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FROM 1964 to 1978, Dazhai, with a population of 500, was the most famous village in China. Millions of Chinese came to the Shanxi village to visit its terraced fields and "splendid" irrigation systems. It was not until 1978 when Guo Fenglian, head of the village, paid a visit to the US that China's model village found how far it had fallen behind those in developed countries. "I was astonished at their modern equipment in harvesting, which could even separate big tomatoes with small ones," said Guo. "American farmers' life quality also impressed me a lot. Every day they had two cups of milk, which is something we don't have even in our wildest dreams." "We have to learn their advanced technology and administration for our own development," said then first Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping who was planning China's reform and opening up policy then. "Through opening our doors, we would not only take advantage of foreign funds , but also create job opportunities and cultivate talents." In 1978 Japanese electricity giant Panasonic came to China as the first foreign business to invest here and its success attracted other world brands into exploring the Chinese market. So far China has for 15 years taken in the world's second biggest foreign investment, following the US, to help set the country in a fast growth. However, China's 30-year road of reform was not always smooth. Doubts on the reform began to rise at the end of the 1980s as many people worried the country would turn to capitalism . "The criterion for our judgment is whether it helps develop socialist productive forces, whether it helps increase the overall national strength of a socialist country, and whether it brings about better living standards," said Deng. "China's reform and opening up is a unique success story. It has brought benefit to both China and the world," said William Keller, chief manager of a Swiss pharmaceutical company. _ was the first big country to invest in China. A. America B. Japan C. Swiss D. Panasonic Answer: B After the killer earthquake hit Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, love and charity began spreading through China from all over the world. Rebuilding after the quake begins now, and it will last long into the future. First of all, the most important thing is to help the people in the disaster area take care of their mental health. Here are Professor Le's suggestions: Dos: Do have enough sleep every day. Do stay with your family and friends. Do treat yourself to healthy food. Don'ts: Don't hide your feelings. Don't feel shy to talk to others how you feel. Try to get them to understand you and they can help you. Don't run away when your relatives talk about their experience during the earthquake. Don't force yourself and your family to forget the disaster. But how long will it take to recover psychologically from the earthquake? "It depends on the person's character. They have to help themselves, which is more efficient than passively receiving comfort and sympathy from others," said Professor Le, a member of the Chinese Psychological Society. From the passage we can know _ . A. not only Chinese people but also people throughout the world support the people in the disaster B. people haven't begun to rebuild their home yet C. it will take a very short time to get the disaster area back on track D. it's not important to give money and things Answer: A Elisa was classifying types of energy as either potential or kinetic. Which is a type of potential energy? A. sound energy B. radiant energy C. thermal energy D. chemical energy Answer: D Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives. To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so. Medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a mainly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had minimal effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized. In terms of energy use and the nutrients captured in the product it was relatively inefficient. Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution. Competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period food became cheaper, safer and more reliable. However, these changes have also led to habitat loss and to reducing biodiversity. All this means that agriculture in the 21st century will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th. This will require thorough thinking. For example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are certainly more sustainable than new ones. We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be "zero impact". The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing damage. Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation, one that looks at the pros and cons of all the various way land is used. There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs, water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting. But we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity. What is important is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production. What will agriculture be like in the 21st century? A. It will abandon traditional farming practices B. It will mainly keep traditional farming C. It will go through complete changes D. It will cause zero damage to the environment Answer: C A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year. You may fail in the examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination. If you are taking an English examination, don't learn only rules of grammar. Try to read stories in English and speak in English whenever you can. A few days before examination you should start going to bed early. Do not stay up late at night studying and learning things. Before you start the examination, read carefully over the examination paper. Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write. When you have at last finished your examination, read your answers, correct any mistakes that you see and make sure that you have not _ anything _ . What should you do if you want to learn English well according to the passage? A. Speak more, listen less, never write. B. Speak less, write more, never listen. C. Read more, listen more, speak less. D. read and speak as much as possible. Answer: D
A sign that an apple tree is going to start growing apples is when the tree has ___. Answer: Coca-Cola has created a publicity stunt in Singapore -- a vending machine which gives out free cans of Coke in return for hugs. The _ idea is part of the company's Open Happiness campaign designed to attract young people in Singapore. Students at the National University of Singapore were surprised to find that the soft drinks company had placed the machine in the schoolyard. But instead of the drinks brand's logo , the words "Hug Me" are written across its red-and-white logo. Instead of paying money, customers have to hug the drinks machine to receive a free can of Coke. Public displays of affection are uncommon and have long been discouraged in Singapore, but are on the rise among young people. The move is part of a campaign created by the advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather, intended to let the youth to see the brand as a non-threatening friend. Leonardo O'Grady, leader of the campaign, said, "Happiness is contagious . The Coca-Cola Hug Machine is a simple idea to spread some happiness. We want to spread happiness in an unexpected, creative way to attract not only the people present, but the audience at large." He hopes that it will encourage consumers to bring positivity, optimism and fun into their lives and to open a Coke, sharing a little happiness. The machines have been such a success that there are plans to roll them out across Asia. Mr. O'Grady added, "The reaction was amazing -- at one point we had four to five people hugging the machine at the same time as well as each other! In fact, there was a long line of people looking to give hugs." What can we infer from the passage? Answer: Many young people use computers, but few of them know how to look after them. Remember the following when you use your computer. Keep your computer in a cool room. Too much or too little heat is bad for computers. Most computers work best at a temperature of 5 oC--30 oC. Don't let people smoke cigarette near your computer. Smoke of all kinds is very bad for many parts of a computer and can cause many problems. Don't eat or drink when you are near your computer. Pieces of food and a little water in the keyboard can also cause many problems. Make sure the screen is the correct distance from your eyes. If you wear glasses, make sure these glasses are correct for using with the computer. Some people use a different pair of glasses when they use a computer. *Keep your screen clean and don't have it too bright. A dirty screen can hurt your eyes. A very bright screen can also be bad for your eyes. If you want to look after your eyes, you should _ when you use computers. Answer: Every day we go to school and listen to teachers, and the teacher will ask us some questions. Sometimes,the classmates will ask your opinions of the work of the class. When you are telling others in the class what you have found out about these topics, remember that they must be able to hear what you are saying. You are not taking part in a family conversation or having a chat with friends--you are in a situation where a large group of people will remain silent, waiting to hear what you have to say. You must speak so that they can hear you loudly enough and clearly enough but without trying to shout or appearing to force yourself. Remember, too, that it is the same if you are called to an interview whether it is with a professor of your school or a government official who might meet you. The person you are seeing will try to put you at your ease ordinary conversation but the situation is somewhat different from that of an ordinary conversation. You must take special care that you can he heard. The situation in the class is _ that to your house. Answer: Lucy was walking with her family in the woods, far away from the city. Her father helped her see all kinds of animals. It was like going to the zoo. They saw deer, a moose, a fox, and a bear. The bear ran away when her brother shouted. Lucy thought that was lucky, because she was a little scared of it. Her father showed her a whistle to blow in case she got lost. Her brother kept stealing it. While they were walking down by a stream, Lucy's Mom was making sandwiches for everyone. Lucy's brother Jim kept blowing the whistle. He told her that he was going to steal her sandwich if he got there first. That made her mad! She really wanted her turkey sandwich and not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When their mom called, they both ran back as fast as they could. Since Jim was older, he was faster and beat her to the picnic. Lucy started crying. She thought Jim stole everything! Who did the whistle belong to? Answer:
While the rest of his family was happily feasting during Spring Festival, Zu Xinming, a Senior 2 student in Shaanxi province, was frowning. "Every time my s leave after dinner, almost half of the dishes are unfinished," he said, and we throw away a lot of food. Nowadays in China, food waste is a widespread problem. Each year, Chinese people throw away the equivalent of about 50 million tons of grain, an amount which could feed 200 million people, according to Xinhua News Agency. One reason is that people are unaware of the issue. "Some of my friends don't care at all when they can't finish the food on their plates," said Zu, "and they even throw it away if they don't like the taste." Gong Tao, an official from the Communist Youth League of China Committee of Central South University in Hunan province, is worried about the decreasing awareness of food waste on his campus in recent years. "Students don't know how much hard work others go through in order to provide their food," Gao told China Education Daily. One deeper factor is the Chinese cultural value of "face". In a Chinese banquet setting, the host feels great shame when guests' plates are empty. "Serving lots of food is the Chinese way of showing respect to guests and displaying generosity," Yu Changjiang, a sociologist at Peking University, told Xinhua. Huge public spending on government banquets is also worsening the situation. Government banquets at the taxpayer's expense have become "a major source of waste", commented People's Daily. The good news is that people are already beginning to take action. On Jan 16, 10 restaurants with 749 outlets in Beijing joined an "eating up" campaign promoted by Xu Xiake, deputy director of China Land and Resources News. These restaurants have begun serving half-sized meals and small dishes. So, how can you help reduce food waste? Discuss with your family regularly about your food preferences and how much you want to eat. Eat all of the food on your plate and in your bowl. And each week, help your parents clean the fridge so that all of the food gets eaten before it goes to waste. According to the passage, which of the following is true? A. The "eating up" campaign was first promoted by 10 restaurants. B. Eat less so there will be less food wasted in the country. C. Students all understand well the hard work in producing food. D. In Chinese culture, people show their welcome by serving lots of food. Answer: D One of the greatest warriors of history, Genghis Kahn, came from the Mongolian people. He controlled many countries in Asia and Europe because of his bravery and leadership in battle. This time period was known as the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries. Genghis decided to go hunting one day and many of his warriors went with him. Genghis had his favorite hawk on his wrist. The hawk was trained to fly high in the air to look for game like deer, rabbits or wild birds. When his bird flew to the ground, Genghis would follow it and shoot the wild game with his arrows. It was his favorite hobby. This particular day, game was hard to find. Toward evening, Genghis sent all the men home and decided to go another way by himself. He even let his hawk go, thinking it would fly home as well. He became thirsty so he stopped by some rocks where he noticed water was dripping. He took a cup from his pack and filled it slowly. When he put it to his mouth, he was surprised for his hawk came and spilled all the water in his cup. He thought this was very unusual so he filled the cup again. The hawk rushed down and knocked the cup free from his hand. Genghis was now thirsty and angry. As he filled the cup a fourth time, he drew his sword to stop the bird interrupting him. As the bird flew down, Genghis killed it but his cup fell deep into the rocks in the scuffle . He decided to crawl up the rock of the mountain to find the source of the water. He found a pool and noticed a huge poisonous snake was dead in the water. He realized the hawk had saved his life. His anger had caused him to kill his favorite bird. In his despair , he promised to make sure of everything before he would become angry again. Which of the following is not TRUE according to the passage? A. Genghis Kahn took up many countries because he was a brave and great leader. B. The hawk devoted its life in order to save Genghis Kahn from being poisoned. C. The snake was dead because it drank the water of the pool in the mountain. D. Genghis Kahn was so thirsty that he decided to look for the source of the water. Answer: C Dear editor, I live in a beautiful city. Many visitors come to my city every year because there are so many colorful peacocks here. The peacocks mostly live on the grassland of Dongfeng Square. Visitors usually throw food to them, but they don't think about at all whether the food is good or not. Some of the peacocks became ill, and some even died eating the bad food given by visitors. I'm sure most of the visitors who throw food to the peacocks really like the bird, but they don't realize that they may be doing them harm . Visitors should be told that what they have done is harmful to the birds, and this kind of thing must be stopped. Perhaps we can build some small shops beside Dongfeng Square to sell peacock food. For us every person, it is our duty to give more love to these beautiful birds to look after them carefully. Yours, Wang Yang Which of the following is Not true according to the passage? A. Peacocks mainly live on the grassland of Dongfeng Square. B. Some small shops were built in the square. C. People should look after peacocks carefully. D. Some visitors throw food to the peacocks. Answer: B Is traditional fairytales good all the time? Recent research found one in five parents have abandoned those old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Hansel and Gretel and they're in favor of more modern books. One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the terrible details of Little Red Riding Hood. The survey of 2,000 adults was carried out to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9:00 pm on Watch, and sees six series based on traditional fairytales. The research found a quarter of parents wouldn't consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they cause too many awkward questions. And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn't send a good message to their children as it portrays a young woman doing housework all day. Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it condones stealing. Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to relax the children and send them off to sleep soundly. But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it's understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children. As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five year old with an over active imagination could think they are true. Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will defeat evil and there is always a moral to the story." Though half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids' books, two thirds of mums and dads said they were no longer appropriate to soothe youngsters before bed. On the contrary, they might give their children nightmares. What's the author's attitude towards traditional fairytales? A. Objective. B. Supporting. C. Disapproving. D. Doubtful. Answer: A Have you ever been to the world's smallest bookstore? The World's Smallest Bookstore,whose official name is just these three words,sits quietly about 100 miles northeast of Toronto. The bookstore is about 10 feet by 10 feet,so it is easy to imagine how tiny it really is.The bookstore is open 24 hours a day.Inside the bookstore are various books,especially literary books and classic authors' works.So if you are looking for something less popular,you may get a bit disappointed there. Another special feature of this bookstore is that each book only costs three dollars.All the expenses are paid on the honor system,which means buyers should make a note of what they've bought and leave their money by themselves.So the tools of the trade in this bookstore are quite simple: pens,papers,light bulbs and a label-maker. In order to catch passers-by's attention,the billboards of the bookstore are several times bigger than the store itself.With these large eye-catchers,many people are willing to stop by and have a visit. Which of the following books might you most probably get in the store? A. Books on popular science. B. Literary books. C. The year book of a university. D. Books on economic control. Answer: B
Taj Mahal, Agra, India As many as 28 different varieties of semi-precious and precious stones were used to decorate the outside of the Taj Mahal. Construction of the Taj Mahal took around 20 years. The building, which was made from white marble from the quarries of Rajasthan, appears pink in the morning, white in the day and golden in the moonlight. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan It took 10 years to construct the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It connects the city of Kobe, on Japan's mainland, with Iwaya on Awaji Island. Before it opened, the only way to get between the two cities was ferry. However, the waterway was prone to severe storms and when two ferries capsized in 1955, killing 168 people, public anger convinced the government of the need for a bridge. It's the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a length of 1,991 meters. Panama Canal, Panama More than 4.5 million cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction of this canal's locks and dams. The Panama Canal is a 77-kilometer (47-mile) long waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The earth and rubble excavated to make way for it was enough to bury Manhattan to a depth of four meters. A series of locks allow ships to pass through the water; each of the moveable lock doors weighs 750 tons and each of the locks fills with 52 million gallons of water to accommodate the 15,000 ships that use the canal every year. Completion date: January 7, 1914 after 10 years of building. Grand Canyon Skywalk, Arizona, America The Skywalk's foundation is strong enough to support 71 million pounds. Located 1, 219 meters above the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon's Skywalk consists of one million pounds of steel and 83,000 pounds of glass. It was the creation of Las Vegas businessman David Jin, who approached the Hualapai Tribe with the idea of a glass walkway over the Grand Canyon in 1996. The Skywalk was assembled on site. Completion date: March 28, 2007. Which construction took the longest time to build? Answer: The Taj Mahal. There is one type of illness in the world that affects more people than anything else and is very deadly. If untreated this illness could affect everything you do. What is this illness? Depression. Serious depression requires professional treatment. Self-induced depression is something each of us can change. Everyone's circumstances are different, but the causes of self-induced depression are common: low self-esteem, hurtful thinking and a bad attitude. So how can we change the way we think, feel, and cultivate a cheerful attitude? First we must look at ourselves, truly and honestly examining our motives for what we wish to achieve. If you are dissatisfied because you feel you haven't or can't do anything, then one step is needed - to set goals. Always start your goals relatively small and easy to attain. Think of them as sand; one grain may be insignificant but as a group they form the beach. Once you have set and attained small goals for yourself, move on to slightly larger, more challenging goals. It takes more than just setting goals to be happy. It takes positive thinking. How can we attain this? There are a number of factors that can make us think negatively and one of those is diet. In my opinion, a person who eats a lot of take out and fast food is feeding their body junk. Start by eating better foods which give the body much NEEDED minerals. If your physical body is happy, it's much easier for your mental body or "thinking ability" to be happy. Next, exercise. A half-hour a day is recommended for positive well being. Then think about good memories you had, or generally think of things that make you smile. Remember, everything you wear costs money but to wear a smile is free. A smile can be the difference between an average day and a great day. If you follow these steps, positive change is inevitable. Which of the statements about depression is TRUE? Answer: Those who suffer from depression feel dissatisfied with themselves. My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau and picked out a wonderful skirt. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion." Well, I guess this is the occasion. He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed. His hands touched the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me, "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion." I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my attitude to life. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy, not suffer. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and treasure them. "Someday" and "one of these days" are being lost from my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I' m not sure what my sister would have done if she had known she wouldn't have tomorrow. I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food. If I knew that my hours were limited, those little things left undone would make me angry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with some day. Angry and sorry because I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute; every breath truly, is... a gift from God. Jan bought the wonderful skirt but didn't wear it because _ . Answer: she wanted to wear it on special occasions Once there was a piano player in a bar . People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song. "I don't sing," said the man. But the lady told the waiter, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing!" The waiter shouted across the room, "Hey, friend! If you want to get paid, sing a song!" So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time! Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully! He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he found, by accident, that he could sing well, he went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole. You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great, but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all if you just your talent. From the story we know if you have some talent, you should _ . Answer: work hard to improve yourself The Lionfish Invasion! Lionfish are popular saltwater aquarium fish all over the world, especially in the United States. Nowadays, they also live in Atlantic waters off the East Coast of the United States. These lionfish are what scientists call an invasive species or an "alien invader." Local divers off the coast of North Carolina were not expecting to see what they found one day in August 2002--the beautiful lionfish, common to the warm waters of the western Pacific, but unknown of the Carolina coast. They provided the first solid evidence that lionfish were in the Atlantic. A year later, scientists documented 19 lionfish sightings at eight locations along the North Carolina continental shelf. Then, lionfish were observed off the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and even as far north as Long Island, New York! Between 2000 and 2003, lionfish sightings were reported at 16 different shipwrecks and natural hard bottom locations. During a summer 2004 research expedition, NOAA(The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) scientists collected 155 lionfish at 19 different locations off the North Carolina coast alone. The jump in numbers and distributions over such a short time strongly indicates that the lionfish is reproducing in the Atlantic Ocean. If this is true, it's the first time that a western Pacific fish has populated the U.S. Atlantic coast. These lionfish were likely released on purpose when people no longer wanted them! The swift and warm Gulf Stream, which transported the floating lionfish eggs from Florida northward, helped the lionfish's Atlantic journey. In Florida waters and along the continental shelf near the Gulf Stream the temperatures are very similar to the lionfish's native waters. However, from north Florida upward, the waters along the coastline are too cold in the winter for lionfish to survive. Scientists expect them to survive the winter only at water depths greater than 120ft because this is where the Gulf Stream has influence all year long. Very importantly, the types of predators and competitors present in the Atlantic are very different from the native range of the lionfish. Generally, the lionfish have not been found to endanger marine ecosystems because they were not likely to survive long. Scientists call the lionfish an "alien invader" because the lionfish _ . Answer: came from one place and spread to another
Waller was a liked-by-all fellow full of fun who often went to coffee houses to tell people interesting stories, of which some even brought him some money. One day, asked by an office secretary who told Waller that his boss was a never-seen before serious man and he never even smiled. Waller would tell a most funny story. "Well, sir," Waller said before he began the story, "What will be given in return of my success?""$100,"replied the secretary. "I haven't seen him have a bright face since I worked in his office." "Then _ " Waller went to the man's table and whispered to him, "Please tell your boss that the funny man Waller's hen gave birth to a baby." Three days later a letter reached Mr. Waller in which were $100 and a piece of yellow paper with the words, "Mr. Waller, you have succeeded--When I repeated your $100-worth sentence, my boss burst into frightening laughter, saying that whoever has managed to make him laugh during the business hours will get dismissed!" The secretary asked Waller for a most funny story because he _ . A. was tired of his boss seriousness B. tried to please his serious boss with it C. wanted to improve his working conditions D. wanted to see his boss' laughing face Answer: B Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventures--those who have climbed the highest mountains, travelled into unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans . Now, however, there are more people who look for an excitement from a risky activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds. I would think bungee jumping to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place (perhaps a bridge or a hot-air balloon) 200 metres above the ground with an elastic rope tied to your ankles . You fall at up to 150 kilometres an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is said that about 2 million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other risky activities include jumping from tall buildings and diving into the water from the top of high places. Why do people take part in such activities as these? Some psychologists suggest that it is because life in modern world has become safe and boring. Not very long ago, people's lives were often in danger. They had to go out and hunt for food, diseases could not easily be cured, and life was harder than that of the present days. Nowadays, to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in safe conditions; they buy food in shops; and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to look for danger in activities such as bungee jumping. More and more people today _ . A. are trying activities such as bungee jumping B. are climbing the highest mountains C. are coming close to death in sports D. are looking for adventures such as travelling into exciting parts of the world Answer: A Everything has a name.All people,places,and things have names.For example,Jenny is the name of a student from England.England is the name of a country.Cities and towns have names,too.Schools and office buildings also have names.For example,tomato,potato and bean are names of vegetables.Apple,orange,and banana are names of fruit.Names are important.We use names every day.When we meet a new person,we usually ask,"What's your name?"It's important to learn a person's name.Most people have two names.Some people have more names.Names are different all over the world.In Jenny's class.Jenny must learn the names of the students from all over the world.This is very difficult because the names are very different. In the United States,most people have a first name,a middle name and a last name.Parents choose the first and middle names for their babies.There are names for boys and names for girls.The last name is the family name.Usually it is the father's family name.In a family,the mother, the father, and the children usually have the same last name. Sometimes a person has a _ ,too.A nickname is a special name.It's not a person's real name.Abraham Lincoln's nickname was"Honest Abe".An honest person always tells the truth,and Abe is short for Abraham.Because he was an honest person.his nickname was Honest Abe.Pele is a nickname,too.The football player's real name is Edison Aeraesde Nascimento,but everyone calls him Pele.Do you have a nickname? Names are different all over the world.They can be long or short.but they are always very important Why is it difficult to learn names all over the world? A. Some people have nicknames. B. There are many names all over the world. C. Some names are very long,and some are very short. D. The names in different countries are different. Answer: D A man named Smith was sitting on his roof during a flood, and the water was up to his feet. Before long a fellow in a canoe passed and shouted, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?" "No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith in God and he will save me." Soon the water rose to Smith's waist.(,) At this point a motor boat pulled up and someone called out, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?" "No, thanks, I have faith in God and he will save me." Later a helicopter flew by, and Smith was now standing on the roof with water up to his neck. "Grab the rope, "shouted the pilot. "I'll pull you up." "No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith in God and he will save me. "But after hours of struggling with water, poor exhausted Smith drowned and went to his reward. As he arrived at the Pearly Gates, Smith met God and complained about this. "Tell me, God, "he said, "I had such faith in you to save me and you let me drown. What happened?" To which God replied, "What do you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter." When the pilot asked Smith to grab the rope, _ . A. Smith pulled the pilot up B. Smith did so C. Smith didn't do so D. Smith didn't hear him Answer: C On New Year's Day, many people eat special food for good luck. In Spain and some Latin American countries ,people eat twelve grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve--One grape for good luck in each month of the new year. Chinese people eat dumplings. Some are made with a coin inside. Everyone tries to find the coin for good luck and money in the new year. Of course they don't eat the coin . In the south of China, people make rice cakes for New Year. The Chinese pronunciation for rice cake is "Nian Gao", which means "get better year after year". Japanese people eat noodles on New Year's Eve and on their birthdays. They think it may bring them good luck and long life. The food may be different in each country, but the meaning is the same---people hope the food will bring them luck and happiness(,) in the coming year. What do the writer want to express in the article ? A. People like to eat B. Different countries have different food C. People around the world use food to express their good wishes for the coming year D. The writer likes to travel Answer: C
Early one morning,more than a hundred years ago,an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep.He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle. Though he was tired,Howe slept badly.He turned and turned.Then he had a dream.He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine.When he tried to do so,Howe ran into the same problem as before.The thread kept getting caught around the needle.The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe.They came up towards him with their spears raised.But suddenly the inventor noticed something.There was a hole in the tip of each spear.The inventor awoke from the dream,realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem.Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle,he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle.This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine. Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.Thomas Edison,the inventor of the electric light,said his best ideas came into him in dreams.So did the great physicist Albert Einstein.Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre. To know the value of dreams,you have to understand what happens when you are asleep.Even then,a part of your mind is still working.This unconscious ,but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day.It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed.It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake.However,the unconscious part acts in a special way.It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first.This is why dreams are sometimes called "secret messages to ourselves ". Dreams are sometimes called "secret messages to ourselves" because _ . Answer: In 1971, the bones of an extinct flying dinosaur were discovered. This kind of discovery helps everyone learn more about Answer: who would see better through an underground tunnel? Answer: According to a survey released by the Nielson Company on Thursday, China has become a global tourist attraction after the Beijing Olympics. The survey said the Olympics not only built up China's image but also served as an advertisement for China's tourism. The online survey was conducted on consumers in 16 countries and regions before Games' opening ceremony and after the closing. About 80 percent of the respondents had not been to China before the events and 50 percent of them expressed hopes of visiting China after the Games. According to the survey, 70 percent of the respondents felt Beijing was more modern and scientific than what they had thought. The most interested respondents were from Singapore, India, Mexico, South Africa and the Republic of Korea, as well as China's Hong Kong and Taiwan. Pan Wen, in charge of Chinese tourism research of the Nielson Company, said the World Tourism Organization predicted that China would become the largest tourist attraction in the world with 137 million foreign tourists every year. "This figure would be realized earlier with the aid of the Beijing Olympics," Pan said. Which country did the World Tourism Organization predict would become the largest tourist attraction in the world? Answer: When I was in the seventh grade, I was a candy striper at a local hospital in my town. I volunteered about 30 to 40 hours a week during the summer. Most of the time I spent there was with Mr. Gillespie. He never had any visitors, and nobody seemed to care about his condition. I spent many days there holding his hand and talking to him, helping with anything that needed to be done. He became a close friend of mine, even though he responded with only an occasional squeeze of my hand. Mr. Gillespie was in a coma . I left for a week for a vacation with my parents, and when I came back, Mr. Gillespie was gone. I didn't have the courage to ask any of the nurses where he was, for fear they might tell me he had died. So with many questions unanswered, I continued to volunteer there through my eighth-grade year. Several years later, when I was a junior in high school, I was at the gas station when I noticed a familiar face. When I realized who it was, my eyes filled with tears. He was alive! I got up the nerve to ask him if he was Mr. Gillespie, and if he had been in a coma about five years ago. With an uncertain look on his face, he replied yes. I explained how I knew him, and that I had spent many hours talking to him in the hospital. His eyes welled up with tears, and he gave me the warmest hug I had ever received. He began to tell me how, as he lay there comatose , he could hear me talking to him and could feel me holding his hand the whole time. He thought it was an angel , who was there with him. Mr. Gillespie firmly believed that it was my voice and touch that had kept him alive. Then he told me about his life. We exchanged a hug, said our good-byes and went our separate ways. Although I haven't seen him since, he fills my heart with joy every day. I know that I made a difference between his life and his death. As importantly, he has made a great difference in my life. I will never forget him and what he did for me: He made me an angel. Which of the following statements best summarizes the point of the story? Answer:
Remembering your dreams will require some efforts on your part. But what your dreams can offer and tell you about yourself will be well worth _ Here are some tips to help recall your dreams: 1. Before going to bed, keep a clear mind. Tell yourself that "I will remember my dreams when I wake up". This is actually a proven and effective way to recall your dreams. 2. Have a regular bedtime and wake-up time. Make this your routine. Going to bed and waking up at a regular time every day could aid in dream recollection. 3. Avoid alcohol consumption and taking medicine before going to bed. These things may prevent you from remembering your dreams. 4. Keep a pencil and a notebook next to your bed so that they will be within reach as soon as you wake up. Having a small lamp by your bedside is also a good idea, so you wake up in the middle of the night and can record your dreams immediately. 5. Do not get out of bed immediately. Upon waking from a dream, lie still in your bed, keeping your eyes closed and moving as little as possible. Let your mind wander among the images of what you have just dreamed. 6. Write down as many details in your dreams as you can, no matter how seemingly unimportant they may be. Do not judge the content or worry if they make sense. 7. Sometimes it may help to draw pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes. Even if you are not an artist, a simple drawing can help to recall details of your dreams. The author uses the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" to _ . A show that a picture is better than words B say a picture is equal to thousands of words C prove that it's more important to draw pictures than to speak D indicate drawing pictures really helps to recall dreams Answer: D. indicate drawing pictures really helps to recall dreams It's good to get along with your teacher because it makes the time you spend in the classroom more pleasant. It's also good to get along with your teacher because, in general, it's smart to learn how to relate to the different types of people you'll meet throughout your life. But really, there's one super-important reason why you should get along with your teacher. When you do, "learning bursts right open," says Evelyn Vuko, a longtime teacher who writes an education column called "Teacher Says" for the Washington Post newspaper. In fact, kids who get along with their teachers not only learn more, but they're also more comfortable asking questions and getting extra help. This makes it easier to understand new material and do the best on tests. When you have this kind of relationship with a teacher, he or she can be someone to turn to when you have problems, such as problems with learning, school issues, or bullying. As a kid in elementary or middle school, you're at a wonderful stage in your life. You're like a sponge , able to take in lots of new and exciting information. On top of that, you're able to think about all this information in new ways. Remember teachers are people too, and they feel great if you're open to what they're teaching you. That's why they wanted to be teachers in the first place--to teach! In every school, kids will say certain teachers are tough. In fact, in most cases, your teacher wants to help you. And a teacher who's called tough may be someone who feels strongly about getting his or her job done -- teaching you what you are supposed to learn. How do you understand the phrase "get along with" in this passage? A Sing high praise for. B Follow the example of. C Leave a good impression on. D Form a good relationship with. Answer: D. Form a good relationship with. Editor: Today our topic is part-time job. Are they good for school children or not? Headmaster: Certainly not. Children have got two full-time jobs already: growing up and going to school. Part-time jobs make them so tired that they fall asleep in class. Mrs. White: I agree. I know school hours are short, but there's homework as well, and children need a lot of sleep. Mr. White: Young children, perhaps some boys, stay at school until they're eighteen or nineteen. A part-time job can't harm them. In fact, it's good for them. They earn their pocket money instead of asking their parents for it. And they see something of the world outside school. Businessman: You're quite right. Boys learn a lot from a part-time job. And we mustn't forget that some families need the extra money. If the pupils didn't take part-time jobs, they couldn't stay at school. Editor: Well, we have got two for, and two against. What do our readers think? Who have the same opinion? A Headmaster and Mrs. White. B Editor and Mr. White. C Mr. and Mrs. White. D Businessman and Headmaster. Answer: A. Headmaster and Mrs. White. My son has poliomyelitis and he suffered from it a lot. When he was young, my wife and I took him to see so many doctors and got different kinds of treatments. But still, he couldn't walk like a normal kid. So he was laughed at by his peers for his walking style. His tears burnt our eyes like sulphuric acid . Then, he became afraid of going to school. He wouldn't go anymore. One night, my wife had a breakdown and shouted at him, "I tell you, my kid, you might be like this forever. You are a freak in other people's eyes, and perhaps it would never change. But in my eyes, in your dad's eyes, you are not a freak! You are not! Even if you are, we love you and we will love you forever!" My son spoke nothing for two days. He didn't eat or sleep. We could read he was hurt. We hoped something wonderful would fall in our family. On the third morning, he struggled to walk to my car, with his school bag in his hand of course. He raised his head high and hugged me, saying "I want to go to school. Nothing will beat me." You know, from then on, he was never afraid of being mocked or despised anymore. If he couldn't avoid these looks, he chose to look at them in the eyes. Later, something nice really happened and my son went to MIT. When he was asked how he managed to bear the pressure, he said, "Because of my parents." My dear fellows, if you care too much about how other people look at you or what their opinions are, you will never become what you want to be. The author's son was laughed at by his peers, because _ . A he didn't do well in his lessons B he walked in a strange way C he was from a poor family D he often burst into tears Answer: B. he walked in a strange way With more and more cars on the road, traffic jams are _ Traffic jams can lead to increased accidents as there are more cars, with more people trying to get to their destination, all the while getting worse. Although it's impossible to avoid traffic jams altogether, there are some tips you can follow to reduce the amount of time on the road. Check for traffic jams before you leave. You can listen to the radio for traffic news, or check on the Internet to get up-to-minute information on traffic. If the route you want to take is heavy with traffic, you can choose another. Look for a different route permanently. Most traffic jams occur on busy roads. Using country roads could see you avoiding a lot of traffic. Although the distance you may have to travel is further, it can work out quicker. Set your car radio to receive traffic bulletins. Many new car stereo systems are equipped with a radio system by which you can hear the traffic channel. This way you can get the latest traffic information and change your journey if necessary. _ . Most traffic jams usually occur during rush hour, so try to avoid this time period if possible. Some jobs offer flexible working hours so that you can travel to work outside of rush hour. Some jobs even allow you to work at home so as to avoid commuting altogether. Ask your manager to see what you can do if traffic is a problem for you. Use public transport alternatives where available. The easiest way to avoid traffic jams is to take buses or the underground instead of driving your own car. Not only will you avoid traffic jams but you will most likely be saving money as the cost of motoring rises. Which of the following can be put in the blank in the text? A Choose a job that has flexible working hours B Try traveling at different time C Make friends with your manager D Work from home Answer: B. Try traveling at different time
No quick change I would be the first to say that I am not materialistic. My friends regard me as a goody-goody . My parents say I am conservative and modest when it comes to clothes. I don't wear bikinis, and none of my skirts or shorts end above my knees. That is my choice. So why, why did I decide to buy that skirt? My family and I were in Target, and there it was, waiting - a skirt specifically designed not to cover anything. It was light brown and looked like something one of those anime schoolgirls would wear. I checked my purse. The skirt cost $10. I had the money. I could buy it. I imagined walking into school and my pals' jaws dropping. Guys would ask me out, and I would be happy. I could buy it - no, I should buy it. I showed my mother. She was surprised but said it was my decision. My sister looked on jealously. I went into the dressing room to try it on. I was so sure that this skirt would change me, somehow make me not what I am but what I wished to be. I slid my jeans off and put it on. Now for the decisive moment. I looked in the mirror. There I was - a girl in a Superman T-shirt and sneakers who didn't know how to make friends with others. Of course, the skirt had not changed me. It fit me well; that wasn't the problem. It might make me look good in the eyes of today's world. But it simply was not me. I am not a girl who wears cool clothes to fit in. My glasses fogged up as I started to cry. I took the thing off and went back into the comfort and safety of modesty. My mom knocked on the door. "Emily, are you okay?" I wiped away my tears. "I'm fine." I looked in the mirror again and saw a blond skinny girl with thick glasses and a ponytail . I saw myself. Why did the author cry when she put on the new skirt? Answer: She was disappointed that she lost her own style in the new skirt. Letters to the next president Dear Mr. President: I would like to personally thank you for your time and concern for our great country. I would like to take a few minutes to address a few concerns that I have with the United States. First of all, I would like to address the war. In my opinion, we should have never been involved with Iraq to the extent that we are now. I believe we should pull our troops out. However, I think there should be a time table that we follow but the time table should not be released because the enemy does not need to know when we are going to pull out. Also, the war takes out a ton of our money, which leads me to my next issue. The economy right now, in the opinion of many Americans is the biggest issue with which we are facing right now. No one can predict what will happen one day or the next. The obvious thing to do is to put 700 billion dollars in the economy, but that bill failed and was rejected by the House of Representatives . Instead of putting 700 billion dollars in, I think the money should be equally distributed among Americans to pay off their debts. I'm not sure if this would work, but I think it is a positive alternative we could take. My final issue I would like to call to your attention is teacher's salaries. The high school students of today are America's future. In a way, America's future depends greatly on the high school teachers of America. Saying this, it is sad that teacher's salaries are where they are. While teachers are working harder and harder every day to teach high school students, CEO's of big companies that are driving our countries economy into the ground are getting bonuses. I'm not saying that teacher's salaries should be the same of CEO's of companies, but I do strongly believe that action should be taken to increase the salaries of teachers because they have one of the most important jobs in America - - preparing our country for the future. Once again, thank you for your time and your effort you put in to making this great country a better place. Sincerely, Walker When talking about high school teachers, the author thinks that _ Answer: the teachers' salaries are not high enough. Jodie is a good student. She usually gets up at 6:30 in the morning. She has breakfast at home. Then she reads English from 6:30 a. m. to 7:00 a. m. She goes to school at 7:15 a. m. She has four classes in the morning. She usually has lunch at school, but on Sundays she has lunch at home with her family. She has three classes in the afternoon. She goes home at 5:00. She usually has dinner at home. Then she does her homework. She doesn't watch TV in the evening. ,A, B, C, D. (5) How many classes does Jodie have a day? Answer: Seven classes. Spring may be sprung when Answer: our globe shifts Do you know that many clowns go to school to learn how to be funny? How would you like to go to that school? You could learn how to walk and talk like a clown. Then you could make people laugh. Clowns may go to school for a year. There they learn to move in funny ways. They learn to run and jump like different animals. They also learn how to fall down in a special way. They make sure they don't get injured. They make every move look easy. But really it's hard work. In a school clowns decide how they will look. They make funny pants and tops. Then clowns have their funny long shoes made. They also learn to make up their faces. Clowns carefully put special paint on, so they look silly. They start by making every part of their feces white. Then they use red paint around their mouths to make them look big. Clowns may paint re spots on each side of their faces, too. Big red noses are added. They put on funny hair or funny hats. Now they look silly. They are ready to go to work! You can see clowns at the circus or parade. They do funny things to surprise people. Ten big clowns may get out of a very small car. Or they may walk on a high rope. Then they almost fall. The faces they make when they try to stand up again make people laugh. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage? Answer: Clowns don't feel frightened when they walk on a high rope.
If you're networking and nothing is happening, you might need to evaluate how you're doing it. Maybe you show up at each event and still feel challenged by the process. You aggressively talk to people, give out your cards, call endlessly to schedule an appointment but have no real success from your efforts. To help you gain a different future, here are ten habits you should avoid. Ineffective networkers: 1. Lack patience. They expect immediate results and want business now, not tomorrow. 2. Constantly "selling" something. They see dollar signs every time they shake hands with someone. 3. Too many choices. If they offer a variety of products, they might try too hard to tell about all of them. Offering too much information sends a confusing message making it difficult for people to send referral . Opportunities are all around us but when you're networking, only focus on one. 4. Change positions too often. If they move from company to company or do something totally different, it might be difficult for people to keep up with them. 5. Lack manners and respect. They interrupt others, talk with food in their mouth, aren't very polite and appear unprofessional. They call people during dinner or on the weekends without thinking whether the occasion is suitable. 6. Distribute too many cards and sales literature. They come while loading with brochures, flyers , catalogues and samples. 7. Focus on themselves. Too much self promotion can leave the other person to feel unappreciated. Every sentence begins with "I" and is all about their business. 8. "Talking" instead of "giving". They don't realize what other people sense when they are being very selfish. Others may think that they are being taken advantage of. 9. Lack authenticity and personal values. They may create unrealistic expectations and not deliver on their promises. Sometimes doing things without integrity possibly twists the truth. 10. Poor communication and interpersonal skills. They have trouble speaking effectively, building relationships and following up. Networking is a process that is an investment of time and money. If you find you're doing any of these habits, consider learning how to improve on these and maximize your results while networking. You'll start to get better at connecting with people and obtain more referrals. When talking with others, you should _ . Answer: let other people express themselves completely For Americans, a mosquito bite is an itchy bother. But for many in Africa, a tiny bite can be deadly. One million people die each year of malaria, a disease spread by infected mosquitoes. Most of these people live in Africa, and are under age 5. Malaria can be prevented and treated. However, many African nations don't have the funds to fight it. Nothing but Nets (NBN) hopes to change that. The United Nations Foundation created the campaign in 2006. The aim is to prevent malaria by covering sleeping areas with nets. Hanging bed nets treated with insecticide is the simplest way to stop mosquitoes from biting at night. The chemicals last four to five years. For $10, anyone can send a net to Africa and help save a life. So far, NBN has raised $19 million and delivered 700,000 nets to seven countries. Families are taught how to use the nets. Kids also get vaccines and vitamins. "Women line up for miles to get the medicine for their kids," says NBN director Elizabeth McKee Gore. "They understand the importance." So do kids in this country. "They get so excited thinking of ways to raise money," says NBN spokesperson and basketball star Ruth Riley. NBN's biggest fund-raiser is Katherine Commale, 7. She's been spreading the information about bed nets for the past two years. To show how they work, she and her brother made a video. "We teach that bed nets can save lives," she said. Katherine has raised $42,000 for NBN. "She just wants those who need a net to have one," says her mom, Lynda. "It's pretty simple to her." To find out how you can help, visit nothingbutnets.net. The purpose of the passage is most probably _ . Answer: to call on people to offer their help to Africans Have you ever had the desire to wander the world and see what was out there? While some people prefer to stay in the comfort of their own home, others been bitten by the travel bug and can't wait to explore the world. Exotic places call to them. "Come to visit us and we will show you my mysteries," they say. Every year millions of people pack their suitcases or put on backpacks and flock to visit the seven continents of the world. They wander through the castles and museums of Europe, and the cities and natural of North and South America. Some visit the vast exotic cultures of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The great outback of Australia is a wonderland for those who go there. And a few lucky people even realize their dreams to visit the most mysterious continent on the earth--Antarctic. Why do people want to explore the world? It gives them a better understanding about the earth and the people living on it. It opens their minds, it gives them a feeling of accomplishment, and it makes them feel alive. So save some money, get your passport ready, and see the world. It will change your life forever. From the passage, we can learn that by exploring the world you can _ . Answer: live a different life forever One day a great general asks his soldiers, "What is the strongest power in the world? " Four of his soldiers put up their hands. They want to answer the question. The general asks the first man to speak. The man is younger than the other three, and he's not strong. He says, "My gun is the strongest. It can kill anyone." "Thank you. Next, please." The second man is very strong. He says, "I don't think so. Soldiers use guns. So the soldier is the strongest." The third man says, "Soldiers use guns, but our general gives orders. So I think our general is the strongest." The fourth man is the oldest. He says, "Love is the strongest. For love, people don't use guns." The general says nothing. He takes out a medal and gives it to him. _ soldiers answer the general's question. Answer: Four of the A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior , "said a middle-aged man. "Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. " Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..." Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted, "I know his name. I call Dad." It is clear from the story that the conductor _ . Answer: has not changed his rude behavior to passengers
Tom Hanks ranks as one of Hollywood's most popular actors. Moviegoers eagerly anticipate in the opening of his new pictures. If you're a Hank fan, you don't have to wait much longer. Hank's newest film, Cast Away, opens this winter. Tom Hanks plays Chunk Noland, a FedEx executive who lives by the clock. He carefully plans every minute of both his professional and personal time. But on his way home for the holidays, the small plane he's in crashes in the Pacific Ocean. Only Noland survives. He ends up alone on a tropical island and begins a battle for survival. In the process, his view of success and life itself change dramatically . This role may be the most physically-challenging of Hank's career. The actor lost 53 pounds for the part. Director Robert Zemeckis shot the first section of the film with Hanks weighing more than 225 pounds. The filming took a break for a year while Hanks lost weight. To take off the pounds, Hanks ate little and exercised a lot. The movie may surprise some of Hank's fans. It's not an upbeat comedy like Sleepless in Seattle or You're Got Mail. In fact, Hanks spends a large part of the movie not speaking. After all, who is there to talk to when you're alone on an island? What do you think the expression "live by the clock" in the text mean? A To make an income from selling clocks. B To put one's whole life on a schedule . C To behave according to the rules of books. D To work very quickly in order to finish a job before a certain time. Answer: B. To put one's whole life on a schedule . One hundred and fifty years ago, the world's first underground railway began operating in London, running for just six kilometres from Paddington to Famngdon.Today, the network covers 408 kilometres, with 11 lines running through 270 stations.And despite every major city in the world now having its own metro system, London's is still the second-longest (Shanghai's is the first).It's no surprise that locals and travellers will all be wishing London's "Tube" a very happy 150th birthday. Londoners have an unspoken code of conduct when they travel on me Tube, and a bit of local knowledge is essential for getting around the British capital.Here we provide some tips and etiquette for your next visit to London. Do... Stand on the right on escalators , walk on the left -Londoners will be quick at reminding you should you forget this. Let other passengers off before getting on. Give up your seat if someone needs it more than you. Mind the gap (between the train and the platform edge) -they are sometimes pretty wide. Don't... Block doorways-move down inside the carriages. Talk to people you don't know.Even if the train is delayed you should merely sigh or shake your head, rather than strike up a conversation. Travel on the Hammersmith & City or Circle lines if you can help it-they have a poor record for delays and disruptions. Expect air-conditioning-the low tunnels mean there's no space on most lines to install air-con equipment so expect to set hot and sweaty in summer. What is the author's purpose in writing this text? A To wish the London Underground a happy birthday. B To provide tips for traveling by underground in London. C To explain the operation of the London Underground. D To inform passengers of the inconveniences on the Underground Answer: B. To provide tips for traveling by underground in London. Hi, I'm Harry. I'm fourteen years old. I live in Taipei, Taiwan. I am a second grader in a junior high school. I'm interested in playing computer games and watching TV. My favorite food is pizza. Hello, my name is Dolly. I was born on January 12th. There are four people in my family -- my mother, my father, my sister and me. My favorite food is green tea. Now, I am a junior high school student. My hobbies are watching TV and climbing mountains. My best friend Tom lives in Canada. Maybe some day, you will be her friends, too! My name is Eric. My hobbies are fishing, reading books and playing computer games. My favorite subject is History, because my dad is a History teacher and I read a lot of books about history. I'm very bad at English, because it's hard for me. My favorite sport is ping-pong. I play ping-pong with my dad and my cousins every weekend. What subject may Eric be good at? A Englsih. B History. C Maths. D Music. Answer: B. History. "Norton," Sheppard said, "I saw Rufus Johnson yesterday. Do you know what he was doing?" The child looked at him with a kind of half attention, his eyes forward but not yet engaged. They were a paler blue than his father's as if they might have faded like the shirt; one of them listed, almost imperceptibly , toward the outer rim. "He was in a path," Sheppard said, "and he had his hand in a garbage can. He was trying to get something to eat out of it." He paused to let this soak in. "He was hungry," he finished, and tried to pierce the child's conscience with his gaze. The boy picked up the piece of chocolate cake and began to bite it from one corner. "Norton," Sheppard said, "do you have any idea what it means to share?" A flicker of attention. "Some of it is yours," Norton said. "Some of it is his," Sheppard said heavily. It was hopeless. Almost any fault would have been preferable to selfishness--a violent temper, even a tendency to lie. The child turned the bottle of tomato sauce upside-down and began thumping sauce onto the cake. Sheppard's look of pain increased. "You are ten and Rufus Johnson is fourteen," he said. "Yet, I'm sure your shirts would fit Rufus." Rufus Johnson was a boy whom he had been trying to help at the reformatory for the past year. He had been released two months ago. "When he was in the reformatory, he looked pretty good, but when I saw him yesterday, he was skin and bones. He hasn't been eating cake with peanut butter on it for breakfast." The child paused. "It's not fresh," he said. "That's why I have to put stuff on it." Sheppard turned his face to the window at the end of the bar. The side lawn, green and even, sloped fifty feet or so down to a small suburban wood. When his wife was living, they had often eaten outside, even breakfast on the grass. He had never noticed then that the child was selfish. ks5u "Listen to me," he said, turning back to him, "look at me and listen." The boy looked at him. At least his eyes were forward. "I gave Rufus a key to the house when he left the reformatory---to show my confidence in him and so he would have a place he could come to and feel welcome any time. He didn't use it, but I think he'll use it now because he's seen me and he's hungry. And if he doesn't use it, I'm going out and find him and bring him here. I can't see a child eating out of garbage cans." The boy frowned. It was dawning upon him that something of his was threatened. Sheppard's mouth stretched in disgust. "Rufus's father died before he was born," he said. "His mother is in the state penitentiary . He was raised by his grandfather in a shack without water or electricity and the old man beat him every day. How would you like to belong to a family like that?" "I don't know" the child said lamely. "Well, you might think about it sometime," Sheppard said. Sheppard was City Recreational Director. On Saturday he worked at the reformatory as a counselor, receiving nothing for it but the satisfaction of knowing he was helping boys no one else cared about. Johnson was the most intelligent boy he had worked with. Norton turned what was left of the cake over as if he no longer wanted it. "You started that, now finish it," Sheppard said. "Maybe he won't come," the child said and his eyes brightened slightly. Sheppard wanted to give Rufus a key to his house in order _ . A to show his kindness and concern to the poor child B to show his confidence in Rufus and shelter him from a miserable life C to ask Rufus help him do some housework D to set his son a good example Answer: B. to show his confidence in Rufus and shelter him from a miserable life Do you want to know how and why a fall leaf changes color? We first have to understand what leaves are and what they do. Leaves are the world's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots and take CO2from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and CO2into glucose , a kind of sugar. Plants use it as food for energy and growing. A chemical called _ in the leaves gives plants their green colour. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter, and trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough sunlight or water. Trees rest during this time and live on the food they store during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. As the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, we begin to see yellow and orange leaves. The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in autumn. In some trees, like maples , sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn the glucose in the leaves into a red colour. And we can enjoy the beautiful red leaves during autumn. The leaves turn yellow because they are short of _ . A sunlight and water B glucose and energy C water and CO2 D sunlight and CO2 Answer: A. sunlight and water
The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible. Sometimes you'll get your words mixed up and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can't understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor , you can always have a good laugh at your mistakes you make. Don't be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It's better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don't understand what you are saying. The most important things for learning English is: "Don't be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes ." The story tells us that _ . A. only foolish people make mistakes B. few people make mistakes C. people never make mistakes D. there is no one who doesn't make mistakes Answer: D If you're a male and you're reading this, congratulations: you're a survivor. According to a survey, you're more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman, than nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term, about 78 years for men in Australia, you'll die on average five years before a woman. There're many reasons for this -- typically, men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke--but perhaps more importantly, men don't go to the doctor. "Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should," says Dr. Gullotta. "This is particularly so for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike." Gullotta says a healthy man should visit the doctor every year or two. For those over45, it should be at least once a year. Two months ago Gullotta saw a 50-year-old man who had delayed doing anything about his smoker's cough for a year. "When I finally saw him it had already spread and he finally died from lung cancer," he says. "Earlier detection and treatment may not have cured him, but it would have prolonged his life." According to a recent survey, 95% of women aged between 15 and early 40s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70% of men in the same age group. "A lot of men think they can never defeated," Gullotta says. "They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, 'Geez, if it could happen to him, ...'" Then there's the ostrich approach. "Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know," says Dr, Ross Cartmill. "Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies," Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups. Regular check-ups for men would inevitable place strain on the public purse, Cartmill says. "But prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases. Besides, the ultimate cost far greater; it's called premature death." What does the author state is the most important reason men die five years earlier on average than women? A. Men don't seek medical care as often as women B. Men drink and smoke much more than women. C. Men aren't as cautious as women in face of danger. D. Men are more likely to suffer from fatal diseases. Answer: A Once there was a fish who had lived his whole life in his bowl. He often got bored and wished to see the rest of the world, but because he was a fish, he couldn't leave the water. So one day he made a special fish suit that would allow him to walk on land and breathe air like humans. He knew this would change his life, and make him rich, but first he would have to test it out. He put the suit on and leaped from the bowl that until now had been his whole world. The suit worked! Now he could go where he wanted. First he went to the kitchen of the house. There he saw a parrot eating a cracker. Second he went outside to the yard. He saw squirrels there running around looking for food. Third he went to the barn in the field. He saw a mommy cow. She was teaching her calf how to run. Finally he went to forest where he saw more trees than he had ever seen in his whole life. But after all this he was tired, and made up his mind to go back to his home in the bowl. It was a lot of work trying to see the world. He took off the special suit and splashed back into the water. His suit had passed the test and he was very happy, but he had made up his mind that his bowl was the place for him. Who was eating a cracker in the kitchen? A. The parrot. B. The fish. C. The mommy cow. D. The squirrels. Answer: A Primary schools could be told to remove some traditional subject-based lessons and replace them with "personal development" classes to encourage children to improve their social and practical skill. Parents, teachers and pupils, who took part in the investigation carried out for the biggest ever official review of the primary curriculum, argued that the number of subjects taught to very young people should be reduced. The review, being conducted by the government's school's director Sir Jim Rose, will consider how to redesign the primary school day to handle concerns that too many pupils leave primary school unable to read, write and do maths at the level expected of them. It will also address criticisms that pupils are expected to study so many subjects there is little time for creative learning. The 60 focus groups brought together 1,500 parents, pupils and school staff and is expected to heavily influence the thinking of the Rose review, which the government is promising to back. Instead of a broad range of subjects, pupils should study in-depth literacy and maths lessons alongside a more creative curriculum that encourages pupils to develop personal, learning and thinking skills, they say. Such lessons might include "healthy lifestyles, sex and relationships education, drugs and alcohol education". "Child and personal development as priorities have been shamefully neglected in recent years in the rush to hit targets in the basics." John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said, "The worst thing would be to evaluate child development through the current high stakes testing system. That would weaken the capacity of teachers to meet children's unique needs." However, the shadow schools minister, Nick Gibb, said, "If lessons on lifestyle are given the same status as traditional subjects, it is the most disadvantaged children who will be worst affected." "Children are not able to personally develop and succeed in the future if they don't have a grasp of basic subjects such as maths and English early on in primary school. Removing high requirement from the primary curriculum would increase the inequality gap between less well-off pupils and the rest." Nick added. A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said, "This is a summary of stake holder's view, not the views of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or the DCSF, and has been submitted to Sir Jim Rose's review as evidence to consider." Which of the following is False about the review conducted by Sir Jim Rose? A. It will greatly influence the country's future primary curriculum. B. It will remove high requirement from the primary curriculum. C. It is supported by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or the DCSF. D. It needs to take fully into account varied views from the society. Answer: C Monty Robert's father was a horse trainer. As a child, Monty often went from one farm to another with his father. Sometimes they didn't have money to pay for food, but Monty still kept hoping to own a horse farm. When he was in school, his teacher asked him to write a paper about his dream. He wrote a seven-page paper. He wanted to have a horse farm one day. He even drew a picture of a horse farm in the paper. The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later, he got his paper back. On the front page was a large red "F" with the words "See me after class". So the boy did and asked his teacher, "Why did I get an F?" The teacher said, "This dream will not come true for a young boy like you. You need a lot of money to own a horse farm. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for a lot of things. There is no way you could ever do it." Then the teacher added, "If you write this paper again with a simpler dream, I will give you a good grade." After school he thought hard about it. At last, he decided to hand in the same paper, making no changes at all. He said to the teacher, "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream." Many years later, Monty had his own large horse farm. His dream came true. So don't let anyone take away your dreams. Follow your dreams, no matter what they are. Monty's teacher gave him a red "F" because he thought _ . A. Monty's handwriting was too bad B. Monty copied from another student C. Monty's dream was too hard for him to achieve D. Monty was not working hard to realize his dream Answer: C
Lisa never had the chance to know her father. He and her mother divorced when she was just a young child. Even though he didn't move far, he never came to visit his children. Lisa often wondered about her father. What did he looked like and what he was doing. All she knew was his name: Jeff White. After Lisa grew up, she became a nurse at a hospital, where she would help provide medicine and comfort for patients in their final days. A few weeks ago, she received a new patient whose name was Jeff White. When Jeff came into his room, Lisa asked him if he had any children. Jeff told her that he had two daughters, Lisa and Elly. Lisa couldn't hold her tears back. She told him, "I am Lisa, your daughter." Jeff embraced her, saying that he was not a good father. And the daughter held his hand and kissed him. Then Jeff began to sing This Magic Moment. Jeff could have just weeks left to live, so Lisa wanted to make the most of the time she had with him. Lisa also brought her kids to the hospital to meet their grandfather. The kid made cards for him with the words, "I love you." Forgiveness is also a kind of love. This passage mainly tells us that _ A Kids should love their father. B The father should love his kids. C Forgiveness is also a kind of love. D Fathers shouldn't leave their families. Answer: C Which setup likely refracts light? A a banjo and a flute B two mirrors in unison C a cat in a hat D gems and glowlights arranged precisely Answer: D People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June. Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910, the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to establish Father's Day as a national commemorative day, in 1972. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead.Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories. Who plays the most important role in Father's Day becoming a national commemorative day? A Mrs. Do B Margaret Chase Smith C Ann Jarvis D Woodrow Wilson Answer: B I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren't something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief at a Chinese funeral. My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral. Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute, weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. She almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion. In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West. Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world. According to the writer, people in the West _ . A prefer to control their sadness in public B cry their eyes out at the public funeral C are not willing to be sad for the dead D have better way to express sadness Answer: A When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days. It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the tram, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home--our first car ride of the day. The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal . She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence--the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels. Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light-rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox--and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet. On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestnut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river? I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me. According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days? A Building confidence in herself. B Reducing her use of private cars. C Developing her sense of direction. D Giving her knowledge about vehicles. Answer: A
When we hear the words "college students", we usually think of a young person between 18 and 22 years old. But in the U.S.A today, a college student often is much older. In fact, educators say in the next few years colleges and universities may have more older part-time students than traditional full-time younger students. Educators report a big increase in the number of Americans who attend college and university classes in the evening or at night or weekends. Most of them are older than 25 years old and more have full-time or part-time jobs. Many are in their thirties or forties. Why are so many people deciding to spend their time and money in order to continue their education? Most are doing it because they believe more education will help them to get a better job. Some are industrial workers whose factories have closed. They are learning new skills to prepare for other kinds of work. Some of the part-time students are not pleased with the jobs they have. They are studying for new ones. Some have retired and are looking for new kinds of work. Two of every three of the students older than 35 are women. Many of them are returning to school after years of staying at home to care for children. Are older students good students? Most teachers say yes. They say older students really want to learn. They ask difficult questions and are not pleased with simple answers. They often get high grades. Judge which of the following is not true according to the above passage. Answer: Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming deserts all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the deserts. Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth. Some places on the earth don't get much rain. But they still don't become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful to dry places. Plants don't let the hot sun make the earth even drier. Plants don't let the wind blow the earth away. When a little bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water. Without plants, the land can become deserts much more easily. Why are green plants and grass helpful? Answer: "If I had one million yuan, I would buy you a palace! Do I have one million yuan? No, I don't! so I only can spend ten fen on this short message, sending you my best wishes! " Today, SMS--Short Message Service is popular, and China Mobile says that every second, there are 410 messages being sent. Look around you! People are watching their mobiles, smiling or laughing. Thumbs are pressing buttons, bring happiness to their friends. The humor of the words shows how beautiful language is! Through SMS, we know the weather report, share jokes and news, express love and friendship. "Thumb Culture" is becoming more and more popular. It is reported that 67% of young people like to "Short" to greet each other. Internet SMS will provide more convenience to people. I am grateful for the progress because SMS saves me much money. Just on the tip of thumb, so much joy can be found! The writer thinks that _ . Answer: Harry had a very small farm. He only had one cow but dreamed about having a large farm. He once asked his father Bill, "I'd like to have that land over there. How can I get it?" His father encouraged him to go and talk to the landowner to see how they could get the land. Harry said. "But we don't have enough money." His father said, "Don't worry. Go and talk to him." Several years passed. Harry had not only the land, but also several hundred cows. He had a happy life with his wife. Later, Harry's wife, Sarah, had a dream. "I want to build the biggest farm in the world." She said. They called their friend Manuel about this task. Three days later Manuel had a plan for the whole project. Then they asked, "How much will it cost?" Manuel said they needed a lot of money. "Nobody will lend us so much money to build a farm," they thought. But the manager of the bank _ them and their dream. A few months later, La manuel, the biggest farm in the world, was opened. From this passage, we can learn that _ . Answer: For many years, Hawaii has been a magic name to people who like to travel. People on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, in Japan and in America, dream of seeing these beautiful islands in the middle of the ocean. Their dreams always include at least one scene of a sunset over the ocean. In the tropical lands, the sun drops, like a ball of golden fire, into the sea, and it droops so quickly that you can almost see it move. The sun leaves behind a glow that lights the skies and shines in the quiet water. People often have a quiet, peaceful time ---perfect for a leisurely walk along the water. This scene is not too different from the dramatic beauty that greeted the first strangers to these islands centuries ago. They were Polynesian people who came from Tahiti in canoes not much bigger than small boats. They found the beautiful white sand beaches and the waving palm trees, but there were no giant hotels like the ones we see nowadays. The first people came to Hawaii nearly two thousand years ago, but skyscraper hotels were only built in the last 25 years. Now jet planes make it possible to fly to for a weekend from Tokyo. Wherever the people come from, they really want to see the original beauty of Hawaii. They want to see the lovely beaches and the mountain called Diamond Head which is almost hidden by the tall hotels. Which of the following does not belong to "the original beauty of Hawaii"? Answer:
2010 was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards , landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 - the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined. "It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010. "The term "100-year event' really lost its meaning this year." And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say. Even though many disasters have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and strange year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes. Poor construction and development practices make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river floods, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die. Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes "are pretty much constant," said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. "All the change that's made is man-made." The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people - many of them living in poverty- and more poorly built shanties ,than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010; total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University. Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding. The excessive amount of extreme weather that dominated 2010 is a classic sign of man-made global warming that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave - setting a national record of 111 degrees - would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming. Data show that 18 countries broke their records for the hottest day ever. "The Earth strikes back in response to bad human decision-making," said Debarati Guha Sapir." "It's almost as if the policies, the government policies and development policies, are helping the Earth strike back instead of protecting from it. We've created conditions where the slightest thing the Earth does is really going to have a surprising impact." White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warming. "The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society has sharply reduced the amount of heat-trapping gases and particles ." According to John Holdren, the best way to cut back on the number of natural disasters is _ . Dinner customs are different around the world. If you are a guest in Ghana( ), this information will help you a lot. In Ghana, dinner is usually from four in the afternoon to six in the evening. But there are no strict rules about time. Whenever a guest arrives, a family offers food. When you go to a home, the person who receives guests takes you to the living room first. At this time everyone welcomes you. Then you go to the dinning room. There you wash your hands in a bowl of water. All the food is on the table. In Ghana you usually eat with your fingers. You eat from the same dish as everyone else .But you eat from one side of the dish only. It is not polite to get food from the other side of the dish. After dinner, you wash your hands again in a bowl of water. Most meals in Ghana have a dish called fufu. People in Ghana make fufu from the powder of some plants. Sometimes they cut the fufu with a saw because it is very hard. You must chew fufu well, or you may get sick. You eat fufu with the fingers of your right hand only. When you eat fufu, you'd better _ . Looking up at the ceiling, Na He Jeon pours porridge into her mouth. She carefully dips the bowl forward, dropping the porridge directly down her throat, careful not to touch the 15 ulcers in her mouth. But it was the week before midterms, so she still had to study. Jeon was 1st out of 330 students on her exams that year. "Thank god I did," she says. "If I hadn't done well I would have been regarded as a failure." By the end of the week, 14-year-old Jeon weighed only 83.6 pounds. Like Jeon, there are countless numbers of first generation Asian-Americans who make great efforts to go beyond at everything. Yet the children themselves cannot all be put to blame for their efforts. Typically, it is the parents who are designing a life which they see as perfect for their children. One such occurrence is when I was at my hotel in Beijing. It was roughly around 8:00 p.m. when I decided to take a dip in the pool after dinner. I jumped into the pool that was already spotted with a few Chinese children and I hadn't realized what was going on until I took notice of the parents calling out orders and instructing their children. I saw various children all under the age of 10 taking laps across the pool trying various styles. If a child's foot was too bent, her parent would demand that she straighten it. If a child was kicking too slowly, his parent would order that he go faster. I couldn't help but pity the children whose parents were taking the opportunity to give a swimming lesson, rather than just let them enjoy their time during the holiday. Either because of their parents or their own desire, first-generation Asian-Americans put forth their 110% in order to be accepted into one of the best American colleges. Asian-American students want to see A's, 100%'s, and perfect scores. According to Jeon, Asians complain that students with a 4.0 GPA and 2400 SAT simply cannot be rejected from top schools. To their disappointment, however, they often are. The ethic of this aggressive work also exhibits itself via sports and other after-class activities. What sets Asian-Americans apart, however, is that they fight to be excellent in whatever it is that they do. Be it playing the piano or performing in math competitions, Asian-Americans look to be in first place. Although it may cause unnecessary stress, such a driven work ethic is a _ quality. Often blamed for lacking in creativity, Asian-Americans can actually make up for the absence of imagination with their determination. The average American can dream creative dreams, but that only matters if he or she can make it happen in reality. Asian-Americans, instead, can gather creative ideas to produce something concrete. Yet with such a drive to succeed, Asian-Americans have somehow twisted their definition of success. Rather than looking at personal achievement, they refer to numbers, statistics and scores to rate their success. It seems as if desire and the sense of free will are nonexistent in certain Asian-American students as they mercilessly drive themselves to an inevitable burnout. Their desire to be the most-talented is an impossible dream. In a fruitless attempt, they try to be the best in a world already full of winners. According to Asian-Americans, success lies in _ . Scientists have long had it in their mind to make a robot lizard . They began with finding out why a lizard can hang on a wall. They noticed the lizard's toes were unique: They have suckers , which enable it to hang on walls. They, therefore, made a robot with suckers on its hands and feet. The robot could hang on the wall but fell off when crawling. So, they went on researching. 6 years ago, scientists discovered that suckers only were not enough. It is the bristles on each foot that adds friction and static adsorption that makes a lizard move on the smooth wall easily without falling down. Then scientists made great efforts to fix thick bristles to the robot's hands and feet. However, the effect was not satisfactory. The robot still couldn't attach itself firmly to the wall. Scientists got puzzled: How on earth can the lizard crawl on an extremely smooth wall or even on a ceiling without dropping off? An accidental finding inspired them: One day a scientist happened to see an animal attack a lizard and bite off its tail. The lizard broke away from the animal's teeth and threw itself on a wall to escape, only to fall off heavily on the ground. The scientist wondered: Is it the tail that plays an important role in its travelling on the wall? He caught some lizards for an experiment. The result proved his assumption: A tailless lizard has no trouble walking on an ordinary wall but can't on a smooth one. A further study showed the lizard's tail can prevent it falling over backward and, what's more, that the tail acts as an additional leg while one of the lizard's legs leaves the wall, which is always the case while it is walking on the wall. Thus, Tailbot, a super tailed robot, is born. What part(s) would be a must if scientists just wanted a robot which can hang on the wall? Which of the following structures is not present in animal cells?
