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It was midday when I got the call that my grandfather was not well and he was quickly getting worse. My family did not know how long he would stay in the world. I knew I had to get to the hospital to tell him how much I loved him. As I drove to the hospital, I pictured him before I got to tell him how much he meant to me. Trying to fight back the tears, I wanted to stay calm when I saw him. When I got to the hospital, I hurriedly looked for his hospital room. I found him in a semi-conscious state . On my knees, I said softly, "Hello, Grandpa." Still feeling shy, I decided not to leave his bedside without letting him know. While I asked about how he was, he told me, "I'll be fine, Henry." although we both knew that wasn't true. Then he asked me with a smile how I was doing. Hearing what my grandpa said, I was much moved. I made the decision that I had to show my _ for him. As I found all the courage I had, I hold his hand tightly. I cried out, "Grandpa. I just want to let you know how much I love you. I hope you already know that yet I just want to make sure." By this time, tears were rolling down my face. All those years of love that I had shut and not let him know, became free. Smilingly, he said, "I know. Thank you for telling me that. All I have on this planet is my family and my love for them. If there is anything I could ask of you, I want you to be good to your family, your mother, your father, and your brother. That's all I want of you." What I learned that day changed my whole life. From then on, I began telling people how much I love them, care for them, and respect them. I get in touch with, for example, my babysitter, my barber, to show my appreciation. I go down into the city once a week and serve pizza to the homeless. I wake up every morning and list everything I'm thankful to in my life. The story develops with the changes of _ . A. the author's life B. Grandpa's feelings C. the author's emotion D. Grandpa's illness Answer: C. the author's emotion The lungs give O2 to the A. bloodstream B. neighbor C. ozone D. poor Answer: A. bloodstream Dear Alan, Guess what? I have a chance to choose my new place to live in! I'm excited and a little nervous. Could you please give me some help? I'm not sure whether I will live in a house or in an apartment. On the one hand, a house will be too big for just one person, so maybe I should rent an apartment. On the other hand, if I rent a house, I could find someone else to share with me. The only problem is that a house full of people might be too noisy for me. I prefer to have my own space. The city has some nice apartments, but they are also too expensive. However, if I could find a two-bedroom apartment and get a roommate, that would make it more affordable .I just need to search for a roommate who is neat and quiet. You know I can't live with someone who is loud and messy. I don't have a car, so I also need to think carefully about the location. I probably need to look for somewhere near a bus stop or an underground station. That way I will have more time to study and spend less time traveling. I'm looking forward to your reply. Love, Victor Victor wants to share the house with a(an) _ person. A. neat and quiet B. outgoing and messy C. loud and messy D. neat and loud Answer: A. neat and quiet LONDON (Reuters Life!) ---- Forget about talking your children into considering life as a doctor or a teacher and start training them for the talent show. A survey of British parents showed the aspirations of their children are greatly different from what they dreamed about when considering who they wanted to be when they grew up. Although astronaut still remains fairly high on the list of careers kids dream about these days, others like doctor and teacher have been taken the place of by the desire to win good name and money as a sporting hero, pop star or actor. The parents of children aged 5 to 11 said the choice of lawyer had dropped by only one place on a top 10 list to sixth, while teacher had dropped to ninth from top in the last 25 or more years. The survey for British TV channel "Watch" found a great difference between the genders of today's young people when compared with their parents' dreams 25 years or more ago. Playing professional football, being an astronaut and joining the firefighting service topped the boys' choices, while girls are more likely to be dreaming of taking to the stage as a pop star or actress or joining the medical profession. When asked what they would like their children to do for a living, today's parents still like the academic professions , with law and medicine scoring highly, while being a boss came third. Parents also praised job happiness above wealth when it comes to their hopes for their children. Nearly 70 percent of the parents surveyed thought that they failed to follow their dreams when it came to their career, with 37 percent thinking it was caused by a lack of aspiration and not having the necessary conditions. According to the survey for British TV channel "Watch", which of the following is the boys' best career choice? A. A pop star B. An actor C. A doctor D. A firefighter Answer: D. A firefighter More than 40 years ago, John Williams gave away all of his belongings and went off to the mountains to live the way people lived 100 years ago. For food he traps wild animals, fishes in the rivers, and plants whatever he can. John lives in a cabin he made by hand, out of trees he chopped down with an ax. Though he has no s he knows of, he does have a deer he raised from a fawn. The deer lives in the house in the winter and goes with John when he goes into the forest for food. Nobody lives within fifty miles of his cabin in the mountains and John has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years. One day last year I hiked in to see how John lives. It was like going back in time. There were no roads, no stores, no noise, no pollution, not even a post office. Most notable of all, there were no people and that's just the way John Williams wants to keep his part of the world--without people. But there is a paradox in his story. John is an educated man. He has books and nobody knows how he got them. Mostly he reads about his world, the forest, the animals, the plants, and the mountains. He has seen airplanes flying overhead but does not want to know about them. For him, electricity is lightning, not light bulbs, refrigerators, televisions, or washing machines. John Williams is 85 years old and had not had a sick day in his life. He attributes his long life to the fact that it has nothing to do with people and in order that he might enjoy many more years of health, happiness, and solitude, I will not tell you where his kingdom lies. There is no room there for you or me. John Williams has lived in his present location _ . A. since he was born B. since his wife died C. almost half his life D. since he graduated from college Answer: C. almost half his life
Question: Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world's best marathoners can run! In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That's about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competed on the track, too. She was second in the 800 meter wheelchair race at the 1992 Olympics. Jean doesn't like to be told she's brave. "I'm in sports because I'm a competitive person!" Jean was born with spina befida , a birth illness that damages the spine . She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair race and was amazed." Players crashed into each other and fell out of their chairs," she says, "It was fun." Jean tried other wheelchair sports. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles. Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. "When I sign my a utograph ,says Jean, "I write, dream big and work hard." What kind of education did she receive? A. High school. B. Junior middle school. C. Primary school. D. High education. Answer: D. High education. Question: James and his wife went to Beijing Restaurant for dinner at 7:00 pm. On April 1st, 2005, while they were eating, a waitress came to tell them that the two men at the next table were film-makers and that they would like to have a talk with James. James agreed. One man came to sit down next to him and said that they were making a film named "The Magic Gloves." The story was like "Harry Potter" and they were looking for an actor to play a magician. They would like to invite James to have a try. James was excited, "Many people think I look like Patrick Steward." However, as he was going to leave China in 3 days, he wanted to try out after dinner. The man agreed. At 9:00 pm, when James asked for the bill so that he could go with the film-makers, the manager of Beijing Restaurant said sorry to him with a smile, "It's April Fool's Day joke! Your meal is free. Thank you." James completely forgot about it but when he found that he was fooled, he didn't leave at once. The waitress asked him if he needed some help. James said, "I was fooled once. I'm afraid the meal is not free. I am waiting for the bill to see if it is another joke." James came to the restaurant _ . A. to have dinner B. to meet the film-makers C. to celebrate April Fool's Day D. to play a magician Answer: A. to have dinner Question: One day Einstein was walking in the street in New York. His friend met him and said to him, "Einstein, you should buy a new coat. Look, how old your coat is!" But Einstein answered, "It doesn't matter. Nobody knows me here." After a few years Einstein became a famous scientist. But he still wore the old coat. His friend met him again and asked him to buy a new one. But Einstein said, "I needn't buy a new one. Everyone knows me here." Einstein's coat was very old. His friend _ . A. gave him a new one B. asked him to buy a new one C. helped him buy a new one D. helped him mend the old coat Answer: B. asked him to buy a new one Question: It's September, and we're back to school. It's good to see all my teachers and friends again. They all look fine. We are in Grade Eight this year. We are going to have some new subjects. My name is Wu Ming. Wei Fang and I are in the same class. I'm not very good at Chinese, but Wei Fang says she's going to help me. I think I can do better than last year. I like English very much. This year I'm going to do more speaking. Zhang Hong also likes English, but he needs some help. I'm going to help him. This term I'm going to work for the wall-newspaper. My classmates say I draw well. I like it, too. I'm going to do my best this year. _ English is much better than _ A. Wu Ming's; Zhang Hong's B. Zhang Hong's; Wu Ming's C. Wu Ming's; Wei Fang's D. Wei Fang's; Zhang Hong's Answer: A. Wu Ming's; Zhang Hong's Question: Too many people want others to be their friends,but they don't give friendship back.That is why some friendships don't last long.To have a friend,you must learn to be one.You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you.Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules:be honest;be generous;be understanding. Honesty is where a good friendship starts.Friends must be able to trust one another.If you do not tell the truth,people usually find out.If a friend finds out that you haven't been honest,you may lose the friend's trust.Good friends always count _ on one another to speak and act honestly. Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow.You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes.Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings.These can be very valuable to a friend.They tell your friend what is important to you.By sharing them,you help your friend know you better. Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and helping with a problem.Something may go wrong at school.Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve.Turning to a friend can be the first step in solving the problem.So to be a friend you must listen and understand.You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so you can understand the problem better. No two friendships are ever exactly alike.But all true friendships have three things in common.If you plan to keep your friends,you must practice honesty,generosity and understanding. Which of the following isn't mentioned in the passage? A. Always tell your friends the truth. B. Sharing your mind with your friends is of great value. C. Discussing your problems with your friends often helps to solve the problem. D. A friend who gives you his lunch money is a true friend. Answer: D. A friend who gives you his lunch money is a true friend.
Health insurance can be very expensive. Some working people do not make enough money to pay for it. In the US there is a program called Healthy Families. This program offers people health insurance at a low cost. Families are charged about Y=7.00 a month for every child, and Y=10.00 for every adult. It costs much less than any other kind of health insurance. Having health insurance is very important. With this insurance, people can see a doctor when they are sick or hurt. The program is not expensive at all, but many people are still not enrolling in it. People say that it still costs too much money. They need all of their money to pay for things like food and rent. It would be great if everyone could have health insurance. People are working hard to come up with ways to make this happen. One idea is to make the Healthy Families Program free for some people. It is important for people to see a doctor when they need to. The Healthy Families Program makes it possible for more people to do this. Many ideas are being considered. Hopefully some of them will allow even more families to get health insurance. The Healthy Families Program is made to help those who don't have welfare and cannot earn enough to pay for private health insurance. It is an important program, but officials say that too many people are signing up for it and then dropping out because of the Healthy Families Program's cost. In the passage we can learn all of the following EXCEPT that _ . A health insurance is very important for ordinary people B the program is still too expensive for many people C people should make more money to pay for private health insurance D many people don't make enough money to pay for health insurance Answer: C. people should make more money to pay for private health insurance It's flu season. What are you doing about it? David Oreck, Founder My Oreck Air Purifier captures and destroys viruses, bacteria and germs. 2005 ORECK HOLDINGS,LLC. All Rights Reserved. All word marks, logos, product configurations and registered trademarks are owned and used under the authority of Oreck Holdings, LLC. For the very young and the very old and virtually everyone in between, the flu is nothing to sneeze at. So here's what you can do. Check with your doctor to see if a flu shot is right for you. Wash your hands frequently. Maintain a healthy diet and regimen of exercise. And because you're spending most of your time indoors, it makes sense that the air in your home is as fresh, clean and pure as it can be. My Oreck XL(tm) Professional Air Purifier captures and destroys viruses, bacteria and germs. It removes mold spores, pollen, pet dander, household odors and other airborne particulates as small as 0.1 microns. (The flu virus measures 0.3 microns.) The Oreck Professional Air Purifier uses the same advanced technology as the prefix = st1 /U.S.submarine fleet where mariners are submerged for up to six months at a time. Because the permanent electronic filter never needs replacing, you can rinse it off as often as you like and it's as good as new. My Oreck Professional Air Purifier will literally pay for itself in what you pay for costly HEPA replacement filters that other manufacturers require. Besides HEPA filters don't destroy germs. They can only capture and hold them. So this flu season, take the Oreck Challenge and try my Oreck Professional Air Purifier risk-free for three full months. Then decide. CALL NOW AND RECEIVE A $100 GIFT-FREE. Just for trying an Oreck Air Purifier risk-free for 90 days, we'll send you our $100 Oreck Cord-Free Electric Broom ly free. It's a floor vac and a hand vac in one. If you don't feel the difference simply send the Air Purifier back--but keep the Electric Broom--there's no obligation. The shipping is free. Call 1-800-522-5961 ext. CR589 or visit www. oreck. com/decairNothing gets by an Oreck. According to the author, the flu _ . A doesn't cause sneezes B should be paid serious attention to C can be caused by spreading much time indoors D only spreads among the very young and the very old. Answer: B. should be paid serious attention to It was Saturday afternoon and Andrew was bored. He had been watching TV all day. He told his dad, "There's nothing to do!" Andrew's dad said, "I think the newspaper is here. Maybe we can find an idea in the newspaper." Andrew looked outside the window and saw the newspaper by the door. On the front was a picture of an elephant. He picked up the newspaper and brought it to his dad. Andrew and his dad read the story. The circus was in town! Andrew had never been to the circus. He asked his dad, "Can we go?" "Yes, we can,' Andrew's dad said, 'but first you need to feed your goldfish." Andrew fed his goldfish some goldfish food. He promised to bring it some peanuts from the circus for later. Andrew and his dad went to the circus. The people and animals at the circus did lots of tricks. The elephant even went down a slide! Andrew and his dad ate lots of peanuts. There weren't any peanuts left to bring home to the goldfish. Andrew and his dad had a lot of fun at the circus. What did Andrew need to do before he could go to the circus? A eat some peanuts B watch TV C do some tricks D feed his goldfish Answer: D. feed his goldfish When I first entered high school, I knew no one at my school. All my friends in middle school went to other schools. I wanted to make some new friends. However, I was shy and wasn't good at making new friends. On my first day at school, I looked at others who were talking in groups happily. How I wish I were one of them! I guess I was very lucky then. At lunch in the dinning hall, when I was eating at a table alone, a girl came to me. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?" she asked. I immediately shook my head. She smiled and sat down opposite to me. I felt a little _ and didn't know what to say at all, but I really wanted to communicate with her. It was a good opportunity to make friends with her. When I looked up, I found she was smiling at me. Her smile calmed me down. "I really like this school. It's beautiful, but I don't know anyone here. All my friends went to other schools," said the girl. Hearing her words, I immediately said, "my friends are not here either. Can we be friends?" I was surprised. I couldn't believe I would say something like that, and to my surprise, that girl immediately said "yes". We both smiled. We became very good friends. Now it's the beginning of a new term again. Many students may have no friends at their new schools. If you are also as shy as I used to be, please don't be afraid to talk to others. You may get a surprise and make a new friend. After all, others want to make new friends, too. What did the girl do after the author asked if they could become friends? A She agreed at once B She thought for a long time C She felt a little down D She sat down in no time Answer: A. She agreed at once Below is a selection about Guinness World Records. Top 6 Unusual Guinness World Records Fastest 100 m running on all fours The 2008 Guinness World Records Day was, according to CWR, their biggest day of record-breaking ever, I- h more than 290.000 people taking put in record attempts in 15 different countries. Kenichi Ito's record attempt was port of this special day. He is just another example of Japanese with "super powers". His "super power" is to run with great speed on all fours. Kenichi Ito ran 100 m on all fours in 18.58 seconds. The Japanese set this record at Setagaya Kuritsu Sogo Undojyo, Tokyo, in 2008. Most people inside a soap bubble The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, Califomia celebrated this year the 15th anniversary of the Bubble Festival. A bubble's math principles and science were presented and demonstrated at the three-week-long exhibition. The intriguing Bubble Show was also part of the program. Fan Yang and Deni Yang impressed the audience with their awesome skills for bubble making. The Yang family cooperated with the Discovery Science Center to set a new Guinness World Record for mow people inside a scup bubble and they succeeded. The family that has been working with soap bubbles for 27 years created a huge soap bubble and got 118 people inside it. The record was set or. April 4, 2011. Longest ears on a dog A bloodhound from Illinois has the longest ears ever measured a dog. The right ear is 13.75 inches long and the left one 13.5 inches. The dog named Tigger earned this title in 2004 and is owned by Christina and Bryan Flessner. Mr. Jeffries is the previous record holder of this title. Each of his ears measured approximately 11. 5 inches long. His grandfather used to hold this amazing world record, but when he died Mr.Jeffries look over. Most living generations Did you ever wonder what is the Guinness World Record for most living generation in one family? Seven is the answer. The ultimate authority on record-breaking mentions on the website that the youngest great-great- great-great grandparent of this family was Augusta Bung "aged 109 years 97 days, followed by her daughter aged 89, her granddaughter aged 70, her great grand-daughter aged 52, her great-great grand-daughter aged 33 and her great-great-great granddaughter aged 15 on the birth of her great-great-great-great grandson on January 21, 1989". Most T shirts worn at once Believe it or not, there is a record also for this category. Krunoslav Budiseli set a new world record on May 22, 2010 for wearing 245 T-shirts at the same time. The nun from Croatia was officially recognized as the new record bolder by Guinness World Records after he managed to put on 245 different T-shirts in 1ess than two hours. . The T-shirts weighted 68 KG and Budiseli said he began struggling around T-shirt No. 120. He dethroned the Swedish Guinness record holder who wore 238 T-shirts. Heaviest pumpkin Guinness World Records confirmed on October 9. 2010 that a gigantic pumpkin grown in Wisconcin was officially the world's heaviest. It weighed 1,810 pounds 8 ounces and was unveiled by Chris Stevens at the Stillwater Harvest Festival in Minnesota. Stevens' pumpkin was 85 pounds Javier than the previous re I, another huge pumpkin grown in Ohio. The proud farmer said his secret is a precise of rain, cow mature, good soil, sea grass and fish emulsion. Some of the world's heaviest pumpkins, including the record bolder, were on public display at the Bronx Botanical Gardens in New Yost for a dozen days. According to the given information. which Guinness World Record was most recently set? A The record for "Most people inside a soup bubble". B The record for "Most living generations'". C The record for "Most T-shirts worn at once". D The record for " Heaviest pumpkin". Answer: A. The record for "Most people inside a soup bubble".
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Smoking not only can wrinkle the face and turn it yellow -- it can do the same to the whole body, researchers reported on Monday. The study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, shows that smoking affects the skin all over the body -- even skin protected from the sun. "We examined non-facial skin that was protected from the sun, and found that the total number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person experienced," Dr. Yolanda Helfrich of the University of Michigan, who led the study, said in a statement. "In participants older than 65 years, smokers had significantly more fine wrinkling than nonsmokers. Similar findings were seen in participants aged 45 to 65 years," Helfrich's team added in their report. The researchers tested 82 people, smokers and nonsmokers, taking pictures of the inner right arms. They ranged in age from 22 to 91 and half were smokers. Independent judges decided how wrinkled each person's skin was. When skin is exposed to sunlight, notably the face, it becomes coarse, wrinkled and discolored with a pale yellow tint, Helfrich's team wrote. Several previous studies have found that cigarette smoking contributes to premature skin aging as measured by facial wrinkles, the study said, but little has been done to measure the aging of skin not exposed to light. The report did not discuss the mechanism involved but previous research has found that cigarette smoke, among other things, causes blood vessels beneath the skin to constrict , reducing blood supply to the skin. Smoking can also damage the connective tissue that supports both the skin and the internal organs. The main purpose of the passage is to _ . A. inform people about the result of the study B. advise people how to protect skin C. warn people not to smoke again D. introduce a new way of avoiding skin aging Answer: C. warn people not to smoke again How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems? This is one of the most critical yet debatable social policy questions. In many ways, our social statistics overstate the degree of hardship. Unemployment does not have the same horrible consequences today as it did in the 1930's when most of the unemployed were primary breadwinners, when income and earnings were usually much closer to the margin of survival, and when there were fewer effective social programs for those failing in the labor market. Increasing wealth, the rise of families with more than one wage earner, the growing dominance of secondary earners among the unemployed and improved social welfare protection have unquestionably relieved the consequences of joblessness. Earnings and income data also overestimate the scale of hardship. Among the millions with hourly earnings at or below the minimum wage level, the majority are from multiple-earner, ly well-off families. Most of those counted by the poverty statistics are elderly or handicapped or have family responsibilities which keep them out of the labor force, so the poverty statistics are by no means an accurate indicator of labor market problems. Yet there are also many ways our social statistics underestimate the degree of labor-market-related hardship. The unemployment counts exclude the millions of fully employed workers whose wages are so low that their families remain in poverty. Low wages and repeated or long-time unemployment frequently interact to weaken the capacity for self-support. Since the number experiencing joblessness at some time during the year is several times that unemployed in any month, those who suffer as a result of forced idleness can equal or exceed average annual unemployment, even though only a minority of the jobless in any month really suffer. For every person counted in the monthly unemployment totals, there is another working part-time because of the inability to find full-time work, or else outside the labor force but wanting a job. Finally, income transfers in our country have always focused on the elderly, disabled, and dependent, neglecting the needs of the working poor, so that the dramatic expansion of cash and non-cash transfers does not necessarily mean that those failing in the labor market are adequately protected. As a result of such conflicting evidence, it is uncertain whether those suffering seriously as a result of labor market problems number in the hundreds of thousands or the tens of millions, and, hence, whether high levels of joblessness can be tolerated or must be counteracted by job creation and economic stimulation. There is only one area of agreement in this debate--that the existing poverty, employment, and earnings statistics are inadequate for one of their primary applications, measuring the consequences of labor market problems. Which of the following is true according to the passage? A. A majority of low-wage workers receive earnings from more than one job. B. Repetition of short-term unemployment mainly contributes to people's loss of working capacity. C. Many unemployed people are from families where other members are working. D. Labor market hardship is understated because fewer individuals are jobless than counted. Answer: C. Many unemployed people are from families where other members are working. A student boils 100 grams of water to form water vapor (gas). What method should the student use to determine that the mass of the water vapor is equal to 100 grams? A. measuring the amount of water vapor (gas) in the air B. collecting the water vapor (gas) and cooling it back to a liquid C. weighing the beaker before and after the water is boiled D. comparing the temperature of the boiling water to the temperature of the water vapor (gas) Answer: B. collecting the water vapor (gas) and cooling it back to a liquid Should people who study science and business pay less for college than people who focus on art and history? That may soon be the case at Florida's state universities. In tough economic times, Florida governor Rick Scott wants to lead college students toward careers that will pay off after graduation. There are more jobs available in Florida in the fields of business, engineering, healthcare, science and technology. So why not encourage students to focus on these "high-demand" subjects by charging less tuition for them? "We assume students go to college because they want to pursue jobs," Dale Brill said. He is the head of a group of business people, educators and lawmakers who made the recommendation to the governor to keep tuition low for job-friendly areas of academic study. "We all share the goal of students getting jobs and being productive citizens. Some majors are more valuable than others." Supporters of the plan have their reasons. More students will choose these "high-demand" majors and get jobs after graduation. The state will gain an educated workforce that is qualified to fill open jobs. Universities that can show that their graduates are getting jobs will qualify for more funding from the state. But critics of the plan say it's unfair to load humanities majors--those who study literature, philosophy, history and art--with debt while keeping tuition low for so-called "high-demand" majors in business and science. In fact, university professors wrote a letter to Governor Scott arguing that if students majoring in history and other humanities subjects are forced to pay higher tuition, they may simply choose to attend universities in other states. Still others argue that the plan sets students up for failure. Students should choose majors based on their interests, skills and talents, rather than on what jobs are available at any given time. Those who choose majors because they are interested in a particular field of study will be more successful and satisfied in their careers. What does Dale Brill think the government should do ? A. Create more jobs for art students. B. Treat every subject in university equally. C. Keep tuition low for majors leading to more jobs . D. Create more jobs for science and business students . Answer: C. Keep tuition low for majors leading to more jobs . As we know, on Saturday, millions of people around the world will celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, which honors Patron Saint (or main religious figure) of Ireland. Communities across the United States will host parades, parties, and other festivities to mark the occasion. This year, cities like Boston, New York, and Chicago have organized massive events celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. In New York City, hundreds of thousands of people will gather to watch the Saint Patrick's Day parade--the nation's largest. It is one of the most watched parades in the world. Last year, almost 2 million spectators and more than 150,000 participants filled the streets. The parade, first held in 1776, is also one of the oldest. Chicago also throws a big celebration. Every year, the Chicago River, which crosses the city, glows green as event organizers dump about 40 pounds of fluorescence, a powerful dye, into the water. Boston keeps its parade rolling for three hours or more. It is the nation's second-largest parade. The city will also salute one of its most famous former residents, President John F. Kennedy, by opening the exhibit "A Journey Home: John F. Kennedy and Ireland," at his official library. Patron Saint lived in Britain in the early fifth century, when it was still part of the Roman Empire. He was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland when he was only 16.He eventually escaped slavery and turned to a life of religious devotion. He trained to become a minister and set out to spread Christianity throughout Ireland. After 30 years as a religious leader, Patrick died on March 17, 1461.Saint Patrick's Day is always celebrated on March 17.In Ireland, it is an official holiday. Which of the following is not correct according to the passage? A. Parade is a most important event to observe Saint Patrick's Day. B. Saluting the former president has become a main event on the occasion. C. Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday. D. The Saint Patrick's Day parade has a history of over 230 years. Answer: B. Saluting the former president has become a main event on the occasion.
Polar bears are best suited for colder places Before you leave for the airport Ensure that you have your passports (and any necessary visas), tickets and money in your hand luggage. If packing medicines, ensure that they are in their original packaging as this will avoid delays or prevent them from being taken away at customs. Do not wrap presents as they may have to be unwrapped by security staff or customs. The Department of Health has devoted a section of their site to health advice for traveling abroad. Getting to the airport Always allow plenty of time to reach the airport. You should arrive there 2 hours before the take-off for international flights and one hour before the take-off for domestic flights. If you are driving to the airport, ensure that you have booked airport parking in advance. If you are being driven by a friend who wants to see you off, ensure that he / she knows where the short stay parking is located. If taking a taxi, ensure that the firm you intend to use has taxis available at the time you wish to travel. At the airport Be aware that increased security has considerably lengthened the time it takes to go through check in and security. Make sure you keep your baggage with you at all times and alert any member of airport staff to any unattended package. Never look after baggage belonging to other people or carry anything onto the aircraft for someone else. Keep a close eye on the display boards announcing which gate flights depart from. In the air If on a long flight, move your feet around, or get up and walk around regularly if you can. Avoid dehydration by drinking plenty of water or other non-alcoholic drinks. Don't eat too heavily before or during a long flight as this will help to avoid indigestion and hypertension . To reduce jet lag , have some extra sleep before the trip, get some sleep during the flight and try to make mealtimes the same as the time of meals at your destination. Before leaving for the airport, you should NOT _ . wrap presents up tightly for the safety Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30 and at 6:30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club. At last, the traffic was moving. She swung quickly racing to her house. As she opened the door , she nearly tripped over Sheba. "Hey, Sheba," she said, "I've got no time for you now, but I'll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club." Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking. Obviously, she could hardly breathe. Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet . When she got there, the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba, Dr. Sterne brought her quickly into his office. "Listen, doctor, I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting, can I leave her with you, and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up, and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?" "Sure." said the doctor. Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes. As she was once more entering the hallway, the phone by the door began to ring. "This is Dr. Sterne," said an anxious voice. "I want you to get out of that house immediately, "said the doctor's voice. "I'm coming round right away, and the police will be there any time now. Wait outside!" At that moment, a police car screeched to a stop outside the house. Two policemen got out and ran into the house. Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened. Then the doctor arrived. "Where's Sheba? Is she OK?" shouted Joanne. "She's fine, Joanne. I took out the thing which was choking her, and she's OK now. " Just then, the two policemen reappeared from the house, half-carrying a white--faced man, who could hardly walk. There was blood all over him. "My God, " said Joanne, "how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?" "I think he must be a burglar." said the doctor. "I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba's throat:it turned out to be three human fingers." What was Joanne supposed to do at 6:30? To attend a club meeting. Alice is a busy girl. Now she is relaxing .She is watching the Friday night weather report on television .She likes sunny weather just like today. She wants to know what the weather will be like tomorrow. She's going to have a picnic .This is what the reporter is saying, "Good evening and welcome to evening weather report. We are going to have a very different weather across the country..."Alice is sad .She doesn't like raining. What's the weather like on Saturday? _ . Rainy in the morning In the near future,we may be using our eyes to operate our smart-phones and tablets,even when it comes to playing popular games like Fruit Ninja. The Gaze Group has been developing eye-controlled computer technology for nearly 20 years.But those devices have been firstly designed to help those with disabilities,and are very expensive. "After a while,we figured out that probably the best way is to go for a mass-market way," says Gaze's Sune Alstrup Johansen."where everybody would have this available." Johansen and some of his colleagues have formed a new company,the Eye Tribe,which is hoping to develop the technology on a mass commercial level. The technology works with the help of the computing device toward the user's face. After making sure of the user's eye movements,the technology is then able to easily find where a person's eyes are moving,and then allow the eyes to control a cursor . "Our software can then determine the location of the eyes and know where you're looking on the screen to make sure what you're looking at,"reads an explanation on the Eye Tribe site. There has been a gradual change toward hands-free technology in recent years, particularly in the gaming world.Recently Xbox released the Kinect device,which lets users control their Xbox and play certain games using only their hands,legs and voices. But still,most of these devices have been more of a _ than a practical way to use one's hands to control a mobile device.Johansen said a replaceable filter would be a cheap,convenient way for most consumers. And even as companies like The Eye Tribe work to create such a product for the average user, making the eye-controlled technology more accessible and less expensive will have similar benefits for physically disabled users. For more articles on modern science,please CLICK here. According to the passage,we can learn that _ . there is no such a phone as we can use only with our eyes at present
Everyone dreams of seeing the world. But some people take that dream to the extreme. In 2000, Canadian Jean Beliveau was suffering from a mid-life crisis . He thought a good walk might help. So, he decided to go for one... around the whole world. It took him 11 years and 54 pairs of shoes. He ate insects in Africa, survived a puma attack in South America, and fell in love for nine days in Mexico. Jean has successfully overcome his mid-life crisis and is now writing a book about his 75,000- kilometre journey. A Russian man, Vladislav Ketov, is currently cycling around the globe. So far he's ridden through 93 countries. And he's been at it for 20 years. Why so long? Two reasons. Firstly, he's not just going through countries, he's actually riding along the coast of every continent. Secondly, he set off without any money. He has to draw portraits of the people he meets along the way to carry on with his trip. Of course, he is planning to write a book on his eventual return, too. Then there's Ezra Cooley. He set out in 2006 with the idea of riding his horse around the world. Why? "I've always wanted to accomplish something," Ezra said. So far he's only ridden across the United States and part of Australia. He recently took a year off to write a book about his trip. Circling the globe has a long history. In 1901, Captain Voss (from Canada) set off around the world in a 12-metre dugout canoe . Even more impressive, the canoe, which Voss bought from a Native American woman, was built in the early 19th century. He armed the canoe with a Spanish cannon for protection. The journey took three years and, of course, Voss wrote about his trip in a book. What did the four travelers mentioned in the text have in common? They all wrote or will write a book about their journey. What do you do in a situation like this? You're calling dinner with friends at a nice restaurant. You're having a great time when a phone rings at the table next to you. A man takes out his phone and starts talking loudly about problems he's having with his girlfriend. He talks for almost ten minutes! This happens all the time-on buses, in restaurants, everywhere! Many people find cell phones useful in their daily lives. But we've all sat next to someone talking too loudly on a cell phone. You may want to tell the loudmouth to end the conversation, but let the management take care of those noisy customers. You can only control your own behavior. Here are a few rules: Off means off! Follow the rules of restaurants and other public places . If a sign says "turn off cell phones", don't use your phone. If you are allowed, speak softly and for a short time and try to move away form other people. Lights off, phone off! Never make calls in a theater or at the movies. Pay attention! Talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous. And watch where you're going when you're walking down the streets and talking on the phone. As more people use cell phones, things are only going to get worse. So, the next time you're getting ready to make a call, stop and consider the people around you. From the passage we can infer that _ . public manners play an important role in our life The term "Industry 4.0" refers to the fourth industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution was the production of goods with machines like steam engines, which was followed by the second industrial revolution that introduced mass production with the help of electric power, followed by the digital revolution --the use of electronics and IT in production. Industry 4.0 is a high-tech project, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing . The basic principle of Industry 4.0 is that by connecting machines, work pieces and systems, we are creating intelligent networks along the entire value chain that can control each other automatically. The goal is the Smart Factory, which adapts well and uses resources efficiently as well as linking customers and business partners with great intelligence. Technological basis are the Internet systems and advanced factories. Experts believe that Industry 4.0 could be a reality in about 10 to 20 years. So, what effects does this change have on the classic manufacturing? According to an expert, "it is highly likely that the world of production will become more and more networked until everything is connected with everything else." Networks and processes have so far been limited to one factory. But in the time of Industry 4.0, the boundaries of individual factories will most likely no longer exist. Instead, they will be lifted in order to inter-connect multiple factories or even geographical regions. How is an Industry 4.0 factory different from a today's factory? In current industry environment, providing high-end quality service or product with the least cost is the key to success. Factories are trying to increase their profit as much as possible. In the time of Industry 4.0, various data sources are available to provide worthwhile information about different aspects of the factory. Using data for understanding the current condition and checking faults and failures is a natural thing. _ will enable these connected systems to manage themselves independently, work more efficiently and identify any errors quickly. The good news is that Europe is much better prepared for the Industry 4.0 revolution than one might think. Europe will position itself as a pioneer in the fourth revolution. Industry 4.0 is a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government. Meanwhile, in the U.S., some companies are also working hard on it. But the success of industry depends on whether business and politics can work together. It's not only politics that needs to help open the door for Industry 4.0. Every company is advised to seize the new digital opportunities. Industry 4.0 will probably result in _ in the world of manufacturing. everything connected with everything else Houses fall down. Trees fall over. Large holes form in the ground. Could Alaska be sinking? That's what some villagers in Alaska have been asking themselves recently--and scientists think they know why. Warmer temperatures may be causing Alaska's frozen ground to thaw . About 85 percent of Alaska's land surface has _ . Permafrost supports the ground above it--including trees, houses, and roads. But why is the permafrost thawing? Some scientists say that human-caused pollution is leading to global warming. And most scientists agree that Alaska has been getting warmer. They say that the warmer temperature is causing permafrost to thaw in some areas. The thawing permafrost can cause problems for people, plants, and animals. "The collapsing is a problem in the villages in Alaska which are built on permafrost, and some of them may have to move to safer ground, where there is no permafrost," Weller said. The Alaskan town of Glennallen saw its old post office collapse. And, according to James Walters, a permafrost expert at the University of Northern Iowa, house-moving companies have been very busy. "Melting permafrost can also destroy trees and forests," Weller said. "When holes in the ground form, trees fall into them and die. This could turn a forest into a swamp , and animals which need the forest will have to move elsewhere." The melting could cause "severe problems." Weller says: "This could take hundreds of years, but in the end Alaska will look quite different from what it looks like now." The main reason why permafrost thaws is that _ . the temperature in Alaska is rising A new study says electronic toys are not helping babies learn. "Even if companies are marketing them as educational, they're not teaching the babies anything at this time," said Anna Sosa the study's author. Researchers listened to audio recordings of parents playing with their babies aged 10 months to 16 months. The researchers compared the experiences when the children played with electronic toys, traditional toys such as blocks, or when the children looked at books. What they found is that parents talked less with their babies when the babies played with electronic toys. Why is this important? Research shows that how quickly children develop language is often based on what they hear from parents. When the infants played with electronic toys, parents said little to their children. But with traditional toys, such as blocks, parents shared the names and descriptions of the animals, colors and shapes as their children played. There was even more information given by parents as their babies looked at the pictures in books. Of course, there is no need for parents to throw out electronic toys, but they should look at their infants' play with such toys as entertainment, not a learning experience. Toy Industry Association spokeswoman Adrienne Appell responded to the study. She said it is important that parents make time to play with their children. "Playing is a way that kids can learn so much, not only cognitive skills, but social and developmental skills," she said. She added that play should be balanced, including time for just "make believe" activities, as well as traditional and electronic toys. We can learn from the text that babies in the research _ . interact less with their parents when playing with electronic toys
Harriet Tubman was an AfricanAmerican woman who fought against slavery. She was born in 1820. She helped many people escape from slavery through the Underground Railroad. It was an organized effort to help slaves from the southern states to areas that banned slavery. Slaves could be sold freely. Families were often separated. Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman in 1844, yet she remained a slave. In 1849, the farmer who owned her died. Then she ran to the home of a white woman who had offered to help her. This woman told her how to reach another home where she could hide. Harriet Tubman went from place to place in this way. This was how the Underground Railroad operated. Finally,she went into the northern state of Pennsylvania. During the next ten years,she led an expanded Underground Railroad,and helped 300 slaves escape. Harriet Tubman found another way to fight against slavery during the Civil War. She went into the southern states to spy for the North. After the Civil War,Harriet Tubman settled in New York State. She gave speeches to raise money for better education for black Americans, worked for women's rights and sought help for older adults who had been slaves. Harriet Tubman died in 1913.By that time, she had been recognized as an American heroine . Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? Answer: Harriet helped only black people in her life. Bob was only seven years old. One night Bob was at home alone while his parents were out for a party. He had often stayed alone before,so he wasn't afraid. As he waited for his parents to return home,he watched a film on TV. His eyes became heavier and heavier as time passed by. Suddenly Bob's eyes opened wide--what was the sound in the next room? Bob heard the window being opened slowly. For a minute,Bob was so frightened that he could not move,and his body felt like ice. He knew that he couldn't lose his head and began to think of the things he could do. Again he heard the sound of someone trying to climb into his home through the window. Bob's drums were standing in the corner near the TV. "Wait,maybe there is something I can do,"thought Bob. He beat on his drums as hard as he could. The sound was so terrible that Bob surprised even himself. He also surprised the man in the window,who ran away as fast as possible.How clever he was! How do you think of Bob? Answer: clever A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men. The number is said as high as 60% in West Germany. "Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men's world," said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study. Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company. She also believes in "Women' s Liberation ". "I don't wish that I were a man," she says, "and I don't think many women do. But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women. At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men. If you're a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life. How many women pilots are there ... or engineers or scientists?" It is still men's world. means " _ ." Answer: Women have not been given the same chance as men Articles wanted School life Articles should be typewritten and double spaced, using only side of the page. Your name, year of birth, school name (and English teacher), home address and e-mail address must be included. For photos, place the information on the back of each envelope: PLEASE DON'T FOLD. Please keep copies of your text, pictures or photos. The sentence MUST BE WRITTEN with your name on each work, "I promise the above work is completely original ." If your article is chosen, you will receive a copy of School Life and a special gift. SEND IT ALL SUMMER! For more information, please contact us! Tel: (02) 92136116(02) 92674363 E-mail: schoollife@acpmagazines.com,au Mail: School Life. Box 5252, Sydney, NSW 200 All the information about the writer must be included except his / her _ . Answer: telephone number There's no pizza on Mars, but scientists have found a solution to this problem for hungry astronauts: a pizza printer! NASA, the American space agency, has developed a machine that "prints" food. They showed a model of the printer in Austin, Texas last month. How does it work? Cartridges filled with powdered dough , cheese, sauce, water and oil put the ingredients layer by layer onto a printer bed. The printer bed, which gets hot from below, cooks the food as it's being printed. Since most of the ingredients are powdered, they can be sent into space and stored for many years without going bad. Water makes food go sour, so the food powders are mixed with water and oil only when they are being printed. "Long-distance space travel requires more than 15 years of shelf life for food." says Anjan Contractor, whose company developing the printer. " We take water out, and in that form, food will last maybe 30 years." In outer space, there are far fewer choices for astronauts for dinner. Most of their foods--even things like beef or shrimp--are eaten from bags as powders . Scientists hope the new food printer can be used to make more delicious food in outer space, keeping astronauts healthier and happier. But the printer is not limited to use in outer space. Scientists think it could be useful on Earth, too. It could allow personal meals to be made at the dinner table, according to each person's different needs. "Let's say someone is an athlete in the family, and he needs more protein ," says Anjan Contractor, founder of Systems and Materials Research Corp, the company developing the printer. "We can design recipes for him and print out more protein-nutritious food for him." What is the best title for this passage? _ Answer: Hungry? Just Print!
Britain has laws to make sure that women have the same chances as men in education, jobs and training. But it's still unusual to find women doing dirty or heavy jobs. Nikki Henriques is a car _ engineer in London. She used to be a secretary. Barty Philips, a journalist with "The Observer", a Sunday newspaper, asked her why she wanted to work with cars. "My first reason was independence ," she said. "I also wanted to use my hands, and I like learning about how things work. Many people prefer to have a woman repair their cars, too." Nikki didn't find it easy to become a car maintenance engineer. She went to a Government Skill Centre--a special sort of college where people can learn a new job for twenty weeks. "For ten weeks I was the only woman among four hundred men, and some of them were rude to me. It was also very tiring--from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, with only 30 minutes for lunch." Now Nikki works free-lance, that is, she's self-employed, working for herself and not for a garage or a company. Barty Phillips also spoke to Rose, who works as a general builder in Sheffield, an industrial town in the north of England. Like Nikki, Rose used to be a secretary. "I didn't enjoy it at all." she said. "I wanted to do more practical work, and I wanted to be self-employed." Rose joined a women's building co-operative, and she learnt her job from other people and from experience. However, many of the women in her group have been specially trained. Most of the jobs they do are improvements to buildings and general repairs. "People often say, 'Oh, women aren't strong enough,' but I don't think strength is important." said Rose, "The important thing is to get used to doing a different sort of work." Rose would like more women to come into the building industry. "Everything built at the moment is a product of man's world. If women become builders, they will be able to understand the production of their house and their towns." The job of a car maintenance engineer is to _ . A make cars B sell cars C repair cars D keep cars for others Answer: C. repair cars Vivi Mac, an amazing artist from France, can use nearly any kind of food to create detailed celebrity portraits .Although she has yet to _ her short-lived work of arts in a proper art gallery, Vivi Mac has already made a name for herself online. We've seen some amazing food artists in the past, but none are quite like this one .Karen Eland is a master coffee painter, Elisabetta Rogai uses wine as her medium ,Kelly McCollam uses food colouring to recreat classic paintings, but the self-taught Vivi Mac can take anything from chewing gum to milk and turn it into a fantastic portrait When working with liquids, Mac uses a simple plastic straw and her hands to guide the unusual .mediums around a plastic plate which acts as a painting. Just how she manages to capture the finest facial features is still a mistery to me, and I've seen videos of her doing it many times, Vivi Mac has never attended art school. She only used online resources like blogs and facebook to learn the basics of drawing and painting. She started out working with pens and paper, but soon realized drawing wasn't just creative enough for her. She got into speed painting and body painting, posting videos of her works on You Tube, but it wasn't until she began experimenting with different kinds of foods that her art got serious coverage. Photos and videos of her eatable celebrity portraits, like Bruce Lee in milk Ice Cube in crushed ice or Amy Winehouse in wine, became popular on the French inter-webs and changed Vivi Mac into an online celebrity. In which section of a website are we most likely to find the passage? A Food B Science C Art D Health Answer: C. Art Whether you're having problems with your homework or you're preparing for your term paper, these student-focused websites can help you with anything you need. The key to getting the most out of these online resources is to know how they can best be used to your advantage. Facebook Although Facebook can be one of your biggest time-wasters and distractions when you are supposed to be getting work done, it can also be one of your most valuable resources. Most of your classmates will probably have a Facebook account, so anyone you need to connect with about a class you missed or about a problem is usually just a few clicks away. SparkNotes With a free library of history timeline, philosophy study guides and library summaries, and essays, SparkNotes has covered just about any reading-related jam you find yourself in, just run a search for the book, play, or short summary of the material you are supposed to read. Amazon.com Do you finish every term with many expensive textbooks you will never open again? Instead of letting the money spent go to waste, get back some of your cash by selling your books on Amazon. Wikipedia While Wikipedia isn't aimed specifically at students, it is difficult to think of another website that does more to reduce the pain of paper writing and researching. Wikipcdia gives you a quick way to find sources and get the details of almost any topic you need to research-----all without walking to the library. While you are taking great pains to write a research report, _ can most probably be a help. A Facebook B SparkNotes C Amazon.coin D Wikipedia Answer: D. Wikipedia When you get a job interview, it is the chance that you impress them employer and prove you really are the right person for the job. The following key points may he the important steps you can take to ensure you make a good impression from the get-go Be Prepared Research the company thoroughly before the job interview. Read through the company website to gain a thorough understanding of what" does its values, clients or audience and any technologies it uses. You should also Google the company and read any press releases. Note important issues or points you can discuss at the interview. Take copies of the job description with you to the interview. Don't he afraid of showing off, you can bet the other candidates won't be holding back! Interview Questions All this preparation work will go a long way to helping you for questions you might be asked during the interview. As well as preparing for the standard questions, you also need to come up with relevant questions to ask the interviewer about the company and your role. You may want to ask something along the lines of "what's it like to work here?", "what are the career prospects l like?" Timekeeping Plan your route in advance and make a dry run to the interview location a few days beforehand to make sure you're clear on where you're going. Print out directions and maps from sites like Google Maps and make sure you should he there without any problems After the Interview If you're unsuccessful, use it as an opportunity to improve. Ask for feedback from the interviewer. This will improve your future interview success chances; the interviewer might consider you for future vacancies at the company based on this action alone What should you do at a job interview? A Recognize who is the right employer B Have a good impression of the employer C Find a chance to show your talent off D Impress the employer with good behavior. Answer: D. Impress the employer with good behavior. When my sister Gina was born, she had a problem with her heart. Her heart was pretty bad in the beginning and she stayed in the hospital for a month. The first few years were very difficult because she was very sick. She had five operations before she was three years old. She had trouble walking, playing with other children, and going to school. Although Gina couldn't laugh and talk, we all knew that she just needed love and care. Our parents wanted to take Gina to a special place in Florida. There she could swim with dolphins. Gina was afraid of swimming with them because she had never been around dolphins before. We had also never traveled that far as a family. When we got to Florida, we saw where the dolphins lived. It was a place where kids with special needs like Gina could come and spend time. I thought it was going to be a vacation, but it wasn't. Gina had to work hard every day for a week. The trip was amazing. Gina laughed and clapped when she saw the dolphin. The dolphin splashed when it saw Gina. They swam together all day. Gina was able to move her body more than she normally did at home. Mom and Dad were proud of Gina. I was , too. We know from the text that Gina _ . A experienced five operations in a month B got along well with other children C stayed in the hospital before three D was born with a heart disease Answer: D. was born with a heart disease
The National Outline for Medium and Long Term Education Reform and Development (2010 - 20) was released over the weekend. Here are some of the highlights: Four - percent effort The government says spending on education will be 4 percent of GDP by 2012. globally, average spending on education is about 4.5% of GDP. China spend 3,33% in 2008. according to Hu Angang, of Tsinghua University's Center for China Studies, even if China reaches that goal, it will only rank about 100 th out of 188 countries. Administrative rank Administrative rankings for school leaders are to be phased out to tackle the bureaucracy problem that limits educational development, according to Cheng Fangping, of the national Institute for Educational Research. Areas like teaching programs, scientific research, and technological development will be more independent. Vocational Education The system will be free of charge. According to Wu Yan, of Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, this will be key to developing China's production capacity and will improve poor people's lives dramatically. Entering college Universities could eventually have the freedom to choose some of their own high school applicants. Normally, students are accepted based on the uniform national exam scores. Also, students who agree to go to a remote area could be admitted to university under special circumstances. The most likely change could come on the college entrance English test, which might be modeled on the IELTS or TOEFL. Students will be able to take it several times and pick their best score. 58.We can learn from the passage even though our country spends 4% of GDP on education in 2012,_. A. there will still be 188 countries ahead of China in this aspect B. China will certainly overtake the global average spending on education C. there might be nearly 100 countries ahead of China in this aspect D. China will be the 100 th country to spend over the global average on education Answer: C America was faced with one of its worst ever mass shootings on Friday when 20 children and six adults were shot dead by a gunman who opened fire at an elementary school in Connecticut. The gunshot atSandy Hook element school in Newtown, about 65 miles north-east.of New York, is understood to have been carried out by a gunman who was later found dead at the scene. State policeman Paul Vance said 18 children died at the scene and two more died ,n hospital.Six adults were found dead at the school, Vance said.The bodies of the victims remain inside the school. In an emotional press conference at the White House, Barack Obama suggested that he may take action.Fighting back tears, he said: "We've tolemted too many of these tragedies in the past few years.And each time I learn the news I react no.as a president, but as anybody else would - as a panent.And that was especially true today.I know there's not a parent in America who isn't in the same overwhelming sorrow that I am," Referring to a number of major shootings this year alone, Obama continued "Whether it's an elemental school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon , a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Auron, or a street comer in Chicago - these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children.And we-,, going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regariless of the politics." How many people died at the scene? A. 18 B. 20 C. 26 D. 24 Answer: A Tony and Anna are brother and sister. They are Americans. Tony likes sports very much. He can play football, basketball and volleyball. Anna likes music very much. She can't play ball games. But they both like playing games on computers. They like eggs, bread and milk for breakfast. For lunch, Anna likes eating vegetables and fruit, but Tony likes chicken and fish. They both like hamburgers. But they don't like ice cream or cheese. They don't like _ or _ . A. ice cream; vegetables B. ice cream; cheese C. chicken; fish D. hamburgers; cheese Answer: B Many ESL (English as a Second Language) students in the United States enroll in academic preparation programs and are in their late teens or early twenties. This is often a time when students are looking back on childhood in a different way. Their childhood memories and their viewpoint on those memories can be very useful for the production of wonderfully creative writing. For this project, the students began in class by closing their eyes and trying to return to their childhood years in order to bring early memories to their mind. After imagining for a few minutes, they began to tell each other what they remembered about those years and tried to describe a particular incident that stood out in their memories. That evening they wrote in their journals about the incident, embellishing the story as much as possible. The next day, they read the story to a different partner and got feedback . The partner's job was to: ask more questions to bring back the writer's memory; help the writer make sure that past tense verbs were used correctly, focusing on the difference between those things that were still true and needed present tense and those things that belonged specifically to the past. Two days later, students made necessary changes or additions and turned in a typed copy of their story. I then made my own comments about their work and asked them to revise their work. The third draft produced some very good work. A partner may help do the following things EXCEPT _ . A. make the memory more complete B. find spelling mistakes C. check the tense of the verbs D. give some feedback Answer: B Pursuant to a state statute, Clovis applied for tuition assistance to attend the Institute of Liberal Arts. He was qualified for such assistance in every way except that he was a resident alien who did not intend to become a United States citizen. The state's restriction of such grants to United States citizens or resident aliens seeking such citizenship is probably A. valid, because aliens are not per se "a discrete and insular minority" specially protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. B. valid, because the line drawn by the state for extending aid was reasonably related to a legitimate state interest. 99 C. invalid, because the justifications for this restriction are insufficient to overcome the burden imposed on a state when it uses such an alienage classification. D. invalid, because the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV does not permit such an arbitrary classification Answer: C
Question: NSE Summer School is suitable for those who are at, or are about to start university. It will begin accepting applications in January 2013. Courses: Accounting and Finance; Economics; Management; Law; International Relations; Government and Society Dates: Session I: 7 July~25 July Session2: 28 July~15 August Rate: Standard Rate: One session: $1,400; Both session: $2,400 Reduced Student Rate: One session: $1,100; Both session: $1,875 The reduced student rate applies to full-time students registered at a university or college anywhere in the world. Accommodation is not included, and fees range from $500~~$1,000 for 20 nights. Applicant requirements: If you have studied in the USA then you do not need any additional English qualifications. Students from other countries will generally not require a visa to study at the Summer School; however, you will enter the USA as a "Student Visitor". You are permitted to change courses before the start of the program and within the first three days of the session. Contact hours and teaching methods: Summer School courses are full-time and normally consist of 48 contact hours over the three-week period, taking the form of 36 hours of lectures and 12 hours of classes. Lectures, attended by all students, take place in either the morning or afternoon supplemented by small one-hour classes, of approximately 15 students. Assessment and examinations: Assessment for Summer School is based upon the results of either two written examinations, or a final written examination and assessment work. Everyone is required to take the examinations and no exception can be made for any reason. Summer School lecture series: Famous economistsTony Giddens and David Held--have agreed to give lectures to Summer School participants in July in 2013. If any questions, please click here to see our Frequently Asked Questions/ Contact Us Page. The purpose of the advertisement is to _ . A. attract students to NSE Summer School B. introduce famous economists to students C. help students to pass the final exams D. advertise for new staff for university Answer: A Question: When I was 12, all I wanted was a signet ring. They were the "in" thing and it seemed every girl except me had one. On my 13th birthday, my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials carved into it. I was in heaven. What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn't being "replaced". We'd been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything--so most of the " new" stuff we got was really just to replace what we'd lost. But not my ring. My ring was new.www.ks5u.com Then, only one month later, I lost it. I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning. I was sad and searched everywhere for it. But it seemed to have disappeared. Eventually, I gave up and stopped looking for it. And two years later, we sold the house and moved away. Years passed, and a couple of moves later, I was visiting my parents' when Mum told me that she had something for me. It wasn't my birthday, nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other gift-giving occasion. Mum noticed my questioning look. " You'll recognize this one," she said, smiling. Then she handed me a small ring box. I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside. The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations, which included replacing the carpets. When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom, they found the ring. As it had my initials carved into it, they realized who owned the ring. They'd had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother. And it still fits me. What would be the best title for the passage? A. My New Ring B. Lost and Found C. Lost and Replaced D. An Expensive Ring Answer: B Question: Asia-Pacific consumers are the world's largest group of online shopping lovers and many rely on Internet reviews when making purchases, research firm Nielsen said this week. The firm said 35% of consumers in Asia-Pacific used over 11% of their monthly spending to make online purchases, compared to a global average of 27% of consumers. South Koreans were the heaviest online buyers in Asia, with 59% directing more than 11% of their monthly spending to online purchases, followed by 41% in China, Nielsen said in a report. A further 31% of Asian consumers use between 6% and 10% of their monthly shopping purchases to buy items online. More Asia-pacific consumers also intend to buy online in the next six months than those from other regions, with South Koreans and Chinese the most likely to make such purchases. Among the purchases consumers in the region are likely to make in the next six months are books, clothing, shoes, airline tickets, electronic equipment and hotel reservations. "Technology and the Internet will very likely basically change how and where shoppers spend their money and interact with sellers," said Pete Gale, a managing director at Nielsen's Retailer Services. "We are seeing a strong trend in markets like Korea, where a significant population of online shoppers buy essentials such as groceries, cosmetics and nutrition supplies over the Internet." Nielsen said opinions posted online were important in Asia-pacific customers' decisions to buy products such as cosmetics, cars, software and food. Asia-pacific consumers were also the most likely to share dissatisfaction at a product on the Internet compared with consumers elsewhere. "The increasing accessibility of the Internet and unbelievable popularity of social media and online discussion forums mean today's brands have nowhere to hide, " said Megan Clarken, Asia-Pacific managing director at Nielsen's online division. Nielsen said in June that social media such as Facebook and Twitter or blogging sites had become powerful tools influencing what people buy and urged businesses to embrace the trend. What influences Asia-Pacific consumers most when making purchases online? A. Other buyers' comments B. Powerful online tools C. The varieties of online item D. The price and the way to play Answer: A Question: Look at this. It's a pencil case. It's orange. It's my pencil case. What's in it? Look, this is a pen. It's black. This is a pencil. It's red. And this is a pencil, too. It's yellow. This is an eraser. It's blue and white. My pencil case is big and nice. I like it. ,. _ pencils are in the pencil case. A. Four B. Three C. Two D. One Answer: C Question: There was once a guy who suffered from cancer, a cancer that can't be cured. One day he was sick of staying home and wanted to go out. He passed a CD store and looked through the front door for a second. He saw a beautiful girl about his age and he knew it was love at first sight. He opened the door and walked in, not looking at anything else but her. He walked closer and closer until he was finally at the front desk where she sat. She looked up and asked, "Can I help you?" She smiled and he thought it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen before. He said, "UH...Yeah...Umm... I would like to buy a CD." He picked one out and gave her money for it. "Would you like me to pack it for you?" she asked, smiling her cute smile again. He nodded and she went to the back. She came back with the packed CD and gave it to him. From then on, he went to that store every day and bought a CD. He took the CD home and put it in his closet. He was still too shy to ask her out. His mother found out about this and encouraged him. So the next day, he took all his courage and left his phone number on the desk before he ran out. Several weeks later the phone rang, and the mother picked it up. It was the girl!!! The mother started to cry and said, "You don't know? He passed away yesterday..." Later that day, the mother went into the boy's room and opened the closet. Inside were piles and piles of unopened CDs. She picked one up and opened it. Out fell a piece of paper, saying: "Do you want to go out with me? Love, Jocelyn." The mother was deeply moved and opened another CD... Again, there was a piece of paper with the same words. What could be the best title for the text? A. Speak out love B. Unconditional love C. Buy a CD every day D. The greatest mother Answer: A
Why do I volunteer with Big brothers / Big sisters of America? I have many reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is that people once volunteered to help me. Years ago, I was on the other side of the table. I was lonely and I felt lost. It's a little embarrassing to talk about it now, but whatever the right direction in life was, I was going the opposite way. More than once, I found myself on the wrong path. If someone hadn't stepped in when he did, I probably wouldn't even be here now. I'd rather be in a prison or somewhere a lot smaller and deeper. I've seen the work that big brothers / sisters have been doing all over the country and I'm pleased to be part of it. I've never done anything that made me prouder than my volunteer work. Big brothers and sisters helped me get over sadness and depression as soon as possible. Then, if I can help anyone like they helped me, I am willing to serve for as long as they will have me serve them. There are no words to describe the joy I get from helping somebody turn their life around. Every time I think that that's me now, I'm proud and happy. Volunteering is how I want to leave my mark on the world. I recommend volunteering work to everybody, especially to somebody who isn't sure where they are going in life. Helping someone find their path is often the best way to find yours. Be a volunteer, and you will find your purpose in life. What's the main reason why the writer volunteers? A He has a lot of free time. B He is lonely and wants to be with others. C He wants others to know he is a good man. D He is grateful for what volunteers once did for him. Answer: D. He is grateful for what volunteers once did for him. We usually believe what our brain tells us, but there are some amazing facts which show that the brain tricks us. As a result, we think we can see something that is not actually there or we ignore things that actually are there. Scientists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris have researched this phenomenon , which they call "change blindness". Their experiments show how we sometimes just do not see what is in front of our eyes because _ . Here is one of their most famous experiments. In this experiment, the participants were shown a video of two groups of people (one group in white T-shirts and one group in black T-shirts) who passed basketballs around in a hallway. Each group had three members. Simons and Chabris asked the participants to count how many times the white team passed the ball. While the two teams were passing their balls around, a person dressed up as a big bear walked through the group and stopped to look at the camera. Simons and Chabris found that about half of the research participants did not notice the big bear. What do Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris do? A Scientists. B Astronauts. C Engineers. D Directors. Answer: A. Scientists. The hand, the eyes, and the brain work together to make human beings different from other animals. No other animals have all three parts to work together. No animals can do what human beings can do. Humans can do many things and feel many things with the hand. The hand can hold onto things and make things because the thumb works with the fingers. This fifth finger is strong. Most animals don't have thumbs. The thumb can press against the other fingers. Without a thumb to press against the fingers, it is difficult to hold onto anything. The thumb and fingers can also fit the flat surface of a box and the curved surface of a pencil. We can feel that something is hot or cold, soft or hard, smooth or rough. The hand, with thumb and fingers, is one of the best tools we have. Most animals see a flat picture. Their eyes can only see how high and how wide something is. Some animals see a different picture with each eye. Some don't see in colour. Humans see one picture with both eyes working together. We can see how high and how wide something is. We can also see how far in front of or in back of something a thing is. The brain tells other parts of the body how to work. Some of the things the body does are _ ; that is, we don't have to think about them. For example, we don't have to think to make our heart beat or our stomach work. The brain tells the eyes and hands how to make useful and beautiful things. That is how human beings become tool makers and artists. That is how human can have richer and better lives than other animals. Human beings are different from other animals because _ . A human beings have the hands, the eyes, and the brain working all the time B other animals also have hands, the eyes, and the brain C human beings work together with other animals D the hands, the eyes, and the brain of the human can work together Answer: D. the hands, the eyes, and the brain of the human can work together To be a good teacher, you need some of the _ of a good actor; you must be able to hold the attention and interest of your audience; you must be a clear speaker, with a good, strong, pleasant voice which is fully under your control; and you must be able to act what you are teaching, in order to make its meaning clear. Watch a good teacher, and you will see that he doesn't sit still before his class; he stands the whole time he is teaching; he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanations, and his face to express feelings. There are very important differences between the teacher's work and the actor's. The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part, even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually fixed beforehand .What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem natural on the stage. A good teacher works in quite a different way. His audience take an active part in his play: they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don't understand anything, they say so. The teacher can't learn his part by heart, but must invent it as he goes along. I have known many teachers who are fine actors in class but are unable to take part in a stage-play because they can't keep strictly to what another has written. The skills of a good teacher are _ . A draw his students' attention. B change his voice when needed. C act out what he is teaching D all the above Answer: D. all the above The tradition of birthday parties started a long time ago. There are some traditions that you can find almost anywhere, anytime, such as sending birthday cards, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake and singing the 'Happy Birthday' song. Others are only found for certain ages and in certain countries. In China, on a child's second birthday, family members put many things on the floor around the child. According to Chinese tradition, the first thing that the child picks up tells you what profession the child will choose later in life. For Japanese children, the third, fifth and seventh birthdays are especially important. At this age, there is a special celebrationShichi-Go-San (seven, five, three in Japanese) when children go to the temple wearing a newkimono . Thepriest gives them special sweets, and the parents usually organize a party for their friends in their home. In Argentina, Mexico and several other Latin American countries, girls have a special birthday celebration when they reach the age of fifteen. After a special ceremony , the girls dance a waltz with their father and other boys. Eighteen is the traditional "coming of age"-- the age when (in many countries) you have the right tovote , join the army and (in Britain) drink alcohol or buy a house. In many English-speaking countries, a twenty-first birthday cake often has a key on top, or the cake itself is sometimes in the shape of a key. The key means that the young person is now old enough to leave and enter the family home at any time they want to! Which is the best title of this passage? A Birthday Traditions around the World B Chinese Birthday Celebrations C Japanese Special Celebration D The Drinking Age in Many Countries Answer: A. Birthday Traditions around the World
The idea of micropayments--- charging Web users tiny amounts of money for single pieces of online content--- was basically put to sleep toward the end of the dot-com boom. In December 2000, Clay Shirky, a professor in New York University's interactive telecommunications program , wrote a manifesto that people still quote whenever someone suggests using the idea. "Micropayments will never work," he wrote, mainly because "users hate them." But wait. Without many people noticing, micropayments have arrived--- just not in the way they were originally imagined. The 99 cents you pay for a song on the Internet is a micropayment. So are the tiny amounts that some operators of small web sites can earn whenever someone clicks on the ads on their pages. Some stock-photography companies sell pictures for as little as $1 each. "Micropayments are here" said Benjamin M. Companie, a lecturer atprefix = st1 /NortheasternUniversity, "they just have not developed in the way that everybody expected." From the earliest days of the Web until around the time of Mr Shirky's manifesto, the expectation was that a handful of companies would provide platforms---or perhaps a single platform--- that would enable Web users to pay a penny or a dollar for a bit of content such as a newspaper article, or a research report. Simply clicking a link would complete the transaction . Sellers of content--- at the time, newspaper companies---were among the most interested in the idea as they looked for tax income that didn't depend on advertising. You will have to pay for it, if you _ . Answer: advertise for your products on some websites Billy had a pet turtle that he took good care of, everyday. His turtle's name was Tumble. Tumble liked to walk around outside in the garden and dig small holes to sleep in. Billy loved Tumble and would visit him outside when he got home from school. Tumble's favorite food was oatmeal. So, every day after school, Billy would make Tumble a big bowl of oatmeal and take it outside for Tumble to enjoy. Tumble would see Billy and walk up to him as fast as a turtle can go. Billy would put the bowl down and wait for Tumble to come up to the bowl to eat from it. When Tumble reached the bowl, he put his nose on it. But, the oatmeal was too hot to eat. Billy reached down and blew on the hot oatmeal, to cool it down for Tumble to eat. Once the oatmeal was cool enough, Tumble could dig in and eat his big bowl of oatmeal. Billy loved to watch as Tumble ate his bowl of oatmeal, because Billy took good care of Tumble, everyday. What did Billy do everyday after school? Answer: Feed Tumble a big bowl of oatmeal The surgeries went well, and not long afterwards, my sister and I were allowed to go in to visit. Dad was in a great deal of pain but, again, all he could talk about was Mom, who donated her kidney to him. Was she okay? How was she feeling? As they were wheeling Mom out of the recovery room, they rolled her into a separate place in Dad's to visit him. It was like a dream to see both our parents hooked up to IVs and machines and trying to talk to each other through tears. The nurses allowed us to present the diamond ring, which was purchased by Dad before the surgery, to Mom so that Dad could watch her open it. Everybody was crying, even the nurses. As I stood with digital camera in hand, I tried to keep the presence of mind to document the moment. My dad was having a hard time fighting back emotion, and suddenly my parents reached out to hold each other's hands. In my nearly 35 years of existence, I'd never seen my parents do that, and I was absorbed in. I snapped a picture and later rushed home to make sure I'd captured that enormous, life-defining moment. _ . After so many years of quarrels, it was apparent to me that they finally understood how much each loved the other actually . It's as if the transplant healed our whole family. Dad is far gentler, and he has more patience now. He's not condescending to my mother anymore. Mom, too, has loosened up, since she's not dealing with all that anger. There's a closeness that they didn't have before, and the experience has deepened their faith. For Christmas, my sister and I gave them two framed photos linked together by hooks. The top photo is of their clasped hands on their wedding day, August 7, 1965. It says, "For better or worse, for richer or poorer." The second photo is of that day in the recovery room. Their hands are intertwined and it says, "In sickness and in health, till death do us part." From the story of the author's parents we can conclude that _ . Answer: Suffering can better people's relationship as well. Why are many telescopes used far from cities? Answer: The light from the cities makes it hard to see stars. Are Sports Important? Sports are all around us. We watch and read sports news. There are also sports clubs, and even sports-only channels on TV. In many countries, players make millions of dollars every year. But why are sports so important? They're only games, right? Our readers answer: Vlad (Ukraine) Sports bring people together. In 2006, our team was able to play in the 2006 World Cup for the first time. Everyone was happy. Rich and poor, old and young, men and women--everyone was in the streets together! Mike (U.S.A.) Sports bring people together, but they divide them too. Fans of different teams fight all the Time -they shout and hit each other. And here's another example: My brother plays high school baseball.Last week, his team played an important game. At the game, two parents fought about a call . Come on ... baseball is only a game! Sports are so competitive these days. It's all about winning. Then the game isn't fun. Oba (South Africa) Right now, some of the world's best soccer players are from African countries, and the 2010 World Cup games will be held in South Africa. Yes, some players make a lot of money--maybe too much, but sporting events (like the World Cup) bring tourists and money to countries and people. And that is good for Africa. What is the main idea of this passage? Answer: People have different opinions about sports.
