There was once a beautiful nymph called Echo. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the last word. As she was good company, she and Zeus became good friends. However, Zeus’ wife, Hera, became jealous. She followed Zeus to the earth to find out what he was doing and Zeus asked Echo to distract Hera until he could escape. Later when Hera discovered she had been tricked, she became very angry. She turned on Echo and said, “You shall lose the use of your tongue because you cheated me. You’ll have the last word, bur no longer have the power to speak first.” So from that moment on, Beautiful Echo was hardly able to hold a conversation because she could only repeat the last words of those around her. She became very embarrassed and hid herself deep in the woods.
One day a handsome young man called Narcissus came into the woods. He had been hunting deer and lost his way. However, the moment Echo saw him, she fell in love with him. She followed him, wishing to tell him but unable to begin a conversation. Oh, how she wished she could speak first. Unfortunately, Narcissus was far too busy worrying about where his companions might be and how he could find his way home.
Eventually Narcissus, with Echo following behind along, came to a pool of water in the middle of the woods. Feeling thirsty, Narcissus bent down to drink. As he did so, he saw a beautiful creature in the water staring up at him. He immediately bent over and said to him, “I love you!” Echo, nearby, and seeing her chance, immediately responded “…. I love you!” But it was too late. Narcissus was already in love, with himself.
The stranger seemed to rise up closer to Narcissus who was so involved that he entirely failed to notice Echo. “I want to stay and look at this beautiful sight forever,” he whispered dreamily to himself.”… Forever,” repeated Echo sadly. “Come here,” called Narcissus to his reflection as he moved his head and the creature seemed to move away. “…Here.” responded Echo. Narcissus bent back down to see his reflection more clearly. “So beautiful! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful!” “….So beautiful!” responded Echo truthfully.
Narcissus remained by the water refusing all Echo’s silent offers of food and drink until he died. Where he had been, a flower grew in his place, as beautiful as Narcissus himself. As for Echo, from that time forward, she also didn’t eat or drink till she turned to rocks and all that was left was her voice. Even now you can still hear Echo trying to attract Narcissus’ attention by repeating his words and still see Narcissus as a beautiful flower growing near a pool.Why was Echo unable to let Narcissus know she loved him?
| A．Because she had lost the ability to speak. |
| B．Because she was too shy to speak first. |
| C．Because Narcissus took no notice of her. |
| D．Because Hera had taken away her ability to speak first. |
“The stranger” in paragraph 4 refers to ______.
| A．Echo |
| B．Hera. |
| C．Narcissus himself. |
| D．a fairy in the woods. |
Which of the following kinds of person can be described as a “Narcissus”?
| A．A person who loves and admires himself or herself. |
| B．A person who loves to admire beautiful water flowers. |
| C．A person who is too shy to have a chat with other people. |
| D．A person who’s afraid of being separated from companions. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．Echo’s sacrifice. | B．Echo and Hera. |
| C．Echo and Narcissus. | D．Narcissus’s self-love. |
Some American parents might think their children need better educations to compete with China and other countries. But how much do the parents themselves need to change?
A new book called Battle Hymn(圣歌) of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua has caused a debate about cultural differences in parenting. Ms. Chua is a professor at the Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, and the mother of two daughters. She was raised in the American Mid-west by immigrant Chinese parents.
In the Chinese culture, the tiger represents strength and power. In her book, Ms Chua writes about how she demanded excellence from her daughters. For example, she threatened to burn her daughter’s stuffed animals unless she played a piece of music perfectly. She would insult her daughters if they failed to meet her expectations.
Ms. Chua told NBC television that she had a clear list of what her daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were not permitted to do.
“Attend a sleepover, have a playdate, watch TV or play computer games, be in a school play, get any grade less than an ‘A’.”
Many people have criticized Amy Chua. Some say her parenting methods were abusive. She even admits that her husband, who is not Chinese, sometimes objected to her parenting style. But she says that was the way her parents raised her and her three sisters.
Ms. Chua makes fun of her own extreme style of parenting. She says she eased some of the pressure after her younger daughter rebelled and shouted, “I hate my life! I hate you!”
Ms. Chua says she decided to retreat when it seemed like there was a risk that she might lose her daughter. But she also says American parents often have low expectations of their children’s abilities.
“One of the biggest differences I see between Western and Chinese parenting is that Chinese parents assume strength rather than fragility.”
Stacey DeBroff has written four books on parenting. “I think that the stirring of intense debate has to do with what it means to be a successful parent and what it means to be a successful child.”
Ms. DeBroff says Amy Chua’s parenting style is not limited to Chinese families. She says it represents a traditional way of parenting among immigrants seeking a better future for their children.
