文档内容
江苏省如皋中学 2024—2025 学年度高三年级测试
英 语
命题人： 审题人：
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。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 did the man do yesterday?
A. He played music.
B. He watched a competition.
C. He practiced running in the track.
2. What did the woman order for lunch?
A. Fries. B. A sandwich. C. Mushroom soup.
3. What kind of movie does the man want to watch?
A. An action movie. B. A comedy. C. A horror film.
4. Why is the man in a hurry?
A. He is rushing home.
B. He is late for a meeting.
C. He is doing the running exercise.
5. What does the woman mean?
A. She thinks the man told a lie.
B. She believes it was dangerous for the man.
C. She feels sorry about the man’s experience.
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。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。
听第 6段材料，回答第 6、7题。
6. How many daily things did the woman do yesterday?
A. Three B. Four C. Five
7. Where does the man need to go today?
A. To the bank. B. To the supermarket. C. To the post office.
听第 7段材料，回答第 8 至 10题。
8. According to the man, what do you know about his wife?
A. She is fond of shopping.
B. She is only likes certain things.C. She works in a department store.
9. What color did the man want?
A. Black. B. Brown C. Blue.
10. What did the man buy?
A. A scarf. B. A pair of gloves. C. A sweater.
听第 8段材料，回答第 11 至 13题。
11. Which state does the woman think had the best weather?
A. South Carolina. B. Geogia. C. North Carolina.
12. How many types of fish did the woman catch?
A. One. B. Two C. Three.
13. When might the woman go back to fish next time?
A. In July. B. In October. C. In December.
听第 9段材料，回答第 14 至 16题。
14. What is the probable relationship between the speakers?
A. Colleagues. B. Teacher and student. C. Parent and child.
15. What does the woman suggest the man do?
A. Save all the work for the final week.
B. Use the trip time to study for the exams.
C. Form good habits and get started early.
16. What are the speakers mainly talk about?
A. A research paper.
B. The classroom management.
C. The plan for the end of term.
听第 10段材料，回答第 17至 20题。
17. What did the customer think of the first fries?
A. They were unsatisfying.
B. They were delicious.
C. They were salty.
18. Why did George Crum serve the customer extremely thin fries?
A. He wanted the customer to be happy.
B. He was bothered by the customer’s requests.
C. He wanted to try making a new style of fries.
19. How did the customer react to the last plate of fries?
A. He found them nice.
B. He refused to eat them.
C. He complained to the chef.
20. What did George Crum do with his new invention?
A. He sold the chips in stores.
B. He sold the recipe to his customer.C. He sold the snack idea to other restaurants.
第二部分 阅读（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 A、B、C、D 四个选项中选出最佳选项。
A
A Selection of Museums and Attractions in Washington DC
The Tidal Basin
The basin, part of the West Potomac Park, is surrounded by a path that’s perfect
for walking, running or cycling. The memorials to Thomas Jefferson and Martin
Luther King Junior are two highlights surrounding the lake. It is the location most
associated with Washington’s Cherry Blossom (樱花) Festival that takes place each
spring.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
The museum opened in late 2016 after more than a decade of planning. It is
dedicated to African American history and culture and is organized like a vertical
timeline, starting with the Atlantic slave trade on the 1400s and moving up to the 21st
century. Higher up are exhibitions on African American music, theatre and art. It’s a
powerful experience and also very popular: you’ll have to apply for a timed ticket to
enter.
The Newseum
Further along Pennsylvania Avenue is the Newseum, loved for the 800
newspaper front pages from around the world that are hung outside every morning.
Inside, there are moving exhibits showing how important historical events have been
reported, such as the September 11 attacks. Alongside newspaper pages from the day
after the attacks, there’s a video exhibit highlighting the work of journalists reporting
on the Twin Towers falling. A must if you’re interested in journalism.
