It is "one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy," says Zeng Ming．He is talking about e-commerce．Mr Zeng, the chief strategy officer for Alibaba, a giant Chinese Internet firm, predicts that digital transactions on his firm's platforms will top l trillion yuan（$159 billion）this year-more than Amazon's and eBay's combined．That is a bold claim, but consider what happened on Singles Sunday．
Invented a few years ago by students and seized upon by digital marketers, this festival for lonely hearts falls annually on the llth day of the llth month （since l is the loneliest number）．It is like St Valentine's Day, only worse．Singletons shower each other with tender gifts: a barrage of pearls; a storm of sweets．
This November llth they spent a surprising 19 billion yuan on Alibaba's online platforms ----- a fourfold increase on a year ago, and more than double what Americans spent online last Cyber Monday（the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers urge Americans to shop online）．About 100m purchases were logged, accounting for 80% of the packages shipped that day．Couriers（怏递员） were buried in parcels．
So life is good for China's e-tailers, then? Not exactly．The number of digital marketers is increasing and online sales are booming．Consumers are enjoying lower prices, better service and more variety．The problem? The pressure on profits in Chinese e-commerce is worse than in America, reckons Elinor Leung of CLSA, a broker． "Almost no one makes money," she says．
The fiercest battles are being fought between online retailers and their bricks-and-mortar（实体的） rivals．Dangdang, a firm, that resembles Amazon,and 360buy, another online retailer, have cut prices fiercely． Tencent, a cash-rich online giant known for its instant-messaging software, is splashing out to win market share．360buy has also just raised $400m from investors to do the same．But it is unclear how much longer such firms can burn through capital．What's the best title of this passage?
| A．The Ambition of Alibaba |
| B．Fierce Competition between Retailers |
| C．A Newly Sprung Festival for the Singles |
| D．Chinese Booming and Developing E-commerce |
According to Zeng Ming, this year Alibaba will ．
| A．outweigh Amazon and eBay in worldwide influence |
| B．rank top among all the Internet firms |
| C．have more than 159 billion dollars' sale |
| D．create another sales miracle just like the one on Singles Day |
How many packages were shipped on November ll th from Alibaba's online platforms?
A． About 80 million． B． About 100 million．
C． About 125 million． C． About 180 million．What's the author's attitude towards online retailers in China?
| A．Optimistic． | B．Concerned． |
| C．Sympathetic． | D．Indifferent． |
There are three branches of medicine. One is called "doctor medicine," or "scientific medicine." Scientific doctors try to observe sicknesses, look for logical patterns, and then find out how the human body works. From there they figure out what treatments may work. This kind of medicine is believed to date from the 4th century BC. Although nowadays it is successful, in the ancient world this approach probably did not cure many patients.
A second kind of medicine is called "natural cures," or "folk medicine," in which less educated people try to cure sicknesses with various herbs. These folk healers also use observation and logic, but they are not so aware of it. They try things until they find something that seems to work, and then they keep doing that. Folk medicine flourished（繁荣） long before the development of scientific medicine and was more successful in ancient times than doctor medicine.
The third kind is called "health spas," or "faith healing." Sometimes this may be as simple as touching the holy man and being immediately healed. Other times, a magician may make you a magic charm, or say a spell, to cure you. Some religious groups organize special healing shrines（圣坛） for the sick. In these places people rest, get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food, drink water instead of wine, and exercise in various ways. They also talk to the priests and pray to the gods. If you are feeling depressed or you have been working too hard, going to these places may be just the right thing to make you feel better. Doctor medicine __________.
| A．has a longer history than folk medicine |
| B．has been practiced for around 1,600 years |
| C．bases its treatments on observation and logic |
| D．was very successful in curing sicknesses in ancient times |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT used in health spas?
| A．Magic power. | B．Various herbs. | C．Religious faith. | D．A healthy life style. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Folk healers choose different herbs to cure diseases without any sound basis. |
| B．People who practice folk medicine need lots of formal education on herbs. |
| C．The success of folk medicine led to the development of doctor medicine. |
| D．Natural cures worked better than scientific medicine in ancient times. |
The author's primary purpose in this passage is to __________.
| A．describe different types of medicine |
| B．argue for the importance of medicine in health care |
| C．show the crucial role religion plays in medical treatments |
| D．compare the educational background of three different types of patients |
Magic is believed to have begun with the Egyptians, in 1700 BC. A magician named Dedi of Dedsnefu was reported to have performed for the pharaoh, or the king. He was also known to have entertained the slaves who built the pyramids. The "Cups and Balls" trick which he was particularly good at is still performed by magicians all over the world today.
