A new system that scans customers’ fingerprints and deducts (扣除) the grocery bill from their bank accounts has taken supermarkets in southwestern Germany by storm and is being picked up by hardware stores, school restaurants and even bars are picking it up.
The Edeka supermarket chain is the first retail (零售) business in Germany to use the new system. “Almost a quarter of our customers pay with their fingers,” said an employee at the headquarters. Edeka has tried the system at 70 of its supermarkets and customers like it.
“At first we thought that only the young who really keep up with the latest technology would be interested, but we were wrong,” said Stefan Sewoester from IT Werke. “Almost two-thirds of the people who use the system are 40 and older,” he said.
IT Werke, a computer company, is one of the pioneers of fingerprint payment software in Germany. It has helped about 150 shops, restaurants and bars to put in the fingerprint scanning machines.
To sign up for the service, customers must have their fingerprints taken and leave their addresses and banking details with the shop. The shop then takes the cost of goods directly out of the customer’s bank account.
“It is a godsend for elderly people because they do not have to remember their pin-code to pay with their bank cards, or to look around for their glasses or cash.” Sewoester said.
The stores benefit from the system, too. It saves more than time in the check-out line. It also cuts out the hidden costs of accepting electronic card payments.
Fingerprint date profiling has long been used to control access and for other security purposes in Germany’s airports, laboratories and nuclear power plants. IT Werke plans to keep refining the retail use of the system. It wants to introduce fingerprint payment in school restaurants with an additional feature that might appeal to parents－they could disable their children’s access to junk food.
1. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Pay with Fingers. B. New Development in Technology.
C. Supermarket Revolution. D. Change in Computer Software.
2. Most of the people who use the fingerprint system are ______.
A. youngsters B. housewives C. IT fans D. the elderly
3. The underlined word “godsend” probably means ______.
A. great fortune sent by God B. good luck sent by God
C. good things that happen unexpectedly D. gift sent by God
4. What do we know by inference from the passage?
A. Fewer shops will try the new software because of the cost.
B. The new service requires certain personal information.
C. IT Werke should be the largest computer company in Germany.
D. The new change in payment only benefits elderly people.
第二部分：阅读理解（第一节20小题；第二节共5小题；每小题2分，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California．Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school．He was classified as educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident．After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper．
Today we buried our 20-year-old son．He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night．How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time．If I had only known I would have said, “Jim, I love you and I’m very proud of you．”
I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him．I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people．
When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc．, your angry feelings won’t amount to much．
I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance．Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation．The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died．He called me to say, “Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you．Got to go to work．Bye．” He gave me something to treasure forever．
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care．
1．According to the passage, we know that ____．
A．Jim kept to himself B．Jim did very well in his studies
C．Jim’s parents were patient with him D．Jim failed to finish his high school
2．The underlined word “irritating” in Paragraph 4 means ____．
A．annoying B．aggressive C．impatient D．thrilling
3．By writing the letter printed in the Palo Alto Times, the author intends to ____．
A．mourn her son’s sudden death in a traffic accident
B．remind people to be cautious of motorcycles
C．advise people to take the chance to express their love in time
D．appreciate more of life than ever before
4．What can be the best title of the passage?
A．Love Your Family． B．Do It Today．
C．Walk with Pride． D．Appreciate Smiles．
A centuries-old tradition of wearing a white horse-hair wig in court ended for many judges when a simpler new dress code came into force．
While judges in criminal cases will still wear them, those in civil and family hearings will appear bare-headed in court, wearing a new-style plain black robe, the British government said．
After a long debate, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Philips, head of the judiciary(司法部) in England and Wales, finally ordered the changes in an attempt to modernize the courts．
Wigs have been an emblem(象征) of the British legal system since the 17th century when the fashion for wearing them in wider society went through to the courts．For hundreds of years before the reign(统治)of Charles II, judges and lawyers were expected to come to court with short hair and a beard．
The decision to abandon wigs has disappointed traditionalists who argue that they give judges an air of authority and impartiality．Wigs could also protect them from angry members of the public．John Mortimer, the barrister and author of the “Rumpole of the Bailey” books, opposed the changes．“The idea’s ridiculous! A barrister without his wig would be like a doctor without a stethoscope（听诊器）,” he wrote in a newspaper article when the changes were first proposed．
However, modernists argue that wigs are a hangover from the past that could intimidate people in court．In a newspaper interview, Lord Phillips described wigs as an anachronism（不合时宜之物）that gave the public a false impression of judges．
A Ministry of Justice survey last year found 70 percent of court workers wanted to keep wigs, compared to 42 percent of the public．
1．The reasons why wigs should be kept are the following EXCEPT________．
A．to build up the fair image of the judges．
B．to keep the judges from the harm from the audience．
C．to make the audience fear the judges．
D．to symbolize justice．
2．According to the British government, wigs will still be worn in ________．
A．murder cases B．divorce cases C．property cases D．real estate cases
3．The underlined word ‘intimidate’ in Paragraph 4 means ________．
A．frightened B．dissatisfied C．amused D．annoyed
4．Based on the article, which of the following inferences is TRUE?
