In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.
Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol” on April 6.
The idol is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on the television show “American Idol 3”, on January 27. The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act.
Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all.” That’s good, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: The off-key singing. The blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high. The terrible dancing. The hips jerking (摇摆) to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. It was, by all accounts, bad.But, it was this very bad act that sold well.Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way: “Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried. That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America.”
Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno-music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.So, what does Hung think of this?
“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean.”
Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour (魅力) or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy.
13.What is the main idea of this passage?
A.Sometimes an idol behaves quite foolishly.
B.Hung’s performance attracted the public eye.
C.How an unsuccessful person became famous.
D.Success sometimes does not require hard work.
14.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A.William Hung. B.Hung’s bad act. C.Hung’s website. D.The public’s opinion.
15.Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened to Hung?
a.The entertainment firms made an agreement with Hung.
b.The judges cut Hung off in mid-act in the singing contest.
c.Hung became popular among Americans.
d.Hung gave a terrible performance though he tried his best.
e.Three websites put Hung’s funny performance on the Internet.
A.d, b, e, c, a B.a, c, d, b, e C.a, d, b, c, e D.d, b, a, e, c
16.Why was Hung able to win the hearts of America?
A.His success was based on his own hard work.
B.He attracted people’s attention in the contest.
C.He was good-looking though he didn’t sing well.
D.His character was completely different from other idols’.
Not many years ago， a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy-five， he gave ￡ 12，000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness， many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk， Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him
how he managed to be healthy at seventy—five. 
Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky and drank some each day. “I have an injection （注射） in my neck each evening.” he told the newspaperman， thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain， asking him for the secret of his daily injection.Johnson became a rich man through _________.
| A．doing business. |
| B．making whisky. |
| C．cheating. |
| D．buying and selling land. |
The gift of money to the school suggests that Johnson __________.
| A．had no children. |
| B．was a strange man. |
| C．was very fond of children. |
| D．wanted people to know how rich he was. |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out __________.
| A．what kind of whisky he had. |
| B．how to live longer. |
| C．how to become wealthy. |
| D．in which part of the neck to have an injection. |
The newspaperman ____________.
| A．should have reported what Johnson had told him. |
| B．shouldn’t have asked Johnson what injection he had. |
| C．was eager to live a long life. |
| D．should have found out what Johnson really meant. |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening， he really meant that ______.
| A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening. |
| B．he needed an injection in the neck. |
| C．a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well. |
| D．there was something wrong with his neck. |
Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables(变量): language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. To deal with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment lie in the fact that one cannot learn culture—one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural differences. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald’s. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from disappearing.
The other school suggests that companies must adjust business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia(近视) or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your rivals, know your audience, and know your customer.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．Business diversity is not necessary. |
| B．All international managers can learn culture. |
| C．Most people do not know foreign culture well. |
| D．Views differ on how to treat culture in business world. |
According to the author, the model of Pepsi.
| A．is different from the model of McDonald’s . |
| B．reflect the idea that business is business. |
| C．has converged cultural differences . |
| D．shows the reverse of globalization . |
The two schools of thought.
| A．both think dealing with cultural environment is the most complicated problem in business |
| B．both admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world. |
| C．both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries. |
| D．both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures. |
This article is supposed to be most useful for those.
| A．who have connections to more than one type of culture |
| B．who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity |
| C．who want to run business in other countries |
| D．who want to travel abroad |
Sri Lanka is known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”, and it is easy to see why. This little country never fails to please visitors.
Arrive
The national airline is Sri Lankan Airlines, which flies from Colombo to London and a couple of other European cities. The country’s main airport is Colombo Bandaranaike, located 29km north of the capital city.
Why now?
The best time to visit Sri Lanka’s southern beaches is from November to April. So by going early in the season, you’ll get the best weather. Also in November, Deepavali, known as “Diwali” or the “Festival of Lights”, is Sri Lanka’s main religious festival, celebrated throughout the country.