The ancient Greeks and Romans were also fascinated by the idea of magic. Actually, one of their main interests was the art of deception（欺骗）. This explains why at that time the priests（神父） even built magic devices into their temples. These devices made it possible for doors to open by themselves and wine to flow magically out of statues' mouths. This was done mainly to convince people that the priests were powerful.
Magic, however, was not well accepted before the 1800s. Magicians were thought of as freaks（怪物） and were only allowed to perform in a circus（马戏团）. It was in the 19th century that the magician Robert Houdin came along and changed people's views and attitudes about magic. It was also because of Robert Houdin that many magicians were able to add Dr. or MD to their names. Today magicians try hard to find new ways to show their practiced skills. Magic is now entertainment for families all over the world. What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Magical Tricks | B．The History of Magic |
| C．Magic as Entertainment | D．A Great Magician |
In ancient Greece, what did the priests do to show people they had unusual power?
| A．They performed magical tricks to entertain people. |
| B．They made the statues in the temples drink wine as they wished. |
| C．They treated the people with wine flowing down from statues' mouths. |
| D．They built magic devices in the temples to make doors open by themselves. |
What did people think of magic before 1800?
| A．Magic should be used only in temples. |
| B．Magic could only be performed in a circus. |
| C．Magic was performed by freaks and doctors. |
| D．Magic was the major daily activity for the pharaohs. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．Magic began about 3,700 years ago. |
| B．Dedi of Dedsnefu performed magic for kings only. |
| C．Robert Houdin was the first magician to perform magic. |
| D．The "Cups and Balls" trick has been performed for about 1,700 years. |
Imagine living locked inside a closet. You can’t choose when and what to eat or how you will spend your time. You can’t even decide when the lights go on and off. Think about spending your whole life like this.
This is the life of lab animals.
Now consider the needs of these animals. Chimpanzees(黑猩猩),in their natural homes, are never separated from their families. They spend hours together every day. But in a lab, chimpanzees are put in cages alone. There are no families, only cold, hard cages, and loneliness that goes on for so many years that most of them lose their minds at last.
Worse yet are the experiments. Animals are given diseases they would never normally get. Experimenters force-feed(给……强行喂食) chemicals to them, conduct repeated surgeries(手术),and much more, Think of what it would be like to put up with these and then be thrown back into a cage, usually without any painkillers. Often animals see other animals being killed right in front of them.
Hundreds of thousands of animals are poisoned, blinded, and killed every year in product tests for shampoos, skin creams and new cancer drugs. Although more than 500 companies have stopped testing on animals, some of them still force chemicals into monkeys’ stomachs and rabbits’ eyes.
Although some facilities are better than others at caring for animals—not every lab worker kills a mouse by cutting off its head with scissors—there are no happy animals inside laboratories. Will the lab life end? When will it end?The passage mainly tells us about.
| A．animals’ lives in laboratories |
| B．cruel experiments on animals |
| C．the needs of animals in labs |
| D．facilities used to care for animals |
Animals in a lab.
