Alibaba started taking the lead in China， simply enough， by connecting big Chinese manufacturers（制造商） with big buyers across the world． Its business-to-business site， Alibaba． com allowed business to buy almost everything． Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to identify: size． Alibaba is just big， even by Chinese standards． Its marketplaces attract 231 million active buyers，8 million sellers，11．3 billion orders a year—and Alibaba is just the middleman． It encourages people to use its markets—not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale．
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life，take my experience．I moved to Beijing almost a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded，polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics，bathroom furnishings，and anything else my wife wanted． “You’re looking for what exactly？ Why not try it？ ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day．With that，my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began．
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is secondary to consumer buying．Chinese retail（零售）buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit，and leading that group is Taobao，with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find． TMall．com is Alibaba’s other big site，where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices．
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U．S．is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping—big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites．In smaller towns than Beijing，where big retailers have not yet traveled，shopping online is shopping，and shopping is Taobao．
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how extensive the marketplace is．Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping．I’m not even a big buyer，because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site．When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad，which helps me buy goods，I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine．
Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in ___________．
| A．its big size |
| B．its business-to-business service |
| C．its not charging small sellers |
| D．its low price |
What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage？
| A．Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites |
| B．Alibaba will continue to develop． |
| C．Alibaba stands out as the best online site． |
| D．Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers． |
What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to？
| A．a new store |
| B．Alibaba |
| C．a business |
| D．a foreign website |
What can be inferred from the passage？
| A．The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover． |
| B．Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites． |
| C．Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail now． |
| D．TMall．com provides more profit than Taobao． |
What is the passage mainly about？
| A．Shopping online is TaoBao． |
| B．The influence of shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping． |
| C．Alibaba greatly influences people’s daily purchase in China． |
| D．How the author purchases online in China． |
People are being invited to sit down to eat with their neighbors in a nationwide lunch party designed to promote community spirit. The Big Lunch is the idea of the Eden Project in Cornwall. It aims to persuade people up and down the country to hold street lunch parties.
Tens of thousands of vegetables, fruits and flowers were used to construct a giant 2,000-square-foot lunch invitation in London’s Convent Garden. More than 9,000 cauliflowers and 800 bananas were used.
According to the organizers, people who decide to take part in the activity will get support from large companies which will supply many of the necessities, including plants to be given out to people to grow. The organizers think that the Big Lunch is a great opportunity for people to get together and spend time with their neighbors, friends and families. Events like this also help build strong communities. People can show their talents, get over their embarrassment, shake hands and get to know their neighbors, and realize that the neighborhood where they live can be a great source of happiness and enjoyment.
The Eden Project’s leader, Tim Smith, says, “It’s a good way to face this recession. Imagine a day on which millions of us, throughout the UK, sit down to have lunch together with our neighbors in the middle of our streets, around our tower blocks, and on every patch of common ground. We’ll have cooked our own food, made our own entertainment, and created our own decorations. It will be a day to share bread with our neighbors, and put a smile on Britain’s face.”
62. The Big Lunch aims to _____.
A. persuade people to eat healthy food B. encourage people to cook at home
C. help poor people in the community D. develop community spirit
63. Which of the following is false?
A. Large companies will give participants enough money to hold the lunch parties.
B. The Big Lunch may be a good opportunity to show talents and make friends.
C. The Big Lunch is a nationwide activity designed by The Eden Project.
D. The giant lunch invitation in London used a lot of vegetables, fruits and flowers.
64. Big Lunch is a good opportunity for people to _____.
A. enjoy free food B. have fun with neighbors and families
C. shop on the street D. eat without cooking
65. The underlined word “recession” in the last paragraph probably means_____.
A. nice environment B. grand ceremony
C. rapid progress D. economic decline
59. For admission to the Detective House, a shopper needs to _____.
A. be a DBS card owner B. spend a total of $150
C. answer 3 simple questions D. have experience in solving cases
60. Mrs. Rosland, a DBS card holder, spent $200 in the mall, and she would be entitled to _____.
A. a free air ticket and a mother-of-pearl necklace
B. a white gold diamond and a limited edition key chain
C. a sure win gift of limited edition car key chain
D. a Peugeot P200 and a set of white gold diamond
61. Which of the following statements is true?
A. DBS Bank and Fraser Mall are the official sponsors.
B. All shoppers are entitled to a draw for free air ticket.
C. The rewards are open to all shoppers for the entire month of April.
D. DBS Card owners enjoy double chances in the "Win a car" lucky draw.
Babies born in summer are more likely to become short-sighted in late life, a study has shown.
As many as a quarter of all cases of short-sightedness are caused by too great an exposure to sunlight in the first weeks of life, say eye experts.
They are advising all parents to put sunglasses on their babies during the first weeks.
Scientists had already established that over-exposure to sunlight caused short-sightedness in animals.
Researchers who compared the months in which babies were born with whether they needed glasses later on say the principle also applies to humans.
A study of almost 300,000 young adults─the largest of its kind─showed that those born in June and July had a 25 per cent greater chance of becoming severely short-sighted than those born in December or January. Research leader Professor Michael Belkin, of Tel Aviv University, said it was because prolonged illumination(光照) causes the eyeball to lengthen, causing short-sightedness.
Hence the more light a newborn is exposed to, the more the eyeball lengthens and the worse the short-sightedness will be.