National Gallery of Art
The art gallery is an impressive space: two buildings, linked underground, and a
sculpture garden next door. Inside the light-filed East Building there’s modern art,
including a roomful of Jackson Pollock’s murals (壁), Andy Warhol’s Green Marilyn
and Roy Lichtenstein’s Look Mickey.
The classical West Building tends to house older artwork: the European
impressionists and Italian Renaissance art (from artists including Da Vinci and
Raphael) are two highlights.
21. Which of the following requires reserving a ticket in advance?
A. The Newseum.
B. The Tidal Basin.
C. National Gallery of Art.
D. National Museum of African American History and Culture.
22. What can visitors do at the Newseum?
A. Learn about the stories about news.
B. Learn how to report important events.
C. Talk with journalists about the 9/11 attacks.D. Read 800 recently published newspapers.
23. Why is Green Marilyn exhibited in the East Building?
A. It is a painting of modern art.
B. It is a painting of traditional art.
C. It is a painting by a famous artist.
D.It is a priceless painting of the gallery.
.
B
I know next to nothing about baseball. When in the right field during P. E. as a
boy, I prayed the ball wouldn’t come to me. It took a miracle for me to catch it. Yet I
later became the father of two boys, Will and Tim (8 and 5), who were both interested
in baseball. On Saturday mornings, I’d take Will out to the playground and play catch
with him. Thanks to my weak arm, the ball dropped before he could catch it. After
many misses one day, he said, “How am I ever going to make the major leagues?”
“You got the wrong dad, kid,” I thought. Baseball isn’t my thing.
Still, I wanted to give my kids confidence on the field. There was an official
Little League in our area, but it was super-competitive and primarily targeted older
boys. What if we had something more low-key, something that welcomed boys and
girls, and younger ones?
I shared the idea with some neighbors. “That would be great!” they said. Now
who could organize such a thing? Not me. I tried to put the idea aside, but it wouldn’t
leave me. I finally decided that I must do something about it. So I called the city’s
recreation department, explaining that some families wanted to start a baseball league
in our neighborhood. Were there any fields for that? They bounced me around.
Finally, I spoke to the official in charge. I got butterflies in my stomach. What if he
said no? “Yes, we have something for you,” the man said, hearing my request. We got
two fields for four hours every Sunday morning. Our league was founded. What a joy
it was to sit on the benches, watching Will and Tim playing baseball! How grateful I
was for other parents who did the coaching! And I became the most unlikely baseball
commissioner (专员) ever.
Many years have passed. Now Will and Tim are new dads, and I can’t wait to see
what they’ll have to do. I know better than anyone: Parenthood calls you to do the
most unlikely things.
24. Why did the author think his son Will got the wrong father?
A. He lacked confidence. B. He had poor baseball skills.
C. He had little energy or time. D. He didn’t know Will’s dream.
25. What special feature did the author expect the baseball league had?
A. Being easy to join. B. Having its own fields.
C. Focusing on training kids. D. Having professional coaches.
26. How did the author probably feel while talking to the official?
A. Confident. B. Peaceful. C. Nervous. D. Hesitant.
27. What does the author want to stress in the text?
A. The need to challenge oneself.
B. The greatness of parental love.
C. The responsibility of parenthood.D. The role of sports in kids’ growth.
C
One by one, prejudices are disappearing in the West. People may hold private
suspicions that other people’s race or sex makes them inferior — but to say so openly
is totally taboo (禁忌). One old prejudice remains undisturbed, though. Just ask a
childless person.
They are not charged to special taxes, as they were in Soviet Russia; nor are they
driven from their homes, as they still are in some poor countries. The childless
nonetheless come in for a lot of criticism. Some point out that non-parents are failing
to produce the future workers who will pay for their pensions. Childless politicians
are charged with not having a proper stake in society. “He talks to us about the future,
but he doesn’t have children!” complained Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the
National Front party, of Emmanuel Macron, who went on to win the French
presidency. Similar attacks on Theresa May and Angela Merkel also failed but
researchers find that many voters quietly agree.
