Most people think that the
capital of the movie world is Hollyhood, in the United States. However, the real movie capital is Mumbai, in India. Mumbai used to be known as Bombay, and so the film industry there is called “Bollywood.” Bollywood makes twice as man
y movies each year as Hollyhood—more than 800 films a year.
The movies from Bollywood are very different from Hollywood movies. For one thing, Bollywood movies are much longer than most Hollywood movies. Most Bollywood movies are more than three hours long, and contain singing, dancing, action, adventure, mystery, and romance (but usually no kissing). Because Bollywood films contain so many different features, this style of film is sometimes called a “masala” film. (“Masala” is an Indian word for a mixture of spice
s.)
Another big difference between Bollywood and Hollywood movies is the way movies are made. It takes much longer to make a movie in Hollywood than in Bollywood. In fact, filming may begin on a Bollywood movie before the script even finished. The director and writers can make up the story while the film is being made. Sometimes they will even write the script by hand instead of taking time to type it.
Bollywood actors are very popular and some are in such high demand that they may work on several movies at the same time. They may even shoot scenes for several films on the same day using the same costumes and scenery. Since most Bollywood movies follow the same kind of story, shooting scenes for several films at the same time is not a big problem for actors or directors. This also helps keep the cost of Bollywood movies lower than the cost of Hollywood movies. The average Bollywood film, with a budget of only two million U.S. dollars, seems very cheap compared to the average budget of sixty million U.S. dollars for a Hollywood film—thirty times as much! What is the main topic of the reading?
| A．famous stars in Bollywood | B．how Hollywood movies are made |
| C．the differences between two movie industries | D．the history of movie-making in India |
What is NOT true about Mumbai?
| A．It is the movie capital of India. |
| B．The new name is Bombay. |
| C．More movies are made there than in Hollywood. |
| D．It is less expensive to make films there than in Hollywood. |
Why are Bollywood films often called “masala” films?
| A．They have spicy stories. | B．They show Indian culture. |
| C．They are much longer than Hollywood films. | D．They mix different styles of movies. |
Bollywood movies are cheap to make because ____________________ .
| A．they are shorter than Hollywood films. |
| B．the scripts are written by hand. |
| C．the movies do not use any special effects. |
| D．each movie reuses things from other movies. |
Which of these statements would the writer probably agree with?
| A．Most Bollywood movies are very similar. |
| B．It takes a lot of money to make a good movie. |
| C．Only Indian people can understand Bollywood movies. |
| D．Hollywood movies are too violent. |
Here is your best chance to travel around the UK in 2012: More than 200 B&Bs（bed & breakfast）across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are selected to offer you amazing services for your stay at their lowest prices! Don’t miss it. Just collect the vouchers（活动券）in our B&B Daily printed from 01/04/2012 to 07/04/2012 and book the stays for your travel following the terms and conditions below:
The offer includes a room for the night and a breakfast the next morning.
The offer is of two kinds: ￡20 per room, valid（有效的）during stay period of 02/04/2012—31/05/2012 and then again 01/09/2012—31/10/2012；￡35 per room, per night, valid during stay period of 01/06/2012—31/08/2012.
The offer is valid for a basic twin or double room only.
The stay must be booked directly with the chosen B&Bs before 28/04/2012.
Each voucher can only be used by the holder to book one room for one night.
If voucher holders book either the ￡20 or ￡35 per room per night, any additional services such as lunch, evening meal or activities may require an extra charge. But these are not required in order to take up the offer. Please check directly with your chosen B&Bs to see what extra services are available.
Vouchers must be presented on arrival. If no vouchers are presented, the B&Bs may reserve（保留）the right to charge at full price for every night of stay.
Vouchers may not be used together with any other offer.
The voucher holders must pay for the stay in full at the time of booking. Additional ￡10 may be paid to confirm（确认）the booking and will be returned on arrival.
The B&Bs reserve the right to refuse voucher holders’ bookings for people under the age of 18.How much should be paid for a two-night stay in October 2012 at a chosen B&B?
| A．￡30 | B．￡35 | C．￡40 | D．￡70 |
What right do the B&Bs reserve?
| A．To charge extra ￡10 for bookings with no vouchers. |
| B．To charge at full price for stays not confirmed. |
| C．To request extra charges as tips. |
| D．To refuse bookings for guest under the age of 18. |
By taking up the offer, the voucher holders can choose to ______ .
| A．have lunch or evening meal without paying extra money |
| B．book either a basic twin or double room at the chosen B&Bs |
| C．use the B&B offer together with other offers |
| D．book the stays through B&B Daily |
A new United Nations report shows that fish farming may soon be the world’s most important provider of fish. The Food and Agriculture Organization says fish farming is growing at a rate of 6.6 percent a year.