Question: Hundreds of people did not get their train tickets through the online train ticketing service after paying the money. The China Railway Customer Service Center said that it would try to solve the problem and return the money in 15 working days. The service center said changes would be made to the online booking system which limited each purchase which is finished in 30 minutes. Many people said that they failed to book tickets because of the time limit in purchase. People who paid without getting their tickets have formed groups on QQ. As many as 400 people had joined the QQ group by Thursday and the group continues to grow. The ticket buyers said their money had been returned through online banks but they didn't get confirmation from the online booking system. They are afraid that they will not be able to get refunds because they don't have the order number given to those who have succeeded in booking. People also said they were unable to inquire through the booking hotline 12306, because it is almost always busy. The China Railway Customer Service Center Website suggested that the online banks didn't return the payment information to the online booking system because of network problems. The online railway booking service was made by the Ministry of Railways on Dec. 21, in order that people can easily buy train tickets during the Spring Festival. How long should people finish booking tickets? A. In an hour. B. In half an hour. C. In 15 days. D. In 30 hours. Answer: B Question: At Japan's Studio Ghibli, which has produced extraordinary animated films since 1985, the best-known figure has always been one of the company's founders, Hayao Miyazaki. But an equally key figure is co-founder Isao Takahata, who has recently made a new feature, The Tale of Princess Kagnya. It is an unforgettable feature with an unusual hand-drawn aesthetic . The title character is a tiny baby girl who appears in a bamboo plant. She is found by a woodcutter, who takes her home and brings her up. He believes the little girl is a princess, and sets about preparing what he regards as a suitable world for her. This original story is the oldest work of fiction in Japan; every child knows it in its simplified folktale form. "It is a fascinating story with elements of wonder, humour, and sorrow,'' Takahata says, "but these three elements are scattered about." The chief challenge for anyone trying to adapt it is that "we are completely unable to comprehend what was in the heart of Princess Kaguya. Because of this, despite its being well known, few people consider it interesting. There have been several attempts at making a film out of the story, but they ended up being abandoned." He was connected with one of these attempts, but no one paid any attention to his concept. "Fifty-five years later, I thought my concept was still appealing, and used it as a basis for turning the story into a feature film." His concept involves the princess's origins, her expectations and her access to "the full range of human emotions". To realize his vision, Takahata says, "I needed to take the extremely individualistic brushwork and key designs of Osamu Tanabe and Kazuo Oga, two brilliantly talented artists, and have them permeate throughout the film. The two of them drew many pictures, but they weren't nearly enough. The most challenging part was to have all the other animation staff copy their styles in a free and easy way." The Tale of Princess Kaguya has been released, and people are saying that the two founders, now in their seventies, have directed their final films. But is it as clear-cut as that? When I ask Takahata about a scene of escape and urgency with a particularly distinctive visual style, he says he had intended to use "this type of rough-drawn, forceful animation, in a project before this film. "That project hasn't been realized yet, but if it comes to pass, this style is essential." A hint, perhaps, there's still more to come. Why is it challenging to adapt the original story to a feature film according to the passage? A. Because people are in the dark about the feelings of Princess Kaguya. B. Because the story itself offers a combination of wonder, humour and sorrow. C. Because the story is too old to appeal to the audience nowadays. D. Because every Japanese has been familiar with the story ever since childhood Answer: A Question: Tornadoes are one of the worst weather events on earth. Each year, tornadoes kill many people. The storms often carry homes, cars and trees from one place to another. And they can also _ anything when they pass by. A tornado comes from a thunderstorm in the sky down to the ground. It is big at the top and small at the bottom. A tornado appears when winds in different directions meet in the cloud and begin to turn in circles. People can see tornadoes almost everywhere in the world. But most happen from late winter to middle summer. There is a second high season in November. During spring, warm air moves north and mixes with the cold air left from winter. In November, the opposite happens. Cold air moves south and mixes with the warm air left from summer. Tornadoes always come suddenly. Weather scientists have done something to predict tornadoes. But the storms often move too fast for people to protect themselves. Last year, tornadoes killed more than one hundred people in United States. Scientists say the best place to be in is a small room, without windows, in the middle the lowest part of a building when tornadoes come. ,. In the United States, most tornadoes happen _ . A. from late summer to middle summer B. from late autumn to middle winter C. from late autumn to middle spring D. from late winter to middle summer Answer: D Question: The day began with clear sunlight and blue skies.It soon turned into years of war, economic breakdown and political division. Ten years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11,2001, America has come out of the smoke a very different country.Nearly 3,000 people died on September 11. Suddenly America had to wake up to the fact that not everyone loves the USS A.Members of al-Qaeda, the militant group that earned out the attacks, were angry about US support for the Israelis against Palestinians in the Middle East, about US troops in Saudi Arabia, and about sanctions against Iraq. "September 11 and the years that followed were a shock to our national consciousness," said Nicholas Bums, American ambassador to NATO at the time.The terrorists struck not only the buildings, but also Americans- faith in their power.The fear that America had lost control of events as widespread. In the name of fighting terrorism, the US launched wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.More than 6,000 Americans have died.Tens of thousands of ordinary people in those countries have also lost their lives. But deaths are only part of the story.The world was shocked by photographs of Americans torturing Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.David Goldstein, a reporter with The Kansas City Star, questioned American behavior: "Has torturing so-called terrorists saved American lives or made the values we advocate around the world weaker? ..." Is that what we've become?" However, a brief moment of national unity did occur straight after 9/11."Americans were coming together in an unusually powerful way ...in the ashes.We live in a bittersweet memory of that collective tragedy and collective possibility," said filmmaker Ken Burns. September 11 was that kind of common moment.When it was over, the Harth still turned in its usual way and the stars in the sky shone as before.But the universe had shifted somehow. Though the world felt the consequence of September 11, more is to come.Ten years on, it still might be too soon to tell. What is probably the author's attitude towards America's military actions abroad? A. It is necessary to sweep out all the terrorists around the world. B. It is not very reasonable to launch wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. C. It is quite right to apply military forces upon other nations. D. The days of an eye for an eye should never be gone. Answer: B Question: Betty Friedan, born in 1921 in Peoria, Illinois, attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She finished her studies in psychology in 1942. After college she attended the University of California at Berkeley to continue her studies. Later, she moved to New York City and worked as a reporter and editor for labor union newspapers. In 1947, Betty married Carl Friedan. They had a child, the first of three. When Betty Friedan became pregnant for the second time, she was dismissed from her job at the newspaper. After that she worked as an independent reporter for magazines. But her editors often rejected her attempts to write about subjects outside the traditional interests of w omen. In 1966, Betty Friedan helped found NOW, the National Organization for Women. She served as its first president. She led campaigns to end unfair treatment of women seeking jobs. She wanted women to take part in social and political change. Betty Friedan led a huge demonstration in New York City for women's rights. Demonstrations were also held in other cities. In 1981, Betty Friedan wrote a book called "The Second Stage" about the condition of the women's movement. Friedan wrote that the time for huge demonstrations and other such events had passed. She urged the movement to try to increase its influence on American political life. Some younger members of the movement criticized her as too conservative. Betty Friedan died on February 4, 2006. She was considered the mother of modern women's liberation movement. Betty Friedan once told a television reporter how she wanted to be remembered: "She helps make women feel better about being women." Betty led a huge demonstration to_. A. fight against the government B. fight for women's rights C. take part in political life D. get support from the government Answer: B
The black and white bird came ashore on a beach in the south of the North Island nearly 4,000 miles away from its usual habitat. The creature's astonishing journey was witnessed by a woman walking her dog as the two-foot bird waddled out of the water in front of her. She said, "It was out of this world to see it. It was this glistening white thing standing up on the sand and I thought I was seeing things." The tale of the lost penguin is similar to the 2006 children's film Happy Feet, in which a young penguin finds himself far from home during a voyage of discovery. Conservationists believe it has completed an incredible journey for such a young bird -- it is estimated to be around 10 months old. The most likely explanation for its appearance in New Zealand is the hunt for food. Experts said it may also have rested on an ice floe during its travels and was carried north for a great distance before it made a swim for dry land. Colin Miskelly, a curator of New Zealand Museum, said, "They can spend months at a time in the ocean and come ashore only to moult (,)or rest." Mr. Miskelly said the brave bird would have to find its way back south soon if it was going to survive. He said, "It is probably hot and thirsty and has been eating wet sand." "It doesn't realize that the sand isn't going to melt inside it because they typically eat snow -- their only liquid." -- it can inflict painful bites if threatened. Conservationists tend to explain that _ . Answer: Rubbing sandpaper on a piece of wood produces what two types of energy? Answer: When people think of the unique characteristics of Beijing the hutong style always comes to mind.It is no exaggeration to say within hutong lives the city's history. The word hutong was borrowed from the Mongolian word to mean "water well" about 700 years ago.Later it referred to a place where people live.Hutong we see today are made up of small lanes formed by walls of siheyuan.They were built during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, there were more than 3,000 hutong.Most of the city's population lived in this traditional housing.But with the modernization of the city in the 1980s and early 1990s, many hutong were pulled down to build roads, skyscrapers and modern houses. The government has recognized the importance of hutong to Chinese cultural heritage .In 2002, Beijing listed 40 protected historical zones and increased its efforts to restore some key relics and older streets in the city.Nearly 500 hutong have survived. Hutong that still exist are like oases of calm surrounded by the noisy city.Walking through them, it's common to see groups of elderly citizens sitting together playing cards, mahjong or Chinese chess.In the early mornings and evenings, they gather to practice traditional forms of exercise such as taijiquan as well as dancing and singing folk songs or Peking Opera.Hutong have become a museum of Beijing's folk customs and history. According to the passage, which of the following is FALSE? Answer: People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines .Others are looking for cultures, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on. _ of northern cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short. And much of the rest of the year is in the rain. This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them. They all come for the same reason: the sun! But there are signs that the are is getting more tourists than it can deal with. The Mediterranean has already been one of the most polluted seas on Earth. And with the increasing numbers of tourists, it's getting worse. However, none does harm to anyone's fun. The Mediterranean is getting more and more popular every year with tourists. The Mediterranean has always attracted Northern European because of _ . Answer: When the scientist finally completed his new invention he thanked his Answer:
Sheng Huizhen's life story is typical of immigrants who have succeeded in America. After getting her PhD in biochemistry, she got a job as a researcher at the National Institutes of Health. She got a green card, bought a house in Maryland and worked her way up all the time. But then she moved back to China. A law in America stopped the use of public money for research on human embryos . This prevented her from doing the kind of work she wanted to do. The Chinese government attracts her to return with $75,000 for a new lab. She could use the lab to do her research. " Maybe because of the culture, the public in China are friendlier to the research," said Sheng, 55 , whose family remains in the United States. Attracted by support and a scientific environment more open to certain types of experiments, China's long-lost scientists are coming back. Besides, China announced that it would double its research-and-development spending by 2012, to about $69 billion. The returning scientists are very happy about that. In recent years, more than 275,000 have come back. Many of these "sea turtles" , as they are known, have returned with degrees in science or engineering. They are going to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where 81 percent of the members are returning scientists. Fifty thousand of the returning scientists are starting their own companies, according to China's Ministry of Education, pushing the development in science. Why did Sheng Huizhen return to China? A Because her family remains in China. B Because she couldn't adapt to the life in America. C Because China supports her research. D Because she was tired of living abroad. Answer: C When you go to the doctor, you like to come away with a prescription.It makes you feel better to know you will get some medicine.But the doctor knows that medicine is not always needed.Sometimes all a sick person needs is some reassurance that all will be well.In such cases the doctor may prescribe a placebo. A placebo is a sugar pill,a harmless shot,or ail empty capsule.Even though they have no medicine in them , these things seem to make people well.The patient thinks it is medicine and begins to get better.How does this happen? The study of the placebo opens up new knowledge about the way the human body can heal itself.It is as if there was a doctor in each of us.The doctor will heal the body for us if we let it.But it is not yet known just how the placebo works to heal the body.Some people say it works because the human mind fools itself.These people say that if the mind is fooled into thinking it got medicine,then it will act as if it did,and the body will feel better. Placebos do not always work.The success of this treatment seems to rest a lot with the relationship between the patient and the doctor.If the patient has a lot of trust in the doctor and if the doctor really wants to help the patient,then the placebo is more likely to work.So in a way, the doctor is the most powerful placebo of all. A placebo can also have bad effects.If patients expect a bad reaction to medicine,then they will also show a bad reaction to the placebo.This would seem to show that a lot of how you react to medicine is in your mind rather than in your body.Some doctors still think that if the placebo can have bad effects it should never be used.They think there is still not enough known about _ . The strange power of the placebo does seem to suggest that the human mind is stronger than we think it is.There are people who say you can heal your body by using your mind.And the interesting thing is that even people who swear this is not possible have been healed by a placebo. What is the best title for the text? A Placebo:Work on Your Mind B Placebo:The Most Powerful Medicin C Placebo:The Best Doctor D Placebo:Heal Your Body Answer: A Hi, boys and girls! Welcome to our museum. It's free. You don't have to pay any money. But we have some rules for you. Please remember them and do as I say. Firstly, don't have food or drink here. You may make our museum dirty. Secondly, you can take photos here, but don't touch the things here. Thirdly, keep quiet in the museum. Don't talk loudly. Fourthly, the museum is not open after five o'clock in the afternoon. Please leave before five. Have a good time here! Thank you. We can learn from the article that _ . A students don't want to pay any money B the museum has five rules for the students C the speaker who tells the students the rules is a teacher D the speaker hopes the students have a good time Answer: D Jamie was born in a small village in the north of England. He is nine years old. He likes playing basketball very much. When he is free, he always plays basketball with his friends in the open air. Sometimes he walks in the forest and picks some flowers by himself. Last Friday, Jamie finished his homework after the second class in the morning. He hurried to play basketball. The playground was wet. After some time his basketball was dirty and his hands were dirty, too. It was 9: 45 and the third class began. Jamie had no time to wash his hands and ran into his classroom. Mr Black, his English teacher, told Jamie to write some new words on the blackboard. Jamie stood in front of the blackboard and started to write. Mr Black saw his right hand was dirty. "Oh, dear!" said the teacher. "Your right hand is dirty. I'm sure it's the dirtiest in our class." "You are wrong, Mr Black," said Jamie. Then he showed his left hand and it was dirtier. When did Jamie play basketball last Friday? A After the first class. B After the third class. C Between the first class and the second class. D Between the second class and the third class. Answer: D It was such an extremely freezing day that I decided to get a cup of hot drinking first after work. As my colleague, Ricky, and I were making our way to a coffee shop, I noticed an old gentleman rather poorly dressed sitting on a bench nearby. Obviously he was frozen, seemingly one of the homeless or someone like that. We joined the line and waited to be served. Ricky handed the server a twenty-dollar bill, ordered three cups of hot coffee, and gestured the sever to give one to the old gentleman outside on the bench as a favour. The server looked at Ricky, a little _ , without full comprehension of the request. Afterwards, there was a wonderful exchange between the server and the old man in need of some attention. I only wished I had taken a photo of the smiles on the both faces. As I was thinking about this event later on, I wondered to myself why Ricky didn't perform this act of kindness himself. I suspect that deep down in his heart he was hoping that this act of kindness might inspire others to do something for this old man as well. Absolutely beautiful! There are many ways of thinking when we met someone as the old man in need of kindness and attention. Perhaps he needs a little helping hand and thanks God for my colleague who inspired the others to goodness as well. Oh, by the way, the last words Ricky told the server was, "There go I, but for the Grace of God." Why didn't Ricky give the favour to the old gentleman himself? A He didn't know the old gentleman. B He was too shy to speak to strangers. C He tried to influence others to be kind. D He feared the old man would refuse his help. Answer: C
I'm Ann. I'm English. I'm twelve. I was born on May 17 , 1991. I learn Chinese at Beijing No.3 Middle School. I have a good friend. Her name is Lucy. She is twelve, too. We are in the same grade. But we are not in the same class. I'm in Class Two, and she is in Class Three. We have the same Chinese teacher . Her name is Zhang Ying. We all like her. Lucy's parents are both English teachers in China. And she has a sister. Her name is Lily. She is only five years old. Ann and Lucy are _ . Answer: friends What keeps Mars in orbit around the Sun? Answer: gravity Many American presidents in the 19thcentury were born in poor families. They spent their childhood in little wooden rooms. They got little education . Washington and Lincoln, for example, never went to school and they taught themselves. Lincoln once did jobs of a worker, shopkeeper and post officer in his early years. A large number of U. S. presidents had experiences in the army. The two best known were Ulysses Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Grant was a general in the American Civil War and Eisenhower was a hero in the Second World War. It happened that they graduated from the same school--West Point Military Academy . One may be surprised to learn that both of them did not do well in the school. Eisenhower, for example, was once fined because he broke the rules of the school. The jobs of U. S. presidents are tiring. He must _ anything important which happens both at home and abroad. Every day, a lot of work waits for him to do, and he has to make many important decisions. When Franklin Roosevelt was a child, he was once brought to visit President Taft. The old president said to him, "When you grow up, you should not be president. It's a tiring job." In the nineteenth century, many U.S. presidents _ . Answer: couldn't receive good education before they grew up An ape has a larger brain than any animal except man, though it is much smaller than a man's brain. Apes all belong to the hot countries of the world--tropical Africa and South--east Asia. The gorilla is the largest of the apes. He is as tall as six feet when standing upright. Many people think that gorillas are very fierce. They are often described as standing upright like a man, beating their fists and roaring. In their home, in the forests of Central Africa, however, they are not at all like this, They are peaceful animals and never use their great strength unless attacked. Even then, they retreat if they can. Gorillas have black faces and long, black, hairy coats. They feed during the day on plants and fruit. At night the old male often sleeps on the ground at the foot of a tree, while the others each make a sleeping platform in the tree bending the leafy branches. Besides this, gorillas climb trees very seldom. An ape's brain is _ . Answer: a lot smaller than a man's brain We do the shopping on Sundays . I often go to the supermarket with my mother on Sunday morning in a car . Father likes fruit very much. We buy some red apples for him. Mother likes yellow bananas , but they're green. "Look! The strawberries are very nice, mum. Do you like them?" I say to Mum. "Yes, I like strawberries very much . " Mother buys some for herself. The oranges are very nice. Mother buys some for me . I like orange very much. We need some vegetables . The vegetables in the supermarket are very good . We buy some tomatoes, carrots and broccoli . I don't like broccoli, but my parents like it . I like carrots very much. We buy lots of carrots. After shopping , mother and I have some French fries, milk and ice cream. And then we go back home with the fruit and vegetables . Mother doesn't buy bananas because _ . [:ZXXK] Answer: the bananas are green
I will never forget my first English class. It is very interesting. It's the first class in the morning. The teacher goes into the classroom with a smile on his face. At the beginning, he makes a self-introduction . And he tells us that his English name is John. Then he asks all of us to think of English names for ourselves. We are very excited to find a good name. Then he asks us to write our names down on a piece of paper. I think about my English name for a long time. Then I come up with a beautiful name ---Shirley. All the students write their names down and give the paper to the teacher. When the teacher calls "Shirley" to answer his question, three girls stand up at the same time. What does our teacher do first? Answer: When 7-year-old Warren Buffett said, "I will be the richest man one day," his friends made fun of his "daydreaming". But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money by selling drinks, delivering newspaper and buying stocks. The American had already earned $9,000 (equal to $90,000 today) by the time he graduated from the high school. And this month the 78-year-old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of sound investment in the stock market, took the place of Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, as the world's richest man. Gates' worth declined $1.5 billion to $55.5 billion in 33 days after the recent financial storm, according to Forbes Magazine. Buffett, the only son of a stockbroker, was ready to think outside the box to develop his business from a very early age. At 8, he went to golf courses collecting and selling the used balls. At 11 when he sold soda pop door-to-door with a friend, the pair collected lids on streets to judge which flavor was the most popular. As a paper boy during high school, Buffett delivered two competitor papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions , he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffett bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collected rent. Young Buffett stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $5. The experience taught him one of the virtues in investing patience. After graduating from university, Buffett started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-Cola, Buffett has become rich. "Learning is important to Buffett's success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he over achieved his aptitude ," said Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner. What can we infer from the passage? Answer: From my father I have learned a lot. And I'm very thankful to him. I remember when I was a child my father always got up very early, quietly putting on his clothes and going off to work. To arrive in time to open his tiny store at 8:30, he needed to leave our apartment at 6:30. After all, he had to take a bus and then the subway. The last journey was a long walk through a neighborhood much of which was full of the smell of rubbish. I learned: it is very important to work. No excuse. When I was 12, I would, on some Saturdays, go to my father's store to help out. After helping set up the outside clothing display, for the rest of the day, I'd watch to make sure no one stole anything. When I noticed someone looking unusual or strange, I would look the person in the eye, smile and say, "May I help you?" Usually that worked, but sometimes, someone would run off with something. The first time, I ran after the thief but my father shouted, "Martin, stop! There is no need to do that." It's true that safety is more important than money. After 10 years of hard work, he saved up enough money to buy his first car, a cheap one--he wouldn't buy one until he could afford to pay for it without borrowing money. I learned: buy only what you can afford. Buying necessary food and clothing won't make us go in debt . The unnecessary things won't give us happiness, which comes from achievement only. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? Answer: My 17-year-old daughter went off to college and having her away from home brought back memories of watchingPeter Pan when she was little. In the classic TV production, one scene in particular impressed me: when Mrs Darling puts her children into bed. As she turns off the last of the night lights, she takes one last look at the bedroom and says, "Dear night lights, protect my sleeping children." As a mother, I know how much she loves her children. It has been several weeks since we took our daughter to college and she seems to be adjusting well after a short period of homesickness. For us, though, it's another story. Like most parents, I love checking in on my children at night. But now she's gone, and I find nighttimes the hardest. I miss her most at night. In my neighborhood, most of the parents whose kids are off to college are dealing with similar _ . My husband is filled with anxiety. One friend talked about getting this sick feeling in her stomach as she prepared for the college drop-off. We complained that many of us were too busy to truly enjoy being with our children while we had them. For us moms, seeingToy Story 3only made the sadness worse as we watched the character Andy, who is the same age as our kids, say goodbye to his childhood as he prepares to leave for college. And it's not just "first-time" parents like me. Two moms who have kids already well into college said the separation didn't get any easier. "You feel like something has been taken away from inside you," said one of them. I imagine things will get easier with time, especially as I see my daughter adjust to college life. Meanwhile, as I keep my cellphone close to me in bed and text my daughter goodnight and sweet dreams every night, I like to think that messages serve as a night light that keeps her safe. After he daughter went to college, the writer _ . Answer: Joan worked in a hospital as a nurse. One evening there was a big dance at the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses would be there, but it was Joan's turn to look after the sick children. She liked dancing very much, so she felt very sorry for herself. She went to each sick child one after another and said good-night, until she came to one little boy, Dickey. He was eleven years old, but he was already able to talk like an adult( ). Poor Dickey had a very serious illness, and now he was hardly able to move any part of his body except his hands. Joan knew he would never get any better, but he was always happy and always thinking about other people instead of about himself. Dickey knew that Joan loved dancing, so now when she came to say good-night to him, he greeted her with the words, "I' m very sorry that you have to miss the dance because of us. But we are going to have a party for you. If you look in my drawer , you ' Il find a piece of cake. I saved it from my supper today, so it' s quite fresh. And there is also a dollar there, You can buy something to drink with that. And I' d get up and dance with you myself if I was able to," he added. Suddenly the hospital dance seemed very far away and not at all important to Joan. Dickey was lovely because _ . Answer:
Thanks to science, industry and moral philosophy, mankind's steps were at last guided up the right path in the past century. The 19th century of steam was about to give way to the 20th century of oil and electricity. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, only 41 years old in 1900, provided a scientific basis for the idea that progress was not to be stopped, determined by natural law. And almost everybody thought that the development would continue to be as slow as that in the 19th century. Inventions like the railroad or the telegraph or the typewriter enabled people to live their everyday lives a little more conveniently. No one could have guessed that new ideas would storm the world with a force and frequency at an amazing pace. This high-speed attack of new ideas and technologies seemed to make people believe in the old dreams of a perfect life on earth, of a safe world in which natural disasters would be controlled. But the fast progress was accompanied by something against mankind's will. Murders in Sarajevo in 1914 led to the Great War, which did more than destroy a generation of Europeans. The Great War was most commonly called so until the beginning of World War II when it was renamed World War I. Hitler rose to power in the 1930's. It was this very man who ordered the attack of prefix = st1 /Poland, only to meet with his failure whenGreat BritainandFrancemade war onGermany. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed the American naval base at Pearl harbor. Americans decided to enter the war, and World War II was now truly a world war. But civilization was not crushed by the two great wars, and from the ruins people built a way of life again. The citizens of the 20th century felt free to reinvent themselves. In that task they were aided by two far-reaching developments-Psychoanalysis and the Bomb. What is the writer likely to talk about if he continues to write? Answer: Psychoanalysis. Let us begin by saying what causes our dreams. Our dreams do not come from another world. They are not messages from some outside source .They are not a look into the future, either. All our dreams have something to do with our feelings, fears, longings, wishes, needs and memories. If a person is hungry, or tired, or cold , his dreams may include a feeling of this kind. If the covers on your body, such as a quilt or a blanket, have slipped off your bed, you may dream that you are sleeping on ice or in snow. The material for the dream you will have tonight is likely to come from the experience you have today. So the subject of your dream usually comes from something that has effect on you while you are sleeping(feeling of cold, a noise, a discomfort, etc.)and it may also use your past experiences and the wishes and the interests you have now. This is why children are likely to dream of fairies, older children of school examinations, hungry people of food, home-sick soldiers of their families and prisoners of freedom. To show you how this is happening while you are asleep and how your needs and wishes can all be joined together in a dream, here is the story of the experiment. A man was asleep and the back of his hand was rubbed with a piece of soft cotton. He would dream he was in hospital and his charming girlfriend was visiting him, sitting on the bed and feeling gently his hands! There are some scientists who have made a special study of why we dream, what we dream and what those dreams mean. Their explanation of dreams, though a bit reasonable, is not accepted by everyone but it offers an interesting approach to the problem. They believe that dreams are mostly expressions of wishes that did not come true. In other words dreaming is a way of having your wishes carried out. In your dream when you feel like eating something it indicates that_. Answer: you are in a state of hunger At the beginning of every year we promise ourselves we will live a healthier life, and exercise more. The year tarts with the best of intentions, but many times we are unable to keep up with very high goals. Good news is that a healthy lifestyle is achievable and it's all about making small changes that make a difference. News on healthy lifestyles says that the key is moderation and consistency. There are so many health and well-being products out there in the market promising many things. And although many may be true, select carefully. The basics of a healthy lifestyle is maintaining a balanced diet and doing regular exercise. By eating well, it means really to make sure you include plenty of vegetables and fruit preferably in season in your diet, avoid fried and junk foods and foods high in sugar as well as processed foods. Eating fresh homemade meals rather than ready-made meals which are high in salt and sugar is always the better option. Reducing alcohol intake, drinking plenty of water and supplementing your diet with healthy snacks like nuts and seeds. For external care choose natural skin care products and hair care oil. Natural beauty care involves using natural moisturizers like Argan oil, Coconut oil and Sweet Almond oil. These nourish the skin far more than counter creams full of chemicals. Skin reflects what we put inside of us, so a healthy diet with plenty of greens and healthy protein will make your skin brighter. Of course exercise is essential but the key is regular and consistent exercise. So walking three times a week for 45 minutes is much more beneficial than a binge workout once a week. Why can't we keep up with our goals according to the passage? Answer: The reason isn't given in the passage. It is surprising that eating three meals a day--breakfast,lunch and dinner-has been a custom only since 1890. Before this time,people only had two meals a day--breakfast and dinner. In the 16th century,breakfast was only to break one's fast . But 200 years later it had become a large meal,not just for family,but for numbers of guests as well. It was a social event. It began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Then breakfast began to be less popular. It became,instead,a lighter meal and was taken at a much earlier hour. By 1850 it had been pushed back to 8 a.m. and became a family meal. Dinner,however,went to the other way. In the 16th century it was eaten at 11 a.m. Years later,it had moved to the early afternoon,then to 5 p.m. By 1850 dinner time had reached 7 p.m. Lunch is a recent idea. It first appeared as a snack to fill the gap between breakfast and dinner. Dinner,however,went to the other way means " _ ". Answer: Dinner is different from breakfast How much pocket money do you get from your parents every month--200 yuan? Some may need more to buy birthday presents, fast food lunches, ice cream or cartoon books. But for Zhou Li, 30 yuan a month is enough. The only thing she buys is lunch--1.5 yuan each day. "My favorite is fried potato slices and rice," said Zhou, "meat is too expensive for me." Zhou, 14, is a Junior 1 student at Hongzhi Experimental School in Beijing. Her parents are migrant workers . They came to Beijing from a village in Luohe of Henan two years ago. Her father now works as a cleaner and earns 500 yuan every month. Her mother has no job. Every day, Zhou gets up at 5: 30 a.m. and rides 20 minutes to school. She studies hard, and even reads books during breaktime. Her favorite subject is computer."I'm learning typing now. I hope to be the fastest in my class."said Zhou. Like many teens, Zhou has a lot of homework. It usually takes her at least one hour to do it every day. But that is not all her work. She helps her mom cook. On weekends, she helps wash clothes."I could cook when I was eight. Father said sometimes I cooked better than mom!" Zhou said she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up."I watched TV and found that there were many people with AIDS in Henan. Some are kids. They need help."said Zhou. But she is afraid of having to leave school."I hope I will always be in school," said Zhou. "Dad works hard to make money. I promise him I will study hard to be a good student at present and a good doctor in the future." Zhou Li spends _ on her homework every day. Answer: at least one hour
Once a group of 17-year-old schoolboys decided to break the world basketball marathon record . They wanted to play for ninety hours and that is to add six hours to the record. Each team had nine players, with five at a time. The boys decided each person would play 21. 5 hours and then rest for 2 hours. Then they started at 6 o'clock in the evening. The first night was very hard for the players. When it was their turn to rest, they were too excited to fall asleep at once. After sleeping for a short time, they had to play again. On the second night, they fell asleep as soon as they stopped. Some of them had trouble with their feet and hands, but the only serious problem was a psychological one. Each boy was thinking:why am I doing this?How can I play any longer?After the third night, the players knew they could finish the ninety hours. The basketball on the fourth night was very slow. But in the final hours, the players got better. For the last few minutes, the players looked as fresh as when they started. How happy everyone was! In the story, there were _ schoolboys playing basketball marathon. A 9 B 14 C 17 D 18 Answer: D You might have noticed that the cost of food has gone up.In fact the price of wheat and rice has nearly doubled in the past few years.It's thought that right now,850 million people--that's more than 10 times the population of the UK--are short of food because it's too expensive or there's not enough of it. The price of basic food such as wheat and corn has stayed the same for quite a long time,about 30 years.But as the world's population is getting bigger,there's more pressure to feed more people,plus there's less land and water to go round. Another reason is climate change.Droughts and floods make it hard to grow crops like rice and grain.The price of oil has gone up and that makes it more expensive for farmers to run their tractors and to transport the food they make.And lots of fields are being used to grow crops to make other things that can't be eaten--which is bad news for hungry people. The main losers are poor people who live in cities in poor countries,who are facing higher prices for food.Some people are doing well out of the food crisis though.Farmers in rich countries like the US,Canada and Australia are getting record prices for their harvests. World leaders are meeting in the Italian capital Rome to talk about the problem of rising food prices.Some countries are helping out with the cost of foods and international aid agencies have called for more money for food production in poor countries. The price of food goes up because all of the following EXCEPT _ . A there are more and more people in the world. B American farmers are getting richer and richer. C many farm lands are used to make other things rather than food. D climate change makes it harder to grow food. Answer: B When Jamie Beondik saw a puppy getting beaten with a chain, he tried to help. What he got in return was a beating of his own and he had to go to hospital. The neighbors saw the fourmonthold black dog named Tomba Wednesday morning being beaten, choked and dragged on a chain by a man on a bike. Jamie decided to get involved, telling the man to stop hurting Tomba. "He started swinging the chain around in the air and I said 'OK. Well, I'm going to call the police.' And that's when he hit me with the chain," said Jamie. He got hit in the legs and then the man and the dog ran off. Twenty minutes later, the man came back and attacked Jamie with a slingshot before throwing a rock at him, hitting him in the back. Jamie now has to use the wall to steady himself and his hands won't stop shaking, but he expects to be OK. Despite his injuries, he has no regrets. Jamie says he'd do it all again. "He was hurting the dog. I have had a dog for 13 years that looked just like Tomba. The dog was crying for help. I just wanted him to let the dog go. I didn't think he'd beat me," said Jamie. The police arrested the man, who would face at least one charge of assault . Tomba obviously was not seriously injured. "That's all that's important. The dog's okay and he's in prison," said Jamie. Jamie Beondik decided to get involved in helping the dog because _ . A the dog belonged to him B he felt pity for the dog C he often saw the dog before D the neighbors asked him to do so Answer: B Valencia is in the east part of Spain. It has a port on the sea, two miles away on the coast. It is the capital of a province that is also named Valencia. The city is a market centre for what is produced by the land around the city. Most of the city's money is made from farming. It is also a busy business city, with ships, railways, clothes and machine factories. Valencia has an old part with white buildings, coloured roofs, and narrow streets. The modern part has long, wide streets and new buildings. Valencia is well known for its parks and gardens. It has many old churches and museums. The university in the centre of the city was built in the 13th century. The city of Valencia has been known since the 2nd century. In the 8th century it was the capital of Spain. There is also an important city in Venezuela named Valencia. What is Valencia famous for? A Its seaport B Its university C Its churches and museums D Its parks and gardens Answer: D Newspapers are an important source of information. Many people begin their days by reading the paper. In this way they learn what is going on in the world. Sometimes,however,they don't have the time to read the news carefully and must be satisfied with a quick look at the front page,at other times they may be in such a hurry that they have time only to _ at the headlines. There are newspapers to satisfy every reader. In big cities there are many types with several different editions every day. In small towns there are few newspapers and perhaps only one edition each day. In some areas the paper is printed weekly. Most papers have several editions,especially on Sundays when the editions are larger than usual. There are,besides the front page with the most important news,the sports news,the society page,the amusement section,a business page and so on. Reading the headlines, people can know _ . A what the articles are about B the most important news C what is going on in the world D the sports, the society Answer: A
People used to think that wetlands were wasted land. Developers would drain them with ditches ,fill them in with tons of soil,and build houses,schools,and parking areas on them.Then scientists began to realize the important role wetlands played in the environment. Wetlands act like giant sponges during storms.They soak up extra storm water and afterward release it slowly back into the water cycle.This helps prevent flooding. Towns where people have drained wetlands have found that in a big storm,their streets and homes are often flooded because there are no wetlands to soak up the excess water. Wetlands also act as giant filters where pollutants are absorbed and dissolved over time.Though wetlands can become polluted from dumping,wastewater,and fertilizer runoff from farm fields,they are able to process some pollutants over time because of all the microorganisms and plants living there. Wetlands are especially important for providing homes and breeding grounds to millions of birds,fish,and amphibians worldwide. Many wetlands have become national wildlife refuges ,where you can go to take pictures and look at birds and animals. The Everglades are a huge wetland that once covered more than four million acres of southern Florida. Sometimes called the "river of grass",the Everglades are a shallow sheet of water that slowly flowed across a grassy plain. In the late 1800s people began draining parts of the Everglades for development. Roads were built and towns sprang up.The Everglades shrank to half its original size. Cities like Miami grew up where once there was a thriving wetland. Sewage and waste from the cities were pumped into the remaining wetlands. Over time scientists began to see the importance of the Everglades. Even with its smaller size,the Everglades filtered the pollutants coming from the cities,absorbing the worst of it like a sewage treatment plant. During storms the Everglades protected the cities from storm surge flooding. They also are just a great place to visit and see wildlife. Why can wetlands be compared to giant sponges? They absorb extra water from storms. if two students with identical genes grow at a different pace, what could be responsible? they might have different diets Last week, I was invited to a doctor's meeting at the Ruth Hospital. In one of the rooms a patient, an old man, got up from his bed and moved slowly towards me. I could see that he hadn't long to live, but he came up to me and placed his right foot close to mine on the floor. "Frank!" I cried in surprise. He couldn't answer, as I knew, but he tried to smile, all the time keeping his foot close to mine. My thoughts raced back more than thirty years - to the dark days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The scene was an air-raid shelter , in which I and about a hundred other people slept every night. Among them were Mrs West and her son Frank, who lived nearby. Sharing wartime problems, we got to know each other very well. Frank interested me because he was not normal. He had never been normal, ever since he was born. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had less of a mind than a baby has. Mrs West, then about 75, was a strong, able woman, as she had to be, of course, because Frank depended on her completely. He needed all the attention of a baby. One night a policeman came into our shelter and told Mrs West that her house had been all destroyed. That wasn't quite true, because the Wests went on living there for quite some time. But they certainly lost nearly everything they owned. When that kind of thing happened, the rest of us helped the unlucky ones. So before we separated that morning, I stood beside Frank and measured my right foot against his. They were about the same size. That night, then, I took a spare pair of shoes to the shelter for Frank. As soon as he saw me, he came running - and paced his right foot against mine. After that, he always greeted me in the same way. When and where did the writer first meet Frank? In an air-raid shelter during the war. A poor traveler arrived at a small village. He had no food or money. He only had a cooking pot. He made a small cooking fire, placed his pot on it, and poured in some water. When a few villagers asked what he was doing, he said that he was making stone soup which was a recipe passed down from his father. He then dropped a round stone into the pot. Then the traveler told the villagers stories of his travels and the exciting things he'd seen. He tasted his soup and said it was nice, but a bit of salt would be better. One villager went home and came back with some salt for the soup. A few more villagers stopped to see what was going on when they heard the traveler speaking. The traveler told more stories and said that some carrots or onions would be nice to the delicious soup. So another villager said he could give a few carrots and brought them from his home. This continued with the traveler asking for onions, a bit of meat, celery , potatoes to the soup. Finally, the soup was OK and everyone enjoyed the tasty meal. What can we learn from the passage? The traveler was very clever. If you put all the books you own on the street outside your house, you might expect them to disappear immediately. But one man, Hernando Guanlao in Manila, tried it and found that his collections grew. He's a lovely man in his early 60s, with one ever-lasting love--books. They're his pride and joy, because, whether he likes it or not, they seem to be taking over his house. Guanlao has set up a "library" outside his home in central Manila. Readers can take as many books as they want, for as long as they want. As Guanlao says, "The only rule is that there are no rules." You might consider it would end very quickly. But in fact, in the 12 years he's been running his library. He's found that his collection has grown rather than become smaller, as more and more people help the activity. "It seems to me that the books are speaking to me," he says with a smile, "The books are telling me they want to be read." Guanlao started his library in 2000, shortly after the death of his parents. He was looking for something to honor their memory, and that was when he hit upon the idea of promoting the reading habit passed on to him from his parents. So he put the books outside the door of his house to see if anyone wanted to borrow them. They did, and they brought the books back with others to add to the collection. The library was born. The library is not advertised, but somehow, every day, a steady stream of people find their way there. To help the poorest communities in Manila, Guanlao doesn't wait for them to find him on his "book bike". He wants to set up a "book boat", traveling around the islands of Sulu and Basilan. As we sat outside Hernando Guanlao's house in the midday sun, watching people look through his collection, he thought it was worth spending all his time. What was beyond people's expectation after the library was set up? The library lasted a long time.
Wolves travel in groups, and they perform almost all the other activities of their lives in the company of fellow wolves. This is one of the most important facts that modern science have learned about wolves and one of the things that most clearly explain their way of life. The pack is usually a family group. It is made up of animals related to each other by blood. The centre of a pack is a pair of wolves----an adult male and female that have produced young. The other members of the pack are their offspring : young wolves ranging in age from pups to two- and three-year-olds. Most packs have 6 or 7 members, although some may include as many as 15 wolves. Relationships among creatures that live close together in groups are often very complex, and this is true of the ties that connect the members of a wolf pack. Scientific studies of captive wolves and wolf packs in the wild have shown that many complex rules of behavior seem to govern the way that the animals relate to each other. When wolf pups are born into a pack, one of the most important things they must learn is the "language" of the group, the method by which pack members keep in touch with each other, sharing information and communicating their feelings. Scientists have discovered that wolves have a very complex system of communication. The most famous wolf sound is, of course, the howl, and it is a very important part of wolf language. When people think about howling, they usually imagine a sad, lonely sound made by a wolf sitting all alone on a hilltop in the moonlight. However, this picture in most human beings' mind is not completely true. Wolves howl at any time, not just at night, and they often howl together, not alone. Group or chorus howling is another means by which the members of a wolf reaffirm their ties with each other and their closeness as a group. One wolf----often the male leader----will point its nose at the sky, open its mouth, and start to howl. Immediately the other members of the pack rush to stand beside him, shoulder to shoulder, and join their voices to his. Each wolf howls on its own note so that a big chorus of slightly different sounds is produced. Chorus howling often takes place before a wolf pack goes out to hunt. At the end of a successful hunt, the pack may also celebrate with a group howl. While wolves are on the track of prey ,they are usually silent. There are occasions when a wolf will howl by itself. This may happen when an animal is separated from the pack. Pack members seem to recognize each other's voices and will keep responding to the howl of their wandering relative until the group is reunited. Because howling is a sound that carries over a considerable distance, it is very useful in communications among separated members of a pack. Howling is also used when members of different packs have to get in touch with each other to pass on information about their locations and their purposes. How many members do most wolf packs consist of? A 3--4 B 4---5 C 6---7 D 10---15 Answer: C. 6---7 Superman, Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man ... .There is no shortage of superheroes. You find them in comic books, on the TV and the big screen. In a survey of fans by the sci-fi and fantasy website, SFX.co.uk, Batman, 70 years old this year, was voted Britain's favorite superhero. Unlike many crime-fighting superheroes Batman has no special powers. He can't fly like Superman or shoot a sticky web like Spider-Man. Bruce Wayne is born to a wealthy Gotham City business family. However, when his parents are murdered his life changes completely. Wayne feels anger at their deaths and guilty that he did not prevent them. He travels around the world learning how to fight. Upon returning to Gotham, he creates a disguise to enable him to fight crime without being recognized. A childhood fear of bats leads him to choose to dress as one. His idea is that through the bat person he can prove to himself that he has overcome his childhood fears. Wayne is the CEO of the company he inherits from his father. He seems to live the lifestyle of a millionaire playboy. But this is a ruse . He works hard at the image to allow himself the freedom he needs to do his work as a crime fighter. "Bruce Wayne, playboy" is the disguise Batman is the real person. "Wayne is not a born superhero. Instead, he is a real, complex person," said Dace Golder, editor of the website. "He is the most realistic of all the superheroes. I am particularly interested in the emotional process by which a boy becomes a hero. His superhero qualities come from within." Which of the following statements is true about Batman? A Batman is a born superhero B He has special powers C The turning point of his life is due to his parents' sudden death D He actually lives the lifestyle of a millionaire playboy Answer: C. The turning point of his life is due to his parents' sudden death Today Newtown is a very clean place. But many years ago, there were millions of rats in Newtown. They attacked the cats and dogs. Sometimes a lot of them knocked down a man or woman walking home at night. The rats were very big in size and they hurt many people. The government ordered everybody to kill rats. Most people were lazy, so they did not kill many. Then the government decided to pay some money for each dead rat. That made the people very happy. They killed thousands of rats every day. A government officer put all the dead rats in a big pile . Sometimes a man brought hundreds in one day. After two weeks there were not many rats in the city, but people still brought many rats to the government office. The government officer thought that people were stealing dead rats from the pile. He ordered his men to dig a deep hole and put the rats in it. Soon there were no more rats, and the government did not pay any more money. The rats in Newtown were _ . A as big as cats B as dangerous as dogs C large and many D knocked down by the people there Answer: C. large and many Which statement correctly describes a relationship between the distance from Earth and a characteristic of a star? A As the distance from Earth to the star decreases, its size increases. B As the distance from Earth to the star increases, its size decreases. C As the distance from Earth to the star decreases, its apparent brightness increases. D As the distance from Earth to the star increases, its apparent brightness increases. Answer: C. As the distance from Earth to the star decreases, its apparent brightness increases. Many years ago my student asked me the question, "Mrs. Kindred, why do you teach?" Without taking time to reflect, I answered, "Because someday I might say something that might make a difference in someone's life." Even though I was sincere, that wasn't a very good answer and my student didn't let it slide. "Let me get this straight," he said, "You went to college for four years so you could come here every day because you have the hope that someday you might say something that will influence someone?" He shook his head as if I were crazy and walked away looking confused. I'm one of those people who look back and wish they had said something smart or witty, or swift. Even though that particular student might no longer wonder why I teach, there are days when I wonder. On those days, I remind myself of the real reasons I teach: It's in my blood. My mother was my most influential teacher, and she was a 6th grade reading teacher until her death in 1990. She instilled in me a love of reading and the knowledge that education opens doors. Teaching is a way to make a difference. If you throw a stone in a pond the ripples go on and on until they reach the shore. You can't have ripples without a "stone." Good teachers throw stones that make a positive difference, and that's what I strive to do. I genuinely love teenagers. I want to share with others what I know and what I have learned through the years. Life is full of ups and downs, and if I can help students avoid some potholes on the road of life, I want to do so. If they'll allow me to celebrate their victories with them, I want to do too. Teaching isn't for everyone, but I know I made the right career choice. We can infer from the text that _ . A the writer was also a good teacher in school B the writer often plays with her students beside a pond C the writer devotes herself to teaching and her students D the writer often accompanies the students on their way home Answer: C. the writer devotes herself to teaching and her students
A mobile phone is no longer just a phone -- it is also a music player, video camera and personal organizer. And mobile phones with television programming are just around the corner. But the more functions cell phone manufacturers add, the greater the amount of power the phones use and the less practical running them on lithium batteries becomes -- so the race to find a viable alternative is on. Two of the world's biggest electronics makers, Hitachi and Toshiba, are currently competing against each other to come up with an alternative, most likely to be micro fuel cells. The task has been set by Japan's second largest mobile phone provider, KDDI, which wants its customers to soon be able to use special television programming on their handsets, and has asked the two electronics companies to come up with a better power source. Hitomi Murakami, of KDDI, says battery-operated mobile phones cannot keep up with the new applications. "We're looking at various ways to expand content and services that we can provide to the people. And we don't want to have battery issues delaying us from doing that," he says. Hitachi's Atsushi Morihara says it is a critical race for both of the companies as the resulting product will have a major impact on the mobile market in the future. "We are in competition and it's up to both of us to come up with a good product. A product that will satisfy KDDI's needs. I think I can go as far to say that the winner will take all." Miniaturized direct methanol fuel cells are different batteries in that they create power instead of simply storing it. That power is made by new technology utilizing cheap methanol. If all gees to plan, come 2007, Japanese phone users will not use an electric charger to power their mobiles, they will instead carry a small bottle of methanol and with just a few squirts, they will have power for their phones. But the method has its downsides, including how passengers will be able to take small mounts of flammable methanol on airliners. Fumio Ueno of Toshiba says that once developed, the uses of miniaturized direct methanol fuel cells have endless possibilities. Which of the following is NOT the characteristic of methanol fuel? Answer: Available everywhere. Back in 2003 I had a pet rabbit named Alaska.Due to the rules the landlord had set,he had to be kept in the basement .One night I went downstairs to feed him.Keep in mind I've always thought the basement was frightening.As I was facing his cage and putting the bowl of water inside,a big shadow appeared behind me,as if a big,tall man were standing behind me.I turned around and nobody was there,but I got the distinct feeling that I was being watched.I basically dropped the water bowl and ran upstairs shouting for my mom.Ever since then I can't go down there alone. Once I was trying to get to sleep,and I slept with the lights off.All of sudden I wanted to leave the room eagerly,but I couldn't get out of my bed,I was too scared.The feeling of someone looking closely at me was so upset,I was physically afraid to move or breathe.I opened my curtains to let the street light in,thinking the light would help me feel better to move.That did nothing.I must have sat there on my bed for about fifteen minutes before I got up.I didn't sleep in there that night.I've never felt anything so upset! Then there are all the little things,like seeing things in the comer of my eye,hearing doors open or close when I'm home alone,and the feeling of being watched.Once when my sister wasn't home(we share a room)I heard someone breathing from her bed and heard the sheets rustle .Last week,I felt someone patting me in the shoulder when I was alone in my room.Sometimes I'll be looking something and I'll see one or more contorted ,angry faces. I realize that when one is looking for something to happen they can make things happen or imagine it.These are the moments in which I know nothing was imagined,so I wanted to share them and get your opinions.Thanks so much. From the text,we can see the writer believes his experiences are _ Answer: real It is good to get in touch with your inner child from time to time,and obviously some people are willing to pay big money for the chance to do so in a proper environment.A Brooklyn-based adult preschool is charging customers between $333 and $999 for the chance to act like a kid again. At Preschool Mastermind in New York adults get to participate in show--and--tell,arts--and--crafts such as finger paint,games like musical chairs and even take naps.The month-long course also has class picture day where the adults are expected to have a field trip and a parent day. 30-year-old Michelle Joni Lapidos,the brain behind the adult preschool,studied childhood education and has always wanted to be a preschool teacher.She's always on the lookout for new ways to get people in touch with the freedom of childhood.A friend encouraged her to start the mastermind course instead. According to Candice,her blogger friend,Preschool Mastermind gives adults a chance to relearn and master the things that they failed to understand as children."I realized all the significances of what we learn in preschool,"said founder Michelle Joni,"People come here and get in touch with their inner child.It's magical.We are bringing ourselves back to another place,another time with ourselves when we are more believing in ourselves,more confident and ready to take on the world." "One person's here because they want to learn not to be so serious."Michelle said."Another's here to learn to be more confident."She explained that most of the classes were planned.However,Joni added that while the planned activities were fun,it was often the spontaneous moments that attracted students."It's the things you don't plan for,the sharing between friends and learning from each other.'' What is the purpose of Preschool Mastermind? Answer: To give adults a chance to return to childhood. If you can't wait until the summer for your sunshine fix,why not fly off on a winter break? Here are some great deals for all budgets. 1.ST LUCIA The beachside resort of St James's Club in Morgan Bay is fairly quiet--the local market is nearly 5kin away--but it has six bars,six restaurants and four outdoor pools. There are plenty of watersports,you can travel through the rainforest,go on a jeep trip or enjoy dolphin-Spot-ting. Average temperature in March is 27degC. THE DEAL:A seven-night stay with flights from Gatwick for 1,429pp.From March 1. 2.GOA With an average February temperature of 26degC,scenic Goa makes for a warm winter get away. In the village of Arpora,the Resorte Marinha Dourada is a 10-minute walk from the clear beach--the hotel provides transfers for guests.Alternatively,relax by the outdoor pool and have a drink at one of the hotel's two bars. A visit to Arpora's lively Saturday night market is also recommended. Go bird-watching,beating on the lake,or fishing. THE DEAL:10 nights' bed and breakfast with flights from Manchester for 1,157pp.From February 18. 3.DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Bayahibe is a beautiful fishing village on the shores of the Caribbean and it is also the Dominican Republic's premier scuba-diving destination.There are around 20 dive sites just off its coast. Enjoy golf,spas,watersports and large outdoor pools.If you simply want to relax,the Catalonia Gran Dominicus hotel is right on a pure white sandy beach,complete with palm trees. With average February temperature of 28degC,it's the perfect escape. THE DEAL:A seven-night stay with Gatwick flights for 1,403pp. From February 20. 4.SOUTH AFRICA February is summer in South Africa,with average temperatures in the mid-20sdegC. If you fancy chilling out in the sunshine,the Southern Sun Waterfront hotel has a large outdoor poo1. But it is also in the heart of the city,which makes it easy to explore its many historic attractions. Take a cable car ride up Table Mountain,or a short boat trip to Robben Island,where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner. THE DEAL:10 nights for 1,662pp,with Heathrow flights. From February 18. If you are only available in March,which resort should you choose? Answer: ST LUCIA The Adler Planetarium Chicago is home to more than 35,000 square feet of exhibits. From huge models of the Solar System, to ancient astronomical instruments, to interactive adventures, Adler's exhibit galleries provides a passageway for you to explore the universe. The Adler also offers mini science exploration activities that are quick l0-minute lessons. Visitors can learn some interesting astronomical facts at}se small activity carts. The Adler Planetarium Chicago is the only museum in the world with two full-size planetarium theaters. Since 1930, the wonder of the stars has been visible in the historic Sky Theater. Powered by brand new Digistar 3TM technology, the StarRider Theater is a completely digital, virtual outer space environment. The famous Zeiss Planetarium projector is able to accurately reproduce the movement of every aspect of the night sky. Do's and Don'ts: Do Take the Bus/Train: Leave the car at home for this museum trip. The Adler is located within close proximity to public transit. Don't Miss the Doane Observatory: When weather permits, the Doane is open at the Adler for observing with its 20-inch diameter telescope: Don't Miss Museum Special Events: The Adler offers a summer camp for kids from mid. June to August. Ticket Price: Adult: $ 28; child: $ 22. Book online now to Save 37%. Regular Schedule: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Summer Hours: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Nearest Transit: Roosevelt Metro Station Address: 1300 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605 What can visitors learn in the StarRider Theater? Answer: The movement of the stars in the night sky.
