河北省张家口市第一中学2021届高三英语上学期期中试题（Word版附答案）无听力

河北省张家口市第一中学2021届高三英语上学期期中试题（Word版附答案）无听力

张家口市第一中学 2020-2021 学年度高三第一学期 期中考试英语试题 注意事项： 全卷满分 150, 考试用时 120 分钟。 答题前, 先将自己的姓名、准考证号填写在试题卷和答题卡上。 第一部分 听力(共两节，满分 30 分) 做题时，先将答案标在试卷上。录音内容结束后，你将有两分钟的时间将试卷上的 答案转涂到答题卡上。 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’s John doing now? A. Playing football. B. Watching TV. C. Studying. 2.What can the man do? A. Swim. B. Play soccer. C. Play basketball. 3. When will the meeting be over? A. At 11:00. B. At 10:00. C. At 9:30. 4. What does the woman think of the play? A. Terrible. B. Just so-so. C. Great. 5.What’s the weather like now? A. Snowy. B. Rainy. C. Sunny. 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。 听下面一段对话，回答第 6 和第 7 两个小题。 6.Where does the man want to go? A.The library. B. The lab. C. The café. 7.What’s the man’s major? A. Psychology. B. Physics. C. Chemistry. 听下面一段对话，回答第 8 至第 10 三个小题。 8.Where is the woman going first? A. The classroom B. The library. C. The gym. 9.What will the woman do in the library? A. Borrow some books. B. Return some books. C. Study for the exam. 10.Why do the speakers go to the gym? A. To watch a game. B. To take a PE class. C. To go swimming. 听下面一段对话，回答第 11 至第 13 三个小题。 11.What do we know about the man? A. He is in poor health. B. B. He wants to stay at home today. C. He hasn’t finished his homework yet. 12.What relation is Mr. Bell to theman? A. His neighbor. B. His teacher. C. His father. 13.What does the man ask the woman to do? A. Help him hand in his project. B. Call to ask for leave. C. Drive him to school right now. 听下面一段对话，回答第 14 至第 16 三个小题。 14.What will the man do in the late afternoon? A. Give a speech. B. Write a magazine article. C. Prepare some materials. 15.Where will the man have dinner tonight? A. At home. B. In the office. C. In a meeting room. 16.How will the man go back home? A. By bus. B. By car. C. By taxi. 听下面一段独白，回答第 17 至第 20 四个小题。 17.What can we learn about Pedal Power? A. It was started in 1996. B. It gives bicycles to people for free. C. It sends bicycles to poor areas regularly. 18.What happened to Pedal Power in August 2000? A. It couldn’t meet its costs. B. It won an EnterpriseAward. C. It was criticized by the British media. 19.When did Dan Pearman go to Ecuador? A. In 1993. B. In 1998. C. In 2001. 20.Why was Dan Pearman’s neighbor successful in business? A. He offered many jobs to craftsmen in the town. B. He was the most skilled craftsman in the village. C. He could reach customers easily by riding his bike. 第二部分 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 A、B、C 和 D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项。 A What’s on your travel list for 2020? I’ve consulted several travel experts to find out the top places in the USA worth visiting in 2020. Where: New Orleans, Louisiana Why: New Orleans is known for its music and food ---not to mention the festivals. It has about 130 festivals each year so there’s really no bad time to visit. Bourbon Street is the obvious choice for food, drink and jazz and it’s definitely a must-visit location, especially for first-timers to the city. Where: Vail Village, Colorado Why: Vail is the perfect destination for travelers looking to find almost everything in one central spot. Stay at the amazing Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail to be steps away from Vail Village, a popular town with cobblestone ( 鹅 卵 石 ) streets for wandering leisurely. The country’s largest free transportation system runs frequently, making it easy to access almost anywhere from Vail Village to Lionshead Village. Where: Hudson Valley, New York Why: The Hudson Valley is where New Yorkers go to escape the city when they need a healthy dose of nature and relaxation. Just an hour and half north of New York City, the Hudson Valley is made up of small, impossibly charming towns, where the air is fresher and things do go slower in the mountains. 21．You can enjoy different things in New Orleans except ________. A．scenery B．music C．festivals D．food 22．Which place would you prefer if you like wandering leisurely? A．Bourbon Street. B．Vail Village. C．Lionshead Village. D．New Orleans. 23．What can New Yorkers enjoy in the Hudson Valley? A．Ancient towns. B．Healthy diets. C．Slow movement. D．