Long before they became doctors, lawyers, CEO’s or real estate developers, they played in garage bands and maybe even dreamed of becoming rock stars. That’s why they signed up for Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp.
For nearly a week, the mostly middle-aged “campers” had practiced in the West 54th Street studios. They came from as far away as London and Tokyo and as close as Long Island and downtown New York to prepare for their moment of onstage glory.
“I feel like I’m 18 again,” said Jerry Goldberg, a 60-year-old investment banker and guitar player, whose family was in the audience.” I admit that I felt a little uncertain when I first got here, but this has turned out to be a wonderful experience, one of the greatest of my life.”
Everybody has two businesses, their own business and show business. This can be a life-changing experience for them. Mr. Daltrey, who has appeared at several fantasy camps, was asked why he keeps coming back.
“I’ve had people tell me that I shouldn’t be doing this, that it's bad for my image,” he acknowledged. “But that’s rubbish. Look, it’s all so positive, and everybody is having so much fun. So what’s bad about that?”
Jeff Munger, a drummer and rancher(农场主) said. “I’m at a point in my life where I’m going to spend my money on things I’m passionate about, and I’m absolutely crazy about music.”
Most of the campers are successful executives or professionals: a founder of the Oracle Computer Company, a businessman whose father invented the Big Mac, a plastic surgeon, presidents of health care and seafood companies.
【小题1】This text is mainly about________.

A．a music course for the elderly people

B．a pop club for professional musicians

C．a rock music camp for music lovers

D．a studio for wealthy businessmen

【小题2】What do the middle aged campers have in common?

A．They are all interested in charity.

B．They are all passionate about music.

C．They are all retired business people.

D．They were all rock stars when they were young.

【小题3】According to the text, Mr. Daltrey ________.

A．once played in a garage band

B．has come with his family

C．has joined in the camp a couple of times

D．is very careful about his image

【小题4】We can infer from the text that the campers _________.

A．enjoy their regular jobs	B．come from different countries
C．do part-time jobs	D．have a great many fans

It is six o’clock in the morning. You are asleep in my left arm and I am learning the art of one-handed typing. Your mother, more tired yet more happy than I’ve ever known her, is sound asleep in the room next door.
When you’re older we’ll tell you that you were born in Hong Kong in the lunar year of the pig. “It's a boy, so lucky,” our neighbours told us. They said you were the first baby to be born in the block this year. This, they told us, was good Feng Shui, in other words, a positive sign. Naturally your mother and I were only too happy to believe that.
Your coming has turned me upside down and inside out. I am pained by the memory of each suffering child I have come across on my journeys as a journalist. To tell you the truth, it’s nearly too much for me to even think of the children being hurt and abused and killed.
Last October, in Afghanistan, when you were growing inside your mother, I met Sharja, aged twelve, motherless, fatherless, guiding me through the grey ruins of her home. Everything was gone, she told me.
There is another memory of Rwanda, and the churchyard where I found a mother and her three young children huddled(蜷缩) together where they’d been beaten to death. The children had died holding on to their mother.
Daniel, these memories explain some of the protectiveness I feel for you, and the occasional moments of blind terror when I imagine anything bad happening to you.
【小题1】We can see that this text is written to ________.

A．the author’s wife	B．the author’s neighbour
C．Daniel	D．a suffering child

【小题2】The author mentions some of his painful memories because ________.

A．he wants his son to care for others

B．he feels more pain thinking about them as a father

C．he hopes to forget the tragedies he witnessed

D．his experience has affected his mental health

【小题3】The underlined word “blind” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．unable to see	B．meaningful
C．not clear	D．not based on reason

【小题4】Which of the following words best describes the author’s feeling when typing this text?

A．Relieved.

B．Regretful.

C．Loving.

D．Calm.

