Do you know how to use a mobile phone without being rude to the people around you?
Talking during a performance irritates (激怒) people. If you are expecting an emergency call, sit near the exit doors and set your phone to vibrate (振动). When your mobile phone vibrates, you can leave quietly and let the others enjoy the performance.
Think twice before using mobile phones in elevators, museums, churches or other indoor public places—especially enclosed spaces. Would you want to listen to someone’s conversation in these places? Worse yet, how would you feel if a mobile phone rang suddenly during a funeral! It happens more often than you think. Avoid these embarrassing situations by making sure your mobile phone is switched off.
When eating at a restaurant with friends, don’t place your mobile phone on the table. This conveys the message that your phone calls are more important than those around you.
Mobile phones have sensitive microphones that allow you to speak at the volume you would on a regular phone. This enables you to speak quietly so that others won’t hear the details of your conversations. If you are calling from a noisy area, use your hand to direct your voice into the microphone.
Many people believe that they can’t live without their mobile phone. Owning a mobile phone definitely makes life more convenient, but limit your conversations to urgent ones and save the personal calls until you are at home.What should you do when you need to answer a phone call during a performance?
| A．Call back after the performance. |
| B．Answer it near the exit door. |
| C．Talk outside the exit door. |
| D．Speak in a low voice. |
Putting your mobile phone on a restaurant table may make your friends think_____.
| A．you prefer to talk to your friends at the table |
| B．you value your calls more than your friends |
| C．you are enjoying the company of your friends |
| D．you are polite and considerate of your friends |
When you are calling in a noisy area, you are advised to _____.
| A．use a more sensitive microphone |
| B．shout loudly into your microphone |
| C．go away quietly to continue the phone call |
| D．use your hand to help speak into the phone |
The author implies that the use of mobile phones in such places as museums should be_____.
| A．limited | B．expected |
| C．encouraged | D．recommended |
Alibaba started taking the lead in China, simply enough, by connecting big Chinese manufacturers(制造商)with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed business to buy almost everything. Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to identify: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards. Its marketplaces attract 231 million active buyers, 8 million sellers, 11.3 billion orders a year—and Alibaba is just the middleman. It encourages people to use its markets—not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale.
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing almost a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is secondary to(对…来说是次要的) consumer buying. Chinese retail（零售）buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping—big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how extensive(广大) the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Alibaba | B．a new store |
| C．a business | D．a foreign website |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover. |
| B．Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites. |
| C．Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail now. |
| D．TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Shopping online is TaoBao. |
| B．Alibaba greatly influences people’s daily purchase in China. |
| C．The influence of shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping. |
| D．How the author purchases online in China. |
What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage refer to?
| A．Alibaba acts as a bridge between buyers and sellers. |
| B．Alibaba will continue to develop. |
| C．Alibaba stands out as the best online site. |
| D．Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites. |
The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher’s instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.
But there was a big surprise. Each child received a normal job. But Rita’s job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest.Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.
One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, “Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant.”
That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task, you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks.What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Each child got an important job. |
| B．Each child got an interesting job. |
| C．The perfect student got the job of everyone’s preference. |
| D．The most responsible student got the job of least interest. |
What is Rita’s attitude to her father’s suggestion?
| A．Negative. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Totally positive. | D．Acceptive. |
We can infer that the man who made the declaration is a _________.
| A．hunter | B．director |
| C．biologist | D．principal |
When we can see well, we do not think about our eyes often. It is only when we can notsee perfectly that we come to see how important our eyes are.
People who are nearsighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Many people who do a lot of close work, such as writing and reading, become nearsighted. Then they have to wear glasses in order to see distant things clearly.
People who are farsighted face just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses too.
Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts(白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.
