2021重庆市八中高一下学期期末考试英语试题含答案

这是一份2021重庆市八中高一下学期期末考试英语试题含答案，共19页。试卷主要包含了5分，满分7等内容，欢迎下载使用。
重庆八中2020—2021学年度（下）期末考试高一年级
英语试题
满分：150分。考试时间：120分钟。
第一部分 听力（共两节，满分30分）
第一节（共5小题；每小题1.5分，满分7.5分）
听下面5段对话，每段对话后有一个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。听完每段对话后，你都有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话仅读一遍。
1. What’s the probable relationship between the two speakers?
A. Colleagues. B. Old friends. C. Strangers.
2. What does the woman mean?
A. She won’t work overtime without pay.
B. She will stay late to finish her work.
C. She likes to work overtime.
3. How did the woman go to Canada?
A. By plane. B. By car. C. By train.
4. Why does the woman feel unhappy?
A. Because she was criticized by her teacher.
B. Because she thinks she failed the physics exam once again.
C. Because she is worried about the coming exam.
5. What is the man doing?
A. Seeing off a friend.
B. Picking up a friend at the airport.
C. Making friends with a stranger.
第二节（共15小题；每小题1.5分，满分22.5分）
听下面5段对话或独白，每段对话或独白后有几个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。听每段对话或独白前，你将有时间阅读各个小题，每小题5秒钟；听完后，各小题将给出5秒钟的作答时间。每段对话或独白读两遍。
听下面一段对话，回答第6和第7两个小题。
6. What’s the woman’s reaction to Discos?
A. She is fond of it. B. She is fed up with it. C. She isn’t sure about it.
7. What kind of activity will the two speakers have?
A. A concert. B. A party. C. An exhibition.
听下面一段对话，回答第8至第10三个小题。
8. Where is the man when he calls?
A. In a wooden house. B. At work C. In a hotel.
9. How will the woman get there?
A. By train. B. By her own car. C. By plane.
10. What can we learn from the conversation?
A. Indian Lake is about half an hour from Chicago
B. The woman will leave Indian Lake on Monday afternoon.
C. The man’s family go to Indian Lake on July 4th every year.
听下面一段对话，回答第11至第14四个小题。
11. Which of the following is true according to the conversation?
A. The two speakers used to be classmates.
B. The man’s just come back from America.
C. The woman doesn’t know how to take photos.
12. What are the two speakers mainly talking about?
A. Their study plans.
B. Their new study environments.
C. Their hobbies.
13. What does the man seldom do for his stamps?
A. Seal them. B. Divide them. C. List them.
14. Why doesn’t the woman do her own developing now?
A. Because she is too busy.
B. Because she is no longer interested in it.
C. Because she does not have good equipment.
听下面一段对话，回答第15至第17三个小题。
15. How does the man send the letter to Holland?
A. By registered mail. B. By ordinary mail. C. By airmail.
16. How many letters does the man send?
A. One. B. Two. C Three.
17. How much does the man spend totally?
A. $0.3. B. $2. C. $7.30.
听下面一段独白，回答第18至第20三个小题。
18. Why do some pyramids remain in a good state?
A. Because of the good care of local people.
B. Because of being buried in sand.
C. Because of the dry climate of Egypt.
19. What has caused the most damage to the pyramids?
A. Treasure and stone hunters. B. The Nile Rive. C. The wars.
20. How can we have a clear picture of how pyramids were built?
A. By the paintings showing their construction plans.
B. By studying pyramids and the tools used to build them.
C. By written descriptions of how they were built.
第二部分 单项选择（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）
21. Though ______, running does us much good.
A tired B. tiring C. we tired D. it gets tired
22. Do you consider it any good ______ psychology?
A. to learn B. learning C. learned D. having learned
23. Although ______ of danger, tourists can’t help taking photos near the cliff.
A. having warned B. warning C. warned D. warn
24. ______ with so much trouble, we failed to complete the task on time.
A. Faced B. Face C. Facing D. To face
25. There’s a note pinned to the window ______ when the shop will open again.
A. saying B. says C. said D. having said
26. ______ a meeting that has nothing to do with us really wastes our time.
