Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16,1775,and died on July 18,1817.She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously(匿名).
But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many famous local people and visitors. She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806,Bath was her home. Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath. The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels. Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced (增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street. Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bath in her life and work.
The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society. After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts. Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy.
You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen's Bath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath. The tour lasts about one and a half hours. The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped.Jane Austen paid two long visits to Bath _______.
| A．in her early twenties | B．in her early teens |
| C．in her late twenties | D．in her late teens |
What can we learn about Bath from the passage?
| A．Bath has greatly changed since Jane Austen's death. |
| B．The city has changed as much as Jane Austen knew it. |
| C．Bath remains almost the same as in Jane Austen's time. |
| D．No changes have taken place in Bath since Jane Austen's time. |
The author writes this passage in order to_______.
| A．attract readers to visit the city of Bath |
| B．ask readers to buy Austen's books |
| C．tell readers about Jane Austen's experience |
| D．give a brief introduction to the Jane Austen Society |
It takes you about one and a half hours_______.
| A．to get to the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street |
| B．to buy Jane Austen related books, cards and gifts |
| C．to find a guide to take you to the Centre |
| D．to look around the city of Bath on foot |
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 (俚语) spelling of “youth”. Some people consider “yoof” to be a negative (消极的) 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 (观念) and identity.
When parents find it difficult to understand their children, the children can say more things without the censorship (审查) 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. DaltonThe 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 |
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 |
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. |
By saying “Sorted!”, yoof probably means ____
__.
| A．“I’m very tired.” | B．“I understand.” |
| C．“You got it wrong!” | D．“I don’t care!” |
Many of us assume that with such a last name, Peter Buffett, 52, must enjoy a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor (投资人) Warren Buffett definitely doesn’t think so.
“People who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth can fall victim (受害者) to what my father has called a silver dagger (匕首) in your back,” Buffett told Reuters in an interview. “It leads to a sense of entitlement (特权) and a lack of personal achievement.”
Entitlement, he believes, is the worst thing ever. “Anybody who acts like they deserve (应得) something ‘just because’ is a disaster,” he said.
In his new book, Life Is What You Make It: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment, Buffett says that the only real inheritance (遗产) handed down from his parents was a philosophy (价值观): Forge your own path in life. It is a belief that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap (收获) his own successes.
Did his father ever want him to go into finance? “It was encouraged for a moment when I was open to the idea,” he told Reuters. But as he grew older, it became clear the financial world “was not speaking to my heart.”
His father accepted his choice to become a musician. He began his 
musical career by writing music for TV commercials (广告). He then released his own albums.
“I am my own person and I know what I have accomplished in my life,” he told Reuters. “This isn’t about wealth or fame or money or any of that stuff, it is actually about values and what you enjoy and finding something you love doing.”
Along with the book, Buffett has begun a “Concert & Conversation” tour in which he plays the piano, talks about his life and warns against consumerist (消费主义) culture and damaging the environment.
“Economic prosperity (繁荣) may come and go; that’s just how it is,” he writes in the book. “But values are the steady currency (硬通货) that earn us the all-important rewards.” What does “It” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．A life of a top investor. | B．A silver spoon in the mouth. |
| C．Being born to a wealthy family. | D．The victim of a silver dagger in the back. |
What does the article tell us?
| A．Peter Buffett is a born musician. |
| B．Peter Buffett enjoys a hugely privileged life. |
| C．A wealthy family can benefit a child but also spoil him or her. |
| D．Peter Buffett was forced by his parents to take over their business. |
The article claims that Peter Buffett owes his achievements largely to ______.
| A．his passion for music | B．the good education he received |
| C．his great determination | D．the values he learned from his parents |
Which of the following statements would Peter Buffett probably agree to?
| A．Wealth is there to enjoy to the fullest. |
| B．A person’s value lies within. |
| C．Many people are fooled by economic prosperity. |
| D．Young people should choose their own philosophy, whatever their parents believe in. |
After spending three days in a wheelchair, I was ready to quit. Not only did I have to battle cracked (裂缝的) and uneven (不平的) pavements, I had to deal with the bad attitude of pedestrians (行人) and a cold rain. But I didn’t give up because of people like Tiffany Payne.
Payne, who has been using a wheelchair for 18 years, laughed at me:
“Imagine trying to get around town in the winter,” she said.
I could see her point: You’re battling to get to a doctor’s appointment (预约), but no one has shoveled (铲) after a big snowfall. Your choices: Move out and risk getting stuck, or reschedule the appointment.
Those of us fortunate enough to get around on our own two legs don’t give a second thought to the person in a wheelchair next to us at a crosswalk. That would require us to look down.
So I decided to try using a wheelchair to get a sample of what their lives are like. It wasn’t long before I saw that people who use wheelchairs are forced to deal with a lot of trouble.