The mechanism which lengthens the eyeball is associated with levels of melatonin(褪黑激素), a pigment (色素) which protects the skin against harmful rays of the sun.
In young babies not enough melatonin is released as protection, meaning they are more vulnerable to sunburn and changes to eyeball shape.
Sight expert Professor Daniel O’Leary, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said “At the moment we don’t know the precise cause of why light exposure affects sight, but the evidence seems to prove that it is one of the reasons for people becoming short-sighted.”
55. Babies born in summer are more likely to be short-sighted ____________.
A. because the summer sun is too strong for babies
B. because babies born in summer have lengthened eyeballs
C. if they are exposed to much sunlight in the first weeks after they are born
D. if parents don’t know a proper way to protect their babies’ eyes
56. Melatonin is a kind of material to ___________.
A. prevent the eyes from becoming near-sighted
B. protect the skin from harmful sun rays
C. make our body strong
D. protect babies’ eyes from summer sun
57. From what Professor Daniel O’Leary says we can conclude that ___________.
A. there is no evidence that short-sightedness is related to exposure to sunlight
B. whether light exposure affects sight still needs to be further proved
C. he believes that light exposure can cause short-sightedness
D. he tries to give the cause of why light exposure affects sight
58. The underlined word “vulnerable” in the passage probably means __________.
A. easy to be harmed B. resistant
C. protective D. changeable
Weighed down（压得喘不过气来） by study? Pushed to the limit by the fast pace of life? Frightened by the possible war? Well, you’re not alone. Men and women in France are seeking relief using the world’s best medicine─laughter.
In the past year, more than 25 laughter clubs have been set up across the country. People of all ages release their stress with an hour of group laughs. “People telephoned me and said they have forgotten what it is to laugh. They want to find a place where they can escape all their problems for a while. So they come,” said 40-year-old Jocelyn Le Moan. She usually takes a class of around 60 people through a series of laughter techniques.
Her pupils range from teenagers to 70 years old, but most are middle-aged white collars seeking 60 minutes of relaxation at the end of a busy day.
Le Moan takes them through the “Lion Laugh” and the “Laugh Contest”, where participants “speak” to each other in different ways. And instead of talking, they break into fits of laughter. At the end there are 15 minutes of “meditation”（沉思）,when they lie on their backs and let the laughs burst out of their mouths.
“I love it. It’s an experience that has changed my life. Through it I rediscovered the child’s laugh inside me,” said Romain Jourffroy, 24.
Like Jourffroy, many laughter club members find themselves changed into children again, and why not? The average preschooler laughs up to 400 times a day. The average adult only a sad seven to fifteen.
The physical benefits of laughter are already well-recognized. Doctors say the act of laughing releases good chemicals into the blood-stream, while the quick breathing that accompanies it helps massage（按摩）the digestive organs and strengthens the heart.
“A full hour is like having your insides go jogging! One finishes out of breath, but feels revitalized (产生新活力). And on top of that, you’ve had a laugh,” said doctor Alexisd Estaing.
And many participants in Paris also emphasize the psychological benefits. They believe that laughter is a way of making oneself feel more confident.
“Maybe it is because we are surrounded by so many troubles that we feel the need to keep laughing,” said Anne Maurigiano, a 29-year-old filmmaker.
51. From the passage, we can conclude the following but __________.
A. Jocelyn Le Moan is a teacher of the club.
B. the members are mostly middle-aged white collars.
C. people always need some way to relax in life.
D. laugh freely and everything goes well.
52. The writer suggested that you should __________.
A. have a good laugh after a busy day
B. talk to each other about what troubles you
C. learn series of laughter techniques
D. take the world’s best medicine
53. Which of the following is NOT included among the benefits of laughing ?
A. It can make people rediscover their children’s laugh.
B. It can release good chemical into blood-stream.
C. It can make you feel self-confident.
D. It can cure the illness of people.
54. What does the phrase “on the top of that ” mean?
A. besides B. on the top of tiredness
C. above all D. on the top of your energy
The Festival of Cultures (August 11 – 14)
City Park
The Festival of Cultures is an annual event to celebrate the wide range of cultures found in our great state. People representing 40 cultural groups will share their traditions and customs. Here are just a few of the festival’s many activities.
Crafts (手工): See the fine art of basket weaving from Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Watch the delicate art of making paper umbrellas from Thailand and the decorative craft of paperl picado, or paper cutting, from Mexico. All craft demonstrations provide a firsthand view of how things are made. You will appreciate the process involved in making these products.
Music and Dance: Experience musical instruments that you have never heard before. Listening to the music of a sho from Japan, a bull-roarer from Australia, a sitar from India, and a chakay from Tailand. You will also be entertained by folk dances from around the world, such as the troika from Russia and the mayim from Israel. From 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. on August 14, special folk-dancing classes for children will be offered. Children ranging in age from 6 – 8 can learn the kinderpolka from Germany. Children ranging in age from 9 – 12 can learn the raspa from Mexico.
Storytelling: Listen for hours as professional storytellers charm you with interesting tales. Fables, folktales, and ballads from various countries will be told. By popular demand, Gwendolyn Washington, a famous African American storyteller, is back.
Food: Enjoy irresistible foods from other countries, such as gyros from Greece, seafood paella from Spain,
crepes from France, and tandoori chicken from India. These tasty dishes will be difficult to pass up.
| Tickets August 11 - 13 |
| Adults $3 Ages 13 – 18 $2 Ages 6 – 12 $ 1 Ages 6 and underFree |
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