Paris has the Eiffel Tower; New York has the Statue of Liberty; and Brussels, the Manneken Piss．
Think of the Belgian capital and, if anything, you think of the small peeing (撒尿) boy—a 60-meterhigh bronze figure standing on a block, supplying a constant stream of water to the basin under him．
Some might laugh．But for Jacques Stroobants, the statue is up there with the best of them．
“I’m proud of him．People come from all around the world to see him,” says 60-year-old Stroobants with a fatherly glance at the little boy．
As the most famous landmark of Brussels, Manneken Piss has a very special place in the heart of Belgians．
The original Manneken Piss dates back to 1388, but the statue tourists see today dates from 1619 when the city built a second one after the original was destroyed．
Many stories go round Manneken Piss．Nobody knows why he was made．One story is that he saved Brussels by putting out the flames of a deadly fire with his well-aimed piss．But the most believable story is that the boy, the son of a wealthy man, was kidnapped (绑架)．The father had a statue built in honor of the way his son was found—peeing against a tree．
Perhaps best-known for his naked beauty, the “peeing boy” has also been clothed in some of the finest clothes money can buy．
Stroobants has been changing his clothes for the last 29 years．On average, he has clothes on 300 days a year．And on special days, he pees beer．
A few of the ways he’s been dressed are：a football player, Mozart and an army general．Now, he has more than 600 pieces of clothes．
There is no strict charge for those wishing to provide clothes for the little boy．But certain conditions must be met．
“The clothes cannot include either advertising or political message,” said Stroobants, because they would cheapen the national treasure．
But Manneken Piss is still something local people can make money from—by selling all kinds of souvenirs．
72．Which of the following is NOT true about Manneken Piss?
A．It has a history of more than 600 years.
B．It stands in Brussels.
C．It is best known for the clothes he wears.
D．It is 60 meters high.
73．The Manneken Piss has a special place in the heart of Belgians because _______．
A．it’s good looking with water running constantly
B．it brings joys to people who see it
C．it helps people make money
D．it’s a symbol of the city
74．We can learn from the passage that ________．
A．for most of the year, the boy is naked
B．Stroobants is probably in charge of taking care of the statue
C．people can provide any clothes for Manneken Piss free of charge
D．people make money by advertising Manneken Piss
75．The local people can get money by selling _______．
A．objects that remind the tourists of a trip
B．clothes that Manneken Piss has worn
C．anything that is related to Manneken Piss
D．stone figures that resemble Manneken Piss
A few months ago as I wandered through my parents’ house，the same house I grew up in，I had a sudden，scary realization．When my parents bought the house，in 1982，they were only two years older than I am now．I tried to imagine myself in two years, ready to settle down and buy the house I’d still be living in almost 30 years later．
It seemed ridiculous．On a practical level，there’s no way I could afford to buy a house anytime soon．More importantly，I wouldn’t want to．I’m not sure where I’ll be living in two years，or what kind of job I’ll have．And I don’t think I’ll be ready to settle down and stay in one place．
So this is probably the generation gap that divides my friends and me from our parents．When our parents were our age，they’d got their education，chosen a career，and were starting to settle into responsible adult lives．
My friends and I--“Generation Y”--still aren’t sure what we want to do with our lives．Whatever we end up doing，we want to make sure we’re happy doing it．We’d rather take risks first，try out different jobs，and move from one city to another until we find our favorite place．We’d rather spend our money on travel than put it in a savings account．
This casual attitude toward responsibility has caused some critics to call my generation “arrogant”(自大的), “impatient”, and “overprotected”．Some of these complaints have a point．As children, we were encouraged to succeed in school，but also to have fun．We grew up in a world full of technological innovation: cell phones，the Internet，instant messaging，and video games．
Our parents looked to rise vertically(垂直的)--starting at the bottom of the ladder and slowly making their way to the top, on the same track, often for the same company. That doesn’t apply to my generation.
Because of that, it may take us longer than our parents to arrive at responsible, stable adulthood. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our desire to find satisfaction, we will work harder, strive for ways to keep life interesting, and gain a broader set of experiences and knowledge than our parents’ generation did.When the author walked through her parents’ house，she_______.
| A．had no idea what she wanted from life |
| B．realized I should buy a house |
| C．started to think about her own life |
| D．wondered why her parents had settled down early |
What is the main “generation gap” between the author and her friends and their parents according to the article?
| A．Their attitude toward responsibility． |
| B．Their ways of making their way to the top． |
| C．Their ways of gaining experience． |
| D．Their attitude towards high technology． |
Which of the following might the author agree with?
| A．It’s better to take adult responsibility earlier． |
| B． It’s all right to try more before settling down． |
| C．It involves too much effort to rise vertically． |
| D．It’s ridiculous to call her generation “arrogant”. |
What is the main theme of the article?
| A．The sudden realization of growing up. |
| B．Criticisms of the young generation. |
| C．A comparison between lifestyles of generations. |
| D．The factors that have changed the young generation. |
You have some great ideas. But they don’t come out because of what your friends say or because you think that only a few people can be creative geniuses(天才). And, you, of course, think that you couldn’t be one of them. But actually, this is not true at all.
