When asked why he or she wears clothes, some people will probably answer "to keep warm and to cover my body". These are the basic reasons why clothes are worn, but people also want to look attractive and appear successful to others.
If people only wore clothes for warmth and to cover their bodies, most clothes would be simple and cheap. In most Western countries, however, clothes are sometimes very expensive. The main reason for this is not the cost of the cloth or the cost of making the clothes. The clothes are expensive because of fashion.
Successful businessmen, for example, often wear very expensive suits, shirts and ties. Sometimes they pay thousands of dollars for a suit and hundreds of dollars for a tie. It’s just a suit and a tie but they pay these prices because of the famous name of the designer. A suit costing much less would be just as warm and would cover the wearer's body just as well.
Fashion is always changing, which means those who want to be fashionable have to buy new clothes every few months, even if last month's clothes have only been worn once or twice. Some people have wardrobes full of clothes that have hardly been worn but are no longer in fashion. Being fashionable, therefore, can be a very expensive pastime! What do people basically wear clothes for?
| A．Looking attractive to others. | B．Following the fashion. |
| C．Appearing successful to others. | D．Keeping warm and covering bodies. |
The main reason why clothes are sometimes very expensive is that _______.
| A．one has to buy new clothes | B．these clothes are in fashion |
| C．the cost of the cloth is high | D．making clothes costs much |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
| A．expensive clothes are not any warmer than cheap ones |
| B．fashion is not always changing |
| C．expensive clothes are warmer |
| D．fashion designers like expensive clothes |
What does the underlined word “wardrobes” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Fashionable clothes shops. | B．The clothes that some people have. |
| C．Cupboards for storing clothes. | D．Shelves used for keeping books. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Suits and ties. | B．Clothes and fashion. |
| C．Beauty and success. | D．Cost and pastime. |
Some weird, wild and wonderful stories coloured the news in 2010:
★A Copenhagen bus company has put "love seats" on 103 of its vehicles for people looking for a partner. "Even love at first sight is possible on the bus," said a spokesman for the British owned Arriva company to explain the two seats on each bus that are covered in red cloth and a "love seat" sign.
★Shoppers at an international luxury fair in Verona, Italy, found a cell-phone-equipped golden coffin among the items on display. The phones will help "the dead" contact relatives if they have been buried alive by mistake.
★A man in New York came up with a disarming way to set off his latest bank heist , approaching the clerk’s window with a large bunch of flowers and handing over a hold-up note saying
“give me the money!”
★ An Englishman who lost all his legs and arms in an electrical accident successfully swam across the Channel, a challenge he had been preparing for two years. The whole cost is 400 dollars.
★A set of artificial teeth made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill known as "the teeth that saved the world" sold for nearly 18,000 pounds (21,500 euros, 24,000 dollars) at auction.
★A British woman caused an Internet hate campaign after she was caught on camera dumping a cat in a rubbish bin. She was fined 250 pounds (400 dollars, 280 euros) after pleading guilty.
★The BBC apologized completely and without any doubts after a radio presenter jokingly announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died.
★Two Australian men needed surgery after shooting each other in the bottoms during a drinking session to see if it would hurt were charged 400 dollars separately.
★ A Kuwaiti MP(议员) proposed state-aid for male citizens to take second wives, in a bid to reduce the large number of unmarried women in the oil-rich state.What is special about the coffin in the second news?
| A．It is golden | B．It has a cell phone. |
| C．It is a luxury | D．It has many items |
What is the probable meaning of the underlined wordheist in the third news?
| A．robbery | B．proposal | C．begging | D．raising money |
Who has to spend 400 dollars to do the surgery?
| A．A British woman who dumped a cat in a rubbish bin. |
| B．One who bought Winston Churchill’s artificial teeth. |
| C．An Australian man who shot in bottom to test the hurt. |
| D．An Englishman crossing the Channel without legs and arms. |
From the last news we can infer that _________.
| A．In Kuwait many men are eager to get married |
| B．A lot of rich single men lived in Kuwait |
| C．There are quantities of oil in Kuwait |
| D．There are many single women in Kuwait |
Singing had always been an important part of Gloria Estefan’s life. “Since I was three years old, I sang. I sang everything,” Gloria said. “Cubans,” she added, “are a musical people”.
Gloria was born in Cuba in 1957. Her family left the country just before Fidel Castro came to power. In Miami, where the family settled, many people did not accept Cuban immigrants. In first grade, she spoke little English, but she worked hard to learn the language. Six months after she entered school, she won an award for reading in English!
When Gloria was ten, her father returned from the Vietnam War. Soon, the family realized he wasn’t well. They soon found out that he was badly ill. Her mother went back to teaching at school to support the family. Gloria cared for her father and her younger sister.
She still made the honor roll, and she still had her music, but Gloria was lonely. However, when the band lead
er Emilio Estefan came to speak at her high school, Gloria sang for him. He asked her to join his band. It was the beginning of the Miami Sound Machine.
Within a few months, the Miami Sound Machine was the top band in Miami. In 1978 Gloria and Emilio married.
At first, the Miami Sound Machine was known only in Miami. Then the band signed with CBS Records. Estefan and his band became stars.
Since then, the Miami Sound Machine has sold millions of records. Gloria has done more than just singing when Hurricane Andrew hit central Florida in 1992. She used only two weeks to organize an all-star concert that raised $2 million for the people who suffered in the hurricane. “We needed a party after that disaster,” she said.