A. Attending B. Attended C. Being attended D. Attend
27. While waiting for the opportunity to get ______, Henry did his best to perform his duty.
A. promote B. promoted C. promoting D. to promote
28. In April, thousands of holidaymakers remained ______ abroad due to the volcanic ash cloud.
A. sticking B. to be stuck C. stuck D. to have stuck
29. The game was so exciting to play that the boy kept his eyes and attention ______ on it, ruining both a lot.
A. fixing B. fixed C. to fix D. fix
30. After suffering a heart attack，the famous star was pronounced dead, ______ a tragic end to the world’s most popular entertainer.
A. being marked B. marked C. marking D. having marked
31. China’s first aircraft carrier, ______ as long as 304 meters, was handed over to the People’s Liberation Army Navy in 2012.
A. measures B. measured C. to measure D. measuring
32. The time and effort he has devoted during the past few years ______ trees in that remote area is now considered to be of great value.
A. to plant B. to planting C. plant D. planting
33. The film star wears sunglasses. Therefore, he can go shopping without ______.
A. recognized B. being recognized
C. having recognized D. having been recognized
34. The country has already sent up three unmanned spacecraft, the most recent ______ at the end of last March.
A. has been launched B. having been launched
C. being launched D. was launched
35. —Have you got any particular plans for the coming holiday?
一Yes. ______, I’m going to visit some homes for the old in the city.
A. If ever B. If busy C. If anything D. If possible
第三部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分50分）
第一节（共15小题，每小题2.5分，满分37.5分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone’s life?
If yes, don’t care about sex or age! Come and join us, and then you’ll make it!
Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant
(No Pay with Free Meals)
Place: Manchester
Hours: Part Time
We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left. Don’t miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others.
Role:
You will help people with learning disabilities in all aspects of their daily lives. You will help them to develop new skills. You will help them to protect their rights and their safety. But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.
Skills and Experience Required:
You will have the right values and great listening skills. You will be honest and patient. You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you’ll have to help those people with different learning disabilities. Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.
36. Who will most probably join in Volunteer Social Care?
A. A college student of New York University.
B. An active adult in full-time employment.
C. A helpful graduate who wants a low payment.
D. A young man who is patient and has much free time.
37. The volunteers’ primary responsibility is to help people with learning disabilities ______.
A. to properly protect themselves
B. to realize their own importance
C. to get some financial support
D. to learn some new living skills
38. The text is meant to ______.
A. carry an advertisement B. deliver a report
C. make a notice D. present a document
B
You’re in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
“I can’t believe it — Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn’t it beautiful? And it’s a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome.”
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It’s nice and the price is right. You’ve never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don’t pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation consumers between the MTV generation consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It’s a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don’t trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice misleading, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. “Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing.” It is true, because everyone knows an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. However, you don’t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.
39. The two attractive young women were talking loudly so as to ______.
A. be heard by people around
B. get the sweater at a lower price
C. show their preference of the sweater
D. decide on buying the sweater
40. Lorenzo Bertolla is probably ______.
A. the brand spokesperson B. an advertising agency
C. a clothing company in Rome D. the brand name of clothes
41. What can we conclude according to the last two paragraphs?
A. Consumers between the age of 18 and 34 never believe traditional ads.
B. Traditional advertising will soon be replaced by undercover marketing.
C. Traditional advertising needs changes to increase its effectiveness.
D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.
42. What would he the best title for the passage?
A. Two Attractive Shoppers B. Undercover Marketing
C. Ways of Advertising D. Advertising in department stores
C
Tea production in Sri Lanka has thrived (繁荣) for decades. The tea gardens in Hatton, Sri Lanka are actually large tea estates (庄园). The best tea usually comes from plants grown on high grounds, the cool hilltops with rows and rows of tea plants. The plants are about one meter apart. The plant is often pruned so that it remains only 60 to 90 centimeters high. Pruning is important because it encourages the growth of tender shoots, or young leaves. It is from these shoots that the best tea is got.