Inner peace. B The end of the school year was in sight and spirits were high. I was back teaching after an absence of 15 years, dealing with the various kinds of "forbidden fruit" that come out of book bags. Now was the spring of the water pistol(水枪）. I decided to think up a method of dealing with forbidden fruit. "Please bring that pistol to me," I said. "I'm going to put it in my Grandma's Box." "What's that?" they asked. "It's a large wooden chest full of toys for my grandchildren," I replied, "You don't have grandchildren," someone said. "I don't now." I replied. "But someday I will. When I do, my box will be full of wonderful things for them." My imaginary Grandma's Box worked like magic that spring, and later. Sometimes, students would ask me to describe all the things I had in it. Then I would try to remember the different possessions I supposedly had taken away—since I seldom actually kept them. Usually the offender would appear at the end of the day, and I would return the belonging. The years went by, and my first grandchild Gordon was born. I shared my joy with that year's class. Then someone said, "Now you can use your Grandma's Box." From then on instead of coming to ask their possessions back, the students would say, "That's okay. Put it in your Grandma's Box for Gordon." I loved talking about the imaginary box, not only with my students but also with my own children. They enjoyed hearing about all the forbidden fruit I had collected. Then one Christmas I received a surprise gift—a large, beautifully made wooden chest. My son Bruce had made my Grandma's Box a reality. 24. What was the author's purpose in having the conversation with the students? A. To collect the water pistol. B. To talk about her grandchildren. C. To recommend some toys. D. To explain her teaching method. 25. What do the underlined words "the offender" in paragraph 8 refer to? A The student's parent. B. The maker of the Grandma's Box. C. The author's grandchild. D. The owner of the forbidden fruit. 26. What did the students do after they learned about the birth of Gordon? A. They went to play with the baby. B. They asked to see the Grandma's Box. C. They made a present for Gordon. D. They stopped asking their toys back. 27. What can we infer about the author? A. She enjoys telling jokes. B. She is a strict and smart teacher. C. She loves doing woodwork. D. She is a responsible grandmother C Parents who want their kids to succeed more than anything are now being sold a high-tech solution. Class 120 is $199-a-year smartphone app that tracks teenagers and alerts parents if the kid isn’t in his or her scheduled class. Is it a good idea for parents to track whether their young adults are in class? In short: No. This is a terrible idea. One of the fundamental purposes of a college is learning to be an independent person. That means learning how to do what needs to be done, whether one particularly feels like doing it or not. It’s easy to see why parents are keen on tracking their kids. A student is admitted to college by a process that focuses mainly on grades and scores. Monitoring grades and scores is easy. The parents may think that: “Our child is succeeding. We are good parents. We are happy.” But grades and scores can’t tell everything. They don’t take into account whether their kids have the strength of self-discipline (自律) and the skill needed to care for himself or herself. Monitoring the development of character is much harder for parents. Character growth happens through encountering ( 遇 到 ) and learning to deal with disappointments and failure. You never know which problem will be the point for growth. However, letting kids fail can be really difficult for anxious parents. They believe that success means being perfect and never failing. The truth is that kids need to learn to fail. College is an ideal place to practice adults’ responsibility and independence. Students need to make their own decisions about whether to get out of bed and go to work in the morning. Maybe your child hasn’t learned this lesson by now, but he or she has to learn it sometime. An alarm clock’s job is to wake you up, but it does not provide a reason. 28. What’s author’s attitude toward tracking teenagers? A. Supportive. B. Opposed. C. Indifferent. D. Disappointed. 29. According to the author, what’s the most important thing should a college student learn in school? A. Avoiding failure. B. Keeping healthy. C. Professional knowledge. D. Living independently. 30. What’s the author’s opinion on failure? A. Failure means that a kid is not good enough. B. Failure may be the key part of kid’s development. C. Everyone should manage to avoid failure at any time. D. Failure will bring many negative influences to children. 