Where is December warmest? A Nebraska B Canada C Papua New Guinea D Israel Answer: C Sugar--free beets that still taste sweet, tastier tomatoes and brighter-colored fruits and vegetables that stay ripe longer are all foods that are being grown now. How can they carry traits, such as being tastier, brighter, and riper? They are genetically engineered. Genetic engineering is like making a change in a recipe. For example, when you make cakes, you mix together all of the usual ingredients. If you add an extra ingredient, like salt, the cakes will taste differently. Genes are ingredients in the recipe for life. They carry the traits of living things. Your genes dictate what color hair and eyes you'll have, how tall you'll be, as well as many other traits. Genes carry traits for plants, too. By adding genes to a plant, you can sometimes create new traits. For example, adding a certain gene to a potato plant can make the potato plant distasteful to bugs . This makes some farmers happy because they don't have to use chemicals to keep bugs away from their plants. It sounds great, but some people are opposed to the idea of food that is genetically engineered. Ronnie Cummins, from the Campaign for Food Safety, is against it. He says that one of the major concerns is allergies . Supermarkets don't always label foods that are genetically engineered. A customer could unknowingly buy food that has an added gene from another plant that he or she is allergic to. It could be dangerous. Gary Burton from Monsanto, a seed company that engineers food, disagrees. He says his company tests for allergies. Burton believes that genetic engineering is a valuable tool for making better food. The technology can help farmers use less insecticide and grow healthier crops. Burton thinks there are many advantages. But Cummins says that we just don't know what will happen in the future if we keep adding genes to foods. We could mistakenly create a monster. People have different opinions about genetic engineering. One side supports it and thinks it will only help us. The other side is opposed to playing with nature and fears health risks. Which side do you think is right? What is the best title of this passage? A Future Farming B Genetic Engineering C Foods with a Difference D Genetically Engineered Fruits Answer: B A bus stops at a small bus stop. A man is hungry and he wants to buy some cakes. It's raining hard, he doesn't want to go out in the rain. He sees a boy. "Come here, boy!" he cries. "Do you know how much the cakes are?" The boy says yes. The man gives the boy four dollars and asks him to buy two cakes. "One is for you and one is for me." Three minutes later, the boy comes back. He's eating a cake. He gives the man two dollars and says: "Sorry, there is only one cake left." Where is the man? A He's near the bus. B He is at home. C He's in the bus. D He is in the car. Answer: C Do You Want to Be an Artist? Do you want to be an artist? Come to our club. We have guitar, violin, piano and drum lessons for just Y=240 each. You can also learn to sing or dance for just Y=180 each. If you like art, you can be satisfied, too. Art lessons are just Y=200 each. If you want to be _ ,come to our club. A an artist B a doctor C a teacher D a driver Answer: A When reindeer are done with the holiday season, people often wonder what they do during their time off. Well, reindeer are pretty good at taking a vacation during down time. Reindeer of any age are always in a hurry for their own holidays! Rudolph is the most famous reindeer, and he has been known to ride foam noodles in the pool. He loves to get wet and splash around! Comet has a more quiet time during his vacation. You'll often see him looking in the fridge for his favorite cooking ingredient, cheese. He is a great cook and likes to make cheese pizza. Cupid is pretty good at reindeer games, and he is always on the winning team during vacation time. He is always signing up for games all summer long. Donner loves to fly and ride the wind, even in his off time. He is always practicing. That's why he is the best at flying. So, that's what some of the reindeer do in their time off. If you happen to see any reindeer doing funny things, they are on vacation! Who likes to get wet in the pool? A Cupid B Rudolph C Comet D Donner Answer: B
Question: On a cloudy day A. the clouds are thin B. the sky is dark C. the wind is strong D. the sun is obscured Answer: D. the sun is obscured Question: The United States is trying to improve an education system that produces millions of citizens who cannot read, write, or add--let alone finding their country on a map. In his first State of Union message since taking office a year ago, President George Bush promised to wipe out illiteracy in the next decade and declared that "by the year 2008, U.S students must be first in the world in math and science achievements. " They have a long way to go. American students were placed 14th in a recent general science test conducted in 16 countries. In a separate survey of chemistry students, the United States came 12 out of 14. In a mathematics test, they were last. According to Bush, there are 17 million illiterates in this country of 245 million people. Other estimates put the number as high as 23 million. In percentage terms, that ranks the United States alongside Nicaragua and below C], 'uba. "This nation," Bush said in his State of the Union address, "will not accept anything but excellent in education." Bush, who has declared himself "Education president", and senior officials of his administration are warning that the United States will be unable to compete in the world without an educated workforce. How to increase educational standards is a matter of debate in a country whose schools have no uniform national curriculum and are subject to a confusing variety of state and local controls. Most experts think that the problem lies at the elementary and high school' levels rather than with universities-but even their graduates show huge gaps in general knowledge. Among the root causes most frequently mentioned in education debates is the low respect in which U.S. society holds teachers-in contrast to Japan and Germany. In Japan teaching is a profession of high prestige and high pay. In the United States teachers are near the bottom of the society. The cause of low educational level in America include the following EXCEPT that A. some problems exist in primary and secondary education B. society keeps teachers in low respect C. America pays more attention to economy instead of education D. America has no uniform national courses Answer: C. America pays more attention to economy instead of education Question: We pick up your children at school and give them a safe place to play,do homework,and learn after school. Experienced Teachers/Lunch&Snacks/Toys&Books Ages 6 to 12 Our Programs:Languages Maths Computer Music Open 11:00 am to 7:00 pm,Mon.to Fri. 26 Market Road,Star City (between First Street and Second Street,next to the Flower Market) TEL:8765--4321 Little Rabbit will be open for _ in a week. A. 4 hours B. 8 hours C. 20 hours D. 40 hours Answer: D. 40 hours Question: Since her husband died, Mrs. Jackson has lived alone in their big old suburban house, The house was bought by her husband almost fifty years ago. For the sake of safety , her son has tried hard to ask her to sell the house and buy a new and small one in the town , But Mrs. Jackson doesn't like the idea. She says that she has to look after her husband's old house. But recently she often hears stories about unknown people stealing things around here. That was a cold day before Christmas Eve. Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Mrs. Jackson was enjoying the Christmas music when someone knocked at the door. She heard the sound but didn't move. Another knock. Who could it be? Mrs. Jackson was a bit afraid. She decided not to answer the door but keep waiting. One minute another minute and yet another minute. Nothing happened and no more knocks , She walked quietly to the door, and listened. She heard nothing but the wind outside. She slowly unfastened the door and peeped through the crack . She then gave a surprised cry and threw the door wide open! At the door she saw a tall, beautiful Christmas tree! In the tree stood a Christmas card with these words: Merry Christmas! Your new neighbor Mrs. Jackson doesn't want to sell the house because _ . A. it is almost fifty years old B. it is big and old C. she likes to live alone in it D. her husband left it to her Answer: D. her husband left it to her Question: Hi, I am a Chinese boy. My name is Chen Haonan. My first name is Haonan. My last name is Chen. My English name is Dale. I like red. My telephone number is 178-267. I have a good friend. He is English. His name is Jim Smith. Jim is his first name and Smith is his last name. His Chinese name is Huang Qiang. His phone number is 362-597. What's my English name? A. Tom B. Dale C. dale D. Jim Answer: B. Dale
When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your _ . But forgiveness is possible and it can be surprisingly helpful to your physical and mental health. Indeed, research has shown that people who forgive report more energy, better appetite and better sleep patterns. "People who forgive show less anger and more hopefulness," says Dr. Frederic Luskin, who wrote the book Forgive for Good. "So it can help save on the wear and tear, and allow people to feel more energetic." So when someone has hurt you, calm yourself first. Take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, someone you love. Don't wait for an apology. "Many times the person who hurt you may never think of apologizing," says Dr. Luskin. "They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don't see things the same way. So if you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting a very long time." Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean accepting the action of the person who upset you. Mentally going over your hurt gives power to the person who brought you pain. Instead, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you. Finally, try to see things from the other person' s perspective. You may realize that he or she was acting out of ignorance , fear even love. To gain perspective, you may want to write a letter to yourself from that person's point of view. Dr. Luskin advises us not to wait for an apology after being hurt because _ . Answer: people seldom want to apologize Abuse can be defined as "to treat wrongfully or harmfully". There are different categories of abuse that have been recognized and within our case study there appear to be two distinct forms of abuse, family abuse and child abuse. These can be subdivided into terms of physical abuse and psychological abuse. Physical abuse is the intentional physical injury or harm or deliberately not preventing harm occurring. The minimum physical signs seen in our study of James are _ but they might feel more painful to his heart than the more serious invisible injuries. Emotional abuse is the continual failure to meet basic emotional needs. Emotional development is prevented and well-being harmed. The emotional signs in our case study can be seen in James by his actions of being withdrawn and non-communicative. The behavioural sign to abuse taking place to James is his aggressive behaviour. The short term effect of physical abuse on James is physical pain. In the long term, injuries that often happen can result in secondary illness and complications, permanent scars or even disabilities. His emotional effects in the short term are a fear of people, withdrawal, and poor relationship with others. The long term emotional effects could be low self-respect, depression, inability to form relationships. Abuse can arise for many reasons and there are a number of theoretical views which may be useful in clarifying why the abuse has taken place. The female view believes that sex and family roles give approval to a culture of abuse. Considering the historical and fixed ideas, men have power and control. In James' case he lives in a re-constructed family with the father being rude and a heavy drinker. From a psychological angle, alcohol misuse can bring mental health problems which may increase aggression in the person and so James is more at risk from abuse by his stepfather. The relationship between the mother and James involves a dependency of James on his mother. With other problems in James' mother's life, this leads to increasing stress and the inability of his mother to cope with and manage a family with four children borne by two mothers. The attachment theory states that significant separations of a child from the carer in the early years can have an effect on their emotional development and can lead to psychological and social difficulties in later life. The loss of both his father and his half sister's father with whom he lives may have contributed to his behaviour. Abusive behaviour can sometimes be the result of mental health problems, brain damage or being abused themselves. By becoming the abuser they believe they are taking control; some even believe that they are not doing anything wrong and cannot stop themselves. When working with individuals who have abused, it is important to be aware that they may go on to abuse again and there is a need to protect the community from the abuser. According to the writer's case study, which of the following cases can be defined as abuse? Answer: A father never talks to his daughter and shows no interest in what she does. Dear Betty, My roommate's family wants me to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with them in their home. I accepted the invitation, and I'm excited about going, but I'm a little nervous about it, too. The social customs in my country are different from those here, so I'm a little worried about making mistakes. Should I bring a gift, such as candy or flowers? Should I arrive on time or a little late? At the dinner table, how can I know which fork or knife to use? How can I let the family know that I'm thankful for their kindness? Yours, Knowing Nothing Dear Knowing Nothing, It's a good idea to bring a gift when you go to a dinner party. Flowers are always welcome, or you can bring a bottle of wine if you know the family drink it. You should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late. Don't get there early. If you are going to be more than fifteen minutes late, you should call and tell them. Try to relax at the dinner table. If you don't know how to use the right fork, knife or spoon, just watch the other guests, and follow them. If you still have no idea of what to do, don't be shy about asking the person next to you; it's better to ask them than to be silently uncomfortable and nervous. If you like the food, say so. Of course, you'll thank the host and hostess for the meal and for their kindness. It's also a good idea to send a card to thank them the day after. Yours, Betty Betty does NOT advise Knowing Nothing to _ . Answer: keep silent at table Lily is ten years old . One morning her good friend MeiMei says to her, " Next Friday is my birthday. Would you like to come to my birthday party?" Lily says " Yes, I would like to". On Friday, Lily asks her mother, " Can I go to MeiMei's birthday party" "Yes, but you must be polite .and I want you to sing a song for your friend." "Ok. Mum" Lily answers and goes to MeiMei's home on foot. Then she buys a toy for MeiMei. At the party there are many children. Some are dancing . Some are talking. Some are playing cards. And Lily is singing an English song .There are some apples , oranges , bread , and a big birthday cake with eleven candles on it . The children sit around the cake. MeiMei makes a silent wish, and then blows the candles out in one breath. The children have a good time. Then Lily goes home by bus. What is Lily doing at the birthday party?[ Answer: singing We have met the enemy, and he is ours. We bought him at a pet shop. When monkey-pox, a disease usually found in the African rain forest, suddenly turns up in children in the American Midwest, it's hard not to wonder if the disease that comes from foreign animals is homing in on human beings. "Most of the infections we think of as human infections started in other animals, " says Stephen Morse, director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Columbia University. It's not just that we're going to where the animals are, we're also bringing them closer to us. Popular foreign pets have brought a whole new disease to this country. A strange illness killed Isaksen's pets, and she now thinks that keeping foreign pets is a bad idea. "I don't think it's fair to have them as pets when we have such a limited knowledge of them," says Isaksen. "Laws allowing these animals to be brought in from deep forest areas without stricter control need changing," says Peter Schantz. Monkey-pox may be Researchers believe infected animals may infect their owners. We know very little about these new diseases. A new bug may be kind at first. But some strains may become harmful. Monkey-pox doesn't look a major infectious disease. But it is not impossible to pass the disease from person to person. We learn from Paragraph 1 that the pet sold at the shop may _ . Answer: suffer from monkey-pox
As is known to all, the organization and management of wages and salaries are very complex. Generally speaking, the Accounts Department is responsible for calculations of pay, while the Personnel Department is interested in discussions with the employees about pay. If a firm wants to adopt a new wage and salary structure, it is essential that the firm should decide on a method of job evaluation and ways of measuring the performance of its employees. In order to be successful, that new pay structure will need agreement between Trade Unions and employers. In job evaluation, all of the requirements of each job are defined in a detailed job description. Each of those requirements is given a value, usually in "points", which are added together to give a total value for the job. For middle and higher management, a special method is used to evaluate managers on their knowledge of the job, their responsibility, and their ability to solve problems. Because of the difficulty in measuring management work, however, job grades for managers are often decided without reference to an evaluation system based on points. In attempting to design a pay system, the Personnel Department should compare the value of each job with those in the job market. It should also consider economic factors such as the cost of living and the labor supply. It is necessary that payment for a job should vary with any differences in the way that the job is performed. Where it is simple to measure the work done, as in the work done with the hands, monetary encouragement schemes are often chosen, for indirect workers, where measurement is difficult, methods of additional payments are employed. In designing a new pay system, a firm should consider _ besides comparing the value of each job with values in the job market. A the way of evaluating management work B the method of calculating the pay C the requirements of each job D the labor supply and the cost of living Answer: D Melbourne, with a population of over 3.5 million, is the second largest city in Australia. It is clean, safe, dynamic and exciting, and well known internationally for its universities and other educational institutions. The city has well-planned tree-lined wide streets and many beautiful parks and gardens. It has a good transport system of roads, buses, trains, and trams. The La Trobe University campus is connected to the Central Business District by trams, express buses, and bus and train connections. Melbourne is a culturally rich city, and is home to large communities of people from all parts of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The city is famous for its restaurants, theatres, music, opera, ballet, art, culture, and shops, and a lively and dynamic nightlife. Melbourne people are fond of sports, and the city hosts many famous international sports events. Near Melbourne there are beautiful coastlines with excellent beaches, national parks, forests, wineries , winter snowfields and summer resorts. The climate is _ and comfortable, with warm summers and cool winters. In summer, maximum daytime temperatures range from 26degC to 36degC, and in winter from 12degC to 18degC. The weather in Melbourne can be variable from day to day. Melbourne was rated the world's best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Melbourne is well-known in the world for its _ . A large population B educational institutions C transport system D beautiful parks and gardens Answer: B Water is the "life blood" of our earth. It is in every living thing. It is in the air. It runs through mountains and valleys. It forms lakes and oceans. Water is everywhere. Nature has a great water system. Rain water finds its way to streams and the oceans. Here at the mouth of a river there is much important plant and animal life. Pollution destroys this life, so we have to clean out streams and rivers. Man has to work with nature--not against it. There is much plant and animal life at the _ . A head of a river B bottom of a sea C body of a stream D mouth of a river Answer: D Asia is home to more than half of the world's population and three of the four most crowded countries are in Asia. China, India, and Indonesia alone have more than 2.5 billion people. Until recently, most Asian nations fell behind the western countries in many fields. Government reform , however, has led to important progress in each of these Asian countries. Across the area, education systems have been improved and economies have been growing. Most Asian countries now have a system of compulsory education. Many countries have recently allowed private universities to be built, which was not allowed before. There are more chances for students to go to university now. However, in Asia, there are still not enough chances for students to get higher education and many people prefer to go abroad for further study. As a result, India, China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries send thousands of students to study in the United States and Europe each year. Part of the people in Asian countries can speak English, and English has become the most important language for business across the area. The percentage is the largest in Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, SriLanka and South Korea. Many people in China, India and Malaysia can also speak English. Some countries have made English part of the primary and secondary education program. In some countries, children begin to study English even at the age of 4 or 5. Why do so many students in Asia go to study in the USA and Europe? A Because they are rich. B Because there are not enough chances for students to get higher education in Asia. C Because they don't want to work hard. D Because they can speak English very well. Answer: B Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy lean? It leans because of a mistake. It has leaned almost since the day the tower was built. In 1173, the people of Pisa, Italy, wanted to build a bell tower. They wanted the tower to be the most beautiful bell tower in all of Italy. The city also needed a bell tower because the church did not have one. However, there was a problem. As soon as the first floor of the building was finished, the tower started to lean. Builders tried to make the building straight again as they added more floors, but they couldn't figure out how to make it stop leaning. It took almost 180 years to finish the tower. Since then, the tower has leaned by another millimeter every year. Today, the Leaning Tower has eight floors and is 54.5 meters tall. By 1990, it was leaning by about 4 meters to one side. It was also slowly sinking into the ground. Many people became worried that it would soon fall apart. In 1998, repair works began on the tower, and by the end of 2001, it had been moved back by 45 centimeters. The tower will still lean, however, so it will need to be repaired again---in another 200 years. When did the tower begin to lean? A from the first day it was built B after the first floor was built C after the last floor was built D 180 years after it was built Answer: B
Can you remember a morning when you've woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven't slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can't stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(,) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds. The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren't. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn. One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more. Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed. A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. "Brains are like computers." he said. "They only operate efficiently and effectively when they're cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat." Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup , that they can't figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response! In which situation are you likely to yawn? A When you feel frustrated. B The weather is hot. C Someone else yawns near you. D When you breathe in a lot of carbon dioxide. Answer: C. Someone else yawns near you. C What historical site impresses you most? I've always been fascinated by the pyramids in Egypt.A few years ago I braved a long queue and climbed through a narrow passage to reach the main chamber deep inside one of them.Like millions of other tourists, I marveled at stone-walled rooms full of the magic of this ancient civilization. But popularity might be the destruction of such archaeological treasures.Take Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings for example.It lay untouched for more than 3,000 years until the British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered it in 1922.Now more than 1,000 people a day walk through it. But as more and more people visit, the temperature and humidity inside the tomb change.As a result, the beautifully decorated plaster is coming away from the rock. In order to preserve its heritage, a replica of the monument is being opened about 1 kilometer away from the actual burial site.Specialists have recorded every detail of Tutankhamun's tomb and used the data to recreate it. Adam Lowe from the organization behind the project says the copy is identical to the original.He believes visitors will want to become part of the force that protects it rather than a force that is leading to its destruction.So they won't mind seeing a replica. But for historian Tom Holland, a copy is still a copy.He believes that although preservation is important, there is something unique about places like Tutankhamun's tomb.He says it was built by people who believed in the world of the spirits, the dead and the supernatural.You don't have to believe in a god or gods to feel a place is consecrated and has a particular quality that can't be reproduced. What about you? Would you visit a replica of a monument rather than the original to help preserve it? Historian Tom Holland may hold the opinion that _ . A some unique ancient places can't simply be replaced by replicas B visitors are advised to see replicas because preservation is first C ancient civilizations are consecrated and can't be redecorated D visitors to ancient civilizations must believe in a god or gods Answer: A. some unique ancient places can't simply be replaced by replicas A little girl walked to and from school every day.Though it was not fine and clouds appeared in the sky that morning, the little girl made her daily trip to school as usual. When school was over, winds became stronger and it began to rain. The mother of the little girl felt worried that her daughter would be afraid when she walked home from school and that lightning might make her child scared. Following the bright light of lightning, the mother quickly got into her car and drove to her child's school. As the mother drove along the road, she saw her little girl walking alone in the rain. To her great surprise, she found that when a lightning came, her daughter stopped, looked up and smiled. Another lightning came and then another followed. With each lightning, the little girl stopped, looked up and smiled. Inside the car, the motherasked her daughter, "What were you doing? Why did you look up and smile when the lightning came ?" The little girl answered with a smile, "Mum, you know, God was looking at me. Each time I felt a little afraid walking in the rain.God would take a picture of me. I knew he was playing a game with me''. At first, the mother felt worried because _ . A she couldn't help her daughter B her daughter hadn't taken her umbrella C her daughter might be afraid of the lightning D god disliked her daughter Answer: C. her daughter might be afraid of the lightning Two Chinese living in South Africa were killed in a robbery on February 5, bringing the total number of Chinese killed in the country to four in less than a month. Chen Jianqing, 35, from Southeast China's Fujian Province who ran a shop with her husband in a small town 45 kilometers away from South African capital prefix = st1 /Johannesburgwas shot dead. "One of her business partners died later in the hospital, "the Chinese consulate officials in Johannesburg said yesterday."Local police are trying to find more information about the case.And we have told the victims' s and are helping them come to Johannnesburg," consul Wu Gang told China Daily. Chen's husband was injured during the robbery but did not suffer seriously ,said Wu. The robbery happened at about 5:45pm local time and the armed robbers ran away after taking more than 50,000 South Afican rand (US$8,200)and some jewellery,Xinhua News Agncy reported. The killing happened just three days after Chen Jingmin, a 23-year-old man from Qingdao, Shandong province, was shot dead north outside Johannesburg by armed robbers .On January 10, a Hong Kong businessman was attacked and robbed at his home in Johannesburg and died the next day in the hospital.All these happened just in less than a month. According to records, there were more than 40 robberies attacking Chinese in South Africalast year ,in which eight were killed .More than 100,000 Chinese are doing various kinds of businesses inSouth Africa,according to a Chinese official in the country. An increasing number of them are becoming targers of robbers after buying big houses or expensive cars, the official said. Those Chinese who _ are more likely to be robbed in South Africa. A depend too much on local police B live near the capital of South Africa C open shops selling Chinese goods D leave others the impression of being rich Answer: D. leave others the impression of being rich Have you ever heard a news reporter talk about DNA?Reporters talk about DNA found at the scene of a crime.They talk about police finding DNA "fingerprints".Police sometimes use DNA as a clue to find out who committed the crime. DNA is a substance that makes up genes.Everything alive has genes.Plants have genes.Animals have genes.You have genes. Genes are the basic units of heredity .Heredity means all the characteristics you inherit from your parents.You get your genes from your parents.You inherit half of your genes from your mother.You inherit half of your genes from your father. Genes are a kind of code.A tree's genes tell what shape its leaves will be.A cat's genes tell what color its fur will be.Your genes tell what color your eyes will be.Your genes tell what color your hair will be.Everything about you comes from the code in your genes. Genes line up on strands called chromosomes in cells.Everything alive is made up of cells.Chromosomes are in the center,or nucleus of cells. Different parts of you are made of different kinds of cells.Your muscles are made of muscle cells.Your skin is made of skin cells.The code in your genes tells your body to make different kinds of cells.The genes in each cell tell the cell how to work.They tell the cell when to make new copies of itself. An Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel first saw inherited patterns in pea plants.He experimented with pea plants in the 1860s.One of the things,or traits Mendel studied was what makes some pea plants tall and some short.He said that the traits must come from units of heredity passed from the parent plants.These units were later called genes. In the mid-1900s,scientists discovered that genes are made of DNA.In the 1970s,scientists learned how to change DNA with genetic engineering.Scientists also learned that problems with certain genes cause diseases.Muscular dystrophy,cystic fibrosis,and hemophilia are some genetic diseases--diseases caused by problems in genes.Today,scientists are looking for ways to cure genetic diseases by changing genes through a process called gene therapy. An Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel _ . A first saw inherited patterns in people B was interested in why plants were different C first called the units of heredity from parents genes D was the first who discovered genes Answer: D. was the first who discovered genes
Bet Winner MILLBURN, New Jersey-- An 11-year-old boy, he gave up television for a year in a bet with his mother, says he will use some of the money to buy himself an astronaut's suit. The bet ended at 9:01 on Monday morning, but Benjamin waited until his mother, Roslyn, handed him five 100-dollar bills in front of a gathering of newspapermen in the afternoon before switching on the TV. During the past year, he has filled his time reading and his grades have improved from ''satisfactory" to ''very good." CHINA DAILY, Wednesday, March 9, 2011 ( 94 words ) The mother obviously believed that Answer: children shouldn't watch TV too much My goddaughter, Shari, owns The Berry Factory in Sacramento, California, and her mother, Joan, and I were helping with the Valentine's Day rush of 2011. We'd been preparing hundreds of berries, arranged gift baskets and packaged orders to be shipped around the country. By the end of the day and I were exhausted. Shari didn't seem tired. That was what Shari liked doing especially when she gave someone else something. I'd seen her give away berries to everybody--parking attendants, mail carriers, hairdressers. "For me?" they'd say, breaking into a smile. As a "thank you", Shari took us out for dinner. But there was a 45-munite wait at her favorite restaurant. "No big deal. There's another place just up the road," she said, driving us there. This time we walked right in. While the waitress took our drink orders Shari reached into her handbag, pulling something out. "I want you to have these," she said, handing the waitress a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries. "Will she love those berries!"I said to myself. But the waitress seemed extremely surprised. She hardly let out a "Thank you" before grabbing the box and rushing into the kitchen. A few minutes later, the waitress returned with our iced tea. " I apologize," she said. " It's just ...my best friend and I made an agreement to send each other something every Valentine's Day. But she passed last year. I didn't know how I'd get through this day without her. Then you handed me that box." "I'm so sorry to hear that," said Shari. " It's not much, but I hope you can enjoy them." "Oh, I will," the waitress said. " See, every year we always sent each other the same thing: a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries bought from our favorite store, The Berry Factory." What do we know about the waitress? Answer: She would be very depressed without Shari's gift FRIDAY, Aug. 3 (Health Day News) -- Middle school students who are physically fit are likely to score higher on standardized tests measuring reading and math abilities, a new study has found. And, the average scores went up in connection with levels of fitness, the findings showed. "The more physically fit kids were, the higher their scores," said the study's lead author, Trent Petrie, director of the Center for Sport Psychology at the University of North Texas in Denton. "Parents should encourage their kids to be physically active. There are some real cognitive and academic benefits that come from physical fitness", Petrie said. Results of the study are scheduled to be presented Friday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Orlando, Fla. The study included more than 1,200 middle school students from five schools in a suburban area of Texas, with 561 boys and 650 girls. About 57 percent of the children were white, and nearly one-quarter were Mexican American. Nine percent were black and about 2 percent were of Asian descent. The school district provided the researchers with information on the children's race, age, grade level and whether they qualified for the free school lunch program, which was an indicator of the family's socioeconomic status. The schools also provided scores to the tests, which were given between one and four months after the researchers had assessed the children's levels of fitness. Fitness tests were administered during physical education classes to determine the youngsters' heart and lung health (cardiorespiratory fitness), as well as their body mass index (BMI), an indicator of how much body fat a person has. The children also filled out questionnaires that helped the researchers determine factors such as self-esteem and social support. After accounting for factors such as age, sex, family income and self-esteem, the researchers found that for both boys and girls, higher levels of heart and lung health predicted better scores on both the math and reading tests. For boys, perceived social support also seemed to increase their reading scores, the investigators found. In girls, while being physically fit predicted higher reading scores, so too did a higher BMI-- which indicates more body fat. "We were a little surprised by this finding," Petrie said. "It was not as strong an association as the one with physical fitness," he added. The authors suspect it may have something to do with girls this age entering adolescence, which may be related to a higher BMI and slightly higher brain development. He said he plans to make great effort to look for this relationship again in larger studies to see if it was a chance finding, or if the association holds up. "While we can't say 100 percent that physical fitness causes better academic performance, we can say that there is a strong and predictive relationship between physical fitness and academic performance," Petrie said. "It's hard to tease apart the exact reason for this association," said Becky Hashim, an attending clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the departments of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Montefiore, in New York City. "It may be that the children are getting more oxygen. When the heart and lungs are working at a higher capacity, it may allow the brain to work at peak performance. Children who are less fit may be sleepier during school," she noted. "I personally feel that there's probably a strong relationship between the confidence you get from being able to do something physical well and academic performance." Whatever the reason behind this association may be, "there's certainly no harm in pushing physical fitness," Hashim added. "Physical fitness may make you feel better, give you more confidence and improve your performance across the board," she said. Petrie agreed. "Physically fit kids are happier, have higher self-esteem and, tend to have better relationships, and now we're beginning to see that there also seem to be benefits cognitively and academically. Our study sends a strong warning to policymakers to reconsider the service program of physical education classes for kids," he said. According to the passage, the result of the study will be published _ . Answer: at a conference There are some stories behind English words. You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way. But have you ever wondered why English speakers say some of the things they say? For example, why do they say "an easy task" is "a piece of cake"? Why do the two letters "OK" means "all right"? Many English words and phrases have stories behind them. Sometimes these stories can help us look back into old western history. Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases: OK "OK" was an American who lived in the 19th century. His name was "Old Kinderhook". In one year he was trying to take the place of the leader of his town. His supporters went around the town shouting " OK \ OK \" The supporters thought their future leader was " all right". The expression caught on, and now if something is "all right" , people like to say "OK\|" Boss* Is your boss nice to you? If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times. Back to that time, bosses could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from an old German word meaning "to beat". A piece of cake A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s. Many readers enjoyed his poems and wrote them down in their notebooks. In one of his poems, Nash wrote, " Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake. " His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down. They thought that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy? For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task or activity that is easy. The word "boss" in old German means " _ ". Answer: to beat Just before Mother's Day I purchased the Flex Belt for my mother to help her lose some weight. I wasn't sure if she was going to like the present but she seemed to love it. I saw the Flex Belt review on the Internet by chance and was very impressed with what I read. It seems that the Flex Belt is helping thousands of people achieve their weight loss goals. I asked my mother a few questions about the Flex Belt such as whether this product was easy to use, whether she felt painful while using it and the most important question was whether she lost any weight. She told me that it was so easy to use, and that even a child could operate it. She also said that in the first period of using this product she did feel that it was a little bit magical and she was pleased with the amount of weight she had lost. Over the past few years it seems that my fitness routine has gone downhill . I used to enjoy going to my local gym to do a bit weight lifting, or enjoy meeting up with friends once a week for a game of soccer. Recently I noticed that I became a bit "round", so I have started to do some exercise by taking a thirty-to-forty-minute run every morning. I feel like the weight that I have put on especially around my midsection is slowly dropping off. Everyone knows the benefits of having a slim waist but it seems that we don't actually do anything about trying to achieve this. There are a few reasons for this, such as lack of time, not being motivated enough, or not having enough money to join a gym. So this is the reason I think the Flex Belt is great to own. I am happy that my mum loves the present and because the product is working great for my mum, I've decide to get one for myself as well. In the past few years the author _ . Answer: hasn't taken exercise as often as before
High school graduation--the bittersweet feelings are as much a part of me now as they were twenty-one years ago. As graduation day approached, excitement increased. Being out of high school meant I was finally coming of age. Soon I would be on my own, making my own decisions, doing what I wanted without someone looking over my shoulder and it meant going to school with boys--a welcome change coming from an all-girl high school. There was never any question in my mind that I would go to a college away from home. My mother's idea, on the other hand, was just the opposite. Trying her best not to force her preferences on me, she would subtly ask whether I had considered particular schools--all of which happened to be located in or near my hometown of Chicago. Once it was established that, as long as the expenses would not be too heavy a burden on the family budget, I would be going away anyway, my family's perspective changed. Their concern shifted from whether I was going away to how far. The schools I was considering on the East Coast suddenly looked much more attractive than those in California. But which college I would attend was just one of what seemed like a never-ending list of unknowns: What would college be like? Would I be unbearably lonely not knowing anyone else who was going to the same school? Would the other students like me? Would I make friends easily? Would I miss my family so much that I wouldn't be able to stand it? And what about the work--would I be able to keep up? (Being an A student in high school seemed to offer little assurance I would be able to survive college.) What if the college I selected turned out to be a horrible mistake? Would I be able to transfer to another school? Then panic set in. My feelings took a 180-degree turn. I really didn't want to leave high school at all, and it was questionable whether I wanted to grow up after all. It had been nice being respected as a senior by the underclass students for the past year; I didn't enjoy the idea of being on the bottom rung of the ladder again. Despite months of expectation, nothing could have prepared me for the impact of the actual day. As the familiar melody of "Pomp and Circumstance" echoed in the background, I looked around at the other figures in white caps and gowns as we seriously lined into the hall. Tears welled up uncontrollably in my eyes, and I was consumed by a rush of sadness. As if in a daze , I rose from my seat when I heard my name called and slowly crossed the stage to receive my diploma. As I reached out my hand, I knew that I was reaching not just for a piece of paper but for a brand-new life. Exciting as the future of a new life seemed, it wasn't easy saying good-bye to the old one--the familiar faces, the familiar routine. I would even miss that chemistry class I wasn't particularly fond of and the long travel each day between home and school that I hated. Good or bad, it was what I knew. That September, I was fortunate to attend a wonderful university in Providence, Rhode Island. I needn't have worried about liking it. My years there turned out to be some of the best years of my life. And as for friends, some of the friendships I formed there I still treasure today. Years later, financial difficulties forced my high school to close its doors for good. Although going back is impossible, it's comforting to know I can revisit my special memories any time. The author adopts a(n) _ tone in writing this article. A matter-of-fact B serious C emotional D indifferent Answer: C Which is an advantage of using renewable resources? A They make energy more affordable. B They make electricity less dangerous. C They will be available for many years. D They will reduce the demand for electricity. Answer: C He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move. "What's the matter, Schatz?" "I've got a headache." "You better go back to bed." "No. I'm all right." "You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed." But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever. "You go up to bed," I said, "You're sick." "I'm all right," he said. When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature. "What's is it?" I asked him. "One hundred and two." Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative , the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(;) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia . Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules. "Do you want me to read to you?" "All right. If you want to, " said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached(;)from what was going on. I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates ;but I could see he was not following what I was reading. "How do you feel, Schatz?" I asked him. "Just the same, so far," he said. I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely. "Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine." "I'd rather stay awake." After a while he said to me, "You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you." "It doesn't bother me." "No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you." I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog....I killed two quail , and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day. At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room. "You can't come in," he said. "You mustn't get what I have." I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed. I took his temperature. "What is it?" "Something like a hundred," I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths. "It was a hundred and two," he said. "Who said so?" "The doctor." "Your temperature is all right," I said. "It's nothing to worry about." "I don't worry," he said, "but I can't keep from thinking." "Don't think," I said. "Just take it easy." "I'm taking it easy," he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something. "Take this with water." "Do you think it will do any good?" "Of course it will." I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped. "About what time do you think I'm going to die?" he asked. "What?" "About how long will it be before I die?" "You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? " "Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two." "People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk." "I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two." He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning. "You poor Schatz," I said. "Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely," I said, "It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?" "Oh," he said. But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance. It can be inferred from the story that it is _ by the time the father gets home from hunting. A early in the afternoon B close to evening C at noon D late in the morning Answer: B The advantages of using flashcards to build up a vocabulary are well known. You can buy sets of cards, or make your own, and carry them with you wherever you go. There's no question this is useful and because you can use them in short bursts, it's not too much for you. It can be fun. I don't recommend drilling for hours at a time with flashcards. If you want to use flashcard software, things get even better. There are many packages out there for maintaining and drilling flashcards. I recommend VTrain though there are many others. One stands out, however: SuperMemo. Similar to Pimsleur, SuperMemo is engineered according to a carefully researched methodology in order to test you on a card the very minimum number of times you need to see it for it to stick. When you look at a card, you give some feedback to the software on whether you got it right and how easy you found it. It uses this information, and that of your previous attempts, to decide when you will be shown the card next. It's smart and it really works. If you're like me, the news is even better! I have a version of SuperMemo that runs on my PalmOS phone. Wherever I am, if I have my phone handy, I have thousands of flashcards with me too. Honestly, it would be worth purchasing a cheap Palm device only for this. You can pick one up for $20 or even less on eBay or elsewhere. Consider it, at least. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage? A To introduce to us a way to build up a vocabulary. B To teach us how to make flashcards. C To suggest us buying flashcards. D To tell us how to use flashcard software. Answer: A An old man in a faded yellow shirt sat in a windowless room on a raised concrete form. The only source of heat came from somewhere beneath the plastic mattress and the rough blanket the blank-faced police woman had handed him after taking his thumb prints. He heard voices and metallic clang as the cell door swung open. At the front desk a tired looking policeman handed the old man back his belongings, his worn-out cap and the Seiko watch that had stopped working the day his beloved Evelyn left. The policeman dramatically held the blue plastic bag at an arm's length to the old man who took it and made sure its contents were undamaged: the goat meat, palm oil, leaves and spices. He ignored the confused expression on the officer's face and signed the document declaring he had been returned the possessions they had taken off him the night before. No one spoke to him as he walked slowly towards the exit. "Mr. Easy-nwa?" He stopped and prayed to the God who now took care of Evelyn to please take him far away from this unhappy place of expressionless faces, clipped accents and people who did not even attempt to pronounce his name right. "Ezenwa," He said and looked at a woman with tangerine lips, her name tag said Jessica Harlow, Social Services. "A bit far from home,,,she said as she drove fast and with confidence the way Evelyn used to. He wondered if she meant the 50 miles from Liverpool or the 50,000 miles from Enugu,a city in Nigeria. He did not bother replying as this woman had plenty to say about the weather, bad drivers, her daughter's school play... At last she drew up outside the block of flats where he lived. "Got here in the end",said she seriously, "Really Mr. Easy-nwa, if you keep getting lost, we will have to consider moving you into a home". "No need, I was not lost,,,he answered. He carefully rolled up the sleeves of the oversize bomber jacket he wore and turned on the tap to wash his hands, relieved the pipes were not frozen. In a clean pan he placed the chopped pieces of goat meat. The herbs and spices that had taken him three months to track down, the uziza seeds had taken him into the heart of Granby Market in Liverpool, his uchanwu leaves down a shady back alley in Manchester, and yesterday, among other food items, the finest goat meat from a Sierra Leonean Butcher in Birmingham. That had taken some time, so much he missed the last train and when the police found him shivering outside the locked up station, so cold he couldn't answer loudly enough the pink-faced big copper who yelled in his face, "What's your name sir?" spraying his face with spittle as he did so, leaving them with no choice but to search an exhausted, frozen old black man and finding him in possession of mysterious condiments including a bag of dried bitter-leaf which could of course be mistaken for anything that resulted in him getting read his rights and charged with ...possession??? He lifted the lid of the bubbling soup, the room was filled with the rich and spicy scent of his culinary effort. He served two bowls, taking the chipped one and placing the other opposite where Evelyn would have sat. He would tell her about his adventure, it was their anniversary and this was the perfect pepper soup to celebrate. Ken Onyia, UK (Nigeria) Commonwealth Sport Short Story Prize Why did Mr. Ezenwa cook the buddling soup? A To give his wife a present. B To give a surprise to his wife. C To entertain himself. D To celebrate their wedding anniversary. Answer: D
The 115-year-old prestigious Oxford Dictionary will now include popular new Chinese terms like"shanzhai" "youtiao" and "fangnu", as part of the modern Chinese language. As China plays a more and more important role in the world economy, the Chinese language is forever developing, attracting more attention from people who want to understand this ancient yet lively language. For instance, the word "shanzhai" is used to describe the countless knockoffs of iPhones or designer bags imprinted with Louis Vuitton logos. Another new term in the new edition is the word "fangnu", or a "mortgage slave" --a term used to describe the phenomenon in large cities where well-educated youth complain of a miserable existence due to the heavy burden of a home mortgage. All these new or often fashionable terms can be found in the new Oxford English -Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary that was unveiled in the recently concluded Beijing International Book Fair last week. The dictionary now is available for retail sales since the beginning of this month.This dictionary is the largest single volume English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary and contains 670,000 words and phrases after five years of preparation.Sixty editors from the Oxford University Press and its partner in China--the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press--worked together on the project.According to Julie Kleeman, the dictionary's chief editor, most of the firm's editors were Chinese, while about one fourth were native-English speakers. "We don't want to make it florid , we want it to be modern and conversational...many of the words in the present dictionary are no longer in use," said Kleeman."The need for studying Chinese by foreigners today is totally different from decades ago...Precise, native and practical--that is our main advantage," she said. Kleeman said newer publications updates will be available only for the online version as language often changes too quickly for book versions to keep pace.The online version will also offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide.The online version, allowing access via different platforms from the PC to the iPad, will be ready "as soon as possible", Kleeman said. What is the main idea of the passage? A New Chinese terms like "shanzhai" and "fangnu" have got into Oxford Dictionary. B The latest Oxford English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary is on the market. C Oxford Dictionary has become more fashionable due to the Chinese language. D Beijing International Book Fair was where the new Oxford Dictionary was published Answer: B. The latest Oxford English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary is on the market. One Halloween a little boy and his friend went out for a fun night of trick-or-treating. At first everything was great. They were getting lots of candy as they went from house to house, but then they saw a house which they hadn't been to before. It was a very spooky house. Being young and brave, they decided to go up to the door and knock. After all, scary houses might have the best candy! As they walked up the long winding path, they saw things that chilled them to the bone! They heard sounds that frightened them. Maybe they should turn back. But the little boys, being very brave, just wanted to see what was in that house, so they went on, not deterred by the things they heard or saw. As they slowly made their way up to the door, they imagined what might be inside. Maybe it would be a witch or maybe a ghost! After knocking several times, the door slowly creaked open. To their surprise, a monster slowly came out to greet them. They were so scared that they couldn't move! What could they do? Then the little boy had an idea. He said, "Trick or treat!" Then the big scary monster, much to the kids'surprise, reached over and brought out a huge bowl of the best candies they had never seen. Wow, the kids thought, this was great! It turned out that the house was decorated for Halloween, and the big scary monster was just wearing a costume, just like the kids. Since they were the only kids, and were brave enough to go to the scary house, they could take as much candy as they wanted. This passage is _ . A a funny Halloween story B mainly about two brave kids C mainly about a spooky house D mainly about the custom of Halloween Answer: A. a funny Halloween story Rules of safety are made to keep people from getting hurt. It is important for everyone to learn how to live safely while at home, work, or play. You should always remember this. Put safety first. Safety can be practiced at home by following some simple rules. Use ladders instead of stepping up on tables and chairs. Keep stairs well lighted and clear of things for someone to trip over. Fasten down loose rugs. Turn handles of pots inward from the edges of stoves. Keep matches and medicines out of the reach of small children.Keep electric wiring in good repair. Safety at work has been getting attention from groups of people for many years. Safer machines have been built to cut down on accidents. Red lights warn when equipment is out of order and is not to be used. The proper shoes, gloves, robes, hats, or coats help protect workers on the job. Safety at play is important, too. Children should use swings and slides properly. Common sense by people boating and swimming will also help everyone around stay safe. Good manners and care for others are part of safety. Living safely can be fun for you as well as for those around you, You will be able to help others think before they act. Try to work for safety in everything you do. Which of the following statements is not included in the rules listed in the passage? A Use ladders to reach a high place or object, B Light stairs all the time. C Keep wires in good condition. D Keep matches out of the reach of small children. Answer: B. Light stairs all the time. Most American families are smaller than the families in other countries.Most American families have one or two parents and one or two children each. Children in the US will leave their parents' home when they grow up.They usually live far from their parents because they want to find good jobs.They often write to their parents or telephone them.And they often go to visit their parents on holiday. Parents usually let their children choose their own jobs.Americans think it is important for young people to decide on their lives by themselves. Parents ask children to do some work around their house.And in many families, parents pay their children for doing some housework so that hey learn how to make money for their own use. Some parents pay their children for doing housework because _ . A they want their children to learn how to make money for themselves B their children asked them to do so C they are rich D the law requires them to do so Answer: A. they want their children to learn how to make money for themselves Have you ever wondered what you will be when you grow up? Perhaps you have thought of becoming an engineer or an environmentalist. Here's good news: you can combine all of these career goals by designing, building and operating a solar-powered house. That is what students from 20 universities did as they competed in the U.S. Department of Energy 2009 Solar Decathlon . Like a game show where teams compete against each other, the Solar Decathlon's student teams competed against each other in ten separate events to see who could build the best solar-powered house. The team from Germany took the top honor. The contest is held on the National Mall in Washington D.C., and is open to the public. In order to win, the Decathlon's teams have to successfully host a dinner party, do the laundry, run the dishwasher, and maintain a comfortable temperature in their solar-powered houses. They also have to make their houses look attractive. Team Germany's winning "Cube House" produced a surplus of power, even during three days of rain. This is the fourth time the Solar Decathlon has been held. The houses keep getting better and better. "The Department of Energy does research on solar and building technologies. In the 1990s, we were seeking expertise to help design houses that would integrate solar systems in a reliable way. I came up with the idea of having a competition to challenge students at architecture and engineering schools to design solar-powered houses from the ground up. I thought that having a competition would motivate these students to be creative. The new generation of our country should be innovative . They may come up with solutions that would help our country," said Richard J. King, the Decathlon's Director. What do we know about the Solar Decathlon from the text? A The participated teams are separated from the outside world during the competition. B The house designed by the German team will be adopted by the Department of Energy. C The competition had been held three times before 2009. D It includes students from twenty countries around the world. Answer: C. The competition had been held three times before 2009.
Which of the following was probably most important in the formation of dark, fertile soil that is good for farming? A. plant decomposition B. radioactive decay C. water erosion D. wind erosion Answer: A Most nutrition education isn't very effective. People know that an apple is better than a Snickers bar, but they often eat the Snickers bar anyway. After conducting hundreds of studies on the psychology of how and why we eat, I've seen that it's good to understand nutrition, but it's much better to change your eating environment. Doing so can help you make better choices without even thinking about it. Part 1 We all know children can be stubbornly habitual in what they want to eat. If kids had French fries yesterday, they want them again today. We came up with a simple way to interrupt this default. Instead of asking kids what they want, what if we ask them about someone they admire? We studied this with elementary school-aged children one summer. We treated 22 kids to apple slices or fries at a fast-food restaurant. The first week, 20 of them ordered French fries, and two ordered apple slices. But the next week, we asked, "What would Batman eat: apple slices or French fries?" After they answered for Batman, we asked them what they wanted. This time, the number of kids who ordered apple slices jumped from two to ten-- almost half of them. If you ask yourself before deciding between the salad and the cheesy bacon fries, "What would my role model choose?" you'll be a lot less tempted. Thinking about what a well-liked person would do makes us _ . Part 2 If we knew what a skinny person's kitchen looked like, we could set up our own kitchens in a similar way. Once we got into people's homes, we took pictures of everything: their dishes, sinks, refrigerator shelves, counters, snacks, pet-food dishes, tables, lighting -- even random items held up by magnets on their refrigerators. Then we spent eight months coding these kitchens to see what thin people do differently. We wondered if big kitchens turn us into big people. But it turns out that kitchen size isn't the problem. It's what you see in the kitchen. The average woman who kept potato chips on the counter weighed eight pounds more than her neighbor who didn't. "In sight, in stomach." We eat what we see, not what we don't. What's the writer's purpose of writing this passage? A. To give advice on how to become slim. B. To warn people that nutrition education is important for our daily life. C. To tell us that someone children admire may influence their eating habits. D. To introduce some innovative ways to help us eat healthier. Answer: D I came across an old country guide the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village in my part of the country and it was impressive to see the great variety of services which were available on one's own doorstep in the late Victorian countryside. Nowadays a superficial traveler in ruralprefix = st1 /Englandmight conclude that the village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the residents or selling old things to visitors. Nevertheless. This would really be a false impression. There has been smaller village commerce ,but its vigor is still remarkable. Our local grocer's shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women prefer to go there and exchange the local news while purchasing, instead of purchasing up at a supermarket. And the shop owner knows well that personal service has a substantial cash value. His prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time. His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch hour to take a piece of cheese to an aged woman who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The wealthier customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. I also find it satisfactory because a village shop offers one of the few ways in which a modest individualist can still get along in the world without attaching himself to the big groups of industry or commerce. Most of the village shopkeepers I know, are individualists in their ways. For example, our shoemaker stares with a cold look at the pairs of cheap, mass-produced shoes taken to him for repair. Has it come to this, he seems to be saying, that he, a craftsman , work upon them. And he makes beautiful shoes for those who can afford such luxury . What is the village shoemaker's reaction to mass-produced shoes? A. He considers they are not worth the effort of mending properly. B. He is angry with the customer for bringing in such rubbish. C. He looks down upon the low quality of industrialized products D. He hates those people who do not buy his handmade shoes. Answer: C I climbed Kilimanjaro with Lava Expeditions during the rainy season. I flew to Nairobi in Kenya and spent several days there. At my hotel in Nairobi I met the rest of the group with whom I would spend the next week. We all travelled on the bus together for a 6-hour journey into Tanzania and then Arusha , a quiet town. After we arrived at our hotel in Arusha , we had dinner and a few drinks. Then we were introduced to more members including Taddeus Minja, the main guide, who was very experienced -- climbing Kilimanjaro runs through the generations of his family. The next day the Lava Expeditions members checked if we had the correct and enough clothing for our expedition on Kilimanjaro. Only one person needed to bring more clothes. After that we set off, walking in the rain through the beauty of the rainforest, all the way to the first camp. I was happy the next few days as the view was so wonderful and changed every day. I suffered a little during the trip and I felt so tired. But the members of Lava Expeditions provided me with lots of encouragement, which was one of the best memories. Finally we reached the top of Kilimanjaro in bright blue skies. I felt excited about climbing Kilimanjaro and the feeling didn't change during my trip. Lava Expeditions looked after me so well that I was deeply thankful for their help. What do we know about Taddeus Minja according to the passage? A. He organized the journey. B. He was the main guide of Lava Expeditions. C. He was the manager of a hotel in Arusha. D. He had little knowledge about climbing mountains. Answer: B You may know your mother, but how well do you really know Mother's Day? Cards, flowers, sales, TV specials, and a day off for someone who really deserves it --those are what probably come to mind for many people when they think of Mother's Day. But there's more about the story. The earliest Mother's Day celebrations were held during spring in Ancient Greece. The celebrations honored Rhea, the Mother of the gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called Mothering Sunday. On this day even servants were given the day off to spend with their families. A mothering cake was even served with the family meal. In the U.S., Mother's Day began in 1872 when Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words of the famous song The Battle Hymn of the Republic, suggested it as a day devoted to peace. But it didn't really become popular until 1907 when Anna Jarvis started a campaign to honor her own mother. She believed that mothers could help people get over the pain they experienced during the Civil War. The U.S. isn't alone in devoting a day to its mothers. Many other countries including Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Japan, and Belgium also celebrate their Mother's Day in May. Other countries honor their mothers at different times of the year. Learning more about Mother's Day and celebrating Mother's Day is important, but probably not as important as understanding what your own mother, or grandmother, or aunt has really done for you. And that should certainly be appreciated more than one day in a year. Where was the earliest Mother's Day celebrated? A. In Ancient Greece. B. In the U.S. C. In England. D. In Italy. Answer: A
When us teenager Jake Olson isn't playing football or golf for his high school, he's often offering inspiration through his new book about his own life. These activities might be too much for the average 16-year-old to deal with, but Jake is blind. When people ask him how he can possibly play golf without being able to see the ball, he says he is thankful for his father's guidance. It seems apparent that his early experience playing sports as a person with sight and muscle memory-- repeating behaviors over and over until they become second nature -- have also enabled Jake to hit the ball quite well. Jake was born with a rare kind of eye cancer that took away the vision from his left eye when he was an infant and eventually his right eye, in 2009, when he was 12 years old. Rather than letting the disease hold him back, Jake used his loss of sight and his faith as sources of motivation . "If I was going to sit on the couch all day feeling sorry for myself, I wasn't going to do anything. I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to let it stop me and that I was going to go out and persevere ," he said. It was with that mind-set that the student from Orange Lutheran High School in California was able to write his first book, Open Your Eyes: 10 Uncommon Lessons to Discover a Happier Life. "It's about opening the readers' eyes to their true potential in life and making sure that they use all the abilities that they have," Jake said. Jake's father, Brian Olson, said the family is impressed with what he has done with his life, including showing people that they can get through hardships. "Your darkest hour can soon become your brightest, and with every setback, there's a setup," Jake said. "In every one of us, there's more potential than we can ever imagine, and it really is a choice." We can learn from the article that Jake Olson _ . A. was born a blind child B. could have been a golf master C. has great muscle memory D. is trying to find the cure for his disease Answer: C You probably know who Marie Curie was,but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson.Of the outstanding ladies listed below,who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years? Jane Addams(1860-1935) Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank.Addans helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Rachel Carson(1907-1964) If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today.Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans. Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present) When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court. Rosa Parks(1913-2005) On December 1,1955,in Montgomery,Alabama,Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison.But it also set lff the Montgmery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. "The only tired I was, was tired lr giving in,"said Parks. What is jane Addams noted for in history? A. Her social work. B. Her lack of proper training in law. C. Her efforts to win a prize. D. Her community background. Answer: A If you enjoy reading, don't miss Shakespeare and Company when you visit the city of Paris. It is a famous English-language bookstore on the left bank of the river Seine. The first Shakespeare and Company in history was opened in 1919 by an American, Sylvia Beach. Ms. Beach did more than sell books. Her bookstore was also a library, and she even prepared beds for writers visiting there. Ms. Beach was not only kind to people but also good at choosing books, so her bookstore was often visited by writers like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. But in 1941, after the Germans took power in Paris, Ms. Beach was told to close her bookstore. In 1951, another American, George Whitman, opened in Paris another English-language bookstore, Librairie Mistral. Since then, just as Ms. Beach did, Mr. Whitman has also made his bookstore a library for people to borrow books, and a free hotel for writers to stay in. To remember Ms. Beach, Mr. Whitman changed the name of his bookstore to Shakespeare and Company in 1964, two years after Ms. Beach died. Next time when you are in Paris, don't forget to visit this friendly bookstore, and see if you can spend a night there! What do we know about Mr. Whitman? A. He was Ms. Beach's neighbor. B. He used to work at Ms. Beach's bookstore. C. He opened a bookstore to remember Ms. Beach. D. He has followed Ms. Beach's ways of doing business. Answer: D Father upset by Manchester school's 'Victorian' wall of shame Josie Robinson, who appeared on a so-called wall of shame at her school in south Manchester, was in tears. Her father has hit out at the "Victorian" methods. Chorlton High School put up pictures of year 10 pupils who teachers believed had behaved badly. Children singled out for praise were placed on the wall of fame. Its head teacher said the scheme was designed to motivate pupils. Carlo Robinson, whose daughter Josie was put on the wall after missing lessons, wants to make a complaint. The teenager had been missing school and turning up late because she was upset that her mother was ill. She said: " I thought it was embarrassing." Mr Robinson added: "She was in tears. She couldn't tell me at first - it took her about an hour- because she wasn't sure what I would think of it. When she told me I was really shocked. I contacted at least 20 friends and they all agreed it was wrong - it's like Victorian times." Head teacher Andy Park said: "We've successfully used a similar scheme in the past with Year 11 students to _ pupils and it really did make a difference - pupils took it in the right spirit and were motivated by it to improve their performance. Obviously this latest scheme wasn't intended to cause offence to pupils. It was actually developed to praise the students moving forwards successfully and to support pupils who needed to make improvements. No parents have complained directly to the school and I'd be very happy to meet with any parents to discuss further." Mr Robinson told the reporter he had contacted the school to schedule a meeting with the head teacher. What can we learn from the passage? A. The scheme proved successful before. B. Most students didn't take the scheme in the right spirit. C. Twenty other parents have similar complaints. D. The school has apologized to Mr. Robinson. Answer: A Mr Black works in an office. He's very busy and he has no time to rest. Every evening, When he comes back from his office, he always feels tired and wants to go to bed early, but his wife often has something interesting to tell him after supper. She keeps talking until it's too late. But Mr Black has to get up early in the morning. One day Mr Black felt terrible and couldn't go to work. He went to see a doctor with Mrs Black. Before he said what the matter was him, his wife told the doctor all. The doctor got the reason and said to Mrs Black, "Here is a bottle of medicine for your husband and some pills for you." "For me?" the woman said in surprise, "I'm fine. I don't need any medicine!" "I don't think, madam," said the doctor, "They're sleeping pills . Your husband will soon be all right if you take them!" How does Mr Black usually feel when he gets back home? A. Worried B. Happy C. Angry D. Tired Answer: D
SeaWorld San Diego is one of the world's famous marine adventure parks with 200 acres of world-class shows, thrilling rides and unforgettable animal encounters. More than 80 million visitors have explored the mysteries of the sea here.and spent the day checking out all eleven shows including the performance of Shamu the killer whale. In between shows you can enjoy yourself on Shipwreck Rapids. When you find that the excitement has drained your energy you can take a break to watch Shamu close! Summer special SeaWorld San Diego 7-days pass Adults at Kid's Price! Unlimited admission to SeaWorld San Diego for up to 7 consecutive days from date of first use.(available through September 30, 2010) Adult (ages 13+) Gate Price $69.00 Your Price$56.50 Child (ages 3-12) Gate Price $59.00 Your Price $56.50 7-Day Pass FREE BONUS: SeaWorld San Diego The Go San Diego Card is your ticket to the best San Diego has to offer. For one price you can enter over 55 attractions - including the San Diego Zoo, The U.S.S. Midway, Legoland, Whale Watching Excursions, and much more. The Go Card is the only ticket you need, saving you up to 55% compared to buying individual admissions. Plus, enjoy VIP access to some of San Diego's top attractions.(available April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011) Adult (ages 13+) Gate Price $284.00 Child (ages 3-12) Gate Price $210.00 Child's Ticket for Only $5.00 For nearly 50 years, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has been rescuing and rehabilitating animals in need. We also work to support conservation efforts around the world. It's our passion and our duty. We would like to invite you to be a part of it. Now through December 31, 2010, when U.S. residents purchase a full-price adult admission, children ages 3-12 receive a ticket to SeaWorld for only $5.00. (Limit of one $5.00 SeaWorld Cares child ticket with each adult ticket purchased - up to a maximum of 6 child tickets). If you require more child tickets, you'll need to purchase these from the 7-day child ticket listed above. 100% of the proceeds will be donated by SeaWorld to the SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Conservation Fund. Adult (ages 13+) Gate Price $69.00 Your Price$69. Child (ages 3-12) Gate Price $59.00 Your Price $5 If your couple and your child(age 11)take a tour during Summer special SeaWorld San Diego, _ . A you'll have to pay more than $179.50 B you can visit the park any day you like during the season C you can start your visit any day before September 30, 2010 D you have only to pay no more than $184.50 Answer: C. you can start your visit any day before September 30, 2010 I am not sure when I started listening to the radio. In the evening, I like listening to some talk programmes. The host's beautiful voice makes me relax. The host often has the same feelings as the audience about love, friendship, life and so on. I am often moved to tears. I usually go to bed at 9:30 pm and then I begin to listen to the play on the radio in bed. I can only listen to the sound, but I am always interested in guessing who they are and what they look like. I often fall asleep while listening. During lunch and supper time, I listen to the radio, too. I like listening to music because it can make me quiet. I also like thinking about something while listening to music, for example, what I shall do tomorrow, that I have to call my family tonight and that I should send short messages to my friends on Christmas Day. You see, radio is important in my life, like a friend. Which of the following is RIGHT? A Radio is important in the writer's life. B The writer often talks to the radio like a friend. C On Christmas Day the writer must listen to the radio. D The writer should send short messages to his friends while listening to the radio. Answer: A. Radio is important in the writer's life. The aims of the Illustrators' Exhibition,staged as part of the Bologna Children's Book Fair,organized by BolognaFiere and held from 23 to 26 December,are to bring illustrators and publishers together and to promote illustrators and their works among publishers. QUALIFICATIONS Individual illustrators or groups of illustrators of any nationality,if they were born before 31st December 1992,whose artwork is intended for use in children's books,are qualified to enter the Exhibition,either directly or through publishing houses or schools. Please state in the application form whether you are entering work for the Fiction or Nonfiction Category.Illustrators may only enter one category. Artwork previously presented to the Exhibition may not be reentered. The confirmation form must be filled in and a photograph attached,then presented together with illustrations no later than 15 October. SHIPMENT Entries may be delivered by post,express delivery service or by hand.From abroad,please use the following forms:Form "A" for registered mail or post by air;Form "B" if using an international forwarding agent or airline. To avoid delays,material should not be sent by normal post.Material should be sent "carriage paid",including any customs and delivery costs. BolognaFiere may not be held responsible for the nonarrival or late arrival of artwork.All published works must be accompanied by a declaration bearing the ISBN number,publisher's name and address. REQUIREMENTS The illustrations(i.e.the size of the sheet) must not exceed the following dimensions: Fiction: 32x42 cm (or 42x32 cm) Nonfiction: 50x70 cm (70x50 cm) Illustrations in larger formats will not be considered,nor will they be returned by BolognaFiere.The illustrations must be on paper or flexible board,maximum thickness 2 mm (for scanner separation purposes). SELECTION PROCESS All artworks received by the stated deadline and meeting the specified requirements will be examined and selected by an international group (whose decision is final),including five members (from publishing houses and art schools) appointed each year by BolognaFiere. EXHIBITIONS ABROAD After the Bologna event,the Illustrators Exhibition will travel to Japan under the supervision of JBBY.The Illustrators Exhibition may afterwards be transferred to other venues in other countries.The exhibitions of illustrations held abroad follow the same rules and regulations as the Illustrators Exhibition,and the provisions of the regulations are extended to the organizers of the exhibitions held abroad. RETURN OF ARTWORK All the works will be returned to their owners by BolognaFiere or directly by the organizers of the exhibitions held abroad by the end of July next year. According to the text,the Illustrators' Exhibition _ . A will last five days in all in July every other year B is intended for college students who are good at painting C is held by the Bologna Children's Book Fair in BolognaFiere D can strengthen the relationship between illustrators and publishers Answer: D. can strengthen the relationship between illustrators and publishers Bookie's, the campus bookstore is located at the Campus Activity Centre, main floor. Bookie's is the only place in Kamloops to buy your course textbooks. There is a booklist in the bookstore listing the books required for each course. If you need help in finding your course textbooks, ask any of the staff in the bookstore. There are more than just textbooks at bookie's. They carry a wide variety of stationary, art supplies and gift items. You can also buy telephone cards, postage stamps and bus passes. You must show your student card to get a discount for the bus passes. TEXTBOOK RETURNS 1) Do I need my receipt to return books? Yes. 2) How long do I have to return books? Books purchased must be returned within ten working days of the date of the purchase. 3) What if I wrote my name in the book? Unfortunately, we can not give you a full refund for books not in mint condition as publishers will not accept this for credit. 4) What happens if I miss the last day for return? We may purchase the text book as "used" in accordance with our Buyback program. 5) What if I discover that my book has missing pages half way through the semester? We will replace the _ books, new or used, for a like copy of that title. Cash refunds are not given for defective books returned outside the normal return dates. BUYBACKS 1) What books do you buy back? We buy back all current edition textbooks. If we do not use them at UCC, we buy them back according to the value established in the North American marketplace. 2) How much do I get for my books? If bookie's is buying the book for use at UCC, you will receive 50% of the current new retail price. In order to receive optimum buyback price, discs and supplements must accompany the book. 3) What happens to the books that I sell? Books for bookie's are processed by our staff and sold to students at 75% of the new retail price. 4) What condition do my books need to be in? Books should be in good condition, meaning that the cover is still attached and all pages intact. Notes and markings on the pages of the books are perfectly fine. Workbooks and study guides are generally not purchased back unless they are free of all markings. No sales receipt is required for these books. BOOKSTORE HOURS Monday-Thursday 9:00am-6:00pm Friday 9:00am-5:00pm Saturday and Sunday Closed The intended readers of this passage are _ . A book dealers B university students C publishers D campus staff Answer: B. university students Watson entered Mr. Smith's office. The boss was a hard man. He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance. "Watson," said Mr. Smith, "this past year your department hasn't earned money. We're going to drop that department. It's finished. I'm sorry, --but you'll have to go." "But, sir -- if I just had a little more time. For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School." "What's that!" said the boss. "Riverside! I didn't know you had a boy there. That's an expensive school for a man with your salary." "I know, sir. But he likes it there so much! He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school. The boys call him Champ there." The boss sat perfectly still for a long time -- a faraway look in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he said, "We've got to close your department, Watson. But you'll take over a new job in another department. It means longer hours--maybe more pay. Now get out. You're here for life." Watson got out, with surprise on his face. Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk. It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School --written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain. The letter read: I can't say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were. I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple . But don't worry about me, Dad. They've got a good chemistry department here. And there's one boy here who is really great. He's a track star and boxing champ and just tops in chemistry. The boys call him Champ. He made them stop throwing my books around. And he knocked a boy down who hit me. He is the best friend I ever had. Dad, when I grow up, 1 want to do something for Champ. Something big -- that he won' t even know about. Your son, Herbie The author wrote the text in order to _ . A share a moving story with us B make our children enjoy life C provide us with tips on work D help us to deal with our boss Answer: A. share a moving story with us
The Mississippi is the major river system in the United States. The Yangtze is China's longest river. Although a world apart, the two waterways share conservation concerns that provide a cultural bridge between students in the United States and China, as well as from around the world. The Mississippi flows almost 3,800 kilometers from a small lake in Minnesota, gathering the waters of 250 other rivers and streams before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. In mid-May, as spring flowers began to open, about 41 students from a dozen colleges, mostly in the Midwest, explored a section of the river in Wisconsin and Iowa, to learn about the environment, and each other. The students, from the U.S., China and around the world, came to join the River Spirit Exchange program. The cross-cultural educational experience - set up by the University of Wisconsin, Madison-based Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students - focuses on the Mississippi and China's longest river, the Yangtze. This three day get-together featured story-telling, hiking, camping and canoeing, all part of a larger lesson about conservation projects that can be used on both the Yangtze and Mississippi. While the students learned about the problems challenging the Mississippi and Yangtze, Jeb Barzen, a wildlife biologist, explained they should also learn about the importance of bridging each other's culture. The president of the Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students, Xiaojun Lu, said the Mississippi and Yangtze Rivers are uniting these students from opposite ends of the earth. Organizers say the success and spirit of this first gathering of students will lead to other trips, including one down the Yangtze. What is the passage mainly about? A. A major river system in the United States. B. The differences between the Mississippi and the Yangtze. C. An educational program about tourism. D. An international cultural exchange program. Answer: D What Theresa Loe is doing proves that a large farm isn't _ for a modern grow-your-own lifestyle. On a mere 1/10 of an acre in Los Angeles, Loe and her family grow, can and preserve much of the food they consume. Loe is a master food preserver, gardener and canning expert. She also operates a website, where she shares her tips and recipes, with the goal of demonstrating that every has the ability to control what's on their plate. Loe initially went to school to become an engineer, but she quickly learned that her enthusiasm was mainly about growing and preparing her own food. "I got into cooking my own food and started growing my own herbs and foods for that fresh flavor,"she said. Engineer by day, Loe learned cooking at night school. She ultimately purchased a small piece of land with her husband and began growing their own foods. "I teach people how to live farm-fresh without a farm," Loe said. Through her website Loe emphasizes that "anybody can do this anywhere." Got an apartment with a balcony ? Plant some herbs. A window? Perfect spot for growing. Start with herbs, she recommends, because "they're very forgiving." Just a little of the herbs "can take your regular cooking to a whole new level," she added. "I think it's a great place to start." "Then? Try growing something from a seed, she said, like a tomato or some tea." Canning is a natural extension of the planting she does. With every planted food. Loe noted, there's a moment when it's bursting with its absolute peak flavor. "I try and keep it in a time capsule in a canning jar," Loe said. "Canning for me is about knowing what's in your food, knowing where it comes from." In addition to being more in touch with the food she's eating, another joy comes from passing this knowledge and this desire for good food to her children: "Influencing them and telling them your opinion on not only being careful what we eat but understanding _ ," she said, "that if we don't take care of the earth, no will." According to Loe, what is the benefit of canning her planted foods? A. It can preserve their best flavor B. It can promote her online sales C. It can better her cooking skills D. It can improve their nutrition Answer: A You've bought what you need. The grocery cashier asks, "Will that be paper or plastic? You reply "Plastic, please." This seems like a simple question and there are plenty of reasons we choose plastic: easier to carry, lighter than paper bags, possibly less damaging to the environment, less expensive to the shop owners, able to be used as trash bag, and so on. There are different opinions on plastic and paper. Now let's follow the travels of 3 plastic bags. It begins at the grocery store with the customer's choice. Plastic Bag 1: As the waste engineer come by and pick up the trash, the first plastic bag falls out. It sits on a small street for a couple of hours until a car comes along and takes it down to the road. Then a gust of wind blows it across the road, then another car, then another gust of wind finally makes its way to the beach. Water fills the plastic bag and makes it look like a jellyfish. A seal swims by, thinking it looks very interesting, and swallowed it. The plastic bag may stay in the seal's stomach for months, maybe years. You see, our lovely animals have been living thousands of years in a world where everything can be eaten. Plastic Bag 2: This bag does make its way to landfill . Before they have a chance to cover up the thousands of pounds of daily waste, a strong wind comes up and blows these plastic bags out of the landfill. Once the wind stops, workers will be sent to collect thousands of bags around. But they can't possibly get them all. So our little bag continues his adventure getting caught in trees, eaten by birds or making its way to our lakes or rivers. Plastic Bag 3: The last bag also blows away but is caught in a landfill where it sits for many years, as all the trash is wrapped in a big plastic bag, making natural degradation impossible. Although workers do much work to make sure water and air system won't be polluted, some do. Guess what, plastic bags are made from petrol, a harmful waste material, which in one way or another makes its way to the environment. Another problem with putting plastic bags in out trash is that our landfills for most cities may be filled in about 20 years. More importantly, since we are running out of land to build homes, you might have the pleasure of one day living on top of your plastic bags! One of the best suggestions is not to use a bag at all or bring your own cloth bags. If you must, please choose paper bags, which, though not suggested, can be eaten by animals. And there are more opportunities recycle paper bags. It does take a little extra effort. But please have a thought about the little seal next time you say, "Plastic please." What will the following part of this passage talk about? A. Suggestions on reducing harm of plastic bags. B. Disadvantages of using too many plastic bags. C. Persuading people into using paper bags. D. Other potential victims of plastic bags. Answer: A Dear Tim, Today is Saturday.It's 7:00 in the evening here.I'm writing to tell you something about my life.My father is watching CCTV news.That's his favorite program.My brother is playing computer games.My dog Dick is taking a hat to me.He wants me to put it on and go out for a walk with him.What a clever dog!My little sister is practicing playing the piano.It sounds beautiful today.Outside,I can hear cars and buses coming and going quickly .Also there are some boys playing ball games. It's really a noisy but happy evening.Do you think so? What are your family doing?I know the time here is thirteen hours ahead of that in New York.Are you getting up? Please write to me soon.Best wishes! Yours, Denial How does the writer feel when he is writing the letter? A. Not very good. B. Very bad. C. Very glad. D. Very sad. Answer: C There is one holiday in the year which is completely American, Thanksgiving Day. It is the day when everyone goes back home to spend the day with his family, to have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkey, to talk about old times. This is a story of Thanksgiving Day and of one man's efforts, under rather special circumstances, to carry on these traditions. Old Pete took his seat this day on his usual bench in Union Square. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years, Pete had taken this same seat exactly at one o'clock, and each time the same pleasant thing had happened. But this time Pete had come here more from habit than from hunger. Certainly today Pete was not hungry. He had just had a dinner so enormous that he could hardly breathe. The buttons on his ragged shirt and coat were about to burst. He was so full of soup, oysters, roast turkey, apple pie, ice cream, and a dozen other rich foods that the November breeze and the first light fall of snow felt cool and pleasant to his face. The meal had been completely unexpected. He had been passing one of the large homes on Fifth Avenue, where there lived two rich old ladies. It seems that it was their custom each Thanksgiving to place a servant at the front entrance with orders to bring in the first hungry looking person that passed and then give him a Thanksgiving dinner of everything he could eat. On this particular Thanksgiving Day, Pete had passed, the servant had brought him in, and, before Pete knew it, he was being served like a king with more food than he could eat. Pete sat on the bench now, hardly able to move. He happened to look to the left and there in the distance he saw the Old Gentleman coming toward him. He wanted to get up and run, but he was so full of food that he stayed right there. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years, the Old Gentleman had come here, and found Pete on this same bench, and then taken him to a restaurant and bought him a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a kind of tradition which the Old Gentleman, who had no family and lived alone, had tried to continue. The old man was tall and thin and sixty years old. He was aristocratic looking and he always dressed in black. His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been the year before, and he leaned more heavily on his cane than he used to. "How do you do!" said the Old Gentleman. "I am glad to see that the changes of another year have permitted you to move in health through this beautiful world." Each time the Old Gentleman had said exactly this same thing. It was part of the tradition. Old Pete, too, began to feel as though he himself was now a part of the tradition, and he therefore did not have the courage to tell the old man that he had already eaten. This dinner seemed to mean so much to the Old Gentleman. "Thank you, sir," said Old Pete at last. "I'll go with you gladly. I'm very hungry sir." Together the Old Gentleman and Pete walked south to the same restaurant where each year Pete had his Thanksgiving dinner. They sat at the same table. The Old Gentleman seemed pleased and happy. When the waiter brought dish after dish of food to Pete, the Old Gentleman sat quietly and smiled. Under the circumstance, Pete had to eat. It was part of the tradition, and so he ate like a hero. Soup, oysters, roast turkey, pie, he ate everything, although when he entered the restaurant even the smell of more food almost made him sick. At last Pete leaned back with the battle won. "Thank you sir," he said, with some effort, " for a fine dinner." They parted as they did each year at the door, the Old Gentleman going south, Pete north. Around the corner, Pete stopped for a moment, felt a terrible pain in his stomach, then fell to the sidewalk unconscious. A little later an ambulance came. In the hospital they discovered that he had had an attack of indigestion. An hour later, another ambulance brought the Old Gentleman to the same hospital. At first they thought it was also indigestion but later one of the nurses said, "That nice old gentleman over there-- you wouldn't think that it was a case of starvation. Proud old family, I suppose. He told me that he hadn't eaten a thing for three days." Why didn't Old Pete refuse the invitation from the Old Gentleman? A. Because he felt he had more room for food. B. Because he realized he was involved in the tradition. C. Because he felt moved by the Old Gentlemen's generosity. D. Because he didn't dare to tell the old man he had already eaten. Answer: B
"Benjamin Franklin," Walter Isaacson tells us at the beginning of his long (but never boring) new biography, "is the founding father who winks at us." By that, Isaacson explains, he means Franklin is the most human--and most modern--of the men who shaped the American republic. We admire Washington, Jefferson and Adams, but they remain creatures of the 18th century. The man we encounter in "Benjamin Franklin"--funny, pragmatic and selfaware -- seems like one of us, or at least someone we'd like to be. Unlike Washington's cherry tree, Franklin's kite was real. His experiments with electricity made him one of the great scientists of his day. He was a middleclass businessman whose success as a printer and a journalist allowed him to retire at 42--and he devoted the rest of his life to his country. He was diplomat who persuaded the French to back the American Revolution and the author of the first great American autobiography. He was an excellent swimmer. There was almost nothing he couldn't do well, except write poetry. But what truly distinguished Franklin was his talent of being great and human at the same time. He owned slaves as a younger man, but in his last years became an abolitionist .When he fathered an illegitimate son, he acknowledged his fatherhood and took the responsibility of raising the boy. He seems strange today in the joy he took in compiling and creating all those self- improvement _ he published in Poor Richard's Almanac -- "early to bed, early to rise" and so on. Generations of lazy boys could have been happier without that. But he was no hypocrite . Isaacson tells us Franklin practiced what he preached, and often laughed at _ while he did so. By a happy accident, this is the second excellent biography of Franklin to appear in two years, after Edmund S.Morgan's inspiring "Benjamin Franklin." In which part of a magazine can we most probably find this article? A Society and the Arts. B Current Affairs. C Business Report. D Advertisement. Answer: A Speed-reading is an indispensable skill in the Internet age. We skim over articles, e-mails and tweets to try to grasp key words and the essential meaning of a certain text. Bombarded with information from our electronic devices, it would be impossible to cope if we read word by word, line by line. But a new trend calls on people to unplug and enjoy reading slowly, listing benefits beyond intellectual stimulation. A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smart phones. They sink into cozy chairs and read in silence for an hour. Unlike traditional book clubs, the point of the Slow Reading Club isn't exchanging ideas about a certain book, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment. According to the Journal, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement initiated by book lovers who miss the old-fashioned way of reading before the Internet and smart phones. Slow readers, such as The Atlantic's Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to empathize. Some of these benefits have been backed up by science. For example, a study of 300 elderly people published by the journal Neurology last year showed that regular engagement in intellectually strenuous activities like reading slowed the rate of memory loss later in life. Slow reading means a return to an uninterrupted pattern in a quiet environment free of distractions. "Aim for 30 minutes a day," advises Kelly from The Atlantic. "You can squeeze in that half hour pretty easily if only during your free moments - whenever you find yourself automatically firing up your laptop to check your favorite site, or scanning Twitter for something to pass the time - you pick up a meaningful work of literature," Kelly said. "Reach for your e-reader, if you like. Kindles make books like War and Peace less heavy, not less substantive , and also ensure you'll never lose your place." The aim of setting theSlow Reading Clubis to encourage people to _ . A share their ideas about a certain book B read old-fashioned books C read as many books as possible D to enjoy slow reading Answer: D Newborns begin to develop language skills long before they begin speaking. And, compared to adults, they develop these skills more quickly. People have a hard time learning new languages as they grow older, but babies have the ability to learn any language easily. For a long time, scientists have tried to explain how such young children can learn the complicated grammatical rules and sounds of a language. Now, researchers are getting a better idea of what's happening in the brains of the tiniest language learners. This new information might help kids with learning problems as well as adults who want to learn new languages. It might even help scientists who are trying to design computers that can communicate like people do. Most babies go "ma ma" by 6 months of age, and most children speak in full sentences by age 3. For many years, scientists have wondered how the brains of young children figure out how to communicate using language. With help from new technologies, scientists are now finding that babies begin life with the ability to learn any language. They get into contact with other people, listen to what they say and watch their movements very closely. That is why they quickly master the languages they hear most often. Studies show that, up to about 6 months of age, babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world. Starting at around 6 months old a baby's brain focuses on the most common sounds it hears. Then, children begin responding only to the sounds of the language they hear the most. In a similar way older babies start recognizing the patterns that make up the rules of their native language. For example, English children who are about 18 months old start to figure out that words ending in "-ing" or "-ed" are usually verbs, and that verbs are action words. The purpose of the text is to _ . A discuss B educate C inform D Entertain Answer: C A team of US psychologists have found that talking to another person for ten minutes a day helps with memory. "Socializing is just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in memory and intellectual performance," Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said in a statement. In one investigation, they analyzed data on 3610 people, aged 24 to 96. They found that the higher their level of social interaction , the better their cognitive functioning. Social interaction includes getting together or having phone chats with relatives, freinds and neighbors. In another experiment, the researchers conducted lab tests on 76 college students, aged 18 to 21, to evaluate how social interactions and intellectual exercises affected the results of memory and mental performance tests. The students were divided into three groups: the social interaction group had a discussion of a social issue for 10 minutes before taking the tests; the intellectual activities group completed three tasks (including a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle) before the tests; and a control group watched a 10-minute clip of the Seinfeld television show. "We found that short-term social interaction lasting for just 10 minutes improved participants' intellectual performance as much as engaging in so-called 'intellectual' activities for the same amount of time," Ybarra said. The study was expected to be published in the February issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Which is not included in social interaction? A Having a talk with a neighbor. B Attending a birthday party. C Watching TV at home alone. D Calling your classmates Answer: C Dogs can be worried and pessimistic just like people, researchers report in a new study in Current Biology. And they aren't talking about basset hounds : those dogs just look as if they expect the worst. What the scientists say is that dogs that exhibit anxiety when left home alone by their owners may have bigger problems -- they may be in a permanent bad mood. This pessimistic outlook may not otherwise be easily apparent in a dog's other characteristics, like running speed or learning ability, the study reports. Dogs are similar to humans in the role that emotional state plays in decision making, said Michael Mendel, a veterinary scientist at the University of Bristol and the study's lead author. The study's researchers looked at 24 dogs in shelters in Britain. They placed the dogs in isolated settings and observed their reactions -- many barked, jumped on furniture and scratched at the door. Then they placed bowls in two rooms. One bowl contained food, while another was empty. After training the dogs to understand that bowls can sometimes be empty, and sometimes full, they began to place bowls in ambiguous locations. Dogs that quickly raced to the locations were more optimistic, and in search of food. Those that did not were deemed pessimistic. The more separation anxiety a dog expressed while in isolation, the more likely the dog was to have a pessimistic reaction, the researchers found. The study carries an important message for dog owners, Dr. Mendel said. Dogs that express serious anxiety when alone may need treatment, as it could be a sign of unhappiness and instability. What can we learn from the passage? A Dogs will be optimistic as long as they are left alone. B Dogs must be in a permanent bad mood when their owners left. C Dogs that express anxiety don't need treatment. D Dogs may easily show their pessimistic outlook in learning ability. Answer: D
Dear Kate, You are in New York, but I am in Beijing now. China is a great country and Beijing is a big city in China. It's very beautiful. I like it very much. There are twenty-four girls and nineteen boys in our class. One of the boys is from England. His name is Bob. He likes swimming. Sue and I come from America. Sue likes playing the piano, but I like playing volleyball. I have many Chinese friends here now. They teach me Chinese and I teach them English. Chinese is not easy, but I like it. Yours Nick There are _ students in Nick's class. Answer: People should listen to music for no more than one hour a day to protect their hearing, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests. It says 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of permanently damaging their hearing by listening to "too much, too loudly". It said audio devices , concerts and bars were causing a "serious threat". WHO figures show 43 million people aged 12-35 have hearing loss and the number is increasing. In that age group, the WHO said, half of the people in rich and middle-income countries were exposed to unsafe sound levels from personal audio devices. Meanwhile 40% were exposed to damaging levels of sound from clubs and bars. The proportion of US teenagers with hearing loss went from 3.5% in 1994 to 5.3% in 2006. "What we're trying to do is raise awareness of the problem that is not talked about enough, but has the potential to do a lot of damage that can be easily prevented," said Dr Etienne Krug, the WHO's director for injury prevention. The full report argued: "While it is important to keep the volume down, limiting the use of personal audio devices to less than one hour a day would do much to reduce noise exposure." Dr Krug said: "That's a rough recommendation, it is not by the minute, to give an idea to those spending 10 hours a day listening to an mp3-player. But even an hour can be too much if the volume is too loud." What might be the best title for the passage? Answer: About 10 years ago my daughter was about 2500 kilometers from Newcastle, and rang me one day crying because of an emotional problem she was facing. She was about 20, and in a town known as Ayrlie Beach in Northern Queensland. I asked her what it was that she needed most in that moment, and she replied that she needed support, and my arms around her would be the best thing that she could hope for! Because I couldn't do that in that exact moment, I asked her to describe her surroundings to me (I have ly no idea 'why', at the time), and said that if she hadn't heard from me in about 30 minutes, she could ring me back. I asked her to stay exactly where she was. After hanging up the phone, I just sat for a few seconds. After only a very short time a phone number jumped into my head. I rang the number and it was a woman who had bought a house from me about 18 months previously, when I was working in Real Estate. My exact words to her were these, "Oh, it's you Liz, I have no idea why I'm calling you in particular, but my daughter is in trouble in Ayrlie Beach, and I just got the thought to ring you and tell you that. Have you any idea why?" "It could be because my son lives there," says Liz. "Oh really, that's got to be it," I said. "Do you mind giving me his phone number, Liz?" "Of course not, and I can only hope that he can be of some help!" I rang straight away (only about 5 minutes have passed since telling my daughter that somehow I'd get her help). Fortunately, he answered immediately, and I told him the story of who I was, and why I'd rung. I gave him the description of my daughter; where she was standing; and that she needed emotional support if he could find it in his heart to help out so unexpectedly like this. "Oh yes, I can see her," he said..."she's right across the street from where I'm standing!" He walked across the street and told my daughter that her Dad had sent him! Imagine that...she almost fainted: only about 10 minutes had passed since she had rung me! I believe that she said something like this, "Wow, Dad's getting pretty good at this stuff!". That's intuition at it's best! After hanging up the phone, the author _ . Answer: When the sand began kicking up and hitting our faces, I started to worry that maybe we had made a mistake. That afternoon, my dad had stood on the deck of our home and laughed as our neighbors packed up their cars and headed inland. They left to spend the night in motels or at friends' homes that were out of range of approaching summer storm. Challenging the weather that threatened to damping our spirits, we lit a fire on the beach. Dad told jokes and we had a good time. When it was 6:30 p.m., all laughter disappeared. Our eyes were drawn to the sky. A tornado was headed straight for us! In a flash, we were all on our feet. The wind started screaming and now we were running to the cottage. My mom stopped next to the front door. "Where can we go?" She shouted at my dad. Most cottages on this part of Lake Michigan had been built without basements. Ours was no exception. The huge windows and the cottage itself wouldn't offer safety from high wind. "Follow me!" my dad yelled. We crawled beneath the deck, pressing ourselves against the foundation of the cottage. Between the deck supports, we watched the approaching storm in silent terror. My dad shouted, "Hold on!" and something else I couldn't hear over the screaming wind. I think he was praying. By the time it reached our cottage, it was nothing more than a strong wind. The rest of the storm lasted for an hour and then simply blew away. "Next time, we'll stay inland at Grandma's. Okay?" my dad said. What did the family do before the storm came? Answer: Skin-diving is a new sport today. This sport takes you into a wonderful new world. It is like a visit to the moon!When you are under water,it is easy for you to climb big rocks, because you are no longer heavy. Here,under water,everything is blue and green.During the day,there is enough light. When fish swim nearby,you can catch them with your hands. When you have tanks of air on your back,you can stay in deep water for a long time.But you must be careful. To catch the fish is one of the most interesting parts of this sport.On the other hand, you can clean the ships without taking them out of the water.You can get many things from the deep sea. Now you can see that skin-diving is both useful and interesting. With a tank of air on your back,you can _ . Answer:
Although credit cards are becoming a more acceptable part of the financial scene, they are still regarded with doubts by many as being a major part of the "live now pay later" syndrome .Along with hire-purchase, rental and leasing schemes , they provide encouragement to spend more money.Of course, it is only the hotheaded who give way to the temptation to live, temporarily at least, beyond their means, and such people would no doubt manage to do so even without credit cards. Advertising campaigns have, however, promoted a growing realization of the advantages of these small pieces of plastic. They prevent need to carry large amounts of cash and are always useful in emergencies. All the credit card organizations charge interest on a monthly basis which may work out as high as 25 per cent a year, yet sensible purchasing using a card can mean that you obtain up to seven weeks, interest-free credit.Using the card abroad, where items frequently take a long time to be included on your account, can extend this period even further. It is worthwhile shopping around before deciding on a particular credit card. It is necessary to consider the amount of credit granted; interest rates, which may vary slightly; the number and range of outlets , though most cards cover major garages, hotels, restaurants and department stores; and of course, what happens if your card is lost or stolen.A credit card thief may be sitting on a potential goldmine particularly if there is a delay in reporting the loss of the card. However, if used wisely, a credit card can cost nothing, or at least help to _ financial difficulty. Deciding on a particular credit, you do not have to consider _ . Answer: In Japan, Luffy is more popular than Harry Potter.Luffy is the main _ of One Piece .The book came out in 1997. One Piece tells the adventures of Monkey D.Luffy, a 17-year-old boy.He gets supernatural abilities by eating fruit.Luffy's dream is to find the world's biggest treasure, One Piece.Then he wants to become the next Pirate King. To make his dream come true, Luffy has to reach the end of the most dangerous ocean: the Grand Line.Luffy travels with a group of pirates called the Straw Hats.On his way, more people join the group.It even includes a cook, a soldier and a musician.They also help Luffy fight with other pirates on the way. Many Chinese teenagers are One Piece fans.Yang Peiqi, 14, of Shenzhen, says he thinks reading One Piece is great fun and also he likes the themes of the story-dreams and friends. How old is Luffy? Answer: Tanzania is a country which has a lot of animals, such as gnus , lions, cheetahs(, elephants, giraffes, crocodiles and so on. Every year, many people in the world travel to this African country to watch the animals closely. But do you know how they travel? By bus--This is the most common way. When people get on a bus, they'll find that the bus is a little strange. It is different from the buses we often see. There are no big windows at all, but some small windows. And it looks like a cage. What are they used for? Oh, people can use it to watch animals, especially those dangerous animals, and take photos. We know that people are most interested in the lions. So when two buses meet , the drivers will stop and ask each other whether they have found lions. By boat--We can often see many people are in a boat, enjoying the beautiful scene along a river of a lake, and they can also enjoy hippos and crocodiles from a nearer distance. By hot balloon --In the early morning, when the sun is beginning to rise, a large hot balloon is also starting its journey. Taking a hot balloon makes most of the travelers excited. After some time, the balloon will land in a certain place, and the waiters will serve people a delicious and special breakfast. But the cost of taking a hot balloon is also very high. A person should pay 400 dollars for an hour's trip. Which one can be the best title? Answer: It is well-known that when an individual joins a group, he tends to accept the group's standards of behavior and thinking. Many illustrations could be given of this from everyday life, but what is of particular interest to psychologists is the extent to which people's judgments and opinions can be changed as a result of group pressure, Asch and others noticed that people in a group will agree to statements that are contrary to the evidence of their senses. It would be a mistake to think that only particularly docile people are chosen to take part in experiments of this type. Usually highly intelligent and independent people are used. In a typical experiment, this is what may happen. The experimenter asks for volunteers to join a group which is investigating visual perception .The victims are not, therefore, aware of the real purpose of the experiment. Each volunteer is taken to a room where he finds a group of about seven people who are cooperating with the experimenter. The group is shown a standard card which contains a single line. They are then asked to look at a second card. This has three lines on it. One is obviously longer than the line on the first card; one is shorter and one the same length. They have to say which line on the second card is the same length as the line on the standard card. The other members of the group answer first but what the volunteer does not know is that they have been told to pick one of the wrong lines. When his turn comes, he is faced with the unanimous opinion of the rest of the group-all the others have chosen line A but he quite clearly sees line B as correct. What will be do? According to Asch, more than half of the vietims chosen will change their opinion. What is equally surprising is that, when interviewed about their answers, most explained that they knew the group choice was incorrect but that they gave in to the pressure of the group because they thought they must be suffering from an optical illusion , or because they were afraid of being different. Which of the following statements is true? Answer: BOGOTA (Reuters) -- Colombian mobile telephone users are being tricked by criminals who pretend to be phone operators and instruct them to turn off their cellphones just long enough to demand a large amount of money from their families. prefix = st1 /Colombia has seen a large number of cases in which mobile phone customers receive messages telling them to turn off their cellphones for two hours because their telephones havebeen cloned, police say. The criminals then contact family members of the phone user to say that he or she has been taken hostage . Families who have no way of contacting their are directed where to drop off money before the two hours are up. "If you get a call telling you to turn off your cellphone, contact the official department." Local television channel Caracol told viewers during a Tuesday news program. BERLIN (Reuters) -- A Berlin court has sentenced a man known as "Schnitzel Stephan" to 18 months in prison for cheating 64 restaurants in the past year. The man of 160 kg, with a thin grey beard, would regularly order lamb chops, steak or Viennese schnitzel along with several beers. When the bill came, he either ran for the door or told the waiter he had no money. Iris Berger, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Justice Department, said on Thursday the 43-year-old jobless truck driver had been convicted ( ) on 64 counts of fraud ( ). The total damage to restaurants was $4,100. The man in the second piece of news was accused of _ . Answer:
The Great Plague of London in 1665 was the last in a long senies of plague that first began in London in June 1499.1t killed between 75,000 and 100,000. First suspected in late 1664,it began to spread eastwards in April 1665 from the poor suburb of St. Giles to the crowded and dirty communities on its way to the walled City of London. The Great Plague at Its Peak By September 1665 ,the death rate had reached 8,000 per week. Helpless city authorities began to abandon quarantine measures. Houses containing the dead and dying were no longer locked. London's mournful silence was broken by the noise of carts carrying the dead for burial in churches or public plague pits. Well-off residents soon fled to the countryside, leaving the poor behind in poor old commun/ties. Thousands of dogs and cats were killed to remove a feared source of contagion ,and piles of rotting garbage were burned. Doctors cut swellings and bled black spots in attempts to cure plague victims. Plague Orders prohibited churches from keeping dead bodies in their buildings during public assemblies or services, and camers of the dead had to identify themselves and could not mix with the public. Samuel Pepys: Eyewitness Accounts In his famous diary, Samuel Pepys, a member of Parliament, conveyed the sad image of desperate people wandering the streets in search of relief from the ruins of the plague. His notes during 1665 indicated the severity of London's Great Plague. In July, he mourned " the sad news of the death of so manv in the community, forty last night, the bell always going either for deaths or burials. " A month later, when London's death rate rose sharply, Pepys noted that surviors are forced to carry the dead to be buried by daylight, the nights not enough to do it The Plague Declines and the Government Reacts By February 1666,the Great Plague had nearly run its course.lt died out during the Great Fire that same year and never returned. Central parts of London were rebuilt with wider streets to relieve crowding and better waste water svstems to improve public cleanliness. New Plague Orders were issued in May 1666,which banned the burial of future plague victims in churches and small churchyards, enforced the use of quicklime at chosen burial sites, and strictly prohibited opening graves less than one year after burial as a safeguard against the spread of infection. How did Samuel Pepys feel when the bell was going all the night during the Great Plague? A Frightened. B Relieved. C Sorrowful. D Moody. Answer: C A woman named Emily renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. "What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job, or are you just a ..." "Of course I have a job," said Emily. "I'm a mother." "We don't list 'mother' as an occupation... 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder. One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. "What is your occupation?" she asked. The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations." The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair. I repeated the title slowly, then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire. "Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "Just what you do in this field?" Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn't), in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money." There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another mother." Motherhood...What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door. How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation? A curious B indifferent C puzzled D interested Answer: C Many of us don't pay much attention to the importance of eye care. It is said that if you take care of your body, then you can surely be healthy. That is why our eyes should be given a lot of care. Natural eye care should be put in a number one place. There are several causes leading to poor eyesight like not enough food, genes and aging . Televisions, computers and reading are also the causes of having poor eyesight. If you happen to work in front of the computer, it is best to take a break every once in a while. Something dirty can cause redness and they will make you feel uncomfortable. It is bad for your eyes, too. If this happens, the best way is to clean your eyes by using cold water. You must also try your best to protect your eyes from harmful things. For example, sunglasses are not just for fashion but they can also serve as a great way to protect your eyesight form UV rays. Eating healthy foods will do good to your eyesight. Remember that vitamins A, C and E are good for eyes. Try to eat food groups that have these vitamins. And you should do eye exercises because exercise protects your eyesight, too. If a person exercises regularly and eats the right kind of food, his eyes will stay in good condition for a long time. All above are natural ways of eye care that help us keep healthy eyes. Being happy all the time can be helpful to a person's eyesight, too. In a word, eye care is very important, no matter how old a person is. All the following causes can lead to bad eyesight except _ . A age B height C reading D computers Answer: B For many years, Yang Shanzhou was the local party secretary in a remote, mountainous village in southwest China's Yunnan Province. Though he could live a better life in the city, he still decided to move even further into the mountains, and devoted himself to greening the land. He passed away in 2010, but his story lives on. A blanket of green - And it all started with a surprising decision made by Yang Shanzhou back in 1988. The 62 year old decided to return to his hometown in Daliang Mountain, to bring green back to the _ hills. Along with fifteen other people, Yang settled down deep in the mountains and began to work on his plan. It was a life that was harder than most people could ever imagine. Su Jiaxiang, Yang Shanzhou's secretary, said, "I went to visit him several times. He didn't even have decent shoes and it was very cold at night. But you know he was almost seventy!" In 2010, Yang Shanzhou passed away. He was buried in Daliang Mountain, according to his will. More than twenty years has passed since he first began his planting in the mountains.The hills are now covered with kinds of trees. By planting trees, Yang Shanzhou also planted hope. This hidden hero left his local government with a priceless legacy. Yang Shanzhou lived in _ . A Jiangsu B Guizhou C Yunnan D Guangxi Answer: C Do you like Sun Wukong? He is one of the most popular novel characters in Chinese history. Both young children and adults love him so much. In our mind, he is a great hero in the Chinese novel Journey to the West(<<>> ). In the novel, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng beat demons and protect Tang Seng when they travel to the Western Paradise . Sun Wukong was born from a stone. He can change himself into a tree, a bird, or and animal. With one somersault , he can travel 108,000li. Sun Wukong is clever, brave and always makes fun magic tricks. Chinese people love him very much. Sun Wukong is also popular in other countries. Many western children love him and learn kung fu because of him. To them, he is a super hero, just like Superman and Spiderman. What's the main idea of the passage? A It's about a hero, Sun Wukong. B It's about a novel, Journey to the West. C It's about Superman and Spiderman. D It's about some popular heroes in western countries. Answer: A
An object inside a freezer will become less excited with energy an therefore become Answer: cold Li Ming likes walking. He goes for a walk after his father comes back from work. Li Ming likes water very much. He often throws his toys into the water. He plays with the water and sometimes he is wet all over . His mother says, "You are from fish, I think."Li Ming is very glad. "Yes, I like fish very much because fish can swim." One Sunday morning, Li Ming goes to a park with his father. There are many trees and flowers in the park. There are a lot of people in the park. Some of them are sitting under the trees. Some of them are sitting at the tables and having tea or drinks. There is a big swimming pool in the middle of the park. Li Ming asks his father to take him to the pool. "Why do you want to go there?" asks his father. "I want to learn swimming,"answers Li Ming. "And you can teach me , I think." "You are too young. And I'm sorry I can't swim." says his father. "You can't swim? Wang Hai's father swims very well. Why can't you swim?" "His father likes eating fish. So he swims very well." Says his father. "Oh, I see,"says Li Ming. "But you like eating chicken very much. Can you lay eggs ?"asks Li Ming. ,. _ can swim Answer: Wang Hai's father Which would likely require completing a circuit to play? Answer: PONG It was the end of my first day as a waitress in a busy New York restaurant. My cap had gone away, and my feet hurt. The loaded plates I carried seemed to be heavier and heavier. Tired and discouraged, I didn't seem able to do anything right. As I made out a check for a family with several children who had changed their ice-cream order a dozen times, I was ready to stop. Then the father smiled at me as he handed me my tip. "Well done," he said, "you've looked after us really well." Suddenly my tiredness disappeared. I smiled back, and later, when the manager asked me how I'd liked my first day, I said, "Fine!" Those few words of praise had changed everything. Praise is like sunlight to human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. And yet, most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold criticism , but are unwilling to give our fellows the warm sunshine of praise. Perhaps that is why one word of praise can bring such pleasure. It's strange how _ we are about praising. Perhaps it's because few of us know how to accept it. It's especially rewarding to give praise in areas in which effort generally goes unnoticed.An artist gets admired for a glorious picture,a cook for a perfect meal.But do you ever tell your laundry manager how pleased you are when the shirts are done just right? In fact,to give praise costs the giver nothing but a moment's thought and a moment's effort. According to the passage,which of the following is least likely to be given praise? Answer: A laundry manager. One day, a boy had a fight with one of his classmates. He didn't wait until school was over, and hurried home to his grandfather. He told him his story angrily. "He is really bad," the boy said, "and I hate him." The grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. When I was a boy, I, too, sometimes hated others for what they did..." As the boy listened carefully, the grandfather went on,"There are always two tigers inside my heart. One is good and kind. He gets on well with everything around him. But the other is bad and unfriendly. Even the smallest thing will make him angry. He fights with everyone all the time, and for no reason. He can't think carefully because he always hates others. It is difficult to live with these two tigers inside my heart. They both try to control me." The boy looked into his grandfather's eyes and asked,"Which tiger always controls you, Grandfather?" The old man said slowly and seriously, "The one that I feed. I always feed the good and kind tiger, so I never hate others and seldom get angry now." ,. The boy went to his grandfather _ . Answer: after he had a fight
The Internet brings us many advantages. With the Internet, people can send and receive emails. On the Internet, people can skim over news. Using the Telnet, the user anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine on which he has an account. It is possible to use the FTP program to copy files from one machine on the Internet to another. But the Internet also brings us troubles. Internet use seems to cause a fall in psychological health, according to research at Carnegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less often, the twoyear study showed. And it wasn't that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually seemed to cause the bad feelings. Researchers are puzzled over the results, which were completely opposite to what they had expected. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others.The fact that Internet use reduces time used for family and friends may be the reason for the drop in health, researchers said. Faceless, bodiless"virtual" communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations, and the relationships formed through it may not be so deep. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives. "But _ it's _ important _ to _ remember _ this _ is _ not _ about _ the _ technology; _ it's _ about _ how _ it _ is _ used,"said one of the researchers. "It really points to the need for considering social factors when you design new inventions." The writer mainly wants to tell us that _ . Answer: the Internet use may cause psychological problems While browsing in a clothing store, Alice decided to take a purse without paying for it. She placed the purse under her coat and took a couple of steps toward the exit. She then realized that a sensor tag on the purse would set off an alarm. She placed the purse near the counter from which she had removed it. Alice has committed Answer: larceny, because she took the purse from its original location and concealed it with the intent to steal. Why is pink or purple a color1 for girls and blue or brown for boys? The answer depends largely on cultural values as well as personal experiences. To the Egyptians, green was a color1 that represented the hope and joy of spring, while for Muslims, it means heaven. Red is a symbol of good luck in many cultures. In China, children are given money in a red envelope to bring good fortune in the New Year. For many nations, blue is a symbol of protection and religious beliefs. Greek people often wear a blue necklace hoping to protect themselves against evils . People's choice of color1s is also influenced by their bodies' reactions toward them. Green is said to be the most restful color1. It has the ability to reduce pain and relax people both mentally and physically. People who work in green environment have been found to have fewer stomach aches. Red can cause a person's blood pressure to rise and increase people's appetites . Many decorators will include different shades of red in the restaurant. Similarly, many commercial websites will have a red "Buy Now" button because red is a color1 that easily catches a person's eye. Blue is another calming color1. Unlike red, blue can cause people to lose appetite. So if you want to eat less, some suggest that eating from blue plates can help. The next time you are deciding on what to wear or what color1 to decorate your room, think about the color1 carefully. Which of the following would be the most proper title for the text? Answer: The Meaning and Function of Color Our youngest child eagerly entered kindergarten, while our oldest child excitedly went to college--and I felt left behind. After being very happy as a stay-at-home mother of six children, I suddenly felt stuck on a dead-end road and lacked direction. An inner anxiety troubled me that life was passing by. The road, requiring expensive education, appeared too long and difficult. Thanks to supportive friends and family, I eventually discovered the road sign pointing to the ideal program at an excellent college, which offered a lot of student grants . Driving to my first class, I, aged 40, was eager and nervous. School required sacrifices : weekends for class, sleep for study, and life's luxuries for tuition fees. But the rewards greatly outweighed the cost. The narrow and rocky road developed perseverance and patience, while the smooth and open road built low confidence. Along the way, I met fellow travelers of all ages and interests: a 50-year-old woman who learned photography at the community college; a successful 62-year-old businessman who worked toward a nursing degree to serve in developing countries; an 80-year-old woman who enthusiastically started classes to learn how to surf the Internet, so she could keep up with the world. Twelve years after starting the journey as a non-traditional student, I graduated with a doctoral degree in literature. My children have been especially proud, calling me Dr. Mom. When you hear the small, still voice asking you to do something more or different, remember you can trust your heart. Which is the best title for the text? Answer: From a stay-at-home mother to a college graduate Kate Anderson became an accidental car thief when she went to pick up her daughter's car near an Ohio University building last week.Anderson saw the nickelgray Toyota Camry and used her daughter's key to unlock the car,start the engine and drive home. When Charlie Vansant left class a short time later,he found only an empty parking spot.He first assumed the car had been towed,but when the police couldn't find a record of it,they took a theft report. The morning after Anderson took back the car,her daughter discovered the Camry in the driveway wasn't hers.She found Vansant's name on paperwork in the glove compartment and looked up his phone number on the Website for the university. When she told Vansant the car was in her driveway,"It sounded real fishy at first,like maybe she wanted to hold the thing for ransom,"Vansant said! He eventually went to the house with a police officer,where he was reunited with his car.According to a police report,the case was closed "because of the mistaken car identity."Anderson wasn't charged. Vansant seemed to blame the car company more than the "thief"."Her key fit not only my lock,but my ignition as well--so highfive for Toyota,I guess,"he said. Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong said key technology wasn't as sophisticated as two decades ago,and there were so many ways to cut a key,making it possible for such a mixup to occur.He said the company now has a microchip embedded in the keys for 90 percent of its vehicles that allows them to start only with the correct key. Who should be responsible for the accident?---- Answer: Toyota Company.
Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants. In 1954, life magazine published a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books. In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham. In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize . He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided American children and their parents. He died at the age of 87, but his influence remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, "I do not write for children. I write for people." From the text we know that Doctor Seuss _ . Answer: changed American children's way of reading While most high school students spend most of their time worrying about who likes who, and different relationships between their classmates, I choose to focus on my school lessons and sports. When I was young, my mother encouraged me to develop and keep friendship with boys in order to build strong relationships. But she told me not to risk a good friendship with a boy with the title of boyfriend. It' s indeed a wise choice to stay friends with those of the opposite sex. In my opinion, even though some high school relationship might continue after graduation, the probability of them lasting much longer is so slim that there really is not a point to it. Firstly you have to think about such a question-- whether it is possible to hurt both of you, or even hurt both of your future husbands or wives. My second point is that you still can date if you hope marriage could possibly follow. Except this, there really is not any other reason for dating. Some students desire relationships for a chance to be romantic. While these are nice to have, there are many more important things at this point in our lives. The titles of boyfriend and girlfriend put too much stress on a relationship between high school students. Just staying as common friends may be the best choice for us. I strongly recommend we should deal with it in an appropriate way and follow our teachers' advice if necessary. How does the writer like the idea of dating among the students? Answer: Studying is far more important than dating in school. This summer, Liu Hongcan, a 30-year-old Chongqing woman, had to say goodbye to her daughter again. She sent her little girl to Guizhou province to stay with her daughter's grandparents for the summer vacation _ in Chongqing. A list of "hottest cities" in China came out last month. Chongqing is No.1 on the list. Fuzhou and Hangzhou take the second and third place. The list is based on a "heat index" .It uses temperature and humidity date 1981 to 2011.The scientists tried to learn how hot the weather was over a period of time, and find out how people feel. High humidity will stop heat leaving the body. It makes people feel worse on high-temperature. Dryness, on the other hand, can allow heat to leave the body. In July this year, Chongqing saw 25 days of high temperature (over 35degC). Forty-eight people in the city had heatstroke from the start of April to the middle of August, the local health bureau said. Chongqing people have to look for different ways to cool down. Throwing themselves into water is a good choice. Lin Jing, a worker at the Caribbean Water Park has received more guests this summer than before. About 15,000 people have visited the park a day during this year's hot season. How many days of high temperature (over 35degC) did Ningbo probably have in July? Answer: 20 Most recently, it's very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews. Naturally, it's easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We--as parents--are so eager to protect our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself all the time that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I'll let them fail. I'll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure--along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.--will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish. My children are faced with hard situations in their own life almost each day, but they try to negotiate everything now. It's a small price to help them learn a skill they'll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don't come with them on job interviews. Why do parents go along with their kids on job interviews? Answer: Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties. Shakespeare, perhaps more than any other writer, made full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English; Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand! There is probably no better way for a foreigner (or an Englishman!) to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare used it. Such a study is well worth the effort, even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare's day. However ,it is surprising that we should know comparatively little about the life of the greatest English author. We know that Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford--on--Avon ,and that he died there in 1616.He almost certainly attended the Grammar School in the town ,but of this we cannot be sure .We know he was married there in 1582 to Anne Hathaway and that he had three children .We know that he spent much of his life in London writing his masterpieces .But this is almost all that we do know . However, what is important about Shakespeare's life is not its incidental details but its products, the plays and the poems. For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeare's life to the small number we already possess and for an equally long time critics have been theorizing about the plays. Sometimes, indeed, it seems that the poetry of Shakespeare will disappear under the greatest masses of comment that has been written about it. Fortunately this is not likely to happen. Shakespeare's poetry and Shakespeare's people (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Falstaff and all the others) have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and _ and all their works have been forgotten. According to the writer, which of the following remains uncertain about Shakespeare? Answer: His life in the Grammar School.
It's time to remind myself what I love about life here in California,USA, to remember what I desperately miss when I go home. Real radio In the USA there are so many radio stations that those iPod tuner things don't work at all. _ . It took me a while to discover the USA's many public radio stations, which don't broadcast any advertisements. KCRW is my favorites station, for its blend of indie music and current affairs. But I also listen to KJAZZ and KPCC. But before you feel jealous -- it's all online. My favorites: American life Snap Judgement and Henry Rollins live every Saturday night. Take listen online for free News? Well, there's not a lot of news from South Africa, and when it is, it's bad and full of fear, so I ignore it. But I care about any place I live in, and that includes the USA. And on public radio, the USA is covered in depth, from the perspective of individual stories rather than statistics. The festivals I'm jealously watching tweets and Facebook boasts and reviews from SXSW -- seems like half the people I used to work with in South Africa are there,meeting Grumpy Cat and watching bands they've always wanted to see live. It's great to know that these 1000s of festivals are so close, and that one day,if film school schedule ever allows me to leave campus for more than a few days, I can go to one or two of them. I have already exchanged my much loved Ford Mustang for a bigger, less sexy car -- a car spacious enough to sleep in -- so that next year I can be there, not just dream of it. The famous people When I go back to SA, I'm often asked if I've spotted any famous people. It's awkward for me. I feel the the same way about it as I feel when an American asks me if there are lions in the streets. Except yes, I have. No,not lions. I have met some famous people. I chatted to RJ Mitte from Breaking Bad outside a dub in West Hollywood. Many of my professors are famous directors. The problem is, once you meet these famous people, they're just people, FFS. This feels disappointing at first, like you're missing a Jesus moment of some sort. But if you think about it, it's inspiring. What it means, is that I, litlle me (right now, also "just a person") could be a famous just-a-person person one day, and get to make all the films I just dream of now. There are so many festivals that _ . I can share many reviews and performances online with my friends in South Africa Tokyo: The world's oldest man, retired Japanese silkworm breeder Yukichi Chuganji, died in his home at the age of 114, on Monday. Family members found him dead on his mattress. Born on March 23, 1889, Chuganji worked as a silkworm breeder and bank employee after leaving school. He also served as a community welfare officer. He had been in god health, talking daily with his family members. Washington: Every American dislikes people who talk on cell phones while driving, even those who do that kind of act. In the State of New Jersey, 84 percent of 968 cell phone owners said in recent telephone survey that they would support a state ban on the use of cell phones while driving. However, 42 percent of cell phone owners also said they used the devices "very often" or "sometimes" while driving. Although most agree that the banning is good, only 38 percent believed such a ban would be easy to enforce . New York: A woman in the US who was being attacked by a dog said she was saved from further harm when her 13-year-old daughter distracted the dog by screaming "You want a piece of me?" and kicked it repeatedly in the head. Jane Howell said she and her daughter, Elizabeth, were taking a walk around the neighborhood on Saturday evening when they came across he big dog, unchained. The main idea of the second news is _ . using cell phones while driving will be banned because most Americans don't like it In cities with rent control, the city government sets the maximum rent that a landlord can charge for an apartment. Supporters of rent control argue that it protects people who are living in apartment. Their rent cannot increase; therefore, they are not in danger of losing their homes. However, the critics say that after a long time, rent control may have negative effects. Landlords know that they cannot increase their profits. Therefore, they invest in other businesses where they can increase their profits. They do not invest in new buildings which would also be rent-controlled. As a result, new apartments are not built. Many people who need apartments cannot find any. According to the critics, the end result of rent control is a shortage of apartments in the city. Some experts argue that the minimum wage law can cause problems in the same way. The federal government sets the minimum that an employer must pay workers. The minimum helps people who generally look for unskilled, low-paying jobs. However, if the minimum is high, employers may hire fewer workers. They will replace workers with machinery. Therefore, other things being equal, the number of workers that employers want decreases. Thus, critics hold the opinion that an increase in the minimum wage may cause unemployment. Some poor people may find themselves without jobs instead of with jobs at the minimum wage. Supporters of the minimum wage say that it helps people keep their dignity. Because of the law, workers cannot sell their services for less than the minimum. Furthermore, employers cannot force workers to accept jobs at unfair wages. Economic theory predicts the results of economic decision, such as decisions about farm production, rent control, and the minimum wage. The predictions may be corrected only if "other things are equal". Economists do not agree on some of the predictions. They also do not agree on the value of different decisions. Some economists support a particular decision while others criticize it. Economists do agree, however, that there are no simple answers to economic questions. There will be the problem of unemployment if _ . the minimum wage is set too high.. I created a writing group at my school this year, and it has become a _ with all students who enjoy writing. Now students of the group make rapid progress in their writing. Let me share a few tips that you can use to start your own writing group. Set up separate groups for different ability levels You probably don't want to mix a gifted eighth grader with a second grader who writes very little. In a larger school, you could have a beginner group, a more advanced group, and a publishing group. Members can move to more appropriate groups if they are not comfortable in the current one. Advertise the group in different ways Send advertisements home with students, and put an advertisement on the school website or in the school newsletter. The first meeting should be very open At the first meeting, you should tell the students that this group is all about them. It is not a class, not a grade and not a requirement. Then tell them what some other writing groups do, and ask what they would like to do. Set up a time to meet once or twice a month It is important that students bring their writing with them. The group could go in any direction: criticize each other's work, read your writing aloud, read silently, publish your work in a booklet , play creativity games or do an online chat with a published author. It will take a little while to find out what works best for your group Search for creativity exercises and role plays. You might even be able to set up a special section of your school's website just for your writing group. Which of the following is NOT the activity of a writing group? Meet a published author. Our world is full of tourist traps and crowds of people. What if you could get out ahead of the crowded people and visit a place before it started swarming with crowds of people? Jose lgnacio, Uruguay Only about 300 people actually live here, but in winter, Latin famous stars like Shakira gather here. A new luxury hotel named Bahia Vik is in the process of opening, and JoseIgnacio is preparing to host an international art festival. You can enjoy art atmosphere here and eat steaks at La Huella restaurant. Koh Rong, Cambodia Visiting this Cambodian island is like stepping into a screen saver. With only a few houses and some fishing villages, many people say it's like Thailand 20 years ago when tourists landed the untouched beaches. Ferries started regularly shuttling tourists to Koh Rong only a few years ago, but things are still pretty quiet until someone plans to build an airport. Riga, Latvia Latvia is Europe's best kept secret, but all has changed now since Riga was named the European Capital of Culture in 2014. The city also ranked as Europe's cheapest destination for backpackers this year, with an average cost of just $33 per day for food, lodging, transportation and entertainment. Hurry up and peruse Old Riga and St. Peter's tower, and get fancy at the Latvian National Opera. Puglia, Italy With food travel on the rise, Puglia is becoming a household name. Under the Italian cultural influences, the Mediterranean diet takes one of its purest and most delicious forms: food is locally purchased and restaurants are quaint and are of high quality, which have good reputations. Which of the following will cost travelers least in Europe? Riga, Latvia.
Phil White has just returned from an 18,000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip.White had two reasons for making this _ journey.First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did.He raised PS70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam.White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world.He is still waiting to find out if he has broken the record or not. White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June 2004 and was back 299 days later.He spent more than l,300 hours in the saddle and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains.He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas.Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team.No jeep carrying food, water and medicine.No doctor.Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road. The journey was lonely and desperate at times.He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains.He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need.There were other dangers along the road.In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to escape with his life and the little money he had.The worst thing that happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia.For l,000 kilometres he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him.This part of the trip was slow, hard work and depressing, but he made it in the end.Now Mr.White is back and intends to write a book about his adventures. What actually inspired Phil White to overcome all the difficulties? Hip-pop Dancing Hip-pop dancing is popular with many young people today. They like it because they can invent their own moves. They use this dance to show their love for life. It also shows that they feel good about life, that they just want to be themselves and enjoy life, and that they are not afraid of problems. Hip-hop dancing has a history of more than 30 years. It first began in the 1980s in the US. In early times, it was seen in New York and Los Angeles. At that time, many young black people often danced to music in the streets. They used their legs, arms, heads and even shoulders to dance. Many young people still use most of these moves today. Hip-pop dancing became popular all over the world because of the 1983 movie Flash Dance. Some people performed Hip-hop dancing in the movie. People enjoyed their performances. They began to dance like them. Then it became popular. There are two kinds of Hip-pop dancing: the new school and the old school. More and more young people are learning Hip-pop dancing. People believe that it is a good way to exercise their bodies, and that it is good for their health. ,. ( 5 ) The young black people used their _ to dance at that time. Last week I visited my friend Pete in the new home where he lives with his wife and daughter. Pete used to spend his holidays travelling the world, visiting the pyramids in Egypt or scuba diving in the Caribbean. Nowadays he prefers to spend his holidays and weekends making his house look more beautiful. Like hundreds of thousands of other British people, he has discovered the joy of DIY (Do It Yourself), which means if there are any things that need fixing around the house, he will try to do the job himself. As he showed me the new kitchen he put together by himself and the newly painted walls, I asked Pete where he got his inspiration from. He told me that his favorite source of ideas was a DIY program on TV. This got me thinking about the great popularity of DIY programs in the UK. Each major channel has at least one home or garden improving show and there's even a satellite channel completely about the subject. I guess it is not really surprising that DIY programs are so popular. Two common sayings in Britain- 'an Englishman's home is his castle' and 'there's no place like home'-show how important our houses are to us. With the present economic downturn, many people can't afford to buy a bigger house so they are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. DIY is the perfect choice. But be careful! I read a report that said over 230,000 people were injured while doing home improvements in the UK in just one year, including 41,000 who fell off ladders and 5,800 who were seriously hurt by hammers. So I won't be going down to the hardware store. Which is NOT the reason why DIY is popular among British people? Rocks are most likely to kill you while B Gift Idea The other day I was shopping for Grandma when I realized I had no gift ideas at all. It was not a birthday gift or anything like that. It was simply sort of a hello gift. That is how we do things in my family. We don't really give gifts for special occasions. Instead, we occasionally just give presents to each other to tell other people that we are thinking about them. That was why I wanted a gift for Grandma. But it was like my imagination had dried up. I have gone through all of the gift ideas in previous years, fruits, wines, cheeses, little handmade crafts, and anything else that you can give to a grandmother. I had even given her gift watches, and CDs. What else was there? I have always found gift ideas for men a little bit easier than for women, because for men, you can always get the usual things, such as video games, power tools and things like that. With a woman's gift idea, however, you have to know more about her. You cannot just get someone a book or a CD. You have to know all about her taste in movies, music, and literature. My grandmother likes to read a lot, but what she likes is always pretty popular. I didn't want to get her a book that she might not like, but I was running out of time. I needed a gift idea for this weekend and went to visit her. After all, I hadn't seen her for a long time. I wanted to give her a gift so she would not feel ignored. Finally, I came up with the perfect gift idea. I made a collection of all the stories I had written in the past year. It wasn't a typical gift idea like a bunch of flowers, but it really worked in the situation. You see, I am a writer and my grandma has always been my fan. Anyway, I had been learning about bookbinding recently, and had pretty much mastered the art. I figured that I would add a little bit of handmade artwork to the stories, bind it altogether, and give it to her. It took hours to complete, but it was well worth the effort. She ly loved it. The writer chose a gift for Grandma to _ .
The time children spend outdoors could be linked to a reduced risk of being short-sighted, research suggests. An analysis of eight previous studies by University of Cambridge researchers found that for each additional hour spent outside per week, the risk of short-sightedness was reduced by 2%.They said exposure to natural light and time spent looking at distant objects could be key factors . The studies involved more than 10,000 children and adolescents. Dr Justin Sherwin and his research team concluded that short-sighted children spent an average of 3.7 fewer hours per week outdoors than those who either had normal vision or were far-sighted. But they said the reasons were not yet clear.They expected to find that children who spent more time outdoors also spent less time doing activities like reading, studying or playing computer games, but no such link was found in two of the eight studies which looked at this relationship. However, Dr Sherwin said they would now need more precise data to try to understand which factors, such as increased use of distance vision, reduced use of near vision, natural ultraviolet light exposure and physical activity,are most important. "Any increase in time spent outdoors must be weighed against exposure to ultraviolet radiation and the increased risk of skin cancer, cataracts and other cancers."he said."On the other hand, increasing outdoor physical activity could protect against diabetes and obesity, for example." Short-sightedness is a common eye condition that causes distant objects to appear blurred , while close objects can be seen clearly. It is much more common today in the UK and the United States than it was just 30 to 40 years ago. Approximately 1-2% of five-year-olds to seven-year-olds in the UK have short-sightedness.About.five million British people are short-sighted and some 200,000 of them will be seriously short-sighted. In some parts of Asia, more than 80% of the population suffers from short-sightedness. The passage mainly tells us_. Small talk is an essential part of our daily life, and is an essential skill to make you more popular as well to make other people happy. However it can be a big challenge. Here are some tips to improve small talk skills. Of course, making effective small talk means lots of practice, but keeping these tips in mind should improve overall conversational skills. Stay away from religious/ strong political beliefsks5u While you may firmly believe in something, beginning conversations and making small talk about your own personal beliefs may _ end the conversation. Keep it light, and don't try to convince the other person that you have the "correct" information about a higher being, political system or other belief system. Use the Internet to gain the specific vocabulary If you have a business meeting, or are meeting people who share a common interest, take advantage of the Internet to learn the specific vocabulary. Almost all business and interest groups have glossaries on the Internet. Find common interests Once you have a subject that interests both of you, keep to it! You can do this in a number of ways: talking about travel, talking about the school or friend you have in common, talking about the difference between your culture and the new culture(just be careful to make comparisons and not judgments) and so on. Listen This is very important. Listening carefully will help you understand and encourage those speaking to you. You might be nervous, but letting others state their opinion will improve the quality of the discussion and give you some time to think of an answer! When you make small talk, you should NOT " _ ". I WAS BORN and raised in the shadow of the Capitol, in prefix = st1 /Washington,D.C., as were my parents and my mother's parents. Our row house was on a tree-lined street just blocks from the building that was the heart of the federal legislative branch. When I was a child, in the 1940s, friends and I would pack a lunch or ride a streetcar to the Capitol. If we roller-skated, we hid the skates in the bushes in the park across the street before entering the building. I knew every corner of the Capitol. We'd play hide-and-seek and pretend we saw ghosts in the halls and stairways. I don't know how we got away with it.I remember the beautiful ladies' rooms, with their marble floors and sinks. I pretended that I was a fine lady in them. In those days, you could walk around the Capitol dome , which was a little scary for me. I loved the wonderful paintings and statues and the subway rides to the SenateOfficeBuilding. It was like an amusement ride. I even used to sit in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives--until I became bored with all the talk and went on another adventure. Whenever I ran up the steps to the huge bronze doors of the Rotunda, I would look back to the world below like a hero. As soon as the doors were opened, the sense of history surrounded me, and I knew it was someplace special. Those were lucky days, when an American citizen could wander in the Capitol and be a part of history. Once war was declared, some things changed in the nation's capital. Because of concerns that Washington might be attacked, as Londonhad been, everyone prepared. Kids at my elementary school wore dog tags, and each of us was fingerprinted. My father, a pipe worker, became a civil defense warden . During an air raid, his job was to turn off any leaking gas. Since he always had a cigarette in his mouth, maybe that was not a good choice, but he had a gas mask and flashlight hanging in the rafters of our basement...the mask looked like a monster in the ceiling. My 15-year-old brother was a junior civil defense warden. During air- raid drills, he knocked on doors and asked people to put out their lights. I remember huge searchlights that crisscrossed the skies during the drills, looking for enemy planes. What is the writer's attitude towards the things that changed in the nation's capital? Cleaner Wanted Here is a job in Lanzarote for anyone suitable. Mrs. Smith is looking for a person to clean her home three times a week. If you want this job, you can email her at kerry@movistar.ner. Salesperson Wanted A position has opened for a part-time shop assistant. The assistant is needed to work for about three hours every morning, six days a week in a fashion jewellery shop. You need to be able to speak at least one language (English or German) and Spanish. Please email janer@the-tdgroup.com. Chef Wanted The Cutty Sark is seeking a new chef. The applicant must have experience and be able to start working immediately. A full-time chef is required to work about 37.6-45 hours per week. If you are interested , please come to see Mark or Rebecca at the Cutty Sark pub or call 650316301. A School Student Needed Montana Villas and Polls in Playa Blanca is seeking a school student to show rooms to their customers in summer. Any applicant must be fluent in both English and Spanish. The minimum age of the student is sixteen, and the work days are from Monday to Saturday. This is to run through July and August, and the first couple of weeks in September. To apply for this position, email info@mvplanzarote.com. Part-time Person Needed Tots To Travel is looking for a part-time salesperson. The applicant needs to be confident in sales and more importantly, he or she must have the ability to work with computers. Please contact us via email at penny@totstofrance.co.uk. Alice, a 17-year-old schoolgirl, should email _ for a job in a summer vocation. Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to perform euthanasia --that's to say, doctors are permitted to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. Word that the law was passed by the vote of 15 to 10 immediately flashed on the Internet and was picked up by John, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada, who posted it on the group's homepage online, saying, "This isn't merely something that happened in Australia. It's world history." The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical influence. Some have breathed sighs of relief; but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the law. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia--where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part--other states are going to consider making a similar law. In the U. S. and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, _ . Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death--probably by a deadly injection or pill--to end suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill Law means he can get on with living without the disturbing fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I' m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says. Which is NOT the reason for Australia to become the first country to pass the law of euthanasia?
I grew up in a family that ate dinner together every evening. Although my parents enjoyed wine, they rarely drank during the week and always in moderation .As for myself,1 wasn't interested in alcoholic drinks and neither were my high school friends. So when I arrived on campus for my first year of university life, I was a bit shocked. Many different events had been organized for the freshmen, but they all had one thing in common-alcohol, and plenty of .it wanting to be left out, I joined a few of the events. But I always returned home early, feeling disappointed. Your personality, interests and experiences didn't matter at all, only how many alcoholic drinks you could absorb before passing out . It seemed shallow to me. I wanted to get to know my new coursemates, not how fast they. could down a pint of beer. Gradually, however, I realized that real friends don't judge you by how much you can drink and there were other ways of making friends. I joined a photography society, took a first aid course, and every weekend l went cycling with a coursemate. I found that by engaging in these activities and sharing the fun of learning new skills together in a group ,I formed much stronger bonds with my new friends than even the strongest alcoholic drinks could encourage. Another valuable lesson I learned is that it's perfectly okay to say "No" if you don't want to drink. However, in many Western societies, especially the UK, binge drinking has become the norm. Many people who drink don't necessarily want to, but they give in to the peer pressure -they're afraid to say "No". Why did the author return home early from the events at first? A He wasn't good at drinking. B He had no familiar coursemates. C He hated the way people got along. D He was left out by the organizers. Answer: C Many people think prefix = st1 /Casablanca is one of the best movies ever made. It was filmed in 1942, during the Second World War, and starred Humphrey Bogart as Rick, and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa. The movie is set in Casablanca, a place the Germans hope to take from the French. Rick owns a bar there. In the movie, the German army is coming towardsCasablanca. People who live there are trying to escape before they arrive. Rick has two tickets for the last plane out ofCasablanca. His former lover Ilsa arrives inCasablancawith her husband Victor Lazlo. Lazlo is a leader in a secret group, and his escape will help win the war againstGermany. Rick decides to give his tickets to Ilsa and Lazlo rather than use them himself. Rick really loves Ilsa, but he knows that it is more important for Lazlo to get out ofCasablanca. Rick is a very tough character but he is not selfish. He is very good to people who need his help. Some famous lines from the movie are, "Here's looking at you, kid." and "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Many people think that the line, "Play it again, Sam." is in the movie. Actually, the line is "Play it, Sam." Both Rick and Ilsa ask the piano player, Sam, to play the song,As Time Goes By. It was originally recorded in 1931 and became very popular because of this movie. The movie was filmed almost entirely in the Warner Brothers film studios in Hollywood, using special effects. It won several Academy awards and is well worth seeing. If you've already seen it, see it again, Sam! What is the relationship between Rick and Ilsa? A Business partners. B Ex-lovers. C Husband and wife. D Spies. Answer: B He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move. "What's the matter, Schatz?" "I've got a headache." "You better go back to bed." "No. I'm all right." "You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed." But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever. "You go up to bed," I said, "You're sick." "I'm all right," he said. When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature. "What's is it?" I asked him. "One hundred and two." Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative , the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(;) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia . Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules. "Do you want me to read to you?" "All right. If you want to, " said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached(;)from what was going on. I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates ;but I could see he was not following what I was reading. "How do you feel, Schatz?" I asked him. "Just the same, so far," he said. I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely. "Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine." "I'd rather stay awake." After a while he said to me, "You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you." "It doesn't bother me." "No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you." I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog....I killed two quail , and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day. At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room. "You can't come in," he said. "You mustn't get what I have." I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed. I took his temperature. "What is it?" "Something like a hundred," I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths. "It was a hundred and two," he said. "Who said so?" "The doctor." "Your temperature is all right," I said. "It's nothing to worry about." "I don't worry," he said, "but I can't keep from thinking." "Don't think," I said. "Just take it easy." "I'm taking it easy," he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something. "Take this with water." "Do you think it will do any good?" "Of course it will." I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped. "About what time do you think I'm going to die?" he asked. "What?" "About how long will it be before I die?" "You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? " "Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two." "People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk." "I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two." He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning. "You poor Schatz," I said. "Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely," I said, "It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?" "Oh," he said. But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance. The theme of the story is _ . A death is something beyond a child's comprehension B to be calm and controlled in the face of death is a mark of courage C misunderstanding can occur even between father and son D misunderstanding can sometimes lead to an unexpected effect Answer: B Being lonely in the crowd might seem ridiculous. But according to a recent survey, the situation is all too common. Loneliness and other anxiety problems - worrying about life's pressures - can even lead to self-murder. An article in China Daily gave no reason for this other than the usual blaming of the post-80s generation. According to a high level official, young people suffering from discouragement are mostly "spoiled and have not been taught to be independent, responsible and express 'thank-you'." Well, how do you like that? First, I don't think China's youth are exactly spoiled. They certainly have more things than their parents did, but a lot of the money spent on them is for their education including various extra classes. Discouragement and anxiety are now the fastest growing challenges in modern societies. We sense a lack of close friends who can talk to honestly and openly. In 1985, a US study found that one in ten people did not have such a friend. In 2006, it was one in four. It's easy to see the connection between loneliness and discouragement. But what actually causes this increasing loneliness? Surely, with Internet social networking sites such as Kaixin, we have more friends than ever. A new study has shown that the more time teenagers spend in front of computers, the less close they are to friends and family.Kaixinor QQ may be fun but it lacks meaning, compared to personal connections in the real world. And then there are those endless online games popular with young Chinese but increasingly there are more interesting choices. For example, new sports such as skateboarding are starting to catch on in bigger cities, as is playing music in a band. These creative hobbies are done in a group and thus friendship can be stronger. Hopefully young people will also be drawn out of the Internet cafes and interactive computer games that in fact fail to recreate a real and interactive experience. According to the text, which of the following can help us avoid being lonely in the crowd? A To stay long in Internet cafes. B To play music in a band. C To abandon our own hobbies. D To focus on extra courses. Answer: B I'm a Chinese girl. At school I have two good friends. Their names are Lucy and Lily. They are Americans. They are twins. They're eleven. They are good girls. Miss Gao is our English teacher. She is a good teacher. We like her very much. She likes us very much, too. We go to school at seven in the morning. At four o'clock we play games. At four thirty in the afternoon we go home. We are very happy. How old is Lucy? A She's eleven. B She's twelve. C She's thirteen D She's fourteen Answer: A
America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history. Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen, and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings. But just a short walk from Manhattan's skyscrapers, George Brown sits on the side-walk, cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel. Brown is homeless----one of the 2.3 million people in the US who end up on the street. During the day, Brown collects aluminum cans and sells them for five cents a piece. At night, he sleeps on the street. "I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that," said the 62-year-old former construction worker. Brown admits he had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine. But he said he still wants a more stable housing arrangement. He could afford it just with the money he earns by collecting cans and small pieces of metal, if only truly low-income housing were available. However, he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York. With the strong economy and unemployment down, beautiful housing is being built to meet demand. A US report shows rents in New York City rose more than 27 per cent, from $549 to $700 a month. One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up. The majority of people who experience homelessness really just need some affordable housing help. But few housing companies are building for the poor. Many small apartments in the city now rent for $1,500 a month or more. Brown, the homeless New Yorker, said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her. She is angry about his drinking and won't allow it in her house. Smiling, he said he also has seven grandchildren whom he'd like to see more often. "All I've got to do is _ ," he said. Which part of a newspaper is the passage possibly taken from? A Society. B Science. C Arts. D Business. Answer: A. Society. People drink tea. There are many kinds of tea, such as black tea, green tea, white tea and yellow tea. People drink a lot of tea in China. Some people drink it because they think it makes them healthy. Many people drink it because it tastes very good. It is delicious. People drink a lot of tea in Japan. People drink a lot of green tea in South Korea, too. In Vietnam, people like to drink coffee first. Then they drink tea. People drink a lot of tea in England. Every afternoon, people drink tea. It's "tea time". English people like to drink their tea with milk in it. Many people drink black tea in the US. In the South, people like to drink sweet tea. Sweet tea is cold black tea with sugar in it. Most tea comes from China. Some tea comes from India or Sri Lanka. Kenya, Japan and Indonesia also grow tea. In England, people like to drink tea with _ in it. A sugar B ice C juice D milk Answer: D. milk What safety rule is most important for students to follow when working with acids and bases? A wear nose plugs B put on safety goggles C put away all lab supplies D wear heavy cloth gloves Answer: B. put on safety goggles 1 always figured that comedians were the best kind of people to hang around with as a kid. They tell funny stories, make joke after joke, and happiness seems never to leave them. But time goes on, and we come to see these same people as clowns on the outside, but crying a river in the inside. Comedy from these people comes from a deep pain and sadness in their lives, or out of a deep-seated anger they have at the world around them. Look at Richard Pryor, need I say more? Richard seemed to have everything. For Superman m , he ended up getting more money than Christopher Reeve did. Yet he said while he was in his forties that the last truly happy moment he remembered in his life was when he was jumping around in the dirt while pretending to be a cowboy at the age of 10. This guy set himself on fire, and he played that for laugh while performing live at the Sunset Strip ! Comedy was his constant weapon against pain, and he never held anything back. The movie Funny People understand very well this gloomy field many comedians have to survive in. It stars Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a famous comedian in the movie. Simmons has it all: a beautiful mansion overlooking the sea, a swimming pool,great cars, and so on. But in his eyes, we see that he is a sad man who has come to truly look down upon himself for what he has become. All the wealth he has collected only serves to separate him from the rest of the world and it makes him defensive when around total strangers who cannot see him as a normal person. But now, he hears from his doctor that he has a terminal disease and has only months left to live. Simmons reacts to this news as if someone took away his blood in the heart, and it makes him clearly see just how much he hates his life. So now he has to make every minute count. Then come a series of funny stories. Comedy is just life as it is, isn't it? By saying "Comedy is just life as it is, isn't it?", the author means _ A life like comedy will make you happy B comedy comes from the sadness in real life C there is no happiness at all in real life D life is full of comedy in reality Answer: B. comedy comes from the sadness in real life IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman.As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community.When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades.Naturally he used it to start up a business--IKEA. IKEA's name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up ('E'and 'A').Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist furniture, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning.Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of miscellaneous goods. Kamprad's wares included anything that he could sell for profits at discounted prices, including watches, pens and stockings. IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue in 1947.The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad's home.Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line.Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became solely a furniture company in 1951. In 1953 IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden.IKEA is known today for its spacious stores with furniture in attractive settings, but in the early1950s, people ordered from catalogues.Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelming: people loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it.This led to increased sales and the company continued to thrive.By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture. In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport.Kamprad was inspired.The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging.Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers.IKEA tried it and sales soared.The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA.Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having connotations of self-sufficiency.This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion. Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries.Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company.In 2004 he was named the world's richest man.He currently lives in Switzerland and is retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA.IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing. What is the main idea of the passage? A Ingvar Kamprad is the richest man in the world. B IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer. C The advantage of IKEA's furniture is dissembling. D Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA and led it to great success. Answer: D. Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA and led it to great success.
Tom went to see his grandparents with his father. In the train Tom often put his head out of the window. His father said, "Tom, don't put your head out of the window." But Tom went on putting his head out of the window. His father took Tom's hat quietly and hid it behind his back and said to Tom, "You see your hat is gone." Tom was afraid. His father said, "Well, whistle once. Maybe your hat will come back." Tom whistled. His father put his hat on Tom's head quickly. "Oh! It's wonderful!" Tom laughed and said. He quickly took his father's hat and threw it out of the window. "Now it's your turn to whistle, Dad!" he said happily. Tom took his father's hat and _ . Answer: threw it out of the window Scientists have proved that sleeping and learning go hand in hand. Even a short nap can boost our memory and sharpen our thinking. But the relationship goes deeper than that. "The brain is not passive while you sleep," scientist Anat Arzi said. "It's quite active. You can do many things while you are asleep." Arzi and her coworkers didn't try to teach the sleeping volunteers any complex information, like new words or facts. Instead, the scientists taught volunteers to make new connections between smells and sounds. When we smell something good, like a flower, we take deep breaths. When we smell something bad, we take short breaths. Arzi and her co-workers based their experiment on these reactions. Once the volunteers fell asleep in the lab, the scientists went to work. They gave them a whiff of something pleasant and meanwhile played a particular musical note. They didn't wake up, but they heard--and sniffed deeply. Then the scientists gave the volunteers a whiff of something terrible and played a different musical note. Again, the volunteers heard and smelled--a short snort this time--but didn't wake up. The researchers repeated the experiment. After just four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their paired smells. When the scientists played the musical tone that went with good smells, the sleepers breathed deeply. And when the scientists played the musical tone that went with bad smells, the sleepers breathed briefly--despite there being no bad smell. The next day, the volunteers woke up with the sound-smell connection. They breathed deeply when hearing one tone and cut their breaths short when hearing the other, which must have been unusual for them. Imagine walking down the street and taking a deep breath upon hearing a particular sound! The passage mainly tell us _ Answer: our brain can actually learn something new during the sleep. The opera house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of the most beautiful in the United States. It is small and open, with one roof over the stage where singers perform and another roof over part of the audience. This opera house in the mountain is one of the best in the country, which may seem surprising because performances are only given during seven weeks in summer, and because Santa Fe is a very small city. One reason why the Santa Fe Opera is so good is that it attracts many excellent young singers .They all hope to sing in famous opera houses like Metropolitan in New York someday. And they work hard to become well-known during the summer. The musicians and directors are experts who come from the best orchestras and operas in the country during their vacations. They enjoy working there because they like to live in Santa Fe, which is near both the mountains and the desert. It is very beautiful there in summer. The state government of New Mexico advertises the Santa Fe Opera in newspapers all over the country, and a great many tourists come to New Mexico because of the opera ,Still ,most of the audience does come from Santa Fe and other nearby cities. And all the seats in the theater are sold for every show. There is only one thing that some people do not like about the Santa Fe Opera, and that is the cold weather .Because the theater is open, performances cannot start before it gets dark at nine o'clock in the evening, and then the mountain air becomes very cool. Sometimes people complain about the cold air ,but because the opera is good , these people come back again wearing warm coats. This passage mainly introduces _ Answer: an opera house A warm blanket is the ideal sleep aid for a freezing winter night. The right blanket can warm your bones but the wrong one can affect your sleep. I asked experts for advice on picking the perfect blanket for a good night's sleep. Here's what they told me. When it comes to sleep temperature, experts recommend following the principle: not too cold, not too hot, but just right. "People seem to sleep best at temperature between 62 and 70 degrees F," says Dr. Alice Hoagland. When the surrounding temperature falls too low, it can _ you from sleep. A good blanket helps drive the coldness away. At the other extreme, overheating yourself can affect your sleep as well. "Core body temperature typically drops during the first four hour's of sleep," says Dr. Hoagland. This decline in body temperature helps you fall asleep and stay asleep. "In medical care, weighted blankets are one of our most powerful tools for helping people who are anxious, upset, and possibly losing control," says Dr. Karen Moore. These special blankets are filled with weighted pellets. Weighted blankets are also marketed for general use as an aid to sleep and relaxation. Like a firm hug, weighted blankets help us feel safe." This is the reason why many people like to sleep under a blanket even in summer. "If you want to try this type of blanket, the best weight depends on your body size and personal preference. However, 15 to 30 pounds is typical for adults," Moor says. She adds that weighted blankets are not recommended for those recovering from surgery. "People can also have serious preferences for a particular blanket," says Dr. Hoagland. "Regularly using a favorite blanket for sleep can help to develop a conditioned response so that sleep is quicker." In fact, many sleep centers ask patients to bring their own blanket and pillow from home, which helps them fall asleep more easily. What do we know from the passage? Answer: People are advised to use their own blankets. An example of feeling could be Answer: clothes on the thighs
At first sight, you would think the collection of hundreds of colored shards could be a work of abstract art. But the objects are the contents of the stomach of a sea turtle that lost its battle with plastic pollution. Environmentalists examined the stomach of the turtle found off the coast of Argentina. What they found is the symptom of the increasing threat to sea turtles from a human addiction to plastic. Sea turtles often mistake plastic items for jellyfish or other food. Ingesting ocean pollution can cause a digestive blockage and internal cuts. The result can be dangerous, followed by death. Humans produce 260 million tons of plastic a year. When those products are pulled into the sea's currents, the plastics are just broken into smaller pieces which are consumed by marine life at the bottom of the food chain. An examination of a green turtle found off Florida discovered that, over the course of a month, the animal's faeces had contained 74 foreign objects, including "four types of balloons, different types of hard plastic, a piece of carpet--like material and two 2--4 mm tar balls." "The oceans have become a giant refuse bin for all manner of plastics. All sea turtle species may be seriously harmed, "according to the biologists Colette Wabnitz, from the University of British Columbia. "The symptom of this growing crisis can be seen inside and on sea turtles as well as their oceanic and terrestrial habitats. It is urgently necessary to directly confront the source of plastic pollution, redesign packaging and rethink the very idea of 'throwaway culture'." Almost all marine species, from plankton to whales, have ingested plastic. But, even in small quantities, plastic can kill sea turtles, the biologists said. Fifty out of 92 turtles found dead, stranded on the shorelines of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil, had ingested a "considerable amount of man-made _ ". The author mentions the "throwaway culture" probably in a(n) _ tone. Answer: Elderly adults who regularly drink green tea may stay more active and independent than their peers over time,according to a Japanese study that covered thousands of people. Green tea contains antioxidant chemicals that may help _ the cell damage that can lead to disease.Researchers have been studying green tea's effect on everything from cholesterol to the risk of certain cancers,with mixed results so far. For the new Japanese study,researchers decided to examine the question of whether green tea drinkers have a lower risk of frailty and disability as they grow older. Tomata and his colleagues followed nearly 14,000 adults aged 65 or older for three years. They found those who drank the most green tea were the least likely to develop "functional disability",or problems with daily activities or basic needs,such as dressing or bathing. Specifically,almost 13 percent of adults who drank less than a cup of green tea per day became functionally disabled,compared with just over 7 percent of people who drank at least five cups fl day. The study did not prove that green tea alone kept people active as they grew older. Green-tea lovers generally had healthier diets,including more fish,vegetables and fruit,as well as more education.lower smoking rates,fewer heart attacks and strokes,and greater mental sharpness. They also tended to be more socially active and have more friends and family to rely on. Although it's not clear how green tea might offer a buffer against disability,Tomata's team did note that one recent study found green tea extracts seem to increase leg muscle strength in older women. While green tea and its extracts are considered safe in small amounts,they do contain caffeine and small amounts of vitamin K,which means it could block drugs that prevent blood thickened. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of green tea? Answer: Jose, a young musician, is a rising star in Bolivia. He has already performed in some of the countries' top venues including the Legislative Palace. What's so great about that? Jose is just seven years old and he is blind! Jose is musically talented. At the age of 4, he picked up the drums and showed surprising talent. Later he moved on to the piano and his musical talent became undeniable . By the age of 5, Jose had formed his own jazz trio . The young boy knows every jazz song in his book and can play _ all with great confidence. And it is not the only kind of music he enjoys. He also loves listening to blues, heavy metal, etc. Roberto Montano is clearly a proud father when speaking of his son Jose. He said that he had nothing to do with his son's unusual talent. In fact he didn't even know much about jazz until Jose started to play. He believes the young boy is just born with a "music chip" inside him. Although Jose is a rising superstar, he lives a life like other children do. Just like his classmates, he goes to school, does homework and even does chores at home. Which can be the best title of the passage? Answer: If you have ever been left wondering why your emails are riddled with grammatical errors, or why you can never quite find the right phrase, it may be because you are typing with both hands. Our vocabulary becomes richer and our writing style becomes more fluent when we type using just one hand, scientists have found. "Typing can be too fluent or too fast, and _ can actually weaken the writing process," said Srdan Medimorec, the lead author of the study conducted at the department of psychology at the University of Waterloo, Canada. "It seems that what we write is a product of the interaction between our thoughts and the tools we use to express them." Using text-analysis software, researchers asked 103 university students to write essays under different conditions, using one hand to type and using both hands to type. The software was used to analyze elements of the essays, such as range of vocabulary, sentence complexity and the cohesion of the writing. Researchers found that participants' vocabulary became more advanced when they typed with one hand rather than two. The research team said that by slowing our writing down, typing one-handed allows more time for an internal word search, resulting in a larger variety of words. In contrast, fast typists might just write the first word that comes to mind. However, it is important not to slow typing down too much. Those who typed essays one-handed in the current study slowed down to about the speed of handwriting. This is the first study to show that changing people's typing can make their writing get better. The researchers suggested that the speed of writing could affect writing quality regardless of the tools used, whether they are computers, or pen and paper, although further research would be required to prove that idea. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage? Answer: What is the definition of "happiness?" Is it material wealth filled with fancy cars, a dream house or jewelry? Or does happiness simply mean having a roof over your head? Food in the fridge? Having a swimming pool? A designer Gucci bag? Love? Money? A perfect job? Do you recall a time----let's say when you were about 5 years old-----what defined happiness back then? Was it getting a puppy for Christmas? Or maybe, you were a child of divorce; and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad to get back together again? Then as you got older, you were hoping that someone would ask you to the party that would have made your day. During college, good grades made you happy, but it was short-lived. Because in the real world, you had to look for a job, and competition was fierce. But then, you got a perfect job, could you be happy? We like having and accumulating things. We work so we can pay our rents, credit card debts, school loans, car payments... The list goes on and on. And at some point, we realize that apart from having most of what we want, we still aren't happy. Now since we've learned to adapt to new standards which we've created for ourselves, we find that we have less time, less patience, less sleep, which leads to more stress and more anxiety. Therefore, don't stupidly make a conclusion that happiness is just based on "things". Sometimes, we trade our lives for not only basic necessities, but for excessive items and services as well. Certainly, you've heard of individuals trying to "find themselves", or to "rediscover themselves". But the point has been missed: happiness is already there. Disappointments and tragedies in life will come and go, but happiness never leaves you. We can lose our jobs, but be grateful for those who love us. We can lose our homes to nature, but be thankful to be alive. If we think we are happy, we are indeed happy. Happiness is merely a perception of each individual. Happiness is part of love, and love is an ocean. Go dive in and get some, and then share it with everyone, which can be an endless supply. But sharing happiness with people around demands skilful techniques. It can be inferred from Para.3 that _ . Answer:
The source of a type of energy we use is a Answer: star BERLIN (Reuters)--Germany's postal service has announced plans to explore improved service and help protect the environment by getting "fetch friends"--ordinary people traveling across cities--to deliver parcels on their way. It is hoped that the move, which will be tested in the coming months, might lessen traffic in inner cities and reduce CO2emissions . This should help DHL, a division of the German postal service, reach its target of improving the company's carbon efficiency by 30 percent before 2020. "As the world's biggest logistics provider, we recognize a special responsibility to reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible," said Frank Appel, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Post DHL, in a statement referring to a variety of measures being considered. The "fetch friends" find out online about parcels that need delivering to people who live or work along the way that they are planning to travel through the city. They then select the ones that they want to take. Codes sent to their mobile phones tell the volunteers where to pick the packages up. Parcels can be taken part of the way or passed on to another volunteer but all volunteers need to have the right code on their mobile phone so the track and trace system can be updated. Logistics companies will be responsible for looking after the operation to make sure that the privacy of post is respected. It's hoped that this could be done using mobile phones but DHL says it recognizes that some security issues remain to be worked out. What may be a problem with the new service according to the article? Answer: The possibility that parcels could be opened on the way. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot "greener" toward the environment . "We didn't know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it," says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA. But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement. Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. "The understanding has increased many, many times," says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day. According to US government reports, emissions from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 .Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place .A kind of "Green thinking " has become part of practices . Great improvement has been achieved .In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600 .Advanced lights ,motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution . Twenty -five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment .Today , it's hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program ." Until we do that, nothing else will change! " say Bruce Anderson. According to Anderson, before 1970, Americans had little idea about _ Answer: environmental problems Michael Jordan is one of the most famous basketball players in the world. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He didn't like to talk to other people about himself. He was very short and he didn't play basketball very well when he joined the basketball team in his high school at first. But the next year, things changed greatly as he grew much taller. Michal Jordan became famous when he joined the university basketball team in North Carolina. Michael used his quickness and strength to reach the basketball. He played so well that people called him "Air Jordan". After college, Michael became a basketball team member in the Chicago Bulls. The NBA was very surprised at this high--flying player. He was named "Rookie "of the year in 1985 and "the Most Valuable Player" in 1987. He once set a record by getting 63 points in one game. ,,. The NBA was very surprised because Jordan _ . Answer: was quick and strong Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defense against getting ill, new study findings suggest. In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny character were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a "positive emotional style" can help to protect us from suffering the common cold and other illnesses. Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective -- as in happiness improving immune function -- and subjective -- as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or runny nose. "People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe." Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional style itself had the effect. For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality characteristics, self-felt health and emotional style. Those who had a tendency to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and aggressive had a negative style. The researchers gave them nasal drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains or sneezing they had, while the researchers collected objective data. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal troubles, happy people were less likely to develop a cold. According to Dr Cohen's research, the reason why some people are unlikely to catch a cold may be that _ . Answer: their cheerful mood benefits the immune system
Question: During my second year of nursing school, our teacher gave us a test. I was a hardworking student and I did well in all the subjects. I finished the questions successfully until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Of course this was a joke. I saw the cleaning woman every day. She is short and about 60 years old. She has dark hair. But how would I know her name? I had never talked with her before. In fact, I'd never even thought about talking to her. I stared at my paper and started to feel rather guilty. Finally, I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grades. "Absolutely," the teacher said. "In your life, you will meet many people. All are important. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is to smile and to say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. Everyone deserves my attention and I should get to know all of the people who work and live around me. That was, perhaps, the most important lesson of my life. I also learned the cleaning woman's name was Dorothy. What did the teacher want to tell the students through the last question? A. You should pay attention to everyone around you. B. You should work hard to get good grades in school. C. You should be friends with the cleaning lady. D. You should try to make as many friends as you can. Answer: A. You should pay attention to everyone around you. Question: Shower Radio --- Warranty and Directions Introduction Congratulations! You are now the owner of a So Fine Shower Radio! It is sure to provide entertainment for many hours. In addition, the radio features a timer for those days when you are in a hurry. Before using the radio, please read all directions, fill out and mail in the warranty card, and put warranty information in a safe place. Although we do not expect problems with the radio, you may need to refer to the warranty information at a later time. Warranty This radio is warranted for a one-year period that begins on the date of purchase. If it fails to work because of a problem of materials, please return it to the following address: So Fine Radio Corp, 1279 Delta Way, Monga. We will not pay shipping costs for returning the radio to us. We will either repair or replace the radio. Please allow at least four weeks for looking at the problem and repairing the radio. If you have not heard from us within six weeks, call our customer service department at 1-800-123. Radios that are returned to us for problems other than a problem of materials will be subject to service fee as well as the cost of the repairs. Customers will be informed of the charge by postcard. Radios will not be returned to customers until these fees are paid. Directions Please read all directions before using it. Please note that this radio is designed and built to operate well in a damp environment. The self-contained batteries and circuits are contained in the enclosed space that will bear heat and humidity. To Operate the Radio 1. Put two AA batteries in the enclosed space at the back of the radio. Be certain to follow the diagram, or the batteries will not provide electricity. The radio should NOT be adapted in order to be fixed into the wall; this will damage the waterproofing . 2. Turn the POWER dial in a clockwise direction until it clicks. Continue turning the dial until the desired volume is achieved. 3. To find the desired station, press the station selector button. The tuner will automatically go to the next highest signal. The station's call number will be visible in the digital screen. When the station with the highest frequency has been reached, the selector will start again at the lowest frequency. 4. To switch between AM and FM stations, move the sliding AM/FM switch. To Operate the Timer 1. Press the Timer Set button. Each time the button is pressed, five minutes will be put on the timer. The amount of time on the timer will be visible for five seconds on the digital screen. 2. When the time on the timer doesn't work, a beep will sound for ten seconds. The timer may be reset again one minute. Troubleshooting Before returning the radio for service, please check the following items: Problem: Radio cannot be heard. 1. Check batteries to be certain that they still have power and are put in correctly. 2. Check Power/Volume Control. Problem: Timer does not work. 1. Check batteries to be certain that they still have power and are put in correctly. 2. Follow directions above for setting timer. 3. Turn the power control on. The timer will not work when the radio is not on. 4. Adjust the volume control which regulates the volume of the beep as well as the radio volume. Which of the following is covered within this text? A. How to operate the radio and the timer. B. What other owners say about the radio. C. Who will benefit from using the radio. D. Where to purchase the radio. Answer: A. How to operate the radio and the timer. Question: If I had known the following things when I was in high school, my life would have been 100% easier back then and probably would have helped me greatly. I realized some of these things I was told but being young and ignorant I refused to listen. 1.Your high school sweetheart will probably not be your spouse. When I was in school, I thought my boyfriend and I were the "one and only true love". Honestly as most young people do, statistically only like 2% of people end up marrying their high school sweethearts and even if they do they probably won't be as happy as they were in high school. Being an adult is very stressful and your relationships become different. 2. _ How many kids play sports per year? How many kids are good enough to get a scholarship by playing sports? How many of them even make it to the Olympics after college or university? The kids who actually stay at home and focus on getting good at computers or math are the ones who make the most in the adult world financially. 3. It doesn't matter what university you go to. I was convinced I was going to go to a great art school when I graduated and I was so stressed out about it that I ended up dropping out of school. In reality my life wasn't over; I only got my GED a year ago but I am in a decent school now. In the real world when you go to apply somewhere all they care about is "do you have a degree or a certification"? 4. Your friends probably won't be your friends after you graduate. I really thought I was going to get an apartment with my friends and our kids were going to grow up together. The truth is, when people grow up they move, have kids, get married, and therefore change. You will change; you will not be the same person you were. High school is just a transitional period of your life. So don't worry about who is saying what about you or who is making fun of whom. What is the purpose of the passage? A. To recall the experiences in high school. B. To warn high school students about love in high school. C. To give advice to high school students. D. To encourage high school students to focus on study. Answer: C. To give advice to high school students. Question: Your smartphone can do a lot of things. It can call people. It connects to the Internet. It enables you to play fun games. But there is a _ side to this smart little equipment of yours----- it might also spread disease. "People are just likely to get sick from their phones as from handles of the bathroom, " Jeffrey Cain, the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians , told The Wall Street Journal. This may be hard to believe, but scientists reached this conclusion after they tested eight cell phones from an office in Chicago. All the tested phones showed high numbers of coliforms , a kind of bacteria found in human waste , with about 2700 to 4200 units of the bacteria on each phone. The bacteria can cause flu, pinkeye and other diseases . That is right --- your phone is covered in our human waste. Although computers, keys and pens carry germs , our phones get far dirtier. They touch a lot of things, including our hands and the inside of our pocket or purse. We take them almost everywhere: the bus, the subway and who hasn't played Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja while sitting on the toilet? "Some things that we think are personal are actually more public than we imagine," Cain said. What is even worse is that after the phone returns from its dirty trip, it then spends most of its time cozying up to our faces. You don't think about how often you touch your phone to your face, do you? Our noses, mouths and ears are all warm and rich in grease , an environment that germs really like. So how do you keep your phone clean? Alcohol is effective when used to kill germs from the back and side of your phone. But it might harm the screen. There is one simple and reliable way you can reduce the germs on your phone's surface: wash your hands regularly. What is the article mainly about? A. Tips on the use of phones B. Health problems caused by the use of phones C. The danger of coliforms infection D. The influence that phone have on our life Answer: B. Health problems caused by the use of phones Question: A thing which is invisible to the passing gaze, yet has a visible form is probably A. a bald eagle B. a stonefish C. a cow D. a hippo Answer: B. a stonefish
Question: Passage 1 A teacher who saved His Students An Australia teacher Dane came to Chengdu four years ago. He was giving an English class in Guangya School, in Dujiangran, when the ground began to shake( )at 2:28 pm. On May 12. "Desk !Desk!"he shouted to his students. After all the children hid( ) under the desks safely, he joined them. Passage 2 International Aid( ) A Japanese team of medical workers landed in Chengdu on the early morning of May 16 . It was the first team to arrive from abroad( ).They set off for GuanZhong Town ,in Qingchuan County( ).Two villages were lost in the town, and about 700 people were in danger. Without stopping to rest , they walked many miles to search for the survivors. Soon a team from Singapore and a second team from Japan arrived, followed by two other teams from Korea and Russia. We can learn from Passage 1 that Dane is _ . A. an American doctor B. an Australian teacher C. a medical worker D. an International organization Answer: B. an Australian teacher Question: Earth Day is on April 22nd. People say thanks to the Earth and learn ways to keep the Earth safe and clean. But saving the Earth is not just for grow-ups. Kids are also taking an active part in it. The American writer and filmmaker Lynne made a film called Young Voices for the Planet. It lists a lot of stories about different kids who help to keep our environment clean. Team Marine, US A group of students at Santa Monica High School started an organization called Team Marine. They tell people why plastic bags are bad for sea animals and environment. In 2011, they successfully made lawmakers in their city stop people using plastic bags. Felix, 15 Germany In 2007, a 9-year-old boy, Felix, started a club. Plant for the Planet . It encourages children around the world to plant trees in their own countries. Felix helped plant 25 million trees in Germany and 120 million trees worldwide. Alec, 17, us When he was 12, Alec set up Kids VS Global Warming. It teaches kids about weather change and ways to stop the world getting warmer and warmer. Alec travels widely to encourage people to help stop global warming. He has given more than 70 talks across the country. Olivia, 13, US When Olivia was 11, she heard about the 2010 oil spill in gulf of Mexico. She painted 500 pictures of birds to raise money for the clean-up. She raised more than $200,000 to protect birds and other wild animals. The passage is mainly talk about how _ . A. parents are planting trees B. kids are saving the Earth C. grow-ups are using plastics bags D. students are raising money Answer: B. kids are saving the Earth Question: Until I was twelve years old, I thought everyone in the world knew about the grinnies, if I thought about the term at all -- which is unlikely. After all, everyone in my family used the word quite naturally, and we understood each other. So far as I knew, it was a word like any other word -- like bath, orchocolate, orhomework. But it was my homework which led to my discovery thatgrinnieswas a word not known outside my family. My last report card had said that I was a "C" student in English, and my parents, both teachers, decided that no child of theirs would be just an average student of anything. So nightly I spelled words aloud and answered questions about the fine points of grammar. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote every composition until I convinced my mother that I could make no more improvements. And the hard work paid off. One day the teacher returned compositions, and there it was -- a big fat, bright red "A" on the top of my paper. Naturally, I was delighted, but I didn't know I was attracting attention until the teacher spoke sharply, "Helen, what are you doing?" Called suddenly out of my happy thoughts, I said "Oh, I've got the grinnies!" The teacher and my classmates burst into laughter, and then I understood that grinnies were used inside my family. Other people were not so lucky. And it is really lucky to have the grinnies, an uncontrollable, natural state of great pleasure. Grinnies are shown on the outside by sparkling eyes and a wide, wide smile -- not just any smile, but one that shows the teeth and stretches the mouth to its limits. A person experiencing the grinnies appears to be all mouth. On the inside grinnies are characterized by a feeling of joyful anxiety. Grinnies usually last just a few seconds, but they can come and go. Sometimes, when life seems just perfect, I have occasional attacks of the grinnies for a whole day. The term originated in my mother's family. Her younger sister, Rose, who had deep dimples , often expressed her pleasure with such a grin that the dimples appeared to become permanent. When Rose was about four, she started explaining her funny look by saying, "I have the grinnies". The term caught on, and it has been an important word in our family now for two generations. The occasion doesn't matter. Anything can bring on the grinnies -- just so long as one feels great delight. When my brother finally rode his bicycle -- without training wheels -- from our house to the corner and back, he came home with the grinnies. When I was little, my mother's announcement that we would have homemade ice cream for dessert always gave me the grinnies. My father had the grinnies when I was chosen to make a speech at the end-of-school-year ceremony. Grinnies can be brought on by a good meal, a sense of pride, a new friend, a telephone call from someone special, an achievement. Or sometimes one gets the grinnies for no reason at all: just a sudden sense of happiness can bring on a case. Whatever brings them on, an attack of the grinnies is among life's greatest pleasures. In fact, now that I look back on the experience, I feel sorry for my seventh-grade teacher. I think it's a pity that she didn't know the word grinnies. It's such a useful term for saying, "I'm really, really pleased!" What method does the writer use to explain "grinnies"? A. Cause and effect. B. Examples. C. Comparison and contrast. D. Process. Answer: B. Examples. Question: Some people have very good memory and they can easily remember quite long texts. There are other people who can only remember things when they have said them again and again. The famous English writer Charles Dickens said that he could walk down any long street in London and then tell you the name of every shop he had passed. Many great men of the world have a wonderful memory. A good memory is greatly helpful in learning a language. Everybody learns his own language by remembering what he hears when he is a small child, and some children, like the boys and girls who live abroad with their parents, seem to learn two languages almost as easily as one. In school it is not so easy to learn a second language because the students have so little time for it, and they are very busy with other subjects too. A man's mind is like a camera, but it takes photos not only of what we see but also of what we feel, hear, smell and taste. When we take a real photo with a camera, Some people have very good memory and they can easily remember quite long texts.In the same way, there is much work to be done before we can keep a picture forever in our minds. Memory is a diary, and we all carry it about us. We keep things we have experienced in this diary. Which of the following is true? A. Charles Dickens had a good memory because he was a famous writer. B. People without a good memory cannot be great men of the world. C. People became great because they have a good memory. D. Many people may never become great though they have a good memory. Answer: D. Many people may never become great though they have a good memory. Question: I'm Jack, and I am a middle school student. Yesterday was the most exciting day in my life. I was on TV! This is my first time on TV. In the evening, Mum, Dad and I were watching a TV programme in the sitting room and there I was! This is how it happened. I was playing soccer in the park with my friends when a man and a woman came to us. The man had a camera. The woman had a microphone. "I'm from Channel 9," she said. "Do you know the programme Kid's Speak Out?" I did know it. I watched it often. It's a weekly programme where kids say what they think about different things. "Would you like to be on it?" the woman asked me. I wanted to be on it and I thought my friends might also want to be on it, so I asked, "Can my friends be on it too?" "Sorry, only one of you can," the woman said. "You can talk about it and decide which of you is going to be on the programme." I asked my friends if they wanted to be on the programme. They didn't, so I went on it. The woman asked me a lot of questions. I thought carefully and tried to give _ answers. When she finished, she said I was one of the best kids she'd spoken to! I felt very proud of myself. My mum and dad were proud of me too! What can we know about Jack from the passage? A. Jack's parents were proud of him. B. Jack was the top student at school. C. Jack was afraid to be on the programme. D. Jack never watched the programme Kid's Speak Out. Answer: A. Jack's parents were proud of him.
Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars. Room 1 The celebrity footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities' choice of footwear extremely interesting. Room 2 Most of our visitors are amazed--and shocked--by the collection of "special purpose" shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much! Room 3 As well as shoes and boots, the museum also exhibits shoeshaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that resembles a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that look like legs! The Footwear Library People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear. Which of the following is true according to the text? The old man walked slowly into the restaurant. With head tilted, and shoulders bent forward he leaned on his trusty stick with each unhurried step. His torn cloth jacket, patched trousers, worn out shoes, and warm personality made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. He stopped, turned with his whole body, and winked at a little girl seated by the door. She flashed a big smile right back at him. A young waitress named Mary watched him walk toward a table by the window. She ran over to him, and said, "Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair." She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she moved the table up close to him, and leaned his stick against the table where he could reach it. In a soft, clear voice he said, "Thank you, Miss. And bless you for your kind gestures." "You're welcome, Sir." She replied. "And my name is Mary. I'll be back in a moment, and if you need anything at all in the mean time, just wave at me!" After he had finished a hearty meal, Mary brought him the change from his ticket. He left it on the table. She helped him and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, "Come back and see us, Sir!" He turned and nodded a thank-you. "You are very kind." he said softly, smiling. When Mary went to clean his table, she almost fainted. Under his plate she found a business card, and a note scribbled on a napkin. Under the napkin was a one-hundred-dollar bill. The note on the napkin read, "Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you." The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees had ever seen him in person. It can be inferred that the old man went to the restaurant to _ . Picture the scene: the battery on your mobile phone has run out. You can't make any calls for help and no one can contact you. You are all alone - well, not quite. Just reach into your pocket and take out a piece of sugar.Put it into the battery, wait a minute, and you're back on the phone. Thanks to a couple of American scientists, this situation could become real.Swadesh Chaudhuri and Derek Lovely have invented the "bacteria battery" - powered by bacteria that eats sugar and turns it into electricity. "This is a special organism," Lovely said."You ean harvest enough electricity to power a cell phone battery for about four days from a spoonful of sugar." In the past, bacteria batteries have been expensive and not long-lasting. But this battery uses more efficient bacteria that can turn 80 percent of sugar into electrical energy. This is 30 percent more than similar batteries can manage. The bacteria battery could become as small as a household battery. It's also cheap and stable, as sugar can be taken from waste and crops. But the sugar to electricity process is slow: it could take weeks for the bacteria to digest a cup of sugar.And it produces "greenhouse" gases which pollute the environment. The scientists understand there is a lot more work to be done. "It is still young," said Lovely."Where we are now is where solar power was 20 0r 30 years ago." But he believes the battery could be used in scientific equipment at the bottom of the ocean.Other ideas include using sugar in the blood to run medical devices in the human body, and taking sugar from animal waste to provide energy to power homes in rural areas. Which of the following is not the strong point of the newly-developed battery? We like to think our intelligence is self-made; it happens inside our heads, the product of our inner thoughts alone. But the rise of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools has made many people question the impact of these technologies on our brains. Is typing in "Who has played James Bond in the movies?" the same as our knowledge about the names like Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig? Can we say we know the answer as long as we know how to rapidly get the information on Google? Here the question is about how we define intelligence itself. The answer appears to be interesting, because the evidence from psychological studies suggests that much of our intelligence comes from how we coordinate ourselves with other people and our environment. An influential theory among psychologists is that we're cognitive misers . This is the idea that we are unwilling to do mental work unless we have to. We try to avoid thinking things fully when a short cut is available. If you've ever voted for the presidential candidate with the most honest smile, or chosen a restaurant based on how many people are already sitting in there, then you are a cognitive miser. The theory explains why we'd much rather type a zip code into Google Maps than memorize and recall the location of a place - it's so much easier to do so. Research shows that people don't tend to rely on their memories for things they can easily access. Buildings can somehow disappear from pictures we're looking at, or the people we're talking to can be changed with someone else, and often we won't notice - a phenomenon called "change blindness". This isn't an example of human stupidity - far from it, in fact - this is an example of mental efficiency. The mind relies on the world as a better record than memory. Philosophers have suggested that thinking is really happening in the environment as much as it is happening in our brains. The philosopher Andy Clark called humans "natural born cyborgs ", those naturally capable of absorbing and combining new tools, ideas and abilities. In Clark's view, the route to a solution is not the issue - having the right tools really does mean you know the answers, just as much as already knowing the answer. Rather than being forced to rely on our own resources for everything, we can share our knowledge. Technology keeps track of things for us so we don't have to, while large systems of knowledge serve the needs of society as a whole. I don't know how a computer works, or how to grow vegetables, but that knowledge is out there and I can get to benefit. The internet provides even more potential to share this knowledge. Wikipedia is one of the best examples - an increasingly large database of knowledge from which everyone can benefit. So as well as having a physical environment - like the rooms or buildings we live or work in - we also have a mental environment, which means that when I ask you where your mind is, you shouldn't point toward the centre of your forehead. As research shows, our minds are made up just as much by the people and tools around us as they are by the brain cells inside our skull. What is the writer's attitude towards the rise of technologies like Google and Wikipedia? TOKYO, JAPAN--What do you do when you see a cockroach ? Do you hit it with a newspaper? Do you step on it? When researchers at Tokyo University see a cockroach, they take the remote control and make the cockroach turn around, run left or right, or go forward. These scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots. Each cockroach has a very small pack that has in it a microprocessor .Then researchers can send signals from the remote control to the pack. The signals control the movements of the cockroaches. Why does anyone want to control a cockroach? "Insects can do many things that people can't," says Isao Shimoyama, head of robot research at Tokyo University. In a few years, he says, these robot insects will carry very small cameras. They will be able to move through earthquake rubble to look for people or move under doors to find information about someone. This may seem strange, but the Japanese government thinks the research is very important. The government is giving the scientists $ 5 million for this research. First, the researchers breed hundreds of cockroaches. They use only the American cockroach because it is bigger and stronger than other cockroaches. Then they choose the best cockroaches and remove their wings and antennae . They put small packs where the antennae were. The packs weigh about three grams, or about two times the weight of the cockroaches themselves. "Cockroaches are very strong," says Ralph Holzer, who is a researcher at Tokyo University. "They can lift 20 times their own weight. " With a remote control, the scientists send signals to the packs. When a cockroach gets the signal, it moves. The problem is that the cockroaches don't always move in the right direction. The scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots because _ .
Rosa Parks was an African-American woman who began the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus . She what she believed was right , and her courage inspired countless others to do the same. Born in Alabama in 1913 , Mrs. Parks grew up on a farm just outside Montgomery in a town called Pine Level . She was home-schooled until she was 11. She later attended the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery. She briefly attended the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes , but had to drop out to take care of her mother and grandmother when they became ill. Mrs. Parks married Raymond Parks in 1932 . He encouraged her to finish her education . This was very uncommon at that time , especially for a woman. Less than 7 percent of African-Americans studied in a high school in the 1930s. Mrs. Parks also succeeded in gaining the right to vote, which was very difficult for blacks under the segregation laws( ) . In 1943, she began working as a secretary for the NAACP----National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Mrs. Parks made her historic decision on December 1,1955. She recalled in her autobiography : "When the driver saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said , ' No, I'm not.' Then he said , ' Well , if you don't stand up , I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested .' I said , ' You may do that.'" Mrs. Parks died on October 24,2005. " She sat down in order that we might stand up," said civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson. " Her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom." Rosa Parks didn't give up her seat to a white person because _ . Answer: she wanted to be treated equally Wind is a resource we can renew because there is an Answer: endless supply The League of High Schools is pleased to invite student freethinkers to our 2007 Student Leadership Meeting July 15 -17 at our office building in Manhattan, New York. This yearly meeting has been successfully held for the past three years. The event brings together student activists from around North America for a busy weekend of workshops, networking, lectures, and a lot of fun. We encourage every school to send at least one representative (if not more) and we are keeping the costs down to help make this possible. Any individual * student activists who are interested are also welcome to attend. Registration ,rd5m and food for the entire three day event will cost only $ 39 for each student. We' ve booked you single rooms at Travelodge, New York. For any information about the hotel, please call 88643911. This time we are making a special offer providing some money for travelling to make sure each group can send a representative even if it lacks the money to do so. Email Anna Porter at apor- ter@ leaguehighschool. net or call 46935040 to get more information about this travel support. The registration form can be found at http://www. freethought. org/SLM2007. pdf. For more information about registration you may call Lucy Becker at 36904560 or email her at lbecker @ IeaguehighschooL net. So don't wait! Send in your registration.' The main purpose of this passage is to _ . Answer: invite students to a meeting When is fog most likely to occur Answer: midnight Kunming is the capital of Yunnan. It's a city with a long history. Kunming has a population of more than 5,000,000. Though the weather in Yunnan changes from place to place, Kunming is famous for her beautiful weather. It's neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter. That's why more and more people like to travel and even to live there. You can see that great changes have taken place here. A lot of tall buildings, cinemas and hospitals have been put up. You can cross the streets over footbridges in the city. You can buy whatever you want in shops and supermarkets in or around the city. People's lives are becoming better and better. At weekend or on holiday, people like to relax themselves in different places and in different ways. In winter, people especially old people would like to climb the Western Hills. From the top of Hills, you can have a good look at the beautiful scenery of Kunming. Far away from the Hills, you can enjoy the Sleeping Beauty among the Hills. After supper, families take a walk along the bank of Dianchi Lake. The Golden Temple and EXPO Garden are two famous places of interest in the north of the city. EXPO Garden is known to people both at home and abroad. You can spend a whole day visiting the world-famous garden. A little farther away from the southeast of the city, a special forest welcomes you. It is not a tree forest, but a stone forest. So it is called the Stone Forest. People in Kunming are really friendly. They often invite their friends home to try delicious food, like rice or noodles. If you want to know more about Kunming and taste her food, please visit her yourself. The writer of this passage wants to _ . Answer: invite tourists to Kunming
When something becomes fashionable very quickly , we say that it's a "craze". The latest craze is sometimes a style of clothes or a hairstyle. Sometimes it is a game or a TV programme. In the 20thcentury a lot of crazes started in the USA and then became popular in the USA andthen became popular in other parts of the world. American youth culture has spread through tourism , TV , films, magazines and music videos. One of the biggest crazes was the hula hoop . Hula hoops are not popular now, but in the1950s they were a _ . An American company called Wham-O started to make plastic hoops toys, and in the USA the company sold 100 million hoops in a year. Frisbees were another Wham-O product . Some people say that the idea started in the factory of the Frisbee Baking Company in Connecticut. Workers there threw metal pans to each other during their breaks. Two businessmen made a plastic type of the flying pans, and sold their products to Wham-O. They became a big business. So businesses usually help to produce a craze. Yoyos were another example. In the Philippines, where its name means "comeback", the yoyo was a popular toy in the 1920s. But it didn't become a global craze until an American called Donald Duncan bought the idea and sold it to the world. Around 100 million people bought yoyos in 1962 and 1963. Most crazes come and go, but sometimes they survive. When the big skateboard started in California in 1965, many parents and governments said that the boards were dangerous, and they were not allowed in some areas. But the boards became popular again and they are still an important part of youth culture today. Which of the following can be chosen as the best title of the passage ? Answer: Camp memories last forever! We make sure they are unforgettable! Shadow Ridge Summer Camps offer so many exciting things for campers to do. Unlike other camp programs that include horses as a small part of their program, at Shadow Ridge horses are the program! We are 100% horse from stable management, nature walks, and track rides to bedroom furnishings. Horses help us achieve many of our aims. Girls can learn to develop responsibility, self-confidence and personal connections in their lives while having fun. Using horses as a wonderful tool for education, our camps offer an interesting place for growth and learning. Imagine each girl having her own horse to spend time with and a best friend to love and take care of. Each camper is responsible for a horse for a week. Our riding program provides a lot of riding and lesson time. Campers will learn how to take care of the horse and the track , as well as how to ride. Days are filled with horse-related activities to strengthen the connection between each girl and horse, as the girls learn to work safely around the horses. At Shadow Ridge we try to create a loving, caring family atmosphere for our campers. We have "The Bunkhouse" (4 girls), "the Wrangle Roost" (4 girls), and "The Hideout" (2 girls) in our comfortable 177-year-old farm house. All meals are home cooked, offering delicious and healthy food for the hungry rider. Our excellent activities create personalized memories of your child's vacation. Each child will receive a camp T-shirt and a photo album (usually 300 - 500 pictures) of their stay at camp. Our camps are offered during June, July and August 2007, for small groups of girls aged 13 -16 years, not only from Canada but also other parts of the world. We will send you full program description at your request. What's the main purpose of the passage? Answer: Dear Mr Rupp, The day I met you was the first day of high school. We liked each other immediately. You gave me a lot of advice over the next four years, like how I should get my ass to Berkeley where I belonged. I'm still there, by the way. I wish you were still around, too. I remember your laugh, which would start with a rough guffaw and end with a hacking smoker's cough that would make even the most rebellious teenager swear to lay off the cigarettes. I remember the way you didn't lower your standards, yet still refused to give up on us. You were tough on us, and we were tough on you. Love is tough sometimes. The last time I wrote you a letter, it was 2005---four years after I graduated. I had just become a teacher, like you, and it had given me a new appreciation for the work you did with countless high school students over the years. It's hard to say what I'll miss the most about you. There are simply too many memories to sort through those four years, and it hurts to think you'll never read this letter. I want to believe that you knew how much you meant to your family, your students, your community, and your colleagues, but that would be a lot of realization to handle, even for you. You changed the lives of everyone around you. Even now, you are reminding me to cherish life and its brevity and beauty, and to tell the people I love how much they mean to me before it is too late. Dear teacher, dear mentor, and dear friend----I miss you and all that is about you. God bless you in Heaven. To infinity and beyond, Teresea When the author wrote this letter, her teacher--Mr Rupp was _ . Answer: When we think of paper, we think of newspapers and books. But there are many other uses. Only half of the world's paper is used for books and newspapers. Paper is very good for keeping you warm. You have perhaps seen homeless men asleep on a large number of newspapers. In Finland, it is sometimes - 40degC in winter. The farmers wear paper boots in the snow. Nothing could be warmer. Each year, more and more things are made of paper. We have had paper cups and plates for a long time. But now we hear that chairs, tables, and even beds can be made of paper. With paper boots and shoes, you can also wear paper hats, paper dresses, and paper raincoats. When you have used them once, you throw them away and buy new ones. The latest use of paper seems to be paper houses. These are not small houses for children to play in, but real, big houses for people to live in. You can buy a house with three rooms for about 500 dollars. You can put it up by yourself in a few hours, and you can use it for about five years. After you use a paper raincoat, you may _ . Answer: Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milky Way? While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach the place that we are going to. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut-eye. They would have to sleep for years. European researchers are now doing hibernation experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a space flight to distant planets. "If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel come true," said Mark Ayer of the European Space Agency last month. What seems like science fiction is not completely impossible. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state where they don't age. They have now moved on to small, non-hibernating mammals like rats. The results will be out soon. A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, but body organs are far more complex . "It's like moving from a simple Apple computer to a supercomputer," said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy's University of Pavia. Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person's metabolism to lower so they would need less energy. Medical research, however, is just half of a space flight hibernation system. There is the challenge of designing a suitable protective place to live. Such a place would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature. It would also have to monitor life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator. According to Ayer, the six-person Human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to Jupiter's moon Callisto, could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six humans on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045. , . In a hibernating situation, a person needs _ . Answer:
Russia is on the north of China. It is bigger than other countries .How much do you know about it ? Let's talk about something about its capital ----- Moscow . There is a famous square called Red Square in Moscow .It is the centre of Moscow .Is the square red? Why is it called Red Square ? Red has another meaning ---- beautiful . So " Red Square " means a beautiful square .As we all know ,there is a palace to the north of Tian'anmen Square .And there's a palace beside Red Square , too . Now , it is the offfice for the Russian government . A High bell tower stands in the palace . There is a shining red star on the top of the tower . ,, . (1,5) The _ on the top of the tower is red . A star B plane C clock D bell Answer: A "Look, my mum's in hospital, dying, she won't survive the night, I'm going to miss the connection to Leeds at Peterborough, I'd be grateful if you'd leave me alone.Okay?" "Okay," he said, finally getting up."Sorry to hear that, son.Hope you make it home in time." Then he left. Ten minutes later, he was back.Oh no, I thought, "here we go again".This time I really want to rag him down the train. He touched my arm."Listen, when we get to Peterborough, shoot straight over to Platform One as quick as you like.The Leeds train'll be there." I said, stupidly, "What do you mean? Is it late, or something?" "No, it isn't late," he said."No, I've just radioed Peterborough.They're going to hold the train up for you.As soon as you get on, it goes." " Everyone will be complaining about how late it is, but let' s not worry about that on this occasion.You'll get home and that's the main thing.Good luck and God bless. Then he was off down the train again. I chased him down the train.I wanted to give him all the things I had, but I knew he would be offended. I caught him up and grabbed his arm."Oh, er, I just wanted to..." I was suddenly speechless."I, if erm... "It's okay," he said."Not a problem. " I wish I had some way to thank you," I said." I appreciate what you've done." "Not a problem," he said again."If you feel the need to thank me, the next time you see someone in trouble, you help them out.That will pay me back enough.Tell them to pay you back the same way and soon the world will be a better place." I was at my mother's side when she died in the early hours of the morning. How should the author pay the conductor back, according to the conductor? A The author should do nothing and take it for granted. B The author should give him everything he has. C The author can help them out when seeing someone in trouble. D The author should appreciate what the conductor did forever. Answer: C It was Christmas, and there was a big party in the house. Guests came and went, but the party went on. Then the bell rang. Several people shouted, "Come in!"and a small man opened the front door and came in. Nobody knew him. But the host went to meet him, and took him to the bar for a drink. The man sat there happily for an hour and a half and drank.Then suddenly he stopped and looked at the host. "Do you know," he said, "nobody invited me to this party. I don't know you, 'I don't know your wife, and I don't know any of your guests. My wife and I wanted to go out in our car, but one of your guests' cars was in front of our gate, so I came here to find him and my wife is waiting in our car for me to come back. How long did the small man stay at the party ? A For an hour . B For half an hour . C For 90 minutes . D For a while Answer: C House owns his home in City. On the lawn in front of his home and within five feet of the public sidewalk there was a large tree. The roots of the tree caused the sidewalk to buckle severely and become dangerous. An ordinance of City requires adjacent landowners to keep sidewalks in safe condition. House engaged Contractor to repair the sidewalk, leaving it to Contractor to decide how the repair should be made. Contractor dug up the sidewalk, cut back the roots of the tree, and laid a new sidewalk. Two days after House had paid Contractor the agreed price of the repair, the tree fell over onto the street and damaged a parked car belonging to Driver. Driver has asserted claims against House and Contractor, and both defendants admit that cutting the roots caused the tree to fall.In the claim of Driver against Contractor, the best defense of Contractor is that A the tree was on the property of House. B he repaired the sidewalk at the direction of House. C he could not reasonably foresee that the tree would fall. D he was relieved of liability when House paid for the repair Answer: C Without going to a movie festival, where can you find famous stars like American actor Johnny Depp and Chinese kung fu star Jachie Chan all in the same place? Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is the place to be. Now you can find all your stars in Beijing! It opened its doors on May31 on Qianmen Street. French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud set up the first Madame Tussauds in London, UK over 200 years ago. It shows waxworks of many famous people.There are 16 Madame Tussauds in many big cities around the world, such as New York, Tokyo and Sydney. The newly opened Beijing museum is the fourth Madame Tussauds in China, following Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wuhan. What's there in Beijing's Madame Tussauds? Let's take a look right now! Visit well-known film scenes Inside Madame Tussauds, you can see scenes of certain films. One of the most popular scenes is one from the 1961 US film Breakfast at Tiffany's (<<>> ). It is about Audrey Hepburn having her breakfast at Tiffany's. You can sit beside her and take a photo with her. Find famous people You can meet famous people from different fields , for example, American singer Michael Jackson, Chinese basketball player Yao Ming and American businessman Steve Jobs. US President Barack Obama is also here to meet you. You can even sit on his chair in his office. Learn about how to make wax figures There is a special area in Madame Tussauds to help you learn more about the life of Marie Tussaud. Also, you can see everything from how to measure a person to finishing a wax figure. It takes nearly four months to finish a figure. Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Beijing is the _ one opened in China. A first B second C third D fourth Answer: D
One evening two young men were walking in the street together. They tried to find a chance to steal something. The clock struck twelve. Most of the people went to bed. Quickly they came to a house and it seemed that everyone in the house had fallen asleep. Standing at the front gate, one said in English to the other in a low voice, "You wait here. I'll go around to the back door and then get into the house. "Suddenly out of the house ran a dog, barking at them. The two men were very frightened and ran away as fast as they could. Finally, they stopped at a lonely place. The man said breathlessly, "It's too bad. I hadn't expected that the dog could understand English. " At last the two young men _ Liverpool Discover the best music, sport, culture ... in the UK Liverpool MUSIC The Beatles Story The world-famous 1960s music group came from Liverpool. Find out about The Beatles at the Beatles Story. Open every day except Dec. 25th and 26th. Adult:PS15.95 Child:PS7.00 Child under five: Free Liverpool SPORT Liverpool FC This city loves football. Visit Anfield football stadium, home of Liverpool FC, Liverpool's favorite football club, and take a tour. Closed on weekends. Adult:PS15.00 Child:PS9.00 Child under five: Free Liverpool MUSEUM The Museum of Liverpool Learn all about the history and culture of Liverpool. Open daily 10:00 a.m. -- 5:00 p.m. Free! Liverpool SHOPPING Liverpool ONE Find the best shopping in the center of Liverpool at Liverpool ONE, a big shopping center. Opened in 2008. More than 160 shops, restaurants and cinemas. , How long is the Museum of Liverpool open every day? Paris in the springtime was, is and always will be, something rather special. Why not experience it for yourself with this excellent break for four days? This attractive city has something to offer to everyone and with prices at just PS129. Your break begins with comfortable bus transfer from local pick-up points and travel to Paris is via cross-channel ferry, arriving at your hotel in the evening. The Ibis is an excellent quality hotel with private equipments in all rooms: satellite TV, radio, telephone and alarm clock. It has a bar and restaurant and is situated about two miles south of Notre Dame enabling you to explore Paris with ease. The following day, after continental breakfast (included), the bus takes you on a comprehensive sightseeing tour of the city, during which you will see the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, L'Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, in fact almost every famous landmark you have ever heard of. You then leave Paris and take a short drive to the magnificent Palace of Versailles, the home of Louis XIV. The tour ends mid-afternoon back in Paris where you will have the remainder of the day at your leisure. In the evening there is a "Paris by Night" tour showing you the beautiful buildings with bright lights. Day three takes you to Montmarter, perhaps the most attractive quarter of Paris and home of the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. In the afternoon you are free to explore this beautiful city as you wish, perhaps a pleasure voyage on the River Seine, wander around the beautiful gardens or look among the antique shops . In the evening you will have the opportunity to visit the best nightclub in the city, the splendid Paradis Latain. On the final day it's back to the UK via channel ferry. Included in the price of PS129 per person : Return comfortable bus travel to Paris Return ferry crossings 3 nights housing in a twin bedded room in a Central Paris hotel with private facilities Continental breakfast during your stay Guided sightseeing tour of "Paris by Day" and Paris by Night" Visit to the Chateau of Versailles (admission not included ) Tour around Montmartre Services of experienced bi-lingual tour guide at all times 65. During the stay in Paris , the tourists will_. Last week I visited my friend Pete in the new home where he lives with his wife and daughter. Pete used to spend his holidays travelling the world, visiting the pyramids in Egypt or scuba diving in the Caribbean. Nowadays he prefers to spend his holidays and weekends making his house look more beautiful. Like hundreds of thousands of other British people, he has discovered the joy of DIY (Do It Yourself), which means if there are any things that need fixing around the house, he will try to do the job himself. As he showed me the new kitchen he put together by himself and the newly painted walls, I asked Pete where he got his inspiration from. He told me that his favorite source of ideas was a DIY program on TV. This got me thinking about the great popularity of DIY programs in the UK. Each major channel has at least one home or garden improving show and there's even a satellite channel completely about the subject. I guess it is not really surprising that DIY programs are so popular. Two common sayings in Britain- 'an Englishman's home is his castle' and 'there's no place like home'-show how important our houses are to us. With the present economic downturn, many people can't afford to buy a bigger house so they are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. DIY is the perfect choice. But be careful! I read a report that said over 230,000 people were injured while doing home improvements in the UK in just one year, including 41,000 who fell off ladders and 5,800 who were seriously hurt by hammers. So I won't be going down to the hardware store. At the end of the article the writer wants us to remember _ . A. You and Me, Baby Reading level: Baby - Grade 1 Hardcover: 40 pages Language: English List Price: $15.95 Price: $12.44 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. You Save: $3.51 (22%) Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon. com. Gift - wrap available. Only 4 left in stock-order soon(more on the way). Want it delivered Thursday, September 27. B. Ruff! Ruff! Where's Scruff? Reading level: Baby - Preschool Hardcover: 16 pages Language: English Price: $11.16 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Availability: In Stock. Sold by Amazon. com. Gift - wrap available. Want it delivered Thursday, September 2. Book Description: It's bath time for Scruff. But does anyone know where he's hiding? Have the cows seen him? Moo - no !How about the pigs? Oink - no ! Looking for that dog is just too tough! But not for toddlers. If they look carefully, they'll find Scruff hiding on every pop - up page ! C. The Giving Tree Reading level: Ages 4 - 8 Hardcover: 64 pages Language: English Price: $11.55 Availability: Sold all year round and choose One - Day Shipping at checkout. Book Description: Once there was a tree... and she loved a little boy. Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her think... and the tree was happy. D. Where the Wild Things Are Reading level: Ages 6 - 10 Hardcover comic: 62 pages Language: English List Price: $16.95 Price: $11.53 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $ 25. You Save: $5.42(32%) Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon. com. Gift - wrap available. Want it delivered Thursday, September 12. Order it at once, and choose One - Day Shipping at checkout. Little Tom who likes to read picture books with a hide - and - seek adventure, will be likely to buy _ .
People may use the expression"birdbrain"in English to talk about someone who is stupid,but crows prove that this is unfair.Now it has been discovered that crows may understand analogies . It was once thought that only humans could understand analogies,which help us to solve problems creatively,put things into categories,and make scientific discoveries. To test this ability in animals,scientists do"relational matching-to-sample"(RMTS) tests,according to the IFL Science website.If a pair was AA,for example,then picking BB to match it would be correct.If the pair was CD,however,then EF would be correct. Apes and monkeys have learned RMTS,but scientists wanted to know if crows could do it,too.An international team led by Edward Wasserman from the University of Iowa in the US first trained two hooded crows to match things by color1,shape,and number in what is called"identity matching-to-sample(IMTS)",then moved onto RMTS. For the IMTS test,the birds were put in a cage with a plastic tray that had three cards and two cups in it.The card in the middle was the sample card.The cups on either side were covered with the other two cards:One was the same as the sample (in the color1,shape,or number of shapes pictured),while the other wasn't.The cup with the card that matched the sample card contained two wormsto eat. In the second part of the experiment,the birds were tested with relational matching pairs.A card with two same-sized circles,for example,meant they should pick the test card with two same-sized squares and not two different-sized circles.The birds did well in the more difficult test and picked the correct card more than three quarters of the time,Science News reports. Wasserman was surprised that crows were able to solve the problem without any training in RMTS."What the crows have done is extraordinary,"he said in a news release."Honestly,if it was only by force that the crows showed this learning,then it would have been an impressive result.But this was spontaneous." So perhaps it's time to stop saying"birdbrain"permanently! In the RMTS test,if the birds were given the sample card with two same-sized triangles,they had to pick the test card with . Answer: A person thinks they see a UFO. They look closely, but the object becomes hard to see in the night sky as Answer: If you ask some people, "How did you learn English so well?" you may get a surprising answer: "In my sleep!" These are people who have taken part in one of the recent experiments to test "the learn while you sleep" method , which is now being tried in several countries, and with several subjects. English is among them. Scientists say that this sleep study method greatly speeds language learning. They say that the ordinary person can learn two or three times as much during sleep as in the same period during the day--and this does not affect his rest in any way. However, sleep teaching will only put into your head what you have studied already while you are awake. In one experiment, ten lessons were broadcast over the radio for two weeks. Each lesson lasted twelve hours -- from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The first three hours of English grammar and vocabulary were given with the students awake. At 11 p.m. a lullaby was broadcast to send the student to sleep and for the next three hours the radio in a soft and low voice broadcast the lesson again into his sleeping ears. At 2 a.m. a sharp noise was sent over the radio to wake the sleeping student up for a few minutes to go over the lesson. The soft music sent him back to rest again while the radio went on. At 5 o'clock his sleep ended and he had to go through the lesson again for three hours before breakfast. In the experiment, lessons were given _ . Answer: farmer had a faithful horse which had grown old and could do no more work, so his master no longer wanted to give him anything to eat and said, "I can certainly make no more use of you, but if you prove yourself still strong enough to bring me a lion here, I will keep you. " And with that he chased him into the open field. The horse was sad. There the fox met him and said, "Why do you hang your head, and go about all alone?" "Alas," replied the horse, " My master has forgotten what services I have done for him for so many years, and because I can no longer plow well, he will give me no more food, and has driven me out. " " Without giving you a chance?" asked the fox. " The chance was a bad one. He said , if I were still strong enough to bring him a lion , he would keep me , but he knows that I cannot do that. " The fox said, "I will help you. Just lie down, _ as if you were dead. " The horse did as the fox asked, and then the fox went to the lion, and said, "A dead horse is lying out there. Just come with me, and you can have a rich meal. " The lion went with him, and when they were both standing by the horse, the fox said, "After all, it is not very comfortable for you here--l tell you what--l will fasten it to you by the tail, and then you can pull it into your cave and eat it in peace. " The advice pleased the lion. He positioned himself in order that the fox might tie the horse fast to him, and he kept completely quiet. But the fox tied the lion's legs together with the horse's tail. When he had finished his work , he tapped the horse on the shoulder and said, "Pull, white horse, pull! " Then up sprang the horse at once, and pulled the lion away with him. The lion began to roar so that all the birds in the forest flew up in fear, but the horse let him roar, and drew him and pulled him across the field to his master's door. When the master saw the lion, he was moved, and said to the horse, " You shall stay with me and I will treat you well. " And he gave him plenty to eat until he died. ,. What do we know about the horse? Answer: They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks. "It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy." said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year. While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis' green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997. "It's better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train," said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. "It feels so free." " _ ," said another traveler. In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. "I like my passengers to feel important," he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi. Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India's backward past. Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city's road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment. Why are rickshaws no longer as widely used in India as in the past? Answer:
The rising sea waters caused by global warming have inspired a Russian architect to design a hotel that could be built on water as well as land.The eco-friendly "Ark" could be constructed in just a few months anywhere in the world, the designer says. It's called "The Ark",but looks more like a ship sitting upside down on the water.A new design by Russian architect A1exander Remizov challenges the tradition of land-based hotel and would provide a shelter in the future--should the world face a modern-day flood as described in the Bible. The building of the hotel could be fast and simple."Prefabricated section could be put together in three to four months," Remizov said. The versatile structure could be constructed in most corners of the earth, even in earthquake-prone areas.Constructing "The Ark"--which would include 14 000 square meters of living space---would cost roughly the same as building an energy-efficient house. The self-supporting structure would be built around a central post, connecting wind generators and heat pumps on its roof with the basement,where solar,wind,and thermal energy could be stored and turned into electricity. Remizov has designed the building without glass,choosing instead the lasting and self-cleaning foil that could defend itself against rough weather conditions.That foil would be fastened to metals,which would also collect rainwater.The building would also feature an indoor jungle, creating its microclimate. What's the purpose of designing "The Ark,?" Answer: To secure people from flood. A 13-year-old Shenzhen girl has written a novel about life in junior high school, and the book is expected to hit the city's bookshelves in June, the Shenzhen Economic Dailyreported on Thursday. "A Fresh Summer Day," a 180,000-character novel which Zhao Yue completed writing in three months, is in fact Zhao's second published book. Her first book, "A Better Present," is a collection of the articles she wrote when she was still a primary school student. Zhao is a Junior One student of a middle school in Longgang District. She started writing the novel after her first book was published. "I was very much motivated to write a new book when I saw many of my schoolmates reading my first book," said Zhao. She added that she wrote most of the novel at night, sometimes until the early hours of the morning. "I attended school as usual during the three months of writing. I felt all right every day even though I slept for only four hours a day," said the girl. "A Fresh Summer Day" is about puppy love between two junior high school students, which is becoming very common among young children, the paper said. AShenzhen Economic Daily reporter who read the draft of Zhao's story said the plot develops smoothly and naturally, while the descriptions of the characters' feelings are true. Zhao said the story was based on interviews she carried with some of her fellow students, "I myself don't have such a story to tell yet." Zhao has loved writing since early childhood. When Zhao Yue wrote the second novel, she _ . Answer: stayed up for three months Today I find myself in one of the safest cities in the world, Singapore. But the truth is, even here in Singapore, security cannot be taken for granted. It is a small nation that has no natural resources to speak of, even something as basic as water is constantly threatened to be cut off by Malaysia. Months after the September 11thattacks on US oil, a plot to bomb American soldiers near their military base in Singapore was uncovered by the local authorities. The United Nations has tried for more than half a century to architect peace for the world. But it has clearly failed. The grand horrors of the World Wars may have stopped but only in the forms they had existed before. When the enemy is unseen and there are no front lines, have we in fact created a more peaceful and secure place? Where have we gone wrong? Perhaps it is because the international body has never understood that peace was, is, and will never be something it can manage. Not recognizing this truth, the methods it provides are often short-lived and some even dangerous. Solutions for threatening situations tend to require the countries to carry out economic and political reforms so that they will become idealized democratic society like America or Britain. The UN fails to consider that hundreds of years of evolution gave rise to these strong democracies. So the result is further chaos and corruption, worse for all. Actually, an international organization or a government cannot possess peace to give away, but there are those who do possess it. Those who own peace are us, as individuals who cherish life, not our own but all others'. The act of achieving peace lies in us when we choose to respect social and cultural differences and appreciate that all our lives are fragile. It can be inferred from the passage that _ . Answer: democracy is a long process In the old time, there was a man. He wanted to buy a pair of new shoes. Hemeasured his feet with a straw , and then went to a shoe shop in town. The man in the shop took out a pair of new shoes, and let him try it on. But when he looked into pocket, he found that the straw was not there. So he said, "I'm sorry. I forget to bring the size here! Let me go home to get it back." After that, he ran out of the shop. It was very far from his home to the shoe shop. When he got back home, he was very tired. With the straw in his hand, he went back to the shoe shop again .But the shop was closed . Someone near the man said, " Your feet are with you. Why did you not try which pair of shoes fitted your feet?" What do you think of the man? _ Answer: He was a fool . Tyler was a troublesome student. He sat in the back row. Every time I called him to answer questions, he'd reply with a flip answer. If he got it wrong, he would get very angry. Usually kids could sit quietly in class. However, Tyler was just loud. One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. I said to him, "Tyler, why not join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?" He got up from his chair, pushed it over, and shouted something I can't remember. I sent him to the office and he received a week's out-of-school punishment. The week was a wonderful time for me, but when it came to an end, I began to feel worried. So I came up with a plan. On the day of his return, I told him I wanted to start over with him. If he felt like he was going to lose control in class, he could step outside the door for a moment. From then on, Tyler was a changed student in my classroom. In fact he was a smart child and he even stopped a fight between two students one day. And he never used the privilege to leave the class for a moment. I believe that just letting him decide for himself made all the difference. When the year was over, he wrote me a thank-you note about how good the year had been for him. I still have it today and find it very moving to reread when I get stressed about teaching. The passage is mainly about _ . Answer: how Tyler changed to be a good student
Question: A student stands on a scale, and the scale reads 85 pounds. What is being measured by the scale? A. the force of gravity acting on the student B. the air pressure surrounding the student C. the mass of the student D. the volume of the student Answer: A. the force of gravity acting on the student Question: There are forty-seven different kinds of kangaroos . The smallest kangaroos are about a quarter of a meter long; the biggest are taller than a man. Kangaroos have very long strong back legs. These are used for jumping. They also have long strong tails used for resting on. Kangaroos' front legs are much shorter, and are almost like arms. Kangaroos' heads are quite small, but their ears are quite large. Mother kangaroos have a pocket at the front. They have one baby each year. When it is born, the baby kangaroo is straight into its mother's pocket. The baby kangaroos stay there for six months. The biggest kangaroos stand more than 2 meters tall, and their legs are so strong that they can jump more than 9 meters. They are very fast, and can travel at more than 50 kilometers an hour. They are very strong, but only eat fruit, leaves and grass. How large are the biggest kangaroos? A. Smaller than a man. B. Bigger than a man. C. The same size as a man. D. A quarter of a meter long. Answer: B. Bigger than a man. Question: For thousands of years comets have been a mystery to man. They travel across the sky very fast and have a bright "tail" of burning gas. The comet Tempel 1 has an orbit far outside the orbit of the furthest planet in our solar system, Pluto. It has been there for 4.6 billion years, 133 million kilometers from Earth. Last week a little American spacecraft crashed into Tempel 1. The spacecraft had a camera and it took a photograph of the comet every minute before it finally crashed into its surface. The space mission to Tempel 1 cost $335 million and was called Deep Impact. The spacecraft was travelling at 37,000 kilometers per hour when it hit the comet and the crash completely destroyed the spacecraft. But before it hit the comet, the spacecraft took some amazing photographs. The last one was a close-up picture which the spacecraft took just 3 seconds before it crashed into the comet. "Right now we have lost one spacecraft," said a delighted NASA engineer. Deep Impact was like a American Independence Day fireworks display. It took many years to plan and ended in an enormous explosion. The spacecraft which crashed into the comet was made of copper and was the size of a washing machine. It was dropped from a mothership into the path of the comet and the mothership then photographed the cloud of ice, dust and organic chemicals that rose from the surface of the comet after the crash. The crash completely destroyed the spacecraft but nothing really happened to the comet: experts believe that the crash slowed the comet down by no more than 1/10,000 of a millimeter a second.The aim of the mission was to study for the first time the _ of a comet.[:..] The mothership was 480 km from the explosion and observed the crash and the explosion with instruments for 800 seconds. Seven satellites, including the Hubble space telescope, watched the moment of drama, and over the next day and night about 50 telescopes on Earth were watching the distant comet. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? A. The name of the space mission is called Deep Impact. B. Deep Impact was a fantastic success but the scientist regretted losing a spaceship. C. The crash didn't have much effect on Tempel 1. D. The aim of the mission was to study the interior of a comet. Answer: B. Deep Impact was a fantastic success but the scientist regretted losing a spaceship. Question: Lester was walking in the street with two huge and heavy suitcases . A stranger walked up to him and asked ,"Have you got the time ?" Lester stopped , put down the suitcases and looked at his watch ."It' s five fifteen ,"he said . "Hey , what a nice watch !"said the stranger . Lester smiled a little and said ,"Yes , it' s not bad . Look at this ."Then he showed the stranger a time display for the 86 largest cities in the world . He hit a few buttons and a voice told the time in Chinese . Lester continued ,"Its voice can be set for different languages ." The stranger seemed very interested in the watch . "That' s not all ,"said Lester . He then pushed a few more buttons and a small map appeared on the watch ."The map can show where we are ,"explained Lester . "I want to buy this watch !"said the stranger . "Oh , no , I' m not selling it . I have spent nearly two years making it ,"said Lester . "I' ll give you $ 1,000 for it !" "Oh , no , I' ve already spent more than that ." "I' ll give you $ 5,000 for it !" Lester stopped to think . The stranger quickly gave him a check and said ,"$ 5,000 . Here it is ." Lester finally agreed to sell the watch . When the stranger was going to leave with the watch , Lester pointed to the two huge suitcases and said ,"Hey , wait a minute . Don' t forget your batteries ." The stranger paid _ for the watch . A. nothing B. $ 1,000 C. $ 5,000 D. $ 4,000 Answer: C. $ 5,000 Question: Paul had just left college and was offered an interview for a position in a company in New York. As he needed to move from Texas to New York if he got the job, he wanted to talk about the decision with someone before accepting it. But his parents had died. He remembered that his father had suggested he should turn to an old friend of his family if he needed advice. The older man said, "Go to New York and have the interview. But I want you to go on a train and I want you to get a private compartment . Don't take anything to write with, anything to listen to or anything to read, and don't talk to anybody except when you order the meal. Call me when you get to New York and I will tell you what to do next." At first, Paul followed the advice closely. The trip took two days. As he had brought along nothing to do, he quickly became bored. He realized he was being forced into quite time - he could do nothing but think. About three hours outside New York City he broke the rules, asked for a pencil and paper and kept writing down the thoughts until the train arrived in New York. Paul called the family friend from the train station. "Thank you, Uncle I know what you wanted. You wanted me to think. And now I know what to do.""I guessed you could understand my idea, Paul," came the reply, "Good luck." Now, years later, Paul runs a company in New York. And he always spends a couple of days being alone with no phone, no television and no people to think quietly. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? A. Paul had a talk with a clever man during the trip. B. The older man's advice influenced Paul greatly. C. Paul only brought a pencil and paper with him. D. The older man lived in New York. Answer: B. The older man's advice influenced Paul greatly.
