China’s economic growth “hard to predict”
The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday.
“How fast China’s economy will grow next year is uncertain,” Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily.
“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external(外部) situation,” Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing.
“This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year,” he said. “However, the impact of the current financial turbulence on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world.”
Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily it will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world.
“We don’t know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,” he said.
Liu said China can use the downturn(衰退) as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years.
“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,” Liu said.
“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to enhance(提高) their competitive edge through better technologies.”
(From China Daily 2009-01-11)How many people are mentioned in this passage?
| A．Only 2. | B．No more than 3. | C．Not more than 4. | D．At least 5. |
It can be inferred from Liu’s words that the impact of the current financial turbulence on China’s economy is ______.
| A．more | B．less | C．the most | D．the least |
The underlines word “extent” probably means ______.
| A．sense | B．degree | C．size | D．depth |
According to the passage, the reason why Liu said this downturn is an opportunity for China to restructure its economy is that ______.
| A．China’s economy will not depend on government investment in the future |
| B．Foreign trade will grow in the future |
| C．The downturn will force China’s companies to upgrade their technologies |
| D．Low-cost technologies will not exist in China |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing(批评) and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation(模仿). It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact(接触) with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels. People who are unhappy _______.
| A．always consider things differently from others |
| B．usually are affected by the results of certain things |
| C．usually misunderstand what others think or say |
| D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things |
The phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “_______”.
| A．have a good taste with social life | B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend so scold others openly | D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
We can conclude from the passage that _______.
| A．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| D．unhappy people can not understand happy persons |
If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should _______.
| A．prevent any communication with them |
| B．show no respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
In this passage, the writer mainly _______.
| A．describes two types of people |
| B．laughs at the unhappy people |
| C．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness |
| D．tells people how to be happy in life |
Lego, the inventor of those colorful bricks that have inspired kids’ imaginations world-wide, has celebrated its 50th anniversary. 
On January 28, 1958, a man named Godtfred Kirk Christiansen created the plastic building bricks that can now be found in almost every child’s toy box. The simple building block has become one of the most well-known and popular toys around the world.
"The Lego brick continues to be very attractive, because it allows children, and others, to develop their creativity and imagination," said Charlotte Simonsen, a spokeswoman of the Danish Lego company.
The company’s building brick allows an infinite number of links. With just two bricks there are 24 different links, and with six, there are 915 million possibilities, according to Lego.
A half-century after its creation, more than 400 million children and adults spend five billion hours a year putting the bricks together and pulling them apart. Also, the bricks made today can still interlock with those made in 1958.
Lego bricks are not just child’s play: they also attract the interest of adults. South Korean adventurer, Heo Young-Ho, who climbed Mount Everest in 1987, left a Lego toy behind in the snow during his climb.
After its great success Lego experienced a severe crisis at the end of the 1990s, hit hard by fierce competition from electronic games. This so-called "Toy of the Century" then suffered a dark period that lasted several years.
With great efforts, the company began to prosper again, and in 2006 it earned about 1.5 billion dollars in 130 countries. Seven boxes of Lego are now sold every second around the world, and 19 billion bricks are produced each year: enough to encircle the Earth five times！The Lego bricks have remained popular in the past 50 years as a result of _______.
| A．attracting many children worldwide | B．brought imagination to the children worldwide |
| C．making the children and even adults worldwide creative and imaginative | |
| D．having infinite links that bring many imagination |
The author gave the example of South Korean adventurer Heo Young-Ho in order to prove that ______.
| A．Heo Youn-Ho also loved playing Lego bricks |
| B．the Lego bricks made him a mountain climber |
| C．the Lego bricks not only interest children but also adults |
| D．the Lego bricks are a must when on goes on an adventure |
It can be inferred from the text that ______.
| A．there are 915 different links with just 6 bricks |
| B．the Lego Bricks Company has made a lot of money from the people worldwide |
| C．the Lego Bricks can’t compare with computer games |
| D．the bricks made today don’t change much compared with those made in 1958 |
The underlined word “hit” in the seventh paragraph means _____.
