Reading is very important to help you learn English. To learn as much as you can from reading, you need to read different kinds of English. This book provides not only different kinds of English but also a good way to check your reading ability.
There are four parts in the book:
Part 1 is Messages: In this part somebody wants to send information in writing to somebody else. There is a test on timetable and a test on text messages.
Part 2 is People: In this part all the tests are about people. For example, there is an informal letter between friends. There is formal English in biography(传记). There is a job application as a model to help with your writing, as well as testing your reading.
Part 3 is Places: In this part, too, many different kinds of English are shown, some informal and some formal. There is the informal English of a holiday postcard. There is also the formal English in a letter of complaint.
Part 4 is Things: You will find some descriptive writing in this part. There are descriptions of clothes and of a computer.
You can do these tests in any order you like, or you can do all the tests with a formal or informal text. I enjoyed writing this book and I hope you enjoy using it.
69. We can find the introduction to a product in ___________.
A. part 1     B. Part 2     C. Part 3       D. Part 4
70. Which of the following is most probably written in informal English?
A. A letter of complaint.    B. A computer handbook.
C. A letter of a friend.      D. A story of a president.
71. The passage is most probably written for _________.
A. test designers    B. students     C. test-takers    D. teachers
72. What is the best title of the book?
A. Test Your Reading              B. Help with Your Writing
C. Learn Different Kinds of English  D. Practise English in Different Ways

C

Wearing ties was originally the mark of Britain’s most powerful classes, which made the tie itself a symbol of power and respect. And that led it to be adopted by a much larger tribe－the business tribe.

You cannot wear a tie if you work with machinery. So wearing a tie became a sign that you were a man who used your brain to make a living, rather than your hands. It showed you were serious. It showed you were a professional. It meant that everyone who wanted a job in business had to wear one. It was just impossible to take seriously a man who didn’t wear a piece of colored silk around his neck.

This is how millions of people came to be wearing ties across the world. They are part of the uniform of business.

“Ties offer a point of indifference,” says John Milne, head of the British Guide of Tie Makers, “They give a chance to say something about their own personality.”

So if you happen to meet a man with a very brightly colored tie, there is a good chance that he is the office joker. There is also a good chance that he will be wearing brightly colored socks.

Is there a future for ties? The signs are not promising. Tie wearing seems to be rare among the new bread of entrepreneurs(创业者) in the Internet and new technology industries. Many political leaders, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now go without ties. This shows they are men of the people－but not the people wearing ties.

Up until around 1960, it was common for men across the western world to wear hats as part of their business uniform. That changed with the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency of the United States. Kennedy never wore a hat－in fact his nickname was “hatless Jack”. Seeing that the most powerful man in the world did not have to wear a hat, millions of other men decided that they did not have to, either. Hats simply vanished across the Western world. Perhaps “tieless Tony” (former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair) will have the same effect as “hatless Jack”.

66．In Britain, ties were first used as a sign to show a person’s __________.

       A．personality       B．social position  C．wearing style    D．favorite hobby

67．In the business world, wearing a tie was necessary because _________.

       A．it showed you used your brain       B．it showed you got a good salary

       C．it showed you were an employer    D．it showed you were well-equipped

68．The underlined word “vanished” in this passage may mean _________.

       A．sold  B．washed     C．appeared   D．disappeared

69．The writer may hold the opinion that _____________.

       A．Blair is the best leader in the world

       B．Kennedy is the best leader in the world

       C．millions of people will go to work without a tie

       D．people will wear hats instead of ties

70．Which of the following statements is TURE according to the passage?

       A．If you are a professional, you can’t wear a tie in Britain

       B．The tie will become more fashionable and popular in the future

       C．It was the election of John F．Kennedy to the presidency of the United States that changed the fact that wearing hats as part of their business uniform

       D．Men across the western world didn’t wear hats as part of their business uniform until around 1960

　　A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.

　　The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.

　　Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.

　　The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.

　　“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

　　Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.

　　“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.

　　Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.

　　T  Pessimism gurantees chances of survival.he authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.

　　However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.