①are very cold, and in separate cages
②feel lonely locked inside a cage
③aren’t fed anything but chemicals
④are forced to undergo cruel tests
⑤are forced to eat chemicals
| A．①③④ | B．②③⑤ | C．②④⑤ | D．①④⑤ |
We can infer from the passage that _________.
| A．some companies have found ways to replace animal tests |
| B．animals normally get no strange diseases |
| C．animals are happy in labs with better facilities |
| D．painkillers can change the results of experiments |
The author’s attitude towards the future of animals for experiment can be described as _______.
| A．positive | B．worried | C．satisfied | D．disappointed |
In the last few years the Internet has become a widespread phenomenon(现象) around the world. People have started to use the computers just like they used to watch TV. Whenever we get hungry, we simply order a pizza through the Internet and while we are waiting for the food, we can send an important business e-mail concerning some sales for tomorrow. It is, in fact, very comfortable to just simply sit down and have a chat with somebody from South Africa about fishing and get some important advice. Sometimes when you are sad and are feeling lonely, if you go on the Internet, you can find good entertainment that will keep you busy.
To make a long story short, we just don’t have the time to communicate with people in person anymore. Besides, there is so much information easy to get on the Internet that when we start surfing, we find it hard for us to get away from the computer. There are a lot of people who are addicted(沉溺于) to TV and watch it 5 to 7 hours a day, while recently addiction to the Internet has become a very serious problem. You might think that these kinds of things could never happen to you, but it is not really true. To prevent yourself from getting addicted, the most important thing is to make sure that you are not spending too much time in front of the screen. Although it might seem to be easy to pull yourself away from the Web, it is simply not the case. You might have to make an effort to place some limits(限制) on yourself.The first paragraph of the text mainly tells us that.
| A．it is nice to have a Net friend from South Africa |
| B．the Internet can help us to do business |
| C．some people prefer surfing the Internet to watching TV |
| D．the Internet can make our life more convenient |
To avoid getting addicted to the Internet, we should.
| A．watch TV more hours a day instead |
| B．limit our time in front of the screen |
| C．communicate with people face to face |
| D．entertain ourselves in other ways |
From the passage, we can infer that the writer.
| A．has once been addicted to the Net |
| B．is completely against surfing the Net |
| C．knows how to surf the Net efficiently |
| D．thinks the Net brings bads and goods |
The text is most probably taken from.
| A．a health book | B．a geography magazine |
| C．a life magazine | D．a computer technology book |
Taking the train is a wonderful way to see America. In the 19th century, train routes appeared from coast to coast, carrying both people and goods Today, a long-distance Amtrak train trip is a different way to experience the United States.
The long-distance Amtrak trains have lots of room. Coach seats have lots of leg room and wide aisles(走廊),sightseeing lounges(休闲室) have large windows, and sleeping areas can provide a good night’s rest. On a train trip, there’s time to talk, play cards or board games, and read to one another. On a car trip, parents have to drive while on a train, parents can sit back and watch the scenery go by. Unlike an airplane, traveling by train is not the quickest way to arrive at your destination; the train is the destination in itself.
Amtrak manages long-distance trains that run through the United States. Routes have different names, such as Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief. The long-distance trains have double-decker cars(Superliners), sightseeing lounges, and a real dining car. On shorter trains, such as from New York to Washington. DC, the cars are single level and only have a snack bar. In the Superliner trains, the sightseeing lounge is lined with windows on the second level while on the lower level a snack bar and tables can be found. In the evening, videos are shown in the lounge car—either entertaining movies or documentaries.
Tip: As delays are common on Amtrak trains, always call the station before you go there. Otherwise, you may be cooling your heels(脚后跟) for hours.What’s the advantage of seeing America by train?
| A．There are more services on the train than any other |
| B．Traveling by train is the quickest way to reach your destination. |
| C．Traveling by train gives people more time to see and do things. |
| D．The trains like Amtrak allow people to enjoy the journey cheaply. |
Which of the following can be found on short-distance Amtrak trains?
| A．Sleeping areas. | B．Snack bars. | C．Sightseeing lounges. | D．Coach seats. |
What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
| A．You will have to wait. |
| B．You make your heel cool. |
| C．You will have no place to stand on the train. |
| D．Your feet will be hurt on the train. |
Which of the following about Superliners is true?
| A．There are lines of windows on the lower level. |
| B．The snack bar is on the higher level. |
| C．A sightseeing lounge is on the upper level. |
| D．Both levels are equipped with videos. |