If non-breeders are selfish, they have a strange way of showing it. They are more
likely to set up charitable foundations than people with children, and much more
likely to donate money to good causes. According to one American estimate, the mere
fact of not having children raises the amount a person leaves to charity by a little over
$10,000. The childless are thus a small but useful counterweight to the world’s
parents, who stop social stability by passing on their social and economic advantages
to their children.
The charge that childless people fail to pull their weight in population is correct,
but is less serious than it appears. Those who do not have children do put pressure on
public pension systems. Governments have to do unpopular things like making
pensions less generous, as Japan has done, or accepting more immigrants, as some
Western countries have done. But to sustain public pensions in the long term,
countries do not actually need more parents. What they need instead is more babies. It
is possible to combine a high rate of childlessness with a high birth rate, provided
people who become parents have more than one or two children. That was the pattern
in many Western countries a century ago. Ireland, yet another country with a childless
leader, still manages it today.
The childless also do everyone else a favor by creating wonderful works of art.
British novelists have been especially likely to have no offspring: think of Hilary
Mantel, P.G Wodehouse and the Bronte sisters. In September last year Britain put
Jane Austen on its ten-pound note. That decision was controversial, though it was
hard to see why. Few people have written as shrewdly about money or about families
even though Austen did not marry, and had no children.
28. What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?
A. The childless often come under sharp criticism.
B. Childlessness is to future workers’ disadvantage.
C. Many highly successful people have no children.
D. The childless politicians get attacked in society.29. The childless are prejudiced because people think the childless ______.
A. have a strange way to show selfishness
B. set a bad example for young people
C. are not as generous as those with children
D. are the government’s financial burden
30. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Accepting more immigrants.
B. Reducing the pensions for the aged.
C. Encouraging parents to have more children.
D. Supporting the political leaders with no children.
31. What is the best title for the passage?
A. In defense of the childless. B. Prejudice against non-breeders.
C. Why don’t they have children? D. Measures to address childlessness.
D
Shadows are often associated with darkness and uncertainty. Now, researchers
from the National University of Singapore (NUS) are giving shadows a positive spin
by demonstrating a way to harness this common but often overlooked optical (光学
的) effect to generate electricity.
The team created a device called a shadow-effect energy generator (SEG), which
makes use of the contrast in illumination (照明) between lit and shadowed areas to
generate electricity. It’s made up of a series of thin strips of gold film on a silicon
layer, which is then placed on a flexible plastic base.
“In conventional optoelectronics (光电子学) where a steady source of light is
used to power devices, shadows are undesirable, since they degrade the performance
of devices. In this work, we took advantage of the illumination contrast caused by
shadows as an indirect source of power. The contrast in illumination causes a voltage
(电 压 ) difference between the shadow and illuminated sections, resulting in an
electric current. This novel concept of harvesting energy in the presence of shadows is
unprecedented.” explained research team leader Professor Tan Swee Ching.
Mobile electronic devices such as smart phones, smart glasses and e-watches
require efficient and continuous power supply. As these devices are worn both
indoors and outdoors, wearable power sources that could harness surrounding light
can potentially improve the function of these devices. While commercially available
solar cells can perform this role in an outdoor environment, their energy harvesting
efficiency drops significantly under indoor conditions where shadows are persistent.
This new approach to maximizing the efficiency of energy harvesting is both exciting
and timely.
“When the whole SEG is under illumination or in shadow, the amount of
electricity generated is very low or none at all. When a part of the SEG is illuminated,
a significant electrical output is detected. We also found that the best surface area for
electricity generation is when half of the SEG is illuminated and the other half in
shadow, as this gives enough area for charge generation and collection respectively.”said co- team leader Professor Andrew Wee.
The NUS researchers are also looking at developing wearable SEGs attached to
clothing to harvest energy during normal daily activities. Another promising area of
research is the development of low- cost SEG for efficient harvesting of energy from
indoor lighting.
