While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
The best title of the passage may be _______.
| A．Long Loving Hugs | B．My Future |
| C．Don’t Hope. Decide | D．Love Is Everywhere |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face. |
| B．After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much. |
| C．It was fourteen years since the couple had got married. |
| D．Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds. |
By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that ____.
| A．he failed to express his ideas to the man |
| B．the man sensed his real feelings from his expression |
| C．he didn’t believe in his expression any more |
| D．his expression was not faithful to him |
From the passage, we can infer that __________.
| A．the experience may be easily forgotten by the author |
| B．the author will live a passionate life from now on |
| C．the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return |
| D．Americans prefer to save the best for last |
A study of a university in Shanghai had found that many of the students there are using a quote（引语）from the Italian poet Dante as a kind of motto．The study of Fudan University, one of China’s top universities, of 489 students, found that 82 had chosen Dante’s “Follow your own path and don’t worry about what others say” as their motto, out of 278 people who said they had a motto．This was followed by “Believe yourself” and “Self-improvement without stop．”
Students also expressed a common hope for greater understanding and care and said they were always ready to give a hand to those in need．
Some researchers think that mottoes can play an important part in children’s growth and they say that a good motto can help children develop a better character．The study shows _________．
| A．which university should have mottoes |
| B．what poems are popular |
| C．how many students like the motto “Believe yourself．” |
| D．the majority of the students like to choose their favorite mottoes |
Of the students asked, _______ students have mottoes．
| A．about 78% | B．about 57% | C．about 16% | D．about 8% |
The motto “Self-improvement without stop” shares the similar meaning with ______．
| A．going on to improve rapidly |
| B．growing by oneself continuously |
| C．making oneself better and perfect continuously |
| D．becoming better without having a break |
The best title for the passage should be _______．
| A．Mottoes and Character Developing | B．Students and Poet |
| C．Mottoes and Learning | D．Understanding Care |
The first MP4 player was born years ago. Soon many music fans were wondering how fantastic it is! If you have been into technology enough, perhaps you may have a knowledge of the MP4. If not, you do need to know something before buying one, even if you are familiar with MP3. MP3 is the CD-like disc with greater capacity. How about MP4? This small digital product will really enrich the joy from listening to music. You can even feel the “touch” of music to your soul!
Now, some similar digital products advertised as “MP4 player” are simply MP3 players, which do not play video and MPEG format and also lack other particular functions. These products confuse some buyers, as they may think the “MP4” players simply mean they can do more than MP3.
What is MP4?
It is a multimedia container. It is not only used to store digital audio
and digital video streams, especially those of MPEG, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and pictures. As a most modern container format, it allows streaming over the Internet.
With the help of a piece of MP4 video equipment, you can change various programs such as MPEG to MP4, ASX to MP4, AVI to MP4 and so
on, which can be done very quickly and easily without any effect on the sound quality. By installing DVD-MP4 software, you can transfer particular music from a DVD to an MP4 video file. It really excites your listening music experience.
Then, there is MP4 advanced and you can set your own collection of all the programs—TV shows, games, and music. Y
ou can even see movies which are still running in cinema. What else digital product could you possibly ask for?
. It is suggested here that you should ______ before buying an MP4 player.
| A．first be a music fan | B．have a knowledge of MP4 |
| C．get familiar with MP3 | D．buy a CD-like disc |
. From the passage, we can see that MP4 is ______ MP3.
| A．much bigger than | B．just as advanced as |
| C．not so particular as | D．more functional than |
.Which function of MP4 is NOT directly mentioned in this passage?
A.Storing digital audio and video streams.
B.Recording some movies in cinema.
C.Playing TV shows, games and movies.
D.Transferring particular music from a DVD..From the last sentence, it’s clear that the writer tries to tell us it is ______.
| A．reasonable to buy other digital products |
| B．impossible to buy something else |
| C．a very wise choice to buy an MP4 |
| D．an exciting experience to buy an MP3 |
14 days from just ￡2, 090 pp
Fully inclusive from the UK
Price cover international airfares, departure taxes, fuel charge, local transportation all meals, entrance fees, guides, daily tours and visas for UK citizens.
Days 1-3: UK-Shanghai
Fly to the great city of Shanghai and in the evening sample traditional shanghai food. Visit the beautiful YU Garden, Old Town. Shanghai Museum, cross the Great Nampa Bridge and tour the Pudong area. Also explore Xintiandi with its 1920’s style Smkomen buildings and end your stay in shanghai with an amazing Huangpu river evening tour.
Days 4-7: Shanghai-Yangtze River Tour
Fly to Yichang and change （approx: one hour）to board your Yangtze River ship for the next four nights. E
njoy a tour of the three Gorges Dam before sailing on the grand Yangtze River, passing through the impressive Three Gorges. We take a side tripe to the lesser Three Gorges or travel up the Shennong Stream in a peapod boat and enjoy various shore trips along the way.