A．Wearing wigs were very popular in the 17th century in Britain．
B．A stethoscope to a doctor is what a wig to a traditionalist．
C．The courts started the fashion of wearing wigs．
D．Many people favor the wigs for the judges．
5．The article is mainly about _________．
A．the difficulty in abandoning wigs in court．
B．the history of wearing wigs and the end of it．
C．abandoning wigs for many judges and the debate caused by it．
D．the opinion of the public and court workers on abandoning wigs．
Making greener choices, from the food you eat to the way you travel, can improve your health．A recent article advises people should try low–carbon (低碳) lifestyles which could be the most important contribution to yourself, even the earth．Some guidelines follow:
1．Use your own power rather than oil whenever you can
Burning oil in your car makes pollution like carbon dioxide (CO2) that causes global warming．Cutting down on driving and using your own twolegs helps cut global warming pollution and helps reduce weight problems over time without dangerous diets or surgery．
If all Americansused foot instead of engine as daily exercise during normal travel, we could reduce our oil dependence by more than a third．Besides, by using a push mower(剪草机) instead of a power mower to cut your lawn, you can also cut up to 80 pounds of CO2 per year! And you’ll get a great workout!
2．Drop the bottled water, drink tap(自来水)
Drinking plenty of water is important during hot weather or when exercising．You may think bringing bottled water with you can be both convenient and harm-free to the environment．But, you may change your mind if you see the truth below in 2006, 30 billion plastic water bottles were made, which used the amount of more than 17 million barrels(桶)of oil–enough to fuel more than one million cars for a year, and produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide．
If you have worries about your tap water, clean it regularly!The truth is thattap water is no worse than bottled water ant it saves much money．
3．Choose foods carefully
There are somegeneral ways you can follow that are good for you and the planet:
a．Eating less meat and more grains and vegetables helps reduce the need to cut down forests to grow the food for animals
b．Buying local food may be environmentally–friendly．Locally grown foods often use much less oil in transport than the foods coming from somewhere far away, which would help reduceCO2 amount．
For more information, you may consult http://www.edf.org/
1．What benefit can people make if they walk more but drive less?
A．More pollution will be made during the process．
B．There will be no obvious effect on reducing the amount of carbon dioxide．
C．Every year, more than 30% of the oil can be saved, which will help weaken global warming．
D．People’s weight will stay the same, and they still need to go on a diet to get thinner．
2．Why should we change our preference to bottled water?
