Grand Opening
Bentwood Truck Museum
Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 A．M．
After eighteen months of hard work by more than 100 volunteers, the Bentwood Truck Museum is ready to open．The old factory had been scheduled to be destroyed．When Roger Haygood heard about the plans to tear down the building, he bought it so that he could store his collection of old trucks there．Then he had the idea of turning the building into a truck museum．
During the past year and a half, the old building has been transformed into a treasure chest of memories．Instead of a dark and dull house, the building has become a cheery, bright home for all kinds of trucks from the past．The museum now houses 68 trucks, and we hope to have even more soon．There is a 1959 school bus, a 1942 bakery truck, and a 1937 fire engine．Our oldest vehicle is a 1919 milk truck．Our newest vehicle is a 1966 tow truck．
You can take a ride on a fire truck, a mail truck, or an ice - cream truck．Rides are $ 2．00, but you can get a ticket for a free ride at any grocery store in Bentwood．
Help us celebrate our grand opening by bringing your family and friends! There is something to interest everyone who attends．The Bentwood Truck Museum is a special piece of our history．
● To get to Bentwood Truck Museum, take Route 29 (Kingston Highway) to Palmer Street．
● Go south on Palmer Street for one block and take a left onto Norman Drive．
● You will see the museum building and the amusement park on your left．
● Parking is available across the street, on your right．
72．In which of the following can visitors take a ride?
A．A milk truck． B．An ice - cream truck．
C．A bakery truck． D．A school bus．
73．Where is Bentwood Truck Museum?
A．On Norman Drive． B．On Palmer Street．
C．On Kingston Highway． D．On Route 29．
74．What is special about this museum?
A．It is built on the ruins of an old building.
B．It offers visitors free rides to the museum.
C．It exhibits trucks dating back to 200 years ago.
D．It’s transformed from an old factory by volunteers.
75．What’s the purpose of writing this passage?
A．To introduce the old history of Bentwood Truck Museum．
B．To persuade readers to attend the opening of the museum．
C．To explain why Bentwood Truck Museum was set up．
D．To call on the visitors to take a ride in old trucks．
Miss Popular
I was awkward in middle school: bony and athletic, with a high grade in science and a low one in self-esteem. Though I had a few friends, I wasn’t popular. I was picked last in football and I sometimes ate lunch by myself.
I remember the day Brittany came to our school. Her teeth were crooked(歪斜的), and she was a little overweight. Not that this mattered though, because she walked around like she was better than all of us. She was outspoken and incredibly frightening, making people lose confidence.
Around Brittany, I tried my best to go unnoticed. Standing out or stealing her spotlight could only result in one thing: conflict. Brittany was always the first girl picked for teams; I was lucky if I was picked at all. I was thrown the ball while she stood with the quarterback, chatting about the last party she’d gone to. I had never been to a party before or kissed a boy.
One day, a classmate asked me to the school dance. I was flattered. Then Brittany told me during science class that she had persuaded him to invite me. She asked in front of everyone, “Why would anyone even want you?” I went home and cried.
Although she was seemingly perfect in everyone’s eyes, I wanted to be everything that she wasn’t and yet a million times more perfect. Brittany was so frightening and violent, but I wanted to be calm and not at all aggressive.
I found Brittany’s online profile a few weeks ago. She still had the same chubby(圆胖脸) face and mocking（嘲笑的）simile, and had posted half-naked pictures of herself. But as I read on, I realized that Brittany had died in a drunken driving accident a year ago. She had been 16 and pregnant at the time. Suddenly my view of Brittany changed from a bad influence into a struggling little girl whose life was taken before she could understand right from wrong. My experience with Brittany taught me that though we are all innocent in our youth, the choices we make will have great effects on us forever. I will always remember Brittany as that loud, overconfident girl. As part of that shy insecure person I used to be will always keep me modest.Fromthefirst three passages wecanconcludethat .
