Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 =" to," 3 =" free," 4 =" for," 8 =" ate," so h8 =" hate," etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation (标点). Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?)
What do you think these text messages mean?
Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll.
Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll.
I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy.
Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols (符号) to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face.Why are text messages popular?
| A．Because they are expensive. | B．Because they are cheap. |
| C．Because they are hard to write. | D．Because they are not important. |
The first paragraph tells us that we can make the text messages shorter in ways.
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
What does this text message “Do U wnt 2 cm?” mean? It means “ ?”.
| A．Do you want to come | B．Do you wear two caps |
| C．Do you want two cakes | D．Do you go home early |
Why do people use emoticons?
| A．Because they can show how users feel. |
| B．Because the symbols are beautiful. |
| C．Because text messages are short. |
| D．Because the users can’t make the words shorter. |
I realized that I was getting cold, and felt it was probably time to go back to the apartment, so I put my collar up against the wind and began to walk back up the cold street. I managed to get some food from a vendor（小贩）, and walked on.
About twenty-five minutes later I knew that something was wrong. It was getting very, very cold, there were no streetlights, and the hill I was hoping to see on my right was nowhere in sight. There was almost no light except for mysterious red crosses shining from the tops of churches, and I was beginning to get worried. To cut a long story short, I had walked the wrong way from a crossroads, and had wandered miles in the wrong direction. My head was aching from the cold, and I couldn’t think straight. Turing around, I started back, and a long time later was outside the house I had set off from. It was at about that time I realized that I had a gate key but no house key. How happy I was when I found that the front door was open—my only piece of good luck that day. My apartment was of course locked, my head felt like it was about to explode, and my hands and feet were freezing.
I tried turning the handle. No luck. I tried another key from England. I wanted to avoid waking the family downstairs, so despite the fear of an early death from cold, I couldn’t break the door down. What would my hosts think? I pulled an ATM card from my pocket and forced it alongside the inside of the lock. I didn’t think it would work, but after fifteen minutes of trying, I heard a click. Another couple of minutes later the door was open. Relieved, I took off my clothes in the dark and got into bed. The purpose of the passage is mainly to .
| A．tell us how difficult it is living abroad |
| B．show us how terrible the weather was |
| C．tell us an unusual experience abroad |
| D．show us how afraid the author was |
What made the author find he had walked the wrong way?
| A．He didn’t see the house. |
| B．A vendor reminded him. |
| C．The street name reminded him. |
| D．He didn’t see the hill. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The front door was closed. |
| B．The house had many locks. |
| C．The author woke the hosts. |
| D．The author came from England. |
From the passage we can infer that the author was .
| A．careful | B．careless | C．excited | D．annoying |
Wilderness activity week, Finland
Set off on a really wild adventure to Finland, where night is a distant memory during the endless days of summer.
From your cottage, set high in the hills above Koli National Park, you can explore a perfect wilderness, and pull over at a lakeside beach whenever you like a dip（游泳）.
Seven-night breaks cost from ￡899 per adult, ￡699 per child, including flights, accommodation, some meals and a guide. The Adventure Company (0845 450 5311; www.adventurecompany. co. uk).
Horseriding in the Tarn France
Learn to ride, or perfect your horse-riding skills at Les Juliannes in the Tarn Valley. Activities include everything from show-jumping to hacking（骑马）through the rolling hills and medieval（中世纪的）villages. Between sessions, you can relax by the pool, cycle along the country lanes or roam the grounds. Guests stay at a rural 17th-century farmhouse.
Seven-night breaks cost from ￡658 per adult, ￡628 per child aged 12-15 years.￡553 for 10 to 11-year-olds and ￡423 for under-nines. Price includes return flights, transfers, half-board accommodation and ten hours’ riding, Inntravel（01653 617906；www. inntravel. co. uk）.
Learn to sail in Greece
Sunvil Sailing has live-aboard learn-to-sail breaks off the island of Lefkas that are designed for both the complete novice（新手）as well as those with a degree of sailing.
Seven-night breaks cost from ￡721pp in peak season, including return flights, transfers, live-aboard accommodation and tuition. Meals and dinner ashore are not included. Sunvil Sailing (020 8758 4780; www. sunvil. co. uk). If you want to have some experiences of country life in the past, you’d better go to .
| A．explore a perfect wilderness |
| B．stay for a few days in Finland |
| C．Horseriding in the Tarn, France |
| D． Learn to sail in Greece |
How much would a family of two adults and a ten-year-old boy pay altogether if they join in Horseriding in the Tarn, France?
| A．￡2030 | B．￡1316 | C．￡1869 | D．￡1211 |
If you join in Wilderness activity week, Finland, the most unusual thing you will see is.
| A．a national park |
| B．a cottage high in the hills |
| C．a perfect wilderness |
| D． summer days without night |
If you want to learn to sail in Greece, you can log on to to find more information.