31. What does the underlined sentence mean in the last paragraph? A. An alarm clock is necessary for a kid. B. A kid should buy a talking alarm clock. C. A kid should get up early for learning without any reason. D. A kid should always maintain a sense of responsibility and independence. D Today’s world is not an easy adjustment for young adults. A key skill set for success is persistence ( 毅 力 ), a characteristic that researchers say is heavily influenced by fathers. Researchers from Brigham Young University discovered that fathers are in a unique position to help their adolescent children learn persistence. BYU professors Laura Padilla-Walker and Randal Day arrived at these findings after following 325 American families over several years. And over time, the persistence gained through fathers led to higher achievement in school. “ There are relatively few studies that stress the unique role of fathers,” Padilla-Walker said. “This research also helps to prove that characteristics such as persistence — which can be taught — are key to a child’s life success.” Researchers determined that dads need to practice an “authoritative”(权威性的) parenting style. Authoritative parenting is not authoritarian （ 独 裁 者 ） : rigid, demanding or controlling. Rather, an authoritative parenting style includes some of the following characteristics: children feel warmth and love from their father; responsibility and the reasons behind rules are stressed; children are given an appropriate level of autonomy (自主权). In the study, about 52 percent of the dads exhibited above-average levels of authoritative parenting. A key finding is that over time, children raised by an authoritative father were significantly more likely to develop persistence, which leads to better outcomes in school. This particular study examined 11 to 14-year-olds living in two-parent homes. Yet the researchers suggest that single parents still may play a role in teaching the benefits of persistence, which is a direction of future research. 32. What is special about the BYU professors’ study? A. It centered on fathers’ role in parenting. B. It was based on a number of large families. C. It analyzed different kinds of parenting styles. D. It aimed to improve kids’ achievement in school. 33. What would an authoritative father do when raising his children? A. Ignore their demands. B. Make decisions for them. C. Control their behaviors. D. Explain the rules to them. 34. Which group can be a focus of future studies according to the researchers? A. Single parents. B. Children aged from 11 to 14. C. Authoritarian fathers. D. Mothers in two-parent homes. 35. Which of the following is the best title for the text? A. Three Characteristics of Authoritative Fathers B. Key Skills for Young Adults to Succeed in Future C. Children Tend to Learn Determination from Father D. Family Relationship Influences School Performance 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。 The desire to be noticed by peers（同龄人）is a natural tendency. Your style – the way you dress up, the way you carry yourself, the trends you follow – plays a key role in helping your stand out from the others. 36 The following tips can help you. 1. Be yourself. Why be a second-rate version of anybody else when you can be the first –rate version of yourself? Nothing will help you stand out of the crowd more than your own features because there can be only one you. Everyone has their own belief, their own way of thinking, their own experiences that shape their styles. However, self-doubt and fear of disapproval drive many to abandon their own ways and follow what everyone else is doing. 37 2. Keep an open mind. Open-mindedness helps you see things from a different perspective, understand others, find opportunities, and learn from others. 38 There are several styles that you should explore and determine which suits your own personality. Nobody knows what fashion your are enthusiastic about. But you should be clearly aware of your own true feelings about it. 3. Keep up with the recent trends. Fashion is always changing. 39 As society changes, so does fashion. Changing trends reflect the changes in people’s taste. Similarly, your sense of fashion changes as you gain more experiences in life. Keeping track of the latest fashion will help you redefine your style. 4. Wear your confidence. Your attitude towards dressing can make a significant difference to how you look. You can wear a very beautiful dress, but if you can’t carry it with confidence, it will not look good on you. 40 Don’t wear an uncomfortable dress just because everyone or your friend is wearing it. Remember, it’s okay to have your own style as long as you are confident with it. A. Also, it tells a lot about your personality. B. What worked yesterday may not work today. C. Copying others will make you just another face in a crowd. D. Having an open mind can be very helpful in defining your style. E. On the other hand, even an average dress looks great on people who wear it confidently. F. It is not absolutely necessary to follow every new trend, and you can enjoy the ones you like. G. Simply following the fashion trends or wearing expensive clothes will not help you get a distinct style. 