Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. One family between us and the ticket counter made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. Their clothes were clean. The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands.
The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly said, “Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.”
The ticket lady told him the price. The wife’s head dropped, and the man’s lip began to quiver (抖动). The father asked, “How much did you say?”
The ticket lady told him the price again.
The man didn’t have enough money.
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground (We were not wealthy either). My father reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.”
The man knew what was going on. He wasn’t begging for money but certainly thanked the help in a difficult, embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hand in both of his, and with a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied, “Thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.”
My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didn’t go to the circus that night, but we didn’t go without.Why was the writer impressed by the family?
| A．Because the family was very large. |
| B．Because the family was very happy. |
| C．Because the family was very noisy. |
| D．Because the family was very poor. |
When the ticket lady told them the price, the wife .
| A．hardly heard | B．felt disappointed |
| C．hardly understood | D．felt confused |
Which of the following words can be best used to describe the writer’s father?
| A．Patient. | B．Careful. | C．Honest. | D．Kind. |
What did the writer mean by saying “we didn’t go without”?
| A．They returned home with another kind of joy. |
| B．They were very happy to meet the family. |
| C．They wanted to go to the circus very much. |
| D．They had already seen the circus before. |
In the USA Forbes magazine has published its annual list of the richest people in the world. Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest man again for the eleventh successive year with a fortune of fortyfour billion dollars.
There are a record 691 dollar billionaires according to Forbes magazine. Between them they have a fortune of two point two trillion dollars. The highest concentration of the ultra-rich is in New York followed by Moscow and San Frans
isco and then London and Los Angeles. But in total the very wealthy live in fortyseven different countries with Iceland KazakstanUkraine and Poland entering the list for the first time this year.
Laksmi
Mittal, an Indian born steel tycoon （巨头）enjoyed the biggest increase in personal fortune. His net worth has quadrupled （变成四倍）to thirteen billion dollars making him the world’s third richest man. Ingvar Kamprad founder of the Swedish furniture chain Ikea also saw a big increase in wealth taking him to the sixth place. Developing countries make more of a showing than in past years — there are for example three Russians and four Indians in the top sixty richest people, though surprisingly perhaps none from China excluding Hong Kong. Asian wealth is probably underrepresented as its usually spread among families whereas Forbes looks at individuals. Relatively few women feature in the list — among them is JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels ranked 620th with a fortune of 519 million dollars. New entrants to the list include the founders of the Internet search group Google Sergie Brin and Larry Page each worth more than seven billion dollars after their company’s recent stock market debut. The richest Italian is the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi ranked number 25 in the global wealth league.Which of the following persons has the largest fortune according to this year’s Forbes magazine?
| A．Laksmi Mittal. | B．Ingvar Kamprad. |
| C．JK Rowling. | D．Silvio Berlusconi. |
There are about _____ persons with a fortune between 100 million dollars and 519 million dollars in the world.
| A．300 | B．180 | C．70 | D．150 |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．No Chinese has entered the top sixty richest people in the world. |
| B．Russia is a developing country. |
| C．This is the first time that Sergie Brin and Larry Page has been included in the list. |
| D．There are more billionaires（亿万富翁） in New York than any other city in the world. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．There are more billionaires in London than in Moscow. |
| B．Ukraine is a very rich country in the world. |
| C．JK Rowling’s novels have sold very well. |
| D．The IT industry is a profit making industry. |
Modern man has cleared the forests for farmland and for wood, and has also carelessly burned them. More than that, though, he has also interfered （干涉） with the invisible bonds between the living things in the forests. There are many examples of this kind of destruction. The harmfulness of man’s interference can be seen in what happened many years ago in the forest of the Kaibab plateau （凯亚巴布高原） of northern Arizona. Man tried to improve on the natural web of forest life and destroyed it instead.
The Kaibab had a storybook forest of large sized pine, Douglas fir, white fir, blue and Engelmann spruce. In 1882 a visitor noted, "We, who ... have wandered through its forests and parks, have come to regard it as the most enchanting region it has ever been our privilege （特权） to visit.”This was also the living place of the Rocky Mountain mule deer. Indians hunted there every autumn to gather meat and skins. The forest also had mountain lions, timber wolves and bobcats that kept the deer from multiplying too rapidly.
Then, in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made the Kaibab a national game preserve. Deer hunting was forbidden. Government hunters started killing off the deer’s enemies. In 25 years’ time, 6,250 mountain lions, wolves and bobcats were killed. Before the program, there were about 4,000 deer in the Kaibab, by 1924, there were about 100,000.
The deer ate every leaf and twig they could reach. But there was not nearly enough food. Hunting of deer was permitted again. This caused a slight decrease in the deer herd （鹿群），but a far greater loss resulted from starvation （饥饿） and disease. Some 60 percent of the deer herd died in two winters. By 1930 the herd had dropped to 20,000 animals. By 1942 it was down to 8,000.The destruction of the environment of the Kaibab resulted from .
| A．turning the forest into cultivated land |
| B．interfering with natural cycle of forest life |
| C．forest fires caused by man’s carelessness |
| D．cutting the trees for building materials |
"Engelmann spruce"（Para. 2） is most likely the name of .
| A．a tree | B．an animal | C．a mountain | D．a game |
The number of the deer in the Kaibab had increased enormously inyears’ time.
| A．25 | B．6 | C．18 | D．12 |
Years later, large numbers of deer in the Kaibab died mainly because of .
