I once had my Chinese MBA students brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”. I separated them into six groups and gave them an example: a restaurant chain. The more original their idea, the better, I said. Finally, five of the six groups presented plans for restaurant chains. The sixth proposed a catering service. Though I admitted the time limit had been difficult, I expressed my disappointment.
My students were middle managers, financial analysts and financiers from state owned enterprises and global companies. They were not without talent or opinions, but they had been shaped by an educational system that rarely stressed or rewarded critical thinking or inventiveness. The scene I just described came in different forms during my two years’ teaching at the school. Papers were often copied from the Web and the Harvard Business Review. Case study debates were written up and just memorized. Students frequently said that copying is a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.
In China, every product you can imagine has been made and sold. But so few well developed marketing and management minds have been raised that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand.
With this problem in mind, partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established. And then there’s the “thousand talent scheme”: this new government program is intended to improve technological modernization by attracting top foreign trained scientists to the mainland with big money. But there are worries about China’s research environment. It’s hardly known for producing independent thinking and openness, and even big salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.
At last, for China, becoming a major world creator is not just about setting up partnerships with top Western universities. Nor is it about gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s about establishing a rich learning environment for young minds. It’s not that simple.Why does the author feel disappointed at his students?
| A．Because there is one group presenting a catering service. |
| B．Because the six groups made projects for restaurant chains. |
| C．Because all the students copied a case for the difficult topic. |
| D．Because the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness. |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．China can make and sell any product all over the world |
| B．high pay may not solve the problem of China’s research environment |
| C．cooperation with institutions has been set up to make a Chinese brand |
| D．the new government program are aimed at encouraging imagination |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．Look for a New Way of Learning. | B．Reward Creative Thinking. |
| C．How to Become a Creator. | D．Establish a technical Environment. |
“I pity the empress. Poor empress.” “Do you think Zhen Huan really loves the emperor?” From campuses to offices, from shopping malls to the streets, talk about Legend of Zhen Huan is everywhere.
Unlike other long TV series, Legend of Zhen Huan, the 76-episode Qing dynasty drama series, has kept attracting new audiences along the way. It has enjoyed widespread popularity on the Chinese mainland over the past months.
The story is seemingly the same as those dramas which look into the lives of women in the imperial palace. It focuses on plots and intrigues(阴谋) within the Inner Palace during Emperor Yongzheng’s reign.
The heroine, Zhen Huan, initially a kind and innocent young lady, enters the emperor’s harem(后宫) of concubines. Discovering that the palace is a cruel and harsh place, Zhen learns how to survive on her own.
However, Legend of Zhen Huan seems to arouse more discussion than any drama series. Why? Some experts say it’s because it’s a well-made series from inside out.
Niu Hanting, deputy editor-in-chief of Art Panorama magazine, told Xinhua News Agency that the sets, props and costumes are carefully chosen. And the screenplay and dialogue are well-written. “The series takes care of every detail a good period drama should have,” Niu said. “From that aspect, it’s no coincidence that Zhen Huan could be big.” More importantly, Niu added, the TV series strikes a chord among audiences in different ways. “For example, as a woman, Zhen is hurt by the man she once loved. And as a newcomer to the palace, she finds herself caught in the fierce infighting and she has to survive,” Niu said, “Everyone may find themselves in Zhen’s position at a certain point.”
Then it’s not hard to understand why the story of Zhen Huan is even seen as a survival guide for newcomers in the workplace. Its director, Zheng Xiaolong, once admitted that in terms of society today, the “promotion” of Zhen Huan reflects a person’s career path in some way. “Whether the principles can be applied in today’s society, or not, I want to make the story as real as possible,” Zheng told Sina.com. “There are many fairytale-like series that make audiences ignore or avoid reality, and the complexity of humanity.” “But Legend of Zhen Huan, is a series that makes you think.”What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．People have pity on the empress. |
| B．Zhen Huan really loves the emperor. |
| C．Legend of Zhen Huan is very popular. |
| D．Legend of Zhen Huan is shown everywhere. |
What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 3 most probably refer to?
| A．The imperial palace. |
| B．The life of women. |
| C．Emperor Yongzheng’s reign. |
| D．The story of Zhen Huan. |
When Legend of Zhen Huan finds the palace is a cruel one, she ______.
| A．learns to survive on her own |
| B．asks others for advice |
| C．feels down and disappointed |
| D．becomes an innocent young lady |
We can learn from Niu Hanting that she ______.
| A．thinks Zhen has had effects on newcomers |
| B．makes little of Legend of Zhen Huan |
| C．speaks highly of Legend of Zhen Huan |
| D．wants newcomer to follow Zhen’s example |
This text is most probably taken from a(n) _________.
| A．textbook | B．newspaper |
| C．advertisement | D．story book |
As we all know, getting benched in sports is usually a bad thing. But at one school in Florida, a girl has taken a bench and turned it into something entirely different – a place to find friends. It’s called the Friendship Bench. And it’s the brainchild of a sixth grader at Palm Bay Elementary – a girl named Acacia Woodley.