But she also sees a risk. When children have no time to be social or to follow their own interests, they might not develop other skills that they need to succeed in life. Stacey DeBroff advises parents to develop their own style of parenting and not just repeat the way they were raised.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE about American parents?
| A．Some of them expect their children to be competitive. |
| B．Some of them need to educate themselves better. |
| C．They should learn from Chinese parents. |
| D．They care their kids more than Chinese. |
What can we learn about Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother?
| A．It is a list of things for children to do. |
| B．It is a book about cultural differences. |
| C．It is a heated debate about parenting. |
| D．It is a book about how to raise children. |
Based on the passage, Ms. Chua’s parenting is exposed to the following EXCEPT
| A．pressure | B．management | C．recreation | D．compromise |
Which of the following agrees with Ms. DeBroff?
| A．Different cultures have different concepts of values. |
| B．Chua’s parenting is followed by many American families. |
| C．Immigrants are always bitterly struggling abroad. |
| D．Parents had better raise their children in person. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards Ms. Chua’s parenting?
| A．Positive | B．Inactive | C．Indefinite | D．Negative |
Eleven top universities are joining the Open University to launch free Internet courses. King’s College London, along with the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Anglia, Exeter, Lancaster, Leeds, Southampton, St Andrews and Warwick, has partnered with FutureLearn, a company set up by the Open University that will offer free and non-credit bearing courses to Internet-users around the world.
The courses are modeled on the US phenomenon “Massive open online courses” ( Moocs ), which have attracted millions of users around the world and are especially popular in emerging economies.
FutureLearn will improve UK institutions for international students, said Prof Martin Bean, voice-chancellor of the Open University. “At the moment, foreign students’ perception of UK Universities is: wonderful history, great tradition, really good teaching, but a bit boring.”
Leeds University says the partnership will benefit students studying on campus. “Students will have access to a rich set of resources from both Leeds and our partners. They can also broaden their education beyond their main subject areas.”
The UK higher education industry stands among the top five export earners for Britain Moocs have grown rapidly in the US over the past year, with two providers leading the field. Coursera offers courses from 33 Universities, including Princeton, Brown, Columbia and Duke, and has reached more than 1.7 million users, EdX, a nonprofit start-up from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology courses this autumn.
Simon Nelson, one of the key architects of BBC Online, will head FutureLearn as launch CEO. “It’s really meaningful for these universities to come together –we’ll punch much harder collectively than any other university will individually,” he said.
Partner Institutions will be responsible for their own content while the OU, which has been providing distance-learning courses since 1971, will assist with course delivery and infrastructure. Details of further universities will be revealed next year, as will the courses on offer. What does the underlined word “perception” in paragrah3 mean?
| A．expectation | B．view | C．dream | D．proposal |
We can learn from the passage that
| A．Coursera, one of the two providers, leads the online courses in the US. |
| B．Economics is the most popular subject among these online courses. |
| C．FutureLearn is only set up for the Internet-users. |
| D．About 1,7million users are taking the free courses launched by UK. |
What is implied in Simon’s words?
| A．It’s really meaningful for these universities to cooperate. |
| B．Single university can’t do the work very well. |
| C．These universities will compete with each other. |
| D．Joint efforts by these top universities will help the program go more smoothly. |
All of the following statements are true except
| A．Internet-users don’t need to get credit for the courses. |
| B．UK may top the list of online education one day. |
| C．The UK higher education industry stands among the top five export earners for England. |
| D．Some foreign students may think UK universities are not so satisfying. |
In which magazine would you most likely find this passage?
| A．Entertainment | B．Science | C．Education | D．Business Week |
阅读表达（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
【1】The air was pleasant and the music was loud in the vast square in front of the New York State office building in Harlem(哈莱姆， 美国纽约市黑人居住区) as health advocates（支持者，提倡者） set up information tables for Harlem wellness Week. It was a wide-ranging effort to educate people about non-communicable diseases: Heart disease, cancer, lung disease, obesity, and so on.
【2】There is an economic effect caused by these diseases, especially in Harlem, one of the city’s poorest districts. Without healthy employees and healthy customers, you cannot have healthy business, says Patricia Ricketts of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors Wellness Week.
【3】Dr. Jo Ivy Boufford is president of the New York Academy of Medicine, a Wellness Week partner. She says education about better nutrition is important, but that people with low incomes often lack the means to put what they know into practice. But there is hope. New York is very active in adovating good, effective public health policies. “New York City has banned smoking in public places, both indoors and outdoors. That is a fantastic example of what can be done, without having any impact on the economy. It is a city where you have bike paths. That is a good message for the world, because bikes make your transport active. That is good for your health and lowers air pollution,” she said.
【4】“It is not enough to focus on the management of disease through medication,” Dr. Boufford says. “That’s why health advocates will be trying to persuade UN officials during Wellness Week to pass resolutions that deal with road and transport design and construction and other potential causes of non-communicable diseases.” What is the main idea of the text? (no more than 8words)
Complete the following statement with words from Paragraph【4】.(no more than 3words)_______________ the management of disease through medication is not enough.
