Denmark is one of the happiest nations on earth with some of the best quality of life. You don’t need statistics to understand the Dane’s happy lot. Walk around any Danish town and you’ll experience some of the most harmonious civic spaces anywhere. Their intimate scales and perfect transport systems combine the rich history and bold modern lines of the built environment to delight the eye, and the locals’ manners and sense of humor is refreshing.
Denmark’s capital Copenhagen is a remarkable city with well-preserved medieval streets, renowned art galleries, Michelin-starred restaurants and a healthy business center. Finding something to do is never a problem and if all else fails, just admiring the streets with a hotdog in hand is an enjoyable way to spend a few hours .
Beyond the capital and the bigger cities, Denmark offers a mix of lively towns such as Ribe and Odense plus rural countryside, medieval churches , Renaissance castles and tidy 18th-century villages.
The coastline of Denmark with its sand dunes and greenery is a sight that always attracts visitors. So, no matter what time of year you’re in Denmark, you shouldn’t miss out on a trip to the nearest beach .
It’s hard , in short , to find fault with the place. The visitor’s most heartfelt complaint is usually the cost of visiting Denmark. True, it is not a cheap destination , but no more so than the UK, and which nation’s public transport system would you rather use?
Cheer yourself up by thinking of the country’s remarkable organization and clockwork railway timetable as being financed by the extremely high taxes paid by your hosts. When viewed in this way , this first-rate destination seems like good value, and you get the fairy tales thrown in for free: the Danish royal family is genuinely loved and respected by the vast majority of its citizens, not least handsome Prince Frederik , his beautiful Australian-born princess-bride, Mar, and their young family.Which of the following words can best describe Danes ?
| A．Polite and humorous . |
| B．Happy and romantic. |
| C．Kind and friendly. |
| D．Out-going and humorous . |
The writer implies in the last two paragraphs that __________ .
| A．Visiting the U.K. will cost less than travelling in Denmark . |
| B．The transport system in the UK can’t equal that in Denmark . |
| C．People in Denmark pay high taxes to welcome visitors . |
| D．The Danish royal family plays an important role in politics . |
How does the passage mainly develop ?
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By giving descriptions. |
| D．By following time order. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage ?
| A．To introduce Danish culture . |
| B．To show the attractions of Denmark . |
| C．To share experiences of travelling in Denmark . |
| D．To describe the happy life people live in Denmark . |
Tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have gone on sale, with fans able to apply on FIFA’s website. FIFA is expecting a similar demand to that in Germany 2006, when there were about seven applicants for every ticket of the 64 matches. And now around 3.3 million tickets will be available for the matches in 2014.
Tickets will range in price from ￡58 for first-round matches to ￡632 for the final at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian citizens over 60, local students and members of some social programs can purchase tickets for ￡15.
The Price of Football - World Cup 2014
| Items |
Prices |
Items |
Prices |
| Ticket |
￡58-￡112 |
Final ticket |
￡281-￡632 |
| Sun cream |
￡9.50 |
T-shirt |
￡13 |
| McDonald’s meal |
￡11 |
Water |
￡1.28 |
| Imported beer |
￡3.83 |
Domestic beer |
￡1.91 |
| Coffee |
￡2.55 |
Average dinner |
￡29 |
“It’s always difficult to predict,” said FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil. “But I truly believe that it will be more similar to what happened in Germany than in South Africa in 2010.”According to FIFA, the 2006 World Cup was attended by more than 3.3 million fans. Almost two million tickets were sold to the general public in South Africa, although the number of applications during the first ticketing phase was significantly lower.
All applications made before 10th October 2013 will enter a random selection draw if there are not enough tickets available to fulfill all requests. The sales of the leftover tickets will begin on 5th November on a first-come, first-served basis. Another phase will begin on 8th December after the draw is made. The tournament begins on 12th June, with Brazil playing the opener in Sao Paulo.
A study on the price of World Cup 2014 looked at the ticket prices and the cost of travelling to Brazil and found that our English fans face hotel costs of between ￡46 and ￡797 a night, while packages range from ￡2,999 to ￡14,999.How much should a Brazilian student pay for the opening match?
| A．￡15 | B．￡58 | C．￡112 | D．￡632 |
From the passage we know that Thierry Weil_______.
| A．feels proud of what they achieved in South Africa 2010 |
| B．feels worried about the sales of the tickets for Brazil 2014 |
| C．holds the belief that Brazil 2014 will be the greatest world cup |
| D．believes that more fans will attend Brazil 2014 than South Africa 2010 |
What will FIFA do if there are not enough tickets available for requests before Oct.10, 2013?
| A．They will sell the spare tickets to the applicants. |
| B．They will sell on a first-come, first-served basis. |
| C．They will choose the applicants based on a random selection draw. |
| D．They will sell them the tickets to be sold on Dec.8. |
Sex prejudices are based on and justified by the ideology(意识形态) that biology is destiny. According to this ideology, basic biological and psychological differences exist between the sexes. These differences require each sex to play a separate role in social life. Women are the weaker sex both physically and emotionally. Thus, they are naturally suited, much more so than men, to the performance of domestic(家庭的) duties. A woman’s place, under normal circumstances, is within the protective environment of the home. Nature has determined that women play caretaker roles, such as wife and mother and homemaker. On the other hand, men are best suited to go out into the competitive world of work and politics, where serious responsibilities must be taken on. Men are to be the providers; women and children are “dependents”.
