Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day.“I was a clothes addict（有瘾的人）”he jokes.“I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual（不经意的，随意的） clothes—khaki pants （裤子）and a sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie.“I am working harder than ever.”David says,“and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday（but only on Friday）.This became known as“dress-down Friday”or“casual Friday”.“What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing.”said business Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code.” “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company,“so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative（保守的）dress code.”Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale（心境，士气）. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative influence on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,”one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.”David Smith refers to himself as having been“a clothes addict,”because .
| A．he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt |
| B．he couldn’t stand a clean appearance |
| C．he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time |
| D．he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes |
David Smith wears casual clothes now, because .
| A．they make him feel at ease when working |
| B．he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes |
| C．he looks handsome in casual clothes |
| D．he no longer works for any company |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago. |
| B．Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 90s. |
| C．“Dress-down Friday”was first given as a favor from employers. |
| D．Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people. |
In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned EXCEPT_______
| A．saving employees’ money | B．making employees more attractive |
| C．improving employees’ motivation | D．making employees happier |
It is "one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy," says Zeng Ming． He is talking about e-commerce． Mr Zeng, the chief strategy officer for Alibaba, a giant Chinese Internet firm, predicts that digital transactions on his firm's platforms will top l trillion yuan （$159 billion） this year-more than Amazon's and eBay's combined． That is a bold claim, but consider what happened on Singles Sunday．
Invented a few years ago by students and seized upon by digital marketers, this festival for lonely hearts falls annually on the llth day of the llth month （since l is the loneliest number）．It is like St Valentine's Day, only worse． Singletons shower each other with tender gifts: a barrage of pearls; a storm of sweets．
This November llth they spent a surprising 19 billion yuan on Alibaba's online platforms-a fourfold increase on a year ago, and more than double what Americans spent online last Cyber Monday （the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers urge Americans to shop online）． About 100m purchases were logged, accounting for 80% of the packages shipped that day． Couriers（怏递员） were buried in parcels．
So life is good for China's e-tailers, then? Not exactly． The number of digital marketers is increasing and online sales are booming． Consumers are enjoying lower prices, better service and more variety． The problem? The pressure on profits in Chinese e-commerce is worse than in America, reckons Elinor Leung of CLSA, a broker． "Almost no one makes money," she says．
The fiercest battles are being fought between online retailers and their bricks-and-mortar（实体的） rivals．Dangdang, a firm． that resembles Amazon,．and 360buy, another online retailer, have cut prices fiercely． Tencent, a cash-rich online giant known for its instant-messaging software, is splashing out to win market share． 360buy has also just raised $400m from investors to do the same． But it is unclear how much longer such firms can burn through capital．What's the best title of this passage?
| A．The Ambition of Alibaba |
| B．Fierce Competition between Retailers |
| C．A Newly Sprung Festival for the Singles |
| D．Chinese Booming and Developing E-commerce |
According to Zeng Ming, this year Alibaba will．
| A．outweigh Amazon and eBay in worldwide influence |
| B．rank top among all the Internet firms |
| C．have more than 159 billion dollars' sale |
| D．create another sales miracle just like the one on Singles Day |
How many packages were shipped on November ll th from Alibaba's online platforms?
| A．About 80 million． | B．About 100 million． |
| C．About 125 million． | D．About 180 million． |
What's the author's attitude towards online retailers in China?
| A．Optimistic． | B．Concerned． |
| C．Sympathetic． | D．Indifferent． |
Researchers at Yale, Texas A&M and Boston University predict that by 2030 urban areas will expand by more than 463,000 square miles, or l．2 million square kilometers． That is equal to 20,000 American football fields becoming urban every day for the first three decades of this century．
The growth in urban areas will go with the construction of roads and buildings, water and sanitation facilities, and energy and transport systems that will transform land cover and cities globally． Recent estimates suggest that between $25 trillion（万亿） and $30 trillion will be spent on infrastructure（基础设施） worldwide by 2030, with $100 billion a year in China alone．
"Considering the long life and near unavoidability of infrastructure investments, it will be critical for current urbanization-related policies to consider their lasting impacts," said Karen Seto, lead author of the study． "We have a huge opportunity to shape how cities develop and their environmental impacts．"
Nearly half of the increase in high-probability ----defined as greater than 75 percent ---- urban expansion is forecasted to occur in Asia, with China and India absorbing 55 percent of the regional total． In China, urban- expansion is expected to create a l,l00-mile coastal urban corridor from Hangzhou to Shenyang． In India, urban expansion will be gathered around seven state capital cities, with large areas of low-probability growth forecasted for the Himalaya region where many small villages and towns currently exist．
Africa's urban land cover will grow the fastest, at 590 percent above the 2000 level of 16,000 square miles． Urban expansion win be concentrated in that continent's five regions: the Nile River in Egypt; the coast of West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; the northern shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and Uganda and extending into Rwanda and Burundi; the Kano region in northern Nigeria; and greater Addis Ababa, Ethiopia．
"Urban expansion is concentrated in． only a few areas where there are large cities and industry," said Seto． "From the northern shore of Lake Victoria down to Rwanda is also a major hotspot of urban expansion．"
In North America, where 78 percent of the total population lives in urban areas, urban land cover will nearly double by 96,000 square miles by 2030．The study also forecasts that 48 of the 221 countries in the study will experience insignificant amounts of urban expansion． "As for China, the expansion of urban area means．
| A．$ 100 billion will be spent on infrastructure a year |
| B．creating a coastal urban corridor from Hangzhou to Qingdao |
| C．it will become the fastest developing country in the next decade |
| D．it will make up 55% of the increase in urban expansion in Asia |
According to the passage infrastructure doesn't include．
| A．construction of roads | B．sanitation facilities |
| C．energy systems | D．land cover transformation |
In paragraph three the underlined word “their lasting impacts” refers to the impacts of .
