Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive; to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable．
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful．When I first learned to cook, I used recipes （菜谱）and turned out some tasty dishes．But soon I grew bored．Why did you follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them．
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously（下意识地）hold poor role models．If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others．
In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities．Those stars look great on screen．But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors．
Bless is that the person is willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply．They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation．The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them．Creative people have an endless resource of ideas．The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination．
Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not serve．Then you can say, “I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors’ tragedies and declare victory, and know that they are cheering me on．Imitation proves useful when you ．
| A．know you are unique |
| B．lose the balance of life |
| C．begin to learn something new |
| D．get tired of routine practice |
To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should________．
| A．forget daily fear and pain |
| B．choose the right example |
| C．ask others for decisions |
| D．stay away from stars |
According to the author, the world moves on because of those who are ．
| A．desperate to influence others with their knowledge |
| B．ready to turn their original ideas into reality |
| C．eager to discover what their ancestors did |
| D．willing to accept others’ ideas |
The trouble a creator faces is ．
| A．the lack of strong motivation |
| B．the absence of practical ideas |
| C．how to search for more materials |
| D．how to use imagination creatively |
What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
| A．To highlight the importance of creatively． |
| B．To criticize the characters of role models． |
| C．To compare imitation with creation． |
| D．To explain the meaning of success． |
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 down, then the whole network 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 network 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 had become 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 about____________ years.
| A．70 | B．10 | C．50 | D．20 |
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．hospitals and banks | D．schools |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．In the 1960s, computer networks worked well. |
| B．In the early 1970s, the Internet was easy to use. |
| C．Sending e-mail is now more popular among students. |
| D．Today it’s still not easy to get on-line. |
EVENTS(赛事)
Bicycle tour and race
A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27(Sat. & Sun. ). At 
5:30am, the riders will leave Tian'anmen Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg. Then the next 55 kilometers leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli.
The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaibe, covering a distance of 20 kilometers. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing.
Cost: 20
0 Yuan Telephone: 4675027
Brazilian footballers
The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26. The club has four national team players. Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Romario ho has promised to play for at least 45 minutes.
Ticket prices: 60,100,150 Yuan
Time/Date: 4:30 pm, 
August 26(Sat.) Telephone: 5012372
Rock climbing
The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26-27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for spectators(观众).
Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou.
Time/Dates: 9-12 
am, August 26 and 27
Telephone: 7143177, 7144850, Wang Zhenghua If you take part in the bike tour, you will ride for _________.
| A．35 kilometers | B．55 kilometers | C．75 kilometers | D．110 kilometers |
The underlined word "leg" in "Bicycle tour and race" probably means ________.
| A．race | B．practice | C．part of the training | D．part of the tour |
What is special about the Rock climbing competition?
| A．A foreign team takes part in it. |
| B．You can watch it without paying. |
| C．You don't have to be a sportsman to take part. |
| D．The bus trip to the place of the competition is free. |
If you want to find something to do for Saturday afternoon, which telephone number will you call?
| A．4675027 | B．7143177 | C．5012372 | D．7144850 |
I attended a birthday party in 1991. My teacher was then 59 years old. But her fellow teacher said that we were celebrating her 39th birthday! We were all surprised and puzzled.
After the party I was told by the fellow teacher that American women have a special saying about birthdays. If a woman is over 40, or even if she is 80, her birthday is always the 39th. If she is in her thirties, her birthday will be the 29th. And in her twenties, it’s the 19th. They usually have their “real” birthday when they are below 20.
This shows that American women, especially elderly women, are very sensitive(敏感的) about their ages. But my teacher always says, “We want to be younger,” so about the age of Western women, my advice is that if you don’t know it, don’t ask about it; if you really know it, don’t mention it. The writer felt the birthday party he attended was ___________.
| A．very interesting | B．very strange | C．very common | D．very sensitive |
The writer must be from______________.
| A．Western countries | B．Eastern countries |
| C．China | D．the United States |
In order to please an old Western woman , you can say to her,“____________”
| A．You are so old that you shouldn’t do that. |
| B．How old are you? |
| C．You look so young and beautiful. |
| D．Can I help you, granny? |
The writer wants to tell us__________________.
| A．that a Western woman always celebrates her 39th birthday |
| B．not to ask a Western woman’s age whether you know her well or not |
| C．to ask a Western woman’s age freely |
| D．not to attend an old Western woman’s birthday party |
If cars had wings，they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2011.The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011.
“It’s the next‘wow’vehicle，”said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh.“Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car plane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute—and fold back up for driving.A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both.The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly.They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go.When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road.There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport—you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet.It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers.Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界)conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000, But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS.Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option,”Gersh said.
So far,the company has more than 70 orders with deposits.“We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,”Brown said.We can learn from the first paragraph that.
| A．car-planes will be popular in 2011 |
| B．people might drive a car-plane in 2011 |
| C．both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land |
| D．Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
lt takes the car-plane one minute to.
| A．fold and unfold its wings | B．unfold wings for flying |
| C．land in the airport | D．meet flying safety regulations |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A.The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B.To mcet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C.The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D.People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.The underlined word“it”in the last but one paragraph refers to.
| A．the radio | B．the transponder |
| C．the GPS | D．the full-plane parachute |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Cars With Wings May Be Just Around The Corner. |
| B．Which to Choose: A Ferraris or a Car Plane? |
| C．A more Convenient and Cheaper Way to Fly. |
| D．Cars With Wings Can Fly as Fast as Planes. |
Officials in a remote Russian city have drawn up a list of practical tips for locals on how to survive encounters (相遇) with bears, after growing numbers have wandered into the streets in search of food.
Officials in the city of Syktyvkar drew up the guidelines to guide the local people, after several bears were caught sight of in the city, going hungry after a heat wave shriveled their usual diet of nuts and berries.
The guide warns that city people there should stay calm and stand still if they meet with a bear. “Speak to the bear in a firm voice” and “Don’t turn your back on it,” it adds. In the worst case, if the bear attacks, the person should also be ready to attack, the guide says. “Shout angrily at it and look it straight in the eye,” the guide advises. “Bears have started coming into the areas where people live more and more often,” the city officials said in a statement. “Any encounter with a bear is unsafe for humans, so our task is to do all we can to prevent such accidents.”
In September, a bear attacked a 25-year-old man in a central street of the city, wounding him in the neck before he managed to run away, police said. “Three or four people who met with brown bears have been recorded recently,” the head of the hunting department in the regional agriculture organization, Alexander said.
Officials have asked police to patrol (巡逻) streets close to wooded areas in the evenings.
Syktyvkar is the regional capital of the remote Komi region in northwest Russia. Its population is just over 230,000. The city issued the guidelines to help the local people to _____.
| A．avoid bear encounters | B．survive bear encounters |
| C．get along well with bears | D．drive hungry bears away |
The underlined word “shriveled” in Paragraph 2 probably means _____.
| A．piled up | B．saved up | C．kept up | D．dried up |
What can be inferred from Alexander’s words?
| A．Bears have been seen frequently recently |
| B．Bears like to wander around schools. |
| C．Brown bears are usually very fierce. |
| D．Too many bears have disappeared. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Bears are short of food worldwide |
| B．Ways to got along well with bears |
| C．Tips are issued on bear encounters |
| D．Bears have started coming into cities |