The snow has paralysed(使瘫痪) transport in China during the country’s most important vacation period, the celebration of the Chinese New Year. Not only have transport delays hindered personal trips, but they have also slowed the delivery of fresh produce to markets. Consequently, in Zhengzhou, the capital city of the Henan province, tomato prices have doubled, and the cost of 47 other vegetables has increased by 36%, as reported by local media at the end of January.
According to an inside PR source, “wholesalers in Beijing were quoted as saying that only about 20% of the usual fresh vegetable supplies were reaching the city.” As an Asian country with a diet based on fresh produce, the shortage of vegetables and the rise in prices is not only affecting fresh food producers, but also the final consumers.
In terms of production, this is the worst snow disaster to hit China in the last 50 years, affecting a total of 9.4 million hectares of farmland in the country, according to a report published on 4 February 2008 by Feng Tao of Xinhua News, at the Chinese government website. Most of the crops devastated（毁坏）by the frost are located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the traditional natural border between North and South China.
Chen Xiwen, Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Rural Work, pointed out at the end of last week that “the blizzard disaster in the south has had a severe impact on winter crops, and the impact on fresh vegetables could be catastrophic in certain areas”, as stated in the Xinhua News report.
The Chinese government has been quick to take extreme measures. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has sent 13 teams of experts to 8 of the areas most seriously affected by the harsh weather. The aim of this initiative is to provide farmers with technical assistance to minimize their losses. From this passage, we can know that the snow happened _____.
| A．During the Spring Festival |
| B．In the coldest days of the winter |
| C．In the North of China. |
| D．It’s not mentioned here. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word in paragraph four?
| A．worst | B．snowstorm | C．cold weather | D．biggest |
This passage mainly tells us _____ .
| A．The snow in the south of China caused many problems. |
| B．The effect of the snow in the south of China on the fresh food |
| C．The snow in the south of China slowed the delivery of fresh produce to markets. |
| D．The Chinese government has taken extreme measures to help the suffered farmers. |
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has sent 13 teams of experts to 8 of the areas to _____ .
A. help the farmers plant crops B. give money to the farmers
C. give directions to the farmers with their technic（技术；技巧）.
D. deliver crops for the farmers.
As we all know, the Dragon Boat Festival is our country’s traditional festival, but do you know there is also a Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea, which also falls on May 5 of the luar calendar(阴历)? It has been reported that South Korea will apply to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 联合国教科文组织) to make the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival its own intangible cultural heritage (非物质的文化遗产). If successful, people from other countries may see the Dragon Festival as a Korean creation.
As the birthplace of the yearly event more than 2,000 years ago, China is not happy with the situation. "It would be a shame if another country successfully made a traditional Chinese festival part of its own cultural heritage ahead of China," said Zhou Heping, deputy(副) culture minister. The Ministry of Culture is even thinking of making its own application to UNESCO, covering all traditional Chinese festivals, including the Dragon Boat event.
It is thought that the festival is held in memory of the great poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), who lived in the State of Chu during the Warring States Period. Qu was known to be a patriot (爱国者) and admired by ordinary people.
He is said to have jumped into Miluo River, because he had lost hope in his country's future. When people heard about Qu's death, they sailed up and down the river searching for his body. They also beat the drums to frighten away the fish and threw Zongzi into the water to stop the fish touching Qu. Dragon boat racing is said to come from this search for the poet's body.
Over the years, the Dragon Boat Festival has spread throughout the world. In Japan and Viet Nam, as well as South Korea, the festival has mixed with and become part of the local culture.The Dragon Boat Festival _______.
| A．is also kept by South Korea |
| B．comes from South Korea |
| C．was created by South Korea |
| D．is South Korea’s cultural heritage |
What is the reaction of the Ministry of Culture to South Korea’s intending to make the Dragon Boat Festival its own culture heritage?
| A．Fighting against South Korea |
| B．Telling South Korea it’s not right to do so |
| C．Considering to do the similar thing |
| D．Asking South Korea not to do so. |
What is the purpose of the Dragon Boat Festival’s being held?
| A．In memory of Qu Yuan |
| B．In memory of all the patriots of China |
| C．To frighten away the fish |
| D．In honor of QuYuan’s birthday |
After Qu Yuan’s death, Zongzi was thrown into the water to _______.
| A．feed him. |
| B．protect his body from going bad. |
| C．prevent the fish biting his body |
| D．attract his soul |
Now, the Dragon Boat Festival has become ______ activity.
| A．a nationwide | B．a worldwide |
| C．an Asian | D．a foreign |
I know what you’re thinking：pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saving” calories（卡路里）, still others just don’t like breakfast food.