　　67. According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

　　A. Optimistic adults.

　　B. Middle-aged adults.

　　C. Adults in poor health.

　　D. Adults of lower income.

　　68. Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

　　A. to fully enjoy their present life

　　B. to estimate their contribution accurately

　　C. to take measures against potential risks

　　D. to value health more highly than wealth

　　69. How do people of higher income see their future?

　　A. They will earn less money.

　　B. They will become pessimistic.

　　C. They will suffer mental illness.

　　D. They will have less time to enjoy life.

　　70. What is the clear conclusion of the study?

　　A. Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

　　B. Good financial condition leads to good health.

　　C. Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

　　D. Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

A new weapon is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe.

Soon when smokers buy cigarettes, they might see a shocking photo of

a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet.

       Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy. Their friends won’t

agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table.

The European Union announced on October 22, that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body. It called on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage young smokers.

To catch the attention of teenagers, the special packets warn of long-term medical dangers, like cancer. Short-term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list.

“The true fact of smoking is disease, death and horror. That is the message we should send to the young,” said David Byrne, an EU health official. “Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes.”

The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current written warnings on packs of cigarettes. The warning included “smoking kills” and “smoking can lead to a slow and painful death.”

So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos. Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000．The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers.

According to studies, smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable death in EU. Every year more than 650,000 smokers die, more than one person a minute.

68．What would be the best title for the text?    

       A．New Ways to Stop Smoking.  B．Pictures to Shock Smokers.

       C．New Packers of Cigarettes.     D．Dangers of Smoking.

69．We can learn from the test that _______.

       A．The EU countries have put the new warning method into practice

       B．only a small number of the EU countries have used the new warning method

       C．the new warning method has worked in some EU countries

       D．countries in the EU still use the old warning method

70．Which country is most successful in stopping smoking?

       A．Ireland.    B．Belgium.  C．Canada.   D．EU

71．The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that ________.

       A．It’s hard to stop smoking in EU

       B．deaths caused by smoking could have been avoided

       C．smoking is the biggest cause of deaths in EU

       D．EU has the largest number of deaths caused by smoking

Neatness and personal cleanness have been around for ages and have become an important part of everyone’s daily routine. You might think that all modern societies would have the same neatness and personal cleanness practices. After all, doesn’t everybody take baths? Most people do recognize the need for cleanness, which is the basis for health. Neatness practices include all the little things people do to make themselves look their best, such as combing their hair and putting on makeup. However, while most modern people agree that these things are important, people in different cultures take care of themselves in different ways.

There used to be an old joke in America that people should take a bath once a week, whether they need one or not. In fact, though, Americans generally take a bath or more commonly, a shower every day. But in contrast to some cultures, most Americans get their shower in the morning so that they can start the day fresh. Americans are known for having very sensitive noses. In America, body smell is socially unacceptable. For that reason, Americans consider it a must to use special lotion (浴液) to prevent the smell. Ladies often add a touch of perfume. Men may spray on after – shave cream or manly – smelling perfume.

Some of the cultural varieties in neatness practices result from physical differences between races. Whereas many Asian men have little facial hair, Westerners have a lot. As a result, most American men spend some time each day shaving or tidying their facial hair to keep it nice. American women, on the other hand, generally prefer not to be hairy at all.

　　Americans put great value on both neatness and personal cleanness. For some people, taking care of themselves has become almost a religion. As the old saying goes, “Cleanness is next to godliness.” Whether or not being clean and neat – looking brings one closer to God, it certainly at least brings one closer to others. Americans look down on people who don’t take care of themselves, or who “let themselves go.”

68．We can infer from the first paragraph that          .

A．everyone takes baths daily to get a nice look.

B．people have the same neatness practices today.

C．neatness practices may be affected by cultures.

D．neatness means combing hair and doing makeup.

69．Americans have a bath in the morning to          .

A．begin an energetic day                                  B．refresh their sensitive noses

C．prevent their body smell                               D．style their hair at home

70．According to the author, physical differences between races can cause differences in       .

A．cultures                   B．locations                  C．religions                   D．neatness practice

71．The underlined phrase in the last paragraph means “       ”.

A．care much about themselves                      B．give loose to themselves

C．stay away from other people                       D．stay closer to other people