Nothing says love like a dozen long – stemmed roses on Valentine’s Day. More than a million roses will be sold during this festival for lovers, the biggest day of the year for the nation’s rose industry. It’s going to remain the most popular flower because love never goes out of style.
Yes, a rose is a rose is a rose. But selling them is no longer a beautiful experience for traditional flower shops. Supermarkets now offer convenience to the busy and discount rose shops help those hopelessly in love save money. Roses only is a good example of a discount rose retailer that was transformed from a traditional shop to answer the challenge in the’ 90s.
Inside this store on Sixth Avenue near 40 th Street, contemporary white furniture and wall – to – wall mirrors give it an expensive look. Customers move about freely among the counters, looking eagerly at the roses in more than 50 colors from shelf to shelf. Some customers say it’s the high quality of the roses that attracts them there. “I spent $ 20 but the flowers looked like I paid 60 or 70 dollars,” says one customer.
Studies show more people are buying roses in ones, two and threes these days. In fact, more than half of all roses are sold in bunches of fewer than a dozen. But Roses Only's low prices encourage people to spend. Even on Valentine's Day, when the price of a dozen roses and delivery can soar as high as $150, 12 of Roses Only's most expensive flowers sell for just $35. The company's key to success is to hold prices down by controlling every link in the rose chain. It grows its own roses in the sunshine of the Andes Mountains. In addition, the company also sells other items such as ballons and stuffed animals.
While discount rose retailers are witnessing their business bloom, U.S. rose growers aren’t able to compete with the fierce foreign competition. More than 57% of roses sold in the USA are grown in other countries. The biggest foreign producers are Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for almost 90% of the total imported last year. The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California, considered to be this country's leading producer.
Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. "We have a few big fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. “We may also widen our business to include the service area and be a representative for overseas flower producers.”
As a result of severe competition, those in the rose business long for the good old days, whereas ordinary people benefit from the low price.
60.What is the central theme of this text?
A.The US rose business is going from bad to worse in spite of the efforts made. |
B.The rose will remain the most popular flower as love never goes out of date. |
C.The rose business is trying to meet the challenges in the market to succeed. |
D.The rose industry plays an important role in American economy. |
61.How does Roses Only obtain success in the discount rose retailing field?
A.By setting up more chain stores across the country. |
B.By selling roses in supermarkets. |
C.By selling high quality roses at a low price. |
D.By selling roses by the dozen. |
|
62.Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?(①to ⑦ represent paragraphs 1 to 7)
A.Selling roses is no longer as easy for traditional flower shops as it was. |
B.Almost 90% of roses sold in US are imported from Colombia and Ecuador. |
C.US rose growers are faced with intense foreign competition. |
D.the Johnsons are trying to co-operate with foreign competitors instead of fighting them. |
第三部分:阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
SINGAPOREAN singer JJ Lam,29,admitted that this March couldn’t be better:He outshined Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou and bagged four awards at the China Original Music Pop Chart Award(中国原创音乐流行榜) ceremony,including the most coveted(最渴望得到的)best male singer title.
Yet the trophies(奖杯)were only part of an exciting month.Knowing that he has an O1ympic champion fan,Lam was so happy that he prepared his own gifts for Zhou Yang,the speed skating gold medalist:an autographed(签名的)CD and a Mickey Mouse doll.He even invited Zhou to his birthday party on March 26 after Zhou told him that it was a great pity she had had to miss Lam's Beijing concert last year.
Lam showed his love and talent for music as early as middle school,but it doesn't mean he easily got to where he is now.Like many young men his age,Lam was once hooked(沉迷)on video games.“One in particular,World of Warcraft,obsessed(迷住)me,” he said.“I made up my own stories and characters and once I even composed(编曲)a soundtrack for the game.”
But luckily Lam soon realized things would have to change.“There was no future in playing games and I had to think about the years ahead,” he said.
After finishing high school,Lam joined the army. On the small island where he was stationed,he wrote dozens of songs.Still,his ambition of one day being a pop singer seemed an unrealistic dream to others.“Later,when my former officers heard my songs being played on the radio, they couldn’t believe it.” he said.
Not that the road to success wasn't a rocky one.When Lam went to Taiwan to develop his career, he felt lonely at first.He started playing computer games again.“I indulged(沉溺) myself in games day and night," he said.“But I came to realize that I mustn’t 1et the games take over my 1ife.I had to go out,see people and meet life’s challenges head on.”
61.JJ Lam outshone Jay Chou by___________.
A.winning four awards at a ceremony
B.being the gold medalist Zhou Yang’s favorite singer
C.winning the award for best new artist
D.writing more popular original songs
62.Which of the following statements about JJ Lam is FALSE?
A.His parents guided him through success.
B.He was once obsessed with video games.
C.He wrote a song for the game WOW.
D.He understood that playing games would not give him a secure future.
63.The last paragraph tells us that___________
A.lam has a talent for different music styles
B.lam became famous overnight
C.playing video games helps Lam release pressure
D.lam went through hard times before he became successful
64.Which of the following elements has NOT contributed to Lam’s success,according to the article?
A.His passion for music. B.His song-writing talent.
C.Support from fans. D.The skills he learned in the army.
D
Influenced by their families and society, many youths are infatuated with expensive famous brands. But not every youth is as rich as a millionaire and people are getting worried about this.
