All it took was a slice of Xinjiang cake to spark heated debates online over China's policy on ethnic（民族的）minorities .
Since Monday, qiegao (cut cake) has been a trending topic on Sina Weibo, China’s main Twitter-like microblogging service.
The cake was a reference to Xinjiang’s famed nut cake, sometimes known by its old Turkic name baklava, a popular pastry across Central Asia and the Middle East. In Xinjiang, they are sold by Uygur vendors（小贩）on tricycles who are known to charge dubious prices depending on the time and season.
The ethnic flare-up started after the Yueyang police from Hunan province posted a message on their official Weibo account. It reported a dispute in Pingjiang county over an overpriced piece of nut cake between a Xinjiang Uygur vendor and a villager named "Ling".
Villager Ling got into a fight with a Uygur due to a misunderstanding. The verbal dispute eventually escalated into a fight and then a mass fight. As a result, two people were injured and Xinjiang nut cakes worth about 160,000 yuan (US$25,000) were destroyed. The total damage was worth 200,000 yuan which included a broken motorcycle and injuries to people. Local police have detained（扣留） Ling. The 16 Uygur sellers were dully compensated and sent back to Xinjiang.
"Yueyang police incident" quickly became one of the most popular topics on Weibo. Yueyang police removed the post shortly after. As of Tuesday night, the topic was still amassing more than 66,000 hits.
The incident is just one of many similar cases of ethnic tensions across China, notably in Xinjiang province, where deeply entrenched social and racial frictions between the dominant ethnic Han Chinese and minority Uygur Muslims occasionally spark violence. Many Uygurs living in major Chinese cities are viewed by locals as thieves, crooks and even terrorists.Which of the following is true?
| A．The dispute is between a Xinjiang Uygur vendor and a policeman. |
| B．Nut cake is a popular pastry across East Asia and the Middle East. |
| C．The prices of Baklava will change according to the time and season. |
| D．The demand of the 16 Uygur sellers were refused and they were sent back to Xinjiang. |
How much did the broken motorcycle cost？
| A．160,000 yuan | B．200,000 yuan |
| C．40，000yuan | D．We don’t know |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．World's most expensive baklava. |
| B．Ethnic tensions across China. |
| C．Pay attention to the Uygurs |
| D．Misunderstanding caused by a fight |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Yueyang police are afraid of the Xinjiang Uygur vendor |
| B．It’s not the only ethnic tension across China, |
| C．Many Uygurs living in major Chinese cities are viewed by locals as thieves, crooks and even terrorists. |
| D．Villager Ling got into a fight with a Uygur due to a misunderstanding. |
Where is this passage probably from?
| A．Microblogging. | B．Textbook. |
| C．Newspaper. | D．Article. |
Sweet peas, cucumbers, grapes ---- what do you think they have in common?
None of these vegetables grow on trees. They all don’t have strong roots, big trunks or long branches, which makes it harder for them to get sunlight. But don’t worry. They have developed their own unique way of growing taller climbing!
Take sweet peas as an example. The plant grows as a straight stem until it finds something to hold onto, either a nearby tree or a stick. That is when the stem makes small coil(卷曲) that helps the plant hold the stick tightly.
How these plants are able to do this has been a mystery to scientists for years. Even Charles Darwin was interested in this question. But it is not until now that a Harvard research team has finally found the answer. The study was published in the Journal Science earlier this month.
The key, as it turns out, is inside a kind of thread-like cell called “g-fiber cell”, which has the ability to shrink or stretch. Each stem of the pea plant is made of several layers of g-fibers. Once the plant finds something to hold onto, cells on side of the stem start to shrink, forcing the whole thing to bend and coil, which is a bit like how our muscles get our bodies to move.
What’s more, a pea’s coil is not exactly like that of a spring. If you look closely, you may find that a spring coils all in the same direction, but a plant’s coil is in two opposite directions, like a telephone line. This means that the stem can stay soft when pulled gently but become strong enough when pulled harder.
