracks. So, it’s important to pay attention to every detail.
But the key issue is really money. China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion.
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment. Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development.
It’ll be a win-win project. For other countries, the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business, tourism and so on, not to mention the better communication among those countries.
For China, such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources, but would also help develop China’s far west. We foresee that in the coming decades, millions of people will migrate to the western regions, where the land is empty and resources unused. With high-speed trains, people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all. And they’11 trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries.
1.China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because .
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A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions |
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B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways |
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C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries |
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D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation, business and tourism |
2.According to the passage, the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is .
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A．technical issues |
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B．safety of the system |
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C．financial problems |
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D．maintenance of railway tracks |
3.Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?
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A．Critical. |
B．Reserved. |
C．Doubtful |
D．Positive. |
4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
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A．New Railway Standards |
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B．Big Railway Dreams |
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C．High-speed Bullet Trains |
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D．International Railway Network |
TODAY, Friday, November 12
JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at the Derby Arms. Upper Richmond Road West, Sheen, Admission(门票) free.
DISCO. Satin Sounds Disco. Free at the Lord Napier, Mortlake High St., from 8 pm. Tel. 682-1158.
JAZZ. Lysis at the Bull’s Head, Barnes. Admission 60p.
TOMRROW, Saturday, November 13
MUSIC HALL at the Star and Garter, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company. Good food and entertainment at a fair price. Tel. 789-6749.
FAMILY night out? Join the sing-along at the Black Horse, Sheen Road, Richmond.
JAZZ. The John Bennet Big Band at the Bull’s Head, Barnes. Admission 80p.
THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion(手风琴). Tel. 789-4536.
SUNDAY, November 14
DISCO. Satin Sounds Disco, free at The Lord Napier, Mortlake High Street, from 8 pm.
FOLK MUSIC at the Derby Arms. The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio.
Non-members 70p. Tel. 688-4626.
HEAVY music with Tony Simon at the Bull, Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen.
TEE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion.
1.We can listen to the Norman Chop Trio _________.
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A．at the Bull on Saturday |
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B．at the Black Horse on Saturday |
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C．at the Derby Arms on Sunday |
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D．at the Bull’s Head on Sunday |
2.Which telephone number will you ring if you want to enjoy good food and entertainment?
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A．682-1158. |
B．789-6749. |
C．789-4536. |
D．688-4626. |
3.The underlined word “fair” in the passage means _________.
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A．reasonable |
B．low |
C．high |
D．equal |
4.If this passage is from a newspaper, which section can it be probably taken from?
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A．Politics. |
B．Economics. |
C．Advertisement. |
D．Sports. |
People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velvet-the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race, At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained—and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet is still considered the best by a child actress.
Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons. When World War II started, the Taylor moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult(成人)roles and won twice for Best Actress: Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966)
Taylor’s fame(名声)and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part in Cleopatra—the highest pay received by any star up to that time.
Elizabeth Taylor is a legend (传奇人物) of our time. Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky, she has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others—several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than $40 million for research and education.
1.The producers didn’t let Taylor play the part of Velvet at first because they thought she ____.
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A．was small in size |
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B．was too young |
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C．did not play well enough |
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D．did not show much interest |
2.What Elizabeth Taylor and Velvet Brown had in common was that they were both _____.
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A．popular all their lives |
B．famous actresses |
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C．successful when very young |
D．rich and kind-hearted |
3.Taylor became Best Actress at the age of .
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A．12 |
B．28 |
C．31 |
D．34 |
4.In her later life, Elizabeth Taylor devoted herself to .
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A．doing business and helping others |
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B．turning herself into a legend |
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C．collecting money for the poor |
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D．going about research and education work |
I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles”(风格) of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑的) in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks(地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
1.When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually ______.
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A．describe the place carefully |
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B．show him a map of the place |
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C．tell him the names of the streets |
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D．refer to recognizable buildings and places |
2.What is the place where people measure distance in time?
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A．New York. |
B．Los Angeles. |
C．Kansas. |
D．Iowa. |
3.People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ______.
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A．in order to save time |
B．as a test |
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C．so as to be polite |
D．for fun |
4.What can we infer from the text?
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A．It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences. |
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B．It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly. |
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C．People have similar understandings of politeness. |
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D．New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors. |
Goldie’s Secret
She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. “We’re moving house.”; “No space for her any more with the baby coming.” “We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present.” People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.
That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.
By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking (舔) the four puppies (幼犬) I started to feel sympathy towards them. “We didn't know what had happened to her,” said the woman at the door. “I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared.” “She must have tried to come back to them and got lost,” added a boy from behind her.
I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I’ve learnt a good lesson: not to judge people.
1.How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?
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A．Shocked. |
B．Sympathetic. |
C．Annoyed. |
D．Upset. |
2.In her first few days at the author's house, Goldie .
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A．felt worried |
B．was angry |
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C．ate a little |
D．sat by the fire |
3.Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she .
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A．saw her puppies |
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B．heard familiar barking |
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C．wanted to leave the author |
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D．found her way to her old home |
4.The passage is organized in order of .
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A．time |
B．effectiveness |
C．importance |
D．complexity |
Several years ago, while attending a communication course, I experienced a most unusual process. The instructor asked us to list__36__ in our past that we felt __37__ of, regretted, or incomplete about and read our lists aloud.
This seemed like a very __38__ process, but there’s always some __39__soul in the crowd who will volunteer. The instructor then __40__ that we find ways to __41__ people, or take some action to right any wrong doings. I was seriously wondering how this could ever __42__ my communication.
Then the man next to me raised his hand and volunteered this story: “Making my__43__, I remembered an incident from high school. I grew up in a small town. There was a Sheriff __44__ of us kids liked. One night, my two buddies（同伴） and I decided to play a __45__ on him.
After drinking a few beers, we climbed the tall water tank in the middle of the town, and wrote on the tank in bright red paint: Sheriff Brown is a s.o.b. (畜生). The next day, almost the whole town saw our glorious __46__. Within two hours, Sheriff Brown had us in his office. My friends told the truth but I lied. No one __47__ found out.”
“Nearly 20 years later, Sheriff Brown’s name __48__ on my list. I didn’t even know if he was still __49__. Last weekend, I dialed the information in my hometown and found there was a Roger Brown still listed. I tried his number. After a few __50__, I heard, “Hello?” I said, “Sheriff Brown?” Paused. “Yes.” “Well, this is Jimmy Calkins.”
“And I want you to know that I did it.” Paused. “I knew it!” he yelled back. We had a good laugh and a __51__ discussion. His closing words were: “Jimmy, I always felt bad for you __52__ your buddies got it off their chest, but you were carrying it __53__ all these years. I want to thank you for calling me...for your sake.”
Jimmy inspired me to __54__all 101 items on my list within two years, and I always remember what I learned from the course: It’s never too late to __55__the past wrongdoings.
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