9．As we all know，there are four important inventionsin ancient China．

8．上周我們學(xué)校組織了一次義賣，為四川涼山的貧困學(xué)生募捐．（a fair）
Last week our school organized a fair to raise money for
the poor students in Liangshan，Sichuan province．

7．博客給人們提供一個與他人分享感受與想法的平臺．（The blog； platform）The blog offers people a platform where they can share feelings and ideas with others．/The blog offers people a platform to share feelings and ideas with others．．

6．The famous band has promised toreunite（重聚） for one last concert．

5．The players of Houston Rockets left the gym infrustration（失意挫�。� after the failure．

4．Dear Highlights，
       My sister is always in a bad mood，which gets me in a bad mood．What should I do？
Tessa，Virginia
    It can be hard to be around someone who is in a bad mood．Since you can't change another person's mood，try to focus on what you can control：your own mood and reaction．
    You might find it easier to stay in a good mood if you leave your sister alone when she feels grumpy （脾氣暴躁的）．The next time she is in a bad mood，go to a quiet place in your house．Read，exercise，draw，listen to music-do something that makes you feel happy．
    Your parents might have some good suggestions for you，too．
Dear Highlights，
    I play soccer，but sometimes I play badly．How can I do better？
Jarom，Utah
    To be good at anything，determination and practice are important．Listen closely to your coach，watch other players，then practice，practice，practice!Professional athletes continue to practice their sports each day，knowing that if they start to get lazy，they won't keep or develop their skills．
    In addition to practicing with teammates，you can work on drills on your own．
    Learning more about the sport may help too．Your coach can likely direct you to some good resources on skills development．
Dear Highlights，
    I was moved up a grade a few years ago．Now，almost everyone in my previous grade asks me why．It wouldn't be a problem，except some boys ask over and over just to be annoying．What do I do？
Allison （by e-mail）
    If you're sure that they are trying to be annoying，you might respond with something humorous．For example，you could say something like"They told me that the lunch lines would be shorter．"Use the situation to turn annoying questions into something to laugh about．
32．What should Tessa do when her sister gets bad-tempered？C
A．Accompany her．B．Change her mood．
C．Try some happy things．D．Leave her in a quiet place．
33．When talking about Jarom's problem，Highlights especially stresses the importance ofB．
A．determination        B．practice   C．team spirit        D．the coach's help   
34．What's Allison's problem？C
A．She cannot get along well with her classmates．
B．Some boys in her class annoy her on purpose．
C．She cannot stand being asked the same question．
D．Her friends cannot accept that she moved up a grade．
35．What can we learn from the answer to Allison's question？D
A．Laughter is the best medicine．B．He who laughs last laughs longest．
C．A sense of humor makes you easy-going．
D．Humor can ease the tension in many situations．

3．Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship．Before you start a discussion，however，make sure you understand which topics are suitable and which are considered taboos（禁忌） in a particular culture．Latin Americans enjoy sharing information about their local history，art，and customs．They expect questions about their family and are sure to show pictures of their children．You may feel free to ask similar questions of your Latin American friends．The French think of conversation as an art form，and they enjoy the value of lively discussions as well as disagreements．For them，arguments can be interesting and they can cover pretty much or any topic as long as they occur in a respectful and intelligent（智慧的） manner．
In the United States，business people like to discuss a wide range of topics，including opinions about work，family，hobbies，and politics．In Japan，China，and Korea，however，people are much more private．They do not share much about their thoughts，feelings，or emotions because they feel that doing so might take away from the harmonious（和諧的） business relationship they're trying to build．Middle Easterners are also private about their personal lives and family matters．It is considered rude，for example，to ask a businessman from Saudi Arabia about his wife or children．
As a general rule，it's best not to talk about politics or religion with your business friends．This can get you into trouble，even in the United States，where people hold different views．In addition，discussing one's salary is usually considered unsuitable．Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world，although be careful not to criticize a national sport．Instead，be friendly and praise your host's team．
28．The author considers politics and religionB．
A．cheerful topics      B．taboos    C．rude topics D．too serious
29．Which is typically a friendly topic in most places according to the author？
A
A．Sports．B．Children．C．Personal feelings．D．Families．
30．In which country may it be suitable to talk about the family with your business friends？B
A．In France．B．In Saudi Arabia．C．In Korea．D．In the USA．
31．What shouldn't you do when talking about sports with colleagues from another country？D
A．Praising your own country's sports．
B．Criticizing your own country's sports．
C．Praising the sports of your colleagues'country．
D．Criticizing the sports of your colleagues'country．

