.
Singles Day falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively new holiday is one specially for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled “Singles Day” on the Internet, to find that China is the only country in the world that has set up a special day for singles to celebrate their lives.
An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong. One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the “four columns” card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov. 11. In order to remind them of the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.
Singles Day was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. These college students carried their university tradition into society after they graduated. Singles Day is now a special day for all.
The main way to celebrate Singles day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it’s important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold “blind date” parties in an attempt to say goodbye to their single lives.
For breakfast on Singles Day, singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough sitcks) representing the four “ones” in “11.11” and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the dot in between.
Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on the day. Many attend “blind date” parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning “single”, the four “ones” of the date can also mean “only one” as in “the only one for me”. Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only “one” in their heart.
45. Which of the statement is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Singles Day has a long history.
B. Only men celebrate Singles Day.
C. Singles Day is only celebrated in China.
D. Students in Nanjing University started Singles Day.
46. People celebrate the festival mainly by .
A. playing Mahjong B. having dinner
C. getting married D. hanging out with friends
47. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Singles Day
B. Four Single Men’s Singles Day
C. University Culture on Singles Day
D. Symbolic Food on Singles Day
48. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
(a-para.1 b-para.2 c-para.3 d-para.4 e-para.5 f-para.6) 
Once upon a time there was a great man who married the woman of his dreams. With their love, they created a little girl. She was a bright and cheerful little girl and the great man loved her very much.
When the little girl was growing up, the great man would hug her and tell her, “ I love you, little girl.” The little girl would shout and say, “ I’m not a little girls anymore.” Then the man would laugh and say, “ But to me, you’ll always be my little girl.”
Th
e little girl who- was- not- little- anymore left her home and went into the world. As she learned more about herself, she learned more about the man. She saw that he truly was great and strong, for now she recognized his strengths. One of his strengths was his ability to express his love to his family. It didn’t matter where she went in the world, the man would call her and say, “ I love you, little girl.”
The day came when the little girl who-was- not- little-anymore received a phone call. The great man was damaged. He had had a stroke(中风 ). He couldn’t talk anymore and they weren’t sure that he could understand the words spoken to him.
And so she went to the side of the great man. When she walked into the room and saw him, he looked small and not strong at all. He looked at her and tried to speak, but he could not.
The little girl did the only thing she could do. She climbed up on the bed next to the great man. Tears ran from both of their eyes and she drew her arms around the useless shoulders of her father.
Her head on his chest, she thought of many things. She remembered the wonderful times together and how she has always felt protected. And then she heard from within the man, the beat of his heart. The heart where the musid and the words had always lived. The heart beat on, steadily unconcerned about damage to the rest of the body. And while she rested there, the magic happened. She heard what she needed to hear.
His hear beat ou
t the words that his mouth could no longer say…
I love you
I love you
I love you
Little girl
Little girl
Little girl
And she was comforted. In the 2nd paragraph, the little girl showed her ____ by pouting.
| A．displeasure | B．disappointment | C．agreement | D．excitement |
The following except ____ can be inferred as the consequences of the father’s stoke.
| A．the loss of speaking ability | B．the inability to move around |
| C．that his arms could no longer function properly | D．the beat of his heart |
The girl felt _____ when she returned home and saw her father in bed.
| A．she was protected just as before | B．she could never have left home |
| C．the difficulty of being old and sick | D．the need to show him her love |
Which statement is true according to the story?
| A．The daughter left her home because she had a fight with her father. |
| B．The girl returned home when she got a letter from his father about his illness. |
C．The father recovered as if by magic soo n after the daughter’s return. |
| D．From the father’s example, the daughter learned how to express her love. |
All sorts of items become litter(垃圾) but two of the most common and most dangerous are cigarette butts（烟头) and plastic bags. Litter is a big problem for our environment but it is a problem that individuals can easily do something about. Not littering at all or cleaning up litter, such as cigarette butts and plastic bags, greatly improves the quality of our environment.
Although cigarette butts, are small, they are bad for the environment. Over 1,600 billion cigarette are smoked each year in China and large quantities of the butts are thrown away. Worldwide, about 4. 5 trillion butts are littered every year. Apart from the fact that butts spoil the beauty of the environment, they contain some very toxic chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they decrease the quality of the water and endanger plants and animals that live there. So, if people have to smoke, they shouldn't throw away the butts but put them in the rubbish bin instead.
Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is a danger to the environment. There areseveral reasons for this. They are made from oil and gas, which are non—renewable resources. If they are not recycled, these resources are lost to us. In China, 2 billion plastic bags are used every day. An enormous number of these become litter. This is a huge problem because they last from 20 to 1,000 years in the environment. They float easily in the air and water and travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches and oceans. Plastic bags kill up to one million seabirds, 100, 000 sea mammals and countless fish each year worldwide. It is up to people not to let plastic bags become litter. It would be better if they used fewer and recycled them.
Cleaning up your cigarette butts and plastic bags would improve the environment. And we would know that we were doing something to look after our planet. However, I believe the best solution would be not to smoke or use plastic bags at all. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
A B. C. D.