| A．the author was trying to avoid conflict with Brittany |
| B．the author secretly envied Brittany for being popular |
| C．Brittany’s appearance made her popular with boys |
| D．Brittany was puzzled at how she could be popular |
Which of the following is TRUE about Brittany?
| A．She didn’t mean to hurt the author. |
| B．She took delight in hurting others. |
| C．Her confidence came from her popularity. |
| D．Her overweight made her more outspoken. |
According to the passage we can learn that the author.
| A．was afraid of Brittany and followed her lead |
| B．saw the influence that low self-esteem can have |
| C．was determined to be better than Brittany |
| D．knew she was quietly different from Brittany |
Thelast passage is meant to .
| A．tell us the reason for Brittany’s death |
| B．present the changed attitude to Brittany |
| C．show the influences of the youth |
| D．stress the importance of behaviors |
Good news for game lovers― a tank game has come out recently. In this game you are in a tank and the screen shows your view of the landscape outside. You gain points by shooting enemy tanks, super tanks, missiles and flying saucers（飞碟）.
Expert players can gain scores of around 150,000 points at this game. To get a high score you have to destroy twenty tanks as quickly as possible. After this, the super tanks, missiles and flying saucers appear. These are worth far more points than the ordinary tanks. However, the number of tanks you have to destroy before the super tanks appear varies on different machines.
Try to get close to an enemy tank from the side or the back, so it cannot shoot at you. Then, when you get close, turn to face it, line it up in your sights and fire before it turns to shoot at you. If you miss or are too slow, quickly escape by moving out of the enemy’s line of fire. You can then move around the enemy and come in from another side.
When a super tank appears, try to destroy it as quickly as possible. Then wait safely behind an obstacle（障碍物）for a missile or flying saucer. The cubes are useful objects to hide behind as you can fire over them without exposing yourself to danger. The missiles will fly straight at you, but they are difficult to hit, so do not shoot at them until they are quite close. The saucers are much easier to hit, but do not follow them as you will be open to attack from enemy tanks.This passage is an about a game.
| A．experiment | B．invention | C．expression | D．instruction |
If you hide behind the cubes during an attack, which of the following may not happen?
| A．Avoiding being exposed to danger. | B．Being hit by a missile. |
| C．Destroying a missile. | D．Firing over missiles or flying saucers. |
If you can destroy a super tank, missile or flying saucer, you will get.
| A．a machine to play with | B．many more points |
| C．an ordinary tank | D．nothing |
From the last sentence we can see that you are likely to be attacked by tanks if you.
| A．hit a flying saucer | B．shoot at enemy tanks |
| C．fire straight at a missile | D．run after a flying saucer |
“There are no real friends or enemies in the business world”. This saying may have been on the minds of bosses at China’s main online video providers, Youku.com Inc and Tudou Holdings Ltd, when the one-time rivals（对手）agreed to merge (合并) on March 12. The deal will create the country’s largest company in the online video industry, Youku Tudou Inc.
Three months ago, the two companies were involved in a copyright dispute. On December 12, Tudou charged Youku.com with illegally airing the entertainment series, Kangxi is coming. Tudou was the only company which had rights to the series. In response, Youku filed a lawsuit（诉讼） against Tudou, claiming the company was broadcasting more than 50 Youku-owned TV series.
According to analysts, the deal came out of the market battle between the two companies. Each spent so much money buying licensed content that they ended up in the red last year. “Funding pressures are the main reason for the deal,” said Shi Jialong, a Hong Kong-based analyst with CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. “After the merger, there might be a fall in copyright purchase prices, which is good for the industry in the short term.”
The new company will face competition from Web portals(门户网站) providing similar services. Youku owned 21.8 percent of Chin’s online video market in the last quarter of last year and Tudou 13.7 percent, but Sohu.com followed close on the heels with 13.3 percent, according to domestic research company Analysys International.
