Everyone knows that you can study the English language for years and still not understand a native speaker of English.
Well, here’s a secret for you: a lot of British people can’t understand each other either! Apart from the different regional accents across the country, language can also differ (不同) among age groups. The words and pronunciations used by young Britons can be very different to those used by adults. This is called “yoof” culture.
The word “yoof” is a slang (俚語) spelling of “youth”. Some people consider “yoof” to be a negative (消極的) term, since its pronunciation is easier than “youth”. Other people see the term as positive, because it describes how young people are creating their own language, concepts (觀念) and identity.
When parents find it difficult to understand their children, the children can say more things without the censorship (審查) of their parents. In this way, young people are starting to find freedom, independence and self-expression.
They are creating a “yoof culture”. It is impossible to come up with a complete list of words used by yoof. By the time the list was completed, it would be out of date. New words come and go like fashions.
By A.J. Dalton
小題1:The point of the article is _____.

A．to list words used by yoof

B．to introduce UK yoof culture

C．to give advice on how to communicate with native English speakers

D．to explain why it is hard for British people to understand each other

小題2: According to the article, children are creating a “yoof culture” _______.

A．to stay cool among their peers

B．to draw more attention from their parents

C．to avoid interference of their parents in their lives

D．to keep up with the fast pace of modern society

小題3: According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The variety of regional accents in the UK is an obstacle to communication.

B．Some people consider the term “yoof” positive because it is easier to pronounce than “youth”.

C．A few vocabularies used by yoof are going to be collected in dictionaries.

D．Yoof culture is getting popular all around the English speaking countries.

小題4: By saying “Sorted!”, yoof probably means ______.

A．“I’m very tired.”	B．“I understand.”
C．“You got it wrong!”	D．“I don’t care!”

  If we bought only things we needed, there would be enough for everybody. What do we need? What you need depends on how old you are and your way of life. Rearrange the list of things you can buy and put the things you think we most need at the top of the list.
Coat             Designer jeans          Water       CD player
Dental check up   Restaurant meal     Telephone   Jewelry
Food          Shampoo             MP3 player  Beer
Toothpaste        Bar of chocolate        Cushion covers
If we don’t need to buy so much, we don’t need to work so much. We can take part-time jobs or reduce our working day from eight hours to six hours. Some people are leaving very well paid jobs to live a healthier life in the countryside or a more exciting life abroad. Parents can spend more time with their children and the unemployed are given more opportunities to work.
If we start to respect saving the earth more than spending money, we will become ‘conservers’ (保護者). When we are conservers, we try to choose environmentally friendly products that last a long time. We may find growing our own vegetables or making our own clothes more rewarding than buying them.
Next time you go shopping, think about what you really need to buy. Don’t deprive (剝奪) yourself of things you like, but decide what you should buy before you go out, so that you won’t be influenced by advertisements or promotions. If it is more expensive to buy goods that don’t have much packaging and things that are more durable (耐用的), buy less. If you can choose to work less, decide which things you would like to make, do or grow yourself. Even though you have less money, your life will become richer.
by Julie Bray
小題1: From the passage, we can see the author suggests us consumers ______.

A．find out more about a product instead of buying blindly

B．consider what we really need before going shopping

C．a(chǎn)void regret at not buying enough

D．find a real bargain

小題2:. The writer will agree with you if you buy products that are ______.

A．beautifully packaged	B．extremely cheap
C．usable for a long time	D．fashionable now

小題3: According to the passage, if we don’t need to buy so much, the benefits  
will include ______.
a. we will have more time enjoying life
b. the employment rate will increase
c. we will get better paid jobs
d. we as consumers will have more choices of what to buy

A．a(chǎn)bc

B．a(chǎn)bd

C．a(chǎn)b

D．a(chǎn)d

小題4:This passage is mainly written to _____.

A．persuade people to buy less and buy environmentally friendly products

B．put forward some questions so that you can become a smart buyer

C．introduce some good ways to make a wiser choice when shopping

D．criticize the consumer society in which people buy too much

  It looks like a mobile phone, but the service is much cheaper. It acts like a mobile phone, but only in your own city. Beyond the city walls, it’s useless.
“Little Smart”, also called “xiaolingtong”, has always been compared to mobile phones. But actually, it is more like one of those cordless phones(無繩電話) used around the home. The only difference is that this one reaches much further than from the bathroom to the living room. It can travel across an entire city.
Cheap costs are the main reason for the success of Little Smart. It costs 25 yuan a month for the line and about 0.1 yuan per minute to use. A mobile phone, on the other hand, can cost four or five times as much. What’s more, unlike mobile phones, there’s no fee(費) for incoming calls. So these low charges have attracted many users.
But, Little Smart is not really that smart. Users often complain about its bad voice quality. And there are not as many stations to pick up its signals as there are for mobiles. “I couldn’t receive a phone call if I was on a bus,” said Li Ping, a user in Hangzhou. “It worked fine when I stood still, but there were breaks in signal when I was moving.”
Scientists are trying to make Little Smart more user-friendly. Messaging and Internet access(接入) have been added to the service. And the latest Little Smart handset even has color screen.
小題1:Why is Little Smart popular in China?

