Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family’s last vacation. It was my six-year-old son’s winter break form school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York，So I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport, to "earn" more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big-time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made living looking for the best deals and exposing （揭露） the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money’s worth. I’m also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.Why did Delta give the author's family credits?
| A．They took a later flight. |
| B．They had early bookings. |
| C．Their flight had been delayed. |
| D．Their flight had been cancelled. |
What can we learn about the author?
| A．She rarely misses a good deal. |
| B．She seldom makes a compromise. |
| C．She is very strict with her children. |
| D．She is interested in cheap products. |
What does the author do?
| A．She's a teacher. | B．She's a housewife. |
| C．She's a media person. | D．She's a businesswoman. |
What does the author want to tell us?
| A．How to expose bad tricks. |
| B．How to reserve airline seats. |
| C．How to spend money wisely. |
| D．How to make a business deal. |
With the development of society and economy, animals and their habitats are getting pushed aside as households decrease in size and increase in number.
Small numbers of people per household on average use more energy and goods per person. Greater numbers of households require more natural resources for construction. The possible result of this problem may be insufficient natural resources to meet consumer demand without endangering habitats important to biodiversity.
Personal freedom and social choice may come at huge environmental cost. Direct costs include visible damage to animal habitats and plant life. Indirect costs include the release of more greenhouse gases.
The effects of such “personal freedom and social choice” have already surfaced in south-west China’s Wolong Nature Reserve. In Wolong, they found that a reduced average household size was directly tied to an increase in homes, and thus an increase in the amount of firewood consumed for cooking and heating. The rise in wood fuel use has contributed to disappearance of forests and to the loss of habitats for giant pandas.
Curious about whether other parts of the world were experiencing similar phenomena, they got the support of a team of researchers including Stanford’s Paul Ehrlich, well-known for his population studies, to find out the household dynamics in 141 countries between 1985 and 2000. Their study proved that the difficult choice of Wolong is part of a global trend.
In the 76 countries considered biodiversity “hotspots”, such as the United States, Brazil, Australia, and Kenya, the number of households grew by 3.1% every year, while the population increased just 1.8%. Meanwhile, the number of people per home dropped from 4.7 to 4.0. The decline in household size has resulted in 155 million additional households in hotspot countries, almost always limiting biodiversity.
In the 10 non-hotspot countries — those without high-density areas of animal and plant species — similar results were found, though on a lesser scale. Even in countries experiencing population decline, such as New Zealand, the number of households still increased because of a reduction in household size.What does the underlined word “insufficient” mean?
| A．Plenty of. | B．Not enough. | C．Abundant. | D．Little. |
It can be learned from the passage that China’s Wolong Nature Reserve_____
| A．is facing the same threat as many other parts of the world |
| B．sets a good example in protecting animals |
| C．is a place where giant pandas and their habitats are not affected |
| D．is a place where animals and their habitats are seriously damaged |
Which of the following is best supported by the last two paragraphs?
| A．Biodiversity is better kept in countries with smaller populations. |
| B．Biodiversity is better kept in hotspot countries. |
| C．The threat to nature from reduction in household size is a worldwide problem. |
| D．Both hotspot countries and non-hotspot countries face the threat of the same scale. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．Reduced household size leads to an increase in household number. |
| B．Modern homes consume more natural resources. |
| C．How to meet consumer demand without endangering animals and their habitats. |
| D．Reduction in household size as well as increase in household number threatens nature. |
Recently, online high schools in America have sparked (激发) a debate about whether or not taxpayers’ money should be used to support online education. Online schools receive the same amount of funding as all other public schools, even though they don’t have to pay for rent or school equipment. States should use their educational funds to improve education at real schools, not to support online programs.
Some students only use online classes to supplement their school work. They benefit from the social experience of a traditional high school, while still taking online courses.
However, about 90 thousand students in America receive their education only from online schools. 50 thousand of these students take courses at Florida Virtual School, the largest online school in the country. While this method of schooling helps students who live in remote regions, most school systems are upset that they are losing more students each year to these online programs.
