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.
1. 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. |
2. 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. |
3. 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. |
4. 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 |
Windows 8, apart from Windows 95, is the biggest surprise and the only version of Microsoft’ s operating system that has been changed from the core（核心）when compared to its former one. However, a recent study has shown that under 20% of business owners would be willing to upgrade to the new version of Windows. The reason for this remains to be discussed and debated, and we will try to throw light on this research by providing you with some of the most common advantages and disadvantages of Windows 8.
Generally speaking, there are a great number of plus sides related to upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Speed — This is the biggest advantage to mention. Boot time has been reported to be up to nine times shorter than that with Windows 7.
New passwords — Instead of typing your passwords, Windows 8 will let you use gestures on your favorite photos to enter your password. This is not only practical but also extremely cool!
Windows 8 experience — Apart from computers, Windows 8 will be used on all devices, including smart phones, tablet PC’s and so on. Also, owing to the fact that it has been specifically designed with touch screen users in mind, Windows 8, besides using keyboard and mouse, will offer a whole new user experience.
However, there are still some disadvantages.
The first one that has to be mentioned is that there is no Start Menu from Windows. Yes, there is no Start button in the lower left corner, and this might be a real puzzle of many Windows users. Also, many users have had a problem to get used to the new interface（界面）introduced by Windows 8. The biggest problem that is worth noticing is that Windows 8 was originally designed for touch screen users, and this may have a bad effect on desktop users who have gotten used to doing everything with the help of their keyboard and mouse.What does “plus sides” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?
| A．Math symbols. | B．Strengths. |
| C．New rules. | D．Messages. |
The most attractive aspect of Windows 8 is its .
| A．fast rate | B．complex passwords |
| C．unique experience | D．new interface |
From the text we can learn that Windows 8 .
| A．no longer requires a password |
| B．was upgraded from windows 95 |
| C．will be popular with desktop users |
| D．can be used on more than computers |
Many Windows 8 users will face the problem that .
| A．they don’t get accustomed to the new interface |
| B．they have to use fingerprints instead of buttons |
| C．keyboard and mouse can’t be used any longer |
| D．Start Menu is hidden in the lower left corner |
Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver. The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can not get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman’s kind reaction. She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland. “It is OK. It wasn’t your fault.” When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
Odland isn’t the only CEO to have made this discovery. Instead, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It’s hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule. They say how others treat the CEO says nothing. But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.
Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like, “I could buy this place and fire you,” or “I know the owner and I could have you fired.” Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.
The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,” Swanson says. “I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman’s dress?
| A．He was fired. |
| B．He was blamed. |
| C．The woman comforted him. |
| D．The woman left the restaurant at once. |
Odland learned one of his life lessons from .
| A．his experience as a waiter |
| B．the advice given by the CEOs |
| C．an article in Fortune |
| D．an interesting best-selling book |
According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about ________.
| A．Fortune 500 companies | B．the Management Rules |
| C．Swanson’s book | D．the Waiter Rule |
From the text we can learn that ________.
| A．one should be nicer to important people |
| B．CEOs often show their power before others |
| C．one should respect others no matter who they are |
| D．CEOs often have meals in expensive restaurants |
Dear Guys,
I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.
One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.
Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.
However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, and threw it as hard as I could.
It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.
Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, and then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.
The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.
This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.
Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.
Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.
“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.
“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.
And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”
I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.
Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.
It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.
I surprised myself—and I’m sure you as well—by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.
Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”
Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period were just enough blows for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”
And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.
Sincerely,
Jen CorderyThe writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.
| A．she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries |
| B．she wanted to refresh her childhood memories |
| C．she could not refuse the polite request from the young man |
| D．she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight |
Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined word “game”?
| A．anxious | B．brave | C．afraid | D．curious |
Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?
| A．To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back. |
| B．To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills. |
| C．To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were. |
| D．To express her dislike towards softball. |
What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer ________.
| A．inspired | B．encouraged | C．awkward | D．depressed |
What happened to the ball at last?
| A．The writer managed to throw the ball back. |
| B．The boy got the ball back by himself. |
| C．The writer threw the ball away out of anger. |
| D．The boys got angry and left without the ball. |
What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this open letter?
| A．To express her regret over what she did the day before. |
| B．To announce that she would never play all games again. |
| C．To joke on her inability to throw the ball over the fence. |
| D．To criticize the young men for their cruelty to her dignity. |
Are you a compulsive (强迫性的) spender, or do you hold on to your money as long as possible? Are you a bargain hunter? Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash? Your answers to these questions will reflect your personality. According to psychologists, our individual money habits not only show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’ spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage. Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry at their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love. They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy themselves expensive presents because they need love.