2．British writer J．K．Rowling hinted last Thursday that she may not stop seven books about the adventures of Harry Potter．
  It was a live Web chat to mark World Book Day．And，Rowling-----who has always insisted she would write only seven Potter books----was asked by a fan if she intended to write books about Harry after he leaves Hogwarts，the academy for wizards （巫師學(xué)院）
"Probably not．But I'll never say never．That's because every time I do immediately break the promise．''she replied．
   Rowling，whose wealth was recently estimated at US $1 billion，is writing the sixth Potter book．
   In the Web chat，she was flooded with 16，000 questions from devoted readers of her wizard sagas （ 英雄傳奇）
   The release in June last year of the fifth book was billed as the world's biggest book launch．
   Asked what would happen if fiction（ 幻想） became fact．Rowling said，"I think I'd most like to spend a day with Harry．I'd take him out for a meal and apologize for everything I put him through．"
   Then she jokingly warned that even tougher times faced Potter，"In Book Six，the wizarding world is really at war again．And he has to make himself useful．"
"If I was Harry Potter，I would hide because I know what is coming"．she said．
24．From the passage we can know that J．K．RowlingA．
A．has finished writing all the books Harry Potter．
B．is considering stopping writing more than Harry Potter．
C．is still writing books about Harry Potter
D．has no idea about whether to go on writing or not．
25．Where does J．K．Rowling give the talk？A
A．On the Web    B．On TV    C．On the radio   D．In her book．
26．It can be inferred from the last paragraph thatBin the book to come out．
A．Things will get easier for Harry Potter
B．Harry Potter will have to go through even harder times．
C．Harry Potter will give up fighting and hide himself．
D．The author will describe Harry Potter in a different way．
27．From what J．K．Rowling says we can conclude thatA．
A．the author has a loving attitude towards Harry Potter
B．the author feels guilty for Harry Potter
C．is worried about Harry Potter
D．she has really made a mistake in her writing．

1．Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another．It doesn't matter where you live---in the middle of a modern city or a faraway village---the chances are that you'll be disturbed by jet planes，transistor radios，oil-powered engines，etc．We seem to be getting used to noise，too．Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they're working．
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being．However，some people are fond of listening to pop music which is very loud，and this can do harm to their eardrums（耳鼓）．The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas．
One recent report about noise and concentration（專注）．suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration，what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise．It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn't change too much （music，for example） may even help people to concentrate．
21．According to this passage，the noise pollutionC．
A．has become the worst in the countryside   
B．has become better in big cities
C．has spread from cities to villages      
D．has been controlled in modern cities
22．What does background music refer to？A
A．Music played while people are working．
B．Music played in the backyard．
C．Noise that continues while you're listening to other noises．
D．Music used to help people to concentrate．
23．Some people have their hearing harmedA．
A．while listening to pop music         
B．in complete silence
C．when speaking loudly           
D．while watching TV．

20．If Confucius（孔子）were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake，there would be a lot of candles．He'd need a strong wind to help him put them out．
     While many people in China will remember Confucius on this special day，few people in the United States will give him a passing thought．It's nothin g personal．Most Americans don't  even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes．
     But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius．In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China．
     In the past two decades，the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities．More recently，the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries．These schools teach both Chinese language and culture．The main 
courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art，history and philosophy（哲學(xué)）．Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks（缺點） of Westerners philosophy．Students in the United 
States，at the same time，are racing to learn Chinese．So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States．Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers．
     So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well．
     Today China attracts the West more than ever，and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West．
     As for the old thinker，he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West，even if his birthday is．
33．The opening paragraph is mainly intended toB
A．provide some key facts about Confucius
B．a(chǎn)ttract the readers'i nterest in the subject
C．show great respect for the ancient thinker
D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations
34．We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American studentsA
A．have a great interest in studying Chinese
B．take an active part in Chinese competitions
C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams
D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese
35．What is t he best title for the passage？D
A．Forgotten Wisdom in America
B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language
C．Chinese Culture for Westerners
D．Old Thinker with a Big Future．