Some analysts do not feel the deal will secure the market for Youku Tudou. Shi Yu, CEO of media company KU6, said the merger was unlikely to have a “one plus one more than two” effect. In his opinion, video-hosting sites need to find new ways of generation profit to succeed in the market.The main reason for Youku.com Inc and Tudou Holdings Ltd to merge is that .
| A．the two companies were in great demand of money |
| B．they were charge with illegally airing the entertainment series |
| C．the two companies created the country’s largest company |
| D．they intended to cut down the prices of copyrights |
The underlined words “in the red” in the third paragraph mean “”.
| A．in a big fight | B．in a great trouble | C．at a loss | D．at a distance |
What do the last two paragraphs imply?
| A．Shi Yu doesn’t think it a good idea for the two companies to merge. |
| B．The merger is really a win-win deal for the companies involved. |
| C．The merger may not promise a bright future for Youku Tudou. |
| D．The new company will be more competitive after the merger. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The merge will benefit the online video industry to some degree. |
| B．The two companies spent lots of money building video-hosting sites. |
| C．Youku Tudou Inc currently controls half of the online video market in China. |
| D．The new company has taken charged of all the entertainment series. |
Hello, you guys! Do you want to make e-pals via the Internet and have fun? Here’s some advice for you to follow. First take a look at www. Spoton. Community. Click on international pen-pal sites to find some of our favorite international e-pal and pen-pal web sites. Don’t forget: some e-pal services cost money and some are safer than others. Remember to read a web site safety warning before you join!
KidFu （www. Kidfu. com）says it is the safest place online for kids to chat, play games and make friends. Get your parents to help you register and then you can write things about yourself or read what other kids have written. There’re also chat monitors that make sure that the online chat rooms are safe and friendly. KidFu costs money, but the first month is free.
If you join e-PALS （www. Epals. com), you can choose a pen-pal from over 65,000 kids from 191 countries. You can also find information about how teachers can get pen-pals for their pupils. Or if you want to start sending e-mails right now, go to Europe Pages（www. europa-page. com）. Lots of young people have written their names, interests, home countries and their e-mail addresses. Just click on a name and start writing!
Well, however, there are tips that you should keep in mind: never be absorbed in the line for too long, so stay there not more than 2 hours once. Never go out with your pals without your parents’ permissions. Let your parents know about what you are doing. Then, have fun!If you want to choose a safer web site, you'd better click on .
| A． www. europa-page. Com | B．www. Spoton. de |
| C．www. e-pals. com | D．www. Kidfu. com |
A teacher can visit to help his/her pupils to get pen-pals.
| A．KidFu | B．Europe Pages | C．e-PALS | D．spoton. community |
The advantage of Europe Pages is that .
| A．you can start sending your e-mails immediately |
| B．you can choose more pen-pals from many countries |
| C．it is free and you can find names of different countries |
| D．it is the safest one among all the web sites |
A chat monitor mentioned in Paragraph 2 is probably .
| A．a person in the web site to give safe online advice |
| B．a police officer to keep order in the chat rooms |
| C．an engineer in charge of controlling the chat |
| D．a software to keep online chatting clean and safe |
Disease, poverty, hate, love－Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy（遗产） was far greater that just “great-literature”.
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A White Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas” － not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today.
In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day－unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth－“home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickens” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian London.
He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy(官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about poverty in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.The article is mainly about .
| A．a brief introduction to Charles Dickens’ |
| B．Charles Dickens’ impact on the world |
| C．the characters in Charles Dickens’ stories |
| D．Charles Dickens’ achievements in literature |
Why is Dickens’ called “the man who invented Christmas”?
| A．Because he created both religious and culture festival. |
| B．Because his novels have something to do with Christmas. |
| C．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations. |
| D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas. |
Wecanlearnfromthepassagethat .
| A．Charles Dickens’ novels reflect the true life at his age |
| B．Dickensian is widely used to describe the Christmas |
| C．Every person can take three days off for Christmas |
| D．The theme of Charles Dickens’ stories is about poverty |
According to the passage the phrase “red tape” refers to .
| A．regulations that are required to finish a task |
| B．a situation where poor members of society are hurt |
| C．conflict between people in power and weaker people |
| D．agreements made by the underclass of society |