Letter A

Dear Rose,

I like your programmes very much.I�餸 now writing to ask you something about American social customs.My American friends want me to join them in their dinner party.I am very happy and have decided to go,but I�餸 a little worried about it,too.The social customs in my country are very different from here,so I�餸 afraid of making mistakes.

Should I bring a present,such as sweets or flowers? Should I arrive on time or a little late? At the dinner table,how can I know which fork or knife to use? How can I let the family know that I�餸 thankful for their kindness?

Wang Lin

Letter B

Dear Wang Lin,

It�餾 a good idea to bring a small present when you go to a dinner party.Flowers are always nice,or you may bring a bottle of wine if you know that your friends drink it.

You should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late.Don�餿 get there early.If you�餽e going to be more than fifteen minutes late,you should call and tell them.

Try to be free at the dinner table.If you don�餿 know about choosing the right fork or knife,just watch the other people,and follow them.If you still have no idea of what to do,ask the person next to you.

If you like the food,say so.Of course,you�餷l thank them for the meal and for their kindness.It�餾 also a good idea to send a thank�瞴ou card the day after.

Rose

()1.Wang Lin wants to .

A.make friends with Rose

B.know some social customs for a dinner party

C.make her friends happy

D.give her friends a surprise

()2.Rose is possibly .

A.a good housewife B.a TV hostess

C.a member of the dinner party D.a friend of Wang Lin�餾

()3.If you�餽e asked to a dinner party but not sure about what to bring as a present,it�餾 good to bring .

A.some fruits B.a bottle of wine

C.some flowersD.a knife and fork

()4.Which of the following is NOT proper for joining in a dinner party?

A.Get there 15 minutes earlier.

B.Make yourself at home.

C.Follow others to use forks and knives.

D.Thank your friends for the meal.

()5.From the letters we�饁e learned that it�餾 very to know something about American social customs.

A.difficult B.friendly

C.enjoyable D.helpful

Passage Two

July 21,2007 was a typical English summer�餾 day—it rained for 24 hours! As usual,I rushed home from work at midday to check on the house.Nothing was amiss.By the time I left work at 5 pm,however,the road into our village was flooded.Our house had never been flooded,but as I opened the front door,a wave of water greeted me.Thank God the kids weren�餿 with me,because the house was 5 feet deep in water.We lost everything downstairs.And the plaster of the walls,ceilings pulled down.

At first we tried to push on through.We didn�餿 want to move the children out of home,so we camped upstairs.We put a sheet of plastic across the floor to protect us from the damp.But after three months,we felt very sick,so we moved to a wooden house in a park.The house was small,but at first we were all just delighted to be in a new place.Unfortunately,things took longer than expected and we were there for 10 months.The life there was inconvenient.What surprised me most was how much I missed being part of a community(社區(qū)).We had lived in a friendly village with good neighbors,and I�餯 never thought how much I�餯 miss that.

Although our situation was very hard,it�餾 difficult to feel too sorry for yourself when you look at what�餾 happening elsewhere.I watched a news report about floods in Northern India and thought,“We didn�餿 have a straw(茅草房) but that was swept away,and our house is still standing.We�餽e lucky.”

We moved back home in August.With December coming,there�餾 still reconstruction work to be done,so it�餾 difficult to prepare for Christmas.But I can�餿 wait—I�餸 going to throw a party for our friends in the village to say thanks for their support.This year,I won�餿 need any gifts—living away from home for months has made me realize how little we actually need or miss all our possessions.Although we are replacing things,there�餾 really no rush—we have our home back,and that�餾 the main thing.

()6.What does the underlined word “amiss” in the first paragraph mean?

A.Wrong. B.Missing.

C.Right. D.Found.

()7.It can be inferred from the text that the author.

A.was sick of staying upstairs

B.cared much about her children

C.could not stand living in a wooden house

D.did not deal well with her family affairs during the flood

()8.Why does the author say that they were lucky in the third paragraph?

A.Because her situation was not serious.

B.Because many other places were flooded.

C.Because she had been to Northern India.

D.Because some others suffered even more.

()9.What does the author mainly want to express by telling her story?

A.She valued human feelings more than before.

B.She realized she almost didn�餿 need possessions.

C.She found Christmas gifts no longer badly needed.

D.She thought her own home was the most important.

Passage Three

There are two factors which determine an individual�餾 intelligence.The first is the sort of brain he is born with.Human brains differ considerably,some being more capable than others.But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with,an individual will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn.So the second factor is what happens to the individual—the sort of environment in which he is reared.If an individual is handicapped environmentally,it is likely that his brain will fail to develop and he will never attain the level of intelligence of which he is capable.

The importance of environment in determining an individual�餾 intelligence can be demonstrated by the case of the identical twins,Peter and Mark Being identical,the twins had identical brains at birth,and their growth processes were the same.When the twins were three months old,their parents died,and they were placed in separate foster homes.Peter was reared by parents of low intelligence in an isolated community with poor educational opportunities.Mark was reared in the home of well�瞭o�瞕o parents who had been to college.He was read to as a child,sent to good schools,and given every opportunity to be stimulated intellectually.This environmental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens,when they were given tests to measure their intelligence.Mark�餾 I.Q.was 125,twenty�瞗ive points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his identical brother.Given equal opportunities,the twins,having identical brains,would have tested at roughly the same level.

()10.This selection can best be titled.

A.Measuring Your Intelligence

B.Intelligence and Environment

C.The Case of Peter and Mark

D.How the Brain Influences Intelligence

()11.The best statement of the main idea of this passage is that .

A.human brains differ considerably

B.the brain a person is born with is important in determining his intelligence

C.environment is crucial in determining a person�餾 intelligence

D.persons having identical brains will have roughly the same intelligence

()12.According to the passage,the average I.Q.is .

A.85B.100

C.110D.125

()13.The case of the twins appears to support the conclusion that .

A.individual with identical brains seldom test at same level

B.an individual�餾 intelligence is determined only by his environment

C.lack of opportunity blocks the growth of intelligence

D.changes of environment produce changes in the structure of the brain

()14.This passage suggests that an individual�餾 I.Q..

A.can be predicted at birth

B.stays the same throughout his life

C.can be increased by education

D.is determined by his childhood