London has become a cycle friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London.
So how does it work？First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes，which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go，for the length of time you use the bike.
Transport for London，which runs the scheme，are hoping to have 6，000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion (拥挤) in London and is expected to create up to 40，000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been “filled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses”.
However，there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. On the first day some people found they couldn’t dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few “teething problems” and have said they wouldn’t charge for the first day as a “gesture of goodwill”. Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.
Despite the comments，the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things，saying，“My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a big pedal-powered push forwards.”
【小题1】 London Mayor boris Johnston launched the new bike scheme in order to _________.

A．reduce the air pollution of the city

B．encourage the citizens to take exercises

C．deal with the city’s traffic problems

D．increase employment opportunities

【小题2】If you want to hire a bike, in which order will you do？
a. pay for the bike according to the time you use it 
b. pay for the key to a bike
c. cycle in and around central London      
d. sign up as a member to get a key

A．b-d-c-a

B．b-c-a-d

C．d-c-b-a

D．d-b-c-a

【小题3】All the following are the problems of the scheme EXCEPT        ．

A．the high cost to hire a bike	B．not registering their usage of the bikes
C．not charging for the first day of the scheme	D．docking the bikes properly

【小题4】 From the passage we can infer that         .

A．the London Mayor is confident in the scheme

B．the scheme will be cancelled because of the problems

C．all the citizens in London support the scheme

D．the cycling revolution is not successful

Shopping in the United States changes a lot．About ninety years ago most people shopped in small stores that were owned by one person or a family．Women went from the bakery to the butcher’s to the grocer and on to the fruit and vegetable seller in order to get their food for the week．Then, about sixty years ago, supermarkets were born．In a supermarket, people could get all the different kinds of food they needed without going to different stores．
The next big change in shopping in the United States was the shopping mall．A shopping mall is a group of stores under one roof．Because malls allowed people to shop without worrying about the weather, they soon became very popular．The mall became a place for people to socialize in addition to shopping．If you walk through a mall, you will see older people sitting, chatting and drinking coffee．Malls are places for teenagers to hang out．Many teens will often just “go to the mall” and spend time with their friends．
The recent change in American shopping was the superstore．Large chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Office Depot and Toys“R”Us have been built all across the United States．Because they are so large, they can buy goods at a great discount and sell them much cheaper than smaller stores．Sometimes, when they are built near small towns, many of the small town stores have to close．They just cannot compete with their giant neighbors．
And now, online shopping is becoming more and more popular all over the States．People are too busy to go to the physical stores, so they go shopping over the Internet．Online shopping has lots of advantages．For instance, online stores are usually available 24 hours a day．Searching or browsing online shops can be faster than browsing the physical stores．While, online shopping also has its disadvantages．People are at higher risk of being cheated on the part of the merchant than in a physical store．And privacy of personal information may be let out．
【小题1】Which of the following shows the right order of shopping development in the United States?
①small stores         ②superstores   ③shopping malls
④shopping online     ⑤supermarkets

A．①②③④⑤	B．①⑤②③④
C．②③④①⑤	D．①⑤③②④

【小题2】Which is the place for people to spend time with others according to the passage?

A．Small stores．	B．Shopping malls．
C．Supermarkets．	D．Superstores．

【小题3】Why can the superstores sell products at much lower prices?

A．Because they can buy goods at a reduction in price．

B．Because they are across the United States．

C．Because they sell all kinds of products people need．

D．Because they are built near small towns．

【小题4】What’s the disadvantage of online shopping according to the passage?