32．Why are shadows considered undesirable in traditional optoelectronics?
A. They serve no useful purpose.
B. They weaken device performance.
C. They are rare in outdoor conditions.
D. They are difficult to control or predict.
33．What do we know about the SEG?
A. It’s specially designed to work in open areas.
B. It will replace existing solar cells once and for all.
C. It’s most effective when fully positioned in light or in shadow.
D. It requires a balance of light and shadow to maximize electricity generation.
34．What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. The SEG is unlikely to work efficiently in dark places.
B. The researchers are looking to reduce the cost of the SEG.
C. The development of SEG is limited by its high production cost.
D. The researchers are developing wearable SEGs attached to smart phones.
35．What does the text mainly talk about?
A. An innovative use of shadows to generate electricity.
B. The problems with shadows in conventional optoelectronics.
C. The challenges of adapting technology for wearable devices.
D. A need for efficient power supply in mobile electronic devices.
第二节（共 5小题；每小题 2.5分，满分 12.5分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后的选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有
两项为多余选项。
Who can imagine life today without an Automated Teller Machine (ATM)? They
are available in considerable numbers throughout the world.
The first ATM was the brainchild of an enterprising Turkish-American inventor
Luther George Simjian. When the idea of an automated banking machine struck him
,
he registered 20 patents before any bank agreed to give it a trial run. It is easy to
assume that the inventor of such a popular machine was laughing all the way to the
bank. ____36____ Within six months of its operation in New York in 1939, the
device was removed due to lack of customer acceptance.
It was not until 1967, nearly 30 years later, that Barclays Bank, in a careful
launch, rolled out a self-service machine in London, England, which proved
successful. ____37____ The first cash machine relied on customers’ use of prepaid
tokens (代币) to get envelopes with a fixed amount of cash inside.
____38____ The banks’ principle was seemingly customer service. But it would
be foolish to minimize the many advantages that cash machines provided to the banksthemselves. By the late 1970s, the highest fixed cost for the average large bank was
its branches. The greatest variable cost and loss to profits were its staff. Bank
accounts swiftly recognized that self-service operations could reduce bank branch
staff cost by70 percent.
Experts quickly determined that public acceptance of ATMs counted on
convenience, simplicity, speed, security and trust. ____39____ For maximum
efficiency, ATMs had to be located near public transport or in a shopping mall, not at
a branch. The busier and more crowded the location, obviously, the better. Now,
roughly 75 percent of all cash provided by banks to their customers comes from cash
machines. ____40____.
Public acceptance of deposits (存款) by machine was significantly slower than
customers’ usage of ATMs for withdrawals. In general, it seems that customers
sometimes still prefer and trust an over-the-counter transaction (交易) for deposits.
A. Location, in particular, was a key factor.
B. His cash machine, however, didn’t prove durable.
C. The device was relatively primitive, at least by today’s standards.
D. However, cash machines posed some interesting, unanswered questions.
E. An interesting factor was the issue of bio-statistics for customer identification.
F. Devices originally dismissed by the public are now recognized as essential
institutions.
G. Soon afterwards, many other banks became admittedly champions of the cash
machine.
第三部分 语言运用（共两节，满分 30分）
第一节 （共 15小题；每小题 1分，满分 15分）
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中选出可以填入空白处的
最佳选项。
Have you ever heard of and seen Canadian geese? Do you know that they
___41___ fresh grass and seeds?
Canadian geese have a good ___42___ for their politeness. They always bow
down to you whenever you walk by. However, I have recently found that they can
sometimes be ___43___ to their peers, especially on occasions when they quarrel for
food——yes, these ___44___ gentlemen do quarrel, just for something to eat.
