Video on demand, or VOD, ____to be the first element of interactive television in the near future．

A．expects         B．is expecting          C．is expected          D．will be expected

Just like a voyage at sea, our life journey, ____days are limited, is full of difficulties．

A．which           B．that           C．its          D．whose

The output of the gold mine is four times _____it was a decade ago．

A．that        B．what          C．which            D．than

The student went through the paper, finding some mistakes that might _____have been ignored．

A．otherwise         B．therefore          C．nevertheless          D．besides

---Have you finished your essay?

---Half ____when you come back．

A．has been done       B．is done           C．be done         D．will have been done

____ we need ten textbooks for the children, we have got only five．So I’m afraid they will have to share．

A．Because          B．Since        C．While          D．Once

When I was little, my family used to move frequently．Before I could even get   1   with my schoolmates, my family was on the move again．I became very   2   because of this．

But a girl with dark skin and long shiny hair   3   me．Her best characteristics are her openness and 4  ．She is always smiling, like a beautiful sunflower following the sun．Without   5   I enjoyed being with her and soon we became good friends．As time went by, I gradually became a   6   girl．But this joyful period didn’t last long．We were admitted to different colleges．I felt like I had gone 7   to my always-on-the-move childhood．I felt  8   and helpless and I was afraid that I would 9   her as my best friend．She stayed calm and said to me: “Rain, you can achieve more than I do, so 10   to your dreams and make a big effort! Real friendship doesn’t fade and we will be best friends forever．” Maybe she didn’t realize what a great   11   she was to me at that time．

However, it turned out that my   12   were well-founded （有根据的）．I felt that the   13   between us was getting bigger and bigger．One day, she sent me a text message happily telling me that she had fallen in love with a handsome boy in her class．

I felt happy for her, but at the same time I was secretly worried about our friendship．I  14   her several times intending to tell her to think carefully about her  15  with the boy, but I got no more messages from her．I felt sad that perhaps our friendship would not   16  ．I had almost given up hope 17   she visited me at my campus a week later．She looked  18   but was wearing the most beautiful smile．She gave me a big hug and said: “I’m sorry．I want to be myself and your friend forever!” We cried together,   19   the people walking past．She told me her sad story, and we knew we had gone back to how it was before．

Now I firmly believe that distance and time can’t   20   you from a friend．If you care enough about each other, friendship never fades．

1．A．mad                      B．bored                  C．acquainted           D．patient

2．A．silent                    B．disappointed         C．outspoken           D．crazy

3．A．helped                   B．changed              C．attracted              D．impressed

4．A．faithfulness           B．cheerfulness        C．quietness             D．kindness

5．A．delay                    B．hesitation             C．problem              D．doubt

6．A．happy                   B．lucky                  C．helpful                D．successful

7．A．over                     B．down                  C．out                     D．back

8．A．scared                  B．strange                C．ashamed              D．homesick

9．A．leave                     B．miss                    C．lose                    D．desert

10．A．hold back            B．hold on                C．hold up               D．hold out

11．A．burden                B．example               C．encouragement    D．wonder

12．A．conclusions         B．expectations         C．dreams               D．concerns

13．A．difference            B．distance               C．misunderstanding D．conflict

14．A．visited                 B．messaged            C．telephoned           D．wrote

15．A．relationship          B．satisfaction          C．life                      D．story

16．A．return                 B．develop               C．survive                D．advance

17．A．until                    B．when                  C．as                       D．unless

18．A．cheerful              B．relaxed                C．calm                   D．pale

19．A．forgetting            B．noticing               C．ignoring              D．overlooking

20．A．protect                B．prevent                C．free                    D．separate

Long bus rides are like television shows．They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes．The commercials are unavoidable．They happen whether you want them or not．Every couple of minutes a billboard glides（掠过）by outside the bus window．"Buy Super Clean Toothpaste．"Drink Good Wet Root Beer．" "Fill up with Pacific Gas．"Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"

The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before．Usually some things have changed---new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road．The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so．If the driver is particularly reckless（鲁莽的）or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a suspense story．Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down．Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride．Food always makes bus rides more interesting．But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat．Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops．

The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning．You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that．The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed．By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head．The end comes just at no more ways to sit．

1．What is the purpose of this passage?