A．Wasting time．

B．Fixed prices．

C．Leaking personal information．

D．No chance to do physical activities．

The old shopkeeper led me through to the back of the shop. The room was filled with boxes and photographs of people dressed in old-fashioned clothes, holding packages in their hands.
“Who are these people?” I asked.
“Satisfied customers,” answered young Mr. Hopkins. “We have a very wide choice of items for sale. Whenever I serve a new customer, I always take their picture.” Mr. Hopkins pointed to an ancient camera standing next to one wall. “Now, how can I serve you?” he added.
By this time, I had started to trust Mr. Hopkins and had begun to appreciate the lovely items on sale. I needed to buy Christmas presents for my family and friends, and this seemed to be the perfect place to purchase them. I spent a very pleasant hour being shown the commodities in Mr. Hopkins’shop. No matter what I asked for, Mr. Hopkins found it for me. Finally, I bought an antique jewelry box, a pair of riding boots, a leather-bound edition of the Complete Works of Mark Twain, and a sewing machine.
I was very excited that I had found such a good little shop. I promised Mr. Hopkins that I would come back soon. “I will tell all my friends about your lovely place,” I told the shopkeeper.
“Please do not do that, sir”, said Mr. Hopkins. “This is a special place for special people. You must keep this shop a secret.” Then he took my photograph, and handed me the picture straight away.
“That was quick!” I exclaimed. I looked at the photograph. In the picture I looked proud and excited holding the presents I had bought in Mr. Hopkins’ dusty shop.
On Christmas Day, my friends and relatives were delighted with the presents I had bought for them. For weeks, my brother begged me to show him where to find this wonderful little shop. I finally agreed to take him to London to show him.
When we arrived in London, we walked along Oxford Street, past the department store and found...nothing. The little shop was no longer there. In its place was an empty space being used as a car park. I checked the area again. There was the music shop, and there was the department store. In between should have been Hopkins and Son, but it wasn’t there.
As I was staring at the place where the shop should have been, an old policeman came along. “Are you looking for something sir?” he asked.
I turned and said “I am looking for a little shop called Hopkins and Son. I thought it was here.”
“Oh yes,” said the policeman. “There was a shop here once called Hopkins and Son. It sold all sorts of things, but it was knocked down over 30 years ago.”
I looked again at the place where the shop had been. Then I reached into my pocket and took out the photograph that Mr. Hopkins had taken of me holding my presents in the little shop.
“How strange” I exclaimed.
【小题1】How did the writer like the shop?

A．He found it a modern big shop.

B．He thought it a wonderful shop for all Christmas presents.

C．He thought it a good shop with an ancient camera.

D．He found it a dusty, old but friendly and lovely little shop.

【小题2】Which of the following is true about the shop?

A．It was knocked down a few weeks ago.

B．It was a well-known little shop in London.

C．It was a special shop selling special presents.

D．It was between a music shop and a department store.

【小题3】The word “the commodities’ in the 4^th paragraph means _____.

A．the writer’s works

B．the goods in the shop

C．Mr. Hopkins’ photographs

D．Some presents left by other customers

【小题4】Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A．Christmas Shopping

B．Hopkins and His Son

C．The Strange Little Shop

D．The Strange Experience

Wearing seat belt is，of course，the first step to safe driving．These additional measures might also save your life.
Count to three．Keeping up enough space between your car and others is extreme1y necessary．Jim Clark，a California driving instructor，suggests a least amount of three seconds’following distance．To figure this，pick an object on the roadside ahead．When the car in front of you passes it，start counting one-thousand-one,one-thousand-two，one-thousand-three．If you get to that object before you reach one-thousand-three，you don’t have three seconds of following time --- time needed to keep away from accidents．
Let followers pass．“If someone’s driving after you，get out of his way，”Clark advises．“You’re better of being safe than right．”
Expect the worst．In a study，the Federal Highway Administration(联邦公路局)found that 68 percent of drivers do not come to a complete stop at stop signs．When you’re driving and see someone come near to a stop sing，assume the person’s not going to stop．
And when you stop at a crossing and another car comes near with its turn signal on，don’t take it true that the driver will turn．Instead，wait until he turns．He may have had the signal on for miles．
Stay outside．In crowd，multilane(多车道) traffic，drive in either the outside--left or outside--right lane．“That allows you somewhere to go if a problem develops,”traffic expert Francis Kenel says．“If you’re in the middle，all you can do is to pause from time to time．”
【小题1】According to the text if you want to drive safely you should   ．

A．wear seat belt	B．take some additional measures
C．at least take 5 steps	D．count to three

【小题2】When you finish counting“one-thousand-three",you have   ．

A．driven one thousand and three metres	B．kept three seconds’distance from other cars
C．counted a lot of numbers	D．kept a long distance from the object

【小题3】What does the underlined word“assume”in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Maybe．

B．Guess．

C．Ask．

D．Suppose．

【小题4】Mr．Kenel tells us while driving in multilane traffic_______.   

