Sarah Outland’s weeklong “staycation” gave her a chance to explore her new surroundings after moving to Chicago. A day after moving to the Windy City last year, Outland started a new job and never got a chance to explore her new surroundings. After nine months as a resident, she finally took a week off work to visit famous landmarks, museums and shopping centers that were right under her nose.
If you glance through a newspaper or listen to a news broadcast recently, you may hear or spot a strange word, “staycation”. Staycation is a new word the American press is employing to describe a vacation very close to your home, or simply staying at home during your vacation. It is a combination of words “stay”and “vacation”.
According to many news reports, these staycations are achieving great popularity among American families this year. When asked about the reason for their expected staycation, respondents stated “gas prices are too high” (61 percent), “travel in general is too expensive (44 percent). The high price of gas for cars and airplanes has made it very expensive for Americans to travel compared to past years. When you combine this with the weak American dollar, it all adds up to people deciding to stay close to home during their traditional summer vacations.
For aggressive young Americans who are trying to balance family and work, a staycation can be a great concept. They want to enjoy their homes and the attractions in their area without the stress of packing or making reservation. They won’t be paying high fuel prices either directly, at the pump, or indirectly, in airfare, other than the gas required to drive around town. Absolutely, it’s friendlier on the environment when locals take trips to attractions in their own area, and not everyone is game for a vacation that involves staying on a hotel compound. Few people live close enough to a real destination to make this worth their while.How long after moving to Chicago did Sarah Outland take a staycation?
| A．A day | B．A week | C．A month | D．Nine months |
The author develops the second paragraph of the passage by______.
| A．making a comparison | B．giving a definition |
| C．offing an analysis | D．providing an example |
Staycations are popular with American people mainly due to _____.
| A．high traveling expenses | B．stress of packing |
| C．relatively low income | D．lack of real destinations. |
There have been great changes in the lives of women. During the twentieth century ,there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to hav
e about eight children, of whom about five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances(家用电器) and convenience(方便) foods.
This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them.Women marrying at the end of the 19th century ________.
| A．would have fewer children than those today. |
| B．would have more children than those today. |
C．lived as hard as those in the 20th century |
| D．lived more comfortably than those in the 20th century |
According to the passage, a woman in the 19th century would likely to have about eight children and _______.
| A．only about three of them could live more than five years old. |
| B．only about three of them could live for five years. |
| C．about eight children lived to be more than five years. |
| D．about eight children lived to be less than five years. |
From the second paragraph, we know _______.
| A．women today are not willing to run their home together with their husbands. |
| B．women today wouldn’t like to do any housework. |
| C．women today will return to work after they have their babies. |
| D．were unlikely to find jobs like the mothers before . |
According to the passage, which of the following is right ?
| A．in the past most women often stay at home after leaving school |
| B．women today like to marry men younger than themselves |
| C．women today are playing important parts in work and family life. |
| D．husbands today needn’t do any work at home. |
For children with cancer(癌),the facts of life include the facts of death.
There is always the fear that they might not live to grow up．Yet they realize that fighting cancer is the only way of beating it. So they fight．And sometimes, they win.It may take years．It certainly takes support from parents and doctors.
Unfortunately, many parents can't deal with their child's illness．And doctors, no matter how caring, have other patients to care for. At times like these, the Children's Cancer Foundation can help. We are a group of Hong Kong doctors, nurses, psychologists, parents of children with cancer and concerned persons (有关人士).All of us are volunteers (offer one's help without payment).We're with the children every day, listening to, and encouraging them.
We also advise parents, educate the public and send doctors overseas to study new cancer treatments. Our funding (providing money) has brought better equipment to the wards (large rooms of a hospital), and paid for special flat
s where the children can recover.
We want to do even more．But to do it, we need your help. It will be money well spent．One who looks at our past achievements should prove that．
To the children, your contribution （贡献）will also be a show of support.A sign that you're behind them is just the sort of news that a six-year-old chlid with cancer needs to hear. This passage is likely_________.
| A．a story | B．an advertisement |
| C．a report | D．diary |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．the people who work for the children with cancer are not paid. |
| B．the Children's Cancer Foundation gets money from the children with cancer |
| C．every child can get help from the Children's Cancer Foundation. |
D．only psychologi sts and parents of children with cancer are willing to help the children with cancer |
The Children's Cancer Foundation _________.
| A．has set up many hospitals. |
| B．is made up of many volunteers including doctors, nurses, psychologists and so on. |
C．hasn’t done anything for the the  children with cancer. |
D．can’t help the children with cancer in many ways. |
Notting hill is a small town west of London. Here lives shy William, a divorced（离婚） man, who owns a little travel-book store.
