The sharing economy has grown in recent years to include everything from apartment sharing to car sharing to community tool sharing. Since 2009, a new form of sharing economy has been emerging in neighborhoods throughout the US and around the world—— Little Free Library. The libraries are boxes placed in neighborhoods from which residents can withdraw (取出) and deposit (存入) books. Little Free Libraries come in all shapes and sizes. Some libraries also have themes, focusing on books for children, adults, or tour guides.
In 2009, Tod Bol built the first Little Free Library as a gift to his mother, who was a devoted reader. When he saw the people of his community gathering around it, exchanging conversation as well as books, he knew he wanted to take his simple idea further. “I think Little Free Libraries open the door to conversations we want to have with each other,” Bol said.
Since then, his idea has become a movement, spreading from state to state and country to country. According to Little FreeLibrary.org, there are now 18,000 of the little structures around the world, located in each of the 50 US states and 70 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
The Internet has helped to spread Little Free Libraries. But an Atlantic article says the little structures serve as a cure for a world of e-reader downloads. The little wooden boxes are refreshingly physical and human. For many people, the sense of discovery is Little Free Libraries’ main appeal. “A girl walking home from school might pick up a graphic novel that gets her excited about reading; a man on his way to the bus stop might find a volume of poetry that changes his outlook on life,” says the Atlantic article. “Every book is a potential source of inspiration”. How do Little Free Libraries get their books?
| A．The communities bought them. |
| B．Tod Bol donated them. |
| C．US government provided them. |
| D．Citizens shared them. |
Why did Tod Bol want to build more Little Free Libraries?
| A．They can offer neighbors more chances to talk. |
| B．He was inspired by the sharing economy. |
| C．He wanted to promote his idea worldwide. |
| D．They are a gift to please his mother. |
What does the author of the Atlantic article believe?
| A．Little Free Libraries are more popular than e-reader downloads. |
| B．E-reader downloads are undoubtedly beneficial. |
| C．Little Free Libraries are physical and human. |
| D．The Internet has helped to spread Little Free Libraries. |
Little Free Libraries attract readers most in that ________.
| A．they are in various shapes and sizes |
| B．they are located all over the world |
| C．they connect strangers together |
| D．they may give readers a sense of discovery |
2.26-meter-tall Yao Ming made his NBA debut (初次登台) on October 23, 2002 and got 6 points for the Houston Rockets in the game. The next day, he got 13 points (得分)in another game.
Most people think that Yao Ming is a born basketball player. But Yao said, “When you watch it on TV, it looks very easy. But when you are playing in the NBA, it is really not so easy.” He said that joining the Houston Rockets was a new start and a new challenge. “I hope that through very hard work I can make everyone happy and help the Rockets win more games,” he said.
Yao Ming speaks some English. Both he and his teammates can understand each other. They don't think there is a language problem. While Yao Ming faces this new challenge（挑战）, the people of Houston have shown great interest in him and they hope Yao Ming will bring new energy (活力) to the Rockets. The team has started having lessons to learn more about China, and many people who work for the Rockets have learned to speak some Chinese.Yao Ming got 13 points on October _____, 2002.
| A．22 | B．23 | C．24 | D．26 |
Yao Ming said that _____.
| A．playing in the NBA was difficult |
B．it was hard to watch NBA games on  TV |
| C．he was an NBA star |
| D．it was boring to play basketball |
From the passage we can know that Yao Ming ________.
| A．will work hard for his team |
| B．made the highest score in his first NBA game |
C．can't understand hi s teammates |
| D．teaches the Rockets workers Chinese himself |
The passage is probably ______.
| A．an advertisement | B．a notice | C．a news report | D．an instruction |
Welcome to our school. You can do a lot of things here. Come and join us.