Question: For more than 40 years, scientists have sought to learn how well human beings can adapt to long periods in space. The International Space Station continues to provide valuable knowledge about spaceflight. But an earlier space station, Skylab, helped make the current space project possible. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sang aboard the International Space Station on May 12, 2013. His music video has become extremely popular. The astronaut played his own version of David Bowie's song Space Oddity. He performed while floating weightlessly, with images of planet earth and space appearing in the window behind him. Chris Hadfield recently returned home after nearly five months on the space station. For him, the long flight produced a hit video on YouTube and no major physical problems. But 40 years ago, scientists did not know how humans would react to long-term spaceflight. To find out, NASA, the American space agency, launched Skylab in May, 1973. Over nearly a year, three teams of astronauts visited Skylab for stays of between 28 to 84 days. They learned how people react to extended periods in space. Gerald Carr commanded Skylab 4. He spoke at a NASA event marking the 40th anniversary of Skylab's launch. He said that the loss of the body's muscle mass was a main concern. Astronauts on Skylab used exercise equipment to stay strong. The astronauts spent their workdays carrying out experiments, including biomedical research. Marshall Porterfield is the director of NASA's Space Life and Physical Sciences Division. He says the Skylab astronauts' understanding of their own ability to deal with long-term spaceflight continues to help current astronauts. NASA says the next step for life away from Earth is a year-long space station mission, set for 2015. For what purpose did NASA launch Skylab? A. To research on whether human beings could stay in space. B. To gather up information on setting up a space station. C. To study the changes in the body when staying long in space. D. To find out the possibility of doing experiments in space. Answer: C Question: What's in a name? Well, apparently, our general happiness. Psychologists say that what we are called has a direct connection with our well-being . Those called Judy and Joshua are the happiest, while Lynn or Ben is likely to be the unhappiest, according to research. Psychologist Dr David Holmes found that this might due to the association that others made with the name. Hearing the name Judy may make them think of actress Judi Dench or TV presenter Judy Finnigan, people who are seen as good natured and happy. On the other hand, people think Paulines are unhappy because of the character Pauline Fowler from the TV programme East Enders. The research claims that this association influences the person with the name and so their personality becomes shaped to fit it. Dr David Holmes said, "This also has some relation with the original meaning of the name. For example, the original meaning of Judy is 'praised'." Certain names also work well in certain aspects of life. In the workplace Richard and Judy are happiest, while those called Ruth and Carly are happiest in relationships. At the other end of the scale the unhappiest workers are Stuart and Liz, with the unhappiest in relationships being Frank and Harriet. Dr Holmes said, "The relation we have with certain names, particularly important namesakes , also shapes how we see ourselves and so may have an effect on our confidence. Names are like product brands in having a powerful effect on attitudes and should therefore be chosen with care." "Other names are connected with being brave, outgoing or serious. Therefore, many celebrities change their names to ones which reflect these characteristics. This, in turn, influences parents when they choose names for their babies," said Dr Holmes, "however, names connected with ordinary people are seldom chosen for their babies". Which of the following is NOT a reason why Judy is a good name? A. The association people make with it. B. Its original meaning. C. The high number of famous people who are called Judy. D. The personalities of famous Judys. Answer: C Question: Most teens can't wait to learn to drive. Not so with me. Driving made me nervous. I didn't get a license until I turned 24 years old. As a result, when I first married, we only had one car and car pooled to work. My husband's hours were different from mine by one hour. I worked earlier. So he dropped me off and went to the diner to drink coffee until work time. Then, in the afternoons, I leisurely walked the three miles to his work place where I waited in his car, reading a book. One day while waiting for him, I noticed the most beautiful Cadillac pull in the lot. It was powder blue and sleek looking. The kind of car you dream about. I was busily admiring the car, when I noticed the driver. Honestly, she was probably the prettiest woman I had ever seen off the movie screen. She pulled into the spot beside our car and it was all I could do not to stare. There was a striking resemblance to Liz Taylor. Jet black hair and alabaster skin. Our eyes made contact and she smiled at me. Her eyes were as blue as the sea, and teeth like an even row of pearls. She was wearing a light blue shirt that just matched her car. Peeking through her long, softly curled hair I could see gold hoop earrings. They had to be gold to shine like that. A couple of minutes later, a nice looking man came out of the building, entered her car, leaned over and kissed her and she drove away. Sitting there in my jeans, shirt and hair in a pony tail, I wanted to cry. How could some people have it all? Maybe I would have forgotten about her, but the following week, I saw her again. Then it became almost routine to see her about once a week. She seemed friendly and always waved, flashing a big smile. My envy lingered long after she drove away. Many nights when sleep evaded me, I would think about the beautiful lady. I wondered if she and her husband ate out, and where they dined, and what she was wearing. I wanted her to get out of the car and let me see her full length. Did she wear really high heeled shoes and pants, or a skirt. I would get my answers in a couple of weeks. Sitting in our usual parking lot, I was holding my book, watching her over the top of it. She was waiting and when her husband came to the car, she called to him. They spoke a few words and he opened the car door for her to step out. He took her arm and helped her out of the car. I could see very well as she moved to get out. She was wearing a skirt. She _ walked around to the passenger side very slowly, leaning on a walking cane. Sitting sideways in the car, she lifted one leg with her hands and then the other one. The beautiful lady had a prosthesis on the left leg and a brace on the right leg. I couldn't watch them drive away as the tears were blinding me. For weeks I had envied this woman and her way of life, while I had been able to walk three miles to our car! When my husband arrived and found me crying, he immediately asked what was wrong. Through my tears, I told him about the beautiful lady. He said he knew her husband and also knew the story. The beautiful lady and her parents were in a car that either stalled or got caught on the railroad tracks and was hit by a train. Both parents were killed and she was severely injured. She was only 12 years old. The railroad made a large settlement with her because the crossing had no signals. He explained her car was specially built for her needs as well as the home. I prayed for forgiveness all the way home. The lady I thought had everything I didn't. I realized how lucky I was to have my parents, the ability to walk, run or dance through life and many wonderful things money can't buy. I would not have traded places with the beautiful lady for anything. When you meet a person who seems to be much better off than you, don't be fooled. After seeing the beautiful lady, the woman concluded _ . A. the beautiful lady led a rich and happy life B. the beautiful lady liked to show off herself C. she and her husband must make more money D. she shouldn't have married her husband Answer: A Question: The Legend of Bruce Lee was a very popular TV play. The surprising life of Brue Lee came to the small screen in the play. The play followed the 32 vears of Bruce Lee's life, from his hard young age to his experience in the U.S.A. and his movie-making life. Lee was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Hong Kong. He loved his motherland China and Chinese kung fu. His Hong Kong and Hollywood films were quite different from the traditional kung fu films. He started a new kung fu film age. Because of his films, the west began to show great interest in Chinese culture. He affected Chinese kung fu and Chinese kung fu films in Hong Kong and the rest of the world. Lee showed Chinese national pride( )in his movies. How old was Bruce Lee when he died? A. 31 B. 32 C. 30 D. 33 Answer: B Question: Ordering from BookFirst is easy and safe. SELECTING YOUR BOOKS When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you've selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you're ready to place your order, select View Basket. VIEW BASKET This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the prefix = st1 /UKand choose gift-wrapping. You can also modify. the contents of your basket by making any changes then selecting Update Basket. Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you're happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout. THE ORDER FORM After you've completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgement. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order. We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BookFirst account number. RETURNING CUSTOMERS If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online). Which of the following is true? A. You must put what you choose in a basket as you do in a supermarket. B. You can find your Shopping Basket nowhere but in View Basket. C. You can get an account number only after you place an order online. D. You will pay less if you are an overseas customer and buy over three books. Answer: D
In a city, the daily high and low 16 temperatures for a month are best represented by which of the following? Liquids A leading biologist has found the angels and fairies that sit at top of Christmas trees did not get there under their own power. Prof Roger Wotton, from University College London, found that flight would be impossible for angels with arms and bird-like feathered wings. "Angels cannot take off and cannot use powered flight," said Prof Wotton. "They would need to be exposed to very high wind velocities at take off - such high winds that they would be blown away." Some the world's most famous religious paintings and architecture make most Americans believe in angels. The study found that 68 per cent of the 36,000 adults thought that angels and demons were at work in the world. According to the latest study, angels lack the powerful muscles which allow birds to beat their wings. Prof Wotton's paper explores why there are so many stories about angels. "Angels are very powerful religious icons for people with faith. Their similarity to humans adds to their power. At the same time, they have wings on them because they are more than human. They take messages to heaven and therefore have to fly." said the academic. Why do many people believe angels can fly? The earthquake that shook Japan on March 11, 2011 was the strongest earthquake in that country's recorded history and the fourth strongest recorded on Earth since 1900. It cracked open the ground, knocked people off their feet, and made tall buildings move. Then things got even worse. It created huge waves called a tsunami . Walls of water as tall as 30 feet flooded into the coast and swept six miles inland, wiping out everything in the way. Many human survivors were separated from their pets. Many animal lovers went out of their way to help pets in need after the tsunami. And some pets helped their owners, too. When Kamata heard the tsunami alert , he decided to visit his neighbours to warn them of the coming danger. He put his dog, Shane, in the yard so they could leave as soon as he returned. But later, as he headed home, the tsunami flooded into the city, destroying his path. Kamata was forced to run to higher ground, to a school that served as a shelter. He feared he would never see Shane again. Six hours later, Kamata heard that a dog was waiting outside the school. He went to look: It's Shane! The dog swam through the tsunami and found Kamata, even though Shane had never been to the school. After the huge earthquake ended, 83-year-old Tami Akanuma thought that she and her small dog, Babu, were safe. But Babu was anything but calm. She cried and walked worriedly, as if really wanting to go for a walk. That's strange, since Babu didn't like taking walks. But Akanuma took her out. Outside, Babu headed up a hill instead of toward their normal route near the water. When Akanuma slowed down, the little dog pulled her higher. Once they reached the hilltop, Akanuma looked back and was surprised: The path they had taken was flooded and her home had been destroyed by fast-flowing water. Little Babu helped his owner escape in time. Babu cried and walked worriedy because _ . Twenty years ago, Test, who owned Blackacre, a one-acre tract of land, duly delivered a deed of Blackacre "to School District so long as it is used for school purposes." The deed was promptly and properly recorded. Five years ago, Test died leaving Sonny as his only heir but, by his duly probated will, he left "all my Estate to my friend Fanny." Last month, School District closed its school on Blackacre and for valid consideration duly executed and delivered a quitclaim deed of Blackacre to Owner, who planned to use the land for commercial development. Owner has now brought an appropriate action to quiet title against Sonny, Fanny, and School District. The only applicable statute is a provision in the jurisdiction's probate code which provides that any property interest which is descendible is devisable. In such action, the court should find that title is now in
When I was a kid, I always used to wonder how in the world my father work outside in the winter without a coat. It could be minus 20 degrees centigrade and there'd be Dad, removing snow, or perhaps chopping some wood --- his coat thrown aside--- wearing a shirt , a cap, and a pair of gloves. "Aren't you cold, Dad?" I'd ask. "No," Dad would reply. "I'm not cold--- working too hard to be cold." Many times I wondered whether my father was an extremely tough man, or whether he was foolish. One time when I was quite young, perhaps five or so, I went ice fishing with Dad. It was a bright, clear day--and bitterly cold. After we'd been out on the ice for a little while, my feet started getting cold. "Daddy, my feet are cold." I said. "Yeah, it's cold out here today," he replied. "Tell you what," he said. "Walk around. Make some circles in the snow. See how many different patterns you can make. That will get your feet warm." Now, I was just a little girl at the time but I remember thinking, "How in the world will walking around in the snow make my feet warm? Dad must be out of mind. But he was my father, after all. I made circles in the snow. I made squares. Pretty soon I was having so much fun making patterns in the snow. I forgot about my feet being cold. Now, all these years later, I know, too, from personal experience how my father was able to take his coat off and work outside in the winter wearing just a shirt, a cap and gloves. Because I do it, too. "Aren't you cold?" my husband asked one winter day. "No," I replied. "I'm not cold--working too hard to be cold." I hope my husband has decided I'm both tough and smart. But I guess quite a bit of the time he thinks I'm foolish. Wherever Dad is in that great big farm in the sky--I'm sure he can't help but smile whenever I take my coat off while I'm working outside in the winter. Hearing her father's advice, the author thought her father _ . crazy Bear Story Campers Gene and Marie Marsden took pride in being good citizens when in the wild.While driving miles to the Green River Lakes area,they instructed their children in the rules they'd learned in the bear safety handbook put out by the Bridger-Teton Forest Service.The number-one rule was"Don't feed the bears!"-whether intentionally or not.Warning the kids not to go anywhere near a bear,the Marsdens had no problem with the intentional part,but the unintentional part was not as easy to avoid as they thought. Mr.and Mrs.Marsden did their best to keep a tidy camp.While the handbook had said to hang all food at least ten feet off the ground,they did that and locked their food in their trailer at night.Afraid that the scent of the bait might attract a bear,they even locked up Marie's fishing pole.Being sure nothing was left out,they went to bed. Gene says he now regrets not having taken their dog Spike into the tent at night,but they liked having him on guard.On the night of the encounter ,Spike would not stop barking,and Marie knew he must be sounding the alarm on something more dangerous.When she unzipped the tent and shone her flashlight,she saw a young bear. They all piled into the car and drove quickly down the trail.They drove to a pay phone twenty miles away and called a Fish and Game Department ranger,who identified the bear by the white ruff the Marsdens had seen around his neck.The authorities informed the Marsdens that the bear was a young male that they'd been keeping an eye on. The next morning,the Marsdens heard helicopters circling over the mountain and wondered if it might have something to do with the bear.After spending the night in the public campground,they drove back to their site.Wandering the area in search of clues,Marie came to a stop below a tallest tree.She slapped her head and shouted,"Oh no!" "What is it?"Gene asked. Marie pointed at the ground where Spike's dog food bowl lay upside down. A week after their return home,the Marsdens read the headline in their local paper."Bear Euthanized in Wind Rivers."According to the article,the Fish and Game Department had shot the young bear because,having been rewarded for invading a human campsite,it would likely do so again. The Marsdens knew they had been lucky in the encounter,yet much to their shame and sadness,they also knew that the bear had not. Who is mostly to blame in the bear's death according to the writer? The Marsdens. I grew up in Jamaica Plain, an urban community located on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. In the 1940's it was a wholesome, specific little community. It was my home and I loved it there; back then I thought I would never leave. My best friend Rose and I used to collectively dream about raising a family of our own someday. We had it all planned out to live next door to one another. Our dream remained alive through grade school, high school, and even beyond. Rose was my maid of honor when I got married in 1953 to the love of my life, Dick. Even then she joked that she was just one perfect guy short of being married, thus bringing us closer to our dream. Meanwhile, Dick aspired to be an officer in the Marines and I fully supported his ambitions. I realized that he might be stationed far away from Jamaica Plain, but I told him I would relocate and adjust. The idea of experiencing new places together seemed somewhat romantic to me. So, in 1955, Dick was stationed in Alaska and we relocated. Rose was sad to see me leave, but wished me the best of luck. Rose and I remained in touch for a few years by regular phone call but after a while we lost track of one another. Back in the 1950's it was a lot more difficult to stay in touch with someone over a long distance, especially if you were relocating every few years. There were no email addresses or transferable phone number and directory lookup services were available at best. I thought of her several times over the years. Once in the mid 1960's ,when I was visiting the Greater Boston area, I tried to determine her whereabouts but my search turned up empty-handed. Jamaica Plain had changed drastically in the 10 years I was gone. A pretty obvious shift in income demographics was affecting my old neighborhood. My family had moved out of the area, as did many of the people I used to know. Rose was nowhere to be found. 52 years passed and we never spoke. I've since raised a family of five, all of whom now have families of their own, and Dick passed away a few years ago. Basically, a lifetime has passed. Now here I am at the doorstep to my 80th birthday and I receive a random phone call on an idle Wednesday afternoon. "Hello?" I said. "Hi Natalie, it's Rose," the voice on the other end replied. "It's been so long. I don't know if you remember me, but we used to be best friends in Jamaica Plain when we were kid" she said. We haven't seen each other yet, but we have spent countless hours on the phone catching up on 52 years of our lives. The interesting thing is that even after 52 years of separation our personalities and interests are still extremely similar. We both share a passion for several hobbies that we each picked up independently several years after we lost touch with one another. It almost feels like we are picking up right where we left off, which is really strange considering the circumstances. Her husband passed away a few years ago as well, but she mailed me several photographs of her family that were taken over the years. It's so crazy, just looking at the photos and listening to her describe her family reminds me of my own; a reasonably large, healthy family. Part of me feels like we led fairly similar lives. I don't think the numerous similarities between our two lives are a coincidence either. I think it shows that we didn't just call each other best friend we truly were best friend and even now we can be best friends again. Real friends have two things in common: a compatible personality and a strong-willed character. The compatible personality is what initiates the connection between two people and a strong-willed character at both ends is what maintains the connection. If those two ingredients are present in a friendship, the friendship is for real, and can thus sustain the tests of time and prolonged absence without faltering. We can learn from the passage that _ . life without a friend is a life without sun I used to think that life in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, was filled with never-changing routines. I hated that everyone seemed to know everything about everyone else. Everyone seemed to enjoy talking about other people and their lives. I also didn't like the fact that people seemed very close-minded. I felt trapped. I felt like I was missing out on opportunities. It seemed to me that city life would be the opposite. Then I took my first trip to New York City. I couldn't wait to experience the city. However, when I arrived in the Big Apple, it wasn't at all what I had imagined. I knew it was home to thousands of people, but I hadn't had the least expectation to see so many people on the street at one time. All the streets were filled with people. I also felt a little surprised to see that everyone was in a hurry and everything moved at such a fast pace. When I took the subway for the first time, I said hello to the middle-aged woman next to me. She looked at me with dislike and didn't say a word. After just one day, I realized how important my small town is to me. Now I appreciate the familiar faces I see every day. I like the feeling of security and belonging my town offers. Jim Thorpe gives me a sense of community and togetherness that the city doesn't provide. I realize just how much a simple hello does for a stranger -- it really can make your day a little better. My big trip showed me that my small town really has instilled morals and values in me that I didn't even know I had. I never would have known what a big place my town holds in my heart if I had not taken that trip to New York City. What surprised the author most in New York City? The crowded streets. My first visit to Angkor Wat was in 1980. The country had been at war for many years and _ and falling to pieces. Plants were growing out of the roofs, and trees were growing in the courtyards. Today, the temple is the scene of a busy repair program. A team of 15 Indian experts are organizing a workforce of 400 Cambodians, most of them women, who are cleaning, repairing and rebuilding parts of this temple. As I walked through the courtyards, I noticed the Cambodian women devote hours to cleaning carefully a tiny area of stone. Boards are laid down to protect the precious painted stones while the repair work is going on. There are very few machines and little heavy equipment. Workers carry building materials in buckets at the end of long poles. Piles of stones lie in a corner of the courtyard, waiting to be replaced. The work of cleaning the stones is watched over by three Indian chemists. It is a very slow task. First they clean the stones with brushes using buckets of a weak chemical. Then gaps between the stones are filled in. Finally another material is painted onto the stones which will protect them from water forever. Work starts every day at 7 a. m. and goes on until late afternoon six days a week, with a break at midday. Evening is the best time to visit the temple, after the tour groups have left. As the sun sinks lower, shadows spread across the courtyard. After sunset, the sky turns pink. The grey stone towers take on a golden color before turning pink. Nowhere else in the world can there be such a quiet, beautiful place. To clean the stone, how many steps should be followed? Three
Go to church, then have a big lunch, then go out to play while mum does the housework. That was a typical British Sunday in the 1960s. But things now could not be more different. Some British sociologists recently studied the typical British Sunday. They found that people get up later and do less housework than they did 40 years ago. They are far more likely to be out shopping or enjoying themselves than cooking Sunday lunch. Sunday mornings were busy 40 years ago. Most women caught up on their weekly housework and cooked a nice lunch. They seldom allowed themselves any "leisure" until afternoon, after the dishes were cleaned. Then there would be another rush to the table between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm for tea. But now, Britons can have brunch at the restaurant. Fewer people bother to cook themselves. "You only have two free days a week. You don't want to have to waste one because there is nothing to do but watch boring TV," said Elizabeth Biggs, 25, a producer in London. "On Saturday you are recovering from the week," Biggs added. "Sundays are the last chance for the weekend -- you want to get as much as you can out of the day before you have to go back to work." In the past, British women usually did their shopping during the week, while the husband was at work. "Now men seem to do that as much as women," said Jonathan Gershuny, a professor who took part in the study. Men also do more housework now on Sundays. Back in the 1960s, men were far more likely to spend Sundays out of the house -- at the pub or playing football -- before lunch. The text mainly tells us _ . the changes of the ways the Britons spend their Sundays The Girl From the Street The workers who brought the girl to the orphanage knew little about her. The streets where they found her had been her home for many years. Her parents were unknown. They left her long ago. At the orphanage, the girl, like all the children there, was taught to read and write. While she was studying at the orphanage, she learned something else--to be independent . At twenty-one, she left the orphanage and began working as a secretary. And then, in 1975, while she was still working as an ordinary secretary, something special happened. She entered the Miss Hong Kong competition and won it. This was the turning point in her life. Now her name, Mary Cheung, was known to everybody. Mary entered the competition because she wanted to show that orphanage girls could be something. Winning the competition gave her the chance to start a new life. This led her first into television and then into business as a manager. When she was working as a manager, she had trouble with her reports. "My English just wasn't good enough." She says. Luckily, she had a boyfriend (who later became her husband) to help her. Mary studied management at Hong Kong and graduated in 1980, She started her own business in 1985. But she did not stop developing herself. She then studied at the University of Hong Kong. Since 1987, she had spent a lot of time on photography. She has held several exhibitions of her work in many places---China, New Zealand and Paris. She still found time, however, to work on TV, write for newspapers and bring up her family. The girl from the street has come a long way, but her journey is not finished yet. The sentence "orphanage girl could be something" means that orphanage girls could be _ . popular and successful Huangshi will have new rules about behaviour standards for middle school students very soon. Middle Schools are going to use a new way to decide who the top students are. The best students won't only have high marks. The new rules will be used first in No. 2 Middle School of Huangshi in September 2015. The following are some of the new rules. Tell the truth Have you ever cheated in an exam, for example, copying answers from a book or looking at other students' answers? Don't do it again! That's not something honest students should do. Do more at school Good students don't only think of themselves, but they also care for other people and the surrounding. Look at the people around you; do they need help? Give a hand to whoever is in need. You are in a big family! Pay attention to the environment. Wherever possible, do something to protect the earth we live on. Be open to new ideas Have you ever thought people may live on the moon or travel in space? Having new ideas means possible inventions and discoveries. Protect yourself Has a thief ever broken into your classroom and taken your money from your schoolbag? Don't let it happen again. And if you have to go back home late, you should let your parents know. Use the Internet carefully The Internet can be very useful for your study. But some things on the Internet aren't good for kids, so try to look at the good Web pages, which you can use for fun or homework. What can children use the good Web pages for? Getting help with homework Just after my birth I remember lying in the stable with my mother and looking out the door, I could see a lovely, big field with trees around the edge and a good-sized pond to drink from. And there in the stable, while all of the other horses ate grass, I remember drinking my mother's milk. Usually, in the morning and afternoon, I would run with my mother or play with other young horses in the field. Sometimes, this play became too dangerous and my mother would come and take me away. The farmer was a good horse owner. He took good care of us all, but he seemed to prefer my mother to the other horses. And because I was her baby, he started to like me as well. Pretty soon I was eating grass like all of the other horses. Because I no longer needed her milk, and because she was his favorite horse, the farmer quickly put my mother back to work, pulling his carriage to and from the market, always coming back in the early evening. One evening I was playing with the other horses when my mother called me over to her. She told me that she never again wanted to see me playing so roughly with the others. I must grow up to be as wonderful as my ancestors, always working hard, walking proudly, and never hurting others. I promised her that I would do as she said. However, I had to admit that it was sometimes difficult to be kind to people like Dick, the worker-boy. He was always throwing rocks at us when he should have been picking fruit. We had to running around trying to avoid the rocks. Luckily, one day the farmer caught Dick behaving this way. The letter was given some money and then left the farm. That was the last time we ever saw the boy. Which of the following can be the best title? The growth of a young horse Below are the top four supermarket chains in the world in 2012 and the reasons behind their success. Tesco Headquartered in Chestnut, United Kingdom , this global grocery store is one of the largest supermarket chains in terms of revenues and profits. If was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen. Tesco stores can be found across all continents. Even though it was set up only for food and beverages, Tesco has drastically branched out , not only in geographical terms, but also in terms of products. Which now include electronics , clothing, health care, home improvement and even financial services. Safeway Founded in the year 1915 by a young M. B, Skaggs. Safeway developed from just a small grocery store on the fundamentals of providing value to customers and narrow profit margins. The success story of Skaggs becomes more evident when , by the end of the year 1926,he had opened almost 428 stores across ten states. Almost two years later, Safeway was listed at the New York Stock Exchange . At present, there are more than fifteen hundred Safeway stores across US and Canada. The Kroger Company Founded at Cincinnati, Ohio, US in 1883 by Mr. Bernard Kroger, the Kroger Company is now one of the largest supermarket chains not only in the US. but across the world . Over the last couple of decades, the Kroger Company has vastly expanded by acquiring popular brand names, including those of Owen's Market. Its stores are largely spread out across Middle. Western and Central United States. Reve-Gruppe Reve - Gruppe was founded in 1927 and is presently headquartered at Cologne, Germany . This supermarket chain is easily counted among the top supermarket chains of the world . Its vast line of products includes grocery, home improvement, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, optical as well as clothing . Its stores can be found in as many as fourteen European countries, providing employment to more than 325,000 people. Which of the following was founded first ? The Kroger Company.
A flowing stream contains water at 18°C. Cans of soft drinks at 28°C are lowered into the stream. Which of the following will most likely occur? A The soft drink cans will absorb cold energy from the stream's water. B The cans will cool until their temperature is the same as the stream's. C The temperature of the soft drinks will not change since the cans are sealed. D The temperature of the cans will decrease to freezing as long as the stream is flowing. Answer: B Australia's worst pests are the rabbits, introduced by a settler who released 24 into the wild for sport hunting. In less than 100 years, the rabbits grow into the millions of ones, leaving large areas of land looking like the surface of the moon due to thousands of rabbit caves. The spread of the rabbits in Australia was the fastest of all animals in the world. The spread of the rabbits' disease in 1950 cut the number, but it was not until 1997 when the spread of another disease targeted the pests that the number was finally brought under control. Farm losses due to rabbits today still remain a surprising total A $200 million (US$112 million) a year. The European red foxes, also released for sport hunting, are growing and eating sheep flocks, costing farmers A$40 million (US $22.4 million) a year. The State of Victoria offers a A$10 (US$5.6) prize for each fox tail and has gathered 25,000 in a few months. Foxes are one of the biggest threats to wildlife in Australia. Foxes kill thousands of lambs , birds and native wildlife. Australia lost its long battle against wild pests. Which of the following is Not mentioned? A A great many rabbits eat too much trees. B Rabbits make too much caves. C The surface is destroyed a lot by rabbits. D The birth rate of the rabbits is high. Answer: A Offshore oil platforms affect ocean habitats. An ocean environment is most likely damaged by an offshore oil platform because A leaking oil from the oil platform might pollute the water B fishing from the oil platform might reduce the fish population C drilling in the ocean floor might reduce the water temperature D changing the ocean floor might increase the number of hurricanes Answer: A Michelle, a famous lady, has found that more than 25% students are too fat in her country. It is a very serious problem. So she starts a health program to deal with it. The health program is to reduce the amount of fat students today and in the future. The program will get families, schools, newspapers, magazines and TVs to join together and deal with the students' obesity so that students will be at a healthier weight. The program includes: Food stores should sell healthier foods. Schools should serve healthier meals with less fat and should also offer gym classes. The lady is trying to fight the students' obesity all over the country because it can cause illnesses and higher health cost. She wants the students to eat right, exercise more and control their weight. She also wants the students to understand it is important to have less sweet food, and drink water, milk and fresh juices, but not to choose cokes. At the same time she has also set a good example by planting a vegetable garden. She hopes that the garden will encourage more people to plant one, too. The health program is really helpful to the students today and in the future. As she says, we cannot always build the future for youth, but we can build our youth for the future. What does the lady want the shops to do? A To offer gym classes. B To plant a vegetable garden. C To serve meals with less fat. D To sell healthier foods. Answer: D The world's oldest person, Ms. Baines, died. She celebrated her 115th birthday with congratulations from Barack Obama, President of the United States. Over her life she lived through the terms of 21 US presidents. Gertrude Baines passed away peacefully in her sleep at the Western Convalescent Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had lived for her last ten years. Emma Camanag , the hospital's leader ,said she was a respectable lady. "It is really an honor for the hospital to take care of her over the last 10 years and we will greatly miss her. It is just like we have lost a relative ," said Emma. Ms. Baines, who was born in Shellman, Georgia, in 1894, had no living relatives. She grew up in the southern US during difficult times. During that time, African American people were required to use separate, often poor, public services. She married young and later divorced . Her only child, a daughter, was born in 1909 and died of a terrible disease at the age of 18. Ms. Baines worked as a maid in Ohio before moving to Los Angeles where she lived on her own until she was well over 100. She once told an interviewer , "As for the secrets of long life, I do not have any disappointments in my own life." She gained some fame when she voted for Mr. Obama in the US presidential election , saying she supported him "because he's for the colored people". It was only the second time in her life she had voted, the first time being for John F. Kennedy. Ms. Baines became the world's oldest person in January. Japanese woman, Kama Chien, 114, has now taken over the title. It was an honor for the hospital to take care of Ms. Baines because _ . A she was a respectable lady B she was a relative of the hospital's leader C she lived in the hospital for years D she voted for Mr. Obama in the election Answer: A
"Particulate Matter 2.5(PM2.5 for short)"is now ,it seems, officially an enemy of the people.The harmful,tiny pieces of matter,up to 2.5 microns in diameter, are too small to be seen by the naked eye.So they can be easily breathed into the lungs of people and do harm to people's health.With the issue of pollution so heatedly discussed,some people are wondering what possible solutions might be on the way. _ might very well be a renewed effort to kick-start the electric car industry.Some reports suggest that the use of bakery cars should be expanded from the present five cities to 20 more. But so far no country in the world has succeeded in making the dream of emission.free driving a reality.Despite the lofty ideal,the electric car has so far been a disappointment, accounting for only a fraction of l%of global car sales.And the same is true in China.There is an existing target to put five million on the road by 2020 but the Chinese consumer is so far very much unconvinced. BYD Auto Company in the southern city of Shenzhen is just one electric vehicle maker hoping that the time is now ripe for the government to step up its efforts.BYD is making electric cars but as yet not selling in great numbers.Electric cars are not cheap.It would still leave more than$40,000 to be paid before you could drive away in a BYD e6.And buyers have worries other than price. "I think that when you talk to a regular Joe about electric vehicles he is excited, but when you ask Mr. Joe to buy one,he's nervous,"said Isbrand Ho from BYD's Auto Export Trade Division."We call that 'range anxiety'.How far will my vehicle go?" The answer for an e6 is well in excess of 300 kms(190 miles)on one charge.That is the sort of number that might just start looking attractive to less price-sensitive customers but China still doesn't have anything like enough charging stations to make the car a practical choice. Last year, BYD sold only l,700 electric cars in China.Isbrand Ho tells me that at that volume the car is naturally expensive,due to the economy of scale.What they need, he says, is for production to get above a certain threshold(,),and then costs will come down. According to Isbrand Ho, will bring down the price of the electric cars. U.S. Bottled Water Sales Are Booming Again Despite Opposition Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water's environmental impact, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever. Why do so many people seem to think they should have any input on what other American's choose to buy or do? If they want to buy bottled water, let them. If they want to eat fast food, let them. If they want to smoke pot, let them. -- Barackalypse People just get tired of paying for others' bad behavior. If many people eat excessive fast food, you pay higher insurance premiums. If many people frequently buy bottled water, your trash bills go up and landfills fill up quickly.www.zxxk.com It's about personal responsibility, which really should be a cornerstone of libertarianism. -- Bdbr So? This is the price you pay to live in a free society. You want to control the life of another just so you can save a few bucks? What would you say when someone do the same to you? -- Norman619 Defend selfish pricks all you like; I'm just glad there are still people who still believe personal responsibility is a good and decent thing. We make your life cheaper and less bothersome. -- Yoyo What a waste of money! It's fine when you're on the road and you need a cold drink, but people who buy cases of bottled water for home are completely crazy. -- Agmlauncher I wish we all can find a way to improve things and benefit from this. The environment needs a lot of help but businesses will always work on what people would need and demand. Is this part of the balance? Hope we can find better ways. -- Skipweis Which of the following statements goes with Skipweis' opinion? Sang Lan is a former member of the national women's gymnastic team. She hurt herself seriously in a competition at the Goodwill Games held in Long Island, New York in 1998. She has been on a wheelchair since then. Although she was disabled, Sang Lan believed that she would walk again one day. She kept on exercising all year round, and was sure that she would stand up. When she was in New York, she caught the hearts of Americans. Many people called her "a brave and confident girl". She became an international symbol of courage and was very popular in the United States. The brave girl has been a college student in Peking University now. Her dream of going to college has come true. "'Get up from where you fall' is the most ordinary thing for a gymnast. And it's my motto ." Sang said, "I'll spend my time scientifically and work hard on my studies so as to be a winner in life." ,. Sang Lan became an international symbol of courage because she _ . Beijing--(13, July) China sent up a new data relay satellite , Tianlian I-02, on Monday at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in South-western Sichuan province.The new satellite will promote the country's satellite communication network for space docking . The satellite was launched on a Long-March-3C carrier rocket at 11:41 p.m., sources at the centre told Xinhua News Agency.The satellite separated from the rocket 26 minutes after its launch and was then successfully delivered into a geostationary transfer orbit . Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the satellite is the country's second data relay satellite.The first, Tianlian I-01, was launched on April 25.2008. The two satellites will form a network to improve communications between China's spacecraft and bases on Earth, according to the centre.They will also be used to help the nation's first space docking, scheduled for the second half of this year. As planned, China will launch space module Tiangong-I, which was designed as a platform that will dock with an unmanned spaceship, Shenzhou, for the county's first space-docking mission this year. Two more Shenzhou spaceships will dock with Tiangong-I next year, and one will be manned by two or three astronauts, according to China Manned Space Engineering Office, which was the main user of the Tianlian I series data relay satellites. "The new satellite can cover a greater area to track and command the country's space vehicles in low-Earth orbits, such as manned spacecraft and remote sensing satellites, from a higher position in outer space.Only three satellites of this kind are needed to form a global communication network, and China has two now." Pang Zhihao, a researcher and deputy editor-in-chief of Space International, said. The satellite could also equip astronauts with real-time communications, which will benefit the country's future manned space flights, he said. The best title of the passage could be _ . A person wants to fix up a fan so that it can run electrically, and finds that in order to do so they require
Question: You're on the school bus. But as soon as you turn the corner, you find yourself at the end of a very long queue. It's another _ ! It is stop-start for the rest of your journey. Meanwhile, at the same time in Antarctica , snow covers the land. A group of emperor penguins crowd together to keep warm, using stop-and-go movements to protect themselves from the winds. Can you see the connection? Emperor penguins move like cars in traffic jams to keep warm, that's according to new research by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marina Research in Germany. A penguin only needs to move 2cm in any direction for its neighbor to do the same thing. These movements then flow through the whole group of penguins like a "traveling wave". These waves also help smaller crowds join bigger groups, keeping more and more of their friends warm. A single Antarctic "traffic jam" has thousands of penguins. Interestingly, the technology used for studying road traffic jams was used to study the penguins. This included studying time-lapse videos. Scientists also discovered that unlike on the road, these waves can be made by any penguin and in any direction. With temperatures usually dropping below -50degC, and winds reaching speeds of up to 200km/h, these traveling waves are very important for penguins to keep warm. These penguins can also teach us a lesson. In big groups, they learn to be orderly and patient, and to never crash into each other. These are skills we should all learn from them when we are on the road! If a penguin is in a group, it _ . A. needs to move orderly B. can move as fast as it likes C. will not leave others behind D. should move as slowly as it can Answer: A. needs to move orderly Question: The timing of school holidays has always had a lot to do with when a family goes on vacation. For many kids, summer holidays mean spending time outdoors and heading toward water- the local swimming pool, a lake, or the beach. What people wear to go swimming or sunbathing has changed a great deal since the early 1990s. Do you know what early swimsuits looked like and what they were made of? The earliest swimsuits covered most of the body and were called "bathing clothes". They were often made of wool, which made them scratchy and very heavy when they got wet. Newer materials made it possible to make lighter swimsuits. Over time, swimsuits covered less and less of the body. In 1946, the bikini became popular among women. Summer holidays don't just mean going to the water. They can also mean going for a bike ride, or a picnic. It all depends how you want to spend your summer days. If you live or spend your holiday near the water, then fishing, diving and boating are all good possibilities. In summertime, lots of people enjoy playing, picnicking, and just going out with friends on a long summer day until the sun goes down. A famous song called Summertime from the opera Porgy and Bess describes life's more relaxed pace in this season, "Summertime...and the living is easy. Fish are jumping..." Ask your parents and older relatives about their summertime memories. From the passage we can know that _ . A. People with "bathing clothes" could swim easily B. The earlier swimsuits were very comfortable to wear C. There are other ways to enjoy summer holidays D. It is easy for a family to arrange summer holidays Answer: C. There are other ways to enjoy summer holidays Question: Once a New Zealand teacher asked where I live. "In the white building," I answered. "At our university both girls and boys live in the same dormitory."I added. Beyond my expectation , however, my attempt to show I am speaking American English(AE) turned out to be something else. The New Zealander seemed very puzzled at my answer. With a half smile, she asked, "Really?Do they live in the same room?" "Oh, no. They live in different rooms but in the same building." I reacted quickly. Later I got to know the word "dormitory". In AE it means one building, whereas(,)it means one room in British English(BE). The New Zealander misunderstood me because she spoke New Zealander English(NE), which, as we know, is much related to BE. Nowadays, not a few English learners, who try to catch up with the fashion , choose to speak AE. Yet, the problem is that they cannot speak pure AE, but half AE and half BE instead. I think it necessary to keep one style in order to avoid misunderstanding. 51, Which of the following is right? A. AE and BE are two different languages. B. There are some differences between AE and BE. C. New Zealanders speak BE. D. New Zealanders cannot understand Americans. 52, What I said to the New Zealander is _ . A .really pure AE B. really pure BE C. half AE and half BE D. not English at all 53, According to the passage , _ . A, few people speak AE B, more people speak BE C, BE is becoming fashionable D, AE is becoming fashionable 54, The writer wrote the passage in order to _ . A. tell us a funny story B. warn us not to make mistakes C. tell us the differences between AE and BE D. encourage us to speak one style of English Why did the New Zealander misunderstand the writer? Because _ . A. she didn't know what the writer was saying . B. the writer didn't speak English C. the writer spoke AE ,while the New Zealander spoke BE, and the word "dormitory" has different meanings in both AE and BE . D. the passage doesn't tell us. Answer: A. she didn't know what the writer was saying . Question: Many people like traveling (going to other places). Modern traffic is fast, so going to different places becomes very easy. If you want to travel, you must be healthy. But do you know how to keep healthy when you are traveling? The following information is important for you. Before leaving: Wear comfortable shoes, a hat and sunglasses. Do some exercise for weeks or months before you leave. While traveling: Be sure not to eat dirty food or bad fruit. Drink clean or bottled water. Find time to take a good rest. _ before leaving. A. Do some exercise B. Clean the shoes C. Have a rest D. Eat enough fruit Answer: A. Do some exercise Question: Last summer, my family and I went on a trip to the China Dinosaur Park in Changzhou by bus. The one-hour trip seemed very long. We arrived at the park at about 9 a.m. There were many fun places for us to choose from. We first went to the Crazy Firedrake Drill. When I looked at the giant yellow machine, I wasn't afraid at all, But when I was really on it, I felt a little nervous. First, the machine took us to the highest point. We all screamed "Ah". 1 dared not look down. Then it turned around fast and moved very quickly at the same time. The wind was so strong that I couldn't open my eyes. I felt as if I would fall down. 1 couldn't stop screaming through the whole ride. It only moved for a few minutes, but it seemed to be many hours. When the game ended, I was too frightened to walk. Later we took part in the game called "Crossing Jurassic ". After waiting for half an hour, we got into a boat. The boat went into a tall building. It was dark around us. There were many model dinosaurs on both sides. They looked like the real ones. From time to time. the model dinosaurs made some frightening shouts, which sounded terrible. The game ended with a sudden rush from a very high place into a big pool. What an exciting experience! When did the writer get on the bus? A. 9 a.m. B. About 8 a.m. C. About 9 a.m. D. About 10 a.m. Answer: B. About 8 a.m.
Question: Green invaders are taking over America. Not invaders from space, but plants! You might not think of plants as dangerous, but in this case they are threatening nature's delicate food chain. The invaders are plants brought here from other countries to make gardens and yards look pretty. Ever since people started to arrive on America's shores, they have carried along trees, flowers, and vegetables from other places. Now there are so many of those plants, they are crowding out the native plants that have lived here since before human settlers arrived. And that's a problem, says Dr. Doug Tallamy. He's insect expert at the University of Delaware. He explains that almost all the plant-eating insects in the United States are specialized, which means they eat only certain plants. Monarch butterfly caterpillars ,for example, dine on milkweed. If people cut down milkweed and replace it with another plant, the butterflies will not have the food source that they need to survive. But the trouble doesn't stop there. When insects can't get the right plants to eat and they die off, then the birds don't have enough bugs for their meals. Tallamy points out that almost all migrating birds depend on insets to feed their young. "We cannot let the plants and animals around us disappear." says Tallamy, "The way to preserve them is to give them food to eat. But when we plant non-native plants, we are _ the food chain, because then we don't have the insects the birds need to live." Fewer of the right plants mean fewer bugs, and fewer bugs mean fewer birds. And that's bad for the Earth, because we need a variety of living things to keep the planet healthy and beautiful. The good news is, garden centers sell native plants. "Just Google 'native plants' and your location, and you can find out which plants really belong where you live," says Tallamy We can know whether a plant is native by _ . A. Googling on the Internet B. asking Dr. Doug Tallamy C. looking up in books D. searching in garden Answer: A. Googling on the Internet Question: Riding School: You can start horse - riding at any age.Choose private or group lessons any weekday between 9:00 a.m.and 8: 30 p.m.(3: 30 p.m.on Saturdays).There are 10 kilometers of tracks and paths for leisurely rides across farmland and open country.You will need a riding hat. Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:00 a.m.--8:30 p.m. Phone: (412) 396 -6754 Fax: (412) 396 -6752 . Sailing Club: Our Young Sailor's Course leads to the Stage I Sailing qualification.You'll learn how to sail safely and the course also covers sailing theory and first aid.Have fun with other course members, afterwards in the clubroom.There are 10 weekly two - hour lessons ( Tuesdays 6 p.m.-- 8 p.m.). Opening Hours: Tuesdays: 6:00 p.m.--8:00 p.m. Phone: (412) 396 -6644 Fax: (412) 396 -6644 Diving Centre: Our experienced instructors offer one - month courses in deep - sea diving for beginners.There are two evening lessons a week, in which you learn to breathe underwater and use the equipment safely.You only need swimming costume and towel. Reduced rates for couples. Opening Hours: Monday and Friday: 6: 30 p.m.--8:30 p.m. Phone: (412) 396 -6312 Fax: (412) 396 -6706 Medical Center: The staff of the Medical Center aim to provide convenient and comprehensive medical care to students and staff of the university. The center is well equipped and the staff here are trained to deal with a broad range of medical problems.Both female and male doctors as well as nursing staff are available for consultation. Also, all kinds of medicines are sold here and are cheaper for students than other drugstores. Opening Hours: 24 hour from Monday to Sunday Phone: (412) 396 -6649 Fax:(412)396 -6648 Watersports Club: We use a two - kilometer length of river for speedboat racing, and water - skiing, a beginners course consists of ten 20 - minute lessons. You will learn to handle boats safely and confidently, but must be able to swim. The club is in a convenient central position and is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4: 00 p.m., with lessons all through the day. Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:00 a.m.--4:00 p.m. Phone:(412)396 -6899 Fax:(412)396 -6890 You want to do an activity one evening a week and get a certificate in the end, you can go to _ . A. Watersports Club. B. Diving Center C. Sailing Club D. Riding School Answer: C. Sailing Club Question: Do you want to go out of town for a bit of rest and relaxation? Before you start packing, visit these best travel sites for vacationers. In my opinion, they help people deal with common problems that pop up during a trip. Oyster.com Based on the advertised photos, the hotel you are considering appears to be clean and modern. Take a second look through the eyes of Oyster.com. Their representatives inspect resort areas and post the real images uncovering marketing lies. You see ACTUAL pictures of the rooms, attractions and beautiful beaches. Skyscanner.net Are you planning to travel on a budget? Discover the best deals for flights, hotels and car rentals at Skyscanner.net. They offer reasonable and comprehensive travel comparison. The best part is that their services are free. You don't have to sign up, provide personal information or go through a social network. Virtualtourist.com Chat with someone other than a travel agent about a location. At Virtualtourist.com, fellow travelers and locals talk about their experiences in specific areas. This site is set up like a forum , so you can ask questions and get answers in the comfort of your own home. Find out where to eat, play and get pleasure in a place without getting food poison or robbed by criminals. Travel.state.gov Unfortunately, Americans get into trouble abroad sometimes. Prepare for possible emergencies by visiting Travel.state.gov. There, the Bureau of Consular Affairs offers advice on how to handle the bad things that happen to good people in other countries. You learn what to do in the case of child abduction , a lost passport and illness. In addition, these officials post travel warnings regarding dangerous regions and why foreigners should avoid them. Are you ready to do your homework? Prepare for your departure by checking out these best travel sites for vacationers. Learn what you need to know now before walking out of the door. What is the biggest benefit of your visiting Skyscanner.net? A. You can accept their services for free. B. You can book the most modern hotels. C. You can make many friends through the social network. D. You can find the cheapest tour description and direction. Answer: A. You can accept their services for free. Question: Madame Tussaud's wax Museum, London Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum was first set up in Paris in 1770, moved to London in 1802 and moved to its present address in 1884. The collection of famous people of the past and present is kept up to date. Visitors will see Henry VIII and his six wives, the present Queen and royal family, leading figures of the French Revolution and so on. In 1993 a new part was added to it, the "Spirit of London", a journey through London from medieval times to the present day. Address: Madame Tussaud's Marylebone Road London NWI 5LR United Kingdom Hours: It is open from 9:30 to 17:30 from Monday to Sunday Always closed on Christmas Day (December 25) Cost: Adult: PS25.00. Child 16 & under: PS21.00. Child 4 & under: FREE. Tips: Extra money applies to some peak periods. Group rates apply to 10 or more persons. Combined tickets for Madame Tussaud's and the London Planetariur are available at reduced rate. Opening hours may change throughout the year. Directions: By Tube : Madame Tussaud's is a two-minute walk from Baker Street tube station By Train: Marvlebone Station is within 10 minutes walking distance of Madame Tussaud's By Bus: The following bus numbers travel to Madame Tussaud's: 13, 18, 27, 30, 74, 82, 113, 139 and 274. From the "Spirit of London", visitors can learn _ . A. the history of London B. the tube of London C. what London people wore before and what they wear today D. the famous people in London's development Answer: A. the history of London Question: One day, many years ago, when I was working as a psychologist in England, David was brought into my office. His face was pale and he looked at his own feet. David lost his father when he was two years old and lived with his mother and grandfather ever since. But the year before he turned 13, his grandfather died and his mother was killed in a car accident. His teacher told me that he refused to talk to others from then on. How could I help him? David didn't say a word. As he was leaving, I put my hand on his shoulder."Come back next week if you like. "I said. He came and I suggested we play a game of chess. He agreed. After that we played chess every Wednesday afternoon--in complete silence. Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed. It seemed that he liked to be with me. But why didn't he ever look at me? "Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with," I thought. Months later, when I was looking at his head, he suddenly looked up at me. "It's your turn," he said. After that day, David started talking. He finally got friends in school and he even joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times. Now he had re ally started to live his life. Maybe I gave David something. But I learned a lot from him. I learned how time makes it possible to get over what seems to be painful. David showed me how to help people like him. All they need is a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch and an ear that listens. What club did David join? A. A chess club. B. An art club. C. An English club. D. A bicycle club. Answer: D. A bicycle club.
On the first day of school, Jack found a little old lady with a warm smile."Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I'm 87 years old."she said. "Why are you in university at such a YOUNG age?" Jack asked. "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids, and then retired and travel." she answered. Jack knew she's joking but he was surprised what encouraged her to be here at her age. "I always dreamed of having a university education and now I'm getting one!" she told me. We became friends. Every day they would talk after class. Jack always enjoyed listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with him. And Rose easily made friends wherever she went. At the end of the term, Rose was invited to make a little speech. She said, "We don't stop playing because we're old. We grow old because we stop playing. Being happy and achieving success may keep you staying young. If you have a dream, hold on. When you lose your dreams, you die." "Anybody can grow older. _ doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the chance in change..." From this passage we know Rose believed _ . Answer: The last five pounds. The vanity pounds. The dream weight. The fantasy weight. The high school weight. Yes, many names are given to the weight - the five pounds - that seems just out of reach no matter how much we exercise and improve our eating habits. But why is it out of reach? Is it all in our heads? Or is it because the body has a set-point or ideal weight - a weight to which it doesn't want to give in? "There is no such thing as ideal body weight," says James, author of "Weight Loss That Lasts." "But your body does resist you when you are trying to lose weight. It gets used to a certain weight over a long period of time and then will defend that weight." In other words, the body's "set point" can be lowered - or raised, he says, but it takes time to reset that new weight. That period of time is at least six months. "I often ask patients, 'What is the lowest stable weight of your adult life?' to get an idea of what is realistic" in terms of weight loss and maintenance , James says. He refers to the body's refusal to change, weight-wise, as an "biological control system that prevents us from going hungry and dying - part of our primitive biology." Some people might get down to their dream weight for a short period but then can't keep it long because the calorie limits are too strict once the body starts defending itself against weight loss. "That's why it's important to set realistic goals," he says. "The idea of the 'ideal weight' or 'dream weight' is really just a useless exercise." But let's say your goal is realistic and has been set by a nutritionist or other weight-loss professionals and _ . What could be going on? The reason is that you need fewer calories the less you weigh. So if you want to continue to drop weight, you have to drop calories and increase calorie-burn. James encourages people to tell the difference between weight loss goals for health reasons and those to do with vanity. "They are different issues," James says. "One is where important health benefits are seen and the other is about vanity - wanting to look good in a bathing suit." What might a" set-point weight" refer to? Answer: Most episodes of absent- mindedness- forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room-are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter."You're supposed to remember something, but you haven't encoded it deeply." Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later.Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations.If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don't pay attention to what you did because you're involved in a conversation, you'll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe ."Your memory itself isn't failing you,"says Schacter."Rather, you didn't give your memory system the information it needed." Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness."A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,"says Zelinski,"may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox."Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that. "Visual cues can help prevent absent -mindedness",says Schacter."But be sure the cue is clear and available,"he cautions.If you want to remember to take a medication with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table-don't leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket. Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you're there.Most likely, you were thinking about something else."Everyone does this from time to time,"says Zelinski.The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you'll likely remember. We can learn from the passage that encoding _ . Answer: Society is the term to describe human beings gathered together by social networks tand power networks. It does not refer to everything everybody thinks or does, but, only refer to those things that everybody depends upon ,for example, public services, governments, and all kinds of communities. A society must keep even the poorest and weakest members willing to help even the richest and strongest, so it is very concerned with citizenship, rights, ethics ( )and time limits. These are basic ways to achieve fairness. If they break down badly, people will think the society is unfair and start taking things from each other, refusing to help each other, or seeing those who have more as cheats. When this happens, it is time for the society to break down or fail. Theft, violence and war are things that can make a society break down. A new society may be formed out of the collapse of an old failed one when people of different kinds reach an agreement about fairness and are willing to live together in harmony again. To adapt to the society, people should make sure that their behavior can be supported by the society, that is to say, there must be some social rules on which citizens base what they do. However, some people take risks that the society will support them when they do whatever they intend to. For instance, they may refuse to obey the law, and count on their fellow society members to free them in a court of appeal, which harms the society. Therefore we need a social contract which sets out rules for the society. One kind of the social contract is a constitution -which allows a jury or court to decide what is right or wrong according to the social rules. According to the writer, some people refuse to obey the law because _ Answer: In America, street dancing is a great outdoor sport for young people to do with a group of friends. Many people bring their radios out onto the streets, and then wait for others to join in. Step 1 Wear comfortable clothes. Also wear comfortable running shoes that allow you to jump easily. Dancing needs a lot of _ so it is smart to take care of your feet. Step 2 Get some music that you can dance to and bring a radio or a CD player. Step 3 Invite some friends to street dance. Put some music on and start dancing to it. Use your feet as much as possible and make quick movements. Step4 Put your arms up to the right, and then move them quickly to the left while turning your body. This will make others start street dancing. Step5 Try different movements if possible. Street dancing is all about free-style dancing. You can enjoy yourself while getting exercise by street dancing. Street dancing is a kind of _ sport for young people. Answer:
Question: Snow can be very beautiful. When snow covers everything around you , the world looks like a "Winter Wonderland". That is the name of a very popular song about winter. Richard Smith and Felix Bernard wrote the song in 1934. But winter is not always such a beautiful and happy time. It is cold outside.The wind blows and makes it even colder. The days are shorter and darker. The sun rarely shines. The leaves on the trees are brown or have fallen to the ground. The flowers are mostly gone. It is not surprising that some people are sad in winter. And some people dream about being somewhere else where it is warm and pretty----like the state of California. The Mamas and the Papas recorded their famous song, "California Dreaming" in 1965. During the 1960s, many other famous rock groups sang songs about winter. Here is a song by Simon and Garfunkel called "A Hazy Shade of Winter". They sing about life and hope. In 1968, the group Blood, Sweat and Tears recorded this gentle, sad song about winter. They sing about a lost love and forgotten memories in "Sometimes in Winter". Gordon Lightfoot wrote and recorded another sad and lovely song about winter in 1975.Sarah McLachlan recorded "Song for a Winter's Night" for an album in 2006.She sings about reading a love letter and wishing the writer were with her. Finally, on a lovely note, we leave you this sad song by Wayne. Where is this passage most probably taken from? A. Newspaper B. TV news C. Radio program D. Magazine Answer: C. Radio program Question: At least 3 people are dead in the Philippines now that Typhoon Hagupit has landed. The typhoon, which hit the eastern Philippines over the weekend, has blown down trees and sent more than 650thousand people into shelters before weakening. "There were very strong winds last night. The roof was beginning to move, and rain was getting inside the rooms," said a villager. The storm hit with gusts of over 100 miles per hour. And while the storm has slowed considerably from the super typhoon level it had last week, Hagupit still remains strong enough to create more damage. Christopher Perez is a local weather forecaster. He says, "We are continuing to expect bad weather and rough ocean waves. Threats of possible flash floods and landslides as well as possible storm waves are occurring in coastal areas." Hagupit is expected to roll into the South China Sea tomorrow. It's currently going westward toward the southern tip of Vietnam, meaning it's unlikely to affect China. Hagupit's strength in the Philippines is much less severe than Typhoon Haiyan, which rolled through the country in 2013. Haiyan's tsunamilike storm waves and killer winds left thousands of people dead and _ . The central Philippines is still trying to recover from last year's massive storm waves. Which of the following places suffered most when Typhoon Haiyan rolled in? A. The eastern Philippines. B. The southern tip of Vietnam. C. The South China Sea. D. The central Philippines. Answer: D. The central Philippines. Question: I used to hate my mother because she worked a lot and didn't spend much time with me. Then one Friday morning I took part in a three-day self-help program for teenagers. Whether you believe it or not, that weekend changed my life. About 100 other teenagers were there. During the first two days I met a lot of great people. I was glad because I made so many friends there. On Sunday, the leader did an interesting exercise called "Chocolate or Toys". He asked a girl which she liked better, chocolate or toys. She chose chocolate. Then he asked her to choose again between chocolate and chocolate. Of course, she didn't have a choice. This exercise told us that sometimes we don't have a choice in life, and that sometimes we have to accept something, rather than complaining . A girl stood up and started talking about her mom who was a drug addict and how much she hated her mother. "I want a new mom," she cried. "Unluckily, you can't have one," the leader replied. "You have to accept the mother that you have." This hit me hard. I realized that, for better or worse, my mom was my mom. I couldn't choose another mom, but I could try to make the best of the situation. What is the main idea of this passage? A. Choices can be made as we like B. Everyone should take part in a self-help program C. Chocolate can influence one's attitude toward things. D. We should try to accept things instead of complaining about them. Answer: D. We should try to accept things instead of complaining about them. Question: In recent years, advances in medical technology have made it possible for people to live longer than in the past. New medicines and machines are being developed every day to extend life. However, some people, including some doctors, are not in favor of these life extending measures, and they argue that people should have the right to die when they want. They say that the quality of life is as important as life itself and that people should not be forced to go on living when conditions of life have become unbearable . They saw that people should be allowed to die with dignity and to decide when they want to die. Others argue that life under any conditions is better than death and that the duty of doctors is always to extend life as long as possible. And so the battle goes on and on without a definite answer. In the writer's opinion _ . A. death is better than life B. life is better that death C. neither death nor life is good D. none of the above Answer: D. none of the above Question: When one person gains weight, their close friends often follow. Researchers have just offered evidence in a study that says obesity appears to spread through society. But the findings might also offer hope. If friends help make obesity acceptable, then they might also be influential in losing the fat. The researchers note that support groups are already an effective tool in dealing with other socially influenced problems, like alcoholism . The findings appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers used information collected from 12,000 people. It was collected between 1972 and 2003 as part of the Framingham Heart Study. The information was highly detailed. There was even contact information for close friends of the people in the study. The researchers examined more than 40,000 social ties. They found a person's chances of becoming severely overweight increased by 50% if a friend had become obese. A sister or brother of a person who became obese had a 40% increased chance of becoming obese. The risk for a wife or husband was a little less than that. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School was a lead researcher in the study. He says there is a direct causal relationship between a person getting fat and being followed in weight gain by a friend. The study found that the sex of the friends was also an influence. In same-sex friendship, a person had a 71% increased risk of becoming obese. Men had a 44% increased risk of becoming obese after weight gain in a brother. In sisters, it was 67%. The researchers also considered the effect of where people lived in relation to each other. James Fowler of the University of California was the other lead expert. He says a friend who lives a few hundred kilometers away has as much influence as one in the same neighborhood. He says the study demonstrates the need to consider that a major part of people's health is tied to their social connections. Both researchers say their research shows that obesity is not just a private medical issue, but also a public health problem. The author makes his point clear in the text that _ . A. a major part of people's health is based on their genes B. friends living closer have greater influence on one's health C. social relationship is closely connected with people's health D. people's physical condition is subject (,......) to social connections Answer: C. social relationship is closely connected with people's health
When I was a baby, I entertained you and made you laugh.Whenever I was "bad", you'd shake your finger at me and ask, "How could you?"--but then you'd give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. My housetraining was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day. Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate.Eventually, you fell in love.She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home.I was happy because you were happy.Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them.But nevertheless, as they began to grow, I became their friend.Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets.You've made the right decision for your "family", but there was a time when I was your only family. I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound.It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness.You filled out the paperwork and said, "I know you will find a good home for her".They shrugged and gave you a pained look.The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye.And "How could you?" were the only three words that swept over my mind. Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen , I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream. My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever.I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me. Which is true about the dog when it lived at the pound? Answer: You've just found your dream job, but it pays less than the one you've working hard at right now. What should you do ? How can you make the right decision ? When you have a difficult decision to make , you may probably think it over and over again for hours, weighting up all the advantages and disadvantages before coming to a decision .Or ,maybe you decide it quickly without thinking carefully .But according to scientific research, there's a better way to do this: Sleep on it . In a resent study , scientists made an experiment . They offered the participants some information about different types of cars .And they asked them to decide hypothetically which one would be the best fit. Some of them were asked to make the decision right away ,while others were asked to choose the next morning. The result of the survey was interesting. The people who had a good night's sleep were energetic the next morning .And they choose the best quality cars. But those who made quick decisions chose cars with bad quality. So ,if someone asks you to make a big decision ,don't rush to give an answer at once .Instead ,take a step back and get a good night's sleep. Chances are that ,in the morning , you'll know exactly what to do . What are offered to the participants in the experiment? Answer: We can see waste everywhere in the school. Some students ask for more food than they can eat and others often forget to turn off the lights when they leave the classroom. They say they can afford these things. But I don't agree with them. Waste can bring a lot of problems. Although China is rich in some resources , we are short of others, for example, fresh water. It is reported that we will have no coal or oil to use in 100 years. So if we go on wasting our resources, what can we use in the future and where can we move? Think about it. I think we should say no to the students who waste things every day. Everybody should stop wasting as soon as possible. In our everyday life, we can do many things to prevent waste from happening, for example, turn off the water taps when we finish washing, turn off the lights when we leave the classroom, try not to order more food than we need and so on. Little by little, we will change everything. We can stop waste one day, if we do our best. What may happen in 100 years? Answer: Young people and older people don't always agree. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special programme in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way. Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work. Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and build houses. The adults teach them these skills. There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo taking or painting. Others sit around and talk or sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time. When people live together, rules are necessary. In this programme the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, "Why did it happen? What should we do about it?" One of the teenagers has this to say about his experience, "You stop thinking only about yourself; you learn to think about the group." All the members work some time every day mainly to _ . Answer: Explosions destroy Answer:
I made a pledge to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, "Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love." To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change. And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, "That new yellow sweater looks great on you." "Oh, Tom, you noticed," she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, "Evelyn's been alone here with kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me." We walked on the beach while the children flew the kites. So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love. There was _ that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression. "What's the matter?" I asked her. "Tom, " she said in a voice filled with sadness, "do you know something I don't?" "What do you mean?" "Well.....that checkup I had several weeks ago..... our doctor ..... did he tell you something about me? Tom, you've been so good to me..... am I dying ?" It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing. "No, honey," I said, wrapping her in my arms. "You're not dying; I'm just start to live." From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage _ . Answer: alone It would be a totally dark world without your eyesight.However, there is a lot we can do to preserve our eyesight. Protect your eyes from the sun.Continuous exposure to the sun's UV rays can severely damage your eyes over time.The UV rays from the sun will result in brown spots in the eyes or some eye diseases, in order to prevent harmful UV rays.if you plan to be in the sun for extended periods of time, you need to wear protective eye wear. Practice disease prevention.Diabetes is among the few diseases that can cause blindness if left untreated, mistreated or undiagnosed.One of the best ways to prevent disease related blindness is to prevent or control your disease.For example, if you have diabetes it is highly recommended that you eat a healthy diet.check your blood sugar often and lake medicine if your blood sugar is above 150. Add vitamin A to your diet.This concept is usually taught during your younger years.Vitamin A is required for the production of rhodopsin which is an eye pigment highly sensitive to light that is used to see in poor lighting conditions.To get your healthy portion of vitamin A, you can go to your local grocery store and pick up carrots, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables. Visit your eye doctor routinely.Visiting your eye doctor can keep you up to dale on your eye health.You should visit your eye doctor for an eye exam once every one to two years (more often if you wear glasses) to help you keep good eyesight.You are advised to see your eye doctor immediately if you experience eye diseases or symptoms like loss of eye vision, eye pain, redness and itching around the eyes because _ eye diseases can result in permanent eye damage or blindness. If you sometimes can't see things clearly at dusk, you _ . Answer: should add more vitamin A to you daily diet "Well, we're in our new house. Let's get a new pet to go along with it," Mrs. Brown said to her husband. "That sounds like a very good idea," he answered. "Do you want to see the ads in the newspaper?" "Let's go to the animal _ . Many pets there need homes. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we can both go." she said. The next morning the Browns met Mr. Snow at the animal shelter. "We want to be sure that the pets here go to good homes," Mr. Snow said, "So I need to ask you some questions." After they talked for a while, the Browns decided to get a small dog. It wouldn't need a big house or a big yard. A small dog would bark and warn them if someone tried to break into their house. After Mr. Snow gave the Browns a book on pet care, they chose one and wanted to take her home right away. But the animal doctor hadn't examined her yet. So Mr. Snow told them to return on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon the Browns went to the animal shelter. The animal doctor said, "Shadow has had all of her shots . She will be healthy." The Browns thanked the doctor and took Shadow home. Which of the following statements is true? Answer: Shadow is a small and healthy dog Which is a complete circuit? Answer: a refrigerator that is running "We don't necessarily believe that new advertising, which might make consumers feel better about the Coke brand or better about the ads themselves , will actually result in consumers consuming more of the product," Morgan Stanley's Bill Pecoriello wrote in a research note the days after the investor meeting . But Coke is optimistic it can regain its old magic, and is banking on a new slogan: "Welcome to the Coke side of life." BREAK THROUGH HIT? With PepsiCo about to surpass Coke as the beverage king on Wall Street--Pepsi's market capitalization has _ in recent years to $97.9 billion, putting it less than a billion dollars behind its rival--the heat is on Coke . It's set to launch a new marketing campaign in March, 2006. And having taken a quick look at Coke's investor presentation on Dec. 7 in New York, my sense is that Coke may be moving in the right direction . Given the continued shift by consumers away from soda--Coke's stronghold --and into alternative beverages like juice, tea, and water, Coke badly needs a breakthrough hit. And given that shift away from soda, some analyists wonder whether even the catchiest new ads will be enough to put the fizz back into Coke. SAME OLD, UPDATED? The new flavors of PowerAde sports drink will probably enable Coke to continue stealing market share from PepsiCo's Gatorade brand. And Coke is getting a little more creative with packaging, including new, aluminum bottles of Coke that will be sold in nightclubs, and an 8.4-ounce "100 calorie" version of its flagship Coke that will appeal to women who want fewer calories and will like the fact that the small can will fit in their purse. I doubt whether other new products will be successful, including a new coffee-flavored soda called Coke-Cola Black that I tried. Think carbonated coffee. But I'm not sure if the product, which Coke is pitching as an afternoon pick-me-up for the 35-and-over set, is going to pull people away from their afternoon Frappucino fix. And my opinion is that Vault, an orange-flavored energy drink, will have just as much trouble unseating Mountain Dew among teens as did Coke's last attempt, a product called Surge. If there is one concern I have about the fresh offerings Coke plans to launch this year, it appears that many of them are simply new brands, not new products. When the middle-aged people feel tired, what would they prefer to drink in order to continue their work? Answer: Frappucino.
