My life as a ‘runner’ began by running in a playground near my home in order to lose weight about 2 years ago. As time went by, I found myself so good at running that sometimes, I even forgot how many rounds I ran around the playground.
Thanks to all this practice, I was able to win the 5th place in short course marathon game at ‘BASF Yeosu Site Athletic Competition’ held in October 2002. This event inspired（鼓舞）me to take part in public short-course marathon games such as 10km, 20km and half-course competitions. Finally, in May 2003, I was able to complete a full course （路线） marathon for the first time of my life. My next challenge was the Boston Marathon race, which is the world's oldest and most famous marathon races. To qualify for the Boston Marathon, one should meet the designated time standard of their age group at a certified marathon. So I took part in ChunCheon Marathon in Korea. I had to finish the full coursewithin 3 hours and 30 minutes to meet the time standard for my age group (45 to 49 years old). But to my pleasant surprise, I recorded 3 hours 22 minutes, which is 25 minute faster than my previous best record!
In April 2004, I was finally able to go to Boston. I was very pleased and proud because I could play a role to promote BASF all across the world through this sport. And it really happened! When I ran in the Boston Marathon wearing BASF logo（标记）, people along the streets rooted for me shouting ‘BASF! BASF!’. I was very touched and so proud of my company. Of course I completed the full course successfully. After the game, I was interviewed by Korean local newspapers and had an opportunity to appear on several TV shows, which helped me to promote BASF in the community. The author first began running in order to ______.
| A．build up his strength | B．prepare for a marathon race |
| C．lose weight | D．train for a sport meet |
From the passage we can learn that BASF is ______.
| A．a company | B．a book |
| C．a piece of sports equipment | D．a city |
We learn from the passage that the author is NOW______.
| A．in his thirties | B．in his late forties |
| C．in his twenties | D．in his fifties |
According to the passage, the author first took part in a full course marathon in ______.
| A．2002 | B．2003 | C．2004 | D．2005 |
CANYOUMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKES?
Every one of us gets so used to punctuation marks that not many of us give them a secondthought．Actually，the ancient Greeks wrote this way．The lack of punctuation marks probably didn’t bother good readers，though．As they read，they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time，sentences switched directions．A sentence read from leftto right．The next one read right to left，and then left to right again，etc．The ancient Romans sometimes punctuatedlike this：They put somethingthat can separate words in a sentence．The wordpunctuationactually comes from this idea andthe Latin word“punctum”which means a lot.
When the 5th century arrived，there were just twopunctuation marks：spaces and points．The spaces separated words while the points showed pauses in reading．Then in the 13th century，a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation．He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence．He used a slash(／)toindicate a short pause．Over time．that slash was shortened and curled，and it became the modern comma(逗号)．
Since that time，other marks have enlarged the punctuation family．The exclamation mark(感叹号)comes from the Latin word“io”．It means “exclamation of joy”.The question mark originally started out as the Latin word“questio”，meaning“question”．Eventually，scholars put it attheend of a sentence to show a question．
Punctuation even keeps changing nowadays．New marks are coming into existence，and old punctuation marks are used in new ways．Take for example the“interrobang”．This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both．For example．“She did what?!”or“How much did you pay for that dress?!”Obviously,the interrobang is not widelyused or recognized yet，but its invention shows that English is not yet finishedwith its punctuation．From the first paragraph，we can know that__________.
| A．good readers had trouble reading without punctuation marks |
| B．a sentence always read from left to right in ancient Greece |
| C．ancient Greeks switched the direction of punctuation marks |
| D．the use of punctuation marks can date back to ancient times |
We can learn from the passage that___________．
| A．ancient Romans didn’t use any punctuation marks |
| B．exclamation and question marks came from Latin |
| C．spaces and slashes were already used before the 5th century |
| D．Aldus Manutiusfast started to use commas |
What can be concluded from the last paragraph?