A．Bottled water contains more good things for our health．
B．Tap water is not clean enough for people to drink．
C．Bottled water is more expensive than tap water for its better quality．
D．Tap water is as good as bottled water, which wastes so much resource during its production．
3．If you mean to protect the environment, you will ________．
A．often buy food from foreign countries B．seldom eat meat for dinner
C．usually drive to work and home D．never boil tap water to drink
4．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Low–carbon lifestyles bring more harm than benefit to nature．
B．Man’s daily life activities have no effect on the changes of the environment．
C．What you eat can not only be good for your health, but also for the health of the earth．
D．The choice of food is completely personal, which won’t be important for nature at all．
In my experience, one of the greatest reasons of unhappiness is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are．When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different–we cry out for something better．That may be human nature, or perhaps it’s something that has been grown in our culture．
The root of the unhappiness isn’t that we want things to be different, however, it’s that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place．We’ve judged it as bad, rather than saying, “It’s not bad or good, but it just is．”
Here is an example．I have written a paper, A Beautiful Method to Find Peace of Mind．Quite a few people think it bad after reading it because I think people should expect things to go differently than you planned, and that you should accept that, instead of encouraging people to change themselves or the environment as much as possible．You could accept it as the way the world works–as the way things actually are．And try to understand why that is, and follow it, as it is．
This can be useful to whatever you do: whether it be how other people act at work, how politics works and how depressing the news media can be．Accept these things as they are, and try to understand why they’re that way．
It’ll save you a lot of sadness because you’ll no longer say, “Oh, I wish things didn’t go bad!”
If you really understand what I mean, you can try a different way to live in this world:accept, and understand．It might lead to some interesting results．
1．What is the major reason why we feel unhappy in the writer’s opinion?
A．We are never satisfied with ourselves and the environment around us．
B．When we see something that makes us unhappy, we don’t know what to do．
C．We feel hard to accept the way things happen themselves．
D．No matter how happy we are, we never want to be happy．
2．What do you think the writer may say to himself when he meets something unhappy?
A．How could I have made such a stupid mistake?
B．I should have done better．It’s all my fault．
C．Why is it all against my plan? It can’t be so bad．
D．Well, I know all is what it is meant to be．Take it easy．
3．Why do some people think badly of the writer’s new paper after reading it?
A．The writer hasn’t shown an encouraging attitude in his paper．
B．The writer asks people to try to make things better．
C．The writer reminds the people that things will go exactly as you’ve planned．
D．The writer doesn’t think it a good idea to accept the things go naturally．
4．The statements below are based on the writer’s points of view, EXCEPT_______
A．Unhappiness may be caused by human nature that we always want things to be better．
B．Why we don’t like the thing is that we have regard it as bad in the beginning．
C．The news media shouldn’t be so depressing if the reporters worked harder．
D．The best way to avoid feeling unhappy is to accept the things as they are．
三．阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项;并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In front of 60,000 fans, the former Olympic and world champion, Liu Xiang got his third National Games gold medal in the final of the men’s 110 meters hurdles at the Olympic Sports Center in Ji Nan, Shandong province．
Before winning this game, Liu joined in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix meet(上海国际田径黄金大奖赛) in September, 2009 and won the second place in men’s 110 meters hurdles with a very slight loss to his solid rival–American athlete, Terrence Trammell．That was the first time that he had shown up on the track and in public after his 13 month’s lay–off．So, this game on October 25, in 11th Chinese National Games was very critical for him to handle．After crossing the finishing line, Liu said, “The most important thing was to finish the race safely and smoothly．The result is not very good but the effort was not bad．”
With the final result of 13.34 seconds, Liu became the first Chinese hurdler to win a National Games title three times．“I’m feeling very good now,” Liu said．“I started to compete at the National Games at the age of 18 and now I’m 26．I hope I can run at the Games again in four years’ time because, for all Chinese athletes, is a dream and it is also my starting point．I would just like to thank all the people who have supported me and all the spectators who cheered for me here．”
It is hard for most of Liu’s fans to forget the heartbroken moment at Bird’s Nest last year at the Beijing Olympics because of the foot injury．Thirteen months later, however, the strong-minded man thrilled the home crowd with the strong comeback and would gain another take–off in his career．“I never thought of coming back when I got injured and I felt my future was in doubt,”Liu said, “But now I have seen there is still a future．”
1．When will the 12th Chinese National Games be held?
A．2012 B．2013 C．2014 D．2015
2．Which of the following statement is TRUE?
A．Liu Xiang was very confident after he knew his foot was badly injured．
B．Liu Xiang beat Terrence Trammell in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix meet．
C．Liu Xiang had won three gold medals in the National Games before October 25, 2009．
D．Liu Xiang couldn’t have won this gold medal without his strong will and people’s support．
3．What’s the best title for the article?
A．A Legend–Liu Xiang B．Liu Xiang Is Back
C．Champion of The National Games D．Never Give Up