One day when I came home at lunch time the Jonas Brothers, Kevin, Joe, and Nick, were at my door. I jumped out of my Range Rover and started screaming. I ran up to them and just started hugging them and crying. I had no clue what was going on. They were just smiling and laughing. I was speechless and I was just staring at them. We stood there in dead silence for a couple of minutes. I finally picked up courage to say, "Hey, would you all like to come in?" They told me yes and that they had something to tell me. I brought them in and asked them why they came to my house. They told me, "We need you for something. We would like you to join the band; we want you to be our background dancer. You will also be a dancer for Miley Cyrus." Hearing their words, my jaw dropped in amazement. We kept talking for a while. I skipped school for the rest of the day, because it was the Jonas Brothers! We sat and watched television for a while, and then I went to my room and got ready. Then later that day we went and got lunch and went to a movie. We had to go to private places to go to the movie and eat because of all of the fans, but we had a great time! They brought me home that night and told me that they would see me tomorrow. Once I got home and got out of the car, Nick got out too and walked me to the door! He told me goodnight and gave me a hug and went back to the car. That night I could hardly go to sleep, but I finally did. The next morning I woke up and got ready really quickly. Then the Jonas Brothers' driver came and picked me up in their black Range Rover. I got in the back seat and by surprise Nick was there with flowers and chocolate. I asked him, "What is this?" He said, "It's for you! I want to surprise you! Today we are going to go to the studio and you are going to start learning everything for the tour this year. Kevin and Joe are already at the studio, I just want to come here and pick you up. After that I have something special planned for us!" "I don't have any clothes to wear, except for the clothes that I am wearing to practice," I said. He told me, "It's okay, we are going shopping to find outfits for our special date." We went shopping for our clothes and I got to pick anything I wanted and Nick paid for all of it. Then that night we went and ate at a restaurant right by the beach. After dinner, we went and walked on the beach. It was amazing! That night he took me home and walked me to my door and we said goodnight. I then went in and went to bed right away. The next few months I went to the studio with them about every day. It was a lot of hard work, but once the tour started, it paid off. I had the best time of my life. Once the tour was over, I got more into the acting and dancing business, I then became famous. Miley Cyrus and I became best friends and I also was a background dancer for her. Miley, the Jonas Brothers, and I were all best friends and we pretty much grew up together. Now, Miley and I are still best friends, and Nick Jonas and I are married. We are still famous and have the best time of our life. We may learn from the text that Nick . Answer: is very kind-hearted and considerate At the beginning of the 20th century there was a big farm called Hollywood Ranch. It was near Los Angeles in California. A few years later Hollywood was one of the famous places in the world. From the 1910s to the 1950s Hollywood was the film center of the world. Every family knew the names of its film stars--Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman and hundreds more. The reason why people went to Hollywood to make films was the sun. At first,people made films in New York on the east coast of the United States. But then they heard about Los Angeles where there are 350 days of sun every year. As they made all the films by sunlight,the west coast was a much better place to make films. Also near Hollywood you can find mountains,sea and desert. They did not have to travel far to make any kind of film. When TV became popular, Hollywood started making films for television. Then in the 1970s they discovered people still went to the cinema to see big expensive films. After about thirty years they are still making films in Hollywood and people watch them all over the world. People went to Hollywood to make films because _ . Answer: there was a lot of sunlight Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cochran, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something unforgettable. On the first day of school, with permission of the school headmaster, she took all of the desks out of the classroom. The kids came into the first period. They walked in, and there were no desks. They looked around and said, "Ms Cochran, where are our desks?" And she said, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn them." They thought, "Well, maybe it's our grades." "No," she said. "Maybe it's our behavior. " And she told them, "No, it's not even your behavior. " Second period, the same thing. Third period... By early afternoon television news reporters had gathered in Ms. Cochran's class to find out about this crazy teacher. The last period of the day, Martha Cochran gathered her class. They were at this time sitting on the ground floor around the sides of the room. "Throughout the day no one has really understood how you earn the ordinary desks in this classroom." she said, "Now I'm going to tell you. " Martha Cochran went to the door of the classroom and opened it, and as she did, twenty-seven adults, who were fathers or mothers of the kids, walked into that classroom, each one having a school desk. And they placed those school desks in rows. And when they finished placing those desks, those kids for the first time in their lives understood how they earned those desks. Martha said, "You don't have to earn those desks. They did it for you. They put them out there for you, but it's up to you to sit here responsibly to learn, to be good students and good citizens, because they paid a price for you to have that desk, and don't ever forget it! " Why did Cochran take all the desks out of the classroom? Answer: Because she wanted to let kids know how they earned the desks. John was stuck in the middle of the ocean after his boat crashed and sank. He was worried about his friend who'd been in the boat with him. He knew that his friend has his life jacket on, so he tried not to worry too much about him. John was in a small box that fell out of the boat and kept him out of the water, floating. John had never been to sea before and one would wonder if he would ever after such a scary thing that happened to him. He sat in the box for days with no food or water, in and out of sleep. Three days later he woke up and saw land. Finally a beach was in sight, John could go home. Did John ever go home? Answer: Yes International students are allowed to work for the university they study at or for a business at the school. But the business must directly provide a service for students. You could work at the bookstore, for example, but not for a company that is building something at the school. Also, a foreign student cannot take the place of an American in a job. International students can work 20 hours a week while having classes; more during school breaks. You can work until you finish your studies. International students normally cannot take a job that has nothing to do with their school. But the government may give permission if students are suddenly faced with difficulties. Examples include large medical bills, the shortage of financial aid or an unexpected change in the financial support. Students must also meet other conditions . They must have studied at their American school for at least one year. Students must ask for permission again after a year if they want to continue an off-campus job. International students who will be studying at graduate school can apply for some jobs before they come to the United States. A good example is a university job like a teaching or research assistant. Some schools pay their assistants. Others provide free education in return. Many do both. Graduate assistants might teach, give tests, grade work, help with research and clean the offices. Many universities now provide language training for foreign teaching assistants to help them improve their English. Some schools ask foreign students to pass an English speaking test before they are allowed to teach. International student offices at schools have to provide information on students each term for the Department of Homeland Security. Students who _ visa rules -- for example, by working off-campus without permission -- could be sent home. We may infer from the passage that _ . Answer: international students normally are not completely free to choose their jobs
Twenty courses provided by 18 top Chinese universities went online on Wednesday, China's latest attempt to disseminate teaching resources within the nation and promote Chinese culture globally. These courses cover 20 subjects or lectures given by speakers and professors from several universities, including Zhejiang University, Nankai University and Wuhan University.Most of the courses will focus on traditional Chinese culture, according to the Ministry of Education. They are available through the websites of NetEase and China Network Television, as well as icourse.edu.cn, for free. Some of the courses will be translated into English and promoted across the rest of the world, according to NetEase Company, an international body promoting open content among the world's universities. The company has set up a translation team and "will kick off the translation work when we finish the negotiation on intellectual rights with universities", said Zhu Xirui, a senior manager for NetEase Company. "We want to promote Chinese culture to overseas netizens through the program," he said. Ding Xiuhong, another manager of NetEase Company, said they had invested more than 15 million yuan($2.37 million)in the program. "Although we haven't made a profit from 'the program, it will at least help increase our website's page views," Ding said. "I'd like to watch the Chinese elite classes, such as Chinese literature and poetry, as well as economy," said Jeremy Scaramuzzi, a teacher at Tsinghua International School. He said he was also interested in Chinese classes on political science since that is the subject he majored in in the United States. The passage is most probably a(n) _ . Answer: news report Which characteristic property indicates that igneous rock cools slowly? Answer: crystal size Age has its special advantages inprefix = st1 /America. And one of the more impressive of them is the senior citizen discount . Anyone who has reached a certain age-- in some cases as low as 55 -- is automatically entitled to plenty of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life . Eligibility is determined not by one's need but by the date on one's birth certificate . Practically the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses-- as common as color1 televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners . People with array hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them ; yet , millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent . Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans . The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that " elderly " and " needy " are synonymous . Perhaps that once was true , but today , to be sure , there is economic variety within the elderly , and most of them aren't poor . It is impossible to determine the effect of the discounts on individual companies . For many firms , they are a stimulus to income . But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense , directly or indirectly , of younger Americans . Moreover , they directly annoy some politicians and scholars who consider it a coming conflict between the generations . Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits , which mostly involves a transfer of resources from the young to the old . Employment is another point . Supported by laws and court decisions , more and more older Americans are refusing the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job-- thereby lessening employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers . Far from a kind of charity they once were , senior citizen discounts have become a powerful economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don't need them . It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others . Senior citizen discounts only enrich the myth that older people can't take care of themselves and need special treatment ; and they threaten the creation of a new myth , that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups . Senior citizen discounts are the heart of the very thing older Americans are fighting against-- discrimination by age . What does the author mainly argue in the passage ? Answer: Senior citizen discounts may well be a type of age discrimination When I was superintendent of schools in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board of trustees , wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly's son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper. Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time. If I had only known I would have said, "Jim, I love you and I'm so very proud of you." I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him. I would have taken time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people. When you put all the good attributes on the scale and you try to balance all the irritating _ such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn't to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., the irritations don't amount to much. I won't get another chance to tell my son all I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died. He called me to say, "Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. Got to go to work. Bye." He gave me something to treasure forever. If there is any purpose at all to Jim's death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially families, take the time to let each other know just how much we care. You may never have another chance. Do it today! Which of the following is NOT true about Jim? Answer: He was a boy handicapped and needed lots of patience. It is not only experts in China who are arguing over whether women should work after marriage or not. Worldwide this question is being discussed as an interestingly large number of married women enter the workplace. Take the United States for example. Since 1960, the percentage of married women in the work force has jumped from 31.9 per cent to 59.4 per cent. American women first moved into the paid labour force during the World War II, when men left their jobs to fight. In the last fifty years, more and more women have worked outside the home. And over these years of developing, Americans have changed their social values as a result. In 1975, women aged 35 and above made up half of all working women. And by 1980, 60 per cent were women at the age of 45 and above. Now in Japan, women's work group is M-shaped with middle-aged women and those aged 20-25 at the two peaks. According to statistics , 37.7 per cent of Japanese women at childbearing age(25-29) still engaged themselves in work in 1980. and the number reached 50 per cent the next year. Being a housewife has always been regarded as a "graceful occupation" in Japan. Some young Japanese women believe it is good to be a " professional housewife". However, old attitudes have been changing everywhere, and sometimes just out of economic necessary. In recent years, a great number of city housewives have poured out of homes to take part time jobs. Even the UN has given its support.. The 34thCongress of the United Nations in 1979 put forward the decision for formal agreement on the getting rid of discrimination against women. So far, most UN members have agreed on it, but some still haven't, including the United States. In the United States _ . Answer: Few married women used to work outside
Dear Reader, Today I am going to ask you to support Wikipedia with a donation. Wikipedia is built differently from almost every other top 50 website. We have a small number of paid staff,just twenty-three. Wikipedia content is free to use by anyone for any purpose. Our annual expenses are less than six million dollars. Wikipedia is run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation,which I founded in 2003. Wikipedia is driven by a global community of more than 150,000 volunteers--all devoted to sharing knowledge freely. Over almost eight years,these volunteers have contributed more than 11 million articles in 265 languages. More than 275 million people come to our website every month to access information,free of charge and free of advertising. But Wikipedia is more than a website. We share a common cause:Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. _ 's our commitment. Your donation helps us in several ways. Most importantly,you will help us cover the increasing cost of managing global traffic to one of the most popular websites on the Internet. Funds also help us improve the software that runs Wikipedia--making it easier to search,easier to read,and easier to write for. We are committed to increasing the free knowledge movement worldwide,by taking on new volunteers,and building strategic partnerships with institutions of culture and learning. Wikipedia is different. It's the largest encyclopedia in history,written by volunteers. Like a national park or a school,we don't believe advertising should have a place in Wikipedia. We want to keep it free and strong, but we need the support of thousands of people like you. Thank you, Jimmy Wales Which of the following is true about Wikipedia? A. It only has 23 workers at present. B. It will run a national park or a school. C. It has got much help from other people. D. It will put some advertisements to earn money. ks5u Answer: C New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact , they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States. The cost of shoing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job. A blacksmith's job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse's foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse's leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very storng. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses---for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg. One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and,as the puts it, "It's a good way to make a living." James Corbin became a blacksmith because he _ . A. was interested in horses B. was needed by the policemen C. drew a picture of the horseshoe D. had a make a living Answer: D There are several reasons why some people enjoy a better standard of living than other people. Then again, some people work very hard for their entire life and only are able to pay their monthly living expenses. As a matter of fact, they usually end up working until the last day they are alive. On the other hand, many people who are well off, so to speak, and through no fault of their own, experience a rapid decline of their standard of living due to an unexpected disaster, poor health and /or a severe economic depression within the country in which they live. Additionally, well-educated people usually earn more money during their active working years and thus are able to save a great deal of money in which to support themselves after they retire from the work force. People also become wealthy as a result of their own determination or they inherit wealth from elder family members, or they simply continue to work in the business that past generations of their family worked within. It is also true that a person can simply be a lucky dog who wins a lottery or some such contests that give a great deal of wealth to the winner. Let us not forget about the self-made individuals who have a dream of achieving fame and fortune and, after many years truly hard work, are well-rewarded for their continued efforts. An example of whom is the person who wrote the Harry Potter novels. She was just an average person who became a billionaire. So too, Ray Croc, the founder of a chain of fast food restaurants, became rich and famous at a time in life when most people retire from the workforce. Bill Gates is another person, who, by his own determination, skill and hard work, became rich and famous, as well as Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison. As you can see, there are many ways in which to become wealthy and enjoy an above average standard of living. However, those who are motivated by greed and become criminals as a result of such greed end up causing harm to others, as they continue to suck the wealth out of other people within the society. Those criminals simply take all that they get and give back little or nothing in return. What is your plan for achieving financial security, happiness, fame, and fortune? What is the author's purpose of writing the text? A. To analyze the means of pursuing wealth. B. To offer solutions to phenomena of crime. C. To urge people to gain wealth through efforts. D. To introduce a lifelong goal of keeping a better life. Answer: C There is always a man who stands on different comers of the street in our city, holding a sign that reads "Will work for food for my family". Normally I don't have much money to help him. When my mother is with me and she sometimes makes me pull over and then she will hand him some money. Tonight, I was on my way to the store to get some milk when I saw the man. My daughter and her friend were in the car. We all felt awful that this man was standing out in the cold, wet weather. Many people had made comments that he should be able to work. I often wondered why he would stand out there rather than be in the warmth of a building, working. Well, he might not have an address, and he may need an address in order to apply for a job. Either way, I don't feel it is _ to judge. As I was sharing that feeling with my daughter and her friend, I decided that I needed to help this man. I wanted to show the girls the importance of helping others, not about worrying whether he was legitimately struggling or not. So, when we pulled over to give him some money, I said, "God bless you," and he said it back to us. But the girls and I were still concerned that he would be cold, standing out in the bad weather. So we got him a hot chocolate and a hamburger. My daughter handed them to him and l told the man that the girl wanted to help him because she was worried about him being cold. He was very sweet and appreciative. We all left with smiles, especially me, because, as we were pulling away, the girls were talking about ways they could raise money to help the man and others like him. It was the best trip I have ever made to get milk!!! What do we know about the man? A. He refused to work and begged for food on the road. B. He greatly appreciated others' help. C. He couldn't stand cold, wet weather. D. He liked to eat hamburgers and chocolates. Answer: B The food we eat seems to have great effects on our health. Although science has made great steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to diet as well. Different cultures are subject to certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites , commonly used to keep color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things on the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to cows and chick and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are given to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to get a higher price on the market. Although the FDA has tried repeatedly to control these, the practices continue. Which of the following statements is NOT true? A. You can find out harmful additives on the packaging labels of food. B. Drugs given to animals are not all for medical reasons. C. Researchers knew about the harm of food additives about 60 years ago. D. Food may cause forty percent of cancer in the world. Answer: A
The US plans to extend its endangered species protection to lions in Africa. US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will classify lions in southern and eastern Africa as threatened. The move will place tighter restrictions on the import of lion "trophies ", such as paws or heads. While the US cannot regulate hunting in other countries the move is significant because around half of all lion hunting in Africa is conducted by Americans. According to FWS data, more than 5, 600 lions have been killed and imported by American hunters over the past decade. Under the new FWS rules, bringing lion parts to the US will be banned in most circumstances if the animal is from a country where lions are endangered. Hunters will have to show the trophies were "legally obtained" from countries that have a scientifically sound management program that benefits the subspecies in the wild. This regulation is expected to place a far greater burden of proof upon hunters who claim that the money from lion hunting has been used to help communities in Africa and the overall conservation of lions. The persistent downward trend in lion numbers, due to habitat loss and hunting by locals and foreign tourists, suggests there has been little conservation benefit from organized hunts. An international study, published in September, found African lion numbers have decreased by half since 1993, with a further 50% decline expected over the next 20 years for populations in west, central and east Africa. "The lion is one of the planet's most beloved species and an irreplaceable part of our shared global heritage," said Dan Ashe, director of the FWS. "If we want to ensure that healthy lion populations continue to wander around the African savannas and forests of India, it's up to all of us--not just the people of Africa and India--to take action." Why is the move of US significant? A The lions have been killed and imported by American hunters. B That is due to habitat loss and hunting by locals and foreign tourists. C Around half of all lion hunting in Africa is conducted by Americans. D The money from lion hunting has been used to help communities in Africa . Answer: C. Around half of all lion hunting in Africa is conducted by Americans. If a thing is going to consume something that moves it is A nursing B birthing C perusing D grazing Answer: C. perusing Every year on April 1, April Fools' Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. In France, it's called Poisson d'Avril or "Fish of April." In Scotland, the holiday is often called "Gowkie Day." In Iraq, the holiday is called Kithbet Neesan or "April Lie." History experts say people have celebrated April Fools' Day for a long time. Some believe the tradition comes from the ancient Romans more than two thousand years ago. It was a day of playing games and pretending to be someone else. Others say the day for fooling began in France in 1564, when King Charles changed the yearly calendar . He moved New Year's Day from April 1 to January 1. Many people did not know about the change because of communication problems back then. Some people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people called them April Fools and played jokes on them. In the United States, April Fools' Day is just a day of joking and playing tricks on friends. These kinds of jokes are also called pranks. These jokes typically end in the prankster shouting "April Fools'!" Simple pranks, like telling a friend a funny lie or making prank phone calls, are still common. But, major companies also get in on April Fools' Day fun in a much bigger way. A few years ago, on April 1, Starbucks announced it was introducing new coffee cup sizes -- Plenta and Micra. The very large cups, bigger than a human head, remained useful for customers even after finishing all that coffee. According to Starbucks, the cups could be used as a rain hat, a pot for plants, or a lampshade . It did not take long for customers to catch on to the prank! More and more, people use social media or smart phone apps to play pranks on their friends on April Fools' Day. One very annoying smart phone app, Cat Facts, sends funny facts about cats to your friends' phones, every day. What is not true about "April Fools' Day"? A It has been celebrated for a long time. B Its tradition comes from the ancient Romans. C French people celebrated it because of not knowing that King Charles changed the yearly calendar. D Different countries have different names for it. Answer: B. Its tradition comes from the ancient Romans. Once a boy went to a palace to ask a wise man what the secret of happiness is. After talking with the boy, the wise man asked the boy to look around the palace and return in two hours. "And , I want to ask you to do something,"said the wise man ."As you look around, carry this spoon with you without making the oil spill ." The boy began walking up and down the stairs of the palace, and he kept his eyes on the spoon all the time. After two hours, he returned. "Well," asked the wise man, "what did you see in my palace?" The boy said that he had seen nothing. "Then go back and enjoy my wonderful world," said the wise man. The boy picked up the spoon and began to look around the palace again. This time, he saw many beautiful things in the palace. When he returned, the wise man asked, "but where are the drops of oil I give you?" The boy saw that the oil was gone. "There is only one piece of advice I can give you," said the wise man. "The secret of happiness is to see all wonders of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon." ,A, B, C, D,, . The story happened _ . A in a university B in a palace C in a restaurant D in a boy's home Answer: B. in a palace When the wax from a candle drips, the wax has reached A its boiling point. B its melting point. C a chemical change. D a physical change. Answer: B. its melting point.
"Why should I care about the environment?" some people ask. There is a very simple reason: We live on the earth, and it is the only place we can live on right now, as we cannot live in space yet. If we treat the earth like a garbage dump, it will become dirty and unlivable. If we treat it well by being eco-conscious, the earth will stay clean and suitable for living, for ourselves and for our children. What is "being eco-conscious"? Being eco-conscious means being aware of your actions, and what you do to the environment. For example, you might think, "Using hairspray is great for fixing my hair." However, if you are eco-conscious, you would ask, "Does this hairspray have CFCs in it? Could I be destroying the earth by using hairspray?" How can I be eco-conscious? You can find many simple ways to help the environment in your everyday life. When you go shopping, bring a bag or a basket with you. Please try not to use plastic bags as much as you can. You can go to work by bike or on foot if it is not far from your home. You can put your rubbish into different bags, which makes it convenient for recycling. You can eat less chewing gum. You can use your own chopsticks instead of the disposable ones in your company or in restaurants. You can put batteries in a special box instead of in garbage bins. You can use the water which has been used for washing vegetables or fruits to clean the floor and the toilet or to water your garden. You can turn off the decorative lights in your room when watching TV. You can turn down your air conditioner by one degree, as this will cause a 10% reduction in energy use. You can use recycled paper. Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil. You can also use recycled glass instead of glass made from raw materials. This will reduce the related air pollution by 20%, and the related water pollution by 50%. Please believe that. If you do a little, it will make a big difference. If your deskmate is an eco-conscious person, he should _ . Answer: As the summer time approaches, more and more commercials and advertisements can be seen on the mass media encouraging students to join English study tours abroad. The purpose of these tours is to provide students with an opportunity to learn English in a native speaking environment and use English in real situations. Parents always believe that their children will automatically speak good English after attending these study tours. However, for me, as an English major and former participant of many English study tours, I find these summer tours ineffective. Parents who send their children abroad for a summer to study English usually believe that the native speaking environment, including the courses, teachers, and host families, can help their children to learn English better. This might be true if the students really study hard and they really get an all-English environment. But the fact is that, most of the time, the tour part is more important than the study part. Although these tours take place in foreign countries, students are rarely exposed in an all-English environment. You will find that, in the morning classes, Taiwanese students would like to stick together and speak Chinese with each other, even though there are some students from other countries. In the afternoon, the students go on a sightseeing excursion with their companions from Taiwan; they speak Chinese of course. In the evening, when students return to the host families, they would stay in their room and share the day with their roommate, another Taiwanese student. People who speak the same language with you is like a log in the ocean when living in a foreign country where you can not express yourself well, so that you would naturally stick with them. This is especially true with children. Another unrealistic expectation parents have for these tours is that the experience of living abroad can make their children more independent and mature. However, maturity does not come overnight. It takes time and practice. The most important of all is that they need a good _ . None of these exist in the study tours. Why are students rarely exposed in an all-English environment? Answer: There are 67 counties in the state of Alabama.Each county is rich with history and its own unique stories.Colbert County, located in the northwest corner of the state, has its share of exciting stories and claims to statewide fame.The county was created on February 6, 1867, and Tuscumbia became the county seat (the town in which the offices of the county government are located). One of the most famous residents of Tuscumbia was Helen Keller.Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880.Her home was a white frame cottage built by her grandparents.Since ivy grew everywhere, the house was called Ivy Green.It was here, at the water pump in the backyard, that Keller learned the word "w-a-t-e-r" with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan.Visitors to Ivy Green can walk under boxwood trees that are 150 years old.The home has furniture that the Keller family used.It also has Keller's Braille books and her original Braille typewriter. Spring Park is Tuscumbia's most popular park and favorite tourist attraction.This park has the world's largest manufactured waterfall called Coldwater Falls.The Spring Park Light and Water Show is an amazing sight to see.It takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at sundown.The water appears to dance to music and colored lights.The music played during the show is recorded by singers and musicians from Alabama. Fame Recording Studios is in the city of Muscle Shoals in Colbert County.The studio is the first successful recording studio in Alabama.It is best known for creating "Southern rock," "Southern soul," and "county soul." Well-known performers like Aretha Franklin and musical groups such as Alabama and Lynyrd have made recordings at this studio. Visitors can continue to explore music in Alabama by visiting the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia.Built in 1990, this site recognizes the musical talents of more than 500 Alabama residents in a wide variety of musical styles, including country and rhythm and blues. Truly, Colbert County has a lot of wonderful locations to visit.Guests will not be disappointed in a visit to this delightful place. Which of the following is TRUE about Alabama and music? Answer: Nature is full of color, from rainbows and roses to butterfly wings and peacock tails. Even the fruits and vegetables you eat have different colors: blue blueberries, red strawberries, green broccoli, and orange carrots. Plant and animals often use color to attract attention. The substances responsible for these colors belong to a class of chemical called antioxidants . Plants make antioxidant to protect themselves from the sun's ultraviolet(UV) light. Ultraviolet light causes chemicals called free radicals to form within plant cells. They can destroy parts of plant. Free radicals also have damaging effects on human beings. Some of these effects like wrinkled skin can be seen. The damage is caused by the free radicals attacking cells in our bodies. Certain cancers and heart disease are linked to free radicals. Our bodies have natural defences for fighting off free radicals. While we are young, our defences are pretty strong. However, they get weaker as we get older. The body's built-in defences can only go so far without extra help. The key to fighting free radicals with fruits and vegetables is to mix and match colors. It's like sunscreen for the inside of your body. Go for a range of very bright colors. Colorful foods contain hundreds of healthy chemicals not found anywhere else. Research into how chemicals in blueberries affect the brain's function in rats suggests that these chemicals may help our own brains work more efficiently. Don't just blame the sun. Ultraviolet light isn't the only source of free radicals. If you breathe polluted air such as smog, automobile exhaust , or wasted gas from a factory, you take in chemicals that also cause such damage. And, the body itself produces free radicals as it processes food. Which of the following not true? Answer: Mr. Smith lives in Toronto. He is a doctor. His wife teaches English in a middle school. They have two children, one is a son called Mike and the other is a daughter. She is only three months. Mike loves the baby very much. He often shows her to the guests. He is young and doesn't go to school. He stays at home to help his mother look after the baby. One day Mike's aunt comes to see the baby. She works in another city and sees the baby foe the first time. Mike shows the baby to his aunt. "Look at the baby, Aunt;" says Mike, "She's beautiful. I think she looks like me." "Does she like playing with you?" asks his aunt. "I don't know," answers the boy, "She can't speak yet." The baby is Mike's _ . Answer:
Why should people conserve gas when fueling their cars? A because it can only be used once B because it is hard to find C because the more it is used the more it costs D because it can mess up their engines Answer: A Nature Love Yolanda loves nature. She loves trees, flowers, grass, singing birds, the sky, and even the wind. She spends a lot of time lying on the grass, looking at the sky, and listening to the birds. One of Yolanda's favorite things to do is to look at the shapes of the big, fluffy clouds. "That one looks like a flower. And that one looks like a boat. There's one that looks like my dog!" she says to herself. She is always surprised and happy to find a new shape. Yolanda's most favorite thing to do is to look at the flowers and bugs that visit her place. She watches and studies all the butterflies, bees, ants, spiders, and even worms that are in her backyard. Yolanda has a wonderful backyard. Her mother has a big, beautiful garden that she helps to take care of. This is how Yolanda is learning to grow and take care of plants. The garden makes the whole yard look beautiful and smell wonderful. And the garden brings in all kinds of amazing birds and insects. Yolanda has lots of pictures of the birds and bugs that come into her backyard. She feels like a kid scientist. Someday, she wants to become a real scientist. Then she can learn all about plants, bugs and nature. What does the backyard garden do? A Brings bugs into Yolanda's house. B Makes shapes like flowers, boats, and dogs. C Brings in birds and clouds. D Makes the yard look beautiful, smell wonderful, brings in birds and insects. Answer: D We use passwords to keep our personal information secret and safe, but some passwords we use may not be as reliable as we think. Splash Data, a computer security company, recently released a list of the 25 worst passwords of 2011.This list is based on the research of _ files containing stolen passwords. According to the list, "password" is the worst and most common password. Many others on the list are numbers in order either forward (for example,1234) or backward. Letters on the keyboard in order, such as "qwerty" are also common, as well as some first names and animals. "Hackers can easily break into many accounts just by trying common passwords again and again, " said Morgan Slain, CEO of Splash Data. How can you make a strong password? It should be eight characters or more, with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols. One way to create a long and easy-to-remember password is to separate short words with spaces or numbers. Having safe passwords is necessary for surfing the Internet safely. But it's not the only thing you must do to keep safety online. Here are some other web safety tips: Never give out information that will allow someone to find you offline. That includes your full name, address and phone number. Don't include your real name as part of your online screen name. *Never meet people you met on the Internet in person. If you insist on breaking this rule, meet in a very public place and consider taking an adult with you. Top 10 worst passwords: 1.password 2. 123456 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. abc123 6. monkey 7. 1234567 8. letmein 9.trustno1 10. dragon Which of the following is NOT true? A Animal names can be very safe passwords. B You can meet people you met on the Internet in person in a very public place. C You can't use your real names as part of your online screen name. D It's necessary to have a password for surfing the Internet safely. Answer: A A farmer was put in prison . One day, he got a letter from his wife. "I am worried about our farm," she wrote. "It's time to plant potatoes, but I can't do all the digging by myself." The farmer thought over and then had an idea. He wrote to his wife, "Don't dig the fields. This is where my gold is. Don't plant potatoes until I come home." A few days later, the farmer got another letter from his wife. It said, "Two days ago, about ten prison guards came to our fields. It looked as if they were looking for something. They have dug our field." The farmer wrote to his wife at once. "Now you can plant our potatoes," he wrote. The farmer was put in prison _ . A because he had done something wrong B because he had a lot of gold in the fields C The writer didn't say anything about why the farmer was put in prison D For nothing Answer: C Sometimes life gets a little dull. What used to be fun and different becomes boring. That is the time to look for something new. It is the time for a big idea to get your mind off everyday life. So why not search for extraterrestrial intelligence? Or even better, why not get your computer to do it for you? Over two million people have joined the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence(SETI)project. Based in California, the SETI project analyzes information taken from a giant radio telescope based in South America. Its task is to look for signals from outer space that might prove that life exists on other planets. Processing this information is far too big a job for one computer. So the SETI project workers divide the work among volunteers who visit their website. Each computer gets some information to work out from the SETI network through the Internet. This process is often known as "meta-computing". It is a wonderful thought. You are sleeping, eating a meal or going out with friends. All this time, your computer is searching the stars for signs that might show something is out there trying to get in touch. Volunteers are proud of being involved in the SETI project. It shows that they understand the potential of computing. They know that it is more than just a way of working or playing games. Meta-computing may also be creating intelligence as well as looking for _ . This idea is based on the theory that human intelligence is created by the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other. As the saying goes, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." People who join the SETI project sometimes wonder whether their computer will become part of a huge network that has learned to think for itself. According to the writer, meta-computing may be creating intelligence _ . A because human beings are intelligent B because a computer works as the brain does C because of a network of many computers D because of the number of computers Answer: C
Question: A horse doesn't think she is beautiful. She goes to see the God, "My God! Thanks for giving me a beautiful body, but I want to be more beautiful." The God says, "What do you want to be like?" The horse says, "If you can make my neck a little longer, my upper body will be more beautiful. And if you can make my legs much thinner, then my lower body will look more beautiful." Then the God makes her become a camel . "Oh, God, I want to become more beautiful. But now ... " says the horse. The God says, "This is what you ask for." The horse cries, "Oh no, I don't want to be a camel!" The God says, "Never try to get more. If you want more and more, you will have no idea what the result will be." What does the horse go to the God for? A. For some nice clothes. B. For some help. C. For many thanks. D. For some friends. Answer: B. For some help. Question: Bangkok has become the world's top tourist destination, with 15.98 million visitors projected to visit Thailand's capital city this year, according to the third annual Global Destination Cities Index released by MasterCard on Monday. Based on data MasterCard collected from governments, central banks, related public agencies and airlines so far this year, the projection for the entire year says Bangkok is surpassing London, the previous holder of the top place, by a very narrow margin. Monday's report marked the first time an Asian city has been projected to be the top-ranked tourist destination. London came in second, with 15.96 million visitors expected in 2013, and Paris, third, with 13.92 million visitors. MasterCard looked at 132 cities. Other Asian cities that made it to the Top-20 Global Destination Cities in 2013 include Singapore at number four, with 11.75 million visitors; Kuala Lumpur at number eight, with 9.2 million visitors; Hong Kong at number nine, with 8.72 million visitors; Seoul at number 11, with 8.19 million visitors; Shanghai at number 14, with 6.5 million visitors, Tokyo at number 16, with 5.8 million visitors, and Taipei, with 5.19 million visitors. The study found that Bangkok is experiencing a large increase in its number of tourists in 2013, up 9.8% from 2009. That compares to New York's increase at 5.0% and London's at 3.8%. Paris, meanwhile, saw a small dip in its number of tourists (negative 0.7%). Caroline Lledo, who was visiting Bangkok from France, said Thailand has many offerings. "We like culture and the people are so nice. We also love shopping here," Ms. Lledo said. MasterCard Worldwide's global economic adviser Yuwa Hedrick-Wong cited overall value for money spent for why Bangkok is attractive. That is true for Thailand overall as well. From the passage we can know that _ . A. Bangkok defeated London by a wide margin B. there are 15.96 million visitors visiting London in 2013 C. Paris is experiencing an increase in its number of tourists D. London topped List of World's Tourist Destinations in 2012 Answer: D. London topped List of World's Tourist Destinations in 2012 Question: Bicycle sharing systems are also known as yellow bicycle programs, white bicycle programs, public bikes, or free bikes. They are increasingly popular in Europe now. Paris has the world's largest urban cycle rental system. This is a bike rental station in Paris. The worker is showing how to use a new self-service bike. They say that Paris will become "a green capital of bikes" and they plan to park 20,000 bicycles at 1,600 stations. Paris created this plan to improve the city traffic environment and reduce the waste gas displacement . At a rental station, you only have to put your credit card into the machine to rent a bike. It provides French, German, English and Chinese services. If you ride the bike for only 30 minutes to relax, you needn't pay for it. A two-hour bike rent only costs you 4 euros. These stations work for 24 hours every day, so a bike is rented for 10 to 14 times a day. In this way there are 200,000 people using bikes a day, In the past few years, Paris has encouraged its people to ride bikes, but something unhappy has happened now and then. Some people break the traffic rules during rush hours. Some park their bikes everywhere. So how to park bikes is a problem that Paris will face. But this project is still a helpful way to improve its traffic environment. Don't you think so? From the passage we can infer that the author _ . A. thinks bicycle rental systems are great B. doesn't agree the idea of bicycle rental system C. thinks Paris is a bicycle capital D. thinks bikes are better than cars Answer: A. thinks bicycle rental systems are great Question: In 1940, Cattle Company paid $30,000 for a 150- acre tract of agricultural land well suited for a cattle feedlot. The tract was 10 miles from the city of Metropolis, then a community of 50,000 people, and five miles from the nearest home. By 1976, the city limits extended to Cattle Company's feedlot, and the city had a population of 350,000. About 10,000 people lived within three miles of the cattle-feeding operation. The Cattle Company land is outside the city limits and no zoning ordinance applies. The Cattle Company land is now worth $300,000, and $25,000 has been invested in buildings and pens. Cattle Company, conscious of its obligations to its neighbors, uses the best and most sanitary feedlot procedures, including chemical sprays, to keep down flies and odors, and frequently removes manure. Despite these measures, residents of Metropolis complain of flies and odors. An action has been filed by five individual homeowners who live within half a mile of the Cattle Company feedlot. The plaintiffs' homes are valued currently at $25,000 to $40,000 each. Flies in the area are five to ten times more numerous than in other parts of Metropolis, and extremely obnoxious odors are frequently carried by the wind to the plaintiffs' homes. The flies and odors are a substantial health hazard."If plaintiffs assert a claim based on public nuisance, plaintiffs will A. prevail if plaintiffs sustained harm different from that suffered by the public at large. B. prevail if Cattle Company's acts interfered with any person's enjoyment of his property. C. not prevail, because only the state may bring an action based on public nuisance. D. not prevail, because plaintiffs came to the nuisance Answer: A. prevail if plaintiffs sustained harm different from that suffered by the public at large. Question: Papa's Straw Hat Papa was a ranger. He worked with horses. He always wore clean clothes with a hat even when he worked. His hat was always the same kind of a cowboy hat- large black hat of heavy wool. He wore his hat full and high. I think he wanted to look taller than he really was. Mama was proud of the way he looked when he wore his hat and his best clothes. But in some way she got the idea that papa would lose his hair if he kept wearing a heavy wool cowboy hat in the hot weather. She began to talk about his hats. "Papa," she said one day, "why don't you get a nice cool straw hat? That heavy wool cowboy hat may cause losing hair!" Papa laughed at her and explained that the horses wouldn't recognize him if he changed the hat. But she didn't believe him. Mama talked and talked about the hat all summer long. At last papa answered, a little angry, "It would not the cowboy hat but a wife's talking about the hat that makes me lose my hair." Mama had a very serious look on her face. She went straight out and later came home with a straw hat. It was a bad year for ranger and we didn't have much money. She thought that if she spent the money for a straw hat, papa would wear it. When papa saw the hat, his face got red. Without a word, he pulled the straw hat down over his head until it hid his eyes and went on to train the horses. He was a good ranger and gentle to his horses. But as papa got close to the horses this time, they jumped high into the air, raising their front feet. All of them ran around in the rounded field and then raced toward the barn. Papa began to shout "Woo boys. Steady boys, steady." But there was nothing equal to. Papa walked back straight to the stove in the kitchen, pushed the straw hat deep down into the fire then turned to mama, in a way that even frightened me. "Now listen to me, mama. Understand this I will never wear a straw hat or any other kind of hat my horses do not like." Then he put on his wool cowboy hat and walked out of the house. I never heard mama talk any more about hats. Perhaps, that is why when papa died many years later, there was a round spot on the top of his head where there was no hair. What quality can we learn from papa? A. Gentle. B. Patient. C. Committed. D. Modest. Answer: C. Committed.
Much has been written about body language during a job interview. Experts from across many fields are full of advice on just how to present your best performance in an interview using conscious body language choices. While many of these experts say there is a "secret" system for making the most of an interview, the reality is that most of them focus on a few general types of behavior that have the greatest effect during a job interview. Entering the interview location -- Your walk should be active and confident. Keep your shoulders straight, head up, and make eye contact with the people around you. Maintain an active facial expression and be confident when shaking hands and greeting people to whom you are introduced. During the interview -- Sit in a straight and attentive posture. Never let your shoulders drop or your head hang down, but rather keep your head up and make eye contact with the interviewers. Don't play with any papers or notes you have in front of you, and don't lean your arms heavily on the table. Keep your body position open and make eye contact while listening to and answering questions. Leaving the interview location--No matter how you feel about your performance during the interview, carry yourself with confidence till you leave the interview location. Be confident when shaking hands and making eye contact as you say goodbye, and keep your body posture straight as you walk all the way to your car. Remember, the more you make active and confident body language a part of your daily life, the more it becomes a habit that follows you wherever you go. It can be inferred from the text that _ . Answer: active body language helps a lot in an interview Annealing is a way of making metal softer by heating it and then letting it cool very slowly. If metal is heated and then cooled very quickly , for example by dipping it in water , it will be very hard but also very brittle ---that is , It will break easily. Metal that has been annealed is soft but does not break as easily . It is possible to make metal as hard or as soft as is wished, by annealing it. The metal is heated, and allowed to cool slowly , for a certain length of time. The longer the heated metal takes to cool slowly , the softer it becomes . Annealing can also be used on other materials, such as glass. Why do people put hot metal in water ? _ Answer: To make it hard There was once a man called Mr. Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life. He spent all his spare time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions, he tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup for the Rose of the Year. Mr. Flowers' glass-houses were very close to a middle school. Boys of around thirteen years of age were often tempted to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flowers' glass-houses. So Mr. Flower did his best to be in or close by his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day. But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing had been useful. He had been to report to the headmaster, but this bad not done any good. He had tried to drive away the boys when they threw stones. He had even picked up all the stones around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw, but they soon found others. At last Mr. Flowers had a good idea. He put up a large notice. It was made of good, strong wood. It was some meters away from the glass-houses. On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After that, Mr Flowers had no further trouble: The boys were much more attempted to throw stoned at the notice than at the glass-houses. Mr Flowers stayed in or close by his glass-houses _ Answer: at times when school-boys were walking near them Uncertainty spreads through our lives so thoroughly that it dominates our language. Our everyday speech is made up in large part of words like probably, many, soon, great, little. What do these words mean?Such verbal expression is not necessarily to be criticized. Indeed, it has a value just because it allows us to express judgments when a precise quantitative statement is out of the question. We have been trying to pin down by experiments what people mean by these expressions in specific contexts, and how the meanings change with age. For instance, a subject is told "There are many trees in the park" and is asked to say what number the word many mean to him. Or a child is invited to take "some" sweets from a bowl and we then count how many he has taken. We compare the number he takes when he is alone with the number when one or more other children are present and are to take some sweets after him, or with the number he takes when told to give "some" sweets to another child. First, we find that the number depends, of course, on the items involved. To most people some friends means about five, while some trees means about twenty. However, unrelated areas sometimes show parallel values. For instance, the language of probability seems to mean about the same thing in predictions about the weather and about politics: the expression "is certain to" (rain, or be elected) signifies to the average person about a 70 percent chance; "is likely to", about a 60 percent chance; "probably will" about 55 percent. Secondly, the size of the population of items influences the value assigned to an expression. Thus, if we tell a subject to take "a few" or " a lot of" glass balls from a box, he will take more if the box contains a large number of glass balls than if it has a small number. But not proportionately more: if we increase the number of glass balls eight times, the subject takes only half as large a percentage of the total. Thirdly, there is a marked change with age. Among children between six and fourteen years old, the older the child, the fewer glass balls he will take. But the difference between a lot and a few widens with age. This age effect is so consistent that it might be used as a test of intelligence. Why do we do experiments with the words "many" and "some"? Answer: To find out how the meanings vary with age and contexts. You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing ( )tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible! Communicating with negative ( ) people can wash your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time. Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win other's pity or respect. When you communicate with positive people, your spirits stay happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down. Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker, or relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to negative person, but all this is to lower you to that same negative level and they won't feel ashamed of themselves about that. Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible. What can we learn about negativity? Answer: Its effect can last.
Question: 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. According to the passage, we shouldn't make calls _ . A. in restaurants B. on buses C. at the movies D. on the street Answer: C. at the movies Question: Walking is the exercise of choice for most dieters. You don't need a gym membership to do this effective exercise. Here's how to prepare: The only equipment you really need is a decent pair of walking shoes. What matters most is comfort. When you're shopping for shoes: Wear the socks you plan to exercise in. That way you'll get the best fit. Try on both shoes. Most people's feet aren't exactly the same size. Choose a pair that fits your larger foot. Allow a little extra room. Feet swell when you walk, so buy a pair with about a thumb's width between your longest toe and the toe of the shoe. Sure, walking comes naturally. But the following tips will help you stay comfortable and get the most out of your walk: Look ahead. Keep your neck straight and your head held high. If you have to look down to see where you're going, lower your eyes, not your head. Move both arms. Let your arms swing naturally at your sides, and you'll burn up to 15 percent more calories by keeping your arms moving. Don't carry unnecessary weight. Some people try to get in extra exercise by carrying a couple of light dumbbells , but fitness-walking experts say that's risky: The weights can pull you off balance and tighten muscles in your back or legs. Walking is one of the safest activities. Still, the following tips may be helpful: If you're walking at night, wear a piece of reflective clothing. If the path is dimly lit, bring a good flashlight. When the weather's hot, be sure to drink some water before you set out and better take a bottle of water with you if you plan to walk quite a long time. If your path is rough, protect your ankles. Consider wearing a comfortable bandage for support. What can be inferred about the author of the text? A. He/She once got his/her legs injured while walking carrying light dumb-bells. B. He/She might live in a small town with dimly lit streets. C. He/She needs just a decent pair of walking shoes while walking. D. He/She is quite experienced in the exercise of walking. Answer: D. He/She is quite experienced in the exercise of walking. Question: Have you dreamed of traveling to cool places, meeting different people, and maybe picking up a language or two? No matter which country you live in, you can fly over the world's highest waterfalls in Venezuela, study in France or take dancing lessons in Ghana. Besides the excitement of traveling, there is another reason to study abroad. "Obviously, I learned the language and am now fluent, but perhaps what's more important was how much I learned about cultures, people, and myself." said Andrew, who studied in France. Christina studied in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 10 million people and a huge change from her hometown of 35,000! Christina said she learned how to better speak for herself and her beliefs and to express herself in another language. What could make you more confident than that? Living away from home can also help you become adapted to the transition to college and adulthood. Matthew said that he returned from studying in Australia with confidence, and a real interest in international affairs. "After having gone abroad in high school, _ -- moving 560 miles from home didn't seem difficult at all after having lived thousands of miles away. " Speaking of college, improving your language skills might help you get into ideal colleges and even land future jobs. Colleges and employers know that studying abroad provides leadership skills in a world that needs much communication. Most of all, it's fun! You won't suffer from the general boredom while you're studying in a different learning environment. What does the text mainly talk about? A. The advantages of studying abroad. B. What to prepare to study abroad. C. The experiences of studying abroad. D. Different opinions on studying abroad. Answer: A. The advantages of studying abroad. Question: In recent years, the world has made progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five. A new report says an estimated 6.9 million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. That compares to about twelve million in1990. The report says child _ rates have fallen in all areas. It says the number of deaths is down by at least 50 percent in eastern, western and southeastern Asia. The number also fell in North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Ties Boerma is head of the WHO's Department of Health Statistics and Informatics. He says most child deaths happen in just a few areas. TIES BOERMA: "Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia face the greatest challenges in child survival. More than eighty percent of child deaths in the world occur in these two regions. About half of child deaths occur in just five countries--India, which actually takes twenty-four percent of the global total; Nigeria, eleven percent; the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven percent; Pakistan, five percent and China, four percent of under-five deaths in the world." Ties Boerma notes that, in developed countries, one child in one hundred fifty-two dies before his or her fifth birthday. But south of the Sahara Desert, one out of nine children dies before the age of five. In Asia, the mortality rate is one in sixteen. The report lists the top five causes of death among children under five worldwide. They are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and problems both before and during birth. Tessa Wardlaw is with the U-N Children's Fund. She is pleased with the progress being made in Sub-Saharan Africa. The area has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. But she says the rate of decline in child deaths has more than doubled in Africa. TESSA WARDLAW: "We welcome the widespread progress in child survival, but we importantly want to stress that there's a lot of work that remains to be done. There's unfinished business and the fact is that today on average, around nineteen thousand children are still dying every day from largely preventable causes." The World Health Organization says one way to solve these problems is to make sure health care services are available to women. In this way, medical problems can be avoided or treated when identified. According to the passage, the readers are likely to believe that _ . A. child mortality rates have fallen just in five areas B. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world C. in developed countries, no children die before the age of five D. the world has made little progress in reducing the rates of child mortality Answer: B. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world Question: Everyone has got two personalities - the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don't show your secret personality when you're awake because you can control your behavior, but when you're asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in. If you go to sleep on your back, you're a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don't like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You're quite shy and you aren't very confident. If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and you're always easily upset. You're very stubborn, but you aren't very ambitious. You usually live for today not for tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time. If you sleep on curled up, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so it is easy for you to get angry. You're shy and you don't normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You're easily hurt. If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weakness. You're usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don't often get upset. You always say what you think even if it makes people angry. According to the writer, you naturally show your secret and real personality _ . A. only in a normal night B. only when you go to sleep C. only when you refuse to show yourself to the world D. only when you change sleeping position Answer: B. only when you go to sleep
Question: Here are a few of our favorite entries so far in our "Your Life: The Reader's Digest Version" contest.After reading these, head over to Face book and sublimit your own story a-bout a special moment or lesson that shaped your life. "There's Always a John" By Darla Boyd My first year of teaching, there was a kid named John in my class. John was difficult to control and he nearly drove me crazy. While talking about him one day, an old teacher put his hand on my shoulder and said, "There will always be a John. Your job is to learn to discover what makes him different and help him succeed." The next year, there was indeed another John. But that advice taught me that there is something to appreciate in everyone. "An Early Key Lesson" By Elaine West Before I began my first teaching job, my mother, a teacher of 30 years, gave me a very special gift, five simple words that have had an effect on my entire life. "Make friends with the janitor ." Her wisdom taught me the respect for all types of characters and continues to enrich my life to this day. Just five little words but what an impact they can have when you take them to heart. "Raising Mommy" By Jan Davis Being a mother can always present challenges and rewards. Someone told me early that children will teach you everything you need to know. Being a mother is being raised. Our children become our advisers. Their dreams become our professors, as we are taking notes carefully. The sounds of their laughter and smiles are a great reward to us. Their tears remind us that it is okey to fail, and that we should wipe the tears away and try again. Which of the following would Jan Davis roust probably agree withal A. A mother should be given more care. B. A mother improves herself greatly in parenting. C. Being a mother has more challenges than rewards. D. Children should realize the dreams of their parents. Answer: B Question: Earlier this week, I wrapped up a 5-day trip in San Francisco. I woke up a few hours before sunrise, drove through the darkness and out of the city, hiked for 30 minutes to the top of a hill overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, and snapped this photo. As I stood there soaking in the early morning light, I was reminded of an important lesson. When I arrived in San Francisco, I told myself, "Just take photos as you do other things." My primary goal was to meet with friends and so I figured I could take pictures as we walked around the city. This resulted in exactly zero photos worth sharing. I had vague ideas like, "I'd like to do some street photography," but I never went out with the intent of photographing something specific. Finally, on the last morning, I went out with the intent of capturing a specific picture and I ended up with something worth sharing. My mistake was that I assumed that because I wanted to take photos, I would end up getting a desirable result. How often do you do this in your own life? We go to the gym to "work out" without trying to become better at something specific. We wish that we were more creative, but never work on a particular project. When you commit to a task, however, then the next step is obvious. You want to take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise? Next step: find a good spot. You've found a good spot? Next step: wake up early and drive there. This is perhaps the most shocking thing: if box yourself in, then you'll begin to break out and achieve something greater than you ever imagined. What are you advised to do first when you want to get stronger physically? A. Make a detailed outline. B. Go to work out immediately. C. Discuss the ways with coaches. D. Choose a certain muscle group. Answer: D Question: Today, we'll visit a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides evidence of very real danger. We are exploring Death Valley National Park . Death Valley is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of California into the neighboring state of Nevada. Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous desert and mountains. There are mountains that reach more than 3,000 meters into the sky. Much of Death Valley is flat and dry. In some areas the ground is nothing but salt. Nothing is able to grow in this salty ground. However, it would be wrong to think that nothing lives in Death Valley. The valley is full of life. Wildflowers grow very quickly after even a small amount of rain. Several kinds of birds live in Death Valley, as do mammals and reptiles. Many different snakes live there too. The area got its name in 1849. That was the year after gold was discovered in California. Thousands of people from around the country traveled to the gold mining areas of the state. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley. But there was a lack of water and there were too few plants for their work animals to eat. The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the valley. Slowly, they began to suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the valley. As they left, a woman in the group looked back and said, "Goodbye, death valley." The name has never been changed. Death Valley became a national park in 1994. More than one million people visit the park each year. Which of the following statements is NOT right? A. Death Valley extends from California to Nevada. B. Wildlife can live in Death Valley. C. Gold was discovered in California after Death Valley got its name. D. Death Valley didn't become a national park until 1994. Answer: C Question: In today's class, I will teach you how to send birthday e-cards to friends anywhere in the world without leaving our classroom.I'll show it to you on 123 Greetings, which is one of the most popular free-card websites. Step 1 Connect your computer to the Internet and go to 123 Greetings.Click "Happy Birthday".You will see hundreds of e-cards.Choose the card you'd like to send. Step 2 Design your e-card.After clicking the card you want, you'll see the "Design" menu.In it you can find many things you can change to suit your taste, such as the colors and music. Step 3 Add your message in the message box.The message box provides space for you to type a message.Think of something special and type the message into the box. Step 4 Enter your e-mail address.Then enter the e-mail address of the recipient.Choose whether you want to be notified when your birthday e-card has been read.You can also choose whether to send the card immediately or at a later time. How many steps should you take to send a birthday e-cards to your friends? A. One . B. Three. C. Five. D. Seven. Answer: C Question: Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, California in 1940. His farther was a movie actor. Young Bruce appeared in his first movie with his farther when he was only two months old. Bruce and his parents returned to their home in Hong Kong in 1941. Bruce began to act in Chinese movies at the age of six. In Hong Kong, Bruce Lee began his life-long interest in the Chinese Kung Fu. He studied with Yip Man, a Kung Fu master. Bruce was also often seen in many street fights. His parents decided this must stop. They sent him back to the United States. He became a student at the University of Washington in Seattle. Later he opened a school to teach Kung Fu in Oakland,California. In 1966, Bruce Lee acted in an American television series called The Green Hornet .The program was not a success, but many Hollywood movie actors began studying Kung Fu with him. He appeared in several other television programs. Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong in 1971 to act in a Chinese movie known in the United States as Fists of Fury. The movie was extremely popular in Asia. He followed this with another film, The Chinese Connection. It too was extremely popular. In 1973, Bruce Lee made his most famous movie, Enter the Dragon. It was the first movie made between American and Chinese movie companies. It became _ which made Bruce Lee a world famous movie star. Bruce Lee died a few weeks before the movie was put on. He was 32 years old. It's said that his early death ended what would have been a very successful movie career. What was Bruce Lee interested in all his life? A. Acting B. Kung Fu C. Fighting D. Films Answer: B
Question: Feeling tired lately? Has a doctor said he can't find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he sent you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows that there is nothing wrong with you. Then, consider this: you might be in a state of subhealth. Subhealth, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as a borderline state between health and disease. According to the study by the National Health Organization, over 45 percent of subhealthy people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management position as well as students around exam time. Symptoms include a lack of energy, depression, slow reactions, sleeplessness, anxiety, and poor memory. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs. The key to preventing and recovering from subhealth, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternately work with rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities. As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar. They should eat more fresh vegetables, fruits and fish because they are rich in nutritional elements-vitamins and trace elements that are important to the body. Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract . They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding subhealth. According to this passage, which of the following is right? A. When you are in a state of subhealth, you should be sent to a hospital. B. When you are in a state of subhealth, you should buy some medicine and quit your job. C. When you are in a state of subhealth, you should find out the reasons and relax yourself. D. When you are in a state of subhealth, you should have yourself examined in foreign countries. Answer: C Question: Do you know what Fear and Faith have in common? Fear believes in a negative future. Faith believes in a positive future. Both believe in something that has not yet happened. So I ask you, if neither the positive nor negative future has happened yet then why not choose to believe in the positive future? I believe during these challenging times we have a choice between two roads: the positive road and the negative road. And our bus can't be on two roads at the same time. So we have to make a choice and this choice determines our belief about the future and the attitude and actions we bring to the present. I'm not saying we shouldn't have any fear. There are times when fear is a gift. A healthy dose of fear causes us to examine our situation and plan for the future. It moves us to smell the cheese and expect change. When used wisely it allows us to manage risk and make better decisions. Some fear is good. However, what I have observed lately is a supersized, huge dose of fear that is spreading the hearts and minds of far too many people. This oversized fear is causing leaders and their organizations to either act unreasonably or to not act at all. They are either hurrying in a million different directions because of fear. In both cases, fear is leading them to take the negative road to failure. The answer is the positive road paved with faith and a belief that your best days are not behind you but ahead of you. With this belief you make the right choices and actions today that will create your positive future tomorrow. You stay calm, focused and committed to your purpose. You look for ways to save money and cut costs without making unreasonable fear-based decisions that sacrifice your future success. You identify opportunities in the midst of the challenges and you focus on solutions instead of problems. Your faith and belief in a positive future leads to powerful actions today. The future has not happened yet and you have a say in what it looks like by the way you think and act. Fear or Faith. The choice is yours. According to the passage, we can know that _ . A. both Fear and Faith trust something in the future B. Fear and Faith have nothing in common C. neither negative nor positive future will happen D. people usually choose to believe in the positive future Answer: A Question: Marlene Dietrich is finally to be honored by her home city, Berlin. For more than half a century, the famous film star won huge fame in Hollywood, but remained a highly controversial figure in Germany. When the city's new film museum is opened on September 26, three of its 15 rooms will show the star's possessions collected over a lifetime. In addition to various collections by Marlene, visitors will be able to see all Marlene Dietrich's movies. There will also be key except for a vast range of Germany-made films. Dietrich became a world star after her wonderful performance in a movie. After that, _ , horrified by the sudden movement of Nazi in her hometown. A few years after the war, the star was persuaded to pay a short visit to Berlin. But the trip proved a disaster. At a city hall gathering in West Berlin, crowds turned out to see her, but not all friendly. She was attacked at times. She found herself being blamed for wearing an American uniform during the war to please U.S. troops in Europe. She was also scolded for "turning her back on the country". Dietrich, deeply hurt, decided she would never return to Berlin again. But she softened her judgment. When she died in Paris in 1972, it was at her express wish that her body should be sent back to Berlin for burial alongside her mother in a local cemetery. The famous film star, as a whole, _ . A. hated her country because she was once scolded for betraying Germany B. enjoyed her life in France C. loved her country from her heart D. felt satisfied with her performance Answer: C Question: In order for a crane to operate properly it requires A. sand B. the wind C. solar power D. a fulcrum Answer: D Question: Music is an international language. Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly when they drive streets. Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio when they drive to work. They also listen to the News about sports, the weather, politics , and activities of the American people. Most of the radio broadcast is music. Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in every state . Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tape. Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer. Whenever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star. There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music. It has stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country boy and his girl is called western or country music. Serious music for the concert halls is called classical music. Music for instruments is called orchestra music, such as the symphonies of Beethoven. What's one of the reasons that singers become national stars? A. Their CDs or tapes are used in every state. B. Several young people buy their CDs or tapes. C. They travel around the world. D. They are followed by young people sometimes. Answer: A
Question: Do you know the famous pop singer, Han Geng ? He was born on Feb. 9, 1984.In fact, he is really a handsome boy. He is 181cm high. He can dance, sing , and do a little Kungfu He is in the famous group of Super Junior. I think he sings best .He is my favorite singer. He not only loves singing and dancing very much but also can dance 56 kinds of dances. And he can also play in the movie very well. He loves the stage very much and he loves his fans very much ,too. Everyone who knows him says he is really a kind boy. His best friend is Kim Heechul, who also belongs to the Super Junior. They are best friends in the group. Which is NOT true according to the passage? A. Han Geng is kind. B. Kim is Han's best friend C. Han Geng is 30 years old in 2010 D. Han Geng is a famous pop singer. Answer: C. Han Geng is 30 years old in 2010 Question: The direction water flows in a river depends on A. the length of the river B. the slope of the land C. the type of rock over which the water flows D. the location of the North Pole Answer: B. the slope of the land Question: More and more Chinese mainland buyers have in the past few weeks been queuing to cross the border into Hong Kong to _ growing financial pressure led by rising food prices at home. Their shopping baskets are full of sugar, salt and even tissue paper. While prices are rising so fast, many people are worrying out ways to cut down their expenses. Du Zhenqi, an 80-year-old Beijinger, grows different vegetables in the community yard. But this year, before they turned ripe, they were all picked by his neighbors. "The prices of vegetables have gone up dramatically," said Du. "So I understand those people and it pleased me to offer them my help." Du expressed his sympathy for these who took away his vegetables without permission. The rise of food price in China has made people with low incomes feel serious financial pressure and forced them to spend wisely. A collection of practical money-saving tips is thus becoming increasingly popular among Chinese citizens. If you search "money-saving strategies" in Baidu, you will find 4.27 million entries in 0.19 seconds. The collection provides tips such as choosing local and seasonal products, avoiding buying vegetables on rainy or snowy days when higher transport costs increase prices, using websites for purchases, and planting vegetables on the balcony. Some consider buying in large quantity to stay within a tight budget. Fei Yuqin, who lives in Shanghai, frequently hurries to a farmers' market before 6 a.m. to buy large amounts of vegetables for her family and neighbors. "Instead of buying small amounts, I buy large amounts of vegetables at the market and get a 50-percent discount." With these tips, many people have become experts in cutting household expenses. However, financial pressure caused by the current round of price rising still troubles many Chinese people. The text is mainly about _ . A. a pleasant journey for mainland Chinese to Hong Kong B. practical strategies in cutting the household expenses C. some popular tips on using websites for purchases D. solutions to the problems happening in neighborhood Answer: B. practical strategies in cutting the household expenses Question: A famous foreign company in China wanted a Clerk for its public relation department . A beautiful girl with a master's degree went through a lot of challenges and her name was on the list. In the final stage she faced an interview together -with another girl. Both of them were outstanding , not only in looks but also in education. The girl was successful in the interview. It seemed that she would get the chance. At last the examiner asked her, "Can you come to the office next Monday?" Shocked by the unexpected question, the beautiful girl couldn't make a decision at the moment, so she said, "I have to talk with my parents before I give an answer. " The examiner felt surprised but said calmly, "If so, let' s wait till you are ready. " The next day, the girl came to tell the examiner that her parents had agreed to let her begin work next Monday. But the examiner said regretfully , "Sorry, another suitable candidate has got the job. You had better try another place. "The beautiful girl was surprised. She asked for an explanation and was told, "What is needed here is a person who knows her own mind. " That was how a good opportunity _ a beautiful girl ran away. The beautiful girl wanted to ask her parents for advice because _ A. she didn't like the job B. she didn't expect the examiner would ask such a question C. she didn't want to answer the question D. her parents would be angry if she didn't ask them Answer: B. she didn't expect the examiner would ask such a question Question: I learned about life from an ant farm. When I was seven years old, my family created one. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box and put the ants into it. Soon they got to work making tunnels. I was amazed that each one knew exactly what to do. With my mom's help, I kept a record of what happened each day and named the ants. One day when I had put my face close to the structure (building), accidentally I knocked it over, and all the tunnels fell in. Although the ants survived their earthquake, one by one they began to die. I was frightened as I watched them give up their tunnel-building to carry the bodies to a corner of the farm. My mother reported that the ants were dying of "frustration ". They simply could not stand the reality that their tunnels had been destroyed. Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Over the years, I came to realize the ants have the spirit of teamwork. Working together, they were able to create an amazing world for themselves. I also learned that they should be admired for their hard work. Day in and day out, each worked at their task. The ant farm showed that teamwork and perseverance are indeed the keys to success. But there was an even larger lesson that I did not realize until recently --Adversity is a natural part of life, and must be accepted. Unlike the ants, humans cannot give up when they face disappointment. So I try to live my life like those hardworking ants. But, unlike them, I try not to let frustration defeat me. I will have to keep building my tunnels. Which of the following is NOT the lesson from the ant farm? A. The ants have the spirit of teamwork. B. The ants give up when they face frustration. C. The ants should be admired for their hard work. D. Teamwork and perseverance are indeed the keys to success. Answer: B. The ants give up when they face frustration.
