Nearly a thousand people laugh heartily together for half an hour every morning in a park in Shenzhen. Guangzhou Daily took a closer look at those happy people.
They are members of a group named Laughing Club, and when they get together, all they do is laugh.
Zhang Lixin, the founder of the club and regarded as the ‘laugh leader’, told the paper that laughing does him a lot of good. He started after he read some advice in a book and tried giggling after quarrelling with his wife to relax.
After laughing for a few days, Zhang found himself more outgoing and relaxed. Soon his wife joined him, bringing the family more laughter and less bickering.
When he got to know a kind of “laughing yoga” is good for the health, Zhang went to Bombay to learn from the locals and developed what he learned into more than 30 ways of laughing.
The “lion bellow (吼)”is to shout with the fingers outstretched near the ears. There is the “open mouth laugh”, the “bow-pulling laugh”, the “welcoming laugh” and even the “quarrelling laugh”, with different arm movements of laugh style.
The “laugh movement” swept over Shenzhen in a few of months, attracting tens of thousands of people to join, and has been followed in nearby cities such as Guangzhou.
Every morning at the lake front and at 8 pm on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at the mountain peak square in Lianhua Mountain Park, club members gather to laugh and shout loudly.From the first paragraph we know that _________________________.
| A．Guangzhou Daily is the source of the information |
| B．those happy people come from Guangzhou Daily |
| C．there is a Guangzhou Daily office near Laughing Club |
| D．Guangzhou Daily supported the laugh movement |
The people in Laughing Club laugh because they _____________________.
| A．live a happy life | B．always feel happy |
| C．just can’t help it | D．want to relax themselves |
Which of the underlined words has a meaning similar to “laughing”?
| A．Giggling. | B．Quarrelling. | C．Outgoing. | D．Bickering. |
According to the passage, when cannot you see club members practicing laughing in Lianhua Mountain Park?
| A．At 8 pm on Sunday. | B．At 8 pm on Monday. |
| C．At 8 pm on Friday. | D．At 8 pm on Wednesday. |
What’s the idea expressed by the last two paragraphs?
| A．The members of Laughing Club are increasing. |
| B．The laugh movement is becoming popular. |
| C．The laughing is done only in parks. |
| D．Laughing Club is practicing laughing hard. |
Dear College Dean,
It is my understanding that this college has received a large donation to be used to enhance (improve) the quality of life for students: expand the bookstore or add computers to the computer lab. It is the tradition of this school to promote education and to be the pioneer of new technology. That is why I strongly argue in favor of the addition of more computers to the computer lab.
Although expanding the campus bookstore to include CDs, gifts, and a snack bar will give a nicer look to the college, we have to think about a greater goal and a more practical way to enhance the quality of life for students. What do we .want for our students and our college? Do we want our college to be known as a place with a great bookstore where you can find CDs and gifts, or as a place where the students can explore and research in their field using the best tools provided by technology? In addition, there are already several snack bars on campus, and there are music stores nearby, so students do not depend on the college bookstore for these things.
We live in a highly technological world and computers play an increasingly important role in how we live. As a learning institution, this college has the responsibility to offer its students the best technology to help them prepare for their future. Many students will be expected to be familiar with the latest software and other tools when they go on to work or to graduate school.
While they are in college, students find they are expected to use computers. Many professors expect students to use computers to do homework or to complete projects. Since students are competing for good grades, those who have limited access to computers are at a great disadvantage. Furthermore, being able to do projects using the computer enhances the process of learning.
If there are more computers, no more will students have to wait in line while scanning the room for an empty chair and computer.. No longer will they have to sit and wait while an outdated computer struggles to follow their commands. Having more new and faster computers available will enable students to finish their work more quickly.
