Zoe Chambers was a successful PR(Public Relations) consultant and life was going well—she had a great job, a beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. “The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through,” she said. “After everything I’d done for the company, they dismissed me by text! I was so angry and I just didn’t feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life.”
Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.
“The moment I arrived at Kathy’s farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay,” said Zoe. “Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless.”
Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. “It’s a hard life, physically very tiring,” she says. “In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy’s wonderful dinners.”
Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing—watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, “It’s one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had. I could never go back to city life now.”
1. When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a ______ life.
A. satisfying B. tough C. meaningless D. boring
2 The most important reason why Zoe went to visit Kathy’s farm is that _________.
A. Zoe lost her job as a PR consultant B. Kathy persuaded her to do so
C. Zoe got tired of the city life D. Zoe loved Wales more than London
3. How does Zoe feel about the country life according to the passage? ______.
A. Tiresome and troublesome B. Romantic and peaceful
C. Mentally exhausting but healthy D. Physically tiring but rewarding
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children．On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special．
However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington．A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909．Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her．It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices（牺牲） and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man．Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910．
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day．Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died．
When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card．Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental（伤感的）．Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them．Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child need Dad．．The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______．
| A．many people celebrate the day | B．only America celebrates the day |
| C．America makes it an official day | D．all men are honored in America |
．At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______．
| A．Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday |
| B．Sonora’s birthday was June 19 |
| C．it was decided by the president at that time |
| D．her mother died on June 19 |
．How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?
| A．4 | B．10 | C．14 | D．24 |
．According to the passage, on Father’s Day, ______．
| A．people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers |
| B．only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers |
| C．children must go home to honor their fathers |
| D．fathers are often honored in different ways |
．According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______．
| A．was very kind to anyone | B．was the first father honored in 1924 |
| C．did a lot for his daughter | D．always help others by giving money |
Shopping is not as simple as you may think! There are all sorts of tricks each time we reach out for that particular brand（品牌）of product on the shelf.
Colouring, for example, varies according to what the producers are trying to sell. Health foods are packaged（包装）in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colours. Ice cream packets（包装） are often blue and expensive goods, like chocolates, are gold or silver.
When some kind of pain-killer （止痛药） was brought out recently, researchers found that the colours turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective. Eventually, it came on the market in a dark blue and white package — blue because we think of it as safe, and white as calm.
The size of a product can attract a shopper. But quite often a bottle doesn’t contain as much as it appears to.
It is believed that the better-known companies spend, on average, 70 percent of the total cost of the product itself on packaging!
The most successful producers know that it’s not enough to have a good product. The founder of Pears Soap, who for 25 year has used pretty little girls to promote（促销）their goods, came to the conclusion: “Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius（天才） to sell it.”. Which of the following may trick a shopper into buying a product according to the text?
| A．The cost of its package | B．The price of the product |
| C．The colour of its package | D．The brand name of the product |
. The underlined part “the colours turned the customers off” (in Para.3) means that the colours ________ .
| A．attracted the customers strongly | B．had weak effects on the customers |
| C．tricked the customers into shopping | D．caused the customers to lose interest |
. Which of the following is the key to the success in product sales?
| A．The way to promote goods. | B．The team to produce a good product |
| C．The discovery of a genius. | D．The brand name used by successful producers. |
. Which of the following would be the best title for this text?
| A．Choice of Good Products. | B．Disadvantages of Products. |
| C．Effect of Packaging on Shopping. | D．Brand Name and Shopping Tricks. |
Feel tired lately? Has a doctor said he can’t find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he has sent you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows that there is nothing wrong with you.
Then, consider this: you might be in a state of sub-health（亚健康）. Sub-health, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as a borderline（界限）state between health and disease.
According to the survey by the National Health Organization, over 45 percent of sub-healthy people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management positions as well as students around exam-week.
Symptoms include a lack of energy, depression, slow reactions, insomnia, anger, and poor memory. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.
The key to preventing and recovering from sub-health, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternate work and rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities.
As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar. They should also eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, fish because they are rich in nutritional elements -- vitamins and other elements that are important to the body.
Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract（消化道）. They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding sub-health..
According to this passage, which of the following is true?
| A．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should stay at home and keep silent. |
| B．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should go to see a doctor and buy some medicine. |
| C．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should have yourself examined in foreign countries. |
| D．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should find out the reasons and relax yourself. |
.
