Mr. Jackson lived in the center of London but he had a hotel near the airport. There a lot of foreigners stayed for night. He didn't know any other language but English and he found it difficult for him to understand the foreign visitors. Sometimes he had to use the gesture to talk with them, and tried his best to make himself understood. But he was often misunderstood and it brought him a lot of trouble. A friend of his who taught a few foreign languages in a university would teach him. He was happy and studied hard. At first he learned some, but soon he found it wasn't very easy to remember the words and expressions. His friend advised him to write down the useful expressions in his notebook so that he could use them when necessary. He did as he was told. He found it helpful for him to do so. One evening there were plenty of people in the dining-room. They were all busy eating something except a Japanese. He was wandering there and waiting for his wife who was dressing herself up upstairs. Mr. Jackson thought to himself, " The man wants to eat something but he doesn't know any English. Let me help him." As he knew only a little Japanese, he had to bring out his notebook and showed it to the man, pointing to the sentence "I'm hungry." The Japanese had a look at it and gave him two pounds and left. Mr. Jackson knew only English because _ . A) he was an English student B) he had never been abroad C) he couldn't learn by himself D) he hadn't studied any foreign languages
D
China news, Beijing, June 5 -- The Horizon Research Group conducted a survey about Chinese parents and their children in May last year and this year. Based on a random sampling method, the survey, done in May last year, investigated about 1,095 people living in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xinjiang, Jinzhong, and Luzhou. All these people were aged between 18 and 60. The survey shows that 55.5% of the parents did not know who their children's best friends were. Fathers, in particular, knew even less about their children than mothers, as the survey shows only 33.8% of fathers knew who their children's best friends were while 50.8% of mothers did so, China Youth Daily reported. Parents with little education were less concerned with their children's life, or whom their children played with. The survey shows that among parents that graduated from primary schools or without any educational background, only 33.1% knew who their children's best friends were. Among parents that had received middle school education, the related proportion reached 45.5%. This year's survey was also based on random sampling. In May 2007, the Horizon Research Group investigated some 1,456 families in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Xi'an, Chengdu and Harbin. The survey shows that children under the age of 12 play for less time with their playmates than their parents did when they were young. The survey also shows that most children at present spend only 21.9% of their time playing with their friends, while their parents spent 36.8% of their time with their playmates when they were young. Nowadays, most children spend more time with their grandparents or babysitters than with their parents. The passage can be found in _ . A) a magazine B) a newspaper C) a science journal D) a school book
B
Q: A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders : Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences? Certainly! there are some differences between British and American English. 'There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say "in hospital" and "Have you a pen?" Americans say "in the hospital!" and "Do you have a pen?". Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like "bird" and "hurt". Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, "colour" and "honour" are British, "color" and honor" are American. These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language. According to this passage, British people and Americans have _ difficulty in understanding each other. A) little B) much C) some D) great
A: A
Q: US track star Marion Jones owned a trophy case filled with medals. She had worldwide fame. She held the high honor of being the first female track and field athlete to win five medals at an Olympics -- the 2000 Sydney Games. But last Friday, the 31-year-old track star tearfully confessed that she had lied to fans, sports official and US federal agents about taking steroids. The five Olympic medals in her trophy case? Gone. Meaningless. The worldwide fame? Exchanged for infamy. The honor of being the first female track and field athlete to win five medals at an Olympics? Forgotten, wiped off the record books. "It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust." Jones confessed. She'd posed for pictures with fans. She'd attended parties and talked about her accomplishments. But for years she'd slept --- or tried to sleep -- knowing that much of what she had done was built on a lie. Now, finally, she'd decided to tell the truth. "If she had trusted her own natural gifts and allied them to self-sacrifice and hard work, I sincerely believe that she could have been an honest champion at the Sydney Games." IAAF President Lamine Diack said over the weekend. "Instead, Mario Jones will be remembered as one of the biggest frauds in sporting history." Sadly, she won't be the last. There are still others lurking behind their trophies. They too appear to have everything. They're superstars, the envy of every young person who has played a sport. But for how long? And at what cost? Every time they look at their trophies and medals they remember that the awards really belong to someone else. The writer values _ most in this passage. A) Marion Jones' deciding to tell the truth B) the honesty and hard work in sports competition C) trophies, medals and champions D) the spirit of Olympic Games
A: B