What noninfectious diseases are mentioned in the text?( no more than 6 words)
Do you think it is necessary to hold a Wellness Week to prevent diseases? Why, or why not? (no more than 16 words)
What does the word “That”(paragraph 3) refer to?(no more than 4 words)
The quality of water supply in southern Beijing has been improving in recent years, an official said.
In addition to improvements in the network of pipes, the government has been upgrading three recycled water plants in the south of the capital, said Zhao Lei, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.
"The transformation of the three plants has increased the recycled water processing capacity by 160,000 cubic meters per day," he said.
In addition, the city is also speeding up the construction of sewage treatment plants to further recycle the sewage, Zhao said.
Zhang Xiang, a researcher from Nature University, an environmental protection NGO in Beijing, said recycled water use should be promoted, especially in water-scarce cities such as Beijing.
Setting up more recycled water plants in the capital will not only promote efficient water use, but also reduce costs because recycling water is much cheaper than transferring it over long distances, he said.
According to the Beijing Water Authority, the capital will set up 46 more recycled water plants citywide in the next three years while upgrading 20 sewage treatment plants.
The treatment rate of domestic sewage in downtown Beijing will reach 98 percent by the end of 2015, it said.
The capital's recycled water is mainly used for industry, landscaping and cleaning, Zhang said.
Many new communities in southern Beijing are equipped with a network to recycle water.
In the past, people were not enthusiastic about using recycled water. However, as the government has boosted the quality of recycled water and set up more recycled water plants, more residents are gradually accepting it.
Residents in southern Beijing will also enjoy more clean energy, as the government will replace traditional coal-burning stoves with electric radiators as part of a three-year plan to develop southern Beijing from 2013 to 2015.
Since 2010, Beijing has taken measures to develop its southern areas. Earlier efforts have seen the region, which used to rely heavily on low-end industries such as cement factories and small coal mines, being turned into a bustling commercial center and home to many educational institutions.This passage may appear in ________ section.
| A．business | B．life | C．politics | D．forum |
which statement is true according to the passage
| A．Recycled water will be mainly used for drink. |
| B．As usual, recycled water is accepted by people. |
| C．Traditionally people in southern Beijing use coal-burning stove for cooking. |
| D．The water Transferred over long distance is cheaper than recycled water. |
How many recycled water plants will the capital city have in about 3 years?
| A．46. | B．20 | C．3 | D． 49 |
What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．Southern area in Beijing has taken on a new look. |
| B．The southern area is hone to many educational institutions |
| C．Southern area in Beijing is more beautiful now. |
| D．Southern area in Beijing is a busy place now . |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Beijing government has taken measures to improve its people`s life. |
| B．Recycled water flows to southern Beijing. |
| C．More recycled water plants will be built. |
| D．The southern Beijing residents will enjoy clean water |
BEIJING - China's railway rates for freight and passenger transport will continue to be set by the government, announced a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, on Friday.
Cao Changqing, head of the NDRC's department of price, said that the country will continue to implement government-set or government-guided prices for the railway sector after the China Railway Corporation (CRC), a State-owned company that takes over the commercial functions of the former Ministry of Railways (MOR), went into business on March 17.
Cao said the railway sector, constituting China's main public transport facilities, is a key basic industry. Its pricing scheme is concerned with both the sector's normal operation and development, as well as the daily traveling and vital interests of the general public.
The state will be very cautious in making any price adjustment in the railway sector, taking into account various factors including operation, construction, public acceptance and coordinated development with other modes of transport, according to the NDRC official.
Under Chinese law and regulations, hearings will be held before adjustments in the basic passenger train ticket fare, Cao said.
In China's latest railway reform, endorsed at the just-concluded annual session of the country's top legislature, the former MOR was dismantled into two parts, with the newly created CRC carrying out business functions and a state railways administration fulfilling administrative functions.What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．China’s railway pricing scheme unchanged |
| B．A State-owned company takes over the commercial functions of MOR. |
| C．China’s latest railway reform |
| D．The former MOR was divided into two parts |
What does Cao mean according to the passage?
| A．There will be adjustment in the basic passenger train ticket |
| B．China’s railway rate for passenger will not be changed forever |
| C．Hearing will be held before adjustment of railway price |
| D．The price adjustment are being considered |
What can we infer from the fourth paragraph?
| A．The public will be very curious about the price adjustment |
| B．Various factors are taken into account by the state before adjustment |
| C．Public acceptance is the most important factor |
| D．NDRC should coordinate railway development with other modes of transport |
Why will hearings be held before adjustments in the basic passenger train ticket fare?
| A．The public request it |
| B．Under Chinese laws and regulations |
| C．According to the order from leaders |
| D．Because it will cause a lot of problem |
We would most probably read this passage on the newspaper about________
| A．News | B．Entertainment | C．Society | D．Financial |