On the evening of June 21, 1992, a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes entered the beautiful hall of the Bell Tower Hotel in Xi’an with his bicycle. The hotel workers received him and telephoned the manager, for they had never seen a bicycle in the hotel ball before though they lived in “the kingdom of bicycles.”
Robert Friedlander, an American, arrived in Xi’an on his bicycle trip across Asia which started last December in New Delhi, India.
When he was 11, he read the book Ma-rco Polo and made up his mind to visit the Silk Road. Now, after 44 years , he was on the Silk Road in Xi’an and his early dreams were coming true.
Robert Friedlander’s next destinations (目的地) were Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi, etc. He will complete his trip in Pakistan.The best headline(标题) for this newspaper article would be .
| A．The Kingdom of Bicycles | B．A Beautiful Hotel in Xi’an |
| C．Marco Polo and the Silk Road | D．An American Achieving His Aims |
The hotel workers told the manager about Friedlander coming to the hotel because
| A．he asked to see the manager |
| B．he entered the hall with a bike |
| C．the manager had to know about all foreign guests |
| D．the manager knew about his trip and was expecting him |
Friedlander is visiting the three countries in the following order, .
| A．China, Pakistan, and India | B．Pakistan, China, and India |
| C．India, China, and Pakistan | D．China, India, and Pakistan |
What made Friedlander want to come to China?
| A．The stories about Marco Polo . | B．The famous sights in Xi’an . |
| C．His interest in Chinese silk. | D．His childhood dreams about bicycles . |
Friedlander can be said to be .
| A．determined | B．friendly | C．hardworking | D．open-minded |
A new enemy is threatening Japanese traditions: leisure（闲暇）. As part of its attempt to increase imports, the government is trying to get people to work less and spend more. The workers are disgusted.
The figures support the western prejudice（偏见） that the Japanese are all work and no play. Trying to force workers away from their desks and machines, the government said la
st April that the country should cut down from its 2,100 hours average work year to 1,899 hours and a five-day week by 1992. Beginning in February, banks and stock markets will be closed on Saturdays, staff of civil service will be forced out of their offices two Saturdays a month. The government hopes that others will follow that practice.
But some persuasion will be needed. Small companies are very angry about it and they fear competitors may not cut hours. The unions are no happier: they have even advertised in newspapers arguing their case against the foreign pressure that is forcing leisure upon them. They say that shorter hours are a disguised（隐性的） pay cut. The industrialists, who have no objection to the government’s plans, admit that shorter hours will help them cut costs. Younger Japanese who are supposed 
to be acting against their hard-working parents, show no sign of wanting time off, either. But unlike older workers, they do spend money in their spare time. Not content
with watching television, they dance, dress up, sit in cafes, go to pop concerts and generally drive the leisure-industry boom. Now that they know how to consume, maybe the West can teach them to relax and enjoy themselves, too.The purpose of getting the Japanese to have more spare time is that .
| A．the government wants to show more concern for the health of the people |
| B．the government needs to get more goods from abroad |
| C．the Japanese have been working too hard |
| D．the Japanese hope to change the western prejudice |
The group of people who welcome the shorter-hour system in Japan is .
| A．the small companies | B．the industrialists |
| C．the unions | D．the younger generation |
The unions think that .
| A．the shorter hours they work, the higher pay the can get |
| B．the more they work, the less leisure they can enjoy |
| C．the shorter hours they work, the less pay they can have |
| D．the greater pressure the government is forcing on them, the less happy they can be |
The best title for this passage can be .
| A．Oh no! Not Saturday Again! | B．Leisure: the Greatest Threat! |
| C．Enjoy While You are Young! | D．Less Work and More Play! |
On the outside Betsy Lueth’s school looks like any other in Minneapolis. Yet inside, it is
Yinghua Academy, a public school where elementary（小学）students study subjects ranging from
math to American history in Chinese.
Yinghua, the first such immersion（沉浸式）program in the Midwest is on the leading edge (前沿) of a movement that in recent years has seen Chinese language programs spread rapidly throughout the U.S.
The idea behind Yinghua is to introduce kids to the language and culture as early as possible —ideally, before age 12. Kindergarteners and first graders are taught in Chinese and a single period of English is introduced in second grade. By sixth grade, kids are learning half in English and half in Chinese, with the expectation of fluency in both. In Yinghua’s classrooms, the walls are covered not with ABCs but with pictures and Chinese characters.