Does being rich make you happy? Many studies on happiness give negative answers. Here are some points in being happy. Basic Human Needs Must Be Met People whose basic needs for shelter, clothing and food are not met will find it very difficult to feel happy. Of course, there are exceptions, but for most of us, we can only be happy once our basic needs are met. The Joneses Cannot Be Escaped People's happiness is not determined by how much they have, but by how much people around them have. So, we tend to feel happy once our basic needs are met and we have more than the people surrounding us. This means that while keeping up with _ could be destructive if we let it go too far. It is also part of humana nature to want to feel at least on the same level, financially, as those surrounding us. You Should Escape The Rat Race We should know the importance of staying out of the rat race. So yes, you need to work hard, get the education you need to land a good job and work long enough and hard enough to get to a place where you can easily meet your basic needs. What are basic needs? For most middle or upper middle class Americans, basic needs are not very basic anymore. For most of us, once our basic needs have been met, happiness is achieved when we engage in activities we like, spend time with friends and family and stay active. Making money for the sake of making money does not make people happy. Ideally, these questions should be answered when you're still young and just starting out. Don't wait until your midlife crisis to realize that half your life has passed you by and you're still unhappy. What's the main idea of the passage? Answer: Jeans have become one piece of clothing worn by the most people in the world. Everybody wears them, from the farmer to the lawyer and from models to housewives. But why have jeans become so popular?You'll get many answers. For some people they look cool, for others jeans are just comfortable. Jeans were first stronger trousers made for farm workers in the states of the American west. In the eastern part of the US jeans were hardly worn at all. They were connected with farm people and the workers. So the rich wouldn't like to wear them. It was James Dean and Marlon Brando that made them popular in movies and everyone started to wear them. They were a symbol of the _ of young people during the 1950s and 1960s. So these new trousers were not allowed in American schools and sometimes in theatres and cinemas. As time went on,jeans became more acceptable. American people in Europe and Japan often wore them when they were not on duty to show that they were Americans. The trousers showed the world a happier way of life, something that people needed, especially after what they had gone through in World War II. Jeans had other advantages as well. They didn't need to be washed as often as other trousers and women didn't need to iron them. This became more important as more and more women started working and had less time for housework. Today jeans are an important part of our lives. They are always washed a few times before they are sold to give them a faded look. From the passage, we can know that James Dean and Marlon Brando were_. Answer: I sat at my seat waiting for the school paper to be passed around. I waited anxiously, knowing that once I received it I would know how good a writer I really am. When the paper arrived at my classroom, I nearly knocked down five of my classmates to get to the first paper. With a school paper in my hands, I returned to my seat. About a month earlier, I had handed in one of, what I believed to be, my best stories. I named it Symbol of Success. The head of the English Department at my school, Professor Cullen had said that she would include some reviews of students' stories in the latest school paper. Professor Cullen was known for her rough criticism. Impressing her was very hard but I wanted to be the first to do so. I sat at the edge of my seat as I read through the other story reviews. There wasn't one story that got more than three stars .I became calm and wasn't anxious to know my review. It was long after that I heard someone shout out "Five stars?! Seriously !" from behind me. I turned around and saw the shocked expression of Gene's face, "Peter, your story got five stars!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I turned my attention back to my story and saw the five stars at the end of the review that I had not read yet. I looked through the review written by Professor Cullen. She wrote that I had a gift for story writing. I was proud that I achieved what I thought was impossible .For so long I believed I wasn't as good as I thought I was and that my talent was not enough to cover up my lack of wring skills .But this review proved that I was truly a good writer and that there was a future ahead of me in the field of fiction writing. The review and the five stars meant the world of me. Those five stars became the symbol of my success. How did the writer get the school paper? Answer: A young man who lived in London was in love with a beautiful girl. Soon she became his fiancee. The man was very poor while the girl was rich. The young man wanted to make her a present on her birthday. He wanted to buy something beautiful for her, but he had no idea how to do it, as he had very little money. The next morning he went to a shop. There were many fine things there: gold watches, diamond... but all these things were too expensive. There was one thing he could not take his eyes off. It was a beautiful vase. That was a suitable present for his fiancee. He had been looking at the vase for half an hour when the manager of the shop noticed him. The young man looked so pale, sad and unhappy that the manager asked what had happened to him. The young man told him everything. The manager felt sorry for him and decided to help him. A bright idea struck him. The manager pointed to the corner of the shop. To his great surprise the young man saw a vase broken into many pieces. The manager said: "When the servant enters the room, he will drop it." On the birthday of his fiancee the young man was very excited. Everything happened as had been planned. The servant brought in the vase, and as he entered the room, he dropped it. There was horror on everybody's face. When the box was opened, the guests saw that each piece was packed separately . What do you think happened at the end of the story? Answer: If you need to call your parents but your phone is not with you, can you remember their numbers? To remember 11 numbers is not difficult. However, because of the smartphone, many of us are losing this ability. What's more, smartphones weaken our skills at giving directions, as well as killing face-to-face communications. Even when friends are having a meal together, it's common for most to check their phones. According to a report by Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, an American company, Chinese people spend about 170 minutes on their smartphones daily. Many students are _ to using smartphones. It does no good to their study. Research by Japan's Education Ministry showed children who spend more than four hours a day on their phones perform much worse in school test than those who play with their phones for 30 minutes. It's true that the smartphone has made our lives easier. But many also think they spend too much time on it, and this is bad for their study or work. People are trying to change that. A new app called Forest was introduced this month. It lets users plant a seed that grows into a tree over the next 30 minutes. During the half hour, users cannot use their phones, or the tree will die. A restaurant in Los Angeles, US, gives people a 5% discount if they don't check their phones during a meal. Owner Mark Gold said he hopes it gives people a way to enjoy their meal and actually talk with friends and family in person. What's the best title of the passage? Answer:
Question: Although change in multicellular species usually takes thousands of years, some species of bacteria undergo major changes in just a few years. One reason for this difference is that these bacteria A. are microscopic B. do not contain DNA C. reproduce very quickly D. cause infectious diseases Answer: C Question: To all of you at Chinese love links, I am 44 years old and never married. I have always wanted to find that perfect someone that I dream about. For about the last five years I have almost given up the hope of ever finding the one I truly wish to spend the rest of my life with. I have always tried to be a nice guy. I had found your website some four or five months before. I did not know what to expect. I don't know how to speak Chinese and never thought truly of how I was to an Asian woman. Well, I had a lot of replies from some very nice and pretty women. I had a hard time finding only a couple to write to. But one stood out from the rest. She was cute, nice and seemed to hold a lot of the same values as I do. In a short time I had decided to write only to her. We communicated via e - mails 2 - 3 times a day and phone calls once or twice a week. I went and met her and her family only a week ago. Her name is Ying and she lives in prefix = st1 /Nanning. I foundNanningto be one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. We had even decided to marry and to bring her to theUSAunder the fiancee visa. Not only did she meet everything I had ever hoped to find in someone else but turned out to be what every woman should be like, at least the ones I have met. We plan to marry as soon as she is here and start a family together as neither of us has children but we both want them. So to anyone out there reading this, I can only say this: You may not find what you are looking for if you're not honest with your partner and yourself. This site worked for me mostly because I was honest with something that I wanted in someone else. When I did find her, love can work even across the other side of the world, between language differences and cultural differences. I wish you all luck in finding your perfect match. I have finally found mine and wishto give all my thanks to those at Chinese love links to help make it happen. Sincerely yours, Arthur We can infer from the letter that Chinese love links is a website to A. help foreigners to travel in China B. help both Chinese and foreigners to find one they want to marry C. help Chinese and foreigners make friends D. receive letters from the USA Answer: B Question: Kids are far better than adults at learning how to speak multiple languages. Research now shows that very young infants might have some of the best language skills of all. A new study suggests that babies between 4 and 6 months old can tell the difference between two languages just by looking at the speaker's face. They don't need to hear word. Sometimes between 6-8 months of age, babies raised in homes where just one language is spoken lose _ . Babies from bilingual homes, on the other hand, keep the face-reading ability until they're at least 8 months old. Researchers in prefix = st1 /Canadastudied 36 infants from English-speaking families. Twelve of the babies were 4 months old,12 were 6 months old, and the rest were 8 months old. Each baby sat on his or her mother's lap and watched video clips of a woman talking. The woman was fluent in both English and French. In some clips, she read from a storybook in English. In other clips, she read in French. In all of the videos there was no sound. After watching clip after clip of the woman reading in just one language, the babies eventually started to look away, apparently because they were bored. The researchers then showed the babies a new silent clip of the woman reading a story in the other language. At that point, the 4-month-olds and 6-month-olds started looking at the screen again. The 8-month-old,by contrast, paid no attention. That suggests that a baby's ability to distinguish between languages get lost before 8 months of age. "Visual information about speech may play a more critical role in language learning than previously expected," says researcher psychologist Whitney. It's not yet clear, she adds, which part of the speaker's face babies are looking at for clues. Next, scientists want to see whether babies can match faces with the voices of foreign-language speakers. If babies can do this, the scientists would then like to know if this ability also declines toward the end of the first year of life. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ? A. All the infants in the study are of the same age. B. The infants could hear the woman's voice while watching the videos. C. The stories the woman read were written in either French or German. D. It's still unknown how infants could tell the difference between languages. Answer: D Question: Austin Children's Museum This 7,000-square-foot museum aims to entertain and educate children up to age 9. In its Global City exhibit, they can go grocery shopping, order lunch at a diner, pretend that they are doctors, or construction workers, and more. In other fun exhibits, they learn about Austin's history, explore the world of water, experience life on a large prefix = st1 /Texasfarm.(Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm) Address: 210 Colorado St,Austin,Texas78701 Phone:(512)472-2499 Brooklyn Children's Museum Founded in 1899, this is the world's oldest children's museum, featuring interactive exhibits, workshops, and special events. "The Mystery of Things" teaches children about cultural and scientific objects, and "Music Mix" welcomes young people.(Wed-Fri-2-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm) Address: 145 Brooklyn Ave,Brooklyn,New York11213 Phone:(718)735-4400 Children's Discovery Museum This museum's hand-on exhibits explore the relationships between the natural and the created worlds, and among people of different cultures and times. Exhibits include "Streets", a 5/8-scale copy of an actual city, with street lights, and "waterworks" which allows an operation of pumps to move water through a reservoir system.(Mon-Sat 10 am-5 pm; closed on holidays) Address: 180 Woz Way, Guadalupe River Park,San Jose,California95110 Phone:(408)298-5437 Children's Museum of Indianapolis This museum is the largest of its kind. Exhibits cover science, culture, space, history and exploration. Among them are the Space Quest Planetarium(additional fee), the 33-foot-high Water Clock, the Playscape gallery for preschoolers, and the Dinosphere exhibit, along with hands-on science exhibits. The largest gallery, the Center for Exploration, is designed for ages 12 and up.(Tues-Sun 10 am-5 pm; closed on Thanksgiving, Dec25) Address: 3000N Meridian St,Indianapolis,Indiana46208 Phone:(317)334-3322 After entering the museum, in which of the following places should you pay additional fee? A. The Center for Exploration B. The Space Quest Planetarium C. Global City exhibit D. Waterworks Answer: B Question: Expert say that students usually need eight to ten hours' sleep at night, but most Chinese students do not get enough sleep. Some Chinese parents are usually glad to see their children studying late. They will think their children work very hard, but not all parents are happy about this. Once a mother told us tat every morning her 10-year-old boy put up one finger with his eyes still closed, begging for one more minute to sleep. Like thousands of students " early birds" in China, he has to get up before six every morning. A report shows that without a good night's sleep, students seem to be weaker than they should be. Many students have fallen asleep during class at one time or another. Too much homework is not the only reason why students stay up late. Some watch TV or play the computer games late into the night. Experts have ever said that the students should develop good study habits. So some clever students never study last, they are able to work well in class. In this passage "early birds" means "persons who _ " A. get up early B. get up late C. sleep less D. don't want to sleep Answer: A
Trees are useful to man in three important ways: they give him wood and other useful things, they give him cool places, and they help to stop drought and flood. Unluckily, in many parts of the world, man has not found that the third of these points is the most important. Man wants to make money from trees, so he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had. And also, he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees. So the forests slowly disappear. This does not only mean that man will have fewer trees. The results are even worse: for where there are trees, their roots break up soil-make the rain in-and also bind the soil, thus stopping it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil. When all the top-soil is gone, nothing is left but useless desert. The most important points of trees to man is _ . A. they help him to make money B. they give him cool C. they give him wood and other things D. they help him to stop drought and floods Answer: D. they help him to stop drought and floods Being an astronaut sounds cool, doesn't it?In space, they get to do some pretty amazing things, like floating in zero gravity. However,there are also plenty of things that astronauts can't do because of their weightless environment, and that's very sad. What's worse, they can't even let their sadness show--because it's impossible to cry in zero gravity. Of course, astronauts can still produce tears. But crying is much more difficult in space,reported The Atlantic in January. Without gravity, tears don't flow downward out of the eyes like they do here on Earth. This means that when you cry in space, your tears have nowhere to go--they just stick to your eyes. In May 2011, astronaut Andrew Feustel experienced this during one of his spacewalks."Tears," he said, "don't fall off your eye... They just kind of stay there." Besides making your vision unclear, this can also cause physical pain. Back on Earth, tears are supposed to bring comfort to the eyes.But that's not the case in space.The space environment dries out astronauts' eyes, and when tears suddenly wet the eyes, it can cause pain rather than comfort. "My right eye is painful like crazy." Feustel told his teammate during the walk. Since gravity doesn't work in space, astronauts need some extra help to get rid of the tears.Feustel chose to rub his eyes against his helmet to wipe the tears away. Another choice is to just wait--"When the tears get big enough they simply break free of the eye and float around,"astronaut Ron Parise told The Atlantic. There are lots of small things--things like crying--that we are so used to on Earth. We usually take them for granted, until they become a problem in a totally different environment,like space. There, astronauts can't talk to each other directly. They also can't eat or drink in normal ways. They can't even burp , because there is no gravity to hold the food down in their stomach. If they do burp, they just end up throwing up everything in their stomach,according to the UK National Space Center. Thus, perhaps it's only space explorers who can honestly say:"Gravity, you're the best." What can the astronaut do to get rid of the tears? A. Rub his eyes against his helmet to let the tears float forward. B. Rub his eyes by hand to let the tears float around. C. Get the tears big enough to fall off of his eyes. D. Get the tears big enough to break away from his eyes. Answer: D. Get the tears big enough to break away from his eyes. Dear Dr. Smith, My mom always keeps asking me, "What's going on?" If I want to go to a concert, she asks who I will go with. I think that's my own business . Sometimes it looks like she doesn't trust me. It makes me very sad. How can I get her to stop? Dear Katie, Many young people have the same problem as you. If you don't talk much with your parents, they might feel they need to ask you questions to know about your life. It seems to you that your mom is getting into your business, but I think she's just trying to keep a close relationship with you. In fact, some experts often tell parents to stay close to their kids by asking them about what's going on in their life. Some parents do this better than others, of course. But, unluckily, some parents ask questions because they don't trust their kids. So start by trying to trust your mom. She is probably just trying to stay close to you because she loves and cares about you. You can have a talk with her about it. Of course, that doesn't make the questions less boring. If you're tired of so many questions, tell your mom about your feelings the day before she asks. If you _ more information, conversations with your mom won't seem like she's just asking you too many questions! If you do this, I'm sure you can get on well with your mom. Dr. Smith Katie's problem is that _ . A. she is sad about the person at the concert B. she doesn't like or care about her mother C. her mother always asks her lots of questions D. her mother doesn't want her to make new friends Answer: C. her mother always asks her lots of questions The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic skill. However, while today's educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life. Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it's important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand. Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate. In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student's writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to know well they can write. "Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas." Berninger said. Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe "those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen," the study said. Seeing the words in the "mind's eye" helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time. "In our computer age, some people believe that we don't have to teach spelling because we have spell checks," she said. "But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won't have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer." What makes writing by hand a thing of the past? A. The absence of blackboard in classroom. B. The use of new technologies in teaching. C. The lack of practice in handwriting. D. The popular use of smartphones. Answer: B. The use of new technologies in teaching. Imagine the situation. You are driving along in a desert or on a mountain. You have no idea where you are. You passed the last house two hours ago. Then your car breaks down. It is night and it is cold. You have no mobile phone. What do you do? Well, next time take a GPS with you. This invention may be able to help you. It is a device which uses satellites to find the user's position. It can find your position to within 20 meters. A GPS cannot start your car, but at least you will know where you are. GPS, which means Global Positioning System , is a small radio receiver. It looks like a mobile phone. You can hold it in your hand, or put in you pocket. It is sometimes put into a watch or a telephone. We also find GPS devices in cars, planes, or boats. Some of these devices have electronic maps, so you know where you are. For example, in a city they can tell you the name of the street. There are three parts to the Global Positioning System. The first part is the receiver. You can hold it in your hand, or have it fixed into your car, plane, etc. the second part is a group of satellites orbiting the Earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates its position. The third part of the system is a network of ground stations. They are all over the world. _ control the satellites and make sure they are working well. Some people think that in the future the GPS will be as common as the mobile. They are becoming cheaper and more and more accurate . There are also new uses for the GPS. Perhaps they will become like watches. Everyone will have one and you will never be lost again.GPS According to the passage, with the help of the GPS, people _ . A. can't be lost in a new city B. can't find their way in different counties C. can learn about the culture of an unknown place D. can spend the least time getting to another place Answer: A. can't be lost in a new city
Scientists would like to place a huge mirror in space above the earth. It might be sixty miles wide. It would be used to catch the rays of the sun. It would direct the sun's rays upon the earth as a child might do to make sunlight dance on the wall with a hand mirror. Why do they want to do this? The sun's rays could be helpful in many ways. They could light up cities by night. The warm rays could stop frosts which might come at night and hurt fruit crops. They could melt dangerous icebergs in the ocean. Perhaps they could change cloud movements and bring rain where it is needed. The huge mirror is _ . A something in a story B already made C just an idea D to be made soon Answer: C Olivia owned Blackacre, her home. Her daughter, Dawn, lived with her and always referred to Blackacre as "my property." Two years ago, Dawn, for a valuable consideration, executed and delivered to Bruce an instrument in the proper form of a warranty deed purporting to convey Blackacre to Bruce in fee simple, reserving to herself an estate for two years in Blackacre. Bruce promptly and properly recorded his deed. One year ago, Olivia died and by will, duly admitted to probate, left her entire estate to Dawn. One month ago, Dawn, for a valuable consideration, executed and delivered to Carl an instrument in the proper form of a warranty deed purporting to convey Blackacre to Carl, who promptly and properly recorded the deed. Dawn was then in possession of Blackacre and Carl had no actual knowledge of the deed to Bruce. Immediately thereafter, Dawn gave possession to Carl. The recording act of the jurisdiction provides: "No conveyance or mortgage of real property shall be good against subsequent purchasers for value and without notice unless the same be recorded according to law." Last week, Dawn fled the jurisdiction. Upon learning the facts, Carl brought an appropriate action against Bruce to quiet title to Blackacre. If Carl wins, it will be because A Dawn had nothing to convey to Bruce two years ago. B Dawn's deed to Bruce was not to take effect until after Dawn's deed to Carl. C Carl was first in possession. D Dawn's deed to Bruce was not in Carl's chain of title. Answer: D Top 5 Must See Places in Beijing Beijing is an old capital city with a lot of tourists attractions. What is the most representative place in Beijing? The answers are various. Here are the Top 5 Must See Places in Beijing. 1. Forbidden City The Forbidden City is the ideal place for you to begin your exploration of Beijing. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes as you have to walk a lot! A multilingual guide recorder is recommended, as it can tell you the stories behind the palace. Opening Hour: 8:30-17:00 Entrance Fee: RMB 60 2. Tian'anmen Square Lying in the heart of Beijing City, it is the place for massive parades and gathering. It boasts of the largest square of such kind in the world. At sunrise and sunset the raising and lowering ceremony of the Chinese National Flag is well worth seeing. Ticket fees: Free Opening Time: Whole Day 3. Great Wall Most of the sections of the Great Wall in Beijing are well-preserved, and the most famous section is Badaling. For the Great Wall hiking, get ready for strong footwear. For hot weather, please also prepare sunblock, sunglasses and water. Badaling Great Wall: Ticket Fees: RMB40 (Nov. 01 to Mar. 31); RMB 45 (Apr. 01 to Oct. 31) Open Hours: 6:40 to 18:30 4. Summer Palace Regarded as the largest imperial garden in China, the Summer Palace is in fact a park-styled royal retreat. With masterly design and artistic architecture integrating the highlight of Chinese garden arts, it has earned a title of "Royal Garden Museum". Open Time: 6:30-20:30 Ticket Fee: RMB 40 (low season) / RMB 50 (peak season during the holidays) 5. Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven worked as sacrificial compound buildings for the Ming and Qing emperors. What's the intriguing by-production of the temple is that if you enter the Temple of Heaven in the early morning, you can find many people doing all types of Kungfu, Taiji, dancing and other morning exercises. Open Time: 6:00-21:00 Ticket Fee: RMB 35 Which is the most suitable place for those who want to go square dancing in the morning? A Temple of Heaven B Tian'anmen Square C Summer Palace D Forbidden City Answer: A The island of Great Britain being small (compare the size of Australia), the natural place for holiday relaxation and enjoyment is extensive coastline, above all its southern and eastern coasts, and the favorite resort of the mass-population of industrial Lancashire, is on the north-west coast. Distant and little-inhabited area like Northern Scotland, are too remote for the development of large seaside resorts. For most children, going to the seaside suggests a week or fortnight of freedom on the beach, ideally a sandy one providing enough opportunities for the construction of sandcastle, fishing in pool, paddling in shallow water or swimming in deep water. Their parents spend sunny days swimming in the sea and sunbathing on the beach. Not that the British sun can be relied on and the depressing sight of families wandering round the town in old -fashioned and under umbrellas is only too common. However, there are always shops with their tourist souvenirs, plenty of cafes and if the worst comes to the worst, the cinema to offer a refuge. The average family is unlikely to seek accommodation in a hotel as they can stay more cheaply in a boarding-house. There are usually three or four-storeyed Victorian buildings, whose owners spend the summer season letting rooms to a number of couples or families and providing three cooked meals a day at what they describe as a reasonable price, with the hope that in this way they will add enough to their savings to see the winter through. Otherwise there are the camping sites for those who prefer self-catering. Nowadays, even when an increasing number of people fly off to Mediterranean resorts where a well-developed suntan can be assured, or explore in comfort Swiss lakes and mountains or romantic Italian or Spanish cities, the British seaside is still the main attraction for families, especially those with younger children. As they queue for boats trips, cups of tea or ice-cream under gray skies and in dizzling rain, the parents are reliving their own childhood when time seemed endless, their own sandcastles the most splendid on the beach, the sea always blue and friendly and the sun always hot. Many parents once played on the British beach and _ . A still have their happy memories of it B don't want to have a holiday there C don't want to take their children to have a holiday there. D want to build their own sandcastles the most splendid on the beach again Answer: A As the price of a college degree continues to rise, there's growing evidence that the monetary payoff isn't quite as big as often advertised. The best estimate now is that a college degree is worth about $300,000 in today's dollars--nowhere near the million figure that is often quoted. "That million number has driven me crazy!" says Sandy Baum, a Skidmore economist who studied the value of a college degree for the College Board last year. Baum's research showed that college graduates earn, on average, about $20,000 a year more than those who finished their educations at high school. Add that up over a 40-year working life and the total differential is about $800,000, she figures. But since much of that bonus is earned many years from now, taking away the impact of inflation means that$800,000 in future dollars is worth only about $450,000 in today's dollars. Then, if you remove the cost of a college degree--about ,$30,000 in tuition and books for students who get no aid and attend public in-state universities--and the money a student could have earned at a job instead of attending school, the real net value in today's dollars is somewhere in the $300,000 range, a number confirmed by other studies. But, especially these days, that still makes a college degree one of the most _ investments a person can make, Baum notes. Better yet, college graduates can go on to earn advanced degrees, which return even bigger payoffs. The average holder of a bachelor's degree earns about$51,000 a year, Baum calculates. But those who've gone on to earn MBAs, law degrees, or other professional degrees earn about $100,000 a year. In addition, Baum found that there are plenty of other rewards for a degree. The quality of the jobs college graduates get is far better, for example. College graduates are more likely to get jobs with health insurance. And it is easier for them to find and hold jobs. The unemployment rate for college graduates was just 2.2 percent last year, half the unemployment level of those with only high school diplomas. There are lots of other nonmonetary benefits as well. College graduates are healthier, contribute more to their communities, and raise kids who are better prepared academically, studies show. Other researchers have found that the payoff of a degree is especially lucrative for students from low-income families, since the education and degrees give them a chance to break out of low-paying careers. What can be inferred from Para 1 ? A The payoff of a college degree is still big enough to match the advertised. B It's more and more difficult to get a college degree. C The return of a college degree is less than often quoted. D A college degree is worth about one million dollars. Answer: C
Rahfeal Gordon has come a long way from the homeless shelters and streets of Newark, New Jersey. The 25-year-old was honored this year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship for his work----giving motivational speeches to youth groups. Rahfeal Gordon tells his audience, "If nobody ever says that you're brilliant, say it to yourself every day. Look yourself in the mirror: if you have survived something, I don't care how small, how big, you've survived it," he said. Rahfeal Gordon 's speech is simple: He tells the story of his own life in three chapters. Each begins with a hip hop lyric that he knows will be meaningful to a young audience. Gordon says he uses positive hip hop lyrics to encourage youths, especially those who grew in poverty and abuse, as he did. His talk is called "Hip Hop Saved My Life". " When I had my very dark moments in life, I would put on certain songs, whether it is from Jay-Z , Tupac, Kanye West," Gordon said. "They kept me going through the hard times. They fulfilled a certain void that I couldn't fulfill, like not having a father or mother there, so I felt they could relate because they would tell these stories." Gordon says his childhood was happy until his father became addicted to drugs and began to beat his three brothers and mother. They left to live on the streets and in homeless shelters. Gordon says he tries now to be a voice for others, including a brother who was murdered at the age of 19. "When I lost my brother, that was, really, a moment when things really started to take off, in the sense of saying, 'I really, really want to be that individual to help people, to help individuals,' "Gordon said. "I can't be Superman. I can't save the world, but I think that if I can help an individual, I am saving the world. " Rahfeal Gordon uses hip hop lyrics in his lecture because _ . hip hop songs helped him spend his hard times Sustainable management is seen as a practical and economical way of protecting species from dying out. Instead of depending on largely ineffective laws against poaching , it gives local people a good economic reason to preserve plants and animals. In Zimbabwe, for instance, there is a sustainable management project to protect elephants. Foreign tourists pay large sums of money to kill these animals for sports. This money is then given to the inhabitants of the area where the hunting takes place. In theory, locals will be encouraged to protect elephants, instead of poaching them because of the economic benefit involved. This sounds like a sensible strategy, but it remains to be seen whether it will work. With corruption in these developing countries, some observers are skeptical that the money will actually reach the people it is intended for. Others wonder how effective the locals will be at stopping poachers. There are also questions about whether sustainable management is practical when it comes to protecting forests. In theory, the principle should be the same as with elephants --- allow logging companies to cut down certain number of trees, but not so many as to completely destroy the forest. Sustainable management of forests requires controls on the number of trees which are cut down, as well as investment in replacing them. Because almost all tropical forests are located in countries which desperately need funds from logging, there are few regulations and motive to do this. One solution might be to confirm wood comes from sustainably managed forests. In theory, consumers would buy only this wood and so force logging companies to _ or go out of business. Unfortunately, unrestricted logging is so much more profitable that wood prices from managed forests would cost up to five times more --- an increase that consumers, no matter how "green", are unlikely to pay. What is the passage mainly about? The feasibility of sustainable management in environmental protection. Advertisement A WE NEED DISTRIBUTORS AGED 13 + IN ALL AREAS Would you like the opportunity to earn extra cash close to home? If so we have a vacancy in our team of local distributors which would suit you. Both adults and youngsters aged 13 + are required to deliver your local free paper. FOR MORE INFORMATION TEUNIONE 0196 -675898 Advertisement B PAYROLL CONTROLLER LANCHESTER FISH Must be able to work on own initiative . High degree of computer literacy required. Ability to develop new payroll systems an advantage. Write with full CV and two referees to: Lanchester Fish 15 Collings Lane LA5 8RU Advertisement C THE KINGDOM COUNTRY CLUB requires EXPERIENCED CHEF/COOK Must be motivated and creative with food. EXPERIENCED BAR MANAGER / BAR PERSON required full time. Accommodation available if required as part of the package ( wage negotiable. ) Could possibly suit couple PART -TIME BAR STAFF REQUIRED Tel 0196- 887323 during office hours Advertisement D SELL INJURY INSURANCE Previous experience NOT essential. Local area. Expenses paid. Training provided. Major international company. Excellent career prospects +package. CALL 0196 436211 FOR LOCAL INTERVIEW What job will you apply for if you want to work in an international company? An insurance seller. One of the most successful singers of the twentieth century, Ella Fitzgerald has made several different styles of her own. She was born in Virginia but was brought up in an orphanage in Yonkers, New York. Chick Webb _ her in an amateur competition when she was sixteen. He engaged her to sing with his band and when he died in 1939, she took over. Unlike Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald taught herself the sentimental music so popular in the 1930's -- songs like "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"-- and her recordings became best-sellers. During the 1940's she developed her own "scat singing" -- a breathless, nonsense--syllable style--for songs like "Flying Home" and "Lady Be Good." Ella Fitzgerald was the perfect musical partner for her friend, the trumpeter Louis Armstrong, matching him in warmth and artistry. "I just like music, period," she said. "To me, it's a story. There's only one thing better than singing.... It's more singing." What does the passage imply about Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong? They performed well together. Turn on the radio. A program will come out from a broadcasting station miles and miles away. We know that sounds and music themselves couldn't travel that distance through space .There must be something that brings the program from the station. But what is this silent carrier ( ) ? This is known as radio waves. However, we can't see them or even hear them. In fact, nobody knows exactly what they are. Nevertheless( ) ,we know that they are made by electricity . At the broadcasting station, people talk, sing, play musical instruments or make many other sounds. These sounds are changed into electricity. Then from the broadcasting aerial of a tall tower , electricity sends out radio waves which travel in all directions .And some of them reach your radio aerial. What happens next is a magical thing. The radio waves start an electric current ( ) in your aerial like the one that was first made in the broadcasting station . Finally, the loudspeaker in your radio set changes the electricity into sound .Therefore, you hear the program. ,. The electricity is changed into sound by _ . the loudspeaker
Once Mr King had a cat, and he loved it very much. He called it "Sky", because he thought "Sky" was the strongest name in the world. One day he had a meal at a restaurant with his cat. He met his old friend. He told him about his lovely cat and its name. His friend said, "How foolish you are! Sky is not the strongest thing in the world. My cat is called 'Cloud' because cloud is stronger than sky." After hearing this, Mr King called his cat "Wind" because he thought wind was stronger than cloud. After a few days he suddenly thought that "Wall" was stronger than wind. And "Mouse " was stronger than wall. So he went to his friend to ask for an idea. His friend said, "Don't you think 'Cat' is stronger than mouse?" "Yes, but..." The man thought and thought and then decided his cat's name had better be "Cat" because a mouse was always afraid of a cat. Don't you think Mr King is very silly or funny? Mr King gave his cat _ names in all and at last he called it "Cat". Answer: five After a discussion last week. "Do SCHOOL Libraries Need Books?" the comments from readers included some first-hand views from students. Below are excerpts from their observations on how studying has changed and how they use libraries. It makes little difference whether the books you are reading is electronic or paper. But if you want a place to read, a library is still the place to go. As a kid in school, I often avoid the study hall noises and go to the quiet school library. The library is a place. A learning place. Modern technology won't change the library as long as things are learned. -Scott Being a student I am aware that many of us seldom look at the books in the library unless told to do so by a teacher as a requirement for an assignment. It takes time to find the very book you want at the library, and it may not be necessary to do so. More and more students, such as myself, use the internet for nearly every assignment. There are countless online resources for us to use with a click of the mouse. What's more, books are very expensive and schools could put that money towards charities. -Hayley H I hope schools continue to have libraries. As a student, I know there is a difference between reading something on a screen and something printed. When I read something in a book that I do not understand or want to look further into. I record it and will research later or discuss with someone. With a screen (especially online) I will instantly access the information and look into the question at hand, which interrupts my reading and especially my imagination. -Allie To me, it depends on the purpose of the books. As a student, I prefer to do research online. Online research is faster and more efficient. But when I'm reading for pleasure, I ly refuse to give up a real book. The tactile sensation and freedom that real books give you really makes the reading experience more enjoyable. So my suggestion is that schools have more digital collections for research and scholarly work, and a good selection of interesting and age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction for pleasure reading. -CM According to the text, HayleyH _ . Answer: suggests schools spend less money on books Which correctly arranges three scientific terms-theory, law, and hypothesis-from least to most accepted or tested? Answer: hypothesis, theory, law In a growing number of English classes, teachers are leaving the classic novels on the shelf and letting students select the books they read. Supporters say that the new approach, called reader's workshop, helps develop a love for reading in students who are bored by classic literature. They argue that the best way to motivate students to read more is to offer them more choices. _ , however. They worry that students who choose trendy, less challenging titles over the classics won't be exposed to the great writing and key themes of important works of literature.Student reporters Donald and Sarah express their ideas about this new approach. Donald thinks that we should turn the page. Students should be allowed to select the books they read in English class. He says he and his classmates are allowed to pick their own books in class. That makes them more focused, and they look forward to class time. Tristin, a classmate of his at Clinton Middle School agrees. "I'm reading books that I want to read, which makes class more fun and interesting," he says. Offering students a choice may also improve test scores. Studies by Professor John Guthrie of the University of Maryland found that students in grades 4 through 6 who had some choices in the books they read showed improved reading comprehension skills during testing. Giving students the chance to decide what they read helps build a lifelong love for reading. Isn't that what we want for our students? Sarah holds a different view. She thinks teachers know more about books than students do. When an English teacher assigns a book, he or she keeps in mind the reading level of most students in the class. Students who choose their own books might be cheating themselves by picking books that are not up to their reading level or that are too difficult. Furthermore, a whole class can discuss a book it reads together. That makes it easier for some kids to understand what they are reading. "The students wouldn't be able to hold a meaningful conversation if they were all reading different books," says Kristin, an English teacher at Fleetwood Area Middle School. "If they read the same book, their conversations would be more in-depth." The author develops the text mainly by _ . Answer: making comparisons join us together and set us apart. Today, our society has a terrible lack of values. Here are some social values that everyone needs. Respect Respect means to respect others in everyday life. Even if you are against a person, it is important to have respect. It is this respect that makes us human. Without this respect, we become animals. We need to respect our friends for our friendships. We even need to respect our enemies, because they help us to grow up and be stronger. Respect is one of the crucial values in a relationship. Love Love is everything. With love in our hearts, we feel no need to hurt another. With love in our hearts, we will pay more attention to the similarities in opinions rather than the disagreement. If we want others to be good to us, we need to be good to them. After all, we give love to get love, right? Loyalty People often forget the meaning and importance of loyalty . Loyalty is necessary for people to believe in each other. In no matter what kind of relationship, we need to believe in each other so that we can work together towards the same goal. Honesty Honesty is to show other people who we really are. Honesty helps us do better, because it makes us realize our problems and find ways to solve them. It is this honesty, that will make others help you out, not because you need it. But, because they have problems too, which you can help out with. This honesty will help us follow the other values in society and, truly, "heal the world"! According to the passage, we are different from animals because of _ . Answer: Respect
There are many kinds of sales. For example, a "back-to-school sale" is held near the beginning of the school year. Parents like the lower prices of the clothes and school supplies for their children. A "midnight madness" event starts very late at night. An "early bird special" sale starts very early in the morning. This kind of sale is popular the day after Thanksgiving in November. A favorite sale among many people is the "buy one, get one free" sale. You buy one thing and get a second one without cost. When people see the word "free" in an advertisement they know they are getting a good deal. As a matter of fact, it is not the case. Another kind of sale is a "going out of business" sale. This is when a storeowner tries to sell all the goods in the store before closing the business permanently . Let us say the store sells floor coverings. The owner lowers the prices and puts up a sign that says: "Going out of business sale. All items MUST be sold by tomorrow." People who buy the floor coverings think they are getting a special deal because everything must be sold in a short period of time. Then, days later they see the store did not close permanently. And they see the same sign that claims the store is going out of business. Some business owners really do not end the business. They just want to earn more money. People also hold their own sales. They hold garage sales and yard sales outside their home. They sell things they no longer want. Groups such as religious centers or schools hold bake sales. They sell cakes, cookies and other baked goods to raise money. In America, you can always find a good sale, no matter the day or time of year. There is the Independence Day sale, Veteran's Day sale, clearance sale, sidewalk sale, red tag sale, white sale, blue light special, liquidation sale, half-off sale, warehouse sale, tent sale ... What do we call the sale if it starts before the sun rises? An "early bird special" sale. Education in the United States is compulsory for children up to about the age of sixteen.Most young people stay in school longer than that. Most graduate from high school at the age of 17 or 18. Almost half of these high school graduates continue their education at a college or university.Education for most young people in this country is free up to the time they graduate from high school.There are private schools, but most parents send their children to public schools, where students do not pay tuition . When young people go to college, however,they must pay tuition at a public university or a private university.University costs are going up a lot:private universities have become very expensive because the government does not help them. Who pays? The parents of children in college may have to pay more,or often the students may have to find jobs.These students have to worry about assignments and grades and also about their jobs.If they work too much at their jobs they may be absent from class or miss assignments or make too many errors on tests.They may even fail their courses and have to leave the university. For many students, the problem of getting an education is not just a problem of homework and exams.They also have to make money to pay for tuition.And professors don't teach them how to do that! In the prefix = st1 /United States, almost half of the high school graduates _ . go to colleges and universities May 2, Saturday We arrived in Hangzhou at 3:00p.m. After we walked out of the train station, we took a taxi to the hotel. The hotel was very clean. We stayed there for three days. Then we wanted to travel to Hainan. May 5, Tuesday In the morning we went to Hainan by plane. The people in Hainan were very friendly. Then we went to a beautiful beach. It was sunny. So we had great fun playing in the water. May 7, Thursday It was rainy today. So we went to a museum. We saw many old things there. Then we went to the aquarium to see some sea animals. We saw many kinds of fish. They were very lovely. I hope I could come to Hainan again. It was _ on May 7. rainy Zoo elephants don't live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to cause debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Buma. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life expectancies twice than or more of their relatives in zoos. Animal care activists have urged in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group. The researchers found that the _ life span for African elephants in European zoos was 16.9 years, compared with 56 years for elephants who died of natural causes in Kenya's Amboseli Park. Adding in those elephants killed by people in Africa lowered the median life expectancy there to 35.9 years. For the more endangered Asian elephants, the median life span in European zoos was 18.9 years, compared with 41.7 years for those working in the Burma Timber Enterprise. Median means half died younger than that age and half lived longer. There is some good news, though. The life expectancies of zoo elephants have improved in recent years, suggesting an improvement in their care and raising, but "Protecting elephants in Africa and Asia is far more successful than protecting them in Western zoos." There are about 1,200 elephants in zoos, half in Europe, researchers concentrated on female elephants, which make up 80 percent of the zoo population. One amazing thing was that Asian elephants born in zoos had shorter life spans that those brought to the zoos from the wild. Zoos usually lack large areas that elephants are used to in the wild, and that zoo animals often are alone or with one or two other unrelated animals, while in the wild they tend to live in related groups of 8 to 12 animals. In Asian elephants, baby death rates are two to three times higher in zoos than in the Burmese logging camps, and then, in adulthood, zoo-born animals die young. People are not sure why. Which of the following is Not the disadvantage of keeping elephants in zoos? Less attention. To Whom It May Concern, My husband Jim and I got married in 1965. For the first ten years of our marriage, I was very happy to stay home and raise our three children. Then about four years ago, our youngest child went to school, and I thought I might go back to work. Jim was very supportive and helped me to make my decision. He started to do all the things I used to do around the house, and said he thought I could be a great success in business. After several weeks of job hunting, I found my present job, which is working for a small public relation firm. At first, my husband was proud of me and would tell his friends, "My clever little wife can run that company she's working for." But, as his joking words were becoming reality, Jim stopped talking to me about my job. I have received several promotions and pay increases, and I am now making more money than he is. I can buy my own clothes and a new car. Because of our combined incomes, Jim can do things that we had always dreamed of doing, but we don't do these things because he is unhappy. We fought about little things, and Jim is very critical of me in front of our friends. For the first time in our marriage, I think there is a possibility that our marriage may come to an end. I love Jim very much, and I don't want him to feel inferior , but I also love my job. I think I can be a good wife and a working woman, but I don't know how. Can you give me some advice? Will I have to choose one or the other or can I keep both my husband and my new career? Please help. Yours, Mary How did her husband feel when she first found her job? Proud.
Must-Read about Notting Hill Carnival Route The carnival procession itself begins at 9am on both Sunday and Monday. It starts on Great Western Road, winding its way along Chepstow Road, then on to Westbourne Grove, and then down Ladbroke Grove. See our Notting Hill Carnival map for the full route. Bus While extra services will be in operation, no buses will enter the Carnival area from first thing Sunday morning until the first service on Tuesday morning. On both days bus services begin from Notting Hill Gate in the south and from Harrow Rd (close to Elgin Avenue) in the north. Bike Last year the nearest bike-parking stations - Chepstow Villas and Pembridge Road - were removed for Carnival, so don't rely on being able to park your bike nearby this year. Safety Avoid carrying expensive items, such as jewellery and digital cameras. Take a bag with a secure zip to keep your more valuable possessions in and avoid putting your valuables in your back pocket. Do tell police if you see an incident. Officers will be stationed throughout the Carnival area. Don't try to walk against the flow of the crowd, as you won't get far. Drink plenty of water on the day too, especially if the sun makes an appearance. Children Children's Day on Sunday is recommended for families as the smaller crowds and kid-friendly floats create a fun atmosphere. Arrange meeting points in case you become separated. The smaller the buggy , the better. Ear defenders may be necessary for very young children. People who go to the carnival with children are advised _ . Answer: to be there on Sunday No matter where you travel in Asia, you'll find yourself faced with a new culture, amazing food and special and friendly people. Here are some of these wonderful cities. Beijing, China Beijing serves as the capital of China. The city is old. In fact, almost all buildings have some cultural or historical significance --no matter how small they are. Throughout the city you can find temples, palaces, and works of art that can make you breathless. Siem Reap, Cambodia The wonderful town of Siem Reap is actually a good place to visit, though most people regard it only as a base point for further trips to Angkor and other nearby attractions. Visitors will be amazed by the beautiful temples and artworks that still exist today. Kathmandu, Nepal Located in the heart of the Himalayas, Kathmandu, the largest city and the capital of Nepal, is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in existence today. It is well-known for its beautiful views of the Himalayas. The shopping districts are world-famous and the hotels in Kathmandu are among the best in the world. Kyoto, Japan The city of Kyoto served as the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868. No longer the capital, it is known as the seventh largest city in Japan instead. Kyoto was destroyed many times throughout history by fires and wars. Now the city is home to more than 1.4 million people and presents a modern look to the world. What the cities mentioned above have in common is that they _ . Answer: all have many tourist attractions to enjoy When a storm is coming, most people leave the area as quickly as possible and head for safety. But there are a few people who will get into their cars and go straight for the center of the storm. These people are willing to risk being killed by floods or 100-kilometer-an-hour winds for the excitement of watching the storm close up. "Storm chasing " is becoming an increasing popular hobby, especially in the Midwest of the United States, where there are frequent storms between March and July. A storm chaser begins the day by checking the Internet for the latest weather report, and then drives up to 1000 kilometers to where the storm will be and waits for it to develop. Although anyone can do it, storm chasing is extremely dangerous. The power of a big storm can throw a cow into the air or destroy a whole house in seconds. Storm chasers are also often hurt in accidents caused by driving in a heavy rain. If you are a beginner, it is much safer to join a group for storm-chasing vacations during the storm season. Even then, storm chasing is not all adventure and excitement. "Storm chasing is 95% driving," says Daniel Lynch, who spends most of his summer storm-chasing. "Sometimes you can sit around for hours waiting for something to happen, and all you get is blue sky and a few light showers." However, for storm chasers, it is all worth it. "When you get close to a storm, it is the most exciting sight you will ever see in your life," says Jasper Morley. "Every storm is an example of the power of nature. It is the greatest show on earth." Beginners of storm chasing are advised _ . Answer: to do it in an organized way One day, I happened to talk to a stranger on the bus. When he found out that I was from Chicago, he told me that one of his good friends lived there and he wondered if I happened to know him. At first I wanted to say that it was foolish to think like that, for from all the millions of people in Chicago, I could not possibly know his friend. But, instead, I just smiled and said that Chicago was a very big city. He was quiet for a few minutes, and then he began to tell me all about his friend. He told me that his friend was an excellent tennis player and that he even had his own tennis court . He added that he knew a lot of people with swimming pools, but that he only knew two people in the country who had their own tennis courts. And his friend in Chicago was one of them. I told him that I knew several people like that, for example, my brother and my next-door neighbor. I told him that my brother was a doctor and he lived in California. Then he asked where my brother lived in California. When I said Sacramento, he said that last year his friend spent the summer in Sacramento and lived next door to a doctor. The doctor had a tennis court. I said that my next-door went to Sacramento last summer and lived in the house next to my brother's. For a moment, we looked at each other, but we did not say anything. "Would your friend's name happen to be Roland Kirkwood?" I asked finally. He laughed and said, "Would your brother's name happen to be Dr. Ray Hunter?" It was my turn to laugh. Which of the following is true? Answer: The writer's brother lived in Sacramento. Bobby's grandmother was studying at a school in New York City. She lived at the school year round. So Bobby's mother put him on a bus to the city and his grandmother picked him up at the Port Authority bus stop. They took the train back to the school. They put Bobby's backpack on a rack in the guest room. Then Bobby and his grandmother went out for a walk. They stopped at a corner shop for pizza and sodas. Then they walked to the Empire State Building. At the top of the Empire State Building they looked out over the city. They counted all the bridges and looked at all the tall buildings. Bobby bought three postcards and a little snow globe in the shop. Then they took the elevator back to the ground floor. Next they took a yellow cab to Central Park. They rode the carousel and went to the zoo. Bobby's favorite animals were the monkeys. He did not like the snakes at all. After they had ice cream cones, Bobby and his grandmother took the train back to her school. They had salads for supper. Then they read a story together. Bobby's grandmother made up her sofa bed for Bobby as they made plans for the next day. Bobby wanted to know if they could go to a baseball game. His grandmother said she would get tickets. How did Bobby and his grandmother get back to her school from the Port Authority bus stop? Answer: They took the train.
Question: Most people don't notice I'm polite, which is the point. I am big and look less energetic. Still, every year or so, someone takes me aside and says, "You actually are polite, aren't you?" I'm always thrilled. They noticed. That's the thing. Actually, when we talk about politeness, we usually think of please; thank you; I like your hat; etc. All we need to do is to hear, not to notice. When I was in high school, I read etiquette manuals . No one noticed my politeness except for one kid. He yelled at me about _ . "It's strange that you are always so polite," he said. I took that as praise and made a note to hide my politeness further. Real politeness, I believed, was invisible . It adapted itself to the situation. Politeness leaves door open. I've met so many people whom, if I had trusted my first impressions, I would never have wanted to meet again. Yet many of them are now great friends. One of those people is my wife. On our first date, she told me in detail that she had an operation to remove a cyst from her body. Of course, it killed the chemistry. But when I walked her home, I told her I'd had a great time. We talked a little after that. I kept everything pleasant and brief. Much later, I learned that she'd been having a very bad day in a very bad year. People silently suffer from all kinds of terrible things. The good thing about politeness is you can regard these people exactly the same and wait to see what happens. You don't have to have an opinion. You don't need to make a judgment. Last week, my two-year-old son, Abraham met a foreign woman in the playground. Out of curiosity, I suppose, he asked, "What's your name?" The woman told him. Then he put out his little hand and said, "Nice to meet you!" Everyone laughed and he smiled. He shared with his firmest handshake, like I taught him. Why do many people think the author is impolite? A. Because he doesn't look polite. B. Because he seldom says polite words. C. Because he doesn't listen to others politely. D. Because he doesn't behave politely towards strangers. Answer: A. Because he doesn't look polite. Question: With only a click of the mouse, rumors can be forwarded between microblogs very quickly. As an example, recently, perceptive netizens discovered that some photos displayed on microblogs depicting Beijing's June rainstorm had actually been _ . Sina.com is one of the major internet portals in China with hundreds and thousands of users, and a majority of celebrities and renowned citizens have their microblog accounts on this portal. As recently as six months ago, the website decided to establish a specialized team to verify rumors and provide accurate information for its users. Tan Chao is in charge of the team. "Before I took the job, I usually couldn't identify what information was real and what was fake. But during the rumor verification process, we discovered that a lot of information was false, including fake photos, fake news stories and rumors that had been spread through microblogs." It's not just website portals which are taking on fact-checking responsibilities, but also a number of civic-minded netizens, who recently set up a Rumor Verification Federation on Sina.com's microblog system to help netizens identify fake information online. Dianzizheng is the team leader of the federation. He says they've publicized more than 150 pieces which refute rumors, which attracted more than 10 thousand visitors within two months. "We live in an age of new media, so we can't use the old methods to verify rumors. We can't wait for the media to verify the facts with related administrative departments and then release a formal announcement. We can't allow rumors to run rampant and then deal with it, we need to fight rumors while they're spreading. I think that this is the best way to deal with rumors nowadays." Some experts say this demonstrates the advantages of the internet compared to other traditional media. The open platform allows information to be examined and clarified by netizens. But experts like Ding Wenguo, President of the Journalism and Communication College at the China University of Political Science and Law says this self-correction function of the internet is still quite limited. "It's still quite difficult to tell which information is true in such an open environment by just reading a number of different opinions on the same issue. This is something which we need to pay attention to. If society is deluged with too much false information, and it's allowed to spread in such a fast manner, then people will be suspicious of all kinds of information including important information from authorities. It also exacerbates problems relating to social communications and mutual-understanding, which in turn harms society as a whole." Experts suggest that the government should react more quickly in the internet age. Once a rumor begins to spread, administrative departments should make announcements as early as possible to dispel rumors before they lead to bad outcomes. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text? A. All the rumors have been spread through microblogs. B. Sina.com is the most popular Internet portal in China. C. The photos displayed on microblogs might be fake. D. Traditional media tend to get rumors examined and clarified. Answer: C. The photos displayed on microblogs might be fake. Question: The Lies of George W. Bush By David Corn Imprint: Three Rivers Press Trade Paperback: 368 pages Pub Date: May 2004 Price: US $ 12.195 ISBN: 1400050677 All American presidents have lied, but George W. Bush has seriously abused the truth, this book tells us. It's full of sharp accusations against the prefix = st1 /USpresident and his inner circle. David Corn, theWashingtoneditor of "The Nation", details the many times the Bush administration knowingly and intentionally misled the American public to advance its own interests and plan. These include: Unclear reports and presenting misleading arguments to gain public support for the war againstIraq. Misleading explanations, instead of telling the full truth, about the 9/11 attacks. The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty By Kitty Kelley Imprint: Doubleday Hardcover: 736 Pages Pub Date: September 2004 Price: US $ 29.95 ISBN: 0385503245 They have got huge financial power and controlled world politics for more than half a century. They have been elected as governors, congressmen, senators and presidents. They have shaped America's past and, with the country at war under the leadership of their No. 1 son, they are, shapingAmerica's future. As the Bush family has risen to power, they have been masters of their own public image. They act and operate under the protection of privacy their money and status has afforded them. America's Secret War By George Friedman Imprint: Doubleday Hardcover: 368 pages Pub Date: October 2004 Price: US $ 25.95 ISBN: 0385512457 Friedman tells the surprising truth behind America's foreign policy and war in Afghanuistan andIraq. In "America's Secret War", George Friedman identifies the Untied States' most dangerous enemies. He also examines presidential strategies of the last quarter century, and reveals the real reasons behind the attack of 9/11 and the Bush administration's reasons for the war inIraq. He describes in detail America's secret and open efforts in the global war against terrorism. In which book is Bush criticized by the author? A. America's Secret War. B. The Lies of George W. Bush. C. The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty. D. The Nation. Answer: B. The Lies of George W. Bush. Question: KangKang has a good friend. Her name is Han Mei. She is fourteen years old. She has a round face.She has a small mouth,a small nose and big eyes.Her hair is long,and her ears are big. Do you know her? ,. Han Mei is KangKang's _ . A. teacher B. mom C. friend D. girl Answer: C. friend Question: I have two good friends .They are Peter and Gina .Here are two photos .The first one is a photo of Peter's family , and the next one is a photo of Gina's room . In the first photo , you can see four people . They are Peter's parents , Peter and his sister .Peter's father is a teacher . And his mother is a teacher too .Can you see the boy on the bed ? That's Peter . A red hat is on his head .Who is the girl ? Oh , she is Peter's sister . Her name is Nancy . In the next photo , you can see a tidy room . It's Gina's room . A blue desk , a yellow chair , a green bookcase and a white bed are in it . A computer and some CDs are on the desk .Her red schoolbag is on the chair .A dictionary is on the bed . Gina's room is very clean and tidy . _ are on the desk in the next photo. A. Some CDs and computer games B. A dictionary and a computer C. A computer and some CDs D. Some CDs and books Answer: C. A computer and some CDs
An 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. Not knowing where to get the money, he and a friend decided to host a musical concert to raise money for their education. They went to the great pianist Paderewski. His manager demanded $2,000 for the piano recital . A deal was made and the boys began to work to make the concert a success. The big day arrived. But unfortunately, they hadn't managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1,600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and gave him the entire $1,600, and promised to pay him the rest $400 back as soon as possible. "No," said Paderewski. "Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left." The boys were surprised, and very thankful. Paderewski later became the Prime Minister of Poland, and he was a great leader. When the World War broke out, more than l.5 million people went hungry, but there was no food to feed them. Paderewski turned to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover -- who later became the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food to Poland. Paderewski decided to go across to thank Hoover himself. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his kindness, Hoover quickly stopped him and said, "You shouldn't be thanking me, Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college. I was one of them." Why did the two students decide to raise money? Answer: To pay for their education. Although man has known asbestos for hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H.W.Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers,was responsible for the opening of that first mine. Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves,which looked much like ordinary work gloves,he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increased business in asbestos roofing materials. However,because it was very expensive to transport them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein, in the province of Quebec in Canada. Ever since 1881 Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral,which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated,a strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibers. Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads ,but they have found thousands of uses of this fireproof material, of the so- called "cloth of stone." Which is the most important character of asbestos that the author wants to show us? Answer: It is like thread Attitude is an internal state that influences the choices of personal action made by the individual. Some researchers consider that attitudes come from differences between beliefs and ideas; others believe that attitudes come from emotional states. Here, we focus on the effects of attitudes upon behavior, that is, upon the choices of action made by the individual. The kinds of actions taken by human beings are obviously influenced greatly by attitudes. Whether one listens to classical music or rock, whether one obeys the speed limit while driving, whether one encourages one's husband or wife to express his or her own ideas--all are influenced by attitudes. These internal states are acquired throughout life from situations one is faced with in the home, in the streets, and in the school. Of course, the course of action chosen by an individual in any situation will be largely determined by the particulars of that situation. An individual who has a strong attitude of obeying laws may drive too fast when he is in a hurry and no police cars in sight. A child who has a strong attitude of honesty may steal a penny when she thinks no one will notice. But the internal state which remains unchanged over a period of time, and which makes the individual behave regularly in a variety of situations, is what is meant by an attitude. Attitudes are learned in a variety of ways. They can result from single incidents, as when an attitude toward snakes is acquired by an experience in childhood at the sudden movement of a snake. They can result from the individual's experiences of success and pleasure, as when someone acquires a positive attitude toward doing crossword puzzles by being able to complete some of them. And frequently, they are learned by copying other people's behavior, as when a child learns how to behave toward foreigners by observing the actions of his parents. Regardless of these differences, there is something in common in the learning and modification of attitudes. According to the passage, attitudes _ . Answer: come from different situations in one's life In kindergarten your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one. In first grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary halls. In second grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you stand up to the class bully . In third grade your idea of a good friend was the person who shared their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus. In fourth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who was willing to _ square dancing partners in gym so you wouldn't have to be stuck with Nasty Nicky or Smelly Susan. In fifth grade your idea of a friend was the person who saved a seat on the back of the bus for you. In sixth grade your idea of a friend was the person who went up to Nicky or Susan , your new crush and asked them to dance with you, so that if they said no you wouldn't have to be embarrassed. In seventh grade your idea of a friend was the person who let you copy the social studies homework from the night before that you had forgotten to do. In eighth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pack up your stuffed animals and old baseball, but didn't laugh at you when you finished and broke out into tears. In ninth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who would go to a party held by a senior so you wouldn't end up being the only freshman there. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage? Answer: The person who changed his/her schedule to have lunch with you. Hello, everyone! I am Zhang Xin. Do you know what I see in America? Well, it is really an interesting trip. Now, 1et me tell you what I find in this trip. In China, I have five English classes every week. When I study English,my teacher teaches me to say "I am fine" when people ask me "How are you?" But in the US., I find people say "I am good," or "I' m not so good." One day, someone says to me with "What's up?" But I don't know what to say. All the girls want to be nice. US girls like to get at a _ in the sun. But in China, girls only want to get white. In China, study comes first, so we study hard and that's it. But in the US, a "good" student also does much for others , and they play sports or music after school. After I come back from the US, I think for a long time. I can't forget this trip! Which of the following is NOT true? Answer: American girls love to be white.
This is a picture of a classroom. The classroom is big and clean. You can see a teacher's desk, six desks and seven chairs. You can see a girl and a boy ,too. Four books are on the teacher's desk. A pencil case is on the desk. Two pens and two rulers are in the pencil case .A school bag is under a chair. A ball is on the floor. The girl is Mary, She is 11.The boy is Jack. He is 12.They are is Class Two. They are friends. The teacher is Miss Smith. She is not here. _ is not in the picture. Answer: Miss Smith The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues that flesh receives. The most widespread fallacy of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes. During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches , cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds. In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp , naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose. If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter?Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on. No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms. The passage mainly discusses _ . Answer: the reason and the way people catch colds Chances I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career . I wasn't an excellent student because I didn't do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn't have much to offer. I just accepted that I wasn't the type to have a career. I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn't too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she'd give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didn't often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early morning with the children. One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification if I wanted to work with children. I didn't think I would be accepted because I didn't take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a parttime course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten. Now I've got a fulltime job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career, even if you aren't top of the class at school. What has the author learned from her own experiences? Answer: Less successful students can still have a career. You always have to understand what you are good at, and what you are not good at. Or if you are interested in something you always have to master it first. When I was ten, I came over to my cousin's house, and that was pain because he lived in New York and I lived in Miami. So I came over every summer break by myself, of course I had my parents' permission to go that far. One day, We decided to head to the forest. I was looking forward to this trip because I knew that my cousin was an expert on tree climbing while I was not. So, as we walked closer and closer to the forest, I became _ because I did not possess the ability to climb trees. When he started climbing a tree I was upset but I joined him hoping not to break my neck. Last Summer break he invited me to his house. I was afraid of climbing to the tree so I gave up. But this time I tried climbing the tree. While I was climbing I was so scared like I was about to die at any moment. But when I was about to climb on the other branch I lost my balance. Luckily I got hold on one of the bottom branches. My cousin suddenly started climbing down and tried to help me. After he put me on the ground, he ran to get some help. The pain was just killing me, I lost a lot of blood and I knew that I have to be awake to survive. Finally, my cousin brought the help. When I waked up I was happy that I did not die. It was pretty insane what happened to me. ( 295 words ) The text is mainly about _ . Answer: An impressive experience Summer Camp Contact Kitty 6219-7830 Are you looking for a place where you can enjoy Chinese study and experience Chinese culture during the summer holiday? Hua Mandarin could be your wise choice. The new summer camp will start on July 28th and end on August 18th. We provide very small groups with 2-4 people for you to learn Chinese in an effective way. Activities including calligraphy , painting, culture show, Chinese movies, kung fu, swimming, and so on will help you walk into Chinese culture with fun. Welcome to call at 62197830 * Kitty for more details. Comments The earlier camp finished last week. Students are happy here, although they have to learn a lot upon parents' request . Teachers here are trying to help children to learn in a funny way. Please sign in to add a comment. . . You can get more information about the new summer camp by _ . Answer: all the above
Habits,whether good or bad,are gradually formed when a person does a certain thing again.He is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, and then a habit is formed.Once a habit is formed,it is difficult,and sometimes impossible,to get rid of.It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits.Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live older. Persons also form bad habits lasting as long as they live,and sometimes become ruined by them. There are other habits which,when formed in early life,are of great help.Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life,such as early rising,honesty and so on. Among the habits which children should not form are laziness,lying,stealing and so on.These habits are all easily formed.Unfortunately older persons often form habits which could have been avoided. We should keep away from all these bad habits,and try to form such habits as will be good for ourselves and others. Generally speaking, it's difficult for one _ and easy for them _ which should be avoided. A. to form bad habits;to form good habits B. to form good habits;to form bad habits C. to form such habits as wilI be good;to get rid of bad habits D. to get rid of bad habits;to form good habits Answer: B. to form good habits;to form bad habits The Golden Compass is the first movie based on the Philip Pullman's bestselling novel, His Dark Materials. It is a work of imagination that tells us about a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend. Along the way she meets strange creatures, like witches and so on. Finally , she saves not only her world, but also ours as well. Lyra is a young girl among scholars in Oxford's Jordan College. She spends most of her time with her friend Roger, a kitchen boy. Together, they share a life with no worries. However, when Lyra hears a conversation about a very tiny particle , she is thrown into a dangerous adventure. This particle is said to unite different worlds, and is feared by many people who want to destroy it. At the same time , children began to disappear without a trace, including Lyra's good friend, Roger. As Lyra starts this horrible struggle, and begins to search for Roger, she meets strange creatures both big and small, and bad people who are not what they seem to be. Gobblers that kidnap children appear in the most unexpected places. And a magical compass made of gold will answer any question if one is skilled enough to read it. In unbelievable danger, Lyra doesn't know that she is doomed to win, or to lose, this battle... With the movie The Lord of the Ringsmaking New Line cinema over a billion dollars, it's easy to see why they got the rights to Pullman'sHis Dark Materials quickly. The books, sold more than nine million copies in the world, have a different idea from the Harry Potter series. Pullman's imagination may look suitable for children, but it works far better for adults. In the film The Golden Compass, Lyra _ . A. is a student in Oxford's Jordan College B. is a kitchen boy C. hears a conversation of Roger's D. meets many strange creatures Answer: D. meets many strange creatures OSLO -- Excited with pride, Norwegians sang in the streets of Oslo on Sunday, celebrating Norway's National Day and the country's Eurovision Song Contest victory. Hundreds of Norwegians sang along to Alexander Rybak's winning song Fairytale as they walked in the country's traditional National Day parade celebrating the Norwegian constitution. Alexander Rybak -- called "Alexander the Great" by the Norwegian media -- won a great victory in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) by gaining the most votes in its 53-year history in Moscow on Saturday. Alexander has played violin and piano since he was five years old, and he also composes his own music and sings. In 2006 he won the Norwegian talent show Kjempesjansen with his own song Foolin. Alexander has performed with one of the world's most celebrated violinists, Pinchas Zukerman, won the Anders Jahres Culture Price and has been the concertmaster for Norway's largest symphony orchestra for youths, Ung Symfoni. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said there was clearly something special about the 23-year-old and his folk music. "This is a _ performance by a young and talented musician," Stoltenberg said in a statement. Rybak is expected to draw a large crowd of fans to Oslo's Gardermoen airport when he arrives next Sunday, after having invited all his countrymen from the stage in Moscow. With Rybak's win, Norway will host next year's Eurovision finals, a show that reaches a television audience of over 100 million people. Norway's Minister of Culture, Trond Giske, promised that Norway would put on a splendid show next year but without spending as much as Moscow, which spent 24 million euros this year. "I don't think that is necessary," he told national broadcaster NRK. The win was Norway's third. The Nordic country also won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1985 and 1995. The main idea of the text is that _ . A. the Eurovision Song Contest belongs to the world B. National Day is being celebrated in Norway C. Crazy fans expect to meet their idol at the airport in Norway D. Norway celebrates a Eurovision win on National Day. Answer: D. Norway celebrates a Eurovision win on National Day. Thousands of cities around the globe turned off their lights for an hour to mark Earth Hour 2014, a symbolic show of support for the environment organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Since the movement began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, it has spread to more than 7,000 cities across more than 160 countries. Singapore continues to hold one of the world's largest lights-off events, drawing around 9,000 people this year to Marina Bay Sands, a commercial center typically awash in electricity. To mark the event actors Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone and a group of other famous stars from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie were in town. Other iconic landmarks that fell dark included the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok's Wat Arun temple, the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney Opera House, Red Square in Moscow, the Bird's Nest in Beijing and Hong Kong Harbor. As the movement has grown, more organizations and business have committed to switching off their lights in support of efforts to reduce their environmental footprint. In Singapore, at least 600 organizations and companies agreed to either switch off their lights or participate in movements to use fewer plastic bags, take shorter showers, turn up their air-conditioning units or switch to LED lighting. This year the World Wide Fund for Nature, which first launched worldwide Earth Hour, also launched Earth Hour Blue, a crowdfunding platform aimed at raising money for environmental projects around the globe. On Mar. 26 a project to stop the illegal wildlife trade in Asia by providing assistance to wildlife rangers became the first one to reach its target of $20,000 by relying completely on crowdfunding. The hour-long event has little if any impact on electricity consumption, but as an awareness raising event it has registered success. In a statement to mark Saturday's event, Andy Ridley, CEO and Co-Founder of Earth Hour, said Asia's rapidly growing digital presence is an added bonus that has helped power our movement. Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage? _ A. Earth Hour 2014 B. Save Our Earth C. Lights-Off Event D. Earth Hour Blue Answer: A. Earth Hour 2014 There's a guy like me in every state and federal prison in America, I guess -- I'm the guy who can get these for you: cigarettes, a bag of cigar, if you want that, a bottle of wine to celebrate yourson or daughter's high school graduation, or almost anything else. . . within reason, that is. It wasn't always that way. I came to Shawshank when I was just twenty, and I am one of the few people in the prison who is willing to admit what he did. I committed murder . I put a large insurance policy on my wife, who was three years older than I was, and then I fixed the brakes of the car her father had given us as a wedding present. It worked out exactly as I had planned, except I hadn't planned on her stopping to pick up the neighbor woman and the woman's son on the way down Castle Hill and into town. The brakes let go and the car crashed through the bushes, gathering speed. Bystanders said it must have been doing fifty or better when it hit the base of the Civil War statue in the town arid burst into flames. I also hadn't planned on getting caught, but I was caught. I got a pass into this place. My state has no death penalty , but I was tried for all three deaths and given three life sentences, to run one after the other. That fixed up any chance of parole I might have, for a long, long time. The judge called what I had done 'an extremely evil crime', and it was, but it is also in the past now. Have I transformed myself, you ask? I don't know what that word means, at least as far as prisons and corrections go. I think it's a politician's word. It may have some other meaning, and it may be that I will have a chance to find out, but that is the future. . . I was young, good-looking, and from the poor side of town. I met a pretty, headstrong girl who lived in one of the fine old houses on Carbine Street. She got pregnant later. Her father was agreeable to the marriage if I would take a job in the company he owned and 'work my way up'. I found out that what he really had in mind was keeping me in his house and under his thumb, like a disagreeable pet that has not quite been housebroken and which may bite. Enough hate eventually piled up to cause me to do what I did. Given a second chance I would not do it again, but I'm not sure whether that means I am transformed. Which of the following is TRUE about the man? A. He regrets having committed the crime. B. He will be out of prison in the near future. C. He thinks the trial a mistake and is unfair. D. He has found out the meaning of 'transform'. Answer: A. He regrets having committed the crime.
Two young men, one was a prisoner while the other was a famous official from the White House, both told a story about how their mothers give apples to them. The story from the prisoner: When I was young, one day my mother brought several apples, among which there was a biggest red one that I really wanted to get. My mum put all the apples on the table and asked us, "Which do you like?" I was about to say "the biggest one" while my brother took one step ahead and said what I wanted to say. My mum said angrily, "A good child should give the best to others instead of being self-centered." I learnt a quick lesson and said, "Mum, give me the smallest one. The biggest one should be left for my brother!" Hearing my words, she felt more than happy and gave the biggest apple to me as a reward. I told a lie but I got what I wanted! Since then, I learnt to lie. Later, I learnt to fight, steal and rob. I would try all means to get what I wanted. Then later I was _ . The story from the White House: When I was young, one day my mum brought several apples of different colors and sizes. Both my two younger brothers and I wanted the biggest one. My mum picked up the biggest apple and said, "It is good to get the biggest apple. Now let's start a competition. I will divide the lawn in front of our house into three parts, one for each. Who could do the job best and fastest would be rewarded with the biggest apple." I won the apple finally. How did the "prisoner" get the biggest apple? A By working for the family. B By competing with his brother. C By doing the best job. D By cheating his mother. Answer: D Paper was not made in southern Europe until the year of 1100.Thouth Scandinavia now makes a great deal of the world's paper, it had not begun to make it until 1500. It was a German named Schaeffer who found out that one could make paper from wood. After that, forest countries, such as Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the United States, became important in paper making. Today in Finland, for example, no industry is bigger than the forest industry. And the paper industry is the most important part of it. Modern paper-making machines are very big, and they make paper very fast. The biggest machines can make a piece of paper 750 meters long and six meters wide in one minute. When we think of paper, we think of newspapers, books, letters, envelopes , and writing paper. But there are many other uses. Each year, more and more things are made of paper. We have had paper cups, plates, and dishes for a long time. But now we hear that chairs, a tables and even beds can be made of paper. The newest thing made of paper in the world may be a paper house. It is not a small house for children to play in, but a real, big house for people to live in. it is not expensive. You can put up a paper house yourself in a few hours, and you can use it for about 5 years. ,. _ found out that paper can be made from wood. A A Canadian B An American C A German D A Chinese Answer: C Strictly Shakespeare is a creative writing community and monthly competition site. Its aim is to encourage, stimulate and promote authors, poets and wordsmiths by offering fun challenges, a targeted and friendly community and contact network and an interactive forum for critiques, advice, opportunities and self advertising in a fun and informative manner. The website currently receives one thousand visitors a month but with some amazing work being submitted and shared regularly its workers want to increase that number to highlight the talents of aspiring and creative writers across the globe. Calling all writers: Are you a poet, aspiring author or lover of words? Strictly Shakespeare invites you to join it now. You don't have to write like Shakespeare to enter it. Every month they hold creative writing contests in both poetry and prose based on a theme or prompt and then the TOP TEN finalists are revealed and public voting is open to determine the cash prize winners. Mission: It is to challenge and stimulate enthusiasts from all over the world and provide a forum to share and create. With thousands of visitors to the website, it is also great advertising for those who take part to earn the recognition they deserve and make contacts and new friends. Entries and prizes: It costs only PS1.00 to enter our monthly trysts. It would prefer not to charge at all as they work out of passion as opposed to profit but by charging this minimal fee they can gather all the entry funds, which go into a cash jackpot prize for the winners at the end of each month. Rewards are therefore based upon the number of entries but they give away a minimum of PS20.00 regardless. How to join: Simply visit the website www.strictlyshakespeare.com today, where you can browse through the amazing submissions of previous winners, take part in the forum or enter into the monthly competitions. Monthly timeline: 1st of the Month: Prompts/Themes are posted their "News" page and the contests OPEN! 14th of the Month: Competitions close at midnight. 17th of the Month: Top TEN finalists are revealed and public voting OPENS. 26th of the Month: Winners revealed and prizes distributed. You have to submit your contesting works _ . A in the end of the month B at midnight of the month C in the first half of the month D on the seventeenth of the month Answer: C A person's nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions. Some people are able to lead other people by the nose. For example, if a wife leads her husband by the nose, she makes him do whatever she wants him to do. Some people are said to be hard-nosed. They will not change their opinions easily. And many people will never pay through the nose, that is, they will not pay too much money for something. It is always helpful when people keep their nose out of other people's business.The opposite of this is someone who noses around all the time. This kind of person is interested in other people's private matters. He is considered nosy. And my teacher often says, "If you put your heart into it, the answers should be right under your nose. " It means something can be found or seen easily. As for ear, there are also some expressions. When I want to say something to you, I hope you are all ears and listen carefully. I also advise you to keep your ear to the ground. This means to be interested in what is happening around you and what people are thinking. Another expression about ear is to play it by ear. Someone is able to play a song or a piece of music by remembering the tune and not by reading the music. There are many other expressions about different parts of our body. For example, if someone is playing a joke on you, you can say, "You are pulling my leg. " And to turn your hand to something means to begin to do something. If a child does something wrong, we say he will get it in the neck, or he will be punished. If someone is hard-nosed, _ . A he will be too interested in others' business B he will spend much money for daily things C he will find the answers to his problems soon D he will not change his mind easily Answer: D Mr. Zhang was a sports fan. He worked in a hospital in the capital. He was busy all the time and had little time to have a rest. And one day he felt unwell and couldn't go on working. He decided to spend a week's holiday in a quiet village where he could go swimming or fishing. He got off at a small railway station and soon got to a quiet village. He took a room hotel and went to sleep as soon as he had a good meal. At first Mr. Zhang enjoyed himself there. He could do everything he wanted and went wherever he liked. Nobody disturbed him and knocked at the door at midnight. But on the fourth day he was in trouble. After lunch it was very hot. He went swimming in the river. Suddenly he saw a beautiful bird in a big tree. He wanted to catch it, so he walked to it, but it found him and flew away ans soon as gone. He began to pick some flowers in the forest and before long he lost his way. The sun had gone down and night had fallen before Mr. Zhang found a small restaurant in another village. He came in and told them to bring him some bread, two eggs and a glass of tea. After a while his food was brought. Soon he ate up all the bread and eggs. When he was going to have the tea, he found there was a fly in the glass. " What's in my tea?" Mr. Zhang called out, " A fly" " It's impossible, sir." said the owner of the restaurant, " I had told them to pick all the flies out of your tea before they brought it to you!" From the story we can guess Mr. Zhang may be a _ . A engineer B doctor C tour guide D translator Answer: B
What is the best way for a student to describe the results of an experiment? A in a diagram B in an oral report C in a written report D in a photo essay Answer: C In anticipation of an extraordinary visit, the streets and buildings of Havana, Cuba, were cleaned and painted by dozens of workers. What was the occasion? For the first time in nearly 90 years, a sitting United States president was coming to Cuba, an island nation 90 miles south of Florida. On Sunday, President Barack Obama, joined by his family, stepped off Air Force One and onto a rainy runway, where Cuban dignitaries eagerly awaited him. "It's wonderful to be here, " the president said. The last time a U.S. president came to Cuba was in 1928. It was President Calvin Coolidge, and he arrived on a battleship. Obama will be in Cuba through Tuesday. He is set to meet with Cuba's president, Raul Castro, attend a state dinner and even take in a baseball game. The U.S. cut all ties with Cuba after Fidel Castro's communist government took control of the island in 1959. In the years that followed, both countries' opposing political views furthered the separation. Plans for social and economic change began after President Fidel Castro transferred power to his brother, Raul in 2008. Raul Castro then set a plan in motion to revive the country's economy. Since then, Cuba has been taking small, yet lasting steps toward change by removing a number of restrictions that had been set on its citizens, such as access to the Internet, the use of cellphones, and by allowing people to work at jobs not controlled by the government. Cuba, however, still has tough limits on media, public assembly and political opposition. Obama hopes to share his vision for Cuba's future during a speech he will deliver. Before the trip, Senior Advisor Ben Rhodes said the president hoped to use this visit as a way to "continue to create openings for great engagement between the American and Cuban people." What was the event showing Cuba's change for the better? A Fidel Castro rose to power. B Raul Castro came to power. C Calvin Coolidge arrived in Cuba. D The U.S. officials arrived in Cuba. Answer: B If your child has mobile internet access, it will be more difficult to monitor and control his or her internet use. Kids are turning to the internet for everything from hanging out with friends to shopping, which makes it harder for parents to keep track of their online activities. Fortunately, there are many choices for controlling what your kids see on their computers, laptops, and mobile devices. Content blockers and filters are great tools to use for younger kids. They allow you more control over where they go and what they do online. A content blocker can block some unhealthy websites or limit a child's search to the kind of sites. A content filter can scan sites and pictures and block those sites that contain certain words, key phrases, or content. Consider tracking software for older teenagers. This software enables you to see which sites your children have visited, tracking their path online. This tool gives young people more freedom to explore the Internet, but it also allows you to check that they are using the internet responsibly. Let your teenagers know that you trust them, but that you will be regularly checking that they are visiting appropriate sites online. Even if you use content blockers, filters, and trackers, you know that a lot of kids figure out ways to get around these, so it's important to remain alert . Remember that not all adult sites can be identified by blocker, filter, or tracker software. That's why it's important to talk to your kids about what to do when something inappropriate or scary comes up. Nothing can replace involvement and supervision by adults. Keep monitoring how your kids use the internet on a regular basis without getting into the role of internet traffic police. _ is the most important for parents to monitor and control kid's internet use? A Tracking software B Content blockers and filters C Filters and trackers D Involvement and supervision by adults Answer: D Parents can usually tell if their children are lying to them, and so can teachers. Knowing if someone is lying can be useful. There are a number of behaviors that you can observe to help catch someone in a lie. Eyes, windows to the soul, can provide information about whether you are hearing the truth or a lie. Here is a simple experiment. Ask a friend or a family member to imagine their mother with green hair. You should notice that their eyes look up to their left while they are imagining their mother. Then ask them to think about what they did this morning and their eyes will probably look up to the right. Basically, eye movement to the left indicates the person is imagining something that is not real or did not happen. When the eyes move up and to the right, the person is remembering something that actually happened. Body language is another way to see if someone is telling tales. A professional poker player will probably tell you not to believe someone whose hands touch their face, throat, or mouth. It seems that when we are being less than truthful our hands want to cover our face in some way. It is unlikely that a liar (someone who tells lies) will touch their chest with an open hand. Paying careful attention to how people talk can also help you catch someone in a lie. If a student is accused of copying homework, and is guilty, they are likely to get defensive. They may deny the copying and ask why the teacher does not like him or her, while an innocent person might be expected to take the offensive, explaining for example, how they got the ideas for the homework and convincing the teacher to talk to someone who saw them do the homework. You may also find a guilty person speaks more than is natural and adds lots of unnecessary details to their story in an attempt to convince you they are telling the truth. If you suspect this is happening, try changing the subject of your conversation quickly. A liar will happily follow your change of direction and will become more relaxed. But remember: just because someone is showing one or more of the signs associated with lying does not necessarily make them a liar. Some other forms of stress other than lying may explain their behavior, and some people exhibit these signs as normal behavior. However, if you need to distinguish a lie from the truth, these tips could be a good start. What is the best title for the passage? A What causes people to lie B How a liar covers his lies C What tricks a liar uses D How to detect a lie Answer: D As a newspaper reporter, Inez' s father traveled around the world. He wrote stories about the interesting people he met. On her fifteenth birthday, Inez could hardly believe it when her father announced that she was old enough to go with him on one of his trips! He said his next story would be about salt mining in Europe. Inez had never thought much about salt,she didn' t know what to expect,but she knew she would love being with her father. Months later, when Inez and her father arrived at the salt mine ,they found themselves walking into the middle of a busy workday. Mrs. Walker, the owner, said she would not be available to talk until the workday was over. She suggested that Inez and her father should help out so Inez ' s father would have first-hand experience for his story. Before Inez realized what was happening, she was in the factory. This was not what she had imagined her trip would be like. People rushed past her carrying hammers, nails, and wood to make boxes for the salt. Everyone seemed to be in such a hurry. As another newly constructed box was pushed at her, Inez spread a label with glue and stuck it on the side of the box. When she had agreed to go with her father on his newspaper assignment, she had pictured an adventure, not hard labor. Inez looked at the salt covering her father' s once-blue pants and sighed. She could taste the salt in her mouth and smell it in the air. Inez had been using salt all her life, but she had never imagined that it existed in such quantities or that it was so hard to package. Inez' s father rubbed his hands together and grinned at her. ''I know this probably isn't what you had in mind," he said, "but sometimes the best days are the ones that don' t go as planned. Best? she wondered. She had learned two lessons today. One was to value every grain of salt to fall from a shaker. The other was to hear the details before agreeing to go on a job with her father! How does Inez feel while working at the salt mine? A Happy. B Inspired. C Disappointed. D Annoyed. Answer: C
It's Sunday today. Students are having good time in the park. Look, there is a table under a big tree, three students are sitting there. Lucy is reading a book, she looks very happy. Next to her is another girl, she's Mary. She is eating apples with her friend Jean. They think the apples are very delicious. Other girls are drawing pictures there.In the middle of the park, there is a playground. There are four boys, they are playing basketball. Lisa is watching them, and singing beautiful songs. Near the lake, Mr. Li is telling interesting stories for other students, they are so happy and relaxing. Where are the boys playing basketball? A. Near the lake. B. On the playground. C. Under the tree. D. Next to the park. Answer: B. On the playground. Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends. They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain. So they can help each other. But neither of them likes to use his head. They work hard but they are both poor. Most villagers have built new houses, but they still live in the low and broken houses. They never find out why. Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife. In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive. He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1,000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor . Bad luck! A lot of apples were in the city when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price. They felt unhappy and returned to their village. "I can't understand why we sustained losses in business while others always profit " Uncle Li asked one day. "The tractor was too small" Uncle Wang said without thinking. "We'll carry more apples on a truck next time!" "I agree!" said Uncle Li. "How foolish we were!" Which of the following is true? A. The two farmers found out why they were poor. B. The two farmers will soon get rich. C. Neither of the farmers is clever. D. The two farmers decided to buy a truck. Answer: C. Neither of the farmers is clever. FIFA has decided that the Football World Cup 2018 will be held in Russia. Before the answer was given to the public, many people thought England would be the winner. Famous football player, David Beckham, Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron all worked hard to help England to hold the Football World Cup 2018. Mr. Cameron promised that England would make every fan feel at home and that it would host the most wonderful Football World Cup in history. David Beckham spoke movingly of how his grandfather, a football fan, died as he was playing in the Football World Cup. FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, described England as "the motherland of football" before he opened the envelope with the winner's name in it. Prince William said, "Certainly we're very disappointed. We have worked hard, but sadly, it didn't work." He added later, "I'm sorry for England football fans. We have given everything we could." Before the answer was given, hundreds of fans had gathered in London and other main English cities in the cold weather in the hope of good news, but the news let them down. The last Football World Cup help in England was the Football World Cup 1966. When was the last Football World Cup held in England? A. In 2004. B. In 1966. C. In I996. D. In 1970. Answer: B. In 1966. Jackie visited his grandparents on their farm. And he was playing with a slingshot in the woods. He practised in the woods but he could never hit the target. As he was walking back, he saw Grandma's pet duck. Without thinking, he shot, hit the duck in the head, and killed it. He was very afraid. He knew Grandma loved the duck. She would be sad or even angry if she knew that her duck was killed. He then hid the dead duck under a tree. His sister Susan saw it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day Grandma said, "Susan, let's wash the dishes." But Susan said, "Grandma, Jackie told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn't you, Jackie?" And then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Jackie did the dishes. Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, but Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Susan to help clean the house." But Susan smiled and said, "Well, that's all right because Jackie told me he wanted to help." and she whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Susan went fishing with Grandpa and Jackie stayed. These "remember the duck" went on for many days. Then finally Jackie _ it any longer. He came to Grandma and told her that he had killed the duck. She gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. But I just wanted to see how long you would let Susan make a slave of you. " Susan didn't tell Grandma about Jackie's secret because _ . A. she wanted Jackie to do something for her B. she was afraid Grandma would be very sad C. she didn't want to make Grandma angry D. she loved her brother very much Answer: A. she wanted Jackie to do something for her When TV news programs report wars or disasters, the editors rarely use the most horrifying pictures of dead or wounded victims because they don't want to upset their viewers. Even so, viewers are usually warned in advance that they may find some of these scenes disturbing, so they can look away if they choose. But the men and women whose job is to record those scenes-the TV cameramen-have no such choice. It is their duty to witness the horrors of the world and record them, no matter how terrible and unpleasant they may be. Consequently, it is one of the most dangerous, exposed and emotionally taxing jobs the world has to offer. Today, the demand for their work is rising. The explosion of satellite broadcasting and 24-hour news in recent years has created an almost insatiable demand for TV information. But major broadcasters and the TV news agencies--such as Reuters and WTN-have never had enough staff to meet the worldwide demand for up-to-date pictures, so increasingly they turn to "freelance" TV cameramen. These freelance cameramen are independent operators tied to no particular organization. They will work for any company which hires them, be it for just a few hours or for several weeks in a war zone. But if the freelance cameraman is injured in the course of the job, the TV company is not responsible for him. The freelancer must survive on his own. TV will always need hard, vivid moving pictures which are fresh, but these companies feel uncomfortable with large numbers of employees on their books, explains Nick Growing, once foreign editor for Britain Channel 4 News and now a BBC news presenter. By hiring freelancers, they can buy in the skills they need only when they need them. It also enables them to contract out the risk, he says. The author of this passage shows his _ the freelance cameramen. A. sympathy to B. respect for C. anger to D. admiration to Answer: A. sympathy to
Pupils remember more and behave better when 3D images areused in lessons,research suggests.They are quicker to learn andabsorb new concepts,and display higher levels of concentration. Professor Anne Bamford,of the University of the Arts,London,studied the effectiveness of 3D content in 15 schools across seven countries,including the UK.Pupils in 3D classes can remember more than those in the 2D classes after four weeks,improving test scores by an average of 1 7 percent compared with eight percent for 2D lessons.They gave more detailed answer to the tasks and were more likely to think in 3D, using hand gestures and mime to answer the test questions successfully. The teachers commented that the pupils in the 3D groups had deeper understanding,increased attention span, more motivation and higher engagement in the lessons. Children are used to 3D with the rise of computer games that use the technology90 percent of those in the study had seen a 3D film.Schools would need 3Denabled projectors ,laptops with good picture capabilities,3D software and glasses for children to introduce animations into classrooms. But Danny Nicholson,an educationist,said the technology would be impractical to use inschools and could be costly.He said,"While I think the idea of 3D technology is very interesting,I worry that 3D is a bit of an expensive gimmick .There are a few cases where a true3D image might help,but most of the time,good 2D models that can be moved would be just aseffective." In the US,one school district in Colorado is already in the process of having 1,000 3Dprojectors fixed in classrooms.And the University of Caledonia, which carries out scientific research into the Lake Tabon Basin, has used 3D presentations with Grade Six pupils.Those who watched the 3D presentations were more engrossed and reported a general increase in their interest in science compared with students who watched the 2D version. Danny Nicholson holds the view that 3D _ . Answer: may not be affordable for schools Jack, a bank teller, was fired by Morgan, the president of the bank. Jack decided to take revenge against Morgan, but decided against attempting it personally, because he knew Morgan was protected around the clock by bank security guards. Jack knew that Chip had a violent temper and was very jealous. Jack falsely told Chip that Chip's wife, Elsie, was having an affair with Morgan. Enraged, Chip said, "What am I going to do?" Jack said, "If it were my wife, I'd just march into his office and blow his brains out." Chip grabbed a revolver and rushed to the bank. He walked into the bank, carrying the gun in his hand. One of the security guards, believing a holdup was about to occur, shot and killed Chip. If charged with attempted murder of Morgan, Jack should be found Answer: guilty, because he intended to kill Morgan and used Chip to carry out his plan. 1 On Friday, January 14, 2005, my cousin, Kara Rose, came into the world. 2 She looked perfectly healthy from the outside, but on the inside, the doctors had failed to discover a serious problem. 3 She often had trouble breathing and then turned blue. 4 The doctors found that Kara had been born without part of her heart. 5 They didn't think she would live long enough to leave the hospital. 6 When she was four days old, she had her first operation. 7 My family stayed together during this hard time, hoping everything would turn out for the best. Kara's strength and determination to live were strong. Eventually, she could go home. We all waited patiently for new technology that could give Kara a new heart. When she was eighteen months old, her parents took her to a famous surgeon who performed a series of operations. There was no guarantee she would make it through the operation, but she succeeded. Kara grew stronger every day, and it was not long before she was well enough to be around people. She had an amazing character and always wore a sweet smile. When she fell asleep against my body, happy and content, I realized how valuable life really is. As I took her in my arms with her warm breath against my neck, I decided to live every day of my life to the fullest. This child, who is 15 years younger than I, has gone through more suffering and pain than I ever have. I admire her strength and determination. Kara has taught me that no matter how bad things seem, they can work out in the end. Knowing this small, beautiful child has made me a stronger person, I now believe that difficulty can be beaten. The writer wants to tell us that _ . Answer: strong wills can help beat difficulties In many countries today,laws protect wildlife.In India the need for such protection was realized centuries ago. About 300 B.C.an Indian writer described forests that were somewhat like national parks today.The killing of game animals was carefully governed.Some animals were fully protected.Within the forest,nobody was allowed to cut trees,burn wood,or trap animals for their furs.Animals that became dangerous to human visitors were trapped or killed outside the park,so that other animals would not become uneasy. The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before.About a thousand sorts of animals are in danger of extinction,and the speed at which they are being destroyed has been _ .With mammals ,for example,the speed of extinction is now about one sort every year;from A. D.1 to 1800,the speed was about one sort every fifty years.Everywhere,men are trying to solve the problem of saving wildlife while caring for the world's growing population. The report says that in Indian forests long ago _ . Answer: only dangerous animals were killed Health insurance can be very expensive. Some working people do not make enough money to pay for it. In the US there is a program called Healthy Families. This program offers people health insurance at a low cost. Families are charged about Y=7.00 a month for every child, and Y=10.00 for every adult. It costs much less than any other kind of health insurance. Having health insurance is very important. With this insurance, people can see a doctor when they are sick or hurt. The program is not expensive at all, but many people are still not enrolling in it. People say that it still costs too much money. They need all of their money to pay for things like food and rent. It would be great if everyone could have health insurance. People are working hard to come up with ways to make this happen. One idea is to make the Healthy Families Program free for some people. It is important for people to see a doctor when they need to. The Healthy Families Program makes it possible for more people to do this. Many ideas are being considered. Hopefully some of them will allow even more families to get health insurance. The Healthy Families Program is made to help those who don't have welfare and cannot earn enough to pay for private health insurance. It is an important program, but officials say that too many people are signing up for it and then dropping out because of the Healthy Families Program's cost. Why is it very important for people to have health insurance? Answer: They can afford to see a doctor when they need to.
