Thousands of people began pouring into Pennsylvania from other states. They wanted to buy lottery tickets. The tickets cost only $ 0.9 each. But that small spending could bring them a reward of $ 90 million .That was the second largest lottery jackpot （积累奖金）in history.
More than 87 million tickets were bought for the Pennsylvania lottery drawing. Those who bought tickets had to choose seven numbers from 1 to 80．The chance of winning was one in 9.6 million, but that little chance certainly didn’t affect ticket sales. In the last few days before the drawing, tickets were sold at the unbelievable rate of 500 per second.
Experts say many people buy lottery tickets because they just want to have a piece of the action. Others say the lottery is a stock market for poor people. It allows them to dream about wealth they’ll probably never have.
But many people believe lotteries are no better than legalized gambling. Some critics note that most people who play are poor and may not be able to afford the tickets. There are also many addicts who take the game seriously. They may pour their life savings into lottery tickets. Some clubs have been formed to help them kick the habit.
Politicians like lotteries because they provide money that would otherwise have to come from new taxes. The profits from lotteries are usually used to pay for education or programs for senior citizens. But critics say this arrangement just allows states to legalize vice(恶习), under the name of social progress. Whether you regard stock lotteries right or not, you cannot refuse to accept their extreme popularity with many Americans.The main idea of the passage is that __________.
| A．lotteries are of great benefit to everyone who buys them |
| B．playing a lottery is just like investing in the stock market |
| C．many people buy lottery tickets , but lotteries cause disagreement |
| D．lotteries are nothing but legalized vice |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Politicians like lotteries because they don’t have to pay extra taxes. |
| B．The popularity of lotteries in America actually is social progress. |
| C．Some critics don’t like lotteries because many poor people waste money on them. |
| D．People love the lottery because it is a stock market. |
In just one hour in the last few days, the Pennsylvania lottery sold tickets totaling_______.
| A．$ 1.62 million | B．$ 1.82 million |
| C．$ 9.6 million | D．$ 87 million |
People who are addicted to playing lotteries should __________.
| A．join a support group | B．kick the habit |
| C．win the lottery | D．save every cent |
A growing number of students in the United States are studying Mandarin(普通话). It is the official language of China. More and more people speak Mandarin than those who speak other languages in the world.
Schools that teach Mandarin want to prepare students for a future in which they are likely to work with people from China. Business in China is booming(繁荣的), and that trend(趋势) is expected to grow.
The US government is trying to encourage even more public schools to teach Mandarin. Officials are considering spending about $1 billion on Mandarin programs in schools. China is getting involved(参与) too. The Chinese government has donated Mandarin textbooks to US schools. Some schools are also taking part in teacher exchange programs with China.
“It is important for students to learn Mandarin and Chinese culture,” said Mary Patterson, a school principal(校长) in Portland, Oregon. “Students who do so will have wider opportunities when they become adults.”Why are US schools teaching Mandarin?
| A．To help students communicate with Chinese students. |
| B．To encourage students to move to China, |
| C．To prepare students for the future. |
| D．To get students interested in business. |
The underlined word “donated” (in Paragraph 4) can be replaced by “______”?
| A．provided | B．kept | C．made | D．found |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Why US students learn Mandarin | B．Schools in China |
| C．How to speak Mandarin | D．China today |
A young woman was driving through the lonely countryside. It was dark and rainy. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding up her hand as if she wanted a lift(搭便车).
“I can’t leave her out in this weather,” the young woman said to herself. She stopped the car and opened the door.
“ Do you want a lift?” she asked. The old woman nodded and climbed into the car. After a while, she said to the old woman “ Have you been waiting for a long time?” The old woman shook her head. “ Strange” thought the woman. She tried again. “ Bad weather for the time of the year,” she said. The old woman nodded.
Then the young woman noticed that the old woman’ s hand, which were large and hairy(多毛的). Suddenly she realize that “she” was a man！She stopped the car. “ I can’t see out of the rear screen(后挡风玻璃),” she said. “ Would you mind cleaning it for me ?”
“The old woman” nodded and opened the door. As soon as “she” was out of the door, the frightened young woman drove off as fast as she could.
When she got to the next village, she stopped. She noticed “ the old woman ” had left “her” handbag behind. She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a gun. When the young woman talked with “her”, “ the old woman” only nodded or shook “her” head because “she”______.
| A．didn’t want the young woman to hear “her” voice |
| B．didn’t want to trouble the young woman any more |
| C．was so tired that “she” didn’t want to talk with her |
| D．was worried that the young woman had seen “her” hands |
The young woman asked “the old woman” to clean the rear screen in order to_________.
| A．see more clearly | B．drive fast and well |
| C．make “her” speak | D．throw “her” out |
From the story we can see that the young woman was______.
| A．kind and clever | B．beautiful and bright |
| C．foolish and shy | D．strong and helpful |
What do you think “the old woman” was?
| A．A policeman. | B．A basketball player. |
| C．A robber(抢劫犯). | D．A poor villager. |
If you live in the United States, you can’t have a full-time job until you are 16 years old. At 14 or 15, you work part-time after school or on weekends, and during summer vacation you can work 40 hours each week. Does all that mean that if you are younger than 14, you can’t make your own money? Of course not! Kids from 10-13 years of age can make money by doing lots of things.