The more computers are used in society, the more colleges will depend on them as a tool of teaching and learning. Making computers more available to students facilitates their learning process by making the process easier, more interesting, more engaging, and in the process enhancing their quality of life.From the passage we can infer that .
| A．present computers in the college cannot meet the demands of the students |
| B．computers in the college will be updated to meet the students’ demands soon |
| C．the college has the responsibility to help the students to prepare for their future |
| D．it is also necessary to expand the college bookstore by using part of the donation |
In paragraph 4，the author mainly wants to tell us that .
| A．computers are beneficial to students’ academic(学业) success |
| B．computers are helpful to students competition for success |
| C．students find it convenient to do assignments by using computers |
| D．students wish to use the money to buy more advanced computers |
Which of the following shows the organization of the passage?
CP: central point SP: sub-point(次要点) P: point C: conclusion
Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors (流星) but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth. Light gets through, and this is necessary for plants to make the food that we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment endurable. Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, do prevent a lot of radiation damage.
Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space, The unit of radiation is called “rem” Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1rem without being damaged; the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage. A person may feel perfectly well, but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will not be discovered until the birth of deformed children or even grandchildren. Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high radiation and , during the outward and return journeys, the Apollo crew accumulated(积累) a large amount of rems. So far, no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere, working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation, but no really effective ones have been found so far.In which way is the atmosphere necessary to man according to the first paragraph?
| A．It screens off the falling meteors. |
| B．It provides enough light for plants to grow. |
| C．It supplies the heat necessary for human survival. |
| D．It protects him against the harmful rays from space. |
We know from the passage that .
| A．exposure to even tiny amount of radiation is fatal( 致命的) |
| B．the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming |
| C．radiation is avoidable in space exploration |
| D．astronauts in spacesuits needn’t worry about radiation damage |
The underlined word “deformed” probably means .
| A．badly-shaped | B．weak |
| C．naturally-grown | D．ugly |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．the Apollo mission was very successful |
| B．astronauts will have deformed children or grandchildren |
| C．protection from space radiation is no easy job |
| D．radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers |
We live in a techno logical society where most goods are mass-produced by unskilled labor. Because of this, most people think that craft(手艺) no longer exists.
One of the ways these people wrongly support their view is by pointing to 100-year-old homes which are still solid, and arguing that it is the craftsmanship that is responsible for their durability(持久性). “Homes in those days were well-built,” they say. No doubt these homes were well-built, but what these people have done is mix up the quality of material used in the house with the quality of the craftsmanship.
Homes today could be built to last just as long as those old homes if people were willing or able to pay the price. For example, more people can no longer afford solid oak stairways, although they were once fairly common in older homes. Nor can they afford the high labor cost of employing a carpenter to build the stairway. Yet if someone can pay the high cost, there are still plenty of carpenters around able to make those stairways. And not only would these carpenters know how to build them, they would probably do a better job than carpenters of old.
One thing the modern carpenter has which enables him to do a better job is much more advanced tools. Such tools as laser beams and power planes help them lay out a house better and make more precision cuts(精确切割)on the wood. Also, it is not uncommon any more to find carpenters with college degrees and carpenters with a solid knowledge of mathematics, which would enable them to deal with more difficult house designs.
The problem of modern quality, then, really boils down to the problem of material, for the modern carpenter is just as able to produce craftsmanship as the carpenter of fifty years ago, but only if given proper material.Compared to the carpenters in the past, modern carpenters are__________.
| A．more successful | B．more learned |
| C．more imaginative | D．more hardworking |
What does the underlined word “they” (paragraph2) refer to?
| A．Carpenters who are fond of oak stairways. |
| B．Carpenters who have college degrees. |
| C．people who think highly of carpenters of old |
| D．people who think that modern material is of low quality. |
What does the third paragraph mainly discuss?
| A．People in the past preferred to use oak to build stairways. |
| B．It is now expensive to employ a carpenter. |
| C．Modern houses last as long as the old one. |
| D．Good carpenters still exist in modern times. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Is Craft Dead? |
| B．Craft, Back to Life? |
| C．History of Craftsmanship |
| D．Carpenters Today and Yesterday |
Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice．Gifts are easy—they’re given after all．Choice can be hard．
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago．I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year．I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast，and the idea of building all online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old，and I’d been married for a year．I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t and I wasn’t sure what to expect．MacKenzie told me I should go for it．As a young boy，I’d been a garage inventor．I’d always wanted to be all inventor，and she wanted me to follow my passion．
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired．I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet．He took me on a long walk in Central Park，listened carefully to me，and finally said，“That sounds like a really good idea，but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job．”That 1ogic made some sense to me，and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision．Seen in that light,it really was a difficult choice，but finally，I decided I had to give it a shot．I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing．And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.
