The host: Now it's time for our You Must Read This program. Today we'll hear from Lauren Groff. She came across a book when she was going to have her first child and was worried about the future.
Lauren Groff: Staring into darkness, I wanted to read about happiness.1n fact, books full of joy are hard to find because happiness is nearly impossible to write about. So, when I found Elizabeth and Her German Garden, by Elizabeth Von Arnim, I felt as if someone suddenly opened a curtain and revealed a window where I had thought there was a wall.
Elizabeth and Her German Garden feels as if it rose out of Von Arnim's deep unhappiness in the way she was supposed to fit into her world Still, what a cool drink this novel is. It has a few characters: the narrator, a countess (女伯爵) named Elizabeth, her husband, her three tiny daughters, various servants and some visitors. There is also Elizabeth's garden. whick we see in all its seasonal richness.
That is only the book's surface, however. There are great things hidden in the book. Eliza- beth is always comparing herself and the women around her and finding their fixed social roles disappointing. Her happiness, when it comes, arrives as an act of will. She has fought hard to achieve delight and I think it is more valuable for her struggle.
I appreciate Elizabeth for showing me a way through my darkest time, by revealing that an act of focused attention can lift a person out of a long, dark period in their lives. Anyone can get a little happiness from living, even by reading a few pages of a book.
The host : That's Lauren Groff. Her latest novel is Arcadia. The book she recommended(推荐) is Elizabeth and Her German Garden.What can we learn from the second paragraph?
| A． Lauren Groff likes reading about happiness at night. |
| B．Elizabeth Von Arnim wrote Elizabeth and Her German Garden. |
| C．There are a few books about joy that Lauren Groff likes reading. |
| D．Someone opened a curtain when Lauren Groff found her favorite book. |
The underlined word "it" in the fourth paragraph probably refers to_______.
| A． Lauren's delight | B． Lauren's struggle |
| C． Elizabeth's struggle | D． Elizabeth's happiness |
Lauren Groff likes Elizabeth and Her German Garden because it________.
| A． is full of joy and laughter | B． shows a way to happiness |
| C．is a perfect way to kill time | D．describes a beautiful garden |
What can we learn about Arcadia?
| A．It is the next novel to be recommended. |
| B．It is a novel written by Lauren Groff. |
| C．It is Elizabeth Von Arnim's latest novel. |
| D．It is recommended in the last program. |
Where can we find this conversation?
| A．In an interview about gardening. |
| B．In a report about how to be happy. |
| C．In a radio program about books. |
| D．In a documentary about famous writers. |
Banks view online banking as a powerful “value-added” tool to attract and keep new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling or teller（出纳员）interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment .
Today , most large national banks , many local banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking , variously known as PC banking , home banking , electronic banking or Internet banking . Online banks are sometimes referred to as “brick-to-click” banks , both to tell them from “brick-to-mortar” banks that haven’t yet offered online banking , as well as from “virtual”（虚拟）banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever .
The challenge（挑战）for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it . Most of the large banks can now offer fully safe ,fully functional （功能的）online banking for free or for a small cost . As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites , fully functional online banking will likely become as commonplace as automated teller machines (ATM).
Online banking has a lot of advantages . Unlike your corner bank , online banking sites never close; they’re at hand 24 hours a day , seven days a week , and they’re a mouse click away . If you’re out of state or even out of the country when a money problem appears , you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business . Online bank sites generally carry out and confirm （确认）deals at or quicker than ATM processing speeds . Many online banking sites now offer fashionable tools to help you manage all of your valuable items more effectively .The word “eliminate” in the first paragraph probably means “”.
| A．keep | B．remove | C．reduce | D．improve |
What is the challenge for the banking industry according to the text ?
| A．To make online banking attractive . | B．To open new services all over the world . |
| C．To offer online banking for free . | D．To take care of business 24 hours a day . |
From the text we can conclude that .
| A．“brick-to-click” banks are in fact another kind of physical banks |
| B．the function of a “brick-to-click” bank is as common as that of an ATM |
| C．a “ brick-to-mortar” bank is no better than a virtual one |
| D．customers can deal with their banking by a mouse click |
What would be the best title for this text ?
