When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from China.
When India had not opened up its markets to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now.
Still, her answer surprised me: “Green tea.”
As long as I can remember she didn’t even drink Indian tea.
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story. My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses.
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian. It was a strange country.
How things change! And how soon!
Now every town of any size seems to have a “China Market”. And everyone is talking about China.
The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done. A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment (投资) and such a step would “work wonders as it did for China”.
But it’s a two-way street. I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Rangalore to train in software. Meanwhile, all the IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China.
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to hit about US $15 billion for last year and US $20 billion by 2012, a goal set by both governments.
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian (中国和印度的) century as the two countries started on January 1st the Sino-Indian Friendship Year.
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother’s drinking Chinese tea.Why did the mother ask for Chinese green tea?
| A．She was tired of Indian tea. |
| B．She had a son working in China. |
| C．She believed it had a curing effect. |
| D．She was fond of Chinese products. |
What does the author mean by “it’s a two-way street” in Paragraph 10?
| A．China and India have different traffic rules. |
| B．Tea trade works wonders in both India and China. |
| C．Chinese products are popular in both China and India. |
| D．There are exchanges between India and China. |
What do we know about the Indian IT industry?
| A．It is seeking further development in China. |
| B．It will move its head office to Shenzhen. |
| C．It has attracted an investment of US $15 billion. |
| D．It caught up with the US IT industry in 2008. |
In the text the author expresses _______.
| A．his concern for his mother’s health |
| B．his support for drinking Chinese green tea |
| C．his surprise at China’s recent development |
| D．his wonder at the growth of India’s IT industry |
It is inferred in the text that _______.
| A．the author’s mother loves China very much |
| B．the Indians were not familiar with China before |
| C．the government of India encourages their people to buy Chinese green tea |
| D．the two countries didn’t cooperate until last year |
American Watersports Tuesday-Saturday
Located on the beach of the Sea Gardens Beach Resort, there are fun things to
rent for the whole family. They offer rentals for kayaks, jet skis, and even parasail!
Enjoy the water up-close or from a bird’s eye view! No matter what activity you’re
enjoying, be sure to protect yourself and your family from the sun’s powerful rays and apply plenty of sun block!
15th Street Boat Company Monday-Saturday
15th Street Boat Company offers rental boats of all kinds. They’re sure to have what you are looking for, whether it’s a small boat for a quick and simple outing or an extravagant boat with comfortable seats with a stereo and high tech navigation. You can rent a boat for half a day or a couple of days, or even weeks at a time. If you want it, they’ve got it. It’s fun for everyone!
Coconut’s Watersports 9am-5pm Monday-Sunday
Coconut’s Watersports is open 7 days a week and offers tons of water fun for the whole family. Jet Ski activities last 30 minutes or 1 hour and can make stops along the way. You must be at least 14 years of age to ride alone and can be as young as 3 to ride along with an adult. Everybody is required to wear a life jacket and a license is required to operate the Jet Ski. Bathing suits and shorts are recommended.
Jet Ski Tours of Miami 10am-7pm Thursday-Sunday
Jet Ski Tours of Miami includes onsite parking, indoor restrooms, lockers, and life jackets for participants. You may choose a one or two tour and each Jet Ski can hold up to 3 people. You must be at least 18 years old in order to ride. As long as you are accompanied by an adult, there is no age limitation for any passenger. There is a restaurant nearby to eat at. The tour visits 6 different islands and passes by Bayside and Hard Rock. You may even catch sight of dolphins, turtles or a crab resting in these splendid Florida waters.You should especially protect yourself from sun burnt while visiting______.
| A．Jet Ski Tours of Miami |
| B．Coconut’s Watersports |
| C．15th Street Boat Company |
| D．American Watersports |
Which of the following can help you enjoy sailing a boat?
| A．Go to the Sea Gardens Beach Resort. |
| B．Visit 15th Street Boat Company. |
| C．Choose Jet Ski Tours of Miami. |
| D．Visit Coconut’s Watersports. |
What’s a must to ride alone in the Jet Ski activities?
| A．One must be at least 14 years old. |
| B．One must wear bathing suits and shorts. |
| C．One must apply plenty of sun block. |
| D．One must be accompanied by parents. |
What will you do to satisfy your son’s curiosity about sea animals?
| A．You would like to rent a boat to ride with him. |
| B．You need a boat with comfortable seats with a stereo. |
| C．You’d like to choose American Watersports. |
| D．You prefer the tour to Bayside and Hard Rock. |
Roughly speaking, teachers in traditional education may feel that students are too young to know much about the world, and have to be told what to do most of the time. By contrast, open education offers teachers quite different feelings. Students are expected to be responsible for their own education—to discover subjects by themselves instead of being made to study them. This way of teaching allows the students to grow independently and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Some students who do badly in a traditional classroom will be happier in an open classroom and enjoy learning. They will not have to worry about grades or rules at all.
