Toyota is the world's largest automaker, but its road to success has been long and filled with speed bumps（颠簸）.
1958：The company's first foray into the American market was the Toyopet in 1958. It was a flop.
1964：Toyota introduced their Corona line of automobiles and sales hit 6,400 in 1965, marking an increase in popularity.
1969：Toyota began importing the Corolla and in 1985 it would become the first Toyota built in the U.S.
1975：Toyota surpassed the popular German brand Volkswagen to become the top import sold in the U.S.
1986：The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered its first recall of Toyota cars due to "speed control" problems.
1988：The First North American Toyota plant opened in Georgetown, Ky.
1989：Toyota introduced the Lexus LS 400, the company's first U.S. luxury car. It was a major hit.
1997：Toyota debuted their Prius gas-electric hybrid car.
2002：The first consumer complaints emerged of the Camry's engine surging under braking.
2004：The NHTSA opened a defect investigation into 2002-2003 Camry, Camry Solara and Lexus ES models.
2006：Toyota "Americanizes" and opened a new plant in Texas to build full-size pickups
2007：Toyota surpassed General Motors to become the world's largest automaker.
2007：The NHTSA investigated pedal entrapment in some Toyota vehicles, which led recalls of floor mats on Camry and Lexus models.
2007：The NHTSA investigated pedal entrapment in some Toyota vehicles, which led recalls of floor mats on Camry and Lexus models.
Aug. 2009：An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three family members were killed when their rental 2009 Lexus ES speeds out of control.
Nov. 2009：Toyota recalled 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota models to remove floor mats that can trap pedals.
Jan. 2010：Toyota recalled approximately 2.3 million more vehicles with potential sticking pedal problems. On Jan. 26, Toyota stopped selling eight models involved in the recall.
Feb. 2010：Prius and Lexus hybrids are now being recalled for brake problems in 2010 models.Which of the following brands belong to Toyota family？
| A．Toyopet, Volkswagen, Lexus, Prius |
| B．Camry, Prius, Lexus, Georgetown |
| C．Corona, Prius, Lexus, Corolla |
| D．General Motors, Lexus, Camry, Corolla |
The underlined word in Para.6 probably means:
| A．withdrawal | B．sorrow | C．appreciation | D．resolve |
We can infer from the passage that____________
| A．Lexus LS 400 is a cheaper car |
| B．Prius may be a kind of environmentally friendly car |
| C．Corona became popular as soon as introduced to the US |
| D．Toyota’s plant opened in Georgetown symbolized its “Americanize” tactics |
The purpose of this passage is to_________.
| A．advertise for Toyota |
| B．display Toyota’s glory |
| C．uncover Toyota’s braking problems |
| D．introduce Toyota’ s struggle in the US |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．The world’s largest automaker | B．The rise of Toyota |
| C．Toyota meeting problems in the US | D．Toyota’s failure in the US |
C
Free Fun Guides
What is new about this year’s Museum Day?
| A．People will get free tickets online. |
| B．Two museums offer free admission. |
| C．People must buy tickets for visiting a museum. |
| D．People can visit museums online and get a small gift. |
The main purpose of the passage is to___________.
| A．introduce ways to save money |
| B．help people who are very poor |
| C．give guidance on how to have some fun |
| D．provide information about free things to do |
How can kids get a free book?
| A．By reading eighty books at any Barnes & Noble. |
| B．By downloading and printing out a passport before October. |
| C．By signing up for a summer reading program and choosing one of the books they have read. |
| D．By signing up for a winter reading program and make a list of the books. |
Which of the following shows the similarity between Museum Day and Free Night of Theater?
| A．They last for the same length of time |
| B．The same number of free tickets is given away. |
| C．The tickets can be used in any U.S. city |
| D．They take place once a year. |
B
IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world’s most successful businessmen. Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. He used it to start up a business—IKEA.IKEA's name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up ('E' and 'A').
IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order book in 1947. The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad’s home. Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line．Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became a pure furniture company in 1951.
In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales boosted. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA. Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having meanings of self-sufficiency. This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion．
Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004 he was named the world’s richest man. He currently lives in Switzerland and is retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.The author states in Paragraph 4 that flat packaging___________.
| A．needs large space to store furniture |
| B．is a business concept inspired by Kamprad |
| C．helps reduce transportation costs |
| D．makes the company self-sufficient |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA and succeeded. |
| B．IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer. |
| C．The advantages of IKEA’s furniture. |
| D．Ingvar Kamprad was a natural businessman. |
What can you learn about IKEA form the passage?
| A．The starter kept IKEA a company operated by a few people |
| B．The furniture was made by manufacturers in Kamprad’s home |
| C．The starter made a big fortune when he was a child |
| D．The goods sold in IKEA are limited and not welcomed |
The passage is written mainly in terms of ___________.
| A．examples that illustrate a problem |
| B．order of events |
| C．analysis of a process |
| D．comparison and contrast |
A
Once upon a time, a man was walking on a mountain when he found an incredible cave with all kinds of treasure inside it. So he gave up his job, his home, and his friends, and spent all his time guarding the cave.
He was so dedicated to it that he hardly ate or drank, and before long he fell ill. One day, when he could hardly move at all, he decided to share the treasure.
He crawled into the cave to get a handful of jewels, but discovered, to his horror, that it was empty except for a small diamond. The man took it and gave it to the first person to come by, a woman.
Then an old man came by. “What bad luck!” the man said. “Just a moment ago I gave a woman the last of the treasure I was guarding.”
“Are you sure there is nothing left?” the old man asked.
The man took him into the cave, where they found a box with jewels and some bags of gold. The man was shocked, and the old man explained to him, “At last! At last! At last someone has broken the curse of this cave. This is the Cave of Treasure, and you’re the first to have passed its great test. Many have devoted their lives to this cave, only to end up realizing there was nothing here …”
“And why does this happen?” the man asked.
“This magic cave has only as many riches as your own heart. When someone discovers it, the cave fills with the treasure they bring with them, but later, when they have devoted themselves to guarding the treasure, their hearts become empty, as does the cave. The only way to fill it is by filling your heart with all that is good, as you did by giving the woman that last jewel.”
From that day on, the man understood that it was better to share than to keep. Thanks to the cave and the old man, he became noble and generous.Why did the man give up his job, home and friends?
| A．Because he possessed a variety of treasure. |
| B．Because he had to guard the treasure cave. |
| C．Because he wanted to find the treasure cave. |
| D．Because he devoted himself to a great test. |
What did the man find when he showed his cave to the old man?
| A．All kinds of treasure. |
| B．A handful of jewels. |
| C．A small emerald. |
| D．A box with jewels and gold. |
What do we learn about the people who dedicated their lives to the cave before?
| A．They all filled the cave with the treasure they had. |
| B．They thought it was better to share than to enjoy the treasure alone. |
| C．They all found the cave empty at last. |
| D．The old man freed them from its spell. |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Giving makes people healthier and happier than owing. |
| B．Some people never learn what is really valuable. |
| C．Treasure only belongs to those who possess it. |
| D．Different people have different views. |
E
Speaking two languages can actually help offset(抵消) some effects of aging on the brain, a new study has found,
Researchers tested how long it took participants to switch from one cognitive(认知的) task to another, something that-s known to take longer for older adults, said lead researcher, Brian Gold, a neuroscientist at the University of Kentucky.
Gold’s team compared task-switching speeds for younger and older adults, knowing they would find slower speeds in the older population because of previous studies. However, they found that older adults who spoke two languages were able to switch mental activities faster than those didn’t . The study only looked at life long bilinguals(会说两种语言的人) defined in study as people speaking a second language daily since they were at least 10 years old.