Yesterday I witnessed two Canadian Geese arguing ___45___ for a clump(草丛)
of beautiful fresh grass. The clump was ___46___ right in the middle of them, while
the two were shouting noisily, stretching their necks as long as they could to look
aggressively at each other. It’s __47___ to witness the “impolite” side of Canadian
geese. Hence, I couldn’t help ___48___ my morning walk, standing still to watch
these “gentlemen” quarreling. Interestingly, after a short while, a truck roared past
their feast, disturbing their ___49___ conversation. The two geese were equally
___50___ by the massive “monster”, thus giving up their conversation.
Would they start quarreling again? I stood still, ___51___ the ridiculous question
and waited. Beyond my expectation, right after the truck’s passing by, the two geeseimmediately lost their ___52___for quarreling as if they had forgotten all about what
had happened. Even the two turned around and left the ___53___ in opposite
directions as if nothing had happened. They left only me there, imagining what might
have happened without the ___54___.
They got along harmoniously again. Sometimes it’s not that bad to be ___55___.
41. A. draw on B. focus on C. feed on D. try on
42. A. desire B. reputation C. affection D. appetite
43. A. generous B. faithful C. weird D. rude
44. A. well-informed B. well-dressed C. well-behaved D. well-balanced
45. A. fiercely B. blindly C. cautiously D. gently
46. A. deserted B. located C. fixed D. laid
47. A. frequent B. rare C. common D. constant
48. A. restricting B. changing C. pausing D. speeding
49. A. desperate B. simple C. serious D. disharmonious
50. A. frightened B. annoyed C. crashed D. injured
51. A. finding out B. dealing with C. looking into D. wondering about
52. A. passion B. reason C. talent D. anxiety
53. A. scene B. destination C. landscape D. park
54. A. looker-on B. passer-by C. truck D. clump
55. A. upset B. forgetful C. mean D. greedy
第二节（共 10小题；每小题 1. 5分, 满分 15分）
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
World Poetry Day takes place each year ____56____ March 21 to promote the
teaching of poetry, as well as the publishing, writing, and reading of this form of
writing around the world.
It ____57____ (declare) by UNESCO in 1999 in the hopes of supporting
language diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for
endangered languages ____58____ (hear). World Poetry Day was about giving fresh
drive and ____59____ (recognize) to international, regional, and national poetry
movements. It also focused on promoting a return to the oral (口头的) tradition of
poetry recitals, as well as ____60____ (strengthen) the association between poetry
and other forms of expression, such as dance, music, and painting.
The day is celebrated ____61____ (global). Government agencies, community
groups and individuals get involved in promoting or participating in the day, which
enables children to learn and enjoy ____62____ (variety) of poetry. It is a time
____63____ students are busy examining poets and learning about different types of
poetry. Poets may be invited to read and share their work to audience at book stores
and schools. Ceremonies are held to honor poets of ____64____ (remark)
achievements.
All in all, it’s a day for poetry: _____65_____ ancient art form that still enriches
our understanding of humanity today.第四部分 写作（共两节, 满分 40分）
第一节（满分 15分）
习近平总书记一直提倡“厉行节约，反对浪费”的社会风尚，多次
强调要制止餐饮浪费行为。请以此为主题，写一封“节约粮食，反对
浪费”的倡议书。要点如下：1. 争做爱粮、节粮的倡导者。2. 爱粮、
节粮的具体措施。注意：1. 参考词汇：厉行节俭，反对浪费 practice
strict economy and combat waste；2. 字数：100 词左右。
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
第二节（满分 25分）
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的
短文。
I was always afraid of water. This fear could not be explained, but I knew that the
moment I stepped near any body of water, my legs would turn to jelly (果冻). I would
imagine myself drowning in the water and thrashing around (乱扑腾) helplessly. That
was why I had never gone into a swimming pool until swimming became a school
requirement. My school wanted all pupils to pass a swimming test, and if they could
not, then they would have to attend weekly swimming lessons in school, which made
me tremble.
Thus, my parents signed me up for swimming lessons at the pool near my house.
With great unwillingness, I attended those weekly lessons, and each one was great
suffering for me. I was naturally clumsy, and my fear of water did not help at all.