All it took was a slice of Xinjiang cake to spark heated debates online over China's policy on ethnic minorities . Since Monday, qiegao (cut cake) has been a trending topic on Sina Weibo, China's main Twitter-like microblogging service. The cake was a reference to Xinjiang's famed nut cake, sometimes known by its old Turkic name baklava, a popular pastry across Central Asia and the Middle East. In Xinjiang, they are sold by Uygur vendors on tricycles who are known to charge dubious prices depending on the time and season. The ethnic flare-up started after the Yueyang police from Hunan province posted a message on their official Weibo account. It reported a dispute in Pingjiang county over an overpriced piece of nut cake between a Xinjiang Uygur vendor and a villager named "Ling". Villager Ling got into a fight with a Uygur due to a misunderstanding. The verbal dispute eventually escalated into a fight and then a mass fight. As a result, two people were injured and Xinjiang nut cakes worth about 160,000 yuan (US$25,000) were destroyed. The total damage was worth 200,000 yuan which included a broken motorcycle and injuries to people. Local police have detained Ling. The 16 Uygur sellers were dully compensated and sent back to Xinjiang. "Yueyang police incident" quickly became one of the most popular topics on Weibo. Yueyang police removed the post shortly after. As of Tuesday night, the topic was still amassing more than 66,000 hits. The incident is just one of many similar cases of ethnic tensions across China, notably in Xinjiang province, where deeply entrenched social and racial frictions between the dominant ethnic Han Chinese and minority Uygur Muslims occasionally spark violence. Many Uygurs living in major Chinese cities are viewed by locals as thieves, crooks and even terrorists. Where is this passage probably from? Answer: CHANGSHA,Feb.14(Xinhua)----Areas of China affected by the recent severe weather have shifted from emergency work to reconstruction,with transport and power supplies returning to normal. The government of central Hunan Province.one of the areas hardest hit by the worst weather in half a century,said that it would offer a subsidy of 5,000 yuan(694 U. S. dollars)to each household whose residence was destroyed.Around 67,000 houses in prefix = st1 /Hunancollapsed in the snowy weather,which persisted from mid-January through late in the month. The provincial civil affairs authorities have started checking those in need of government help,pledging they could move to new houses by May. According to the latest official statistics,snow-related _ killed 107 people and caused 111.1 billion yuan in direct losses.In a11,21 provinces,autonomous regions and municipalities have been affected.A total of 354,000 houses collapsed and 1.5 million people were evacuated. Seven provinces--Hunan,Guizhou,Jiangxi,Anhui,Hubei,Zhejiang and Sichuan-and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were the worst-hit areas,the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. In Guangxi,l,332 schools were damaged and more than l,200 classrooms became dangerous. Yu Yizhong,director of the region's education department,urged local education administration bureaus and schools to try to raise funds and launch repair and reconstruction work as soon as possible to ensure the spring term opens as scheduled. The extreme weather aim affected nearly 24.4 million hectares of farmland and 18.6 million ha of forests.Agricultural technicians have been organized to go to rural areas to help farmers with crop planting. On Thursday,nearly 30 agricultural experts in eastern Anhui Province set out for a week-long service journey to snow-stricken rural areas.They will check damage and help farmers replant vegetable fields? Similar technical teams have been organized in other provinces such as Jiangxi to help farmers restore agricultural production. Also in Jiangxi,rural credit cooperatives have provided farmers with loans totaling 3.5 bil1ion yuan. According to the report,the severe weather lasted about_. Answer: According to the Small Business Association, more than 50 percent of all small businesses fail within the first five years. This is not the case for Apiary Fund CEO, Shawn Lucas. Shawn has grown a very successful business focusing on teaching people how to trade foreign currencies. The Apiary Fund not only gives their traders some of the best Forex education possible but also gives their traders money to trade with. The Apiary Fund had a slow start but has now become a company that recently hit $1 billion in trader volume . The Apiary Fund's success has come from the great business concept, and work ethic . * Business Concept The Apiary Fund has a very special but effective business concept, which Shawn Lucas discovered many years ago. You are probably wondering, where did this business concept come from? Shawn, while working as a Financial Advisor, received a phone call one day from a man he hadn't ever spoken to before. The man asked Shawn to go with him to China to do an analysis of a Chinese company's trading systems. The company at the time was under investigation for a possible violation of intellectual property rights. He agreed to go and before he knew it he was on a plane to China. During the analysis of this Chinese company Shawn noticed the company had a very effective business method. He noticed that the risk manager had created a system that protected the company from rarely posting a losing day. The risk manager made this all possible by putting restrictions on the amount a trader could lose. If one of the traders lost even a small amount the risk manager would then be notified . Shawn left China with a business concept that would later consume much of his life. After returning home, Shawn was devoted to creating a similar risk management system as the Chinese company had created. That risk management system turned into a successful business called the Apiary Fund. * Work Ethic The business concept alone didn't magically make the Apiary Fund into a booming business. The Apiary Fund became successful from hard work and devotion. This hard work and devotion has recently brought the Apiary Fund to hit a trading volume high of $1 billion. Shawn Lucas believes that by the end of this year the Apiary Fund can expect to see double or triple that volume. The company has experienced immense growth by making a few changes to their program structure, which has since increased growth by about five times within the last year. Successful businesses are hard to start, but with a good business concept and great work ethic anything is possible. Shawn and the Apiary Fund are a great example of both. The success of Shawn's business owes to the following factors EXCEPT . Answer: I got married in 2008. My husband and I are very emotional and have loads of dreams in life. Now I want to share a hidden part of my life. After one month of my marriage, I started working because I could not sit home. To accomplish our dreams, we are both working hard day and night in spite of belonging to a good family. Life is very strange. When any turn happens, one cannot know. I started working because I was very ambitious. I used to wonder about people who worked to earn their bread but I never knew in my wildest dreams that I would be part of the crowd who work to earn a livelihood. I was blessed with a daughter in November, 2009. She was just three months and 15 days old when I rejoined my job. My husband supported me and my family supported me but I never wanted to work again because I belonged to a family where a mother should give her full attention to her child. Keeping all the values aside that I learnt from my parents, I went back to work and will work till my last breath. I missed my daughter every second. She has started recognizing and throwing expressions for likes and dislikes. I cannot share my feelings with anyone, as I do not want anyone to know that I am broken completely from inside. My husband and my daughter are my greatest strength but I ignore them just to earn money and fulfill my dreams that I have. If one day, my daughter complains to someone about her mom, please tell her that she is my reason for survival and happiness and she is the only one who brings smile to my face. From the passage, we can know that the author's daughter _ . Answer: Bicycle tour and race A bike tour and race will be held on August 26th and 27th(Sat. &Sun. ) at 5:30 a. m. The riders will leave Tian'an Men Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg . Then the next 55 kilometers' leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli. The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometers. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing. Cost: 200 yuan; Telephone: 4675027 Brazilian footballers The Brazilian Football Club play with Beijjing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium On August 26th. The club has four nation team players. Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Ronario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes. Ticket Prices: 60/100/150 yuan Time/date: 4: 30 p. m. August 26th(Sat. ); Telephone: 5012372 Rock climbing The third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26th and 27that the Huairou Mountain--climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for audience. Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou. Time/Date: 9~12 am, August 26th and 27th; Telephone: 7143177, 7144850 Wang Zhenghua What is special about the rock climbing cmpetition? Answer:
One of the main challenges facing many countries is how to maintain their identity in the face of globalization and the growing multi-language trend. "One of the main reasons for economic failure in many African countries is the fact that, with a few important exceptions, mother-tongue education is not practiced in any of the independent African states." said Neville Alexander, Director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town. In response to the spread of English and the increased multi-language trends arising from immigration, many countries have introduced language laws in the laws in the last decade. In some, the use of languages other than the national language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions was the 1994 "Toubon law" in France, but the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often dismissed as _ by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty in controlling fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguals is a natural process. It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the "purity" of a language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continually absorbed foreign words into its own language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world, but there has not been a barrier to acquiring prestige and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to understand the role of state regulation is that it has never been the Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. English has never had a state-controlled authority for the language, similar, for example, to the Academic Francaise in France. The need to protect national languages is, for most western Europeans, a recent phenomenon--especially the need to ensure that English does not unnecessarily take over too many fields. Public communication, education and new modes of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend. Neville Alexander believes that _ . Answer: lack of mother-tongue education can lead to economic failure Last summer Jenny and her friends had a bus trip to New York. She felt very relaxing on the way. They visited a museum. But it's really crowded there and the display were not interesting at all. They went to different restaurants to have dinner. Some food was quite delicious, but Jenny thought the fast food was terrible. When the weather was fine, they went to the beach to swim. The sea was beautiful and they had a good time. They visited _ . Answer: a museum Scientists have always been interested in the high level of organization in ant societies. American researchers have watched ants build life-saving rafts to keep afloat during floods. They also have documented how ant colonies choose their next queen--the female whose job is to produce eggs rather than seek food for others. New technology is helping to improve researchers' understanding of the insects. But there is still a lot to be learned. Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly at home in an environment where flooding is common. To save themselves, the insects connect their legs together and create floating rafts. Some ant rafts can be up to 20 centimeters wide. David Hu who is a mechanical engineer with the Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, says, "If you have 100 ants, which means 600 legs, 99 percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor. So they're very, very good at maintaining this network." David Hu and other Georgia Tech researchers want to study ants and the secret of their engineering. They freeze ant rafts and then look at them with the help of computed technology, or CT, images. The pictures show that larger ants serve in central positions to which smaller ants hold. The larger ants form pockets of air that keep the insects afloat. Scientists say small robots or materials that can change shape could be programmed in a similar way, working towards a shared goal. Researchers at North Carolina State University are also studying ants. They examined how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their top female or queen. What will probably be talked about in the following part? Answer: How ants choose their leader. It is said that most people have not more than 30 friends at any given time, and 400 over the whole of their lives. However, on social networking sites, most users have about 150 friends. If these numbers are correct, then friendship means different things in different situations. Also, there are no rules about friendship. There are no instructions about how to make friends, how to keep friendships going, and how to finish friendships if we want to move on. People have very different opinions about this: some people would die for their friends and they value them more than family. Others say that friends are temporary, only there to help each other until they are no longer needed. If people with such different views become friends, this can lead to problems. Because of these different definitions of friendship, it is easy to be unhappy about our friendships. We may want them to be deeper or closer, or we may want to have more friends in our lives. Sometimes we simply do not have the time to develop our friendships, or we fear we have left it too late in life to start. If we move to another country or city, we have to find ways to make new friends again. This dissatisfaction shows us how important friendships are for most of us. We should not think that it could be too late to build friendships. We also need to understand that the need to be around other people is one that is shared by many. Therefore, we should not be too frightened about starting to talk to people who in the future may become our friends: it is likely that they too would like to get closer to us. Remember what people say: strangers are friends we have not met yet. According to the text, how many friends do the majority of people probably have? Answer: 30 friends or fewer at a certain stage. Once it was possible to define male and female roles easily by the division of labor. Men worked outside the home and earned the income to support their families, while women cooked the meals and took care of the home and the children. These roles were firmly fixed for most people, and there was not much opportunity for women to exchange their roles. But by the middle of last century, men's and women's roles were becoming less firmly fixed. In the 1950s, economic and social success was the goal of the typical American. But in the 1960s a new force developed called the counterculture. The people involved in this movement did not value the middle-class American goals. The counterculture presented men and women with new role choices. Taking more interest in childcare, men began to share child-raising tasks with their wives. In fact, some young men and women moved to communal homes or farms where the economic and childcare responsibilities were shared equally by both sexes. In addition, many Americans did not value the traditional male role of soldier. Some young men refused to be drafted as soldiers to fight in the war in Vietnam. In terms of numbers, the counterculture was not a very large group of people. But its influence spread to many parts of American society. Working men of all classes began to change their economic and social patterns. Industrial workers and business executives alike cut down on "overtime" work so that they could spend more leisure time with their families. Some doctors, lawyers, and teachers turned away from high paying situations to practice their professions in poorer neighborhoods. In the 1970s, the feminist movement, or women's liberation, produced additional economic and social changes. Women of all ages and at all levels of society were entering the work force in greater numbers. Most of them still took traditional women's jobs as public school teaching, nursing, and secretarial work. But some women began to enter traditionally male occupations: police work, banking, dentistry, and construction work. Women were asking for equal work, and equal opportunities for promotion. Today the experts generally agree that important changes are taking place in the roles of men and women. Naturally,there are difficulties in adjusting to these transformations. In the passage the author proposes that the counterculture _ . Answer: transformed some American values.
Every year, we celebrate many special days-Mother's Day, Father's Day, and New Year's Day. In some countries, there is a special day for playing tricks on others. In North America and parts of Europe, this day is known as April Fool's Day, and is celebrated on April 1. Many people believe that the French started April Fool's Day. Centuries ago, New Year's Day in Europe was April 1. In 1582, the calendar changed and King Charles IX of France moved it to January 1. Some people did not like this, and chose to keep April 1 as New Year's Day. Many called these people 'April fools' and played jokes and tricks on them. Over time, April 1 became a day to have fun in France. It then spread to England and Scotland, and later, to North America. On April Fool's Day, jokes are common. In the United States, for example, a person may move a friend's clock ahead one hour, or change the sugar and salt. In Scotland, April Fool's Day lasts for two days. The second day is called 'Taily Day'-for one's 'tail'. On this day, people might secretly put a sign saying 'kick me' on a person's back or behind. Other countries have their own 'Fool's Day'. In Spain and Mexico, people play tricks on each other on December 28. In India, it happens on March 31. In many countries around the world, April 1 is a day of fun. Jokes bring about a lot of laughter, and many shouts of 'April Fool'! In North America, 'Fool's Day' is celebrated on _ . Answer: 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. Factories and companies are pleased that so many people "gamble" because _ . Answer: What will become magnetic in an electromagnet if the battery becomes active? Answer: Years ago a John Hopkin's professor gave a group of graduate students this task: Go to the slums . Take 200 boys, between the ages of 12 and 16, and research into their background and environment. Then predict their chances for the future. The students, after consulting social statistics, talking to the boys, and compiling much data, concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend some time in prison. Twentyfive years later another group of graduate students was given the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys--by then men--were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that only four of the group had ever been sent to prison. Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told: "Well, there was a teacher..." They pressed further, and found that in 75 percent of the cases it was the same woman. The researchers went to this teacher, now living in a home for retired teachers. How had she exerted this remarkable influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these boys should have remembered her? "No," she said, "no I really couldn't." And then, thinking back over the years, she said amusingly, more to herself than to her questioners: "I loved those boys." Seeing only four boys with bad records, the researchers probably felt _ . Answer: There was once a traveling reporter who was doing a story on the small towns in the Midwest of America. She was particularly interested in the social structures, how men and women got along, and what happened at these large dance parties. She got into a town a few days early, knowing that people would be coming in from all the nearby towns to take part in a fantastic dance party. The night of the dance came, and she did the best that she could go unnoticed, because a good reporter didn't want people to know she was doing a story. She was watching, moving around to different tables and places, and she noticed that as the evening went on, a certain phenomenon was taking place. She noticed that the ladies often got together at the end of a dance and that they talked about the "idiot" who asked them to dance. They complained about this, that and the other and talked about how nobody knew anything, just making cruel remarks and gossiping about the men and the event. But she noticed there was one woman. Even though she was sitting amongst the other women, she was not doing anything like that. She had a pleasant manner. She had a bright smile on her face, and she was not saying anything negative about for any reason at all. She decided she needed to talk to this lady so she walked up and introduced herself. She said, "I've noticed that unlike everyone else at this dance, you just seem to be having a good time. I was just wondering why it is that you're able to sit here and do what you do." The young woman looked at her and said, "I only dance with the partners I want to dance with. If somebody comes up and I don't want to dance with them, I just say I want to have a rest. Enjoying yourself is not difficult." How was the woman that the reporter interviewed different from others? Answer:
Monty Roberts was the son of a poor family. He liked horses. He had a dream to own a horse ranch ever since he was a little child. One day when he was at high school, he was asked to write a paper. It was about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up. He worked hard on it, and wrote a seven-page paper. In the paper he described his dream of owning a big horse ranch someday. The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F(fail) with a note that read, "See me after class." He went to see the teacher after class and asked, "Why did I receive an F?" The teacher answered, "This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You come from a poor family. You have no money. Owning a horse ranch needs a lot of money. You have to buy the land. _ " Then he added, "Write this paper again. If you write it with a realistic plan, you may receive a better grade." After sitting with it for a week, he turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He said to the teacher, "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream." Monty kept his dream and worked very hard. Today he owns a large horse ranch with a big house on it, and he keeps that school paper he wrote on the wall of his sitting room. Last summer the same school teacher came to visit him. When the teacher was leaving, he said, "Look, Monty, when I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of children's dreams. It was lucky that you hadn't given up yours." Don't let anyone steal your dream. Follow your dream, no matter what. After Monty heard his teacher's advice , he _ . A changed his dream B received a better grade C turned in a different paper D turned in the same paper Answer: D. turned in the same paper When I was in the eighth grade, my teacher asked us to write an article about what we would like to do when we grew up. All I could think of was one sentence I want to help other people! During the years, I met many problems. But I never gave up. I know that to help other people I have to help myself first. I encouraged myself after I experienced failures . Finally .my dream really came true. I found a part-time job in a charity. I began to spend my days doing things for people. I have a happy life. That doesn't mean that this kind of life is easy, or that my work is always enjoyable. I an happy because I an doing what I want to do. What do you want to do? Write it down now. If you don't know, you can ask yourself, "What would I do if this was the last day of my life ?" Then write down the first thing that comes to your mind, no matter how silly or impossible it is. If you have an answer, you will know what your dream is. The passage is developed by _ . A space B time C giving an example D giving reasons Answer: C. giving an example Poetry is an interesting form of writing. It is very free, has few _ and can be a great way to express feelings. Writing a poem is all about observing the world within you or around you. To write a poem, first you should begin with an idea or inspiration. Inspiration may come at any time unexpectedly. It may be a specific person, place or thing that causes some sort of strong emotion. It may be more of an abstract idea or release of emotion. After getting the idea, you can write down everything that comes to mind. Don't think much and let all feelings pour out. Remember everything can be thrown out later. Then, you can think about its form and begin to organize thoughts. Poetry comes in many forms, from epic poetry that has a story to dramatic poetry intended to be performed. Try them all out. One will come naturally. Maybe different poems fit different forms. When you write a poem, think about bothmeter and rhythm carefully, which are equally important in poetry. Meter is the fixed pattern of the poem, while rhythm refers to the sound when it is spoken. It is also important to use a lot of descriptive words. Createimagery with words, trying to make them attractive to all the senses. Forauditory interest, try repeating of similar sounds in a sentence or phrase. All of this adds life and interest to a poem. After you finish your work, don't be afraid to share your work with others. When others point out your weakness, accept and grow from it. When you begin to write a poem, you should first _ . A begin with some specific persons B come up with an idea C describe a famous place D organize your thoughts Answer: B. come up with an idea Beethoven, a famous musician in the world, was born in Germany in 1770. In his childhood Beethoven didn't have a happy life.His father was a singer. When he was only four, his father began to make him practise hour after hour on different musical instruments . If he did not put his heart into it, his father would beat him or make it hard on him. Beethoven loved music and he learned so fast that he was able to go around to give concerts, when he was only a boy of eleven. At the age of seventeen, he won high praise from Mozart, the great musician at that time. Beethoven was often poor and ill during his life. After one illness, he suddenly found himself deaf. At that time he was only thirty-one. It was a blow to him indeed. But he still went on working and writing music pieces. To people's surprise, some of his best pieces were written after he lost his hearing. In 1827, leaving more than 300 pieces, the great musician died. But his name is still remembered to this day. What did Beethoven do after he lost his hearing? _ . A He never gave in B He stopped writing music pieces C He lost his heart D He went to see a doctor Answer: A. He never gave in I used to think of myself as a person learned in books, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and an Australian book, my literature collection only consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I couldn't ever found anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors. So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing. With no idea where to get those books, I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, so I decided to ask the readers all over the world for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English. The response was amazing. People all over the world were getting in touch with me, offering ideas and book lists. Some posted me books from their home countries. In addition, several writers, like Turkmenistan's Ak Welsapar and Panama's Juan David Morgan, sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works unavailable in Britain. Even with such an extraordinary team of bibliophiles behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 per cent of literary works published in the UK, getting English versions of stories was tricky. One by one, the books from the countries on the list filled my heart with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. Lands that had once seemed exotic and remote became close and familiar to me. At its best, I learned, reading makes the world real. The author realized she was not a learned person when she found _ . A she could do nothing but read books B she had never been to Indian and Australian C she didn't have any translated books. D she could only read simple English stories Answer: C. she didn't have any translated books.
During most of the year, the air over Boston, Massachusetts, contains a high amount of moisture. Which of the following best explains why there is a high amount of moisture in the air? Answer: Friendship is the most important thing in the world. But now do you find a real friendship and keep it? An American writer tells young students some smart ways to find friends. He says finding friendship is just like planting a tree. You plant the seed and take care of it to make it grow. First, to make friends, you must be kind and friendly to others. You should learn to smile at others and try to make a stranger feel at home. _ . Second, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel . When you don't agree with someone, please discuss with him or her. But even the best friends can quarrel. After the quarrel, you have to talk to him or her. If he or she doesn't want to talk, you could write a letter. Tell him or her how you are feeling, and explain why you did this or that. Finally, never believe in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friend when he or she is in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. When you don't agree with others, you should _ . Answer: Have you heard of the saying, "If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing well"? The proverb is a piece of advice to make effects towards perfection in whichever job one does. It could be a small task like folding up your clothes, or a major one like organizing a business meeting in your later life. Perfection just needs paying attention to details. If it is your job to dust the furniture at home, dust it so that not a single spot of dirt shows from any direction. If your task is to make the beds, make them so that not a single crease shows on the bed-covers. There are only two ways to do a job: either sloppily, or well. If you choose the latter, you need to realize that any job that qualifies as (...)"your" work deserves your best. Perfection is an attitude that can be developed with just a little effect. It is a habit that is helpful to a person in later life. Let us prove with an example: you may be asked to turn in an essay on, for example, wildlife, for a school project. Instead of writing carelessly a few facts that you already know, you could make the project more effective by looking up a reference books, encyclopedias or websites for additional information. You could then go over the finished essay for slips and errors, and provide pictures where necessary. If you make it a habit to put in extra effort in your school homework, will it not help you to handle more difficult projects at the college or university level? As Michelangelo, the famous 16th century sculptor and painter, once put it: Trifles go to make perfection, and perfection is no trifle. According to the passage, to achieve perfection is _ . Answer: Hello, I'm Ann. This is a photo of my family. There are four members in my family. The woman in the photo is my mother Mary. She is a teacher. She likes reading. The man is my father Jack. He's a teacher, too. He can play football, but he can't play basketball. Look, the lovely baby is my brother Mike. I like my family very much. Is my father a teacher? Answer: Standard English is that variety of English which is usually used in print,and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language.It is also the variety which is normally spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts and other similar situations.The difference between standard and non-standard,it should be noted,has nothing in principle to do with differences between formal and informal language:Standard English has informal as well as formal variants. Historically the standard variety of English is based on the London Dialect of English that developed after the Norman Conquest resulted in the removal of the Court from Winchester to London.This dialect became the one preferred by the educated,and it was developed and promoted as a model,or norm,for wider and wider parts of society.It was also the norm that was carried overseas.But not one unaffected by such export.Today,standard English is codified to the degree that the grammar and vocabulary of English are much the same everywhere in the world where English is used:difference among the local standards is really quite minor,so that the Singapore,South Africa,and Irish varieties are really very little different from one another so far as grammar and vocabulary are concerned.Indeed,standard English is so powerful that it puts a tremendous pressure on all local varieties,to the degree that many of the long-established dialects of England have lost much of their vigor and there is much pressure on them to converge towards the standard.This latter situation is not unique to English:it is also in other countries where processes of standardization are under way.But it sometimes creates problems for speakers who try to strike some kind of compromise between local norms and national,even super-national ones. In terms of grammar and vocabulary,standard English_. Answer:
One day,Mr.Li was reading a book in his office after school.To his surprise,a ball flew in suddenly and hurt him on the head.He took the ball to the window,but he only saw a group of boy students running away quickly and disappearing in a minute.He sat down again and continued his reading.As it got dark,it was time for him to leave for home.Looking at the ball,he wondered what to do with it.He knew the owner of the ball must be nearby and wished to get it back.He went downstairs and walked to the playground.It was at the center of the playground that he placed the ball with a piece of paper,on which he wrote "Be careful next time!".Then he walked away. The next morning,as Mr.Li opened the office door,he found the same piece of paper on the floor.Some words were added after his words:"Thank you for your kindness.Anyway,you are a clever fellow." How did Mr.Li deal with the ball? Answer: A friend asks me "Why don't Chinese go Dutch?" So I want to regard this question as the topic and write an article.As everyone knows,westerners will go Dutch while having a meal in the restaurant.But Chinese don't go Dutch.Chinese will pay the bill and check out generously.Westerners don't often entertain guests;but Chinese often invite friends to dinner.A lot of westerners feel puzzled to this question. Why does there exist such a difference? First of all,food systems between China and West are different.Chinese put into practice Gather Dining System;westerners put into practice Individual Dining System.Everybody can share the delicious food of all over the table when eating Chinese food.Please note it is sharing,but westerners just eat the food in one's own plate.If you eat beef and he eats chicken,it is impossible that you taste the flavor of his chicken.The result of the Individual Dining System is that you can only eat the food in your plate. So to eat Chinese food is happier than to eat Western-style food.And I want to ask you a question.Do you like the free thing? I think nobody doesn't like the free thing.Ok! Suppose I invite you to eat the delicious Chinese food,then I pay the bill.This is equivalent to that you have enjoyed a delicious Chinese food free.So you will be very glad.It will strengthen the relation between us in the happy atmosphere. Secondly,westerners eat for the health;Chinese eat for the friendship.Westerners advocate individualism and independence is strong.So westerners express that respect for each other's independence through the way go Dutch.Chinese like making friends and solidarity.Chinese value the interpersonal relationships and the friendship very much. Third,it is only simple "Have a meal!" for westerners to entertain guests.Unlike the purpose and the _ that Chinese entertain guests,in Americans' idea,"Have a meal" definition is to add fuel to the body for keeping health and normal life activity.That is to say,there is not any additional value.In the Chinese idea,"Have a meal" not only is a kind of life enjoyment,but also is the means to promote friendship between the friends.After enjoying the sumptuous delicious food,you are glad,and I am glad too.The friendship between the friends has been strengthened in this kind of atmosphere. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? Answer: Bye Bye telegraphed Vendor on June 1, "At what price will you sell 100 of your QTModel garbage-disposal units for delivery around June 10?" Thereafter, the following communications were exchanged: 1. Telegram from Vendor received by Bye Bye on June 2: "You're in luck. We have only 100 QT's, all on clearance at 50% off usual wholesale of $120 per unit, for delivery at our shipping platform on June 12." 2. Letter from Bye Bye received in U.S. mail by Vendor on June 5: "I accept. Would prefer to pay in full 30 days after invoice." 3. Telegram from Vendor received by Bye Bye on June 6: "You must pick up at our platform and pay C.O.D." 4. Letter from Bye Bye received in U.S. mail by Vendor on June 9: "I don't deal with people who can't accommodate our simple requests." 5. Telegram from Bye Bye received by Vendor on June 10, after Vendor had sold and delivered all 100 of the QT's to another buyer earlier that day: "Okay. I'm over a barrel and will pick up the goods on your terms June 12." Bye Bye now sues Vendor for breach of contract. Which of the following arguments will best serve Vendor's defense? Answer: An example of combined substances could be Answer: One evening last fall, while Marcos Ugarte did his homework and his father, Eduardo, a teacher, prepared lesson plans, they heard shouting outside. Eduardo, 47, and Marcos, 15, stepped onto the balcony of their two-story home. Immediately, Marcos' s eye was caught by a flame from one of their neighbors' houses. "Dad, the house is on fire!" Marcos cried. Dressed only in shorts, the barefoot teen dashed towards the Mas' home with his dad. Grandmother Yim Ma, mother Suzanne Ma, and son Nathan Ma were gathered on the front grassland shouting for help. When the Ugartes got there, they saw through the open front door that father Alex Ma was falling down the stairs, coughing, his face black with dirt. "Is anyone else in the house?" Eduardo asked. "My son!" Alex managed to say, pointing to the second floor. Eduardo started up the stairs, but thick, black smoke, swirling ash, and extreme heatforced him to his knees. He inched upstairs and down the hall where Alex said he would find Cody, eight, who had locked himself in a bedroom. "I'd never seen smoke like that," says Eduardo. "My glasses immediately turned black from the ash." As the fire spread across the hall, Eduardo banged on the bedroom door and tried to turn the handle. But Cody didn't respond, and Eduardo made his way back downstairs. At the same time, Marcos saw Yim and Suzanne pulling an aluminum ladder out of the garage. "Cody was standing at the window, screaming for help," says Marcos. "I knew I had to do something." He grabbed the ladder, positioned it near the window, and climbed towards the boy. When Marcos reached the window, he pushed the screen into the room and persuaded Cody out. "It's OK," Marcos told him. "I've got you." Holding Cody with one arm, Marcos moved down the ladder. Halfway down, he handed the boy to a neighbor. The day after the fire, Alex visited Marcos. "Thank you for saving my son," Alex said. "You are his hero forever." Why did Marcos say something to Cody? Answer:
It's impolite to spit out the first bite of your dinner. But to a type of Australian snake, this rude behavior is a matter of life and death. The snake, called a floodplain death adder , eats two types of frogs that are hard to stomach. The frogs produce chemicals to defend them from predators . One of these species, the Dahl's frog, can kill a snake that tries to eat it. The other species, the marbled frog, is less dangerous but still tough to eat. When attacked, _ produces a glue like substance. Leaves and branches get caught up in this material, making a big sticky mess that gets in the way of anything trying to swallow it. A marbled frog can even get stuck on the head of an attacking snake. Both frogs have good defense methods. But the floodplain death adder knows how to get around each of them. Floodplain death adders quickly strike these frogs, using their poisonous teeth to inject poison. But then, instead of swallowing their dinner immediately, the snakes sit back and wait for their preys to become safe to eat. That's because both the Dahl's frog's protective toxin and the marbled frog's glue break down over time. After a while, the frog toxin is no longer poisonous and the glue is no longer sticky. The two substances break down at different rates, and floodplain death adders seem to know the difference, And adder waits for a different length of time depending on the species of frog it just struck. The stickiness of the marbled frog glue decreased by as much as two-thirds after just 10 minutes. And that's just about how long an adder waits before eating a marbled frog. On the other hand, the snakes wait for about 40 minutes before eating a Dahl's frog. That's enough time for the frog's toxin to break down into harmless substances. But even a quick strike gives a taste of the Dahl frog's toxin. After striking such a frog, a floodplain death adder thrashes around and lies on its back with its mouth open, It's like the snake has just had a mouthful of chili pepper. By comparison, when given frogs that have no chemical defenses, floodplain death adders eat their prey immediately after striking. Snakes, despite the fact that they've got this tiny pea-size brain are clearly capable of recognizing what kind of frog they've bitten. From the passage we can conclude that_. A. the Dahl's frog carries enough poison to kill a snake but only if the snake eats it immediately B. the floodplain death adders only eat the Dahl's frog and Marbled frog C. although the snakes have tiny pea - size brain , they are cleverer than human beings D. both the Dahl's frog and the marbled frog protect themselves by producing toxin Answer: A. the Dahl's frog carries enough poison to kill a snake but only if the snake eats it immediately Is it time to kick Russia out of the BRICs ? If so, it may end up sounding like a famous ball-point pen maker-BIC. An argument is being made that Goldman Sach's famous marketing device ,the BRICs, should really be the BICs. "Is Russia really worth the name BRICs?" asks Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an article for Foreigh Policy. Aslund, who is also co-author with Andrew Kuchins of "The Russian Balance Sheet", thinks the Russia of Putin and Medvedev is just not worthy of inclusion alongside Brazil, India and China in the list of future economic powerhouses. He writes: "The country's economic performance has fallen to such a weak level that one must ask whether it has any say at all on the global economy, compared with the other members of its group. I have just returned from Moscow, which is always dull around this season. For the last seven years, Russia has taken very few measures to improve its economy. Instead, the state has been living on oil and gas. " Economically, Aslund has the numbers on his side. The International Monetary Fund figures that the Russian economy will fall by 6.7 percent in 2009, while China will grow 8.5 percent and India 5.4 percent. There is less of a case for Brazil, with a fall of 0.7 percent, but it is still doing far better than Russia. But the BRICs are not just about economy. As is mentioned above, it is a marketing device to encourage investors to focus on the big promising players. From an investment standpoint, it could be argued that Russia is leading the BRICs. Its stock market is up 128 percent this year while around 80 percent is for the other three. At very least, however, Russia's economic underperformance and stock market outperfoumance does suggest it is indeed one of the group. According to Aslund, Russia shouldn't be a BRIC partly because _ . A. Russia's economic performance is far worse than the other three B. Russia's leaders are not good at managing economy C. Russia has taken effective measures to improve its economy D. Russia will no longer attract investors from other countries Answer: A. Russia's economic performance is far worse than the other three The Earth has warmed by about half a degree(0.50degC)over the last 100 years. It could be getting warmer on its own, but many scientists think that people are making the Earth warmer by making a greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is important. Without it, the Earth would not be warm enough for us to live on. But just a little warmer than it is now could cause problems for humans, plants and animals. Many of the things we do every day can change the Earth's temperature by sending greenhouse gases into the air. We send greenhouse gases into the air when we watch TV, turn on lights, dry hair, play video games, wash or dry our clothes or drive cars. The rubbish from factories and homes also produces greenhouse gases. Even a small change in temperature can affect our weather. This can cause changes in the sea levels, the air, flooding, and our fresh water. The change in the temperature can also cause changes in the living places for animals and plants, endangering many animals. Global warming is a big problem, and every little bit we do can help. We can save electricity. We can save energy in other ways such as by taking buses or walking rather than driving cars. We can recycle to reduce the rubbish and save natural resources such as trees, oil and metals. We can buy products that don't do bad to the environment and we can turn to solar energy. Remember the little bit that you do will bring a better world. Without the greenhouse effect,we would _ . A. be safer B. not be able to live C. have a cleaner earth D. have a better world Answer: B. not be able to live In a very special course at Knnet School, the social-science teacher Adam Smith guides his students through the "married life". Unlike the traditional course, Adam makes his students experience the real problems married ones may face like housing and child care. "No one tells kids about money-managing problems," says Adam. Each student should act out in ten weeks what normally takes couples ten years to finish. In the first week, one member of each couple is asked to get an after school job -- a real one. During the term, the income rules their life-style. In the third week, the couples must find an apartment they can afford. In the fifth week, the couples "have a baby" and then struggle to cover the costs of baby clothes and furniture. In week eight, the marriage comes to the breaking point by such disaster as a mother-in-law's moving in or death. It's all over by week ten (the tenth year of marriage). After serious discussion with lawyers about alimony and child support, the students get divorced . Adam's course, which has "married" 1,000 students since its beginning six years ago, is widely supported by parents and students. Some of the students have found the experience making them realize their real life marry plans are wrong. Marianne Baldrica, 16, who tried "marriage" last term with her boyfriend Eric Zook, 15, said, " Eric and I used to get along pretty well before we took the course together. But I wanted to live in the city, he wanted the country. He wanted lots of kids, I wanted no kids. It's been four weeks since the course ended and Eric and I are just starting to talk to each other again." What will happen in the eighth week? A. The couples will have a baby. B. The couples will have to find a flat. C. The husband will have to find a real job. D. The marriage will come to the breaking point. Answer: D. The marriage will come to the breaking point. Anne is thirteen years old. She has long hair and black eyes. She is tall. She is a student at Beijing Sunshine Secondary School. She loves listening to music and dancing. She studies hard. She does well in English. But she doesn't like doing sports. Anne has a cousin. His name is Daniel. He is tall and he has short black hair. He is a student at Beijing Sunshine Secondary School,too. He and Anne are in the same class. He isn't good at English,but he does well in Maths. He doesn't like listening to music. He likes playing basketball. His favourite basketball player is Michael Jordan. He thinks Jordan plays basketball very well. He says he wants to be a basketball player like Michael Jordan some day. Daniel likes _ best. A. Yao Ming B. Beckham C. Michael Jordan D. Liu Xiang Answer: C. Michael Jordan
Walking across the campus of Pittsburgh's prefix = st1 /CarnegieMellonUniversityone delightful spring day, I came upon a table filled with young people chatting and enjoying the fine weather. Several had identical blue T-shirts with "Trilogy @ CMU" written across them--Trilogy being an Austin, Texasbased software company with a reputation of recruiting our top students. I walked over to the table. "Are you guys here to recruit?" I asked. "No, ly not," they replied firmly. "We're not recruiters. We're just hanging out, playing a little frisbee with our friends." How interesting, I thought. They've come to campus on a workday, all the way from Austin, just to hang out with some new friends. As I later learned, they were gifted students who had inked the highest-paying deal in the history of their departments. I asked one young man why he was going to a smaller city in Taxas. The company is excellent, he told me. There are also terrific people and the work is challenging. Though he had several good job offers fromPittsburgh's high-tech firms and knew the city well, he said he felt the city lacked the life-styles options, cultural diversity, and tolerant attitude that would make it attractive to him. As he summed it up: "How would I fit in here?" What a change from my own college days, just a little more than 20 years ago, when students would put on their dressiest clothes and carefully hide any counterculture tendencies to prove that they could fit in with the company. Today, apparently, it's the company trying to fit in with the students. These young men and their lifestyles represent a lively new force in the enonomy and life ofAmerica. They are members of what I call the creative class: a fast-growing, highly educated, and well-paid part of the workforce on whose efforts corporate profits and economic growth increasingly depend. They do not consciously think of themselves as a class. Yet they share a common belief that values creativity, individuality, difference, and advantage. What can you infer from the passage? Answer: Pittsburghdoesn't have enough attractions to the young people. For Chinese students nowadays, no matter what kind of schools they are going to universities, high schools and even primary schools, they have to face and tackle the problem of learning English. All examinations they want to pass require them to first pass English. English has become the most popular course in tutorial classes and even in the self-study classroom. When nearly all students' attention is focused on English, looking at the situation of our mother language, even Chinese _ get confused about its use. Not only have many new words and phrases which are very popular on the Internet started to fill in every corner of the society, common use of Chinese is full of mistakes and misunderstandings are all around. Chinese has the most speakers of any world language and also one of the oldest in history. Around the world, many countries have started enthusiastically learning Chinese and Chinese has become one of the most important foreign languages in some foreign countries. Besides, there are 282 Confucius Institutions around 88 countries and regions in the world that are teaching Chinese, while more than 260 institutions from 50 countries and regions applied to establish Confucius Institutions. The number of people learning Chinese is about 50 million outside China. For those foreigners that are so crazy about Chinese language, what kind of attitude should the Chinese have? Frankly speaking, learning English itself shouldn't have been criticized too much, and we need to learn English to communicate with the world to show our culture and society. ,. Which is the best title for this passage? Answer: It's Time to Protect Chinese Language Raymond Schneider politely made his way through crowds of customers as he made for the candy bins at Dylan's Candy Bar in Manhattan. Since he was out of employment, Mr. Schneider, a 33-year-old designer, says he has become a person who always buys a lot of sweets every time he shops for groceries. "Sugar is comforting," he said. "There's nothing more stressful than growing financial insecurity everywhere." The recession seems to have a sweet tooth. As unemployment has risen, Americans, particularly adults, have been consuming growing amounts of candy. Theories vary on exactly why. For many, sugar lifts spirits dragged low by the economy. For others, candy also reminds them of better times. And not importantly, it is ly cheap. At Candyality, a store in Chicago, business has jumped by nearly 80 percent and the owner, Terese McDonald, said she was struggling to keep up with the demand for Bit-O-Honeys, and Sour Balls. Many big candy makers are also reporting rising sales and big profits . "It's not surprising." said Peter Liebhold, chairman of the Smithsonian Institution's work and industry division. "During the Great Depression in the 1930's, candy companies stayed in business." The best title of the passage is _ . Answer: Sugar Sales Rise in the Recession India has many festivals, with some celebrations that last for weeks. However, none of them come even close to Holi, India's most colorful and fun festival. Celebrated on the day following the full moon, this year's festival happens to be on March 19th. As with most Indian festivals, this one also has many different folk stories. Most of them center around the success of good over evil. The most popular one is about a king, who hates his son Prahlada for loving the creator of the Universe--Lord Vishnu. When every attempt to stop him fails, his sister, Holika believed to be immune to fire, joins in the effort by inviting the young boy to sit with her inside a huge fire. Helped by the power of Lord Vishnu, Prahlada escapes safely, while the evil Holika is burned to death. To remember this event, huge outdoor fires are lit in the night before Holi in order to clean the air of evil spirits and to celebrate the death of the evil. So what's so great about this day? While there are some fun parades and folk songs and dance performances, the most fun of all is walking to the streets and splashing people with water guns and dry colors and even covering them with entire buckets of colored water. On this day, everybody is _ , no matter how old or how young. At about midday, the splashing comes to an end and people living close to oceans or rivers usually take a bath in the water to clean themselves before going home to a delicious home-made big dinner and a well-deserved short sleep, following this full day of fun and activities. After the fun activities, people living close to oceans or rivers often take a bath because _ . Answer: they have got dirty with dry colors and colored water "So?"he said."Er...so what?""So what do you really want to do?"he asked. My father was a lawyer,and I had always assumed he wanted me to go to law school,and follow his path through life."I want to travel,and I want to be a writer."I replied. This was not the answer he would expect."Interesting idea,"he said."I kind of wish I'd done that when I was your age."I wailed. "You have plenty of time.You need to find out what you really enjoy now.Look,it's late. Let's take the boat out tomorrow morning,just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs for dinner,and we can talk more." Early next morning we set off along the coast. We didn't talk much,but enjoyed the sound of the seagulls and the sight of the coastline and the sea beyond. There was no surf on the coastal waters at that time."Let's see if we get lucky,"he said,picked up a mesh basket with a rope attached and threw it into the sea. We waited a while,then my father stood up and said,"Give me a hand with this,"and we pulled up the crab cage onto the deck. The cage was filled with dozens of soft shell crabs."Why don't they try to escape?" "just watch them for a moment. Look at that one,there!He's trying to climb out,but every time the other crabs pull him back in,"said my father. After several times,not only did the crab give up its struggle to escape,but it actually began to help stop other crabs trying to escape.He'd finally chosen an easy way of life. Suddenly I understood why my father had suggested catching crabs that morning. He looked at me. "Don't get pulled back by the others,"he said."Spend some time figuring out who you are and what you want in life.Think about what's really important to you,what really interests you,what skills you have.If you can't answer these questions now,then take some time to find out. Because if you don't,you'll never be happy." My father started the motor and we set off back home. What is the best title for the story? Answer: Catching Crabs
Governments and health officials around the world continued to take steps Tuesday against the outbreak of swine flu that has killed scores of people in Mexico and spread to the U.S., Europe and possibly Asia. By early Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico had caused in 152 deaths and more than 1,600 illnesses. So far, at least 113 cases have been proved worldwide, including 64 in the United States; six in Canada; 11 in New Zealand and two each in Spain the United Kingdom and Israel. None has yet resulted in death. The World Health Organization on Monday raised its alert level from three to four on its six-level scale. The move means the U.N. agency has determined that the virus can transmit from human to human. "In this age of global travel, where people move around in airplanes so quickly, there is no region to which this virus could not spread," said Fukuda, assistant director-general of the WHO. Governments around the world struggled to prevent further outbreak. Some, like China and Russia, banned pork imports from the United States and Mexico. U.S. President Barack Obama said the outbreak was a cause for concern, not for alarm. The government urged travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico. The latest WHO report listed only seven proved swine flu deaths in Mexico but it was not clear why there was the discrepency. Mexico City has closed all schools until at least May 6 to help curb(control) the spread of swine flu and ordered 35,00 public venues to close or serve only takeaway meals. In addition, bars, clubs, movie theaters, pool halls, gyms, sport centers and convention halls have been told to close until May 5. Armed police officers are also guarding hospitals in Mexico City while roads and schools in the city of 20 million people are deserted. Officials also have talked about shutting down the bus and subway systems. How many people were found catching swine flu in Spain? My Plan for Learning English Many students and teachers always ask this question"What's the best way to learn English well?"Different people have different answers.Here is my plan for learning English.It is based on my own experience in learning languages.It helped me when I learned English.I hope that it can help you,too. Speak to Americans as much as possible. Write,write,write--letters,e-mails,notes,etc. Make phone calls to practise your English. Watch TV and movies. Listen to the radio. Read as much as possible. It is important to believe that you will improve your English.Sometimes when you make plans,they seem very difficult.Progress comes little by little.Think about where you are today,and where you were last week or last month.Maybe it doesn't seem you have come very far.But if you stop and think about where you were six months ago,or even a year ago,then you will see your _ .That progress gives you hope.Keep on studying,and you will reach your goal sooner or later! What do students and teachers often ask? Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake places of the world - Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey - rats will soon be man's new best friends. What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat. How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person. Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, " 'Robot' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that." Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity. The " rat project" is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, " It would be fantastic. A rat would get into spaces we couldn't get to and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe." Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building ( but only after an earthquake, of course.) After reading the passage we can know _ . Children laugh often and easily. But as we grow up, we laugh less and feel more stressed. Try laughing for no reason at all. That's how thousands of people start their day at Laughter Clubs around the world, and doctors now think that having a good laugh may be one of the best ways to keep healthy. The first Laughter Club was started in Mumbai ,India ,in June,1995 by Dr Madam Kataria. " Young children laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh between 7 and 15 times a day, "says Dr Kataria . "Everyone's naturally good at laughing . We want people to feel happy with their lives." There are now more than 500 Laughter Clubs in India and over 1,300 worldwide. Place: 264 North Main Street , East Longmeadow. We're in an office building near the entrance. Walk down the hall and we're on the right .2-1-c-n-j-y When : Every Sunday afternoon from 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Cost : Free. Ages : Adults from 18 to 75. Parking :If you're facing the building ,the car park is on the right of the building . Teacher : Robert Rivest. More information ,go to http:// www. robertrivest.com. If you want to feel like a kid again, try our Laughter Club . You will get used to it in five minutes and begin to laugh for real in ten minutes and sometimes you just can't stop! You'll experience deeper pleasure in half an hour. You'll meet other people who want more fun and laughter. And you will feel so relaxed in about one hour ! Come and join us for laughter and a fun social experience! The text is (a) _ . Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany. As a child, he was slow to learn to talk. As a pupil, he was backward. But when he was fourteen years old, he became clever. He taught himself maths from textbooks. He studied hard because he wanted to be a physicist. In 1901, Einstein began teaching. In 1902 he continued his studies at the University of Zurich. Several years later, he formulated his famous Theory of Relativity .To most people the law of relativity is difficult to explain. But once Einstein explained it very well to a group of young students. He said, "When you sit with a good girl for two hours, you think it is only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it's two hours. That is relativity." After Hitler came into power in Germany, Einstein went to America. In 1940 Einstein became an American citizen. In 1955, Einstein's life ended at the age of seventy-six. The law of relativity is _ .