The ideology also holds that women who wish to work outside the household should naturally fill these jobs that are in line with the special capabilities of their sex. It is appropriate for women, not men, to be employed as nurses, social workers, elementary school teachers, house-hold helpers, clerks and secretaries. These positions are simply an extension of women’s domestic role. Informal distinctions between “women’s work” and “men’s work” in the labor force, according to the ideology, are simply a functional reflection of the basic differences between the sexes.
Finally, the ideology suggests that nature has worked her will in another significant way. For the human species to survive over time, its members must regularly reproduce. Thus, women must, whether at home or in the labor force, make the most of their physical appearances.
So goes the ideology. It is, of course, not true that basic biological and psychological differences between the sexes require each to play sex-defined roles in social life. There is enough evidence that sex roles vary from society to society, and those role differences that do exist are largely learned.
But to the degree people actually believe that biology is destiny and that nature intended for men and women to make different contributions to society, sex-defined roles will be seen as totally acceptable.According to the biology-is-destiny ideology, women_______.
| A．cannot compete with men in any field |
| B．are suited more to domestic jobs than men |
| C．are sensitive enough to be a good caretaker |
| D．are too weak to do any agricultural work at all |
Those who have prejudices against women think that_______.
| A．women shouldn’t go out for work |
| B．women should earn money to add the family income |
| C．women going out for work should only do “women’s work” |
| D．women should take jobs to drill the special capabilities of the sex |
The author thinks that the positions women hold outside_______.
| A．are determined by what they are better suited to |
| B．grow out of their household responsibilities |
| C．represent their breakthrough of sex discrimination |
| D．are physically and emotionally suitable to them |
What does the underlined sentence imply?
| A．Sex roles are socially determined |
| B．Sex roles are emotionally and physically determined |
| C．Sex roles are biologically and psychologically determined |
| D．Sex roles are determined by education people take |
A dense wave of smog began in the Chinese city of Harbin and the surrounding Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning Provinces on 20 October 2013. Unseasonably warm temperatures with very little wind across northeastern China coincided with the smoke from local farmers’ burning straws and the start-up of Harbin’s coal-powered central heating system.
Record densities of fine particulates(微粒)were measured in the city. In Harbin, the levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter) rise to 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, worse than Beijing’s historic highs. Visibility was reduced to below 50m in parts of Harbin, and below 500m in most of the neighbouring Jilin Province. On Fa Yuen Street in Harbin, visibility of less than 5m was reported. The smog reduced after October 23, 2013 and completely broke up on October 28, 2013 by the first local snow and icy rain due to a cold front moving in from Russia.
Harbin lies in the north of China where winter temperatures can drop to -40℃, demanding a six-month heating season. Daily particulate levels of more than 40 times the World Health Organization recommended maximum level were reported in parts of Harbin. The smog remained till 23 October, when almost all monitoring stations in Heilongjiang, Jilin,and Liaoning Provincesreported readings above 200μg/m³forPM2.5. PM2.5 is the amount of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter in the air, with the WHO recommending a maximum 24-hour mean (平均值) of 25 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³). On the morning of 25 October, PM2.5 measurements in Harbin had fallen to an average of 123μg/m³.
All highways in the surrounding Heilongjiang Province were closed. In Harbin, all primary and middle schools were closed for three days and authorities stopped flights at the airports. Hospitals reported a 23 percent increase in admissions for breathing problems. However, this smog will have no influence on Harbin Ice Festival events later in December 2013.
Air pollution in Chinese cities is of increasing concern to China’s leadership. Particulates in the air can affect human health and also have influences on climate and rainfall. Pollution from the burning of coal has reduced life expectancy by 5.5 years in the north of China, as a result of heart and lung diseases.One cause of the heavy smog in the northeastern Chinese cities may be _____.
| A．the lasting cold weather |
| B．farmers’ burning of forests |
| C．too much strong wind |
| D．the start-up of heating system |
One serious influence of the heavy smog was that_____.
| A．Harbin Ice Festival would be cancelled |
| B．highways in Heilongjiang were free of charge |
| C．all flights at the airport were cancelled |
| D．doctors in hospitals were kept from working |
The harmful smog was most serious on ______.
| A．October 20 | B．October 23 | C．October 25 | D．October 28 |
What measure might be practical to reduce the happening of heavy smog?
| A．Forbidding people to own their private cars. |
| B．Advocating people having one meal a day. |
| C．Using natural gas to cook instead of coal. |
| D．Encouraging family’s coal-fired heating. |
Canadian short story writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Eighty-two-year-old Munro is only the 13th woman to win the 112-year-old prize.
