A MENTORING (导师制) program is giving life changing opportunities to Banbury youth.
Young Inspirations was founded two years ago to provide mentoring sessions for students and unemployed young adults aged 11 to 21.
Alex Goldberg，the program’s founder，said：“We set up Young Inspirations because we wanted to give young people experiences which will potentially be life changing and broaden their outlook.
“We try to create work experience opportunities that will really make a difference to our youth.For example，we’ve secured internships (实习) with worldfamous firms such as Honda.
“At a time of funding cutbacks where schools are finding it more and more difficult to offer this kind of mentoring，it is extremely important that these opportunities are available both to help youth with their school work and grades and to give them opportunities which may help shape their futures.”Kieran Hepburn,14，is one of a group of Banbury youth who has benefited from the program so far.In October the Banbury School pupil was accompanied by Young Inspirations staff to Paris where he was an observer at the United Nations Educational，Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) International Youth Forum (论坛)．
The event was held for young people from around the world，to seek their views on how the future of youth and education should look.Kieran joined several hundred observers mostly in their 20s and was the only UK school pupil to attend the event.Kieran thinks the trip was a life changing experience.“Before we left I didn’t quite know what to make of it but when we got there we didn’t stop，it was amazing，”he said，“We went to three or four hours of debates each day and then did something cultural each afternoon.”
The main theme of the forum was how youth can drive change in political and public life.It dealt with issues (问题) such as drug abuse，violence and unemployment.
Kieran said：“ It has really helped me to improve my confidence and social skills as well as my school grades and I was voted most improved pupil at school in August.”
The Young Inspirations mentoring sessions take place each Friday in Banbury.For details visit www.younginspirations.com.The Young Inspirations mentoring program aims to ________.
| A．train staff for worldfamous firms |
| B．offer job opportunities to young adults |
| C．provide youth with unique experiences |
| D．equip the unemployed with different skills |
．According to Alex Goldberg，it is difficult for schools to offer the mentoring due to ________.
| A．the lack of support from firms |
| B．the cultural differences |
| C．the effect of unemployment |
| D．the shortage of money |
According to the passage，the forum focused on how youth can ________.
| A．build up their confidence at school |
| B．find work experience opportunities |
| C．improve their social skills for the future |
| D．play an active role in the change of society |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．the visit to the United Kingdom was amazing |
| B．Kieran has made great progress in many aspects |
| C．the youth have found a way to solve their problems |
| D．the mentoring sessions are held every day except Friday |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Alex Goldberg，Founder of Young Inspirations |
| B．Young People Find a World of Opportunity |
| C．Kieran，Banbury School Pupil to Paris |
| D．Debates Help Youth with Their Grades |
A well-known old man was being interviewed (采访) and asked if it was correct that he had just celebrated his ninety-nine birthday.
“That’s right.” said the old man. “Ninety-nine years old, and I haven’t an enemy in the world. They’re all dead.”
“Well, sir.” said the interviewer, “I hope very much to have the honour of interviewing you on your hundredth birthday.”
The old man looked at the young man closely, and said, “I can’t see why you shouldn’t. you look fit and healthy to me!” The old man said he had not an enemy in the world, which shows that he was a very .
| A．friendly man—he never made any enemies |
B．healthy man—he lived longer than  all his enemies |
| C．lucky man—his enemies had all died |
| D．terrible man—he had got rid of all his enemies |
When the interviewer said that he hoped very much to have the honor of interviewing the old man again the following year, .
| A．he was trying to make the old man happy |
| B．he wished he himself would live another year |
| C．he did not believe the old man would live to be one hundred |
| D．he did not believe he would interview the old man again |
W
hen the old man said, “I can’t see why you shouldn’t”, what he meant was .
| A．“You must try to live another year to interview me again next year” |
| B．“Of course you can see me again since you’re so fit and healthy” |
| C．“If I live to a hundred years, you should interview me again” |
| D．“Unless you live another year, you wouldn’t be able to interview me again” |
What kind of man would you say the old man was?
| A．He was silly. |
| B．He was unpleasant |
| C．He was very proud and sure of his health. |
| D．He was very impolite to young people. |
Shu Pulong has helped at least 1000 people bitten (咬) by snakes, “ It was seeing people with snake bites (伤口) that led me to this career,” he said.
In 1963, after his army service, Shu entered a medical school and later became a doctor of Chinese medicine. As part of his studies he had to work in the mountains. There he often heard of people who had their arms and legs cut off after a snake bite in order to save their lives.
“I was greatly upset by the story of an old farmer I met. It was a very hot afternoon. The old man was pulling grass in his fields when he felt a pain in his left hand. He at once realized he had been bitten by a poisonous snake. In no time he wrapped a cloth tightly around his arm to stop the poison spreading to his heart. Rushing home he shouted ‘bring me the knife!’ Minutes later the man lost his arm forever.”