Every lesson, I would be spending my time thrashing about in the water, while my
classmates would be swimming countless laps effortlessly and even turning over like
dolphins in the water. How was I going to pass the test at this rate?
In my swimming class, there was an exceptionally athletic girl. Tall and
muscular, her name was Kathy. She was the best swimmer in our class and always
looked at me with disdain (鄙视), especially when I thrashed about hopelessly in the
water.
Once, after a particularly long and hard swimming lesson, I spotted Kathy
swimming gracefully in the pool. Gathering my courage, I asked gently, “Kathy, can
you teach me to swim?” She stared at me coldly. It was as if I stood at the edge of an
endless ocean of inadequacy, my fears appearing like dark storm clouds threatening to
drown me. Yet, in that moment, a glimmer of hope flashed within me, a desperate
longing for guidance and acceptance. Would Kathy’s icy exterior (外表) melt under
the warmth of empathy, or would I remain forever thrashing in the sea of my own
fears?
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
To my surprise, she nodded after a few moments of silence.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
“Congratulations!” Kathy said when she learnt I had passed the swimming test.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________江苏省如皋中学 2024—2025 学年度高三年级测试
英语参考答案
听力1-5 ABCBA 6-10 BCBCA 11-15 CBABC 16-20 CABAA
阅读理解
21-23 DAA
24-27 BACC
28-31 ADCA
32-35 BDBA
七选五
36-40 BCGAF
完形填空
41-45 CBDCA 46-50 BBCD A 51-55DAACB
语法填空
56. on 57. was declared 58. to be heard 59. recognition 60. strengthening
61. globally 62. varieties 63. when 64. remarkable 65 an
.
参考范文：
Dear friends,
I’m here to call on everyone to pay attention to the phenomenon of food waste.
As President Xi advocates, it is supposed to be a new fashion for all Chinese people to
practice strict economy and combat waste. We must bear it in mind that food is a
precious resource on our planet and wasting food goes against the basic moral
principles.
It’s high time that we took action now. When we have dinner out in a restaurant,
please remember to order appropriately, and try to eat up. It’s recommended to
promote food saving actions on social media. Launch some campaigns to remind
customers about the portion size of the dishes.
So, don’t hesitate to join us. Small actions make a big difference.
参考范文：
To my surprise, she nodded after a few moments of silence. From then on, Kathy
stayed back for about an hour after every swimming lesson to coach me. She taught
me how to propel myself forward in the water and I gradually gained confidence in
the pool. Slowly but surely, I improved under her guidance and encouragement. Four
months later, it was time for me to take my swimming test. I jumped into the pool and
followed all of Kathy’s advice. I swam gracefully, just like a fish, and passed the test
with flying colours.
“Congratulations!” Kathy said when she learnt I had passed the swimming test. I
threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Thank you! You’re a wonderful
friend! If it had not been for you, I would not have done so well!” I exclaimed. Since
then, our friendship has blossomed. We met frequently to have fun with each other,sharing both joy and sorrow. Surprisingly, I grew to love the water. A friend like
Kathy is hard to come by. She has a heart of gold and I will definitely treasure our
precious friendship.
听力录音稿
Text 1
W: Hey Frank, were you at the track and field competitions yesterday?
M: No, Jenny. I had band practice yesterday. We played for nearly the whole day.
Text 2
W: Hi, could you tell me today’s specials for lunch, please?
M: Certainly. We have a roast beef sandwich with some vegetables and your choice
of fries or a salad. We also have mushroom soup.
W: Great! I’ll have the sandwich with a salad, please.
Text 3
W: Let’s watch some funny videos tonight.
M: I’m in the mood for a scary movie.
W: I’m never in the mood to get scared. How about an action film?
Text 4
W: James, I almost never see you run. Where are you going in such a rush?
M: I’m late for a meeting. Sorry, I will tell you about it later. Bye.