| A．the development of cities | B．urbanization-related policies |
| C．infrastructure in vestments | D．China’s expansion of urban area |
The best title for this passage should be .
| A．The limitation of urban expansion |
| B．More investment on infrastructure |
| C．The fast development of the third world |
| D．The future urban expansion of the world |
"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all． It was, of course, a miserable childhood． The happy childhood is hardly worth your while． "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood． And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood．" That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in nineteen ninety-six．
This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported． He was 78．
Born in New York City, he was the eldest of seven children born to Irish immigrant parents． Angela's Ashes was a memoir that captured an irresponsible, drunkard father with a gift for story-telling． When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm． His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family．
Already struggling when the Great Depression hit, the family moved back to Limerick, where they slipped ever deeper into poverty in the 1930s．
Three of McCourt's siblings died of diseases worsened by hunger and the wretchedness of their surroundings． McCourt himself almost died of typhoid（伤寒的） fever as a child．
In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city． But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted．
Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of nineteen to return to New York City where he was born． He earned a degree in- English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years． After retiring in nineteen eighty-seven, he decided to write about his childhood． "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors． Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle．What's the text mainly about?
| A．A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works． |
| B．A literary review on Frank McCourt's book Angela's Ashes． |
| C．An account of Frank McCourt's miserable childhood. |
| D．A comment on Frank McCourt's life experience． |
By saying "The happy childhood is hardly worth your while", the writer really means that．
| A．a lot of readers don't deserve happy childhood |
| B．his childhood is not worth of others' sympathy |
| C．his childhood is mixed with happiness and misery |
| D．smooth childhood surely will not draw readers' attention |
From the passage, we know Frank McCourt's father is．
| A．humorous and trustworthy | B．alcohol-addicted but loves his family |
| C．poor but warm-hearted | D．irresponsible but gifted in telling stories |
What does the underlined word "handouts" mean in the 6th paragraph?
| A．Reliefs． | B．Compensations． |
| C．Leaflets． | D．Teaching materials． |
A policeman was questioning 3 blondes who were training to become detectives． To test their skills in recognizing a suspect, he shows the first blonde a picture for5 seconds and then hides it．
“This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"
The first blonde answers, "That's easy, we'll catch him fast because he only has one eye!" The policeman says, "Well．．．uh．．．that's because the picture shows his profile．"
Slightly confused by this ridiculous response, he flashes the picture for 5 seconds at the second blonde and asks her, "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"
The second blonde giggles, flips her hair and says, "Ha! He'd be too easy to catch because he only has one ear!"
The policeman angrily responds, "What's the matter with you two? Of course only one eye and one ear are SHOWING because it's a picture of his profile!! Is that the best answer you can come up with?"
Extremely frustrated at this point, he shows the picture to the third blonde and in a very testy voice asks "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?" He quickly adds, "Think hard before giving me a stupid answer．"
The blonde looks at the picture intently for a moment and says, "Hmmmm…the suspect wears contact lenses．"
The policeman is surprised and speechless because he really doesn't know himself if the suspect wears contacts or not． "Well, that's an interesting answer．．．wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I’ll get back to you on that．" He leaves the room and goes to his ．office, checks the suspect's file in his computer, and comes back with a beaming smile on his face． "Wow! I can't believe it．．．it's TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses． Good work! How were you able to make such an acute observation?"
"That's easy," the blonde replied． "He can't wear regular glasses because he only has one eye and one ear．"Why did the policeman show a picture to the three blondes?
| A．To inquire about their relationship with the suspect． |
| B．To test their potential of being detectives． |
| C．To train them as qualified police officers． |
| D．To show the skills in recognizing a suspect． |
What's the policeman's attitude towards the first blonde's answer?
| A．Angry． | B．Puzzled． | C．Embarrassed． | D．Satisfied． |
What did the second blonde think of the task?
| A．Demanding． | B．Easy． | C．Ridiculous． | D．Confusing． |
How did the third blonde know that the suspect wore contact lenses?
| A．By coincidence． |
| B．By random guess． |
| C．By logical and reasonable analysis． |
| D．By checking the file in the computer． |
The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added - a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a flesh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
"The Sun's activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites," said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronal mass ejections (日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun's atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged matter. " A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometres per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications," Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares (太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.
Professor Richard Hold away, the lab's director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth "If we have advance warning, we'll be able to reduce the damage. What you don't want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what's caused the problem," he said.The phrase "communications blackout" in paragraph 1 most probably refers toduring the 2012 Olympics.
| A．the extinguishing of the Olympic torch |
| B．the collapse of broadcasting systems |
| C．the transportation breakdown in London |
| D．the destruction of weather satellites |
What can be inferred about the solar activity described in the passage?
| A．The most fatal matter from the corona falls onto Earth. |
| B．The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle. |
| C．It takes several seconds for the charged matter to reach Earth. |
| D．The number of sunspots declines（减少） after coronal mass ejections. |
What does the last sentence mean?
| A．So far scientists still don’t know what caused the Solar Storms. |
| B．When Solar Storm happens, you’d better turn off the electrical appliances. |
| C．The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots. |
| D．Early warming can help minimize the harm of the Solar Storms. |
According to the passage, NASA will launch a satellite to _ _
| A．take images of the solar system |
| B．provide early warning of thunderstorms |
| C．keep track of solar activities |
| D．improve the communications on Earth |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
| A．Solar Storms: An Invisible Killer |
| B．Solar Storms: Earth Environment in Danger |
| C．Solar Storms: Threatening the Human Race |
| D．Solar Storms: Human Activities to Be Troubled |