Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some kind, football, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no manmade rules, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no “matches” between teams of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously team work. The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.
A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Differences between Golf and Mountaineering. |
| B．Sports and Games. |
| C．Mountaineering. |
| D．Why are so many people crazy about mountaineering? |
The biggest difference between golf and mountaineering lies in ____.
| A．team game |
| B．enjoyment |
| C．age |
| D．rules |
The mountaineering can also be called a team sport because ____.
| A．mountain climbers usually compete in groups |
| B．mountaineers depend on each other while climbing |
| C．mountaineering climbers are free to use their won rules to climb |
| D．mountaineering is a sport not a game |
In the author’s opinion, one of the most important reason why so many people enjoy
mountaineering is that ____.
| A．there are no man-made rules for mountaineers |
| B．mountaineering is a sport and not a game |
| C．it is one of the most dangerous sports |
| D．mountaineering brings us more enjoyment than other sports |
Alibaba started taking the lead in China by connecting big Chinese manufacturers(制造商) with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed business to buy almost everything. Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to judge: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards. Its market attracts 231 million active buyers, 8 million sellers, 11.3 billion orders a year — and Alibaba is just the middleman. It encourages people to use its markets — not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale.
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is second to consumer buying. Chinese retail(零售) buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping — big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how wide the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine.Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in .
| A．its low price |
| B．its big size |
| C．its not charging small sellers |
| D．its business-to-business service |
What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage?
| A．Alibaba will continue to develop. |
| B．Alibaba stands out as the best online site. |
| C．Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers. |
| D．Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao. |
| B．The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover. |
| C．Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites. |
| D．Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Shopping online in China is TaoBao. |
| B．How the author purchases online in China. |
| C．Shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping. |
| D．Alibaba influences people’s daily purchase in China. |
BRITAIN is a popular tourist place. But tours of the country have pros and cons.
Good news
Free museums. No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities.
Pop music. Britain is the only country to rival (与……比敌) the US on this score.
Black cabs. London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food. Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants.
Fashion. Not only do fashion followers love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.
Bad news
Poor service. “It’s part of the image of the place. People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton, of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport. Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the over-crowded London tube is unbelievable popular.
Lack of languages. Speaking slowly and clearly may not get many foreign visitors very far, even in the tourist traps .
Rain. Still in the number one complaint.
No air-conditioning. So that even splendidly hot summers become as unbearable as the down-pours.
Overpriced hotels. The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours. Alcohol is in short supply after 11p.m. even in “24-hour cities.”What do tourists complain most?
| A．Poor service. | B．Poor public transport. |
| C．Rain. | D．Overpriced hotels. |
What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?
| A．Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US. |
| B．Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US. |
| C．Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US. |
| D．Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US. |
When is alcohol not able to get easily?
| A．At 12:00p.m. | B．At 9:00 p.m. |
| C．At 10:00 p.m. | D．At 11:00 p.m. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．You have to pay to visit the museums. |
| B．It’s very cheap to travel by taxi there. |
| C．You cannot find Chinese food there. |
| D．The public transport is poor there. |
Have you ever had a day when everything seemed to go wrong, and nothing seemed to go right? Not too long ago I was having one of those days.I was discouraged, tired, and plain sad. My focus was on me.After all, no one else was experiencing the same trials I was.
I expressed my upset state to my mother, hoping for some pity.Instead, she said, “I heard Jamie was having a difficult day too.Why don't you make her some cookies and take them to her this afternoon?”
I didn't really want to, but decided that I didn't want to go back to my other problems just yet.I made the cookies and arranged them on a little plate.Then I made a card with a sunflower on it and wrote a small note of empathy(共鸣）.
That afternoon I dropped by my friend's house.I went to the door and rang the bell. Soon, Jamie came to the door and looked at me in surprise for the unexpected visit. Before she could say anything I rushed, “I heard you were having a hard day and decided to bring you something. I hope your day goes better.” The look that came over Jamie's face was one that I could never put into words.It was as if a darkened sky was suddenly lit with the golden rays of the sun；it was as if in that small act, her day was brightened.