“The sad story touched me so much that I decided to devote myself to helping people bitten by snakes,” Shu said. The best headline (标题) for this newspaper article is .
| A．Astonishing Medicine | B．Farmer Loses Arm |
| C．Dangerous Bites | D．Snake Doctor |
. The farmer lost his arm because .
| A．the cloth was wrapped too tightly |
| B．he cut it to save his life |
| C．Shu wasn’t there to help him |
| D．he was alone in the fields |
Shu decided to devote himself to snake medicine because .
| A．he wanted to save people’s arms and legs |
| B．he had studied it at a medical school |
| C．he had seen snakes biting people |
| D．his army service had finished |
Why did Shu go into the mountains?
| A．He wanted to study snake bites. |
| B．He wanted to help the farmers. |
| C．He was being trained to be a doctor. |
| D．He was expected to serve in the army. |
I am a German by birth and descent. My name is Schmidt. But by education I am quite as much an Englishman as a 'Deutscher', and by affection much more the former. M
y life has been spent pretty equally between the two countries, and I flatter myself I speak both languages without any foreign accent.
I count England my headquarters now: it is “home” to me. But a few years ago I was resident in Germany, only going over to London now and then on business. I will not mention the town where I lived. It is unnecessary to do so, and in the peculiar experience I am about to relate I think real names of people and places are just as well, or better avoided.
I was connected with a large and important firm of engineers. I had been bre
d up to the profession, and was credited with a certain amount of “talent”; and I was considered—and, with all modesty, I think I deserved the opinion—steady and reliable, so that I had already attained a fair position in the house, and was looked upon as a “rising man”. But I was still young, and not quite so wise as I thought myself. I came close once to making a great mess of a certain affair. It is this story which I am going to tell.
Our house went in largely for patents—rather too largely, some thought. But the head partner's son was a bit of a genius in his way, and his father was growing old, and let Herr Wilhelm - Moritz we will call the family name—do pretty much as he chose. And on the whole Herr Wilhelm did well. He was cautious, and he had the benefit of the st
ill greater caution and larger experience of Herr Gerhardt, the second partner in the firm.
P
atents and the laws which regulate them are strange things to have to do with. No one who has not had personal experience of the complications that arise could believe how far these spread and how involved they become. Great acuteness as well as caution is called for if you would guide your patent bark safely to port—and perhaps more than anything, a power of holding your tongue. I was no chatterbox, nor, when on a mission of importance, did I go about looking as if I were bursting with secrets, which is, in my opinion, almost as dangerous as revealing them. No one, to meet me on the journeys which it often fell to my lot to undertake, would have guessed that I had anything on my mind but an easy-going young fellow's natural interest i
n his surroundings, though many a time I have stayed awake through a whole night of railway travel if at all doubtful about my fellow-passengers, or not dared to go to sleep in a hotel without a ready-loaded gun by my pillow. For now and then - though not through me - our secrets did ooze out. And if, as has happened, they were secrets connected with Government orders or contracts, there was, or but for the exertion of the greatest energy and tact on the part of my superiors, there would have been, to put it plainly, the devil to pay. The writer preferred to be called ________.
| A．a German | B．an Englishman |
| C．both a German and an Englishman | D．neither a German nor an Englishman |
Which of the following words cannot be used to describe the writer?
| A．Talented | B．Modest | C．Reliable | D．Wise |
The head of the company where the writer works is ________.
| A．Schmidt | B．Moritz | C．Wilhelm’s father | D．Gerhardt |
The writer often stayed awake on the train or kept a ready-loaded gun in the hotel, because ________.
A．some peo ple sometimes let out the secrets of his company |
| B．the writer occasionally didn’t keep the secrets of his company |
| C．patents and the laws are strange things to have to do with |
| D．the secrets were connected with Government orders or contracts |
One Day Tour: Great Wall & Summer Palace
Overview: You will visit the famous Badaling Great Wall and Summer Palace in one day.
Tour Description and Itinerary (行程)
One day Private Tour or Coach Tour: Depart everyday
Start from 8:30 am to around 6:00 pm, flexible schedule for private tour.
Itinerary:
Pick you up from hotel on departure time, then drive to the famous Badaling Great Wall, which is 60 miles away from downtown about one and a half hour driving. Sightseeing on Great Wall Badaling section for about 3 hours.
Visit scenic spots: Badaling Geat Wall, Badaling Fortress, Beacon-towers, "Looking-toward-Beijing Stone", etc. (Cable car is available for you to get to the highest point to have a bird view)
Drive to restaurant for lunch. After lunch, visit the largest and most beautiful Chinese imperial garden- Summer Palace.
Visit scenic spots: 1. East palace gate, 2. the hall of benevolence and longevity, 3. hall of jade billows, 4. the hall of joyful longevity, 5. the covered walkway, 6. the marble boat, etc.
Transfer you back to your hotel after the whole day tour.
For the coach tour (small group in each bus, 6-10 persons per group):
★Suitable for economic or single travelers, make friends on the same bus, only English-speaking travelers on our bus.