| A．www. activitiesabroad. com |
| B．www. adventurecompany. co. uk |
| C．www. inntravel. co. uk |
| D．www. sunvil. co. uk |
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks’ time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive if the rain is spread throughout the year. If it falls within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes（沙丘）are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs（悬崖）and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand, rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing—very, very slowly—as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.Many plants may survive in deserts when ________.
| A．the rain is spread out in a year | B．the rain falls only in a few weeks |
| C．there is little rain in a year | D．it is dry all the year round |
Sand dunes are formed when _______.
| A．sand piles up gradually | B．there is plenty of rain in a year |
| C．the sea has dried up over the years | D．pieces of rock get smaller |
The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is ______.
| A．too much sand | B．more sand than before |
| C．nothing except sand | D．something else besides sand |
It can be learned from the text that in a desert _______.
| A．there is no rainfall throughout the year |
| B．life exists in rough conditions |
| C．all sand dunes are a few feet high |
| D．rocks are worn away only by wind and heat |
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING
When thinking about quitting…
List all the reasons why you want to quit. Every night before going to bed, repeat one of the reasons 10 times. Decide surely that you want to quit. Try to avoid negative（消极的）thoughts about how difficult it might be. Develop strong personal reasons in addition to your health and duties to others. For example, think all the time you waste taking cigarette breaks, rushing out to buy a pack, hunting a light, etc. Set a date for quitting—perhaps a special day like your birthday, or a holiday. If you smoke heavily at work, quit during your vacation. Make the date seriously, and don’t let anything change it. Begin to prepare yourself physically: start a modest（适度的）exercise, drink more water, get plenty of rest.
Immediately after quitting…
The first few days after you quit, spend as much free time as possible in places where smoking is forbidden, e.g. libraries, museums, theatres, department stores, etc. Drink large quantities of water and fruit juice. Try to avoid wine, coffee, and other drinks, which remind you of cigarette smoking. Start a conversation with someone instead of asking for a match for a cigarette. If you miss the sensation（感觉）of having a cigarette in your hand, play with something else—a pencil, a pen, or a ruler. If you miss having something in your mouth, try toothpicks or a fake（假的）cigarette.Which of the following statements is best supported by the author?
| A．When you want a cigarette, try to forget it by starting a conversation with someone. |
| B．Try to drink wine, coffee, and other drinks instead of a cigarette. |
| C．If you miss the sensation of having a cigarette in your mouth, play with a pen. |
| D．Every night before going to bed, repeat the reasons 10 times. |
From the passage, we know smokers _______.
| A．spend a lot of time breaking the habit of smoking |
| B．have to stop to smoke from time to time |
| C．had better quit smoking during their holiday |
| D．start a modest exercise every day |
The author suggests _______ immediately after quitting.
| A．all kinds of drinks be avoided |
| B．drinking water and fruit juice |
| C．trying low-tar（低焦油）cigarettes |
| D．spending as much free time as possible in public places |
If the article is in a newspaper, which section is it in?
| A．Sports. | B．News. | C．Health. | D．Culture. |
Hilton English Language Center
Information for New Students
CLASS TIME: 9:00a.m.---10:30a.m., 11:00a.m.---12:30p.m., 1:30p.m.---3:00p.m.. The Language Center is open Monday to Friday. Each class has one afternoon free per week. On the first day, go to the lecture hall to check your timetable.
SELF-ACCESS: The language laboratory (Room 1110) is open Monday to Friday from 3:15p.m. to 5:00p.m. for all full-time students.
You can learn how to use computers for language games or word-processing（文字处理）. There are tapes for students to borrow to practice their English. Go in and ask the teacher to show you. If you plan to take public examinations, there are dictation（听写）and listening comprehension tapes for you to practice with. There are cloze exercises on the computers. Ask your class teacher for a list of past exam essays. Students can borrow tapes to take home but they must be returned after two days.
ATTENDANCE（出勤）：All students are expected to attend classes regularly. Students who do not attend classes will be reported to OSS. Eighty percent attendance is required for students to receive their certificates（证书）when they finish their courses. It is also required by OSS for an extension to your visa.
BOOKS: If students are given course books, the books are their responsibility. If a book is lost, the student will be expected to pay for it.
If students wish to buy books, there is a bookshop in the college specializing in English books (Room 3520). When do classes begin and end on a full day?
| A．9:00a.m. ---1:30p.m. | B．9:00a.m. ---3:00p.m. |
| C．9:00a.m. ---3:15p.m. | D．3:15p.m. ---5:00p.m. |
How many afternoons does a class meet each week?
| A．Two. | B． Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．No teachers are in the language lab. |
| B．90% attendance is required for the students. |
| C．Books can’t be taken out of the center. |
| D．Students can prepare for exams by listening to tapes. |
Timetable can be seen in _____.
| A．the lecture hall | B．Room 3520 | C．the classroom | D．Room 1110 |