“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣橱）?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”
“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint（晕倒）, waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ______.
| A．a family honor | B．a family secret |
| C．a family story | D．a family treasure |
What can we learn about some Australians’ ancestors form Paragraph 2?
| A．They were brought to Australia as prisoners. |
| B．They were the earliest people living in Australia. |
| C．They were involved in some crimes in Australia. |
| D．They were not regarded as criminals in their days. |
Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?
| A．She was curious about it. | B．She planned to keep it for fun. |
| C．She needed it for her school task. | D．She intended to scare her parents. |
Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.
| A．they were crazy |
| B．they were over excited |
| C．they realized their misunderstanding |
| D．they both thought they had won the quarrel |
It`s not easy being a teenager (13—19岁的青少年)----- nor is it easy being the parent of a teenager. You can make your child feel angry , hurt, or misunderstood by what you say without realizing it yourself . It is important to give your child the space he needs to grow while gently letting him know that you’ll still be there for him when he needs you.
Expect a lot from your child ,just not everything . Expect for health and safety problems , such as drug use or careless driving, consider everything else open to discussion . If your child is unwilling to discuss something , don’t insist he tell you what’s on his mind . The more you insist , the more likely that he 'll clam up . Instead, let him attempt to solve（解决）things by himself. At the same time, remind him that you’re always there for him should he seek advice or help. Show respect for your teenager’s privacy(隐私).Never read his mail or listen in on personal conversations.
Teach your teenager that the family phone is for the whole family . If your child talks on the family’s telephone for too long., tell him he can talk for 15 minutes ,but then he must stay off the phone for at least an equal period of time. This not only frees up the line so that other family members can make and receive calls , but teaches your teenager moderation(节制) .Or if you are open to the idea, allow your teenager his own phone that he pays for with his own pocket money or a part—time job.The main purpose of the text is to tell parents ________.
| A．how to get along with a teenager |
| B．how to respect a teenager |
| C．how to understand a teenager |
| D．how to help a teenager grow up |
What does the phrase “clam up ” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. become excited Ｂ．show respect C. refuse to talk D. seek helpThe last paragraph is about how to teach a teenager __________.
| A．to use the phone in a sensible way |
| B．to pay for his own telephone |
| C．to share the phone with friends |
| D．to answer the phone quickly |
What should parents do in raising a teenager according to the text?
| A．Not allow him to learn driving or take drugs. |
| B．Give him advice only when necessary |
| C．Let him have his own telephone |
| D．Not talk about personal things with him |
With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment．
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．
Of all today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill, we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles n ear the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tons of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run.
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power, electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．
If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient —and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient, we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A．Oil spills pollution． | B．What oil pollution is． |
| C．Oil tanker accidents. | D．How to reduce oil pollution. |
How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people
believe?
| A．By giving a description． | B．By making an argument． |
| C．By giving an example． | D．By drawing a diagram． |
What does the underlined word "risk" in Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．Transportation depending more on oil． |
| B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally． |
| C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea． |
| D．More environmental damage being caused． |
Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?
| A．We should build safer tankers in the near future． |
| B．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use． |
| C．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines． |
| D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea． |
| Ticket Types |
Regulations |
Notes |
| Single Day Admission |
*For all visitors *On any standard Day other than Peak Day *One ticket per person, valid(有效的)for one entry on the day of admission |
Standard Day tickets refer to the tickets for all visiting days(167 days in total) except for Peak Days during the Expo. |
| Special Admission |
*For the disabled * For people born in or before 1950 *For students with valid IDs *For children above 1.2m *For Chinese military personnel on active duty *Valid IDs are required upon ticket purchase and entry *On any Standard Day other than Peak Day *One ticket per person, valid for one entry on the day of admission |
|
| 3 Day Admission |
*For all visitors *Valid for any three days except Peak Days *One ticket per person, valid for one entry per day |
The tickets are designed to meet the multi-entry demand of visitors. |
| 7 Day Admission |
* For all visitors *Valid for any seven days except Peak Days *One ticket per person, valid for one entry per day |
_______ can get a Special Admission ticket for himself/ herself.
| A．A 56-year-old bus driver | B．A school girl with her valid student card |
| C．A policeman in his forties | D．A U.S. army officer on active duty |
If you want to enter the Expo Park once every week in one month and don’t want to bother to buy the ticket each time, you can buy a ______ ticket.
| A．Single Day Admission | B．Special Admission |
| C．3 Day Admission | D．7 Day Admission |
The function of the table is to ______ .
| A．remind the public of the difficulty buying the Expo tickets |
| B．show which groups of people can get admission into the Expo Park |
| C．provide information about the Expo tickets and regulations |
| D．introduce all the visiting regulations in the Expo Park |
Being able to multitask---doing several things at the same time---is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people give so much attention to their own worlds, they seem to have no time to spend with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they eat at the family table.
Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response. However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive.
Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
| A．Want to buy. |
| B．Take the place of. |
| C．Use at the same time. |
| D．Seek for information from. |
In Paragraph 3, the author points out that ________.
| A．family members do not eat at the family table. |
| B．family members do not greet each other. |
| C．young people live happily in their families |
| D．young people seldom talk with their family members |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．multitasking is harmful to young people’s development. |
| B．Young people benefit a lot from modern gadgets. |
| C．Multitasking is an important skill to young people. |
| D．Yong people must learn skills for future jobs. |
The author develops the passage mainly by ________.
| A．providing typical examples |
| B．following the natural time order |
| C．comparing opinions from different fields |
| D．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects |
A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a “blog”. The word “blog” is a short way of saying web log, or personal Web site. Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like.
There are millions of blogs on the Internet today. They provide news, information and ideas to many people who read them. They contain links to other Web sites. And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others.
A research company called Peruse has studied more than 3,000 Web logs. It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls. They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year.
However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas. For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products.
At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended. Last week, blogging leader Dave Winner closed his free blog service, weblogs.com. He says the site became too costly to continue. He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it.
One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket. It involves much useful information for readers. Rebecca Blood created the Web site in 1999. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site. That article led to a book called “The Weblog Handbook”. It has been translated into four languages so far.
Ms Blood says Rebecca’s Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month. She writes about anything and everything----politics, culture and movies. She recently provided medical advice. And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from online bank accounts.The text is written mainly to ____
| A．introduce an Internet computer Web site called “blog” |
| B．introduce a way of reading on blogs |
| C．tell readers about blogs |
| D．tell readers how to write blogs |
From the text we can learn that blogs cover almost everything except __ _.
| A．different ideas |
| B．medical advice |
| C．advertisements |
| D．account codes |
According to this passage , which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Politicians don’t use blogs at all |
| B．A lot of bloggers no longer write or read blogs |
| C．Those who like to use blogs are mostly teenage girls |
| D．Dave Winer closed his “weblogs.com” because of money shortage |
The reason why Rebecca’s Pocket is still going strong is that____
| A．it was created by a woman |
| B．it provides plenty of useful information and advice |
| C．it is about the history of books |
| D．it has editions in at least four different languages |