Rented Boyfriends
Taobao. com, China's largest online marketplace, is never short of bizarre offers.
And here is the latest one: boyfriends for rent.
A rented boyfriend can do the following: accompanying the girl to visit friends and families, go shopping, having meals and even getting a kiss out of courtesy. The charge is by the hour.
The services become hot with the approach of the Spring Festival, the most important festival for family reunions.
In China, parents especially worry about unmarried daughters.
Single women will have to face the same old question at the family dinner table: have you got a boyfriend?
And for those who haven't found their Mr. Rights, renting a boyfriend emerges as a solution.
So, which men are willing to offer that service?
“I offer such a service only because I'm bored and know fewer female friends at work," said Ding Hui, 27, a salesman in the plastic industry in Shanghai, with a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan.
He rented himself twice last year: during the Spring Festival and National Day. His customers were two 28-year-old women.
He charged 3,000 yuan each, and the customer had to cover his round-trip tickets, accommodations and bought him clothes to make him look smart.
More than 260 rent-a-boyfriend services can be found on the taobao.com, with the number climbing.
An anonymous female netizen, who claimed to have rented a boyfriend, said on the website, "My parents are very satisfied, so my pressure is greatly reduced."
Another comment read, "It's good that I've achieved the wish of my parents."On which site can women rent boyfriends? (within 4 words )
How does a rented boyfriend get paid? (within 3 words)
What question may single women have to face at the family dinner table? (within 5 words)
What did Ding Hui’s customer have to pay besides his service?(within 18 words )
For what reasons do single women rent boyfriends? ( within 15 words)
Today, people all over the world are moving out of small villages in the country to go and live in big noisy cities . They are moving from the peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers and streams of the countryside to the busy world of streets, buildings, traffic and crowds. This movement from rural areas to urban areas has been going on for over two hundred years.
In many countries, the main reason people come to live in towns and cities is work. After one or two large factories have been built in or near a town, people come to find a work, and soon an industrial area begins to grow. There is usually a residential area nearby, where the factory workers can live. The families of these workers need schools, hospitals and shops, so more people come to live in the area to provide these services—and a city grows.
In every major city in the world, there is a business district where the big companies have their main offices. In the United States, this area is usually in the city center downtown. It is here that you can see the huge skyscraper office blocks. The people who work here often travel a long way to work each day.
Many of them live in the suburbs of the city, far away from the industrial area and the city center. Some suburbs are very pleasant, with nice houses and big gardens. There are usually parks for children to play in and large department stores where you can buy all you need.
But what is the future of the big cities? Will they continue to get bigger and bigger? Perhaps not. Some major cities have actually become smaller in the last ten years, and it is quite possible that one day we will see people moving out of the major cities and back into smaller towns and villages.We can easily know that the underlined phrase “urban areas” means._____
| A．areas of the countryside |
| B．areas of a town or city |
| C．areas near the countryside |
| D．areas near a town or a city |
Why do people move to live in cities or towns?
| A．Because they can live more comfortable there |
| B．Because they prefer noisy life to peaceful life |
| C．They do so mainly to find work |
| D．They don’t like small villages |
We can infer that this movement from rural areas to urban areas_______.
| A．has been going on for more than 2,000 years |
| B．will continue in the future |
| C．may not continue in the future |
| D．is sure to stop |
This is news on the Hour. Ed Wilson is reporting. The President and First Lady will visit Africa on a goodwill tour in May. They plan to visit eight African countries.
Reports from China say the Chinese want closer ties between China and the U.S. and Western Europe. A group of top China scientists starts its ten-nation tour next month.
Here in Milmi, the mayor is still meeting with the leaders of the teachers’ union to try to find a way to end the strike. City schools are still closed after two weeks.
In news about health, scientists in California report findings of relationship between the drinking of coffee and the increase of heart disease among woman. According to the report in the American Medical Journal, the five-year study shows this: women who drink more than two cups of coffee a day have a greater chance of having heart disease than women who do not.
In sports, the Chargers lost again last night. The BBS beat them one to nothing. The Wingers had better results. They beat the Rifles 7 to 3.It was their first win in their five matches.
That the news of the Hour. And now back to more easy listening with Jan Singer.The passage is about______
| A．an official visit to Africa |
| B．the improvement of relationship between China and the U.S. |
| C．the news broadcast on the air |
| D．the strike led by the teachers’ union |
From the last news we do not know______
| A．the results of the matches |
| B．the number of the team which played last night |
| C．how many wins the BBS has had altogether |
| D．the Wingers had one win and four defeats |
The news about health tells us that_______
| A．no heart disease will be found if people don’t drink coffee |
| B．no one should drink more than two cups of coffee a day |
| C．the more coffee people drink, the more chances they will get to have disease |
| D．women’s heart disease has something to do with the drinking of coffee. |
What is the purpose for China scientists to visit ten nations next month?
| A．China expect closer ties between China and the U.S. and Western Europe. |
| B．They want to travel abroad |
| C．They need a rest |
| D．They are seeking for an opportunity to work abroad. |
A tourist comes out of the airport. There are a lot of taxis, but he asks every taxi-driver’s name, and takes the third taxi. It costs 5 from the airport to the hotel. “How much does it cost for the whole day?” the tourists asks. “100,” says the taxi-driver. This is very expensive, but the tourist accepts the price.
The taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere. He shows him all monuments and all the museums. In the evening they go back to the hotel. The tourist gives the taxi-driver 100 and says, “What about tomorrow?” The taxi-driver looks at the tourist. “ Tomorrow? It’s another 100 tomorrow.” But the tourist says, “That’s OK. If that’s the price. See you tomorrow.” The taxi-driver is very pleased. The day the taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere again. And in the second evening they go back to the hotel. The tourist gives the taxi-driver another 100 and says, “I’m going home tomorrow.” He likes the tourist, above all, 100 a day is a good money. “So you are going home, where do you come from?” he asks.
“I come from New York.”
“New York!” says the taxi-driver, “I have a sister in New York. Her name is Susannah, Do you know her?”
“Of course I know her. She gave me 200 for you.”The tourist is _______.
an Englishman
a Frenchman.
a Swedish.
an American.The tourist asks every taxi-driver his name because_______
| A．he is afraid f being cheated |
| B．he knows one of the taxi-drivers |
| C．he knows of one of the taxi-drivers |
| D．there is a friend of his among the taxi-drivers. |
Why is the taxi-driver very pleased with the tourist?
| A．None but the tourist agrees to the price given without arguing with him |
| B．His sister knows the tourist. |
| C．His sister had brought so much money to him |
| D．He wants to be the guide of the tourist. |
We can conclude that _______
| A．he tourist will give the taxi-driver another 200 |
| B．the tourist makes fun of the taxi-driver |
| C．the tourist will give the taxi-driver half of sum |
| D．the taxi-driver insists that the tourist should pay him another 200 |
A brother and sister have been reunited after more than 60 years, thanks to a letter in the Welwyn and Hatfield Times.
For years John Hannant Kept a photograph of his long-lost sister, hoping they would meet again. Margery, the eldest of the three children, had signed up to the Royal Air Force as part of the war effort, when John was still a baby. The family lost touch and as the decade s passed only a single letter gave a clue to her whereabouts. The clue was enough for a WHT reader to recognize Margery and put the family back in touch..
John, 67, had been searching for a long time and a friend suggested writing to the paper.
“That’s the one that made it, the letter to the paper a few months age,” he said. “It’s like a dream come true. The last time we ever heard from Margery was in 1953 after the floods. She wrote home to know if we were all right. My sister Dorothy wrote back, But Margery had moved again and never got the letter.”
Having retired from his job as a gardener at Park House, Mr. Hannat decided to take action once and for all. He and his wife Doreen, travelled to Margery’s home in Chelwood Avenue, Hatfield , which she shares with her husband Jack Cooke.
Now 88, she was recovering after several months in hospital, but immediately recognized her brother. John said, “It’s something that I never thought was going to happen, but I always hoped it would.” As well as finding his sister, John has also discovered he now has a nephew, niece and six grandnieces and grandnephews.Margery left her family because______
there was a flood in her hometown
she signed up to serve the army
she wanted to get her husband back
a war broken out in her hometownWhen she wrote to John last time ,Margery was ______
| A．34 years old | B．40 years old |
| C．44years old | D．54 years old |
What do we know about Jack Cooke’s family?
| A．Jack now has a son and a daughter. |
| B．Jack and his wife live with their children now |
| C．Jack’s wife is in good health all the time. |
| D．Jack lost touch with his family a long time ago. |
It can be inferred from the passage that______
| A．since 1953 Margery has come back home only once. |
| B．Margery received only one letter from John. |
| C．Margery does not care about her family. |
| D．WHT refers to a newspaper. |
One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that ,”and it is even harder to say, “I was wrong ,and you were right about that.” I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago .He told me he had been the manager of a cartons (纸箱).Then he talk of an incident and I began to remember the incident he was describing.
I was about eight years old at the time , and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.
There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was a big show of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons. The cartons were put three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of them to admire the show. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the pile of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the cartons back together, so I went to work.
The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees checking some of the cartons to if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as if I was the person who was to blame .He scolded me loudly and wanted me to pay for those broken eggs. My face turned red and I tried to explain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot the incident, but the manager did not.How old was the author when he wrote this article?
A About 8years old B About 18 years old
C About 23 years oldD About 15 years old Who was to blame for knocking off the pile of cartons?
A The author B The manager
C A woman D The author’s mother Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A The woman who knocked off the pile of cartons was seriously scolded by the manager.
B The author was loudly scolded by the manager.
C A woman was loudly scolded by the manager.
D It was the author who put the cartons back together.The tone of the article expresses the author’s______
A admiration for the manager’s willingness to admit mistakes
B anger to the manager for his wrong
C dissatisfaction with the woman who knocked off the pile cartons
D regret for the mistake he made in the store