A．It looks like a mobile phone.	B．The service is much cheaper.
C．There is no fee for incoming calls.	D．All of the above.

小題2: How is the charge of Little Smart?

A．About 10 fen per minute to use.

B．It costs four or five times more than a mobile phone.

C．It only costs 25 yuan each month.

D．There’s no fee for calls.

小題3: Why are users not satisfied with Little Smart?

A．They can’t hear each other clearly out of the city.

B．There are so few stations for Little Smart to pick up its signals.

C．When you use it, you must stand up.

D．The charges are low.

小題4: The underlined word “handset” in the last paragraph means “______”.

A．the hand bag

B．telephone

C．service

D．mobile phone

小題5: What can we infer from the passage?

A．It’s wrong to say that Little Smart is smart.

B．Scientist are trying to make Little Smart smaller.

C．Little Smart will be better than today.

D．People will change Little Smart into a mobile phone.

Valencia is in the east part of Spain. It has a port on the sea, two miles away on the coast. It is the capital of a province that is also named Valencia.
The city is a market center for what is produced by the land round the city. Most of the city’s money is made from farming. It is also a busy business city, with ships, railways, clothes and machine factories.
Valencia has an old part with white old buildings, colored roofs, and narrow streets. The modern part has long, wide streets and new buildings. Valencia is well known for its parks and gardens. It has many old churches and museums. The university in the center of the city was built in the 13^th century.
The city of Valencia has been known since the 2^nd century. In the 8^th century it was the capital of Spain. There is also an important city in Venezuela named Valencia.
小題1: From the text, how many places have the name Valencia?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

小題2: What is the main difference between the two parts of the city?

A．The age of the buildings.	B．The parks and gardens.
C．The number of people.	D．The churches and museums.

小題3: When was Valencia the most important city in Spain?

A．In the 2nd century.

B．In the 8th century.

C．In the 13th century.

D．In the 20th century.

小題4: What is Valencia famous for?

A．Its seaport.	B．Its university.
C．Its churches and museums.	D．Its parks and gardens.

小題5: The main income of the city of Valencia is from its _____.

A．markets

B．businesses

C．factories

D．a(chǎn)griculture

No one knows yet the accurate number of lives which have been lost in this terrible fire. But reports suggest that it is more than one hundred.
A wall of fire fifty feet high and at least one hundred and fifty miles wide is now racing towards the forests and rich farmlands of southern Victoria. Towns less than one hundred miles from Melbourne will be in danger unless the wind changes. People are rushing excitedly into the streets. The police have warned them not to see the fire but many people are doing so.
The cause of the fire is unknown. No rain has fallen in this part of Australia for three months, and the hot, north-west wind from the great central desert is blowing at more than thirty miles an hour.
The firefighters are traveling to the fire by road, rail and air. But it is not easy to get there. Flames and fallen trees have cut off or blocked roads and railway lines. The thick smoke often prevents them from finding the air strips (飛機跑道).
It is said that the fire has brought the greater danger to the country since the Second World War.
小題1:By the time the article is written, the fire       .

A．has just broken out	B．has been put out
C．is spreading fiercely	D．is coming to an end

小題2:The writer writes this article mainly to tell people       .

A．the fire is terrible and dangerous

B．it is very easy to put out the fire

C．less than one hundred people die of the fire

D．to join in the fight against the fire

小題3:In the 4th paragraph, the writer suggests (暗示) that       .

A．the fire would be controlled by the firefighters very soon

B．it will be very difficult to put out the fire

C．the government is paying great attention to the fire

D．the fire has caused great losses and the airport was in danger

小題4:The underlined word “ accurate ” in the first sentence has the same meaning as        .