第三部分 语言知识运用（共两节，满分 45 分） 第一节 （共 20 小题；每小题 1.5 分，满分 30 分） 阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的 A、B、C 和 D 四个选项中，选出可以 填入空白处的最佳选项。 Jack Ma is known as one of the richest Chinese. ____41____, he was not born rich. He grew up at a time when China was ____42____ from the world, and like every family in China, his family didn’t have ____43____ when they were young. As a child, Ma had ____44____ just like any other kid. He liked collecting crickets(蟋蟀)and making them fight. Without money, the only way Ma could change his life was through ____45____. After high school, he ____46____ to go to college, but failed the entrance exam ___47____. After a great deal of studying, he finally passed on the third try, going on to ____48____ Hangzhou Teachers College. He ____49____ from college in 1988 and started applying to as many jobs as he could. He received more than a dozen _____50_____, including from KFC. But he didn’t give up trying and finally was employed as an English _____51_____. Ma loved his students, though he only made 80 yuan a month at a local university. Ma had no experience with the _____52_____, which was not very accessible to most Chinese, but he was _____53_____ the Internet when he used it for the first time in 1995. Ma’s first online search was “beer”, but he was _____54_____ to find that no Chinese beers turned up in the results. It was then _____55_____ he decided to found an internet company for China. That was the first step to his future. 41. A. Therefore B. Fortunately C. However D. Thus 42. A. closed B. different C. remote D. isolated 43. A. money B. relatives C. friends D. changes 44. A. tasks B. hobbies C. jobs D. qualities 45. A. education B. work C. luck D. view 46. A. applied B. deserved C. succeeded D. failed 47. A. once B. often C. twice D. seldom 48. A. attend B. leave C. quit D. start 49. A. continued B. presented C. introduced D. graduated 50. A. admissions B. opportunities C. rejections D. invitations 51. A. engineer B. headmaster C. teacher D. worker 52. A. company B. computer C. business D. competition 53 A. disappointed with B. crazy about C. addicted to D. worried about 54. A. surprised B. excited C. desperate D. helpless 55. A. when B. where C. that D. how 第二节(共 10 小题；每小题 1.5 分，满分 15 分) 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1 个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。 When Zhang Lingshan was a child, she would watch the Chinese period drama Palace on television, attracted by the characters' ancient clothing. She didn't know what these beautiful clothes ___56___ (call)-only that they were from some ___57___ (distance) past. "They looked fairy-like, dreamy," she said. "I was completely drawn by the beauty of these clothes, and then ___58___ (eventual) came to understand the culture of Hanfu, and I liked it more and more." Now aged nineteen ___59___ living in Beijing, Zhang is a member of China's growing "hanfu movement"-a renaissance(复兴)of the ancient clothing traditionally worn by ethnic-majority Han Chinese before ___60___ Qing dynasty. Tight-knit Hanfu communities and university clubs often meet up for themed ___61___ (activity). Zhang and her friends sometimes visit places with ancient architecture, like Beijing's Forbidden City, ___62___ emperors once lived, to take photos in costume and post them on social media. Nowadays, Hanfu is seen as a way ___63___ (celebrate) Chinese culture and improve national self-esteem. In the past few years, Hanfu clubs and social media platforms ___64___ (help) bring the Han clothing hack under the spotlight. "It's the confidence of the younger people, the confidence of the country," said Christine Tsui, a fashion columnist and researcher ___65___ (base) in Shanghai. 第四部分 写作(共两节，满分 40 分) 第一节应用文写作(满分 15 分) 假如你是李华，寒假在伦敦学习，得知伦敦市政府在社区招募防疫志愿者．请 你用英文写一封电子邮件应聘，内容包括： 1．写信目的； 2．个人优势； 3．能做的事情． 注意：1．词数 80 左右； 2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯． 招募：recruit 防疫志愿者： anti-epidemic volunteers 新冠肺炎：COVID ﹣19 Dear sir or madam, _____________________________________________________________________ _____ _____________________________________________________________________ _____ _____________________________________________________________________ _____ _____________________________________________________________________ _____ Yo urs, Li Hua 第二节 读后续写(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。 