口语考试阅读文章练习

口语加试阅读短文1If you are invited to a “Dutch treat”, each of you have to pay your own way. You can also say, “Go Dutch”.Do you know where it comes from?During the l600s, the British and the Dutch competed(竞争) in world trade and fought with each other. The British didn' t like the Dutch, so they thought all things about the Dutch were bad. They used words with “ Dutch” to mak e fun of their European neighbours. “G o Dutch,” shows they are stingy(吝啬的).The words are used in American English, too.Dutch people have been unhappy about this for over the years.So, if you “G o Dutch” no one will pay for your dinner!2Santa Claus brings children gifts in winter! And soon they wiIl get spring candies and gifts from the Easter Bunny.(复活节兔子)Easter comes on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after March 22. The day is on April 16 this year. It’s a religious (宗教的) holiday, but also a spring festival around the world !0n Easter Day, children wake up to find candies hidden by the Easter Bunny while they were asleep. The candies are rewards for being good.The Bunny also hides coloured eggs in the house and outside for kids to find ! Some kids build a nest for the Easter Bunny the night before, often in the garden. Boys and girls use their caps to make the nests.0f course the Bunny is not a real rabbit but the parents or older relatives !3There is a public library in every town in Britain. Anyone may borrow books and it costs nothing to borrow them. In some places you may borrow as many books as you want, but in other places you are limited to a certain number. Books may be kept for four weeks. New novels are always in great demand , and some books, for example , books on history, science, cooking and gardening are also popular. lf the book you want is out. you may ask for it to be called back for you. If you pay the cost of sending a postcard, the librarian will write to you, and let you know when the book you want has been returned and is ready for you to pick up.4Ben is a writer. He is very busy. He has a lot of things to do every week. 0n Monday he visits his grandmother at the nursing home. They often have a good time. 0n Tuesday he coaches his so n’s soccer team. He th inks it’s f un to be with the children.Ben likes music a lot.On Wednesday he takes violin lessons. On Thursday he works out at the gym. On Friday he goes to a computer class. He never rests at weekends. On Saturday he volunteers at the hospilal. He brings books and toys to the children. He usually makes the children happy.The children like him. They can have an easy day. 0n Sunday he plays tennis. He is a good tennis player.Ben always says, “I 1ike to keep busy.”5Jimmy is seven years old. He gets pocket money from his mother every week, but he wastes a lot of it.0ne day his mother gives him a notebook and says, “Now Jimmy, whenever you buy anything, I want you to write it down in this book, and write down the price, too. Then you can look at it again when your money is all gone(用完的).You won’ t w aste so much money next time.”After a week, J immy says to his mother, “Do you know, mum, before I spend any money now, I really stop and think!” His mother is very pleased and thinks, “Well, he’s learned the value (价值) of money now.“But she isn’ t so happy when Jimmy adds, “Yes, before I buy anything, I always ask myself: ‘Am I going to be able to spell that in my notebook’?”6We say hello to people every day. We use different words in different places and to different people. At school, we say hello to a teacher in a formal way. The examples are: “Good morning, Mrs Yang.” or “G ood afternoon, Mr. Wang.”But we often say hello to a classmate in an informal way, for example, “Hi.”o r “Hell o”.When you meet a stranger in a public place you can greet him in a formal way, such as, “H ow do you do?” “It’s very nice to meet you.”“Good m orning. It’s good to meet you.” And you can greet an old friend in an informal Way, “Hi” , “Hello”, “Hi, how’s everything?” “Hello, how are y o u?”Greetings are imporant in our everyday life. We must learn and use them well.7Big Ben is not the name of a man. It is the name of a big clock in London. London is the capital of England. This clock has four faces. So, no matter where you stand, you can read the time on the face of Big Ben. Each face is the size of a bus. The hands are about four metres long.It is about the size of two people standing on top each other. If you go to London, you may want to visit the Houses of Parliament. In that place you will find Big Ben sits at the top of the clock tower in the Houses of Parliament. You will probably hear it and see it. The bigc lock makes such a loud noise, “Ding dong, ding dong.” It goes, every quarter of an hour.The name of Big Ben comes from a big builder.8Wang was born into a rich family in America, but he was not a spoiled child.His parents made him practice violin for hours every day and he also learned Karate(空手道)！To make pocket money, Wang had to deliver （发送）newspapers. At five or six every morning, Wang was already up. Even on cold winter days, he rode his bike to deliver newspapers to every home !