I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.
Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.
Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.
Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!
Pigs also play an important r
ole in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.
44. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a ______ tone.
A. sad B. confused
C. serious D. humorous
45. We may know from the passage that ______.
A. people in England like pigs more than other animals
B. pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine
C. pigs are the first animals raised by man
D. more people don’t want to eat pigs now
46. The underlined sentence “pigs might fly!” in the fifth paragraph means “______”.
A. What you have just said is impossible
B. Pigs are great animals
C. I don’t understand your words
D. I can’t agree with you more
47. Which diagram shows the structure of the passage?
Mrs Smith's husband went off on a business trip to Australia. He wanted to catch the 3:30 plane to Darwin. She was very surprised when he telephoned her at 5 o'clock and said that he was still at the airport.
"What happened?" asked Mrs Smith.
"Well," said Mr Smith, "everything was going fine. I got my ticket, checked my luggage and waited in line at the gate. I walked across the runway to the airplane and I saw my friend Jack Scott. Jack was an airplane engineer. I shouted to him and a policeman caught me."
"Why did he catch you?"
"I don't know," said Mr Smith," All I said was ‘Hi, Jack! '"
The word "hijack" means "to take control of a plane by force".Why did Mr Smith want to fly to Australia? Because____________.
| A．he was an Australian businessman |
| B．he was leaving for Australia on business |
| C．his wife wanted him to |
| D．he wanted" to see his wife |
Mrs Smith was very surprised because
| A．Mr Smith didn't arrive in Darwin | B．Mr Smith telephoned her later |
| C．Mr Smith didn't leave the airport | D．Mr Smith was in Darwin |
Mr Smith couldn't get on the plane because
| A．he met with his friend Jack |
| B．he didn't get the ticket |
| C．there was something wrong with the airplane engine |
| D．he was stopped by a policeman |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The police didn't know Mr Smith was Jack Scott's friend. |
| B．Jack Scott worked as an airplane engineer. |
| C．The policeman misunderstood Mr Smith. |
| D．Mr Smith knew why the policeman caught him. |
Why was Mr Smith caught by the policeman?
| A．Because he didn't keep silence at the airport. |
| B．Because he greeted an airport engineer named Jack. |
| C．Because the pronunciation of "Hi, Jack" has another frightful meaning. |
| D．Because the policeman didn't know English. |
Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the planets. But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.
That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”－events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to get the past “Where are you from?”
Mr. Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.
The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives. The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities(优先考虑的事) changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”
As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain. Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another. “We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says. “But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”
The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer. The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom they would be ‘intimate’ with for hours. But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.
“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up. “What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”
Some said they felt “liberated” to talk on sensitive topics. Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.”What can the “conversations” be best described as?
| A．Deep and one-on-one. | B．Sensitive and mad. |
| C．Instant and inspiring. | D．Ordinary and encouraging. |
In a “feast of conversations”, participants ______.
| A．pair freely with anyone they like |
| B．have a guided talk for a set of period of time |
| C．ask questions they themselves would not answer |
| D．wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features. |
In paragraph 6, “they would be ‘intimate’” is closest in meaning to “______”.
| A．they would have physical contact | B．they would have in-depth talk |
| C．they would be close friends | D．they would exchange basic information |
From the passage, we can conclude that what Zeldin does is ______.
| A．an attempt to promote thinking interaction |
| B．one of the maddest activities ever conducted |
| C．a try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas |
| D．an effort to give people a chance of talking freely |
Almost two-thirds of children want their parents to spend more time reading to them before bed, and most prefer Mum’s storytelling to Dad’s, researchers said.
They carried out a study that showed younger children aged 3-4 were most hungry for more stories, with over three-quarters saying they wished their parents read to them more often.
More than half of all children aged 3-8 said story time was their favourite pastime with their parents.
"The results of our research confirm the traditional activity of storytelling continues to be a powerful learning and emotional resource in children's lives," said child psychologist Richard Woolfson.
Storytelling ranked higher than television or video games among pastimes for kids, and 82 percent said reading a story with their parents helped them sleep better, according the survey of 500 children aged 3-8 in Britain.
The best storytellers were mothers who used funny voices to illustrate different characters or made their own special sound effects to keep the story moving, researchers said.
When mum and dad are not at hand, celebrities(名人) will do: over 30 percent of children said they would like to hear a bedtime story from Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, with teen idols(偶像) Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and Emma Watson.
"It can be very difficult for parents to find the time to read with their children, but these moments can help build strong relations and play a vital part in their child's development," said Woolfson.The underlined word “pastime” in the passage most probably means .
| A．old time | B．entertainment | C．emotion | D．character |
The author develops the passage mainly by .
| A．pointing out similarities and differences | B．following the natural time order |
| C．comparing opinions from different fields | D．providing examples and statistics |
Reading a story with their parents helped most kids aged 3-8 .
| A．grow stronger | B．become more emotional | C．sleep better | D．become more powerful |
Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives.
Several agencies have sprung up(涌现)offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals.The first guest-for-hire company was established about nine years ago and around 10 agencies now send out dozens of pretend friends to family events.
Agencies such as Hagemashi Tai, which means “I want to cheer you up”, charge around ￡100 for each “guest”. Other services such as giving a speech in praise of a bride or the groom cost extra.
The appearance of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan.With lifetime employment (终身雇佣制)a thing of the past, couples feel uncomfortable about inviting work colleagues to their wedding.Increasingly busy and put upon, many Japanese surround themselves with only a very small circle of friends.
When they marry, however, they are under pressure to match the number of their new partner’s wedding guests.
Office Agents, the largest provider of pretend friends, makes sure that its employees have done their homework and know all about the bride or groom before the wedding.
Hiroshi Mizutani, the company’s founder, said the fake friends he provides must look happy, be well dressed and look like people with good jobs.Why did fake friends industry come into being in Japan?
| A．Because of social and economic changes | B．Because of lifetime employment |
| C．Because of normal social life | D．Because of work pressure |
Pretend friends will be present at the following occasions except ________.
| A．weddings | B．funerals | C．work | D．family gathering |
The agents make sure that ________.
| A．fake friends have done their housework | B．fake friends have good jobs |
| C．fake friends must look happy and be well dressed | D．fake friends feel uncomfortable |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Japanese Couples are Under Pressure to Get Married | B．Japanese Couples’ Social Life |
| C．The First Guest-for-hire Company in Japan | D．Japanese Couples Rely on Fake Friends |
They like using the Internet. They have lots of pocket money to spend. And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy----games, CDs and clothing----are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit(信用) cards. Most have to use a parent’s card. They want a facility that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products can stimulate(刺激) online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK. Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school－88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK. According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online－mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children. Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as InternetCash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a hidden 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Sellers. | B．Buyers. | C．Teenagers. | D．Parents. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access. |
| B．Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards. |
| C．Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online. |
| D．Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop. |
A new way to help teenagers shop online is to use ______.
| A．a new machine | B．prepaid cards | C．special coins and notes | D．pay-as-you-go mobile phones |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Online shopping traps. | B．Internet users in the US and the UK. |
| C．New credit cards for parents. | D．The arrival of cyber pocket money. |