A Chinese couple tried to name their baby “@”, saying the character best represents their love for the child, according to an official trying to standardize the national language. The unusual name stands out especially in Mandarin, which has no alphabet (字母表) and instead uses tens of thousands of multistroke (多笔画的) characters to represent words. “The whole world uses it to write emails, and translated into Chinese it means ‘love him’,” the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.
While the @ symbol is familiar to Chinese email users, they often use the English word “at” to sound it out. With a drawnout “t”, this sounds something like “ai ta”, or “love him”, to Mandarin speakers. Li says the name is an extreme example of people’s increasingly adventurous approach to Mandarin, as commercialization and the Internet break down conventions (习俗).
Another couple tried to give their child a name that in English sounds like “King Osrina”.
Li did not say if officials accepted the “@” name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals (阿拉伯数字) and foreign languages. Sixty million Chinese face the problem that their names use ancient characters so uncommon that computers cannot recognize them and even fluent speakers are left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a report on the government website. One of them is the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name has a rare “rong” character that gives newspaper editors headaches.
Why did the Chinese couple try to name their baby “@”？
| A．Because they wanted their baby to have a special name. |
| B．Because they wanted their baby to have an international name. |
| C．Because the @ symbol is familiar to email users all over the world. |
| D．Because the @ symbol sounds something like “ai ta”, which means “love him” in Chinese. |
It can be inferred that ___________.
| A．Li Yuming is in favor of the baby’s name |
| B．many Chinese people use Arabic numerals in their names |
| C．a majority of the Chinese people are having longer names |
| D．there is little possibility for the “@” name to be officially accepted |
The underlined part in the passage probably means___________.
| A．even native speakers find it hard to accept these strange names |
| B．even native speakers can’t find these characters in their computers |
| C．even those who are expert at Chinese can’t recognize these characters |
| D．even those who are expert at Chinese find it hard to accept these names |
The former Premier Zhu Rongji is mentioned in the passage because ________.
| A．people often mispronounce his name |
| B．there is an uncommon character in his name |
| C．he often made newspaper editors annoyed during his term in office |
| D．he once stressed the importance of standardizing Chinese characters |
The passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．how Chinese parents name their babies |
| B．the importance of standardizing Chinese characters |
| C．a ban on names using Arabic numerals and foreign languages |
| D．the problems caused by uncommon characters used in Chinese names |
B
As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn’t help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled children who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment: my husband and I probably won’t be able to buy a house until we’re in our 40s, and we too are burdened by student loans (贷款). But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn’t they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the Slate story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won’t be able to have children for at least a decade because they can’t afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought, what planet is she living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury (奢华), not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old in the story despairs that he can’t afford to get a Ph.D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it’s sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people’s expectations are slowly adjusting, but today’s 20-somethings grew up at a time when everyone’s wealth appeared to be expanding. Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments. “So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means,” says Kobliner.
This recession (衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful --- for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day --- than on longing for some kind of luxury life.
60. What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?
A. They expect everything to be easy for them.
B. They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans.
C. They are reluctant to face all of the challenges.
D. They are burdened by student loans.
61. The underlined word “fertility” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.
A. baby production B. pleasant C. baby comfort D. essential
62. What’s the author’s attitude towards the 20-somthings with high expectation in Paragraph 5?
A. Intolerant. B. Negative. C. Unbelieving. D. Understanding.
63. What is the best title for this passage?
A. How Young People Afford to Continue Their Study
B. Why Young People Can’t Afford to Buy a House
C. When Young People’s High Hopes Create Despair
D. What the 20-somethings’ High Expectations Are
第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）.
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in intercultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear.Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm even when things do not go as one wants them to, or hopes they will, or has even been sure they will. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in his own reactions than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.“The awareness of being unclear” is a more difficult concept than patience or a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear to the newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in the situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can’t be sure of different people’s roles in what is going on. “It’s like I just got here from the moon,” a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said, “things are just so different here. ”56. The passage mainly tells us_____.A. some problems about communication.
B. humor- an important thing in communication.C. some characteristics in communicating with foreigners.D. three useful ways of communicating with foreigners.57. From the third paragraph, we can infer that a humorous person_____.A. tends to treat everything carelesslyB. is optimistic about things. C. likes making fun of others.D. is an impatient one .58. The underlined part “The awareness of being unclear” refers to “_______”.A. knowing the meaning of an exact situation.B. not stating clearly what happens.C. realizing the possible misunderstanding D. being aware of the unclear situations.59. What can we know from the passage? A. It is necessary to learn a language before you go abroad.B Americans are used to the culture of other countries.C. Patience usually improves the relationship with others.D. To live in a foreign land, one should get fully prepared.
D
Weather changes when the temperature and the amount of water in the atmosphere change. We can see and feel water coming from the atmosphere when we have rain. But the water must somehow get back to the atmosphere. Meteorologists call this the water cycle.