Valerie, 11, told us that she made money by cleaning up other people’s yards. Lena, 13, makes money by knitting(织) dog sweaters and selling them to her neighbors. Reisa said she had started taking art classes and showing her works to people. People ask her to draw pictures for them and they pay her for them. Jasmine. 13, writes articles for different magazines!
Kids can learn lots of things from making money. By working to make your own money, you are learning the skills you will need in life. These skills can include things like how to get along with others, how to use technology and how to use your time wisely. Some people think that asking for money is a lot easier than making it; however, if you can make your own money, you don’t have to depend on anyone else. The five dollars that you make will probably make you feel a lot better than the twenty dollars you ask for. Kids can have full-time jobs at the age of______ in the USA.
A. 17 B.15 C. 14 D. 13 If you are 15 years old, you can’t work part-time______.
| A．after school | B．on weekends |
| C．during school time | D．during summer vacation |
Riesa makes money by_______.
| A．cleaning up other people’s yard | B．drawing pictures for others |
| C．writing articles for different magazines | D．knitting dog sweaters. |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The writer thinks kids from 10-13 years of age can make money too. |
| B．Kids can learn how to use their time wisely by making money. |
| C．Kids don’t need to get along with others when making money. |
| D．Kids can learn skills if they try to make money on their own. |
We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding information and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There’s no real word for it yet, so we’ll call it e-talk. People don’t like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters (called acronyms). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms(聊天室). Some of them are:
BTW(by the way); BRB(be right back); LOL(laughing out loud); IMO(in my opinion)
People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:
info(information); puter(computer); pic(picture); sec(second)
We ususally don’t see people when we communicate on the Internet, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw “feelings”, such as:
:-) (happy); ;-)(joking); :-((sad); :-O(surprised)
These days, many forums(论坛)have picture feelings. For example:
(happy) (sad) (angry) (cool)
There are even whole new words, like ”newbie’s” (someone who is new on a chat board or forum). When you write something bad about someone else, it’s called “flaming” the person.
It takes time for people to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbie’s sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.Why do people type acronyms?
| A．To show their feelings. | B．To make jokes. |
| C．To save time. | D．In this way newbie’s won’t understand them. |
What does “BTW, my computer is not working well, :-( ”mean?
| A．The person is happy about getting a new computer. |
| B．The person has to go away from his/her computer. |
| C．The person is angry at somebody. |
| D．The person is sad that his computer is having problems. |
If someone is angry, what may he type?
| A． |
B．BRB | C．LOL | D． |
E-talk will probably_______.
| A．keep changing | B．stay the same |
| C．be used by people on the telephone | D．be easy for newbie’s to understand. |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项．She described all the things she had to do －one was to make her bed－from the moment she woke up until she flew out of the door for work．I suggested she experiment by not making her bed for two weeks．She was shocked, probably thinking I’d been raised by wolves in a forest．
．
Two weeks later she went into my office beaming．She had left her bed unmade for the first time in 42 years－and nothing bad had happened．“And you know what?” she said．“I don’t dry my dishes anymore, either．”．One was discovering that she had choices in her life that she had never seen before．The other was giving herself permission to be less that perfect．This story shows an important principle （原理） about managing time: No one can do it all．Each of us has to make choices and accept trade – offs．The problem is, many people choose in ways that put themselves and their health last．They take better care of their houses and cars than they do of themselves．
So what is the solution? There’s an easy way．Decide what you want in your life, and put that first．On a daily basis, that should include regular meals, enough sleep and time with your family．Exercise, leisure, friendships and hobbies should also be regular aspects of life．．The choice is yours: whatever makes you feel good about yourself and your life．Take a nap．Take a walk．Take time to play the piano．Stop bringing your briefcase home from the office．Stop keeping your house as clean as your mother kept hers．Fill more of your time with want – to – dos instead of have – to – dos．
| A．This woman had made two major breakthroughs （突破）． |
| B．Above all, you needn’t do anything for yourself regularly． |
| C．They put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own． |
| D．However, she went along with my idea． |
E．Most people do not take time to relax themselves．
F．The point is to do something for yourself every day．
G．A patient came to see me about the stress in her life．