Many Americans go to work five days a week. American students go to school five days a week, too, so they usually have a two-day weekend. The weekend is Saturday and Sunday. At the weekend people spend their time in many different ways. Sometimes they go shopping. Sometimes they go for a drive. Sometimes they visit friends. Many families enjoy weekends together. Many American families do some sports at the weekend. For example , in summer, they enjoy swimming and biking. In autumn, they prefer playing volleyball and tennis. In winter, they go skating and skiing . In spring, they like sightseeing and hiking . How happy they are! Do you have an enjoyable weekend? How many days do many Americans go to work a week? A. Five days. B. Six days. C. Seven days. D. Four days. Answer: A Once a small boy lived on a farm which seemed so far away from everywhere. He needed to get up before the sun rose every morning to help his father on the farm. After an hour he could take a break for a while. Then he climbed up on the walls along the side of the farm. He could see a house with gold windows. "If they could afford gold windows, then there must be other nice things inside the house." He imagined how great it would be to live there. Then he promised himself, "Some day I will go there and see this wonderful place." One morning, his father would go to the town and told him to stay at home for a rest. Knowing that this was his chance, he took a sandwich and went across the field towards the house with the gold windows. As the afternoon went on, he began to realize how wrong he was. The house was much farther than he had expected. As he went near the house, he saw no gold windows but instead a place in need of painting. A small girl very close to his age came out of the poor house and stood there. He asked her if she had seen the house with the gold windows. The girl said, "Sure, I know." and invited him to sit on the porch . As he sat there, he looked back from where he just came. There he saw the sunset turned the windows of his house to gold! Now he understood that everyone had his own house with gold windows. The story tells us that people sometimes may have the thought _ . A. Like father, like son B. Love me, love my dog C. Every dog has its day D. The grass is greener somewhere else Answer: D A wind turbine primarily uses which type of energy? A. nuclear B. thermal C. chemical D. mechanical Answer: D What can humans hide from weather in? A. a shady tree B. a local museum C. a soda can D. a playground Answer: B Last week a study of one hundred ninety-nine countries confirmed what many people may have already noticed. People around the world are getting fatter. The study found that obesity has almost doubled since 1980. Majid Ezzati, who led the research team, says the results show that obesity, high blood pressure and high blood pressure are no longer just found in wealthy nations. These are now worldwide problems. The study appeared shows that in 2008, almost ten percent of men were obese. That was up from about five percent in 1980. That same year, almost eight percent of women were obese. By 2008, the rate of obesity among women was almost fourteen percent. Obesity is commonly measured by body mass index , or BMI. This is a measure of a person's weight in relation to height. A person with a BMI of twenty-five to twenty-nine is considered overweight. The World Health Organization defines obesity as a body mass index of thirty or more. Pacific island nations have an average BMI of around thirty-five -- the highest in the world. But the study found that the United States had the single highest average among wealthy countries. Men and women had an average BMI of over twenty-eight. New Zealand was next. Japan had the lowest, at about twenty-two for women and twenty-four for men. The report had some good news, however, about high blood pressure. The percentage of people with this major cause of heart attacks and strokes has fallen since 1980. Dr. Ezzati credits improved testing and treatment in wealthy countries. He says a decrease in the use of salt and unhealthful fats probably also helped. In the United States, new guidelines urge Americans to reduce salt, sugar and fatty meats and to eat more fish and whole grains. People are being urged to choose water over sugared drinks and to eat more fruits and vegetables. But whatever they eat, Americans are being urged to follow new advice from the government: eat less. According to the World Health Organization, a person is considered obese if he / she has a BMI of over _ . A. twenty-five B. twenty-nine C. twenty-two D. thirty Answer: D
Tom and Mike are good friends. They are kind to children. They want to find summer jobs. One day Tom tells Mike that Beidaihe Kids Summer Camp needs help with sports, music and computers. They are both very glad to hear this. Tom can play basketball and volleyball, and he can swim, too. Mike can play the violin, the trumpet, the drums and the guitar. Tom and Mike like computers very much. Can they join the Summer Camp? . Tom can play _ . Answer: A famous American John Muir said in 1898: "The Grand Canyon... as unearthly in the color and grandeur of its architecture as if you had found it after death on some other star." Like Muir, those of us who stand along the rim are prompted to wonder about the unearthliness and the forces that created and are still changing this place. After more than 100 years of studies, many things are still mysterious. Today visitors come by the thousands -- the great and simple of the earth -- all in a spirit of wonder. Travelers come from every state of the Union, from every country in Europe and Asia. From the depths of the canyon comes welling silence. Seldom can you hear the roar of the river, for all sounds are swallowed in this gulf of space. "It makes one want to murmur." A woman once whispered to her companion. This silence is not the silence of death; rather, it is a presence. It is like a great piece of music. But music made of man works up to a climax and stops. Now, visitors to the South Rim alone may number 18,000 in a single day. Some of that number will travel by mule train down Bright Angel Trail to the canyon's floor, cross the raging river by a suspension bridge and walk to the North Rim. Though the two rims face each other across only 12 miles, it is a journey of 214 miles by car from one to the other. Nor can you visit the North Rim except in summer; some 1,200 feet higher than the South Rim, it is snow covered much of the year except in July and August. But there is no day that you may not visit the South Rim and find the sun warm on your face and the air perfumed with the incense of smoke from an Indian hearth . No wonder an American writer and journalist said, "I came here an atheist , and departed a devout believer." What is it that attracts so many travelers to the Canyon? Answer: While on vacation in distant locales, people often find that time moves quite differently than in the places they're used to. Robert Levine and his colleagues have studied the speed of life in cities around the world and across the U.S. In a series of experiments they measured how fast a single pedestrian in a downtown center covered a distance of 60 feet, timed how long it took to complete a simple commercial transaction, and recorded the accuracy of randomly selected clocks in the downtown business area. They found that places with a faster pace of life also had stronger economies, and that people in larger cities tended to move faster than those in less populated areas. So as you might expect, fast-moving people are associated with fast-moving economies. But does that faster life translate into greater happiness? In faster places, people were more likely to smoke, less likely to take the time to help strangers in need, and more likely to die from heart diseases. Yet Levine and his colleagues found that people in faster places tended to report feeling somewhat happier with their lives than those who lived in slower places. A city's pace of life was indeed "significantly related" to the physical, social, and psychological well-being of its inhabitants. However, the relationship between income and reported happiness is far from obvious. According to the "Easterlin paradox(,)" (named after economist Richard Easterlin), once people have enough money to meet their basic needs, having more money is not necessarily correlated with higher self-reported happiness. Easterlin's claims are controversial and not universally accepted; even if his theory is correct, wealthier nations might be happier overall if they address the basic needs to more of their people. In any case, the ongoing debate indicates that we need to be careful when making connections between happiness and overall economic factors. Among individuals in a society, busyness -- or the feeling of busyness -- seems to be an important factor in well-being. That feeling of busyness -- of having a lot to do and too little time in which to do it is often associated with stress and anxiety. However in many contexts being "busy" is badge of honor: Busy parents are seen as devoted to their children's well-being and the busy lawyer can charge a premium hourly rate. In US studies, the happiest people reported that they were busy, in the sense that they had little excess time, yet did not feel rushed. Levine's work raises the possibility that an individual's feelings about their use of time contribute as much or more to their happiness as does economics. Now the big challenge is to find out which way the causal chain works: Does the feeling of being active, yet not rushed, contribute to happiness? Or does happiness allow people to perceive their use of time in positive ways? Which of the following does Easterlin paradox support? Answer: A thermal conductor is made of Answer: Which would least likely help someone with bad vision? Answer:
As the sun rose, a dewdrop woke up. There it sat on a leaf, catching the sunlight. Proud of its simple beauty, it was very happy. Around it were other dewdrops, some on the same leaf and some on other leaves. The dewdrop was sure that it was the best, the most special dewdrop of them all. Ah, it was good to be a dewdrop. The wind blew and the plant began to shake, tipping the leaf. The dewdrop became frightened as it started to move towards the edge of the leaf. Why was this happening? Things were comfortable. Things were safe. Why did they have to change? Why? Why? The dewdrop reached the edge of the leaf. It was sure that this was the end. The day had only just begun and the end had come so quickly. It seemed so unfair. It seemed so meaningless. It tried hard to do whatever it could to stay on the leaf, but it was no use. Finally, it fell. Below there was a mirror. A reflection of the dewdrop seemed to be coming up to meet it. Closer and closer they came together until finally.., the small dewdrop became a part of the great pond . Now the dewdrop was no more, but it was not destroyed. It had become one with the whole. The dewdrop became _ as it started to move towards the edge of the leaf. A. scared B. happy C. proud D. comfortable Answer: A According to a survey, which was based on the responses of over 188,000 students, today's traditional age college freshmen are "more materialistic and less altruistic " than at any time in the 17 years of the poll. Not surprising in these hard times, the student's major objective "is to be financially well off. Less important than ever is developing a meaningful philosophy of life." It follows then that today the most popular course is not literature or history but accounting. Interest in teaching, social service and the "altruistic" fields is at a low. On the other hand, enrollment in business programs, engineering and computer science is way up. While it's true that we all need a career, it is equally true that our civilization has accumulated an incredible amount of knowledge in scientific or artistic fields. It is equally true that, in studying the diverse wisdom of others, we learn how to think. More important, perhaps, education teaches us to see the connections between things, as well as to see beyond our immediate needs. The most important argument for a broad education is that in studying the accumulated wisdom of the ages, we improve our moral sense. I saw a cartoon recently which shows a group of businessmen looking puzzled as they sit around a conference table; one of them is talking on the intercom :"Miss Baxter," he says, "could you please send in someone who can distinguish right from wrong?" From the long term point of view, that's what education really ought to be about. Studying the diverse wisdom of others can _ . A. create varying artistic interests B. help people develop their moral sense C. help improve connections among people D. regulate the behavior of the businessmen Answer: B In today's throwaway society,dealing with the city's growing mountain of waste is an increasing challenge for the city council . Recently,Edinburgh is faced with the problem of disposing of about 250,000 million tons of waste a year.Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner--largely through encouraging recycling--its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it. The European Union (EU) has issued a new policy,regulating how such mountains of waste are to be disposed of.The five councils (Edinburgh,East Lothian,West Lothian,Midlothian and Borders) face fines around PS18 million a year from 2013 if they don't increase recycling levels and rely less on landfill.With this in mind,the councils got together with the idea of building a large incinerator plant to burn half of the waste produced in their districts.But this plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city's waste should be disposed of in this way by 2025. After the plan was abandoned,a private company which already transported millions of tons of the city's waste by train to a landfill site near Dunbar,offered an alternative solution when it suggested opening a huge waste site near Portobello. Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015,it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh Council to accept the suggestion.But soon they turned it down--after 700 local objections reached them--because it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas. That still leaves the council with a problem.By 2013,only 50% of 1995 levels of waste will be allowed to be sent to landfill.Even if recycling targets are met,there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up.Due to this,Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an incinerator plant as time to find a solution is fast running out.(2011*,C) The city council of Edinburgh rejected the suggestion to open a huge landfill site near Portobello because _ . A. it came from a private company B. the council was not interested in it C. it was not supported by EU D. the local people were against it Answer: D If you hear the sound of a handset beeping in a bag or pocket, you could be forgiven for thinking that someone has received a text message. But nowadays there are so many different ways of messaging someone that it could spell the death of the traditional text as we know it. Text messaging, or texting, is the art of sending a short, electronic message between two mobile phones or tablets . Users pay a certain amount to send messages via SMS--short message service. But in the last few years, messaging in this way has been on the decline . The rise of smartphones and tablets has seen an increase in the use of instant messaging apps , which take the place of traditional texts. Using wireless Internet connections, people can send limitless numbers of IMs to their friends for very little cost. Unlike traditional mobile texts, the user usually only has to pay to download the app once, after which each message they send is free. Web developers soon _ . Instant messaging apps have become popular all over the world. WhatsApp in America and Europe, WeChat in China and Kakao Talk in South Korea are but a few which have attracted hundreds of millions of people, who use the apps to chat to their friends in real time. These apps allow people to send picture messages for free--something which previously was quite costly. Research company Informa said that almost 19 billion messages were sent per day using chat apps in 2012, compared with 17. 6 billion SMS texts. And it expects the chat app market to grow t0 50 billion per day by 2014. So does this really mean the end for communication by text? Pamela Clark--Dickson from Informa doesn't think so. She says that there are a large number of people who use normal mobile phones, particularly in developing countries, who prefer the SMS messaging tool. There is an awfully big base of mobile phone users who are still going to find that SMS is the best messaging experience for them for a while. ,. Which of the following is true? A. people sent 19 billion SMS texts every day in 2012 B. All the messages sent on mobile phones and computers are free C. Picture messages can be sent at a high price if you use Wechat D. To send instant messages , people usually have to download the app first Answer: D Thirty years ago Able, the then-record owner of Greenacre, a lot contiguous to Blueacre, in fee simple, executed and delivered to Baker an instrument in writing which was denominated "Deed of Conveyance." In pertinent part it read, "Able does grant to Baker and her heirs and assigns a right-of-way for egress and ingress to Blueacre." If the quoted provision was sufficient to create an interest in land, the instrument met all other requirements for a valid grant. Baker held record title in fee simple to Blueacre, which adjoined Greenacre. Twelve years ago Charlie succeeded to Able's title in fee simple in Greenacre and seven years ago Dorcas succeeded to Baker's title in fee simple in Blueacre by a deed which made no mention of a right-of-way or driveway. At the time Dorcas took title, there existed a driveway across Greenacre which showed evidence that it had been used regularly to travel between Main Road, a public road, and Blueacre. Blueacre did have frontage on Side Road, another public road, but this means of access was seldom used because it was not as convenient to the dwelling situated on Blueacre as was Main Road. The driveway originally was established by Baker. Dorcas has regularly used the driveway since acquiring title. The period of time required to acquire rights by prescription in the jurisdiction is ten years. Six months ago Charlie notified Dorcas that Charlie planned to develop a portion of Greenacre as a residential subdivision and that Dorcas should cease any use of the driveway. After some negotiations, Charlie offered to permit Dorcas to construct another driveway to connect with the streets of the proposed subdivision. Dorcas declined this offer on the ground that travel from Blueacre to Main Road would be more circuitous. Dorcas brought an appropriate action against Charlie to obtain a definitive adjudication of the respective rights of Dorcas and Charlie. In such lawsuit Charlie relied upon the defense that the location of the easement created by the grant from Able to Baker was governed by reasonableness and that Charlie's proposed solution was reasonable. Charlie's defense should A. fail, because the location had been established by the acts of Baker and Able. B. fail, because the location of the easement had been fixed by prescription. C. prevail, because the reasonableness of Charlie's proposal was established by Dorcas's refusal to suggest any alternative location. D. prevail, because the servient owner is entitled to select the location of a right- of-way if the grant fails to identify its location. Answer: A
The other day an acquaintance of mine, an outgoing and charming man, told me he had found himself unexpectedly alone in New York for an hour or two between appointments. He went to the Whitney and spent the "empty" time looking at things in solitary happiness. For him it proved to be a shock nearly as great as falling in love to discover that he could enjoy himself so much alone. What had he been afraid of, I asked myself? That, suddenly alone, he would discover that he bored himself, or that there was, quite simply, no self there to meet? But having taken a decisive step, he is now on the edge of adventure; he is about to be launched into his own inner space to the astronaut. His every perception will come to him with a new freshness and, for a time, seem surprisingly original. For anyone who can see things for himself with a naked eye becomes, for a moment or two, something of a genius. With another human being present, vision becomes double vision, unavoidably. We are busy wondering, what does my companion see or think of this, and what do I think of it? The original impact gets lost. "Music I heard with you was more than music." Exactly. And therefore music itself can only be heard alone. Solitude is the salt of personhood. It brings out the authentic flavor of every experience. "Alone one is never lonely: the spirit adventures, walking in a quiet garden, in a cool house, staying single there." Loneliness is very strongly felt with other people, for with others, even with a lover sometimes, we suffer from our differences of taste, temperament and mood. Human intercourse often demands that we soften the edge of perception, or withdraw at the very instant of personal truth for fear of hurting, or of being inappropriately present, which is to say naked, in a social situation. Alone we can afford to be wholly whatever we are, and to feel whatever we feel ly. That is a great luxury! For me the most interesting thing about a solitary life, and mine has been that for the last twenty years, is that it becomes increasingly rewarding. When I can wake up and watch the sun rise over the ocean, as I do most days, and know that I have an entire day ahead, uninterrupted, in which to write a few pages, take a walk with my dog, lie down in the afternoon for a long think (why does one think better in a horizontal position?), read and listen to music, I am flooded with happiness. I'm lonely only when I am overtired, when I have worked too long without a break, when from the time being I feel empty and need filling up. And I am lonely sometimes when I come back home after a lecture trip, when I have seen a lot of people and talked a lot, and am full to the brim with experience that needs to be sorted out. Then for a little while the house feels huge and empty, and I wonder where my self is hiding. It has to be recaptured slowly by watering the plants and perhaps, by looking again at each one as though it were a person. It takes a while, as I watch the surf blowing up in fountains at the end of the field, but the moment comes when the world falls away, and the self emerges again from the deep unconscious, bringing back all I have recently experienced to be explored and slowly understood, when I can converse again with my hidden powers, and so grow, and so be renewed, till death do us part. Which of the following is the writer's opinion about being alone? A Being alone is actually an adventure of exploring one's outer space. B People are lonely because they lack communication between each other. C One can enjoy the authentic flavor of every experience when he is alone. D People need to be alone because only then do they have double vision. Answer: C. One can enjoy the authentic flavor of every experience when he is alone. What is the hottest English word of 2013? It's "selfie", according to Oxford dictionaries. Selfie is a photo that one takes of oneself, according to the Oxford online dictionary. People usually take selfies with a smartphone and send them to a social media website. The word was first used in 2002. In the past 12 months, its frequency in the English language has increased by 17,000 percent, said Oxford dictionaries. Now, almost everybody knows it. "Almost every day, I take a photo of myself at school, and save it in my Qzone (QQ)," said Huang Xu, 13, from Hunan. These photos record her happy and sad moments. Pop stars also take a lot of selfies. Li Chunping, 14, from Harbin, is a big fan of Yang Mi. "She has used many selfies to tell us what's going on in her personal life," said Li. What makes people love selfies? Some people say it's narcissism . "The rise of the selfie is a perfect symbol for our narcissistic culture. We're crying out: Look at me!" said US psychiatrist Carole Lieberman. Young people are using selfies to make friends online, Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian. "The usual purpose of taking a selfie is to share online. They express a human need to connect with others," wrote Freedland. Huang Xu agrees with that. "During summer vacation, my classmates and I shared many selfies online. Hair or clothes were not our interests. Through these photos, we got to know each other's holidays and feelings," said Huang Xu. We can tell from the story that _ . A only famous people enjoy taking selfies B all people love selfies because of narcissism C people love to share selfies online D US psychiatrist Carole Lieberman hates selfies Answer: C. people love to share selfies online Just a Little Smile Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of turn fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman . Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy's name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just _ with his girlfriend. They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, then Mark went home. They often saw . each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk. Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother's sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, ! began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. " When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he. _ . A knew he could save Bill's life B knew who Bill was and wanted to help him C didn't know why he was going to help him D didn't know what he was doing was very important to Bill Answer: D. didn't know what he was doing was very important to Bill International travelers, whether traveling for business or pleasure, will find themselves _ from time to time. Here are a few ways to meet new people and perhaps even get new travel chances. Make yourself friendly Be relaxed and polite. Remember to put yourself in social activities. Restaurants, shops and parks are all great places to meet people. If you want to make local friends in a country, stay near the place the locals often visit. Show your photo album Keep a small photo album in your bag when you travel. Photos of family, friends and pets will help your new friends learn more about you and give you things to talk about. They will share their own stories with you, and it will help you learn more about your new friends. Share something special Can you help your new friends improve their Chinese? Can you cook a traditional Chinese meal? By sharing your skills, you can have a close friendship with your new friends that they won't soon forget. Give some gifts Many foreigners love Chinese goods but have to pay a lot when buying them in their homeland, so you'd better prepare some gifts such as silks, tea and works of art. They are always popular. Exchange flats If you and your new friends get along well, you can give them your information and plan to exchange flats for your next trip. Then you can visit their countries and stay in their houses while they stay in yours. In this way you will improve your friendship and live like a local abroad, but pay less for traveling. From the passage we can learn that _ . A exchanging flats is popular in China B goods in foreign countries are cheaper C sharing your special skills can help you develop friendship D international travelers always get into trouble Answer: C. sharing your special skills can help you develop friendship It is important to learn business English if you are going to be successful in another country where English is the primary language. It will also be a great idea to practice speaking and writing in business English. If a university offers a course on business English, it will be a good idea to take the class. Reading, writing and speaking English is necessary to start a business. Business English is different from asking where to find the nearest hotel. There are classes you can take to help you but there are things that you can learn on your own. Vocabulary and grammar are a good place to start with. You need to know what words mean. Later, try to pronounce the words and then look them up in the dictionary. Try using them in a sentence and ask someone who is good at English to help you. Once you have an understanding of English, you can use it in business English. In business you will have to learn such things as taking messages, answering the phones with proper words and communicating with your co-workers. You may have to learn how to make travel plans. Business English is very different than spoken English. Grammar is the same but you have to learn things like expressing yourself in a proper manner or maybe making a report in your office. If you are working in the customer service sector , you really have to learn business English. Dealing with the public is sometimes more important than asking your boss for a raise . Most businesses offer training classes and some companies offer classes on how to do the job with proper business English. Why do people learn business English? A They want successful communication. B They want to ask the boss for a raise. C They want to have their own company. D They will have a chance to get a better job. Answer: A. They want successful communication.
Handsome Safin is loved by many women fans and he is called "the most attractive man". His strength and forehand and backhand skills are the best in the world, which are in fact unbeatable while he is at his best. Marat Safin was born inprefix = st2 /Moscowon 27th January, 1980, and was introduced to the game at a very early age. His mother Rausa, one of the former top 10 Russian women tennis players, used to take baby Marat with her when she practiced at the local Spartak club. This is where Marat also learned to play. Marat had picked up his racket almost as soon as he could walk and at five was hitting balls with a little child until 1992. When Marat was 13, his parents decided to send him abroad for further practice, so in that year Marat and his mother visited a tennis school inValenciawhere Maria Pasqual, former director of Spanish women's tennis, was asked to judge his potential. Pasqual liked what she saw and managed to persuade a Swiss client into keeping him at the school. In the following four years Marat lived in Valenciaemploying Pasqual as his career advisor, working on his great clay court skills and learning the Spanish language. Marat's first title came in 1997 at a Challenger in Espinho and soon afterwards he turned professional. He won his first title on the ATP Tour in August, 1999 when he beat Greg Rusedski in the final of the MFS Professional Championships in Boston. In 2000, Safin won his first Grand Slam title--US Open. He also reached the final of the Australian Open in 2002 and 2004. On November 7, 2004, Marat Safin beat Czech qualifier' Stepanek to win his third Paris Masters title. He also won the Paris Masters in 2000 and 2002. "I really enjoy tennis because it brings about extreme emotions and allows me to live my dreams," said Safin. Yes, the future certainly looks rosy for him. Just like what his former adviser, Maria Pasqual said, "He will be a champion one day" -- surely he already is! It can be inferred from the passage that _ . Answer: Safin's success benefited a lot from his family Botany , the study of plants, occupies a particular position in the history of human knowledge.For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest ) of insights.It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.This is logical.Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things even for other plants.They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people not only for food but also for clothing, tools, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes.Tribes living today in the jungle of the Amazon recognize hundreds of plants and know many properties of each.To them, botany has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of "knowledge" at all. Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become, the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge grows.Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose or an apple.When nor Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer fields the next season--the first, great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken.Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture: cultivated crops.From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild, and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience with plants in the wild would begin to fade away. According to the passage, general knowledge of botany begun to fade away because _ . Answer: direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased Peter Owen has been making wigs since the 1980s. He has made wigs for the stars of more than seventy movies, including Tom Hanks inPhiladelphia, Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow, and Nicole Kidman in The Others. One of his biggest jobs so far has been designing the hair and make-up for the three Lord of the Rings movies. He had just six weeks to design and make more than a hundred wigs, each one a different style, colour, shape and length. The hair and make-up in a movie are just as important as the costumes or the sets. Over the years, Peter has made actors look older, younger, healthy and sick. For one movie he even made a female actor look like a man!"What people don't realize about wigs is that we are not always making people more beautiful," he says. "Often we are covering up beauty and making them look ordinary." All Peter's wigs are hand-made using human hair, so they look as real as possible. This also makes them very expensive--between US$4,500 and US$12,500 each! He knows he's done a good job when people don't realize the star of the movie is wearing a wig. So he was pleased when one newspaper said that Nicole Kidman had dyed her hair dark brown for a movie. "It was a wig and no one knew that," he says. Why are Peter's wigs so expensive? Answer: They are hand-made using human hair. There are some vegetables in the garden and a big tree near the vegetables. They don't like each other, because vegetables drink much water, and the tree can't have enough water to live. He is very angry about that. So he wants to teach vegetables a lesson . On a very hot day, the big tree doesn't share its shadow with vegetables. It makes vegetables very hot. But there is not enough water to drink. So they soon become very dry. At that time, the gardener comes to see these vegetables. He is very sad, because all the vegetables are dry. Then he starts to build a new one. The vegetables and the big tree can't drink water any more. The big tree feels very sad, because he uses a wrong way to teach the lesson. What does the gardener do after seeing these dry vegetables? Answer: He starts to build another new garden. "Oh, my God! Did I really just send that text?" Most people have said something that they wish they could take back. And if they had paused to think about it first, they probably would have acted differently. Pausing doesn't pay off just when you speak. Scientific studies have shown that making a habit of pausing before you do something can actually have a big impact on how your life turns out. In making decisions we rely on two areas of the brain. One area creates and processes emotions; the other governs logical thought. The type of decision, how we feel about it, and how prepared we are to handle it help determine which brain area has the most influence. But our age also plays an important role. Thinking through the consequences of one's actions is actually harder for teens because the area controlling logical thought is not fully developed until around age 25. This is why teens often feel an intense emotional drive to act impulsively--it's how their brains are structured! Though this tendency to act without considering the outcomes can lead to problematic situations, impulsivity during the developmental years evolves because it makes teens more open to new experiences and ideas. This openness helps teens become independent adults. The key to making impulsivity work for you--instead of against you--is to train your brain by practicing pausing. This doesn't mean you stop taking risks or being open to new experiences. But you won't know if the risk is worth it until you think it through. Deciding to take a risk based on logic shows self-control, not impulsivity. What are different ways to pause? You might take a deep breath, count to 10, or ask, "Is this worth it?" Different strategies work for different people. Whatever works for you, keep doing it! By practicing pausing, you can actually change your brain. This means that over time, pausing, instead of immediately reacting, becomes your "natural" response. And with this change, people are on their way to enjoying the life rewards that come with high levels of self-control--even if they weren't natural--born pausers! An impulsive person tends to _ . Answer: consider or accept new ideas
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Call rollfree (866) 3882877 www.threesistersmountainvillage.com PERFECT PICTURES Discover the Rockies's most desirable natural attractions on a Brewster guided excursion.As national park specialists,we are proud to share the wonders of Canada's largest outdoor living museum.Our 111 years'experience ensures a most memorable guided adventure! Wildlife viewing Nature walks Sightseeing Tollfree:18007606934 www.brewster.ca RAFTING & OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Youth & group rates available! A spectacular adventure is waiting for you between Banff and Calgary,a short scenic drive to paradise.Join us for a fun,exciting and safe adventure in the Kananaskis and Bow Valley. Adventures are available for all ages and skill levels. Our professional and highly qualified guides are all Wilderness First Aid and River Rescue certified. Tollfree:18779997238 www.insideoutexperience.com The Smiths,a retired couple,would probably call _ for several quiet starry nights. Answer: (866) 3882877 Chinese player Li Na, a two-time Grand Slam champion, announced her retirement on Sept 21 because of long-term knee injuries. Although it was a hard decision, Li said she had no regrets . "I don't feel sorry about retiring, because I've tried my best," said the 32-year-old. Becoming professional at the age of 17, Li has set many milestones for Chinese tennis. She was the first Chinese player to win a WTA title and the first to break into the top 20. Li won the 2011 French Open title and became the first Asian player to ever win a Slam. By winning this year's Australian Open, she became the first Asian player with two Slams. As excellent as her tennis abilities are, Li's sense of humor is _ too. She often jokes about life with her husband in interviews, changing them into funny comedy shows. Her speech at the Australia Open in January is just the best example. During her 15-year professional career, Li has helped the improvement of tennis in China. Earlier this month, Chinese another player Peng Shuai, 28, made the semifinals of the US Open. Last week, a new tennis match started in Li's hometown of Wuhan. "I've seen changes happening in front of my eyes, young girls picking up tennis rackets, setting goals ... and believing in themselves," Li said in an online post. Li is more than a sports superstar. As WTA chief executive Stacey Allaster said, she is "a pioneer who opened doors to tennis for hundreds of millions of people throughout China and Asia." Li said she planned to take care of my family and then to open a tennis school in China after her retirement. Her official retirement ceremony will be on Sept 30. When did Li Na become the first Asian player with two Slams? Answer: In 2011. What exactly is intelligence? There aren't any easy answers.Despite the progress that has been made in genetics and psychology, human intelligence has remained one of the most controversial areas of modern science,until now, that is, for the discovery of a gene linked to intelligence has made the experts think again. Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and his colleagues in the US have been looking into genetic make-up.From their research, they have discovered that a slightly different gene is more common in those with a high IQ.Plomin analyzed DNA from two groups of 51 children aged between 6 and 15.What he found was that the first group had an IQ of 136, putting them in the top 5% of the population, while the other group had an average IQ of 103.An analysis of their genes showed that 32% of children in the higher group had the gene in question, while only 16% in the second group did.However, there is a lot more research to be done, and Plomin himself is cautious at this early stage.He suggests that there are probably many genes that contribute to intelligence, rather than just one. Several studies have shown a strong link between IQ and career success, although some psychologists remain unconvinced about this.Professor Michael Rowe, who has written a book called Genius Explained, is one of these."The people with the highest IQs are not usually the ones who do best in their careers." Many psychologists now believe that when it comes to intelligence, IQ isn't everything.Many alternative views have been put forward recently.One example is the idea of multiple intelligences, which was developed in the 1980s by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner. _ offers a much broader view than the IQ theory, including creativity and communication skills as relevant factors in intelligence. Tony Buzan, brain expert and author of Master your Memory, is enthusiastic about this belief, arguing that true geniuses do indeed appear to combine high levels of each type of intelligence.He lists Alexander the Great, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein as examples.At the same time, Buzan believes that everyone can develop their intelligence, only if they take the trouble to exercise their brain.Perhaps there's hope for us all! What can we learn from the passage? Answer: Howard Gardner thinks intelligence includes various factors Young women who take part in beauty contests are helping to keep alive an outdated opinion of women that a woman's most important value is how she looks. Women have been working very hard through the years to change their image. They have been trying to prove that the value of a woman does not lie only in her beauty. The world is just beginning to recognize that women are as smart, wise and strong in personality as men are, and that there are qualities more important than looks when judging people. When women take part in beauty contests for top prizes, they encourage people to value them for their beauty alone. It is unfair to say that beauty alone determines one's worth. Beauty contests not only encourage spectators to judge women by their appearance, but they encourage this idea in the contestants as well. These young women spend months losing weight to be the "right" size and learning how to dress, wear makeup, and walk just right so that some judges will consider them beautiful. I think it's great for a woman to feel good about her appearance, but looks shouldn't be sought after in an extreme or unreasonable way. There are too many other, more important, things in a young woman's life: learning, developing friendships and preparing for their future work and perhaps a family. As long as there are beauty contests, women won't be fully recognized as well-rounded human beings. According to the text, women have tried to change their image by _ . Answer: proving they are as good as men Are you a dog person or a cat person? With so many photos and videos of cats and dogs doing cute things online, it's easier than ever to answer which of these furry friends you like more. There are many reasons why people prefer one type of pet over the other. So, have you ever wondered what your preference for cats or dogs says about you? In fact, a 2010 study done by Sam Gosling, a psychologist at the University of Texas, US, and his graduate student Carson Sandy found that dog people are more extroverted , agreeable and conscientious than cat people. "Cats will occasionally engage in social activities, but usually after only a few minutes they will give up the game. Dogs, on the other hand, will often engage in play, like fetching a thrown ball, for hours at a time," said Modern Dog magazine. Just on the basis of dogs' nature being more sociable than cats', you may expect that the personalities of dog people also reflect higher sociability. And Gosling's study found that dog people are generally about 15 percent more extroverted and 13 percent more agreeable, both of which are associated with social orientation . In addition, dog people are 11 percent more conscientious than cat people. "Conscientiousness" is a tendency to show self-discipline, to complete tasks and aim for achievement. This trait also shows a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior. In comparison, cat people are about 12 percent more anxious, but they are also 11 percent more "open" than dog people, due to a general appreciation for art, emotion, imagination, curiosity, adventure, unusual ideas and variety of experience. And people high on openness are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs. Despite so many differences, there are some things that cat people and dog people have in common. "Both types of people consider themselves close to nature, dislike animal-print clothing and generally look on the better side of life," noted Mother Nature Network. According to the study done by Sam Gosling, dog owners tend to _ than cat owners. Answer: live a more organized life
Canadian experts have found that so - called self - help books may actually do more harm than good to people who really need help.Researchers say that individuals with low respect felt much worse after repeating positive statements about themselves. In their study, psychologists Joanne Wood and John Lee sought to determine how positive thinking affected people with different levels of self - confidence.They questioned dozens of people both made and female, analyzed their self - worth and optimism by means of the standard psychological methods and then asked them to write down their thoughts and feelings.The scoring system ranged from 0 to 35. During the experiment, the researchers asked a total of 68 participants to repeat the self-help book phrase, "I am a lovable person." After that they measured the participants' moods and their feelings about themselves.The results revealed that the participants in the low self - respect group who repeated the mantra , were feeling much worse afterwards, when compared to other participants in low self - respect group who did not repeat the phrase.Those with low self - respect who repeated the phrase scored an average of 10 points.Their counterparts with equally low self - respect who were not asked to repeat the statement, were able to score a little higher average of 17 points. However, individuals with high self - respect reported feeling better after repeating the positive self - statement - but only slightly.They scored an average of 31 points, compared with an average of 25 for those with equally high self - respect who did not repeat the phrase. Professor Wood urged those who promote self - help books, magazines and television shows to stop telling people that simply repeating a positive mantra could change one's life.First, people start following this idea and feel like they are not alone.They are told that all they have to do is just to read that book and then to repeat these positive statements in a hope that things will be better, and when it does not work for them and they realize that nothing gets better, then it is really frustration to people. Researchers concluded: "Repeating positive self - statements may benefit certain people such as individuals with high self - respect but discourage the very people who need confidence the most." How many points did the low self - respect participants get after repeating the self - help book phrase? A. An average of 10 points. B. An average of 17 points. C. An average of 31 points. D. An average of 25 points. Answer: A. An average of 10 points. Thousands of dead red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky in an Arkansas town on New Year's Eve after massive injuries, tests by Arkansas officials concluded on Monday. Some 5,000 birds mysteriously fell from the sky in Beebe, Arkansas after dark on New Year's Eve. "The birds suffered from acute physical injuries leading to internal hemorrhage and death. There was no sign of infectious disease," the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said in a statement. The birds were otherwise healthy, it said. One theory is that birds were frightened by New Year's fireworks and flew into buildings or other objects. "Loud noises were reported shortly before the birds began to fall from the sky," the statement said, adding that blackbirds have poor night vision and seldom fly at night. Another theory was that severe weather such as lightning accounted for the loud noises but this was _ because the violent weather had already left the area. "We're leaning more toward a stress event," said Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens. The commission also is trying to determine what caused the deaths of up to 100,000 fish over a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River near a dam in Ozark, 125 miles west of Beebe. The fish were discovered on December 30. Stephens said the commission expected results on the fish tests in probably a month. Since almost all the fish were one species -- bottom-feeding drum, Stephens said, the test was very important. Stephens also said: "The events do not appear related." Both that section of the river and the air at the site of the bird deaths were tested for toxins . Beebe is a town of about 4,500 people located 30 miles northeast of the state capital. What is NOT the probable reason why the dead red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky? A. Internal hemorrhage B. Fireworks C. Lightning weather D. Murder Answer: D. Murder Miss Popular I was awkward in middle school: bony and athletic, with a high grade in science and a low one in self-esteem. Though I had a few friends, I wasn't popular. I was picked last in football and I sometimes ate lunch by myself. I remember the day Brittany came to our school. Her teeth were crooked , and she was a little overweight. Not that this mattered though, because she walked around like she was better than all of us. She was outspoken and incredibly frightening, making people lose confidence. Around Brittany, I tried my best to go unnoticed. Standing out or stealing her spotlight could only result in one thing: conflict. Brittany was always the first girl picked for teams; I was lucky if I was picked at all. I was thrown the ball while she stood with the quarterback, chatting about the last party she'd gone to. I had never been to a party before or kissed a boy. One day, a classmate asked me to the school dance. I was flattered. Then Brittany told me during science class that she had persuaded him to invite me. She asked in front of everyone, "Why would anyone even want you?" I went home and cried. Although she was seemingly perfect in everyone's eyes, I wanted to be everything that she wasn't and yet a million times more perfect. Brittany was so frightening and violent, but I wanted to be calm and not at all aggressive. I found Brittany's online profile a few weeks ago. She still had the same chubby face and mocking simile, and had posted half-naked pictures of herself. But as I read on, I realized that Brittany had died in a drunken driving accident a year ago. She had been 16 and pregnant at the time. Suddenly my view of Brittany changed from a bad influence into a struggling little girl whose life was taken before she could understand right from wrong. My experience with Brittany taught me that though we are all innocent in our youth, the choices we make will have great effects on us forever. I will always remember Brittany as that loud, overconfident girl. As part of that shy insecure person I used to be will always keep me modest. From the first three passages we can conclude that _ . A. the author was trying to avoid conflict with Brittany B. the author secretly envied Brittany for being popular C. Brittany's appearance made her popular with boys D. Brittany was puzzled at how she could be popular Answer: A. the author was trying to avoid conflict with Brittany Pocket money Most British parents give their teenagers pocker money. Teenagers get between PS7 and PS20 a week. They spend it on fast food, designer clothes, the cinema, concert, magazines and mobile phones. Lazy parents? 37% of parents pay teenagers to clean the lounge, 66% of parents pay teenagers to take the rubbish out. Lazy teens? 51% of teenagers don't make their beds before they leave home.Only 13% of teenagers wash the car for money.Some parents even pay their teenagers to do their homework. Equality? Not yet! Boys get more money than girls for most odd jobs.For washing the dishes, boys get about PS4 and girls get about PS1. And if you need some more money? Teens get an extra PS250 a year out of their parents on top of pocket money!About 50% of teens get gifts of money from their grandparents.Go to Mum if you need extra money!She gives more than Dad. Where you live makes a difference! Parents in prefix = st1 /Scotlandand the North of England give most pocket money. Spending 51% spend their money on clothes.39%buy cosmetics, juwellery and toiletries.Less than 40% of teenagers save any money.Here are some children who tell us about their pocket money:I get PS30 a month, I have to take the rubbish out and tidy my room. --Emma,15, Edinburgh .I get PS10 a week. But I have to clean the car, hoover the house and load and unload the dishwasher. I usually save the money. --James, 12, Sheffield..I getPS7.5 a week.I have to be "good" but I don't have to do any jobs for the money. --Lain, 13, Cardiff.I getPS5 a week. But our neighbors go away a lot and they give me PS25 a week for looking after their cats. --Richard, 13, Belfast This passage is mainly about _ . A. how to get pocket money B. some bits about pocket money inBritain C. how to spend pocket money D. teenagers everywhere get pocket money Answer: B. some bits about pocket money inBritain Many centuries ago, birthdays were considered a time when the bad spirits were able to harm you. It was believed that you should have your friends and family around you so that their good wishes and present-giving would keep the bad spirits away. People also believed that, by lighting candles, they were sending a signal or wishes to the gods. Later on, candles started to be used on birthday cakes. One story about the beginnings of the birthday cake is that it started with the Greeks, who made round cakes standing for the full moon for their moon goddess . They also placed candles on the cake to make it light, again like the moon. However, the Germans are said to have first used cakes and candles. They used a sweet cake and they put a large candle in the centre of the cake to mean "the light of life". The "Happy Birthday" song is more than a hundred years old. The music was written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The music was first used as a morning greeting to their students with the title, "Good Morning To All". In 1935, the words legally belonged to the Hill sisters, and the copyright has been bought and sold for millions of dollars ever since. The present copyright is owned by Warner Communications. They bought it in 1989 for more than $22 million. People celebrated birthdays many centuries ago to _ . A. have a great dinner B. get birthday presents C. light birthday candles D. keep the bad spirits away Answer: D. keep the bad spirits away
Bacteria can cause people to become what? A. unwell B. energetic C. vibrant D. healthy Answer: A Melissa and Roman McCoy were looking forward to the Christmas. But on December 5th, Roman got a phone call that changed everything. Melissa had been in a terrible car accident, and the doctor had little hope she would make it. "He said the next six to eight hours were critical in determining whether she would live or not. And I just wept," Roman said. "A lot of pressure built up inside, and I just dropped my cell phone on the ground when I heard that. It was the worst feeling that I've ever felt." Melissa, a college English professor, was on her way to class when her car hit into a mound of dirt and rolled over several times. Roman recalled, "I could only think how I am going to raise my kids without their mother. If she did live, how would I take care of her and my kids? The questions you never want to ask yourself, I had to face." Melissa survived the first night. She had injuries to her stomach and lungs and worse, she suffered severe injuries to her brain. She didn't recognize anyone, even her own husband. "Over the next few days, she remained unresponsive to treatments. The brain surgeon never really gave us much hope." Days passed and Melissa didn't improve. Christmas Eve, Roman was by her side in the hospital. Then, he received a Christmas gift he would never forget. "That evening, she woke up and was just as clear as before, recognized everybody, and was able to read. It was just amazing. I saw her bright smile and her sense of humor. The only way I could describe it is that the weight of the darkness that had hovered over me was just completely gone." Melissa quickly improved, and she is back to being a wife, mom, and professor. There is no sign of damage from the brain. Melissa said, "I thank him for everything now. It's not just 'thank you for my job, thank you for my children.' It's 'thank you for every aspect of my life.'" Which one is NOT true according to the text? A. Melissa owed every aspect of her life to Roman. B. The doctor gave little hope that Melissa would live. C. On Christmas Eve Melissa woke up in hospital. D. Melissa bought a gift that Roman would never forget. Answer: D If you're tired of the Mediterranean and don't want to head to Disney again, perhaps it's time for a summer holiday in space. Russia has declared plans for its first floating hotel, 217 miles above earth, and it is something of an offering with good service. Hosting just seven guests in a four cabins, the accommodation will boast huge windows with views back to earth and tasty microwave meals will be served instead of the ones often used by astronauts. Just getting there will be an adventure in itself--it will take two days aboard a Soyuz rocket--and it won't exactly be a _ holiday: A five-day stay will cost youPS100, 000 toPS500, 000 for your journey. The hotel is due to open by 2016 and, according to those behind it, will be far more comfortable than the International Space Station (ISS) used by astronauts and cosmonauts. In the weightlessness of space, visitors can choose to have beds that are either vertical or horizontal. Tourists, who will be accompanied by experienced crew, will dine on food prepared on Earth and sent up on the rocket, to be reheated in microwave ovens. Many kinds of delicacies will be available. Iced tea, mineral water and fruit juices will be available, but alcohol will be strictly prohibited. Toilets will use flowing air instead of water to move waste through the system. Waste water will be recycled. Sergei Kostenko, chief executive of Orbital Technologies which will construct the hotel, said: "Our planned module inside will not remind you of the International Space Station. A hotel should be comfortable inside, and it will be possible to look at the Earth. The hotel will be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space." The hotel can also be used as an emergency bolthole for astronauts aboard the International Space Station if there is a crisis. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? A. The space hotel is built to remind you of the International Space Station. B. The hotel is constructed with big windows so that tourists can see the earth. C. The company, Orbital Technologies, has already begun to build the space hotel. D. In the near future, a space trip for most of the people can be realized. Answer: B Strange Baby-Naming Laws Germany Parents are banned by law from using last names and the names of objects and products as first names. A child's first name must clearly indicate his or her sex, and all names must be approved by the office of vital statistics in the area in which the child was born. Iceland The country's naming committee consults the National Register of Persons to determine if a name is acceptable. If parents want to go off-list, they must apply for approval and pay a fee, and the name must contain only letters in the Icelandic alphabet. New Zealand The country's Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act of 1995 prohibits parents from choosing a name that " might cause offense to a reasonable person; is unreasonably long; or is, includes, or resembles an official title or rank," including, apparently, Adolf Hitler and Yeah Detroit--both names recently rejected. Denmark If Danish parents prefer a moniker not on the list of 7,000 preapproved baby names, they must get permission from local church and government officials. Fifteen to 20 percent of the 1,100 reviewed names--including creative spellings of common names, last names as first names, and unusual names--are rejected each year. In Iceland, the names should _ . A. be approved by the office of vital statistics. B. be accepted by the National Register of Persons. C. contain only letters in the Roman alphabet. D. be paid for some money. Answer: B The scene in the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow, when global warming could soon turn the global climate into a new ice age, may never occur, according to a new research. The next ice age could be 15,000 years away, say European scientists who last month announced a continuous record of 740,000 years of climate data obtained from the Antarctic ice. Scientists from 10 nations have now almost completely drilled through a 3,000-meter depth of ice high in the Antarctic mainland. They figure out that the area, where summer temperatures can fall to - 40degC, has at least 900,000 years of snowfalls, kept as neatly as the growth rings of a tree. And the ice and air caught in each layer have begun to answer questions about the climates in the past.. The results show that there have been eight ice ages in the past 740, 000 years and eight warmer periods. And by comparing the pattern of global conditions today with those of the past, the researchers reported in Nature that the present warm period could last another 15, 000 years. Research suggests that there is a very close connection between greenhouse gas levels and global average temperatures. It also shows that carbon dioxide levels are the highest for at least 440,000 years. "If people say to you: 'the greenhouse effect is a good thing because we would go into an ice age otherwise,' our data say no, a new ice age is not hanging over our heads," said Eric Wolff from the British Antarctic Survey. "Now we have eight examples of how the climate goes in and out of ice ages... and you can learn what the rules are that go into the climate models that tell us about the future." Scientists found that whenever temperatures rose in the frozen record, so did carbon dioxide level. "In 440,000 years we have never seen greenhouse gas get as thick as it is today," said Dr Wolff. The information of the global climate conditions in the past can be obtained through _ . A. separating carbon dioxide from the air B. examining the growth rings of trees C. comparing temperatures in different areas D. studying the ice and air caught in each layer Answer: D
During the fall reproductive season, the belly of a male brook trout becomes bright orange. The orange belly provides some camouflage and helps attract females. This trait evolved in brook trout because, compared to males with pale bellies, males with bright orange bellies are more likely to fertilize eggs to produce offspring. When disaster happens, you might find yourself without water, gas and electricity. You might even need to leave your home right away. So you are supposed to plan for the bad situations before the disaster comes. Here are some suggestions: First, have a family meeting. Plan a way to get your family members together if they can't find each other after the disaster. Choose two places for everyone to go to if it isn't safe to return home. The first should be near your house. You can go there in an emergency like a fire. The second meeting place should be outside your neighborhood. Next, choose a person outside your area who can help your family get in touch with each other. After a disaster, it is often easier to communicate over a long-distance call than a local one. The person can pass messages between your family members. Then, get a family disaster _ ready. It should include things your family needs. It can help you survive at least for three days like bread, water, medicine and things like that. Put them in a bag so you can carry it if you leave in a hurry. When doing it, remember that different people have different needs. Include special things necessary for elderly or young members of your family. Finally, practice your emergency plan, and update it as necessary. You may not be able to stop disasters, but with a little planning you can be helped. When you have a family meeting, what should you choose? Two places for everyone to go to. June 6this National Eye Care Day. It is a good chance for us to improve our eye health. What are common eye problems we have today? How can we protect our eyes? Read on to find out the answer. Eyes are important in our everyday life. We use them to read books, see colors and view the wonders of the world. But sometimes, we use them too much and it hurts them. In the past, nearsightedness was a common eye problem among children. This is mostly because of their bad eye habits, such as watching TV too long and reading books in bed. However, today's technology is changing the way we live. Children spend more time working and playing in front of computers, smartphones and iPads. US children spend more than 42 hours a week in front of electronic screens , US' ABC news reported. This has caused a new problem for our eyes: digital eyestrain . People with digital eyestrain may get headaches, dry and red eyes, eye pain, watering and other eye problems. But don't worry. The following tips can help you protect your eyes. Try them out. Screen advice: 1. When you are watching electronic screens, keep them at least 30 cm from your eyes. Try not to use your smartphone in direct sunlight. 2. Blink more often when you are looking at the screen. This can help to stop dry eyes. 3. Remember to take a 20-20-20 break: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet (about 6 meters) away. 4. Spend less time in front of screens. One to two hours a day is OK for your eyes. According to the 20-20-20 break rule, we'd better take a break _ if we need to watch the electronic screens for one and a half hours. four times More than a hundred reporters from around the world thronged and bustled in the Stock Exchange Building in Stockholm's Old Town for about an hour before the doors to the Swedish Academy swung open. Notably, there were many Japanese reporters present, hoping to break the news that Haruki Murakami had won the prize. Finally, the Swedish Academy's Permanent Secretary Peter Englund stepped out from the doors and said Canadian short story writer Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. The following is a truncated Q&A with reporters and Englund. (The questions have been simplified and clarified.) Why did Alice Munro win? We gave her the Nobel Prize in Literature because she is a master of the contemporary short story. Which book to begin with? One of the amazing things about her is that she has no weak works in her writing. She has always worked to the best of her ability; she has always cultivated the short story to perfection. And she has never really written a weak or bad book. So you can take your pick. 'The Moons of Jupiter' was the first book I read by her and you can see both her different themes in that book and also her very special narrative mode, you can find it there. She tells her stories a bit like nobody else. She has a very economical language and sparse style. You can find that in 'The Moons of Jupiter.' You can take your pick. The latest one is obviously very interesting, 'Dear Life,' which contains a number of autobiographical sketches at the end that gives a key to the entire authorship of Alice Munro. How was she informed? Well, I left a message on her answering machine. I couldn't reach her and it was of course pretty early in the morning. But she will be notified by courier, by email to her both agents, by standard mail and so on. What kind of message did you leave? Basically, congratulations! You've won the Nobel Prize in literature. What's the Importance of a woman winning? Don't ask me. We picked her for excellence, nothing else. Of course it matters when you start doing the headcount. But she is no representative. She has received this prize just because of what she has done. Nothing else. So the sexual balance doesn't count? We don't have these kinds of quotas; thank god ... We don't have any quotas. We could, if we wanted to, award this prize four times in a row to a children's book writer working in the United States. If we wanted to. We can do as we please. We don't have to fill any quotes in any direction. We just give it to authors who show an extraordinary literary quality. One of these is Mrs. Alice Munro. Alice Munro would most probably be informed of her winning by _ ? The passage doesn't clarify it. Do you play a musical instrument? If so, you may be getting smarter. A recent study shows that taking music lessons can raise a person's IQ. Scientists studied 132 children in Canadian schools. At the beginning of the school year, these children took an IQ test. Then they were divided into four groups. One group took singing lessons. Another group took weekly piano lessons. The third group took classes in drams . And the last group did no special activities at all. At the end of the school year, the 132 children took an IQ test again. In all four groups, the average score went up. However, the piano players'IQs went up 7.0 points on average. The average increase for the other three groups was only 4.3 points. The researchers say that the difference is small and it may not result in better grades for the piano players. However, _ still consider the results important. Learning an instrument helps kids becomes better at concentrating and at memorizing things. Therefore, the researchers say, it may be good for brain development in young people. If you have a chance to learn to play a musical instrument, never miss it. Remember it can make you smarter. Which of the following is NOT true of the study? It was done by some musicians.