During my experiment, I was ignored by store staff while shopping and bumped into by inattentive (疏忽的) walkers without so much as an apology.
Some people even gave me angry looks as if I were the one at fault.
Once in a store, a woman bumped into me trying to get to the new iPad. She didn’t say, “Excuse me.”
When salespeople did offer assistance, they talked to people who were with me, instead of me. I wanted to yell: “Hey, I’m down here!”
Some salespeople talked to me as though I were a child or acted like they didn’t want to be bothered with me.
People who use wheelchairs want to be treated like everyone else. They also comprehend (理解), so you don’t have to speak to them in a childlike, sing-song voice. It’s not very appealing (吸引人的), especially when the person is an adult. And most importantly, remember they have feelings that can be hurt just like yours.
Spending three days in a wheelchair made me look differently at those who have to use one. I hope you do the same.
By James E. CauseyThe author writes the story to _______.
| A．help those in wheelchairs gain self-confidence |
B．share his experience of acting as a wheelch air user |
| C．ask people to show sympathy for those in wheelchairs |
| D．call on people to respect and help those in wheelchairs |
During his three days in a wheelchair, the author met all of the following
difficulties EXCEPT ______.
| A．bad road conditions | B．poor attitudes of ordinary people |
| C．terrible medical service | D．bad weather |
What can we conclude from the article?
| A．A wheelchair user may feel offended when you do not address him or her directly. |
| B．Assistants in big stores are usually kind to people in wheelchairs. |
| C．People in wheelchairs should fight for fair treatment. |
| D．People in wheelchairs are usually hard to get along with. |
Which of the following statements would the author agree to?
| A．Look down on a person in a wheelchair. |
| B．Speak to a person in a wheelchair in a sing-song voice. |
| C．Treat a person in a wheelchair as you would any other person. |
| D．Offer assistance to a person in a wheelchair without asking for permission. |
It’s 2035. You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 years old. Welcome to your future life. Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror, “Turn red,” you say. Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red. Tiny preprogrammed electronic（智能电子元件） is rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe that you are 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old. You’re not even middle-aged.
As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal into a bowl, you hear: “To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that,” from your shoes. They read the tiny electronic code（电子源码）on the cereal box to find out the nutrition details. You decide to listen to your shoes. “Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?” A list of possible food appears on the counter as kitchen checks its food supplies.
“Ready for your trip to space?” you ask your son a
nd daughter. In 2005 only specially trained astronauts went into space—and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for day trip or longer vacation. Your best friend even works in space. Handing your children three strawberries each, you add, “The doctor said you need these for space travel.” Thanks to medical advice, vaccination shots（防疫针） are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods contain specific vaccines. With the berries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.
It’s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. “My office. Autopilot,” you command. Your car drives itself down the road and moves smoothly into traffic on the highway. You sit back and unroll your e-newspaper. The latest news downloads and fills the viewer. Looking through the pages, you watch the news as video films rather than read it. What changes the color of your shirt?
| A．The mirror. | B．The shirt itself. | C．The counter. | D．The medicine. |
How do the shoes know that you shouldn’t eat the breakfast cereal?
| A．By pouring the breakfast into a bowl. |
| B．By listening to the doctor’s advice. |
| C．By testing the food supplies in the kitchen. |
| D．By checking the nutrition details of the food. |
The strawberries the children eat serve as ______.
| A．breakfast | B．lunch | C．vaccines | D．nutrition |
How is the text organized?
A．In order of time  |
B．In order of frequency. |
| C．In order of preference（偏爱）. | D．In order of importance |
A new study has found that the best way to make yourself feel happier is to think of something good that happened to you the day before.
Volunteers who were asked to remember a pleasant event from past 24 hours began to feel happier right away. Other activities such as saying “Thank you” and smiling also made volunteers feel happier, but not as much.
Professor Richard Wiseman of Hertfordshire University planned the study. He got 26,000 people to go online to try out a few different activities to make them feel happier. They were told to be nice, remember a pleasant event from the day before, give thanks or smile for 15 seconds twice a day. The volunteers did these activities for one week.
The result showed that thinking about one good thing that had happened the day before worked the best for making people happier. The text may probably be taken from _____.
| A．a personal anecdote(轶事) | B．sports news |
| C．a history novel | D．brief news |
Volunteers who _____ began to feel happier right away.
| A．thought of something good that happened the day before |
| B．were asked to remember a pleasant event from the past 24 hours |
| C．did other activities like saying “thank you” and smiling |
| D．went online to try out a few different activities |
From the text we know that Richard Wiseman is a(an) _____.
| A．worker | B．artist | C．professor | D．director |
The volunteers gave thanks or smile _____ a week.
| A．15 seconds | B．3.5 seconds | C．15 minutes | D．3.5 minutes |