Newspapers are dying.Electronic devices like mobile phones，pads，TVs and car radios can all be the killers.Most people believe in the long run，there is no reason• no practical reason for newspapers to survive.No matter what we do may only buy time.
Can anything save newspapers？I decided to have a try.
Many years ago，Bonnier，a Swedish publisher，set a newspaper in the former Soviet countries .After a few years，they had more newspapers in central and eastern Europe.However，these newspapers were run by a group of inexperienced people，and they didn't have enough money.In many places there were not even art directors.
I got a position in Bonnier's newspaper as an art director.
It was very difficult at first.I was really disappointed，until one day，in Londonn，when I saw performance by Cirque du Soleil. "These guys took some run﹣down entertainment，and put it to the highest possible level of performance art.M Inspiration lighted me up， "Why can't we do the same with the newspapers.We started to redesign the newspapers，one by one.
We used our imagination.We treated the whole newspaper as one piece，one composition - like music.
Music has a rhythm，has ups and downs.Design is responsible for this experience.Flipping through pages was readers' experience and I was responsible for this experience.
The front page became my personal channel to talk to the readers.My approach was simple and direct.I wanted to show my understanding of art，and of reality.I wanted to make posters，not newspapers.Not even magazines：posters.
We had determination，and we kept on trying.We experimented with type，with illustration and with photos.We kept asking：Why do we do it？What's our goal？
Design was not only about the front page.It was a part of the process.To be good was not enough.The process we made was about improving the product completely.
We adjusted the content accordingly.We improved everything to what our readers thought it should be and how they liked reading it.We kept improving and we had fun.
Soon in Poland ，our pages were named "Covers of the Year" three times in a row.One year later this newspaper，in the same country，they named it the "World's Best﹣Designed Newspaper".Two years later，the same award came to Estonia.The circulation of the newspapers kept going up.They became more and more popular.
Someone may think we are buying time，but our newspapers are alive，and growing.
（1）According to the passage，most people think newspapers .
| A． |
will be replaced |
| B． |
should be improved |
| C． |
need to be saved |
| D． |
may die immediately |
（2）Why did the writer go to work in Bonnier's newspaper？
| A． |
Art director was a well﹣paid position. |
| B． |
It would die and he was going to save it. |
| C． |
He hoped to get more working experience. |
| D． |
It was a big publishing company in Europe. |
（3）Which of the following is probably the writer's opinion？
| A． |
Newspapers can be alive if they are designed as posters. |
| B． |
The other newspapers can develop as quickly as Bonnier. |
| C． |
We may only buy time no matter how we save newspapers. |
| D． |
Newspapers won't survive unless we keep improving them. |
（4）What makes the writer's newspapers survive and grow？（请用约 40 词回答）
________________________
Nearly eight hundred million people in this world cannot read or write, most of them in developing countries. Two-thirds are women and girls.
John Wood who started the Room to Read campaign（运动）, has opened 1,650 schools and 15,000 libraries in some of the world’s poorest communities（社区）. He said that from the beginning, Room to Read’s goal was to reach 10 million children around the world in the poorest countries.
In 1998, on a three-week vacation journey in Nepal, Wood met a local headmaster who invited him to visit his school in a far mountain village. The experience changed Wood’s life.
“This headmaster had 450 students at the school, but he didn’t have any books,” Wood said.” He had a library that was empty.”
Wood promised to fill the library shelves and returned to the village year later with some of his friends with 3,000 books. And that was just the start. Later, Wood used some of his personal money to start Room to Read. He believes that world change begins with educated children. Today, the programme can be found in 10 countries across Asia and Africa.
Wood believes the key to the program’s success is local support .While Room to Read gives away money and provides books, communities offer land and parents help build the school. Agnes, a Room to Read teacher in Zambia who also runs the library, is proud to say the literacy at her school has improved. Room to Read’s biggest challenge is the huge need. Hundreds of communities have asked for literacy programmes. One way of Room to Read’s success is that it will achieve Wood’s goal of reaching 10 million kids by 2015, five years earlier than it is planned.The purpose of the Room to Read campaign is to __________.
| A．ask parents to read together with their children |
| B．help poor children to learn to read and write |
| C．tell more people the importance of reading |
| D．help 10 million children to go to college |
When John Wood travelled in Nepal in 1998, he __________.
| A．visited many local schools |
| B．sent many books to local children |
| C．started the Room to Read campaign |
| D．met a man who changed his life |
The underlined part “the literacy” in the last paragraph refers to（指的是）__________.
| A．the teaching conditions |
| B．the teaching quality |
| C．students’ ability to read and write |
| D．the money teachers earn every month |
John Wood is a person that is ____________.
| A．helpful and generous | B．honest and brave |
| C．careless but active | D．strict but friendly |
In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair-weather friends. They will be with you only if you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend? I look for certain qualities of characteristic, especially understanding, honesty and reliability (可靠).
Above all else, I look for understanding in a friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to give his opinion. Instead, he tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other person's place, and he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.
At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults (过错) in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.
Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on (信赖) a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need help, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.
There is a fourth quality that makes a friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experience (经验) and learn from each other. A good friend has a good sense of humour, too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.