| Timetable |
|
| Sunday 8:30---11:30 Personal Inventions You can see many inventions by the students; you may also bring your own inventions. |
Monday 19:00---21:00 Space and Man Dr. Thomas West If you want to know more about the universe（宇宙）. |
Wednesday 19:30---21:00 Modern Medicine Mrs. Lucy Green Would you like to know medical science? |
Friday 18:30---21:00 Computer Science Mr. Harry Morison from Harvard University Learn to use Windows XP. |
You may have a chance to introduce your inventions on _________.
| A．Sunday | B．Monday | C．Wednesday | D．Friday |
The person who teaches Computer Science is from___________.
| A．Canada | B．Australia | C．New Zealand | D．America |
You may learn something about a disease called TB from __________.
| A．Dr. West | B．Mr. Morison | C．Mrs. Green | D．Mr. Thomas |
If you want to learn something about satellites（卫星）, you can go to the class from______.
| A．8:30 to 11:30 on Sunday | B．19:00 to 21:00 on Monday |
| C．19:30 to 21:00 on Wednesday | D．18:30 to 21:00 on Friday |
任务型阅读: 阅读下面六项活动的介绍（A、B、C、D、E和F），为每一位选出符合各人需求的最佳活动。选项中有一项是多余选项。Sam who came from America two months ago is now teaching oral English in Dongfang
Middle School．He can only understand and speak a few Chinese words．He is adventurous
and sporting and would like to try something new to kill his time on Sunday．Julie coming from Australia is an exchange student in Shaoguan University．She majors in
Chinese Art and likes Chinese culture very much．But now what worries her most is her
overweight because of the delicious Chinese food．So she’d like to find someone to guide her
to keep fit．Mrs．Yang is very busy with her job in the company as well as the housework at home．As a result of the long-term strain, she often feels oppressed, restless and tired．So she hopes to do
some suitable exercise to lessen and relax such disturbances of physical and mental system at
weekends．Some of Ted’s Net friends will go to Beijing to visit him around Christmas．How excited he is! He plans to take them to some places of interest and entertain them．Now he is looking through China Daily to find something fit for them．
Benny has just graduated from No．16 Middle School．Luckily, he has been admitted into South China Agricultural University．Since childhood, he has been interested in trees, flowers, birds and animals．Now in the summer holiday, he is eager to find something exciting and something he is keen on to do．
| A．Flashlight Adventure: Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Great Valley．A guide will lead the tour．Many of the animals you’ll see on this trip can only be seen at night．The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see．Cost: 50 yuan．Time:8: 00—10: 30 pm, every Saturday．Tel: 83321239． |
| B．Taichi with English Narration: An experienced Taichi teacher, about 38, teaches the basic 24 movements, pushing-hands and self-defense techniques．It is fit for the beginners and intermediate level．Time:10: 00—12: 00 am, every Sunday．Place: Bamboo Garden Hotel, Jiu Gulou Street．Fee: 60 yuan each time．Tel: 65287750． |
| C．Chinese Ink & Painting Class: It is to learn the techniques of painting a bird, flower, or lady with brushes．The Chinese philosophy and culture will also be included．Tools and materials are provided．Time: 7: 00—9: 00 pm, every Friday．Fee: 50 yuan each week．Tel: 38876788． |
| D．Great Wall Party: The latest Great Wall Party is sponsored by the Club and Elektrobeat and held at Jinshanling．Local DJ Mark, as well as guests Slab from Australia, Usami and Bobby from Hong Kong will spin the sounds．All drinks are priced at 20 yuan．Ticket: 200 yuan, including bus ride there and back plus entrance fee to the Great Wall．Time:8: 00 pm—2: 00 am, Dec．20—30．Pre-sale tickets are available at Public Space．Tel: 64160759． |
E．Healthy Diet Program: The 8-week program helps you discover how to be healthy, slim and beautiful! It is unlike other diet regimes in that it focuses on proper nutrition first and weight loss second．It offers control over stomach and continuing hunger with a calorie dense diet allowing 1,700 to 2,000 calories a day．Call to get more information: 75763457．
F．Lotus Yoga: The word Yoga means combination and harmony, whose true sense refers to the perfect unity of a person’s body and mind．It is a way to maintain highly natural and relaxed state and purify your body and mind, a way to lessen the tiredness in the waist and back and keep fit while heightening the body’s ability to keep coordinated and balanced．Booking for any course, please access http: //www．Lotusyoga．cn．
A car that runs on coffee is unveiled（shown to the public for the first time）today but at between 25 and 50 times the cost of running a car on petrol, the invention won’t please any motor industry accountants．
