Human beings are the most intelligent of all animals because we are gifted with the ability to think and reason logically. Scientists and even common people with special intelligence have made a lot of inventions and contributions to modern lifestyle in the past. “Houses” have been the most popular area for discoveries and inventions in the past and even now.
Many household items have been the result of inventions of people who desired better functioning of the existent products. Every individual has intelligence and if it is used properly for the right purpose it leads to invention of a new tool or device. Many new household inventions are made almost every day and there are specific companies, which particularly keep a record of all these inventions.
A lot of inventions have been made recently in the household field. These products are patented(专利的)and have trade mark licenses(许可). The patented sliding cinch is a very simple but effective method to prevent shoulder stress and injury for those who work before computers all day long. Vanity PC is a type of computer furniture that specifically hides all the computer wires and keeps a clean and good look. All the outdoor dust, mud and snow can be kept out of the house by installing(安装)the dirt drain(排水管)at the entrance of the door. Another important invention is the automatic toilet night-light, in which a small light starts when the lid of the toilet seat is opened and closes as soon as the lid is closed.
These are some of the new household inventions invented mostly by common people. Thus, a variety of new household items are invented every day, which helps in a better functioning of household chores and in a more useful manner.The first paragraph tells us the importance of _________.
| A．the particular changes in houses |
| B．human beings’ role in making inventions |
| C．the advantages of modern lifestyle |
| D．the difference between human beings and animals |
What plays the most important role in causing people to invent new things?
| A．To earn more money and gain awards. |
| B．To be recorded by some special companies. |
| C．To improve the present living conditions. |
| D．To meet the new demands of new science. |
It can be inferred that the sliding cinch is used to _________.
| A．prevent your shoulder from being over-pressured |
| B．keep your shoulder safe and sound when you are in an accident or an operation |
| C．help you practice your shoulder more often and reduce shoulder pains |
| D．cover your shoulder and make it stronger to resist the outside strike |
Common people can also make good inventions because __________.
| A．wisdom and inspiration sometimes come from everyday life |
| B．some inventions are easy to be made and can be mastered by common people |
| C．common people have a strong desire to do something for science research |
| D．success is often connected with hardship and bitter experience of common people |
The passage is mainly talking about _________.
| A．the correct use of household facilities |
| B．different ideas about household inventions |
| C．the history of household inventions |
| D．household inventions and their influence |
BRITAIN is a popular tourist place, but tours of the country have pros and cons.
GOOD NEWS
Free museums. No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities.
Pop music. Britain is the only country to compete with the US on this score.
Black cabs. London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food. Visitors can find everything from Japanese to Swedish restaurants.
Fashion. Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.
BAD NEWS
Poor service. “It’s part of the image of the place. People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton, of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport. Trains and buses are promised to disappoint the keenest tourists, although the over crowded London tube is unbelievably popular.
Rain. Still in the number one complaint.
No air-conditioning. So that even splendidly hot summers become as unbearable as the downpours.
Overpriced hotels. The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours. Alcohol(酒) is in short supply after 11 pm even in “24-hour cities”. What do tourists complain most?
| A．Poor service. | B．Poor public transport. |
| C．Rain. | D．Overpriced hotels. |
What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?
| A．Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US. |
| B．Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US. |
| C．Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US. |
| D．Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US. |
When is alcohol unlikely to be available in quantities?
| A．At 8: 30 pm. | B．At 9: 30 pm. | C．At 10: 30 pm. | D．At 11: 30 pm. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The public transport is poor there. |
| B．It’s very cheap to travel by taxi there. |
| C．You cannot find Chinese food there. |
| D．You have to pay to visit the museums. |
Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.
Before the nineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, frui
ts, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.
Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor.
As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has become more important as a source which offers materials to industry. Today's successful farmers are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are
not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving. We are told in the first paragraph about ____.
| A．the history of farming | B．the importance of farming |
| C．the development of farming | D．the changes of farming |
Which of the following describes American farming before the 19th century?
| A．Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms. |
| B．Farmers used tractors to help them. |
| C．Farming was the main way of living for most people. |
| D．Farmers could supply materials to industry. |
Crop production has increased greatly now thanks to all the following EXCEPT __.
| A．scientific methods | B．labor- saving machinery |
| C．farmers’ hard work | D．chemical fertilizers |
The passage mainly talks about_____.
| A．the advantages of American farming | B．the changes in American farming |
| C．the situation of American farms | D．how rapidly farming has developed |
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other forever. He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”
“No, sir,” the men answered.
The director was angry. “Why not?” he asked.
