Shoppers throughout the West, wary(警惕的) of a double-dip recession（经济衰退）, are still pinching their pennies. However, Chinese consumers are opening their wallets—big time. According to McKinsey, shop sales in China have grown by 25 percent annually from 2007 to 2009. Consumer confidence is now at its highest point since 2007 and female shoppers are leading the way.
Chinese women saved just 24 percent of their income, compared with 55 percent in 2006, according to a recent study in Women of China Magazine. What’s more, three quarters of Chinese women say that they’re the ones who control the family purse strings .That means the nation’s 650 million women are an “emerging powerhouse within the powerhouse” of China.
In the 1950s women contributed just 20 percent of household income. That rose to about 40 percent in the 1990s and then reached 50 percent last year.
In a recent study of Chinese consumer behavior, McKinsey found that women tend to shop more frequently than men, and spend more on personal-care products and food. Men, by contrast, tend to spend more of their income on gadgets(小玩意) , drinks and alcohol, dining out, and socializing. They also tend to save for the bigger-ticket items, like cars and houses.
Chinese women make up an ever-growing small part of the market—up from 20 percent a decade ago to 50 percent last year. It’s estimated that in the next five years women will account for 55 percent of the $9 billion market. “The future is female,” concludes a January HSBC(汇丰银行) report on luxury goods(奢侈品) in China.
The Chinese Market Research Group recently found that women younger than 35 are the most optimistic segment(群体) in China. A very large 80 percent of the 3,500 women surveyed saying they’ll spend more in the second half of 2010 than they did in the first half. With trends like these, Chinese women may bring new meaning to the term “the power of the purse.”According to the passage, Chinese women _________.
| A．save more of their income than before |
| B．save less of their income than before |
| C．make as much money as men in the 1990s |
| D．spend half of their income on luxury goods |
The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that _________.
| A．women go shopping more frequently than men |
| B．women spent more on personal care products than men |
| C．men tend to save for the bigger-ticket items than women |
| D．Chinese women and men have different consuming behavior |
The underlined phrase in the first paragraph probably means_________.
| A．making more money in a careful way |
| B．wasting their money without hesitation |
| C．spending their money in a careful way |
| D．recovering the economy at a fast speed |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
| A．Chinese Men Go Socializing | B．Chinese Women Go shopping |
| C．The Future Is Female | D．The Purse Is Powerful |
From early times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world’s art treasures.
Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre (卢浮宫) in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries.
The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort (要塞)with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat (护城河) to keep out the enemies. Over the years, the number of buildings around the fort grew. By 1350,the fort was no longer needed and became a palace home for French kings and queens.
During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During times of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged(毁损).
When Francis I became King of France in the year of 1515,he brought in artists from many countries, and one of them was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy, whose Mona Lisa is the best-known painting in the museum today.
In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures have been saved for everyone to enjoy.The above passage is about
| A．the world-famous painting Mona Lisa |
| B．a king of France by the name of Francis I |
| C．a grand art museum in the capital of France |
| D．an artist named Leonardo da Vinci |
It seems to be necessary for great art works to be kept in public museum because.
| A．only in this way will they not be stolen |
| B．it gives everyone a chance to enjoy them |
| C．it helps people to remember the life of French kings and queens |
| D．it tells people what meaningful work the French kings did in the past |
The Louver became an art museum
| A．in the year of 1350 |
| B．in 1515 when Francis I became King of France |
| C．in the seventeenth century |
| D．in the nineties of the eighteenth century |
Though the story does not say so, it makes you think
| A．lots of people pay visits to the Louvre |
| B．Leonardo da Vinci was once the keeper of the museum |
| C．the Louvre was only open to the artists from other countries |
| D．the Louvre became a public museum at the beginning of the last century |
Most Americans enjoy moving from one place to another. They are always in constant motion. For example, they often drive their cars 120 to 160 kilometres away just to have dinner with a friend or even fly to Europe just for watching a football match. In some states only one house in five has people living in it for more than five years. One may be born in one city, and go to school in another. He may finish his middle school education in two or three cities, and then attend a college far across the country. When he has entered business, he may possibly move from job to job. Moving from job to job, which is called “job-hopping”,is a very common practice in the United States.