When night falls, colors become fainter to the eyes and finally disappear. After your eyes have grown used to the dark, you can see better if you use the side of your eyes rather than the centers. Sometimes, after dark, you see a small thing to one side of you, which seems to disappear if you turn your head in its direction. This is because when you turn your head, you are looking at the thing too directly. Men on guard duty sometimes think they see something moving to one side of them. When they turn to look straight at it, they can not see it any more, and they believe they were mistaken. However, this mistake happens because the center of the eye, which is very sensitive in daylight, is not as sensitive as the sides of the eye after dark.We don’t know that our eyes are of great importance until _____.
| A．we think about our eyes |
| B．we cannot see clearly |
| C．we wear glasses |
| D．we have to do much reading |
According to the passage, who is more likely to be nearsighted?
| A．A typist. | B．A sailor. |
| C．A tourist. | D．A driver. |
People who are farsighted _____.
| A．can do a lot of close work without glasses |
| B．can only see things that are very close to their eyes |
| C．have difficulty reading a book if they hold it at arm's length |
| D．can correct their eyes by glasses |
To see a small thing at night, it is better to look _____.
| A．with wide open eyes | B．with half shut or narrowed eyes |
| C．straight at it | D．in a slightly different direction |
Why do parents have such a difficult time to communicate openly and honestly with their teens? For this, there are many reasons but most of them stem from not being able to properly understand their teens. It is a dangerous gap because parents will have to communicate with their teens about a wide variety of issues during the most important years of their lives. Thus, parents must know how to communicate openly and honestly with their teens.
Here are a few tips to make communication easier between parents and teenagers.
1. Try not to talk down to your teens. Make them feel as if their views really matter, which not only helps your discussions with your teen but bring you closer to him.
2. Imagine what it would be like to be a teen. Try to remember some of the negative feelings you experienced as a teenager and apply it to your teen's situation.
3. Never make negative remarks to your teen about what he has said or done.
4. Remember how much courage it would have taken for your teen to come and talk to you about his personal issues. So listen respectfully.
5. Don't ignore your teen's feelings because it is usually a cry for help. For instance, if your teen is unusually angry, it may be time to spend a bit of quality time with your teen to determine what is wrong and where he is coming from.
It is, therefore, necessary for parents to strive to keep lines of communication open at all times with their teens. Try to remember what it was like to be a teenager and how vulnerable（脆弱的）you felt. Then you will be well on your way to help your teen communicate more openly and honestly.Why don't teens want to talk about their personal issues with their parents?
| A．Because they can't respect their parents. |
| B．Because they can't understand their parents. |
| C．Because their parents won't understand them well. |
| D．Because their parents are not honest. |
When your son comes to you for help, you should NOT _____.
| A．listen respectively | B．treat him seriously |
| C．care about his feeling | D．make negative remarks |
Which of the following has the similar meaning to the underlined phrase “talk down to”?
| A．put down | B．look down upon |
| C．chat with | D．quarrel with |
The best title for this passage is _____.
| A．Causes of generation gap |
| B．Relations between teens and parents |
| C．Suggestions for parents-children effective communication |
| D．Problems with communication between teens and parents |
I went online to check if my pay was in my bank account. To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, a company I’d never worked for had also paid me! I knew I’d have been beside myself if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person. Easier said than done.
The bank couldn’t help as it wasn’t a bank problem. The human resources department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn’t have enough details. I rang the bank again. Thankfully, I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for.
I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel. I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he’d tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error. He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves.
We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me. Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his. I never had any intention of keeping Daniel’s pay but red tape(繁琐手续) made it difficult to do the right thing. It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do--admit a mistake has occurred and fix it.What was the attitude of the author towards the extra money in his bank account?
| A．He didn’t know what to do with it. |
| B．He felt lucky to get it. |
| C．He thought of keeping it for himself. |
| D．He wanted to return it to the right person. |
The underlined phrase “beside myself”(in Paragraph1) probably
means___________.
| A．very fortunate | B．very angry |
| C．really thankful | D．at ease |
How was the problem solved in the end?
| A．The author and Daniel solved the problem themselves. |
| B．It cost Daniel a lovely bottle of wine to get back his money. |
| C．The author gave the money back to the company. |
| D．The call operator offered to solve their problem |
From the passage we can infer that___________.
| A．the bank could solve the problem soon and easily with the red tape |
| B．some large organizations usually have troublesome official rules |
| C．Daniel didn’t know the error before he contacted the author |
| D．the company gave the wrong account to the bank |