高三上学期期末英语测试题

高三上学期期末英语测试题

本试卷分第一卷（选择题）和第二卷（非选择题）两部分。共150分。考试时间120分钟。

第一卷（三部分，共115分）

第一部分：听力(共两节，满分30分)

做题时，先将答案划在试卷上。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卷上。

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，并标在试卷的相应位置。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 do we know about the woman?

A. She missed Jane’s birthday party.

B. She hasn’t received Jane’s invitation.

C. She will attend Jane’s birthday party.

2. What is the woman going to do?

A. To have a swim.

B. To catch a train.

C. To have a training.

3. What are they talking about?

A. A card.

B. A birthday gift.

C. A gold fish.

4. How much time does it take Smith to go to work in rush hours?

A. 5 minutes.

B. 15 minutes.

C. 20 minutes.

5. Why will the man go to Edinburgh?

A. To drive the woman there.

B. To have a meeting in Glasgow.

C. To meet some important people.

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，并标在试卷的相应位置。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. Where does the conversation take place?

A. In a hotel.

B. In a hospital.

C. At a school.

7. Which room is his uncle staying in?

A. Room 204 on the third floor.

B. Room 24 on the fourth floor.

C. Room 304 on the

fifth floor.

听第7段材料，回答第8～9题。

8. How will they go to the meeting?

A. They will ride their bicycles.

B. They will walk there.

C. They will take a bus.

9. When will the meeting begin?

A. It’ll begin at two thirty.

B. It’ll begin in twenty-five minutes.

C. The meeting has begun.

听第8段材料，回答第10～12题。

10. What are the woman and her family going to do tomorrow?

A. They are going to play basketball.

B. They are going to pack books.

C. They are going to move into another house.

11. Where is the house they are talking about?

A. It’s very far away.

B. It’s near where they are living.

C. It’s in the country.

12. What is the man doing when the woman asks him to pack books?

A. He is beginning to pack.

B. He is reading a magazine.

C. He is putting the books in the box.

听第9段材料，回答第13～16题。

13. Which bus will the man take?

A. No. 19.

B. No. 90.

C. No. 80.

14. How long does it take to go from Washington to New York by bus?

A. Three hours.

B. Four hours.

C. Five hours.

15. How many buses leave Washington for New York in the afternoon?

A. Two.

B. Three.

C. Four.

16. How much does a ticket cost?

A. 18 dollars.

B. 36 dollars.

C. 72 dollars.

听第10段材料，回答第17～20题。

17. What is the couple's nationality?

A. British.

B. French.

C. Chinese.

18. What happened to the couple’s pet dog?

A. It was well fed in the kitchen.

B. It was killed in the kitchen.

C. It had a meal with the old couple. .

19. How long did the couple have to wait before their food was ready?

A. About an hour.

B. Half an hour.

C. An hour and a half.

20. How does the woman feel about what the man said?

A. It is true.

B. It is wrong to do so.

C. It is unbelievable.

第二部分：英语知识运用(共两节，满分45分)

第一节：单项填空(共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分)

从A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

21. ---Make sure that you turn off the light before you leave the room.

---Yes,____.

A. I shall

B. I am going to

C. I will

D. I am to do it

22. I seldom, _____ , go to the mountain for a picnic.

A. if ever

B. however

C. still

D. if never

23. He used to visit _____ is now called Garden Villas.

A. which

B. where

C. what

D. that

24. Many months had passed _____ I realized he was really mean and low.

A. after

B. until

C. before

D. when

25. ---What's the man's name, did he say?

---Oh, sorry, I _____.

A. didn’t listen

B. wasn’t listening

C. haven’t listened

D. haven’t been listening

26. ---Who left the room unlocked?

---It _____ Mr. Smith who did it.