“You want the plant to have a little bit of flexibility(柔韧性) so that if the wind blows or an animal disturb it, it doesn’t break,” explained Sharon Gerbode, author of the study. “This structure allows the plant to easily accommodate small movement, but then if something really serious happens it can become strong and protect itself.” According to the article, coiling happens in sweet peas plant to allow the plant to.
| A．form a straight stem |
| B．grow strong roots |
| C．develop g-fiber cells on the stems |
| D．climb itself up toward the sunlight |
According to the article, which one is true about “a sweet pea’s coil”?
| A．to be like that of a spring |
| B．to bend all in the same direction |
| C．to make the stem hard break |
| D．to make the stem get soft when pulled hard |
When the sweet pea plant finds something to hold onto, .
| A．g-fiber cells on both sides of stem, forcing the stem to bend and coil |
| B．g-fiber cells on side of stem shrink, forcing the stem to bend and coil |
| C．g-fiber cells on the stem start to stretch, forcing the stem to bend and coil |
| D．there are more g-fiber cells on the stems |
What’s the purpose of the writer in the passage?
| A．To tell us why the sweet peas can climb the tree or stick. |
| B．To display new research allows scientists to understand more about climbing plants. |
| C．To show us new scientific research about the role of “g-fiber cell”. |
| D．To tell us the mysterious natural phenomena of some plants. |
The cars were honking (鸣叫) on the road one morning as I was walking to the park. I walked on and soon found the cause — a little taxi that had got stuck in the middle of the road. There was sweat on the driver's face as he tried to start the engine again and again — nothing happened. "No petrol,"
I said to myself and then found myself getting angry. "Why doesn't the fool move his taxi to the side?" I thought, so did all the others who honked and shouted.
He got up tiredly, and the passenger in the taxi got out. He was a young man in a white shirt, who watched the driver try to push it to the side. "Stupid guy!" I said. "Can't he lend a helping hand? "
I watched as the poor driver pushed it to the side. Cars, buses and trucks went past cursing (咒骂 ) the poor man. The young man took another taxi and went off.
The taxi driver began mending his taxi. "Stupid passenger!" I said to him. "He didn't help you!" The taxi driver slowly got up. "Sir!" he asked, "Did you?" I looked at him guiltily, then looked away, and walked away fast, asking myself, "Did I help the poor man push his taxi?"
What had I been doing as the traffic jam took place? How had I helped deal with the problem? Did I help the poor man push his taxi? I’d done my bit, with my mouth. But never had I moved to solve the problem. I was shocked with guilt as I heard him asking, "Sir! Did you?" Why did a traffic jam happen on the road when the author was walking to the park?
| A．There was too much traffic in the street. |
| B．Truck drivers attempted to go ahead of others. |
| C．A taxi driver couldn't start his engine. |
| D．A young man wasn't good at driving. |
The author's attitude toward the passenger is that of __________.
| A．anger | B．respect | C．sympathy | D．guilt |
Why did the author feel guilty?
| A．Because he blamed the driver wrongly. |
| B．Because he didn't help the driver, either. |
| C．Because he tried to help but failed in the end. |
| D．Because he didn't persuade the passenger to help. |
From the incident, the author learnt a lesson that we should _________.
| A．criticize those who don't help |
| B．hurt the self-respect of others no more |
| C．think more of those who are in need |
| D．stop talking and start to help |
When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.
I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.
In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.
However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.
After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.
By JackJack brought the couple their food very fast because _______.
| A．the manager asked him to do so |
| B．he respected the elderly |
| C．the couple wanted him to do so |
| D．he wanted more pay |
When Jack called the couple “elderly”, they became _______.
| A．nervous | B．satisfied | C．Unhappy | D．excited |
In Jack’s hometown, _______.
| A．people dislike being called “old” |
| B．people are proud of being old |
| C．many people reach the age of seventy or eighty |
| D．the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants |
After this experience, Jack _______.
| A．lost his job in the restaurant |
| B．made friends with the couple |
| C．no longer respected the elderly |
| D．changed his way with older people |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got. |
| B．Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience. |
| C．The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple. |
| D．From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture. |
Should ecigarettes (electronic cigarettes) be a new choice for the smokers trying to get rid of the habit? Reactions from Americans are mixed. More than half of the people questioned in a survey think ecigarettes should be controlled by the US Food and Drug Administration，but 47 percent believe the ecigarettes should be available to the smokers who want to quit.
“In the hunt for a safer cigarette，ecigarettes are becoming a popular choice among those either trying to quit or looking to replace standard tobacco smoke with an alternative that manufacturers claim to be safer，” Zogby International，which conducted the survey，said in a statement.