Fish farming now produces forty-six percent of the world’s supply of fish. That represents a forty-three percent increase from 2006. The report also said fish farming earned more money in 2008 than traditional fisheries.
In fish farming, fish are raised in tanks or small bodies of water called ponds. They are also raised in cages or nets in oceans, lakes and rivers. The report says increased fish farming has helped people around the world eat record amounts of fish. The FAO says each person ate an average of almost seventeen kilograms of fish last year.
However, the FAO says the current yearly wild-fish harvest of ninety million tons shows no improvement. Decreasing numbers of fish and stronger catch limits have reduced the possibilities for catching wild fish. The FAO report says about thirty-two percent of world supplies are overfished. It says these supplies of fish need to be rebuilt at once.
Some scientists have criticized fish farming. They say the nets and cages permit fish diseases and pests to spread. Some fish farming critics doubt whether fish farming can keep growing at the current rate. But Wally Stevens of the trade group Global Aquaculture Alliance says the industry must continue developing to feed growing populations. Mr. Stevens says a one hundred percent increase in fish farming over ten years is necessary to keep providing for people at the current level. He notes that fish farming creates jobs and wealth, especially for people in coastal areas of China.We learn that since the year 2006, fish farming has been ______.
| A．earning more money than traditional fisheries |
| B．developing rapidly around the world |
| C．growing at a rate of 6.6 percent each day |
| D．producing 46% of the world’s supply of fish |
According to Paragraph 3, thanks to fish farming, people around the world are able to ______.
| A．buy more kinds of fishes | B．eat more fish than before |
| C．eat much healthier fish | D．eat much bigger fish |
What is implied in Paragraph 4?
| A．it is harder to catch wild fish than before. |
| B．It costs too much to rebuild supplies of fish. |
| C．There is no future for the market of wild fish. |
| D．Catching wild fish no longer brings benefits. |
What does Wally Stevens think of fish farming?
| A．It doesn’t have disadvantages at all. |
| B．It cannot keep growing at the current rate. |
| C．It is not a good way of raising fish. |
| D．It must develop fast to supply a growing population. |
TOKYO, Japan (AP) – Japan is very serious about robotics (机器人技术). If the droids are going to fit in, they probably need to learn the Japanese custom of serving tea. Fortunately, researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that. In a show this week, a humanoid（有人特点的）with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc. poured tea from a bottle into a cup. Then another robot on wheels delivered the cup of tea in an experimental room that has sensors embedded in the floor and sofa as well as cameras on the ceiling, to simulate（模仿）life with robot technology.
“A human being may be faster, but you’d have to say ‘Thank you,’” said University of Tokyo professor Tomomasa Sato. “That’s the best part about a robot. You don’t have to feel bad about asking it to do things.”
Sato believes Japan, a rapidly aging society where more than a fifth of the population is 65 or older, will lead the world in designing robots to care for the elderly, sick and bedridden（卧床不起的）.
Already, monitoring technologies, such as sensors that automatically turn on lights when people enter a room, are becoming widespread in Japan.
The walking, child–size Asimo from Honda Motor Co. greets people at showrooms. NEC Corp. has developed a smaller companion robot–on –wheels called Papero. A seal robot available since 2004 can entertain the elderly and others in need of fuzzy companionship.
Sato says his experimental room is raising awareness about privacy questions that may arise when electronic devices（设备）monitor a person’s movements down to the smallest detail.
On the bright side, the tea – pouring humanoid has been programmed to do the dishes.The underlined word “embedded” in the first paragraph probably means .
| A．rooted | B．settled | C．fixed | D．established |
According to Professor Sato, .