Anyone who is a creative genius will tell you that creativity is very much like a muscle that needs to be developed. If you don’t learn how to develop creative thinking, this skill, just like a muscle, will become poor and useless. On the other hand, keep working at it, and this skill will soon be ready for action whenever you need it. So how do you develop your own personal style of creative thinking?
You should realize that your brain has a greater capacity (容量) and a higher speed than the world’s biggest and fastest computer. So it’s important to get as much information as you can every day. Read, watch and listen to everything around you —good and bad. The more you know, the more you’ll want to know, and the more your brain will be exercised.
Try something new every day and let your experiences show you more about the world and people around you. You need to step out of your comfort zone (舒适地带) more and more each day.
Follow these suggestions, and begin thinking beyond your "limits" from today. You’ll soon have a life full of interesting and exciting adventures. Who knows, your idea might be the next great idea to change the world.Most people can’t be creative geniuses because they _______.
| A．don’t have great ideas |
| B．don’t want to develop their ideas |
| C．are too shy to talk about their ideas |
| D．don’t believe they can be |
The underlined word "it" in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．creative thinking | B．the muscle | C．personal style | D．great capacity |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．No computer can store as much information as human’s brain. |
| B．It is not necessary to remember everything around you. |
| C．Try something new, as long as you are comfortable with it. |
| D．It is harder to exercise the brain than the muscles |
The passage is intended to tell readers _________.
| A．how they can learn from creative geniuses |
| B．about ways to develop their creative thinking |
| C．about the importance of exercising the muscles |
| D．the reasons why they can’t be creative geniuses |
The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence”:
Price: ＄10
BOOKING
There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:
------ in person
The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a. m. -8 p. m.
------ by telephone
Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card
（Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted）
------ by post
Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.
------ on line
Complete the on-line booking form at www. Satanfiedtheatre. com
DICOUNTS:
Saver:＄2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.
Standby: best available seats are on sale for ＄6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible（suitable）for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other
customers.
Group Bookings:
there is a ten per cent discount for parties of twelve or more.
School: school parties of ten or more can book ＄6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT_____
| A．go to the Box Office on Sundays. |
| B．ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card. |
| C．use the Internet. |
| D．complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office. |
If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?
| A．＄120 | B．＄150 | C．＄140 | D．＄126 |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theatre. |
| B．A school party of 15 students should pay 90 for the standby tickets. |
| C．A group of 12 persons can get 10 per cent discount. |
| D．The audience can‘t refund money if the performance is on show. |
Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s. the sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.A good title for this reading passage is______.
| A．Popeye the Sailor |
| B．The Truth About Spinach |
| C．A Mistake with Numbers |
| D．Folic Acid Makes You Strong |
Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
| A．People liked folic acid. |
| B．They thought Popeye was funny. |
| C．Spinach had a lot of iron. |
| D．They thought spinach made them strong. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
| A．made Popeye strong |
| B．was a green vegetable |
| C．had less iron than other green vegetables |
| D．had more iron than other green vegetables |
The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
| A．iron | B．spinach | C．folic acid | D．exercise |
Facebook is now used by 30 million people in the UK, around half the population. Joanna Shields, vice president of Facebook Europe, made the announcement this morning at a media conference in London.
Globally, Facebook has more than 500 million registered （注册的） users, a milestone it hit last summer. Last July it had 26 million registered UK users. In the last eight months, it has attracted four million extra UK users, bringing the UK total to 30 million.
Facebook, the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg while he was still studying at Harvard University, was launched in February 2004. The pace of its global growth has sped rapidly - Facebook had only 150 million registered users in January 2009.
One third of women aged between 18 to 34 check Facebook when they first wake up, before even going to the toilet, according to the research. 21% check Facebook in the middle of the night, while 42% of the same group think it is fine to post drunken photos of themselves onto the social network, a study by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research found.
Shields was speaking this morning at the Financial Times Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference about the power Facebook’s referrals （好友推荐）can bring to media sites, such as newspapers and TV services. She explained that the average Facebook user has 130 friends who they share links to media sites with regularly. “Media companies which take advantage of that are really seeing the benefits,” Shields said. Shields refused to be drawn on whether Facebook would develop its own mobile phone operating system and also said it was “silly” that Google had recently disabled the feature which allowed Google users to refresh their contacts with Facebook friends.Eight months ago the number of registered users of Facebook in UK was about ____.
| A．less than half of its population | B．30 million |
| C．4 million | D．500 million |
Shields talked at the Financial Times Digital Media and Broadcasting Conferences about the following EXCEPT ____.
| A．Facebook’s referrals |
| B．its plan on developing its own mobile phone operating system |
| C．its dissatisfaction with Google |
| D．its call for more media sites to take advantage of Facebook |
What does the underlined word “disabled” mean in the last paragraph?
| A．Invented | B．Strengthened |
| C．Added | D．Stopped |
What is the best title of the text?
| A．Facebook’s referrals bring benefits |
| B．Facebook: the brainchild of Mark Zuckergerg |
| C．Facebook: used by half the UK population |
| D．Facebook: women’s preference |