A．we’d better find somewhere to go

B．it will be better for us to drive in the outside lanes

C．it is safer to drive in the middle

D．we must drive on the left

We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong．A day may begin well enough，but suddenly everything seems to get out of control．It seems as if a single unimportant event may cause a number of things to happen．Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time．The telephone rings and this means your troubles are beginning．While you are on the phone，the baby pulls the table-cloth off the table，destroying your half-prepared meal．You hang up hurriedly and attend to your baby．Meanwhile，the meal gets burnt．As if this were not enough to bring you to tears，your husband arrives,unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner．
Things can go wrong on a number of people on the road. During the rush hour one evening two cars hit each other and both drivers began to argue．The woman driver behind the two cars happened to be a learner．She suddenly got into a panic(恐慌)and stopped her car．This made the driver following her stop suddenly．His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake．As she was thrown forward，the cake went right through the window and landed on the road．Seeing a cake flying through the air，a truck-driver had to stop his truck all of a sudden．The truck was carrying empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the truck on the road．This led to yet another angry argument．Meanwhile，the traffic piled up behind．It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again．In the meanwhile，the truck-driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles.Only two dogs were enjoying themselves from the accident，for they were happily having what was left of the cake．It was just one of those days!
【小题1】In the writer’s opinion         .

A．accidents may happen anytime

B．troubles always come in groups

C．a small matter may cause great trouble

D．anyone may have trouble any day

【小题2】What did the police do after the accident?

A．They helped the driver clean up the road．

B．They helped the drivers to go on with their journey．

C．They tried to stop the people from arguing．

D．They would find out who should be responsible for(有责任的)the accident．

【小题3】When the telephone rings        .

A．you’d better have your baby a little distant from your table before going to answer the phone

B．you’d better just let it ring all the way

C．you should never go to answer it in a hurry

D．you should answer it right away

【小题4】From the story we can see_________．

A．some drivers are too careless

B．such accidents are rather strange

C．such accidents are very common

D．we don’t know why such accidents happen

It seems that some people go out of their way to get into trouble．That’s more or less what happened the night that Nashville Police officer Floyd Hyde was on duty.
“I was on the way to a personal-injury accident in West Nashville．As I got onto  Highway 40，blue lights and sirens(警笛)going.I fell in behind a gold Pontiac Firebird that suddenly seemed to take off quickly down the highway．The driver somehow panicked at the sight of me．He was going more than a hundred miles an hour and began passing cars on the shoulder．”
But Hyde couldn’t go after him．Taking care of injured people is always more important than worrying about speeders，so the officer had to stay on his way to the accident．But he did try to keep the Firebird in sight as he drove，hoping another nearby unit would be able to step in and stop the speeding car．As it turned out，keeping the Firebird in sight was not that difficult．Every turn the Pontiac made was the very turn the officer needed to get to the accident scene.
Hyde followed the Pontiac all the way to his destination(目的地)．At that point he found another unit had already arrived at the accident scene．His help wasn’t needed.Now he was free to try to stop the driver of the Firebird，who by this time had developed something new to panic about．
“Just about that time，” Hyde said，“I saw fire coming out from under that car，with blue smoke and oil going everywhere.He’d blown his engine．Now he had to stop．”
“After I arrested him．I asked him why he was running．He told me he didn’t have a driver’s license(执照)．”
That accident cost the driver of the Firebird plenty---a thousand dollars for the new engine---not to mention the charges for driving without a license，attempting to run away，and dangerous driving．
【小题1】The underlined word“panicked”in Paragraph 2 means       .

A．feared

B．hated

C．excited

D．satisfied

【小题2】The driver of the Firebird suddenly speeded down the highway because         .