About half of the 4,611 adults who took part in the survey had heard about ecigarettes，which are batterypowered，or rechargeable cigarettes that vaporize a liquid nicotine solution. They do not produce smoke but a water vapor without smell. Sold mostly on the Internet，ecigarettes were first made in China.
Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against using ecigarettes，saying there was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit. The WHO said people who smoke ecigarettes breathe in a fine fog of nicotine into the lungs.
Nearly a third of people questioned in the survey think that ecigarettes should be allowed in places where smoking is forbidden，because they don’t produce smoke，but 46 percent disagree. Men who were aware of the availability of ecigarettes were more likely than women to say they should be a choice available to smokers who want to quit. Young people，aged 18－29，and singles were the groups most open to trying ecigarettes. Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide，according to the WHO.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
| A．American smokers ought to try ecigarettes. |
| B．Americans have different opinions about ecigarettes. |
| C．Every kind of cigarettes should be forbidden in America. |
| D．Most of the Americans don’t like ecigarettes. |
According to Zogby International，ecigarettes ________.
| A．are much safer than common cigarettes |
| B．are popular among people who want to quit smoking |
| C．will take the place of traditional cigarettes |
| D．are produced in a safer way by manufacturers |
What do we know about ecigarettes from the passage?
| A．Most Americans are familiar with them. |
| B．They are a good choice as there is no nicotine. |
| C．They produce a water vapor that can’t be seen. |
| D．Most people buy them on the Internet. |
What’s the attitude of the WHO towards ecigarettes?
| A．Negative. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
What can we conclude from the last paragraph?
| A．People can smoke ecigarettes in places where smoking is forbidden. |
| B．Most women agree that ecigarettes should be available to smokers. |
| C．Young adults and singles are the main groups who agree to try ecigarettes. |
| D．The problem of smoking is becoming worse around the world. |
When it comes to social behaviour，mammals are in a league of their own. Some birds may form pairs，or even cooperate to hunt，but the complexity (复杂性) of their relationships can hardly compare to those within a school of dolphins，a herd of elephants or a group of humans. What makes mammalian social groups different from a flock of starlings or a shoal of fish，is that in many cases the individuals could recognize each other. Although we may think that all elephants look pretty much the same，we can easily tell individuals of our own species apart and it has become clear through studies that the same is true of other species. Dolphins have their own signature whistles that act like “names”，and elephants can recognize and greet other individuals they have known but not seen for many years. This is something that only a few species of birds appear to be able to do.
Mammals in complex social groups not only recognize each other as individuals，but also they remember a lot of information about that individual. Social groups often rely on this memory—such as knowing who is dominant to whom，who is related to whom，and who has done what to whom in the past. It’s like remembering who you have lent money to or done a favour for，and who hasn’t repaid that money or has talked about you behind your back. You have to learn who to trust，who your friends are，and who to watch out for.
All this remembering goes on in a particular part of the brain called the neocortex (大脑皮层)．If you compare the size of a mammal’s social group with the size of this part of the brain，you will find they are remarkably closely related. This area seems to take a long time to develop fully and animals in which it is very large take a very long time to grow up to adulthood. During this time，the youngster has to learn all the rules of social behaviour in their group and to piece together all the relationships between the group members：Knowledge that will be needed to avoid getting into trouble.What is special about a mammalian social group according to the passage?
| A．All the individuals cooperate to hunt. |
| B．The individuals can communicate with each other. |
| C．The individuals can recognize each other. |
| D．The individuals form closer relationship. |
The passage suggests that elephants________.
| A．are cleverer than dolphins |
| B．can recognize other species |
| C．may mistake a member for another |
| D．have good memories |
Animals whose area of the neocortex is large________.
| A．will have a long period of time before they become adults |
| B．will spend a shorter time learning the necessary knowledge |
| C．will learn the necessary knowledge much more easily |
| D．will have more difficulty in growing up as adults |
If the neocortex is larger，the animals________.
| A．can live a longer life |
| B．have a smaller social group |
| C．have a larger social group |
| D．have a greater body size |
In order to make his/her point clear，the author use the means of________.
| A．analyzing cause and effect |
| B．making comparisons |
| C．giving wonderful examples |
| D．providing different figures |