Most people go to a doctor in their own town or suburb. But people in the Australian outback can't get to
a doctor quickly. The nearest doctor is sometimes hundreds of kilometers away so they have to call him on
a two-way radio. This special doctor is called the "flying doctor". He visits sick people by plane.
     When someone is sick, the doctor has to fly to the person's home. His plane lands on a flat piece of ground
near the person's house. Sometimes has to take the patients to hospital. Flying doctors take about 8,600 people
to hospital each year.
     However, most of time the person isn't very sick, and the doctor doesn't have to visit. He can give advice
on the radio from the office at the flying center. He can tell the patient to use some medicine from a special
medicine chest (箱子). There is one of these chests in every home in the outback. Each bottle, tube and packet
in the chest has a number. The doctor often says something like this, "Take two tables from bottle 5 every
four hours."

1. Some people in the Australian outback can't get to a doctor quickly, because _____.

A. There are few doctors there.
B. The nearest doctor is sometimes very far away from them.
C. There is always heavy traffic on the road.
D. They don't want to see a doctor.

2. The doctor there usually goes to visit his patient _____.

A. by sea
B. by air
C. on foot
D. in a car

3. From the passage we know that _____.

A. people in Australia are seldom ill
B. every family in the outback has a special medicine chest
C. a "flying doctor" is a man who flies people to hospital
D. these are very few hospitals in Australia

     When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend on new clothes. Think about
the kind of clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes
on sale.
     There are labels (标签) inside all new clothes. The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes. The
label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash in cold water.
The label on a coat may say "dry clean only", for washing may ruin this coat. If you do as the directions
(说明) on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time.
     Many clothes today must be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check
to see if they will need to be dry cleaned. You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed.
    You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made. Well-made clothes last longer. They look good
even after they have been washed many times. Clothes that cost more money are not certainly better made.
They do not always fit better. Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive
clothes.

1. If you want to save money, you had better buy clothes that _____.

A. don't fit you
B. don't last long
C. need to be dry cleaned
D. can be washed

2. The labels inside the clothes tell you _____.

A. how to keep them looking their best
B. how to save money
C. whether they fit you or not
D. where to get them dry cleaned

3. We learn from the passage that cheaper clothes _____.

A. are always worse made
B. must be dry cleaned
C. can not be washed
D. can sometimes fit you better

4. The best title for the passage should be _____.

A. Buy Less Expensive Clothes
B. Taking Enough Money When Shopping
C. Being a Clever Clothes Shopper
D. Choosing the Labels inside New Clothes

     It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech,
every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, the moments are
usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say.
They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order
of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such
moments occur, don't worry about them, just continue as if nothing happened.
     Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that don't really matter. If you have ever listened
to Martin Luther King's famous speech -"I have a dream", you may notice that he stumbles (结巴) his words
twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don't remember. Why? Because you were fixing your
attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in
a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication.
They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking
for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that express the speaker's ideas clearly
and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speakers' attractiveness by making him more
human.
     As you work on your speech, don't worry about being imperfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will
find it much easier to give your speech freely.

1. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will _____.

A. be smarter than you
B. notice your mistakes
C. do better than you
D. know what you are talking about

2. You don't remember obvious mistakes in a speech because _____.

A. your attention is on the content
B. you don't fully understand the speech
C. you don't know what the speaker plans to say
D. you find the way of speech-making more important

3. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. giving a speech is like giving a performance
B. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
C. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be

4. What would be the best title of the passage?

A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker
B. How to Make a Perfect Speech
C. Don't Expect a Perfect Speech
D. Don't Expect Mistakes in a Speech

5. Which of the following statements is true?

A. If you are careful enough, you can make a perfect speech.
B. Speech-making is a kind of performance.
C. Listeners are not judges and they pay more attention to the message.
D. Martin Luther King is not a good speaker.