When I meet someone who is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I've found a friend!Which of the following qualities the writer thinks is the most important in choosing ________a friend?
| A．understanding. | B．honesty. |
| C．reliability. | D．a sense of humour. |
If you have fair-weather friends, ______ .
| A．they will give you all that they have when you need help |
| B．you will be refused when you get into trouble |
| C．you will become rich |
| D．you can be sure that you get real friends |
Good friends need to ______.
| A．always point out each other's mistakes |
| B．be helped with money |
| C．understand each other's feelings |
| D．have money or luck |
This passage mainly discuss ______.
| A．the qualities of a friend |
| B．where to choose friends |
| C．how to get along with friends |
| D．the importance of having a friend |
BBC News on TV, radio and online often brings you stories from across the world. Today we can hear “Life in China”. Have you got a story about life in China today? If you do, please put your stories here.
Wu Peng, Anhui |
I am a 14-year-old boy from a poor village in Anhui Province. Like many other left-behind children in China, I live with my grandparents now. My parents went to work in Shanghai several years ago. They call me twice a month to ask about my study. I really miss my parents and I hope I can go to school in Shanghai. I think every child needs parents’ love and care. |
Cindy, Shenzhen |
I like traveling and I have traveled a lot around China. During the trip, I often find that a number of Chinese often break the rules in public. For example, when I traveled in Hong Kong this year, I saw a kid eating noodles on the underground, which was against the rules. However, the kid’s mother didn’t think she did wrong. Can you believe it? Let’s improve our public manners. |
Mike, Shanghai |
These days, we’re asked to “clear our plates” when having our meals and say no to wasting. Some of us used to order more than what we could eat. That was a big waste of food. Now we need to finish the food we order. We should also stop wasting in some other ways. For example, we should turn off the lights when we leave the classroom. |
How does Wu Peng contact his parents according to the passage?
| A．By writing letters. | B．On the telephone. |
| C．On the Internet. | D．By sending text messages. |
Who thought it was not right to eat on the underground?
| A．Cindy. | B．Mike. |
| C．Wu Peng. | D．The kid’s mother |
What does Mike want people to do?
| A．Care about left-behind children |
| B．Obey the rules in public. |
| C．Improve their public manners |
| D．Stop wasting |
A rich man was riding along the road and saw an old man digging in his garden. There was a young tree lying on the ground. The rich man asked the old man.” what kind of tree are you planting there, my good man?”
“This is a fig（无花果）tree, sir.” He said.
“A fig tree?” The rich man was very surprised. “How old are you, may I ask?”
“I am ninety years old.”
“What!” shouted the rich man, “You're ninety years old. You are planting a very young tree now and it'll take years to give fruit. You certainly don' t hope to live long enough to get any fruit from this tree.” The old man smiled and said, “Tell me, sir, did you eat figs when you were a boy?”
“Sure” the man did not know why he asked this question.
The old man asked, “Who planted the fig trees?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“You see, sir.” The old man said slowly, “our forefathers（祖先）planted trees for us to enjoy and I am doing the same for the people after me.”
The rich man was quiet, then said, “You are right, my good man. We should do some things
for the people after us. Thank you very much.” Then he rode away.The old man was planting_ when the rich man saw him.
| A．an apple tree | B．a fig tree |
| C．a pear tree | D．a banana tree |
The old man was planting the tree____________.
| A．to get himself some fruit to eat |
| B．for the people after him |
| C．to make his garden more beautiful |
| D．just for fun |
The sentence in the last paragraph “The rich man was quiet” means_________.
| A．he was thinking about who were his forefathers |
| B．he didn't want to disturb the old man |
| C．he couldn't communicate with the old man |
| D．he understood why the old man planted the young tree |
What kind of personality does the old man has?
| A．creative | B．brave | C．wise | D．curious |
We can express the main idea of this passage “_________” in Chinese.
| A．前人栽树，后人乘凉 | B．光阴似箭，一去不返 |
| C．君子爱财，取之有道 | D．财多惹祸，树大招风 |
Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant（(仆人). He and the servant loved wine and good food very much. Each time the rich man left his home, the servant would drink the wine and eat up all the nice food in the house. The rich man knew what his servant did, but he had never caught his servant doing that. One morning, when he left home, he said to the servant, “Here are two bottles of poison（毒药） and some nice food in the house. You must take care of them.” With these words, he went out. But the servant knew that the rich man had said was untrue. After the rich man was away from his home, he enjoyed a nice meal. Because he drank too much, he was drunk and fell to the ground. When the rich man came back, he couldn’t find his food and his wine. He became very angry. He woke the servant up. But the servant told his story very well. He said a cat had eaten up everything. He was afraid to be punished（惩罚）, so he drank the poison to kill himself.In the story, _______ liked wine and good food very much.
| A．the rich man | B．the servant |
| C．both A and B | D．neither A and B |
The rich man knew that it was _______ that drank the wine and ate up all the nice food.
| A．the cat | B．himself |
| C．nobody | D．the servant |
The rich told the servant that there was poison in the two bottles, because ________.
| A．there was in fact poison in the bottles |
| B．did not want the servant to drink his wine |
| C．he wanted to kill the cat |
| D．he wanted to kill the servant |
In fact, _______ ate all the nice food and drank the wine.
| A．the servant | B．cat |
| C．the rich man | D．nobody |
From the story, we know that the servant is very _______.
| A．lazy | B．bad | C．clever | D．Kind |