Ever since Grumpy Cat first appeared online, the Internet can’t get enough of her. But attention is not the only thing that this cat is getting. Her fortune is estimated at $ 100 million, more than many famous actors and musicians earn.
So how did it all start?
Grumpy Cat’s owner Tabatha Bundesen was working as a waitress when her brother Bryan decided to take a photo of her funny-looking cat and post it on Reddit, the social-news site. In a matter of hours, she became a sensation(轰动).
It got 1 million views on Imgur in 48 hours.
Grumpy Cat’s real name is Tardar Sauce and she actually has a condition called dwarfism, which makes her constantly frowning. But that unique frown turned out to be worth millions of dollars.
Tabatha, who lives in Arizona in US, isn’t complaining. She still remembers that September 22, 2012, when her life turned upside down.
Since her cat became a worldwide phenomenon, she was able to quit her job and devote her life to managing her cat’s modeling career. Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. She says that her only job now is to book Tardar’s photo shoots, commercials(商业广告), and other appearances.
What are the other benefits of owning a million-dollar cat?
Apart from not having to work, Tabatha can travel all the time. She has time and money to visit her family more often and enjoy her life. She never could have imagined just how huge her cat would become, but she always knew Tardar was very special. And she is glad to see her cat bringing joy to so many people around the world.
As for the millions of dollars Grumpy has earned, they come from all the products, commercials and a best-selling book. She even has her own movie—Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.What does the underlined part “the Internet can’t get enough of her’ mean?
| A．The Internet can’t stand her any more. |
| B．The Internet can’t pay more attention to her. |
| C．People don’t focus on her any longer on the Internet. |
| D．The Internet can’t find enough information about her. |
What made Grumpy Cat become famous?
| A．Her unusual appearance. | B．Her bad temper. |
| C．Her short and fat body. | D．Her unique fur. |
About Tabatha Bundesen, we know that____________.
| A．she now works as a waitress. |
| B．she feels very tired of her famous cat. |
| C．she only manages her can’s modeling career. |
| D．she is too busy to go home to visit her parents |
The general idea of the last paragraph is_____________.
| A．how the cat can become so famous. |
| B．how the cat can make so much money. |
| C．what the film about the cat is named |
| D．how the cat’s owner spend so much money |
Everyone has got two personalities—the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real．You don't show your secret personality when you're awake because you can control your behaviour，but when you're asleep， your sleeping position shows the real you．In a normal night，of course，people frequently change their position．The important position is the one that you go to sleep in．
If you go to sleep on your back，you're a very open person．You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas．You don't like to upset people，so you never express your real feelings．You're quite shy and you aren't very confident．
If you sleep on your stomach，you are a rather secretive（不坦率的）person．You worry a lot and you're always easily upset．You're very stubborn（顽固的），but you aren't very ambitious．You usually live for today not for tomorrow．This means that you enjoy having a good time．
If you sleep curled up（卷曲），you are probably a very nervous person．You have a low opinion of yourself and so you're often defensive．You're shy and you don't normally like meeting people．You prefer to be on your own．You're easily hurt．
If you sleep on your side，you have usually got a well-balanced personality．You know your strengths and weaknesses．You're usually careful． You have a confident personality．You sometimes feel anxious，but you don't often get depressed．You always say what you think even if it annoys people．According to the writer，you naturally show your secret and real personality _____.
| A．only in a normal night |
| B．only when you go to sleep |
| C．only when you refuse to show yourself to the world |
| D．only when you change sleeping position |
Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person's personality？
| A．He or she is always open with others． |
| B．He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others． |
| C．He or she is always easily upset． |
| D．He or she tends to believe in others． |
Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach？
| A．He or she is careful not to offend others． |
| B．He or she doesn't want to stick to his or her opinion． |
| C．He or she can't be successful in any business． |
| D．He or she likes to bring others happiness． |
Maybe you don't want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up．Why？
| A．He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you． |
| B．He or she is rarely ready to help you． |
| C．He or she prefers staying at home to going out． |
| D．He or she wouldn't like to get help from you． |
It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because ______ ．
| A．he or she always shows sympathy for people |
| B．he or she is confident，but not stubborn |
| C．he or she has more strengths than weaknesses |
| D．he or she often considers annoying people |
One of Britain's bravest women told yesterday how she helped to catch suspected （可疑的） police killer David Bieber -- and was thanked with flowers by the police. It was also said that she could be in line for a share of up to ￡30,000 reward money.
