Daniel stays home on workdays. He starts his personal computer in order to connect with the office which is about three hundred miles away in another city. After work, he puts on his headphones, watches a movie on his home video recorder, or plays baseball on the computer. On many days, Daniel doesn't talk to any other human beings, and he doesn't see any people except the ones on television. Daniel is imaginary, but his lifestyle is very possible. The inventions of modern technology seem to be cutting us off from contact with our fellow human beings.
The world of business is one area in which technology is separating us. Experts say, for example, that many people will soon be able to work at home. With access to a large central computer, employees such as office clerks, insurance agents, and accountants could do their jobs at display terminals (终端) in their own homes. They would never have to actually see the people they're dealing with. In addition, the way employees are paid will change. Workers' salaries will be automatically paid into their bank accounts, making paper checks unnecessary. No workers will stand in line to receive their pay or cash their checks. Personal banking will change, too. Customers will deal with machines to put in or take out money from their accounts. Many companies and consumers have already changed the way they sell or buy products. E-commerce, or business done on the Internet, is becoming more and more popular. This, therefore, makes it possible for people to do shopping without going out of their homes.
Another area that technology is changing is entertainment. Music, for example, was once a group experience. People listened to music at concert halls or in small social gatherings. For many people now, however, music is an individual experience. Walking along the street or sitting in their living-rooms, they wear headphones to build a wall of music around them. Movie entertainment is changing as well. Movies used to be social events. Now, fewer people are going out to see a movie. Many more are choosing to wait for a film to appear on television or are borrowing videotapes to watch at home. Instead of laughing with others, viewers watch movies in their own living-rooms. After work, Daniel likes to __________.
| A．listen to music at the concert hall |
| B．watch a movie in his living-room |
| C．chat with his friends on the net |
| D．play baseball with his workmates |
The underlined sentence "Daniel is imaginary, but his lifestyle is very possible" means __________.
| A．Daniel is a person full of imagination and he can make his life colorful. |
| B．Daniel is not a real person but the lifestyle of his kind does exist. |
| C．Daniel is only an ordinary person but he has his own way of living. |
| D．Daniel is a model who makes full use of modern technology in life. |
What will the writer most probably discuss after the last paragraph?
| A．Games and sports | B．Personal banking |
| C．Music and films | D．International business |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．We may no longer need to communicate wit other human beings. |
| B．Modern technology seems to be separating human beings. |
| C．We may no longer need to work in the office. |
| D．Modern technology makes it possible for us to work and entertain ourselves at home. |
I was raised on a farm in the Fraser Valley along with five sisters and one brother. When I was 15, I got addicted to drinking at weekends and then dropped out of school. By the time I was 17, I continued to drink heavily. I couldn't find a job to support myself. So, I had no other choice but to join the army. I retired and went back home three years later, still a heavy drinker. When I was 22, I met Sue whose father was also a heavy drinker, so my behavior didn't surprise her. We were soon married and later had two daughters.
I started my first business when I was in my mid-twenties. A few years later, I bought a large chicken farm. Even with this success, though, my drinking was always a problem. It affected my marriage and family so much that I knew I had to make up my mind to stop drinking. So I tried great efforts. But two years later, I began drinking again.
When I was in my mid-thirties, I sold both of my businesses, and bought the big house on the hill. I was not at all happy, although I had everything that was supposed to make me happy. I sold our big house on the hill and bought a large land, where I built a new house. Our marriage was in big trouble, and my finances would go down the drain. For the first time in many years, I had to go to work for someone as an employee. I took a job as a heavy equipment operator in a road building camp.
My marriage still came apart when I was 38, and my kids had to go through our divorce. I spent 6 months in giving up drinking on a school camp. Nearly a year later, I met my childhood neighbor girl, June. We were married not long afterwards. My kids learned to trust me again and I have two stepchildren that also love me.
Happy life continued about ten years. Everything was going so well when I felt there was something wrong with my body. I went to see a doctor, and the medical examination came out that I had ALS(肌肉萎缩症). Record shows that people with ALS generally survive between two to five years after symptoms appear. I've probably had the symptoms for one-and-a-half years already, so I don't know how much time I have left.…God knows…Which of the following is the right order for the author’s experience?
a. He married June.
b. He married Sue
c. He bought the big house on the hill.
d. He bought a large chicken farm.
e. He succeeded in giving up drinking.
f. He tried but failed to get rid of drinking.
| A．a, d, c, b, f, e | B．b, d, f, c, e, a |
| C．b, c, d, a, f, e | D．f, b, d, c, e , a |
The underlined phrase “go down the drain”(in Paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to “__”.
| A．be out of expectation | B．be totally successful |
| C．become worse and worse | D．be safe in one’s pocket |
What can we know about the author?
| A．He began drinking at the age of 17. |
| B．He ended his army life at the age of 19. |
| C．He was not happy, although he lived in the big house at the age of 35. |
| D．He bought the big house on the hill when he was 25. |
What can we infer about the author’s marriage?
| A．His two kids didn’t trust him before he remarried. |
| B．His finance was the first thing that led to the failure of his first marriage. |
| C．His first wife didn’t know about his drinking before marriage. |
| D．He gave birth to two children in his 40s. |
What is true according to the last paragraph?