| A．Banking of Various Forms | B．Improvement of Banking Industry |
| C．Development of Online Banking | D．Functions of the “Brick-to-Click” Bank |
A lot of grown-ups worry that spending too much time playing video games isn’t good for a kid’s health. Now some doctors have noticed that kids who bring their hand-held game players to the hospital seem less worried about being there. These patients also seem to experience less pain when they are concentrating on a superhero adventure or a car race. At the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Maryland, young patients are finding hospital visits easier to deal with, thanks to a test program called the Hospital-based On-line Pediatric Environment (HOPE). Patients in HOPE have a life-threatening condition where their kidneys(肾脏)no longer filter(过滤)wastes from their blood. To get their blood cleaned, these kids must be hooked up to dialysis(透析) machines at the hospital three times a week, for at least three hours each time. HOPE allows kids to play online sports, racing, and adventure games with each other. Eventually they will be able to connect with kids in other hospitals who are suffering from the same problem. "We want to use the power of the Internet to bring together kids who feel that they are separated by their illness, and let them know that they are not alone," said Arun Mathews, the doctor who heads the program. He loves video games himself and got the idea to connect kids all over the country. Many researchers elsewhere are testing video game programs that might help young patients. For example, nine-year-old Ben Duskin of San Francisco, who was struggling with cancer helped to design a video game where players get rid of cancer cells. That’s all great news, because doctors already know that reducing pain and worry helps patients heal faster.What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Playing video games too much is bad for kids’health. |
B．Playing video games seems to be beneficial to young patients’ recovery. |
C．Doctors find that reducing pain helps patients recover faster. |
D．Doctors invent a game to help kids in hospitals. |
How long will it take a patient to get his blood cleaned in a week?
| A．About 3 hours. | B．About 6 hours. | C．About 9 hours. | D．About 21 hours. |
According to Arun Mathews, the main purpose of HOPE is to _________.
| A．encourage kids to play online games |
B．teach kids how to design video games |
C．help kids who are suffering from illness connect with each other |
D．make parents worry less about their kids playing video games too much |
Which of the following plays the most important role in the HOPE project?
| A．Music. | B．The Internet. | C．Novels. | D．Films. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Nine-year-old Ben Duskin, who has a cancer, is very brave and clever. |
B．Many parents want their children to play video games because it’s good for their health. |
C．Doctors are not sure whether reducing pain and worry can help the patients recover faster. |
D．HOPE allows kids to play online games only with the kids in the same hospital. |
Just because you are in a wheelchair doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the competitiveness(竞争) —the all-around fun —that playing sports offers you. More and more wheelchair users are playing sports every day —some even on a professional level. The following are just a few examples of the different choices you have. Wheelchair basketball is a very common wheelchair sport. It was started over forty years ago as part of a medical recovery(康复) program. Over the years it has grown rapidly. Today wheelchair basketball is a professional sport that has more than 180 teams across the United States. In order to play wheelchair basketball, it is essential to have a lightweight wheelchair. Several different kinds of sports wheelchairs are on the market today just for sports fans. Another wheelchair sport, quad rugby(橄榄球), was specifically designed for people who can’t move their arms or legs and are unable to play wheelchair basketball. It is a mixture of wheelchair basketball and ice hockey. To play the game you must have two teams of four players each. Power soccer is another fun wheelchair sport that can be very fun and exciting. Players in power soccer must have an electric wheelchair. Two teams have two 30-minute halves to push the soccer ball over the other team’s goal line. The first team to reach the other team’s goal line most frequently wins. Based on the sport you choose to take part in, there are several things you can buy for your wheelchair, including belts, gloves, bags for carrying things, drink holders and special back supports.In which part of the newspaper will you read this passage?
| A．Technology. | B．Society. | C．Culture. | D．Health. |
In the beginning, wheelchair basketball was started for the purpose of ______.
| A．holding professional games around the US |
B．spreading the sport all over the US |
C．helping patients return to a normal life |
D．making people want to play sports |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．To introduce some possible sports to wheelchair users. |
B．To introduce some products to the wheelchair users. |
C．To encourage wheelchair users to compete with each other. |
D．To talk about the differences between these sports. |
About 1 million adult New Yorkers are obese(肥胖的), but nearly two-thirds of them don’t think they are, according to a study released on Tuesday by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene(卫生).