Nicknamed the Car-puccino, it has been created using a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco bought for £400 and it was chosen because it looked like the time-traveling DeLorean in the movie Back To The Future．The car will be driven the 210 miles between Manchester and London powered only by roasted coffee granules （颗粒）．It has been built by a team from the BBC1 science programme Bang Goes The Theory and will go on display at the Big Bang science fair in Manchester to show how fuels other than traditional petrol can power vehicles．
The team calculates the Car-puccino will do three miles per kilo of ground coffee （咖啡粉） — about 56 cups of espressos （浓咖啡） per mile．The journey will use about 70 kilos of ground coffee which, at supermarket prices of between £13 and £26 a kilo depending on brand and quality, will cost between £910 and £1,820, or between 25 and 50 times the £36 cost of petrol for the journey．In total, the trip will cost 11,760 espressos, and the team will have to take ‘coffee breaks’ roughly every 30 to 45 miles to pour in more granules．They will also have to stop about every 60 miles to clean out the ‘coffee filters’ to rid them of the soot and tar which is also generated by the process．So despite a top speed of 60mph, the many stops mean the going will be slow, with the journey taking around ten hours．
Sadly, the inventors will still have to pay duty on their coffee fuel---even though tax collectors at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Custom haven’t yet worked out how much．
Nick Watson, producer of Bang Goes The Theory, said, “Coffee, like wood or coal, has some carbon content so you can use it as a fuel．The coffee needs to be very dry and in granules to allow the air to move through the pile of coffee as it burns．The brand doesn’t matter．” He said the same technology could be used to power a car on other unusual fuels, such as woodchips or nut shells, construction or agricultural waste．Which is the right way to choose the coffee used as fuels to run the Car-puccino?
| A．It should be very dry． | B．The stronger, the better． |
| C．The smaller the granules are, the better． | D．It should be of a certain brand． |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．All kinds of materials can be used as fuels． |
| B．The Car-puccino will be put into the market soon． |
| C．Nick Watson is the designer of the Car-puccino |
| D．Much remains to be improved for the Car-puccino． |
The Car-puccino has its disadvantages EXCEPT that ________．
| A．it makes a lot of noise |
| B．it runs at a very high cost |
| C．it has to stop to be refueled very often |
| D．it’s not good enough for long-distance journey |
How much ground coffee will be used to cover a distance of 126 miles in this car?
| A．About 70 kilos | B．About 42 kilos． | C．About 32 kilos | D．About 30 kilos |
Why can coffee be used as a fuel?
| A．It looks like wood or coal. | B．It contains some carbon content. |
| C．It is very cheap. | D．It is much better than woodchips or nut shells. |
A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before.
University tuition fees (学费)are currently capped at £3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.
In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average £ 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just £ 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than £ 10.000. Average debts for graduates are £ 12，363.
Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."
Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweather aged 15 from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money. Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?
| A．Students understand personal finances differently. |
| B．University tuition fees in England have been rising. |
| C．Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings. |
| D．The students' payback ability has become a major issue. |
The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".
| A．to raise the student loans | B．to improve the school facilities |
| C．to increase the upper limit of the tuition | D．to lift the school building roofs |
According to Stephen Moir, students_______.
| A．are too young to be exposed to financial issues |
| B．should learn to manage their finances well |
| C．should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans |
| D．benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Many British teenagers do not know money matters well |
| B．Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts. |
| C．Financial planning is a required course at college. |
| D．Young people should become responsible adults. |