Practically all the tea pickers are women. The estates prefer to employ women pickers because they are more careful. Their thin fingers can easily remove the twin leaves and new shoots from the plant, which are the parts used for processing tea. The pickers carry large baskets into which they throw their pickings. A skilled worker can harvest between 9 to 14 kilograms of tea leaves a day. Usually new shoots can be picked from the plants about every ten or fifteen days.
Processing tea shoots into our familiar dry tea leaves requires great care and skill. There are various methods of processing depending on the type of tea required. For black tea, the young green leaves are first spread out shelves to dry. This process removes much of its water and the leaves become soft. After this, the leaves are passed through heavy rollers. This operation will press the leaves for juices which give the tea both its color and taste. Then the leaves are spread out on floors and left to ferment (发酵) under wet conditions. Fermentation develops the rich taste of black tea. The fermented leaves are then dried with a hot-air blower until they become rolled-up black leaves. The final step is to sort and grade them before the black tea is ready for sale to countries all over the world.
43. The underlined word “pruning” means ______.
A reasonable use of weed killer B. frequent watering
C. regular cutting of the plants D. loosening the soil
44. Which statement is true according to paragraph 2?
A. Women pickers are paid less than men.
B. Men workers are forbidden to pick the tea leaves.
C. Careful women pickers are more welcomed.
D Tea pickings must be done every half a month.
45. How many processing steps are mentioned m the last paragraph?
A. Four. B Five. C. Six. D. Seven.
46. What does the text mainly talk about?
A. Tea production in Sri Lanka B. Tea picking in Sri Lanka
C. How to grow tea plants D. How to process tea
D
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked, “So, how have you been?” And the boy — who could not have been more than seven or eight years old — replied. “Frankly, I’ve been feeling a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed (确认) my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were “depressed”, that is, in low spirits, until we were in high school.
Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don’t seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development is depended not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of gaming social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new social positions. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages; traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation (揭示) machine has been equipped in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Therefore, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more attractive moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information which children will gain. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.
47. Why does the author mention the incident in the restaurant?
A. Because he feels as depressed as the boy.
B. Because it reminds him of his childhood.
C. Because he is curious about other people’s talk.
D. Because it proves his view on today’s children.
48. According to the author, today’s children seem adult like because of ______.
A. the widespread influence of television
B. the fast arrangement of teaching content
C. the development of social knowledge
49. What does the author think of communication through print for children?
A. It enables children to gain more social information.
B. It develops children’s interest in reading and writing.
C. It is simple for children read and write.
D. It is controllable to what children are to learn.
50. What is the author’s opinion on the change in today’s children?
A. He seems to be upset about it.
B. He considers it a rapid development
C. He thinks the change worthy of concern.
D. He feels their adult like behavior is so funny.
第二节（共5小题，每小题2.5分，满分12.5分）
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Most people believe they don t have much imagination. They are wrong. Everyone has imagination, but most of us，forget how to make use of it. 51 People at work and in their free time routinely think of creative ways to solve problems. Maybe you have a goal to achieve, a tricky question to answer. Here are three techniques to help you.
52 This technique involves taking unrelated ideas and trying to find links between them. Firsts think about the problem you have to solve or the job you need to do. Then find an image, word, idea or object，for example，a candle. Write down all the words associated with candles: light, fire, matches, wax，night，etc. 53 The next stage is to relate the idea to the job you have to do.
NO limits. Imagine that normal limitations don’t exist. You have as much time/ space/ money, etc. as you want. 54 If your goal is to learn to ski, for example, you can now practise skiing every day of your life. Now adapt this to reality. Maybe you can practise skiing ever day in December, or every Monday in January.
Be someone else. Look at the situation from a different point of view. 55 Fiction writers often imagine they are the characters in their books. They ask question: What does this character want? Why can’t she get it? What changes must she make to get what she wants? If your goal involves other people, put yourself in their positions.