Acacia’s attitude toward life might be summed up best by a question she recently asked members of the Brevard County School Board – “what if we spend as much time putting the spotlight on kindness as we do on cruelty?” It’s a philosophy Acacias has learned to live her own life -despite having a lot of people would consider a handicap. She was born without a right hand. And her left hand did not form properly. But Acacia says that she has not stopped her from achieving her goals. “You need to believe in your dreams. If you don’t believe in you dreams, I can definitely tell you that they are not going to come true.” She said.
Acacia came up with the idea for the Friendship Bench after seeing kids getting bullied at school. She says she has also experienced bullying herself – kids whispering about her or picking on her because she is different. “Some people say they feel sorry for me. I tell them not to,” she said. “I don’t care that I’m different. I like being different.”
The Friendship Bench looks like a lot of other benches. It has arm sets and a place to lean on. But there are also words painted on it – words such as “hope”, “respect”, “listen” and “dream”. Acacia put the benches together with the help from her mother and brother.
Any time a kid feels he or she needs a friend, all that kid needs to do is sit on the bench. It is then up to the other kids – or grown-ups – to fill that need. “It’s a perfect idea,” Palm Bay Elementary Principal Lori said. “It’s something we’ve needed so badly.”
The Friendship Bench has been such a success at Palm Bay Elementary that other schools are now interested in installing one too. “There’s a saying in my teacher’s classroom,” Acacia said. “It says, ‘it you can dream it, you can achieve it.’”What is the function of the first sentence in Paragraph One?
| A．To explain the meaning of getting benched is sports. |
| B．To introduce the important role “bench” plays in sports. |
| C．To introduce what the author wants to say in the text to us. |
| D．To tell us that the passage is connected with the word “bench”. |
What can be learned about Acacia from the passage?
| A．She is disabled but leads an active life. |
| B．She has a deep understanding of life. |
| C．She finds it difficult to achieve her goals. |
| D．She finds herself always in need of help. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Acacia has also suffered from other kids’ bullying. |
| B．The kids who sit on the bench feel they need friends. |
| C．Grown-ups are allowed to offer their help to the one in need. |
| D．The Friendship Bench is different from others in the arm sets. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．More Friendship Benches will be installed in other schools soon. |
| B．Students stop bullying other schoolmates at Palm Bay Elementary. |
| C．The students at Palm Bay Elementary have become more friendly. |
| D．Acacia has become a very important figure at Palm Bay Elementary. |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Acacia’s New Invention |
| B．The Friendship Bench |
| C．Help from a Special Bench |
| D．Getting Benched in School |
C.O.P.D(慢性障碍性肺病) blocks air flow through the lungs. It makes breathing difficult. The leading cause of C.O.P.D. is cigarette smoking. Experts at the National Institutes of Health in the United States say there is no cure to the damage to the lungs.
Dawn Demeo is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She said, “By 2020, C.O.P.D. may be the third leading cause of death across the world.”
C.O.P.D. is a new name for emphysema（肺气肿） and chronic bronchitis（慢性支气管炎）. These are the two most common forms of the disease. Many people with C.O.P.D. have both of them. And Doctor Demeo says more women than men now die from the disease.
She is the lead author of a study by a team from Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Bergen in Norway. The new study adds to findings that women may be more at risk than men from the damaging effects of smoking.
The team examined results from a Norwegian study of 954 people with C.O.P.D. Inga-Cecilie Soerheim co-wrote the team’s findings. Doctor Soerheim says they show that women suffered the same level of C.O.P.D.as men. But the female smokers were younger and had smoked a lot less.
The team also looked at two groups among the people in the study. These were people under the age of 60 and those who had smoked for less than 20 years. In both cases, women had more serious C.O.P.D. and a greater loss of lung function (功能）than men.Which of the following statements about C.O.P.D is NOT true ______.
A. Cigarette smoking is likely to cause C.O.P.D.
B. C.O.P.D. makes it hard for a person to breathe
C. C.O.P.D will be one of the most life-threatening diseases.
D. Many people with C.O.P.D. have either emphysema or chronic bronchitis.It can be known from the study that_____.
A. female smokers die faster than male ones.
B. women are more likely to suffer from the damaging effects of smoking than men.
C. women who suffer the same level of C.O.P.D as men were older and weaker.
D. in the group of people under the age of 60, men suffered more from C.O.P.D than women.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A .Smoking Kills
B. Smoking Triggers Diseases
C. The Leading Causes of C.O.P.D.
D. Women Suffers More from C.O.P.D. than MenIn which part of a newspaper would you most probably read this passage?
| A．Science | B．Health report | C．Education | D．Business report |
There has been a large increase in the number of natural disasters over the past few years, and it is believed that global warming and climate change could cause even more disasters in thefuture. Some of the world’s leading cities are facing disasters like floods and heat waves.