| A．defeated in a fight or a competition |
| B．have a crash in an accident or a fight |
| C．get known through a song |
| D．attack somebodyin a fight |
The main idea of the story is that _____.
| A．Lego bricks: brilliant past and struggling future |
| B．Lego bricks: an attraction of both children and adults |
| C．Lego bricks: making creativity and imagination |
| D．Lego bricks: making billions of money every year |
Pierre is a 25-year-old penguin at the California Academy of Sciences. Due to his old age, he was going bald, which made him feel too cold to swim in the pool. Therefore, biologists at the academy had a wetsuit created for this penguin to help him get back in the swimming pool. 
Unlike marine mammals, which have a layer of blubber to keep them warm, penguins depend on their waterproof feathers. Without them, Pierre was unwilling to jump into the swimming pool and ended up trembling on the side of the pool while his 19 peers played in the water.
"He was cold; he would shake," said Pam Schaller, a senior biologist. Schaller first tried a heat lamp to keep Pierre warm. Then she got another idea: if wetsuits keep humans warm in the cold Pacific, why not make one for Pierre?
Schaller designed the suit, which covered Pierre’s body and had small openings for his flippers.
"I would walk behind him and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it looked like it was extremely suitable," she said.
One concern was that the other penguins would reject Pierre in his new suit, but in fact, they accepted his new look. He swam freely and got along with others well, although he was the only penguin with a black stomach.
Schaller couldn’t say for sure whether the wetsuit allowed Pierre to recover his fine feathers, but "certainly we were able to keep him comfortable during a period of time that would have been very difficult for him to stay comfortable".
Pierre will take off his suit after his new feathers grow back. Pierre felt too cold to swim in the pool because of _____.
| A．not having a layer of blubber | B．having few feathers due to old age |
| C．having no wetsuit | D．others penguins rejecting him |
The idea of making a wetsuit for Pierre came from _____.
| A．total invention | B．the use of wetsuit on humans |
| C．the use of heat lamp | D．waterproof feathers |
Schaller followed Pierre in order to see _____.
| A．whether other penguins would reject him |
| B．if anywhere of wetsuit needed to be cut and refit |
| C．if the wetsuit kept warm |
| D．whether the wetsuit would keep the feathers from recovering |
What does the underlined word in the second paragraph mean?
| A．feeling scared | B．staying alone | C．shaking with cold | D．keeping warm |
The best title of the passage is _____.
| A．Wetsuit for An Old Penguin | B．Old Penguin Getting Bald |
| C．Unwilling to Swim | D．Strange Look of Pierre |
A recent survey of teachers found that an unhealthy passion with celebrity culture is having a negative impact on British students’ studies and it discovered that celebrity couple, the Beckhams, are the favorites among most students. Many students are ignoring building their own careers to seek a chance at fame instead, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) survey found.
Almost two-thirds of teachers said sports stars were the type of celebrity many pupils wanted to follow while more than half of students wanted to be pop stars.
The survey said the celebrities that students aspired to mostly were David and Victoria Beckham who live in Los Angeles now. Soccer player Beckham is on the top of the survey while in second place, with almost a third of the survey’s votes, was his 33-year-old pop star wife.
Almost half of the 300 teachers surveyed said pupils tried to look like or behave like the celebrities they most admired, with some girls even dressing "unsuitably".
"We are not surprised about the influence of celebrity culture in schools —it reflects the current media passion with celebrities and the effect of celebrity culture on society as a whole," ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said in a statement.