Vicki Brown, 30, played a very important role in ending the nationwide manhunt. Vicki, who has worked at the Royal Hotel for four years, told of her terrible experience when she had to steal into Bieber's bedroom and to watch him secretly. Then she waited alone for three hours while armed police prepared to storm the building.
She said: "I was very nervous. But when I opened the hotel door and saw 20 armed policemen lined up in the car park I was so glad they were there.”
The alarm had been raised because Vicki became suspicious （怀疑） of the guest who checked in at 3 pm the day before New Year's Eve with little luggage and wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face. She said: "He didn't seem to want to talk too much and make any eye contact （接触）." Vicki, the only employee on duty, called her bosses Margaret, 64, and husband Stan McKale, 65, who phoned the police at 11 pm.
Officers from Northumbria Police called Vicki at the hotel in Dunston, Gateshead, at about 11:30 pm to make sure that this was the wanted man. Then they kept in touch by phoning Vicki every 15 minutes.
"It was about ten past two in the morning when the phone went again and a policeman said ‘Would you go and make yourself known to the armed officers outside?'. My heart missed a beat."
Vicki quietly showed eight armed officers through passages and staircases to the top floor room and handed over the key.
"I realized that my bedroom window overlooks that part of the hotel, so I went to watch. I could not see into the man's room, but I could see the passage. The police kept shouting at the man to come out with his hands showing. Then suddenly he must have come out because they shouted for him to lie down while he was handcuffed （带上手铐）。The underlined phrase "be in line for" （ paragraph 1 ） means __
| A．get | B．be paid | C．ask for | D．own |
Vicki became suspicious of David Bieber because __________.
| A．the police called her |
| B．he looked very strange |
| C．he came to the hotel with little luggage |
| D．he came to the hotel the day before New Year's Eve |
Vicki’s heart missed a beat because _________.
| A．the phone went again |
| B．she would be famous |
| C．the policemen had already arrived |
| D．she saw 20 policemen in the car park |
David Bieber was most probably handcuffed in ________.
| A．the passage | B．the man's room |
| C．Vicki's bedroom | D．the top floor room |
The whole event probably lasted about _______ hours from the moment Bieber came to the hotel to the arrival of some armed officers.
| A．6 | B．8 | C．11 | D．14 |
Washington, D.C. is home to famous buildings, memorials and museums that visitors love. But it is also home to a large and beautiful green space. There are many arboretums in the city. Today, we take you to the United States National Arboretum, an active center for both scientific research and public education.
Many people who come to Washington are astonished when they first visit the National Arboretum. The Arboretum is only a short drive from the center of the city. However, visitors often feel like they are remote from the busy American capital. The Arboretum covers one hundred eighty hectares of green space in the northeast part of Washington. The area is famous for its beautiful flowers, tall trees and other plants. About nine thousand different kinds of plants grow there.
The National Arboretum was established by an act of Congress in 1927. Today, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service operates the Arboretum.
The goal of the Arboretum is to carry out studies and provide education in an effort to improve the environment. The goal includes protecting trees, flowers and other plants and showing them to the public. The National Arboretum is a popular stop for visitors to Washington. It is open every day of the year except December twenty-fifth, the Christmas holiday. Money is not necessary to visit the Arboretum.
As many as six hundred thousand people visit the Arboretum’s grounds each year. Hundreds of thousands of people also visit with the help of computers. They use the Arboretum’s Internet web site to learn about current research programmes and how to care for plants. Director Thomas Elias says Arboretum officials would like to see even more visitors. He says they believe that many people do not know it exists. Part of the problem might result from the fact that the Arboretum is about five kilometers from the closest train station. Many famous places in Washington are a short walk from Metrorail, the local train system.