We are all called upon to make a speech at some point in life, but most of us don't do a very good job. This article gives some suggestions on how to give an effective speech. So, you have to give a speech and you're fearful. You get nervous, you forget what you want to say, you stumble over words, you talk too long and you bore your audience. Later you think," Thank goodness, it's over. I'm just no good at public speaking. I hope I never have to do that again." Cheer up! It doesn't have to be that bad. Here are some simple steps to take the pain out of speech making. Ask yourself the purpose of your speech. What is the occasion ? Why are you speaking? Then, gather as many facts as you can on your subject. Spend plenty of time doing your research. Then spend plenty of time organizing your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible and use pictures, charts and graphs if they will help you make your points more clearly. Never forget your audience. Don't talk over their heads so that they can understand what you say. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness. Just remember: Be prepared. Know your subject, your audience and the occasion. Be brief. Say what you have to say and then stop. And be yourself. Let your personality come through so that you make person-to-person contact with your audience. If you follow these simple steps, you'll see that you don't have to be afraid of public speaking. In fact, you may find the experience so enjoyable that you volunteer to make more speeches! You're not sure yet. Give it a try and see what happens. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? Answer: Matt's hobby was collecting stamps. He had stamps from many countries, like America, Egypt and China. On his birthday, can you guess what people gave him? That's right----stamps. Matt's favorite stamps came from France. He had almost every stamp from 1954 to 2003 except one. That was a 1974 special edition . It was very hard to find. He looked for it everywhere. He asked his friends and relatives to help him. But nobody could find the stamp. It made Matt very sad. "Don't worry," his father said to him. "You'll find it one day." "I hope so," Matt said. "Be patient ,"his father said. "Don't give up." Besides collecting stamps, Matt liked writing. He had a pen friend in France. They wrote to each other every month. Matt's pen friend, Philip, gave him a big, green stamp. It looked old. When Matt received the letter, he was very surprised. On the envelope, he looked closely at the stamp. It was the 1974 special edition stamp. Matt was so happy! He told his sister, his mother and his father. "You see," his father said, "You did find your stamp. So, you see, it's good to have two things in life." "What are they?" Matt asked. "Friends and patience ." he answered. Matt loved the stamps from _ best. Answer: The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year. Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher's instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job. _ Each child received a normal job. But Rita's job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest. Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger. One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, "Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant." That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks. What would be the best title for the passage? Answer: Steven Spielberg was not a scholar, and his classmates teased him. Rather than read, the kid really preferred running around with an 8mm camera, shooting homemade movies, which he showed to friends for a small fee. In his first year of high school, he dropped out. But when his parents persuaded him to return, he was mistakenly placed in a learningdisabled class, which lasted one month. Only when the family moved to another town did he land up in a more suitable high school, where he eventually graduated. After being denied entrance into a traditional filmmaking school, Steven Spielherg enrolled in English at California State University at Long Beach. Then in 1965, he recalls, in one of those serendipitous moments, his life took a complete turn. Visiting Universal Studios, he met Chuck Silvers, an executive in the editorial department. Silvers liked the kid who made 8mm films and invited him back sometime to visit. He appeared the next day. Spielberg, dressed in a dark suit, carrying his father's briefcase with nothing inside but a sandwich and candy bars walked confidently up to the guard at the gate of Universal and gave him a casual wave. The guard waved back. He was in. "For the entire summer," Spielberg remembers, "I dressed in my suit and hung out with the directors and writers, including Silvers, who knew the kid wasn't a studio employee, but winked at him. I even found an office that wasn't being used, and became a squatter . I bought some plastic tiles and put my name in the building directory: Steven Spielberg, Room 23C." It paid off for everyone. Ten years later, the 28yearold Spielberg directed Jaws, which took in $470 million, then the biggest grossing movie of all time. Dozens of films and awards have followed because Steven Spielberg knew what his teachers didn't--talent is in the eyes of the filmmaker. Why did Steven's friends pay him some money? Answer: The London Eye The London Eye was opened on New Year's Eve in 1999 to celebrate the Millennium . It is 135 meters high, and from the top you can see the whote London. On a clear day you can even see Windsor Castle, which is 40 kilometers away. The London Eye has 32 capsules , each with room for 25 people. Each "trip" lasts 30 minutes. It moves quite slowly, at a speed of about 15 meters a minute, but it never stops. Passengers have to get on when it's moving. OPENING TIME: Daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. in summer and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in winter. TICKETS: Online or by phone. A limited number of tickets are available in the day.From the Ticket Office in County Hall (the building next to the Eye), but go early because you often have to wait in a queue. HOW TO GET THERE: 5 minutes' walk from Waterloo underground station. Choose the best answers: The London Eye was built for celebrating _ Answer:
Put technology in the hands of someone like Elon Musk and it can send people into space, make a future of clean and renewable energy a reality, or build electric cars. Put in your hands, and it can help you achieve all sorts of things, from learning to code to learning a language. Educational apps are becoming increasingly popular as a supplement , and sometimes as an alternative , to traditional education. Why? Well, for starters, it's extremely convenient to learn on a pocket-sized device that you already carry around with you at all times. The best apps are also highly interactive and adaptive, _ . But apps, just like textbooks and language lessons, are a medium through which a language can be studied. The way you use them will affect how successful you are. If you flick through a textbook and don't dare say a word in your language lessons, you'll make slow progress. The keen reader who repeats each exercise in the textbook and engages the teacher in the conversation will move ahead. So how do you ensure you get the most out of your app, and what should you consider before you install one? Before that, a very quick introduction: I developed the following five points from my experience as both a language teacher and learner, and from working in startups in the field of language. I spent six years teaching in Germany and Spain as well as developing a video learning startup. However, I first came to language learning late. I started learning Spanish at 22, and was able to use Spanish and German freely by about 28. I've been using language apps for the last few years, and participated in two successful one-week challenges to go from zero to hero in Italian and French. If you're interested, you can see the French challenge here. So, just before downloading an app, here's what you should think about... We infer that Elon Musk is most probably _ . Answer: an engineer and tech company owner Just as mankind has always had a desire to fly, the human race has wanted to swim under the water since prehistoric times. Pictures of primitive devices to enable people to breathe underwater have been found dating from 3000 years ago, but our dream of moving freely beneath the ocean waves for long periods of time was only realized about 60 years ago, when French diving legend Jacques Cousteau developed the first practical Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus(SCUBA). Since then the sport of SCUBA diving has gone from strength to strength. Lovers of SCUBA diving like the feeling of weightlessness, the peace and quiet under the water, the ability to move in three dimensions and the sense of adventure they get while on a dive. SCUBA divers often travel to some of the most beautiful and remote places in the world in the search for rare underwater flora and fauna(, ). prefix = st1 /Palau, The Red Sea, The Maldives and Hawaii have many of the most popular diving sites, but recreational divers often have to make do with less exotic local destinations, like the North Sea inBritain. SCUBA diving is not without its dangers, however. The mixture of nitrogen and oxygen divers breathe underwater, combined with the pressure under the water can be deadly if a diver rises too quickly to the surface, causing a condition called 'the bends'. Divers can also get lost or trapped when diving on wrecks, and fatalities are particularly common in cave diving, where divers add to the dangers of diving by swimming through underground caves filled with water. Diving can also be harmful to the underwater environment. However with proper precautions diving can open up a whole new world, far from the stresses of daily life. What can the reader learn from the text? Answer: There is uncertainty about SCUBA diving safety. I am a Chinese. I've always been making drams from time to time. Those dreams made by each average Chinese like me are certainly Chinese dreams. Dreams vary from person to person, an d also from time to time. But in a certain time, people share the similar dreams here I'd like to share my Chinese dreams with you. When I was a child in 1970s, poverty kept hovering over my family, just as it did with other average families in the countryside. The unfit second-hand clothes, rain leaking roof of old adobe house became part of my memory. However, the worse impression is that I was feeling hungry all the time. Sometimes hunger bit me so severely that I regarded dried sweet potato slices as a delicious snack. The sharp cracks of chewing are still echoing in my dream. At that time, my dram was getting enough to fill my cooing empty belly. In the early years of 1980s, as the reform and opening-up policy was carried out, the child dream came true. And then another dream became clearer and clearer in my mind. I must try my best to escape out of my poor and backward hometown. I worked harder at my study than most of my classmates, and, after luckily succeeding in the national college entrance examination, my dream became reality again: after graduation, I became a citizen working in a city. As the first college graduate out of a remote village, my success set an example for my folks. They came to realize that schooling is a good way to change one's fate . In the following years, there were less drop-outs and more college graduates in my village, of which I am proud even today. Afterwards, I got accustomed to the life of citizens and I began to dream the same things as other peers: a comfortable home, my own car and a big house. Based on my hard-work, more than ten years passed, all of these dreams have been fulfilled. Of course, new dreams will come true sooner or later only if my motherland keeps advancing with current(,)pace. My Chinese dreams are also ones of other Chinese people. If every individual's dreams come true, the dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will be sure to come true. "The Chinese dream, after all, is the dream of the people," as the Chairman Xi Jingping said. When the author was young, his family _ . Answer: was as poor as many other families Self-confidence is an attitude which allows individuals to have positive yet realistic views of themselves and their situations. Self-confident people trust their own abilities, have a general sense of control in their lives, and believe that,within reason, they will be able to do what they wish., plan., and expect. Having self-confidence does not mean that individuals will be able to do everything. Self-confident people have expectations that are realistic. Even when some of their expectations are not met,they continue to be positive and to accept themselves. People who are not self-confident depend too much on the approval of others in order to feel good about themselves. They tend to avoid taking risks because they fear failure. They generally do not expect to be successful. They often put themselves down and tend to ignore compliments paid to them By contrast,self-confident people are willing to risk the disapproval of others because they generally trust their own abilities. They tend to accept themselves;they don't feel they have to conform in order to be accepted. Many factors affect the development of self-confidence. Parents' attitudes are crucial to children's feelings about themselves,particularly in children's early years. When parents pro- vide acceptance, children receive a solid foundation for good feelings about themselves. If one or both parents are much to critical or demanding, or if they are overprotective and discourage children's moves toward independence, children may come to believe they are unqualified or inadequate. Surprisingly, lack of self-confidence is not necessarily related to lack of ability. Instead it is often the result of focusing too much on the unrealistic expectations or standards of others, especially parents and society. Friends' influences can be as powerful or more powerful than those of parents and society in shaping feelings of one's self. Students in their college years reexamine values and develop their own identities and thus are particularly sensitive to the influence of friends. What might the author most probably continue to talk about in the following passage? Answer: What one should avoid in building self-confidence. It was Saturday and it was nice outside. I did not have school and my mom did not have work. When I woke up we ate breakfast and got ready for the day. My mom started to clean up the house so I went up to my room to play with my toys. My mom came upstairs and told me, "If you clean up your room there is a great surprise in it for you." I was very excited about what the surprise was but not very excited to clean my room. My mom left and closed the door. I looked around and saw how messy my room was. And I really did not want to clean it. So what I did was pick up all my stuff in my room and put it all in my closet. It did not take me very long so I hung out in my room for a little bit longer before heading downstairs to the basement to tell my mom I was ready for my surprise. She came upstairs to see how I did and immediately saw what I did. She was not happy about it. She said, "You either do it right, or Ill do it right and you won't get a surprise." That was enough to make me clean my room right. Finally, my mom told me the surprise when I was all finished. She told me we were going out to the park! But by the time we got there, I could only play for a little bit before it started getting dark. I wished I would have cleaned my room right the first time so I had more time at the park. where was his room? Answer: Upstairs
Dear daughter You are a wonderful person and your mother and I love you. It will not be long before you leave school to make your way in the world. Can I give you some friendly advice? Here are some things that you should never do. 1. Never get upset with your looks. We think you look great. Please be happy with the person you are and the body you have. Eat well, take exercise and be healthy. Some girls become upset because they try to lose weight or get the perfect shape. You look fine. 2. Never spend money more than your income . Never spend money more than your income and save a little every month. Don't borrow others' money if possible. 3. Never look down on yourself. You are great of achieving great things so believe in yourself. When things go badly, never stop believing. Some girls get upset and lose confidence, and then all kinds of problems can follow. 4. Never give less than your best. We are very proud of what you have succeeded so far. You should be proud too. Keep doing well. Keep trying your hardest at everything you do. 5. Never forget that your parents love you. Whatever happens in life, your family will still be your family. Whatever difficulties you have, you can always talk to us and we will try to help. We are here for you. Love Dad When someone gets upset and loses confidence, _ . Answer: all problems will follow him Dear Jenny, Please take these things to your brother: his math book, baseball, notebook, CDs, and video tape. The math book is on the dresser. The baseball is under the bed. The notebook is on the bed. The CDs are in the drawer. The video tape is on the table. Thanks! Mom What's under the bed? Answer: The baseball. Late one morning in 20 1 2,headed for lunch in San Francisco,I drove towards one of the toll booths .I heard loud music.It sounded like a party,or a Michael Jackson concert.I looked around.No other cars with their windows open.I looked at the toll booth.Inside it,a young man was dancing. "What are you doing?"I asked. "I'm having a party,"he said. "What about the rest of the people?"I looked over at other booths:nothing moving there. "They're not invited." I had a dozen other questions for him,but somebody in a big hurry to get somewhere started punching his horn behind me and I drove off.But I made a note to myself'.Find this guy again.There's something in his eyes that says there's magic in his toll booth. Months later I did find him again,still with the loud music,still having a party. Again I asked."What are you doing?" He said."I remember you from the last time.I'm still dancing.I'm having the same party." I said."Look.What about the rest of the people" He said."Stop.Do you see other people there?"He pointed down the row of toll booths."Everyday, they just get in the booths,stay for eight hours,do the same motions.Brain is on hold,dead on the job.But I am enjoying my life and I'm going to be a dancer someday." Sixteen people are dead on the j ob,and the seventeenth,in nearly the same situation,finds out another way to live.He and I did have lunch later, and he said. "I don't understand why anybody would think my job is boring.I have a comer office,glass on all sides.I can see the Golden Gate,San Francisco.the Berkeley hills.Half of the western people have vacations here while I can stay here every day and practise dancing for the future success.'' The writer heard music from _ . Answer: a toll booth More perhaps than any other European nation, the Swiss are accustomed to looking after foreign travelers. As early as the 18th century, wealthy French, Germans and Italians were treating the country as a amusement center while, in the 19th century, it became the major holiday playground for the British nobles. Today, it attracts visitors from all over the world. The Swiss are clear about the importance of tourism to their economy, which contributes about eight percent of Gross National Product, and helps the industry greatly. Managers of hotels the world over go to Switzerland to learn how to do the job, and a generally high standard can be expected from the great majority of the country's hotels, most of which are small and pride themselves on a personalized service. Public transport is the best in Europe. Both the Swiss Federal railways and the private railways are fully electrified, and the total network is made up of about 5000 kilometers of track. Under the Fly Baggage system passengers can check luggage in at 116 railway stations and have it automatically carried to their flight. The national highway system is equally well planned, and the mountain roads offer views of some of the country's most breathtaking scenery. Also serving the mountains is an effective system of railways and cable ways, while more than 160 passenger cars cross the lakes and rivers to and fro. Hiking in the mountains is equally popular with Swiss nationals and foreign visitors. For those who want to view the country from a height without having to climb the mountain themselves, it is always possible to take in the view from a balloon. According to the passage, Switzerland is now often visited by _ . Answer: people from various countries Surfing the net when you should be finishing a work report, changing clothes when you have a train to catch, or perhaps even lying in bed when you've promised yourself you'll work out. Sound familiar? You aren't alone. We all procrastinate sometimes, especially when it comes to things we aren't really fond of. And while the number of activities we delay doing in any given week varies from person to person, it's fair to say that none of us is super-efficient 100 percent of the time. A study revealed that we spend about 218 minutes procrastinating every day, which amounts to 55 days of lost time each year. We might not think these figures particularly worthy of worry, but when we look at the overall impact of procrastination on our lives, _ Not only does this cost financial loss, it also affects peace of mind. And procrastination isn't just a money thief ---- it steals time too. In general, people who continually put things off are unhappier, as well as being less wealthy and healthy. So why do we do it? "When we avoid taking action, we're really avoiding pain," explains psychiatrist Phil Stutz. For most of us, pain avoidance isn't limited to one situation. It applies to almost anything that's painful. Most of us try our best never to leave a comfort zone. That's why we sacrifice something much more valuable: time. "Our time on earth is limited," Stutz adds. "Every moment is an opportunity we'll never have again. Procrastinators act as if they have all the time in the world. But deep down, they know they're wasting parts of their life. The trouble is, most of them don't know how to free themselves." One way he says we can reach this level of freedom is by overcoming the pain of avoidance using daily visualization . "Picture the pain you're avoiding as a black cloud in front of you," Stutz says. "Notice how you're fed up with the ways this pain has held you back in life, and tell yourself that you're determined to conquer it. Then it's time to get through the cloud and to the other side -- where you're free." It is obvious that this tool works when we want to procrastinate. We then get into the habit of moving "towards" pain instead of away from it. In addition to the fact that procrastinators suffer more health problems, procrastination also destroysteamwork and personal relationships because it shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others. So next time you think about putting something off, remember the impact it will have. Experts insist: procrastinators can change their behavior, it takes a lot of self-work but in the end, it's worth the effort. And start today, not tomorrow. The writer begins the passage by _ . Answer: mentioning habitual activities
Which is the most likely factor for the amount of available ocean space increasing? glaciers getting much hotter At the age of 16, Clara Barton was advised to become a teacher since she was quite shy. She taught in Massachusetts for ten years, and was invited to Bordentown, New Jersey to teach in a school. She saw that these communities needed _ education for their citizens, and she took action by creating a free school, one of the first in her state. But later, ignoring her, officials named a male instead as the head teacher. Disappointed, she left her job and moved to Washington D.C., becoming the first woman employed by the US Patent Office. Clara Barton was forever changed by her experience with the army in the Civil War. She saw doctors use leaves when dealing with injuries since they had nothing else. The medical supplies were well behind the army, who were moving faster than their medical supply lines. She brought in a truck of medical supplies that she collected personally some years ago. Miss Barton continued to work on the battlefields throughout the war. She helped in the identification of 13,000 dead Union soldiers. This non-stop work made her fully exhausted, and upon recommendation by her physicians, she traveled to Europe where she recovered energy and enriched herself. While in Europe, and still in poor health, Miss Barton was moved by the hardship on people brought about by the France-Prussia war. She helped in their relief effort, which encouraged her to create the Red Cross, which served the whole army and common people under a neutral flag. Clara Barton returned to America and then began the establishment of the American Red Cross. The US government did not think there would ever be another war after the Civil War. But she convinced them that the Red Cross would be valuable to serve in times of natural disasters as well. This was her lasting legacy , an agency that still provides aid to all people today. Clara Barton set up the Red Cross because of _ . her experiences in Europe We know the mosquito very well. Mosquitoes fly everywhere. They can be found almost all over the world, and there are more than 2,500 kinds of them. No one likes the mosquito. But the mosquito may decide that she loves you. She? Yes,she. It's true that male mosquito doesn't bite and only the female mosquito bites because she needs blood to lay eggs. She is always looking for things or people she wants to bite. If she likes what she finds, she bites. But if she doesn't like your blood,she will turn to someone else for more delicious blood. Next time a mosquito bites you,just remember you are chosen. You're different from the others! If the mosquito likes you,she lands on your body without letting you know. She bites you so quickly and quietly that you may not feel anything different. After she bites,you will have an itch on your body because she puts something from her mouth together with your blood. By the time the itching begins,and she has flown away. And then what happens? Well,after her delicious dinner,the mosquito feels tired. She just wants to find a place to have a good rest. There,on a leaf or a wall, she begins to lay eggs,hundreds of eggs. If the mosquito doesn't bite you, it will _ . choose another one The world is not coming to an end on December 21st, 2012, the US space agency announced to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie. The latest big screen 2012 was based on stories according to the Mayan calendar.It showed that by the end of 2012, a Planet X will collide with the earth. Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet's existence, but the US space agency considered such stories as tricks."There is no basis in fact for these claims," NASA said in its website."If such a collision were real, scientists would have been tracking it for at least the last decade, and we would see _ with our eyes now.Obviously, it doesn't exist and there will be no threat to the earth in 2012," it insisted."After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years," added NASA. There is another planet, Eris, floating in space.But the small planet will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the earth, according to NASA. And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our plant would be very little."And while comets and asteroids have always hit the earth, big hits are very rare," NASA noted.The last major collision was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting the end of dinosaurs . "We are sure that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs," the space agency said. We can conclude from the passage that _ . the rumors caused a panic among some people This creature eats cheese and is unable to lay eggs a mouse
There is no question that teenagers need rules, which is often not a difficult thing for parents to give. What can be more challenging is giving teenagers their freedom. It can be difficult to draw the line between the two. However, some issues cannot be changed by discussion and require firm rules. For instance, rules should be established concerning driving the family car. I will admit that I have no problem coming up with rules. To me they make life easier and they leave no room for questioning. What can be more difficult, however, is giving my teens their freedom. I guess there are really two primary reasons for this. One is that I sometimes am afraid to give them freedom. The second is that I'm not always so sure what the freedom should be. It helps that I have a husband with whom I can discuss these problems. We talk about _ , give our thoughts and then we come up with an agreement. Sometimes one of us might be more unwilling but we know that there comes a time when we really do have to learn how to let go of the reins a bit. If we try to make life have nothing but rules, we are more likely to see our teen's rebelling . They need to know that while we do have certain expectations, we also trust them to begin making their own choices and decisions. How else can they do that unless they are given the space and room to do it? It's really all about balance and I will be the first to admit that it can be a challenge to carry out. However, it is a necessary part of growing up. Yes, teens definitely need rules but they also need freedom. According to the text, we can infer that the writer _ . Answer: has trouble in giving freedom to her children A student leaves a bucket of water outside on a warm, sunny day. Which process most likely happens to the water in the bucket? Answer: evaporation It is common for older people to forget things. Now an American study has found that memory starts to fail when we are young adults. People younger than thirty years of age usually do not know that they are starting to forget information. But scientists from the University of Michigan say the loss of memory has usually already started. Researchers say people do not observe this slow reduction in mental ability until the loss affects their everyday activities. Denise Park led the new study. She directs the Centre for Aging and Cognition at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Her team studied more than 350 men and women between the ages of twenty and ninety years. The study identified people in their middle twenties with memory problems. She says young adults do not know they are forgetting things because their brains have more information than they need. But she says that people in their twenties and thirties are losing memory at the same rate as people in their sixties and seventies. Ms. Park says people between the ages of sixty and seventy may note the decrease in their mental abilities. They begin to observe that they are having more trouble remembering and learning new information. The study found that older adults are more likely to remember false information as being true. For example, they remembered false medical claims as being true. Younger people remembered hearing the information. But they were more likely to remember that it was false. Ms. Park is now using modern imaging equipment to study what happens in the brains of people of different ages. She is studying what parts of the brain older adults use for different activities compared to younger adults. Ms. Park says mental performance is a direct result of brain activity and brain structure. She says keeping the brain active is important. She hopes future studies will identify ways to improve the operation of our aging minds. The passage is meant to _ . Answer: reveal the decrease in mental ability of young adults as well as older adults "If you want to see a thing well,reach out and touch it!" That may seem a strange thing to say.But touching things can help you to see them better. Your eyes can tell you that glass ball is round.But by holding it in your hands,you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is.You can feel how heavy the glass is. When you feel all these about the ball,you really see it. With your skin,you can feel better.For example,your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket.You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand,too. You can even feel sounds against your skin.Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music. All children soon learn what "Don't touch!" means.They hear it often.Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up.In shops,we touch things we might buy,such as food,clothes and so on.To see something well,we have to touch it. The bottoms of our feet can feel things,too.You know this when you walk on warm sand,cool grass or a bad floor.All feel different under your feet. There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin.Feel the shoes on your feet,the clothes on your body,the air on your skin.At first,it is not easy to feel these things.You are too used to them! Most museums are just for looking.But today some museums have some things to touch.Their signs say,"Do touch! There you can feel everything on show.If you want to see better,reach out and touch.Then you'll really see!" Why does it say,"At first,it is not easy to feel these things?" Answer: People are used to the things. TODAY, Friday , November12 JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at the Derby Arms .Upper Richmond Road West ,Sheen. DISCO Satin Sounds Disco .Free at the Lord Napier ,Mort lake High St ,from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m .Tel:682--1158. SATURDAY, November 13 JAZZ Lysis at the Bull's Head ,Barnes Admission 60p. MUSICAL HALL at the Star and Garter ,Lower Richmond Road ,Putney ,provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company .Good food and entertainment fair price .Tel :789--6749. FAMILY night out ?Join the sing-along at the Black Horse .Sheen Road, Richmond . JAZZ the John Bennett Big Band at the Bull's Head ,Barnes ,Admission 80p. THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West ,give you Joe on the electric accordion .Tel:789--4536 SUNDAY, November 14 DISCO Satin Sounds Disco ,free at the Lord Napier ,Mort Lake High Street ,from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m . FOLK MUSIC at the Derby Arms .The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio .Non-remembers 70p.Tel:688--4626. HEAVY MUSIC with Tony Simon at Bull ,Upper Richmond Road West ,East Sheen . THE DERBY ARMS ,Upper Richmond Road West ,give you Joe on the electric accordion . Where and when can you hear the Norman Chop Trio ? Answer: At the Derby Arms on Sunday
Question: Which is likely to be hotter? A. steaming coffee B. the ocean C. the forest D. tepid water Answer: A. steaming coffee Question: The basic flag of the United States is one of the world's oldest national flags. Only the basic flags of Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland are older. During the discovery and settlement of what is now the United States, the flags of various European nations were flown over the land, as symbols of possession. Later, in the Colonial and Revolutionary War periods, flags representing famous persons, places, and events were flown in the American Colonies. The first official flag of the United States was created by Congress on June 14,1777. It consisted of 13 alternate red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a field of blue, representing the 13colonies that had declared their independence in 1776. Congress adopted a new flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1795, to give representation to the two new states admitted into the Union, Vermont and Kentucky. By 1817 there were 20 states in the Union, and it became apparent that adding one stripe for each new state would destroy the shape of the flag. As a result, Congress in 1818 restored the original design of 13 stripes and provided that each state was to be represented by one star. In 1921 Preside William H. Taft made the first official provision for the arrangement of the stars. He ordered that there be six even rows of eight stars each. Previously the arrangement of the stars had been left to the flag- maker's fancy. The evolution of the stars and stripes reflects the growth of the United States. After the admission of Hawaii into the Union in 1959, the flag was officially changed for the 26th time since its creation. There are many government flags flown in the United States in addition to the national flag. Among them are the president's and vice-president's flags and those of the federal departments and some federal agencies. Each state in the Union has an official flag. The United States Navy uses special flags for signaling. The first official flag of the United States was adopted _ . A. before the Independence War B. right after the Independence War C. when independence was declared in 1776 D. during the War of Independence which ended in 1783 Answer: D. during the War of Independence which ended in 1783 Question: Astronomy is the oldest science known to man. Thousands of years ago man looked at the stars and wondered about the heavens. But man was limited by what he could see with his eyes alone. The Greeks studied astronomy over 2,000 years ago. They could see the size, color, and brightness of a star. They could see its place in the sky. They watched the stars move as the seasons changed. But the Greeks had no tools to help themselves study the heavens. Each new tool added to the field of astronomy helped man reach out into space. They did not know that the planet called Saturn had rings around it. Their sight was so limited that they could not see all the planets. In the early 1700s, people thought there were only six planets. Nepture , the last of eight planets to be discovered, was not seen until 1846. Before the spectroscope , man did not know what kind of gases was in the sun or other stars. Without the radio telescope, we didn't know that radio noises came from far out in space. Today, astronomy is a growing science. We had learned more in the last fifty years than in the whole history of astronomy. . Until there were _ , man knew very little about the moon. A. telescopes B. spectroscopes C. radio telescopes D. spaceships Answer: A. telescopes Question: This is the twin's bedroom. The two beds looks the same . This bed is Wang Lei's. It is near the window. That one is Wang Fang's. It's behind the door. The twins have one desk and two chairs. Their clock, books and pencils are on the desk. Their schoolbags are on the chairs. Wang Lei's shirt is on his bed. On Wang Fang's bed there is her skirt. It's yellow. The room isn't big, but nice. Wang Lei and Wang Fang are _ . A. friends B. brother and sister C. sisters D. brothers Answer: B. brother and sister Question: A research found that people shown silent videos of piano competitions could pick out the winners more often than those who could also hear the music. It underlines the importance of our sense of vision, say scientists. Their study concludes that the best predictor of a winner's musical performance was the visible passion they displayed, followed closely by their uniqueness and creativity. Chia-Jung Tsay, from University College London, UK, is the study's author and herself a concert pianist. She was interested in how music was judged and found that even professional musicians were unaware of how much they were using visual information over sound. "For the last two decades, I've taken part in various competitions. Through this experience, I found that depending on what type of evaluations were used, the results might vary widely. This led me to wonder about how much visual information really affects these important decisions," she explained. More than 1,000 participants in the study were given samples of either audio, silent video or video with sound, and asked to rate the top three finalists from 10 international classical music competitions. The actual competition winners were only correctly identified by those who were randomly assigned the silent videos. Dr Tasy said the findings were quite surprising, especially because both trained musicians and those without training had stated that sound was most important for their evaluation. "Regardless of levels of expertise, we still seem to be led primarily by visual information, even in this field of music," she said. "Classical music training is often focused on improving the quality of the sound, but this research is about getting to the bottom of what is really being evaluated at the highest levels of competitive performance. She added, "We must be more mindful of our inclination to depend on visual information at the expense of the content that we actually value as more relevant to our decisions." According to the study, who would most probably win a piano competition? A. One who plays with great passion. B. One who plays unique music. C. One who plays creatively. D. One who has a sense of vision. Answer: A. One who plays with great passion.
Which is an example of measuring? Answer: In a little-known part of the counter-terrorism world, one of the most effective detection systems is a 600-pound animal that works for about 20 pounds of fish a day. Since the 1960s, the United States and a handful of other countries have trained dolphins and sea lions to detect sea mines and swimmers, to recover inert torpedoes and to test objects used in Naval exercises. Program officials estimate that the sea lions in the Marine Mammal Program have recovered millions of dollars of U.S. Naval torpedoes and instrumentation dropped on the sea floor. The U.S. Navy kept its Marine Mammal Program a secret until the 1990s, and this spring CNN became one of only a handful of media outlets to see firsthand how the program works. The program has trained about 75 Pacific bottlenose dolphins, with natural biosonar that tracks better than any manmade device; and 35 California sea lions, with superb underwater eyesight. Not only do these trained marine mammals track and _ millions of dollars in U. S. military equipment, they are also helping to save lives. The Navy won't disclose whether the dolphins and sea lions have effectively intercepted terrorists attempting to do harm to any U.S. facilities. "Either way, it serves as a deterrent effect." says Christian Harris, operations supervisor for the program. The mammals can be deployed via C-130 cargo aircraft to perform their missions anywhere in the world within 72 hours. They have been used in exercises from Alaska to Hawaii, operating in great temperature and environmental ranges. They also have the capability to operate off vessels. Dolphins most recently were deployed in the Iraq war, performing mine detection and clearance operations in the Persian Gulf to ensure safe passage for humanitarian ships delivering aid. Some of these Iraq war "veterans" are now back home, tasked with a new mission: guarding nuclear submarines in their homeports of Bremerton, Washington, and Groton, Connecticut. What would be the best title for the passage? Answer: Nowadays with the development of agriculture, farmers use more technology. However, they are being told more needs to be done to stop them injuring at work. One in five British workplace deaths happens in agriculture even though farmers are only a small part of the working population. During the year 2012/13 there were 1,061 injuries in total and it is thought many more go unreported. Jim Chapman from Warwickshire had his arm torn off by farm machinery seven years ago when he was 23. "You don't realize how much you rely on your second arm until it's gone," he said. He fell against a PTO shaft , a spinning metal bar at the back of a tractor. "It catapulted me from one side of the machine to the other," he said. "I landed on the floor, minus all my clothing. My left arm had been torn off." He admits that the machinery was missing part of its proper safety guard. "But again," he added, "it was a rushed day. There were a few machines that didn't work. Also, I was getting behind with the jobs." Over the last 10 years, other industries that you'd think of as dangerous, like building or quarrying , have lowered the number of workplace deaths and injures. In the farming industry though, deaths remain high with 34 deaths in 2012/13. Judith Hackett, the chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says it is "not acceptable" that the accident statistics for farming are still high. "People in farming don't have minor injuries. When they get injured, it's bad." She said. "When I said to the National Farmers' Union (NFU) that if I had sons I would not want them to work in agriculture, it really made them sit up and take notice." There's a whole host of reasons why farming is as dangerous as it is. It is a very rough industry. Also, it's often because people are left alone. They could be young and inexperienced, or older people, who would have retired maybe 5 or 10 years ago in other industries. Jim wants others to learn from his experience. "Look at what you're doing before you go running in," he said. "You could make a mistake that you'll live with for the rest of your life." Jim Chapman was injured in the workplace mainly because _ . Answer: Your homework habits might be affecting your grades. Are you feeling tired or bored when it comes to homework time? Are you arguing with parents about your grades? You can change the way you feel by taking better care of your mind and your body. Get the sleep you need. Studies show that teens' natural sleeping habits are different from those of adults. This often causes less sleep among teens, since they tend to have trouble going to sleep at night, and have trouble waking in the mornings. You can avoid some of the problems that come with less sleep by changing some of your nighttime habits. Improve your memory A great way to improve your homework habits is to improve your memory with brain exercise. There are many theories and ideas about improving memory, but there is one mnemonic method that has been around since ancient times. Ancient accounts show that early Greek and Roman orators used the "loci" method of remembering long speeches and lists. You may be able to use this method to improve your memory at test time. Fight the desire to delay Do you get the sudden desire to feed the dog at homework time? Don't fall for it! Delay is like a little white lie we tell ourselves. We often think we'll feel better about studying later if we do something fun now, like playing with a pet, watching a TV show, or even cleaning our room. It's not true. Avoid repetitive stress During text messaging, Internet surfing, and computer writing, you are using your hand muscles in all new ways, and you're very easily to be influenced by something dangerous or the repetitive stress injury. Find out how to avoid pain in your hands and neck by changing the way you sit at your computer. What differences between the teens and adults are mentioned in the passage? Answer: Every year, the French town of Menton hosts an event called the Lemon Festival in the world. The Lemon Festival usually takes place between mid-February until March. During the festival, around 145 tons of oranges and lemons are sent into the town. Over 300 workers work together to make giant sculptures out of fruits. Menton became the first producer of lemons in 1929. The lemons are loved by the world's best cooks. In the late 19th century, a town parade was held to encourage Menton's winter tourism. Kings, princes and artists filled the great and comfortable hotels or their own fantastic houses. Because of its great success, the streets were beautifully planted with oranges and lemons in the following years. In order to develop tourism, in 1934 the Lemon Festival was officially born. Sleepy Menton becomes a world of color during the festival time. People find it very exciting and full of fun. The festival is enjoyed for three whole weeks. Along with a daily Lemon and Orange Exhibition, parades on Sundays, fireworks on Thursday nights. Every year there will be a special theme for the Lemon festival. This year the theme of the Lemon Festival is: "The regions of France". Some of the events are free, but you need to buy tickets to see the parades. Why was the Lemon Festival officially born? Answer:
Many businesses today use conferences as a means of discussing new plans of the company. As people are paying more attention to the environment and green problems, more businesses are looking for ways to reduce their negative effect on the environment. Many businesses do this by using Web conferencing. Web conferencing is a technology that allows people to communicate more effectively over the Internet. It's an easy way of hosting and attending conferences without having to leave the office. Each of the people involved in a Web conference will be posted an invitation to the conference with the time and date of the Web conference on it. When the conference is ready to begin, all participants must sit at their computers and they will be connected over the Internet. With Web conferencing all participants attend conference from the comfort of their own desks. Obviously, in doing this no fuel is used in traveling to and from a conference, and less work is taken up in attending a conference. Any material to be used during Web conference is simply e-mailed to all the participants before the conference. Participants can then either choose to print material or read it on screen. This not only saves paper but also greatly reduces mailing costs for the business. As a conference hall or business center isn't being used, it means that the only power that is used is the power that is used by the participants' personal computers. Similarly, conference organizers don't have to arrange for food or overnight accommodation. All this means that less energy is used. Often in business some companies actively choose to do business with other companies that do many things to reduce their negative impact on the environment. And Web conferencing helps you show other businesses that you are willing to work hard for the green cause. The participants of a Web conference _ . A will be e-mailed an invitation before the conference. B are required to sit in an office together. C will receive many paper materials. D must have access to the Internet. Answer: D Ody, owner of Profitacre, executed an instrument in the proper form of a deed, purporting to convey Profitacre "to Leon for life, then to Ralph in fee simple." Leon, who is Ody's brother and Ralph's father, promptly began to manage Profitacre, which is valuable income-producing real estate. Leon collected all rents and paid all expenses, including real estate taxes. Ralph did not object, and this state of affairs continued for five years until 1987. In that year, Leon executed an instrument in the proper form of a deed, purporting to convey Profitacre to Mona. Ralph, no admirer of Mona, asserted his right to ownership of Profitacre. Mona asserted her ownership and said that if Ralph had any rights he was obligated to pay real estate taxes, even though Leon had been kind enough to pay them in the past. Income from Profitacre is ample to cover expenses, including real estate taxes. In an appropriate action to determine the rights of the parties, the court should decide A Leon's purported deed forfeited his life estate, so Ralph owns Profitacre in fee simple. B Mona owns an estate for her life, is entitled to all income, and must pay real estate taxes; Ralph owns the remainder interest. C Mona owns an estate for the life of Leon, is entitled to all income, and must pay real estate taxes; Ralph owns the remainder interest. D Mona owns an estate for the life of Leon and is entitled to all income; Ralph owns the remainder interest, and must pay real estate taxes. Answer: C Which of these stars is most similar to the Sun? A the red giant star Arcturus B the white dwarf star Sirius B C the main sequence star Alpha Mensae D the blue supergiant star Rigel Answer: C "This one's for you," Sergeant Barstow shouted and left quickly through the back door. I was a little puzzled. I looked out a window of the Ashfordly Police Station and saw an elderly woman come into the building. "Good morning, Madam," I said. "Good morning," she said pleasantly. "You're new, aren't you?" "Yes, Madam." "It's about that man who's been annoying me," she said. "I've been here about him before." "Could I have your name and address, please?" "Miss Fraser. Josephine Fraser. I live at 43 Prince Terrace. Now, can you please do something about Jackson?" "What's he done, Miss Fraser?" "Done? He's thrown garbage all over my stairs again. He must be stopped." "Where does he live?" "Next door, Number 41," she said. "I'll go and see later and warn him off, Miss Fraser." "I would be most grateful." With that she left. Half an hour later, I reached Prince Terrace. NO. 41 was in a bad state of repair. I knocked. No reply. I entered. The place was deserted. I wondered if the Jackson was a tramp . Anyway, it seemed he had left, possibly because of Miss Fraser's threatening police action. I decided to visit her. I knocked on her door and it was opened almost immediately. "Ah!" she said gladly. "You're just in time for coffee." I followed her inside. Miss Fraser told me more about her battle with Jackson. But when I asked specific questions, it clearly showed that she had never seen Jackson. Finally, I managed to leave. Sergeant Barstow smiled kindly as I returned. "Nick, did you kick Jackson out of that house?" "Jackson!" I cried. "Who is he?" "There is no Jackson," he said. "Miss Fraser is lonely and she likes company. We always let the new young men deal with Miss Fraser. It gives her deep satisfaction. That's what we are here for, isn't it -- to satisfy the public?" Why did Sergeant Barstow leave quickly when Miss Fraser came? A Because he wanted to let Nick deal with her alone. B Because he had to go and catch Jackson at once. C Because he was tired of the elderly woman. D Because he knew she would tell a lie. Answer: A Can trees talk? Yes, but not in words. Scientists have reasons to believe that trees do communicate with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special smell---a signal causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty. Communication, of course, doesn't need to be in words. We can talk to each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar for honey. So why shouldn't trees have ways of sending messages? The willow tree described in the passage protected itself by _ . A growing more branches B communicating with birds and bees C changing its leaf chemistry D shaking caterpillars off Answer: C
Walking along a lake in the cold winter, Birbal and the king made a bet that a man would do anything for money. The king said, "I don't think a man would spend an entire night in the cold water of this lake for money." Birbal replied, " I'm sure I can find such a person." The king asked Birbal to find such a person and said that he would reward the person with a thousand gold coins. Birbal searched far and wide and finally found a poor man. When he entered the lake, the king had guards around him to make sure that he really did as promised. The poor man made it. He told the king that there had been a street lamp nearby and that he had kept his attention on the lamp and managed to avoid the cold. The king then said that there would be no reward as he relied on the warmth of the street lamp. The poor man went to Birbal for help. The next day, Birbal did not go to court . The king went to Birbal's house and see what he was up to. He found Birbal sitting on the floor near some burning branches and a bowl filled with rice hanging five feet above the fire. The king and his followers couldn't help but laugh. The king then said to Birbal, "How can the rice be cooked if it is so far away from the fire?" Birbal answered, "The same way the poor man received heat from a street lamp that was more than two thousand meters away." Finally, the king gave the poor man his reward. What does the writer want to tell us? Answer: The first kind of air transportation was not a plane. It was a balloon. People traveled by balloon 100 years before there were planes or jet aircraft. Those early days of ballooning were exciting, but they were also dangerous. Sometimes the balloons fell suddenly. Sometimes they burned. However, the danger did not stop the balloonists. The first real balloon flight was in France in 1783. Two Frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, made a balloon. They filled a very large paper bag with hot air. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so it goes up. The Montgolfier's hot air balloon went up 1,000 feet in the sky. Later that same year, two other Frenchmen ascended in a basket under a balloon. They built a fire under the balloon to make the air hot. This made the balloon stay up in the air for a few hours. But their balloon was tied to the ground. So it could not go anywhere. The first free balloon flight was in December, 1783. The balloon flew for 25 minutes over Paris. It traveled about 5.5 miles. Flying a balloon is not like flying a plane. The balloon has no engine and therefore no power of its own. The wind directs the balloon. It goes where the wind blows. The pilot can control only the altitude of the balloon to find the right wind direction. That is how a good pilot controls where the balloons goes. Soon balloonists tried longer flights. A major event in the history of ballooning was the first long flight over water. In 1785, an American and a Frenchman flew over the English Channel. During the nineteenth century, ballooning became a popular sport. There were balloon races in Europe. Balloons were also used by scientists to study the air and by armies in wartime. After the airplane was invented, people lost interest in balloons. Planes were much faster and easier to control. But some people today still like to go up in balloons. High up in the balloon basket, they find quietness. They have wonderful view of the world below. One way to control a balloon is to _ . Answer: Heat from deep in Earth's interior is transferred to its crust by which of the following? Answer: It takes more than just practice to become an Olympian. Gold medal performances require some serious nutrition. Have you ever wondered what these successful athletes eat to stay in peak shape? Keri Glassman, a registered dietitian and founder of Nutritious Life Meals, appeared on "Good Morning America" today to give you a glimpse into the diets of some top athletes. Some of their meals could surprise you. Crazy Calorie Count _ One secret of swimmer Michael Phelps' astonishing performance in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was consuming as many as 12,000 calories in one day. Athletes can eat like this and not gain any weight because their workouts are intense. According to Glassman, Phelps' workouts can burn 4,000 to 6,000 calories in a day, and those calories must be replenished in order to train the following day. Snacking Secrets Some athletes eat wacky (strange, unusual) foods that they swear improve their performance. Yohan Blake, the Jamaica sprinter and 100-meter world champion, has been making waves for stealing champion sprinter Usain Bolt's thunder on the track during the Olympic trials. Asked about how he gets his stamina, Blake answered that he eats 16 bananas per day, Glassman said. Jonathan Horton, the lead gymnast on the US team, has a blood sugar problem. His solution is honey. When he starts to feel shaky at the gym, he takes swigs of honey to boost his energy, Glassman said. Foods for Recovery What are the best foods to help the body recover after rigorous (strict) competition? For Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, the recovery meal is grilled chicken breasts with Alfredo sauce, whole-grain spaghetti and a salad with lemon juice and olive oil. Lochte, who recently cut out junk food, candy and soda, has undertaken a rigorous strength-training regimen that involves flipping tractor tires, dragging shipyard chains and tossing beer kegs, Glassman said. The passage is most likely to be found in _ . Answer: Dumont, a real estate developer, was trying to purchase land on which he intended to build a large commercial development. Perkins, an elderly widow, had rejected all of Dumont's offers to buy her ancestral home, where she had lived all her life and which was located in the middle of Dumont's planned development. Finally, Dumont offered her $250,000. He told her that it was his last offer and that if she rejected it, state law authorized him to that if she rejected it, state law authorized him to have her property condemned. Perkins then consulted her nephew, a law student, who researched the question and advised her that Dumont had no power of condemnation under state law. Perkins had been badly frightened by Dumont's threat, and was outraged when she learned that Dumont had lied to her. If Perkins sues Dumont for damages for emotional distress, will she prevail? Answer:
There are four seasons in a year. They are spring, summer. autumn and winter. Spring is a beautiful season. In spring, the trees turn green and the flowers come out. Everything looks new. We can have a trip in spring. Summer is a happy season. In summer, we can swim and eat lots of ice cream. Autumn is a season. In autumn, some leaves on the trees turn yellow or red. Winter is a cold season. In some places, it snows and everything looks white. The children like playing with snow. Winter is my favourite season. I like snow very much. From the passage , we can _ in winter. A play with snow B have a trip C eat ice cream D swim Answer: A Local businessmen are increasingly facing competition from on line retailers. Larry Pollock, owner of Camera Co/Op on South Congress, said he has been dealing with this kind of problem for years, even before the Internet. The struggle began with mail-order catalogues, which are similar to online retailers in that they have few employees to pay, no sales tax fees and no business venue to lease and manage. "Their overhead is lower, but they don't offer a service like we do," Pollock said. Pollock, however, said providing a valuable service to customers does not always guarantee continued sales. "We spend 30 minutes to an hour with somebody and they go home and buy it online," he said. According to the state comptroller's office, online shopping is developing at a more rapid rate than traditional businesses. In spite of how fair or unfair online shopping may be to the local businessmen, consumers will continue to turn to the Internet for its variety and accessibility, said Mitch Wilson, an online shopper. "You have a larger selection and it's easier to compare prices." Wilson said he built his personal computer and paid a third of the price by shopping online. "Before the Internet, I would have had to go and buy an assembled computer from somebody like Dell," he said. "Before I started shopping online I could never find all the pieces I wanted. No single store had everything needed, so shopping online saved me from having to buy from Dell." Janny Brazeal, a psychology freshman, said online shopping is too impersonal. "I'd rather see it in person, touch it, know that I'm getting it," she said. Brazeal also said she would not give out her credit card number or other personal information online no matter how safe the site claims it is. Why doesn't Jenny Brazeal like to buy things on line? A She is not sure about the quality of the goods on line B She doesn't like to give her personal information to others C She can't use the computer D She doesn't know what she is going to buy Answer: B The immune system is the body's defender. It identifies, tracks down, and destroys troublemakers before they can hurt the body. Those troublemakers may be, for example, bacteria from a cut or splinter, a measles germ, a cold bug, or even a cancer cell. These invaders try to take over our tissues and feed off our bodies' nutrients. If they succeed, we become sick or, sometimes, even die. It's the job of our immune systems to destroy these invaders before they destroy us. Say you picked up a flu virus last week. Perhaps it entered your body through a cut, from a drinking glass, or from the air you breathe. Of course, you didn't feel it, but the virus made its way into your bloodstream. As soon as it entered your body, it began to reproduce. Viruses have only one goal: to take over your cells. Once inside your body, viruses try to enter cells and disrupt their normal work. If left alone, these viruses would hurt so many cells that you would weaken, or worse, get a serious illness. But this flu virus should not be so complacent as it seems to be. As it reproduces in your bloodstream, the virus is met by a certain kind of white blood cell, the lymphocytes. The _ are the foot soldiers that keep you alive. The number of lymphocytes in your body is hard to imagine. Thousands of them could fit in the period at the end of this sentence. Your body holds about a trillion --that's 1,000,000,000,000 of them, or about 3,000 in every drop of blood. _ Some of these lymphocytes pass through a small walnut-sized organ called the thymus. The thymus is the base of the neck. Here, special hormones turn lymphocytes into fighting cells, called T cells. T cells have one terrific talent: They can tell the difference between friend and foe; what should be in our bodies and what shouldn't. They do not affect the body 's healthy cells. Yet they attack everything that is foreign to our bodies, such as germs, transplants, and even our own cells which have become abnormal, as in the case of cancer. Which of the following can NOT be detected by T cells? A Transplants. B Cancer cells. C Healthy cells. D Thymus Answer: D Banquets are usually held in restaurants in private rooms that have been reserved for the purpose. You will be met at the door and led to the banquet room. Traditionally, the head of your delegation should enter the room first. Do not be surprised if your hosts greet you with a loud round of applause. The proper response is to applaud back. Seating arrangements are stricter than in the West. Guests should never assume that they may sit where they please and should wait for hosts to guide them to their places. Traditionally, the Chinese regard the right side as the superior and the left side as the inferior. Therefore on formal occasions, the host invariably arranges for the main guests to sit on his right side. It is the host's responsibility to serve the guests, and at very formal banquets people do not begin to eat until the host has served a portion to the principal guest. Or, the host may simply raise his chopsticks and announce that eating has begun. After this point, one may serve oneself any food in any amount. Remember to go slow on eating. Don't fill yourself up when five courses are left to go. To stop eating in the middle of a banquet is rude, and your host may incorrectly think that something has been done to offend you. Drinking takes an important place in Chinese banquets. It is likely that the host will stand and hold his glass out with both hands while saying a few words. When he says the words "gan bei",which means bottoms up, all present should drain their glasses. After this initial toast, drinking and toasting are open to all. No words are needed to make a toast, and it is not necessary to drain your glass, although to do so is more respectful. When filling another glass, it is polite to fill it as full as you can. This symbolizes full respect and friendship. When the last dish is finished, the banquet has officially ended. There is little ceremony involved with its conclusion. The host may ask if you have eaten your fill. Then the principal host will rise, signaling that the banquet has ended. Generally, the principal host will bid good evening to everyone at the door and stay behind to settle the bill with the restaurateur. Other hosts usually accompany guests to their vehicles and remain outside waving until the cars have left the premises. The passage mainly tells us _ A Chinese food is delicious. B customs and traditions at banquets in China C what food guests should eat at banquets D different customs between China and western countries. Answer: B Wade is my good friend. We study at the same school. At weekends he usually turns on his computer. He sends and gets e-mails to and from his friends back in France. He also gets on the Internet to learn about what is going on in the world. His parents sometimes take him to some places of interest in China. Sometimes I ask him to come over to my home for a weekend. My parents say that they can't understand what we talk about because there are two languages in our talks--Chinese and English. My mother sometimes says to him,"Can you talk to my son in Chinese only,Wade?" He always smiles and answers, "Not today. I'm going to speak good Chinese very soon." He is not good at Chinese and I am weak at English. But we like these talks because we can learn when we are talking. We can know from the passage that _ A the writer can speak English very well B the writer can get e-mails from Wade C Wade is only beginning to learn Chinese D Wade finds it easy to talk in Chinese Answer: C
With the beautiful music, the first lesson of the new term in 2014 began at 8:05 on the evening of September 1st, 2014. The program includes four parts: be nice to your parents, be polite to others, love others and be self-improved. It really makes a great difference to the students and the parents' ideas. Family education plays an important role to the children. The "king" of fairy tales Zheng Yuanjie told us the story between his father, his son and him. His father helped him fill the pen in order to let Zheng focus on writing. His father set us a good example on how to be a nice father. Zheng is nice to his father, too. He bought a TV for his father and his son learnt from him. The moving story really touched my heart. It made me know how important it is to teach by precept and example role. Joey Yung told us that how her mother taught her to be a polite girl. We should think about others when we do something we like. We need try to be popular people. She reminded us of good manners in our daily life. Qin Yong, a famous rock star, gave up his career and put all his heart in educating his sick son. Though he felt too tired, he never quitted. It's his duty to bring his son up. When he found that his son made great progress, he felt very happy. The orphans' life made us deeply moved. From their father, we know that if we encourage a person, he will have self-improvement. From this program, we know that we should love the people around us. Then, our world will be better and better. The best title of the passage may be _ . Answer: Sydney Airport International Terminal-Arrivals Area SPECIALTY RETAIL Newslink: Two separate Newslink stores _ all your reading needs including newspapers, magazines and the latest bestsellers. Downtown Duty Free: Make sure you shop at Downtown Duty Free for great savings on a range of items including perfume, alcohol, skincare and cigarettes. It's your last chance before customs. Beach Culture: A must for those who go into the Latest in beach clothing. Top surf, street and fashion labels including Mambo, Stussy and Quicksilver, including children's sizes. DINING Blue Sky Care: Speedy service leaves you time to keep an eye on the arrivals gate. Morning pastries, fresh juice, breakfast rolls and coffee while you wait. McDonald's: hamburgers, fries, drinks, muffins and shakes--all your family favorites. Breakfast served until 10:30 a. m. SERVICES ATM: ATMs are conveniently located throughout Arrival and Departures. Dollars, pounds, francs and RMB are all available. Vodafone Rentals: This communication center offers the very latest technology for mobile phone rentals, sales and servicing. Where is this passage likely to appear? Answer: In the next five years, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs are projected to grow twice as quickly as jobs in all other fields according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. While all jobs are expected to grow by 10.4 percent, STEM jobs are expected to increase by 21.4 percent. By this measure, future STEM jobs represent a huge opportunity to today's students. But, in fact, of the 3.8 million ninth graders in the U.S., only 233,000 end up choosing a STEM degree in college, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This means only 6 percent of ninth graders will become STEM graduates. And of these graduates, women will be even more underrepresented in most STEM fields. These are alarming statistics. How do we get more young boys and girls to be interested in STEM-related fields? It isn't an easy task. Schools do not always adequately prepare students for these severe subjects, and college programs are designed to get rid of those who are less persistent. Nationally, only 41 percent of initial STEM majors who begin a degree in STEM-related fields complete their degree in less than six years. In addition, social pressures continue to cast a shadow over girls who might otherwise consider the STEM fields. A couple of years ago, I met amazing parents, both of whom had a background in engineering and hoped their 10-year-old daughter would follow in their footsteps. They encouraged her to take an after-school science / robotics program. When she got there, she found she was outnumbered 6:1 by boys in the class. As the only girl, she came home crying much of the time because she was teased and told that geeky girls are not welcome in the boys' club. Ironically, by the time young boys are entering college programs in STEM fields, many complain about the lack of girls. Starting at an early age, even as young as kindergarten, we need to encourage and help the next generation leaders to consider taking up science, computing, math and technology. We also need to realize that for young girls to be inspired to take and stick with this educational path and later career field, they will benefit from the support of the people that surround them: parents, teachers, friends and family members. In the writer's opinion, what should we do now? Answer: When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community. When Dr. Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life's goal was to make it a forest. The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured. So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention. Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They're extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years. It seems that adversity and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought. Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it's time to change my prayer because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship. Which of the following may be the author's best prayer for his two sons now? Answer: When rain falls for two solid weeks, flooding will be evident Answer:
Some people view a bad situation as a disaster. It's not. It's an opportunity. Once your old world collapses , you can recover and rebuild. Now you have the chance to start fresh and do things more intelligently. I built my business on an unstable structure. I kept it going for years, but the business collapsed last year. I had to leave my office, selling off all the furniture and equipment. I got kicked out of my apartment because I couldn't pay the rent. I couldn't pay my bills or debt. I declared bankruptcy. For years there was the worry that this might happen if I didn't keep straining to keep the business going. And my worries were right. What I worried about would happen did happen .But you know what? Going through that experience wasn't really so bad. It was interesting. Some of it was actually pretty easy. Throughout most of it, I felt increasing relief and a renewed sense of freedom and possibility. All the old _ was gone. No more office. Fewer possessions. Fewer obligations. No more debt. Most of all , no more straining. Life became a lot easier. I got a cheaper and smaller apartment. I became debt-free. I learned to live within my means. Those were actually good things. The others were just feelings. The reality wasn't actually painful. After that, I kept going with the same business but completely changed the business model. I avoided the earlier mistakes, and that business recovered just fine and worked great. It was profitable every year from then on. But I had to go through the collapse first to reach that point. If you've been feeling out of control with your current work or lifestyle, and you're currently straining to keep it going ,consider letting it go. Try allowing the old world to collapse, many or all of your fears and worries might actually come to pass, but that's ok. You don't have to keep the old world alive. If it keeps falling apart on you ,let it collapse. Experiencing the collapse isn't as bad as fearing the collapse What did the author do after his business failed last year? Answer: He cleverly transformed his business model. Sam: Hey, Maria and John. This Thursday is Bill's birthday. Let's think about the presents. Maria: Sure, Sam. I want to give him a computer game. Sam: No, Bill never plays computer games. John: I want to buy a CD of his favourite songs. Sam: Good idea. Bill likes listening to music. Maria: How about buying a birthday cake for him? Sam: Oh, you don't have to do it. His mother usually buys a birthday cake for him. Maria: How about buying him a cinema ticket? I remember Bill likes watching films. Sam: That sounds a good idea. Maria &John: What about you? What would you like to buy for Bill, Sam? Sam: It's a secret. Bill's mother usually buys _ for Bill on his birthday. Answer: a birthday cake Four pieces of News News Item 1 ChongQing--A man has received compensation of more than 130,000 yuan(US&15,662)for being wrongly convicted of murder and serving nearly seven years in jail.Tong Liqing,who is now 41,was jailed for killing his brother's maid.At his trial,Tong said he had admitted to the crime to escape further police beatings.His case attracted the attention of a local lawyer who spent six years finding evidence to prove Tong's innocence. News Item 2 Tokyo--An earthquake shook Tokyo on Wednesday but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.National broadcaster NHK said there was no danger of tidal waves.The earthquake measured a moderate 6.5 on the Richter scale.NHK said the epicenter was off the coast of the Kii peninsula in western Japan. News Item 3 Hong Kong--More women from the Chinese mainland intend to visit Hong Kong in search of Mr. Right after restrictions on travel to Hong Kong were eased.In the first seven months of this year,some 18,000 couples registered for marriage in Horn Kong.For one third of these newly married couples,husbands or wives were from Chinese mainland.According to the China News Service,local matchmaking agencies have recently received more inquiries from women who are from the mainland,wanting to meet well-educated men with a ly good income. News Item 4 Nanjing--A report that three kindergarten teachers knelt down before a South Korean couple to apologize,in Nanjing,of East China's Jiangsu Province,has triggered wide criticism. At a local kindergarten,a Chinese teacher frightened a South Korean child by saying she would cut off his fingers if he continued to make mischief.Although the kindergarten had apologized to the couple and dismissed the teacher surnamed Yang,the mother insisted that Yang should kneel down before her. Sheng Dalin,a columnist,wrote in the XINXI SHIBAO that it was enough to fire the teacher and make an apology to the couple,but the mother's request was beyond all reason. Which of the following is true according to the four pieces of news? Answer: Tong Liqing from Chongqing was wrongly jailed for nearly 7 years before a local lawyer proved his innocence. Should teenagers help their parents do chores? Is it important for us to learn how to do chores? I have a classmate called Li Ting. She is the only child in her family. Her parents love her so much that they don't let her do any chores. On weekdays she gets up, has meals, goes to school, has lessons, she only plays with her friends. So she doesn't know how to do chores. One day, her father was badly ill and was in hospital. Her mother had to take care of her father in the hospital and couldn't cook meals for her for a week. Li Ting didn't know how to cook meals. She had a lot of trouble cooking meals and often felt hungry. She only had instant noodles for her meals. From the story, we know it's very important for us to learn to do chores. Li Ting doesn't _ . Answer: do chores on weekends 17-year-old Tibetan boy climbs 40 meters up a tall tree only to get some honey as an ingredient for a traditional local drink. The money he makes from selling the honey will be used to pay for his younger brother's tuition fee . This is only a scene from the first episode of CCTV's new documentary, A Bite of China 2(2), which appeared on April 18, 2014. But they are enough reasons for viewers to spend an hour every Friday until June 6 enjoying in front of their television sets. Viewers have had to wait a long time since A Bite of China 1 came out in 2012. Back then, the seven-episode documentary was considered the best one ever produced by CCTV, with its good effects and rich food culture. A famous foreigner praised it, saying "it's the best TV show I've ever seen about food. I'm sure it's the best one ever made. " The new season includes eight episodes, covering 300 types of food. According to CCTV, every minute of the show was edited out of 150 minutes of footage . Finding their subjects was often the hardest part of the film team's job. It took them six months to film a beekeeping couple , which included a journey of more than 2,000 kilometers. Food is a personal thing, in that no dish suits all tastes. However, the program has still managed to move all sorts of viewers. "Compared with A Bite of China 1, the new season has a more human touch, which makes viewers cover some tears while their mouths are watering," said Sina Entertainment. As always, the people are the most interesting part. A Bite of China 2 shows a greater dream--through homemade food, it tells the joys and _ of common Chinese in changing times, according to director Chen Xiaoqing of the documentary series . "I was moved by the people in each simple story," said Li Weifang, 17, of Beijing No 3 High School. "Their work helps enrich China's food culture. " In fact, that is exactly what the new season hopes to deliver . Through the program, "the listeners will see the characteristics of the Chinese people: save and tenacity ," Chen told Xinhua Internet. ,,. (2,10) When did A Bite of China 2 appear on CCTV? Answer: From April 18, 2014.
Trees should only be pruned when there is a good and clear reason for doing so and , he number of such reasons is small . Pruning involves the cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches , and the inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way . First , pruning may be done to make sure that trees have desired shape or size . The object may be to get a tree of the right height , and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches , which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape . Secondly , pruning may be done to make the tree healthier . You may cut out diseased or dead wood , or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus cause wounds . The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the center and so preventing the free movement of air . One result of pruning is that an open wound is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for disease , but it is a wound that will heal . Often there is a race between the healing and the disease as to whether the tree will live or die , so that there is a period when the tree is at risk . It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce that risk of death as far as possible . It is important to make the area , which has been pruned , smooth and clean , for healing will be slowed down by roughness . You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the materials available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose . Pruning is usually done in winter , for then you can see the shape of the tree clearly without interference from the leaves and also it is very unlikely that the cuts you make will bleed . If this does happen , it is , of course , impossible to paint them properly . Why should running be done ? A To make the tree grow taller . B To improve the shape of the tree . C to get rid of the small ranches . D To make the small branches thicker . Answer: B Harry Houdini was a man who astonished and attracted many people during his life. Whether he was escaping from a locked box or making things disappear and reappear, he surely was entertaining. People thought that he must truly have some supernatural powers, but in fact, what Harry really had was drive. Harry was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874. His real name was Ehrich Weiss, the third of five children. His family moved to Wisconsin not long after his birth and when he was nine, he was tying ropes all over his backyard and learning amazing tricks to show his friends and neighbors. He visited the local locksmith, and when he had reached his teens he could pick almost any lock that was made. He also learned how to do card tricks. He and his brother, Theo, would often entertain at local parties and clubs for extra money. When Ehrich was 16, he came across a book that would actually change his life: the biography of France's greatest magician, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. It showed Ehrich that his hobby of magic and tricks could also be a career. Immediately, he changed his name to Harry Houdini. He and Theo headed out to make a living as magicians. In 1893, they performed at the Chicago World's Fair, and after that they traveled around giving magic shows for anyone willing to listen and pay. Theo grew restless, however, as the jobs became scarce, so he left. His timing was perfect since Harry had just fallen in love with a lovely woman named Bess who was just the right size for slipping in and out of the trunk they used in their magic tricks. They married immediately and then off they went, traveling with circuses and other road shows. Harry learned more and more tricks and spent much of his time reading and studying all kinds of locks, especially handcuffs. However, no matter what tricks they did or how hard they tried, Bess and Harry were not doing well. They tried to sell their shows for seven years and finally, in desperation, they went to Europe. It was the right move. Harry's persistence and constant practice were about to pay off. To get people's attention, he walked into police stations and offered to be handcuffed by all the policemen. They were shocked when he was loose only seconds later. Soon, everyone in Europe was talking about Houdini's astounding skills. He was in high demand and found himself doing more and more dangerous acts. He escaped from a straitjacket hanging upside down over the street; he escaped from locked boxes of all kinds; and, of course, he got out of any kind of handcuffs put on him. After several years in Europe, Bess and Harry returned to the United States in victory. Harry was doing such amazing tricks that people felt he must have special powers. However, few realized how much time he spent practicing and studying. He would do special exercises to keep his body strong, and he would do tricks with his fingers to keep them flexible. He would spend large amounts of time tying and untying knots -- with his toes! For his underwater tricks, he would get in the bathtub and practice holding his breath for longer and longer times. Since many of his tricks involved being deep in icy water, he would pour buckets of ice in the tub to get accustomed to working in the cold. The reason that Harry Houdini was such a success was that he practiced and prepared for whatever might happen. When a college student punched him in the abdomen in 1926, however, he wasn't prepared. The punch did internal damage that not even this magician could get out of. Harry died in 1926 at 52 years of age -- a master of his trade and a true legend. The author supports the argument that Houdini was a hard worker by describing _ . A his famous tricks B his childhood C how he prepared D how he became popular Answer: C China has a growing love affair with the cars.This is clear at the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange, where more and more people come to look and increasingly to buy. Alice Wu is an editor at a Chinese Internet publication.She takes the subway to work, but she is certain she can cut her commute time if she drives herself.Wu says it takes her three hours to get to work now.If she had a car, she says, the same trip would only take her two hours. The Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange is the biggest car dealership in Beijing.General manager Guo Yong says the business sells more than two thousand cars each week.Guo says it is much easier for Chinese consumers to buy a car now.In the past, it would take them several years to earn enough money to buy a new car.Now, he says, many people only need to save for one year.Also, the emergence of less expensive domestic brands like Chery and BYD means more Chinese can afford cars. For decades, most Chinese city residents got about by bicycle or public buses and trains.Now, in many areas, the number of new cars is growing faster than the road system, leaving city streets jammed with traffic.Guo Liang has wanted to buy a car for a decade, and he will be the first in his family to own one.He is not _ by Beijing's traffic jams.Guo says if the traffic is too bad, he will use the car for leisure or holidays with his family.Another customer, Zhang Menxin, works in Beijing, but is from Xi'an, more than 900 kilometers away.Zhang says it is very difficult to get a train ticket to return home for Chinese New Year.She adds that train is not convenient.If she had her own car, she says, she could go anytime she wanted to. World Bank transportation specialist Shomik Mendhiratta says, "Getting a car makes people feel like they have arrived to the middle class, and it's got a huge status associated with it.It's a fantastic thing to have." The best title for the passage should be " _ " A Cars made China a country on wheels B More Chinese Hitting the road in their own cars. C More cars sold by the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange D China is developing rapidly in the past few years. Answer: B Plants have cells, tissues, organs, and systems that allow them to function as complete organisms. Which parts of a plant function as an organ? A leaves B spores C root hairs D chlorophyll molecules Answer: A These days a green building means more than just the color of the paint. Green building can also refer to environmentally friendly houses, factories, and offices. Green building means "reducing the impact of _ on the land"Taryn Holowka of the U.S Green Building Council in Washington, D. C. said. According to Holowka, buildings account for 65 percent of total U.S. electricity use. But green buildings can reduce energy and water use. Also, the buildings are often located near public transportation such as buses and subways, so that people can drive their cars less. That could be good for the environment, because cars use lots of gas and give off pollution. Green buildings are often built on developed land, so that the buildings don't destroy forests. Marty Dettling is the project manager for a building that put these ideas into action. The Solaire has been called the country's first green high-rise building. According to Dettling, "We've reduced our energy use by one-third and our water by 50 percent." The Solaire cuts energy in part by using solar power. "On the lace of the building we have solar panels which change the sun's energy into electricity," Dettling explained. The Solaire also has lights that automatically turn off when people leave the room. In addition, the building has lots of windows, allowing people to use the sun for light during the day. The Solaire cuts water by reusing it. Not everyone is eager to move into a green building, however. Some people think that things like solar panels cost more money than more traditional energy sources. Anyhow, Holowka said, "It's going to be big." What is the main subject discussed in the text? A Dettling designed the first green building in the U. S. B Energy shortage calls for buildings of new design. C Green buildings help save environment. D The Solaire serves as a model of high buildings. Answer: C
Bill,a 13-year-old boy, thought he had grown up to be a man. But his parents told him, "You won't be a real man until you begin to think about helping others." One moming, his parents gave him some money to buy some milk. Outside a shop he saw a homeless old~man who looked very sick. Bill went to him and asked. "what's wrong with you?" The old man answered, "I'm hungry,I haven't had any food for two days". "Let's go to the restaurant." When they got there, Bill asked the waiter to bring out bread and coffee to the old man. The old man finished the meal quickly. Afier the waiter took away the plate and the cup, the old man said, "Sorry for giving you too much trouble. I'm fine now. I'Il never forget your kindness! You're a very good young man." Bill was happy when he heard this. Just when he wanted to pay for the meal, the waiter came.To their surprise, Bill and the old man leamed that their food was free because it was the birthday of the boss, and they were the first customers that day. What did the old man think of Bill? A Kind and tall. B Kind and good C Happy and handsome D Happy and cool. Answer: B In the near future, all housework will be done without having a robot maid. Smart home technology will allow all sorts of electronics and appliances to be able to communicate with each other and perform various tasks. Whenever someone wants to have a snack, but does not feel like making something, why not have the refrigerator suggest something based on what it has inside of it. Not only that, it would communicate with the microwave to prepare the cooking power and time for that particular dish. Nearly all major appliances in the future will take advantage of this technology through home networks and the Internet. Smart home technology is a way for ordinary electronics and appliances to communicate with each other, consumers, and even manufacturers. Many consider a smart home to be one that is networked. Others feel it is a home that has appliances that will allow the consumer to do little or no work, but a smart home really is all of that combined, and more. Not only will all consumer products be networked, but they will also make life easier and more entertaining. Smart home technology is currently being developed and carried out for all rooms in the house, in particular the kitchen and the living room. Many of today's products are becoming "smart." Kitchen refrigerators, microwaves, and stoves are using this technology. Even washers and dryers have the technology today to be more automated to fit people's needs. Products in the bathroom will even start to use smart home technology. Electric razors, toilets, and showers will have some sort of automation built in. Smart home technology is still in its early stages but will soon make a great effect on everyone's lives. In order to take advantage of smart home technology, people _ . A only need ordinary electronics and appliances B have to buy consumer products from a special manufacturer C have to buy their appliances on the Internet D make their electronics and appliances smart first Answer: A One of the requirements of every graduation ceremony speaker is that they offer some advice. Well, get ready, here it comes. Soon you will be leaving the company of those who think they have all the answers -your professors, instructors and counselors-and going out into what we like to call the real world. In time you will meet up with other people who think they have all the answers. These people are called bosses. My advice is: humor them. A little later you'll meet additional people who think they have all the answers. These are called spouses . My advice is: humor them, too. And of all goes well, in a few years you will meet still another group of people who think they have all the answers. These are called children. Humor them. Life will go on, your children will grow up, go to school and someday they could be taking part in a graduation ceremony just like this one. And who knows, the speakers responsible for handing out good advice might be you. Halfway through your speech, the graduate sitting next to your daughter will lean over and ask, "Who is that woman up there who thinks she has all the answers?" Well, thanks to the reasonable advice you are hearing today and that I hope you will all pass on, she will be able to say, "That is my mother. Humor her." Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression "have all the answers"? A know a great deal about something through man's life B know all the keys to any test before any graduation C be clever enough to do anything well in school D be experienced in giving advice on any subject Answer: A Most of the news in the newspapers is bad but sometimes there is a story with good news. This is one of those stories. Millions of people around the world suffer from AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases. There are medicines to treat these diseases but for people in poor countries, these medicines are too expensive to buy. When a pharmaceutical company produces a new medicine, they receive a special license called a _ This license means that the new medicine or drug is protected for a period of 20 years. The company that produced the drug can fix the price of the drug and no other company is allowed to produce the same drug or a copy of the drug for 20 years. At the moment, these patents operate all over the world, both in rich countries and in poor countries. The drugs companies say that they need patents so that they can get the money to pay for research to find new drugs and medicines. In rich countries people usually have enough money to pay for these drugs but in poor countries people can't afford to buy them and cannot treat diseases like AIDS and malaria. Last month, however, a group of experts published a report which says that patents are very bad for poor countries. The report says that drug companies do not want to find new medicines for diseases of poor people in poor countries. It says that poor countries should be allowed to buy cheap drugs without patents from other countries. The authors of the report were lawyers, scientists and a senior director from the drug company Pfizer. Of course, the pharmaceuticals industry doesn't agree with the report, "We need patents so that we can develop new medicines to fight disease both in the developed and developing world," said a spokesman. But the report is the first sign that there might be a change in the patent system. This change could save millions of lives in the world's poorest countries. This really is good news. Why do drugs companies need patents? A To sell drugs in rich countries. B To sell drugs in poor countries. C To get money to produce new drugs. D To compete with other companies. Answer: C Which most likely requires the aid of specialized tissues at the ends of stems? A human assisted space travel B the quick growth of bamboo C cats digging with their claws D the slow growth of mammals Answer: B
Few people find it easy to refuse a bargain (a product sold at lower price). But bargains are not always what they seem. Some sales and bargains are good deals, but not all are. Here are some pointers to help you tell the difference between real bargains and bad deals. Sometimes a product is on sale for "below producer's cost". Watch out for this kind of "bargain". Why would anyone want to sell a product for less than it cost to make it? Before buying, you should find out why it is being sold at a loss to the producer. Is it damaged? Is it out of style? Does it come with any guarantee ? Another pointer is to read price tags on sale items carefully. For example, a price tag in a store may say " regular price $16". The regular price is the price of the item before the sales started and after the sale ends. The regular price is only for that store, however. In another store, the price could be lower. A price tag may also say "original price $ 16". That means at one time the item sold for $16 ------even as much as five years earlier! For example, the original price of pocket calculators was high when they were introduced. Now the price is much lower. Showing the original price would be misleading. Finally, be careful how you use cents-off coupons . A coupon can save you money only if you intend to use the item. The price of an item may not be the same at different stores. So use the coupon at the store with the lowest price. Don't forget to add any sales tax to the item before you figure out the "cents-off' price. The original price would be misleading because _ . Answer: Arthur Miller (1915--2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by the "Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Miller's most famous play,Death of a Salesman,is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is "burnt out" and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end. When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards. Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance ofDeath of a Salesmanon Broadway. What is the text mainly about? Answer: Pushing on a pedal is an example of Answer: In just two months, the latest buzzword from the Internet, diaosi, has spread so much that it can be found everywhere--from online forums to micro blogs. Many people even call themselves diaosi. It's not the first time a term has gone popular on the Internet in China. However, why is the word so viral that is has become a cultural phenomenon? Here, we tell you something you want to know about it. Where it began The word originated in Baidu. Com's Tieba (a top Chinese bulletin board system) of soccer player Li Yi. There, fans of Li, who are called yisi in Chinese, not only talk about soccer but complain about their lives, work and relationships. Yisi, who are known for their rude and dirty language, were given the name diaosi by others who have seen their posts. What a "diaosi" is like The word diaosi was coined first by single, young men who feel they have dead-end lives. Generally, men in this category don't earn enough, are not good-looking, and have difficulty winning promotion . Unlike their upper-class contemporaries , they lack influential families, useful social networks for their careers, and most importantly, suitable women to marry. "I'm just a diaosi, poor and plain-looking. Who will marry me?" The sigh can be heard, which is half self-mockery , half reality. Many young men call themselves diaosi because they feel they are among the lowest classes of the society. "Diaosi" culture reflects social changes According to Zhu Chongke, a professor in the School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, the popularity of this word diaosi stems from the fact that is was created by common people and thus resonates with a huge population. "Labeling yourself a diaosi offers a way for people to mock themselves and relieve pressure, hence it spread quickly," he told Xinhua Agency. "The attitude is basically: 'I already have little to lose, so why don't I mock myself for gun?'." The phenomenon reflects a larger social issues. These young people have no influential family background, no chances of receiving promotion at work or no economic strength to find a proper woman to marry. It reflects a deep sense of loss. The word "diaosi" is so popular because _ . Answer: 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!" According to the writer, the word "grinnies" originates from _ . Answer:
Express delivery: How you can buy your groceries from a virtual supermarket Aug, 1st, 2011 Daily Mail A "virtual supermarket" consisting of posters of goods put on platform walls is set to be introduced at London Underground stations. Passengers "shop" by scanning QR--Quick Response--codes of the items they want to buy using their smart phones. These goods are later delivered to their home address. Supermarket giant Tesco successfully trialed the hi-tech store in a South Korean underground station and there are now plans to bring the concept to Britain. NYPD to Scan Facebook, Twitter for Trouble Aug, 11th, 2011 Forbes The New York Police Department announced it will form a new unit to search social media as part of its law enforcement efforts, responding to the criminals' growing use of these sites to plan and celebrate illegal activities. The NYPD unit created particularly to _ social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry messenger for information on planned crimes and their criminals. Space Junk reaching "tipping point", report warns Sep 3rd, 2011 Toronto Sun The amount of debris orbiting the Earth has reached "a tipping point" for crashes, which would produce more debris that may be dangerous to astronauts and satellites, according to a US study. According to the US Space Surveillance Network, the number of orbital debris jumped from 9,949 in December 2006 to 16,094 in July 2011. The third piece of news will be in the_section of the newspaper. Answer: Kids love playing sports. But boys and girls like different sports. For boys, football ,baseball and basketball are their favorites. They think football and basketball are very exciting and interesting, so boys often play football or basketball after school. Peter says, "Football is very interesting. The football players are often handsome." But girls have different opinions. They think tennis and ping-pong are more interesting. Lily says, "I like tennis, because many tennis players are beautiful girls. They have good figures. I hope to have a good figure, too." What sports do boys like? Answer: 1970 was World Conservation Year. The United Nations wanted everyone to know that the world was in danger. They hoped something could be done. Here is one example of the problem. At one time there were 1,300 kinds of plants, trees and flowers in Holland ,but now only 866 are left. The others have been destroyed by modern people and their science. We are polluting earth, air, water and everything around us. We can't live without these things. If things go on like this, we shall destroy ourselves. What will happen in the future? Perhaps it's more important to ask "What must we do?" More and more young people have known this. Many of them are helping to save our earth. For example, they plant trees. In a small town in the United States, a large group of girls cleaned the banks of 11 kilometers of their river. Young people may hear about conversation through a song called "No one's going to change our world". It was made by Cliff Gichard and other singers. The money from it will help to conserve tigers, elephants and pandas on the earth. How many kinds of plants, trees and flowers have been destroyed in Holland? Answer: In the past, man did not have to think about protection of the environment. There were very few people on the earth, and natural resources seemed to be unlimited. Today things are different. The world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources too quickly, and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, human life on the earth will not survive. Everyone realizes today that if too many fish are taken from the sea, there will soon be none left. Yet, with modern fishing methods, more and more fish are caught. We know that if too many trees are cut down, forests will disappear and nothing will grow on land. Yet, we continue to use more powerful machines to cut down more and more trees. We realize that if rivers are polluted with waste products from factories, we will die. However, in most countries waste is still put into rivers, but there are few laws to stop this. We also know that if the population of the countries in the world is to rise at the present rate in a few years, there will not be enough food. What can we do to solve these problems? If we eat more vegetables and less meat, there will be more food available for everyone. Land that is used to grow crops can feed five times more people than land where animals are kept. Our natural resources will last longer if we learn to recycle them. The world population will not rise so quickly if people use modern methods of birth control. Finally, if all of us think about the problem, we will have a better and cleaner planet in the future. This passage mainly tells us about _ . Answer: One day Bob took two of his friends into the mountains. They put up their tents and then rode off to a forest to see how the trees were growing. In the afternoon when they were about ten kilometers from their camp, it started to snow. More and more snow fell. Soon Bob could hardly see his hands before his face. He could not find the road. Bob knew there were two roads. One road went to the camp, and the other went to his house. But all was white now. Everything was the same. How could he take his friends back to the camp? Bob had an idea. The horses! Let the horses take them back! But what would happen if the horses took the road to his house? That would be a trip of thirty - five kilometers in such cold weather! It was getting late. They rode on and on. At last the horses stopped. Where were they? None of them could tell. Bob looked around. What was that under the tree? It was one of their tents! ,. The horses stopped because _ . Answer:
This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers (young people aged from 13-19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in U. S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world. Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family. In turn, George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America. Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months' study, the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected-much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities. Family life, too, was different. The father's word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual . Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car. "Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it." At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. "I suppose I should criticize American schools", he says. "It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe you schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two." The whole exchange programme is mainly to _ . Answer: let students learn something about other countries The Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to _ the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that would give every American the right to a place to call home. According to the Coalition's studies, of over two hundred million people living in the United States, up to three million are homeless--and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s, fast-rising house prices, large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession have make it impossible for many Americans to meet housing costs. Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes. According to another research, families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it. The old idea of a homeless person, that of the single man who gets drunk all the time, is no longer true. A much larger part of the population now finds itself homeless. Even worse, once a person becomes homeless, he often finds it impossible to find a job, since most employers require anyone who wants a job from them to provide a home address on a job application. What's the main cause of the rising number of the homeless in the U.S.? Answer: The ever-rising price of housing. If a deer lives in a place with trunks, the area is likely to be a color matching a Answer: grasshopper Science Daily (May 1S, 2012) - People who rate themselves as having high emotional intelligence (El) tend to overestimate their ability to detect deception in others. This is the finding of a paper published in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology on 18 May 2012. Professor Stephen Porter. director of the Centre for the Advancement of Psychological Science and Law at University of British Columbia Canada along with colleagues Dr. Leanne Brinke and Alysha Baker used a standard questionnaire to measure the EI of 116 participants. These participants were then asked to view 20 videos from around the world of people pleading for the safe return of a missing family member. In half the videos the person making the plea was responsible for the missing person's disappearance or murder. The participants were asked to judge whether the pleas were honest or deceptive say how much confidence they had in their judgments, report the clues they had used to make those judgments and rate their emotional response to each plea. Professor Porter found that higher EI was associated with overconfidence in assessing the sincerity of the pleas and sympathetic feelings towards people in the videos who turned out to be responsible for the disappearance. Although EI, in general, was not associated with being better or worse at telling the difference between truths and lies. people with a higher ability to notice and express emotion (a component of EI) were not so good at spotting when people were telling lies. Professor Porter says: "Taken together, these findings suggest findings features of emotional intelligence and the decision-making processes _ lead to may nave the paradoxical effect of weakening people's ability to detect deception." "These findings are important because El is a well-accepted concept and is used in a variety of fields, including the workplace" What is the best title for the passage? Answer: Emotionally intelligent people are less good at spotting liars. Of the several films Hirokazu has made about childhood and children, this one is the most modest, but no less pleasing for its delicate style and small setting. This wise and funny film works small miracles in describing such a moment when kids turn from the wishfulness of childhood into shaping the world for themselves. The sweetly reflective hero, a sixth-grader named Koichi, starts out by wishing for a volcano to erupt. Not just any volcano, but the one that towers above his town, smoking heavily and giving off ash. An eruption would lead to a withdrawing, which would lead, at least in his mind, to a reunion with his father and kid brother, who've been living in Hakata while Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in Kagoshima. The volcano, knowing nothing of this, refuses to erupt, but Koichi hears of another approach to realizing the desired miracle. One of the pleasures of I Wish is watching how kids behave -- how Koichi attacks his dinner, for example. Another pleasure is rediscovering how kids think. These kids can be logical and ever so tricky. But children's thought processes can also be fancy. A boy wishes he could play baseball like one of baseball stars, who eats curry for breakfast; so he, too, starts eating curry for breakfast, instead of practicing on the field. Another boy tries to wish his dead dog, Marble, back to life. And what does Koichi finally wish for? I wish you'd see this delightful film to find out. What does the writer intend to do in this text? Answer: To recommend a film.