★Travellers will be arranged in a small group, Keep group size less than ten in each air-conditioned bus;
★Vehicle mode: Coaster-New air-conditioned tour coach (click for picture)- 26 seats, only 6-10 persons per bus.
For Private Tour:
★Private tour is suitable for those individual or family travelers who is not willing to join the tour group, it may not feel very free when following the group. A designated car and private guide will follow you to go to the place you like, this package cost higher than coach tour.
★Vehicle mode: private luxury car or MPV van (click for picture)
For the private tour, you also need to go to one or two shopping stops every day.
Tour Price includes:
1. Pick-up and drop-off from your hotel.
2. Air-conditioned car, van or minibus for your private group.
3. Entrance tickets of the sightseeings.
4. English-speaking tour guide explain the sightseeings along the tour.
5. Typical Chinese lunch.
6. Chinese Jade shop visit.
Tour Package excludes:
Fee of cable car - cable car to the highest point of Great Wall, 60 RMB ($7.4)
Note: Children taller than 1.1 meter should be charged as full price, children shorter than 1.1 meter should be charged only half of the price.
How to Book?
1. You can book online or by email, tell us which hotel to pick you up, then receive our confirmation email.
2. When you arrive in Beijing, our tour guide will call you the night before the tour, if you are not in hotel room, we will leave a message in your room, to inform the time to pick you up in the next morning.
Payment Methods: 1.Cash to tour guide 2.Credit card 3.PayPal 4.Bank remit (wire transfer) If a group of 26 Americans want to have a one-day tour in Beijing, they can .
| A．share the same bus | B．take 6 coaches at most |
| C．take 3 coaches at least | D．not speak English |
For private tour,.
| A．travellers can ask the tour guide to change the travel schedule |
| B．travellers should pay the same amount of money as the coach tour |
| C．travellers must pay additional money for the entrance tickets |
| D．travellers needn’t pay additional money for the cable car |
This passage is most probably taken from .
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper | C．a magazine |
D．the Internet |
These days no car show is complete without an electric car, and the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, US, which ran from January 10 to 23, was no exception.
Among the fully electric vehicles on display were the Ford Focus Electric and the Honda Fit EV. BMW and Volvo also had prominent displays at the show, proving that they can produce practical, yet spacious family-oriented electric cars.
Industry insiders at the show claimed that more efficient batteries, improved performance and greater consumer acceptance could make 2011 the “year of el
ectric car”.
It’s long been clear that electric cars score heavily for convenience. They are, for instance, much easier to maintain than gasoline-powered cars. When the battery runs out, you simply replace it or recharge it, just like you would for a cell phone or a laptop.
This is also a much cheaper method than filling your tank with gasoline. Better yet, electric cars don’t emit exhaust fumes. As a result, they don’t produce environmentally damaging greenhouse gases.
It appears that improved technology is making electric cars and their maintenance much more user-friendly. So, what are the obstacles which are preventing electric cars from becoming popular and fashionable?
Home charging for electric cars could be extremely convenient for users. However, it is also a potential obstacle. For a start, installing charging stations in owners’ homes will be a challenge, particularly for those who have to park several blocks away from their homes.
Also, charging the car’s battery still takes quite a long time. It may be some time yet before you can recharge an electric car in the same time as you can refill your gas tank.
Another problem is that many electric vehicles have limited ranges that may only allow for journeys of 50 miles (80 km) or less between charges. In cases where a driver wishes to charge the car primarily at home (perhaps overnight), this limits their daily driving to the range of their vehicle.
This may be one reason why hybrid cars are now becoming more popular. A hybrid car has more than one energy source, usually a traditional gasoline fuel tank and an electric battery. It’s like a more practical version of an electric car: It’s greener than a conventional vehicle, with fewer CO2 emissions, yet it also doubles as a conventional vehicle.
“I would say that hybrid is a transition to fully electronic,” Road and Track magazine editor Richard Horman told Detroit News during the show. “The trend is for lighter, smarter, more economical cars. Of course
, electronic vehicles are meant to be that way.”
This sounds promising, particularly in light of the fact that the show featured more electric cars from big manufacturers than ever before.
However, it seems that the technology associated with electric cars is not yet able to fully meet people’s expectations. Don’t expect gasoline-powered cars to disappear from roads just yet. What made electric cars more convenient?
| A．Easier maintenance. | B．High scores on the show. |
| C．Practicality and large space. | D．Much lower prices. |
Which of the following could NOT act as a potential obstacle of electric cars?
| A．It is rough work to install charging stations at home. |
| B．It is time-consuming to charge the batteries. |
| C．The ranges between charges are limited. |
| D．There’s no need to fill the tank with petrol. |
In Paragraph 10, the underlined word “hybrid” is probably closest in meaning to ________.
| A．gasoline | B．electric | C．combined | D．separated |
The writer’s purpose in writing this passage is to_________.
| A．introduce the 2011 Auto Show in US | B．get readers informed of electric cars |
| C．comment on different types of cars | D．advertise for electric cars |