Many people believe that all ice cubes are created equal, but they are not. At least that’s what the folks at California’s Glace Luxury Ice Company would like us to believe. The Davisbased company says that the ice cubes they make are healthier and last longer than the ones that we throw into our drinks on a daily basis. What’s more, the company also says that their ice cubes do mot leave behind an aftertaste(余味)in drinks, like regular ones do.
In order to create these unique ice cubes, Glace Luxury begins with water that has been rid of the hazardous impurities(杂质)that the company says can lead to cancer and exist in regular ice. They then freeze it in large blocks. Once ready, the ice is carved into perfect cubes and each cube measures 2.5 inches across. Besides being healthier, these ice cubes apparently also take longer to melt. The company says that each ice cube can last up to 30 minutes.
Of course, those ice cubes do not come cheap. Those that wish to have a taste of this “tasteless” frozen perfection will have to pay $325USD for a bag of 50 ice cubes. That comes to $6.50USD for a single cube of ice!
The unique product is the brainchild of Robert Sequeira, a former business school lecturer who said that he wanted to establish a profitable business that could be easily scaled. Given that he can make as mush Glace Luxury ice as he needs for as little as $0.12USD per cube, he thinks that the idea certainly meets the standard. Now, if he can find that the few people can afford to buy this Glace Luxury ice, life would be great!People at California’s Glace Luxury Ice Company probably want consumers to believe that _____.
| A．ice cubes are healthy for people to use |
| B．their ice cubes add tastes to drinks |
| C．all ice cubes are created the same |
| D．their ice cubes are different |
What does the underlined word “hazardous” in paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Active | B．Regular | C．Dangerous | D．Powerful |
Compared with regular ice cubes, the ice cubes created by Glace Luxury Ice Company_____.
| A．taste much bette |
| B．look much more beautiful |
| C．have more different shapes |
| D．are healthier and melt more slowly |
What does the author think of the ice cubes created by Glace Luxury Ice Company?
| A．They will be a big success |
| B．They are too costly to make. |
| C．They are just regular ice cubes. |
| D．They are too expensive for consumers |
Inside the pleasingly fragrant cafe, So All May Eat(SAME) in downtown Denver ,the spirit ofgenerosityis instantly noticeable :donation box stands in place of a cash register. Customers here pay only what they can afford, no questions asked.A risky business plan, perhaps, but SAME Café has done one unchangeable thing in the Mile High City for six years: Open only at midday, the restaurant allows poor local customers who cannot pay to work as volunteers instead. They can act as waiters and waitresses, and dishwashers, or look after the buildings and equipment for the cafe.
It’s based on trust, and it’s working all right”, says co-owner Brad Birky, who started the café in 2006. Previously volunteering at soup kitchens, the Birkys were dissatisfied with the often unhealthy meals they served there. “We wanted to offer quality food in a restaurant where everyone felt comfortable, regardless of their circumstances,” Birky says. SAME’s special lunch menu changes
daily and most food materials are natural and grown by local farmers. The café now averages 65 to 70 customers (and eight volunteers) a day. And the spirit of generosity behind the project appears to be spreading. In early 2007,one volunteer who had cleared snow for his meals during t he long
winter said goodbye to the Birkys, He said he was going to New Orleans to help with the hurricane clearing up,” says Birky. What can we learn about the soup kitchens the Birkys previously worked for?
| A．They refused to have volunteers. |
| B．They offered low quality food. |
| C．They provided customers with a good environment. |
| D．They closed down because of poor management. |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The customers who cannot pay can work as volunteers instead. |
| B．More volunteers will go to new Orleans for the hurricane cleanup. |
| C．Many new cafes will be opened to offer free lunches in the town. |
| D．The lunch menu has remained the same since the café was started. |
The author’s attitude towards running such a café is_______
| A．unfavorable | B．doubtful | C．cautious | D．approving |
What’s delicious to eat and comes in a variety of colors? Eggplant! And no, it has nothing to do with chickens! This strangely named vegetable is, however, as versatile as an egg．It can be steamed, fried, and baked．It can be eaten by itself or combined with meats and other vegetables．
Eggplant was first grown in India in the 5th century BC．Its popularity soon spread to China and then throughout Asia．Finally, during the Middle Ages the vegetable made its way to Europe．At that time, eggplant was not the shiny purple vegetable most people know today．Instead, it’s like a white egg．Due to this egg - like appearance, eggplant got its name．In its early days, the vegetable was so bitter that people often called it a “mad apple.” This nickname started because people believed its bitterness was bad for one' s health．People actually thought eggplant could cause madness and cancer．
Fortunately today people know that eggplant doesn't cause insanity or cancer．In fact eggplant is so healthy that it may prevent cancer．In addition, the brain and the heart benefit from this super vegetable．Since it's high in fibre, eggplant can improve digestion．
Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China and Japan are the leading growers of eggplant in the world today．Depending on its location, eggplant may be purple, green, orange or yellow - white．And it can be as small as a tomato or as large as a cucumber．Dish varieties range from simple to complex, with all of them being delicious．
Today, thousands of people gather in Loomis, Calif, for the annual Loomis Eggplant Festival．The main activity at the festival is eating delicious eggplant dishes．There is plenty more to do and see, though．Recipe contests, arts and crafts, performers, races and children's activities all “egg – cite” festival - goers．Most people at the festival would agree—eggplant is an “egg—cellent” vegetable．Eggplant got its name because of its _____．
| A．appearance | B．taste | C．color | D．value |
Which of the following does NOT belong to the qualities of eggplant?