       A．To give the writer’s opinion about long bus trips．

       B．To persuade you to take a long bus trip．

       C．To explain how bus trips and television shows differ．

       D．To describe the billboards along the road．

2．The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because______．

       A．the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun

       B．they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between

       C．the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses

       D．both traveling and watching TV are not exciting．

3．The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are______ ．

       A．exciting          B．comfortable        C．tiring           D．boring

BEUING （Associated Press 美联社） —China has a growing middle class, a tradition of expecting education and 21 million new babies every year．Selling educational toys should be easy．

While China may be the world’s biggest toy maker, many of the best are exported Department stores here do not have enough high quality toys．It is said that the demand for educational toys is low．

A US company, BabyCare, is trying to change that with a new way to sell toys in China．

BabyCare works basically together with doctors in Beijing hospitals． People who join the company’s "mother club" can get lectures and newsletters on baby and child development at no extra cost, if they agree to spend 18 dollars a month on the company’s educational toys and child care books．

"We want to build a seven year relationship with those people," said Matthew J．Estes, BabyCare’s president．"It starts during pregnancy （孕期）, when the anxiety and needs are highest．" BabyCare works on a one to one basis．Doctors, nurses, and teachers paid by BabyCare advise parents, explain toys that are designed for children at each stage （阶段） of development to age six．

BabyCare opened its first store in China last June in a shopping center in central Beijing and another near Beijing Zoo．It plans to have 80 stores in China within six years．

It is a new model for China and develops a market in young children’s education and health that no other companies are in．

1．What do the first two paragraphs mainly tell us?

       A．Educational toys and foreign toy markets．

       B．Problems with China’s toy market and education．

       C．Reasons for pushing sales of educational toys in China．

       D．Baby population and various kinds of toys made in China．

2．Which of the following is a fact according to the passage?

       A．Club members buy BabyCare products for free child care advice．

       B．Doctors in Beijing help in making BabyCare products．

       C．Parents are encouraged to pay $ 18 for club activities．

       D．BabyCare trains Chinese doctors at no extra cost．

3．BabyCare is developing its business in China by．

       A．opening stores in Beijing hospitals

       B．offering 18 month courses on child care

       C．setting up children’s education centers

       D．forming close relationships with parents

4．Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?

       A．Mother’s Club in China．             B．BabyCare and Doctors．

       C．American Company Model．           D．Educational Toys in China．

In the USA Forbes magazine has published its annual list of the richest people in the world．Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest man again for the eleventh successive year with a fortune of forty four billion dollars．

There are a record 691 dollar billionaires according to Forbes magazine．Between them they have a fortune of two point two trillion dollars．The highest concentration of the extreme rich is in New York followed by Moscow and San Fransisco and then London and Los Angeles．But in total the very wealthy live in forty seven different countries with Iceland、Kazakstan、Ukraine and Poland entering the list for the first time this year．

Laksmi Mittal, an Indian born steel tycoon （巨头）enjoyed the biggest increase in personal fortune．His net worth has quadrupled （变成四倍）to thirteen billion dollars making him the world’s third richest man．Ingvar Kamprad founder of the Swedish furniture chain Ikea also saw a big increase in wealth taking him to the sixth place．Developing countries make more of a showing than in past years — there are for example three Russians and four Indians in the top sixty richest people, though surprisingly perhaps none from China except Hong Kong．Asian wealth is probably under represented as its usually spread among families whereas Forbes looks at individuals．Relatively few women feature in the list — among them is JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels ranked 620th with a fortune of 519 million dollars．New entrants to the list include the founders of the Internet search group Google Sergie Brin and Larry Page each worth more than seven billion dollars after their company’s recent stock market debut（首次公开露面）．The richest Italian is the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi ranked number 25 in the global wealth league．

1．Which of the following persons has the largest fortune according to this year’s Forbes magazine?

       A．Laksmi Mittal．                          B．Ingvar Kamprad．

       C．JK Rowling．                           D．Silvio Berlusconi．

2．There are about _____ persons with a fortune between 100 million dollars and 519 million dollars in the world．

       A．300               B．180                C．70                 D．150

3．Which of the following statements is NOT true?

       A．No Chinese has entered the top sixty richest people in the world．

       B．Russia is a developing country．

       C．This is the first time that Sergie Brin and Larry Page has been included in the list．

       D．There are more billionaires in New York than any other city in the world．

4．We can infer from the passage that ______．

       A．There are more billionaires in London than in Moscow．

       B．Ukraine is a very rich country in the world．

       C．JK Rowling’s novels have sold very well．

       D．The IT industry is a profit making industry．