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People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velvet-the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race, At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained—and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet is still considered the best by a child actress.
Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons. When World War II started, the Taylor moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult(成人)roles and won twice for Best Actress: Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966)
Taylor’s fame(名声)and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part in Cleopatra—the highest pay received by any star up to that time.
Elizabeth Taylor is a legend (传奇人物) of our time. Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky, she has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others—several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than $40 million for research and education.
The producers didn’t let Taylor play the part of Velvet at first because they thought she ____.

A．was small in size

B．was too young

C．did not play well enough

D．did not show much interest

What Elizabeth Taylor and Velvet Brown had in common was that they were both _____.

A．popular all their lives	B．famous actresses
C．successful when very young	D．rich and kind-hearted

Taylor became Best Actress at the age of .

A．12

B．28

C．31

D．34

In her later life, Elizabeth Taylor devoted herself to .

A．doing business and helping others

B．turning herself into a legend

C．collecting money for the poor

D．going about research and education work

I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles”(风格) of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑的) in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks(地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually ______.

A．describe the place carefully

B．show him a map of the place

C．tell him the names of the streets

D．refer to recognizable buildings and places

What is the place where people measure distance in time?

A．New York.

B．Los Angeles.

C．Kansas.

D．Iowa.

People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ______.

A．in order to save time	B．as a test
C．so as to be polite	D．for fun

What can we infer from the text?

A．It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences.

B．It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.

C．People have similar understandings of politeness.

D．New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.

Goldie’s Secret
She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. “We’re moving house.”; “No space for her any more with the baby coming.” “We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present.” People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.
That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.
By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking (舔) the four puppies (幼犬) I started to feel sympathy towards them. “We didn't know what had happened to her,” said the woman at the door. “I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared.” “She must have tried to come back to them and got lost,” added a boy from behind her.
I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I’ve learnt a good lesson: not to judge people.
How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?

A．Shocked.

B．Sympathetic.

C．Annoyed.

D．Upset.

In her first few days at the author's house, Goldie .

A．felt worried	B．was angry
C．ate a little	D．sat by the fire

Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she .

A．saw her puppies

B．heard familiar barking

C．wanted to leave the author

D．found her way to her old home

The passage is organized in order of .

A．time

B．effectiveness

C．importance

D．complexity

American beekeeping operations have been hit hard by what scientists call colony collapse disorder(C.C.D.). Almost half of their worker bees have disappeared during the past season. C.C.D. has also been reported in Israel, Europe and South America. Bees fly away from the hive and never return. Sometimes they are found dead; other times they are never found. Many crops and trees depend on pollination （授粉） by bees to help them grow.
A new report says virus may be at least partly responsible for the disorder in honey bee colonies in the United States. This virus is called Israeli acute paralysis virus. It was first identified in Israel in 2004. Ian Lipkin at Columbia University in New York and a team reported the new findings in Science magazine. Doctor Lipkin says the virus may not be the only cause. He says it may work with other causes to produce the collapse disorder.
The team found the virus in colonies with the help of a map of honey bee genes that was published last year. They examined thirty colonies affected by the disorder. They found evidence of the virus in twenty–five of them, and in one healthy colony. The next step is further testing of healthy hives.
The researchers suggested that the United States may have imported the disorder in bees from Australia. They say the bees may carry the virus but not be affected.
The idea is that unlike many American bees, the ability of Australian bees to fight disease has not been hurt by the varroa mite（全球性的蜂虱）. This insect attacks honey bees, which could make the disorder more likely to affect a hive. Australian bee producers reject these suspicions.
And some researchers suspect that bee production in the United States is down mainly because of the weather. Honey bees gather nectar（花蜜） from flowers and trees. The sweet liquid gives them food and material to make honey. But cold weather this spring in the Midwest reduced the flow of nectar in many flowers. Many bees may have starved. Dry weather in areas of the country could also be playing a part.
Wayne Esaias is a NASA space agency scientist who keeps bees in his free time. He lives in central Maryland, where he has found that flowers are blooming a month earlier than they did in 1970, which may be partly responsible for the disorder. Wayne Esaias is organizing a group of beekeepers to document nectar flow around the country.
The researchers found the virus ______.

A．with the help of colony collapse disorder

B．by researching the causes of bee death

C．with the help of a map of honey bee genes

D．with the help of a scientist of NASA

What is the passage mainly about?

A．American beekeeping industry has been strongly influenced by the bee disorder.

B．Studies are being carried out on the causes of the bee disorder, but questions remain.

C．How the causes of the bee disorder in U.S have been found.

D．The bee production in U.S is down because of Israeli acute paralysis virus.

How many possibilities may be involved in the bee disorder according to the passage?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

D．Six.

We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．Israeli acute paralysis virus should be responsible for the disorder

B．the solution to the bee disorder will be found eventually

C．American bees are more likely to defend themselves than Australian bees

D．the crop and plant production in U.S may be influenced by the bee disorder

Nuclear energy has always been controversial. But since the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima (Japan) last year the issue is back in the headlines. And the world is divided— some countries are planning more nuclear plants, while others have promised to shut theirs down.
After Fukushima, Germany decided to switch off all its nuclear plants by 2022. Switzerland and Italy are also phasing out nuclear power. But France and the United States remain staunch supporters of atomic energy. In fact, almost 80% of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power, the highest percentage in the world. And in the US, the Obama administration said it “continues to support the expansion of nuclear power, despite the crisis in Japan.”
Nuclear supporters claim nuclear power can help the environment. Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power doesn’t create greenhouse gases. So, pro-nuclear countries argue that nuclear power allows them to generate energy without contributing to climate change. Britain’s chief scientific adviser (John Beddington) supports this view. He recently said that the world doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring nuclear energy.
Nuclear power is also relatively cheap. Renewable energy sources such as solar, hydro and wind power may be clean, but they’re expensive; and right now, they require a lot of investment. This higher cost of using “green energy” is usually passed onto the consumer. So, while many people may prefer their energy to come from a renewable source, not so many are prepared to pay higher energy bills. This is of particular concern while the world economy is in such bad shape.
The main argument against nuclear energy is that it isn’t safe. For a start, nuclear waste is very difficult to dispose of, and remains toxic to humans for thousands of years. And even before Fukushima, there were several high-profile nuclear disasters. The most famous is probably the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in the Ukraine. The radiation from the meltdown spread all over Europe, affecting thousands.
The nuclear energy issue is very complex. And it doesn’t look like it’ll be resolved anytime soon. As a Japanese commentator recently said, “it’s been a bad year for the ‘nuclear village’, but I don’t think they’re down and out yet.” The battle continues.
Which of the following may NOT be the advantage of nuclear energy over other energy sources?

A．Nuclear energy doesn’t produce any greenhouse gases.

B．Nuclear energy can help prevent the climate damage.

C．Nuclear energy is more environmental-friendly than other green energy sources.

D．Nuclear energy can save the consumers some money, compared to other renewable energies.

What does the underlined word “this” refer to in paragraph 4?

A．The fact that many people prefer to use the green energy sources while unwilling to pay higher bill.

B．The cost of using renewable sources

C．The fact that the nuclear power is cheaper.

D．The investment of renewable energy sources

We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.

A．the Japanese commentator is positive about the future of nuclear energy

B．the nuclear energy issue will be soon settled

C．a battle will break out in the future

D．Japan is considering to build a nuclear village in the future

What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A．To highlight the danger of using nuclear energy.

B．To introduce some serious nuclear disasters.

C．To show the argument between nuclear supporters and protesters.

D．To give some advice on how to use nuclear energy safely.