After much consideration ，I took the less safe path to follow my passion ，and I’m proud of that choice．For all of us，in the end，we are our choice．What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?
| A．His dream of being an inventor． |
| B．The support of his wife． |
| C．The greatly increasing usage of the Internet． |
| D．Millions of exciting titles, |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
| A．The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him． |
| B．He would be very excited if he tried it out． |
| C．Be would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try． |
| D．The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him． |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Cleverness and Kindness | B．The Starting of Amazon |
| C．Following My Passion | D．We Are What We Choose |
We can know from the passage that_______．
| A．the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author |
| B．the author wanted someone else to try the idea |
| C．the author might not regret if he failed the idea |
| D．the author might go back to his boss if he failed |
On the day after Thanskgiving in the US, or Black Friday, lots of stores offer special discounts to mark the beginning of holiday shopping season. In China, a similar day falls on Nov. 11 when millions of Chinese shoppers go to Tmall.com and Taobao.com, two e-commerce websites operated by Alibaba.
The 11.11 Shopping Festival, as the event is now called, is also known in China as Singles Day. The shopping festival first started in 2009 and Alibaba said it chose the date because it was easy to remember. Last year, Tmall and Taobao together produced 19.1 billion in sales on that day, according to Alibaba. This year’s shopping festival kicked off with an even stronger start—sales hit 100 million yuan 55 seconds after midnight and reached 35 billion at the end of the day.
The shopping spree(狂欢) drew the attention of China’s leaders, as Premier Li Keqiang recently praised Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, for creating a day for consumption. China is trying to lead the country’s economy to a slower, more sustainable（可持续的）growth model based on domestic (国内的) consumption instead of investment and exports. Online shopping is no doubt a growth point that will release spending potential. China had 564 million regular Internet users by the end of last year. It has surpassed the US to become the world’s largest e-commerce market, with its online sales over 1 trillion US dollars (6 trillion yuan) by 2020.
“The real-time nature of online consumption attracts millions of people to spend money and enjoy life. E-commerce opens a new channel for China to encourage domestic demand,” Liu Yin, vice-president of the China International Electronic Commerce Center said. More importantly, it promotes employment and the logistics (物流) industry with its sales model of “online purchasing plus express delivery”, he added. Convenience, choice and low prices have increased online shopping, but there are still some problems with the one-day shopping spree.
Some online shops, driven by the huge profits, took this opportunity to play price tricks. They raised prices to twice those of the originals in the early October and then offered discounts on Nov 11. Many consumers, driven by the advantage they could take, just went along for the ride. “They spend lots of time online to check what to buy and are happy to get what they don’t really need at a lower price,” wrote Jia Ge, an Internet analyst, on his Sina weibo.In the US, a holiday shopping season refers to _________.
| A．a spree in a holiday like Thanksgiving |
| B．one of the four seasons in a year like spring |
| C．a shopping spree when stores offer special discounts |
| D．a holiday when people can relax themselves by shopping |
In this year’s 11.11 Shopping Festival, Tmall and Taobao produced ______in all.
| A．19.1 billion yuan | B．100 million yuan |
| C．35.1 billion yuan | D．35 billion yuan |
What Liu Yin said is mainly about _______.
| A．the advantages of e-commerce |
| B．the advantages of express delivery |
| C．the development of online shopping |
| D．the development of logistic industry |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _______.
| A．most online shops played price tricks on consumers to make huge profits |
| B．driven by the huge profits, many consumers bought what they didn’t really need |
| C．some prices of the goods were raised at first and sold at the original price on Nov. 11 |
| D．many consumers were cheated by the online shops and bought unnecessary goods |