A. Make connections.
B. Expand your mind.
C. Think of as many as you can.
D. Think about your goal and the new possibilities.
E. Creativity is of vital importance in writing a fiction.
F. Good businessmen use this technique m trade, and so do writers.
G. Creativity isn’t always connected with great works of art or ideas.
第四部分 英语知识运用（共两节，满分25分）
第一节 完形填空（共15小题，每小题1分，共15分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A video of a young Italian man celebrating his 25nd birthday with 25 random (随机的) acts of kindness was post on the Internet. 56 by this, I mentioned to my wife Hayley that I’d like to do the same for my coming 50th birthday in December. Well, she agreed to the 57 and make it happen.
We placed cheery stickers (贴纸) on the shirts of children, 58 a park, gave out delicious chocolate to those in the park — many of whom appeared 59 , offered bottled water and played with a bored 10-year-old boy who was waiting for his sisters to finish shopping, and 60 .
The most 61 for me occurred at the end of the day when we were giving out flowers in a retirement home after their dinner. At first I found myself questioning my 62 and how it would be received. It 63 that the local Church had a large group there at the same time singing to the residents.
64 , the first thing that took me a bit 65 was how almost every man also enjoyed receiving a flower，not only from Hayley, but also from me. Then, I found myself giving the women longer deep caring 66 . One commented that she had not been hugged like that for years. But then my heart was permanently 67 when another woman told me that she had not been hugged like that by a man for five decades.
I didn’t count the number of 68 acts we did that day, and neither do I count that birthday as one of the good ones. Without a doubt, I know it was my 69 .
I’m feeling 70 for Hayley and every person who has ever inspired me.
56. A. Amused B. Inspired C. Discouraged D. Confused
57. A. career B. consideration C. idea D. project
58. A. put up B. cleaned up C. kept up D. picked up
59. A. wealthy B. sincere C. neat D. homeless
60. A. more B. much C. little D. less
61. A. interesting B. necessary C. important D. difficult
62. A. motives B. curiosity C. skill D. service
63. A. checked out B. dropped out C. found out D. turned out
64. A. Therefore B. However C. Besides D. Moreover
65. A. by surprise B. in peace C. by design D. in silence
66. A. flowers B. comforts C. hugs D. gifts
67. A. worried B. amazed C. observed D, touched
68. A. kind B. excellent C. ordinary D. careful
69. A. worst B. best C. personal D. similar
70. A. satisfied B. respectful C. grateful D. speechless
第二节 单词拼写（共10小题，每题1分，满分10分）
71. Recycling of rubbish costs money and requires special ______ (设备).
72. These ocean waves are among the earth’s most common natural ______ (现象).
73. If a person is c______ of doing something, they have the ability to do it.
74. They sell at prices r______ from $ 100 to $150.
75. The moonlight shone on the river which appeared as if e______ in mist and clouds.
76. I was ______ (完全地) exhausted, physically and mentally.
77. His body felt smooth, powerful and ______ (灵活的).
78. A large m______ of people support the death sentence, although some are against it.
79. His parents were very happy because he was a______ into a key university.
80. Jessica s______ herself into a chair with a small sigh of relief and then fell asleep.
第五部分 书面表达（共两节，满分30分）
第一节 应用文（满分15分）
假如你是李华，你的好友Rick对中国的端午节(the Dragon Boat Festival)非常感兴趣，请给他写封信，内容包括：
1. 介绍端午节(节日时间，目的，庆祝活动等)；
2. 邀请他明年来中国欢度端午节。
注意：1.词数80左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Rick,
How is everything going? _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
第二节 读后续写（共2小题，第1小题3分，第2小题12分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，按要求完成相关内容。
I stepped on a wallet in the street, picked it up and looked inside to find some clues(线索) so I could call the owner. But the wallet contained only three dollars and an old letter.
The envelope was worn and I could read only the return address on it. The letter in it was written almost 60 years ago, with a little flower in the left-hand corner. It was to a young man named Michael, saying that the writer could not see him anymore because her mother forbade(禁止) it. Even so, she wrote that she would always love him.
It was a beautiful letter signed by Hannah, but there was no way except for the name Michael, to identify (识别) the owner. After searching for the return address on the envelope, I finally found that Hannah was now in a nursing home.