The Arboretum is easy to reach by automobile or bus, however. About fifteen kilometers of roads have been built on the property. The roads connect to major collections and seasonal flowers. The Arboretum also welcomes people on bicycles. Disabled persons or those who want to walk only short distances may visit four beautiful areas that are close to each other.The underlined word “arboretums” in Paragraph 1 means______.
| A．memorials with trees and other plants around them |
| B．buildings with trees and other plants around them |
| C．museums with trees and other plants for scientific and educational purposes |
| D．places with trees and other plants for scientific and educational purposes |
What do we learn about the National Arboretum according to the passage?
| A．It lies to the northeast part of Washington, free to visit it. |
| B．In fact it is a short walk from Metrorail, the local train system. |
| C．It is surprising and attractive. |
| D．It is where the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service is. |
Why was the National Arboretum established by an act of Congress?
| A．To protect and study about nine thousand different kinds of plants there. |
| B．To make it a popular stop for visitors to Washington. |
| C．To grow trees for Christmas. |
| D．To improve the environment. |
How many ways are there for visitors to choose if they visit the Arboretum?
| A．Five. | B．Six. | C．Seven. | D．Eight. |
Which of the following would be the best conclusion of this passage?
A．Washington, D.C. is home to famous buildings, memorials and museums.
B．The National Arboretum in Washington offers science of nature and public education.
C．The National Arboretum in Washington is an interest of green place.
D．The National Arboretum is a place where trees and other plants are grown.
As more and more people speak the global languages of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000--7,000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die out by the next century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations--UNESCO and National Geographic among them--have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Centre Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi with an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, working, and raising a family in a village in Nepal.
Documenting the Thangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayan reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials-including photographs, films, tape recordings, and field notes--which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection.
Now, through the two organizations that he has founded–the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project--Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, for the world available not just to scholars but to the younger generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet, Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.Many scholars are making efforts to ______.
| A．promote global languages |
| B．set up language research organizations. |
| C．search for language communities |
| D．rescue disappearing languages |
What does “that tradition’ in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．Telling stories about language users |
| B．Writing books on language teaching. |
| C．Having full records of the languages |
| D．Living with the native speaker. |
What is Turin’s book based on?
| A．The cultual studies |
| B．The documents available at Yale. |
| C．His language research in Bhutan. |
| D．His personal experience in Nepal. |
Which of the following best describe Turin’s work?
| A．Write, sell and donate. |
| B．Collect, protect and reconnect. |
| C．Record, repair and reward. |
| D．Design, experiment and report. |
Passenger pigeons(旅鸽) once flew over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers. Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks(群) so large that they darkened the sky for hours.
It was calculated that when its population reached its highest point, there were more than 3 billion passenger pigeons--a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States, making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world. Even as late as 1870 when their numbers had already become smaller, a flock believed to be 1 mile wide and 320 miles (about 515 kilometers) long was seen near Cincinnati.
Sadly, the abundance of passenger pigeons may have been their undoing. Where the birds were most abundant, people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands. Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain, waited until pigeons had settled to feed, then threw large nets over them, taking hundreds at a time. The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.
By the closing decades of the 19th century, the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested had been damaged by Americans’ need for wood, which scattered (驱散) the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north, where cold temperatures and spring storms contributed to their decline. Soon the great flocks were gone, never to be seen again.
In 1897, the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons, but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years. The last confirmed wild pigeon in the United States was shot by a boy in Pike County, Ohio, in 1900. For a time, a few birds survived under human care. The last of them, known affectionately as Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden on September 1, 1914.In the 18th and early 19th centuries, passenger pigeons________.
| A．were the largest bird population in the Us |
| B．lived mainly in the south of America |
| C．did great harm to the natural environment |
| D．were the biggest bird in the world |
The underlined word “ undoing” probably refers to the pigeons’ ________.
| A．escape | B．liberation |
| C．ruin | D．evolution |
What was the main reason for people to kill passenger pigeons?
| A．To seek pleasure. | B．To save other birds. |
| C．To make money. | D．To protect crops. |
What can we infer about the law passed in Michigan?
| A．It was ignored by the public. |
| B．It was declared too late. |
| C．It was unfair. |
| D．It was strict. |