Valentine’s Day is named for Saint Valentine an early Christmas churchman who reportedly helped young lovers. Valentine was killed for his Christian beliefs on February 14 more than 1700 years ago, but the day that has his name is even earlier than that.
More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Romans celebrated a holiday for lovers. As part of the celebration, girls wrote their names on pieces of paper and put them in a large container. Boys reached into the container and pulled one out. The girl whose name was written on the paper became his lover or sweet heart for a year.
Lovers still put their names on pieces of paper and they sent each other Valentine’s Day cards that tell of their love. Sometimes they also sent gifts, like flowers of chocolate candy. Americans usually send these gifts and cards through the mail system. But some used another way to send this message. They have it printed in a newspaper. The cost is usually a few dollars. Some of the messages are simple and short “Jane, I love you very much”. Others say more. This one, for example, “Dan, Roses are red. Violets are blue. I hope you love me as much as I love you. Forever. May.”
Most of the newspapers that print such messages are local, but USA Today is sold throughout the United States, and 90 other countries as well. This means someone can send a Valentine message to lover in a far-away city or town almost anywhere in the world. These messages cost 80 dollars and more. An employee of USA Today says readers can have a small heart or rose printed along with their messages this year. Will this kind of Valentine’s Day message reach the one you love? Well, just make sure he or she reads the newspaper.
1. When was the day named after Valentine?
A. More than 1700 years ago before Valentine’s death
B. More than 2000 years ago
C. On February 24
D. It is not mentioned in the passage.
2. Which is not true about the Roman holiday?
A. Girls put into a container large pieces of paper with their own names on them.
B. Boys and girls became sweet hearts by chance
C. Girls and boys were not lovers for a year.
D. It was celebrated as a holiday for lovers
3. What is the cost of printing a message to show one’s love? It’s _______________.
A. a few dollars B. 80 dollars, and more C. very expensive
D. a few dollars in a local newspaper and 80 dollars in USA Today
4. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The ancient Roman girls were more open and easy-going than boys
B. Valentine was killed for helping lovers
C. Readers of USA Today can send roses to their lovers along with printed messages
D. Valentine was honored by people for his firm Christian belief and warm heart
5. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To briefly introduce the origin of Valentine’s Day and the modern style.
B. To advertise for USA Today.
C. To tell you that Americans are open to express their love
D. To sell roses on Valentine’s Day.
People need to relax and enjoy themse1ves．One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event．Even thousands of years ago，groups of people gathered to watch skilled athletes（运动员）．
Over 2000 years ago in Greece，certain days in the year were festival days．These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves．They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill．
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia．It was held in honor of the Greek God Zeus（Zus）．For five days，athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games．At the Olympic Games，people could watch them box(拳击)，run，jump and so on．There was a relay race between two teams of men in which 
a lighted torch（火矩）was passed from runner to runner．The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting．Just then people were allowed to travel to the games safely．Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from her colonies（殖民地）in Africa，Asia and Italy．They met as friends to cheer their favorite
athletes and to enjoy themselves．What happened in Greece over 2000 years ago？
| A．People needn’t to work． |
| B．There were often against one another in cities． |
| C．People watched baseball games． |
| D．People didn’t go to any games at all． |
What were those countries in Africa？
| A．Friends． | B．Enemies． | C．Colonies． | D．Relatives． |
What did people do at the games？
| A．They fought． | B．They just talked to friends． |
C．They cheered for their favorite athletes ． |
D．They tried to find friends． |
Greek cities then were fighting so they_____．
| A．were weak | B．were safe |
| C．couldn’t go to other cities freely | D．could see each other |
The best title for the story is“_____”．
| A．Greece at War | B．To gath er for the Games |
| C．Stop Fighting | D．Sport |
Henry Ford was the first person to build cars which were cheap，strong and fast．He was able to se11 millions of cars because he could produce them in large numbers at a time；that is，he made many cars of the same kind．Ford’s father hoped that his son would become a farmer，but the young man did not like the idea and he went to Detroit（底特律）where he worked as a mechanic（机械师）．By the age of 29，in 1892，he had built his first car．However，the car made in this way，the famous “ Mo