A. could be

B. would be

C. would have been

D. should have been

27. He kept training there at noon, when the sun was ____ hottest on the ground, which won him ______ good success.

A. the; 不填

B. 不填; 不填

C. the; the

D. 不填; a

28. The policeman was ____ speed. It was coming up nearer and nearer to the kidnapped car.

A. obtaining

B. getting

C. acquiring

D. gaining

29. I’m sorry but I _____ it on purpose a nd I'd like to know what I _____ next.

A. haven’t done; shall do

B. don’t do; will do

C. won’t do; am going to do

D. didn’t do; am to do

30. They at last came to a great desert, _____ lies the Dead Sea to its east.

A. where

B. there

C. across which

D. over which

31. They have formed a good relationship, and they hope both sides will _____ .

A. stick to it

B. keep it up

C. pay attention to it

D. look after it

32. He has got everything ready, _____ it well.

A. determined to do

B. to be determined to doing

C. determining doing

D. to determine to do

33. Not until he spoke the truth, ______.

A. did his parents forgive him

B. had his parents forgiven him

C. his parents forgave him

D. his parents would forgive him

34. This kind of facilities, _____ for the convenience of the blind people, will be put into use soon.

A. having been designed

B. to be designed

C. designed

D. having been designing

35. I regret _____ with her in such a heated way just now.

A. to argue

B. to have been argued

C. arguing

D. argued

第二节：完形填空(共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分)

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36～55题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

Some desert animals can survive the very strong summer heat and dryness because they have very unusual characters. The camel, for example, can 36 an increase in the temperature of its body and its blood of 9 °C. In addition, it can drink a huge 37 of water at one time, then store sufficient water in its red blood cells and other parts of its body to supply its needs for two weeks or more. The kangaroo rat(长鼻袋鼠), on the other hand, 38 all the water it needs from water that it produces during respiration(呼吸). However, most animals need to 39 a fairly constant body temperature, and will die if it rises more than 5 °C. 40 , they need to find some way to avoid the strong sun rays. Nor can many animals either store or produce water in their bodies, as the camel and kangaroo rat 41 . So they must find ways to 42 water loss from their bodies to the lowest degree.

Because very few desert animals can survive the strong rays, the temperature, and the evaporation(蒸发) rate 43 a typical summer’s day, most of them are 44 during the

night. Only 45 the sun has set does the desert come fully to life. The night is 46 cool, and the darkness provides 47 , not only from the sun, but also from other animals and from the birds. So the coming of darkness is the signal 48 the large majority of animals and insects (昆虫) to continue their search for water and food. When morning comes, most of them seek 49 again: many go underground; nearly all find 50 shady and they can avoid the sun rays there.

For many kinds of insects, living in the desert is 51 than for animals. Like many desert plants, they have a waterproof skin which 52 water loss by evaporation. In addition, some insects spend all 53 most of their life below ground. Here, for most of the year at least, there is 54 wetness, and it is generally cooler than on the 55 .

36. A. carry B. bear C. effect D. delay

37. A. amount B. number C. level D. sum

38. A. obtains B. consumes C. brings D. replaces

39. A. raise B. reject C. keep D. regulate

40. A. However B. Again C. Instead D. Therefore

41. A. can B. may C. must D. need

42. A. quicken B. reduce C. lighten D. keep

43. A. in B. to C. of D. through

44. A. sensitive B. active C. involved D. disturbed

45. A. after B. since C. until D. before

46. A. extremely B. suddenly C. relatively D. sufficiently

47. A. prevention B. protection C. possession D. permission

48. A. for B. with C. from D. among

49. A. food B. shelter C. water D. work

50. A. something B. anything C. anywhere D. somewhere

51. A. easier B. better C. safer D. harder

52. A. causes B. changes C. prevents D. suffers

53. A. or B. and C. but D. when

54. A. little B. plentiful C. thorough D. some

55. A. hill B. surface C. top D. skin

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

A

Tests conducted at the University of Pennsylvania’s Psychological Laboratory showed that anger is one of the most difficult emotions to find out from facial expressions.

Professor Dallas E. Buzy confronted 716 students with pictures of extremely angry persons, and asked them to identify (识别) the emotion from the facial expressions. Only two percent made correct judgments. Anger was most frequently judged as “Pleased”.

And a typical reaction of a student confronted with the picture of a man who was mad was to classify his expression as either “bewildered”, “quizzical”, or simply “amazed”. Other studies

showed that it is extremely difficult to tell whether a man is angry or not just by looking at his face. The investigators found further that women are better at finding out anger from facial expressions than men are. In fact, they found that psychological training does not improve one's ability to judge a man's emotions by his expressions but actually hinders it. For in the university tests, the more courses the student had taken in psychology, the poorer judgment score he turned in.

56. The information in this passage centers around ____ .

A. the relation between anger and other emotions

B. the differences between men and women with respect to emotion

C. the influence of psychology on human emotions

D. the discovery of anger from facial expressions

57. When tested, students with psychological training _____ .

A. marked less than two percent of their possible choices correctly

B. did better than the average student in the group

C. seemed less able to judge correctly than the average student

D. performed in a manner not specified in the passage

58. To achieve the greatest success in finding out anger from facial expressions, it would be best to ____.

A. use adults rather than students as judges

B. ask women who do not study psychology to judge it

C. ask men rather than women to judge it

D. be satisfied with a two percent success, if such a percentage is guaranteed (保证)

B

Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell.

Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that “Gift” means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable.

Our linguistic (语言上的) and cultural blindness and the casualness(随意性) with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.

Even here in the United States, we make few concessions (让步) to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual (多语的) guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them.

When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives---usually the richer---who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy (外交), are conducted through interpreters.

For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic

ignorance (无知). After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods.

But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.

59. It can be inferred that Americans being approached too closely by Middle Easterners would most probably ____.

A. stand still

B. jump aside

C. step forward

D. draw back

60. The author gives many examples to criticize Americans for their ___.

A. cultural self-centeredness

B. casual manner

C. lime care about foreign visitors

D. overproudness towards other cultures

61. In countries other than their own most Americans____.

A. are kept apart by me local people

B. are not well informed due to the language barrier(障碍)

C. tend to get along well with the natives

D. need interpreters in hotels and restaurants

62. According to me author, Americans’ cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance(无知) will____.

A. affect their image(形象) in the new era

B. cut themselves off from the outside world

C. limit their role in world affairs

D. weaken the position of the US dollar

63. The author’s intention in writing this article is to make Americans realize that ____ .

A. It is dangerous to ignore their foreign friends

B. it is important to maintain their leading role in world affairs

C. it is necessary to use several languages in public places

D. it is time to get familiar with other cultures

C

Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring (令人厌烦的) environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.

It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random (任意的) from the population, it is likely that their degrees or intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical (完全相同的) twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other.

Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We

might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates (表明) that environments as well as birth play a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact (接触) with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.

64. It can be concluded that _____.

A. a person beginning to live on a lonely island alone in his late teens may be very low in intelligence

B. a person beginning to live on a lonely island alone in his late teens may be very high in intelligence

C. a husband and his wife may be similar in intelligence if they have been married long

D. a father and his son may be identical in intelligence

65. Which of these sentences best describes the writer’s point on intelligence?

A. Intelligence is determined at birth.

B. Intelligence is mainly developed by environment.

C. Some people are born clever and others stupid.

D. Intelligence is given at birth, but can be developed by environment

66. It is suggested in the passage that _____.

A. twins always have the same intelligence

B. intelligence doesn’t d epend on relationship by the blood

C. unrelated people can never have similar intelligence

D. people in the same circle are likely to have similar intelligence

67. The best title for this article would be ______ .

A. On intelligence

B. What does intelligence mean

C. We are born with intelligence

D. Environments play a part in developing

intelligence

D

STAGE

Tiketan antelope (羚羊): A modern dance describing the life of the antelope of Tibet is set for the stage. The dance is also a plea(呼吁) to humans to protect the vulnerable creature.

Time: 7:30 p. m, November 22, 23.

Place: Poly Theatre, 14 Dongzhimen Nandajie.

Tel: 6500-1188ext. 5176.

Monkey King:Two Peking opera excerpts(节选), one focusing on the Monkey King, are being performed every evening at me Zhengyisi Theatre.

“The Broken Bridge” and “Eighteen Arhats Fight the Monkey King” are featured on Fri days.

On Sundays, “Farewell My Concubine” and “Monkey King’s Havoc (大闹) in Heaven” are the featured pieces.

Time: 7:30 p.m. daily.

Place: Zhengyisi Theatre.

Tel: 1362-119-5714.

Ming-style theatre: The Liyuan Theatre presents traditional Peking Opera excerpts specially packaged in short programmes for foreign audiences in its original style.

The theatre brings back to life of the surroundings of old Beijing by setting up Ming-style

tables that enable guests to taste local food during the performances. With an interpretation (说明) in English, the performances are from the Beijing Peking Opera Theatre.

Time: 7:30 p.m. daily.

Place: Qianmen Hotel, 175 Yong’an Lu, Xuanwu District.

Tel: 6301-6688 ext. 8867.

68. Where can you surely see performances from a local Beijing Opera troupe(剧团)?

A. In Poly Theatre.

B. In Qianmen Hotel.

C. In Zhengyisi Theatre.

D. Not specifically

told.

69. must be a performance describing Monkey King.