A． the cold |
B．the organized kill |
| C．the shortage of food | D．the poor management |
Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste.” Drink Good Wet Root Beer.” Fill up with Pacific Gas.” Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless （鲁莽的） or daring, the ride can be as thrilling （惊心动魄的） as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the rightor the lefthand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?
| A．Buses on the road. | B．Films on television. |
| C．Advertisements on the billboards. | D．Gas stations. |
What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To give the writer’s opinion about long bus trips. |
| B．To persuade you to take a long bus trip. |
| C．To explain how bus trips and television shows differ. |
| D．To describe the billboards along the road. |
The writer of this passage would probably favor.
| A．bus drivers who aren’t reckless | B．driving alone |
| C．a television set on the bus | D．no billboards along the road |
The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because.
A．the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun |
| B．they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between |
| C．the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses |
| D．both traveling and watching TV are not exciting. |
The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are .
| A．exciting | B．comfortable | C．tiring | D．boring |
Ever since news of widespread food recalls caused by a carcinogenic dye（颜料） broke, there has been confusion over possible links to the country of the same name, but Sudan officials say there is no connection whatever.
Sudan1 is a red industrial dye that has been found in some chilli powder, but was banned in food products across the European Union (EU) in July 2003.
Since the ban was put in place, EU officials have been striving to remove some food products from the shelves. So far 580 products have been recalled.
Last week Sudan’s Embassy in the United Kingdom asked the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for clarification of the origin of the dye’s name.
Omaima Mahmoud Al Sharief, a press official at Sudan’s Embassy in China, explained the purpose of the inquiry was to clear up any misunderstanding over links between the country and the poisonous dye.
"We want to keep an eye on every detail and avoid any misunderstanding there," she said. "Our embassy to Britain asked them how the dye got that name and whether the dye had something to do with our country. But they told us there was no relationship."
The FSA, an independent food security watchdog in Britain, received a letter from the Sudanese embassy last week.
"They asked us why the dye is named Sudan, however, we also do not know how it got the name," she said. "People found the dye in 1883 and gave it the name. Nobody knows the reason, and we cannot give any explanation before we find out."
Sudan dyes, which include Sudan1 to 4, are red dyes used for colouring solvents（溶剂）, oils, waxes, petrol, and shoe and floor polishes. They are classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. What does the underlined word mean in paragraph one?
| A．Causing cancer. | B．Having side effect. | C．Containing poison. | D．Poisonous. |
How did the Sudan1 get its name?
| A．The dye is often produced in Sudan. |
B．The dye has something to do with  the country named Sudan. |
| C．Nobody is sure of the origin of the name. |
| D．Many foods produced in Sudan contain the dye. |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．the Sudan government is paying much attention to the food safety |
| B．Sudan1 is often used to be added to the food |
| C．people didn’t realize the danger of Sudan1 until 2003 |
| D．many food shops will be closed down |
Which of the following is the best title?
| A．Keep away from Sudan1 |
| B．No Sudan1 dye links to the country |
| C．How Sudan1 dye got its name? |
| D．Pay attention to the food safety |
BEIJING — After a night of wining and dining with 50 of China’s richest people, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates told the journalists on Thursday that the biggest difference between eating with Chinese tycoons(企业界大亨) and Western ones was the food.
“I was amazed last night, really, at how similar the questions and discussions and all that were to
those in the dinners we had in the U.S.,” said Mr. Buffett.
Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates, two o
f the best known Westerners here, announced in September, 2010 that they planned to invite 50 wealthy Chinese tycoons to dinner in Beijing to encourage philanthropy(慈善事业) among China’s new rich.
On Thursday, the two men pronounced the dinner a great success, saying that two-thirds of those invited had shown up, and that more than half of them had offered their own ideas on how Chinese philanthropy should work.
The guest list wasn’t made public, but the Chinese news media reported that it included Jet Li, the movie star; Niu Gensheng, the founder of a Chinese dairy business; and Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, who control the SOHO China real estate(房地产) empire.
As with four earlier dinners held in the United States, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates said, no one at the Beijing event was asked to donate money or to promise to engage in charity. “Bill and I won’t be calling anybody. What happens in China will depend on what the Chinese people feel about a project of this sort,” said Mr. Buffett.
China is widely reported to be second only to the United States in the number of dollar billionaires. Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffett said the nation was unique because its wealthy class had arisen almost wholly in the past 30 years, so the philanthropic practices established among European and American dynasties are new here, and open to change.
The two said the dinner wasn’t a long planned matter, but an offshoot of a trip that Mr. Buffett had already scheduled to Guangdong and Hunan Provinces, where BYD Company, a maker of clean-energy automobiles, has factories. Mr. Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, holds a 10% stake(股金) in the company.
But Mr. Gates suggested that their philan
thropic trip wasn’t yet over. “We may do an event in India,” he said.What is the text mainly about?
A．A brief analysis of future phil anthropy. |
| B．The development of Chinese philanthropy. |
| C．An introduction on Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates’ trip in China. |
| D．A charity dinner held in Beijing by Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates. |
According to the first two paragraphs, Mr Buffett really wanted to say that ________.
| A．the dinner was quite a success |
| B．the food in the dinner was very delicious |
| C．Chinese tycoons are similar to Western ones |
| D．it was pleasing to discuss with Chinese tycoons |
We can learn from the text that __________.
| A．China has the largest number of dollar billionaires in Asia |
| B．many people have promised to donate money at dinner |
| C．Beijing will be the last stop of their philanthropic trip |
D．the Chinese news media published the co mplete guest list of the dinner |
The underlined words “an offshoot” in Paragraph 8 can probably be replaced by “________”.
| A．a report | B．an addition | C．a beginning | D．an end |