See
There is plenty to see 
in Sri Lanka. The ancient capital cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura are worth seeing, and so are many outstanding ruins. Other mustsees are the rock fortress (要塞) of Sigiriya, towering over the jungle as far as the eye can see, and Dambulla’s cave temple, the country’s largest and best preserved. Both are UNESCO World Heritage (遗产) Sites. Kandy is a picture-like town, which was the last stronghold of the Kandyan Kings. Today it is a cultural relic centre where age-old customs, arts, and crafts remain.
Do
Sri Lanka owns about 1,600km of beautiful palm-shaded beaches as well as warm, pure seas and colourful coral reefs. You can explore the underwater world, and surfing and diving are available too. Away from the shore, wildlife is a big draw for Sri Lanka, and Yala National Park is one of the best places in the world to see wild animals including leopards (豹) and elephants.
Taste
Sri Lanka is celebrated for its excellent food, with a particular emphasis on fresh fruit and vegetables on menus everywhere. Fish and seafood are a big part of the local diet.
Did you know?
Sri Lanka is known for its tea, but it is also the world’s largest producer and exporter of cinnamon(肉桂).Which of the following is a cultural relic centre of Sri Lanka?
| A．Anuradhapura. | B．Kandy. | C．Colombo. | D．Polonnaruwa. |
If you want to know something about “Diwali”, you’d better go there in.
| A．November. | B．May. | C．September. | D．October. |
We can learn from the passage that Sri Lanka.
| A．is in the Pacific Ocean | B．is famous for its excellent food |
| C．is the world’s largest producer of tea | D．has only flights to London |
The author wrote the article in order to.
| A．let readers know what is famous in Sri Lanka |
| B．introduce the picturesque landscape of Sri Lanka |
| C．let people get more travel information about Sri Lanka |
| D．make Sri Lanka well known throughout the world |
People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions--and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why．
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes．
“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said．“Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth．”
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed．As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations．
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral．They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies．
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did．“The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said．“Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and the mouth less．”
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion．From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion．Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation．The discovery shows that Westerners ________.
| A．consider facial expressions universally reliable |
| B．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
| C．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions |
D．observe the eyes and  the mouth in different ways |
What were the people asked to do in the study?
| A．To get their faces impressive． | B．To make a face at each other． |
| C．To observe the researchers' faces． | D．To classify some face pictures． |
What does the underlined word "they" in Paragraph 6 refer to?
| A．The researchers of the study． | B．The participants in the study． |
| C．The data collected from the study． | D．The errors made during the study． |
In comparison with Westerners, Easterners are likely to ______.
| A．read facial expressions more correctly | B．examine the eyes more attentively |
| C．study the mouth more frequently | D．do translation more successfully |
A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world's people may not have enough water by the year 2025.
A private American 
organization called Population Action International did the new study. It says more than three-hundred-thirty-five-million people lack enough water now. The people live in twenty-eight countries. Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East.
P-A-I researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about three-thousand-million people may lack water. At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems. The demand for water keeps increasing. Yet the amount of water on Earth stays the same.
Mr. Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than in other parts of the world. He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase.
The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems. It may increase health problems. Lack of water often means drinking waters are not safe. Mr. Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases, such as cholera, which are carried in water. Lack of water may also result in more international conflict. Countries may have to compete for water in the future. Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries. This is true of Egypt, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Syria, Sudan, and Iraq. And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies. This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are begin
ning.
The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem. One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. A third way is to use less water of agriculture.
The report also says long-term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth. It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have.are expected to have severe water problems by the year 2025.
| A．18 countries | B．No countries |
| C．46 countries | D．28 countries |
All the following are true except .
| A．New industries need a lot of water |
| B．There are solutions to the water problem |
| C．Egypt now has enough fresh water |
| D．Lack of water may cause conflict between countries |
It can be learned that.
A. The ability of developing has nothing to do with lack of water.
B. . It is not known whether diseases have something to do with lack of water
C. Lack of water may also result from international conflict
D There is connection between providing clean water and slowing population growthThe best title of the passage would be.
| A．World Water Shortage | B．Population and Water |
| C．World Conflict | D．Diseases and Water |