Job-hopping does good to workers, be
cause every chance to change a job gives them a chance to move up to a higher position and to get better pay. And job-hopping also gives employers, bosses, managers the chance to benefit from the new ideas and skills that different people bring to their factories.The meaning of the underlined words is close to “_____”.
| A．looking for jobs everywhere | B．always feeling excited in movement |
| C．enjoying themselves while moving | D．keeping moving from place to place |
In some places in America,______ in one place for more than five years.
| A．most people stay | B．about one fifth of the people live |
| C．the owner of one house stays | D．the owners of five houses stay |
It seems that the writer thinks job-hopping________.
| A．is a practice worth trying | B．only does good to workers |
| C．may cause troubles | D．make many people lose their jobs |
Who might buy t
he house after reading the above advertisement?
| A．Some young students. | B．A couple with little money |
| C．A big rich family | D．A big poor family |
What room has several possible uses?
| A．The living room. | B．The bedroom. |
| C．The dining room. | D．The kitchen. |
What is emphasized(强调)in the description of each room?
| A．Floor. | B．Entrance. | C．Size. | D．Windows. |
If you are in a town in a western country, you'll often see people walking with their dogs. It is still true that a dog is the most useful animal in the world. But the reason why one keeps a dog has changed Once upon a time, a man met a dog and wanted it to help him in the fight against other animals, and he found that the dog listened to him and did what he told him to. Later people used dogs for the hunting other animals, and the dogs didn't eat what they got until their master agreed. So dogs were used for driving sheep and guarding chicks. But now the people in the towns and cities do not need dogs to fight other animals. Of course they keep them to frighten thieves, but the most important reason is that people feel lonely in the city. For a child, a dog is his best friend when he has no friends to play with. For a young wife, a dog is her child when she doesn’t have her own. For old people, a dog is also a child when their real children have grown up and left. Now people do not have to use a dog, but they keep it as a friend, just like a member of the family._______are more useful than a dog in the world.
| A．No other animals | B．Some animals | C．Many animals | D．A few animals |
In the past people kept dogs because dogs _________.
| A．could fight against other animals | B．met the people |
| C．did not eat other animals | D．helped and listened to people |
Now people keep dogs in the cities because dogs_____.
| A．fight other animals | B．are lonely |
| C．are like their friends | D．are afraid of the thieves |
A dog can be _____.
| A．a child's friend only | B．a young woman's son |
C．old people 's real child |
D．everybody's friend |
So a dog will __ in a family.
| A．always be used | B．not be useful |
| C．still fight | D．always be a good friend |
If you want to get the most out of the study of a language, you must also read for pleasure: novels, plays, travel books, and so on. And in reading books of this kind the important thing is to get on with the reading; to try to grasp what the writer is going to tell you in the book as a whole. This is impossible if you stop and think over the meaning of every single word which happens to be unfamiliar(不熟悉). You can not enjoy a story if you stop half a dozen times on every page in order to look up words in the dictionary. You may even prevent yourself from understanding the story as a whole by doing this.
When you are reading books of this kind, therefore, you will usually have to rely mainly on(依靠) the context (上下文) to help you. If you meet an unfamiliar word, do not let it take too much of your attention from the main thread(主线) of the story. In all probability(可能) you will meet the same word again a few pages later on in a slightly different context, and each time you see it that your understanding of it will become more exact.To read for pleasure means _____________.
| A．to take pleasure in reading |
| B．to be satisfied in reading book |
| C．to read such books as novels, plays, travel books, etc |
| D．to go on with reading pleasantly |
The phrase “to ge
t on with reading” in the passage has the same meaning as “_________”.
| A．to try to grasp the meaning of every sentence in the book |
B．to try to catch the meaning of every word i n the book |
| C．to try to understand all the writer is going to tell you |
| D．to try to understand the main idea of the book |
、When you meet new words in reading such kinds of books, you’d better _________.
| A．stop and look them up in a dictionary | B．stop and think them over |
| C．try to guess their meanings from the context | D．have none of them |
According to the passage the best way to read novels, plays and travel books is _____.
| A．to read very slowly | B．to read quickly and not too carefully |
| C．to read very carefully | D．to read very seriously |
The best title for this passage is “___________”.
| A．Read for Pleasure | B．Get on with the Books |
| C．Reading Skills | D．The Importance of Reading |