Although online learning allows children to work at their own pace, these online schools have only one teacher per several hundred students. Often, teachers can’t give struggling students the help they need as they are unable to talk face-to-face with them, to find exactly what they’re having difficulty with.
Additionally, even though online schooling accommodates (顾及) students who live in more remote states, students in online programs may suffer in social situations because they will not learn valuable communication skills from their schooling. Similar to students who are home schooled, those who take only online classes won’t learn social etiquette (礼节), and will be treated differently by their peers.
Online schooling might be useful for places where there are not enough students for a real school, such as agricultural regions, but states should only spend taxpayers’ money on online schools in extreme cases.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Whether students should study at online schools. |
| B．Whether online schools should be allowed to exist. |
| C．Whether taxpayers should pay for online schools. |
| D．Whether traditional schools should be replaced. |
According to the passage, online schooling _____.
| A．is helpful to students living in remote regions |
| B．allows students to work together |
| C．makes it possible for students to get immediate help |
| D．develops students’ critical thinking |
According to Paragraph 5, the author worries that students at online schools _____.
| A．might lose interest in learning |
| B．would play online games |
| C．could not receive teachers’ help |
| D．could not become fully developed |
What is the author’s attitude?
| A．Taxpayers should not pay for online schools at all. |
| B．Taxpayers should pay more for online schools than real schools. |
| C．Taxpayers’ money should be spent on online schools conditionally. |
| D．Taxpayers should support online schools in different ways. |
Ibrahim became disabled after contracting polio (小儿麻痹症) when he was three years old. At first his parents, like many other parents of disabled children in Niger, did not want to send him to school. They were worried he would be laughed at by his classmates.
Despite his disability, and his parents’ doubts, Ibrahim was determined to go to school. “When I was eight,” Ibrahim says, “other kids of my age were going to school while I stayed at home. I did not like that. So, I pestered (缠着) my parents until they finally let me go to school.”
Ibrahim’s parents sent him to a private school nearby. Although the journey to and from school was a short one, it still wasn’t easy for Ibrahim. He had to use his hands to help him move along, protecting them with plastic slippers. But at least he was getting an education.
However, after only a year in school, Ibrahim’s education was interrupted when his parents separated. His mother did not have the means to continue paying for his tuition.
In 2007, Ibrahim received some money to be fitted with a leg brace (支架), corrective shoes and his first pair of crutches (拐杖). Now that he was more mobile than before, the most important thing for him was to find a way to go back to school.
“I wanted to start school again last October,” Ibrahim says. “After my mother told me she could not afford it, I went to visit some of my relatives for support. And I collected 5,000 francs CFA (US $8) to pay my tuition for half a year. I will find the rest of the money somehow.”
Ibrahim attends a school in which he is the only disabled student. According to his teacher, he is among the top five students in a class of 55. Why did Ibrahim’s parents prefer Ibrahim to stay at home?
| A．There was a lot of housework for him to do. |
| B．They had no money to pay for his tuition. |
| C．There were not enough schools in the country. |
| D．They were afraid the students would make fun of him. |
How did Ibrahim go to school before his parents separated?
| A．He went to school on his wheelchair. |
| B．He went to school on his parents’ bicycle. |
| C．He walked to school with the support of his hands. |
| D．He walked to school using a pair of crutches. |
Ibrahim’s education was interrupted because of his _____.
| A．parents’ doubts | B．lack of tuition | C．physical disability | D．terrible mood |
The best title for the passage might be _____.
| A．A long way to go | B．Determined to learn |
| C．The only disabled student | D．I did not like that |
Jeans are very popular especially with teenagers. It’s said that the material came originally from Nimes, a city in France. These jeans were particularly created for the sailors, who loved wearing jeans very much. These jeans could be worn when wet and it could even be rolled over with ease. This was particularly useful when the sailors were busy with their everyday work.