del T ” did not appear until 1908. Five years ago, Ford started his great motor car factory．This kind of car showed to be well-known that it remained unchanged for twenty year．Since Ford’s time，this way of producing cars in large numbers has become common in industry and has reduced the price of many goods which would be very expensive．Henry Ford was the man to built _____ cars．
| A．cheap and strong | B．cheap and long |
| C．fast and expensive | D．strong a nd slow |
Ford was able to sell millions of cars，because_____．
| A．he made many cars | B．his cars are many |
| C．he made lots of cars of the same kind | D．both A and B |
The young man became a mechanic，_______．
| A．which was his father’s will | B．which was against his own will |
| C．which was against his father’s will | D．which was his teacher’s will |
The “ Model T ” was very famous_____．
| A．before 1908 | B．between 1982 and 1908 |
| C．before 1892 | D．after 1908 |
Ford built his own car factory_____．
| A．in 1903 | B．in 1908 | C．in 1913 | D．in 1897 |
BC Social Report, August 14, 2010
Scandinavians may spend a lot of the winter in darkness but they are the happiest people in Europe, according to a study showed this month. Countries like Denmark and Finland scored highest on the study of happiness in Europe carried out by Cambridge University, which also found that the sunny southern countries of Italy, Portugal and Greece got the least joy out of life.
The survey entitled: "No Man is an Island" showed that countries where people enjoy time with friends and family, have trust in government and national institutions were more likely to be happy than those living in a sunny climate. The study rated respondent on their overall sense of happiness and life satisfaction on a scale of one to 10.
Danes (丹麦人)--who expressed a high level of trust in their politicians and public institutions--came top of the field at 8.3. Italians--who reported lower levels of satisfaction with their national quality of government--came last at 6.49.' "Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany and France report the lowest levels of happiness while the Scandinavian Countries, Netherlands and Luxembourg report the highest," the study said.
Although Europeans are generally four times wealthier than their fathers and grandfathers, their levels of happiness are either equal to or lower than 40 years ago. The study also looked at factors contributing to happiness within countries and surprisingly found that an interest in politics actually increased happiness.
Lead researcher Luisa Corrado said tax cuts and throwing money at social problems appeared to have no effect on the happiness of citizens when compared with government policies which strengthened and supported wider social networks. "People are less naive ( 质朴的) than one would expect, politicians need to adapted their policies and target specific problems in specific areas," she said. According to the passage, we can know .
| A．Scandinavians are the happiest people in the world |
| B．the research is carried out by Oxford University |
| C．the people of the northern countries are much happier |
| D．Italians expressed their trust in politics and institutions |
Which of the following factors increases happiness?
| A．Interest in polities | B．Wealth | C．Health | D．Websites. |
The underlined word "scale" in the second paragraph means
| A．sense | B．life | C．report | D．range |
What's the writer's attitude to the study?
A. Subjunctive. B. Objective.C. Pessimistic. D: Optimistic.In what column may readers probably read the passage?
| A．Lifestyle. | B．Amusement. | C．Politics. | D．Health and Happiness. |
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher:. Sams (March 29,2005)
ISBN: 0672327627
Product Dimensions: 8.4x5.5x0.6 inches
OVERVIEW
This book offers straightforward practical answers when you need fast results. By working through each 10-minute lesson, you'll learn what you need to begin to use the PHP scripting language to make your websites interactive and dynamic.
REVIEW
When I first laid eyes on this book and its title, Teach Yourself PHP in 10 minutes, my first thought was that I was going to see this! So I opened it up and figured I'd look through it for ten minutes and see what would hit me. Well, 10 minutes turned into 20, 20 into 30 and 30 into a valuable resource that sits on my desk.
Not only are the lessons within brief, but they are very easy to understand, well presented and very easy to understand for the beginner. Each lesson comes with tips to point out shortcuts, cautions to help you avoid common mistakes and notes to additional infomation. This book can be used in two ways, as a reference or as a complete tutorial on PHP basics. That alone is something that is very rare in teaching type books these days.