I drove over to the nursing home. A nurse and a guard greeted me at the door. The nurse took me to the third floor, and introduced me to Hannah in the day room. She was a sweet, silver-haired old lady with a warm smile. I told her about finding the wallet and showed her the letter. The second she saw the letter with that little flower, she took a deep breath and said, “Young man, this letter was the last contact I ever had with Michael Goldstein.” She looked away for a moment deep in thought and then said softly, “I love him very much. But I was only 16 and my mother felt I was too young. Oh, he was so handsome. He looked like Sean Connery, the actor If you should find him, tell him I think of him often. And,” she hesitated for a moment, almost biting her lip, “tell him I still love him.”
I thanked Hannah, said goodbye, and to the first floor. As I stood by the door, the guard there asked if I had any information from Hannah. “Not much but a last name. I think I’ll let it go for a while.” I said. I took out the wallet before the guard, which was a simple brown leather case. The instant he saw it, the guard yelled out, “I’ve seen it before! It might belong to Michael Goldstein, who lives at a room on the eighth floor.”
1. Read for the main idea. (Limit your ideas to less than 20 words.)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Write a possible ending. (Limit your ideas to around 80 words.)
On the eighth floor, I saw a man reading a book in the day room, who happened to be Michael Goldstein.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
重庆八中2020-2021学年度(下)期末考试高一年级
英语试题 参考答案
第一部分 听力（共两节，满分30分）
1〜5 CABBA 6~10 BAABC 11〜15 ACBCC 16-20 BCCAB
第二部分 单项选择（共15题，满分15分）
21-25 BBCAA 26-30 ABCBC 31-35 DBBBD
第三部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分50分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2.5分，满分37.5分）
36-38 DBA 39-42 ADCB 43-46 CCBA 47-50 DADC
第二节（共5小题；每小题2.5分，满分12.5分）
51-55 GACDF
第四部分 英语知识运用（共两节，满分25分）
第一节 完形填空（共15小题，每题1分，满分15分）
56-60 BCBDA 61-65 CADBA 66-70 CDABC
第二节 单词拼写（共10小题，每题1分，满分10分）
71. equipment 72. phenomena 73. capable 74. ranging
75. enveloped 76. absolutely/completely/totally 77. flexible
78. majority 79. admitted 80. settled
第五部分 书面表达（共两节，满分30分）
第一节 应用文（满分15分）One possible version
Dear Rick,
How is everything going? Having known that you are interested in China’s Dragon Boat Festival, I am writing to tell you something specific about it
The Dragon Boat festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar and is observed in memory of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet in ancient times. During the festival, many activities are conducted, such as racing dragon boats, drinking realgar wine and eating zongzi, a sticky rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves.
Since you have a passion for the festival, why not come next year and get exposed to the celebrations in the flesh? Looking forward to your early reply.
Yours,
Li Hua
第二节 读后续写（共2小题，满分15分）
1. Reading for main idea. (3分)
An old love letter in a lost wallet helped me to find its writer and owner in a nursing home. (20 words)
2. Write a possible ending. (12分)
When I showed him the wallet, his gloomy eyes tamed bright ‘Hannah still loves you.” I took a deep breath, saying, word by word Gazing at me, he seemed to search for words but Med. He took out the envelope, stared at the familiar handwriting, stroked the wrinkles of it and murmured, “I love her, too.” Old as he was, he stood up and stepped downstairs swiftly. In Hannah’s room, they hugged tightly. Love may be late, but never absent. (80 Words)
【听力原稿】
Text 1
W: Excuse me, but is this seat taken?
M: Um, no... Let me move my bag from the chair. All right Go ahead.
W: Thanks.
Text 2
W: I’m overworked. I’ll never get anything finished.
M: Are you going to stay late?
W: No, the company doesn’t pay for overtime.
Text 3
M: How did you go to Canada? Did you fly?
W: I was planning to, because it’s too long a trip by bus or by train. But Fred decided to drive and invited me to join him. It took us 2 days and a night.
Text 4
M: Sarah, you don’t look happy today.
W: No, I don’t feel happy.
M: What’s the trouble?
W: I didn’t do well in the physics exam. I’m sure to fail the exam for a second time.
Text 5
M: I’m sorry you have to fly back home so soon. It was really great getting to know you.