Our favorite pair of blue, jeans was originally worn by workers particularly during World War II. Perhaps the strong and durable(耐用的) look made these blue jeans popular among all the factory workers. A strange thing that can be noticed happened in the early period of the 1950s when blue jeans worn by teens were considered to be a form of being against others. Besides, adults who wore blue jeans were not allowed to enter a movie theatre. It was only during the 1960s that blue jeans were accepted as a fashion trend in the United States of America. Movie stars wore them in films and in public. Many young people follow them.
The different looks of the regular blue jeans which are enjoyed by people were introduced by the mid 1950s. It was Donald Freeland who gave jeans a whole new look and brought it to the front. Originally, jeans were always worn loose. At first, jeans worn by men had the zipper(拉链)on the front. However, for women, it was on the side. By the late 1960's , the zipper finally was on the front side for women as well.
Today, there are many new designs that are being created by fashion designers to meet the increasing demands from jean lovers! A pair of basic blue jeans, however, is one such piece of clothing that will never go out of fashion! When you open one's cupboard, there is always one pair of jeans one likes best.The sailors originally were interested in wearing jeans because jeans .
| A．could give them a pleasant look | B．were convenient and easy to use |
| C．were cheaper than other trousers | D．could be washed and made easily |
According to the passage, blue jeans .
| A．were once a sign of being against their parents |
| B．were popular with people of different ages in the 1950s |
| C．began to be poplar with American people in the 1960s |
| D．have been worn by the factory workers after World War II |
The following all lead to the popularity of jeans EXCEPT .
A．American cul ture |
B．v arious designs |
| C．movie stars' influence | D．its cloth quality |
It is known from the passage that .
| A．Donald Freeland gave jeans a whole new design |
| B．the zipper was always on the front side of all jeans |
| C．The jeans were introduced into America in the 1950s |
| D．Donald Freeland was the first to make jeans popular in the world |
In the last paragraph, the writer is trying to .
| A．show his interest in blue jeans |
| B．tell us the popularity of jeans |
| C．praise the benefits of blue jeans |
| D．discuss the development of jeans |
The food on the moon has come a long way from the freeze – dried bread to half – dried food. They have changed a lot in the past few years. And now US scientists want to grow vegetables in mini – greenhouses on the moon.
Scientists say they are looking forward to a time when people on the moon or even Mars will be able to eat green and fresh vegetables. Paragon Space Development Corporation has shown people what it called the first step toward growing flowers – and finally food – on the moon.
Paragon, which is a partner of NASA in experiments at the International Space Station, calls it a “Lunar Oasis (绿洲)”
This is a closed greenhouse placed in a metal box. It is designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the moon surface, and protect it while it grows.
The small greenhouse is to be sent up into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, which takes part in the Google Lunar X Prize. This competition offers $ 20 million to any company which can send up, land and operate a lunar rover (月面车) on the moon surface.
Leaders of Paragon say future testing of the “Lunar Oasis” will be driven by Odyssey’s flight schedule, which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest.
When it is sent up, the greenhouse will have the seeds (种子) of cabbage inside it. Because they go from seed to flower in just 14 days, they can complete their life cycle in a lunar night.
“Growing plants on the Moon or Mars seems so far away, but it is important that we do this research now,” Paragon president Jane Poynter said. “It takes a long time to do a lot of research.”What do we know about “Lunar Oasis” from the passage?
| A．It is made of wood by scientists. |
| B．It is open for people who are on the Mars. |
| C．It can carry different kinds of plants to the moon. |
| D．It will protect plats to grow on the moon. |
The seeds of cabbage are chosen because they .
| A．have beautiful followers | B．can grow very quickly |
| C．can grow in the greenhouse | D．can grow bigger than other seeds |
According to the passage, Paragon Space Development Corporation .
| A．has produced food on the moon | B．is in charge of NASA in experiments |
| C．takes part in the Google Lunar X Prize | D．may test “Lunar Oasis” in the future |
What does Jane Poynter think of growing plants on other planets?
| A．It is possible. | B．It can be realized easily |
C．It is impossible. |
D．It will come true very soon. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Exploring the Moon and the Mars | B．Making Use of the Lunar Rover |
| C．Researching Fresh Food on the Moon | D．Seeking the Living Things on the Moon |