Some of the more valuable and informative lessons will take you into the areas of:
--Strings and variables
--Processing HTML forms
--Controlling and filtering data
--User authentication
--Cookies and sessions
--Security practices
--Configuring PHP and more!!!
The book is pretty basic for experienced PHP coders, but for new or intermediate users this book is worth more than the small $19.99 CAN suggested price. Although the cover suggests it covers PHP 5.0, the coding found within also applies to PHP 4.X
CONCLUSION
This book completely surprised me with its value and does indeed teach you in ten minutes what other books claim to do in 24 hours. Full marks to author Chris Newman for this handy guide.Where can you see this short passage?
| A．In a section for ads in a website. | B．In a book shop. |
| C．In a science magazine. | D．In a fiction novel. |
What is the book about according to the passage?
| A．How to make a website interactive and dynamic. | B．How to do things in ten minutes. |
| C．How to deal with all kinds of problems. | D．How to configure PHP and more. |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To tell us something about a new book. | B．To tell us something about PHP. |
| C．To make an ad for the book to sell it. | D．To tell us how to use the book. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．You can learn all kinds of things within only ten minutes. |
| B．It is a good book only for beginners. |
| C．The book is valuable for both experienced PHP coders and beginners. |
| D．The book is more useful for new or intermediate users than the experienced PHP coders. |
What is the price of the book?
| A．$19.99 CAN. | B．US$19.99 | C．The author doesn't tell us. | D． $ 20. |
Coffee is one of the world's most widely-enjoyed drinks. Now, a new research suggests that if you drink enough coffee, it might help you avoid certain kinds of cancer.
Dr. Mia Hashibe of the University of Utah School of Medicine was interested in the connection between coffee drinking and certain cancers of the head and neck. Researchers have looked into this before, but without reaching any firm conclusions. She said, "So this finding from our new study was quite a surprise. We didn't really have any expectation of which direction it could go into."
To sort out the confusion, Hashibe and her assistants used statistical (统计学 ) techniques to, in effect, make one big study out of the earlier smaller studies. She explained, "Thanks to the earlier studies, we have a lot more power than earlier studies that looked at this. And we included 4,000 cancer patients who have cancer of the mouth and throat. And then 9,000 controls, people who do not have cancer. '
Those studies--in Europe and the United States--found that people who drank a lot of coffee were less likely to develop cancers of the mouth and throat. "We saw a protective effect for drinking more than 4 cups of coffee per day," Hashibe said. "This was the 40 percent decrease in risk. We did not see the same effect for drinking three cups or less per day."
Mia Hashibe said there was a weak connection between cancer risk and drinking coffee without caffeine. And she and her assistants found no proof that drinking tea provided the same protection as drinking Coffee. Their research is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Hashibe says it is not clear how coffee might protect drinkers from certain cancers. "There are a few chemicals that are known to be antioxidants （抗氧化物）in coffee. So we are thinking perhaps they are playing some sort of protective role against several cancers."This passage is probably taken from __
| A．a literature book | B．a travel journal |
| C．an old directory | D．a medical magazine |
Dr. Hashibe expected nothing of her research because __
| A．it was impossible to get the desired result | B．the research was much surprising in fact |
| C．no conclusions had been reached before | D．the research team lacked faith in success |
Which of the following might have something to do with the protection against mouth cancer?
| A．Coffee without chemicals. | B．Coffee without caffeine. |
| C．Four cups of tea a day. | D．Antioxidants in coffee. |
What do we know about Dr. Mia Hashibe and her research?
| A．She knew for sure how coffee may affect drinkers. |
| B．She included 4,000 people without cancer in study. |
| C．She found an effect for three cups of coffee a day. |
| D．She based her research on several earlier studies. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Drinking Coffee May Protect Some Cancers | B．Drinking Coffee May Prevent Some Cancers |
| C．Drinking Coffee May Cure Some Caneers | D．Drinking Coffee May Cause Some Cancers |