( ①=" paragraph" 1; ②=" paragraph" 2; ③=" paragraph" 3; ④a para
graph 4 )The word “toxic” in the paragraph 2 most probably mean “________”
| A．precious | B．extra | C．poisonous | D．useless |
From the text. we know the fact that_________
| A．Chinese smokers litter up to 4. 5 trillion butts every year |
| B．people in the world use 2 billion plastic bags in a single day |
| C．plastic bags cause 1 million deaths of seabirds each year worldwide |
| D．the butts can last 20 to 1,000 years in the environment of China |
What's probably the best title of the passage?. Clean Up Your
| A．Say Goodbye to Smokin | B．Protect the Endangered Sea Animals . | C．Use Paper Bags Now | D．Clean Up Your Butts and Bags |
Just as the world’s most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming. Countless recent reports from the world’s leading scientific bodies have said the same thing. For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that: “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity.”
The idea that humans could change the planet’s climate may be counter-intuitive(与直觉不符的), but the basic science is well understood. Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released（释放）into the atmosphere. As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket.
Of course, the planet’s climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors(因素) such as changes in solar or volcanic（火山的）activity, or cycles relating the Earth’s going around the sun. According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.
Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change: “If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”
The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths –one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty. In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ________.
| A．solar activity |
| B．volcanic activity |
| C．the Earth’s going around the sun |
| D．human activity |
The text is developed by ________.
| A．giving typical examples |
| B．following the order of space |
| C．analyzing a theory and arguing it |
| D．comparing and finding differences |
The underline word “identical” means ________.
| A．totally different |
| B．exactly the same |
| C．extremely important |
| D．relatively independent |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．Are All the Scientists Really Scientific? |
| B．Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to? |
| C．Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming? |
| D．What’s Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases? |
Fly into Lisbon and spend a couple of days exploring the capital, which is a terrific bargain. In addition to some worthwhile and affordable dining and lodging(住宿) choices, must-see sights include the Romanesque Lisbon Cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century, and the Moorish Alfama quarter, with its markets and winding cobblestone streets. Take a taxi or bus to the Belém district, where you’ll find the Tower of Belém and the Jerónimos Monastery. After Lisbon, you can take a day trip, by train, to Sintra, a beautiful town nestled(依偎) against the hills about 20 miles west of Lisbon; its castle and palaces, like the Sintra National Palace and the Pena National Palace, are well worth a visit.
To see the countryside, rent a car and drive southeast about 90 minutes to the Alentejo region. Base yourself in Évora, an architectural precious stone. By foot, explore its winding cobblestone streets, fountains and whitewashed houses. Attractions include the Roman Temple of Évora. And make sure to hear some fado, the traditional music of Portugal(葡萄牙).
Alternatively, head north from Lisbon to Oporto, about three hours, and then east to the winemaking region of the Douro River Valley. In his article Portugal Old, New and Undiscovered, Frank Bruni wrote: “All around us mountains undulated(波动) into the distance. The slopes（斜坡）in the foreground were an amazing patchwork of greens, reds, browns and grays, as if some grand hand had fashioned it into a picture on all that nature and agriculture can do.” You can NOT enjoy the beauty of ________ in Lisbon.
| A．the Sintra National Palace |
| B．the Moorish Alfama quarter |
| C．the Tower of Belém |
| D．Romanesque Lisbon Cathedral |
In Alentejo region, a tourist can ________.
| A．walk by the sea bare feet |
| B．appreciate traditional music |
| C．enjoy a good view of the city |
| D．buy some precious stones cheap |
Frank Bruni’s words help the readers to get a better picture of ________.
A. Douro River Valley
B. Lisbon
C. Oporto The text is meant to ________.
| A．advise on travelling in Portugal |
| B．describe the beauty of Portugal |
| C．introduce the attractions in Lisbon |
| D．compare the city with the countryside |
Finding the right school for your child is a process. You will want to read about the school, talk to any friends who are involved in the school and, most important of all, visit the school.
The first step in finding out about Indian Creek is to request an information packet. We will be happy to send you a packet containing a brochure(小册子), the fee structure and an application. The packet should answer most of your general questions about the school.
In order to get a true sense of Indian Creek School, you should come for an Admission Tour, which includes a personal meeting focusing on your child, a tour of the building and the classrooms, and a discussion of the curriculum(课程).
This visit is no less important if the child for whom you are seeking admission is a teenager than if he or she is a three-year-old one. Every school has a different “school climate.” If you visit two or three schools, you will notice that each “feels” different. You know your child best and you will quickly develop a sense of whether a school is the right match or not.
●The initial point of entry for Indian Creek Students is at the pre-kindergarten level for three year olds.
●Children must be three years old by August 31st.
●We also have major points of entry from grade six to grade nine. At each of these levels, we open new sections and accept students in addition to those moving up from our own lower grades.
●There are scattered(零散的) openings available throughout the program due to attrition(学生流失). Once an opening occurs, students spend a day at ICS, part of which includes admission testing. You can NOT get to know about ICS by ________.
| A．getting an information packet |
| B．taking an admission tour |
| C．asking friends involved in ICS |
| D．taking an admission test |
During the Admission Tour, you can ________.
| A．having a meeting with the children |
| B．decide on the design of the classrooms |
| C．talk with the school about the courses |
| D．choose the weather suitable for study |
Which of the following is NOT accepted for ICS when there is no attrition?
| A．A boy who will be 3 years old by July. |
| B．A fifth grader originally studying in ICS. |
| C．An eighth grader from another school. |
| D．A fourth grader from another school. |
The text is intended for ________.
| A．teachers |
| B．parents |
| C．kindergarteners |
| D．school kids |