Thousands of people began pouring into Pennsylvania from other states. They wanted to buy lottery tickets. The tickets cost only $0.9 each. But that small spending could bring them a reward of $90 million. That was the second largest lottery jackpot(积累奖金)in history.
More than 87 million tickets were bought for the Pennsylvania lottery drawing. Those who bought tickets had to choose seven numbers from 1 to 80. The chance of winning was one in 9.6 million. But that little chance certainly didn’t affect ticket sales. In the last few days before the drawing, tickets were selling at the unbelievable rate of 500 per second.
Experts say many people buy lottery tickets because they just want to have a piece of the action. Others say the lottery is a stock market for poor people. It allows them to dream about wealth they’ll probably never have.
But many people believe lotteries are no better than legalized (合法化的)gambling. Some critics note that most people who play are poor and may not be able to afford the tickets. There are also many addicts who take the game seriously. They may pour their life savings into lottery tickets. Some clubs have been formed to help them kick the habit.
Politicians like lotteries because they provide money that would otherwise have to come from new taxes. The profits from lotteries are usually used to pay for education or programs for senior citizens. But critics say this arrangement just allows states to legalize vice(恶习), under the name of social progress.
No matter whether you regard state lotteries right or not, you cannot refuse to accept their extreme popularity with many Americans.The main idea of the passage is that __________.
| A．lotteries are of great benefit to everyone who buys them |
| B．playing a lottery is just like investing in the stock market |
| C．a lot of people buy lottery tickets, but lotteries cause disagreement |
| D．lotteries are just legalized vice |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Politicians like lotteries because they don’t have to pay extra tax. |
| B．The popularity of lotteries in America actually is social progress. |
| C．Some critics don’t like lotteries because many poor people waste their money on them. |
| D．People love the lottery because it is a stock market. |
In just one hour in the last few days, the Pennsylvania lottery sold tickets totaling_______.
| A．$1.62 million | B．$90 million | C．$9.6 million | D．$87 million |
People who are addicted to playing lotteries should _________.
| A．join a club | B．kick the habit |
| C．win the Pennsylvania | D．save every cent |
1
Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore, 258350 Singapore General
● Air-condition public areas; ● Ballroom(s);
● Ballroom(s); ● Bar;
● Elevator/lift; ● Gift shops or newsstand(报纸，杂货摊)；
● Restaurant(s) in hotel; ● Number of rooms:110;
● Swimming pool—outdoor; ● Tennis on site;
● Wired(high-speed) Internet access--free
Check-in time is 2PM
Check-out time is Noon
Pets not allowed
2
Swissotel Merchant Court---Singapore
20 Merchant Road, Singapore, 058281 Singapore General
● Air-conditioned public areas; ● Ballroom(s);
● Bar; ● Coffee shop or café;
● Elevator/lift; ● Number of floors:5;
● Number of rooms: 120; ● Restaurant(s)in hotel;
● Swimming pool-outdoor; ● Television in entrance hall
Check-in time is 3PM
Check-out time is Noon
Pets not allowed
3
Royal Plaza On Scotts-Singapore
25 Scotts Road, Singapore, 228220 Singapore General
● Air-conditioned public areas; ●Ballroom(s);
● Bar/lounge; ● Elevator/lift;
● Gift shops or newsstand; ● Number of floors: 6;
● Number of rooms: 160; ● Restaurant(s) in hotel；
● Smoke-free property(特性)； ● Swimming pool—outdoor;
Check-in time is 2PM
Check-out time is Noon
Pets not allowed
4
Rendezvous Singapore—Singapore
9 Bras Basah Road, Marina Bay, 189559 Singapore General
● Air-conditioned public areas; ● Ballroom(s);
● Bar/lounge; ● Coffee shop or café;
● Elevator/lift; ● Number of floors: 6;
● Number of rooms: 150; ● Restaurant(s) in hotel；
● Swimming pool—children’s; ● Swimming pool—outdoor;
Check-in time is 2PM
Check-out time is Noon
Pets not allowed
5
Landmark Village Hotel – Singapore
390 Victoria Street, Singapore, 188061 Singapore General
Air-conditioned public areas;
● Ballroom(s); ● Bar;
● Coffee shop or café; ● Elevator/lift;
● Number of floors: 6; ● Number of rooms: 156;
● Restaurant(s) in hotel； ● Swimming pool—outdoor;
Check-in time is 2PM
Check-out time is Noon
Pets not allowedIf you have a child who loves swimming, you should stay in____.
| A．Landmark Village Hotel |
| B．Royal Plaza On Scotts |
| C．Rendezvous Singapore |
| D．Swissotel Merchant Court |
The similarity between the hotels is that_____.
