【一】Thanksgiving with the Watsons

　　People came to America from every country in the world and brought the traditions of their ancestors with them. Thus， most American traditions are not really American. But Thanksgiving (感恩节) is different because it started in America. So it is a truly American tradition.

　　Life provides many good and bad things. Every year， in November， Thanksgiving Day reminds us of the good things in life， and people are thankful. On this day people usually eat turkey and great quantities of other foods. Jesse has decided to spend Thanksgiving with David and Elizabeth Watson because he likes them， and because he cannot go to his parents' home in Chicago.

　　Elizabeth's nickname (昵称) is Betty， and people usually call her that. She is the secretary of Jesse's boss. Jesse got to know the Watsons two years ago and he and Dave have become good friends. Sometimes they go fishing or to a ball game together.

　　The Watsons live in a small apartment in a suburb of New York City. The offices where Betty works are in downtown New York， and she has to take a bus and two subway trains to go to work every day. It takes her about one hour to get there. She finds the trip boring and tiring. She wants to stay home in order to take care of the family and enjoy the children. The Watsons have three children. Their daughter Sue is in the fourth grade and their son Paul is in the second grade. They also have a two-year-old daughter， Ann.

　　The children like Jesse; he is their hero. He tells them stories about foreign countries， about Africa and China， about the Pacific and Japan; he has never even seen most of these countries. He knows about fast cars and new inventions. The Watson children think that Jesse is full of adventures; he is fascinating to them. Frequently he takes them to the park and joins them in their games.

　　Today Jesse brought Sue a record of her favorite music， because she has a new record player. He also brought Paul a toy truck and Ann a plastic (塑料) book with bright pictures， and Betty a bunch of flowers. Betty cooked a nice turkey， and they all ate too much. After dinner the children wanted to go out to the park with Jesse. But they had to stay home， because it was raining. Later， Dave and Jesse sat down in front of the TV to watch a football game.

　　1 Thanksgiving is not a truly American tradition

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

　　2 Thanksgiving Day falls on the 4th Thursday in November.

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

　　3 The turkey is a most popular food on Thanksgiving Day

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

　　4 Jesse and his boss are good friends.

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

　　5 Elizabeth enjoys going to work in downtown New York

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

　　6 The children like Jesse because he once traveled around the world

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentionedＷww.KaＯ8.CC

　　7 Jesse had a good time in his friends' home

　　A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

　　【参考答案】1. B 2. C 3. A 4. C 5. B 6. B 7. A

【二】Nobody Had Believed It Was Possible

　　In 1912， the Titanic hit an iceberg on its first trip across the Atlantic， and it sank four hours later. It was carrying 2207 people， but it had taken on enough lifeboats for only 1178 people. When the passengers tried to leave the ship， only 651 of them were able to et into lifeboats and 1502 people lost their lives.

　　Throughout the whole tragedy， the California was only ten miles away. Its officers were close enough to see the Titanic， but they did not understand the situation. They never received the Titanic‘s call for help， and they did not come to the rescue until too late.

　　First of all， nobody had prepared for such a tragedy. Nobody had believed that the Titanic could sink. The steamship company had thought that its ship would be completely safe in all situations. They followed an old rule for the number of lifeboats， so they had supplied lifeboats for only half the people. And the passengers had not practiced lifeboat drills before the accident and they did not believe they were in danger.

　　The ship had already received six ice warnings on its radio when it struck the iceberg. But it had not changed its direction or its speed. It was impossible to change direction quickly enough when the iceberg came in sight. When the Titanic hit the iceberg， the radio officer on the California had just gone to bed. He had tried to warn the officers on the Titanic about the ice before he went to bed， but the officers had not listened.

　　After this accident， ocean travel change. Now there are always enough lifeboats for everybody. Ships do not go so far north in winter， and they watch carefully for ice. Radio officers work 24 hours a day. A tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic should never happen again.

　　(1).Over 1，000 passengers were able to escape in lifeboats from the sinking Titanic.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentioned

　　(2).Throughout the whole tragedy， the California didn‘t received the Titanic’s call for help.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentioned

　　(3).The Titanic has 1，178 lifeboats for 2，207 people， but 1，502 people lost their lives because many people did not know how to get into their lifeboats.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentioned

　　(4).The California didn‘t come in time to save the passengers on the Titanic because its officers were not clear about what was happening on the Titanic.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentioned

　　(5).The ship might not have sunk if its radio officer had listened to the warning from the California.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentioned

　　(6).After the accident， ships are not allowed to travel into the north in winter to ensure safe ocean travel.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentionedＷww.KaＯ8.CC

　　(7).A tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic never happened again.

　　A. Right

　　B. Wrong

　　C. Not mentioned

　　1　【正确答案】 B

　　2　【正确答案】 A

　　3【正确答案】 A

　　4【正确答案】 C

　　5【正确答案】 A

　　6【正确答案】 A

　　7【正确答案】 B