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Passage 2
Halloween(October 31)
This is a holiday widely celebrated with different names in many countries. Although it originated as a religious holiday, it has lost its religious connections in the United States. It is now celebrated largely as a children"s day, and many American children look forward to it for days and weeks beforehand.
The orange pumpkin is harvested at this time of year and is hollowed out, a funny face cut into it, and a candle placed inside as a decoration in the window. City folks, nowadays, sometimes use paper pumpkins for decorations.
Some years ago, the holiday was celebrated by dressing up in strange and frightening costumes and playing tricks on one"s neighbors and friends, such as ringing door bells, throwing bits of corn on the window panes, and in other ways making minor disturbances.
More recently, children come to the door to have friends and neighbors admire their costumes and guess who they are behind the false faces and receive treats of candy, fruit or cookies. They say, “Trick or Treat", meaning, “I will play a trick on you will not give me a treat." This practice has even more recently developed into a significant international activity. Instead of or along with candy, the children collect money for UNICEF (United Nations International Children"s Emergency Fund). This special collection of money by children for needy children throughout the world is known as “UNICEF Trick of Treat". Begun only recently, it results in several million dollars each year contributed to UNICEF. The collection box is orange, reminiscent of the pumpkin.
6. What cloes Holloween originate from?
A. a chilolren"s day
B. a trick or treat
C. a religious day
D. a day for UNI CEF
7. Which of the following is not mentioned some years ago how the children celebrate the Halloween?
A. Dressing up in strange and frightening costumes and playing tricks on one"s neighbors friends.
B. Ringing door bells.
C. Throwing bits of corn on the window panes.
D. Dressing up in the best holiday clothes.
8. Which of the following is not used in the Halloween celebration?
A. Pumpkin
B. Candle
C. Costume
D. Flower
9. Why do the children collect money in the Halloween?
A. They love money.
B. They want to get enough money to buy themselves candy.
C. The adults are willing to give them money.
D. They want to help other children.
10. What is the symbol of Halloween?
A. Pumpkin.
B. Candle.
C. Laughter
D. Money.
Passage 3
International airlines have rediscovered the business travelers, the man or woman who regularly jets from country to country as part of the job. This does not necessarily mean that airlines ever abandoned their business travelers. Indeed, companies like Lufthansa and Swissair would rightly argue that they have always catered best for the executive class passengers. But many lines could be accused of concentrating too heavily in the recent past on attracting passengers by volume, often at the expense of regular travelers. Too often, they have seemed geared for quantity rather than quality. Operating a major airline in the 1980s is essentially a matter of finding the right mix of passengers. The airlines need to fill up the back end of their wide-bodied jets with low fare passengers, without forgetting that the front end should be filled with people who pay substantially more for their tickets.
It is no coincidence that the two major airline bankruptcies in 1982 were among the companies specializing in cheap flights. But low fares require consistently full aircraft to make flights economically viable, and in the recent recession the volume of traffic has not grown. Equally the large number of airlines jostling for the available passengers has created a huge excess of capacity. The net result of excess capacity and cut-throat competition driving down fares has been to push some airlines into collapse and leave many others hovering on the brink.
Against this grim background, it is no surprise that airlines are turning increasingly towards the business travelers to improve their rates of return. They have invested much time and effort to establish exactly what the executive demands for sitting apart from the tourists.
High on the list of priorities is punctuality; an executive"s time is money. In-flight service is another area where the airlines are jostling for the executive"s attention. The free drinks and headsets and better food are all part of the lure.
11. One criticism against many international airlines is that they have, in the recent past, .
A. catered for the more wealthy people
B. given preferential treatment to executive clients
C. only met the needs of the regular traveler
D. marketed their service with the masses in mind
12. With the intention of attracting a somewhat different type of passenger, the airlines have now begun to concentrate on .
A. ensuring that the facilities offered to the executive are indeed superior
B. providing facilities enabling business travelers to work on board
C. organizing activities in which first-class passengers can participate
D. installing sleeping compartments where more privacy is ensured
13. From the passage we can infer that .
A. a successful airline in the 1980s meets the needs not only of the masses but also of the wealthy passengers
B. it is more comfortable to sit in the back of jet planes
C. business travelers dislike tourists
D. only by specializing in cheap flights can airlines avoid bankruptcy.
14. In Paragraph 5. “in-flight service" means .
A. Service on the plane
B. A new safety device
C. Flights within one country
D. Charge-free air service
15. The following are all used to attract passengers except .
A. punctuality
B. sound system
C. free drinks
D. charge-free food
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