There are many challenges at Yinghua. Most teachers come from Taiwan or mainland China, and cultural misunderstandings are very common. Lueth’s teachers are learning to be tolerant of local customs — as well as a lot more parental input (家长看法) than they are used to. “In China, teachers are respected. They are not questioned,” says Luyi Lien, Yinghua’s Taiwan-born director. “In America, parents are more expressive of their opinions.”
Research has shown that in the long run, immersion programs can provide benefits, including more flexible, creative thinking. Though students from the programs fall behind for a few years in English, by fifth grade they perform as well as or better than their monolingual（单语言）peers on standardized reading and math tests. For multicultural families, the psychological (心理上的) help can also be important. Lueth, a former teacher, co-founded the school as a way to expose her adopted Chinese daughter Lucy to her native culture. Lucy used to be annoyed when cousins asked why her skin color was different from theirs; before she started at Yinghua, she resisted exploring anything related to China. Now, Lueth says, Lucy proudly answers her cousins, “Yeah, I was born in China.”Yinghua is different from other schools in Minneapolis in the way that_________.
| A．it offers subjects to students mostly in Chinese |
| B．its language program is popular in the U.S.A |
| C．kids there begin to learn Chinese at the age of 12 |
| D．its students learn subjects half in English and half in Chinese |
．One of the challenges at Yinghua is that_________.
| A．most parents do not respect its teachers |
| B．teachers need to get used to the local culture |
| C．its students are mostly from nontraditional families |
| D．there is misunderstanding between teachers and students |
We can learn from the last paragraph that immersion program _________.
| A．enables students pass tests more easily |
| B．benefits students in learning psychology |
| C．helps some students accept the local customs |
| D．contributes to the better development of students |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Teachers in Yinghua have difficulty in understanding the local culture. |
| B．Parents are discouraged to speak out their opinions of the school in Yinghua. |
| C．The students in Yinghua are expected to speak English and Chinese fluently. |
| D．Yinghua is the first school in the USA to introduce Chinese culture to students. |
Recently I gave my adult students homework. It was “go to someone you love and tell them you love them.” It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven’t shared those words with for a long time.
It sounds like very tough homework since most of the men were over 35 and were raised in the generation of men that were taught expressing emotions is not “macho (阳刚之气).” Showing feelings or crying was just not done. So this was very threatening homework for some.
At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them. I fully expected one of the women to volunteer, as was usually the case, but on this evening one of the men raised his hand, quite moved and a bit shaken.
As he unfolded out of his chair (all 1.85 meters of him), he began by saying, “Dennis, I was quite angry with you last week when you gave us this homework. Who were you to tell me to do something that personal?”
“But as I began driving home my conscience (良心)started telling me that I knew exactly who I needed to say ‘I love you’ to.”
“Five years ago, my father and I had a severe disagreement and really never settled it since then. We avoided seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings. But even then, we hardly spoke to each other.”
“So last Tuesday by the time I got home I had convinced myself. I was going to tell my father I loved him. It’s strange, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load off my chest.” The homework is threatening for some students because_________.
| A．they are middle-aged people | B．they are not macho enough |
| C．they were taught to hide their emotions | D．they didn’t know how to show feelings |
From the passage we know that_________.
| A．the adult students have classes in the day time only |
| B．not all the adult students in the writer’s class are male |
| C．the man refused to meet his father after their quarrel |
| D．the man quickly decided to say “I love you” to his father |
The underlined phrase “unfolded out of his chair” in Para 4 is close
st in meaning to_________.
| A．stood on his chair straight | B．sat quietly in the chair |
| C．bent himself over his chair | D．raised himself slowly from the chair |
What does the man imply by saying the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
| A．He felt it too strange to say “I love you” to his father. |
| B．He felt relaxed just thinking of saying “I love you” to his father. |
| C．He felt very relaxed after saying “I love you” to his father. |
| D．He had to lift a heavy load off his chest before saying “I love you”. |
As people were rushing up to get cards for Mother’s Day 2006, the editors of Insparenting. Com had a big question inside their mind, “What is a mother to you?” They feel every person has different opinions about a woman called “mother”.
In one of the designs of Hallmark’s latest Mother’s D
ay cards, it describs, “mother” is a woman who makes this world a warm and happy place. At the other card, a “mother” is described as a woman who puts her home and family first, and if she is tired, she never lets it out.
What will other people say? To find out that, on this Mother’s Day(May 14th, 2006) , Insparenting. Com launches a new survey “ What Is A Mother to You?”.