However, many students won’t do well in an open classroom. For these students, they will do little in school if there are too few rules. They will not make good use of open education, which is so different from traditional class, because they may have a problem getting used to making so many choices on their own. For them it is important to have some rules to direct them. They may worry about the rules even when there are no rules. In addition to that, some traditional teachers do not believe in open education and do not like it either.
Since both of some good points and bad points of the open education have been explained clearly, you may have your own opinion on the issue. Personally, I think that the concept of open education is good only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. I believe, most students, but of course not all students, need some structure in their classes. They may want and need to have rules.
In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.Open education allows the students to_________________.
| A．grow as the educated |
| B．be responsible for their life |
| C．discover subjects outside class |
| D．develop their own interests |
Open education may be a good idea for the students who __________.
| A．worry about grades and rules |
| B．aren’t used to making choices |
| C．do well in a traditional classroom |
| D．enjoy having some rules in class |
Some students will do little in an open classroom because___________.
| A．there are too many rules |
| B．they don’t like activities |
| C．there are too few rules |
| D．they worry about the rules |
Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
| A．Open education is a really complex idea. |
| B．Open education is better than traditional education. |
| C．Traditional teachers don’t believe in open education. |
| D．The writer thinks open education is practical. |
When I wandered along a path through woods in the countryside, a small water pool came into my sight ahead. I changed my direction and took the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water or mud to go around it. When I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked by something several times! It was from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt. The attacker stopped attacking me when I backed up a foot. I couldn’t help laughing when I looked down and found I was being attacked by a butterfly!
Curiously, I took a step forward to see clearly. My attacker dashed towards me again. He rushed towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but failed. For a second time, I took a stop backwards when the attacker paused. I didn’t know what to do. After all, it’s just uncommon that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That’s when I discovered why the attacker was kept charging me. He had a mate and she was dying.
Sitting tenderly close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could do nothing but admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had attacked me for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was much larger than he. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life. I shouldn’t have been careless enough to step on her. His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mates’ safety seemed admirable. I was moved and rewarded him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool, leaving them undisturbed. He had truly earned those moments to be with his dear mate.
Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge barriers facing me. Why did the writer change his direction while walking down a path?
| A．To get close to a butterfly. |
| B．To avoid getting his shoes dirty. |
| C．To escape a sudden attack. |
| D．To look over the bad situation. |
What made the man feel funny?
| A．Making the attacker pause. |
| B．Being stepped on by his mate. |
| C．Being attacked by a butterfly. |
| D．Discovering the energetic butterfly. |
From this experience the man learned _____.
| A．people should protect butterflies |
| B．how he should deal with attacks |
| C．people should show sympathy to the weak |
| D．what he should do when faced with trouble |
Which of the following word can best describe the butterfly?
| A．Brave | B．Amusing. | C．Careless. | D．Strong. |
We all remember seeing hitchhikers, standing by the side of the road, thumb, sticking out, waiting for a lift. But it is getting rare nowadays. What killed hitchhiking? Safety is often mentioned as a reason. Movies about murderous hitchhikers and real-life crime have put many drivers off picking up hitchhikers. That no single women picked me up on my journey to Manchester no doubt reflects the safety fear: a large, strangely dressed man is seen as dangerous.
But the reason may be more complex: hitchhiking happens where people don’t have cars and transport services are poor. Plenty of people still hitchhike in Poland and Romania. Perhaps the rising level of car ownership in the UK means the few people lift hitchhiking are usually considered strange. Why can’t they afford cars? Why can’t they take the coach or the train?
Three-quarters of the UK population have access to a car; many of the remainder will be quite old. The potential hitchhiking population is therefore small. Yet my trip proves it’s still possible to hitchhike. The people who picked me up were very interesting-lawyer, retired surgeon, tank commander, carpenter, man who live in an isolated farmhouse and a couple living up in the mountains. My conclusion is that only really interesting people are mad enough to pick up fat blokes in red, spotted scarves. Most just wanted to do someone a good turn; a few said they were so surprised to see a hitchhiker that they couldn’t help stopping.
