New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly increased by foreign language skills.
Deeply involved with this new technology is a kind of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.
Overseas assignments (指派) are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive (行政) ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to manage back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more common.
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices (装置) with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight (洞察力) to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign customers over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset (有价值的人或物) to the firm. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople ________.
| A．are eager to work overseas |
| B．have to get familiar with modern technology |
| C．are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations |
| D．are attaching more importance to their overseas business |
In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Line 3, Para. 3) probably means ________.
| A．leaving all care and worry behind |
| B．being unable to think properly for lack of insight |
| C．being totally out of touch with business at home |
| D．missing opportunities for promotion when abroad |
According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today?
| A．Ability to speak the customer’s language. |
| B．Connections with businesses overseas. |
| C．Technical know-how. |
| D．Business experience. |
The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ________.
| A．fast-forward their proposals to headquarters |
| B．better control the whole negotiation process |
| C．easily make friends with businesspeople abroad |
| D．easily find new approaches to meet market needs |
Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. When people cheat, it’s not fair to other people, like the kids who studied for the test or who the true winners of a game were.
Many people like the action of cheating. It makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the test. But it doesn’t solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won’t help on the next test---unless the person cheats again.
People lose respect for cheaters and think less of them. The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they are not really earning that good grade. And, if they get caught cheating, they will be in trouble at school, and may be at home, too.
Some kids cheat because they’re busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending time studying. Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating, even when there seems to be a good reason for cheating, cheating isn’t a good idea.
If you were sick or upset about something the night before the day and couldn’t study, it would be better to talk with the teacher about this. And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice, you need to talk with you parents about how to balance swimming and school.
A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions(解决办法) together. Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.The author thinks that when kids cheat in class, ______.
A it is unfair to other people. B it does harm to their health.
C teachers should punish them. D teachers shouldn’t stop them at once.Some students like cheating mainly because______.
A the material in the test is very difficult.
B they want to do better than the others.
C cheating can make hard things seem very easy.
D they have little time to study their lessons.The fourth paragraph mainly tells us______.
A some kids can’t pass the test without cheating B why kids cheat in the test.
C. cheating isn’t a good idea. D some kids don’t spend the time studying.We can learn from the passage _______.
A cheaters are often thought highly of
B people show no respect for those who cheat.
C parents whose kids cheat are often in trouble.
D kids cheat in the test because of swim practice.
The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true.
Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time._______, our world is becoming much smaller.
| A．Because of the rise in pollution |
| B．Thanks to science development |
| C．Because the earth is being polluted day and night |
| D．Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year |
Hundreds of years ago, life was __________ it is today.
| A．much easier than | B．as easy as | C．much harder than | D．as hard as |
Pollution comes in many ways. We can even hear it. Here “it” means _______.
| A．rubbish（垃圾） | B．noise pollution | C．air pollution | D．water pollution |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
| B．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does. |
| C．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
| D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of SO2. |
The expression “Go for it!” is a way of encouraging someone to try something.
“Go for it!” means you should not worry about failure or be too careful. You should take a chance, be brave, and act firmly.
“Go for it!” gets name from football. Not football as it is played in most countries such as England, Egypt or Japan, but the kind of football played in the United States and Canada.
One of the most exciting times in football comes when a team has failed, after three attempts, to move the ball forward ten yards. The team must make a critical decision.
The conservative choice is to kick the ball and accept temporary defeat in order to gain a good position for your team the next time it gets the ball. The more exciting choice, however, is to try a fourth and final time to gain the remaining yards needed.
In the nineteen eighties, people began using this expression in many kinds of situations to encourage someone to act bravely.
There is no guarantee(保证) that the action you “Go for it!” will succeed. But that is the chance you take when you decide to go for it. You put your fears behind. You choose courage over safety. You hold your breath and go for it.The expression “Go for it!” comes from______.
| A．English football | B．Egyptian football | C．Japanese football | D．American football |
According to the passage, when we decide to go for it, we only consider______.
| A．safety | B．action | C．result | D．situation |
In which of the following situations should we use the expression nowadays?
| A．We decide to avoid trouble or danger for the future. |
| B．We try to improve our English for better education. |
| C．We need to make a quick decision at the last moment. |
| D．We have to make a choice between success and failure. |
Most people think the first pies were made by early Romans. They may have learned about pie making from the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in"reeds (芦苇叶)", which were used for the purpose of holding the filling (馅 ), and were not eaten.
The Romans spread the word about pies around Europe and the word"pie"became a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe (食谱) was also published by the Romans.
Pies first appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The early pies were mostly meat pies. There was actually more crust(皮)than filling. Often these pies were made from fowl ( 家禽) and the fowl's legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies were probably first made in the 1500s. It is said that Queen Elizabeth I made the first cherry pie.
Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early settlers cooked their pies in long narrow pans. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts were often not eaten, but simply used to hold the filling during baking(烘焙).
Over the years, pie has become what it is today --- "the most traditional American dessert". Pie has become so much a part of American culture that we now often use the phrase "as American as apple pie".Which people might probably first grasp the skill to make pies?
| A．The Romans. | B．The Greeks. | C．The Englishmen. | D．The Americans. |
Which of the following is NOT true about pies?
| A．English settlers brought pies to America. |
| B．Early Romans ate not only pies but also the crusts. |
| C．The Romans first published pie recipe. |
| D．The word “pie ” became popular because of the Romans` efforts. |
What can best show pies have become part of American culture?
| A．Americans use long narrow pans to cook pies. |
| B．People use "as American as apple pie" to show something about American characteristics. |
| C．Americans don't eat crusts but use them to hold the filling during baking. |
| D．Pies are the most traditional American dessert. |
The best title of this passage is "______________".
| A．The History of Pies | B．Pies, the Delicious Food |
| C．Pies, American Dessert | D．How to Make Pies |
World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of public health concern in the world.
The theme for 2013 is high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes(中风). If left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can also cause blindness, irregularities of the heartbeat and heart failure. The risk of developing these complications is higher in the presence of other risk factors such as diabetes(糖尿病). One in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure and this increases with age, from 1 in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their 50s. High blood pressure is most common in some low-income countries in Africa, with over 40% of adults in many African countries thought to be affected.
However, high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable. In some developed countries, prevention and treatment of it has brought about a reduction in deaths from heart disease. The risk of developing high blood pressure can be reduced by: reducing salt intake; eating a balanced diet; avoiding harmful use of alcohol; taking regular physical activity; keeping a healthy body weight; and avoiding tobacco use.
The final and most important goal of World Health Day 2013 is to reduce heart attacks and strokes, which includes as follows:
1.to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of high blood pressure;
2.to provide information on how to prevent high blood pressure
3.to encourage adults to check their blood pressure and to follow the advice of health-care professionals.High blood pressure can cause medical problems like_____.
| A．heart diseases, strokes and blindness | B．strokes, heart failure and diabetes |
| C．heart attacks, blindness and diabetes | D．heart troubles,strokes and cancers |
Who are most likely to be affected by high blood pressure?
| A．Those who are in their 20s | B．Those who are in their 30s |
| C．Those who are in their 40s | D．Those who are in their 50s |
Which of the following can NOT reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure?
| A．Less salt intake | B．Putting on weight | C．Regular exercise | D．No smoking |
The text is mainly about______.
| A．the theme for World Health Day 2013 | B．the causes of high blood pressure |
| C．the treatment of heart attacks and strokes | D．how to reduce the risk of high blood pressure |