If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he'd better offer you more money to do so—or even double that depending on where you live now. That's because Moscow has just been found to be the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Using the cost of living in New York as a base, Mercer determined Moscow is 34. 4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment(娱乐）
A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs $4，000 a month； a CD $24. 83，and an international news-paper $6. 30，according to Mercer. By comparison, a fast food meal with a hamburger(汉堡包)is a steal at $4. 80.
London takes the No. 2 place, up from No. 5 a year ago, thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算）London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days. Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo, both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York, while No. 5 Hong Kong is 19 percent more costly.
Among North American cities, New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities. But both have fallen since last year's study—New York came in 15th, down from 10th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago. San Francisco came in a distant third at No. 54，down 20 places from a year earlier.
Toronto, meanwhile, is Canada's most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide. In Australia, Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No. 21 worldwide. What do the underlined words “a steal” in Para-graph 3 mean?
| A．An act of stealing. | B．Something delicious. | C．Something very cheap. | D．An act of buying. |
London has become the second most expensive city because of __________.
| A．the high cost of clothing |
| B．the stronger pound against the dollar |
| C．its expensive transportation |
| D．the high prices of fast food meals |
Which city is the third most expensive on the list?
| A．Tokyo. |
| B．Hong Kong. |
| C．Moscow. |
| D．Sydney. |
Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?
| A．New York. |
| B．Los Angeles. |
| C．San Francisco. |
| D．Toronto. |
Guitar Lessons for Guitar Players
Playing the same things over and over again when you pick up the guitar? Teaching yourself for years but you hit a wall? Don’t know what to do next? Whether you’re a total beginner, or an old guitar player, we’ll get you working on something you can benefit from. I’m a professional teacher, over 30 students at my studio in downtown Berkeley and several music schools in San Francisco, Alameda, and Mountain View.
No matter what style you’re into, I guarantee there are songs by your favorite bands that you could learn.
Call at 510-333-9091 or e-mail at bluescho0147@gmail.com
Dance Classes
In Motion Dance Center in Martinez is now accepting registration（注册）for all fall dance classes. There are classes offered in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip-Hop, Contemporary and Cheerleading. Classes run like the school year Sept through June. Prices are very reasonable at only $45 a month. That’s for a one-hour class once a week for a month. This studio is known for their younger child program. We are always looking for talented instructors too. If you want more information call Deena at 925-229-5678.
Qi Gong with Angie
Qi Gong is the perfect activity for anyone, at any age. It combines gentle movement and meditation（冥想）, breathing regulation and relaxation. The exercises are designed to reduce stress and anxiety and improve blood and energy circulation（循环）throughout the body, therefore increasing immune（免疫的）function, improving energy levels and sleep.
Thousands of Qi Gong lovers around the world have experienced the extraordinary benefits of this gentle, ancient Chinese exercise form and are healthier and happier for it. Join us to experience the benefits for yourself!
WHEN: Tuesdays from noon—1pm
WHERE: Halanda Studio 1062 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
COST: $12 per class drop-in（即到即学的）or $45 for a pre-paid set of 4 classes
CONTACT: Angie at angie@lokahiacupuncture.com, 408-887-600064. The purpose of the first advertisement is to ____________.
| A．build a bridge between guitar players |
| B．look for teachers for several music schools |
| C．attract guitar players to attend music classes |
| D．help guitar beginners to improve their techniques |
65. Who will probably contact 510-333-9091?
| A．A music lover. | B．A Hip-Hop lover. |
| C．A dancer lover. | D．A Qi Gong lover. |
66. Sarah and Jessie decide to attend the dance classes for six months. They each should pay _____.
| A．$135 | B．$270 | C．$540 | D．$1,080 |
67. How much can you save if you pay for eight classes at one time before you join Halanda Studio?
| A．$3. | B．$6. | C．$8. | D．$12. |
When I was an official of a school in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents knew his difficulties, but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.
“Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time. If I had only known that, I would have said to him, ‘Jim, I love you and I’m always so proud of you.’ I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, his laughter, and his genuine love to other people.
“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much.