"Celebrities can have a positive effect on pupils. They can raise pupils’ aspirations and desires for the future. However, celebrity culture can spread the idea that celebrity status is the greatest achievement and reinforce the belief that other career choices are not as valuable," said one primary school teacher. "Too many of the pupils believe that school success is unnecessary, because they will be able to get fame and fortune quite easily through a reality TV show." The story mainly tells us that ______.
| A．the Beckhams are mostly admired in Britain |
| B．most students think that being pop stars is more valuable than other career achievements |
| C．the celebrity passion has a harmful impact upon British students’ studies |
| D．a survey was made recently about the popularity of the stars |
According to the survey, Victoria Beckham ______.
| A．is a pop star most students admire |
| B．goes in the second place of the celebrities admired |
| C．won two-thirds of the votes |
| D．lives in New York now |
Why does the author mention that pupils tried to look like or behave like the celebrities they most admired, with some girls even dressing “unsuitably”?
| A．The pupils think it interesting to pretend to be the celebrities. |
| B．The behavior or the dress of celebrities can be followed as examples. |
| C．The author wants to show the negative influence these celebrities had on the students. |
| D．The author just wants to show being pop stars is very valuable to the students. |
What is not TRUE according to the story?
| A．Celebrities can’t have positive impact on the students. |
| B．Beckham and Victoria are husband and wife. |
| C．The so-called celebrity culture does harm to the pupils’ ideas about achievement. |
| D．Many students believe that school success is unnecessary. |
The best title of the story is _____.
Sports Star David Beckham
B. Survey of Students about Celebrities
C Harmful Effect of Celebrities on Students
D. Better to Be Pop Stars Than Sports Stars
One kilogram --- that was all it took to crown（给……加冕） the world's strongest man.
German weightlifter Matthias Steiner pulled ahead of Russian rival Evgeny Chigishev to win the Olympic men's +105 kg weightlifting gold medal on Tuesday.
Steiner lifted a total of 461kg, 203kg in the snatch(抓举) and 258kg in the clean and jerk(挺举), to beat Chigishev by a single kilogram. The German won the battle of giants in his last lift, winning his country's first gold medal in the event at this year's Games.
Steiner's winning lift was also the last effort of the sport for this Olympics at which China earned eight of the 15 golds.
Steiner was born in Austria and represented his country of birth at the Athens Olympics four years ago, placing seventh in the lower 105kg category, but had a falling out with Austria's weightlifting federation afterwards.
He applied for German citizenship in 2005 and got married, but his career went into deep freeze（困境）as he could not compete without a passport. He finally obtained the document last January.
The German, who turns 26 on Monday, had come to these Games on a mission to win the title for his wife Susann, who died in a car accident in July last year. The German team said he used the personal tragedy to motivate himself to win the gold medal.
Chigishev was the strongest in the snatch session Tuesday. He kissed his fists after a 210-kg lift that gave him a 7-kg advantage over fourth-placed Steiner going into the second event -- the clean and jerk. He let out a victorious roar（吼叫）after clearing 250 kg in his last lift, but the glory was short-lived as Steiner stunned（使瞠目）everyone with his final, winning clean and jerk effort.
Steiner had finished seventh in the 2004 Olympics in the 105kg weight category, and took the gold in the 2008 European Championship +105kg snatch competition, bronze in the clean and jerk and silver overall, with a total weight of 446kg.
World champion Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia settled for bronze.Steiner won the gold by lifting ______.
| A．105 kg | B．461 kg | C．258 kg | D．210 kg |
Four years ago at the Athens Olympics Steiner represented ______.
| A．Australia | B．Germany | C．Austria | D．Russia |
The following statements are true except ______.
| A．Steiner beat Chigishev by one kilogram |
| B．Chinese weightlifting team won eight of the 15 gold medals at this year’s Games |
| C．Steiner didn’t get the passport until last February |
| D．Steiner got a bronze in the 2008 European Championship +105kg clean and jerk competition |
. It can be inferred from the story that _____.
| A．Steiner was inspired by his unfortunate wife to win the gold medal |
| B．Chigishev was also the strongest in the second event |
| C．it is hard to get a German citizenship |
| D．Steiner was determined to win the medal for the German team |
What is the best title of the story?
| A．Narrow Victory | B．Pitiful Failure |
| C．Gold Medal for His Dearest Wife | D．Strongest Man of the World |