The future of hitchhiking most likely lies with car-sharing organized over the Internet, via sites such as hitchhikers.org. But for now, you can still stick your thumb out (actually, I didn’t do much of that, preferring just to hold up my destination sign) and people-wonderful, caring, sharing, unafraid people-will stop.
In the UK, with its cheap coaches and reasonable rail service, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. But having enjoyed it so much, I’m ready now to do a big trip across Europe and beyond. In the 1970s a female friend of my wife’s hitchhiked to India. How wonderful it would be to have another go, though Afghanistan might be a challenge. I wish I’d got that tank commander’s mobile number.The author tried to hitchhike but was rejected by single women drivers because.
| A．they were not heading towards Manchester |
| B．they thought most hitchhikers were dangerous |
| C．hitchhiking had been handed and they didn’t want to break the law |
| D．he was a strong man in strange clothes who seemed dangerous |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Movies have discouraged people from hitchhiking |
| B．Car ownership levels are lower in Romania than in the UK. |
| C．25% of UK people don’t have access to cars. |
| D．Increased car ownership has reduced the need for hitchhiking. |
The “fat blokes in red, spotted scarves” in Paragraph 3 most likely means.
| A．murderous hitchhikers | B．friendly and talkative hitchhikers |
| C．typical hitchhikers | D．strange hitchhikers like the author |
According to the author, future hitchhikers are more likely to.
| A．visit websites and find people to share cars with |
| B．stand by roads with their thumbs sticking out |
| C．stick out signs with their destinations written on |
| D．wait for some kind people to pick them up |
From the last paragraph, we know that the author.
| A．frequently hitchhikes in Britain |
| B．plans to hitchhike across Europe |
| C．thinks public transport is safer for travel |
| D．is going to contact the tank commander |
Afederal agency on Tuesday called for a ban on all cellphone use by drivers -- the most far-reaching recommendation up to now — saying its decision was based on a decade of investigations into distraction-related(与分散注意力有关的) accidents, as well as growing concerns that powerful mobile devices are giving drivers even more reasons to look away from the road.
As part of its recommendation, the National Transportation Safety Board is urging states to ban drivers from using hands-free devices, including wireless headsets. No state now has made laws to ban such activity, but the Board said that drivers faced serious risks from talking on wireless headsets, just as they do by taking a hand off the wheel to hold a phone to their ears.
However,the concern was heightened by increasingly powerful phones that people can use to send e-mails, watch movies and play games.
"Everyyear, new devices are being on sale." she said. "People are attracted to update their Facebook page, to play music with cellphone, as if sitting ata desk. But they are driving acar."
Theagency based its recommendation on evidence from its investigation of numerous crashes in which electronic distraction was a major contributing factor.
Ms.Hersman said she understood that this recommendation would be unwelcome in some circles, given the number of drivers who talk and text. But she compared distracted driving to drunken driving and even smoking, which required wholesale cultural shifts to change behavior.
"It'sgoing to be very unpopular with some people." she said. "We're not here to win apopularity contest. We're here to do the right thing. This is a difficult recommendation, but it's the right recommendation and it is time."
Theagency's recommendation is not required for states to adopt such a ban. And it won't likely be agreed upon by state lawmakers who are unwillingly to anger those who have grown accustomed to using their device behind the wheel.
Theban also deserves attention because it is the first call by a federal agency to end the practice completely, rather than the partial ban that some lawmakers have put in place by allowing hands-free talking.The ban on all cellphone use by drivers was put forward______.
| A．after a long discussion and recommendation |
| B．after about ten years' investigation in it |
| C．because of the most powerful mobile devices |
| D．for the reason of heading away from the road |
From the second paragraph we know that now______.
| A．it is legal to use wireless headsets while driving |
| B．wireless headsets are illegal in some states |
| C．it is safe to talk on wireless headsets while driving |
| D．hands-free devices can be used in some states |
We can know from the passage that______.
| A．electronic distraction resulted in numerous crashes |
| B．numerous crashes were caused by drunk driving |
| C．electronic distraction contributed much to the ban |
| D．the recommendation was based on electronic distraction |
Ms Hersman thinks that distracted driving, drunken driving and smoking______.
| A．are just common behaviors | B．can be shifted to behaviors |
| C．are behaviors to be changed | D．are just cultural behaviors |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．Cellphone Ban inCars | B．Valuable Ban for Cellphones |
| C．Drivers Ban Cellphones | D．Cellphone Ban while Driving |