| A．the robot serves tea much faster than a human being |
| B．the robot does anything like human beings |
| C．tea – serving robot helps to form laziness of the aging society |
| D．tea – serving robot doesn’t need any reward for the service |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．people are afraid of being monitored by robots. |
| B．robots can completely take the place of human beings. |
| C．the technology of robots has been highlighted in Japan. |
| D．people’s privacy should be strictly protected |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．“Thank You” Will Never Be Needed in Japan |
| B．Monitoring Technologies Are Widespread in Japan |
| C．Robot Is Designed to Care for the Elderly. |
| D．Robot technologies are widespread in Japanese daily life. |
Tensions have erupted over some barren rocks in the Pacific that you may never have heard of, but stay tuned—this is a boundary dispute that could get ugly and some day have far-reaching consequences for China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States．
The islands in dispute are called the Senkaku chain by Japan, the Diaoyu islands by China, and the Diaoyutai by Taiwan．All three claim the islands, which are really just five small islands and three barren rocks northeast of Taiwan, 200 miles off the Chinese coast．
The latest conflict occurred when a Chinese fishing boat collided with two Japanese naval ships trying to stop it near the islands．The Japanese prevented the Chinese captain from leaving the place for questioning and the two countries have been exchanging angry protests．
The reason to worry is that nationalists in both China and Taiwan see the slands as unquestionably theirs and think that their government has been weak in claiming this authority．
So far, wiser heads have generally won the argument on each side, but at some point a weakened Chinese leader might try to gain the legal right with the public by pushing the issue and recovering the islands．It would be a dangerous game and would have a disastrous impact on China-Japan relations, but if successful it would raise the popularity of the Chinese government．
In reality, of course, there is zero chance that the U．S．will honor its treaty（条约） with Japan over a few barren rocks．We're not going to risk a nuclear conflict with China over some islands that may well be China's．But if we don't help, our security relationship with Japan will be at the breaking point．
So which country has a better claim to the islands? My feeling is that it's China, although the answer isn't clear-cut．Chinese navigational records show the islands as Chinese for many centuries, and a 1783 Japanese map shows them as Chinese as well．Japan purported to "discover" the islands only in 1884 and took control of them by force only in 1895 when it also grabbed Taiwan．
The best approach would be for China and Japan to agree to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice, but realistically that won't happen．And since some believe that the area is rich with oil and gas reserves, the claims from each side have become more insistent．
As Chinese nationalism grows, as China's navy and ability to project power in the ocean gains, we could see some military conflicts over the islands．
Taken from NewYork TimesThe underlined word "purported" （in Para．5） is closest in meaning to "_____"．
| A．happened | B．claimed | C．pretended | D．intended |
The latest conflict referred to in the passage occurred because _____．
| A．the Japanese government has bought the Diaoyu Islands from the Liyuans |
| B．two Japanese naval ships sailed in the Chinese sea around the Diaoyu Islands |
| C．the Japanese kept the captain of a fishing boat from returning for questioning |
| D．A fishing boat collided with two Japanese naval ships by design in the Japanese sea |
Which of the following is the author's personal idea?
| A．It is the two Japanese naval ships that are to blame for the conflict． |
| B．It is the Chinese captain of a fishing boat that is to blame for the conflict． |
| C．It is the U．S．that will honor its treaty with Japan over a few barren rocks． |
| D．It is China that has a better claim to the islands because of its navigational records． |
Why does the author think neither China nor Japan will agree to refer the dispute to the international Court of justice?
| A．because the claim from both sides has become more insistent． |
| B．because Japan has navy and ability to power the Diaoyu Islands． |
| C．because China is developing so quickly that it will declare a war on Japan． |
| D．because the U．S．won't be involved in the dispute between China and Japan． |
People think what I do is so wonderful because I interview stars. And I have to admit that when I first started working at Sassy in 1987 I was excited about that part of my job for the first couple of months, anyway. Then I noticed how stars would fool me around for months. I could never get enough time with a star to find out anything interesting, and some acted just simply rudely. I started hating the way I was treated, and I was really disappointed to see that these people I had worshipped (崇拜）before were pretty ordinary. So I decided I would just tell the truth instead of keeping up their myths (神秘）.If the star was a bad guy, I would say so. If I thought anyone was stupid, I did not hold back that information.
I thought readers would appreciate that kind of honesty. Surprisingly, many of them hated me for it. I have gotten so many attacks on my character. In their eyes, being famous is everything, even more desirable than being truly creative and talented
Why do we need stars? In fact, the media created stars to satisfy our basic need for gossip (闲话）.Over time, talking about people we have never met and we are never likely to meet has become what we are crazy about. Thus, some people are more interested in the personal lives of the stars than in the lives of their own family and their own friends. That is why it is so ridiculous when a star wants to discuss only his or her work in an interview as we care. We want the dirt on their personal lives.
There is another reason we worship stars. As a whole, our society is not as religious as it once was. It seems that people need something to fulfill them the way religion once did. Star worship exists as an unfulfilling desire for true heroes.
We make them stars, but then their reputation makes us feel unimportant, and we truly feel better about ourselves when they die. I am part of this whole process. No wonder I feel soiled at the end of workday.What are the stars like according to the author?
| A．They always treat others rudely. |
| B．They always talk about something dull. |
| C．They are actually ordinary people. |
| D．They are usually honest and polite. |
We worship stars because ______.
| A．we need true mental heroes to support us |
| B．we can learn something useful from famous stars |
| C．we concern about the stars’family and friends |
| D．we like talking about the stars’dressing styles |
When the author is writing this article, his tone sounds ______.
| A．excited | B．angry | C．worried | D．calm |
What is the main purpose of the author writing the passage?
| A．To show the disadvantages of working with stars. |
| B．To remind us not to worship famous stars blindly. |
| C．To laugh at the failures of stars he has interviewed. |
| D．To talk about the reasons why we worship stars. |