“Well, sir,” one of the men answered, “we’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”
“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”
But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset.”
“That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, sir,” they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset’ behind them.”
The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to 
stop.
The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.One evening, the director sent his camera crew out _________.
| A．to film a scene on the sea | B．to find an actor and an actress |
| C．to watch a beautiful sunset | D．to meet the audience |
Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?
| A．Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset. |
| B．Because he was angry with his crew. |
| C．Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset. |
| D．Because it was his secretary’s suggestion. |
The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because ______.
| A．it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine |
| B．when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening |
| C．it was more moving than a sunrise |
| D．the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset |
After the “sunset” began, the director
suddenly put his face in his hands ______.
| A．because he was moved to tears |
B．as he saw everything in the film moving backwa rds |
| C．as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined |
| D．because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice. |
| B．If you want to see a sunrise, the east coat is the place to go. |
| C．The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day. |
| D．The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset”. |
Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(冲突) . It was the first serious one between them in 40 years of farming peacefully side by side. In the end, they fell apart.
One morning, a man with a carpenter’s toolbox came for some work. The elder brother said, “I have a job for you. Look at the farm across the creek（河沟）. My younger brother lives there. It was he who used his bulldozer（推土机）to dig the creek last week to spite(刁难) me. So I want you to build me a fence, an 8 – foot – high fence, in order not to see his place any more.” The carpenter smiled and said, “I see. I’ll try to do a job that satisfies you.” Then the elder brother went downtown.
At sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide! To his surprise, there was no fence there at all! Instead, there was a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work! He saw his younger brother coming to him with the hands outstretching. The brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder.
“No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other work for you,” said the elder brother.
“I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but I have so many more bridges to build.”What was the life like for the two brothers before the conflict?
| A．They lived a poor life. | B．They lived in peace. |
| C．They never spoke to each other. | D．They lived on the same farm. |
It can be learned that the carpenter was ________.
| A．unwilling to obey the farmer | B．fond of building bridges |
| C．unable to build a fence | D．willing to help others |
The best title for t
his passage is ________.
| A．A Fine Piece of Work | B．A Carpenter |
| C．A Conflict between Two Brothers | D．Two Brothers |
Whi
ch of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The elder brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek. |
| B．The elder brother helped the carpenter build the bridge. |
| C．The brothers were both satisfied with the carpenter’s work. |
| D．The carpenter planned to build an 8-foot - high fence as asked to. |
Chinese netizens who like to create and use cyber words such as “geilivable” might find a new regulation very “ungeilivable”. The new regulation by the General Administration of Press and Publication last week banned the use of Chinglish words created by netizens for publishing in the Chinese language.
“Geilivable”, combining the pinyin geili (giving strength) with the English suffix (后缀) for adjectives, literally means “giving power” or “cool”. Different suffixes and prefixes were then added to the word. “Hengeilivable” means “very cool”, and “ungeilivable” means “dull, not cool at all”.
Cyber language is popular among Chinese netizens, who create Chinglish words to reflect phenomenon in society. One example is “antizen”, which refers to college graduates who earn a meager salary and live in small rented apartments, like tiny and laborious ants.
David Tool, a professor with the Beijing International Studies University, said it’s very interesting to combine Chinese with English to create new words. “English is no longer mysterious to the Chinese people. They can use the language in a flexible way according to their own experiences,” Tool said.
At the announcement of the regulation by the General Administration of Press and Publication, netizens expressed their concern.
“The administration is totally ‘ungeilivable’,” said a netizen
named laoda1713. “I know other netizens will shed tears with me... it is a good chance to enrich our language”.
“Language is always developing,” said a columnist, Wang Pei. “It needs to be updated to absorb foreign culture and folk wisdom.”
But an unnamed official with the administration said that, in fact, many senior staff from news media who supported the regulation were worried that years later, the younger generation would forget how to use formal Chinese expressions. The official also pointed out that the regulation was only for formal publications in Chinese language, and it only banned Chinglish words in the publication.The new regulation by the General Administration of Press and Publication may be aimed at .
| A．simplifying the Chinese language | B．limiting the development of language |
| C．banning the use of Chinglish | D．making the netizens more serious |
The underlined word meager in the th
ird paragraph probably means.
| A．poor | B．flexible | C．high | D．plentiful |
From this passage we can infer that .
| A．the Chinese people like their own language only |
| B．the English words are considered informal in China |
| C．nobody in China will support the new regulation |
| D．“geilivable” will be popular among Chinese netizens |
On which column of China Daily can you find this passage?
| A．Entertainment | B．Business | C．Travel | D．Opinion |