Winners Club
You choose to be a winner！
The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account（交易账户）where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24/7—that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers：
No account keeping fees！
You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees. In fact, there are no account keeping or transacting fees!
Excellent interest rates!
You want your money to grow. The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits（储蓄）without talking them out in a month.
Convenient
Teenagers are busy—we get that. You may never need to come to a bank at all. With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet. You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account. This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!
Mega magazine included
Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money. There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members.
The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy. We can’t wait to hear from you. It’s the best way to choose to be a winner! The Winners Club is a bank account intended for _________.
| A．parents | B．teenagers | C．winners | D．adults |
The Winners Club provides magazines which ________.
| A．encourage spending |
| B．are free to all teenagers |
| C．are full of adventure stories |
| D．help to make more of your money |
If you want to be a member of the Club, you must _________.
| A．be an Internet user | B．be permitted by your parent |
| C．has a big sum of money | D．be in your twenties |
What is the purpose of this text?
| A．To set up a club. | B．To provide part-time jobs. |
| C．To organize key-cards. | D．To introduce a new banking service. |
David Nabarro, the UN special envoy (特使), told the reporter the number of Ebola cases was currently increasing rapidly, but greater community awareness would help contain the virus.
People were becoming aware that isolating those infected was the best way to prevent transmission, he added. So far, there have been more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola, and at least 4,033 deaths. Most deaths - 4,024 - have occurred in the west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Cases have also been reported in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the US.
Mr Nabarro said that the number of new cases was “quite frightening”, as the spread of the disease was currently accelerating. At the beginning, many west African communities did not understand that the outbreak was an infectious disease, he said.
“I think we’ve got much better community involvement which leads me to believe that getting it under control within the next three months is a reasonable target,” he continued.
“By under control I mean... the numbers of new cases each week diminishes compared with the previous week to the point where there is no new transmission.”
The Ebola virus is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal.
Meanwhile, New York’s JFK airport began screening passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for the Ebola virus on Saturday, in an attempt to stop the outbreak. Passengers from those countries will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions.
Checks at O’Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington’s Dulles and Atlanta’s airport will begin in the coming days. The screening system is being introduced after the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US died in Texas on Wednesday.The number of the countries which have been reported on death cases of Ebola so far
mainly is_____.
| A．3. | B．4. | C．7. | D．8. |
According to the UN special envoy, how long will it take to bring Ebola under control? _____.
| A．a few days from now. | B．six weeks. |
| C．about three months. | D．the coming week. |
What does the underlined word “diminishes” mean in the fifth paragraph? _____.
| A．increases | B．decreases |
| C．varies | D．disappears |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? _____.
| A．Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal. |
| B．Most death cases of Ebola have occurred in the west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. |
| C．Checks at airports in Chicago, Washington, and Atlanta will begin in the coming days. |
| D．The screening system is being introduced by the first person to be diagnosed. |
Taylor Swift has been named Billboard’s Woman of the Year 2014, making her the first artist to receive the award twice.
The award goes to the female artist who “has shaped and inspired the music industry with her success, leadership and innovation” over the last year. Previous winners include Pink, Beyonce and Katy Perry.
Swift will receive the prize at the Billboard Women in Music Award Ceremony on 12 December in New York.
“As one of the most influential artists of her generation, Taylor Swift has seen incredible success on the Billboard charts,” said Janice Min, co-president and chief creative officer of Guggenheim Media’s Entertainment Group, which includes Billboard.
“Over the course of her career, she’s charted 60 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 - the most of any female artist since her debut in 2006. We are tremendously excited to be honouring her as the 2014 Billboard Woman of the Year for the second time.”
Taylor Swift is a seven-time Grammy winner and the best-selling digital music artist of all time. Earlier this week it was announced she would be performing on The X Factor results show this weekend.
On Thursday she appeared in the performed in the Radio 1 Live Lounge, where she sang her current hit Shake It Off and covered Vance Joy’s Riptide.
Swift has just featured on the cover of British Vogue and explained what it was like to do high profile interviews.
“I don’t really have anything to hide at this point,” she told Fearne Cotton. “It’s sort of understood that anything I do is going to be discussed and dissected and debated and I’m used to that dynamic now.” She added: “I’m very proud of the way my life is. I’m 24, I’m single, feeling very independent. A lot of fun things have happened in my life.”What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs? _____.
| A．Taylor Swift is the first artist to receive the award twice. |
| B．Taylor Swift is one of the four winners. |
| C．Taylor Swift has shaped and inspired the music industry with her success, leadership and innovation |
| D．The award goes to the female artists. |
The Award Ceremony will be held on _____.
| A．on 12 November in New York |
| B．on 12 December in Washington |
| C．on 12 November in Washington |
| D．on 12 December in New York |
According to Janice Min, _____.
| A．Taylor Swift is a seven-time Grammy winner and the best-selling digital music artist of all time |
| B．Taylor Swift appeared in the performed in the Radio 1 Live Lounge |
| C．Taylor Swift is worthwhile to be given the award a second time |
| D．Taylor Swift would be performing on The X Factor results show this weekend. |
From the last paragraph, we can see Taylor Swift was _____.
| A．sad | B．unhappy |
| C．delighted | D．indifferent |
On October 11, NASCAR announced the car of tomorrow after a seven-year design program. People used to believe that science would promise a future of endless spare time and very cheap electricity. Nowadays the scientists’ predictions are a great deal less optimistic: the world is challenged by climate change and decreasing resources.
In fact, the car of tomorrow is a symbol of hope. The emission of carbon dioxide has contributed to global warming, but the car producers are waking up to their responsibilities. Investment in new technology to maximize efficiency and minimize environmental damage is not only improving the car industry’s act but also setting an example to other industries.