Among the obese, who account for about one in five New Yorkers, only 39% described themselves as “very overweight”, according to the report. 2% said they were very underweight, 1% said they were slightly underweight, 16% said they were just right and 42% said they were slightly over weight.
Some 2 million more New Yorkers are overweight, the report said, and one in five children in kindergarten is obese.
Only 44% of the city’s adults are at a healthy weight, and nearly 75% say they do not participate in(参加) any regular physical activity.
New York City’s adult obesity rate was 20% in 2003 compared with 23% nationwide in 2004.The national average has nearly doubled from 12% in 1993, the report said.
Overweight and obese are defined by body mass index, or BMI (=" kg/m)" , which is based on a person’s weight , adjusted(调整) for height, the department said.
Being obese means having a BMI of 30 or greater, while being overweight means a BMI of more than 25 but less than 30.
A 5-foot, 10-inch (1.78-meter) man weighing 175 pounds(79kg) would have a BMI of 25.1 and be considered overweight according to the department . If he weighed 210 pounds (95kg), he would have a BMI of 30.1 and be obese.
The report came from results of the department’s 2002 and 2003 yearly telephone surveys of some 10,000 adults.New York City has a population of about _____ according to the passage.
| A．5,000,000 | B．2,000,000 | C．1,000,000 | D．500,000 |
We can infer from the passage that ____.
| A．most adult New Yorkers go in for many regular physical activities |
| B．New Yorkers think that obesity shows economic development |
| C．New York City’s adult obesity rate increased from 1993 to 2004 |
| D．most of the New York City’s adults are at a healthy weight |
If a 1.75-meter-tall man weighs 99 kilograms, he is ____ according to the passage.
| A．overweight | B．underweight | C．slightly underweight | D．obese |
What is the passage mainly about?
A. Population explosion in USA.
B. Weight problems in New York.
C. Weight controlling measures
D. Diet habits in USA
Hire charges
What’s included:
1)Unlimited mileage (英里数).
2)Expenses on oil , maintenance (保养)and repairs, which will be repaired on production of invoices(发票).
3)Full insurance except personal accident (see below) and contents.
What’s not included:
1)Personal accident insurance.
2)Garaging, petrol, parking and traffic fines
Conditions of Hire
lThe shortest rental period at these special low prices is three days. For prices for periods of one or two days you only see our representative (代理人)at the hotel.
lCar hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee(保证) a car.But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance, please see our representative at the hotel who may still be able to help you.
lThe car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range, but a particular car cannot be guaranteed.
lUpon delivery the driver(s) will be asked to sign the car hire company” Conditions of Hire.
lIf you decide to hire a car , just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us . A booking fee of ￡12 as part of the car hire cost is required.
lShould you be forced to cancel (取消)your car hire booking after payment in full (two weeks before the date of hire), a cancellation charge of ￡12 will be made.from the advertisement we can see a car hirer will pay extra money for_____.
| A．insurance against damage to the car | B．insurance against injury to the driver |
| C．the cost of maintenance of the car | D．the cost of repairs to the car |
Which of the following conditions , you have to accept when hiring a car?
| A．When you hire a car from the company, the driver will go together with you |
| B．It’s unnecessary for you to give invoices if you want to be repaid for repairs |
| C．If you have paid a booking fee , you don’t have to fill in the Booking Form. |
| D．You have to accept the terms of car hire company’s Conditions of Hire |
If you change your mind after paying the whole cost of hiring , the ￡12
Booking fee is_____.
| A．partly returned | B．doubtly paid |
| C．not returned at all | D．returned within six weeks |
The prices for car hire are especially low when _____.
| A．it is booked for at least three days | B．it is booked two weeks in advance |
| C．it is booked for two days | D．the booking is made in London |