Most of us probably live without vegetables, but a world without chocolate? Now that would be hard! According to chocolate makers it could happen if we don’t act soon.
There are two main causes of the chocolate shortage --- chocolate’s growing popularity and less production of cocoa, the plant from which chocolate is made. With more and more people in India and China loving chocolate, not much can be done about the first cause.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is to increase cocoa production. However, new plant diseases and little rain in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s largest producers, have reduced cocoa production by 40 percent in the past 10 years. What’s worse, many cocoa farmers in Africa and other cocoa-producing countries like Indonesia and Venezuela are changing to easier-to-grow crops such as corn or rubber. This way, the farmers can make more money.
To prevent more farmers from changing, researchers at the newly opened International Cocoa Control Centre, in the UK, are trying to create new cocoa plants that are stronger and faster growing. But first they must make sure the new plants are safe to grow. This takes a long time.
First, each new plant is stored at the Control Centre for six months to make sure it is healthy. It is then planted in the Centre’s fields, studied and tested for another two years. Only after scientists are certain that they’re disease-free, will the plants be sent to farmers in West Africa or wherever else they are needed.
To create new stronger types of cocoa, scientists at the Centre are combining the best parts from different cocoa plants. Though the world is facing a serious chocolate shortage, there is now hope!The first paragraph tells us that______.
| A．chocolate is healthier than vegetables |
| B．the world could soon be without chocolate |
| C．people love vegetables more than chocolate |
| D．it’s not necessary to eat so much chocolate |
In which countries has chocolate become more popular in recent years?
| A．Venezuela and Indonesia. |
| B．Ivory Coast and Ghana. |
| C．Indonesia and China. |
| D．China and India. |
Cocoa farmers are choosing to grow rubber and corn because these crops______.
| A．can make them more money |
| B．need less rain to grow |
| C．can be planted more times each year |
| D．are not damaged by plant diseases |
How long does it take scientists at the Centre to make sure a cocoa plant is safe to grow?
| A．6 months. | B．12 months. | C．24 months. | D．30 months. |
What is one of the purposes of the Cocoa Control Centre?
| A．To introduce cocoa production to more countries. |
| B．To provide more chocolate for British people. |
| C．To produce stronger types of cocoa plants. |
| D．To make sure that cocoa is healthy to eat. |
Given that many people's moods (情绪)are regulated by the chemical action of chocolate, it was probably only a matter of time before somebody made the chocolate shop similar to a drugstore of Chinese medicine. Looking like a setting from the film Charlie& the Chocolate Factory, Singapore's Chocolate Research Facility (CRF) has over 100 varieties of chocolates. its founder is Chris Lee who grew up at his parents' comer store with one hand almost always in the jar of sweets.
If the CRF seems to be a smart idea, that's because Lee is not merely a seasoned salesperson but also head of a marketing department that has business relations with big names such as Levi's and Sony. That idea surely results in the imagination at work when it comes to making different flavored(味道)chocolates.
The CRF's produce is "green"， made within the country and divided into 10 lines, with the Alcohol Series being the most popular. The Exotic Series——with Sichuan pepper, red bean (豆).cheese and other flavors一also does well and is fun to taste. And for chocolate snobs，who think that they have a better knowledge of chocolate than others, the Connoisseur Series uses cocoa beans from Togo, Cuba, Venezuela , and Ghana, among others. What is good about chocolate?
| A．It serves as a suitable gift. |
| B．It works as an effective medicine. |
| C．It helps improve the state of mind. |
| D．It strengthens business relations. |
Why is Chris Lee able to develop his idea of the CRF?
| A．He knows the importance of research. |
| B．He learns form shops of similar types. |
| C．He has the support of many big names |
| D．He has a lot of marketing experience. |
Which line of the CRF produce sells best?
| A．The Connoisseur Series. |
| B．The Exotic Series. |
| C．The Alcohol Series. |
| D．The Sichuan Series. |
The words "chocolate snobs" in Paragraph 3 probably refer to people who
| A．are particular about chocolate |
| B．know little about cocoa beans |
| C．look down upon others |
| D．like to try new flavors |
Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue(疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素)and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?
Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情感的)attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J. A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare. ”Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated—those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body. What surprised the scientists a few years ago?
| A．Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood. |
| B．Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn out after a day’s work. |
| C．The brain could work for many hours without fatigue. |
| D．A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins. |
According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?
| A．Challenging mental work. |
| B．Unpleasant emotions. |
| C．Endless tasks. |
| D．Physical labor. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the scientists’ ideas?
| A．He agrees with them. |
| B．He doubts them. |
| C．He argues against them. |
| D．He hesitates to accept them. |
We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to_______.
| A．have some good food |
| B．enjoy their work |
| C．exercise regularly |
| D．discover fatigue toxins |
In a recent announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide.
Beginning this fall, a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program, known as edX. “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses,” Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan.
MIT has offered a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2,000 classes free online. It has been used by more than 100 million people. In December, the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate, known as MITx, for people who complete certain online courses. Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program.
The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform.
MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120,000 people signed up for the first MITx course. She said Harvard and MIT hope other universities will join them in offering courses on the open-source edX platform.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Hockfield said.
Other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Carnegie-Mellon, have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online.