A. Havoc in the Dragon’s Palace

B. Picking up the Jade Bracelet

C. The Broken Bridge

D. Farewell My Concubine

70. Pieces of performances may be the shortest presented _____.

A. in the Poly Theatre

B. in the Zhehyisi Theatre

C. by the Tibetan Dancing Troupe

D. by the Liyuan Theatre

E

Domestic violence (家庭暴力) is no longer a taboo subject in China and more women are choosing not to suffer harm while society pledges warmer support to those caught in violence.

“China has scored remarkable achievements in its fight against domestic violence in the past years,” sa id Zhang Hongman, an official with me Beijing Office of the United Nations (UN) Development Fund for Women.

“But the most outstanding gains have been made by a successful literacy campaign (文字攻势, enlightening many Chinese people of me fact that domestic violence does not have to be hushhush and should be publicly condemned and punished.”

She said exposing domestic violence is the first step towards effectively fighting it because only from there can all-out efforts be made to try and protect victims (受害者) .

Yesterday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the UN published a report urging governments to take action to reduce domestic violence.

According to the UN World Health Organization report, “nearly half the women wh o die due to homicide are killed by their current or former husbands or boyfriends.”

No official large-scale activities were held in China yesterday, but Liu Shana, an official with the All-China Women's Federation, said an ongoing fight against domestic violence has been carried out actively throughout the country.

Increased publicity together with a hit television show called “Don’t Talk to Strangers” eye-catching roadside and subway advertisements and broadcast and print reports criticizing the domestic violence are reaching across China.

71. What does the underlined word “taboo” mean in the first paragraph?

A. often spoken of

B. forbidden

C. very cruel

D. shameful

72. According to .the passage, it can be concluded that _______

A. domestic violence may also happen after the marriage couples have got divorced(︿︿Ei)

B. sometimes women also perform domestic violence

C. Many activities were conducted by governments to mark the International Day

D. “Don’t Talk to Strangers” was specially shot for t he International Day

73. Domestic violence was usually considered to be .

A. something between family members only

B. a serious thing mat people outside China also pay attention to

C. something for the government to deal with in an all round way

D. something that people had known very clearly to

74. It can be inferred from the passage mat domestic violence is______.

A. a common thing happening both at home and abroad

B. something happening most seriously in China

C. something very likely leading to death

D. a common thing that is under control

75. What is probably the best title of the passage?

A. Domestic violence keeps increasing.

B. Domestic violence dealt with.

C. China model in reducing domestic violence.

D. U.N eyes China for its domestic violence.

第二卷(共35分)

第四部分：写作(共两节，满分35分)

第一节：短文改错(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行作出判断：如无错误，在该行右边横线上划一个(√)；如有错误(每行只有一个错误)，则按下列情况改正：该行多一个词：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉，在该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。

该行缺一个词：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，在该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

该行错一个词：在错的词下划一横线，在该行右边横线上写出改正后的词。

注意：原行没有错的不要改。

I am back in Briton now after great holiday 76. ______

with Rose in Dublin. I really enjoy it. We travelled 77. ______

by train and boat. I hated the boat journey---I tried 78. ______

to sleep, and it was very difficult. When we arrived, 79. ______

we both very tired. We stayed with her parents for80. ______

two weeks and they cooked lovely meal for us.81. ______

I practised my English at all times. We visited some 82. ______

of Dublin’s ancient buildings. The castle was close 83. ______

so we didn't get into one. I also liked the universities84. ______

there. What I regretted I wasn’t a university student! 85. ______

第二节：书面表达(满分25分)

假定你是某中学学生李华。最近，你班同学正在参加21世纪英文报“大家谈”栏目的一个讨论。本次话题为：父母的收入有没有必要让孩子知道？

注意：1．信的开头已给出。2．词数：100左右。3．参考词汇：收入: income

Dear editor,

I’m writing to tell you about the discussion we recently had about whether we should know our parents income.

高三上学期期末英语测试题参考答案

1—5 CCBCC 6—10 BACAC 11—15 BBBBA 16—20 ABBAC

21—25 CACCB 26—30 ADDDC 31—35 BAACC

36—40 BAACD 41—45 ABCBA 46—50 CBABD 51—55 ACADB

56—60 DCBDC 61—65 BADCD 66—70 DABAD 71—75 BAAAB

76. great前加a 77. enjoy→enjoyed 78. √79. and→but 80. both前加were

81. meal→meals 82. 去掉at 83. close→closed 84. one→it 85. What→How

One possible version:

Dear editor,

I’m writing to tell you about the discussion we recently had about whether we should know our parents income.