Arthur was messy. He didn’t try to make messes, but he didn’t try to clean up much, either. There were always small pieces of food on the table when he was done eating. His socks never made it into the hamper (洗衣篮). And he only picked up his toys when Mom threatened to throw them away. Most days, Mom followed Arthur around the house and cleaned up after him. She brushed the crumbs (碎屑) into her hand and threw them away after meals. She picked up his socks and made sure they got washed, dried and folded neatly before going back in the drawer. She often picked up his toys when he left them to do something else. One day, Mom asked Arthur to pick up his toy trains. “Not right now,” Arthur said. He was reading a comic book. The trains had been on the living room floor since the morning. “You know what, Arthur? I’m not going to ask you again. I’m done cleaning today.” And with that. Mom put her feet up on the sofa and picked up a book to read. At dinner time, Arthur noticed that there was a big pile of crumbs at his place at the table. Mom’s spot was nice and clean. Arthur didn’t like the crumbs very much. After dinner, Arthur’s feet felt cold. He went to his room and opened his drawer, but the drawer was empty. “Mom, where are my socks?” Arthur called. “There weren’t any socks in your hamper, so I didn’t wash them,” Mom said. Arthur felt unhappy. Now his feet would be cold, unless he wanted to wear dirty socks from the floor. He decided to stay barefoot. When it was time for bed, Arthur said good night to Mom and turned to go upstairs. Arthur stepped right on his toy train in his bare feet. “Ouch!” cried Arthur. “That really hurt !” 注意： 1.续写词数应为 150 左右。 2.请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。 Paragraph 1: However, Mom was still reading and said nothing. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ______ Paragraph 2: “Mom?” said Arthur. “Tomorrow can you show me how to do the washing so I can wash my socks?” _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ______ 张家口市第一中学高三第一学期期中考试英语试题 参考答案 第一部分 听力(共两节，满分 30 分) 1~5 CCACB 6~10 ABABC 11~15 ABACA 16~20 BCAAC 第二部分 阅读理解(共两节，满分 50 分) A 篇: 21. A 22.B 23.D B 篇: 24. A 25. D 26. D 27. B C 篇：28. B 29. D 30. B 31. D D 篇：32.A 33. D 34.A 35.C 七选五：36-40 GCDBE 第三部分 语言知识运用（共两节，满分 45 分） 41. C 42. D 43. A 44. B 45. A 46. A 47. C 48. A 49. D 50. C 51. C 52. B 53. B 54. A 55. C 56. were called 57. distant 58. eventually 59. and 60. the 61.activities 62. where 63.to celebrate 64.have helped 65. based 第四部分 写作(共两节，满分 40 分) 第一节 应用文写作(满分 15 分) Dear sir or madam， I am a Chinese student named Li Hua, who is studying in London. Knowing that the city of London is recruiting anti-epidemic volunteers, I am writing to apply for volunteering． As a Chinese who has experienced the outbreak of COVID﹣19, I am very pleased to have an opportunity to help foreign students. Besides, my fluent spoken English and good communication skills will help them deal with the situation. Should I have the chance, I would teach them how to protect themselves from the viruses and communicate with them on the Internet to reduce their stress. I will appreciate it if I could be given the opportunity. Looking forward to your early reply. Yo urs， Li Hua 【分析】高分句型一：Knowing that the city of London is recruiting anti epidemic volunteers,I am writing to apply for volunteering． 译文：我知道伦敦市正在招募防疫志愿者，所以写信来申请志愿服务． 分析：这句话使用现在分词作原因状语． 高分句型二：Should I have the chance, I would teach them how to protect themselves from the viruses and communicate with them on the Internet to reduce their stress． 译文：如果我有机会，我会教他们如何保护自己免受病毒的侵害，并与他们在互联网上交流， 以减轻他们的压力． 分析：这句话使用 if 虚拟条件句的省略句，省略 if，提前 should． 第二节：读后续写答案 Paragraph 1 However, Mom was still reading and said nothing. Arthur wasn’t sure if she had heard him or not so he called for help again, but still Mom didn’t come. Then Arthur realized maybe it was he that could solve his problem at that very moment. He quietly picked up the toy train and put it in the box. It only took a minute for him to put the toy away, and now he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting his feet again. Paragraph 2 “Mom?” said Arthur. “Tomorrow can you show me how to do the laundry so I can wash my socks?” “Of course,” said Mom. “It’s nice to see you begin to learn to take care of yourself. I am always here to do whatever I can to help you become a more independent boy.” Arthur felt better. He didn’t want to wait until the next laundry day to have clean socks again. Maybe being neat wasn’t so hard after all. 温馨提示: 答案只是个参考，只要学生能抓住线索——从主人公不收拾房间，一直是妈妈收 拾，到妈妈忍无可忍决定给他一次教训再到他自食其果，反思到自己的坏习惯，改正习惯。 只要考生能大致不偏离主题，自圆其说，语言表达地道通顺，这样的续写都是可取的。 