The Harvard-MIT program will be monitored by a not-for-profit（非盈利的）organization based in Cambridge, to be owned equally by the two universities. Both MIT and Harvard have provided $30 million to start the program. They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successful. According to this text, edX is _______.
| A．a part of the free MIT OpenCourseWare |
| B．a free computer program by MIT and Harvard |
| C．a Harvard-MIT platform of free online courses |
| D．a free program online for universities worldwide |
What is said about online education in the text?
| A．Universities have been trying online courses. |
| B．About 2,000 online courses have been offered. |
| C．Over 100 million people have finished courses online. |
| D．Stanford and Yale together have courses similar to edX. |
The underlined part in the text probably means “ ”.
| A．Get ready for the difficulties |
| B．Get ready for this educational change |
| C．Get prepared to complete the online courses |
| D．Get prepared to make materials for the edX courses |
What can be said about MITx according to the text?
| A．It is first offered as part of the edX learning program. |
| B．It is another free MIT-Harvard online learning program. |
| C．It is a standard to recognize online learners’ achievement. |
| D．It is a new kind of free online course of Harvard and MIT. |
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"Well, I finally did it. I finally decided to enter the digital age and get a cell phone. My kids have been annoying me and the last straw was when my car broke down, and I was stuck by the highway for an hour before someone stopped to help. But when I went to the cell phone store, I almost changed my mind. The phones all have cameras, computers and a "global-positioning" something or other that's supposed to spot me from space. Goodness, all I want to do is to be able to talk to my grandkids! The people at the store weren't much help. They couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want a phone the size of a postage stamp. And the rate plans! They were confusing and expensive… and the contract (合同)lasted for two years! I'd almost given up until a friend told me about her new Jitterbug phone.
Now, I have the convenience and safety of being about to stay in touch with a phone I can actually use."
Affordable plans that I can understand一and no contract to sign (签订)! Unlike other cell phones, Jitterbug has plans that make sense. Why should I pay for minutes I' m never going to use? And if I do talk more than I plan, I won 't find myself with no minutes like my friend who has a prepaid phone. Best of all, there is no contract to sign, so I’m not locked in for years at a time. The US-based customer service is second to none. And the phone gets service anywhere in the country.
| Monthly Minutes |
50 |
100 |
| Monthly Rate |
$14.99 |
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| Long Distance Calls |
No additional charge |
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Call 1-888-809-8794 or visit www. jitlerbugdirect. com. What made “I” finally think of getting a cell phone?
| A．Being stuck by the highway. |
| B．Being urged by his grandkids. |
| C．Being persuaded by cell phone salespersons. |
| D．Being attracted by the friendly return policy. |
On the monthly basis of 100 minutes, the Jitterbug weekly rate is about .
| A．$3.75 |
| B．$4.99 |
| C．$14.99 |
| D．$19.99 |
An advantage of Jitterbug mentioned in the passage is .
| A．its discount price with a free gift |
| B．its reasonable rate plans without a contract |
| C．its M global-positioning" system with 911 access |
| D．its good customer service all over the world |
The main purpose of the passage is to.
| A．tell a customer's story of Jitterbug |
| B．provide two ways to order Jitterbug |
| C．give a brief introduction of Jitterbug |
| D．attract potential customers to Jitterbug； |
Argentina in the late nineteenth century was an exciting place. Around 1870,it was experiencing an economic(经济的)boom, and the capital, Buenos Aires, attracted many people. Farmers, as well as a flood of foreigners from Spain and Italy, came to Buenos Aires seeking jobs. These jobs didn’t pay well, and the people felt lonely and disappointed with their new life in the city. As the unhappy newcomers mixed together in the poor parts of the city, the dance known as the tango(探戈舞)came into being
At the beginning the tango was a dance of the lower classes. It was danced in the bars and streets. At that time there many fewer women the men, so if a man didn’t want to be left out, his only choice was to dance with another man so that he could attract the attention of the few available women. Gradually, the dance spread into the upper classes of Argentinean society and became more respectable.
In Europe at this time, strong interest in dance from around the world was beginning. The interest in international dance was especially evident in Paris. Every kind of dance from ballet(芭蕾舞)to belly dancing could be found on the stages of the Paris theaters of the Paris theaters. After tango dances from Argentina arrive in Europe, they began to draw the interest of the public as they performed their exiting dance in cafes, Though not everyone approved of the new dance, saying it was a little too shocking, the dance did find enough supporters to make it popular.
The popularity（流行）Of the tango continued to grow in many other parts of the world. Soldiers who Returned to the United States from World War I brought the tango to North America, It reached Japan in 1926,and in 2003 the Argentinean embassy in Seoul hired a local tango dancer to act as a kind of dance ambassador, and promote tango dancing throughout South Korea. The origin of the tango is associated with .
A Belly dances
B. American soldiers
C. Spanish city
D. the capital of ArgentinaWhich of the following is true about the tango?
| A．It was created by foreigners from Spain and Italy. |
| B．People of the upper classes loved the tango most |
| C．It was often danced by two male in the beginning |
| D．A dancer in Seoul became the Argentinean ambassador. |
Before World War I, the tango spread to.
| A．America |
| B．Japan |
| C．France |
| D．South Korea |
What can be the best title for the text?
How to Dance the Tango
B. The History of the Tango
C. How to Promote the Tango
D. The Modern Tango Boom