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all，”says Katherine Brooking, R. D.，who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s“SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself', “You can always eat it tomorrow, ”I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means __________.
| A．pizza topped with fruit |
| B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables |
| D．food remaining after a meal. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to__________.
| A．eat something for breakfast |
| B．be careful about what you eat |
| C．heat up food before eating it |
| D．eat calorie-controlled food |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
The text is written mainly for those__________.
| A．who go to work early | B．who stay up late |
| C．who want to lose weight | D．who eat before sleep |
What does the author advise the readers to do?
| A．Better eat up all the food at dinner in the night. |
| B．Better eat less in the night. |
| C．Better eat leftovers in the morning. |
| D．Better get up late and eat nothing in the morning in order to burn more calories. |
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair. The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth－so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I’ll give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing."
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I’ll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You’re right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “ Would you mend this chair for me?”. “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it," he said. "We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver (five pounds)?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _____.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means _____.
| A．plan for dealing with things |
| B．decision to sell things |
| C．idea of repairing things |
| D．way of doing things |
The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _____.
| A．changed his mind |
| B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose |
| D．decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay?
| A．￡5. | B．￡7. | C．￡20. | D．￡27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was _____.
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
Recently, a study was carried out to determine who was the greatest American president. Sixty-five presidential historians took part in it, and they judged the past forty-two American leaders based on ten leadership qualities, including public persuasiveness(信服), crisis leadership, management of the economy, moral leadership, and conduct of international relations. The historians also looked at administrative ability (管理能力), relations with Congress, ability to set goals, and the pursuit of equal justice for all. Finally, the experts took into consideration the historical period in which the president lived.
The historians chose Abraham Lincoln as American’s greatest president. He had also been named the greatest president in a similar study in 2000.Abraham Lincoln was the president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s, and was able to unite it in the end. He also took the first steps to abolish(废除) slavery in America.
Edna Medford, a professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was an adviser on this study and the earlier one. She says Abraham Lincoln is seen to represent the values the nation most honors, such as truthfulness, moderation, and respect for human rights.
The historians put American’s first president, George Washington, second on the list, while Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman follow in that order. John F. Kennedy, the country’s first Roman Catholic president, is sixth on the list. Like Lincoln, Kennedy was murdered while in office.
Among recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was named the tenth best and Bill Clinton rated fifteenth, while the historians put former president George W. Bush at number thirty-six. His father, George H.W. Bush, did much better, being placed at number eighteen.We learn from the text that ___________.
| A．this is the second time Abraham Lincoln has been chosen as America’s greatest president |
| B．Edna Medford didn’t take part in the study conducted in 2000 |
| C．George H.W. Bush was thought to have done worse in office than George W.Bush |
| D．Harry Truman was rated the fourth-best president by the study |
Which of the following belong to the ten leadership qualities considered?
a. Being able to persuade the public.
b. Taking effective measures during a financial crisis.
c. Balancing home life and career.
d. Pursuing equal justice for all.
| A．a,b,c | B．b,c,d | C．a,b,d | D．a,c,d |
Who is rated worst among the following four presidents?
| A．John F. Kennedy | B．George W. Bush |
| C．Bill Clinton | D．George Washington |
The text is mainly about ________.
| A．the ten qualities a great president needs |
| B．how Abraham Lincoln improved the country |
| C．the values the American nation honors most |
| D．a study of American presidents |
Have you ever played the video dance game? Now such games are used to help lose weight!
Like many other teenage boys, Jones loved sports. But at 5 feet, 175 pounds, he found his weight a trouble. His doctor wanted him to lose 50 pounds so that he may catch up with the football game by the end of summer.
Jones chose the popular dance Revolution video game at home to increase his activity. He had lost about 10 pounds by changing his diet. Now, after two weeks playing the game, he has lost another 10!
In West Virginia, 43% of the nearly 6,000 children examined for heart disease risk were considered over-weighted; more than 25% were too fat. “we are in a crisis of childhood obesity not only in West Virginia but in America,” said a researcher.
Researchers are looking at the potential for improving effects by using the game. A teacher in West Virginia has been using the video game in her classes since last fall. She reported that the game does improve heart health as well as eye-hand coordination, and her students take the video game as a great alternative to jumping rope or ball games.
The US Education Department is putting the game in 20 schools to control childhood obesity. Well, are you going to try such a game to dance away your extra weight?ones’ main problem was that.
| A．he was too short | B．he was over-weighted |
| C．he lacked the skill in football | D．he didn’t keep a healthy diet |
The underlined word means .
| A．being unfriendly | B．being unhappy |
| C．being unhealthy | D．being overweight |
It can be learned that .
| A．in West Virginia 25% of the children were too fat |
| B．after playing the game, Jones has lost weight |
| C．the teacher is a failure in using the video game |
| D．the US Education Department is promoting the game all over the country |
The most suitable title for the passage is.
| A．Dance Away Your Weight |
| B．Play the Video Dance Game |
| C．Solve the Problem of Obesity |
| D．A Magic Video Dance Game |