It is said that most cars of today run about 15 percent efficiency, which does highlight the potential for improvement. Get it right, and we could continue to enjoy the freedom that comes with owning a car, without the worries.
Of course, many advances have already been made. There’s evidence that the public is eager to buy cleaner and greener cars. And with petrol prices increasing there is no doubt that the cars with economical, efficient engines are going to be in great demand.
The good news is that we can all drive the car of tomorrow today, without having to worry about the purchase cost. By choosing our holiday hired cars wisely we can cut down on our fuel costs and experience an eco-friendly drive. Hire a green car and you’ll make a difference to the environment.
Designers will always enjoy catching our imagination with “concept cars” that look more like miniature(微型) spaceships than anything you see on the highway. Whether these creations will eventually become family cars remains to be seen. However, for the moment, there’s no doubt at all what the car of tomorrow will be, and it’s here today: something familiar and friendly that does its job with considerably less trouble and much greater efficiency than the car of yesterday.The writer of the text intends to ________.
| A．suggest | B．inform | C．approve | D．instruct |
According to the text, people’s present worry about developing the car industry is that ________.
| A．the production is beyond its need |
| B．it’s not environmentally friendly |
| C．the competition is very fierce |
| D．the economic situation affects it a lot |
It can be learned from the fourth paragraph that ________.
| A．fewer cars will be produced in the future |
| B．new cars cost less to maintain |
| C．cleaner and greener cars are in great demand |
| D．no measures have been taken to improve car quality |
What is the author’s attitude towards the cars of tomorrow?
| A．Indifferent. | B．Negative. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Supportive. |
Strange Baby-Naming Laws
Germany
Parents are banned by law from using last names and the names of objects and products as first names. A child’s first name must clearly show his or her sex, and all names must be approved by the office of vital statistics(人口统计) in the area in which the child was born.
Iceland
The country’s naming committee consults the National Register of Persons to determine if a name is acceptable. If parents prefer a name which is not on the list, they must apply for approval and pay a fee, and the name must contain only letters in the Icelandic alphabet.
New Zealand
The country’s Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act of 1995 doesn’t allow parents to choose a name that “might cause offense to a reasonable person; is unreasonably long; or is, includes, or is similar to an official title or rank,” including, apparently, Adolf Hitler and Yeah Detroit—both names recently rejected.
Denmark
If Danish parents prefer a name not on the list of 7,000 preapproved baby names, they must get permission from local church and government officials. 15 to 20 percent of the 1,100 reviewed names—including creative spellings of common names, last names as first names, and unusual names—are rejected each year.You can tell whether a baby is a girl or a boy according to the first name in ________.
| A．Germany | B．New Zealand |
| C．Iceland | D．Denmark |
In Iceland, the names should ________.
| A．be on the name list without exception |
| B．be paid a large amount of money for |
| C．contain only letters in the Roman alphabet |
| D．be accepted by the National Register of Persons |
In New Zealand the naming law ________.
| A．used to forbid the use of the name of Adolf Hitler |
| B．allows names similar to an official title or rank |
| C．is considerate as to how other people feel about the names |
| D．doesn’t allow using last names as first names |
It can be learned from the text that ________.
| A．each year about 160-220 reviewed names are rejected in Denmark |
| B．babies’ names should be allowed by the office of vital statistics in Iceland |
| C．Adolf Hitler is a name that is banned in all the European countries |
| D．parents must give up babies’ names if the names are not on the list in Ireland |
A fierce earthquake struck Haiti onJanuary 12, 2010, causing a crowded hospital to fall down and countless houses and buildings were destroyed.
The earthquake, the worst in the region in more than 200 years, with a magnitude estimated at 7.0, struck just before 5 p.m. about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, leaving the region nearly in ruins. As night fell in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, fires burned near the shoreline downtown, but otherwise the city fell into darkness. The electricity was out, telephones were not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through blocked streets.
In this earthquake, it was not possible for officials to determine how many people had been killed and injured. It was reported that the headquarters of the United Nations mission was seriously damaged and many employees were missing. Part of the national palace had fallen to the ground. A hospital was totally ruined in Pétionville, which is home to many diplomats（外交官） and wealthy Haitians. A New York reporter said that a wall at the front of the Hotel Oloffson had fallen, killing a passer-by. A number of nearby buildings was badly damaged, trapping people. People were screaming, calling for help from every corner.
Haiti sits on a large fault between the much larger North American plate to the north and the Caribbean plate to the south. The earthquake on Tuesday happened when what appears to be part of the southern fault zone broke. With many poor people living in tin-roof shacks(窝棚) and with many of the buildings in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in the country of questionable quality, it was expected that the quake caused major damage to buildings and great loss of life.What was the damage of the earthquake?
| A．The headquarters of the UN mission was totally destroyed. |
| B．Some of the national palace had fallen to the ground. |
| C．A hospital was partly ruined in Pétionville. |
| D．All the walls of the Hotel Oloffson had fallen. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
| A．All the hospitals in Haiti were destroyed in the earthquake. |
| B．The earthquake was the worst in Haiti in less than two centuries. |
| C．After dark the city fell into darkness because of the earthquake. |
| D．Communication, electricity and transportation were all affected. |
It can be learned from the text that ________.
| A．fires broke out in the capital city due to the earthquake |
| B．Haiti covers the entire geographic plates of the earth |
| C．the earthquake caused the southern fault zone to break |
| D．a grand hotel was completely ruined in Pétionville |
In Haiti, one way to reduce losses in earthquakes is probably to ________.
| A．repair the Southern fault zone |
| B．move to the seaside |
| C．improve the quality of the buildings |
| D．live in tin-roof buildings |