It's 10:30 p.m. and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: " R U awake?" But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can't imagine life without them. " If I didn't have a cell phone, I wouldn't be able to talk to my friends or family as often," he told TFK. Brandon's use of technology doesn't stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles in his room. With so many choices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That's about an hour more than just five years ago. The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. Today, nearly seven out of ten kids have cell phones. Just five years ago, it was four out of ten. " These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it's on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor," says Rideout. Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. " If you've got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?" Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. " It's a matter of balance," says Olson. " You've got to work on it." Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. "It's important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply," says Rideout. Logan Jones, 11, of Maumelle, Arkansas, describes himself as a "game freak". Still, he is glad not to have unlimited time with his PlayStation 2. "I'll tell my mom I'm going to play a game, and she'll say, 'Okay, but only for 30 minutes,'", Logan told TFK. With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. " Kids should try," adds Rideout. ":But parents might have to step in sometimes." According to the text, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that kids should _ . A do homework while watching TV B do homework in a place without disturbance C spend more time on homework D have less homework Answer: B. do homework in a place without disturbance I am Alice. I like We chat. It is fast, convenient and fashionable. And you can use it for free. It can be used in my mobile phone. It has hold-to-talk voice messaging function. I am a fan of Leehom Wang. Through We chat, Leehom Wang often says something to me. It's amazing. I am David. I love Micro blog. I update my Micro blog when I am free. We can share instant messages with each other. I often look through Yao Chen's Micro blog. She has many followers. I make many friends with them. I often write something on my Micro blog, for example, "I'm in blue today. I didn't pass the exam." Then many friends comfort me. I share my birthday party, my new phone, my new coat, etc. with my friends. It is fun. I'm Lily. I don't like We chat or Micro blog. I don't believe them. There are so many crimes on We chat. Many people are cheated because they believe in other people they meet on We chat easily. It is not a real world. As to Micro blog, I don't think it is a good way to make friends. And you should write something no more than 140 words. I like keeping diaries. I don't want my secrets known by others. I am a low-key girl. Why doesn't Lily believe We chat? A Because many people are cheated on We chat easily. B Because she doesn't like to say anything to her friends. C Because she doesn't think it is a good way to make friends. D Because she prefers keeping diaries to showing secrets to others. Answer: A. Because many people are cheated on We chat easily. Census figures published last Friday indicate that the number of women in management jobs rose by 95% between 1980 and 1990. Most evidenced shows that women are still in the lowest class of management and in the lowest-paying industries. I first noticed that girls were different from boys when I was about 4 years old. No experiences either in my personal life or in my business life have caused me to change my opinion. Throughout my adult life, however, I have had to evaluate again and again these differences between men and women and how they affect the way men and women relate to one another and to the environment in which they work. Working with women has given me deep understanding I would never have gained in any other way. Women are working at a decided disadvantage in the business world created by men to make things comfortable for men. To me, this means men often understand the rules without having to be taught or even having to think about them. It is not so easy for women. If I may fall back on typically male _ women have had to learn both the game and the game plan at the same time. At least in my own observation, women in business tend to be more honest than men. A direct question to a woman often results in a direct response. This quality makes it more difficult for women to "yes" an employer. It also makes women more trustworthy than the men who often can't, or won't, give a straight answer to a question. Women are also more open than men about their feelings their ambitions, and everyday situations in the office. This makes them easier to be hurt than men. Traditionally, women in business have been more severely judged than men. They have had to be better in a job than a man to get ahead. The author mentions the " _ " to show that . A women are more diligent than men B women are often looked down upon by men C women are slower in learning new things than men D men always make things comfortable for themselves Answer: D. men always make things comfortable for themselves Once upon a time there lived two brothers named Jacob and William in Germany. They liked to listen to old stories and then write them down. So they had enough stories to make a book. You can guess the name of the book! It is Grimms' Fairy Tales. The story of this little book began when the brothers were still in school. And it started with a good teacher. The teacher liked to find out how things happened. Soon the two brothers were doing the same thing. They asked questions and then looked for answers. Among the questions the brothers asked, "Who made up the old fairy tales? Who first told about Cinderella ? Why made up the story of the Snow White and the story of Sleeping Beauty?"They found that no one knew the answers to such questions. The tales were made up in very early times. Most of them were made up in the days before people knew how to write. People told the stories to one another and to their children. But only a few old people still remembered them. "When old people die, the stories will die with them," said the brothers. "We must write down all the stories we can find." Jacob and William hunted for stories for five years. At last they had 89 tales written. Just before Christmas in 1812, the first book was published. People love the book! They asked more fairy tales. So Grimms put tales into two more books. In all, they collected 210 stories to put into their books. What did the teacher like to do? A To ask questions and look for answers. B To make up stories. C To tell the stories to his students. D To asked some old people to tell stories. Answer: A. To ask questions and look for answers. Some kinds of fish live most of their lives in salt water but lay their eggs in freshwater. Their ability to survive in different environments is an example of A adaptation B developmental stages C a habit D selective breeding Answer: A. adaptation
Hello, boys and girls. I have a photo. Let's have a look at it. This is me. My name is Jack. I'm in No.1 Middle School. This is my mother. She is a Chinese teacher. And this is my father. He is tall and strong. He is an English teacher. My mother and my father are not in my school. Look at the girl. She is my sister, Mary. She is clever. Mary has a dog. It's Spotty. Spotty is my good friend too. All of us are very happy. Jack's father is _ . Answer: Teenagers will be told to "stand up for their elders" on public transport -- or risk losing their right to free travel. London Mayor Boris Johnson will declare plans today to make youngsters sign a "courtesy pledge" to promise to behave in a respectful manner when travelling in the capital. The three-point pledge states that they will give up their seats to the elderly, pregnant and disabled; keep from using offensive or threatening language; and be courteous and polite to fellow passengers and staff. Those who refuse, or are caught behaving in a _ manner, will have their free travel passes removed. The plan -- a key part of Mr. Johnson's re-election bid-- will initially affect the 400,000 ll-to-15-year-olds in London who qualify for free travel cards, but Tory sources believe the idea could be used across the country. A Conservative insider said: "The plan corresponds perfectly with the push to create a Big Society. It is about changing culture and expectations around behavior to improve the atmosphere on buses and trains for everyone." Speaking before today's launch, Mr. Johnson said he was determined to deal with the anti-social behavior of a "minority of youngsters" on public transport. "When I was a boy, I was taught to stand up for those less able to, "he said. "Youngsters enjoy the privilege of free travel, which is paid for by Londoners, but they have to understand that with that privilege comes responsibility. Anyone who abuses this privilege will have it taken away, and will have to earn that right bach ." Teenagers found guilty of a serious violation of the new behavior rules will lose their travel passes, and will have to carry out unpaid community work to earn them back. Mr. Johnson is also introducing a "two strikes and you're out" policy to deal with repeat offenders, under which those committing a second serious violation of the rules will lose their travel rights permanently. According to Mr Johnson, _ . Answer: The street food stands are very popular in Korea . They take their name from the two kinds of hot foods they sell : Dukbokgi and Odeng . Dukbokgi is a spicy hot food made of rice cakes and some vegetables . These rice cakes are finger-shaped . They are white , and they are about ten centimeters in length . They are mixed with sliced vegetables in a pan with a spicy red dressing . Fifteen minutes later , they are ready to eat . Odeng is made of ground fish . It comes in many shapes : some are square , others are round , and still others are stick style . You can buy big or small ones . At these food stands , you can also eat Odeng , which has been boiled in a pot . It is served on a long stick so can eat it easily . The food sold at these stands is not expensive , compared to what other foods in Korea cost . Each Dukbokgi and Odeng costs about twenty to fifty cents , depending on the owner . Each food stand has its own recipes for its food ; for example , some like to add sugar or other special ingredients in the food . Usually , there is just one owner , but if the food stand is big , there may be two or three owners . When I was an elementary school student , I used to stop at street food stands every day after school to eat street food because I like it so much . What are the ingredients of the Dukbokgi ? Answer: The Fifth China International Fair for Investment and Trade is expected to expand the country's economic relations with the international community when it opens on September 9. The four-day fair will be held in the Economic Zone of Xiamen, a coastal city in East China's prefix = st1 /Fujianprovince. Compared with the previous four fairs held annually since 1997, this year's fair will provide more detailed information and better services for the participants, according to Xi Jinping, governor of the Fujian province and director of the organizing committee of the fair. A series of high-level forums will be held on international investment and China's entry into the World Trade Organization. Since 1997,Xiamenhas successfully hosted four sessions of the China International Fair for Investment and Trade, drawing global attention.Xiamenwill redouble its efforts to offer better services for all its guests and friends attending the fair, according to ZhuYayan, the mayor. Altogether 9,141 overseas-funded projects have been negotiated at the past four fairs, with a combined overseas investment of US $ 48.3 billion. Altogether 1,838 projects using foreign investment were negotiated with a total overseas investment of US $ 9,47 billion. The 1,261 contracts signed at the fourth fair registered a combined pledged overseas investment of US $ 5 billion. The total export and import volume reached US $ 786 million. What is the best title for this passage? Answer: I went through a training program and became a literacy volunteer last surnmen The training I received, though excellent, did not tell me how it was to work with a real student, however. When I began to discover what other people's lives were like because they could not read, I realized the true importance of reading. My first student Marie was a 44-year-old single mother of three. In the first lesson, I found out she walked two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she didn't know which bus to take. When I told her I would get her a bus schedule, she told me it would not help because she could not read it. She said she also had difficulty once she got to the supermarket,because she couldn't always remember what she needed. Since she did not know words, she could not write out a shopping list. Also, she could only recognize items by sight, so if the product had a different label, she would not recognize it as the product she wanted. As we worked together, learning how to read built Marie's self-confidence,which encouraged her to continue her studies. She began to make rapid progress and was even able to take the bus to the supermarketelt. After this successful trip, she reported how self-confident she felt. At the end of the program, she began helping her youngest son,Tony, a shy first grader with his reading. She sat with him before he went to sleep and together they would read bedtime stories. When his eyes became wide with excitement as she read, pride was written all over her face. As she described this experience, I was proud of myself as well. I found that helping Marie to build her self-confidence was more rewarding than anything I had ever done before. As a literacy volunteer, I learned a great deal about teaching and helping others. In fact, I may have learned more from the experience than Marie did. What did the writer think of her work as a literacy volunteer? Answer:
Question: Tell our story, make your mark Havering is one of London's largest towns. It is a place of _ , from the shopping and nightlife of Romford to the cultural quarter of Hornchurch; from the industrial Thames riverside in Rainham to the ambitious regeneration project in Harold Hill. The London Borough of Havering has a great story to tell, and we're looking for the right people to tell it. Campaigns and Marketing Manager A creative strategist is needed to plan and deliver campaigns that change behaviour across the town and form Havering's reputation beyond its borders. Media Manager An experienced professional is required, who fully understands how the news media works and works well under pressure. You will manage a team of three, as well as our media message. Communications Business Manager As a senior member of the communications team, you will be part salesperson and part business strategist, with wide-ranging power to increase our commercial potential as much as possible and save taxpayers' money. Senior Media Officers Two experienced persons are needed to turn the stories that we talk about into the stories that everyone is talking about. Community Newspaper Journalist (12month contract at the beginning) Our community newspaper, Living, is being expanded as an energetic publication once every two weeks. We need an editor and a journalist or writer who produces brilliant copy, even against the tightest deadlines. Pay & grading award are yet to be decided for all posts. Full details are available on our website. For an informal conversation about these positions, please contact Mark Leech, Head of Communications, by calling 01708 434373. Any disabled applicants, meeting the necessary standards set out in the profile for a job, will be guaranteed an interview. Please apply online via the Council's website at www.havering.gov.uk or contact the Recruitment Team at 01708 433039. Closing date for completed applications is Friday, 18th April 2008. Interviews will be scheduled for the week beginning 28th April 2008. Havering is in need of high-level personnel _ . A. to tell stories B. to make it known C. to understand how news media works D. to plan and deliver campaigns Answer: B. to make it known Question: Those accustomed to browsing through thousands of books in large bookstores may find Japan's Morioka Shoten a little strange. That's because this tiny bookstore that is located in Ginza, Tokyo sells only a single book at a time. Opened in May 2015, Morioka Shoten is the brainchild of Yoshiyuki Morioka. He began his career as a bookstore clerk in Tokyo's Kanda district before branching out to open his own store. It was here while organizing book reading and signing that he realized that customers usually came into the store with one title in mind. Morioka began to wonder if a store could exist by selling multiple copies of just one single book. In November 2014, he partnered with Masamichi Toyama to establish a unique bookstore with the philosophy of "A Single Room with a Single Book". The selections that are picked by Morioka change weekly and vary widely to attract customers with different interests. Recent choices include The True Deceiver, an award-winning Swedish novel by Tove Jansson, Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, and a collection of Karl Blossfeldt's photography of plants. Morioka has also selected books written by a famous Japanese author Mimei Ogawa. To highlight his only offering, Morioka often uses clever tricks. For example, when selling a book about flowers, the storekeeper decorated his shop with the ones that had been mentioned in the book. He also encourages authors to hold talks and discussions so they can connect with customers. Morioka says his goal is for the customers to experience being inside a book, not just a bookstore. Risky as the idea might seem, things appear to be going well. The storekeeper says he has sold over 2,100 books. Things can get better given that his bookstore is becoming increasingly popular not just among the locals but also visitors form other countries. What inspired Morioka to open such a bookstore? A. A Swedish novel. B. His present partner. C. A bookstore clerk. D. His working experience. Answer: D. His working experience. Question: What's in the news? Here are some articles from the Winfield Daily News. Engaged to be married Mr. and Mrs. Eduardo Silva of Bogota, Colombia, are happy to announce that engagement of their daughter Cristina Ana Silva to Gino Antonio Leone. Miss Silva is studying art history at Winfield Community College and Mr. Leone is working at the Roma Restaurant. The wedding will take place at St. Mark's Church in Winfield on October 5th. The reception will be at the Roma. Black History Month Winfield Public Library is pleased to announce a special program to celebrate Black History Month. The well-known actor Albert Eaton will perform a one-man show named MLK:His life and Times. In the show, Eaton recreates the life and times of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., through music and drama. Performances are at 3:30 and 7:30, Thursday through Saturday. Admission free. Telephone: 5365400. Benjamins have a daughter Mr. and Mrs. Leon Benjamin are proud to announce the birth of their first child, Andrea Jean. She was born at Winfield Hospital on June 9 at 11:10 PM. SPORTS High School--Parents Beat Students The parents' football team beat the students 4 to 2 in a wild and exciting match yesterday at Winfield Stadium. It was the first win for the parents since the yearly event started five years ago. Adela Logan led the parents to victory with three goals. Her son, Bob Logan, scored the only two goals for the losing team, it was both a happy and a sad day for the Logan family! College--Winfield Community College Senior Wins State Tournament Ginny Lewis took the title away from defending state tennis winner, Susan Murray, yesterday in three straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. this was the first time a Winfield student has played in the state finals. Ginny brought home a trophy and a $1000 prize for her studies at college. What is the Benjiamins' announcement about? A. A new-born Baby B. Their engagement C. Black History Month D. A newly married couple Answer: A. A new-born Baby Question: The computer is important and can help us do a lot of things. Lots of children spend too much time on the computer. It's bad for their study. Here is some advice for the parents. Move the computer out of the child's bedroom. It is good for children to reduce the time to use the computer. _ for the computer. If your child wants to use it, he/she should get your permission . If your child uses the Internet for studying. He / She doesn't use it to play games, praise him/her for that. When your child wants to use the computer to play games, you can take her/him to the library, get her/him together with friends to play sport. If your child uses the computer for studying, you can say " _ " to him/her. A. Sorry B. Happy birthday C. Good D. No Answer: C. Good Question: Whether I'm looking for a good chat with some old Mends or a quiet place to meet a colleague, the pub will be the place I always choose. I could, of course, go to a bar. But a pub, I always find, is far more comfortable and has a more relaxed atmosphere. Many people in the UK also have a favorite pub at the end of the road where they live or nearby to where they work. I can almost always guarantee that I'll bump into someone I know at my "local", as we British call our nearest pub. In fact, many people from the UK say that the pub is a cornerstone of British life. Coming together over a drink, usually of beer, is generally considered the best way to catch up with friends. For those who are a little reserved , as the British sometimes are, it's the best way to open up and get chatting. However, this habit is slowly changing among some British people. According to a survey completed in August by UK trade magazine The Publican, eating, rather than drinking, has become the main source of income for our 52,000 pubs. The gastropub , with its greater emphasis on food, is primarily responsible. All over the country, this more expensive type of pub has been springing up, providing a place for more formal meetings with business partners. Wine is often drunk instead of the traditional beer. But not everyone's happy. Many people hate the fact that some local pubs are closing because new gastropubs are proving more profitable. "Beer sales are sinking and many pubs are struggling to survive," Rob Haward, of the British Beer and Pub Association, told UK newspaper The Daily Mail. For my part, I'm going to do all I can to keep the local British pub alive. It will be the first place I visit when I go back home. . Many British people say that the pub is a cornerstone of British life because _ . A. it is nearby and convenient B. it is a great place for meeting friends C. it is far more comfortable than a bar to have a drink D. it is easy to bump into people they know in a pub , Answer: B. it is a great place for meeting friends
Question: My mother always told us there is no use crying over spilt milk. That means you should not get angry when something bad happens and cannot be changed. She also told us you have to break some eggs to make an omelet . This means you have to do what is necessary to move forward. My mother believed you are what you eat. A good diet is important for good health. She would always give us healthy food. She liked serving us meat and potatoes for dinner. The meat and potatoes can also mean the most important part of something. It describes someone who likes simple things. People always said my father was the salt of the earth, because he would never pour salt on a wound , or make someone feel worse about something that was already a bad experience. However, sometimes he told us a story that seemed bigger than life. So we had to take it with a grain of salt. That is, we could not believe everything he told us. My manager at work does not always know what is going on in our office. Yet she is right about one thing: there is no such thing as a free lunch. Something may appear to be free, but there may be a hidden cost. When we fail to see problems at work, the manager tells us to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to pay more attention and fix the problem. I once made a big mistake at the office and felt silly. I had egg on my face. Over the weekend, my friend invited me to watch a football game on television. But I do not like football. It is not my cup of tea. I hope I have given you food for thought, that is, something to think about. If a girl's face turns red because she does a wrong thing, she may say " ". A. I am what I eat B. I have egg on my face C. It is not my cup of tea. D. I'm the salt of the earth Answer: B Question: London has become a cycle friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London. So how does it work?First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes,which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go,for the length of time you use the bike. Transport for London,which runs the scheme,are hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion in London and is expected to create up to 40,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been "filled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses". However,there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few "teething problems" and have said they wouldn't charge for the first day as a "gesture of goodwill". Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles. Despite the comments,the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things,saying,"My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a big pedal-powered push forwards." From the passage we can infer that _ A. the London Mayor is confident in the scheme B. the scheme will be cancelled because of the problems C. all the citizens in London support the scheme D. the cycling revolution is not successful Answer: A Question: The Gunpowder Plot was conspiracy to kill King James I, as well as the members of the House of Lords and Commons at the re-opening of Parliament. It was designed by a group of Catholics in protest against the anti-Catholic laws that were being introduced by the king. Robert Catesby was the leader of the group. It was he and his cousin, Thomas Wintour, and two other friends, Thomas Percy and John Wright, who formed the center of the group. They were joined by nine more men; among them was Guy Fawkes, from the city of York in the north of England. Fawkes found a store room directly under the House of Lords and rented it out under the false name of John Johnson. The conspirators stored thirty-six barrels of gunpowder there, and Fawkes, who was an explosives expert, was to light the fuses on 5th November 1605. The plot failed because one of the conspirators, Francis Tresham, sent a letter to his relative, who was a member of the House of Lords. The letter warned him not to attend the opening ceremony of Parliament. The letter was passed on to the authorities, who took action. Guy Fawkes was found in the cellar on the night of 4th November with the thirty-six barrels and a number of fuses. He was imprisoned and ill-treated, eventually giving away the names of the conspirators. Soldiers of the king surrounded Holbeach House, in the Midlands, where they knew the conspirators to be hiding. In the fight that followed, four of them were shot dead, including Catesby and Percy, who were actually killed by the same bullet. The others were imprisoned and hanged along with Guy Fawkes on 31st January 1606. These days, on 5th November, children all over Britain celebrate Guy Fawkes Night by building huge bonfires and lighting fireworks. It's a family tradition and an occasion to eat potatoes baked by the flames. There is always a 'guy' on top of the fire, a model of Guy Fawkes, dressed in the clothes of the 17th century. What can we learn about Robert Catesby? A. He wrote a letter to his relative in the authorities. B. He was imprisoned and hanged. C. He was responsible for lighting the fuses. D. He was shot dead in the fight. Answer: D Question: Mr. Carrey worked at a big company. He went to work by bus. One day when he was standing at the bus-stop, he watched cars go by. Many of the cars were new Sherry 700s, and most of them were yellow. Mr. Carrey was a person who did not like to be different from other men. He always wore the same clothes as other men, ate the same food as other people, and did the same things after work as they did. Two months later, Mr. Carrey bought a new yellow Sherry 700. He was very pleased with it, and drove to work in it the next morning. When he saw all the other Sherry 700s, in front, behind and on both sides of him, he was even more pleased with his car. Mr. Carrey parked his car in a big car-park near the office building, and walked to his office. But when he came back at five o'clock, there were so many yellow Sherry 700s in the car-park that Mr. Carrey did not know which car was his. He tried his key in some of the cars, but people passing by gave him a look which he did not like. So he stopped. Mr. Carrey could do nothing but wait nearly forty minutes until his car was the only yellow Sherry 700 left in the car-park. Mr. Carrey bought a new yellow Sherry 700 because _ . A. he did not like taking a bus B. he liked to be different from other men C. he liked to do the same things as other people D. the bus did not always come on time. Answer: C Question: New changes have taken place in Paris in recent years. Paris used to be among Europe's busiest cities. Traffic jams could be seen all the time. But now there is a new 2.5 kilometre-long car-free area inside the city. The Louvre attracts world tourists. People visit there not just for the art works, but also enjoy the roof of the building which is like a flying carpet. The world's most beautiful city is now even more beautiful. Lijiang River National Park, China. Lijiang River is in Guilin. It is well-known for its clear water, limestone and green hills. The hills have beautiful names depending on different shapes, such as "Elephant Trunk". These attract many Chinese poets and artists. The best way to enjoy Lijing River is to take an 83 km boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo in summer. Zurich, Switzerland What do you think Zurich is famous for? Great banks? Yes. People can find many Swiss banks and foreign banks here. But the city is of great interest to many people for another reason. Zurich hosts Europe's largest street party each year. Its Street Parade has overtaken London's Notting Hill Carival. What's hot in the city in 2014? In August, Zurich will host the European Athletic Championships. This gives tourists a chance to see the world's top athletes making new records. Adelaide, Australia Many people may know Sydney or Melbourne. They are big cities in Australia. But Adelaide wins people's hearts with great festivals and tasty food. Adelaide Fringe Festival is the largest art festival in Australia. Every February and March, people celebrate with outdoor art works, dance performances and live music. Adelaide has many kinds of foreign foods. British fish and chips, Italian pizza and German pork can be found in most restaurants. When and where will the 2014European Athletics Championships be held? A. In August, Paris B. In February, Europe C. In March, Adelaide D. In August, Zurich Answer: D
Tony:I like eating hamburgers and drinking cola. Yes, they are not healthy. But I eat hamburgers and drink cola every day.I don't like vegetables. I hate tomatoes. Cindy: My favourite food is chocolate and my favourite drink is milk. Milk can make me healthy. I drink milk every morning. I like fruit too. And my favourite fruit is oranges. Zhang Qiang: I like meat. I eat beef and chicken, but my favourite is beef. So I'm strong and tall. Liu Xin: I like candy and vegetables. I eat candy every day. But my mum says candy can make me fat. Now I'm fat so I do sports every day. _ likes eating oranges. "You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote I heard." Mary's aunt said. She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table. They took their tea cups. "What quote?" Mary asked. "Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story," aunt said, "I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,' Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other's tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?' " The students agreed, amused by their own behavior. "You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups -- tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another's cup. It's just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else's life. So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me -- did it matter from which cup it came from?" Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank. According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people's life, the teacher meant that people _ . Under the rule allowing exclusion of relevant evidence because its probative value is substantially outweighed by other considerations, which of the following is NOT to be considered? Good evening parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. I would like to thank you all for coming on this very special day for every student on this stage. I know how proud you must be. As we have grown over the years, there are many steps and stages we all have gone through. From learning our shapes and color1s, to getting our first kiss in middle school, or how about explaining to our parents why we skipped school because the headmaster called home. As we remember these days, things that we've done will be with us forever. But this is only the start of our journey. To graduate is one more step we've taken in our lives. Now I would like to take the time to thank everyone who has helped me get this far. First of all, thank you to all the teachers. None of us would be here without you always pushing our studying abilities to the fullest. My brother Jeramie who always said, "If anyone is meant to you, I'll take care of it." My mom, thank you for always believing in me and putting up with me. And last but not least, my dad, for proving to me that I always need to take responsibility for my actions and deal with the results. Thank you all! I love you. Now, advice to the students! Many of you think, "This is as good as it gets!" but the future holds a bigger plan for all of us. So good luck and congratulations to the class of 2015. We did it! According to the writer, many students _ . Each year on the first Saturday in March, a group of middle-aged men and a few women gather at sunrise on a beach near prefix = st1 /St. Petersburg,Fla.Above the high-water line are more than 50 small boats. At exactly 7 a.m., Steve Isaac stands at the water's edge with his arm raised and yells: "Go!" Most of the boats are part of the Everglades Challenge. They head for a finish line many days and 300 miles to the south, at Key Largo. But this Saturday, for the first time, 10 of the brave mariners--including a journalist, whose progress will be available online--will compete in the world's toughest small boat race, called the Ultimate Florida Challenge. Instead of finishing at Key Largo, the 10 boaters will continue around the state, heading north past Miami, the Kennedy Space Center, and Jacksonville, then down the Suwannee River, eventually passing most of Florida before arriving back at the beach near St. Petersburg. It will be 1,200 miles of head winds and burning sun. But it will also take the challengers through some of the most impressive scenery in North America. The rules are no-nonsense: First one back to the beach wins. The voyage must be completed within a month. Human power or sails, only. No motors. No rides in cars or tows from power boats. No help from family or friends. And at least once a day, participants are required to acknowledge by cell phone or radio that they are still alive. The race will be a replay of the tale of the tortoise and the rabbit. The trick, if there is one, is to be a tortoise and just keep moving forward. But the one-month deadline means that being too much of a tortoise may result in failure. So challengers have to be a little bit of a rabbit, as well. This 1,200-mile race is unusual because _ .
We provide summer English courses which are the best you can find. You will enjoy coming to Los Angeles to learn about American culture and improve your English at the same time. The courses last for four, six or eight weeks. They start at the beginning of July and August. Our teachers are well-trained and very experienced. They teach English classes for four hours a day. You can choose between small groups of two or three, or larger groups of up to 15. We provide weekly tests to see the progress you' re making with your language skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. We also provide books and other materials. As well as learning English, we want you to experience life in the USA. You live with an American family, and you take part in American life. You have meals with an American family and do some activities with them, too. For many of our students this is the most interesting part of the course. Many families create friendships with the students which last a long time. Of course, if you prefer, we can arrange hotel accommodation. Of course, there are many things to do in Los Angeles. Every day we have activities which take place after class. You can choose to take trips to Hollywood, Disneyland or the famous beaches around LA. You can also go to various shopping centers, sports centers, movies and concerts. There are also weekend visits organized to San Francisco and other places of interest in California. We try to give our students the best possible experience of English and life in the USA. Just ask our students! They say our summer English courses are fantastic! We hope that you'll enjoy a course with us, too. If you're interested, please fill in our application form where you will also find our list of prices.The course must be paid for one month before it begins. If you want to take part in the course, you must _ first. Answer: fill in the application form Reading can provide lots of fun for children and teens during summer vacation. Children who read during the summer are better prepared for school when they return to classes in the fall. Public libraries throughout Wisconsin will host summer events to encourage children and young adults to include reading in their summer fun. All Star Readers The Milwaukee Public Library will host its 2007 Summer Reading Club for kids from 3 to 18. Signing up starts on June 1 at all Milwaukee public libraries and bookmobile sites. Children aged 6 to 12 are invited to become "All Star Readers" at the Milwaukee library when they sign up for the Summer Reading Club. Children can score a point by reading 10 books or 1,000 pages. When they reach the reading goal, they will win a bag full of prizes. Sparkey Spots the Ball Children up to 5 years old can join the read-to-me club, "Sparkey Spots the Ball". They will receive their own reading folders to record the books read to them by parents, brothers and sisters or relatives. Once they have listened to 20 books, they will win a baseball and a coupon for McDonald's ice cream. *X-treme Read Teens between the age of 13 and 18 can join in their own reading program called "X-treme Read". Teens can read to win movie passes, CDs and more. The library also plans extreme bike races by C4BMX at four libraries in June and July. Check with your local library or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the exact dates, times, and places of the demonstrations . In order to become "All Star Readers" and win a lot of prizes, you _ . Answer: must read at least 1,000 pages or 10 books There was a young man named Bill in England. Before leaving school, he began to look for a job as a clerk. Few companies needed new clerks due to the financial crisis at that time. It became harder and harder to find a job. Luckily, a chance camp up to him. A company wanted to employ one person. He and the other twenty people joined in the first interview. After that, three persons were allowed to enter the final test which would decide one person to be employed in the end. Bill was lucky to be among them. On the day of the second interview, Bill and the others arrived at the company on time. To their surprise, the interview was very easy. The interviewer only had a free talk with them, and then asked them to go back home waiting for the result. The next morning, Bill received a letter from the company which said he wasn't accepted. Certainly, he felt disappointed. On the evening of that day, Bill surprisingly received another letter, which said he was employed. But why was he accepted? As a matter of fact, the first letter sent to Bill was also part of the test. Every one of them got a letter which had the same meaning that morning. Only Bill replied with "Thank you" while the others said nothing. Life isn't all fun. There is always something making us unhappy. When you feel disappointed, please say "Thank you" to the person who disappoints you. That shows your great generosity and politeness to others. If you do so, you'll have more chances than others. In this article, the writer mainly wants to _ . Answer: teach us the importance of great generosity and politeness to others. How to have fun in Chicago without spending a lot of money? Sightseeing The Art Institute of Chicago has a fine collection of photos and paintings. The ticket is $10.00, but go on Tuesdays and you'll get in free. The Sears Tower is the world's third tallest building. By going to the 103rd floor, you can get a view of the whole city. All for only $8.50. Free show There are free concerts in Grant Park in summer. They are held Wednesday through Saturday nights at 7:30 P.M.. Attend the taping of a TV show for free. The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Jenny Jones Show both offer tourists free tickets. For the Oprah Winfrey Show, you'll have to book tickets at least a month before. Places to stay You can get a hotel for $100 to $300 a day. However, you can get a room in the dormitory at Roosevelt University for $215 for a whole week! But you have to stay for 28 days to get this great rate . According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE? Answer: You can get tickets to the Oprah Winfrey Show as soon as you arrive. There are many things we can do in our daily life to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas sent out. Probably the most important is to share what you have learned with your family and friends. Use the family car less. Walk or cycle whenever possible. Take a bus. Try ride sharing. Use less energy in the house by turning down the heat when you are away or sleeping and turning off lights and electrical equipment you aren't using. If your family needs a car, make sure to buy a fuel-efficient one. An average car sends out nearly 60 tons of carbon dioxide during its lifetime, compared to between 22 and 30 tons from a fuel-efficient car. Encourage your family to use the car more efficiently : for example, check the air in the tires. Underinflated tires can increase fuel use by 8%. Turn the car off instead of letting it run when it is stopped. Idling uses more gas and sets free carbon dioxide into the air, Reuse, recycle and compost (... ) your waste. It takes much less energy to reuse or recycle a product than to make a new one. Correctly composting your food and yard waste removes the methane that they would cause at the landfill site. Buying less is al- ways the best. Plant trees. Trees take in carbon dioxide, reduce pollution, provide shade, and look great. The purpose of this text is to call on people _ Answer: to control greenhouse gas
In my eyes, the most basic and powerful way to communicate with another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. And especially if it's given from the heart. When people are talking,there's no need to do anything but receive them. Listen to what they're saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don't value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of simple saying "I'm so sorry," when someone is in pain. One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happening to them. Her pain became a story about themselves. Eventually she stopped talking to most people. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand,we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen,they know we care. I have even learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the handkerchiefs,until I realized that passing a person a handkerchief may be just another way to shut him down,to take them out of their experience of sadness. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry,they find me there with them. This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too shy to speak or did not know the answer. But now I know that a loving silence often has far more power to heal than the kindest words. What does the author value most in the communication with each other? A. Deep understanding. B. Attention from heart. C. Saying "I'm sorry" D. Doing nothing. Answer: B A month went by in this manner , but a month was all I could bear . The memory of Marguerite accompanied me wherever I went . I had loved that woman --- still loved her --- too much for her suddenly to mean nothing to me . Whatever feelings I might have for her now , I had to see her again . At once . ... I knew Marguerite . Meeting me so unexpectedly must have thrown her into a state of great confusion . Probably , she had heard of my departure which had set her mind at rest as to the consequences of our sudden parting . But , seeing me back and coming face to face with me , pale as I was , she had sensed that my return had a purpose , and must have wondered what was going to happen . If , when I saw her again , Marguerite had been unhappy ; if , in taking my revenge , there had also been some way of helping her , then I might well have forgiven her , and would certainly never have dreamed of doing her any harm . But when I saw her again , she was happy , at least on the surface . Another man had ensured her the luxury in which I had been unable to keep her . She brought shame both to my pride and my love ; she was going to have to pay for what I had suffered . I could not remain indifferent to what she did now . It followed that the thing that would hurt her most would be exactly for me to show indifference . Indifference , therefore , was the feeling which I now needed to pretend , not only in her presence but in the eyes of others . I tried to put a smile on my face , and I went to call on Prudence with whom Marguerite was staying . Prudence saw me to the door , and I returned to my apartment with tears of anger in my eyes and thirst for revenge in my heart and thought only of finding a way to make the poor creature suffer . According to the passage , the hero wanted to _ . A. forgive Marguerite because he found her unhappy B. stop the relationship with Marguerite because he couldn't keep her in the luxury C. make up the relationship with Marguerite because he still loved her D. give Marguerite sufferings because his pride and his love were hurt Answer: D When spring comes, some wildflowe come out in the ditches along the highway where I travel daily to work., I've noticed one special blue flower. It blooms only in the morning hours. For the afternoon sun is too hot for it. Every day for nearly two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers. This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard,. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. Every day I drove past the flowers thinking "I'll stop on my way home and dig them." "See. I don't want to get my good clothes dirty." Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. One day on my way home from work. I was sad to see the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself. "You wanted too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring." A week ago we were shocked and sad to learn that my oldest sister-in-law was badly ill. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven't been as close as we all would have been. I couldn't help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us. And yes, if I see the blue flowers again. You can bet I'll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden. The writer started a flower garden in her yard to show that _ . A. She wanted to sell her flowers B. She liked planted flowers C. Her husband made her do that D. Her husband's sister loved flowers Answer: B At the time, I would go out in the evening with my parents. But this time I had borrowed a bicycle from a friend of mine. I didn't know why, but once I was on my own bicycle, a kind of free feeling flooded through me. The faster I rode, the faster I wanted to go! Far ahead, I rode as if my life depended on it, head down, hands grasping the handbars. I meant to get to Jinghai Bar as fast as I could. . . Oh! My hands! Don't come any closer. . . Don't touch me! That poor doctor just couldn't get my gloves off. Each time he took a step towards me, I broke into painful shouting. Much later, I discovered that I had crashed heavily with another bicycle, and I hadn't spoken one word of sense for at least three hours! After some time, my mother arrived at the hospital, her face as white as a sheet, and gave me a hug , only then did the doctor begin to stitch my head wound, not only did he merrily cut off a long lock of my hair, but used no anaesthetic either! Later, I seemed to hear faraway voices saying that my right hand was broken. I almost burst into tears. How would I ever play the piano again? One thing is sure, that is, before she was wounded she _ . A. often went to Jinghai Bar with her friends B. liked playing the piano C. didn't like any doctors at all D. would burst into tears when she was in trouble Answer: B About fifty years ago, when television first came out, people thought that radio was no longer useful. Television has both sounds and images . It is much more real and interesting to watch television than to listen to the radio. However, fifty years later radio is still very popular and it will be here for a long time. One reason is that we don't need to see an image when we listen to the music on the radio. In fact, listening with your eyes closed is the best way to listen to a piece of music. You can imagine yourself on a sandy beach or up high on a mountain. In other words, you can create your own images. Moreover, while listening to the radio, you don't have to take your eyes off your work. For example, you can listen to the radio and drive at the same time. Or you can read a book and listen to the radio. Television, on the other hand, doesn't have this advantage. A radio is much smaller than a television. You can take a radio anywhere and turn it on anytime you want. In a quiet place you can use headphones to listen to the news or music on the radio. In this way you won't disturb anybody. Moreover, a radio is much cheaper than a television. For less than $ 20 you can buy a small radio and have fun with it. We learn from the passage that _ . A. people can take a radio anywhere and turn it on anytime B. television came out 50 years ago and it is useless now C. a radio is more expensive than a television D. people can use headphones to read books Answer: A
If you think GM food sounds far away from you, you are totally wrong. In fact, you may eat GM food every day. Four of every five people in the world are eating GM food, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. According to Xinhua News Agency, in China, the only GM plants that are grown for sale are cotton and papaya. Also, China buys some GM plants from other countries, such as soybeans and corn. The GM plants are used to make other products. A reporter once said, "In China, more than half of cooking oil is soybean oil. And 90 percent of that oil is made from GM soybeans." So it's possible that we eat GM food every day! Scientists have changed GM plants' DNA in a laboratory. Scientists usually do this to protect plants against bugs and diseases and have more _ . Many people think it's against nature. Also, they worry that eating such food might be bad for their health. Is GM food safe? There's no agreement. Some people say that GM food causes tumors. But there are no long-term safety studies about GM food. If you want to stay away from GM food, you can start by checking the cooking oil in your home. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, _ people in the world aren't eating GM food. Answer: Though he wore his whiskers only four years, today we can hardly think of Abraham Lincoln without them. He often talked about the little girl in Westfield, New York, who suggested in a letter that he grow the famous whiskers. And he would add, "Sometimes a small thing can change our lives!" Grace Bedell sat in her room looking at a picture of Lincoln. Her little lamp threw shadows on the picture. A frame of small shadows lay around the thin face and covered the hollow cheeks . "Whiskers!" she thought. "How nice!" she said to herself. "There will be more people to elect him President if he lets his whiskers grow. Somebody ought to tell him." She reached for a pen and began to write the letter. On February 16 of the following year a special train carried the newly elected President Lincoln to the White House. The train stopped briefly at a station near Grace's town. At the station Lincoln was speaking to a large crowd, among whom were the Bedell family. Lincoln continued his speech, "I have a little friend in this place," he said. "That little lady told me how to improve my appearance, and I want to thank her. If she is present, I would like to speak to her. Her name is Grace Bedell." Grace's father led her forward to Lincoln. She looked and laughed happily, for up there on his face were the whiskers. If you visit Springfield, Illinois, today you will see the house in which Abraham Lincoln used to live. On the wall of a room hangs a piece of paper covered with a child's handwriting: "Dear sir..." Which of the following is the best title for this passage? Answer: We chat with our colleagues all the time when we have lunch, gossip in the tearoom, or leave work together. Sharing your personal life brings you closer to your coworkers and builds trust within your team. But revealing too much about yourself to colleagues, managers or human resources staff can cause difficulties and even endanger your work. It's important to keep the right balance between getting along with colleagues and maintaining your privacy. "Communication in the office is tricky and complicated. You can neither spread chatter, nor be too silent and shut yourself off from others," said Yang Yudan, deputy HR director at P&G. According to her, there are several safe topics to talk about with colleagues during the break, such as the weather or movies. Women like to talk about makeup and clothing, while men are fond of sports and online games. But discussing your private life, such as relationship, habits or health conditions, is a potential minefield. Liang Kun, 26, had to resign from his job at a trading company in Guangzhou last week after discussing his income with colleagues during a lunch break. "I didn't realize it was such a serious issue until a senior member of staff went to find the boss, asking why I got a higher salary than her," said Liang. "Then our HR told me that according to the employee handbook it is forbidden to talk about salary in the office." HR expert Yang also reminds us that paychecks are your own business. It is unwise to share this information with others, no matter how close you are. To summarize, Yang advises office workers to be more aware of the image they project when talking to colleagues, "When you share your personal life, it will be recorded on your invisible resume and may slow down your career progressing." The author quoted Yang Yudan in the text to _ . Answer: I once did a year of voluntary service in a residential home for people with learning disabilities. was set in an English village deep in the countryside, quite different from my home in Sweden. One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from Tanzania, seemed a little unhappy, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home who had financial difficulties and maybe it was impossible for her to complete her university courses. So this friend of mine had sent all her money to Tanzania to support her friend! This meant that she didn't have much food to eat and no money to go anywhere outside the village. I was so touched and I felt I had to do something. So, during my next trip to one of the nearby towns I walked into a shop. I didn't have much money left myself but I thought I'd buy her an extra box of chocolate we both liked and some rice. I started talking to the woman(also a volunteer)working in the shop and eventually told her about my friend. The woman looked at me, amazed. "Does she eat pasta?" she asked. "Yes," I replied. She immediately started loading a bag with pasta, cookies, and other things until the bag was full. "Give her this for me. It's my treat!'' I couldn't believe it but accepted with happiness. As I left the shop to go home with my unexpected bag of food, I asked the woman her name. "Just Gloria," she said. Imagine my friend's face when I arranged the gifts on my kitchen table and fetched her from her room to see! I had never seen her so happy! A few weeks later she found Gloria in the shop and thanked her in person. These two extraordinary women really showed me what true kindness and compassion are, and the impression will stay with me for the rest of my life! Why did the writer help the girl from Tanzania? Answer: A lady in an old cotton dress and her husband, dressed in an old suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked into the president of Harvard's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such country people had no business at Harvard. She frowned . "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day," the secretary said coldly. "We'll wait," the lady replied. For hours, the secretary didn't talk to them, hoping that the couple would finally become tired and go away. They didn't. And the secretary finally decided to disturb the president. "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him. He frowned too. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them. The president walked toward them unwillingly. The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard, and was very happy here. But he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to set up a memorial to him somewhere on campus. " The president was so surprised that he shouted sharply, "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. This place would look like a cemetery . "Oh, no" the lady explained, "We don't want to build a statue. We thought we would give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at their plain clothes, and said with surprise, "A building! Do you have any idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly. "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they set up the university with their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about. Why didn't the president come out to meet the couple? Answer:
Question: Fannie Cratty wasn't really my aunt. I only referred to her as "My Aunt Fannie" because the name always made my father laugh and gave my mother cause to look angrily at both of us---at me for being disrespectful of my elder and at my father for encouraging my bad behavior. As a young woman, my mother had worked in the kitchen of a large Victorian farmhouse owned by Fannie Cratty. During those years my mother helped Aunt Fannie make the best blueberry jam ever tasted by anyone in Glenfield. Aunt Fannie was well known for her jam and for never sharing the recipe with another living soul. Even though my mother knew the recipe by heart, as long as Aunt Fannie was alive (and she lived to be ninety-six!), she never made the jam without Ms. Cratty in our kitchen to direct the process and preserve the secret. Each August, when blueberry season would roll around, my mother would prepare me for Aunt Fannie's visit. It was vital that I should be on my best behavior. After all, the woman was old, wealthy, very strict with children. Whenever she was at the house, I didn't need to be reminded to guard my thoughts and watch my tongue. One year, after I had been particularly helpful with the jam process, Aunt Fannie gave me a quarter(25) and then made me promise that I would never spend it. "Hold onto this quarter," she said, "and someday you will be rich. I still have my very first quarter, given to me by my grandfather." It had obviously worked for her. So, I kept the 1938-quarter into a small box, put it in my dresser drawer, and waited to become rich. I now have the blueberry jam recipe and the quarter from Aunt Fannie. In people's eye Aunt Fannie's success was due to that secret recipe. But to me, it was just a common recipe. Neither has significantly contributed to my wealth, but I keep them as reminders to hold onto the valuable things in life. Money can make you feel rich for a while, but it is the relationships and the memories of time spent with friends and family that truly leave you wealthy. And that is a fortune that anyone can build. Which would be the best title for this passage? A. An old quarter B. Valuable Things C. Blueberry Jam Recipe D. Memories of old time Answer: C Question: In learning a foreign language, one should first pay attention to speaking. It is the groundwork of reading and writing. You'd better try your best to speak. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. But be careful not to let them keep you from improving the language. While you are doing this, a good exercise is to write - keep a diary, write notes, letters or articles, then if you can, ask someone to go through what you have written and tell you where is wrong . Many mistakes in your speaking will be easily found when you write. Through correcting the mistakes, you can do better in learning a language. If you are slow in speaking, don't worry. One of the helpful ways is by reading, either aloud or to yourself. The important thing is to choose something interesting to read. It can't be too difficult for you. When you are reading in this way, don't stop to look up the words if you can guess their meanings or if they have nothing important to do with the sentence. You can do that some other time . From the passage we know the groundwork is _ while you are learning a foreign language. A. reading B. writing C. speaking D. listening Answer: C Question: There are stock markets in large cities in many countries. Stock markets in Paris, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and New York are among the largest and most well-known. The stock, also called stock exchange, is a place where people can buy or sell shares of a factory or company. And each share means certain ownership of a factory or company. Different people go to stock markets. Some are rich, who want to get more money than they have. Others are not very rich, who buy stocks to try to become rich. Still others buy stocks as part of their plan to save money. Of course, investing money in the stock market is not the safest way to make money. No one can tell exactly whether the shares will be doing well. The factory or company may do badly. Then the stocks will go down, and the investors will lose money. The stock may go up or down for a number of untold reasons. Everyone wants the stock to go up, but sometimes even if a factory or company does a good job, the stock may still go down. Going to the stock market is often like gambling . All want to make money by "gambling' in the stock market. Factories and companies that need money are pleased that so many people are ready to "gamble". Indeed, the stock market is an attractive but part of the business world. If you are a good investor, _ in the stock market. A. you can always make money B. you can tell exactly when the stock goes up or down C. you may sometimes lose money D. your gambling is always safe Answer: C Question: Mrs. Black lives on Second Avenue. New Year is coming. She wants to send a card to her friend in Toronto, but she doesn't know where the post office is. She asks her neighbor Mary, " Is there a post office near here? I want to send a card." "The post office is not near from here," answers Mary, "but you don't need to go to the post office to post the card. There is a _ in front of the supermarket. You can put your card into the mailbox" Where does Mrs. Black live? A. In New York. B. In Toronto. C. On Second Avenue. D. On Green Street. Answer: C Question: A little girl walked to and from school every day.Though it was not fine and clouds appeared in the sky that morning, the little girl made her daily trip to school as usual. When school was over, winds became stronger and it began to rain. The mother of the little girl felt worried that her daughter would be afraid when she walked home from school and that lightning might make her child scared. Following the bright light of lightning, the mother quickly got into her car and drove to her child's school. As the mother drove along the road, she saw her little girl walking alone in the rain. To her great surprise, she found that when a lightning came, her daughter stopped, looked up and smiled. Another lightning came and then another followed. With each lightning, the little girl stopped, looked up and smiled. Inside the car, the motherasked her daughter, "What were you doing? Why did you look up and smile when the lightning came ?" The little girl answered with a smile, "Mum, you know, God was looking at me. Each time I felt a little afraid walking in the rain.God would take a picture of me. I knew he was playing a game with me''. How did the little girl go to school every day? A. By car. B. On foot. C. By bus. D. By bike. Answer: B
Micro blogs like Weibo are nothing new for the young Chinese. A newspaper in Chengdu did a survey last month. It found that 90 percent of junior high school students use micro blogs. They give students an outlet for emotion. "I use micro blogs to record my life. I let everyone 'see' my feelings and complaints ," said Liu Fangyue, 14, from Xiamen No. 1 Middle School. They have fun with classmates even after school. "I would send a message to praise someone who came first in the exam," said Liu. Teachers also join in the fun. "When I sit down to talk to my students, they may not tell me their real thoughts," said Lu Dongping at Nanning No. 2 Middle School. "But on micro blogs, they are more relaxed. They even make fun of me." You would be wrong if you think micro blogs are all about fun. Zhong Yun from Xiamen Haicang Experimental School sees it as a tool to learn English. The 13-year-old girl follows foreign stars such as Avril Lavigne and Justin Bieber. "In order to understand their English posts, I have to check the dictionary and learn many new words," said Zhong. "Micro blogs widen students' perspectives , but there are rules to follow," said Shi Zhongying, a professor from Beijing Normal University. He shares some of them with micro bloggers. "Manage your time, and don't let micro-blogging affect your studies and health," said Shi. "Don't give out your name, family address or phone number on micro blogs. You should also respect truth and other people's privacy ." Zhong Yun often _ on micro blogs. Answer: learns English I had five hours in the company of First Great Western(FGW) last weekend, on a train full of passengers, all the way from Cornwall to London. I got to know some of my fellow passengers rather well. Not through talking to them, you understand. There was the youth who was explaining to his friend exactly how he enjoyed a party with his friends last night. Opposite him was a young woman who was very excited to be going to Lanzarote for her summer holiday. And then there was the man who I took to be a car mechanic ; so detailed and technical was his conversation about a second-hand Audi. Everyone had a different, noisy ringtone, and none of the mobile phone conversations I was forced to hear was interesting. By the end of the journey, I was silently complaining about the modern world, and feeling mad with FGW who, at the very moment when our carriage fell silent, would make an announcement about the buffet car (a carriage where food and drinks are sold) either opening or closing. FGW seems to be campaigning against peace and quietness, having removed quiet carriage spaces where passengers were requested not to use mobiles so that their trains could carry more passengers. How so? I cannot understand why FGW takes no notice of passengers like me, who have suffered a lot from hearing endless telephone conversations. I have no interest in the smallest details of others' lives. Making people listen to boring mobile phone conversations should be regarded as a rude act." Every train carriage should, in theory, be quiet. Why can't that be the standard? It is possible to change public custom and practice. It was not so long ago that sidewalks were littered with dog waste:now it's a general rule that dog owners clean it up after their pets. And once we restore peace and quietness to trains, we can then move on and stop people bringing fast food onto them, too. The author mentioned the rule of cleaning up dog mess to show _ . Answer: quiet carriages can become the standard The National Park Service in the United States will mark its one hundredth anniversary in 2016. As it nears its second century, the Park Service plans to increase its educational programs for students and teachers. The plans include transportation support for one hundred thousand students each year to visit national parks to learn about nature and history. Yellowstone is believed to have been the world's first national park when it was established in 1872. Other students will get a chance to see parks in faraway places through Skype and other online programs. The National Park Service also works with partners to provide education. One of its partners is a nonprofit organization called NatureBridge. NatureBridge is celebrating its fortieth anniversary and says one million young people have taken part in its programs. The organization works with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade and uses national parks as its classrooms. It provides field science programs at Yosemite National Park and four other locations in California and the northwestern state of Washington. Now, NatureBridge is launching an East Coast center with a four-million-dollar grant from Google. The program will begin in April at the Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. Students stay for three to five days in NatureBridge programs. The activities are aimed at developing their science skills. For example, they learn about different soils and study water quality under a microscope. Jason Morris, executive vice president of NatureBridge says when they are not sleeping, eating or in a laboratory, the students spend their time outdoors. Julia Washburn is associate director of education and interpretation for the National Park Service. She says in a time of budget cuts, the agency has to find ways to still meet its goals. And one of the most important services that the Park Service provides every day is nature interpretation. The text is intended to tell us that_. Answer: more educational programs will be started in national parks I used to travel by air a great deal when I was a boy. My parents used to live in South America and I used to fly there from Europe during holidays. An airhostess would look after me and I never had an unpleasant experience. I like traveling by air and only once I have ever felt frightened. After taking off , we were flying low over the city and slowly gaining height when the plane suddenly turned round and flew back to the airport. While we were waiting to land, the airhostess told us to keep calm and to get off the plane quickly as soon as it had touched down. Everybody on board was worried and we wanted to find out what had happened. Later we learned that there was a very important person on board, and the police were told that a bomb was on the plane. After we had landed,the plane was searched thoroughly . Fortunately, nothing was found and five hours later we were able to take off again. Why did the plane land soon after it took off? Answer: Because the police were told a bomb was on the plane. Mr. White sold kinds of machines to farmers, which he thought was not really a very exciting job, but he had always been interested in traveling on business. He had a big car, and usually enjoyed driving it long distances, but he was also quite satisfied to go by train sometimes, especially when the weather was bad. He was a little frightened of driving in the rain or snow, and it was less tiring to sit comfortably in a train and look out of the windows without being worried about how to get to the next place. One of Mr. White's problems was often where to stay when he reached some small places in the country. He did not expect timely and wonderful food, but he found it annoying when he was given a cold room, and when there was no hot water after a long and tiring journey. Later one winter evening, Mr. White arrived at a small railway station. The journey by train that day had not been at all interesting, and Mr. White was cold and tired and hungry. He was looking forward to a simple but satisfying meal by a brightly burning fire, and then a hot bath and a comfortable bed. While he was walking to the taxi stand, he said to a local man who was also walking there, "As this is my first visit to this part of the country and I was in too much of a hurry to find out the hotels before I left home, I would very much like to know how many hotels you have here." The local man answered," We have two." "And which of the two would you advise me to go to?" Mr. White asked then. The local man scratched his head for a moment and then answered,"Well, it's like this, whichever one you go to, you'll be sorry you don't go to the other." What was Mr. White according to the passage? Answer: He was a salesman.
Question: Lake Victoria is the largest lake in AfricA. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources for the longest river in the world, the Nile River.Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power for several African countries.Lake Victoria is a big part of African life. Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. _ .There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level.For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters.Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters.There seem to be several reasons for this drop. One possible reason is drought .Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000.Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake. However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(factories) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000.Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level. Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same.This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life.People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake.Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water.Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer.Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die. Lake Victoria is _ . A. an important lake in Africa. B. the largest lake in the world. C. the source of water, food and power for America. D. the only source for the Nile River. Answer: A. an important lake in Africa. Question: Are you fond of tomatoes? Bunol,a town in Spain,held its yearly tomato festival on the last Wednesday of August.Thousands and thousands of people made their way from all corners of the world to fight in it,the world's biggest food fight.Tons of fully-grown tomatoes were thrown in the streets. No one knows exactly how this event started.Maybe it came from a local food fight between friends,or a joke that was played on a bad musician. On Wednesday,at 11am,the fight began.A cannon shot was fired to start the fight.At first,people fought one another,but slowly they began to fight in groups.After exactly one hour,the fight ended when the cannon shot was fired once more.At this point,no more tomatoes could be thrown. Those who attend this event are encouraged to wear protective glasses.And they must press the tomatoes before throwing so that they won't hurt others.Another rule is that no one is allowed to take anything -- such as a glass bottle -- into the fight.Although it is forbidden to tear another person's clothing,the crowd seems to tear the shirt of any clothed person,whether they are men or women. Fire trucks are used to clean the streets after the fight with water provided from a Roman channel .The government seems more concerned with cleaning up the town than the visitors,and people go to the Bunol River for a wash. Which is NOT one of the rules of the tomato fight? A. People can't use glass bottles. B. People must wear protective glasses. C. It isn't allowed to tear other people's clothes. D. Tomatoes should be pressed before they are thrown. Answer: B. People must wear protective glasses. Question: Do you know about a series of books that say they are "for dummies"? These American selfhelp books have been translated into more than thirty nine languages including Chinese,Arabic,Russian,French,German,Greek and Spanish. "Dummy" is a word for a stupid person.The dummies books are not really for stupid people.They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before,like painting a house or learning a language.The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies,such as World History for Dummies,Rabbits for Dummies,Chinese Cooking for Dummies,and Wedding Planning for Dummies.The first such book,DOS for Dummies,was published in 1991.It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers.Since then,more than one hundred fifty million dummies books have been sold. The dummies.com website explains the idea behind the books.It says that they show people can be taught to do anything.First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand.Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy.The publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary.They give readers just enough information to do what they want.They say that the dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something.And the books use simple and easy language. There are more than one thousand different dummies books.A report in New York Times says that the top-selling dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance. The publishers say that the best-selling dummies books are those providing information many people need-like information about diseases,education and cooking.People interested in opera,car repair and wine can also find dummies books to help them.And there are even more dummies books to come.The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummies books every year. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage? A. Books for Dummies B. The Easiest,the Best C. Self-Help Books D. New Ideas behind the Books Answer: A. Books for Dummies Question: It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland's oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women's Day. The document was discovered buried in the university archives by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: "We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn't know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university's higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote." In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892. Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice. When did St Andrews University begin to take full-time women students? A. In 1873. B. In 1874. C. In 1877. D. In 1892. Answer: D. In 1892. Question: Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability. First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one. Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don't change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more "fashionable". Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio. Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in "Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook". This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to _ . A. improve their listening ability B. read fast C. write better English and read faster D. speak correctly Answer: A. improve their listening ability
Houseplants clean the air and brighten a room. Occasionally, they drive us mad as we wonder how exactly we managed to kill yet another "unkillable" houseplant. (In that way, they provide great lessons in perseverance as well!) But it looks like there's one more great reason to grow houseplants: their presence in your workspace might actually make you smarter. According to a recent study published in The Journal of Environmental Psychology, just having plants in your work space is enough to increase your attention span. An increase in attention span means that we're able to remember more of what we read. To test the hypotheses, the study's authors gave subjects a Reading Span Task, which requires reading sentences aloud, then remembering the last word in each sentence. This requires reading, memorization, and recall abilities, and switching between the three. The researchers had their entire test pool complete Reading Span Tasks to get a baseline reading. Then they moved some of the people to a room with no plants, and others to a room that had four plants around the desk. They were all asked to repeat the Reading Span Tasks, and the people who worked near a plant improved overall, while those without plants stayed roughly the same. Beauty, fresh air, the joy of caring for another living thing -- all great reasons to have a few houseplants around. If they help increase attention spans, all the better! The study shows that growing houseplants can_. A clean the air B make the house beautiful C increase attention spans D have the joy of caring Answer: C Lisa is ten years old. She is disabled because she has brain damage. She could not do even the simplest thing until a year ago. She could not comb her hair or feed herself. Her parents loved her. And they treated her like a baby. Mr. Ching has a daughter and a son. They are both grown. They live far from their father. Mr. Cling felt lonely. He decided to become a foster grandfather to a handicapped child. And that was how he met Lisa. Foster grandparents are grandparents who are not related by birth but foster parents love the children they care for. They also help the handicapped children in special ways. They help to dress and feed the children. They read to them and tell them stories. They also help with handicapped children's therapy. Therapy is the treatment of a disease or disorder. It helps the children overcome their handicaps. Mr. Cling became a foster grandparent to Lisa when she was nine years old. At first, Lisa was shy. She was afraid because Mr. Cling was a stranger. But he came to see her every day, gradually she began to trust him. At last, Lisa let Mr. Cling do things for her. Cling speaks for most foster grandparents when he say, "We all benefit. The handicapped children benefit because we help them live more useful lives. And we benefit because we know the children need us and love us. For any person, there is no greater happiness than that." Why did Lisa need help? A She was a baby B She did not want to do anything. C She had brain damage. D She was a blind girl. Answer: C What is an example of humans building houses in a ecosystem and causing change in the environment as a result? A a dog house is placed in a fenced in back yard B a birdbath is placed in a park with a low squirrel population C a city is built over a park and deer lose their home D a small house is built in the forest and animals are fed there Answer: C The holidays are coming up, and if you are looking for some great things to do with your kids to celebrate the season, look no further. The more you let them in on the holiday planning fun, the more exciting it will be for them, and the more pride they can take in a successful holiday. There is a tendency to exclude kids from the holiday preparations for many reasons: we want everything to be perfect or maybe we don't trust that they'll do it right. However, involving kids in holiday preparations can be good for them, as well as fun for you. Kid-created decorations are often the best part of any holiday table. People always love the handmade decorations the best, because they are truly made with love, and they're usually the most fun. Find small things your kids can do, like creating centerpieces or paper rings, and direct their creations. Be sure to put these things out where people can see them when they come over, because there's nothing worse than creating something you're proud of and having it hidden. Let them show your guests what they've made and talk about it. They'll be happy to do so! What is a better way to get into the spirit of the season than to go shopping? Kids love to pick out gifts for others. Let them choose whatever they think the person they're buying for would like. This will help them to be proud of their gifts, as well as try to budget according to the amount of money you have given them. You can also let them pack their own gifts. Give them options of gift bags or packing paper and watch them go to town. It may not be perfect, but it will be precious, for sure. Kids love to cook. They love to get their hands dirty and create fun meals with the help of their parents. They also feel a sense of pride in the food items they create, and they love it when people eat what they make and talk about how delicious it is. Allowing your kids into the kitchen can help them learn cooking and baking, and can also give them ownership of the holiday meal. Of course, you'll have to help them along the way, but taking that time can really make a kid's day. Holiday crafts are the best. Creating centerpieces and ornaments is fun, but you can also look to nature for inspiration. Leaf collages or prints are a fun way to capture the fall. Jack-o'-lanterns are an excellent way to celebrate Halloween, and there is endless inspiration to take from the first snowflakes that fall in winter. Your imagination is the key! What's the author's attitude towards allowing kids to choose the gifts when shopping? A Approving. B Doubtful. C Negative. D Critical. Answer: A In an ideal world,people would not test medicines on animals. Such experiments are stressful and sometimes painful for animals,and expensive and timeconsuming for people. Yet animal experimentation is still needed to help bridge vast gaps in medical knowledge. That is why there are some 50 to 100 million animals used in research around the world each year. Europe,on the whole,has the world's most restrictive laws on animal experiments. Even so,its scientists use some 12 million animals a year,most of them mice and rats,for medical research. Official statistics show that just 1.1 million animals are used in research in America each year. But that is misleading. The American authorities do not think mice and rats are worth counting and,as these are the most common laboratory animals,the true figure is much higher. Japan and China have even less comprehensive data than America. Now Europe is reforming the rules governing animal experiments by restricting the number of animals used in labs. Alternatives to animal testing,such as using human tissue or computer models,are now strongly recommended. In addition,sharing all research results freely should help to reduce the number of animals for scientific use. At present,scientists often share only the results of successful experiments. If their findings do not fit the hypothesis being tested,the work never sees the light of day. This practice means wasting time,money,and animals' lives in endlessly repeating the failed experiments. Animal experimentation has taught humanity a great deal and saved countless lives. It needs to continue,even if that means animals sometimes suffer. Europe's new measures should eventually both reduce the number of animals used in experiments and improve the way in which scientific research is conducted. What usually happens to unsuccessful animal experiments? A They are not made known to the public. B They are made into teaching materials. C They are collected for future publication. D They are not removed from the research topic list. Answer: A
They are the sort of friends who are so close they trust each other with their lives. If one falls, the other is there to catch him. They are Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident, and Corbett, an experienced rock climber. Together, they climbed up Half Dome, the famous 2,000-foot rock in the Yosemite National Park, through one of the most difficult routes . During the climb, Corbett took the lead, hit in the metal spikes that guided the ropes and climbed up. Then, after Wellman pulled himself up the rope, Corbett went down to remove the spikes and climbed up again. This process was repeated time and again, inch by inch, for 13 days. Wellman's job was not easy either. He got himself up the rope through upper body strength alone. In all, Wellman figured that he had done 5,000 pull-ups up the rope on the climb. However, when the two men first met, they never talked about climbing. "He knew that was how I got injured." Wellman said. Until one day Wellman decided that he wanted to climb again and they started training. Their climb of Half Dome was not all smooth. At one point, pieces of rock gave way, and Corbett dropped down quickly. Wellman locked their rope in place, stopping the fall at 20 feet. His quick action probably saved his friend's life. "Your partner can save your life -- you can save your partner's life," Wellman said as the pair received congratulations from friends. "There are real close ties." Why did the two men never talk about climbing when they first met? Corbett didn't want to hurt Wellman. A few years after World II finished, Scientists spoke with great eagerness about the use of nuclear as source of energy. Within twenty years, they said, nuclear would take the place of coal, gas and oil as a source of power at home and in industry. This promise has never been carried out and there are serious doubts that it ever will be. Nuclear power plants are used to produce energy in some wealthier countries, but the cost is high. Although safety measures have been taken, radiation leaks have taken place and workers have been killed or affected. The problem of getting rid of the nuclear waste has proved most difficult. There is a limit to the mount of waste materials which can be buried in the ground or poured in the seabed. These methods may also cause more problems. Waste materials polluted by radiation may remain dangerous for 200 years or more. It has no surprise that scientists have turned to the sun and the sea as sources of power. The sun shines day after day almost wastefully, providing us with energy far beyond all our earth. Nuclear waste must be dealt with carefully, because _ . It's harmful to people's health. For a class project, students converted the daily temperatures for the past month from Fahrenheit to Celsius. What is the clearest way for the students to present the information? table What is the first step in designing a product? identify the need or want Some disabled people use a special card when they park their cars. These are called disabled placards, which are removable signs that can be hung from the rear-view mirror of a car. These placards are only supposed to be for disabled people. These placards are meant to help disabled people in a number of ways. They allow the person to park in special parking spaces. They can also be used when disabled people are being dropped off or picked up. Disabled people can even use them to park without having to pay. Parking officials think that some people are cheating. Not all people who have these placards are disabled. Today, one in sixteen drivers in California carries the sign. There are a lot more people who have disabled placards today than ten years ago. An official from the DMV says that there are many reasons for the increase. As people get older, they may develop health problems and need to have one. There are also other reasons why more drivers have them today. Finally, there are a number of people who have them that should not. Last year the DMV cancelled more than 25,000 permits. They found that lots of people who had the disabled placards had died. These permits are no longer valid. Some people are worried that the system is being abused. They are worried that access to the program could be limited because of the misuse. More rules could make it harder for people with real disabilities to get these placards. We learn from the passage that _ . some rules will be made related to disabled placards
Bill and Chuck hated Vic and agreed to start a fight with Vic and, if the opportunity arose, to kill him. Bill and Chuck met Vic in the street outside a bar and began to push him around. Ray, Sam, and Tom, who also hated Vic, stopped to watch. Ray threw Bill a knife. Sam told Bill, "Kill him." Tom, who made no move and said nothing, hoped that Bill would kill Vic with the knife. Chuck held Vic while Bill stabbed and killed him.On a charge of murdering Vic, Tom is Answer: If you see someone drowning, speed is very important. Once you get him out of water, if he isn't breathing, you have four minutes before his brain is completely destroyed. Support his neck, tilt his head back and press his chin upwards. This stops the tongue blocking the airway in the throat and is sometimes enough to get him breathing again. If that doesn't work, start mouth-to-mouth breathing. Press his nostrils together with your fingers. Open your mouth and take a deep breath. Blow into his lungs until his chest rises, then remove your mouth and watch his chest fall. Repeat twelve times a minute. Keep doing until help arrives. To bring a child back to life, keep your lips around his mouth and nose and gently blow into his mouth. Give the first four breaths as quickly as possible to fill the blood with oxygen. If, in spite of your efforts, he starts turning a blue-gray color1, and you can feel no pulse,then pressing is the last chance of saving his life. With arms straight, rock forwards, pressing down on the lower half of the breastbone. Don't be too hard or you may break a rib. Check how effective you are by watching if his color1 improves or his pulse becomes independent to your chest pressing. If this happens, stop the pressing. Otherwise continue until help arrives. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? Answer: A rich American went into a shop in London. He wanted very much to buy a nice looking watch, but the owner of the shop asked five hundred dollars for it. Suddenly a young man came into the shop, took the watch out of the owner's hands and ran out with it. It all happened in a few seconds. When the owner ran out into the street, the young man was already lost among the people. The American went on. At the next corner, he saw the young man with the watch in his hand. "Do you want to buy a fine watch, sir?" he asked in a low voice. "It's only a hundred dollars." "The young man doesn't know I saw him stealing the watch," he thought. The American paid at once and went back to his room with the watch. He told his friend about the fine watch. His friend took a look at the watch and started laughing. He said, "You are a fool. This watch isn't worth even ten dollars. I'm sure the shop owner and the young man planned this together." The American paid _ dollars for the watch. Answer: BIG DAY: New Canadian citizen Pemelika Fiaui poses with his son Tyler, 4, outside of The Playhouse on Tuesday. The ceremony marked the end of a five-year journey for Pemelika Fiaui of Western Samoa. Fiaui, a 6'4", 240-pound member of local rugby team Black Spruce, said the day was emotional. "I was really happy to get my citizenship today; it was a long process," he said. "I couldn't have done this without the support of my wife, my in-laws and my two kids, who have been so supportive of me." Fiaui, a firefighter by trade, arrived in New Brunswick in 2003 and found work with the parks and trails department with the City of Fredericton. He became involved with the local rugby scene, and for the past three years is back in his chosen field as a relief firefighter with the Fredericton Fire Department. "I've met so many great people since I've been in Fredericton, and this is a very special day for me and my family. I'm happy to be a Canadian, but I'm also glad that I still hold dual citizenship in Western Samoa as well." The citizenship ceremony was overseen by a number of dignitaries , including Lt.-Gov. Hermenegilde, Chiasson, MP Andy Scott, Mayor Brad Woodside and John Barrett, director of operations for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Chiasson joked by welcoming the new Canadians "to the country that invented ice skates, maple syrup and the case of beer with the built-in handle." The day was also special for Jean-Jacques Tshimenga, his wife Sarah, and their three children, formerly of the Democratic Republic of Congo. "Canada Day is the day to celebrate the independence and freedom that we have in this country," he said. It was an emotional day for Fiaui, because _ . Answer: Which living organism makes its own food using sunlight? Answer:
As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating and transmission system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around. The 19 th century saw land grants offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died. Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now. So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects. The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways. The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let's remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West. What is the author's attitude towards building solar plants? Cautious. Six people were traveling in a compartment on a train. Five of them were quiet and well behaved , but the sixth was a rude young man who was causing a lot of trouble to the other passengers. At last this young man got out of the station with his two heavy bags. None of the other passengers helped him, but one of them waited until the rude young man was very far away, and then opened the window to him, " You left something behind in the compartment!" Then he closed the window again. The young man turned around and hurried back with his two bags. He was very tired when he arrived, but he shouted through the window, " What did I leave behind?" As the train began to move again, the passenger who had called him back opened the window and said, " A very bad impression!" Of the six passengers in the compartment _ . one of them was rude and badly behaved Every time you go online you leave a digital footprint. This is just like a real footprint. It tells where you have been, how long you stayed on line and what you have been doing there. It's easy to get the information and show your digital footprint every time when you send an email, messages and photos. You shouldn't worry about it too much but it is better to be careful about your digital footprint when you are online. There are five tips for taking care of your digital footprint. Don't forget to close the pages with your information when you leave a website, especially if you are using a shared computer. Don't tell anyone your password and don't write them down in a place that everybody can see. Make them more difficult by using both letters and numbers. Remember your favourite websites by looking over the history and the bookmark on your computer or your mobile phone. This is a way that your digital footprint can work in your favour, remember to clear your history from time to time. If you want to post some words on line, you don't have to use your own name. You can use a nickname instead. You can also use a picture instead of a real photo. Protect your personal information online. Be careful about who you share your own information with and always think twice before sharing email, home address, school or phone number with someone. All kinds of people are interested in your digital footprint. It's now quite common for people to look over some personal information online before they offer someone a job. There are cases of people having missed out on jobs and places because their digital footprint didn't make them look good. So remember: keep safe, don't put too much personal information online and always think carefully before you post something. Ask yourself, 'would I be happy for everyone to see this?' What's the writer's attitude towards digital footprint? We should not use our own names online. In Canada and the United States, there is a new group of children called "satellite kids", who live in one place but whose parents live in another place. Asians are immigrating to Canada and the United States in larger numbers than ever believe that they can give their children a better education in the west. In Asia, especially in China, Japan, and Korea, it is difficult to go to university. Students must first pass the strict national examination. However, in Canada and the United States, it is easy to go to university, and anyone who wants to go can go. As a result, Asian parents decide to leave their countries so that their children can go to university. The problem is that when Asians arrive, they discover that finding a job and making money are more difficult in the West than in the East. Also, they find that they are very lonely, and that they miss their homes. Because of these two reasons, most Asian parents decide to go back to work while their children study in the West. Therefore, these two reasons, most Asian parents decide to go back to work while their children study in the west. Therefore, these children become satellite kids", and most of their parents do not know how sad it is to be a "satellite kid". Only until now are Canadians and Americans discovering the "satellite kids" problem. Because these children do mot speak English and because their parents are not there to take care of them, they are often absent from school. To be a "satellite kid" means growing up in a country where you know you are different and where you cannot make friends because you do not speak English well. Also, it means growing up lonely, because your parents are elsewhere. What these "satellite kids "will probably say to their parents is that it's better to have parents around than to have a university education. ,. Choose the best title for the passage _ . A New Group-satellite Kids. In today's world of modern science and medicine, a more traditional treatment is once again becoming popular-animal friendship. It is now well-known that people with problems such as heart disease or cancer live longer and get better more quickly if they have pets. Keeping pets lowers blood pressure and makes people less worried. Animals are increasingly important in treating older people who have memory loss and other brain problems. These people often feel nervous and upset. Activities with animals help them improve their physical condition and also give them joy, entertainment and loving friendship. Here is a case that shows the benefits of animals. John was a six-year-old _ . He had no physical problems. He just refused to talk. His older cousin, Ned, had a parrot called Sally, and John used to visit it. When he arrived, Net used to say, "Hi, John!" We all know parrots copy what they hear. After a few visits, Sally began saying "Hi, John!" when John came into the room. Then, one day, John turned to the parrot and replied "Hi, Sally!" Staying with the parrot encouraged John to begin talking. Another use of animal helpers is in schools. In some cases, animals are used to help children with physical or personal problems. In other cases, they are used to teach children to get on and share with others, and even to teach them about animals. If you want to know more about animal helper programs, you can get in touch with organizations like Riding for the Disabled or do a search under "animal therapy" on the Internet. You don't have to be an animal trainer or a doctor to join in. Which is NOT mentioned as an illness that animals can help with? Fever
Question: Jack was ten years old and he was a very lazy boy. He didn't like doing any work. He had to go to school, of course, but he didn't study hard there and tried to do little work. His father and mother were both doctors and they hoped that their son would become one too when he grew up. But one day Jack said to his mother, "When I finish school, I want to be a dustman ." "A dustman?" his mother asked. She was very surprised. "That's not a good job. Why do you want to become a dustman?" "Because I would only have to work one day a week," Jack answered at once. "Only one day a week?" his mother said. "What do you mean? And how do you know?" "Well," Jack answered, "I know that the dustman came to work on Thursday every week, because I only see them on that day." How was Jack doing at school? A. He liked his school. B. He worked hard at school. C. He didn't study hard at school. D. He tried to do much work at school. Answer: C Question: If California were not already so famous for Sillicon Valley and Hollywood, it might be well-known for the groups of water-technology firms in its San Diego County. The reverse-osmosis (RO) spiral module, the technique that supports turning seawater and waste-water into drinkable stuff, began in San Diego in 1964. Today dozens of firms in the area supply many of the world's approximately 13,000 RO plants in places from the Persian Gulf and Israel to Australia and China. Southern California itself, however, has not so far been a big user of its own technology. This is surprising, given that the whole American south-west faces a water problem. But now as the climate gets warmer and the population increases, there is more agreement that the existing infrastructure, consisting of vast pipes that carry water from the Sacramento Delta in the north and the Colorado River in the east, will not be enough. In places such as San Diego, which has inadequate and salty groundwater and currently imports 90% or its water, the answers must be greater conservation, reusing as much water as possible, and getting most of the rest from the sea. The first part, conservation, has been widely accepted by the public. San Diego today uses less water with a larger population than it did in 1989, the year water consumption peaked. The second part, water recycling has been a hard sell, because of an unpleasant factor. Americans still use the term "toilet-to-tap" for recycling, even though properly treated waste-water is nowadays completely clean. Singapore made its programme acceptable in part by renaming it as NEWater. This is where desalination comes in, which means taking the salt out of salt water. A firm called Poseidon Resources is now close to building the biggest desalination plant in America behind a power station by the beach in Carlsbad. The power plant sucks in 304m gallons of seawater a day for cooling, so Poseidon plans to change 104m gallons a day by using the RO spiral module. Lots of people like the idea. Once fully running in 2015, the plant could produce 10% of the region's water. And there are plans for more desalination plants. Many places would need to take much less water from the endangered Colorado River. But a few people hate it a lot. Joe Geever, an expert in biology, says desalination uses too much energy and that Poseidon plant would kill too much sea life. He understands that there is a role for desalination, he says, but would rather not have it right there, right now, and on this scale. What can we infer from the article? A. The Colorado River is the main water source for California. B. Americans still use the term "toilet-to-tap" for recycling water. C. NEWater serves as a brand for recycled clean water in Singapore. D. Poseidon Resources stands for the power station by the beach in Carlsbad. Answer: A Question: One of the biggest new bands in the UK is Arctic Monkeys.Their first two singles went straight to Number One in the charts and their first album "Whatever People Say I Am,That's what I'm No" has become a recordbreaking album.It's the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history. Arctic Monkeys are famous because of their great success.They achieved their success thanks to the Internet.Usually a new band signs to a record company and then it is through marketing that people buy their singles.The single sales then get the band into the charts and they become popular that way. However,Arctic Monkeys became wellknown in a slightly different way.Back in 2003 when the band first started,they handed out CDs at their performing concert.Certain fans liked the music so much that they put the music up on the Web.The general public had access to this music because it was on the Internet and,because people liked the music,the band's popularity increased.The band's popularity was starting to get noticed by major radio stations in the UK. Arctic Monkeys released their first single in October 2005.Before that,their music had only been available to download on the Internet.When they did finally release a single and an album,they both rose to the top of the charts. Music fans welcome the use of the Internet this way--Arctic Monkeys became popular simply because people liked their music when they heard it.There were no ads.As music downloads continue to increase in popularity,we can expect to see more and more bands make it big in this way. Arctic Monkeys gained popularity through _ . A. giving away their CDs B. the Internet C. singing to a record company D. marketing and advertisement Answer: B Question: Which event occurs on a daily cycle? A. The Sun rises and sets. B. Earth tilts on its axis. C. Earth revolves around the Sun. D. The Moon revolves around Earth. Answer: A Question: Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon, and a peasant at night. This saying is all about the importance of breakfast. And now scientists can tell us just why it's so important. According to a study carried out at Imperial College London, UK, skipping the first meal of the day not only means you eat more at lunch, but also that your brain wants to find more unhealthy foods. The study suggests that there is a special part of our brain called the orbitofrontal cortex , which plays an important part in making choices about what we eat. It is used for identifying the taste of food, especially when skipping breakfast. It is more likely to target high-calorie foods when you're on an empty stomach. Scientists did an experiment on this. Dr Tony Goldstone from Imperial College London, scanned the brains of 21 men and women, around the age of 25. On the first day, these people skipped breakfast before the scans. On the second day, they had cereal , bread and jam as breakfast. After the scan on both days, they had their lunch. When the volunteers had skipped breakfast, they ate around 20 percent more at lunch, compared with days when they had eaten breakfast.Their brain scans also showed the orbitofrontal cortex was especially responsive to high-calorie foods. "We believe that bit identifies the value of foods - how pleasant, how delicious something is," Goldstone told The Guardian. Which of the following is NOT true about the orbitofrontal cortex? A. It is part of our brain. B. It tells people to eat breakfast. C. It decides which food we like. D. It is active toward high-calorie food. Answer: B

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