I got back into the car and for some amazing reason. I felt a lot better myself. That day I experienced the truth that James Barrie attempted to describe, “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”The author made cookies and arranged them on a plate______.
| A．so as to show off his skills |
| B．to stop thinking about his own worries |
| C．not to let his mother feel down |
| D．not to show his sadness to others |
How did Jamie feel when seeing the author's coming?
A. She lit up very soon.
B She was surprised and scared.
C. he couldn't express herself.
D. She poured out all her worries.What do you think of the author's mother?
| A．Sympathetic. | B．Willing. |
| C．Instructional. | D．Selfish. |
Imagine a world in which there were suddenly no emotion — a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society's economic underpinnings (支柱) would be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than earning $10, there would be no incentive (动力) to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind, for as we will see, incentives mean a capacity to enjoy them.
In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instruments of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True, we consider the length, shape, size or texture, but an object's physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us — hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We also use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experience with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are "good" and others are "bad", and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life — from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society uses our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty, morality, pride, shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself. It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal penal (刑法的) system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts. Which of the following is TRUE according to the first paragraph?
| A．people would not be able to tell the physical aspects of objects. |
| B．People would not know what was beneficial and what was harmful to them. |
| C．$ 10 million is equal to $ 10 in a world without emotions. |
| D．There would be full of lies, arguments and violence. |
In can be inferred from the passage that the economic foundation of society is dependent on ________.
| A．the ability to make money |
| B．the capacity to work |
| C．the motivation to work |
| D．our emotional experiences |
Why are the emotional aspects of an object more important than its physical aspects?
| A．They help society use its members for more profit. |
| B．They encourage us to perform important tasks in the war. |
| C．They help to perfect the legal and penal system to make people afraid. |
| D．They help us adapt our behaviors to the world surrounding us. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．People could only live in a world with emotions. |
| B．People would always do bad things in the emotionless world. |
| C．Emotions are very important in the world. |
| D．Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. |
You can love them or hate them, but no matter which tourist destination you visit, chances are you'll see someone with their head buried in a Lonely Planet guidebook.
Lonely Planet is one of the world's largest travel guide brands, publishing more than 500 different guides in eight languages. The popular brand also produces television shows, websites and podcasts (播客) all devoted to travel.
Some people praise Lonely Planet books because they make traveling easy and affordable. They also save time and make sure you don't miss the best things.
They also provide the reviews of hostels, hotels, restaurants and ticket information about your destination.
This can be great if you're a nervous traveler, or if you haven't traveled by yourself before. If you're in a country where you don't speak the language, sometimes there's nothing better than getting into a taxi and opening up a guidebook. You simply point to a map that directs the taxi driver to a hostel that's cheap and clean, with friendly staff and cold beer.
But others criticize Lonely Planet and other travel guide publishers like them. They say guidebooks take the fun and spontaneity (自发性) out of traveling, and that part of the enjoyment of travel comes from the fact that anything can happen. They also regret that if you follow a guidebook, you'll end up doing the same thing and having the same experience as everyone else. You might end up seeing the same group of people over and over, because everyone is reading the same book and following the same route.
Another criticism of travel guides is that they have a large impact on local communities. For example, some locals devote their lives to behaving in ways that attract tourists. They pretend to live a traditional lifestyle, wear traditional clothes and live in traditional houses in order to attract the tourist dollar.The Lonely Planet guidebook can bring you the following advantages EXCEPT that _____.
| A．you can speak a foreign language when opening a guidebook |
| B．you can easily find a nice place to stay in a strange city |
| C．it provides lots of useful information about your destination |
| D．it can help you save time and money when traveling |
People criticize the guidebook because ________.
| A．it is not as useful as most travelers expect |
| B．tourist destinations will be crowded if everyone follows the same route |
| C．travelers may not get the chance to have unexpected adventures |
| D．local people keep modern lifestyles under its influence |
What do we know about the Lonely Planet guidebook from the text?
| A．It's a world-famous brand only producing guidebooks for travelers. |
| B．It's very useful to a person who's nervous about touring an unfamiliar place. |
| C．It's very useful to a tourist who likes to repeat others' experiences. |
| D．It is loved by all travelers because of the convenience it brings to travelers. |
Which of the following best shows the structure of the text? (①－⑦ stand for
Paragraph l－Paragraph 7 )