    When a friend is sad about a tragedy (悲剧), it's hard to know how to comfort (安慰) him/ her. But the
worst thing you can do is say nothing. It could mean that you don't care. You don't have to say much. A
single supportive phrase doesn't require absolutely perfect words to break the ice. Here are some conversation
starters when difficult situations have your tongue tied.
1. A friend loses his baby. 
    Don't say:"Don't worry. You're so young. You'll have another baby." Do say:" I'm so sorry. I can't begin
to imagine what you are going through, but if you want to talk about it, call me anytime."
2. A guy deserts your friend.
    Don't say:"I never liked that rat bastard (坏蛋) anyway!" ( If the couple winds up reconciling (和解), you
could end up losing your friend.) Do say:"Breaking up is always hard to deal with, but I'm here for you,
whatever you need."
3. A friend has a death in the family.
    Don't say:"It's God's will." or "I know exactly how you feel." Do say:"I'm sorry about your loss. What can
I do to help?"
4. A friend loses a job suddenly.
    Don't say:" Work is always boring. Those employers didn't suit you!" Do say:" I'm sorry for that, but I
know there's an even better job waiting for you there. Let's think about possibilities."
5. Someone's pet dies.
    Don't say:"Gee! It was only a cat!" or "My roommate doesn't like her dog and she is getting rid of her dog.
Do you want it?" Do say:"I'm sorry, she was such a great cat. How long did you have it?"

1. Which of the following has the same meaning as the underlined part "have your tongue tied"?

A. make your tongue shut
B. tie your tongue in order not to say.
C. have no suitable words to say.
D. say what you want freely.

2. As a whole, what's the best way to comfort your friend troubled with a tragedy?

A. To show your sorrow and offer your help.
B. To try to make the tragedy less serious.
C. To tell your friend not to think about it any more.
D. To do your best to make him/her cheerful again.

3. Though your friend is deserted, you'd better not say dirty words about her/ his friend because _____.

A. they might get along well again and you might be deserted
B. your friend might not like you to say that against her / his friend
C. it may be a sign that you don't care for your friend
D. your friend might hate you in the future

Sunny
     Nowadays they are giving homework even during the holidays and I hate that very much. But I think there
is a reason for it. Homework is given so that we can remember whatever we have learnt. Regular drilling and
repetition make perfect. But teachers have started to give too much homework. Anything in excess (过度) is
bad. So homework should be given with the idea of giving students a practice and not to overwork them.
Jane
     What's the use of just homework without allowing children to get an insight (洞察) into the subject? It just
makes them bookworms but nothing else. Homework such as writing some things 5 times at home will just
make them memorize things but not put them into use. I regret to say that teachers find it easy to bundle (归拢)
the children with homework rather than making them get interested to understand what they learn. The same
trend continues even in college. I find that most of the so-called high scorers are unable to answer simple things
in an interview.
Sally
     It is OK to give homework. But it should be given less. We are spending most of our time in school and at
least we must be free in our home. If you give homework, we will be very tired and we wouldn't be able to
pay attention to extra-curricular (课外的) activities, which in turn may affect our physical and mental health.
So please give less homework to us.
Johnson 
    It is part of our work to give students homework. There will be some punishments if we won't do our
work. So I have to do that though I know such a teacher is not liked by students.

1. Who thinks that too much homework may do harm to students' physical and mental health?

A. Sunny
B. Jane
C. Sally
D. Johnson

2. Who thinks homework should helps students learn something practical?

A. Sunny
B. Jane
C. Sally
D. Johnson

3. According to the last paragraph, why do teachers give students homework?

A. Because they care more about students'mental health.
B. Because they find it easy to control students in this way.
C. Because they will be punished if they don't give homework.
D. Because they want students to get interested in their studies.

4. What problem do the speakers talk about?

A. Whether students should be punished without doing homework.
B. What kind of homework should be given to students.
C. What role homework plays in helping students to learn.
D. Whether teachers should give homework to students.