If Barack Obama's wife and kids thought they'd be getting his undivided attention during their long-awaited summer holiday, perhaps they should think again.
The US President kicked off his vacation by revealing that, in addition to endless games of tennis and golf, he plans to spend the week ploughing through five books, weighing in at an astonishing 2,300 pages. His summer reading list, unveiled(透露) by the White House, contains two heavyweight works of non–fiction and three novels.
On top of the president’s table is Hot, Flat and Crowded, by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. Subtitled "why we need a green revolution", it makes a leftish（左倾的） call to arms regarding the future of the planet.
Mr Obama's second choice is historian David McCullough's biography of John Adams, the often under-rated second US president, who was the subject of an award-winning HBO docu-drama（纪实剧）last year.
The novels include two crime thrillers: Richard Price's Lush Life, and The Way Home, a novel by George Pelecanos set in Washington, DC – which, much like Obama's best-selling autobiography（自传）, explores the relationship between a father and his son.
Completing the set is the novel Plainsong, by a little-known writer called Kent Haruf. Set in a small town on the Colorado plains, its existence on the reading list may reassure voters that Middle America has not been ignored by their commander-in-chief.
Publishers are keeping an eye on whether the famous "Obama bounce" – which has helped sales at the first family's favourite clothes stores, such as J Crew – will continue to apply to their troubled industry. The President's endorsement（认可） is said to have lifted sales of Joseph O'Neill's novel Netherland about cricket in Holland and New York last year.
Given that President Obama has already spent a portion of his week so far playing golf, beating Michelle at tennis, and visiting friends, questions will inevitably(不可避免地) be asked about his ability to put any dent（挫伤） at all in the ambitious reading list.
To finish all five books, he would have to manage more than 300 pages every day – quite an "ask" when a small portion of his time must also be spent running the country.
57. What’s the function of the first paragraph?
| A. To give an example. |
B. To introduce a topic. |
| C. To describe a hope. |
D. To offer an argument. |
58. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A. Some people doubted if the president could finish his books. |
| B. The Way Home is a book which explores the relationship between a father and his son. |
| C. Lush life, set in Washington, is a novel written by Richard Price. |
| D. Thanks to Obama, sales of Netherland have been lifted. |
59. Which of the following was NOT a book the President planned to read?
| A. John Adams. |
B. Netherland. |
| C. Hot, Flat and Crowded. |
D. Lush Life. |
60. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A. Obama’s Hobbies |
B. Obama’s Holiday Plan |
| C. Obama’s Holiday Life |
D. Obama’s Holiday Book List |
In modem society there is a great deal of argument about competition．Some value it highly，believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity．Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another and that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people．
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied(依赖)on how well they performed at tennis and other skills．For them，playing well and winning are often life-and-death affair. In their single-minded pursuit(追求)of success，the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten．
However，while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed，others take an opposite attitude．In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players，they strongly blame competition．Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society．Teaching these young people，I often observe in them a desire to fail．They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success .By not trying，they always have an excuse：“I may have lost，but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.’’ What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost，that would mean a lot．Such a loss would be a measure of their worth．
Clearly，this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves．Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others．Both are afraid of not being valued．Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve(缓解)can we discover a new meaning in competition．What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Competition helps to set up self-respect． |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people． |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development． |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition． |
Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
| A．It pushes society forward． |
| B．it builds up a sense of duty． |
| C．It improves personal abilities． |
| D．It encourages individual efforts． |
The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means________．
| A．those who try their best to win |
| B．those who value competition most highly |
| C．those who are against competition most strongly |
| D．those who rely on others most for success |
What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?
| A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’． |
| B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts． |
| C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills． |
| D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried． |
Which point of view may the author agree to?
| A．Every effort should be paid back． |
| B．Competition should be encouraged． |
| C．Winning should be a life—and—death matter． |
| D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition． |
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LYG2560@sohu.comMargaret is now looking for________.
| A．her lost cat | B．an apartment | C．a job | D．a roommate |
Which of the following is NOT the requirement of EL house?
| A．Experienced in exam preparations. |
| B．Experienced in teaching Chinese. |
| C．Excellent command of English. |
| D．Degree holder. |
Tolook for a person to work in your restaurant, you can contact________.
| A．LYG2560@sohu. com | B．MLCT@sina. com |
| C．Backerl896@126. com | D．JGHTR@gmail. com |
If you rent the apartment near West Nanjing Road, ________.
| A．you should pay RMB 13，000 each month |
| B．you can work out in the gym |
| C．you can go shopping in the neighborhood |
| D．you can swim in an outdoor swimming pool |
What does the underlined word “incumbent” mean?
| A．Businessman. | B．Student. | C．Employee. | D．Employer. |
When Boris left school，he could not find a job．He tried hard and pestered(纠缠)his relatives，but they had problems of their Own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed，then depressed，then a little hardened．Still he went on trying and still he failed．He began to think that he had no future at all.