It was a Wednesday, when the poor shop keeper happened to meet Anna Scott ,a movie star who walked into his shop.
They ran across each other in the street again. And they found themselves falling in love. But how could a poor man keep the love of a famous star? Their lives and their worlds were so different.
Six months later, Anna was in London again for her new film. She came to William’s thought …
Length(长度):110 minutes
Director:David Duning
Cast:Julia Roberts(actress), Hugh Grant(actor) According to the passage, who most probably plays the role of Anna in the film ?
| A．Julia Roberts. | B．Hugh Grant. | C．David Duning. | D．Not mentioned. |
How did William and Anna get to know each other first?
| A．Anna was invited to visit William’s book store. |
| B．Anna ,a film star, walked into William’s book store. |
| C．William was introduced by Anna’s friend. |
| D．They met each other in the street accidently. |
What did William do according to the passage?
| A．A movie star . | B．A book store owner |
| C．A man called William. | D．We don’t know . |
What is the passage mainly discussing ?
| A．A book named Notting. | B．A small town in West London. |
| C．A man called William. | D．A film. |
Making a film takes a long time and is very hard work. Writing the story for the film may take many weeks. Shooting (拍摄) the film often takes at least six months. Actors and camera men work from very early in the morning until late at night. Each scene has to be acted and re-acted, filmed and re-filmed, until it is just fine. Sometimes the same scene has to be acted many times.
The film studio is like a large factory, and the indoor stages are very big indeed. Scenery of all kinds is made in the studio. Churches, houses, and forests are all built of wood and cardboard. Several hundred people work together to make one film. Some of these people are the actors and actresses. The director of the film, however, is the most important person in a film studio. He decides how the scenes should be filmed and how the actors should act.
Most people go to see a film because they know the film stars are in it. Sometimes the film may be very poor. It is best to choose a film made by a good director. Some famous directors make their films very real; people feel that they themselves are among the people in the films. Making a film is ________ .
| A．very simple | B．quite funny |
| C．quite interesting | D．not very easy |
The director of a film ________ .
| A．says how only one scene should be filmed |
| B．tells the actors and actresses how they should not act |
| C．is the most important person in a film studio |
| D．all the above |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Writing the story for the film is a part of making a film. |
| B．The indoor stages in the film studio are very big. |
| C．All of the people in film making are actors and actresses. |
| D．Shooting the film often takes many months. |
The best title for the passage is "________ ".
| A．Writing the Story | B．Actors and Actresses |
| C．A Director | D．Making a Film |
We are all busy talking about and using the Internet，but how many of us know the history of the Internet?
Many people are surprised when they find that the Internet was set up in the 1960s.At that time，computers were large and expensive .Computer networks didn’t work well. If one computer in the network broke dow
n,，then the whole net-work stopped.. So a new network system had to be set up. It should be good enough to be used by many different computers. If part of the net-work was not working, information could be sent through another part. In this way computer network system would keep on working all the time.
At first the Internet was only used by the government, but in the early 1970s,universities, hospitals and banks were allowed to use it too. However, computers were still very expensive and the Internet was difficult to use. By the start of the 1990s, computers became cheaper 
and easier to use . Scientists had also developed software that made “surfing” the Internet more convenient.
Today it is easy to get on-line and it is said that millions of people use the Internet every day. Sending e-mail is more and more popular among students.
The Internet has now become one of the most important parts of people’s life.The Internet has a history of more than _____ years.
| A．sixty | B．ten | C．forty | D．twenty |
A new network system was set up to ______.
| A． make computers cheaper |
| B． make itself keep on working all the time |
| C． break down the whole network |
| D． make computers large and expensive |
At first the Internet was only used by _____.
| A．the government | B．scientists |
C．hospital and banks |
D．schools |
_____ made “surfing” the Internet more convenient.
| A．Computers | B．Scientists |
| C．Software | D．Information |
Which of the following is true ?
| A． In the 1960s, computer networks worked well. |
| B． In the early1970s, the Internet was easy to use. |
| C． Sending e-mail is now more popular among students than before. |
| D． Today it’s still not easy to get on-line. |