Passage Five
Auctions (拍卖) are public sales of goods ,conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd assembled in the auction room to make offers, or "bids", for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures, and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of goods. This is called" knocking down" the goods, for the bidding ends when the auctioneer bangs a small hammer on a table at which he stands, This is often set on a raised platform called a rostrum.
The ancient Romans probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin auction, meaning "increase". The Romans usually sold in this way the spoils taken in war; these sales were called" subusta", meaning "under the spear", a spear being stuck in the ground as a signal for a crowd to gather. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries goods were often sold by the candle’, a short candle was lit by the auctioneer; and bids could be made while it stayed alight.
An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by possible buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together, called a "lot", is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with lot 1 and continue in numerical order; he may wait until he registers the fact that certain dealers are in the room and then produce the lots they are likely to be interested in. The auctioneer’s services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up the bidding as high as possible.
Practicaly all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, hider, skins, wool, tea, cocoa, furs, spices, fruit and vegetables and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property, antique, furniture, pictures, rare books, old china, and similar works of art. The auction-rooms at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London and New York are world famous.

The auctioneer may decide to sell the "Lots" out of order because （）

A:he sometimes wants to confuse the buyers B:he knows from experience that certain people will want to buy certain items C:he wants to keep certain people waiting D:he wants to reduce the number

What should you do when the depressed lover says he wants to kill himself

A:Don't care about his saying because he won't do it. B:Monitor whether he is taking medication. C:Inform the patient's doctor and get help. D:Accuse him of pretending illness.

Suppose you work in a library, checking people’s books as they leave, and a friend asks you to let him steal a hard-to-find reference book that he wants to own.
You might hesitate to agree for various reasons. You might be afraid that he’ll be caught, and that both you and he will then get into trouble. You might want the book to stay in the library so that you can read it yourself.
But you may also think that what he proposes is wrong--that he shouldn’t do it and you shouldn’t help him. If you think that, what does it mean and what, if anything, makes it true
To say it’s wrong is not just to say it’s against the rules. There can be bad rules which stop what isn’t wrong--like a company rule against criticizing the boss. A rule can also be bad because it requires something that is wrong--like a law that looks down upon black people in hotels and restaurants. The ideas of wrong and right are different from the ideas of what is and is not against the rules.
If you think it would be wrong to help your friend steal the book, then you will feel uncomfortable about doing it: in some way you won’t want to do it, even if you are also unwilling to refuse to help a friend. Where does the desire not to do it come from What is its motive behind it
There are various ways in which something can be wrong, but in this case, if you had to explain it, you’d probably say that it would be unfair to other users of the library. They may be just as interested in the book as your friend is, but read it in the reference room, where anyone who needs it can fred it.
These thoughts have to deal with effects on others--not necessarily effects on their feelings, since they may never find out about it, but some kind of damage. In general, the thought that something is wrong depends on its impact not just on the person who does it but on other people.

The following may be the reasons why the librarian does not want to help his friend EXCEPT that（　）.

A:he is afraid that his friend might get into trouble B:he himself might get into trouble C:he believes it is wrong to help one’s poor friend D:he wants to read the book himself

After 10 seasons wearing the No. 8 on his back, Kobe Bryant will become No. 24 next season. The reason for the surprising decision by the Los Angeles Lakers super guard last week has become a hot topic for debate.
Bryant wore No. 24 when he was in early high school, but he changed to No. 33 in his senior year. He switched to No. 8 when he was selected by the Lakers in 1996, and has not been changed since.
Bryant has refused to explain the decision until the end of the play-offs (季后赛). So guessing Bryant’s motive has become a popular game among NBA fans and newspaper columnists(专栏作家).
There are all kinds of speculations. Many say that Bryant wants to leave the past behind and have a fresh start. He has often been criticized for playing to benefit himself and not the team as a whole. Others say that he may be trying to compare himself to Michael Jordan. Jordan was famous for his No. 23 jersey(运动衫). Some, such as NBA Sport columnist Michael Venter, argue that it is "all about money". Bryant will make more money by selling new jerseys to his fans.
Some speculations are more about fun. For example, there is an opinion that Kobe is actually just a diehard(非常执著的) fan of the popular TV drama"24".
All this talk has turned the number change into a major issue. It seems that there is a lot of fuss (大惊小怪) over something that should be pretty simple.
Jersey numbers have their own special significance in American sports, especially basketball. Players choose their number when they join a team and they usually stick with that number for the rest of their career. When a great player retires, his team will honor him by retiring his number.
To some extent, the jersey is the player, and the player is the jersey. Thus, when you see the famous No. 23 for the Chicago Bulls, you immediately think about Michael Jordan. A No. 32 Miami Heats jersey recalls the image of Shaquille O’Neal, and the Houston Rockets No. 11 belongs only to Yao Ming.
Lots of stories are behind players’ jersey number selections. Jordan said that he chose No. 23 because it was roughly half of 45．Jordan’s elder brother wore the No. 45 in college. Yao Ming once revealed that the No. 11 stands for two people in love—meaning him and his girlfriend Ye Li.
Which of the following is NOT a speculation about Bryant’s motive to change his number, according to this passage

A:He wants to leave his past behind and have a fresh start. B:He wants to compare himself to Jordan. C:He wants to earn more money. D:He wants to show that he is a man of great importance.