Question: Which object is the best conductor of electricity? A. a wax crayon B. a plastic spoon C. a rubber eraser D. an iron nail Answer: D Question: When two English people meet,their first words will be"How do you do?"or"How are you?"After the reply"How do you do?"or"Fine,thank you.How are you?"they often talk about the weather.The reason for this is not simply that their weather is interesting and changeable but that the English people don't like talking about personal matters with people who are not friends.Talking about the weather can be a useful way of starting a conversation with a stranger in public. What are the first words when English people meet? A. Say hello to each other. B. Say goodbye to each other. C. Talk about the weather. D. Talk about their personal matters. Answer: A Question: Approximately how many times will Earth rotate during one revolution around the Sun? A. 1 B. 28 C. 365 D. 1440 Answer: C Question: "Tear' em apart!" "Kill the fool!" "Murder the referee !" These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the time they are made, they may seem innocent enough. But let's not kid ourselves. They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed. Volumes have been written about the way words affect us. It has been shown that words having certain connotations may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term "opponent" as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete it from sports terms. The dictionary meaning of the term "opponent" is "adversary" "enemy"; "one who opposes your interests." Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may dominate one's intellect, and every action, no matter how gross, may be considered justifiable. I recall an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player's request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough. The player proceeded to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then exclaimed. "Are they wet enough now?" In the heat of battle, players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences that such a move might have on anyone in their way. I have also witnessed a player reacting to his opponent's international and illegal blocking by deliberately hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the course of play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which departs from normal behavior. Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated the game to the level where it belongs there by setting an example to the rest of the sporting world. Replacing the term "opponent" with "associate" could be an ideal way to start. The dictionary meaning of the term "associate" is "colleague"; "friend"; "companion." Reflect a moment! You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term "associate" rather than "opponent." According to the passage, players, in a game, may _ . A. deliberately throw the ball at anyone illegally blocking their way B. keep on screaming and shouting throughout the game C. lie down on the ground as an act of protest D. kick the ball across the court with force Answer: A Question: Height is just one of the thousands of features your genes decide. In fact, because you have two parents, your genes provide you a height that usually lands somewhere between the height of each parent. If both your parents are tall, then most probably you will be tall, too, but if you have questions about how tall you're going to be, ask your doctor if he or she can help you find it out. But genes don't decide everything. For example, eating an unhealthy diet can keep you from growing to your ideal height. Getting plenty of sleep and enough exercise will help you grow to the expected height. No doubt you're wondering how fast you should grow. It depends. There's no perfect or right answer. Generally speaking, kids grow about 2 inches (6 centimeters) a year between age 3 and the time when they start puberty (when your body starts changing and becoming more grown up). Your doctor will know how your growth has been going over the years. Two centimeters here and 2 inches there are not nearly as important as the height you're at now, how you've been growing up to this point, and what other changes your body may be going through. Don't be scared if you seem to have grown a lot in a very short time. Everyone has a growth spurt during puberty. The age for starting puberty is about 10 for girls and about 11 for boys. But it can be earlier or later ---between 7 and 13 for girls and 9 and 15 for boys. You'll usually begin to notice that you're growing faster about a year or so after your body starts to show the first changes of puberty. This passage is mainly about _ . A. how the genes work in your body B. when is the time you grow fast C. why you look like your parents D. how you grow to a certain height Answer: D
Every family with kids has seen its share of arguments, shouting and complaining. It turns out that all those conflicts serve an important purpose in the development of children . Saying "no" followed by a bad temper, just may be an unavoidable part of growing up. And _ . These are the first steps toward independence. Even young children have to challenge their parents sometimes. Studies have shown the following: Although stressful, conflicts are beneficial for children. Learning to manage conflicts is necessary for a child's development. *Conflicts during the preschool years occur because children desire more attention than parents can or should give. If you understand why conflicts occur, it can minimize the conflicts between you and your children. Conflict is a child's attempt to develop a sense of self and how he or she learns to express his or her needs and ideas. Parents develop and drive this independence by putting children to the outside world both formally and informally. Conflicts can grow out of a difference of opinion or might just be a way to blow off steam . In rare situations, constant conflicts between parents and children can indicate a deeper emotional problem. Consult your doctor if this seems to be your situation. It's important to offer your child choices, which should be determined by age and developmental level. The more responsible a child is, the more choices he or she gets in reward. You can threaten your child with punishment, but often offering a choice will better improve angry situations. Consequences and rewards should have some meaning to your child. Often a child's adverse reaction when he or she hears the word "no" can be avoided by giving the child an explanation as to why you have refused his or her request. In most cases ,the conflicts between parents and their children _ . A lead to more misunderstandings B doesn't really mean a deep emotional problem C is an important choice D involve visiting doctors Answer: B (RAMALLAH, West Bank) -- Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners early Wednesday, the second of four groups to be released as part of an agreement that started the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which had broken down since 2008. In all, 104 prisoners are to be released in four rounds over the coming months. In the West Bank and Gaza , the mood was overexcited as hundreds of Palestinians welcomed the prisoners back home, after many had spent more than 20 years behind bars. Crowds of people rushed toward the 5 prisoners released to Gaza, raising them on their shoulders, waving Palestinian flags and dancing to music. Relatives held signs that read "we will never forget our heroes." More than 2,000 people welcomed the 21 prisoners released to the West Bank, who were greeted at a ceremony by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Hazem Shubair, thrown into prison in 1994 for the death of an Israeli according to the Israeli Prison Service, was over delighted upon his return to Gaza. "I am speechless," he said. "Thanks to God. God is greater than the aggressors (meaning Israel)". Abbas said a final peace agreement with Israel was possible on the release of the prisoners. "There will be no final agreement without the release of all the prisoners," he told the violent crowd. Israel's Supreme Court earlier refused an appeal that intended to cancel the prisoner release. An organization of bereaved families behind the appeal has said it fears the prisoners, all in connection to the deaths of Israelis, will return to violence once freed. Why did Israel free 26 Palestinian prisoners early Wednesday? A Because they would take part in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. B Because that was part of an agreement between Israel and Palestinians. C Because the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks failed. D Because the peace talks had broken down since 2008. Answer: B I love to tell the story about how I met my best friend-Tiger. We met at the school fair . Each year, all the fourth-grade classes hold a school fair. Everyone in the fourth grade works at the fair. Some sell ice cream, drinks and snacks, others take care of the little children who ride the horses. I got the second job and I've never forgotten it, because that's where I met Tiger. My job was to help little children get on the back of a little horse. I kept telling the children to wait their turn and holding ice cream for them while they rode about. It's clear that I was growing older and should be more responsible. Suddenly, a boy came to the horse. He took the little horse's reins ! The horse stopped, and the girl on its back started to fall. I was trying to reach the girl when I saw Tiger go by my legs. It held the horse's reins and pulled the horse away from my legs. I caught the girl just before we both hit the ground. The girl sat on top of me. She was laughing at the ice cream on my face. The horse's reins were in Tiger's mouth! Thanks to Tiger's fast action, I saved the little girl. We were both heroes. And Tiger, the fastest dog I've ever known became my new best friend. The writer's job was to _ . A feed the horse B look after the children C ride the horse D take care of the horse Answer: B Are you trying to learn a new language in a foreign land? You might be better off if you stopped looking at that picture of your family and friends. New research from Columbia University found that prompting someone who is learning a new language with images and reminders of their own culture could temporarily ruin everything that the brain was trying to build. When native Chinese students were asked to talk with a Caucasian avatar and a Chinese avatar, their English skills were so different. Simply exposing students to a Chinese person affected their ability to speak English. Subjects who talked with the Chinese version felt more comfortable in their speech, but they produced 11% fewer words per minute. They actually became less fluent speakers. To make sure it wasn't just the avatar, researchers also showed people random images of China while the participants told a story. When pictures of their homeland appeared, fluency dropped 16% and volunteers were 85% more likely to use a literal translation, for example, calling _ "happy nuts", because that's literally what the Chinese word for pistachio means. When the students were shown pictures of fish with one swimming ahead of the others, their culture would change how they look at the photo. With Chinese prompt, like photos of the Great Wall or Chinese Dragon, etc. they saw more students thinking that the fish was being chased, while an American prompt, like pictures of Marilyn Monroe or Superman, saw those students believing that it was a leader fish. The bottom line is: when attempting to learn a new culture it is far better to surround yourself with that culture than create an island of the old one. From the passage we can infer that _ . A different images would change with different people B different cultures would affect how students look at the photo C with Chinese prompts, more students thought that it was a leader fish D with an American prompt, more students thought that the fish was being chased Answer: B My name is Lisa.I have a bird.She is white.So I call her Xiaobai.Xiaobai is only two years old.She's not big.But she is beautiful and clever.She can speak. One day I go shopping with my sister Gina and Xiaobai.At Green Clothes Store Gina sees a red skirt and says, "Look! Lisa! That red skirt is very beautiful." Xiaobai answers her instead of me, "No.I think you look nice in that green skirt." Gina says, "OK.I listen to you." Then she asks the shop assistant, "How much is the green one?" The shop assistant looks at Xiaobai, opens her mouth but says nothing.At last she says to Gina, "I never see a bird that can speak these words.It's great! You can take this green skirt.Oh, you don't need to pay for it." Gina is very happy.She asks me and my bird to have a big lunch in Leo's Restaurant and then we go home. Lisa is Gina's _ . A aunt B friend C mother D sister Answer: D
Successful people always have a dream. They dream big dreams and then show great courage to do things that others say cannot be done. Your dreams form the foundation of success. Many people have long forgotten the dreams they used to have when they were kids. As they grow older, they are simply too caught up with their work activities that they fail to discover what they really want to pursue in life. To get you back on track to pursue your dreams, follow these steps: Learn to dream again; We are born to dream. But we hear of teachers calling in school: "Stop dreaming and pay attention in class!" Parents , too, have shouted, "Stop dreaming and go on with your homework!" In the end, many do get "realistic" and give up their dreams in time. Dream big dreams; Never set mental boundaries on what you are able to achieve. Dreams are free anyway so as long as you are dreaming, you might as well dream big. Many people cannot realize their dreams and achieve greater success because they limit their own beliefs. Flee from dream killers; Dream killers are destructive to your success. Your friends, colleagues and even loved ones can be one of your dream killers. There are people who will try to change, confuse or persuade you to build the life they want, not the life that you want. Stop listening to the people who tell you why you will not achieve your dreams. You just need to believe you can do whatever it is you want to do. You should stop giving reasons why you cannot achieve your dreams. Many so-called reasons are merely excuse. Take action immediately; Once you have big and clear dreams, take immediate action to work toward making them come true. Weeks later, the passion will grow cold and months later, that passion may be gone forever. Think about this; Five birds are resting on the fence and minutes later, three birds decide to fly off to search for food. How many birds are left on the fence? Two? Wrong! There should still be five birds on the fence because deciding to fly off is not the same as the actual act of flying off. All the following are the dream killers except _ . A friends and parents B time and age C teachers and oneself D someone you love Answer: B It's a popular belief that a fish's memory lasts for only seven seconds. It may seem sad to think that they don't remember what they've eaten or where they've been, and they don't recognize you or any of their friends -- every moment in their life would be like seeing the world for the first time. But don't be so quick to feel sorry for them. A new study has found that fish have a much better memory than we used to think. In fact, certain species of fish can even remember events from as long as 12 days ago. In the study, researchers from MacEwan University in Canada trained a kind of fish called African cichlids to go to a certain area of their tank to get food. They then waited for 12 days before putting them back in the tank again. Researchers used computer software to monitor the fish's movements. They found that after such a long break the fish still went to the same place where they first got food. This suggested that they could remember their past experiences. In fact, scientists had been thinking for a long time that African cichlids might have a good memory. An earlier study showed that they behaved aggressively in front of certain fish, perhaps because they remembered their past "fights". But until the latest findings, there was no clear evidence. Just as a good memory can make our lives easier, it also plays an important part when a fish is trying to survive in the wild. "If fish are able to remember that a certain area contains safe food, they will be able to go back to that area without putting their lives at risks," lead researcher Trevor Hamilton toldLive Science. For a long time, fish were placed far below chimpanzees, dolphins and mice on the list of smart animals. But this study has given scientists a new understanding of their intelligence. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? A Fish behave aggressively in a fight. B Fish can remember more. C Fish don't belong to the list of smart animals. D Only African cichlids have a good memory. Answer: B Hello, My name is Dale. I'm 13 years old. This is a photo of my family. Look! This is my father. His name is Tim Brown. He is 45 years old. This is my mother Alice. She is 43 years old. I have a sister and her name is Gina. She is 11 years old. I look like my mother and Gina looks like my father. All my family are in the same school. My parents are teachers. They are friendly to the students, so the students love them very much. My sister and I are students and we love our school. From the passage , we know _ . A Dale's father is not a teacher B Dale looks like his father C Alice is 45 years old D Alice is friendly to her students Answer: D There is just one four-legged animal that can walk two hundred miles without stopping once to rest. It would take a person two days and two nights to walk this far, and only one man has ever done it without stopping. What amazing animal has such endurance ? The camel! The camel is well known for something else, too. It can cross an entire desert without a single drink of water. Its body is built in a special way to help it store water and food. A person has just one stomach, but a camel has quite a few. Within each stomach are layers and layers of cells. These cells are like tiny water balloons, storing liquids until the camel needs them. When the camel drinks, the cells grow larger and larger. For a whole week, they can keep the animal's thirst away by sending water to all parts of its body. Have you ever wondered why the camel has a hump ? The hump is a storage place for fat. Because it has this storage area, the camel does not need to eat very often. When the animal needs energy, the layers of fat serve as fuel to keep it going on the long, hot days in the burning sun. The camel has another gift that makes it well suited to arid regions. This gift is its amazing nose. A camel can smell a water hole from miles away! When a camel moves, it sways from side to side like a ship on a wavy ocean. Because of this swaying motion, the camel has been called the "ship of the desert". Why has the camel been called the "ship of the desert"? A The desert is like a sea. B The camel can cross the desert just like a ship. C The movement of the camel is just like a ship traveling on an ocean. D The shape of the camel is like that of a ship. Answer: C Every object tells a story. Even the most ordinary objects can present to us powerful images. Sometimes it is the ordinary nature of these objects that actually makes them so extraordinary. Such is the case with an old leather shoe in a museum in Alaska. At first glance it does not look like much. It is a woman's shoe of a style popular in the 1890s. But what is unique about this shoe is where it was found. It was discovered on the Checkout Pass, the famous trail used by the people seeking gold in Alaska. Who it belonged to or why it was left there is not known. Was it perhaps dropped by accident as the woman climbed up the 1500 stairs carved outface? Or did she throw away goods that she didn't need in order to travel lighter? Over 100, 000 people with "gold fever" made this trip hoping to become millionaires. Few of them understood that on their way they would have to cross a harsh wildness. Unprepared for such a dangerous journey, many died of starvation and exposure to the cold weather. The Canadian government finally started requiring the gold seekers to bring one ton of supplies with them. This was thought to be enough for a person to survive for one year. They would carry their supplies in backpacks each weighing up to fifty pounds; it usually took at least 40 trips to get everything to the top and over the pass. Whoever dropped the shoe must have been a brave and determined woman. Perhaps she was successful and made it to Alaska. Perhaps she had to turn back in defeat. No one will ever know for sure, but what we do know is that she took part in one of the greatest adventures in the 19th century. The Canadian government made gold seekers bring one year's supplies with them so that _ . A they would not die of hunger and cold B the army would have enough food for fighting a war C they would change these goods with the Eskimos D the supplies would make Alaska rich Answer: A
When Sally Ride was ten years old, she had no idea that she would some day grow up to be one of America's first woman astronauts. In fact, if you had asked her then what wanted to be, she would have said, " I want to play shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers." Sally collected baseball cards by the boxful, and she knew the name and batting average of every player in the National League. But major league baseball didn't seem much of a possibility for a girl, even an athletic one like Sally, so her father and mother talked her into taking tennis lessons when she was twelve. At first she hated to trade in her baseball bat for a tennis racket, but it wasn't long before she started to win tournaments in her new sport. " Tennis became much more fun when I started winning," Sally remembers. Soon a row of trophies replaced her box of baseball cards, and tennis star Billie Jean King replaced Dodger shortstop Maury Wills as her sports idol. Sally first became interested in the space program in 1962 when astronaut John Glenn orbited the earth in his Mercury space capsule. Sally was ten years old at the time, but she remembers the launch and the splashdown as if they happened yesterday. The girl who used to memorize batting averages became a space fan. She quickly learned the name of every NASA astronaut(there were only eight of them in 1962), the date of every launch, and the name and number of every spacecraft from Freedom 7 to Skylab 3. She could tell you the speed of light (186,300 miles per second), the distance to the moon (238,860 miles), and the names of the three nearest stars( the Sun, Alpha Centauri, and Barnard's Star). By the time she was sixteen, Sally had decided to become an astrophysicist, a scientist who studies space. She had also become a nationally ranked tennis player. She remembers yawning through an important tennis match on June 20, 1969, after staying up all night to watch Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. Sally lost the match. As Sally got older, many of her friends started playing professional tennis. Some of them tried to talk her into quitting school to join them on the professional tennis circuit. But Sally said no. " Black holes are more interesting to me than backhands," she told them. Now she knows that she made the right choice, but in 1970 Sally had no way of knowing that NASA would open the space program to women. Which of the following is True according to the passage? According to the story, Sally Ride is a woman astrophysicist. A lizard most likely would be protected from its enemies if it has which characteristic? skin color that matches its habitat On January 11, 2007, as students sat and listened, a very important guest speaker named Richard, spoke to the students in the lecture hall. He not only showed the potential within young adults, but encouraged them to work hard at their lessons. Richard was a young child when his mother died and his father walked out. He was forced into many different foster homes where he felt unhappy. He did not know that his life was taking a turn for the worst. His uncle, after getting out of prison, got him into drugs and alcohol. His uncle taught him that his place in life was either to be in prison or die trying to be "a man." His uncle's teaching almost started affecting him until a very important person came into his life: a teacher. This teacher taught him there is a place in the world for everyone and it isn't related to drugs. Richard is now a Harvard University graduate and has a great and loving family. Why? He was taught to have respect not only for others, but for himself. After the meeting, it was hoped that the students realized within them there is a potential, and within everyone around them, is knowledge. As Richard reminded them, "Knowledge is power." Who played an important role in Richard's successful life? His teacher. Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9,000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep. What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano. Large quantities of stone and lava broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep. Which of the following statements is NOT true? Paracutin is the first volcano in the world. The booking notes of the play " the Age of Innocence" . Price: $ 10 BOOKING: There are four ways to book seats for performance : ---In person The Box Office is open from Monday to Saturday , 10 a.m. --- 8 p.m. ---By telephone _ Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card (Visa , MasterCard and Amex accepted ) ---By post Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office . ---On line Complete the on-line booking form at www.Satanfiedtheatre.com DISCOUNTS: Saver : $ 2 of any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday . Savers are available for children who are below the age of 16 years old , over 60s and full-time students. Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion . It is advisable to book in advance . There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show . Standby: best available seats are on sale for $ 6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible (suitable ) for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers . Group Bookings : there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more . School : school parties of ten or more can book $ 6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free . Please note : we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances . According to the notes , who can get $ 2 off ? A 20-year-old full-time college student
Marlon Brando is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time. He was born in Omaha Nebraska in 1924. He was named after his father, a salesman. His mother, Dorothy, was an actress in the local theater. Marlon Brando moved to New York City when he was 19 years old in 1943. He took acting classes at the New School for Social Research. One of his teachers was Stella Adler, who taught the "Method" style of realistic acting. The Method teaches actors how to use their own memories and emotions to identify with the characters they are playing. Marlon Brando learned the Method style quickly and easily. Critics said he was probably the greatest Method actor ever. One famous actress commented on his natural ability for it. She said teaching Marlon Brando the Method was like sending a tiger to jungle school. Marlon Brando appeared in several plays. He got his first major part in a Broadway play in 1947, at the age of 23. He received great praise for his powerful performance at Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire. His fame grew when he acted the same part in the movie version, released in 1951. Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for The God Father, but he rejected it. He sent a woman named Sasheen Littlefeather to speak for him at the Academy Awards ceremony. She said that Brando could not accept the award because of the way the American film industry treated Native Americans. The people at the Academy Awards ceremony did not like the speech. But some experts think the action helped change the way American Indians were shown in movies. Marlon Brando acted in about forty movies. He was nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards. But he earned a "bad boy" reputation for his public outbursts and unusual behaviours. According to Los Angeles magazine, "Brando was rock and roll before anybody knew what rock and roll was". His later life was marked with family tragedies. His son Christian went to prison for killing his daughter Cheyene's boyfriend. Cheyene later committed suicide. Brando became lonely. He worked occasionally for the money. But, in his prime, Marlon Brando was an actor other actors could only hope to become. According to the passage, the "Method" _ . Answer: Health is important for us.But how can we keep healthy?First,you should eat vegetables and fruit four or five times a week.Then you should eat some tofu products every day because they are good for people,both the young and the old.Milk is also necessary, _ for women.So you should have milk twice a day.It can help you to be healthy.Next,doing morning exercises is better.You can do morning exercises or evening exercises.After dinner,you should take a walk. You should have milk _ . Answer: Mr.Brown is 80 years old. Every morning he goes for a walk in the park. And he comes home at twelve thirty for lunch.But today a car stops at his house. At twelve, two policemen help him get out.One of them says to Mr.Brown's daughter, "The old man can't find his way in the park. He asks us to take him home by car." The daughter thanks the policemen and leave. Then she asks her father,"Dad, you go to that park every day. But today, you can't find the way. What's wrong with you?" The old man smiles like a child and says, "I can find my way. I don't want to walk home." What time does Mr.Brown often come home every morning? Answer: Today, there are many chances for those who wish to continue their education. However, nearly all require some break in one's career in order to attend school full time. Part-time education, that is, attending school at night or for one weekend a month, tends to drag the process out over time and puts the completion of a degree program out of reach of many people. Additionally, such programs require a fixed time commitment which can also impact negatively on one's career and family time. Of the many approaches to teaching and learning, however, perhaps the most flexible is that called distance learning. Distance learning is an educational method which allows the students the flexibility to study at his or her own pace to achieve the academic goals which are so necessary in today's world. The time required to study may be set aside at the student's convenience. Additionally, the student may enroll in distance learning courses from actually any place in the world, while continuing to pursue their chosen career. Individual assistance may be available via regular airmail, telephone, fax machine, teleconferencing and over the Internet. Good distance learning programs are characterized by the inclusion of a subject evaluation tool with every subject, so a student doesn't need to travel away from home to take a test. Another characteristic of a good distance learning program is the equivalence of the distance learning course with the same subject materials as those students taking the course on the home campus. The resultant diploma or degree should also be the same whether distance learning or on-campus study is employed. The individuality of the professor/student relationship is another characteristic of a good distance learning program. In the final analysis, a good distance learning program has a place not only for the individual student but also the company or business that wants to work in partnership with their employees for the educational benefit, professional development, and business growth of the organization. Supporting distance learning programs for their employees gives the business the advantage of retaining career-minded people while contributing to their personal and professional growth through education. What benefit will distance learning program bring to a business? Answer: A few minutes later she got up and went to the phone. She knew the number of the police station, and when the man at the other end answered, she cried to him. "Quick! Come quick! Patrick's dead!" "Who's speaking?" "Mrs Maloney. Mrs Patrick Maloney." "You mean Patrick Maloney's dead?" "I think so," she sobbed. "He's lying on the floor and I think he's dead." "Be right over," the man said. The car came very quickly, and when she opened the front door, two policemen walked in. She knew them both--she knew nearly all the men at that precinct. Briefly, she told her story about going out to the grocer and coming back to find him on the floor. While she was talking, crying and talking, Noonan discovered a small patch of congealed blood on the dead man's head. He showed it to O'Malley who got up at once and hurried to the phone. Later, one of the detectives came up and sat beside her. Did she know, he asked, of anything in the house that could've been used as the weapon? Would she mind having a look around to see if anything was missing--a very big spanner, for example, or a heavy metal vase. They didn't have any heavy metal vases, she said. "Or a big spanner ?" She didn't think they had a big spanner. But there might be some things like that in the garage. The search went on. She knew that there were other policemen in the garden all around the house. She could hear their footsteps on the gravel outside, and sometimes she saw the flash of a torchlight through a chink in the curtains. Then one by one they came in and were persuaded to take a little nip of whisky. They stood around rather awkwardly with the drinks in their hands, uncomfortable in her presence, trying to say consoling things to her. Sergeant Noonan wandered into the kitchen, came out quickly and said. "Look, Mrs Maloney. You know that oven of yours is still on, and the meat still inside...I better turn it off for you, hadn't I?" "Will you do that, Jack. Thank you so much." When the sergeant returned the second time, she looked at him with her large, dark, tearful eyes. "Would you do me a small favour--you and these others?" She said. "We can try, Mrs Maloney." "Well," she said. "You must be terribly hungry by now because it's long past your supper time. Why don't you eat up that lamb that's in the oven? It'll be cooked just right by now." "Wouldn't dream of it," Sergeant Noonan said. "Please," she begged. "Please eat it." The four policemen _ , but they were clearly hungry, and in the end they were persuaded to go into the kitchen and help themselves. The woman stayed where she was, listening to them through the open door, and she could hear them speaking among themselves, their voices thick and sloppy because their mouths were full of meat. "The guy must've used a big thing to hit Patrick," one of them was saying. "The doctor says his skull was smashed all to pieces." "That's why it ought to be easy to find." "Exactly what I say." "The murderer's not going to carrying a thing like that around with him longer than he needs." One of them belched. "Personally, I think it's right here on the premises." "Probably right under our very noses. What you think, Jack?" And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle. Why do you think Mary giggled at the end? Answer:
My wife and I have always been friendly with the clerks at the local store. I don't think many people appreciate what a difficult job these clerks have. They work for a little money and I often wonder how they make ends meet. One of the clerks, Charlie, was always wearing his glasses but he didn't one day. I asked him about it and he said they'd been out of order and that he couldn't afford a new pair. His family needed money. It was clear that he was having a difficult time. We wanted to help him, so we turned to our own eye doctor for help with a plan. We had his secretary contact him, asking him to come in for an eye exam for free. We told the doctor to let him order whatever glasses he wanted and that we would pay for them. Although Charlie questioned what was going on, the doctor just told him that someone had offered the money for his new glasses. When we went in to pay the bill, the doctor told us he was touched by our idea so that he _ the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses! It was so wonderful to see Charlie in his new glasses and he enjoyed telling all the regular customers how the gift came about. I'm sure that upon hearing his story, ideas of kindness may have come in the minds of many people. Why didn't the clerk Charlie wear glasses one day? A. It was very warm and fine. B. His glasses were missing. C. His old glasses were broken. D. He forgot to wear his glasses. Answer: C. His old glasses were broken. One day a zebra dies. Zero baby zebras were born in the herd on that day. A. the zebras traveled a hundred miles that day B. a new life was created C. the population went down D. the population of the herd increased Answer: C. the population went down More Chinese are seeking out the surgeon's knife to improve their looks.Yet the tragic death of the former Super Girl Wang Bei has made people aware of the risks of cosmetic surgery, which is becoming increasingly popular. Wang Bei,24,is said to have gone under the knife in Wuhan,to jump-start her stage-show career. It seems that the ambitious singer has finally achieved the fame and influence after her death. For years Miss Lu expected a plastic surgery to make her jaw fashionable narrow and her face smaller. She finally decided against it after hearing of the death of Wang Bei. "Wang Bei's death rang the warning bell for me,"Miss Lu said in her blog." It was frightening and I gave up the plan. " A common thread of online discussion is why someone considered beautiful was so dissatisfied with her looks. Some netizens said Wang was a victim of society's impractical standard of beauty:double eyelids,and the pointed chin typical of Western actresses. Others said her death indicated the limits to which people would go to achieve fame and fortune. Last year 15 billion was spent on cosmetic surgery and the figure is expected to rise 20% annually. The International Society of Plastic Surgery ranks China first in Asia in terms of the number of cosmetic surgeries in 2009. Worldwide, China is third, after Brazil, while the United States is first. Nowadays,people are living longer and better. But the effect of aging off their appearance affects their mood and confidence. Many older women want to look young and beautiful. Young people, on the other hand, see cosmetic surgery as the key to wealth and love. "They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities at work and in marriage,"says a famous plastic surgeon. "We're living in a highly competitive society. People regard appearance as a weapon in life battle. Those who are young and naturally good-looking tell me,'I don't care how much I spend. Just make me look more beautiful.' " Advice from a surgeon and psychologist: 1.Choose regular, qualified hospitals with a good reputation. 2.Try to find an expert surgeon who will not suggest several operations over time. 3.Don't expect too much from changing your appearance. Safety should be the first. 4.Have a realistic understanding of the risks of the surgery (death,injury and failure)and make a balanced decision. What's the influence of Wang Bei's death on the public? A. People will feel alarmed at cosmetic surgery. B. Young people will have no interest in beauty. C. Doctors will be afraid to perform operations. D. No one will dream of becoming a Super Girl. Answer: A. People will feel alarmed at cosmetic surgery. New experiments discover rats showing sympathy and helping other rodents .It is a characteristic some scientists thought was reserved only for humans and higher animals. In repeated tests, rats freed another trapped rat in their cage, even when yummy chocolate served as an attraction.24 of the 30 rats opened the trap by pushing in a door.The rats could have eaten the chocolate before freeing their partners, but often didn't, choosing to help and share the goodies. "Basically they told us freeing another rat is as important as eating chocolate," said study author Peggy Mason of the University of Chicago."That's a very striking thing." In some cases, the rats first took the chocolate chips out of a container, but didn't eat them, then freed the other rat and shared "almost as if they were serving them chocolate," Mason said.The research is reported in Thursday's journal Science. Also, females showed more consistent care and help than males, Mason said.All six females freed their trapped partner while three quarters of the 24 males did so.This confirms other studies that show females showing more pro-social behavior than males.There were time when the male rats took the day off from helping their trapped partner, but the females never did, she said. Jeff Mogil at McGill University in Canada, who wasn't part of the study, said it was a little surprising but even more convincing. Both scientists said social understanding is probably a characteristic that is important in the evolution of animals. Mason joked that if rats can be so caring and helpful, "there's a sense of optimism.It's something we could be." What's the difference between the behavior of male and female rats? A. Female rats showed more concern about their trapped partners. B. Male rats cared more about their trapped partners than females. C. Female rats behaved less pro-socially than male rats on the whole. D. Male rats didn't go away from their trapped partners for even a day. Answer: A. Female rats showed more concern about their trapped partners. Joan is an American girl. She lives in China now. She is in my class. Her parents work in China, too, but her brother works in the U.S.A. He often writes letters to them. Joan likes Chinese class very much, and likes speaking Chinese with us after class. Her father teaches us English well. We all like his class. Her mother is a nurse. On Sundays, Joan goes to the People's Park with her father and mother. Sometimes she goes shopping with her mother. They like the Chinese food very much. It's a happy family. How often does Joan go to the shop? A. Often. B. Never. C. Every Sunday. D. Sometimes. Answer: D. Sometimes.
Question: A change in the density of air can result in a breeze. Which diagram best shows a series of energy transfers that begins with the Sun and results in a breeze? A. radiation → conduction → breeze B. radiation → conduction → convection → breeze C. convection → radiation → breeze D. convection → conduction → radiation → breeze Answer: B. radiation → conduction → convection → breeze Question: Nowadays, pollution is becoming worse and worse. A starry night seems to be a luxury for people living in cities. Is there any ideal place for stargazers ? A small town in New Zealand is here to surprise you with its breathtaking starry night sky. Lake Tekapo is located at the heart of New Zealand's South Island. It has been a popular tourist destination for stargazers. At night, innumerable stars dot the sky above the small town. The Milky Way and various constellations can be clearly seen. Visitors can also watch meteors shooting across the sky. For people living in big cities, these can only be seen in movies or fairytales. Though stargazing is common for people in Lake Tekapo, the local people have paid great attention to protecting their starry night sky. After midnight, all landscape lights must be turned off. In 2005, Lake Tekapo's starry night sky was even listed as a world heritage . Besides its starry sky, the town has many other things to offer. One of them is the flower, Russell Lupin. Every summer, Russell Lupins make Lake Tekapo more attractive. However, once the Russell Lupins die off, the banks of Lake Tekapo look bare. After reading the above introduction of Lake Tekapo, you must envy the local people a lot, because they can see the starry sky every night and appreciate the beauty of Russell Lupin every summer. If you are interested in Lake Tekapo, why not go and visit it this coming summer vacation? Why do you think the writer wrote this passage? A. To tell us how to keep away from pollution B. To introduce the best destination in New Zealand C. To share with us his feelings of Lake Tekapo D. To suggest us going to visit Lake Tekapo Answer: D. To suggest us going to visit Lake Tekapo Question: Dear editor, I am 14. I am really outgoing when I am with my family at home, but I almost never talk at school. I really want to get over it, but I just don't know how. What should I do? A shy girl Rachel Dear Rachel, The following ways may be able to help you out. To begin with, you need to SMILE to others. If you are meeting someone and they look scared and angry, would you talk to them? Probably not. This may be how people feel about you. If you are smiling and if your eyes are saying that you're happy to see others, the conversation will be easier for you and them. Next, do some volunteer work at school. Many shy kids don't do these because they always wonder if they can do very well. In fact, when you take part in activities that interest you, you'll find you can really do very well, and you will meet people with the same interests. Start today one small step with one welcoming smile or one volunteer work and show the world inside you, and then you'll become a person who has interests and talents and self confidence. I believe that this is the person you want to be. Only you can make it happen. What's the matter with the girl? A. Shy. B. Lonely. C. Unhealthy. D. Outgoing. Answer: A. Shy. Question: When I was a baby, I interested you and made you laugh. Whenever I was "bad", you'd shake your finger at me and ask: "How could you?"--but then you'd give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. My housetraining was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long sleeps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day. Step by step, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human friend. Finally, you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was attracted by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them. However, as they began to grow, I became their friend. Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to a flat that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family", but there was a time when I was your only family. I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound . It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said: "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look.The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye. And "How could you?" were the only three words that swept over my mind. Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream. My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever. I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me. Who tells this story? A. A dog. B. A child. C. A dog's owner. D. A dog trainer Answer: A. A dog. Question: In my city, people have breakfast around seven. We drink warm tea or milk in the morning. Many people have some bread, eggs or hamburgers. Around noon it is the lunchtime. Many people take their food to schools or their work-places. Some people like going to a restaurantor having fast food in a McDonald's. But I think these foods are unhealthy. We can have some meat with some vegetables or rice. Healthy fish slowly replaces beef and pork. It's healthy to drink one glass of water or juice after lunch. At six or seven in the evening, it's time for dinner. At this time, families usually get together*to have dinner at home. We often have warm food. Sometimes we go to restaurants to eat. Which is RIGHT according to the passage? A. We should have a big breakfast with family. B. We cannot have some meat with rice. C. Food in McDonald's is good. D. People usually have dinner at home with family. loyal hurt ideal useful museum restaurant replace , together Answer: D. People usually have dinner at home with family. loyal hurt ideal useful museum restaurant replace , together
Three surfers rushed to save a man's life after he was left drifting on a notorious stretch of water. The men stayed with Greg Popple for 30 minutes and had to be rescued themselves by helicopter as the drama unfolded. The 45-year-old had floated out on a body board near Hutchwns Point at 8:30 am. He found himself in trouble about half-a-mile from the shore and dangerously close to rocks. Surfers Graig Evans, 31, Robert Miles, 19, and Owain Daviees, 23, were risking their own safety to keep him floating for 30 minutes. Luckily a passer-by noticed what was going on and raised the alarm. Porthcawl Coastguard, Porthcaw Lifeboat and an RAF helicopter all took part in the rescue. "The man who got into trouble was a body boarder-there was a big tide where he was," said Joe Missen. "Three other surfers spotted he was in difficulty and he was going down. They kept him afloat because he was in a state of shock and out of energy. If Mr. Popple was closer to the rocks, it could have been a lot worse, but they managed to keep him from harm". Mr. Missen's mum Alison, also part of the rescue team, said, "That part of the water is notorious for taking people out to nowhere". The three men had clocked off a night shift at Ford Motor Company shortly before the incident. "I headed straight down to the beach for a surf, when I saw him flailing . We just swam straight out to him and kept him calm while the help came". The four men were taken to the life boat house to recover, without injuries. About the incident, we know that _ . A Mr. Popple moved with difficulty for loss of energy B The three men were badly injured C Mr. Popple'mum was also in the rescue team D Mr. Davies was going to work that morning Answer: A It's exciting to imagine how future humans will have solved the problems we have now, or what amazing new inventions will make our lives more convenient and interesting. We asked top scientists to share their predictions on what the world will be like in a century. If they're right, the 2114 is going to be really cool. 1. Robots will do your chores and more Robots will be doing most of our jobs, from building homes to teaching math. There are already robots that clean floors and pump gas. In the future they will be more complicated and useful. Unfortunately, with robots taking all the jobs, unemployment will be high. 2. You will read minds. Speaking of being social, we will communicate in an entirely different way. Forget texts and emails. Mind-reading technology will allow us to send thoughts to each other without speaking a word. We will also be able to send thoughts to objects around us. (Instead of pressing "start" on the microwave, you could just think "start.") Meanwhile, chips implanted(in our brains will improve memory and intelligence. 3. Your car will drive you Today, around 30,000 Americans die in car accidents each year. One hundred years form now, accidents will be a thing of the past. According to Mark Safford, consultant or the U.S. Department of Transportation, future cars will drive themselves. These electric cars will communicate with other cars on the road to travel safely in close formation at high speeds. 4. You will eat fake meat. Raising animals is not an efficient way to produce food, and it harms the environment: Cows, chickens, and pigs eat a lot, and then we have to deal with all that poop(. What's more, that poop can up poisoning lakes, rivers, and streams. Today, scientists can "grow" meat in a lab from animal cells, but it's expensive and not very delicious. In the future, they will have perfected the process. You'll order hamburgers that come from factories, not cows. Scientists may even find ways to make lab-grown meat tastier and healthier than the real thing. According to the passage, in the future cars will be _ . A less popular B more expensive C much easier to operate D much smaller and lighter Answer: C Which would likely be the biggest factor in climate change? A bees B glaciers C bicycles D factories Answer: D Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany. As a child, he was slow to learn to talk. As a pupil, he was backward. But when he was fourteen years old, he became clever. He taught himself maths from textbooks. He studied hard because he wanted to be a physicist. In 1901, Einstein began teaching. In 1902 he continued his studies at the University of Zurich. Several years later, he formulated his famous Theory of Relativity .To most people the law of relativity is difficult to explain. But once Einstein explained it very well to a group of young students. He said, "When you sit with a good girl for two hours, you think it is only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it's two hours. That is relativity." After Hitler came into power in Germany, Einstein went to America. In 1940 Einstein became an American citizen. In 1955, Einstein's life ended at the age of seventy-six. When did Einstein become an American citizen? A He was an American citizen until 1940. B He became an American citizen in the year when Hitler came into power. C He did not become an American citizen until 1955. D Not until he had reached the age of 61 did he become an American citizen. Answer: D Jack and Hob are going to high school now . Jack wants to be an engineer .He is going to build roads ,bridges and house. Hob is interested in math and science, but he is going to study medicine , He wants to be a doctor. Kate is good at music .She wants to be an artist .She is going to sing and dance for people .Joan wants to be a woman astronaut .She says ,"I am going to explore space some day ."" What do you want to be ,Alice ?" Joan asks me ,"Oh ,I want to be a teacher .When I grow up ,I'm going to teacher in the countryside ." Each of us is doing our best at school .I am sure we will do something good for our country . where does Alice want to teach ? A On a farm B In the countryside C At home D Abroad Answer: B
Mobile phone has become a problem for high schools. Some high-school students in Australia are not allowed to carry mobile phones during school hours. Mobile phone used among children has become a problem for the school. Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas presents, and more students will want them. Marry Brown, a headmaster, said that mobile phone was a distraction to students during school hours and it also gave teachers so much trouble in their classrooms. Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to _ during exams. She said some schools had tried to ban mobile phones. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn't get in touch with their children. Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school. But there was a good reason that they could leave their phones at school offices. They also said they were easily lost and were a distraction for studies. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn't _ during school hours. Going to a friend's house is very exciting. You may spend time with a friend and get to see where he lives. So remember to be polite. When to arrive The first thing to remember is that when a friend invites you, you need to arrive on time. If your friend tells you to come "about 3:00", that means you can arrive before 3:05. But usually it is a good idea to arrive at the right time. What to bring Often it is also nice to bring something to your friend's house. This could be a box of chocolates for you two to share, or maybe a movie that you can watch together. You can also bring some flowers. A little gift is a nice way to show your friend that you are excited to be at his house. How to greet When you visit your friend's house, you may also meet his parents. You should tell them who you are and they may tell you their names. As a child, I went to visit my friend Paul. I called his parents by their first names John and Mary. But now I know it is more polite to call them Mr. or Mrs. Smith. This will show them more respect and then they may tell you to call them by their first names. Another way to show respect is to call them Madam or Sir. It is a cool thing to visit a friend's house. Be polite to your friend and your friend's parents, and you will be welcome again! We may read this passage _ . The homeless dog, known as Xiao Sa, has been following a team of cyclists for 24 days along 1,833 kilometers of highway from Kangding, Sichuan province, to Lhasa in Tibet. Nobody knows where the white dog came from or how long she has been straying on highway G318. Netizens call her the "dog with determination" and the micro blog "Go Go Xiao Sa" recording her life has attracted more than 37,000 followers in two weeks. A picture of Xiao Sa in the arms of a young man in front of the Potala Palace on Thursday night drew more than 4,000 comments congratulating the small dog and expressing dreams of going to Lhasa. The young man in the picture is Zhang Heng, 22, a student in Wuhan, Hubei province. As his graduation trip, he decided to face the challenge of riding to Lhasa alone. On the way he met a lonely dog. "She was lying, tired, on the street around Yajiang, Sichuan province," he said. "So we fed her, and then she followed our team." "We felt she might want to come along with us, so we decided to bring her along to the end." A week later, Zhang and his buddies opened a micro blog account for her. "We thought the dog was encouraging us, and wanted others to know its story," he said. They created the name Xiao Sa by combining xiao meaning "little" with the last syllable of Lhasa. During their journey, Xiao Sa, Zhang and his team covered more than 1,700 kilometers and climbed 10 mountains higher than 4,000 meters. Xiao Sa just ran up the mountains or along dirt roads. "Many people stopped cycling in some sections, then took the bus, but the dog made it," he said. Zhang put the dog on the back of the bike when the team was riding downhill. "The speed can reach 70 kilometers per hour, impossible for the dog to catch us." Zhang Heng, who accompanied Xiao Sa for 20 days, called her "a buddy and a friend". "I would like to take the dog home and take care of her. She has been a stray on the road for a long time. She needs a home." According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true? My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my classmates, Santa Claus would come down one's chimney and put toys in one's stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up "stocking" in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew _ . On that fateful night, after everyone went to bed, I took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel . Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character. I woke up before everyone else on Christmas Day and ran to the fireplace. To make a sob story short, I was hit with the reality of an empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I burst into tears, quickly took down the sock, and stuffed it in the back of a drawer. Santa was dead. Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry. How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, an older man with a white beard and a red cap knocked on my front door. He said, "I've been looking for you for twenty-five years." He handed me a bulging red stocking, winked, and left. On top of the stocking was a card. It read: "For Becky--I may have missed you in the second grade, but you've always lived in my heart. Santa." Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting of Jill, a friend I had met just two months before. I later discovered that the older man was her father. Jill had seen the hurt little girl underneath the thirty-something woman and decided to do something about it. So now I believe that Santa is real. I don't mean the twinkle-eyed character of children's mythology or the creation of American holiday marketers. Those Santas annoy and sadden me. I believe in the Santa Claus that live inside good and thoughtful people. This Santa does not return to the North Pole after a crazy delivery but lives each day purposefully, really listens to friends, and then plans deliberate acts of kindness. The author of the passage is probably _ . Metro Pocket Guide Metrorail Each passenger needs a farecard to enter and go out. Up to two children under age five may travel free with a paying customer. Farecard machines are in every station. Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the stations and farecard machines only provide up to $50 in change. Get one day of unlimited Metrorail rides with a One Day Pass. Buy it from a farecard machine in Metro station. Use it after 9:30 a.m. until closing on weekdays, and all day on weekdays and holidays. Hours of service Open: 5 a.m. Mon.--Fri. 7 a.m. Sat.--Sun. Close: midnight Sun.--Thurs. 3 a.m. Fri.--Sat. nights Last train times vary. To avoid missing the last train, please check the last train times posted in stations. Metrobus When paying with exact change, the fare is $1.35. When paying with a SmarTrip card, the fare is $1.25. Fares for senior/disabled customers Senior citizens 65 and older and disabled customers may ride for half the regular fare. On Metrorail and Metrobus, use a senior/disabled farecard or SmarTrip card. For more information about buying senior/disabled farecard, SmarTrip cards and passes, please visit MetroOpensDoor.com or call 202-637-7000 and 202-637-8000. Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorail services by calling 202-962-1100. Travel tips Avoid riding during weekday rush periods--before 9:30 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m. If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost & Found at 202-96201195. At what time does Metrorail stop service on Saturday?
Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at the age of 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV. He appeared in more than 800 commercials for the hamburger chain named for his daughter. "As long as it works", he said in 1991, "I'll continue to do those commercials." Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood. "He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper fitting shoes," Wendy said in 1993. Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan. After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work. "He fed me," Thomas said, "and if I got out of line, he'd beat me." Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants. But he had something much better in mind. "I thought if I owned a restaurant," he said, "I could eat for free." A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968. In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers. With 6,000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $ 6 billion a year in sales. Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children. He started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in 1992. In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida. He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party. The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed. "The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave," says friend Pat Williams. "He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker . _ ." What is the article mainly about? Answer: The life of Dave Thomas. Florence Nightingale was born in a rich family. When she was young she took lessons in music and drawing, and read great books. She also traveled a great deal with her mother and father. As a child she felt that visiting sick people was both a duty and a pleasure. She enjoyed helping them. At last mind was made up. "I'm going to be a nurse," she decided. "Nursing isn't the right work for a lady," her father told her. "Then I will make it so," she smiled. And she went to learn nursing in Germany and France. When she returned to England, Florence started a nursing home for home. During the Crimean War in 1854 she went with a group of thirty eight nurses to the front hospitals. What they saw there was terrible. Dirt and death were everywhere to be seen -- and smelled. The officer there did not want any woman to tell him how to run a hospital, either. But the brave nurse went to work. Florence used her own money and some from friends to buy clothes, beds, medicine and food for the men. Her only pay was in smiles from the lips of dying soldiers. But they were more than enough for this kind woman. After she returned to England, she was honored for her services by Queen Victoria. But Florence said that her work had just begun. She raised money to build the Nightingale Home for Nurses in London. She also wrote a book on public health, which was printed in several countries. Florence Nightingale died at the age of ninety, still trying to serve others through her work as a nurse. Indeed, it is because of her that we honor nurses today. The passage can best be described as _ . Answer: the life story of a famous woman A recent survey shows that the alarming rate of child suicide in Hong Kong, raising levels of stress and anxiety among young people, increasing conflicts between children and teachers, and children's complaints that their parents do not understand their problems--all point to a drop in "emotional quotient" (EQ) , the ability to handle relationships. EQ is defined as the ability to deal with oneself and others effectively. High EQ, psychologists say, is easy to spot. Some of the greatest humanitarian leaders have high EQ, along with successful managers and inspirational and respected teachers. The problem is not how to spot high EQ but to improve on low EQ, so society as a whole can benefit. In the United States, declining EQ among young people is seen as one of the factors behind rising young people's crime because youths fail to understand others' feelings--one of the key components of EQ. While the situation in Hong Kong is not so bad, there are warning signs that the levels of anxiety among youth may become critical. Declining EQ among Hong Kong teenagers has been acknowledged by several studies including a key study by the education concern group, the Learning-Teacher Association, which found a high degree of anxiety among students over the future and also that young people lacked confidence in dealing with problems. Parents and teachers will also need to develop their own EQ skills in order to deal with them effectively. Daniel Goleman cites a number of basic elements of high EQ: first, awareness of your feelings as you experience them which is very important to making good decisions in life; second, feeling or awareness of what others are feeling. "90% of emotional information is expressed non-verbally and people vary in their ability to pick it up," Dr. Goleman says in his book. Dr. Goleman argues that without high EQ even highly-educated, highly-intelligent people will not find success in life. Or those with low EQ, even though they may be brilliant, tend to lack feeling and impulse control. They fail easily, and they are easily intolerant and often aggressive in interpersonal relations. Some educational psychologists believe work on EQ may be important in Hong Kong with _ high rate of suicide among school children. EQ test may be able to help predict those most at risk, and those least able to deal with their own emotions or unable to deal with others, including parents and teachers. According to the passage, children in Hong Kong commit suicide at an alarming rate as a result of _ . Answer: the inability of dealing with relationships What do you think are the most important inventions of the past 2,000 years? The TV? The printing? The telephone? Or the computer? A report shows that these are not the only important inventions. Here are four other important ones. Paper is one of the most important inventions. You can't have printing without paper. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper in China. Long before the printing and Internet, Cai Lun's invention allowed us to write down information, stories and history. One of the simplest inventions to save life is the toilet. Before toilets, waste ran into the rivers from people's houses. Illnesses were common in big cities, and it was often difficult to find clean drinking water. Animal food is another invention. Before the invention, most animals were killed every autumn because there was not enough food for them in the winter. After hay became a kind of common animal food, animals could live through the long winter. Reading glasses is the fourth invention. People start getting far-sighted from the age of 45. Glasses mean that anyone can read, write and do "close work" after that age. Without glasses, the world would be difficult for the people above 45. The invention of the toilet can stop people from _ . Answer: getting ill There was a time when, if a lady got onto a crowded bus or train, a gentleman would immediately stand up and offer her his seat. No more, though. Today, a gentleman will probably look out of the window, or, if he feels a bit guilty , hides behind his newspaper. Either way, the lady will have to stand until someone else gets off. You can't entirely blame men for this change in manners. The days are gone when women could be referred to as the weaker sex. A whole generation of women has grown up demanding equality with men; not just equality in jobs or education, but in social attitudes . Hold a door open for some women and you're likely to get an angry lecture on treating women as inferiors , unable to open doors for themselves. Take a girl out for a meal and she'll probably insist on paying her share of the bill; though on second thoughts perhaps that's not such a bad idea. It's no wonder, then, that men have given up some of the gestures of politeness and consideration which they used to show towards women. On the other hand, automatic male (men) politeness is perhaps slowly being replaced by true consideration for the needs of women, so that men can see women as equal human beings. Maybe that's worth standing in the bus or train. The passage mainly tells us _ . Answer: the change in manners has taken place between men and women
A boy called Mario had many friends, and he was proud of it. Whoever he met, he would like to show off how popular he was at school. One day, his grandpa said to him, "Mario, I know that you don't have as many friends as you think. Many of them are not true to you." Mario thought maybe his grandpa was right. However, he wasn't sure how he could test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, "I have just exactly what you need. It's in my room. Wait a minute." The old man left, soon returning as if carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there. "Take it. It's a very special chair. Because it's _ , it will be hard for you to sit on it. However, if you manage to sit on it, you can use the chair's magic power to tell who your real friends are." Mario took the strange invisible chair to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. "Nobody move. You're about to see something amazing," said Mario. Then he tried sitting on the chair. Having difficulty seeing it, he missed and fell to the ground. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. "Wait, wait," said Mario, making another try. But again he missed the seat. Mario didn't give up. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair. Finally, he did it. This time he felt himself in mid-air. Then he experienced the magic that his grandpa had been talking about. Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas and Diana holding him up, so he wouldn't fall. But some schoolmates whom he had regarded as friends had done nothing but made fun of him. Mario was quite thankful to his grandpa, who helped him test who his true friends were. Mario's grandpa gave him a special chair to _ . test who his true friends are Apollo 11, carrying Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, was launched on 16 July, 1969. Five days later they stepped down onto the moon. Neil Armstrong On the way there: Of all the wonderful views we had, the most impressive to me was on the way to the Moon when we flew through its shadow. We were still thousands of miles away, but close enough so that the Moon almost filled our window. The moon appeared blue-grey. It seemed almost as if it were showing us its roundness, its similarity in shape to our Earth, in a sort of welcome. I was sure it would be a hospitable host. It had been waiting for its first visitors for a long time. After touch down: The sky is black, you know. It's a very dark sky, but it still seemed more like daylight than darkness as we looked out the window. It's a very strange thing but the surface looked very warm and inviting. It seemed to be tan . It's hard to explain that, because later when I held the material in my hand, it wasn't tan at all. It was black, grey and so on. Edwin Aldrin On the Moon: The blue color of my boots has completely disappeared now into this soil--still don't know what color to describe this other than grayish cocoa. Back on board: The moon was a very natural and pleasant environment in which to work. On the Moon, in one-sixth gravity, you have a strong feeling of being somewhere. As we did our experiments, some objects we threw away would go in a slow, lazy manner. What can be said about Edward Aldrin? He was sent to the moon by Apollo 11. I am an adult. I'm not a kid. I'm a grown-up. I need some money. I have no food. I am hungry. I am not thirsty, because water is everywhere. But water has no taste. I want to drink a soda. I want to drink milk. I want to drink coffee. I want to work. Nobody will hire( )me. Nobody is hiring anybody. Companies are firing people. Everyone is looking for a job. I cannot pay my rent . I will have to live in my car. I don't want to live in my car. My car has no bed. Everyone should live in a house or a flat. Many people don't have a car. They live on the street. A street has no bed. Nobody should live on the street. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. Maybe I will go to church . Maybe I will find help there. I want to live _ . in a house It was a Monday morning. As the teacher walked into the classroom, he heard a low voice , "Here's the teacher. I'm sure this boring fellow is going to talk about how to use commas ."It was a boy's voice and the teacher knew who he was. However, the teacher didn't get angry. He said nothing about it, but really began to talk about how to use commas And then he wrote the following sentence on the blackboard, "Nick says the teacher is a boring fellow." The class laughed and Nick's face turned red. "Now," said the teacher, "I'11 tell you the importance of commas." He put two commas in the sentence, and then read, "Nick, says the teacher, is a boring fellow." The whole class laughed again. Nick felt very surprised first, then his face much redder. Finally he couldn't help laughing with the other students, too. What kind of boy was Nick like? _ . A nauty boy Plaintiff sued Defendant for illegal discrimination, claiming that Defendant fired him because of his race. At trial, Plaintiff called Witness, expecting him to testify that Defendant had admitted the racial motivation. Instead, Witness testified that Defendant said that he had fired Plaintiff because of his frequent absenteeism. While Witness is still on the stand, Plaintiff offers a properly authenticated secret tape recording he had made at a meeting with Witness in which Witness related Defendant's admissions of racial motivation. The tape recording is admissible only to impeach Witness's testimony.
