Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours, and then, after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there.
Sounds unusual, doesn’t it? But it’s not that unrealistic, with the development of China’s high-speed railway system. And that’s not all. China has an even greater high-speed railway plan-----to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and eventually Eastern Europe.
China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually reaching London and Singapore.
China has proposed three such projects. The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia. Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and possibly to Germany. The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe.
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days.
The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard. And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as some airplanes.
China’s bullet train (高速客车), the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou, already has the world’s fastest average speed. It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours.
Of course, there are some technical challenges to overcome. There are so many issues that need to be settled, such as safety, rail gauge (轨距), maintenance of railway tracks. So, it’s important to pay attention to every detail.
But the key issue is really money. China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion.
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment. Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development.
It’ll be a win-win project. For other countries, the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business, tourism and so on, not to mention the better communication among those countries.
For China, such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources, but would also help develop China’s far west. We foresee that in the coming decades, millions of people will migrate to the western regions, where the land is empty and resources unused. With high-speed trains, people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all. And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries. China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ____________.
| A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions |
| B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways |
| C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries |
| D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation, business and tourism |
According to the passage, the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is___________.
| A．technical issues | B．safety of the system |
| C．financial problems | D．maintenance of railway tracks |
Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?
| A．Critical. | B．Reserved. |
| C．Doubtful | D．Positive. |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．New Railway Standards |
| B．Big Railway Dreams |
| C．High-speed Bullet Trains |
| D．International Railway Network |
Some say everyday miracles (奇迹) are predestined (注定的)----the right time for the appointed meeting. And it can happen anywhere.
In 2001, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother’s Little League team in Lancaster, New York. It was an early evening in late July. Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game. Swinging his bat back and forth, giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give. The boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest. His heart stopped.
When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid. Penny Brown hadn’t planned to be there that day, but at the last minute, her shift (换班) at the hospital had been changed to see her son’s performance. She was given the night off. Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions. And he revived in the end.
After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid techniques that had saved his life. He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time.
Kevin, now 18, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion, employees rushing toward a table. He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat. She was choking.
Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands. Then, using skills he’d first learned in Scouts. The food that was trapped in the woman’s throat was freed. The color began to return to her face.
"The food was stuck. I couldn’t breathe," she said. She thought she was dying. "I was very frightened."
Who was the woman?
Penny Brown.The author wrote the passage to show us that __________.
| A．miracles are predestined and they can happen anywhere |
| B．whoever helps you in trouble will get a reward one day |
| C．God will help those who give others a helping hand |
| D．miracles won’t come without any difficulty sometimes |
Which of the following statements is True of Kevin Stephan?
| A．He was hit on the face by a boy and almost lost his life |
| B．He was a volunteer junior firefighter, teaching the players first-aid skills |
| C．He worked part-time in a local restaurant to save money for college |
| D．He saved Penny Brown though he didn’t really know how to deal with food choke |
The underlined word “revived” (paragraph3) most likely means __________.
| A．came back to life | B．became worse | C．failed | D．moved |
Why did Penny Brown change her shift and was given the night off that night?
| A．She was invited to give the players directions |
| B．She volunteered to give medical services |
| C．She was a little worried about his son’s safety |
| D．She came to watch her son’s game and cheered him |
The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them. It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment.
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. "Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: To identify the advertiser. To know what the advertiser is really saying. And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it is a big business. The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009.
The FTC says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.What is the best title of the text?
| A．The guide of Admongo | B．An aducation website for children |
| C．A popular online video game | D．A website aimed at children |
Why did the government start the website?
| A．To attract the biggest market of buyers. | B．To sell the products of its company. |
| C．To help children know about advertising. | D．To advertise the video game for children. |
What can players do in the website game?
| A．Choose hair styles for their character. | B．Travel to a supermarket. |
| C．Eat in a fast-food restaurant. | D．Play video games during the trip. |
Children are important for advertising because they are __________.
| A．important for the society | B．the most potential buyers |
| C．easily influenced by ads | D．easily affected by poor products |
In life, people come across many experiences, which they remember throughout their lives. I had a similar experience, too.
I was very excited. It was the day of my last paper of the final examination. My mind was full of thoughts of how I would spend my vacation. I was especially excited of the invitation that my uncle had given me to stay with him for a few days in Cambridge.