We do have different opinions on this matter. Most of us (about 70%) think we should know our parents’ income since it will help us understand how hard our parents have to work, no matter how much they earn. Then we will study harder and will not waste money any more. We may also learn to share our parents’ trouble.

About 30% of my classmates think it unnecessary to let the children know how much their parents earn. If they know their parents have enough money to support the family, they will not study hard since they needn’t worry about the future. It is said, especially when their parents have a relatively high income, the children will easily form a wasteful habit.

Yours truly,

Li Hua 听力录音稿

Text 1

W: Are you going to Jane’s birthday party, George?

M: Yes. I received her invitation yesterday. What abort you, Nina?

W: I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

Text 2

M: Can you tell me where the swimming pool is?

W: I’m on the way there for training. Come with me.

Text 3

W: What have you got for Mummy's birthday tomorrow? I've made a beautiful card for her.

M: I have got nothing yet, but I decided to give her a goldfish to keep.

Text 4

W: How far do you live from the university, Mr. Smith?

M: It takes about 15 minutes to drive from my home to the university. But during the rush hours it will take 5 minutes more.

Text 5

W: Alan, have you got a meeting in Edinburgh?

M: Yes. I’m going to see some important people, Why?

W: I’m going to visit Glasgow on Wednesday and it’s quite near Edinburgh.

M: Ah ... I’m going to drive there tomorrow, so you can go with me.

Text 6

M: Excuse me.

W: Yes? What can I do for you?

M: I’m visiting my uncle. Could you tell me which room he's staying in?

W: Your uncle’s name, please?

M: Colin. Mr Colin Martin. He was sent into this hospital last night.

W: Let me see ... Oh, his room number is 204 and it's on the third floor.

M: Thank you very much. Which way is it to the stairs?

W: Over there, but wait a minute.

M: What?

W: Your uncle had a heart attack. He’s all right now, but his doctor won’t allow any visitors until tomorrow morning.

M: OK, I’ll come back tomorrow. Thanks.

W: Not at all. See you then.

Text 7

W: Hurry up, Charlie! Everyone is waiting for you.

M: I’ll be ready in a minute... I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t realize it was so l ate.

W: I hope we won’t be late. The bus has got started.

M: What time is it?

W: Let me see. Twenty-five to two.

M: Then we’ll just make it. The meeting doesn’t start until half past two.

Text 8

M: Can you play basketball with me today?

W: No, I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to help my mother. We are going to move tomorrow.

M: Where is the new house? Is it far from here?

W: No, it's not far. It's just across the road.

M: Can I help you pack?

W: Sure. Thanks.

M: What can I do?

W: Take the books out of the bookcas e. Put them in this box. Hey, don’t read that magazine.

Text 9

M: Good morning.

W: Good morning. Can I help you?

M: Could you tell me if there are any buses leaving for New York?

W: There are four buses: two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

M: Oh. I’d prefer to leave in the morning.

W: Well, there are two buses then. No. 90 leaves Washington at 8:20 a. m. and No. 80 leaves at 11:30 a. m. The trip takes about 4 hours.

M: Can I have two tickets for the 8:20 bus?

W: Certainly. That’ll be 36 dollars.

M: Here is the money.

W: Here are your tickets.

M: Thank you. .

W: My pleasure.

Text 10

M: This is a true story about a French couple, Paul and Mary, who were in Hong Kong on holiday and went to a restaurant for a meal.

W: They had a meal in their hotel?

M: No, what they did was go to a restaurant. Anyway, they couldn’t speak Chinese or English well, so they had to use sign language to order their meal. Well, this seemed to work all right. The waiter nodded and smiled and started to go to the kitchen.

W: He understood them.

M: Oh, I forgot to mention they had their pet dog, Rosa, with them and Mary reminded her husband that Rosa was hungry. They called the waiter back and they pointed at the dog, Rosa, and made eating gestures. The waiter didn’t seem to unders tand and looked puzzled. But in the end he smiled and nodded and picked up the dog and took it into the kitchen. Paul and Mary were satisfied and chatted about their holiday experiences until their food was ready. After about an hour the waiter returned with their main course on a silver dish covered with a large silver lid. You'll never believe this, but it really happened. When they lifted the silver lid they found their dog inside.

W: Did they eat their meal?

M: No, of course not. What happened was that they both suffered a mild nervous breakdown and took the next plane back to Paris.

W: And that’s a true story? I find it very unlikely to have happened.

M: It’s perfectly true. Really!