| A．You can check in the same time. |
| B．You can bring your pet with you. |
| C．They all have air-conditioned public areas. |
| D．They are in the same area in Singapore. |
Which hotel has the most rooms?
| A．Royal Plaza On Scotts |
| B．Swissotel Merchant Court |
| C．Shangri-La Hotel Singapore |
| D．Landmark Village Hotel |
The passage in written to_____.
| A．Persuade you to travel to Singapore. |
| B．Introduce hotel in Singapore attract. |
| C．Attract businessmen from around the world. |
| D．Make you enjoy your trip. |
We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests' coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
Each of the guests made a particular fuss(小题大做) over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
I thought to myself that we adults（成年人）usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she's the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined（比....更出色）. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.
I said, "What are you doing, my dear?"
She turned to me with a sad expression and said, "Mommy, why don't people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I 'm not pretty? Is that why they don't say nice things about me as much?"
I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.
Now, whenever I visit a friend's home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.The underlined expression ' make a big "to do" over' (paragraph 4) means ______.
| A．show much concern about |
| B．have a special effect on |
| C．list jobs to be done for |
| D．do good things for |
Kristen felt sad and cried because ______.
| A．the guest gave her more coats to carry |
| B．she didn't look as pretty as Kelly |
| C．the guests praised her sister more than her |
| D．her mother didn't introduce her to the guests |
We can conclude from the passage that ______.
| A．parents should pay more attention to the elder children |
| B．the younger children are usually more easily hurt |
| C．people usually like the younger children more |
| D．adults should treat children equally |
Which of the following statements is right?
| A．Kristen and Kelly are not getting along with each other. |
| B．Kristen is older than Kelly. |
| C．The mother likes Kristen more than Kelly. |
| D．People usually talk more to Kelly than they do to Kristen. |
It is reported that today in China, 50% of people who write blogs do so as a personal diary and 83% use their blogs for sending messages to friends. It is also found that there is a strong East-West difference. In places like the US, blogs that offer information on news attract more readers but in China, blogs are more likely to be about sharing personal feelings.
It seems that bloggers can be divided into three types: IT bloggers, bloggers who record their ordinary feelings and media bloggers.
When blogging first started, the IT people had the technological advantage and they took the chance to put their thoughts on the web. Some of these IT people read their blogs.
The next wave of bloggers did not have any training as writes or in IT and wrote about normal daily life. Media bloggers, however, are trained writers, such as journalists and editors. When the many media bloggers showed up, the everyday blogs lost most of their readers. Media bloggers have the advantage of knowing how to communicate well through the written word.
However, the normal bloggers are still out there and increasing in number. It seems that blogging is the new way to express your feelings. People feel like the world is listening to, or rather reading, their problems, even if they are not .What type of text is this?
| A．A blog. | B．A diary. | C．A news report. | D．A school textbook. |
What is the passage’s subject?
| A．How many people in China blog. |
| B．How did blogging get started. |
| C．Different types of blogs and bloggers. |
| D．What media bloggers do. |
How does the writers feel about the subject?
| A．He/She feels strongly that blogging is a good thing. |
| B．He/She feels that there are lots of problems with blogging. |
| C．We can’t tell since he/she is not a blogger. |
| D．We can’t tell since he/she is just reporting facts. |
What is the writer’s tone?
| A．Humorous and light-hearted. | B．Serious and factual. |
| C．Conversational. | D．Informal. |
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. You 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 |
China’s economic growth “hard to predict”
The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday.
“How fast China’s economy will grow next year is uncertain,” Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily.
“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external(外部) situation,” Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing.
“This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year,” he said. “However, the impact of the current financial turbulence on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world.”
Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily it will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world.
“We don’t know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,” he said.
Liu said China can use the downturn(衰退) as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years.
“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,” Liu said.
“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to enhance(提高) their competitive edge through better technologies.”
(From China Daily 2009-01-11)How many people are mentioned in this passage?
| A．Only 2. | B．No more than 3. | C．Not more than 4. | D．At least 5. |
It can be inferred from Liu’s words that the impact of the current financial turbulence on China’s economy is ______.
| A．more | B．less | C．the most | D．the least |
The underlines word “extent” probably means ______.
| A．sense | B．degree | C．size | D．depth |
According to the passage, the reason why Liu said this downturn is an opportunity for China to restructure its economy is that ______.
| A．China’s economy will not depend on government investment in the future |
| B．Foreign trade will grow in the future |
| C．The downturn will force China’s companies to upgrade their technologies |
| D．Low-cost technologies will not exist in China |