Text 5
M: A car came toward me and I jumped aside just in time. It was really a narrow
escape.
W: Well, it was very dangerous indeed. But I was told that the car stopped three
meters away from you, and it was moving very slowly.
Text 6
M: How was your day yesterday?
W: It was good. I had a lot of things to do, but I finished them all.
M: What type of things?
W: Oh, you know, daily stuff. I stopped at the supermarket, picked up some shirts at
the Cleaner’s, deposited a few checks at the bank, and mailed some letters at the
post office.
M: Wow, compared with you, I had a very lazy day. But it reminds me that I need to
buy some stamps today.
W: What did you do all day yesterday?
M: I just stayed on my sofa and watched TV.
Text 7
W: Welcome to Joan’s department store. Can I help you?
M: Yes, I’m looking for a birthday present for my wife.
W: Do you have something specific in mind?
M: I don’t know. She’s very particular. Any suggestions?
W: We have some new woolen sweaters that just arrived.M: Oh, that might be just the thing. My wife just loves soft sweaters, and she’s always
liked that material for that exact reason. Do you have anything in blue?
W: Unfortunately, we only have these sweaters in black and light brown. We do have
some woolen scarves and gloves in different colors. Let me see if we have one in
blue.
M: Great. Thanks.
W: I found a blue scarf here. What do you think?
M: It looks perfect. I’ll take it.
Text 8
M: I heard that you and your dad went deep-sea fishing in the fall. Where did you go?
W: We wanted to go to Florida, but we read online that the water was a little dirty. So,
we decided to go to North Carolina instead, and it ended up being a good choice.
The weather was perfect there!
M: Great! How did you get there?
W: We had to drive through three states to get there. Driving through Georgia and
South Carolina was horrible, though. The weather there was too wet.
M: That sounds like a long trip. I forgot how far North Carolina is from your home in
Alabama.
W: I know, but once we got there, it was great. We caught tuna and sea bass. We
wanted to catch some salmon, but we didn’t have any luck.
M: Maybe next time.
W: That’s what I’m hoping. We are going back next summer! That’s supposed to be
the best season for salmon. I’ll be dreaming about it all winter!
Text 9
M: Mrs. Jones, thanks for making time for me today. Many of the students are
worried about how close the class trip is to final exams. As class monitor, they
asked me to speak with you to work out a new plan that we can all follow.
W: Charles, your concerns are reasonable. All the teachers have met about the trip and
exams. We have worked together on tasks. We all agree that there is a large
amount of work for students to do. However, we are confident that as long as
you all work together with everyone doing their part, and do not wait until the
last minute to get started, there will be enough time.
M: But Mrs. Jones, they’re worried about having to do the group research project and
to study for exams in such a short time.
W: Remember last term when half of your classmates waited until the last week to
start the International Studies research paper? What a disaster that was! I imagine
they remember it as well. You know we always talk about how good habits lead
to success. Here is another chance to practice that. There will be no changes to
the schedule. Now, go and tell that to your classmates.
M: Yes, I remember that I’ll encourage them to get started early and work together.
Text 10Throughout history, a great number of inventions were made by accident. One
delicious example of this is potato chips. Have you ever stopped to wonder about the
history of the tasty treats? The year is 1853, and at a restaurant in Saratoga, New
York, USA, a customer who was unsatisfied with his thick-cut French fries sent them
back to the kitchen. The chef, George Crum, made a new plate of thinner fries. The
customer sent them back a second time, complaining they were still too thick. The
chef, annoyed by the customer’s demands, made a new plate of fries that were too
thin to eat with a fork. He was certain that the customer would not like these extra thin
fries. However, to the chef’s surprise, the customer was delighted! And so, potato
chips were born. George called these Saratoga chips. He started packaging the chips
and selling them in shops throughout New York State. He later opened his own
restaurant. Eventually, potato chips became a popular snack in other parts of America.
The next time you have some, you can thank a particular customer and an angry chef
for this delicious invention.