“I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died. He called me to say, ‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. You have to go to work now. Bye.’ That day, he gave me something to treasure forever. ”
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people, especially family members, that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care. You may never have another chance. Do it today!Who was Jim?
| A．The child of the Tyners’. |
| B．The writer’s relative. |
| C．The president of a school board. |
| D．An official of a school. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “the educationally handicapped”?
| A．The learning difficulty. |
| B．The physical problems. |
| C．The psychological problems. |
| D．The communication difficulty. |
According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE？
| A．He was always sad about his school marks. |
| B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks. |
| C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers. |
| D．He was killed in a car accident. |
The purpose of Polly’s letter is to.
| A．memorize her son |
| B．teach parents to appreciate their children |
| C．teach children how to be good boys |
| D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems |
Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son: suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up（蜷伏）with me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds. “In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.“The door to his room is always shut” in the first paragraph suggests that the son ______.
| A．is always busy with his studies |
| B．doesn’t want to be disturbed |
| C．keeps himself away from his parents |
| D．begins to dislike his parents |
What troubles Tina and Mark most is that ______________.
| A．their daughter isn’t as lovely as before |
| B．they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly |
| C．they don’t know what to say to their daughter |
| D．their daughter talks with them only when she needs help |
What’s the meaning of “the wall of silence” in the last paragraph?
| A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends. |
| B．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents. |
| C．Teenagers talk little about their own lives. |
| D．Teenagers do not want to understand their parents. |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．Parents are unhappy with their growing children. |
| B．Parents have suitable ways to talk with their teenagers. |
| C．Parents should be patient with their silent teenagers. |
| D．Parents should try to understand their teenagers. |
Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems．While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves．University of Missouri（MU） researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient．
“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density（密度）”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU．“The radioisotope（放射性同位素） battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries．”
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro / nanoelectromechanical systems （M/NEMS）．Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe．
“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems．”
His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor（半导体）．Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor．
“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure（晶体结构） of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem．”
Together with J．David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery．In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials．Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair．Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________．
| A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied． |
| B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used． |
| C．to describe a nuclear-powered system． |
| D．to introduce various energy sources． |
According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______．
| A．uses a solid semiconductor |
| B．will soon replace the present ones． |
| C．could be extremely thin |
| D．has passed the final test． |
The text is most probably a ________．
| A．science news report | B．book review |
| C．newspaper ad | D．science fiction |
Like many other nations, China has been busy putting together evacuation （撤侨）plans for its citizens stuck in crisis-torn Libya．The real surprise has been just how many Chinese are living there．The foreign ministry does not know for sure but puts the figure at 30-40,000．
The huge contingent （代表团） in Libya, who work for at least 27 Chinese companies, has brought to light one of the new dilemmas facing China as its economic interests expand．For a mixture of reasons that are partly political, partly business, Chinese workers are now present in many of the most unrest and dangerous parts of the world, including places where anti-Chinese sentiment over jobs and working conditions is on the rise．One of the first wake-up calls was in 2007, when a group of Chinese women were kidnapped in Pakistan, an event which led to the siege of the Red Mosque in Lahore．In the same year, nine Chinese oil workers were killed in Ethiopia．In recent years, Chinese workers have been kidnapped in Cameroon, Congo and Afghanistan．
Publicly, Chinese diplomats admit that the country needs better contingency plans to deal with this sort of situation．Privately, they worry about a different issue: that such incidents will force them to get much more involved in domestic political disputes in far-off lands, pulling the government away from its commitment to a policy of non-interference．The nightmare, a few diplomats and academics admit, would be a large, violent attack on a group of Chinese which then prompted an intense nationalist reaction at home, forcing the government to take the sort of interventionist （干涉主义的） actions it tries to shun．
Beijing gave some indication of how it will respond in the future with the decision on Thursday to send the frigate（护卫舰） Xuzhou, currently conducting anti-piracy tasks off the coast of Somalia, to Libya．Its mission will be to help the evacuation effort, but it is also a warning to any in Libya who might attack Chinese interests, as well as the latest indication of the growing global reach of China’s navy．As Andrew Erickson, a China expert at the US Naval War College says: “This latest initiative（方案） is part of a larger ongoing increase in Chinese power, presence, and influence around the world, and should come as no surprise．China has global interests, cannot free ride forever, and requires a presence in critical areas and situations in order to have a voice．”What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．There are many Chinese workers in the most unrest and dangerous parts of the world． |
| B．China should protect workers in the foreign countries． |
| C．China are taking actions to bring its citizens back from Libya． |
| D．The international situation is terrible |
The underlined word “shun” in the third paragraph most probably means?
| A．take part in | B．avoid |
| C．carry out | D．refuse |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．It remains unknown how many Chinese are living in Libya． |
| B．A large number workers are working abroad, which bring about advantages and disadvantages． |
| C．In no case will the Chinese government take part in solving the political problems in far-off lands． |
| D．Our government take immediate action to deal with this sort of situation． |
What’s Not true about the frigate Xuzhou?
| A．It is conducting anti-piracy tasks off the coast of Somalia． |
| B．It will help the evacuation effort． |
| C．It is a warning to Libya who might attack Chinese interests． |
| D．It indicates that China’s navy can reach an increasing number of parts of the global． |