Day8: Chongqing—Chengdu
Get off in Chongqing and drive to Chengdu for an overnight stay.
Day9-10: Chengdu-Xi’an
Visit the famous Panda Reserve to see the lovely animals We then fly to the historic city of Xi’an for two nights stay and enjoy traditional Shuijiao. Next day, explore one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century—the Terracotta Warriors（兵马俑），followed by the ancient City wall and a performance of Tang Dynasty dancing.
Day11-13: Xi’an-Beijing
Visit little wild goose pagoda and see the ancient objects at the well-known Shanxi provincial museum before walking through the lively militia Quarter to see the Great Mosque. Later fly to Beijing for three nights stay and try Peking Duck. During our stay in Beijing, we stroll through Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden city, the largest and best preserved collection of ancient buildings in china, and visit the summer palace. Next day we take a walk on the Great wall, tour the unique Temple of Heaven and enjoy an attractive Chinese Acrzibatio show.
Day14: Beijing-UK
Fly back to the UK, arriving home later the same day filled with happy memories. 
. The underlined word “sample” in the passage probably means “___________”
| A．buy | B．reserve | C．taste | D．make |
. The first and last scenic spots to b
e visited in Xi’an are __________.
| A．the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Mosque |
| B．the Terracotta Warriors and shanghai provincial Museum |
| C．little wild goose Pagoda and Great Mosque |
| D．little wild goose Pagoda and the Muslim Quarter |
. The ad is mainly intended to ___________.
| A．encourage the British to travel in China |
| B．attract the British to traditional Chinese food |
| C．offer service of booking air tickets to tourists |
| D．provide the British with a better understanding of China. |
I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding（资助）medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What
better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly o
n the environment.
. The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.
| A．its convenient location |
| B．its great variety of goods |
| C．its spirit of goodwill |
| D．its nice shopping environment |
. The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____.
| A．sell cheap products |
| B．deal with unwanted things |
| C．raise money for patients |
| D．help a foreign country |
. Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?
| A．The operating costs are very low. |
| B．The staff are usually well paid. |
| C．90% of the donations are second-hand. |
| D．They are open twenty-four hours a day. |
. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
| A．What to Buy a Charity Shops. |
| B．Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development. |
| C．Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate. |
| D．The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops. |
As I sat beside the window of our classroom that afternoon, my heart sank further with each passing car. This was a day I’d looked forward to for weeks: Miss Pace’s fourth-grade, end-of-the-year party.
I had happily volunteered my mother when Miss Pace looked for cookie volunteers. Mom’s chocolate chips were well-known, and I knew they’d be a hit with my classmates. But two o’clock passed, and there was no sign of her. Most of the other mothers had already come and gone, dropping off their sweet offerings.
The three o’clock bell soon took me away from my thoughts and I took my book bag from my desk.
I decided I would slam the front door, and refuse to return her hug. But when I arrived, she wasn’t at home.
I was lying face-down on my bed upstairs when I heard her come through the front door.
“Robbie,” she called out a bit urgently. “Where are you?”
I could then hear her rushing anxiously from room to room, wondering where I could be. I remained silent.
Coming through the door, she said: “I’m so sorry, honey,” she said. “I just forgot. I got busy and forgot.”
Then my mother did something completely unexpected. She began to laugh! How could she laugh at a time like this? I rolled over and faced her, ready to let her see my rage (愤怒).
But my mother wasn’t laughing at all. She was crying. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I let you down. I let my little boy down.”
I was moved by her tears.
I tried to remember her kind words from times past when I’d skinned knees or cut myself, times when she knew just the right thing to say.
“It’s okay, Mom. We didn’t even need those cookies. There was plenty of stuff to eat. Don’t cry. It’s all right. Really.”
We didn’t say another word. We just held each other. Whe
n we came to the point where I would usually pull away, I decided that, this time, I could hold on, perhaps, just a little bit longer.
. The author was pretty down because ______.
| A．he couldn’t go to the party he had been looking forward to |
| B．his mother didn’t turn up at the party as she had promised |
| C．his mother had refused to make chocolate chips for the party |
| D．the cookies his mom made was not popular at the party |
. When the author returned home, ______.
| A．he was so angry that he slammed the front door |
| B．he was silent and refused to return his mother’s hug |
| C．he rushed from room to room looking for his mother |
| D．he was disappointed that he couldn’t express his anger to his mother |
. We can tell from the story that _____.
| A．the mother didn’t get to the party because of the traffic jam |
| B．the mother was sorry for her absence and laughed at herself |
C．the author was a caring and thoughtf ul boy |
| D．the author was overcome with anger |
. The article expresses the message that ______.
| A．it is silly to be angry with your family |
| B．everybody should keep his or her promises |
| C．true love is based on understanding |
| D．understanding how to comfort people in low spirits is a true skill |