AlibabastartedtakingtheleadinC-优题课

Alibaba started taking the lead in China, simply enough, by connecting big Chinese manufacturers(制造商)with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed business to buy almost everything. Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to identify: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards. Its marketplaces attract 231 million active buyers, 8 million sellers, 11.3 billion orders a year—and Alibaba is just the middleman. It encourages people to use its markets—not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale.
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing almost a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is secondary to(对…来说是次要的) consumer buying. Chinese retail（零售）buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping—big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how extensive(广大) the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine.
What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Alibaba	B．a new store
C．a business	D．a foreign website

What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover.

B．Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites.

C．Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail now.

D．TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao.

What is the passage mainly about?

A．Shopping online is TaoBao.

B．Alibaba greatly influences people’s daily purchase in China.

C．The influence of shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping.

D．How the author purchases online in China.

What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage refer to?

A．Alibaba acts as a bridge between buyers and sellers.

B．Alibaba will continue to develop.

C．Alibaba stands out as the best online site.

D．Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites.

科目英语题型阅读理解难度较易

知识点：日常生活类阅读

By day, Robert Titterton is a lawyer. In his spare on stage beside pianist Maria Raspopova - not as a musician but as her page turner. "I'm not a trained musician, but I've learnt to read music so I can help Maria in her performance."

Mr Titterton is chairman of the Omega Ensemble but has been the group's official page turner for the past four years. His job is to sit beside the pianist and turn the pages of the score so the musician doesn't have to break the flow of sound by doing it themselves. He said he became just as nervous as those playing instruments on stage.

"A lot of skills are needed for the job. You have to make sure you don't turn two pages at once and make sure you find the repeats in the music when you have to go back to the right spot." Mr Titterton explained.

Being a page turner requires plenty of practice. Some pieces of music can go for 40 minutes and require up to 50 page turns, including back turns for repeat passages. Silent onstage communication is key, and each pianist has their own style of "nodding" to indicate a page turn which they need to practise with their page turner.

But like all performances, there are moments when things go wrong. "I was turning the page to get ready for the next page, but the draft wind from the turn caused the spare pages to fall off the stand," Mr Titterton said, "Luckily I was able to catch them and put them back."

Most page turners are piano students or up-and-coming concert pianists, although Ms Raspopova has once asked her husband to help her out on stage.

"My husband is the worst page turner," she laughed. "He's interested in the music, feeling every note, and I have to say: 'Turn, turn!' "Robert is the best page turner I've had in my entire life."

24. What should Titterton be able to do to be a page turner?

A．	Read music.	B．	Play the piano.
C．	Sing songs.	D．	Fix the instruments.

25. Which of the following best describes Titterton's job on stage?

A．	Boring.	B．	Well-paid.
C．	Demanding.	D．	Dangerous.

26. What does Titterton need to practise?

A．	Counting the pages.	B．	Recognizing the "nodding".
C．	Catching falling objects.	D．	Performing in his own style.

27. Why is Ms Raspopova's husband "the worse page turner"?

A．	He has very poor eyesight.	B．	He ignores the audience.
C．	He has no interest in music.	D．	He forgets to do his job.

Rome can be pricey for travelers, which is why many choose to stay in a hostel ( 旅社 ). The hostels in Rome offer a bed in a dorm room for around ＄25 a night, and for that, you'll often get to stay in a central location (位置) with security and comfort.

Yellow Hostel

If I had to make just one recommendation for where to stay in Rome, it would be Yellow Hostel. It's one of the best-rated hostels in the city, and for good reason. It's affordable, and it's got a fun atmosphere without being too noisy. As an added bonus, it's close to the main train station.

Hostel Alessandro Palace

If you love social hostels, this is the best hostel for you in Rome. Hostel Alessandro Palace is fun. Staff members hold plenty of bar events for guests like free shots, bar crawls and karaoke. There's also an area on the rooftop for hanging out with other travelers during the summer.

Youth Station Hostel

If you're looking for cleanliness and a modern hostel, look no further than Youth Station. It offers beautiful furnishings and beds. There are plenty of other benefits, too; it doesn't charge city tax; it has both air conditioning and a heater for the rooms; it also has free Wi-Fi in every room.

Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes

Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes is located just a 10-minute walk from the central city station and it's close to all of the city's main attractions. The staff is friendly and helpful, providing you with a map of the city when you arrive, and offering advice if you require some. However, you need to pay 2 euros a day for Wi-Fi.

21. What is probably the major concern of travelers who choose to stay in a hostel?

A．	Comfort.	B．	Security.
C．	Price.	D．	Location.

22. Which hotel best suits people who enjoy an active social life?

A．	Yellow Hostel.	B．	Hostel Alessandro Palace.
C．	Youth Station Hostel.	D．	Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes.

23. What is the disadvantage of Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes?

A．	It gets noisy at night.	B．	Its staff is too talkative.
C．	It charges for Wi-Fi.	D．	It's inconveniently located.