Munro didn’t publish her first collection of short stories until she was 37 years old, but her stories have always been well-received. Lots of her stories share similar themes and characters, but each story has its own twists and turns.
Even though she’s won Canada’s most famous literary award, the Giller Prize, twice, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is the cherry on top of Munro’s career. “It brings this incredible recognition, both of her and her career, and of the dedication to the short story,” said one person.
Along with the well-respected title comes 1.3 million dollars. Munro said everything was “so surprising and wonderful” and that she was “dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way.”
Munro knew she was in the running——she was named the second-most likely person to win this year’s prize, after Haruki Murakami (村上春树）of Japan——but she never thought that she would win.
Munro’s win also represents the long way Canadian writers have come. “When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world. Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe,” Munro said on Thursday.
She is technically not the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but many like to think that she is. In 1976 Saul Bellow, who was born in Quebec but moved to Chicago when he was still a child, won the prize. Even though he was born in Canada, he is mostly considered to be an American writer.
“This is a win for us all. Canadians, by our very nature, are not very nationalistic,” said Geoffrey Taylor. “But things like this suddenly make you want to find a flag.”
She wasn’t sure if she would keep writing if she won the prize, saying that it would be “nice to go out with a bang. But this may change my mind.”What is the feature of Munro’s stories?
| A．They have their own complicated (复杂的)contents. |
| B．They have similar story backgrounds. |
| C．They have specific themes for children. |
| D．They have the same characters in each book. |
For Munro, the Nobel Prize is an award for______.
| A．her love for Canadian culture |
| B．her devotion to the short story |
| C．her special form of writing |
| D．her career of editing short stories |
What is implied in the sixth paragraph?
| A．Canadian writers paid little attention to the prize. |
| B．Canadian writers are just a small community. |
| C．Canadian writers have long been ignored. |
| D．Canadians have a long way to win the prize. |
What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．How Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize |
| B．An introduction to the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| C．Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| D．A world famous writer, Alice Munro |
Televisions were among the most talked about items at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some employed the most advanced technology ever.
Some of the TVs used a new technology called Organic Light Emitting Diodes, or OLED. They were thinner, lighter, offered better color and were brighter than traditional LEDs. Smart TVs this year were smarter. Many offered technology that let users have a more personalized experience. One such TV from the electronics company TCL uses sensors and voice recognition to determine who is watching. It then offers programming based on the specific user. Another TV from Panasonic offers a similar personalized user experience.
In addition to television technology, size also played a major part in CES 2013. Televisions varied in size from big to bigger, with at least two companies — Samsung and HiSense — exhibiting TVs measuring 110 inches.
The yearly Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest technology trade show in North America and one of the biggest in the world.
Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that organizes CES. He gave one of the keynote speeches on opening day.
“Now you know that CES is more than a trade show. It’s a gathering of the brightest minds and the top leaders from many industries and those seeking a glimpse into the future.”
That glimpse into the future included a look at digital health and fitness devices, which were also big at CES 2013. There were devices that track your activity and others that measure blood pressure, heart rate and weight. There was even a fork that tells you when you are eating too fast.
Cars, smart-phones, tablet computers and PCs also made news. And a 27-inch table computer drew quite a bit of attention.
CEA President Gary Shapiro says there was much to see but not nearly enough time to see it all. “You cannot see the show in the four days that you have. We have over 3200 different industries showing over 20,000 new products. It’s absolutely incredible.”At the 2013 CES, which item drew the most attention?
| A．Cars. | B．Smart-phones. | C．Computers. | D．Televisions. |
From the text, we can know that the TV from Panasonic _________.
| A．is bigger than the others | B．uses the technology of OLED |
| C．offers a personalized experience | D．can track your activity |
What can we know from Gary Shapiro?
| A．CES is only a big trade show. |
| B．CES offers a glimpse into the future. |
| C．CES lasts only four days in all. |
| D．He thinks little of the new products’ quality. |
At the CES, the biggest TV in size might be from ______.
| A．HiSense | B．Panasonic | C．TCL | D．CEA |
From the passage we can infer that__________.
| A．the CES is held every 4 years |
| B．at the 2013 CES, the TV section was crowded |
| C．if you watch TV every day, you needn’t see a doctor |
| D．tablet computers drew more attention at the 2013 CES |