There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But only a few of them are very important.English is one of these.Many people use it,not only in England and the USA,but also in other parts of the world.About 200,000,000 people speak it as their own language.It is difficult to say how many peopie are learning it as a foreign language.Many millions of people are trying to do so.Is it easy or difficult to learn English?Different people may have different answers.Have you ever noticed ads of this kind in the newspapers or magazines?"Learn English in six weeks,or give your money back...","easy and funny...","Our records and tapes help you master English in a month".Of course,it never happened quite like this. The only language that seems easy to learn is t11e mother tongue.We should remember that we all learned our own language well when we were children.If we could 1ea m English in the same way,it would not seem so difficult.Think of what a small child does.He 1istens lo what people say.He tries what he hears. So,it is hard to say that learning English is easy.We must do a Iot ofpractice.And practice needs great effort and takes much time.Good teachers,records,tapes,books,and dictionaries will be helpful,but they cannot do the student's work for him. Which language is easy to learn? Answer: The mother language. If a class wants to measure the speed of a bicycle during an outdoor lab exercise, which two devices would be most useful? Answer: stopwatch and tape measure When someone says "well, I guess I'll have to face the music", it doesn't mean that he is planning to go to hear a singer. It is something far less happy, as you are called in by your leader to explain why you did this and did that or why you did not do this or that. At some time or another, every one of us has to "face the music", especially as children. We can all remember father's angry word "I wasn't to talk to you" and only because we did not listen to him. What a bad thing it was ! In the middle or at the end of every term, we students have to "face the music". The result of the exam will decide whether we will face the music or not. If ...that means parents' cold faces and the contempt of the teachers and classmates. "To face the music" is well known to every American, younger or old. It is at least 100 years old. It really means that you have to do something, no matter how terrible the whole thing might be, because you know you have no choice. To face the music means "to _ " Answer: do something we don't like to Which types of objects are most easily seen by the human eye? Answer: objects that reflect most of the light that strikes them Men have always wanted to fly like birds. Birds can fly easily because they are light,but men's bodies are heavier. Men first went up into the air in balloons. These were big bags,and they were filled with gas. Hydrogen is a useful gas for balloons. It is lighter than air. _ is also lighter than air,but it costs a lot of money. So balloons are usually filled with hydrogen. Balloons have to fly with the wind as they have no engines to drive them. Later,men made airships. They are balloons with engines. They are also filled with hydrogen. Aircrafts with wings now take people across the world. Powerful engines drive these machines across the sky. Some of the engines are like the engines of cars,but they are more powerful. There is another kind of engine,we call it the jet engine. An English engineer invented the jet engine. At the same time,Germans were also building a jet engine. In May 1941,the English engineer's new engine was fixed in an aircraft,and the aircraft flew quite well. Jet engines are very powerful. Usually two to four are enough for an airplane,but some big aircraft need six. Anyone in a moving jet plane can feel the power of the engines. Jet planes can travel faster than sound. As a flying jet plane leaves its noise behind,we do not hear it until it has gone. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? Answer: Two let engines are enough fot a big aircraft.
Anyone can try to lead a group, but not every individual is cut out for leadership. The better leaders possess a few qualities that can mean the difference between the success and failure of the group. These aret he qualities the leader of higher rank will look for when choosing a leader for a group, or when evaluating the performance of a leader. They're also the qualities team members want in a group leader, and appreciate when they find them. Take Responsibility Group leaders might share tasks around a group as necessary, but eventually a group leader needs to be able to accept that responsibility lies on her shoulders. That means that if things go wrong in a group project, she's the one who must accept the consequences and work out what mistakes were made. The group leader won't always have the power to control everything group members do, but she should be ready to admit any mistakes the group has made as a result of her leadership. Concern for Members The group leader has a commitment to the task or project at hand, but perhaps more importantly, he has a real concern for each and every person who is part of his group. This means getting to know the strengths, weaknesses and goals of team members, as well as making time to build the group through collective activities. The group leader should make sure that everyone is included, even if an individual is new to a group. Good Listener The group leader needs to be able to listen to the suggestions, complaints and ideas of group members. Not only will this allow complaints to be addressed and potentially suitable ideas to be put into practice, but a leader who listens will also encourage group members to share their concerns and thoughts,creating an atmosphere of free speech and productivity. According to "Concerns for members", which of the following is a good quality of a leader? Answer: fair Like most English children,I learned foreign languages at school.When I made my first visit to the United States,I was sure I could have a nice easy holiday without any language problem.But how wrong I was. At the American airport,I was looking for a public telephone to tell my friend Jenny that I had arrived.A worker asked if he could help me."Yes,"I said,"I want to give my friend a ring.""Well,that's nice.Are you getting married?"he asked."No,"I replied."I just want to tell her on the phone I have arrived.""Oh,"he said."There is a phone downstairs on the first floor.""But we're on the first floor now,"I said."Well,I don't know what you are talking about.Maybe you aren't feeling too well after your journey,"he said."You just go and wash up,and you will feel a lot better."And he went off,leaving me wondering where on earth I was:at home we wash up after a meal to get the cups and plates clean.How can I wash up at an airport At last we did meet.She explained the misunderstanding:Americans say "to give someone a call",but we English say"to give somebody a ring".When we say"to wash your hands",they say"to wash up".And Englishmen start numbering from the ground floor,so the first floor is the second for Americans. An American can probably say _ . Answer: you can give your girlfriend a ring when you get married Some people love going to museums,while others absolutely hate it and would rather stay at home,enjoying their favorite TV shows.Increasingly,museums are being seen as outdated and boring by today's youngsters. I have just returned to the UK after travelling around the USA.While there,I visited lots of museums I must say,museums are typically educational, either to develop knowledge gained at school in particular subjects,or to enhance knowledge of other cultures In Chicago,we visited the world-famous Art Institute of Chicago.It was filled with paintings,drawings and sculptures by a huge variety of artists,such as Picasso,Monet,Matisse and Dali.There was a mixture of traditional and modern art,including colorful stained glass windows and abstract art. When we were in Washington D.C.,we visited a few of the Smithsonian museums. These are all free to visit-which is great if you just want to see a few things,and not spend all day inside.The Air and Space Museum was particularly good:it had lots of aircrafts and rockets on display,interesting information and also some interactive parts.We also went to the National U. S. Holocaust )Memorial Museum. Naturally,it was sad to read about the horrors of this tragedy which affected so many people in World War II .However,it was also incredibly interesting to read the stories of those who survived the Holocaust,as well as those who helped others. Last but not least,I also found the 9/11 Memorial and Museum to be of great interest. This museum is dedicated to those who lost their lives,as well as their families,when the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists in 2001 .It tells you how the terrorists planned the attack,how they hijacked the planes,and ultimately what happened as a result of their actions.Surviving pieces of the towers are shown in the museum,alongside damaged fire engines. It was a truly thought-provoking visit,which made me value my own life that little bit more. I think museums play an important role in preserving artifacts of historical importance for future generations.Whatever your interests,there is likely to be a museum for you. You can visit waxwork museums to see models of your favorite celebrities(and get photos with the Queen!),science museums for a more hands-on,interactive visit and so much more!Best of all,if you're ever in the UK,many of them are free! What can we infer from the passage? Answer: Visiting 9/11 Memorial and Museum is educational. Do animals have a culture? What do we mean by "culture"? Lately social scientists have begun to ask if culture is found just in humans, or if some animals have a culture too. When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life a group of people have in common. Culture includes the beliefs and attitudes we learn. It is the patterns of behavior that help people to live together. It is also the patterns of behavior that make one group of people different from another group. Our culture lets us make up for having lost out strength, claws, long teeth, and other defenses. Instead we use tools, cooperate with one another, and communicate with language. But these aspects of human behavior, or "culture", can also be found in the lives of certain animals. Animals can make tools, for example. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other animals. Lately, however, we have found that this is not the case. Chimpanzees can not only use tools but actually make tools themselves. Animals can also share knowledge with each other and use their own language to communicate. So it may be important for us to know that the line dividing us from animals is not as clear as we used to think. The example of chimpanzees shows _ . Answer: animals may have a culture like our own Experts say that agriculture provides fourteen percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions each year. The gases released include carbon dioxide, a major cause of global warming. Twenty-one nations around the world recently joined forces to better understand and prevent greenhouse gas emissions from farms. The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases was launched at the United Nations conference on climate change. The meeting took place in Copenhagen,Denmark last month. Agricultural experts blame a number of farm activities for producing greenhouse gases. For example, animal waste and cattle digestive systems release methane(,) gas. Fertilized soil and the burning of crop waste also release harmful gases into the air. Experts say some methods of farming---turning the soil to prepare for planting---also release harmful carbon dioxide. An official of the European Commission's Directorate Genera1 for Research says agricultural greenhouse gas emissions can be cut. Maive Rute suggests feeding animals a diet designed to reduce emissions. The new agricultural research group says protecting against global warming is only part of its purpose. It says the world also needs to develop better farming methods to feed growing populations in poor countries. United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said no one single nation can fight agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase food production at the same time. This is why the _ e is important for combining resources and finding new ones. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will increases spending on farm emissions research by ninety million dollars over the next four years. The total will reach one hundred thirty million dollars. The USDA will share the research with other countries in the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases and support researchers from developing countries that belong to the alliance. Money from the Borlaug Fellowship program will let the researchers study agricultural climate change with American scientists. Mister Vilsack said that just as climate change has no borders , there should be no borders for research. The purpose of the passage is to _ . Answer: appeal countries to cut agricultural emissions
It may be hard to believe, but the American Revolution --the war that freed the American states from British control--began over a cup of tea. Tea was not the only thing that caused the war, of course, but it played a very big part. The British people's love of tea is well-known. When the British won control over mush of North America in the early 1700s, they brought their tea- drinking habits with them. Tea quickly became the continents most popular drink. As tea could not be grown locally, just as in Britain, it was shipped into the country--mostly from India. In the early 1700s, the Britain government made a special deal with the East India Company, as an English trading company. They agreed that no other company was allowed to bring tea to Britain or any country controlled by Britain, including America. It was a great deal for the East India Company, since it meant that the company could decide whatever price it wanted for its products. And _ always decided on a high price! In North America, the local people did not like having to pay such high prices. Instead of overpaying for tea from the British, they turned to Dutch traders, who secretly brought tea to the country that was just as good--and much less expensive. Although this broke the law, the American people didn't care. They got the same cup of tea at a much lower price. The East India Company, however, didn't like this at all. By the 1760s, they were losing millions of pounds each year to Dutch traders--a huge amount of money in a time when PS60 a year was considered a good income. Instead of reducing their prices to compete with the Dutch, the company asked the British government for help and the government agreed. In 1767, the British introduced new law that increased the prices of all goods which were brought into America. These laws helped make the East India Company even richer and forced local people to pay much more for everything. The American leaders asked the British government not to do so, but the British refused to listen. These unfair laws increased Americans' anger about British rule and the rest, as they say, is history. In the early 1700s where did most tea drunk in America come from? Answer: India Bicycles are very popular in China. In our country you can see bicycles almost everywhere. When you walk on the road, you will find a lot of people riding bicycles to school, shops and anywhere else. Therefore , China is known as "the kingdom of bicycles". In China, many families have one or two bicycles. Compared(......) with cars, bicycles have many advantages. First, they are much cheaper than cars. Most Chinese can't afford cars, but they can afford bicycles. Second, bicycles are small enough to park anywhere, while cars need a larger piece of land to park. What's more, with lower speed, bicycles are safer than cars. However, bicycles also bring some problems. Some riders don't obey the traffic rules and some riders don't think about others' safety. So they ride too fast. During rush hours, too many bicycles may cause traffic jams. _ What does the last sentence mean? Answer: We still need to do much to solve the problem. My name is Mary. I'm a student. I'm twelve. My father is a policeman. My mother is a nurse. Nick is my brother. We are all at home today, because today is Sunday. My brother Nick is a student, too. We are in the same school. There are thirty-five classes in our school. My classroom is very big. What's Mary's mother? Answer: She is a nurse. Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942. He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity , especially in the context of black holes. He experienced extreme difficulties and obstacles in his life, which only made him stronger. Finally he contributed much to the careers he devoted to and became one of the most famous scientists in the world. Hawking was outstanding in his school life. After a successful period of education at St. Albans School, the entrance of Oxford opened to him. In March 1959, at the age of 17, Hawking took the scholarship examination with the aim of studying natural sciences at Oxford. Then Hawking went to Cambridge to do research in cosmology. When Stephen Hawking was dreaming about his future, he faced extreme difficulties and obstacles. Symptoms of disorder first appeared while he was enrolled at Cambridge; he lost his balance and fell down a flight of stairs, hitting his head. The diagnosis of motor neuron disease came when Hawking was 21, shortly before his first marriage, and doctors said he would not survive more than two or three years. Hawking gradually lost the use of his arms, legs, and voice, and is now almost completely paralyzed . Despite his disease, he describes himself as "lucky" --- not only has time to make influential discoveries, but also has, in his own words, "a very attractive family". As someone has said, when we meet frustration, someone fights, someone cries, someone escapes, someone tries. Hawking succeeds because he tries. Which of the following statements is NOT true? Answer: Hawking started to suffer symptoms of disorder when he was in Oxford. The question whether there is life on Mars has made the public think a lot for more than a century. The closest look showed Mars to be a dusty, cold world, covered by air too thin to breathe. A British spaceship and Europe's Mars spaceship plan to land on Mars or enter orbit around it. One of the NASA's spaceships is expected to land on January 3, the other is going to land on the opposite side of Mars on January 24. Since 1960, over twenty spaceships sent to Mars have failed. Most have been lost on flying up or landing because those are the most difficult times of any flights. Scientists wanted to find out whether there was water in Mars. In October, a team of scientists reported that Mars had been a dry wasteland. But weeks later, a second team reported differently that they had found some marks showed clearly that they were made by the rivers. Such marks told us that Mars was a warmer place billions of years ago -- just as life first appeared here on Earth. Scientists at once raise a question: if what they said is true, what happened on Mars? Then what about the earth? The most difficult times of a flight are _ . Answer: flying up and arriving
What does a salamander eat? A mice B Venus flytraps C fleas D bats Answer: C. fleas A bunch of seals are about to deliver and need to make sure they have returned to home for A positive feedback B silly nonsense C magical purposes D reproductive behavior Answer: D. reproductive behavior An old man, too old to live on his own, went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and a four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled , and he couldn't see clearly. The family ate together at the dinner table every night. But the grandfather's trembling hands and poor sight made eating rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he drank milk, he spilled it on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became angry with him. "We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. So the husband and the wife set a small table in the corner. There, the grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the dinner table. Since the grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. Sometimes he had tears in his eyes as he ate alone. The four-year-old grandson watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy said, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mum to eat your food from when I grow up." The four-year-old boy smiled and went back to work. The words struck the parents and they were speechless. Then tears started to run down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took the grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. The wise parents should realize that the children are their parents' mirror. Which is NOT true according to the passage? A We should respect the old. B We should leave the old in the corner. C Parents must set examples to their children. D We should love our parents. Answer: B. We should leave the old in the corner. John thought about things that he liked to do. Well, for one, he liked baseball. Compared to his friends, he was very good at the sport. He didn't even have to practice that much. He remembered that he once hit the ball so hard that it flew out of the park. Home run! He was also a fan of basketball. He enjoyed watching people on television pull off crazy tricks like slam dunking (but he didn't really like all of the passes). He wasn't quite that good yet, but he was pretty good at making shots from the three point line. He knew that if he kept practicing, he would be really great someday. Finally, he loved football. Unlike baseball and basketball, he didn't play football himself, but he was drawn to the games. He got a kick out of sitting in the stands, cheering on his team and friends. He once cheered so loud that he could barely speak at all for the rest of the day. What kind of crazy basketball tricks does John enjoy? A Side passes B Bounce passes C Slam dunks D Overhead passes Answer: C. Slam dunks When you buy a T-shirt, or a fur coat in a store, it often carries a label telling who made it or from what store it was bought. Instead, some labels show the dress is famous and it is very expensive, so buyers secretly wish they could be carried forever. On the other hand, buyers who deal with the cheapest products would be pleased to be away with labels _ . However, there is another label more important than the one showing from which store the dress was bought. When a person buys a fur coat, or a jacket from a store, a label telling what the product is made of should be carried to it. The label is required by law. Besides telling what the product on show is made of, the label should be in clear English and be where one can find it easily. The information on the label must be true. The reason for this is that most buyers today aren't expert enough to know exactly what kind of fur or material they are buying. The buyers must believe in the store that sells the products or in what the label says. The author does NOT agree that _ . A buyers should buy the clothes with labels B clothing stores should sell cheap dresses C all the products should have labels D labels should not be true Answer: D. labels should not be true
A few years ago, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, where I was employed. purchased Norand Corporation. Pioneer's sales representatives in the field used Norand hand-held terminals to upload daily sales information and download new price and sales incentive information. Pioneer bought so many of these hand-held-terminals, the economies made the purchase of Norand look interesting. Owning Norand also allowed Pioneer to explore high-technology markets outside agriculture. But after a few years, the emerging laptop PC technology made the hand-held units obsolete . Pioneer sold Norand at a loss. Pioneer always took a given percent of the annual profits to divide equally among all employees, so our profit-sharing checks were lower than if Pioneer had not purchased Norand. Additionally, my Pioneer stock was lower than it had been before the purchase of Norand. I was not pleased. The CEO of Pioneer, Tom Urban, made annual formal visits to each of the Pioneer divisions to talk about the state of the business and to listen to employees' concerns. When he walked into the meeting room for his first visit after the sale of Norand, he acknowledged the group, remove his jacket, and neatly folded it across the back of the chair. He loosened his tie, undid his collar and rolled up his sleeves. _ . He said, "I made a mistake buying Norand and I am sorry. I am sorry your profit-sharing was lower because of the purchase, and I am sorry your stock was hurt by the purchase. I will continue to take risks, but I am a bit smarter now, and I will work harder for you." A great man and leader stood before us that day. As I sat listening to him, I knew I could trust him, and that he deserved every bit of loyalty I could give to him and to Pioneer. I also knew I could take risks in my own job. In the brief moment of silence before the questions started, I recall thinking that follow him into any battle. All of the following are the results brought by Pioneer's purchase of Norand except _ . A. Pioneer can explore high-technology markets outside agriculture B. Pioneer's sales representatives can upload information using Norand hand-held terminals C. some of Norand's employees joined the Pioneer D. it later led to the lower of profit-sharing checks of Pioneer's original employees Answer: C Director of Overseas Finance Financial Services Edinburgh Permanent Updated October 30, 2014 Reporting into the Administration and Finance Partner, this is a new role with responsibility for oversight and leadership in international financial matters, overseas tax issues and overseas operational management. _ Overseeing development and implementation of overseas tax strategy and managing relationships with relevant authorities and advisors. Managing international financial planning, forecasting and reporting requirements. Analysis and communication of impacts and responses to tax and other regulatory documents. Establishment and maintenance of appropriate systems, controls and records. Managing and leading senior accountants and managers. _ The successful candidate will be a qualified accountant with a strong academic record and will have: Experience of managing the finances of an international commercial organization. A track record of delivering improved efficiency and effectiveness in financial operations. Experience of leading and developing teams with proven change management experience. _ Baillie Gifford is one of the UK's leading investment management firms and is a major player in the asset management business. As a market leader they have built their success around the stability of their partnership structure which provides guarantee for customers and motivation for employees. As by 31 December 2013 they managed more than PS72 billion (US 113 billion)in active equity and bond portfolios for customers in the UK and throughout the world. _ Attractive Salary + Benefits Package The primary responsibility of this position is to manage _ . A. international financial matters and national ones appropriately. B. relationships between the relevant matters and tax strategy. C. overseas tax strategy and relationships with authorities and advisors. D. establishment and communication of systems, responses and other requirements. Answer: C The struggle to "have it all" leaves many mothers giving up their health and hobbies. But dads have more time to spare according to a research, with just 55 per cent saying they lose sleep and regular exercise compared with 71 percent of mums. Twice as many mothers as fathers complained that they did not spend enough time relaxing, with almost half of mums spending less than two hours a week with friends. And more than a third miss out on hobbies and interests because they are too busy. In spite of changing roles in the family, women are still responsible for most of the child care. Nearly a third spend more than 10 hours a week caring for their children, compared with just one in ten fathers. More mums than dads also say housework and tiredness stop them achieving their goals. But the research also shows mums gain a sense of achievement from finishing the housework, getting their children to school on time or sitting down to a family dinner. The research underlines the fact that women feel under pressure to succeed in all areas of their lives. As Nick Booth, a marketing director put, "They are pushing themselves too hard and are in danger of burning out. We'd encourage anyone to take time out for themselves. Having your own interests and hobbies and ensuring you get enough sleep is hugely important. Other parts of your life, including work and family life, improve as a result." The Olympian and mother Jo Pavey admitted balancing career, family and personal time can be a struggle. Jo, 41, became the oldest female gold medalist at the European Championship last year - but regards her children as her biggest achievement. The mum of two said,"When I was younger,I'd have probably said it wasn't possible to have a sporting career and be mum. But actually it is all about striking a balance and looking after yourself." The purpose of the text is to tell us that _ . A. mums shouldn't give up their careers B. mums should ask help from their husbands C. mums should balance different roles in their life D. mums should do less housework and have a better rest Answer: C Sydney--A shark _ a schoolboy's leg while he was surfing with his father at a beach in Sydney on February 23. It was the third shark attack along the coast of Australia's largest city in a month. The 15yearold boy and his father were in the water off Avalon, on Sydney's northern beaches, around dawn when he was attacked. The city's beaches are packed with locals and tourists during the summer months. "The father heard a scream and turned to see his son thrashing about in the water," police said. "Fortunately, the shark swam away and the boy was helped to the shore by his father." Lifesaving Club spokesman Nick Miller said, "It got him around the top of his left leg and the father came and dragged him out of water." He said the boy was bleeding heavily when he was brought to the shore. "There was a lot of pain, as you can imagine." The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries. Police said the bites "cut through to the bone", but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures . He was in a stable condition now. Several beaches were closed after the attack. Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark, while police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks. But they said it was too early to say what type of shark attacked the boy. "I don't even know if he saw it," Miller said. Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney's beaches, but attacks on humans are still relatively rare. However, there were two attacks on successive days earlier this month, one on a navy diver in Sydney harbor,not far from the famous Opera House, and the other on a surfer at the city's worldfamous Bondi beach. Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise. There is a ban on commercial fishing in the harbor, which has increased fish stocks. Marine experts also claim environmental protection has created a cleaner environment, attracting sharks closer to the shore as they chase fish. Many shark species, including the Great White--the maneaters made famous in Steven Spielberg's Jaws--are protected in Australian waters. What do we know about the city of Sydney from the passage? A. It is one of the largest cities in Australia. B. Sydney harbor is not far from the famous Opera House. C. There are many locals and tourists on its coast all the year round. D. There are few shark species in the waters off Sydney's beaches. Answer: B Women, Race & Class Angela Y Davis PS7.99 Analysing the differences and similarities between the experiences of black and white women, Davis casts new light on the struggle for human rights. The Words to Say it (an autobiographical novel) Marie Cardinal translated by Pat Goodheart PS7.99 Marie Cardinal's groundbreaking book was the first and remains the complete book about the personal experience of psychoanalysis . It reveals her traumatic childhood and institutionalisation , followed by her escape to the cul-de-sac where her analyst lived. There, for many years, she made the journey towards recovery through Freudian psychoanalysis. A worldwide bestseller, translated into eighteen languages, it remains one of the most highly-praised books of our age. Jade Millie Murray PS4.99 Jade Wilson is smart, young, black and ambitious. And she's just been given the chance of a lifetime - a try-out for the Commonwealth Games swimming team. Jade lives with her mum, Jojo, a successful business woman. Jojo is overprotective of Jade, but she has her reasons. As a young model with a wonderful career ahead of her, she fell pregnant with Jade, and, much as she loves her daughter, she's determined not to let anything get in the way of Jade's success. So when Jade starts dating Dicey, there is hell to pay. Will Jade survive her Mum's constant nagging ? And what if she were to get pregnant - would she, could she, do the same as Jojo and give up her career? As things start hotting up with Dicey, Jade is faced with some very tough choices... . The book is very popular with people all over the world. Which of the following can prove the book The Words to Say it is very successful ? A. It is the first book about psychoanalysis. B. It has a successful beginning and ending. C. It has translated into 18 languages. D. It remains the complete book about personal experiences. Answer: C
In a zoo, a polar bear exhibit will contain Answer: Many people catch a cold in the spring time and / or fall. It makes us wonder .if scientists can send a man to the moon, why they can't find a cure for the common cold. The answer is easy. There are exactly hundreds of kinds of cold viruses there. You never know which one you will get, so there isn't a cure for each one. When a virus attacks your body, the body works hard to get rid of it. Blood rushes to your nose and brings congestion with it .You feel terrible because you can't breathe well, but your body is actually "eating" the virus. Your temperature rises and you get a fever, but the heat of your body is killing the virus. You also have a running nose to stop the virus from getting to your cells. You may feel miserable, but actually your wonderful body is doing everything it can to kill the cold. Different people have different remedies for colds. In the United States and sane other countries, for example, people might eat chicken soup to feel better. Some people take hot baths and drink warm liquids. Other people take medicine to stop the fever, congestion, and running nose. There is one interesting thing to note - some scientists say taking medicines when you have a cold is actually bad for you. The virus stays in you longer because your body doesn't have a way to fight it and kill it .Bodies can do an amazing job on their own. There is a joke, however, on taking medicine when you have a cold. It goes like this: The blood is _ for the virus when someone gets a cold. Answer: I once experienced an unforgettable trip to Gloucester to see some of the world's most beautiful and exciting animals in their own habitat , the North Atlantic Ocean. After a long trip by bus, we got on the ship. After a while, we stopped and everyone on the ship started to shout because we saw a humpback whale . It was wonderful. Sometimes, whales came so close to the ship that you thought you could easily touch them. While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us some information about them. She told us that we saw only two kinds of whales -- 50-foot humpback whales (singing whales) and 70-foot fin back whales (the second largest whales on earth). She also said we could easily recognize a whale by its tail because every whale has a different kind of tail just like people have different fingerprints. They all have names, and on this trip, we saw "Salt" and "Pepper", two whales named by a biologist and a fisherman. They were swimming together all the time. I took twenty-seven photos, but it was very hard to take them because the whales were quick and stayed on the surface of the ocean just for a short time. It was really something. It was one of the chances that a person hardly ever experiences in life, but I had that chance. Everyone on the ship began to shout because _ . Answer: The loneliest chimp in the world just got the best surprise--a hug from a new friend. Ponso has been by himself for nearly three years, finding himself alone after his wife and children died on the island where they were abandoned by a medical testing company many years ago. For years a nearby villager named Germain has been Ponso's only company, visiting him so often to bring bananas and bread--the chimp's only source of food on the tiny island. It was clear how much Ponso missed companionship when he was recently visited by Chimpanzee Conservation Centre Director Estelle Raballand. The chimp immediately embraced Estelle Raballand in a huge hug and laughed as she reached out for him, with his smile from ear to ear. For those who know Ponso's backstory, his immediate ease and trust in humans might be surprising. Ponso was one of 20 chimps, all between the ages of 7 to 11 years old, relocated to an island off the Ivory Coast after being used for testing by the New York Blood Centre. After the tests were completed in 2005, the lab reportedly transferred the chimps to a string of islands, occasionally dropping off food and water because there was none in the chimps'new homes. Disease and hunger soon left only Ponso, his mate and their two children standing. But at the end of 2013 they died within days of each other and Ponso was now completely alone. A group called SOS PONSO is trying to raise money for the poor lonely chimp, already achieving its goal of e 20, 000-all of which will be used for Ponso's care. What can be inferred from the text? Answer: The Internet has changed our habits, including our habit of sending greeting cards. There are many e-card websites that make it easy to find the right greeting cards. They have greatly changed the way we send greetings to each other. Our lives have become so busy that we have limited personal time. These e-card websites have allowed everyone to easily share their feelings with each other. They include plenty of greeting cards that can be used immediately. The users can choose any card they like, from festival greetings to birthday wishes. In fact, e-cards are perfect for any event. That's why more and more people like to send e-cards. If the users are interested in making their own greeting cards on the Internet, they can create a card within only a few minutes. They allow you to send your greetings on a special date. So you can plan for the occasion when you want to send the card. For example, you can send your e-card on a certain day and then visit the person with some flowers the next day. This will surely create a good impression on the persons you love and give them a great surprise. We have never forgotten the importance of saying sorry to our beloved ones. But sometimes we fail to do so, because we are not brave enough to face those we hurt. Some e-cards allow us to express our feelings in a more thoughtful way. Although some people still would rather buy traditional cards in the shops for the persons they love, especially when they want the cards to last a long time, more and more people are choosing to send greetings on the Internet. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? Answer:
If I yell out to a co worker which occupation would have a scenario where it is impossible to respond for scientific reasons? Every man wants his son to be somewhat of a clone, not in features but in footsteps. As he grows you also age, and your ambitions become more unachievable. You begin to realize that your boy, in your footsteps, could probably accomplish what you hoped for. But footsteps can be muddied and they can go off in different directions. My son Jody has hated school since day one in kindergarten. Science projects waited until the last moment. Book reports weren't written until the final threat. I've been a newspaperman all my adult life. My daughter is a university graduate working toward her master's degree in English. But Jody? When he entered the tenth grade he became a "vo-tech" student . They're called "motorheads" by the rest of the student body. When a secretary in my office first called him "motorhead", I was shocked. "Hey, he's a good kid," I wanted to say. "And smart, really." I learned later that motorheads are, indeed, different. They usually have dirty hands and wear dirty work clothes. And they don't often make school honor rolls . But being the parent of a motorhead is itself an experience in education. We who labor in clean shirts in offices don't have the abilities that motorheads have. I began to learn this when I had my car crashed. The cost to repair it was estimated at $800. "Hey, I can fix it," said Jody. I doubted it , but let him go ahead, for I had nothing to lose. My son ,with other motorheads, fixed the car. They got parts from a junkyard, non-toasting toaster have been fixed. Neighbours and co-workers trust their car repair to him. Since that first repair job, a broken air-conditioner, a non-functioning washer and a non-toasting toaster have been fixed. Neighbors and co-workers trust their car repairs to him. These kids are happiest when doing repairs. They joke and laugh and are living in their own relaxed world. And their minds are bright despite their dirty hands and clothes. I have learned a lot from my motorhead: publishers need printers, engineers need mechanics, and architects need builders. Most important, I have learned that fathers don't need clones in footsteps or anywhere else. My son may never make the school honor roll. But he made mine. What used to be the author's hope for his son? In 1880, fourteen-year-old Matthew Henson loved to hear sailors tell tales of their exciting lives at sea. The travel, the adventure, the danger, and the steady pay were all attracting young Henson. One day, he found a job as a cabin boy on a beautiful ship called the Katie Hinds. For the next five years, Henson sailed around the world. With the help of the ship's captain and other members of the crew, Henson learned mathematics, navigation, history, geography, and many other subjects. By the time he left the Katie Hinds in 1885, Henson was well educated and had become an excellent seaman. Unable to find work anywhere else, Henson took a job in a hat shop in Washington, D.C. One day in 1887, a man came in to buy a hat. The man, Robert Peary, asked the owner if he knew anyone with experience at sea. Peary would soon travel to South America for the U.S. government. He needed experienced men to accompany him. The shop owner knew about his young employee's skills and experience on ocean journeys, so he introduced Peary to Henson. Using his map-reading and sailing skills, Henson proved himself to be a worthy and smart seaman. Peary soon made Henson his assistant, and they became close friends. One day Peary told Henson about his real dream: to be the first man to stand on "the top of the world" at the North Pole. He asked Henson to help him make his dream come true. Over the next five years, the two explorers made two trips together to the Arctic. However, they were not able to reach the pole either time. The cold, wind, and ice were worse than either of them had ever imagined. In 1908, Peary and Henson were ready to make their final attempt at reaching the North Pole. Both men were over forty years old. The years of hardship in the arctic cold had made them suffer a lot. This would be their last chance. With four Inuit guides, they made a mad rush straight across the ice toward the pole. Peary's feet were injured and he had to be pulled on a dogsled. In April 1909, Henson's instruments showed they were standing at the North Pole. Together Henson and Peary planted the American flag in the snow. In later years, Robert Peary and Henson were greatly honored for their achievements. Today, the two friends and fellow explorers lie in heroes' graves not far apart in the Arlington National Cemetery. On their trip to the North Pole, Henson and Peary could best be compared to _ . Which force produces energy as heat? Tom and Mike were good friends. Sometimes they were kind to each other, sometimes they were not. But all of their classmates said they were like brothers. One day they went out for a walk together. At noon they were very hungry and they went into a restaurant to have lunch. The waiter came up to them and asked,"What can I do for you?" "Please bring us two apples first." said Tom. When the waiter put two apples on the table, Mike took the bigger one at once. Tom got angry, "You are impolite,Mike. Why don't you take the smaller one?" Tom said. "But I am right."said Mike with a smile,"if I let you take first, which one will you choose?" "Of course I'11 take the smaller one. "said Tom. "Yes."Mike said,"If you take the smaller one,the bigger one will still be mine. Don't you think so?" "Oh!"Tom couldn't answer. Tom took the _ apple.
Question: In a survey of 1,500 European hotel managers, Americans were ranked second, behind the Japanese, as the world's best tourists. In the survey, conducted in April by the online travel site Expedia's German branch, Americans were seen as the most likely to try to speak a foreign language and the most interested in tasting local food. Americans came in third, behind the Japanese and British, as the "most polite" tourists, and third, behind the Japanese and Germans, as "best behaved". And ---- Americans were ranked far and away as the world's most generous tippers and biggest spenders. On the other hand, Americans were seen as the shabbiest dressers, the most likely to complain and the second noisiest. Who is louder? Only the Italians. Some of the other findings: Russians were as the least polite travelers, followed by the Israelis and French. The stingiest tippers: the Germans, followed by the French and Israelis. Italians, by far, were ranked as the best dressers, followed by the French and Spanish. In terms of bad dressing, the British were a distant second to Americans, followed by the Germans. Who's the most unwilling to try speaking in a foreign language? The French, the British and the Italians, in that order. The Chinese are the most reluctant to taste foreign food, followed closely by ---- this is strange ---- the British, whose home _ is probably the world's most seriously laughed at ( a little unfairly, perhaps). And, finally, the overall award for "worst tourist in the world" goes to the French, with the Indians and Chinese. According to the survey, the worst dressers in tourists are _ . ks5u A. the British B. the Americans C. the Germans D. the Spanish Answer: B Question: Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired .The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple. Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers .They talk about love, crops or death. The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records. When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America. John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s.His song "Take Me home, Country Roads" is well-known and people still play it today. Country music is usually about _ . A. everyday life and feelings B. farmers' feelings C. the lives of workers D. the lives of farmers Answer: A Question: Twelve years ago, Rachel Miller was lost when it came to her son John. The 7-year-old was seriously disabled because of his autism . Unable to speak, he withdrew from people at school and, worse, from his family. In March 2003, Miller was introduced to Jeff Hancock, a one-on-one therapist for people with autism. Hancock was hired to be John's companion. The two would go people-watching at the mall on the weekend. Hancock chatted throughout their trips, even though John couldn't talk back. Their relationship developed when Hancock introduced John to the Special Olympics. Whenever John was running or being active, he was smiling. When John turned 12, Hancock introduced him to track at the Special Olympics. For the first three years, the pair just observed the sport by watching practices and events. Hancock worked daily with John, showing him everything, including where to sit, stand and walk, so he would understand the flow of the events. Eventually, the lessons clicked, and John was off doing 50-meter sprints. But as John got older, he got stronger and faster. At 16, he was jumping hurdles and doing 800-meter races. Miller started seeing her son as a serious athlete. In May 2014, John's training brought him to the Special Olympics State Summer Games in Orlando. The 18-year-old was competing in the 800 meters and the 110-meter hurdles. As the 800 was setting up, Miller remembered, she pressed her face against the fence, anxiously waiting for John to compete. But as soon as the race started, all Miller saw was an athlete, her athlete. "I just wanted to see the best performance. It seemed much more significant than whether he would ever speak or respond to me," she said. John ended up winning the gold medal for the 800. Sports completely changed John, and Miller said that is because of Hancock."A person with a disability can feel hopeless and isolated, and I think that can happen to parents, too. " The passage is mainly carried out. A. by giving examples B. in a sad tone C. in space order D. in time order Answer: D Question: If you go into the forest with friends, stay with them .If you don't , you may get lost, this is what you should do .Sit down and stay where you are .Don't try to find your friends ---let them find you instead .You can help them find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other people to find you .You can shout or whistle three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a call for help . Keep up shouting or whistling. Always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making a noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They will give you two shouts or two whistles. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help. If you don't think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house with branches Make yourself a bed with leaves and grass. When you need some water, you have to leave your little branch house to look for it. Don't just walk away . _ When you are lost, the most important thing to do is to stay in one place. What's the meaning of t _ A. Drop branches to look for water B. Pick off branches to build another house C. Use branches to make a bed D. Leave branches to find your way back Answer: D Question: There was once a spider that lived in a cornfield . She liked this home and planned to stay there for the rest of her life. One day, the spider caught a little bug in her web. Just as the spider was about to eat him, the bug said: "If you let me go, I will tell you something important that can save your life." The spider thought for a little while and listened. "You'd better get out of this cornfield," the little bug said. "The harvest is coming!" "I think you are just telling me a story," the spider said with a smile. "Oh no, it is true," the little bug said. "All the stalks will be knocked down, and the corn will be gathered up. You will be killed by the giant machines if you stay here." "I don't believe you," the spider said as she ate the little bug for lunch. A few days later, the spider was laughing about the story the little bug had told her. She thought to herself: "A harvest! What a silly idea. I have lived here all of my life, and nothing has ever disturbed me." The next day was a beautiful sunny day. The sky above was clear, and there was no wind at all. That afternoon, as the spider was about to take a nap , she noticed some thick dusty clouds moving towards her. She could hear the noise of a great engine , and she said to herself: "I wonder what that could be?" The little bug tried to get free by _ . A. destroying the web B. turning to his friends for help C. telling the spider some important news D. fighting with the spider Answer: C
In recent years, a growing body of research has shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception of the food in front of us. Studies have shown. for instance. that eating in front of the TV (or a similar distraction) can increase both hunger and the amount of food consumed. Even simple visual cues( ). like plate size and lighting, have been shown to affect portion size and consumption. A new study suggested that our shot-term memory also may play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they'd eaten but rather by how much food they'd seen in front of them --- in other words, how much they remembered eating. This difference suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal. says Jeffrey M . Brunstrom , a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol. "Hunger isn't. controlled solely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal." Brunstrom says. "This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought." These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body's response to the food itself. In a 2011 study, for instance, people who drank the same 380-calorie milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones, depending on whether the shake's label said it contained 620 0r 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake. What does this means for our eating habits? Although it hardly seems practical to trick ourselves in to eating less, the new findings do highlight the benefits of focusing on our food avoiding TV and multitasking while eating. The so-called mindful-eating strategies can fight distractions and help us control our appetite, Brunstrom says. What is said to be a factor affecting our appetite and food intake? As people in China celebrated Singles' Day on November 11, the media eagerly discussed why so many marriageable young people fail to find their other half. While single people in China are pitied, their counterparts in some Western countries feel they are being discriminated against. In the US, where more than a quarter of all households consists of one person, single people often pay more insurance than married people. They don't get the same tax breaks and they seldom get promoted at work. There seems to be a bad name attached to their status - somehow their personality is flawed and therefore they are not to be trusted. Activities have created the term "singlism" to describe discrimination against unmarried people. It means stereotyping , stigmatizing and discrimination against those who are single. Globally, the number of people living alone is skyrocketing. Many people are at peace with being single and some even choose to remain single. But why are so many of us worried about singledom? Michael Cobb, professor of English at the University of Toronto in Canada, says that pop culture is to blame for people's fear of singledom. His book Single: Arguments for the Uncoupled is a critical examination of singleness in favor of the couple, making singletons one of the most despised sexual minorities in Western countries. In pop culture, singles are viewed as immature, whereas fully adults are able to form relationships and live meaningful lives. The overall message is clear: go ahead and be yourself, but if you want real happiness, make sure you get coupled up. You may get that idea from US comedy series Sex and the City and the most recent Girls, or UK's Bridge Jones' Diary. In Michael Cobb's opinion, what should be responsible for people's fear of singledom? Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time. Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience. E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren't necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she'd been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool. The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun see a great movie perhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story. With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience. E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college. We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don't take the place of any of the old ways. According to the writer, E-mail has an obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one _ . Jenny, I often think if I am as important to you as you are to me. We had an unhappy time yesterday. I really felt sad after it and almost apologized to you. However,you could still laugh and talk with others like nothing had happened. I suddenly realized that I was not that important to you. You didn't even realize that I was angry and sad. What's more,you even forgot my birthday this year. Goodbye,my friend. I have closed my feeling toward you. It is sad to say goodbye,my friend. But it is meaningless for us to be friends any longer. Lucy Dear Lucy, I'm sorry that I hurt you so much yesterday. But here is something I really need to tell you. I never thought the quarrel we had yesterday was as serious as you thought. I just felt tired and didn't feel like going shopping. Susan and Lily are also my good friends. I couldn't pretend not seeing them when they passed by. I also couldn't let them know I was blue because of the quarrel. I didn't want them to feel sad just because I was sad. I'm your best friend,but I don't want to be your only friend. I don't want to be with you all the time because sometimes I need to have my own time. I want to spend some time with my other friends and my brother. Please try to make more friends. You will feel much happier if you have more friends. And remember,I'm your best friend forever! Jenny What's the cause of the quarrel yesterday? Slang is a popular, less official and often very current form of language. It is an important part of a living language and is constantly changing as language changes. Slang is often playful, direct and sometimes less respectful than the more official and traditional version of language. So now I'm going to lay it on you! To "lay it on" is American slang for "to tell" or "to explain." Slang can take many forms. For example, slang can be local to one city or area. In Washington, D.C. there is a whole set of slang to describe politics and business in the city. For example, the term POTUS stands for President of the United States. POTUS can often be found with his wife, FLOTUS, the first lady of the United States. "Inside the Beltway" is a popular expression that describes the area of Washington, D.C. The beltway is the large highway that circles the city. The Internet has helped create a whole new kind of computer-related slang. An "angry fruit salad" is an expression that describes a website with too many bright colors. "Netiquette" is slang for correct behavior when using the Internet. Young people often develop the latest slang. For example, to say Special English "rocks" or is "phat" means Special English is really great. A "kegger" is a party where beer is served. If something is "wack", it is wild and crazy. Different professions often have their own slang as well. For example, medical workers might refer to a complaining patient as a "gomer". A "tough stick" is someone whose veins are difficult to find when he or she needs to have blood taken. No matter how well you speak English, there are always new and interesting slang words to discover. There are entire dictionaries for describing slang. Many experts do not even agree on what is and what is not slang. Often slang words later become a part of officially accepted language. Official or not, slang is an energetic and exciting part of the American language that continues to change. Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
Question: A wallet that looks like a piece of newspaper, an atlas, or an express parcel receipt? Or a business card that looks like a notepad? No kidding. Bai Minghui, a Beijing-based designer, creates his artwork using Tyvek, a synthetic paper material which is difficult to tear, waterproof and, more importantly, totally recyclable. Born to a worker family in 1983 in Tangshan, Hebei Province, Bai worked as a graphic designer at a financial magazine in Beijing after graduating from Minzu University of China. In the spring of 2008, Bai visited an exhibition about Tyvek in Beijing's 798 art zone, and then worked with the material, trying to bring his designs to life. The first thing that came into his mind was the paper wallet, a must-try handicraft assignment that most Chinese students do in elementary school. "A paper wallet is definitely more useful than a paper crane or frog," Bai told Beijing Review, smiling. "At first, many people have no idea what it is, because it looks like a piece of newspaper or an express parcel receipt, and feels like real paper. But it's hard to tear." "The completed, folded wallet is seamless , which creates so much fun for a designer. To be honest, I didn't think about profits at all," he said. After months of research and development on printing and designing, the first generation of his paper wallet made a stunning debut in May 2008. The second generation, which offers a greater range of pattern options, was put on the market at the beginning of 2009. "You can have graffiti or write down phone numbers on it, or paint whatever you like. I would like people to be able to use it easily," he said. "I don't want to do things without creative ideas. Now my focus is on how to create better design rather than the wallet itself." What can be inferred from the passage? A. Most of the Chinese students have tried to make some kind of paper work. B. Many Chinese are fond of painting different things on their wallets. C. Most of the wallets that people use nowadays can be recycled. D. Most of the designers based in Beijing have tried Tyvek to create their own work of art. Answer: A. Most of the Chinese students have tried to make some kind of paper work. Question: British Women Writers in different periods of time The English Renaissance The English Renaissance began in the later part of the fifteenth century and lasted until the 1660s. Among the most famous women writers of this period is Aphra Behn, who is seen as the first professional woman writer in English. She wrote a number of plays that dealt with topics such as racism and slavery. A good example isOroonokopublished in 1688. Aphra Behn's works include also the playsThe Amourous Prince,The Town Fop, The Dutch Loverand her only tragedy,Abdelazer. The neoclassical period Among the well-known women in Bristish literature during the neoclassical period, from 1660 to the end of the eighteenth century, is Anne Finch. She wrote poetry and tried to express all that she saw and experienced. Two other women are recognized for their contribution to neoclassical British literature: Mary Astell and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Mary Astell was a philosopher and a feminist writer. She is best known now for her theories on the education of women. The Romantic period Jane Austen is one of the most famous women writers that worked during the Romantic period (1798-1832). Her works include several novels, most of which focus on marriage as a way for young women to secure social standing and economic security. Her most famous novels arePride and Prejudice,Sense and SensibilityandEmma. Another famous woman writer from the English Romanticism is Mary Shelley. She is the author ofFrankenstein,History of Six Weeks TourandThe Last Man. The Victorian period The Victorian period, between the 1830s and 1900, was the time when the Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell lived and wrote. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte produced many British literary classics. Charlotte's novels includeJane Eyre,Shirley,Villette and The Professor. Mary Anne Evans adopted the male pen name George as she wanted to set herself apart from the feminine genre of cookbooks and domestic moral tales. Her most famous novel isThe Mill on the Flosspublished in 1860. According to the passage, why did Mary Anne Evans publish her stories under the name of George Eliot? A. Women were forbidden to write novels then. B. Her works would be different. C. It helped promote her works. D. It sounded more popular. Answer: B. Her works would be different. Question: A survey by an international temporary service agency found that U. S. managers believe that people with a sense of humour do better at their jobs, compared with those who have little or no sense of humour. In fact, about 96 percent of those surveyed said people with a sense of humour do better. The survey went on to point out that the results suggest that a sense of humour may help light-hearted employees keep their jobs during tough times. And, what's more, it may push them up the corporate ladder past their humourless colleagues. Why? It seems that those with a sense of humour are better communicators and better team players. Studies have shown that happy workers are more productive. In fact, a researcher at California State University found that humour could help the employees to release tension. Research done by psychologist Dr. Ashton Trice at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia showed that humour helps us think. When people feel stuck on important projects, they tend to feel angry or depressed. According to Dr. Trice's research, taking time out to laugh can help us to get rid of negative feelings and allow us to return to a task or move on to another project unaffected by past defeat. If humour is really this important, then why don't we use it more often on the job? Most likely, the main reason is that many people are unaware of the positive effects of humour in the workplace. However, it is important to realize that some humour is not suitable for the workplace, and that it is often used at wrong times. Most people think a sense of humour can _ . A. help you to do your work better B. make you have a rich life C. make you pleased with your work D. help you to make more friends Answer: A. help you to do your work better Question: What helps creates new material in the soil? A. network television B. magnetism C. wildfires D. free radicals Answer: C. wildfires Question: A new study links heavy air pollution from coal burning to shorter lives in northern China.Researchers guess that the half-billion people alive there in the 1990s will live an average of 5 years less than the southerners because they breathed dirtier air. China itself made the comparison possible for decades, a then government policy provided free coal for heating, but only in the colder north. Researchers found great differences in both air pollution and the length of life in the two areas. "This study provides a unique basis for the question about the life span in northern China because the heating policy dramatically changes pollution concentrations ," Michael Greenstone, a professor of environmental economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an email, "Further,due to the low rates of migration in China in this period, we can know people's exposure over long periods". The policy gave free coal for fuel boilers to heat homes and offices to cities north of the Huai River which divides China into north and south. It was in effect for much of the 1950-1980 period, of central planning,and though such policy was stopped after 1980, the practice of heavy coal burning in the north goes on, which releases heavy pollutants into the air that can harm human health.Researchers found no other government policies that treated China's north differently from the south. The researchers collected data for 90 cities, from 1981 to 2000, on the annual daily average concentration of total particulates sent out from power stations,construction sites and vehicles. Among them, PM2.5 is of especially great health concern because it can go deep into the lungs. The researchers estimated the impact on the length of life using death data from 1991-2000.They found that in the north, the concentration of pollutants was 184 micrograms per cubic meter, 55 percent higher than in the south, and life length is 55 years lower on average. The main idea of this passage is that _ . A. PM2.5 is of especially great health concern B. Researchers find air pollution shortens life C. the government provided free coal for heating in North China D. coal burning causes bad air quality across China Answer: B. Researchers find air pollution shortens life
He is talent and charm have made him the No.1 Chinese classical artist in the world. He played in the grand Beijing Olympic opening ceremony last summer, watched by a TV audience of 5 billion. Lang Lang, 26, is the first Chinese pianist to play with the world's top orchestras, making his _ at the Carnegie Hall in New York at 18, while still a student. Lang Lang's charm and fondness for sharp clothes make him a natural fit to represent China's new international image. According to the British newspaper the Times, "The Lang Lang effect" is responsible for driving 36 million Chinese children to learn the piano. Now in China children are learning Chopin and Western orchestras are touring Chinese cities, but can China ever export its own music to the west? Lang is trying. His cooperation with the London Symphony Orchestras this month includes a performance of Dragon Songs, an album of traditional Chinese classics. Behind the international recognition, however, is a fascinating story of a gifted child. Lang grew up with his father's own musical ambition and high expectations. It is not hard to imagine how boring it must be to practice the piano every day. Lang said that he once hated his hands and the piano. He injured his right hand six years ago and had to rest. "That was the best month," he says, without hesitation. "I had a date. I saw a Broadway show and saw Britney Spears in concert." Which of the following statements about Lang is true? A. He has 36 million Chinese students in China. B. He is touring China giving concerts. C. He is trying to export Chinese music to western countries. D. He only played traditional Chinese classics in his cooperation with the London Symphony Orchestra. Answer: C if a predator wanted to catch its meal undetected, which method would be effective? A. hiding behind a bush with similar colors as itself B. roaring really loud to scare it C. none of these D. peeing to confuse the prey Answer: A The sun is responsible for A. puppies learning new tricks B. children growing up and getting old C. flowers wilting in a vase D. plants sprouting, blooming and wilting Answer: D Anyone who has worn a cast knows that rebuilding muscle strength once the cast is removed can be difficult. Now researchers at the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) at Ohio University have found that the mind is _ in maintaining muscle strength following a long period of not moving and that mental imagination may be key in reducing the associated muscle loss. Strength is controlled by a number of factors----the most studied by far is skeletal muscle. However, the nervous system is also an important, though not fully understood, determining factor of strength and weakness. Brian C. Clark and colleagues set out to test how the system functions in strength development. They designed an experiment to measure changes in wrist muscle strength in three groups of healthy adults. Twenty-nine subjects wore a hard cast that extended from just below the elbow past the fingers, effectively preventing the hand and wrist from moving, for four weeks. Fifteen subjects who did not wear casts served as the control group. Of the 29 people wearing a hard cast, half were asked to regularly perform an exercise, imagining they were strongly contracting their wrist for five seconds and then resting for five seconds. This was repeated four times in a row followed by a one-minute break for a total of 13 rounds per session and five sessions per week. The other half performed no imagination exercises. At the end of the four-week experiment, both groups who wore casts had lost strength in their unmoving limbs when compared to the control group. But the group that performed imagination exercises lost 50% less strength than the non-imagination group. The nervous system's ability to fully make the muscle recover also returned more quickly in the imagination group compared to the non-imagination group. Where can you most probably find the passage? A. In a science magazine. B. In a storybook. C. In a textbook . D. In a book review. Answer: A Many people often lose their friends and they don't know how to keep a long friendship. So how can you keep a long friendship? The following passage explains very well about this matter. The first thing you need to do is to become a good listener. In this way, you show your friends that you are interested in their lives. You want to know more about them and you want to help them solve their problems. They will cherish the friendship more if they know you care about them. The next thing is that you should respect other people's privacy. People usually don't like others to know about their private life, so you should show respect toward their privacy. Sometimes, they need some suggestions from others, but this does not mean that others can know about their entire life. So respect for privacy is a must for keeping a long friendship. The third important thing is that you need to be able to forgive. You must remember that nobody is perfect in this world. It is important to forgive others not to blame them for the mistakes they have already made. You are not perfect either. Thus you need to apologize to others for the mistakes you may have made. Pay attention to the three things above, and you will be able to have long friendship. What does the writer suggest you do if your friend makes a mistake? A. Blame him. B. Forgive him. C. Tell him why it is so. D. Leave him immediately. Answer: B
Question: Dolphins are interesting animals and researchers find them interesting to watch. They don't have hands, but can use tools to solve problems, just like us. Scientists have observed a dolphin trying to get a shy eel to come out of its hole by poking it with a dead fish. Many species of dolphin live in large societies. They have many different relationships and need a good communication system; they use a variety of sounds to communicate with each other. There is currently no evidence that dolphins have a language of their own. But scientists still have a lot to find out about these animals and so there are certain to be a few surprises in the future. At Kewalo Basin Marine Laboratory in Hawaii, the dolphin team have developed a sign langue to communicate with the dolphins, and the results are amazing. Not only do the dolphins understand the meaning of individual words, they also understand the significance of word order in a sentence. For example, when they were asked to 'touch the ball with your tail and then jump over it' they generally responded correctly and straight away, which showed that they understood the langue. Most mammals seem to enjoy play--but dolphins seems to like making their games as challenging as possible. On a beautiful day in 1997, researchers working at a beach, off the southern coast of Brazil, observed a little dog going into the sea and swimming towards the dolphins. To their surprise, the dolphins approached the dog and then started throwing it into the air. The dog seemed to enjoy the 'game' and continued playing with the dolphins for more than an hour. From then on, different dogs were seem trying to interact with the dolphins. Dolphins live in a very different world to ourselves, but they are very good at our 'intelligence tests'. For example, they will jump out of the water when they hear a whistle noise. They do this because they will get a fish as a reward. There is still much to learn about these flexible problem-solvers, but from the evidence so far, it would seem as though dolphins are very intelligent. When they play, dolphins seems to like making their games as _ as possible. A. difficult B. easy C. interesting D. relaxing Answer: A Question: According to US research, it can take up to ten years to become a near-native English speaker. Asian and Spanish students took between five and ten years to reach native speaker performance in English-only schools. Fluency obviously doesn't happen overnight. But time can definitely make you a better speaker. After testing his own memory, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that humans forget most of what they learn in the first 20 minutes. So cramming right before a speaking exam is not likely to be as effective as practicing regularly over time. The more you practice, the more familiar new words will become. In the classroom, studies have also shown that repeating oral tasks improves a speaker's performance. One of the best repetition exercises is the 4/3/2 technique. Speakers give the same talk to three different listeners with a progressive decrease in delivery time, starting at four minutes, then three, and finally two minutes. This exercise has been proven to help learners speak faster. It can also result in less hesitation and more grammatical accuracy. While time dose make a difference when it comes to speaking perfect English, it would not hurt to brush up on your other language skills. Studies have also shown that reading can increase your speaking vocabulary. After one month of an extensive reading program, a 27-year-old student of French became more familiar with 65 percent of the new words. Aside from choosing the right learning methods, having certain personality traits may also help. US Stephen Krashen believes those with high motivation, self-confidence and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for speaking success. Krashen says students who don't have these qualities are more likely to have a "mental block". "Even if they understand the message, the input will not reach the part of the brain responsible for language acquisition," he writes in his book Principles and Practice in second Language Acquisition. The author put forward the 4/3/2 technique just to show that _ . A. you should speak to 3 different people B. you should speak to 3 different people at 3 different times C. it can prevent you from making grammar mistakes D. it is really a good way to make you a better speaker Answer: D Question: The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever . He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him . The next morning he said to the men , " Have you provided me with that sunset ? " " No , sir . " the men answered . The director was angry . " Why not ? " he asked . " Well , sir , " one of the men answered . " we're on the east coast here , and the sets in the west . We can get you a sunrise over the sea , if necessary , but not a sunset . " " But I want a sunset ! " the director shouted . " Go to the airport . take the next flight to the west coast , and get one . " But then a young secretary had an idea . " Why don't you photograph a sunrise . " she suggested . " and then play it backwards ? Then it'll look like a sunset . " The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay . Then at nine o'clock they took it to the director . " Here it is sir . " they said , and gave it to him . He was very pleased . They all went into the studio . " All right . " the director explained . " now our hero and heroine are going to say good-bye . Run the film backwards so that we can see the ' sunset behind them . ' " The " sunset " began , but after a quarter of a minute , the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop . The birds in the film were flying backwards . and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach . One evening, the director sent his camera crew out _ . A. to watch a beautiful sunset B. to find an actor and an actress C. to film a sunset scene on the sea D. to meet the audience Answer: C Question: High school could be a scary time for everyone. The school seems bigger; there are more kids and it's a totally new environment. In fact, it isn't that bad. High school is a lot like middle school after a while. The first day of course is always scary, and the first day of middle school must have been the same. Of course, the first few days you might get lost while looking for your classes but after a while, what seemed to be a large school really isn't. One thing that's really cool about high school is that there are so many more classes you can take. If you happen to like art, there are many art classes. In addition, there are other classes that weren't available in middle school like photography or psychology. In high school, there are a lot of things that are similar to how middle school was but at the same time, there are other opportunities available as well. There are more clubs, sports, and other activities you can join in. You're able to join in these activities and make new friends with kids with the same interest as you. These activities also give you a chance to learn something you never had the opportunity to learn before. High school has something for everyone. You just have to decide what to take part in. but there's one thing that's certain that you're going to have just as much fun in high school as you did in middle school. And if middle school wasn't that great for you, high school is a chance to make up for it. High school isn't just about having fun though. You have to be responsible while you're growing up. Teachers aren't going to chase you up to do your homework. The article is probably taken from _ . A. a travel magazine B. a book review C. an advice column for students D. a film poster Answer: C Question: Queen Elizabeth II is not only the queen of the United Kingdom, but she is also the queen of other 16 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Jamaica. Her face is seen on stamps and coins all around the world. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in London on April 21st1926. Her parents were George, the Duke of York, and Elizabeth, the daughter of the Earl and Count-ness of Strathmore. As a child, Princess Elizabeth lived with her parents and younger sister in London and Windsor. Every summer, she traveled to Scotland to visit her mother's parents. She was interested in all sorts of sports, but her favorites were horse riding and swimming. She was also fond of acting, art and music. As princess Elizabeth grew older, she started to play a part in British public life. When she was 14, she broadcast a radio message to all the children of Britain and the Common-wealth . Two years later, she carried out her first public engagement, and started to go on official tours shortly after that. After a tour to South Africa in 1946, she married Philip Mountbatten. The couple had four children: Prince Charles, born in 1948, Princess Anne, born in 1950, Prince Andrew, born in 1960 and Prince Edward, born in 1964. After her father died, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony held in London in 1953. As a queen, she has many duties, and leads a very busy life. She travels throughout the world, meeting the leaders of other countries, and attends a large number of official functions. She also holds a meeting every week with the British Prime Minister. Every year, on Christmas Day, she broadcast a message to the people of British and the Commonwealth, talking about her hopes for the future. Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne for more than 40 years and has become one of the most famous women in the world. Lots of people in British believe that she tries hard to understand her people and be a good queen. More than her title, this quality has earned her much love and respect. Queen Elizabeth's four children are called _ . A. Prince Andrew, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne B. Prince Edward, Princess Anne , Prince Andrew and Prince Charles C. Princess Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward D. Prince Charles, Prince Philip, Prince Edward and Princess Elizabeth Answer: B
Well, parents, surprise! Lots of us are using Twitter and Facebook to thumb rides, and not just to school. It's awkward to be refused when you call a friend and ask for a ride. But with Twitter, you just look for other people heading the same way. It may sound risky, so many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides, and don't branch out beyond friends when asking on Twitter just like me, but to some young people, especially those taking longer trips, stranger danger is less of a concern. "I think the digital connection of young people is really key, because younger generations grew up sharing things on line, sharing files, photos, music, etc, so they've been very used to sharing," said Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College. The sharing economy got big during the recession , allowing people to access more goods, services using technology and even to share costs. And that technology, for me, is what the car was for my mom, a gateway to more freedom, like what my friend Earl says, "The symbol of freedom isn't the car any more because there's technology out there connecting you to a car." According to the researchers at the University of Michigan, 30 years ago, eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a driver's license compared to six in ten today. So it's not that surprising that on my 16th birthday I wasn't rushing to get a license but an iPhone. "Driving, for young people, does mean they have to disconnect from their technology, and that's a negative. So if they could sit in the passage side and still be connected, that's going to be a plus." Schor continued. To me, another plus is that ridesharing represents something, something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work, some of us still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle, you can find me on Twitter. Professor Juliet would agree that _ . A. young people will sit waiting to be contacted by reading a passage B. sharing economy is bound to be responsible for the recession C. young people tend to share a car with strangers by means of Twitter D. being connected via technology comes first for young people Answer: D. being connected via technology comes first for young people Somehow Rey had managed to struggle free from the rope around his neck, after being left to die a slow death as punishment for being a bad Spanish greyhound . It is believed that 50,000 greyhounds are killed by their owners in prefix = st1 /Spaineach year after they grow too old, or turn out to be too slow to hunt with. Dogs have also been found thrown into wells, burnt alive and even injected with poison. But Rey's intended fate was, even within the levels of cruelty usually shown to Spanish hunting dogs, especially cruel. The rope around his neck had been set at a height so that his front paws could not touch the ground, meaning that he was intended to stand on his back legs until he was too tired to support himself. When his legs finally became too tired, the rope should have done its work. "They call it the typewriting death, because the dog's back legs struggled against the ground and make the clicking sound of a typewriter," said Albert Sorde, of the SOS Galgos greyhound rescue group. "It is a punishment for greyhounds that are thought to have made their owners lose face. " "Rey's throat was severely damaged but we managed to find a vet to operate and, though it was expensive, he survived," he said. Greyhounds in Spain are used for hunting hares . "The dogs are meant to imitate the swerves of the hares," said Sorde. "Those who don't, and make their owners look bad, are called ' dirty greyhounds' and are most likely to be killed by the typewriter method. " What can you infer from the passage? A. Dogs are not kept as pets in Spain. B. Rey was punished because he had not been loyal to his owner. C. The typewriting death is named because a typewriter is used in the punishment. D. Rey didn't behave very well in the hunting. Answer: D. Rey didn't behave very well in the hunting. What may be likely to distance itself from humans? A. meteors B. lodgepole pines C. snow monkeys D. advanced robots Answer: C. snow monkeys Pets provide an unconditional love that requires very little on the part of the human. Animals are so special to those of us who love them. We miss them when they are no longer with us. We grieve for them in ways which are just the same as grieving for a human loved one. Whether the end comes through old age, illness, or sudden death, the death of a pet can cause enormous feelings of sorrow, guilt, and loneliness for children and adults alike, as the animal was considered a family member, a child's favoured playmate, or an older person's loyal and faithful companion. Some people don't want a pet because they do die! It's understandable to be unwilling to expose yourself to death but, at the same time, _ . When we live with animals we're more in step with the rhythms of the planet from day to night and from season to season because our companions make us more aware of the changes around us. Our companion animals teach us about the simple gifts of a beautiful day, a good meal and a gentle touch. The death of a pet can make us struggle with our belief structure-a natural part of the grieving period. Whether grieving an animal or human, we question our beliefs and many people find their belief structure becomes stronger when they ask themselves hard questions. Others find a new way of acceptance. And we learn from our animals. Animals aren't afraid to die; they show us that the end of life can be faced without fear. They can teach us to accept death as an opening for love and wonder. Allow yourself to grieve in whatever way is appropriate for you. The loss of a pet is real grief and causes us to travel through the stages of grief-denial, anger, depression, guilt, and acceptance. These stages must be lived through for the mourning to allow full healing. According to the passage, the reason why some people don't want a pet may be that _ . A. animals may change our belief structure B. animals are so special for those who love them C. pets can never escape from death which makes people sad D. pets only provide people with love but never ask for return Answer: C. pets can never escape from death which makes people sad Just five minutes of exercise a day outdoors can improve mental health, according to a study. Researchers from the University of Essex, UK have found that as little as five minutes of a "green activity" such as walking, gardening, cycling or farming could help to improve mood and increase self-esteem . Many studies have shown that outdoor exercise can reduce the risk of mental illness and improve a sense of well-being, but the new study, led by Jules Pretty and Jo Barton, was the first to determine how much time needed to be spent on green exercise for the benefits to show. Barton and Pretty looked at data from 1,252 people of different ages, genders and mental health status taken from 10 studies in Britain. They analyzed their different outdoor activities including walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming in locations such as a park, garden or nature trail . They found that the mental health changes were seen after just five minutes. With longer periods of time exercising in a green environment, the positive effects were more apparent. Looking at men and women of different ages, the researchers found the health changes were particularly strong in the young and the mentally ill. Green and blue A bigger effect was seen with exercise in an area that also contained water - such as a lake or river. "This is because historically we are drawn to water to survive and it is in our genetic make-up to be at one with nature," the researchers wrote in their report. Pretty said those who were generally inactive, or stressed, or with mental illness would probably benefit the most from "green exercise". "Employers, for example, could encourage staff in stressful workplaces to take a short walk at lunchtime in the nearest park to improve mental health." He also said exercise programs outdoors could benefit youth offenders. What can we conclude from the findings of the study? A. Gardeners and farmers do not need "green exercise". B. Just five minutes of "green exercise" daily can help improve mental health. C. Walking in a park with a lake will weaken the effect. D. "Green exercise" is not suitable for the mentally ill. Answer: B. Just five minutes of "green exercise" daily can help improve mental health.