| A．The author is hopeless because he will be dead in a few years because of ALS. |
| B．The author has hope because the doctor concluded that he had 2-5 years left. |
| C．The author is uncertain whether the symptoms of ALS have appeared or not. |
| D．The author will ask God whether the disease is curable or not. |
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive(漂亮的) people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants (被告). But in the executive (行政的,管理的) circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plain(平常的，不漂亮的) men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine and an attractive man more manly than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the "manly" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently," says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.The word "liability" most probably means __________.
| A．disadvantage | B．advantage |
| C．misfortune | D．trouble |
In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness ________.
| A．makes women look more honest and capable |
| B．strengthens the qualifies required |
| C．is of no importance to women |
| D．often enables women to succeed quickly |
Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _______.
| A．turns out to be a disadvantage to men |
| B．is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women |
| C．affects men and women alike |
| D．has as little effect on men as on women |
It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____.
| A．practical | B．supportive |
| C．old-fashioned | D．one-sided |
The author writes this passage to __________.
| A．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive |
| B．discuss the disadvantages of women being attractive |
| C．demand equal rights for women |
| D．state the importance of appearance |
The China Daily newspaper group is looking for English-language senior business editors, senior copy editors, copy editors and graphic designers to strengthen its international team. We offer a competitive salary package, free accommodation(住处,住所) with utilities paid for, 90 per cent medical reimbursement, a seven-day paid leave, eleven-day public holidays and a return ticket to the country of residence.
Senior Business Editor
You must:
★ assist the business editor in setting goals and working on achieving them;
★ be an excellent team person who can generate ideas and think creatively and be able to rewrite totally if needed and mentor junior staff;
★ ideally have been working or have worked in a position of responsibility and understand what leadership entails;
★ have had at least five years’ editing experience working on editing the Business Desk and be familiar with industry software.
Senior Copy Editor
You must:
★ work on shifts in the Business Desk and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
★ edit or rewrite copy and give snappy headlines and captions;
★ have had at least two years’ editing experience working on editing desks and be familiar with industry software.
Copy Editor
You must:
★ be good at editing or rewriting copy and writing snappy headlines and captions;
★ be able to work on shifts for different pages, and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
★ have two years of editing experience working on copy desks, and be familiar with industry software.
Graphic Designer
You must:
★ have excellent skills in information graphics;
★ be good at illustrations and freehand drawings;
★ be experienced in newspaper or magazine layouts;
★ have a good sense of typography;
★ have good news judgment;
★ be well-versed with Macintosh software, including In Design, Illustrator and Photoshop;
★ be fluent in English.
For enquiries or to apply, write to job @ chinadaily.com.cn.What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To describe the positions of the China Daily newspaper group. |
| B．To describe the working conditions of the China Daily newspaper group. |
| C．To advertise for recruiting some good employees. |
| D．To tell you how to become part of this group. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The employees(雇员) have to pay for their own food and lodging(住所). |
| B．The workers there can enjoy a seven-day leave without pay. |
| C．The senior business editor’s only job is to help the business editor to set goals. |
| D．The employees have the right to enjoy eleven-day public holidays. |
How many positions need editing experience?
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
What is NOT required about Graphic Designer?
| A．Be well-versed with Photoshop. |
| B．Have excellent skills in information graphics. |
| C．Having a good sense of typography. |
| D．Writing snappy headlines and captions. |
Which can be the title of the advertisement?
| A．China Daily: New Employees Wanted |
| B．China Daily: Newspaper |
| C．China Daily: An International Team |
| D．China Daily: The Best Working Condition |
I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface”.
As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace. It seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of her desk told me that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work though she’d never been able to. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside--a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times.
Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.
| A．after Mother died |
| B．before she became a writer |
| C．when she was a child |
| D．when mother gave it to her |
The passage shows that _______.
| A．Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter |
| B．Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done |
| C．Mother cared much about her daughter in words |
| D．Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words. |
The world “gulf” in the passage means _______.
| A．deep understanding between the old and the young. |
| B．different ideas between the mother and the daughter. |
| C．free talks between mother and daughter. |
| D．part of the sea going far in land. |
What did Mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?
She had never received the letter.
B. For years, she often talked about the letter.
C. She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life.
D. She read the letter again and again till she died.What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．My letter to Mother | B．Mother and Children |
| C．My Mother’s Desk | D．Talks between Mother and me. |
Students who date (约会) in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
“Romantic relationships are a symbol of adolescence（青春期）, but very few studies have examined how adolescents are different in the development of these relationships.” said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade. Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires (调查表) about the students' academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
“At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit, being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
“Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker,” Orpinas said, “When the couple break up, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert (转移) attention from studying.”
“Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school.”Orpinas concluded.According to the passage, students who date in middle school may_____.
| A．have poorer academic performances |
| B．be more likely to hurt others |
| C．enjoy better school lives |
| D．are less likely to use alcohol and tobacco |
When doing his study, Orpinas _____.
| A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade |
| B．found that the students' study skills have connection with their frequency of dating |
| C．completed questionnaires about the students' academic efforts |
| D．completed a survey and a report each year |
What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?
| A．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes. |
| B．They don't want to see each other any longer. |
| C．Their attention to studying will be affected. |
| D．They will think it's reasonable to get depressed. |
Orpinas’ attitude towards dating in middle school is _____.
| A．supportive | B．negative |
| C．indifferent | D．positive |