“When I went outside, other people were not up yet,” he said.The best moment of his day, he said, was after he got home tired and hungry, and ate sweet pies his mum had made.90n a rainy morning, a boy and his mother sit in a restaurant. They are waiting for their food. A poor man comes in. He sits at a table with some leftover(剩下的) French fries on it.“Mummy, he’s eating someone else’s French fries!”“He’s hungry and poor, dear,” says his mother”.“Can we buy him a hamburger?” the boy ask s.“He only eats leftovers,”his mother answers.When the waitress (女招待) brings their food，the boy quickly takes a small bite ( 咬) from his hamburger. Then he gets up and puts it on the table beside the poor man.The man happily takes it. He gives the boy a thankful look and leaves.Helping others makes life meaningful. A small action of considerate ( 体贴的) love can mean a lot for the needy.10June 5 is World Environment Day. This day makes us pay more attention to our environmentand the need to protect it.Our earth is facing many problems. Pollution is one of them. Our air, water and soil are all polluted. This is because of too much waste we make. And bad habits, such as dropping litter, are making it even worse!On this page, you can learn the best ways to deal with waste and how to recycle it.We need to stop our bad habits and work together to make our world a cleaner place!11Mr and Mrs Wilson lived in a big crowded city, and one summer they had holidays in a small village.They enjoyed it very much because it was a quiet, clean place and very different from the city. One morning they went for a walk and met an old man. He lived in the village and he was sitting alone in the warm sun outside his front door. Mr Wilson asked him, “Do you like living in such a quiet place?”the old man said, “ Yes, I do.” Mr Wilson asked, “ What are the good things about it?” The old man answered, “ Well, everybody knows everybody else. They often come and visit me, and I often go and visit them. And there are also lots of children here.”Mr Wilson said, “That’s intersting. And what are the bad things?”The old man thought for a minute and then said, “ Well, the same things, really.”12People began to make robots about several hundred years ago. In the past, some of the early ones looked like animals or humans. However, they couldn’t talk and were pretty dumb. They worked like clocks and did the same things over and over.Now modern robots don’t always look like people. Some are like big machines; others are nothing but long arms attached to boxy (箱子般四方)bodies.However,modern robots are smart. Some can solve problems on their own. Their brains are computers and their eyes are sensors(传感器). Motors (发动机) help them move.In the future, robots will learn from their mistakes more than they do now.They will be smarter. It’s possible that we will have robot judges, robot household workers,and robot factory workers. Robots will help people to do more things.l3My friend Eric really likes food. Every day he eats one bowl of ice cream in the morning, three at lunch time, and ten in the evening. He not only eats five bags of French fries with every meal, but for dinner he also has three pizzas. When he goes to McDonalds's , he orders four hamburgers. Because he is so fat, he has to wear special clothes.His shirt is s o big that it looks like a girl’ s dress.0ne day he ate so much that he couldn’t get through t he door of his house. “0h my goodness !” said his mother, “he can’t get out !”Eric really needs to go on a diet ! He should eat less.14Jack went to a barber’s shop and had his hair cut, but when he came out, he was not happy with the result.When his friend Bob saw him, he laugh ed and said, “What has happened to your hair, Jack?”J ack said, “I tried a new barber’s shop today, because wasn’t quite satisfied with my old one, but this tule seems even worse.”Bob agree d. “Yes, I think you’re right, Jack. Now I’ll tell you what to do when you go into a barbe r’s shop next time: loo k at all the barbers’ hair, find out whose hair looks worst, and then go straight to him.”“Why shall I go to him?” Jack asked. “But that would be f oo lish!”“0h, no, i t wouldn’t,”answere d Bob. “Who cu t that m an’s hair? Just think i t. He couldn’t cut it himself , could he? Another of the barbers cut it. So you know he can' t be the worst barber.l5In Great Britain, cars, buses and bikes must keep to the left side of the street. If a person wants to cross a street, he must be very careful. Before he crosses a road, he has to stop and look to the right first and then the left. While in China, we look to the left first instead.When visitors are in London, they should learn how to take buses and underground trains.The most important of all, they must know in which direction they are going and which underground train they should take. At the bus stop they should wait for their buses to come. As soon as they get on a bus, they must pay for their fares.。