W: Thanks. I’ll miss our conversations.
M: Well, you’ve got my number. Please keep in touch.
Text 6
W: Right, first we need a group for the concert, don’t you think so?
M: Yes, Sue, you’re right How about a rock group? We could have a disco as well You know, a friend of mine’s a DJ. He is great!
W: Mm, I’m not sure about it. To be honest, I’m sick and tired of discos. And students can go to a disco any time, can’t they? We’re all bored to death with school discos. We’ve had loads and loads of them.
M: In that case, let’s have something a little different How about a folk group for a change?
W That’s not a bad idea, Richard. Next..
Text 7
W: Hello.
M: Hi, Sylvia. This is Mike.
W: oh, Mike! Where have you been? I called you a few times.
M: Sorry, I didn’t tell you. We come to Indian Lake every fourth of July. It’s kind of a family tradition.
W: Indian Lake? Where’s that?
M: Uh, it’s about an hour and a half from Chicago. My parents have a wooden house here. Say, would you like to come out?
W: I’d love to, but I can only stay for the weekend. I have a test Monday afternoon.
M: I can get you back in time if we leave early Monday morning. You know how the drive is Monday morning!
W: You don’t have to drive me anywhere, Mike. My friend just sold me her car, that’s what I wanted to tell you. Now, how do I get to Indian Lake?
Text 8
W: Hi, Peter. Welcome to our class. And we’re all glad that you’ll study in the same class with us all.
M: I’m very happy that I can return to the same class, after I came back from abroad.
W: What did you enjoy doing in your spare time while you stayed in Australia?
M: Collecting stamps. You know that my hobby is stamp collecting.
W: I suppose you have got a big collection.
M: Well, I’ve collected over 3,000 stamps from different countries and regions. But unfortunately, I often forget to classify my collection. What’s your hobby?
W: I’ve been interested in photography since I was a primary pupil.
M: That’s wonderful!
W: But it’s rather difficult to take a really good picture.
M: Do you do your own developing?
W: Yes and no. You see I used to do my own developing. But now I take photos with a digital camera. And I don’t have equipment good enough to develop the pictures well enough, so I have to have them developed by some studio.
Text 9
M: Excuse me. I’d like to send this letter to Holland. Could you tell me how much it is by airmail?
W: An airmail letter to Holland normally costs 50 cents, but this letter seems a bit thick. Probably it’ll cost you more. Yes, it’s overweight.
M: You see, I have some photos enclosed with the letter How much do I have to pay?
W: Let me see. Oh, yes, that’ll be two dollars.
M: Do you think it’ll be necessary for me to send this by registered mail?
W: I don’t think so. Of course you can if you really want to.
M: I have another letter to Hawaii.
W: Then it will be 30 cents only. This is the rate for domestic airmail. Hawaii is a part of the USA, although it’s quite far away.
M: Thank you for all the information you’ve provided me with. I’ll have ten 50-cent stamps please.
W: I’m sorry. 50-cent stamps are not available now. I’ll have to give you ten 45-cent ones and ten 5-cent ones. Will that do?
M: Certainly, as long as the post office doesn’t care. Here is a ten-dollar bill.
W: Here’s your change.
M: Thank you very muck
Text 10
The oldest stone buildings in the world are the pyramids. They have stood for nearly 5, 000 years, and it seems likely that they will continue to stand for thousands of years yet. There are over eighty of them along the banks of the Nile, some of which are different in shape from the true pyramids. The most famous of these are the “Step” pyramid and the “Bent” pyramid. Some of the pyramids still look much the same as they must have when they were built thousands of years ago. Most of the damage was caused by men who were looking for treasure or, more often, for stone for use in modern buildings. The dry climate of Egypt has helped to protect the pyramids, an their very shape has made them less likely to fall into ruin. These are good reasons why they can still be seen today, but perhaps the most important thing is that they were planned to last forever. It is certain that plans were made for the building of the pyramids. However, there are no writings or pictures to show us how the Egyptians planned or built the pyramids themselves. But now by examining the actual pyramids and various tools which have been found, we have formed a fairly clear picture of them.