According to a recent survey, one out of five pupils wears clothes of well-known brands, including a belt worth 560 Yuan, more than an ordinary worker’s salary. Among the 100 middle school students surveyed, as many as 70 own famous-brand clothes, 60 have famous-brand watches and 45 possess famous-brand bicycles. Two of them even wear over 1500 Yuan worth of suits.
Most young people who come from ordinary families will try to steal money to have better food and clothing if their parents don’t satisfy their needs. A boy named Chen even killed another boy simply for 500 Yuan and was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.
People wonder how these teenagers can be independent in the future, while parents are calling for help from schools, governments and the society.
which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A.More than 50 percent of the students surveyed possess things of famous brands.
B.An ordinary worker owns less than 560 Yuan each month.
C.Suits may cost as much as 1500 Yuan.
D.Young people now are as rich as millionaires.
68 What does “be infatuated with” mean according to the context?
A.be anxious about
B.be filled with a strong unreasonable feeling of love for
C.have a strange and unusual way of
D.be low in spirits; sad for
69 As a result, the boy mentioned in the passage will .
A.steal money for better food and clothing
B.kill another boy for 500 Yuan
C.stay in prison for nine years
D.ask his parents to satisfy his needs
70 The best title for the passage would be .
A.Youths Run After Famous Brands.
B.Youths Should Own More Money
C.Youths As Rich As Millionaires
D.Youths Must Be Taken Good Care of
C
Telepathy: Mind-to-mind Contact
Telepathy is the ability to communicate without the use of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste). It’s an instinct (本能) which can be woken up in times of emergency or need. When we feel that something is happening or about to happen by instinct, we’re using resources within the unconscious mind. When the resources of two persons’ unconscious minds link together into the same frequency, we call it Telepathy.
We can either send or receive Telepathy. If you know who is calling before you answer the ringing phone, you are probably a good receiver. If you think of a person and he/she calls you, you are most likely to be better at sending.
You can easily put your abilities to the test. Think of somebody and will him or her to contact you. Be patient. The other person may not be a good receiver, but they should contact you much earlier than would normally be expected. Or whenever the phones rings, but try “feeling” who is contacting you. Don’t guess, but try to feel it with your mind. However, if neither of these work for you, that doesn’t mean that you have no ability of telepathy. As mentioned earlier, telepathy is most likely to turn up in case of emergency.
Telepathy dreams often contain telepathic messages. Two people may both dream of the other and find that their dreams had a clear connection. These people are probably linking to each other’s unconscious mind.
Telepathy & Relationships. The more people spend time together, the more likely they are to be able to link up to the other’s mind, specially when separated. There are two reasons for this. One is that they understand the other’s mind through time spent together; the other is that there is usually a strong desire to communicate. A mother will often sense that her child is in danger. This is due to the child’s eagerly wanting his or her mother, knowing that this person who would always want to be there for them, and the mother’s deep desire to protect her child from harm.
64. Telepathy turns up when we ____.
A. sense a close friend in dangerB. use the five senses together
C. recall things from our memory D. think of a stranger
65. You’re better at sending than receiving Telepathy if you ____.
A. can feel your mom is in danger B. receive a friend’s call as you wish
C. can tell who knocks at your doorD. dream of a friend dreaming of you
66. Which is not the way to help people gain Telepathy?
A. Help them have a strong desire to communicate. B. Separate them all the time.
C. Help them link up their unconscious minds. D. Let them spend much time together.
B
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60. The one who puts on the first advertisement probably wants to ______.
A. rent a beautiful flat of her own in Happy Valley
B. find another lady to share the cost to rent a flat
C. share her room in a flat with whoever has no pet
D. find a maid to look after herself
61. According to the advertisements, you may _______.
A. buy an old picture for $150
B. call 25720836 to see a beautiful park
C. buy two armchairs for $400
D. hire a maid by paying $6,800
62. If you want to buy some old furniture, you should ______.
A. get in touch with NOVA ELECTRONICS
B. call 2524-5867 any day except Monday
C. do it before you move to another place
D. call either 2524-5867 on Monday or 2521-6011 on Saturday
63. Once you get a part-time job in NOVA ELECTRONICS, _______.
A. you will be given 14 days off each year besides weekends
B. you will get $6,598 each month no matter how experienced you are
C. your have to work at least 4 hours a day
D. you should write a letter of application to Mrs G Chan
第三部分 阅读理解(共两节,满分40分)
第一节(共15题;每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A,B,C,和D)中选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Global travel
International tourist arrivals in millions
2005 statistics
56. According to the statistics(统计), which destination attracted the most tourists in 2005?
A. Middle East B. America C. Asia and Pacific D. Europe
57. During which interval(间隔)was there the greatest increase of global travel?
A. Between 2001-2002. B. Between 2003-2004
C. Between 2002-2003 D.Between 2004-2005.
58. Which is true about the diagram(图表)?
A. The diagram shows that there will be a steady (稳固的) increase of global travel over the next few years.
B. Global travel suffered a slight drop(下降) every year from 2000 to 2003.
C. The number of tourists increased by 21 million from 2001 to 2002.
D. Tourists from Europe made up half of the total in 2005.
59. This diagram is mainly about ____________________.
A. different destinations for tourists
B. statistics of global travel from 2000 to 2005
C. the prediction(预测) of international tourists arrivals.
D. the tendency(趋势) of global travel