A．he was racing with another driver on the road

B．he realized he had to hurry to the accident scene

C．he thought the police officer wanted to stop him

D．he wanted to overtake other cars on the shoulder

【小题3】Which of the following statements is true?

A．Someone else was taking care of the injured person．

B．The Pontiac reached its destination at the accident scene．

C．Hyde knew where he was going by following the right car．

D．The policeman was running after a speeder on Highway 40

【小题4】Choose the best title for the passage．

A．Going My Way?	B．Help on the Way?
C．Fun All theWay?	D．Losing His Way?

After we meet people, it is up to us to make them our friends．Let us stop a moment and consider what really makes a friend. The major qualities like faithfulness, devotion, friendliness，flash through our minds. But it is the large number of very small particular qualities that make up one’s whole character, such as cheerfulness, friendliness and punctuality. After all, “to make a friend, be a friend” is not such a big and difficult order. There are particular favorable qualities, which attract others to us, and some fundamental psychological do’s and don’ts．
If you are in the presence of a shy person, talking and asking casual questions may bring him out of his shell. Think of what would be most acceptable to the other person for you to talk, or to listen. Either way, the goal is to make yourself pleasant．
Always remember to listen, but listen intelligently. To have anyone “hang on our words” is the most unnoticeably clever way in the world to please somebody．For a few extremely happy seconds we are the center of attraction，but when it is our turn to be audience，let us remember how we felt as the actor，and let’s be genuinely interested in what the other fellow is saying．
Other people will like us, if we like them. If you want friends, keep your mind and heart open to friendship. Be alive to the other person’s world．
【小题1】This passage is mainly about________.

A．the way of talking to a shy person

B．some favorable qualities to be a psychologist

C．how to make yourself attractive to listeners

D．how to make a friend and be a friend

【小题2】 The underlined part “bring him out of his shell” in the second paragraph most probably means________.

A．make him become active	B．make him feel more nervous
C．help him understand the question better	D．help him listen intelligently

【小题3】According to the passage，an important way in making friends is to________.

A．attract them

B．be attracted

C．listen attentively

D．talk widely

【小题4】Of the qualities in a friend，which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Faithfulness.

B．Devotion．

C．Punctuality.

D．Unselfishness.

Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap（水龙头）?
In America, people will include a case or two of bottled water when buying the week's groceries（日用杂货）．When they are going to a soccer game or activity, it's common for them to grab a cold bottle of water out of the fridge with them．In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, about 29 billion bottles a year．
But all these plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment．In order to make all the 29 billion bottles, producers use 17 million barrels of crude oil, which is enough to keep a million cars going for 12 months．
So why don't people drink water straight from the tap? Some people have a strong belief that bottled water is better than water out of the tap, but that's not necessarily true．In the US, the local governments make sure water from the tap is safe．There is also growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may go into the water．
People love the convenience of bottled water．But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a reusable steel container instead of plastic．
Some argue that plastic bottle recycling can help．Recycled bottles can be turned into items like carpeting or clothing．Unfortunately, only one in six bottles is recycled．The rest make it to landfills（垃圾填坦场） or end as trash in other places．Plastic bottles take hundreds of years for them to disintegrate．
Water is important for you, so keep drinking it．But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change．
And yes, you can make a difference．Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours．
【小题1】How many cars can be kept going for a year by the crude oil used to make 29 billion bottles?

A．100．

B．I,000．

C．100,000．

D．I,000,000．

【小题2】Why do Americans prefer bottled water?

A．Bottled water is better than water from the tap．

B．Bottled water is cheaper than water from the tap．

C．Bottled water contains beneficial chemicals in it．

D．Bottled water is more convenient than water from the tap．

【小题3】What does the underlined word "disintegrate" in the fifth paragraph probably mean^

A．Be well recycled．	B．Become less poisonous．
C．Break into small pieces．	D．Go down below a surface．

【小题4】The author's intention of writing this passage is to recommend Americans

A．drink more water from the tap

B．send plastic bottles to landfills.

C．use water bottles to power light bulbs

D．buy bottles filled with water from the tap