“Why don’t you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him．“The world is a money-locker. You’d better find a way of opening it.”
“But what can I do?”
“Get out and have a look round,” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way．“See what people want；then give it to them，and they will pay for it.”
Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer．He worked hard，made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit．A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself．He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good：in the wrong position，too expensive or with some other snag(障碍). But at long last，he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no competition.
Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles．Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last，Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold Coins inside．Which of the following would be the best title for the passage ?
| A．Goodwill is the key to success． |
| B．The world is a money-locker |
| C．No education, no future |
| D．Difficulty of starting a small business |
Which of the following best describes Boris’ job hunting experience?
| A．Surprising | B．Encouraging | C．Boring | D．Disappointing |
Boris start his career by .
| A．cycling around the town |
| B．developing a waste ground |
| C．repairing cycles |
| D．buying empty shops |
Boris finally chose an empty shop on a new estate because.
| A．it was not so expensive |
| B．he had a lot of old customers there |
| C．he could make good use of his skills there |
| D．there were good opportunities there |
We can infer from the last paragraph that Boris.
| A．still couldn’t make good profits |
| B．set off in a successful career |
| C．found a lot of gold coins by accident |
| D．had great difficulty running his business |
Almost everyone suffers from a headache sometimes.But some people suffer from repeated, frequent headaches.
What is headache? What causes it? What can be done about a headache? What research is being done on headaches?
The dictionary defines(下定义) headache simply as “a pain in the head.” What most people mean by headache is a pain which lasts several minutes or hours.It covers the whole head, or one side of it, or perhaps the front or the back of the head.To add to the confusion(困惑) about a definition, some people call tight feeling in the head a headache.
A headache is important because it can be the first warning of a serious condition which probably could be controlled if discovered early.If a person removes the warning, day after day, with a pain-killer, he may pass the point of easy control.
The professional name for covering up a symptom(症状) is “masking” (遮蔽).A headache specialist once said, “Masking symptoms is not the best way of treatment.” He compared taking a pain-killer for a headache before a cause is known with taking iron pills for anemia(贫血症) while bleeding continues undiscovered.He added, “Sometimes it is wiser to stand still than to advance in darkness.”
A headache is important also because it affects normal, happy living.The employee with a headache does less work.In a flash of temper he may upset his fellow workers or customers, causing a direct or indirect loss to his organization.The mother with a headache suffers and disturbs the family.She upsets her husband and children.Which is true according to the passage?
| A．Headache has no effect on others. |
| B．Headache may cover the whole body. |
| C．Headache may last several minutes or hours. |
| D．Headache is just the tight feeling in the head. |
The sentence underlined in Paragraph 5 means ______.
| A．you should not advance in darkness whatever happens |
| B．you’d better do nothing before you know how to deal with it |
| C．you’d better still stand there without moving when it is dark at night |
| D．you should take some pain-killers for your headache if you want to cover it up |
What may the writer talk about in the following paragraph?
| A．Treatments of headaches | B．The definition of headaches |
| C．Symptom of headaches | D．Bad effects of a headache |
The passage mainly tells us______.
| A．the reason of headache |
| B．headache and its effect |
| C．everyone suffers from a headache |
| D．a headache is a symptom of something serious |
Popular music in America is what every student likes.Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch.Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.
Adult drivers listen to the car radio as they drive to work.They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people.Most of the radio programmes are music.
Pop or popular music singers make much money.They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places.Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes.Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer.Wherever the singer goes , all the young people want to meet him or her.Now the singer has became a national star.
There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans.One is called folk music.It tells stories about the common life of Americans.Another is called western or country music.This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows when they were watching.Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.________ kinds of music are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Two | B．Four | C．Three | D．Five |
When pop singers _________, they will become national stars.
| A．make much money | B．make a CD or tape |
| C．are loved by all the young people | D．are wanted to sing on the radio |
From the passage we know that country music is about ________
| A．common life about Americans | B．country life and love story |
| C．life of cowboys | D．school life in America |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Most students in America like popular music |
| B．Students with cars in America like to listen to music while driving |
| C．Adult drivers in America listen to music all the time while driving. |
| D．Everyone in America wants to meet pop sing |