There are many stages in the water cycle. Rain falls when water vapor in clouds condenses(凝结). Drops of water form and fall to the ground. The water soaks into the ground and feeds streams and rivers. A lot of rain falls into the sea. The heat of the sun evaporates（蒸发） some of the water in the ground and in the rivers, lakes, and the sea. It changes the liquid water into water vapor. The vapor rises onto the air. Water vapor（汽） is normally invisible. On a very damp or humid day, however, you can sometimes see water vapor rising from a puddle(水坑) or pond in a mist above the water. Water vapor also gets into the air from living things. Trees and other plants take in water through their roots and give off water vapor from their leaves. People and land animals drink water and breathe out water vapor. In all these ways the water returns to the air. There it gathers to form clouds and condenses to form rain. The rain falls to earth, and the cycle starts again. It continues even if snow or hail(冰雹) fall instead because both eventually melt to form water. The amount of water vapor in the air depends on the temperature. The air is more moist(潮湿) in the tropics than in the cold polar regions.
68. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Water cycle. B. Water vapor. C. How rain forms.D. Water, vapor, rain.
69. How many ways of the water returning to the air are discussed in the text?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four.D. Five.
70. Whether water vapor can be seen or not depends on _______.
A. how much water is evaporatedB. how good your eyes are
C. in which way water is evaporatedD. climate or weather
C
Are you afraid of change? Whether it is you personally or the working/living environment around you that changes, change will happen, it’s one guarantee I can give you and if you want success you need to make changes too.
Throughout the history of mankind changes have happened and they will continue to do so until the end of time. I do not think I need give you a list of any of these events they are obvious to us all.
Where are you going with this Steve, I hear you saying to yourself, everyone knows that changes happen all the time and we as human beings adapt accordingly. Well, yes, I agree with you to a point, but in that case why are we all not living the life we want in the world we want?
Because some of us resist change, because we are afraid of the unknown factors that change may bring into our lives.
Stop resisting and the changes will happen automatically, that is what happened to me when I started using hypnosis（睡眠状态） and mediation （沉思）to help me come to terms with the changes I needed to make to get out of Going Nowhere Land. I honestly believe that if I had
not lost my fear of change when I did that there is absolutely no way that I would be enjoying life and the success I am having as much as I do at this moment in time.
My intention is to carry on enjoying life to the full and to successfully help others to do the same and if that means making even more changes to my life, as it surely will, then bring them on and let’s get started.
It does not matter if you start off making small changes like getting up early so that you can share breakfast with your loved ones, take some exercise or meditating before going to work, start making those changes now. By getting into the habit of making changes, you will accept change into your life, you will begin to change more of your old habits into new and better ones and even enjoy the feeling that making those changes brings and the success that comes with them.
64. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Are you afraid of change?B. Changing for success.
C. Why do you resist change. D. Change brings happiness.
65. The underlined phrase “come to terms with” in the fifth paragraph probably means “_______ “
A. reach an agreement with B. fight against
C. accept something unpleasant D. overcome the bad consequences of
66. From the fifth paragraph we can infer that ___________.
A. the author has never been afraid of changes in his life.
B. the author used to believe that changes happened automatically
C. the author is still not satisfied with his present situation
D. the author had experienced a period of frustration(挫折) in his life
67. In the last paragraph, the author intends to ________.
A. list the necessary changes we ought to make
B. advise us to make any necessary changes
C. explain what changes can bring
D. explain the progress of making changes
B.
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day，on the second Sunday in May，and Father’s Day，on the third Sunday in June．These days are to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days offer an opportunity to think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home and more fathers must help with child-care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways．On Mother’s Day people wear carnations．A red one symbolizes a living mother．A white one shows that the mother is d
ead．Many people attend religious services to honor parents．It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home，as well as in restaurants．They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day．These are days of fun and good feelings and memories．
Another tradition is to give cards an d gifts．Children make them in school．Many people make their own presents．These are valued more than the ones bought in stores．It is not the value of the gift that is important，but it is “the thought that counts”．Greeting card stores，florists，candy makers，bakeries，telephone companies，and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays
60. What we can learn from the passage?
A. Both festivals are in May.
B. Fewer women worked outside the home past.
C. Not all the children respect their parents.
D. Fathers are not as important as mothers at home.
61. Which is not the reason for children to show love and respect for parents?
A. Parents bring up children.
B. Parents give love and care for children.
C. Parents pass away before children grow up.
D. Parents educate children to be good persons
62. On Mother’s Day or Father’s Day ____________.
A. children always go to parents’ home. B. people usually have family parties
C. every goes to the cemetery D. hand-made cards are the most valuable gifts
63. What do you think “florists” do?
A. They sell flowers.
B. They make bread or pastry.
C. They offer enough room for having family party.
D. They sell special clothes for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.