. It may be easy for middle-aged people to get sub-healthy because _________.
| A．they have used up their energy | B．they have lost their living hopes |
| C．they have more pressure in life and work | D．they begin to get older |
.
. The key to preventing you from falling into a state of sub-health is that you should ________.
| A．work hard | B．sleep more |
| C．form good living habits | D．take more medicine |
.
. The underlined word “alternate” in this passage is closest in meaning to _________.
| A．arrange by turns | B．cause to take place | C．keep oneself busy with | D．get tired of |
Enough sleep is important to health. The amount o f sleep needed depends on the age of the person and the conditions in which sleep takes place. The young may need more sleep than the old, but usually eight hours are enough for the health of grown-ups. Some can do with less than this amount, but others may need more. Every person knows his own need. It is then a matter of good judgement to satisfy his need. Sleep should always be enou
gh to make one bring back his strength and get ready for a day’s
work.
Fresh air is necessary to sound sleep. It is not without reason for some people to think that it is practicable to sleep in the open air. When one can keep himself warm, out-of-door sleeping probably gives the body its most complete relaxation(松弛). Ability to sleep is largely a habit . The conditions referred to only lead to sleep. Out-of-door exercises, a good habit of regular hours and the avoidance(避免) of late eating and worry, which are largely within the control of any person, are all helpful to sound sleep.
A bath at bedtime, neither hot nor cool but of body temperature, may be helpful to sleep. Sleep-producing drug(药）should never be taken except when suggested by a doctor. How many hours are usually enough for the health of a pupil?
| A．Less than eight hours. | B．No more than eight hours. |
| C．Eight hours or so. | D．No less than eight hours. |
Which of the following is helpful to good sleep?
| A．Keeping good habits. |
| B．Staying up late at night. |
| C．Eating something at bedtime. |
| D．Forming the habit of taking sleep-producing drug. |
The amount of sleep a person needs has something to do with________.
| A．his age | B．his height |
| C．his weight | D．his character |
Before going to bed, you’d better not_______.
| A．take a bath | B．do any housework |
| C．think a lot | D．go out for relaxation |
New York Time —A gunman killed eight people at a mall in Omaha this afternoon and then killed himself, setting off panic among holiday shoppers, the police said.
“The person who we believe to be the shooter has died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, ” Sgt. Teresa Negron of the Omaha Police Department said at televised news. “We have been able to clear the mall, ” she said. “We don’t believe we have any other shooters. ” The police said that at least five other people had been injured in the shootings.
She did not give the shooter’s identity. “We are still doing the investigation, ” Sergeant Negron said, adding that the city’s mayor, who was out of town, was on his way back to Omaha.
She said the police received a 911 call from someone i
nside the Westroads Mall on the west side of Omaha, and shots could be heard in the background. The first police officers arrived at the mall six minutes after the first call, she said, but by then the shootings were over.
It is reported that the gunman left a suicide note that was found at his home by relatives. A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity (匿名) said the note indicated that the gunman wanted to "go out in style".
The shootings broke the usually banal routine of holiday shopping. The gunman was said by some witnesses to have fired about 20 shots into a crowd. Some customers and workers ran screaming from the mall, while others dived into dressing rooms to hide from the shooter.
Shoppers and store workers were trapped inside the mall, which has roughly 135 stores. Others streamed out of mall exits with their hands raised. President Bush was in Omaha this morning to deliver a speech, but he had left the city by the time the shootings took place. Where did the shootings first come out?
| A．On a newspaper. | B．In the Internet. |
| C．In TV news. | D．In a police poster. |
What do the underlined words “go out in style” probably mean?
| A．Go out of the mall in particular clothes. |
| B．Walk in the mall with everybody focused on. |
| C．Go to a socially event by fashionable means. |
| D．Stop his life in an impressive way. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Nobody knows why the shooter did so and nothing was found at his home. |
| B．The city’s mayor happened not to be in the city when the shootings took place. |
| C．Police arrived at the mall before the shootings were over and rescued customers. |
| D．The official who showed what the note meant had no request of his own identity. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the news?
| A．Gunman Kills 8 People, Then Himself at a Mall in Omaha |
| B．Shoppers in Great Panic before the Holiday |
| C．Bush Happened to Escape a Shot |
| D．Shooter Found Dead in a Mall on the west of Omaha |