If you ever get the impression that your dog can"tell"whether you look content or annoyed, you may be onto something. Dogs may indeed be able to distinguish between happy and angry human faces, according to a new study.

Researcherstrained a group of 11 dogs to distinguish between images(图像) of the same person making either a happy or an angry face. During the training stage, each dog was shown only the upper half or the lower half of the person's face. The researchers then tested the dogs' ability to distinguish between human facial expressions by showing them the other half of the person's face or images totally different from the ones used in training .The researchers found that the dogs were able to pick the angry or happy face by touching a picture of it with their noses more often than one would expectby randomchance.

The study showed the animalshad figured out how to apply what they learned about human faces during training to new faces in the testing stage." Wecan rule out that the dogs simply distinguish between the pictures based on a simple cue, such as the sight of teeth,"said study author Corsin Muller." Instead,our results suggest that the successful dogs realized that a smiling mouth means the same thingas smiling eyes,and the same rule applies to an angry mouth having the same meaning as angry eyes."

"With our study, we think we can now confidently conclude that at least some dogs can distinguish human facial expressions,"Muller told Live Science.

At this point,it is not clear why dogs seem to be equipped with the ability to recognize

different facial expressions in humans."To us, the most likely explanation appears to be that the basis lies in their living with humans, which gives them a lot of exposure to human facial expressions," and this exposurehas provided them with many chances to learn to distinguish between them,Muller said.

8.The new study focused on whether dogs can .

A．	distinguish shapes	B．	make sense of human faces
C．	feel happy or angry	D．	communicate with each other

9. What can we learn about the study from paragraph 2?

A．	Researchers tested the dogs in random order.	B．	Diverse methods were adopted during training.
C．	Pictures used in the two stages were different	D．	The dogs were photographed before the lest.

10.What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．

A suggestion for future studies.

B．

A possible reason for the study findings.

C．

A major limitation of thestudy

D．

An explanation of the research method.

We live in a town with three beaches.There are two parks less than 10 minutes'walk from

home where neighborhoodchildren gather to play.However,what my children want to do after school is pick up a screen-any screen- and stare at it for hours.They are not alone.Today'schildren spend an averageof four and a half hours a day looking at screens,split between watching television and using the Internet.

In the past few years, an increasing number of people and organisations have begun coming up with plans to counter this trend.A couple of years ago film-maker David Bond realised that his children,then aged five and three,were attached to screens to the point where he was able to say"chocolate" into his three-year-old son's ear without getting a response. He realised that something needed to change, and, being a London media type, appointed himself"marketing director fro Nature".He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to

be marketed to young people.The result was Project Wild T hing,a film which chartsthe birth

of the World Network,a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.

"Just five more minutes outdoors can make a difference,"David Bond says."There is a lot of really interesting evidence which seems to be suggesting that if children are inspired up to the age of seven,then being outdoors will be a habit for life."His own children have got into the habit of playing outside now: "We just send them out into the garden and tell them not to come back in for a while."

Summer is upon us. There is an amazing world out there, and it needs our children as much as they need it.Let us get them out and let them play.

What is the problem with the author's children?

A．	They often annoy the neighbours.	B．	They are tired of doing their homework.
C．	They have no friends to play with	D．	They stay in front of screens for too long.

5. How did David Bond advocate his idea?

A．	By making a documentary film.	B．	By organizing outdoor activities.
C．	By advertising in London media.	D．	By creating a network of friends.

6.Which of the following can replace the underlined word "charts" in paragraph 2?

records

predicts

delays

confirms

7.What can be a suitable title for thetext?

A．	Let Children Have Fun	B．	Young Children Need More Free Time
C．	Market Nature to Children	D．	David Bond:A Role Model for Children

Leslie Nielsen's childhood was a difficult one,but he had one particular shining star in his life - his uncle,who was a well-known actor.The admiration and respect his uncle earned inspired Nielsen to make a career (职业) inacting .Even though he often felt he would be discovered to be a no-talent , he movedforward ,gaining a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse and making his first television appearance a few years later in 1948. However, becoming a full- time, successful actor would still be an uphill battle for another eight years until he landed a number of film roles that finally got him noticed.

But even then, what he had wasn't quite what he wanted. Nielsen always felt he should be doing comedy but his good looks and distinguishedvoice kept him busy in dramatic roles.It wasn't until 1980-32 years into his career-that he landed the role it would seem he was made

for in Airplane!That movie led him into the second half of his career whereh is comedic presence

alone could make a movie a financial success even when movie reviewers would not rate it highly.

Did Nielsenthen feel content in his career?Yes and no.He was thrilled to be doing the comedy

that he always felt he should do,but even during his last few years,he always had a sense of curiosity,wondering what new role or challenge might be just around the corner.He never stopped working, never retired.

Leslie Nielsen's devotion to acting is wonderfully inspiring.He built a hugely successful careerwith little more than plain old hard work and determination.He showed us that even a single desire, never given up on, can make for a remarkable life.