Question: It' s 9:00 in the evening. The family are at home. Jim's father sits in a chair. He's watching TV . His mother stands near the window. She feeds the birds--Polly. Polly says, "Thanks! Thanks!" Where is Jim? Oh, he's behind the door. Kate is looking for him. They play games in Kate's room. Where's Kate? A. She's behind the door. B. She's near the window. C. She's in her room. D. She plays games. Answer: C Question: Which of the following statements best explains why stars appear to move across Earth's sky each night? A. Earth rotates on its axis. B. The stars orbit each other. C. Earth revolves around the Sun. D. The stars rotate with the Moon. Answer: A Question: Scientists have made the world's first human-sheep----with the body of a sheep and half-human organs . Amazing, but true. The sheep is15percent human and 85 percent sheep. The breakthrough makes it possible to use animal organs in human bodies in the future. Professor Esmail Zanjani of University of Nevada, US, has spent seven years And over $9 million on the work. Zanjani took stem cells from the human body and put them into the sheep while it was still in its mother's body. The stem cells made other cells that grew into organs. Zanjani believe that in the future such sheep might be used to help humans. Two months later a human-sheep is born, it has a liver , heart, ling and brain that are part-human. These organs could be used to help people in need of them. There are different opinions about his work, however. Some say that scientists don't have the right to create new creature . Using animal organ might bring animal viruses into human bodies. Others are afraid that the work might change sheep. But Professor Anjani has said that this is impossible. . Zanjani put some stem cell from the human body and put them into the sheep while it was still in its mother's body. He " _ " . A. created a new stem cell B. created a new creature C. created a new organ D. created a new food Answer: B Question: Mary is an American schoolgirl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. She doesn't know Chinese, but she is trying to study and speak it. She often tries to speak Chinese to her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese well. It's Saturday morning. Mary goes out. She is on her way to the park. She is going there to see a flower show . But she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and some paper. She draws flowers on it, gives the picture to the boy and says something about it. The boy smiles and then shows Mary the way to the park. She likes _ Chinese with her _ . A. speak; parents B. speaking; friends C. speaks; girl-friends D. speaking; teachers Answer: B Question: Can feeling of nostalgia be good for you? or is it unhealthy to have a strong love for the past? For years, medical experts have studied nostalgia and the reasons for it. Many experts warn that too much nostalgia is harmful. They say linger in the past shows that a person is unhappy with his present life. These feelings keep the person from living his life to its fullest. Dr. Louise Kaplan has written several books about nostalgia. She says these feelings often begin when a young person is between 13 and 19 years old. "This is the time when you must face the loss of your childhood, " Kaplan says. "You see your new life is easily destroyed. But you think romantically about a golden past. You remember your childhood as a time when life was perfect." These feelings continue as a person gets older, Kaplan adds. She says many grown persons have a hard time keeping up with changes in the modem world, so they think back to their younger years. At that time the world seemed simple and more harmless. Kaplan says these feelings are not always actually existing. The good old days weren't always good. However, she says nostalgia can be helpful, if used properly. "Feelings of nostalgia can cause you to remember a time when you had high hopes and dreams, " Kaplan says. "It might give you the strong wish to catch those dreams today, in your present life." She adds that nostalgia can prevent you from "cutting yourself off from your aim." "At its best, " Kaplan says, "nostalgia has the ideas for the future." According to Kaplan's idea, _ . A. nostalgia is sure to be harmful B. nostalgia can be helpful C. nostalgia is always very good D. nostalgia is bad indeed Answer: B
Local officials in Beijing promised to furtherprotect the city's cultural heritage , in particular the narrow streets known as Hutong. Hutong are commonly found in the cities of North China, but they are at risk. Beijingis currently believed to have fewer than 1,000 Hutong, most of which are nearthe Forbidden City. Only 60 years ago, thenumber was 3,250. In the old districts of Dongcheng and Xicheng, which cover 62square kilometers, some people will be asked to move from Hutong houses toavoid further damage to the ancient architecture. "On average more than 100,000 people visit the Forbidden City during the National Day holidays. Thevisits put pressure on the protection of cultural relics," said Huang Yan,director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, adding that Hutongshould be protected from human damage. The government focused on how the protection planswere carried out and how the management of cultural heritages worked. WangShaofeng, head of the Xicheng district government, said the area has 182cultural relics, many of which were built as far back as the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368). The district of Xicheng has 1.28 million residents in its 57square kilometers of land. "The most efficient way is to decrease the localpopulation to reduce the possibility of causing harm to the heritage," Wangsaid. "Each community has been required to report thestatus of its cultural heritage, especially Hutong, and any actions to damagethe heritage will be punished," Wang said. No one knows for sure how many Hutong will be leftin the coming 100 years. What will happen to Hutong in the nearfuture? Answer: On sunny days we can see the sun in the sky. It looks like a hot and bright plate. But it is a ball. It is much bigger and hotter than any fire. And it is much brighter than all the lights in the world. The sun is a star but it looks much bigger and brighter than any other star. Many stars are much bigger than the sun. The sun is much nearer to us, so it looks much bigger. At night we can see the moon and many stars. The moon is a round ball. It is much smaller than the stars. The stars are much farther away from us; so thy look much smaller than the moon. The moon has no light of its own. When the sun shines on it, it looks bright. When the moon is full. It looks very beautiful. Why does the sun look bigger than any other star? Answer: I used to think that life in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, was filled with never-changing routines. I hated that everyone seemed to know everything about everyone else. Everyone seemed to enjoy talking about other people and their lives. I also didn't like the fact that people seemed very close-minded. I felt trapped. I felt like I was missing out on opportunities. It seemed to me that city life would be the opposite. Then I took my first trip to New York City. I couldn't wait to experience the city. However, when I arrived in the Big Apple, it wasn't at all what I had imagined. I knew it was home to thousands of people, but I hadn't had the least expectation to see so many people on the street at one time. All the streets were filled with people. I also felt a little surprised to see that everyone was in a hurry and everything moved at such a fast pace. When I took the subway for the first time, I said hello to the middle-aged woman next to me. She looked at me with dislike and didn't say a word. After just one day, I realized how important my small town is to me. Now I appreciate the familiar faces I see every day. I like the feeling of security and belonging my town offers. Jim Thorpe gives me a sense of community and togetherness that the city doesn't provide. I realize just how much a simple hello does for a stranger -- it really can make your day a little better. My big trip showed me that my small town really has instilled morals and values in me that I didn't even know I had. I never would have known what a big place my town holds in my heart if I had not taken that trip to New York City. How did the author feel about life in Jim Thorpe at first? Answer: A different sort of _ is developing in the workplace. Someone --- specifically the father-daughter team of Larry and Meagan Johnson --- has figured out that on some American job sites, five generations are working side by side. In their new book about generations in the workplace the pair argue that while such an age difference adds a lot of texture and a variety of life experiences, it can also bring tensions and conflicts. The Johnsons are human-resource trainers and public speakers. Dad Larry is a former health-care executive; daughter Meagan is a onetime high-level sales manager. Here are the oldest and youngest of the five generations they identify: They call the oldest group Traditionals, born before 1945. They were heavily influenced by the lessons of the Great Depression and World War Two. They respect authority, set a high standard of workmanship, and communicate easily and confidently. But they're also stubbornly independent. They want their opinions heard. At the other extreme are what the Johnsons call Linksters, born after 1995 into today's more complicated, multi-media world. They live and breathe technology and are often social activists. You won't find many 15-year olds in the offices of large companies, except as volunteers, of course, but quite old and quite young workers do come together in sales environments like bike shops and ice-cream stores. The Johnsons, Larry and Meagan, represent a generation gap themselves in their work with jobsite issues. The Johnsons' point is that as the average lifespan continues to rise and retirement dates get delayed because of the tight economy, people of different generations are working side by side, more often bringing with them very different ideas about company loyalty and work values. The five generations are heavily influenced by quite different events, social trends, and the cultural phenomena of their times. Their experiences shape their behavior and make it difficult, sometimes, for managers to achieve a strong and efficient workplace. Larry and Meagan Johnson discuss all this in greater detail in a new book, "Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters --- Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work," published by Amacom Press, which is available in all good bookstore from this Friday. Which of the following statements is NOT true about Traditionals? Answer: Over the years, Americans have become used to salt. Most people have no idea how much salt they consume --on average, about 9 to 12 gram per person per day, according to the American Heart Association. That's twice the amount recommended by the government. A new study last week showed eating even a little less salt could greatly help the heart. The scientists said the results would be thirteen percent fewer heart attacks, eight percent fewer strokes , four percent fewer deaths and eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. Researchers also found that the benefits would be greatest for African Americans and women. As a group, African Americans tend to have higher blood pressure than the general population, and "many studies suggest that they may be more sensitive to salt," says Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. Her analysis found that a reduction of 3 gram of salt per day would reduce heart attacks 8% on average; among African Americans, that rate would drop 10%. A similar result was found in women, whose stroke risk dropped 8% with a 3-g reduction in salt intake; in men, the risk fell 5%. They and public health professionals in the United States are interested in a national campaign to persuade people to eat less salt. However, other scientists say such a campaign is an experiment with the health of millions of people. Michael Alderman, a high blood pressure expert and professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, says that eating less salt results in lower blood pressure. But he says studies have not clearly shown that lowering salt means fewer heart attacks or strokes. "Salt has other biological effects. Calling for reductions in the national diet could have good effects, as well as harmful results. There is not enough evidence either way." Eating too much salt may lead to the following EXCEPT _ . Answer:
Mr. Black and Mr. White were two very famous artists in the city. Their drawings were also very popular in the city. But they tried to see who could draw the best picture. One day they asked an old man to be the judge. Mr. Black drew an apple tree. He put his picture in the field. Soon the birds came and tried to eat the apples. The old man saw it and said, "You have certainly won. Mr. White cannot draw so good a picture as yours. But we will go to see his picture." They went to Mr. White's house. There were nothing but red beautiful curtains on the wall. The old man asked, "Where is your picture, Mr. White?" He said, "Lift the curtains, and you will find my picture." The old man tried to lift the curtains but found that they were drawn there. They were Mr. White's picture. The old man said, "Birds thought the apples were real. Men thought the curtains were real. So Mr. White won. His picture is the best one." Mr. White's picture was_. Answer: On the first day of class, Mr. Whiteson gave us a lecture about a creature called cattytiger, a kind of cat-like animal that completely disappeared during the Ice Age. He passed round a skull as he talked, and we all felt interested and took notes while listening. Later, we had a test about that. When he returned my paper, I was very, very surprised. There was a very large cross through each of my answers. And so it was with everyone else's in our class. What had happened? Everyone was wondering and couldn't wait to get the answer. Very simple, Mr. Whiteson explained. He had made up all that story about the cattytiger. There had never been such an animal. So why none of us noticed that and how could we expect good marks for the incorrect answers? Needless to say, we got very angry. What kind of teacher was this? We should have guessed it out, Mr. Whiteson said. After all, at the very moment he was passing around the cattytiger skull (in fact, a cat's), hadn't he been telling us that it completely disappeared during the Ice Age? Clearly he was telling a lie. But we just kept busy making notes and none used his head. We should learn something from this. Teachers and textbooks are not always correct. We got angry because _ . Answer: Mr. and Mrs. Green lived in a big city, and one summer they went to the country for their holiday. They enjoyed it very much, because it was a quiet, clean place. One day they went for a walk early in the morning and met an old man. He lived on a farm, and he was sitting in the warm sun in front of his house. Mr. Green asked him, "Do you like to live in this quiet place?" The old man said, "Yes, I do," Mr. Green said, "What are the good things about it?" The old man answered, "Well, the people here know each other. They often come and visit me, and I often go and visit them. And there are also lots of children here." Mr. Green said, "That's interesting. And what are the bad things?" The old man thought and thought and then said, "Well, the same things, are they?" The old man _ enjoyed the country. Answer: When I was very young, I wanted to become a veterinarian one day, because I loved animals very much, especially dogs. However, there was no room in my adult life for a dog. Then, last year, I could not stand the fact that I developed cancer . I wanted to keep a dog, but I knew my illness made it impossible for me to keep one. In early September, to my surprise, my doctor told me that I could keep a pet as my friend, because my immune system was strong to keep a pet. The same day I went to an animal market with my friends. When I saw a 9-week-old dog with big brown eyes, nice ears and white _ all over the body, I took it home.I'm happy these days since Oscar came into my life. My new favorite pastime is to watch him sleep, eat and run. And I have been spending more time caring about him, taking long walks with him in the park. Now I still have the physical examination once a week at the hospital. But my illness has taken a turn for the better with the company of a dog. My immune system is getting stronger, my doctor tells me. Thanks to Oscar, my life has changed a lot. The writer used to want to be a _ . Answer: When Sally Ride was ten years old, she had no idea that she would some day grow up to be one of America's first woman astronauts. In fact, if you had asked her then what wanted to be, she would have said, " I want to play shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers." Sally collected baseball cards by the boxful, and she knew the name and batting average of every player in the National League. But major league baseball didn't seem much of a possibility for a girl, even an athletic one like Sally, so her father and mother talked her into taking tennis lessons when she was twelve. At first she hated to trade in her baseball bat for a tennis racket, but it wasn't long before she started to win tournaments in her new sport. " Tennis became much more fun when I started winning," Sally remembers. Soon a row of trophies replaced her box of baseball cards, and tennis star Billie Jean King replaced Dodger shortstop Maury Wills as her sports idol. Sally first became interested in the space program in 1962 when astronaut John Glenn orbited the earth in his Mercury space capsule. Sally was ten years old at the time, but she remembers the launch and the splashdown as if they happened yesterday. The girl who used to memorize batting averages became a space fan. She quickly learned the name of every NASA astronaut(there were only eight of them in 1962), the date of every launch, and the name and number of every spacecraft from Freedom 7 to Skylab 3. She could tell you the speed of light (186,300 miles per second), the distance to the moon (238,860 miles), and the names of the three nearest stars( the Sun, Alpha Centauri, and Barnard's Star). By the time she was sixteen, Sally had decided to become an astrophysicist, a scientist who studies space. She had also become a nationally ranked tennis player. She remembers yawning through an important tennis match on June 20, 1969, after staying up all night to watch Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. Sally lost the match. As Sally got older, many of her friends started playing professional tennis. Some of them tried to talk her into quitting school to join them on the professional tennis circuit. But Sally said no. " Black holes are more interesting to me than backhands," she told them. Now she knows that she made the right choice, but in 1970 Sally had no way of knowing that NASA would open the space program to women. A capsule is _ . Answer:
Many Chinese people who have been to the United States think that Americans pay a little part of their money for food each day. Yet, in the latest 13 years, food prices have gone up 30% for most American families. Everyone agrees that _ . But who is really responsible ? Many people say the farmers who produce the vegetables, fruit, meat, and eggs are responsible. But farmers say that the rise in food prices is very small compared to (...) the rise in their cost of living. Farmers think middlemen have got much more money than they do. Middlemen are those people who stand between the farmers and the people who buy and eat the food. For example, truck drivers, owners of food stores and so on. Are middlemen really responsible for higher food prices? Economists don't think so. They have found that the money that meat packers and food stores get is less than 1% in all. They say that food costs more now because modern housewives have jobs outside the home. They have less time for cooking after a day's work. They like to buy food which has already been prepared before it reaches the market. They want to buy many kinds of food that can be put on their dining tables easily and quickly. But of course they must be prepared to pay for the services of those who make their work easier. It seems that the answer to the question of rising prices is not an easy one. Quite a number of people share the responsibility for the sharp rise in food costs. Farmers speak for themselves because _ . Answer: There is more to tourism in Britain than you might think. When you think of tourist sites in Britain, what do you think of? Big Ben and the Tower of London? Lock Ness? Shakespeare's birthplace at Strafford-upon-Avon? There are many famous tourist attractions in the UK and they attract millions of visitors each year. But along with the famous names there are thousands of other interesting places that are only open to the public for a few days each year. Heritage Open Days takes place each September and lets the public visit places that would normally be out of bounds. Among the thousands of historic sites there are castles and factories, town halls and churches. Here we look at some of the places that most tourists might not know about. Roman Baths --- Chester These Roman baths are almost two thousand years old and a fascinating insight into the history of the city but they aren't often open to visitors because they are under a clothes shop and a shop that sells baked potatoes! In Open Days week, visitors can go downstairs to the basement of the shops and find a little piece of history. Tennis Club --- Birmingham Edgbaston Tennis Club opened in 1860 and is the oldest tennis club in the world. Visitors can see the club's collection of tennis clothes and equipment and learn about the game's rich history. Ardman Animation --- Bristol The studios that produced the famous Wallace and Gromit animated films open its doors to the public to let people find out more about how the films are made. Paddock Wood --- Kent A family house where some of the rooms are unchanged since the 1920s. The home's owner, Sarah Hamilton, is happy to open her doors to the public, saying "I'm passionate about history and I love taking to people." These are just a few of the thousands of places to visit each year. If you're visiting Britain in September ---- look out for Open Days! What common things can tourists learn about at the four interesting places in the passage? Answer: With the release of the Annual Report on the Development of Chinese Returnees, concerns regarding the cost of studying abroad and the future benefits are rising among both students and parents. According to the report, it takes most overseas returnees at least five years to earn back their study abroad costs. Whether it is worth the investment made to obtain a foreign degree has always been an issue concerning the growing trend of studying abroad in recent years. In order to find out if studying abroad is still a worthwhile investment, 21st Century talked to experts in related fields. More students are returning after studying abroad Despite the heated debates about the value of overseas study, there has been a steady increase in the number of students going abroad. According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, the number of Chinese students who studied abroad increased by 17. 7 percent from 2011 to 2012. A total of 399 , 600 Chinese students went to study abroad last year. The US is certainly benefiting from Chinese students' ambition to study abroad: according to the US-based Institute of International Education's Open Doors 2013 report, which provides detailed data on student flows into and out of the US, during the 2012/13 academic year, Chinese student enrollments( ,) increased by 21. 4 percent to more than 235,000. Similarly, the number of overseas returnees is surging, especially since 2008 when developed countries were greatly affected by the economic crisis. In 2009, the number of returnees, for the first time, broke through 100,000 and this has increased at an annual rate of about 50 percent ever since. Various reasons contribute to this growing trend, with family issues believed to be the primary one. According to Wang Huiyao, the report's author, most students are only children and tend to depend on their parents. Besides, the economic situation in China has boosted returnees' confidence in a future career at home. Surging cost Accompanying the increase in the number of students leaving and returning to China is the increase in the study abroad costs. According to the Open Doors 2013 report, international students pay an average of 135,000 yuan per year to attend a public university in the US, a 3. 1 percent increase on the previous year. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? Answer: Welcome to your favorite show-"Music Land" ! This month we are going to have some special shows on Bach, the Father of Music. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany in 1685. During his life, Bach wrote a lot of music for the church and for his students, but he himself did not keep his own works carefully. Luckily, his second wife saved them for him, so today we can still remember Bach through his music. Bach married twice in his life and had 20 children. He loved his family very much. He wrote music for one of his daughters to tell her that too much coffee was bad for her health. I am now going to play a song for you from this interesting Coffee Cantata. And we will hear more about Bach after this song. Why is Bach's second wife important to his music? Answer: Those accustomed to looking through thousands of books in big bookstores may find Japan's Morioka Shoten a little strange.That's because this tiny bookstore that is located in luxury shopping district of Ginza,in Tokyo offers just one title to its customers. Opened in May 2015,Morioka Shoten(Japanese for bookstore)is the brainchild of Yoshiyuki Morioka.The experienced bookseller 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 readings 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 many copies of just one single book.In November 2014,he partnered with his two friends,to establish a unique bookstore with the idea'A Single Room,A Single Book.' Like its offering,the bookstore is simple.The selections that are picked by Morioka change weekly and vary widely to attract customers with different interests.Recent choices include The True Deceiver,all award-winning Swedish novel by Tove Jansson,Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.and a collection of artist Karl Blossfeldt's photography of plants.Morioka has also displayed books written by famous Japanese authors Mimei Ogawa and ito Akagi. To highlight his single offering,Morioka often uses clever methods.For example,when selling a book about flowers,he decorated his shop with the ones that had been mentioned in the book.He also encourages featured authors to hold multiple talks and discussions so they can connect with customers.Morioka says his ultimate goal is for the customers to perience being inside a book,not just a bookstore! Risky as the idea might seem,things appear to be going well.Morioka says he has sold over 2,100 books since he opened it.Things can only get better given that his bookstore is becoming increasingly popular not just among the locals but also visitors from other countries* How does Morioka highlight the weekly offered book? Answer:
"The Boxtrolls" From Laika Entertainment, the animation house behind "Coraline" and "ParaNorman" comes, "The Boxtrolls," adapted from the children's book "Here Be Monsters!" by Alan Snow. The movie, about a boy who is raised by unusual creatures, features the voices of Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg and Elle Fanning. Opens Sept. 26. Area theatres. "Awake and Sing!" Olney presents the 1935 comic drama by Clifford Odets about a Brooklyn family struggling through the Great Depression. Step. 24 through Oct. 19. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney. 301-924-3400.www.olneytheatre.org. $38.50-63.50. Fiesta DC Celebrate the city's Latino culture with a parade, dance, music and more. Sept. 21. Parade: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Constitution Avenue from Seventh Street NW to 14thStreet NW. Festival: Noon to 7 p.m. Pennsylvania Avenue, between Ninth and 14thstreets NW. 202-489-7141.www.fiestadc. org. "On Paper: Alternate Realities" The 26 pieces by American artists, including Raymond Pettibon and lona Rozeal Brown, take inspiration from popular culture, using art to explore dark themes. Through April 12. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr., Baltimore. 443-573-17000. www. artma. org. "Untitled: The Art of James Castle" A self-taught artist from rural Idaho, Castle used whatever was available-newspaper, coal, sticks-to create buildings, landscapes, people and more. Sept.26 through Feb.1. American Art Museum, Eighth and F streets NW. 202-633-1000. www. americanart. si. edu. Neo-impressionism at the Phillips "Neo-impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music" displays works by artists such as Georges Seurat, who presented stylized landscapes and people. Sept. 27 through Jan. 11. Phillips Collection, 1600 21stSt. NW. 202-387-2151. www. phillipscollection. org. $ 12; $ 10 for students and senitors; free for age 18 and younger. "Driving Miss Daisy" Ford's Theatre starts its season with the Pulitzer Prize winner about the decades-long relationship between an aging woman and her black driver in Atlanta. Washington stage actors Nancy Robinette and Craig Wallace perform in this beloved classic. Sept. 26 through Oct. 26. Ford's Theatre, 511 10thSt. NW. 202-347-4833. www. fordstheatre. org. $20-$62. If you want to observe a cultural festival, you can go to _ . Answer: Pennsylvania Avenue on the afternoon of Sept. 21 A science fiction flying car looks like a normal car, but it is an aircraft that anybody can fly directly from any place to another without using roads or runways. Science fiction writers have written about flying cars for a long time. But now flying cars will soon fly out of the world of science fiction into our real world. And the dream of the science fiction writers will soon come true. The first-known sky car is the FSC-1. The FSC-1 looks like an expensive sports car. You can drive the FSC-1 on the road like a normal car. If you touch a button, its wings and propeller fold out and then it can take off, fly and land as an airplane. The owners of the FSC-1 can choose if they want to drive or fly. Another flying car or sky car is the Moller Skycar M400. Although you can't drive it on the roads, it is small and easy to fly and can take off and land like a helicopter . Urban Aeronautics' X-Hawk is another type of sky car. It is expected to be available for about $3 million. Just like any new technology, flying cars have taken a long time to be developed. But some experts think the technology is far from what people imagine when they are sitting in traffic. It still needs to be improved. The Moller Skycar is different from the FSC-1 because _ . Answer: it can't be driven like a car Three Chinese astronauts on June 24 successfully completed a manual docking between the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module, _ in China's history of space exploration. It means China has completely grasped space rendezvous and docking technologies and the country is fully capable of transporting humans and cargo to an orbiter in space, which is essential for building a space station in 2020. Astronaut Liu Wang, assisted by his teammates Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang, controlled the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft to dock with the Tiangong-1 space lab module at 12:48 p.m., which were reconnected about seven minutes later. About one and a half hours before the docking, Shenzhou-9 parted from Tiangong-1 to a berth point 400 meters away from the module. To leave room for adjustments, engineers set up four berth points for the spaceship on the same orbit 5 km, 400 meters, 140 meters and 30 meters away from the orbiting lab. "The manual docking was beautifully conducted. The manual docking was completed in only 7 minutes, 3 minutes faster than the automatic docking." said Liu Weibo, who is responsible for China's astronaut system. Liu explained to Xinhua the three factors behind today's manual docking success. Firstly, Liu Wang has grasped the sophisticated manual docking technologies very well and his psychological status has been sound. Secondly, the three astronauts were in close cooperation. Thirdly, the domestically-made docking system was reliable, he said. The astronauts, 343 km away from Earth, were also greeted by Chinese oceanauts from the Mariana Trench, 7,020 meters beneath the Pacific Ocean, where they just broke the country's dive record in a manned submersible on Sunday morning. "We hope the manual docking is a great success and wish for brilliant achievements in China's manned space and manned deep-sea dive causes," read the message sent by the three oceanauts aboard the manned submersible Jiaolong. Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, said Sunday the manual space docking was "a complete success." She told a press conference in Beijing that the three Chinese astronauts had already re-entered the space lab module to continue their scientific experiments. The manual docking is a significant step for China's manned space program that celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, as China has fully grasped space travel, space walk and space rendezvous and docking technologies that are essential to building a space station. China is the third country, after the United States and Russia, to acquire technologies and skills necessary for space rendezvous and docking and be able to supply manpower and material to an orbiting module via different docking methods. The successful manual docking means a lot to China except _ . Answer: China can compete with the US and Russia to be the best in the world. When my daughter, Sophie, was admitted to a college we were very happy, but a little worried about becoming empty nesters. I knew I had to do something to help myself adapt, starting with the summer before she left. Sophie had a pack of colorful T-shirts. I knew she wouldn't wear them any more, so I decided to make a quilt out of them for her bed at college. It focused my energy, and also let me relive some memories. I tried to work on the quilt when Sophie wasn't at home----which turned out to be often. She was very busy with her friends. Even when she was around, her door was shut more than usual. I felt a bit hurt. After all, we didn't have much time together before she went to college, I was already missing her, and she hadn't ever left yet. When we arrived at the college, a wave of emotion flooded me. I tried to hold it back, but Sophie saw it in my face. She took a big red book from her bag. "I made this for you, Mom," she said. Then I knew why she had been staying behind a closed door that summer. It was an album of photographs documenting the life of our family over the last 17 years. I broke into tears. Some of it was sadness at having to let her go, but some of it was joy. I knew that our connection was more powerful than ever, and that we'd always be connected by the strongest of threads, the love that went into every stitch of her quilt and every photo of my album. In Sophie's dormitory I unfolded the quilt on her bed. For a moment she was speechless. Then she threw her arms around me. "Mom, I love you," she said. One of her new friends was calling her outside. Sophie turned, and I let her go. What do we learn about Sophie from the passage? Answer: She made a photo album to show her love. The Chinese invented paper in 105 A. D. They mixed the bark of a tree and rags with water, put a screen into the mixture, and lifted out a thin piece of wet paper. They dried the paper in the sun. The Chinese kept their secret of how to make paper until a war with Muslims in the ninth century. The art of papermaking soon spread throughout the Muslim world. The Mayan Indians in Central America and Pacific Islanders also discovered how to make paper, but their knowledge never spread to the rest of the world. For centuries, all paper was made by hand. Rags were the main material. Then a French scientist discovered that people could make paper from wood, too. Finally, in the eighteenth century. a Frenchman invented a machine to make paper from wood. When did the Chinese invent paper according to the passage? Answer: About 1, 900 years ago.
Give this memory test a try. Mix up 52 playing cards. Now look at the top seven for a second. Can you remember them in order? Players at the World Memory Championships can. In fact, the 2002 champion , Andi, memorized the order of 1196 cards after looking at them for only an hour! And a German girl, Lara, only ten years old, memorized 75 faces and names in fifteen minutes! In 1987, a Japanese man, Mr. Tomoyori, wanted to prove that his memory was the best in the world by remembering by heart pi (p), a number in math which starts 3.14159...This number never repeats itself or ends. He recited pi to 40,000 decimal places . It took the fifty-five-year-old man more than twelve hours to say the numbers, but he did it without making a mistake! To remember pi, Mr. Tomoyori connected each number with a sound. He then made up stories to help him remember the words he made from the sounds. In an interview after his achievement, he said, "I decided to go ahead and memorize the value of pi up to one thousand places. But it wasn't easy - in fact, it took me three years. To get to 40,000 decimal places it took me about ten years." Unluckily for Mr. Tomoyori, his record was broken in 1995, when another Japanese man, Mr. Goto, memorized pi to 42,195 places. What is true about Mr. Tomoyori? He used stories to help remember words. 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 might be the best Title for the best passage? A Greener Way to Deliver Parcels From cosy cabins and yurts to campervans and huts with character and mod-cons, winter camping can be cool, rather than just chilly, in these beautiful UK settings. Great Langdale, Cumbria Winner of the Great Outdoors accommodation of the year award 2014, this campsite at the head of a valley is a beautiful spot for winter walks. But while hiking should keep you warm by day, a selection of cosy hideaways will keep you _ at night. Visitors can choose from double-glazed wooden camping pods, which include heating and lighting or, for those who want a more boutique outdoors experience, luxury yurts furnished with Moroccan-style rugs and throws, fairy lights, lanterns and a wood-burning stove. And with the Sticklebarn pub - known for its real ales and good local grub - nearby, you should be able to slip into a pretty comfortable routine in no time. Standard pods from PS35 a night (two adults, one child), 01539 432733, nationaltrust.org.uk Vanellus, Elmley national nature reserve, Isle of Sheppey, Kent In the stunning surroundings of the Isle of Sheppey nature reserve, Vanellus is a large shepherd's hut. From the comfort of your abode (which is hooked up to electricity), you can gaze out through floor-to-ceiling windows as the sun rises and sets, watching birds of prey and other wildlife. The reserve can be explored on foot, or you can book a 4WD tour of the area. The farm has a lounge in a converted barn, where you can hang out or eat communally, but if you really can't bear to step into the cold, you can have meals - including hot bacon rolls for breakfast - delivered to your door. From PS180 for a two-night stay (sleeps two), 0117 204 7830, canopyandstars.co.uk The Cabin at NantyrOnnen, near Llandovery, Wales The Cabin is an unusual octagonal wood structure, built by local craftsmen keen to make an eco-friendly home. The electricity supply, for example, is powered by the nearby stream. From the sheltered veranda you can enjoy views across the hills, and the surrounding countryside is perfect for walking all year round. Inside the cosy hut is a wood-burning stove, and you can also warm up in a recently built spring-fed hot tub. From PS85 a night throughout December (sleeps two), mulled wine available 15 Dec-4 Jan, 0117 204 7830, canopyandstars.co.uk Guilden Gate Glamping, Hertfordshire Just 35 minutes by train from London, the Guilden Gate campsite is ideal for an easy rural family escape from the capital. Set in a woodland glade, a campervan is your main bedroom, and a bell tent can act as another bedroom, or a lounge. There's also a huge wok-shaped hot tub, big enough for six adults. The site is close to Cambridge (20 minutes' drive), so you can explore the city by day - if the icy countryside gets too much. From PS65 a night (sleeps four, minimum two-night stay), 01763 243960, goglamping.net Joseph plans to have an eco-friendly travel. Which of the site is suitable to him? The Cabin Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach. More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes. Luke Rosa is a history teacher at Falls Church High School. His students work on laptop computers at school. He explains the idea to them this way. "I mean, it's just like a regular textbook, except it's got it all online." Peter Noonan, an assistant superintendent of schools, said, "The world's changing. And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening." Digital books also cost less than printed textbooks, he said. A student named Melanie Reuter said, "I don't have to carry a textbook around, so that's nice." But another student said, "I don't like it because the Internet sometimes doesn't work." Students also need access to the Internet when they are not at school. About ten percent of students in Fairfax Country do not have a computer or online access at home. Public libraries in the country have free Internet. There are also after-school computer labs as well as computer clubhouse supported by the country. Middle school student Slieman Hakim is happy about that. He said, "My family only has one computer; my sister and I both do our homework on it. So I come here to do my homework. It's good." Other school systems in the area are also considering online textbooks. Which of the following is /are NOT used when students have social studies classes? Paper textbooks. A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him. Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him. "I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said. "You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said "He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said. As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his s had passed away. The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked. "The box is gone." he said. "What box?" Mom asked. "There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most'." Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him." Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom." It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day, Jack discovered a note in his mailbox "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days." the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most was...my time" Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said, "Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!" Why did Belser send Jack his gold watch? Because he was grateful for Jack's time with him.
Which of the following is most likely to occur? a felled tree rots Human wants seem endless, When a starving man gets a meal, he begins to think about an overcoat; when a manager gets a new sports car, he dreams of country clubs and pleasure boats dance into view. The many wants of mankind might be regarded as making up several levels. When there is money enough to satisfy one level of wants, another level appears. The first and most basic level of wants is food. Once this want is satisfied, a second level of wants appears: clothing and some sort of shelter. By the end of World War II these wants were satisfied for a great majority of Americans. Then a third level appeared. It included such items as cars and new houses. By 1957 or 1958 this third level of wants was fairly well satisfied. Then in the late 1950s a fourth level of wants appeared: the "life-enriching" level. While the other levels mean physical satisfaction--the feeding, comfort, safety and transportation of the human body--this level means mental needs for recognition, achievement and happiness, It includes a variety of goods and services many of which could be called "luxury" items. Among them are vacation trips, the best medical care and entertainment. Also included here are fancy foods and the latest styles in clothing. On the fourth level, a greater percentage of consumers spending goes to services, while on the first three levels more is spent on goods. Will consumers raise their sights to a fifth level of wants as their income increases, or will they continue to demand luxuries and personal services on the fourth level? A fifth level probably would be wants that can be achieved by community action. Consumers may be spending more on taxes and crime. After filling our stomachs, our garages, and our minds, we now may seek to ensure the health and safety to enjoy more fully the good things on the first three levels. The author thinks that a fifth level _ may be a lot more desirable than the first four Are you looking for some interesting and meaningful places to take your kids to? Here are some places for you to choose before they grow up: Alaska Not to sound cool, but "it's a good chance to experience a trip through the icebergs. There are over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, more than anywhere else in the world combined. You can also spot whales and other wildlife, visit the famous Denali National Park, enjoy the landscapes and even learn about the roughly 20 different native languages Spoken there New York City You definitely don't want to be chasing after your shopaholic teens in Manhattan, so plan your trip to _ Apple when the kids are still young enough to enjoy the family-friendly trips! There are several family-friendly Broadway shows to see. You can also bring them for a walk in Central Park, pay a visit to the giant M&M'S store in Times Square, take a City Sightseeing Cruise, get on a boat to see the Statue of Liberty, visit the Brooklyn Children's Museum, and even enjoy a yummy street hot dog Cape Canaveral There are few things m the world as cool as rockets that fly to the outer space, so obviously ,a visit to Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Centre is one of the coolest trips you can you're your children on. Though you won't see any more launches from this space station and its retired rockets, you can find out what it feels like to be in the Shuttle Launch Experience flight simulator Plus, it's only one hour away from Orlando, Florida, so if you visit Disney World as well, this quick side trip will be an easy one to make. The Canadian Rockies If you happen to visit the Canadian portion of the nor them Rocky Mountains, a visit to Banff National Park will certainly not disappoint you. There are so many great activities for the whole family to enjoy like wildlife viewing, spaceflight tours, fishing, horseback riding, and hiking. Let your children experience the beauty of the Canadian Rockies and learn more about the history of this impressive UNESCO World Heritage site. If a child wants to experience something related to spaceflight, where can he go? Cape Canaveral and the Canadian Rockies. BASEBALL. It's just a word, but for millions of Americans it brings much more than a word. Hot dogs. Cold beers. Sunny afternoons. Baseball is the game of fathers and sons. Fathers and sons catch with each other on lawns in the US. A father's favorite team becomes his son's. Grandfathers talk to their grandsons about games played long ago. Many American kids collect baseball cards. The cards have pictures of their favorite players on them. In school, friends trade baseball cards just like they trade their lunches. Players are known as "the boys of summer" because people often play the sport mostly in warm months. You don't need to be of a certain size or shape to play baseball. You don't have to be tall like a basketball player or strong like an American footballer. You just need to want to have fun. Baseball is not as fast-paced a game as basketball. But when you go to see a game, there's time to relax, talk and get to know other people. Baseball may not be the most popular sport in the US, but it is the most traditional. It's not just a game any more, but an important part of American culture, like apple pie and grandma's house. Many American kids like to collect _ . baseball cards Dear Linda, I have been in England three months now, and it's my first time to be here. I hope you don't think I've forgotten you. There have been so many places to see and so many things to do that I've not had much time for writing letters. I shall soon be starting my studies at King's College. So far I've been learning about England and British ways of living. I won't tell you about London. There are plenty of books you can read and plenty of pictures you can look at. I'm sure you'll be more interested to know what I think about the life here. I find some of the customs new and interesting. People here do not shake hands as much as we do in Europe. During the first few weeks I was often surprised because people did not put out their hands when I met them. Men raise their hats to women but not to each other. Yours Alice Englishmen _ . do not often shake hands with friends when they meet
Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required. Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign. Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain's owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy's restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers' speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea. The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers. Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover . These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated. What was Pearson's achievement as a CEO? He made Sparrow much more competitive 30 N. Carroll Street on Madison's Capitol Square Discover Wisconsin's history and culture on four floors of exhibits. Open for public programs. Admission is free. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 am -- 4:00 pm. (608) 264-6555 www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum _ 612 Seventh Ave., New Glarus The Swiss Historical Village offers a beautiful look at pioneer life in America's heartland. 14 buildings in the village give a full picture of everyday life in the nineteenth-century Midwest. Tue.--Fri., May 1st -October 31st , 10:00 am--4:00 pm. Admission is $20. (608) 527-2317 www.swisshistoricalvillage.com _ 6858 Paoli Rd., Paoli, WI One of the largest collections of fine arts in Wisconsin. Over 5000 sp. ft. of exhibition space in a historic creamery. While visiting enjoy a wonderfully prepared lunch at our cafe overlooking the Sugar River. Just minutes from Madison! Gallery open Tue. -Sun., 10:00 am--5:00 pm. Cafe open Wed. -Sat., 11:00 am -3:00 pm. Sun. brunch with wine, 10:00--3:00 pm. (608) 845-6600 www.artisangal.com _ 239 Whitney St., Columbus World-class exhibit -2000 quality souvenirs marking Chicago's 1893 World Columbian Exhibition. Tour buses are always welcome. Open daily, 8:15 am - 4:00 pm. (920) 623-1992 www.columbusantiquemall.com Where can you go for a visit on Monday? Christopher Columbus Museum. Aquatic Adventures! Help Us Get Ready for Showtime! Trainer Program What does it take to work with seals or sea lions? Find out with Atlantis Marine World's Trainer Program and go behind the scenes with our Marine Mammal staff and: .Learn how we train our animals and help train our sea lions to learn how to paint .Go into the seal exhibit with trainers .Join in a seal training period - and get to pet and feed one of our harbor seals .Help prepare food for seals .Attend our Sea Lion Show .Get a kiss from sea lion, Java - and take home a photo Summer Adventure Days - Camp! Atlantis Style! Our camp program adds interactive excitement to your child's summer vacation. Children ages 3 to 14 discover the wonders of the sea environment through age - appropriate activities. Pirate Snorkel Adventure Yo-ho-ho, this is a whole lot of fun! Join us this summer for our interactive Pirate Snorkel Adventure and help Captain Poseidon locate missing treasure. While searching our lake, don't miss tropical fish from all around the world. When you're done, you'll walk away with some booty of your own - a $2.00 game card and a pirate eye patch featuring our very own Jolly Poseidon! Smooth Sailing: Taste Long Island Wine Cruise Now Accepting Reservations! Experience the magic of Taste Long Island, a Saturday evening wine and cheese cruise aboard the Atlantis Explorer Tour Boat. Featuring local wines, this adventure along the Peconic River is a relaxing way to enjoy both beautiful scenery and fine wines. Guests 21 and older only. Members and Green Key Cardholders enjoy 25%off. The activities in Summer Adventure Days are divided according to _ . children's age Andy never wanted to go to bed on time. His parents had explained to him how important it was to go to bed early and get a good rest. But Andy paid no attention to them, and they didn't know what to do until one weekend when they were visiting Andy's grandparents. Grandpa Peter heard all about it and said, "This sounds like a job for Tubby." So Andy's parents loaded the cat onto the car and returned home. That night, at bedtime, the same problem happened. Andy didn't want to go to bed, and even though his parents waited a while to see if Tubby would solve the problem, nothing happened. [:++Z+X+X+K] Hours later, Andy finally decided to go to bed. But what a surprise when he entered his bedroom! Tubby was in his bed, totally sprawling out, pot-belly in the air, and _ like an express train. Andy tried to move the cat, but there was no way of moving him an inch. That night he hardly slept, lying on one tiny corner of his bed. The next day the same thing happened, even though Andy was much more tired from not having slept well. When the third day arrived, he had understood that if he wanted to sleep in his bed, he would have to get into it before Tubby did. That night, when his parents only started to mention the topic of bedtime, Andy rushed upstairs and dived into bed. His parents could not believe it. They knew nothing about Tubby in the bed, nor did they understand why Andy went to bed on time without complaint. They were so happy about this that they stayed up quite late, celebrating. Andy rushed upstairs for sleep because _ . he was afraid Tubby would take up the bed Shopping in Singapore is really a pleasure for tourists. The Great Singapore Sale is held every year, usually during the summer months. Singapore's famous shopping stores welcome a great number of visitors from all over the world. Their shopping hours last till midnight. During this time, nice and cheap goods are on sale for tourists to choose from. Tourists can also try delicious foods there and experience the Singaporean nightlife. Certain stores offer discounts of up to 70 percent or even higher if people use their credit cards. For tourists that hold a special Tourist Card, they can enjoy a lot of benefits , such as discounts on watches, jewellery and cosmetics . The card also gives discounts when you visit local attractions such as Singapore Zoo. It is well worth checking out in the different shopping districts of Singapore during this 8-week Shopping Marathon. Orchard Road is surely the best place for shopping in the city. A large number of restaurants and clubs can be found in this area. Marina Bay includes both big department stores as well as small shops, so everything you would want to buy can be found here. Advice for tourists planning to enjoy this festival of shopping: travel light and take a comfortable pair of shoes with you, for you are sure to do a lot of walking and return with your bags much heavier. Why are tourists advised to travel light if they want to enjoy the shopping festival? They will buy many goods and have to do lots of walking.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a novel about a 15-year-old autistic boy named Christopher Boone. After discovering the dead body of Wellington, his neighbor's dog, Christopher decides to find out the cause of the dog's death. He records his findings, as he has decided that he will create a "murder mystery novel" of the situation. But like any murder mystery novel, nothing is as simple as it seems. Christopher runs into many difficult situations because of his disability. He again and again mentions how he admires Sherlock Holmes (a fictional detective), which gives me an understanding as to why he continues to look into Wellington's death even after his father makes him promise not to. Christopher's story seems so true and heartfelt and that makes the novel an entertaining read. The author, Mark Haddon, had me wanting to keep reading to find out what Christopher would get himself into next. Haddon shows how Christopher' s disability affects how he goes about solving the mystery. Christopher has difficulty in communicating or forming relationships with others, but he has a great visual memory and ability to understand difficult math. This book was required reading at my school, but it became more than something I had to read. Haddon showed how these disabilities affect the lives of not only the children diagnosed with them, but also those around them. The novel feels real because it was written from Christopher's point of view. For example, when Christopher explains that when he was little he didn't understand much about other people having minds, it gives the impression that he's a real person. I believe that teenagers sometimes aren't sensitive to kids with mental disabilities. I think that when people read this novel, they will have a better understanding of what people with mental disabilities and those around them have to deal with on a daily basis. The passage suggests that the writer _ . Answer: found it hard to stop reading the book Ten grams of sugar is dissolved in 100 grams (g) of water. How many grams is the sugar-and-water solution? Answer: 110 g In the human body, which system functions primarily to defend the body against disease? Answer: immune Which of these is a mixture? Answer: salt water Dear God, This is Charles. I'm twelve. I'm typing this letter. Sometimes it's hard for me to write. It's a disease called dysgraphia. I also have learning disabilities, but my IQ was tested at 140. I could never hold a pencil in the right way. My brain doesn't sense what my hand is doing. I can feel the pencil, but the message doesn't get through right. I have to hold the pencil tighter so that my brain knows I have it in my hand. It's much easier for me to explain things by talking than writing. There are so many things I can picture in my mind, but my hands just can't draw it the way I see it. It's OK. I'm not complaining. I'm really doing fine. You see, you gave me a wonderful mind and a great sense of humor. I'm great at figuring things out, and I love to debate. We have some great discussions in class, and that's where I really shine. I want to be a lawyer when I grow up. I know I'd be good at it. You have told me that you made me special. You make me believe that you will see me through, and that you have plans for me to give me a future and hope. My parents want to help me, so they buy me a laptop. My teacher is the best this year! I am allowed to do a lot of my work on the computer. Life's hard sometimes, but I accept the challenge. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for everything. Charles The boy wanted to be a lawyer because of the following EXCEPT _ . Answer: he had a great sense of humor
Golden sunlight danced in the treetops, and children's laughter filled the park. The smell of popcorn played on the breeze, and life seemed good. It was one of the happiest Saturday mornings I had spent with my little daughter, Gigi. That is, until two strangers threw her into their car and sped away. It seemed like a bad dream. I could barely whisper when the police questioned me. For hours we waited,but there was no word on the whereabouts of the car. Tears would start to come. Then nothing. I was numb with fear. "Go home, Ma'am," the police officer said. "I'll have someone drive you. We'll also want to monitor your telephone. The kidnappers might call, and we'll want to keep track. Trust me, these guys can't get far. " After what had just happened, it was hard for me to trust anything. My friend Gloria came over that afternoon. "I heard about Gigi on the radio," she said. "Everyone is looking for the car. The interstates are all blocked." She took my hand. "Look here," Gloria said. " I want you to have this picture, and I want you to pray with me." It was a picture of a little girl sound asleep in her bed. Standing by the bed was a tall, blond angel. His hand was touching the girl's shoulder as he smiled down at her. My nerves were frazzled. "You know I don't believe in that kind of thing!" I snapped. "I'm too exhausted for any hocus-pocus right now, Gloria!I want my daughter home!" I started to shake, and then I began sobbing. Gloria placed the photo on our mantle and knelt down beside me. "Just pray with me," she said, holding my hand. I had no strength left, so we prayed and waited what seemed an eternity. Together, we waited by the phone until sunset. The phone never rang. Suddenly, the front door swung open. I looked up and screamed. There stood Gigi. "Gigi! Thank God!" I cried, throwing my arms around her, "Where did those men take you? How did you get home? Did the police find you?" "No Mommy!" said Gigi. "I was really scared because those men said they were taking me far away. We were going really fast on an old rock road never seen before. But then a tall man walked out in front of the car, and they ran off the road and hit a tree." Then the tall man ran up and opened the car door and pulled me out. He was really nice, and said I would be okay now, and that those men couldn't hurt me. I must have gone to sleep, because then I woke up here in front of our house. He must have brought me home," "But who... how did he know... where to bring you?" My voice broke and trailed to a whisper. "I don't know, Mommy," Gigi said. "But he was really friendly, and I wasn't scared of him at all." Just then Gigi noticed Gloria's picture on the mantle. "That's him!" She gave a loud cry, pointing at the picture. "Mommy, the tail blond man dressed like an angel. That's the man that pulled me out of the car!" I felt chill-bumps across my neck and arms. Gloria turned pale. "Are you sure that's the man?" Gloria asked. "Yeah, that's him. Except he didn't have wings, and he was wearing blue jeans and a tee shirt. But that's him exactly. I'd remember him anywhere!" Later that night, the police found the injured kidnappers in their damaged car fifty miles from our home. When questioned-the driver remembered making a sharp turn to avoid hitting a tall blond man and the backseat door that Gigi sat by had been completely torn off its hinges. Twenty years have gone by. We have never heard from anyone claiming to have rescued Gigi and there have been no logical explanations for Gigi's miraculous escape and return home from a wreck so far away. There have always been things that people can't explain. But, from that day forward, I believe that all experiences, positive and negative, are given to us for our strengthening and learning. Gigi now takes her little girl to the park on Saturdays. They enjoy the sunlight as it dances in the treetops, the smell of popcorn, and the laughter of children. She keeps Gloria's picture on her mantle, and she remembers her angelic friend. And, like my daughter, I have a faith that has carried me through many trials since that day many years ago. What is conveyed in this passage? Answer: we should always stay positive whatever happens. Philip Pullman spent a great deal of his childhood traveling abroad because both his father and stepfather were pilots in the Royal Air Force . As a child, he went on several long ocean voyages, and he lived in Africa and in Australia. "Before I was 11 I had been to eight different schools." "In Australia, I made a great discovery. TV hadn't reached Australia yet, but everyone listened to the radio. I remember listening to gangster serials , and cowboy serials, and best of all--Superman! When I first saw a superman comic , it changed my life. I'd been reading books for a long time, but I'd never known comics before. Soon afterwards, I discovered Batman, too, whom I loved even more." Pullman started writing his first novel the day after he had finished his final exams at Oxford University. "I discovered after about an hour that it was much harder than I'd expected. It still is! I found that the amount I could write comfortably every day was about three pages, so that's what I've done ever since." Before he became a full-time writer, Pullman had been teaching for many years. "What I enjoyed most during that time was telling stories over and over, until I knew them as well as I knew my own life." He had always loved telling stories--as a schoolboy he had entertained his friends by reading stories to them, or by making up his own. One day he got a letter that had arrived at his door even though the writer of the letter didn't know his address. The envelope just said, "Philip Pullman, The Storyteller, Oxford." What is mainly described in the text? Answer: How Pullman grew into a storyteller. Salt concentration, water temperature, plankton, and the whale shark might all be used in a description of an ocean Answer: ecosystem. Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student. By using your tin7eproperly, you can do your homework snore quickly. Learning to study is not difficult. The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn It doesn't mean that yep must always like the subject. It does mean, however, that you must be willing to do whatever is necessary to learn Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now arid later to do and learn other things. Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life. Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier. Sometimes the subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly. Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them Here's some advice for you; have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions; have eve- rything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start;read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things;when memorizing, first find out the main parts and then recite the whole thing,check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview. Don't try to spend a lot of time researching learning methods. There are many students who know many good learning methods but don't study well. They forget that the most useful learning method is to study hard We can conclude the passage with a saying" _ ". Answer: No pains,no gains Do you like Hunan TV shows ?What do you think of them ? A popular TV show may have 70,000,000 TV viewers . A TV show can make something or someone well-known overnight . That's why more than 10,000,00 women and girl of 4-89 years old watch Hunan TV's "Super Girl" show. These "game" shows put ordinary people on TV to play a game for prize and money .These game shows can make anyone a star , and he or she can also get lots of money , so many people watch the shows . "Super Girl" is the first show of this kind in China. It's so close to you. Everyone can join in it . For the show, many girls stop their classes. "They hope they can be superstars someday. But the best way to success is to learn more and work hard," said some directors . People like watching "Super Girl" show, because _ . Answer: it can make some people well-known overnight
Question: Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends. They believe that their family members don't know them as well as their friends do. In large families, it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they will go to their friends for some ideas. It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking to them on the phone. This communication is very important in children's growing up, because friends can discuss special things. These things are difficult to say to their family members. However, parents often try to choose friends for their children. Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their friends. Have you ever thought of the following questions? Who choose your friends? Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you? Have you got a good friend your parents don't like? Your answers are welcome? _ is very important to teenagers. A. Making friends B. Communication C. To stop meeting friends D. Both A and B Answer: D Question: I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning. I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see--the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then. The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost--having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to "the hard times. " My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives. From my experiences I have learned one important rule: Almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy. The author believes that _ . A. her future will be free from troubles B. it is difficult to learn to become patient C. there are more good things than bad things D. good things will happen if one keeps trying Answer: D Question: Like most people, I was brought up to look upon life as a process of getting. It was not until in my late thirties that I made this important discovery: giving-away makes life so much more exciting. You need not worry if you lack money. This is how I experimented with giving-away. If an idea for improving the window display of a neighborhood store flashes to me, I step in and make the suggestion to the storekeeper. One discovery I made about giving-away is that it is almost impossible to give away anything in this world without getting something back, though the return often comes in all unexpected form. One Sunday morning, the local post office delivered an important special delivery letter to my home, though it was addressed to me at my office. I wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation. More than a year later I needed a post-office box for a new business I was starting. I was told at the window that there were no boxes left, and that my name would have to go on a long waiting list. As I was about to leave, the postmaster appeared in the doorway. He had overheard our conversation. "Wasn't it you that wrote us that letter a year ago about delivering a special delivery to your home?" I said yes. "Well, you certainly are going to have a box in this post office if we have to make one for you. You don't know what a letter like that means to us. We usually get nothing but complaints." When the author needed a post-office box, _ . A. he had put his name on a waiting list B. he wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation C. many people had applied for post-office boxes before him D. he asked the postmaster to make one for him Answer: C Question: The USA is a land of immigrants. Between 1815 and 1914, the world witnessed the greatest peaceful migration in its history: 35 million people, mostly Europeans, left their homelands to start new lives in America. Why did these people risk everything by leaving their homes and families? First, what forced emigrants to make the decision to leave? One major cause for European farmers to leave was the rise in population which in turn led to land hunger. Another was politics. There was an increased taxation and the growth of armies, and many young men fled eastern Europe to avoid being forced to join the army. Physical hunger provided another pressing reason. Following the collapse of the economy of southern Italy in the 1860s, hundreds of thousands decided to start a new life in America. Religion also encouraged millions to leave the Old World. In short, people chose to leave their homes for social, economic and religious reasons. As a result, by 1890 among a total population of 63 million, there were more than nine million foreign-born Americans. But what were the attractions? First of all, there was the promise of land which was so scarce in Europe. Next, factories were calling for workers, and pay conditions were much better than back home. Men were needed to open up the West and build the long railroads, and new towns needed settlers to live in and to develop business. There was the space for religious people to practice their faith in peace. This immigration meant that by around the 1850s Americans of non-English had started to be more than those of English. As we know, there were losers. To start with, there were those unwilling immigrants, the slaves who had been used as a source of cheap labour. Nor should we forget the equally unlucky American Indians. By 1860 there were 27 million free whites, four million slaves and a mere 488,000 free blacks. Nowadays, the USA is still seen by millions as the Promised Land. As always, it remains an attractive place to those who think it will offer them a second chance. Why was life of the 19th Century European farmers difficult? A. There was no land. B. There was no peace. C. The population had gone down. D. There were too many of them. Answer: D Question: It is important for countries to develop. Sometimes development can do more harm than good for a country. Therefore, this development needs to be different from past development, which polluted the environment and wasted natural resources. One possible solution to this problem now being discussed is sustainable development. It focuses on preserving the environment and natural resources. It is all about creating better health care, education, housing and improved standard of living for everyone. This is a simple idea, but one that is hard to put into practice. However, it is something that we must do, because without sustainable development our future and the lives of our children and our grandchildren will be in danger. Nearly everything we do in our modern lives requires the use of the Earth's natural resources. These natural resources provide the energy for many important things. The list is almost endless. For all these things, we mostly depend on fuels such as coal, gas and oil to produce energy. We are now consuming these fuels at a much higher rate than they are being produced. On top of this, burning these fuels produces carbon dioxide, which is harmful to the environment. This is why many people are pushing for the use of alternative energy sources. Alternative energy sources can be used without running out. Some examples of the alternatives are solar energy, wind energy and hydroelectricity. As people are becoming more aware of the need to protect the environment, these types of energy are becoming more and more popular. In many parts of the world, tentative steps are being taken to introduce these forms of alternative energy. For example, some people in Nigeria are training to use solar power, and in Costa Rica, people are now using hydroelectricity to provide power for their small villages. The introduction of programmes like these will hopefully help end the systematic destruction of the environment and see alternative energy promoted around the world. This will mean good things for our future, our children's future and our grandchildren's future. It is important to preserve the natural resources because they _ . A. consume the energy for important things B. are running out C. provide the energy for people to use D. are being produced at a high rate Answer: B
Most people who move to a foreign country may experience a period of time when they have a lot of stress in the new culture. This feeling is often called "culture shock" and it is important to learn how to deal with culture shock. First of all, you should know that everyone in a new situation will go through some form of culture shock. There are four general stages of cultural adjustment . The first stage is usually referred to as the honeymoon stage. Upon arriving in a new environment, you'll be interested in the new culture. Everything will seem exciting, and everyone will seem friendly and helpful. The second stage is called the withdrawal stage. The excitement that you felt before changes to frustration as you find it difficult to deal with new problems. The language is hard to learn; friends are hard to make; simple things like shopping and going to the bank are challenges. It is at this stage that you are likely to feel anxious and homesick. If you are one of those who manage to stick it out , you will enter the third stage---- the recovery stage. At this point, you'll feel more confident in the new culture. You'll start to understand and accept the way things are done and the way people behave in your new environment. The last stage is the stability stage---- this is the point when people start to feel at home in the new culture. At this stage, you will behave well in the new culture, and prefer some aspects of the new culture to your own culture. There is, in a sense, a fifth stage to this process. If you decide to return home after a long period in a new culture, you may experience what is called "reverse culture shock". This means that you may find aspects of your own culture "foreign", because you're so used to the new culture. Reverse culture shock is usually pretty mild and doesn't last for very long. At the honeymoon stage, people will _ . have a good impression of the new culture Obviously! Until Descartes came along in the seventeenth century, everyone assumed that we exited. Obviously. The fact seemed so mind-blowing obvious that it wasn't really discussed. We could see ourselves in the mirror, we could feel pain and pleasure, we could think thoughts for ourselves and, more importantly, perhaps, all the world's main religions assumed that we do exist. So we exist. No you don't it! You don't exist. That's because it's impossible to show once and for all that you do. There's no proof. You might think you exist-that you are sitting at a table reading this book, for instance-but how could you show with 100 percent certainty that this is true? There's no experiment that could prove it. Although Descartes said just you could prove your own existence by the fact that you are able to think, this isn't actually, according to the British philosopher A. J. Ayer. Just because we know that we are thinking, this doesn't mean that there is a "you" doing the thinking. It just shows that the thoughts are happening, not that anyone is having them. Thoughts exists, "You" don't. _ ! What a waste of time this question is. Although you can argue until the end of time whether you exist or not, it doesn't get you anywhere. Unless you forget about this unanswerable question, you'll be stuck thinking about it forever, and that isn't of any use to anyone. Move on. Think about something more important! This very roughly, is the view of almost all philosophers, who prefer to answer other, apparently more useful, questions. Yes, but... You exist, but not in the way you might think. According to the great French philosopher Ren Descartes, you can't show that anything exists--apart from your own self. The existence of the entire world can be doubted in one way or another, but the facts you're having thoughts shows that there might be something (that's you) having them. This let Descartes to write the famous philosophical phrase, " I think before I am". Which of the following can be the missing heading? What a pointless question The size and location of the world's deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas appear. But within the last hundred years deserts have been increasing after frightful speed. This is partly because of natural changes, but most responsible for creating deserts are men. Man can make deserts, but they can also prevent them from getting bigger. Algeria is planning a green belt of trees along the edge of the Sahara Desert to stop the sand. In China, too, _ are being built in the northwest to keep the desert from growing. But desert still threaten the world. Experts believe that land that is on the way to becoming deserts equals the size of Australia, Russia and US put together. Can we stop the spread of the world's deserts and save the land that is so essential to mankind? Yes, we can, and we must. The word "windbreaks" means _ trees planted as a belt to stop the wind Building a company website is one of the most important parts of creating a successful business. But designing a website can be time consuming and expensive. Web designers are difficult to work with, and even though you're paying them.There are cheaper ways to establish your company online, and Wix.com stands out among them. Wix.com offers free HTML5 and Flash website design that you can do on your own,without having to pay for a pricey web designer. With unlimited space for as many pages as you want, customized looks, photo galleries, and blog platform capabilities, social networking buttons, Wix has everything a business of any size needs to make an impact online.You get full control over what information fills in the blanks, and you don't have to know a thing about HTML to make this work. The way your website looks says a lot about your company. Wix does that, and it does it for free. Another thing that makes Wix the most affordable option in creating a website is that you don't have to pay for a separate web host--every page created on Wix is hosted on Wix, free of charge. The Internet is the marketplace of ideas:your company needs to share what you think. If you think just because you don't sell a product online you don't need a website, you're dead wrong.No matter what kind of business you have, if you want to reach an audience, you want to have a website that speaks to people.Wix lets you do that as quickly and easily as possible for free. If you have a bigger budget, Wix has more options than just the free website design.You can choose to upgrade to the adless version which won't fill up your customer's screens when they visit your site.But if the most important thing to you is getting your company's name online right now, try Wix.com today. What's the purpose of the text? To make an advertisement. Regarding food, animals are consumers

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