According to the editor of Insparenting. Com, Adwina Jackson, Mother’s Day is a special day for everyone! That is why her team uses this day to honor mothers all over the world by launching a survey about “mother”. “This survey is also to express thanks or gratitude and to show appreciation for friends, family who are mothers, as well as other important women who have had a mothering influence,” said Jackson
Using sophisticated database technology（先进的数据库技术）, Insparenting. Com will pubish the answer to “ What Is a Mother to You?” once responses to its survey have been tabulated（制成表格）from around the world. This survey is for everyone, all age, all gender and all status. All paricipates in the survey will be added to a special noticification list altering when survey results are published. Insparenting. Com observes Mother’s Day 2006 by______.
A, sending cards to mothers all over the world
B. launching a theme survey around the world
C. publishing people’s opinions about “mother”
D. designing cards with praising words on both sides Which of the following is not the possible reason for Insparenting. Com to launch a survy about “mother”?
| A．To honour mothers all over the world. |
| B．To express thanks for their friends and family who are mothers. |
| C．To show appriciation for those who have had mothering influence. |
| D．To find out how many people love their mothers. |
What does the underlined word “gratitude” probably mean?
| A．honor | B．respect | C．appriciation | D．praise |
What are the results of the survey?
| A．People have different opinions about “mother”. |
| B．“Mother” is a woman who makes the world warm and happy. |
| C．“Mother” always puts the interest of her family before her owns. |
| D．The results haven’t been published so far. |
What is the suitable title for the passage?
| A．Mother’s Day 2006, World Survey |
| B．How to Celebrate Mother’s Day |
| C．Making Cards for Mother’s Day |
| D．What Is a Mother to You |
More parents are looking to cellphones to help keep their children safe. But mom and dad should be careful: Kids who talk on a cellphone may be more likely to step into traffic. Children should learn to end phone conversations before they prepare to step into traffic.
While research shows that older kids and more experienced users also don’t navigate(穿行于) streets as well while on a cellphone, younger children tends to find the small tools more distracting(令人分心的).
“Kids of this age are just learning to cross the street on their own, ”says David-Schwebel, a co-author of the study. “They’re beginners. ”
Kids don’t need to be stopped from chatting on the phone when outside,
however. Instead, parents simply should instruct them to finish their conversations before crossing the street.
“I don’t think this means parents should take phones away from their kids, ”says Schwebel. “I encourage families to get cellphones for their children. They’re more helpful than harmful, if they’re used in a safe way. ”
Other distractions, such as conversations with friends, listening to music, and text messaging, may also cause problems for children in this age group. The researchers expect to study the effect of those types of distractions in the future.
Experts in child safety approved the cellphone study. “If you’re talking on a cellphone, you’re not paying much attention to the environment around you, ” says Susan Baker, a professor.
Brooke Carlson, a 44-year-old mom, has noticed how riveted her 9-year-old son is when he’s talking on the cellphone. Although she’d never thought of the dangers of crossing traffic while on the phone, Carlson says, “Now that I know about it, it makes total sense. ”She plans to have a chat with her child about cellphones and street safety.
For younger kids, parents might consider purchasing a phone with a plan that only allows the child to call up his or her parents. That way the cellphone can be used for emergencies, but not for chatting with friends for hours. In Schwebel’s opinion, _____ .
| A．kids are still too young to walk on the street alone |
| B．kids don’t know how to use cellphones appropriately |
| C．kids have little experience in crossing the street alone |
| D．kids are not experienced cellphone users |
Which of the following is Schwebel in favor of?
| A．Children shouldn’t be allowed to have a cellphone. |
| B．Children should be forbidden to chat on the phone when outside. |
| C．Cellphones do more harm to children than other distractions. |
D．Parents should teach kids about cellphones and street safety. |
The underlined word “riveted” may mean“_____”.
| A．confused | B．absorbed |
| C．dangerous | D．excited |
According to the passage, what does Mrs Carlson know?
| A．There are dangers of crossing streets while on the phone. |
| B．Her 9-year-old son is not interested in talking on the phone. |
C．Cellphones are more helpful than harmful to children . |
| D．Kids don’t pay attention to the environment when talking on the phone. |
The purpose of writing this passage is to _____.
| A．advise parents not to buy cellphones for children |
| B．introduce a phone that only allows kids to call up parents |
| C．expect kids not to talk on cellphones while on the street |
| D．expect people to use cellphones less in daily life |