李智

A

A beautiful young blonde girl boards a plane to New York with a ticket for the economy section （經(jīng)濟(jì)艙區(qū)域）. She looks at the seats in economy and then looks into the forward cabin at the first-class seats. Seeing that the first-class seats are much larger and more comfortable， she moves forward and takes the last empty one. The flight attendant （空姐） checks her ticket and tells the girl that her seat is in economy. The blonde replies， “Im young， blonde and beautiful， and Im going to sit here all the way to New York.” Confused and nervous， the flight attendant goes to the cockpit （駕駛艙） and informs the captain （機(jī)長(zhǎng)） of the “blonde problem”.

The captain goes back and tells the girl that her assigned seat is in economy. Again， the blonde replies， “Im young， blonde and beautiful， and Im going to sit here all the way to New York.” The captain doesnt want to cause trouble， and so returns to the cockpit to discuss the “blonde problem” with the co-pilot （副駕駛）. The co-pilot says that he has a blonde girlfriend， and that he can take care of the problem. He then goes back and briefly whispers something in the girls ear. She immediately gets up， says， “Thank you so much，” hugs the co-pilot， and rushes back to her seat in the economy section. The pilot and flight attendant， who were watching with great attention， askd the co-pilot what he had said to the girl. He replies， “I just told her that the first class section isnt going to New York.”

1. Whats wrong with the young blonde girl？

A. She cant find her seat.

B. She has not bought a ticket.

C. She takes the wrong seat.

D. She refuses to get off the plane.

2. The flight attendant ___.

A. quarrels with the young girl about her seat

B. reports the problem to the captain of the plane

C. helps the young girl find her seat in economy

D. persuades the young girl to go back to her seat in economy

3. Who persuades the young girl to go back to her own section？

A. The flight attendant.

B. The captain.

C. The co-pilot.

D. The co-pilots girlfriend.

4. It can be inferred that ___ is simple-minded.

A. the flight attendant

B. the captain

C. the co-pilot

D. the blonde girl

5. The purpose of writing this passage is to

___.

A. tell a joke

B. show us how to be more persuasive

C. inform us of what often happens on planes

D. prove how foolish beautiful women are B

This year Im buying presents for 16 children， as well as my own daughter， Mia-Grace， who will be two on Christmas Day. My tree will be beautifully decorated. Im taking a turkey to the family Christmas lunch and having an open house on Boxing Day. And the whole things only going to cost me $150.

Ive been careful with money since I was a teenager， for I come from a poor family with many children. I had to drop out of high school to earn money to support myself. I remember well that I went a bit mad back when I got my first credit card. My parents made me leave home and cared little for me after that， which taught me a real lesson.

Were very careful now and we dont overspend or owe anything on credit cards. I work for an electrician and my husband Neil， 33， works in the construction business. Were concerned about our jobs because our companies are quiet at the moment.

Weve also been hit by rising prices， particularly those on food， petrol， gas and electricity. Everyone I know is worried. A friends husband has recently become self-employed and if he doesnt work， they have no money coming in.

Christmas has been playing on my mind for the past three or four months. We decided on a budget of $150 because thats just under my weekly wage and it meant we could afford Christmas while using Neils salary for our essential bills.

We quickly realised that we buy some things every year just for the sake of it. Even though we have loads of decorations， we usually buy something new for the tree， but this Christmas were not going to. Weve already got our tree—a big artificial one which I bought half-price in the January sales. It will last us for years.

After all， no one can escape from this financial crisis （金融危機(jī)） which is spreading around the globe.

6. From this passage， we can infer Boxing Day most probably falls on ___.

A. January 20????? B. May 5

C. October 24???? ? D. December 26

7. Which of the following is TRUE about the author according to this passage？

A. She bought Christmas presents for 16 children altogether.

B. She bought an artificial Christmas tree at a low price.

C. Both the author and her husband are out of work now.

D. She would like to buy a new Christmas tree this Christmas.

8. The second and third paragraphs mainly tell us ___.

A. why the author is very careful with money

B. how she finished her high school education

C. where she earned her first money in her teens

D. when she left home and got married to her husband

9. We can conclude from this passage that

___.

A. the author often quarrels with her husband about their money problems

B. nobody but the author is worried about rising prices

C. the author has never been worried about losing her and her husbands jobs

D. the author and those around her are suffering from the financial crisis

10. Where would this passage most probably appear？

A. On an entertainment website.

B. On the website of a research centre.

C. On a website about peoples lifestyles.

D. On the website of NASA.

（Key?p. 38）