A．recent

B．false

C．rough（大約的）

D．exact

The Internet has opened up a whole new on-line world for us to meet, chat (聊天) and go where we’ve never been before.
But just as in face-to-face communication, there are some basic rules of behavior that should be followed when online. The basic rule is simple: treat others in the same way that you would want to be treated. Imagine how you’d feel if you were in the other person’s shoes.
For anything you’re going to send, ask yourself: “Would I say this in front of the person?” If the answer is no, rewrite and reread. Repeat the process till you feel sure that you’d feel comfortable saying the words to the person’s face.
If someone in the chat room is impolite to you, your feeling is to fight back in the same manner. But try not to do so. You should either ignore (忽略) the person, or use your chat software (軟件) to stop their messages. If it was caused by a disagreement with another member, try to fix the situation by politely discussing it. Remember to respect the beliefs and opinions of others in the chat room.
Everyone was new to the network once. Offer advice when asked by newcomers, as they may not be sure what to do or how to communicate. When someone makes a mistake whether it’s a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer, be kind about it. If it’s a small mistake, you may not need to say anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before saying anything. Having good manners yourself doesn’t give you the right to correct everyone else.
If you do decide to tell someone about a mistake, point it out politely. At the same time, if you find you are wrong, be sure to correct yourself and apologize to those who you have offended (冒犯).
It is not polite to ask others personal questions such as their age, sex, and families. Unless you know the person very well, and you are both comfortable with sharing personal information, don’t ask such questions.
小題1:. When you send short messages to a person, you must       .

A．make sure that they don’t do harm to others	B．read them again and again
C．say something good to hear	D．repeat them later to the person’s face

小題2:If you are hurt in the chat room by others, you should       .

A．fight back in the same way	B．take them seriously
C．pay no attention to them	D．be angry at them

小題3:If a newcomer who communicates on line makes any mistakes, you       .

A．should point them out sharply

B．shouldn’t give any advice unless required by them

C．should say something about them

D．should correct them at once

小題4:This passage mainly tells us       .

A．some rules of Internet communication

B．ways of sending messages

C．rules of the face – to – face communication

D．ways of making friends on the Internet

Goats are being hired to do the work of people near SanDiego. The fires that occurred in Hillborbough four years ago destroyed thirty homes, most of which have been rebuilt. While people were rebuilding the homes, the grasses and bushes were growing back. The area is now so overgrown in bushes that there is again a major danger of fire.
The city council asked for offers to remove the bushes. The lowest bid they received was $50,000-----and that was if the city provided breakfast and lunch for the workers for thr six weeks it would take to clear the overgrown area. The city only wanted to give unlimited coffee and a piece of bread a day for each person. When that offer was rejected, the city asked for help on its website.
A sheepherder（養(yǎng)綿羊的人） in Montanta and a goatherder（養(yǎng)山羊的人） in San Bernardino read about the city’s plight （困境）while surfing the Web on their laptops. They both offered to do the job for $25,000. The council chosed the goatherder because he lived closer. When he was told that the city dump（垃圾場） was overflowing , the gotherder said, “No problem. My goats will eat everything in your dump, except the car engines, of course.” So ,for another $5,000, the city killed two birds with one stone. If all goes well, they will invite the goatherder and his “family” back every three years. The goatherder said that he would probably visit San Diego while his goats were in the dump. “I want to go there by plane, I just hope we don’t crash. My goats will miss me a lot.” He said.
小題1:Why did the city council want to remove the bush?

A．Because the fires in hillborbough destroyed 30 homes.

B．Because people wanted to build their homes there.

C．Because the overgrown bushes could cause fires again.

D．Because two sheeherder offered to do the job.

小題2:The goatherder was chosen to do the job because       

A．He offered to do it for the lower price

B．It was easier to transport his goat

C．Goats can do the job better than the job

D．The city wanted to raise more goats

小題3:According to the passage,          

A．the sheepherder offered to do the job for $50.000

B．the lowest bid to remove the bushes was $50,000

C．the sheepherder and the goatherder were both addicted to surfing the Internet.

D．hiring goats to do the job saved the government lots of money.

小題4: we can infer from the passage that          

A．the city will remove the bushes in this area regularly

B．the goatherder asked for $50,000 to kill the birds with stones.

C．the goatherder was invited to San Diego to do some sightseeing.

D．the city council was not kind to the people who worked for it.