| A．It can be cooked in various ways． |
| B．It is easy to digest． |
| C．It can prevent cancer． |
| D．It is valuable and priceless． |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Eggplant can be eaten to cure cancer |
| B．Eggplant used to taste bitter． |
| C．India produce the most eggplant in the world today． |
| D．Eggplant has a history of nearly 1,000 years． |
Most people come to the Loomis Eggplant Festival to_____．
| A．see arts and crafts |
| B．enjoy food with eggplants |
| C．take part in recipe contests |
| D．promote eggplant |
When Frida Kahlo's paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “ a ribbon （丝带）around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City , Kahlo suffered from polio（小儿麻痹症）at the age of seven. Her spine （脊柱）become bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influences on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953.For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last. What does the phrase “a much bigger name” in paragraph 1 most nearly mean?
| A．a far better artist |
| B．a far more gifted artist |
| C．a much stronger person |
| D．a much more famous person |
The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by .
| A．polio |
| B．back injuries |
| C．the operations she had |
| D．her bent spine |
Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the .
| A．1950s | B． 1930s | C．1940s | D．1970s |
What is author’s attitude toward Kahlo?
| A．Devotion | B．Sympathy | C．Worry | D．Encouragement |
People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed．It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative （合作的）and another is competitive．
Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions．They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors．There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought （学派）on the matter have developed．As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from one another, and there is a great deal of debate between proponents of each theory．The controversy（argument) is often referred to as“nature and nurture（教育）”．
Those who support the “nature” side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological and genetic factors．That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics, and behavior is central to this theory．Taken to an extreme(走极端）, this theory maintains that our behavior is predetermined to such a degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts（本能）．
Proponents of the “nurture” theory, or, as they are often called, behaviorists, claimed that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act．A behaviorist, B．F．Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings．The behaviorists’ view of the human being is quite mechanistic（机械论的）; they maintain that, like machines, humans’ respond to environmental stimuli（刺激） as the basis of their behavior．
Socially and politically, the consequences of these two theories are far-reaching．In the US, for example, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligence tests．This leads some proponents to conclude that blacks are genetically lower in status than whites．Behaviorists, on the contrary, say that the differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often robbed of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy, and that, as a result, they do not develop the same responses that whites do．
Either of these theories cannot yet fully explain human behavior．In fact, it is quite likely that the key to our behavior lies somewhere between these two extremes. That the controversy will continue for a long time is certain．This passage is mainly concerned with．
| A．relation between personality and behavior |
| B．relation between behavior and environment |
| C．different accounts of patterns of human behavior |
| D．different theories of the formation of human behavior |
The underlined word " proponents'' in paragraph 2 means．
| A．creators | B．advisors |
| C．supporters | D．judges |
In paragraph 5 , the author mainly writes about．
| A．the considerable（值得考虑的） influence of the two theories |
| B．differences between the blacks and whites |
| C．racial discrimination in the United States |
| D．different responds to intelligence tests |
What's the author's purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To call our attention to the changes of human behavior． |
| B．To urge scientists to do more research in social science． |
| C．To give us a detailed explanation of human behavior． |
| D．To present an argument in the field of social science． |
A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Weboholism, a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use e-mailand speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.
Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. This addictive behavior has affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log on computers and spend long hours at different websites.
They become addicted to computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don’t concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.
They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.
Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to isolate themselves from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real life friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world. The author’s attitude towards weboholism is that of being______.
| A．oppositive | B．positive |
| C．optimistic | D．acceptable |
The main idea of the passage is about__________.
| A．the cause of weboholism |
| B．the advantage of weboholism |
| C．the popularity of weboholism |
| D．the influence of weboholism |
According to the passage, which is right?
| A．Ten years ago, someone thought computer users will isolate themselves from the society. |
| B．Weboholism, a twentieth century disease, only affects college students. |
| C．Those who are addicted to computers spend less time with their friends than in front of computers. |
| D．Most students spend all free time surfing but they can concentrate on homework. |
We can infer from the passage that_______.
| A．weboholism has the greatest effect on teenagers |
| B．students can hardly balance real and virtual life |
| C．people are addicted to games on the Internet |
| D．virtual life is more vivid and attractive anyway |