Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn：scores of silent women with babies on their backs,buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a bright-blue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in KesumPurbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don't come at all. “That water kills people, w a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel-colored liquid. "Whoever drinks it will die. ” The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neighbourhood.
Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but nobody is desperate enough to drink it.
There is no standard for how much water a per-son needs each day, but experts usually put the mini-mum at fifty litres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres—less than it takes to flush a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of KesumPurbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day—two or three buckets' worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn't go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk； it's cheaper. Like the poorest people everywhere, the people of New Delhi's slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a municipal system of pipes. The underlined word “slum” most likely means __________
| A．a village |
| B．a small town |
| C．an area of a town with badly-built, over-crowded buildings |
| D．the part of a town that lacks water badly |
Sometimes the water tanker doesn't come because __________.
| A．the weather is bad |
| B．there is no electricity |
| C．there is no water |
| D．people don't want the dirty water |
Which of the following statements is wrong?
| A．A hundred litres of water a day is enough for Shoba's family. |
| B．Americans uses the largest amount of water each day. |
| C．InKesumPurbahari milk is cheaper than bottled water. |
| D．Shoba has a family of seven people. |
The passage mainly tells us __________.
| A．how women in KesumPurbahari gets their water |
| B．how much water a day a person needs |
| C．that India lacks water badly |
| D．how India government manages to solve the problem of water |
A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops(笔记本电脑)．
Students are increasingly using laptops for notetaking because of speed and legibility(清晰度)．But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.
Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes “mindlessly” by taking down word for word what the professors said.
In the first experiment，students were given either a laptop or pen and paper. They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual notetaking skills. Thirty minutes after the talk，they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.
The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand. However，the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts. Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.
The researchers' report said，“While more notes are beneficial，if the notes are taken mindlessly，as is more likely the case on a laptop，the benefit disappears.”
In another experiment aimed at testing longterm memory，students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture. This time，the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.
These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding，but that they also lead to superior revision in the future. More and more students favour laptops for notetaking because they can ________.
| A．write more notes | B．digest concepts better |
| C．get higher scores | D．understand lectures better |
While taking notes，laptop users tend to be ________.
| A．skilful | B．mindless |
| C．thoughtful | D．tireless |
The author of the passage aims to ________.
| A．examine the importance of longterm memory |
| B．stress the benefit of taking notes by hand |
| C．explain the process of taking notes |
| D．promote the use of laptops |
The passage is likely to appear in ________.
| A．a newspaper advertisement | B．a computer textbook |
| C．a science magazine | D．a finance report |
In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become “twins” with a sister city relationship.
The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.
Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.
Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town.
Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin town in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan country!
Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skills, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.Twin towns develop __________.
| A．between European countries and China |
| B．in the English-speaking countries only |
| C．in the same country |
| D．between different countries |
One of the advantages of town twinning is__________.
| A．to earn more money |
| B．to set up schools |
| C．to improve students’ language skills |
| D．to develop industry and agriculture |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Town Twinning |
| B．Friendly Town |
| C．Exchange Teachers and Students |
| D．Peace and Understanding |
Who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams(1860~1935)
Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She created shelters, education opportunities and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Noble Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson(1907~1964)
Rachel Carson was born in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania in America. The popular book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 made people realize the dangers and the harmful effects of pollution on humans and on the world’s lake and oceans.
Angela Merkel(1954~)
In 2005, German chose Angela Merkel as their first woman head of the country. She had been a scientist in the past. As Germany ’leader, she has had an effect on the whole world.
Sandra Day O’Connor(1930~)
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work because she was a woman. However, she became the first woman to join the US Supreme Court in 1981 after years of hard work.
Margaret Thatcher(1925~)
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. She served until 1990, which made her the first Britain leader to serve three terms in a row. Because of her high standards and strong will, people called her Britain’s Iron Lady.
Marie Curie(1867~1934)
Polish-born scientist Marie Curie discovered that some types of metal give off energy called radiation. Her research led to new medical treatments and arms. She received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and in Chemistry in 1911.Who once won the Nobel Prize?
| A．Jane Addams and Marie Curie. |
| B．Jane Addams and Margaret Thatcher. |
| C．Marie Curie and Angela Merkel. |
| D．Marie Curie and Rachel Carson. |
We can infer from the passage that Rachel Carson worked to ______.
| A．help the poor |
| B．spread geographic knowledge |
| C．protect the environment |
| D．protect the rights of women |
What do Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher have in common?
| A．Both of them were scientists before coming to power. |
| B．Both of them are the first woman head of their country. |
| C．Both of them are famous for being strict. |
| D．Both of them have worked for three terms. |
Who once failed to find a job?
| A．Jane Addams | B．Sandra Day O’Connor |
| C．Rachel Carson | D．Margaret Thatcher |
Parents are a child’s first teachers．But some parents never learned from good examples．In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents．
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week．The class is called Mommy and Me．Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother．She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season．
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby．The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding．Delores Clemens says, “that's not true．You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason．If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying．Pick your baby up．Cuddle your baby．Hug him! And she started to do that．They just want a little cuddling and a little love．And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered．Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year．
In class, with her baby son is Natasha．She lived on the streets．She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House．As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life．
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen．That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones．By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two．What is the text mainly about?
| A．Parents who are a child’s first teachers． |
| B．A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered． |
| C．A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life． |
| D．A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers． |
Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____．
| A．help homeless young mothers become good parents |
| B．provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter |
| C．help mothers in New York be good parents |
| D．teach some parents how to love their children |
What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?
| A．She has a mother of five and a grandmother． |
| B．She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged． |
| C．She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers． |
| D．She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House． |
According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?
| A．Canada | B．the United States of America |
| C．Mexico | D．Britain |
People smile at times. However, the meaning of a smile in different cultures may be different. Depending on different cultures, smiling can express joy and amusement, but it can also show embarrassment(尴尬).
People in the United States smile a lot. Every one smiles at each other in order to show they are open and friendly. However, in China, smiling is not only an expression of happiness, but also a way to avoid being embarrassed. Chinese people like smiling when they are embarrassed in order to avoid embarrassment. Smiling is a kind of good will but not sneer（嘲笑）. For example: When a child falls down from a bike, the adults in China may smile, which is a kind of gentle encouragement and not a kind of impolite laugh.
When a person from the United States might blush（脸红）with embarrassment or become offensive(冒犯的), a Chinese might blush with smile. To avoid serious misunderstanding, people who engage in intercultural (跨文化的) communication should be able to understand the meaning of smiling properly.We can use smile to express all of the following feelings except _________,
| A．joy and happiness | B．amusement |
| C．embarrassment | D．fear |
People often smile at each other in the United States because _________.
| A．they are very happy |
| B．they want to show they are friendly |
| C．they want to hide their true feelings |
| D．they want to avoid embarrassment |
In China, seeing a child falls off a bike, an adult will smile in order to _______.
| A．laugh at him |
| B．avoid his own embarrassment |
| C．avoid embarrassment and encourage the boy |
| D．show his politeness |
What is mainly talked about in the passage?
| A．People smile at times. |
| B．Smiling can express different feelings depending on different cultures. |
| C．Americans are more open and friendly than Chinese people. |
| D．The Chinese people often hide their true feelings. |