Everyone’s at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn’t done an eBay deal. So I decided to try my hand at online auction（网上拍卖）。
Buying for beginners: Sign up on WWW.eBay.com < > Most items（e.g. tables, computers, and books） ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “Buy It Now” and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.
If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids （出价） for you. The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish you get an email telling you whether you have won the item.
How to pay: Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a cheque or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card.
Selling made simple: If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item. I followed my friends’ advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10- day auction, starting on a Thursday. This way buyers had two weekends to bid.
The big things in life: It’s easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collected or sent by deliverymen. Check the ways of delivery before you bid.What is the passage mainly about ?
| A．How to make payment online. | B．Ways of making delivery online. |
| C．Advantages of an online-auction system. | D．How to use an online-auction system. |
After bidding for an item, a buyer _______ .
| A．can’t buy other items any more | B．should make payment immediately |
| C．has chances to make higher bids | D．must give your credit card to the seller |
You should _______if the item is being auctioned.
| A．make loud noises | B．get the others not to bid |
| C．ask the other people’s price | D．offer the highest price you are ready to pay |
The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is _______.
| A．through an online payment system | B．through a local bank system |
| C．by sending the money to the seller | D．by paying the delivery man directly |
For as long as they can remember Jynne Martin and April Surgent had both dreamed of going to Antarctica．This winter，they each made it to the icy continent as guests of the National Science Foundation(NSF)．Bm they didn’t go as scientists．Martin is a poet and Surgent is an artist．They went to Antarctica as participants．in the NSF’s Artists and Writers program．The NSF is thegovernment agency that funds scientific research in Antarctica．But it also makes it possible for artists，including filmmakers and musicians，to experience Antarctica and contribute their own points of view to our understanding of the continent.
The mixing of science and art in Antarctica isn’t new．Some of the earliest explorersbrought along painters and photographers．Edward Wilson was a British painter，doctor，and bird expert who journeyed with RobertFalcon Soott on two separate Antamtic expeditionsmore than 100 years ago．Herbert Ponting was a photographer who also accompanied Scott on one of those expeditions．In hundreds of photos，Pontingcaptured the beauty of the continentand recorded the daily lives and heroic struggles of the explorers．
Today’s scientists write articles forscientificjournals．Unlike theearly explorers’journals，scientific papers can now be very difficult for non-scientists to understand．Writers in Antarctica workto explain the research to the public．Peter Rejcek is editor，writer，and photographer for the Antarctic Sun，an onlinemagazine devoted to news about the U．S．Antarctic Program．Rejeck began his career in the Antarctic in 2003 by spending a year at the South Pole．He has returned everyyear since，interviewing，scientists about research at Palmer，McMurdo，and South Pole stations．
There are also scientists in Antarctica who work hardto explain their research to the public．Scientist Diane McKnight wrote The Lost Seal，a children’s book that explains the research she and others are doing in an unusual ice-free area in Antarctica called the Dry Valleys．
Antarctica is full of stories and wonders that are scientific，historic．and personal. People such as Martin，Surgent，Rejcek，and McKnight are devoted to bringing those storiesto asmany peopleare they can.“Some people are going to be scientists，some people are goingto be journalists，some people are going to be artists，but we can all work together，’saysSurgent,“tocelebrate，thisextraordinary place．”What do we know about the NSF?
| A．It is a government agency． |
| B．It only funds scientists in Antarctica． |
| C．It encourages the understanding of human nature． |
| D．It enables the mixing of science and art for the first time． |
Why didn’t some earliest explorers bring writers along?
| A．Writers were not funded at that time． |
| B．Writing can’t capture the beauty of the continent． |
| C．Writers were not interested in popularizing science． |
| D．Early explorers’journals can be easily understood by the public． |
By mentioning Diane McKnight，the author may try to suggest that_____．
| A．scientists should explain their research to children |
| B．writers are not necessary since scientists can tell stories as well |
| C．telling stories to children is more important than knowing the truth |
| D．no matter what role we play，we can work together to appreciate Antarctica |
What would be the best title for this article?
| A．Antarctica：A Land for All |
| B．The NSF：A Program for All |
| C．Antarctica：A Land of Beauty and Stories |
| D．The NSF：A Program for Artists and Scientists |
The stories we share with one another are important．They show wisdom，andprovide inspiration. They are important to our development. But sometimes people chose not to tell.
Consider the negative effects ofnot sharing a story in the news：People are wondering if public health officials are holding back too much information about the recent outbreak of Ebola．
There is a danger in holding back stories that ought to be told．Bobette Buster said it like this，“The fact is，history hasshown us that stories not toldan become like a dangerous genie(妖怪)leftina bottle．When they are finally uncorked，their power to destroy is set free。”
There are a number of reasons why we hide parts of our story：they often show our weaknesses or expose our disadvantages；they require courage and strength toshare；and of course，there are somestories that should be kept secret—especially those that embarrass someone else．
Most of us have two selves：the one we display on the outside and the one we actually are on the inside．And the better we get at hiding the stories that show our true selves，themore damage we may be causing to ourselves and to others．
Honesty and openness is important：It proves we are trustworthy. It displays we are human．We are not perfect or better．It highlights the importanceof hard work and personal development．Hard work may not allow us to overcome our disadvantages completely．But with hard wonk：we do not have to be restrictedto our mistakes．
Does this mean we admit every weakness，every disadvantage，and every secret regret to everybody we meet?No，of course not．There is a time and a placeand acertain level of relationship necessary for some stories tobe told in all appropriate manner．What’s the functionofthe example in Paragraph 2?
| A．It reflects that people are concerning about the spread of Ebola． |
| B．It shows the bad effect caused by sharing a story． |
| C．It proves not sharing a story cancause trouble． |
| D．It concludes that one should share a story at a proper time． |
One of the reasons why people are unwilling to share experiences is that______．
| A．story-sharing highlights the importance of hard work |
| B．people are used to exposing their weaknesses |
| C．people sometimes have no courage to share their stories |
| D．some stories make themselves feel sad |
Which is close in meaning to the underlined word“uncorked”in Paragraph 3?
| A．freed | B．broken | C．unfolded | D．untouched |
The writer aims to convince us to_____________．
| A．be open to people close to you by sharing some secrets |
| B．share stories appropriately for the good of others and ourselves |
| C．remove the dangers that can be caused by untold stories |
| D．realize the importance of being honest when making friends |
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 |