| A．The combinationoftwo marks will not work. |
| B．It takes time for people to accept new punctuation marks． |
| C．Old punctuation marks need to be standardized． |
| D．Punctuation marks are still changing today． |
Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice．Gifts are easy—they’re given after a11．Choicecan be hard．
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago．Icame across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year．I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast，andtheidea of building all online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old，and I’d been married for a year．I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’tand I wasn’t sure what to expect．MacKenzie told me I should go for it．As a young boy，I’dbeen a garageinventor．I’d always wanted to be all inventor，and she wanted me to follow my passion．
I was working at a financial firm in New York Citywith a bunch of very smart peopleand Ihad a brilliant boss that I much admired．I went to my boss and toldhim I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet．He took me on a longwalk in Central Park，listened carefully to me，and finally said，“That sounds like a really good ides，but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job．”That 1ogic made some sense to me，and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision．Seenin that light．it really wasa difficult choice，but ultimately，I decided I had to give it a shot．I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing．And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.
After much consideration，I took the less safe path to follow my passion，and I’m proud ofthat choice．For all ofus，in the end，we are our choice．What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?
| A．His dream of being an inventor． |
| B．The support of his wife． |
| C．The greatly increasing usage of the Internet． |
| D．Millions of exciting titles, |
Which of the following is closest in meaningto the underlinedentence?
| A．The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him． |
| B．He would be very excited if he tried it out． |
| C．Be would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try． |
| D．The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him． |
We can know from the passage that_______．
| A．the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author |
| B．the author wanted someone else to try the idea |
| C．the author might not regret if he failed the idea |
| D．the author might go back to his boss if he failed |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Cleverness and Kindness |
| B．The Starting of Amazon |
| C．Following My Passion |
| D．We Are What We Choose |
In 1990,22-year-old Christopher McCandless gave up his career plans，left behind everyone he knew，donated all his savings to charity，and went off on an adventure，hiking his way through America to Alaska．
Of course,this is an unusual story most college graduates would not do so. However，studies show that in teenage years, people are more likely to try out new experiences.For example，instead of working his way up the same organization like his grandfather did，a 15-year-old may dream about becoming a traveller一only to find in his early 20s that this attraction of new places is fading and change is less attractive．
The reason why people become less keen to change as they get older may be that people
generally have similar life patterns and demands．Most people aim to find a job and a partner. As they get older，they may have young children and elderly family members to look after. These responsibilities cannot be achieved without some degree of steadiness，which means that new experiences and ideas may not have a place in the person’s life．New experiences may bring excitement as well as insecurity,and so most people prefer to stay with the familiar.
However，not every individual is the same. A child may want to play a different game every day and get fed up if nothing changes at the kindergarten．Another may play with the same children and toys on every visit. Young children who avoid new experiences will grow up to be more traditional than others. Psychologist argue that those who have more open personalities as children are more open than others might be when they are older and that young men have a greater interest in novelty than women，although as they age，this desire for new experiences fades more quickly than it does in women． The first paragraph serves as a(n） ．
| A．introduction | B．explanation |
| C．comment | D．background |
What does the author think is the key factor that prevents people trying out new experiences?
| A．Age | B．Partner |
| C．Responsibility | D．Education |
The underlined phrase“interest in novelty”most probably means ．
| A．independence | B．curiosity |
| C．security | D．excitement |
According to the passage, we can infer that_______.
| A．a child who likes different games may not like to change after growing up |
| B．a teenager is not interested in a new start before graduation |
| C．women are more likely to try new things than men of the same age |
| D．as one gets older, he prefers the old patterns of life |
Buckingham Palace is where the Queen lives. It is the Queen’s official and main royal London home.
Buckingham Palace was originally a splendid house built by the Duke(公爵) of Buckingham for his wife. George IV began changing it into a palace in 1826. It has been the official London home of Britain’s royal family since 1837. Buckingham Palace is also an office and used for the administrative work of the royal family.