I was prepared for the subject, physics. My friends and I were on the ground doing the last minute revisions and also discussing the questions that were supposed to come in the paper. Suddenly the bell rang and we got into our classrooms. The teacher came and quickly handed out the answer paper and the question paper. The paper was of two hours and some of the expected questions came. I finished it almost forty-five minutes earlier. But since it was a rule not to collect the answer paper before the allotted（规定的）time. the teacher was not collecting and I had to sit till the time was over. I checked my paper twice and corrected some of the mistakes in it. I started thinking about the place my friends and I had planned to go after the paper.
Though I was thinking for a long time, the time seemed to be endless. So I thought of drawing something on the question paper and turned it overleaf. I was shocked to see that the page which I had supposed to be blank had four more questions on it which carried 20 marks and would take at least half an hour to complete. I had a quick glance at my watch. There were only 10 minutes left. I was so nervous that I was hardly in a state to write anything. They were the sub-questions（小题）of the last question. Suddenly our physics teacher came in and told all of us that in the last question, out of 6 sub-questions only 2 had to be solved. I felt very much relieved.
Thereafter I never made such mistakes again. But I realized that my anxiousness and excitement could have cost me to lose 20 marks and decided never to make such a mistake again.Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The writer didn’t work hard at physics. |
| B．The writer lost 20 marks for the last question. |
| C．The writer made some mistakes during the exam. |
| D．The questions on the paper were difficult for the writer. |
The underlined word “relieved” means ________.
| A．more nervous | B．less afraid | C．more surprised | D．less worried |
We can infer from the passage that _____________.
| A．the writer did 2 sub-questions of the last question |
| B．the writer turned overleaf to do the sub-questions |
| C．the writer spent 45 minutes finishing the paper |
| D．the writer got full marks in the physics exam |
We can learn from the passage that we should _____________.
| A．learn some exam skills |
| B．concentrate on what we are doing |
| C．try our best to do well in the exam |
| D．be careful not to make mistakes in the exam |
People know the dangers of fires. It’s good for a family to learn how to prepare for a fire. Here are some suggestions.
Put a smoke alarm in the house. Smoke from a fire causes the alarm to go off. The alarm makes a loud sound. The sound tells everyone to leave the house at once.
Make escape (逃脱) plan. They should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone follows the plan to get out. Part of the plan is to check all the windows to make sure they can be opened easily.
Buy fire extinguishers(灭火器) in the house. Everyone in the family should know how to use them.
Practice for a fire. They do fire practice because they teach children about fire safety. Ever yone in the family should know the following fire rules:
＊ Don’t open a hot door! The fire can grow more quickly if you open the door.
＊ Stay close to the floor! Smoke can be more dangerous than the fire. The best air is near the floor because smoke rises.
＊ What will you do if your hair or clothes start to burn? First, Stop! Don’t run! The fire burns faster because of more air. Drop! Fall to the floor. Then roll! Turning over and over will make the fire go out. Put a blanket(毯子) around you to keep air away from the fire that may still be on you..
There are many possible causes for fires. A wise family is ready all the time. If there is a fire, don’t forget to call 119 for help.The writer advises people to do the following to prepare for a fire except that _______.
| A．they prepare for a fire | B．they make escape plans |
| C．they buy fire extinguishers | D．they use electrical cookers |
What are the right steps you should take when your hair or clothes catch fire?
| A．Stop, run, roll . | B．Stop, drop, roll |
| C．Run, drop, roll | D．Roll, drop, stop |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．The Dangers of a Fire | B．The Causes of a Fire |
| C．Learn to Use a Fire Extinguishers | D．Be Ready For a Fire |
Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are your studies sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart, you’ll find that the whole world smiles to you.
While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher’s face when you did a good job?
One day it is fine. Just before you go out, it suddenly starts to rain. Maybe you would feel very sad and start to complain about the weather. But friends, why don’t you sit down and listen to the free concerts that the nature offers you? And with the timely(及时地) rain, crops in the fields will grow better and better and farmers will have a good harvest.
Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure can’t be avoided. I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we are afraid of it and give up hope. When we face failure, we must be confident(信心) in ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish what we have decided to do. As a popular saying goes, “Failure is the mother of success”.
Attitude(态度) decides everything. With an optimistic(乐观) attitude life is easy and pleasant. Let’s smile to whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us. People sometimes complain _________.
| A．the sky is always dark | B．their studies are successful |
| C．they see the world with their heart | D．life is tiring |
When we face failure, we ___________.
| A．must be confident in ourselves | B．shouldn’t be afraid of it |
| C．shouldn’t give up hope | D．All of the above |
The best title for the passage is_______.
| A．Smile and the World Smiles to You | B．Complaining about Life |
| C．Failure is the Mother of Success | D．It is Very Hard to Succeed |