{{B}}第二篇{{/B}}

Which of the following is NOT a speculation about Bryant’s motive to change his number, according to this passage?

A:He wants to leave his past behind and have a fresh start. B:He wants to compare himself to Jordan. C:He wants to earn more money. D:He wants to show that he is a man of great importance.

　第三篇 　　Right and Wrong 　　Suppose you work in a library, checking people’s books as they leave, and a friend asks you to let him steel a hard-to-find reference book that he wants to own 　　You might hesitate to agree for various reasons. You might be afraid that he’ll be caught, and that both you and he will then get into trouble. You might want the book to stay in the library so that you can read it yourself. 　　But you may also think that what he proposes is wrong—that he shouldn’t do it and you shouldn’t help him. If you think that, what does it mean and what, if anything, makes it true? 　　To say it’s wrong is not just to say it’s against the rules. There can be bad rules which stop what isn’t wrong—like a company rule against criticizing the boss. A rule can also be bad because it requires something that is wrong --- like a law that looks down upon black people in hotels and restaurants. The ideas of wrong and right are different from the ideas of what is and is not against the rules. 　　If you think it would be wrong to help your friend steal the book, then you will feel uncomfortable about doing it: in some way you won’t want to do it, even if you are also unwilling to refuse to help a friend. Where does the desire not to do it come from? What is its motive behind it? 　　There are various ways in which something can be wrong, but in this case, if you had to explain it, you’d probably say that it would be unfair to other users of the library. They may be just as interested in the book as your friend is, but read it in the reference room, where anyone who needs it can find it. 　　These thoughts have to deal with effects on others – not necessarily effects on their feelings, since they may never find out about it, but some kind of damage. In general, the thought that something is wrong depends on its impact not just on the person who does it but on other people.

A:he is afraid that his friend might get into trouble. B:he himself might get into trouble. C:he believes it is wrong to help one’s poor friend. D:he wants to read the book himself.

{{B}}第二篇{{/B}}

Which of the following is NOT a speculation about Bryant’s motive to change his number, according to this passage?

A:He wants to leave his past behind and have a fresh start B:He wants to compare himself to Jordan C:He wants to earn more money D:He wants to show that he is a man of great importance

第二篇Kobe Bryant After 10 seasons wearing the No 8 on his back,Kobe Bryant will become No 24 next season.The reason for the surprising decision by the Los Angeles Lakers super guard last week has become a hot topic for debate. Bryant wore No 24 when he was in early high school,but he changed to No 33 in his senior year.He switched to No 8 when he was selected by the Lakers in 1996,and has not been changed since. Bryant has refused to explain the decision until the end of the play-offs(季后赛).So guessing Bryant’s motive has become a popular game among NBA fans and newspaper columnists(专栏作家). There are all kinds of speculations.Many say that Bryant wants to leave the past behind and have a fresh start.He has often been criticized for playing to benefit himself and not the team as a whole.Others say that he may be trying to compare himself to Michael Jordan.Jordan was famous for his No 23 jersey(运动衫).Some,such as NBC Sport columnist Michael Ventre,argue that it is“all about money”.Bryant will make more money by selling new jerseys to his fans. Some speculations are more about fun.For example,there is an opinion that Kobe is actually just a diehard(非常执著的)fan of the popular TV drama “24”. All this talk has turned the number change into a major issue.It seems that there is a lot of fuss(大惊小怪)over something that should be pretty simple. Jersey numbers have their own special significance in American sports,especially basketball.Players choose their number when they join a team and they usually stick with that number for the rest of their career.When a great player retires,his team will honor him by retiring his number. To some extent,the jersey is the player,and the player is the jersey.Thus,when you see the famous No 23 for the Chicago Bulls,you immediately think about Michael Jordan.A No 32 Miami Heats jersey recalls the image of Shaquille O’Neal,and the Houston Rockets’ No 11 belongs only to Yao Ming. Lots of stories are behind players’ jersey number selections.Jordan said that he chose No 23 because it was roughly half of 45.Jordan’s elder brother wore the No 45 in college.Yao Ming once revealed that the No 11 stands for two people in love-meaning him and his girlfriend Ye Li. Which of the following is NOT a speculation about Bryant’s motive to change his number,according to this passage?

A:He wants to leave his past behind and have a fresh start. B:He wants to compare himself to Jordan. C:He wants to earn more money. D:He wants to show that he is a man of great importance.