People can be addicted to different things — for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or even television. They are compulsive in their addictions, i.e. they must satisfy these needs to feel comfortable. In the same way, according to psychologists, compulsive spenders must spend money. For people who buy on credit, furthermore, charge accounts are even more exciting than money: in other words, they feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasures in spending enormous amounts are actually greater than those they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, etc. in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(疗法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money: they give them “assignments”. If a person buys something in every store that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self-discipline in this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything. Soon he will learn that nothing bad will happen to him if he doesn’t buy anything, and he can solve the problem of his compulsive buying.If you use charge accounts, ______.
| A．you pay in cash |
| B．you pay with credit card |
| C．you pay less than you should |
| D．you pay more than you should |
Compulsive bargain hunters buy things for all the following reasons except that ______.
| A．the things they buy are cheap |
| B．they believe they can balance their budgets |
| C．they get psychological satisfaction |
| D．they really need the things they buy |
Behavior therapy in this case aims at ______.
| A．helping businessmen to increase their business |
| B．helping compulsive spenders to buy less |
| C．finding out how people will react if they are allowed to buy |
| D．finding out what people will do in front of a bargain |
The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ______.
| A．different things | B．their addictions |
| C．their pleasures | D．charge accounts |
From the passage we can conclude that ______________.
| A．how you spend money reflects if you are psychologically healthy |
| B．money is a necessity and will bring you happiness if you have much |
| C．compulsive buying problems can be solved by taking some medicine |
| D．all businessmen understand well the psychology of customers |
Do you want to help others—but don’t know where to start? Do you feel that the challenges facing us are too big for one person? One advantage of supporting the American Red Cross is that each of our individual contributions is magnified(放大)when we all join together．Another advantage is that it's easy to start helping．You can start this every minute, by using your mobile to send a text message to make a $10 donation to one of our ongoing campaigns．
Donate to Help Victims of Natural Disasters: Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps people affected by disasters such as floods, earthquakes, wildfires and hurricanes．
Please consider making a donation today to help the thousands of people who have been affected by these disasters．
Donate to Help Reduce Deaths from Measles(麻疹): Text PREVENT to 90999 to give $ 10 to the Red Cross and help us vaccinate（注射疫苗）children against measles．
Started in 2001．the Measles & Rubella Initiative—led by the American Red Cross， provides technical and financial support to governments and communities for mass vaccination campaigns around the world．The Initiative has supported the vaccination of more than 1 billion children helping to reduce measles deaths by 78％globally(compared to 2000)．
Please consider making a donation today to help us continue this campaign．To learn more visit www．Measlesrubellainitiative．org．
Important Information for Text Donors: You can make a $ 10 donation to the American Red Cross．Charges will appear on your wireless bill．All purchases must be authorized by account holder．You must be over 18 years old or have parental permission to participate．Text STOP to 90999 to STOP．Text HELP to 90999 for HELP．The text mainly aims to tell us_____________．
| A．how to keep our wireless bill safe when making donation |
| B．how to make a $10 donation by text message |
| C．when to become an authorized account holder |
| D．how to make individual contributions magnified |
We should text_______to 90999 if we want to help victims of natural disasters．
| A．STOP | B．PREVENT | C．HELP | D．REDCROSS |
What does “this campaign” in Paragraph 6 refer to?
| A．Offering help to the disaster victims． |
| B．Supporting the American Red Cross． |
| C．Mass vaccination around the world． |
| D．Applying for charges on wireless bills． |
1f a school boy wants to be a text donor, he should _____________.
| A．get the permission of his parents |
| B．reach the marriage age |
| C．pay ＄10 to own an account |
| D．stop his daily purchases |