London
London’s flood defences are getting older. Since 1982, the Thames Barrier(水闸)has protected the city from the threat (威胁)of flooding, but it was only designed to last until 2030 and close once every two or three years. About 31 years later the barrier now closes five or six times a year and according to Environment Agency predictions, by 2050 the barrier will be closed on almost every tide if the problem is not solved
There are 26 underground stations, 400 schools, 16 hospitals, an airport and 80 billion worth of property(财产）in London’s flood risk area, so large scale flooding would be disastrous.
Paris
Over a six week period in July and August 2003, more than 1 1,400—mainly elderly people—died in France from dehydration(脱水)and extremely high body temperature in a deadly heat wave. Heat waves of similar intensity(强度)are expected every seven years by 2050, so what can be done to make sure such a disaster does not happen again?
One solution is to have air-conditioners installed（安装）in elderly care homes. But this is considered a short-term solution, as the increase in demand for electricity also increases carbon emissions(排放).
In Paris the local authorities are encouraging architects to design new types of buildings such as the building “Flower Tower,” which uses a covering of bamboo to act as a natural air-conditioner.
Shanghai
Shanghai is the fastest growing city on Earth. It has a population of 18 million and is only 4 meters above sea level. Sea levels are predicted to rise by 20 cm within the next century.
About 250，000 people move to Shanghai every year in search of work, placing extra demands on energy consumption（消耗）. China depends heavily on coal—fired power stations, but these emissions increase temperatures and, in turn, warmer seas increase the risk of typhoons.What problem should be settled now in London?
| A．How to protect the city’s property |
| B．Where to build its flood defences |
| C．How to use the Thames Barrier to protect the city |
| D．How to improve the function of the old flood defences |
Which of the following measures can’t solve the heat wave disaster in Paris?
| A．Putting up new types of buildings with a covering of bamboo. |
| B．Having air-conditioners installed in elderly care homes. |
| C．Forbidding the city to build “Flower Tower”. |
| D．Encouraging architects to design new types of buildings. |
The major threats to Shanghai are __________.
| A．increasing population and coal-fired power stations |
| B．rising sea levels and typhoons |
| C．extremely high temperature and rising sea levels |
| D．extra demands on energy consumption and typhoons |
The purpose of the passage is __________.
| A．to tell us how to protect the big cities |
| B．to give advice on how to defend natural disasters |
| C．to explain what causes flood and heat waves |
| D．to warn us of the increasing natural disasters in big cities |
He is talent and charm(魅力) have made him the No.1 Chinese classical artist in the world. He played in the grand Beijing Olympic opening ceremony last summer, watched by a TV audience of 5 billion.
Lang Lang, 26, is the first Chinese pianist to play with the world’s top orchestras, making his debut at the Carnegie Hall in New York at 18, while still a student.
Lang Lang’s charm and fondness for sharp clothes make him a natural fit to represent（代表）China’s new international image. According to the British newspaper the Times, “The Lang Lang effect” is responsible for driving 36 million Chinese children to learn the piano.
Now in China children are learning Chopin(肖邦) and Western orchestras are touring Chinese cities, but can China ever export（出口）its own music to the west? Lang is trying. His cooperation with the London Symphony Orchestras this month includes a performance of Dragon Songs, an album of traditional Chinese classics.
Behind the international recognition, however, is a fascinating story of a gifted child. Lang grew up with his father’s own musical ambition and high expectations. It is not hard to imagine how boring it must be to practice the piano every day. Lang said that he once hated his hands and the piano. He injured his right hand six years ago and had to rest. “That was the best month,” he says, without hesitation. “I had a date. I saw a Broadway show and saw Britney Spears in concert.”Which of the following is NOT the reason why Lang Lang is the No.1 Chinese classical artist in the world?
| A．He played in the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony last summer. |
| B．He has as many as 5 billions fans in China. |
| C．He is the first Chinese pianist to play with the world’s top orchestras. |
| D．He plays the piano so well and has a good international image. |
The underlined word “debut” in the second paragraph probably means____.
| A．first class | B．first performance | C．first plan | D．first choice |
Which of the following statements about Lang is true?
| A．He has 36 million Chinese students in China. |
| B．He is touring China giving concerts. |
| C．He is trying to export Chinese music to western countries. |
| D．He only played traditional Chinese classics in his cooperation with the London Symphony Orchestra. |
From the last paragraph we can infer _____.
| A．Lang didn’t like his father when he was little |
| B．he was happy to practice the piano everyday |
| C．his father’s desire and expectations played an important role in his childhood |
| D．he injured his right hand on purpose six years ago |