听力原文： Text 1 M: Kate, don’t make noise. This football match is great. W: I think you should turn off the TV. Both John and I are preparing for the final exam. Text 2 M: You know, Jason can play tennis, swim, play soccer… but I can’t. W: It doesn’t matter. I mean, you can play the guitar, play basketball, cook and even speak three languages. You are great. Text 3 M: When will the meeting begin? W: According to the schedule, it should start at 9:30, and it will last for an hour and a half . Text 4 M: Did you get to watch the play Sunshine in the Capital Theater yesterday? W: Yes, it couldn’t be better. But I didn’t like the people there. They always made noises. Text 5 M: It’s raining again. The weather report says it’s going to snow tonight. I don’t like this kind of weather. W: But it’s going to be sunny this weekend. Text 6 M: Can you give me a ride to the library? W: Studying at the library again? I take just as many classes as you do, but I only have about an hour of studying to do every day. And I can get all my work done either here at home or at the café down the road. M: Well, I’m majoring in physics. I have several projects due each month, and that’s after I spend ten or fifteen hours a week in the lab. You’re a psychology major. You have one midterm and one final exam for each class, right? W: Yeah… M: You’ve got it so easy! Text 7 M: Hi, Jenny. Are you going to school now? W: Yup. I have English at 9:00 in the morning. M: We will have our midterm exams next month. I plan to look for some important books in the library. Do you want to join me? W: Sure. I need to return some books. M: Great. We can go to the swimming pool in the gym after that. W: That sounds like a good idea. We can chill out a little in such a hot summer. Text 8 W: Oh, you look ill. M: I don’t feel too good. I must admit. W: Then you shouldn’t go to school today. M: Oh, I have to. I can’t stay at home today — we’ve got to hand in our geography projects. It’s the last chance. And it’s just a cold. You always feel worse when you first get up. I’ll be fine once I’ve had a wash and a bit of breakfast. W: It won’t hurt to miss a day. You look very pale, and there’s a flu virus going round at the moment. Ella next door has got flu. M: I haven’t got the flu, mom. And Mr. Bell will think that I’m absent because today’s the deadline for the project and I haven’t finished it. W: Don’t be silly — you’re one of his star pupils. Surely, he’s not going to fail you because you are ill. You haven’t even missed a day all year as far as I remember. M: Oh well, I suppose you’re right. Perhaps I will stay at home, just today. But could you do me a favor? Drive round to school and deliver my project to Mr. Bell. W: It’s quite unnecessary. I will call Mr. Bell right now. Text 9 M: I have such a busy day today. I don’t know when I’ll be home. Can you pick up our son from school today? W: Oh, you have to speak at the High School of Science and Technology today? M: That’ll be finished by 3 o’clock. But then I have to go to the office and prepare my notes for my speech at the Computer Society’s annual dinner tonight. W: Well, at least your magazine article has already been written and given to your editor. It was due today, wasn’t it? M: Yes, at least that’s done. In fact, it should be published sometime next month. W: Do you think you’ll be given time to eat tonight or will you have to spend the entire evening answering questions? M: I might be asked to speak as soon as everyone sits down for dinner. In that case, I guess I’ll be pretty hungry when I get home. W: Do you have any idea what time you’ll be finished? M: No. W: Well, I’ll have something ready for you to eat. Can you catch the last bus? Or maybe you should take a taxi. M: Don’t worry, dear. That’s already been taken care of. The Computer Society is sending a car for me. It’s picking me up at the office at six and will bring me home after the meeting. Text 10 M: Pedal Power is a small charity based mainly in the UK. At Pedal Power, they collect second-hand bikes in the UK and send them to some of the poorest regions in the world. When they distribute bikes overseas, they don’t give them away for free. In order to continue operating they need to have a constant supply of bikes which they send out every six months. In August 2000, they simply ran out of money. It was a terrible situation. Fortunately, in October 2001 they won an Enterprise Award which helped them enormously. Dan Pearman is the founder of Pedal Power. He got the idea of exporting bicycles to developing countries while he was in Ecuador. Dan Pearman went there in 1993 and he joined a voluntary organization. Where Dan Pearman lived in Ecuador was a rural area. His neighbor had the only bicycle in the village, whereas everyone else walked everywhere. His neighbor’s business was very successful. For years Dan Pearman couldn’t understand why. Then he realized having a bike meant his neighbor could reach anywhere he liked without much trouble. Other local carpenters could only accept jobs nearby, so no matter how skilled they were, they could never do as many jobs as his neighbor. When he returned to the UK in 1998, he started planning Pedal Power.