When the Queen is at home you can see her royal flag (the Royal Standard) flying from the flag pole on top of Buckingham Palace. The flag is divided into four equal parts. The first and fourth parts represent England and contain three gold lions waking on a red field; the second part represents Scotland and contains a red lion standing on a gold field; the third part represents Ireland and contains the gold coat of arms of Ireland on a blue field.
In flag protocol (礼仪), the Royal Standard which must only be flown from buildings where the Queen is present is supreme (至高无上的). It flies above the British Union Flag (the Union Jack), and other British flags. It never flies at half mast.
The guards of the Palace wear red jackets and tall, furry hats. When the first guards come on duty, there is a ceremony called the Changing of the Guard. A familiar sight at Buckingham Palace is the Changing of the Guard ceremony that takes place in the open space in front of it each morning.
The Palace has around 750 rooms, including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 78 bathrooms, 92 offices, a cinema and a swimming pool. It also has its own post office and police station. About 400 people work at the Palace, including servants, chefs, footmen, cleaners, gardeners, electricians, and so on. More than 50,000 people come to the Palace each year as guests to dinners, receptions and Royal Garden Parties. For whom was the original Buckingham Palace built?
| A．The Duke of Buckingham. | B．George IV. |
| C．The Duke of Buckingham’s wife. | D．George IV’s wife. |
According to the text, the Royal Standard_________.
| A．is flown at Buckingham Palace every morning |
| B．represents the four countries of the UK |
| C．flies at half mast only on a few occasions |
| D．flies higher than the British Union Flag |
When can a visitor see the Changing of the Guard ceremony?
| A．Every morning and evening. |
| B．Every morning. |
| C．When the Queen’s flag is flying. |
| D．When a flag is flying at the Palace. |
What is the last paragraph about?
| A．What you can see inside Buckingham Palace. |
| B．The royal parties at Buckingham Palace. |
| C．The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. |
| D．People living and working at Buckingham Palace. |
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A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnett Price: $7.10 （Paperback Dec. 9, 1998) The novel tells of the story of a wealthy young girl, Sara Crewe, who is sent to a boarding school during her father’s campaign in India. Thanks to Capt. Crewe’s money, Sara is treated as a little princess until, one day, word comes of her father’s tragic death. Miss Minchin, the school’s greedy headmistress, wastes no time in putting the now-penniless Sara to work for her room and board. It is only through the friendship of two other girls and some astonishing luck that Sara eventually finds her way back to happiness. |
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| THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett Price:$3.95 (Paperback July 1, 2003) Frances Hodgson Burnett was the highest paid and most widely read woman writer of her time, publishing more than fifty novels and thirteen plays. The Secret Garden is a beautiful tale of friendship, secrets and human spirits. A spoiled orphan named Mary returns to England from India when her parents die. She is sent to live in Yorkshire with her uncle. Miserable and lonely, she begins to explore the house’s gardens and discovers a key to a secret garden that the uncle sealed off when his wife died. There she discovered a secret so important, so enchanting, that it will change her life forever. |
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PETER PAN by J. M. Barrie and Scott Gustafson Price: $16.95（Hardcover Oct. 1, 1991) It is a children’s story full of imagination and adventures. A boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with mermaids, Indians, fairies and pirates, and from time to time meeting ordinary children from the world outside. |
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| Order online and you can now save 20% off your total purchase on orders over $25! |
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Which of the following is NOT TRUE about the three books?
| A．The little princess refers to a girl named Sara Crewe. |
| B．The secret garden mentioned in the passage is located in India. |
| C．Peter Pan is a boy with magic powers who never grows up. |
| D．A Little Princess was written by a famous female writer. |
How much does it cost to order these three books online?
| A．$5.60 | B．$25.00 |
| C．$22.40 | D．$ 28.00 |
What do these three books have in common?
| A．They were published in the same year. |
| B．They all have a hard cover. |
| C．They are all stories with tragic endings. |
| D．They have children as their main characters. |
In which part of a magazine can we read the text?
| A．Family | B．Literature |
| C．Technology | D．Entertainment |