It seems that every week someone becomes “the first” or “the youngest” or even “the first married couple” to do something that doesn’t seem to be very useful to the rest of us.
Why do they do it? Don’t they have better things to do with their time and money? And why should I be interested anyway? Human beings have already climbed the highest mountains, sailed across the oceans and flown around the world. Many of these things were done a long, long time ago. There just isn’t anything left to explore nowadays. I suppose there’s still a lot of the universe left, and the bottom of the ocean is still a bit of a mystery, but you need a lot of technology to explore areas like that. So, those people who feel the need for adventure can only do things that have been done before.
In May of this year a British man became the first person to walk alone from Canada to the North Pole. Personally, if I wanted to visit the Arctic, I’d rather go as a tourist on a cruise ship, with a helicopter trip to the North Pole included in the price. But OK, this man decided that he wanted to walk. The problem was that he went in the spring when the ice begins to melt and break up. So he got stuck on a longely piece of ice and a plane had to be sent in to rescue him.
These sorts of rescues are making many Australians angry with these record breakers. People trying to break sailing or rowing records get into trouble in the seas. So the Australian navy has to send ships to save them and this costs the government millions of dollars. I suppose we can’t just leave them to drown but we should give the bill to the people who are rescued.
小題1:According to the author, the so-called record breakers          .

A．do not benefit other people at all

B．inspire people to continue exploring

C．a(chǎn)re boring and should be stopped

D．a(chǎn)re usually not wealthy enough

小題2:We can infer from the second paragraph that          .

A．there are no high mountains for people to climb

B．nothing is left for people to explore in the universe

C．it’s beyond ordinary people to explore the unknown

D．human beings could fly around the world long ago

小題3:Many Australians are angry because the record breakers        .

A．often get into trouble

B．never use a cruise ship or a helicopter

C．never pay their own costs

D．satisfy their needs at the cost of others’ interest

小題4:What is the writer’s attitude towards the record breakers?

A．Positive.	B．Negative.
C．Uninterested.	D．Neutral（中立的）.

While surfing television channels over the weekend，a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us — from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism(消費主義) — are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?
Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?
Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior — India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!
A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households’ financial savings is put into a “safe” deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds（福利基金） and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into “risky” assets(資產(chǎn)) like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation(通貨膨脹). The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point.
小題1:What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage?

A．Value systems	B．The poor situation of retirees
C．Economic freedom	D．Approach to consumerism

小題2:Which of the following statements about saving in India is right?

A．the concept of saving has been well received by Indians.

B．the amount of the savings ranks number one across the world.

C．long-standing savings can help the retirees live a care-free life.

D．saving early can not benefit people at all.

小題3: What can be inferred according to the last paragraph?

A．Half of the financial savings in stocks can be accepted.

B．The real value of saving must be lowered in a few years.

C．A loss of savings may hardly be avoided.

D．Inflation can be avoided on condition that you consume instead of saving.

小題4:What’s the best title of the text?

A．Retirees being treated unfairly

B．Is saving enough

C．Saving in India

D．How to deal with saving

In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive(認知的) skills didn't get any smarter.
More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week. They were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of time surfing the Internet and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of I.Q test before and after the experiment.
Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn't do any better on the test after six weeks than people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Net scored higher than those playing the games.
"If you're (playing these games) because they're fun, that's absolutely fine," said Adrian Owen, the study's lead author. "But if you're expecting (these games) to improve your I.Q., our data suggests this isn't the case," he said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
One maker of brain games said the company's games have been proven to boost brain power.
"Their conclusion would be like saying, 'I cannot run a mile in under 4 minutes and therefore it is impossible to do so," Aldrich said in a statement.
"There is precious little evidence to suggest the skills used in these games transfer to the real world," said Art Kramer, who was not linked to the study and has no ties to any companies that make brain training games.
Instead of playing brain games, Kramer said people would be better off getting some exercise. He said physical activity can spark(激發(fā)) new connections between nerves and produce new brain cells. "Fitness changes the building blocks of the brain's structure," he said.
小題1:. It can be inferred that the online brain games mentioned in the text are_____________.

A．costly

B．unreliable

C．illegal

D．effective

小題2:. Which of the following statements is true about the experiment in the second paragraph?

A．The experiment lasted for a week.

B．Age didn’t affect the result of the research.

C．Every person played online brain games three times a day.

D．People who didn’t play online brain games did better in I.Q test

小題3:. What can we learn from the text?

A．Playing games which are fun can improve your I.Q.

B．There is a lot of evidence to suggest skills can transfer to the real world.

C．Do physical activity can boost your brain power.

D．Playing online games can spark new brain cells

小題4:The underlined sentence suggests that ___________.

A．The research was not linked to the study

B．Those playing the games can score higher in the test

C．playing the games can spark new connections between nerves

D．This isn’t the case that these games can improve your I.Q.