Gold and his team asked 30 people, either bilingual or monolingual(只僮一种语言 人) , to have a series of tests. They found that bilingual people were not only able to switch tasks faster they had different brain activity than their monolingual peers.
Kristina called bilingualism "a beautiful natural experiment”, because people grow up speaking two languages,and studies have shown that they get certain cognitive benefits from switching between languages and determining which to respond with based on what's going on around them.
Gold said he grew up in Montreal, where he spoke French at school and English at home, prompting relatives to question whether his French language immersion would somehow hinder his ability to learn English.
"Until very recently, learning a second language in childhood was thought of as dangerous," he said. "Actually, it's beneficial. "What-s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Researchers found that speaking two languages is important. |
| B．Researchers found that bilingual people respond slowly. |
| C．Researchers found that bilingual people can slow down the speed or aging on the brain and respond fast. |
| D．Researchers found that bilingual people are great. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Older bilinguals can-t respond faster in mind. |
| B．Older adults speaking a second language daily since they were at least 10 years old can respond faster than those who don't |
| C．Young bilinguals can respond faster in mind than those monolinguals. |
| D．Bilingual children respond slower in mind than those monolinguals. |
Kristina called bilingualism "a beautif'ul natural experiment" because
| A．people grow up, benefiting from speaking two languages |
| B．people speaking two languages are natural |
| C．people speaking two languages are beautiful |
| D．people speaking two languages like the experiment |
We can learn from the last paragraph that learning a second language in childhood is________
| A．dangerous to children |
| B．not beneficial to children |
| C．dangerous but beneficial to children |
| D．not dangerous but beneficial to children |
D
Whenever you buy something, it is possible that someone has already worn, eaten, or tested
it to make sure it is safe and do what is supposed to do. But what if you wanted a special suit to keep a shark from hurting you? Who wants to test a product like it?
"I do! " says Jeremiah Sullwan, a scientist in California "You have to believe in what you sell, right?"
Sullivan. owns SharkArmor Tech, a company that makes a $ 49400 sharksuit that even a great white shark can’ t bite through. Before Sullivan could sell his sharksuits, he needed to make sure his design would work. Sullivan put on the sharksuit and jumped into a shark feeding ground. "I need to know exactly what a human body could expect to go through," he says. Sharks moved all around him and then attacked his arm. Sullivan felt the bite but no teeth. He was uncomfortable at times, but not painful. The suit works! "
"I’ve now been bitten thousands of times but. never badly," says Sullivan, who now works with shows like Wild Kingdom, and programs for the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
So,are you all set to buy a sharksuit? Before you do, you should know that the suit weighs 20 pounds and makes swimming almost impossible--not so practical for a day on the beach. And in fact, Sullivan wants only professionals, such as filmmakers, scientists and drivers, to have sharksuits. Why? Because even if someone is wearing a sharksuit, they could get seriously hurt if they treat diving with a 4,OOO-pound shark as a game.
During sharksuit testing, sharks have thrown Sullivan to a bottom o/ reefs(礁) and tried to take him off into the deepest part of the ocean. "However," Sullivan says," you don't need to be afraid of sharks. It’s actually pretty hard to get a shark to bite you, "The first paragraph is written to .
| A．start a discussion |
| B．introduce the topic of the text |
| C．show the main points of the text |
| D．test readers' knowledge |
Why did Sullivan get close to sharks?
| A．To see if his sharksuit works. |
| B．To study what sharks feed on. |
| C．To catch a special kind of white shark. |
| D．To learn how to swim with sharks safely, |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 5 mean?
| A．Most people won't wear the sharksuit to the beach |
| B．People like to go to the beach with the sharksuit. |
| C．The sharksuit makes a perfect day on the beach |
| D．The sharksuit can’t be worn for a whole day. |
We can learn from the text that the sharksuit _
| A．works well for swimmers |
| B．is light but uncomfortable |
| C．keeps sharks away from humans |
| D．is designed for special purpose |