Gloria said, “You have to stay true to the music you really love to do. There will always be people who will tell you, ‘that won’t 
work.’ You’ve got to be firm in spite of difficulties. Stick to it—that’s the main thing.”Gloria’s father was ill .
| A．when they settled down in Miami. |
| B．before they left their home country |
| C．after he returned from Vietnam War |
| D．as soon as she finished high school |
According to the passage, probably Gloria did the following except .
| A．organizing an all-star concert for Hurricane victims |
| B．winning an award for reading in English |
| C．teaching at school to support the family |
| D．taking care of her father and sister |
The underlined word “disaster” in this passage refers to .
| A．the concert | B．the celebration | C．the victims | D．the hurricane |
This passage mainly tells about Gloria Estefan’s .
| A．life story | B．happy marriage | C．music style | D．Cuban background |
BEIJING——China will further open its financial sector in “an active and safe” way, the country’s central bank vowed on Friday.
“China will gradually broaden the chance for the participation of foreign capital in the domestic financial market,” said the People’s Bank of China in a report. “We will strengthen the connections between China’s financial market and international ones by attracting more foreign capital in Renminbi-denominated financial products,” the report said.
Meanwhile, channels will also be expanded to allow Chinese investment in foreign financial markets.
The bank said it would ease restrictions on enterprises and individuals possessing and using foreign currencies and increase the number of qualified foreign institutional investors and the value of their investment quotas(份额). “We will make use of the financial market to achieve balanced international payments,” said the bank.
Last year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) raised the annual quota for individuals buying foreign currency from US $ 20,000 to US $ 50,000.
“China will work hard for a more efficient and vigorous financial market that can better serve international needs,” the bank said.
The country will adjust its financial market rules so they are accepted around the world, encourage reforms and promote more flexible, diversified ways of trading, according to the bank.
China fully opened its financial market to foreign capital on December 11 last year, ending a five-year transitional (过渡的) period after entering WTO.The passage is
| A．a piece of news | B．an advertisement | C．a poster | D．an explanation |
China is working hard to
| A．reduce the interest rate of foreign currencies | B．increase the interest rate of foreign currencies |
| C．bring in more foreign investment by promising to further open its financial sector | |
| D．adjust its financial markets to resist the invasion of foreign investment |
To further open financial sector, China has taken many measures EXCEPT
| A．Giving more chances to the participation of foreign capital |
| B．Strengthening the connections between China and other countries by the leaders’ paying visits to each other’s countries |
| C．Broadening the quotas of enterprises and individuals possessing and using foreign currencies |
| D．Opening its domestic financial market step by step |
We can draw a conclusion that
| A．China’s financial market will be conquered by foreign one |
| B．China will create a more active and various way of trading and its market will become stronger |
| C．China will end the transitional period of opening financial sector in five years |
| D．China will be blind to the foreign investment |
Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can’t live without their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet.
Calling mobile phones the “remote control” for life, market research firm Synovate’s poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not.
Three-quarters of the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 countries said they take their phone with them everywhere, which Russians and Singaporeans the most attached.
More than a third also said they couldn’t live without their phone, topped by Taiwanese and again Singaporeans, while one in four would find it harder to replace the mobile than their purse.
Some two thirds of respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can’t switch them off, even though they want to, because they’re afraid they’ll miss something.
Mobiles have changed the nature of relationships, with the survey finding a fifth of all respondents set up first dates via text and almost the same number use the same method to end a love affair.
Apart from the obvious calling and SMS-ing, the top three features people use regularly on their mobile phones globally are the alarm clock, the camera and the games.
As for email and Internet access, 17 percent of respondents said they checked their inboxes or surfed the Web on their phones, led by those in the United States and Britain.
One in 10 respondents log onto(注册) social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace regularly via mobile, again led by Britain and the United States.
Not everyone is tech savvy(科技通), however,37 percent of respondents said they don’t know how to use all the functions on their phone.How many people of all respondents end a love affair via text?
| A．About 4,800. | B．About 3,600 | C．About 2,400. | D．About 1,600. |
According to the survey,like surfing the Internet with a cellphone most.
| A．Singaporeans | B．Russians | C．Americans | D．Chinese |
Which of the following functions of cellphones is the least used?
| A．Calling. | B．Playing games. | C．Taking photos. | D．Surfing the Internet. |
Which would be the best title of the passage?
| A．People can live better without the cellphone. | |
| B．People would rather lose their wallet than their cellphone. | |
| C．Different uses of the cellphone. | D．New functions of the cellphone. |
Are you a problem shopper? The answer is “Yes”, if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are occupied in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an “out-of-control” feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of credit they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers.
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem — addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a “rush” during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can’t see clocks displaying the time because they don’t want you to become too aware of the time you spend there.What’s more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don’t have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior.For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control. Which of the following people may not be problem shoppers?
| A．Those who cannot control the amount of credit they use. |
| B．Those who just walk around the shopping malls. |
| C．Those who are occupied in too much shopping. |
| D．Those who feel sorry for their shopping. |
According to the passage, what may not result in addictive shopping?
| A．The awareness of how market forces work. | |
| B．The desire for status, power, beauty or success. | |
C．Boredom, emptiness, tension, fear or unhappiness in people’s life. |
D．Long-time bad feelings of anxiety, pain and shame. |
What does the author suggest to control our shopping behaviour?
| A．Never going to the shopping malls because there are many tricks. | |
| B．Applying for a credit card before we go shopping. | |
| C．Making the shopping time as short as possible. | D．Making a shopping list before we go shopping. |
The author writes this passage
to _______.
| A．inform the shopping malls how to attract more shoppers |
| B．provide solutions to the problem shopping |
| C．scold the problem shoppers |
| D．tell a shopping story |