I hated dinner parties. But I decided to give them another shot because I’m in London. And my friend Mallery invited me. And because dinner parties in London are very different from those back in New York. There, “I’m having a dinner party” means “I’m booking a table for 12 at a restaurant you can’t afford and we’ll be sharing the cheque evenly, no matter what you eat.”
Worse, in Manhattan there is always someone who leaves before the bill arrives. They’ll throw down cash, half of what they owe, and then people like me, who don’t drink, end up paying even more. But if I try to use the same trick, the hostess will shout “Where are you going?” And it’s not like I can say I have somewhere to go : everyone knows I have nowhere to go.
But in London, dinner parties are in people’s homes. Not only that, the guests are an interesting mix. The last time I went to one, the guests were from France, India, Denmark and Nigeria; it was like a gathering at the United Nations. In New York, the mix is less striking. It’s like a gathering at Bloomingdale’s, a well-known department store.
For New Yorkers, talking about other parts of the world means Brooklyn and Queens in New York. But at Mallery’s, when I said that I had been to Myanmar recently, people knew where it was. In New York people would think it was a usual new club.
【小题1】What does the word “shot” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Choice.

B．Try.

C．Style.

D．Goal.

【小题2】What does the author dislike most about dinner parties in New York?

A．There is a strange mix of people.	B．The restaurant are expensive.
C．The bill is not fairly shared.	D．People have to pay cash.

【小题3】What does the author think of the parties in London?

A．A bit unusual.	B．Full of tricks.
C．Less costly.	D．More interesting.

【小题4】What is the author’s opinion of some New Yorkers from her experience?

A．Easygoing..	B．Self-centred.
C．Generous.	D．Conservative.

【小题5】What is the main idea of this article?

A．The author hated dinner parties.

B．The author prefer dinner parties in London to those in New York.

C．The difference between London and New York.

D．Mallery invited the author to a party.

When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from China.
When India had not opened up its markets to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now.
Still, her answer surprised me: “Green tea.”
As long as I can remember she didn’t even drink Indian tea.
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story. My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses.
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian. It was a strange country.
How things change! And how soon!
Now every town of any size seems to have a “China Market”. And everyone is talking about China.
The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done. A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment (投资) and such a step would “work wonders as it did for China”.
But it’s a two-way street. I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Rangalore to train in software. Meanwhile, all the IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China.
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to hit about US $15 billion for last year and US $20 billion by 2012, a goal set by both governments.
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian (中国和印度的) century as the two countries started on January 1st the Sino-Indian Friendship Year.
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother’s drinking Chinese tea.
【小题1】Why did the mother ask for Chinese green tea?

A．She was tired of Indian tea.

B．She had a son working in China.

C．She believed it had a curing effect.

D．She was fond of Chinese products.

【小题2】What does the author mean by “it’s a two-way street” in Paragraph 10?

A．China and India have different traffic rules.

B．Tea trade works wonders in both India and China.

C．Chinese products are popular in both China and India.

D．There are exchanges between India and China.

【小题3】What do we know about the Indian IT industry?

A．It is seeking further development in China.

B．It will move its head office to Shenzhen.

C．It has attracted an investment of US $15 billion.

D．It caught up with the US IT industry in 2008.

【小题4】In the text the author expresses _______.

A．his concern for his mother’s health

B．his support for drinking Chinese green tea

C．his surprise at China’s recent development

D．his wonder at the growth of India’s IT industry

【小题5】It is inferred in the text that _______.

A．the author’s mother loves China very much

B．the Indians were not familiar with China before

C．the government of India encourages their people to buy Chinese green tea

D．the two countries didn’t cooperate until last year

According to a study by SallieMae, 84 percent of undergraduate students have credit cards, and by the time they are seniors, they have accumulated US $ 4,100 in debt, on top of whatever student loans they may have taken out．
Credit cards are the most convenient form of payment, and they are aggressively marketed to college students．Reportedly, a typical college student carries 4．6 credit cards and US $ 3,173 in credit card debt．
Credit cards seem to be a fact of life, not just student life． In the long term,  using a credit card properly and paying off the balance can help establish a card history and increase your credit score, which will come in handy when you need an important loan, for a house or car, for example．Your credit score can affect even unrelated things like insurance rates．Credit cards also offer more protection for users than debit cards（借记卡）．Under federal law, the credit card holder is only responsible for the first US  $ 50in fraudulent（欺诈的） purchases in cases of theft or loss．However, debit card users are responsible for the first US $ 500．                                   
SallieMae found some good news in the fact that two thirds of students had discussed credit issues with their parents, but 84 percent said they needed more information．Those who didn't get any guidance were more likely to be surprised when they found out how much they owed．
While credit cards offer the easiest access to money, they make it easy to live outside your means．Less than a fifth of students surveyed paid off their balance every month, and carrying a balance brings finance charges, sometimes at a very high interest rates．
SallieMae found that almost 40 percent of students chose their first credit card based on direct mail, which is probably why students get credit card offers in the mail． But when the credit card offers flow in, be sure that you read the fine print．Offers of low or no interest rates can disappear, leaving you a debt that climbs beyond your ability to pay it off．
【小题1】What does the first paragraph imply?

A．Most of the senior students are shocked to see how much they owed．

B．Students can only take out loans from credit cards．

C．Most of students' loans come from credit cards．

D．Credit cards have a bad effect on college students．

【小题2】The underlined part "come in handy" in the third paragraph probably means “         ”

A．bring trouble	B．make mistakes
C．be important	D．be useful

【小题3】According to SallieMae, what is the possible reason why students get so many credit card offers in the mail?

A．Many students' first credit card is based on direct mail．

B．it costs the banks little to mail out credit cards．

C．Students don't like to go to the bank to open a credit card account．

D．Banks have no other way to let students use their credit cards．

【小题4】What is the theme of the third paragraph?

A．The advantages of using debit cards．

B．The similarities between credit cards and debit cards．

C．The advantages of using credit cards．

D．Credit cards are the most convenient form of payment．

【小题5】According to SallieMae, how many students had not discussed credit issues with their parents?

A．l/3

B．2/3

C．l/4

D．3/4

As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
The 19 th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
【小题1】What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?

A．Small towns along the railways became abandoned.

B．Land in the West was hard to manage.

C．Some railroad stops remained underused.

D．Land grants went into private hands.

【小题2】What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?

A．The use of money and power.

B．The transmission of power.

C．The conservation of solar energy.

D．The selection of an ideal place.

【小题3】What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?

A．Disapproving.

B．Approving.

C．Doubtful.

D．Cautious.

【小题4】Which is the best title for the passage?

A．How the Railways Have Affected the West

B．How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced

C．How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West

D．How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled

It's not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we're doing.
I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, and my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!
Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. Then along came email, and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we do without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.
Email reminds me, of course, of my computer and its software, which has produced another couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb comes from an adjective not a noun.
Now my children bought me a mobile phone, known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message for them on their phone. Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ll start using it myself!
【小题1】“I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means          .

A．it was a firm arrangement

B．he prefers a pencil to a pen

C．the arrangement should be written as a diary

D．it was an uncertain arrangement

【小题2】A website address can be easily found if it has been______.

A．favorited

B．messaged

C．emailed

D．texted

【小题3】Which of the following has not been used as a verb yet?

A．message

B．mobile

C．email

D．page

【小题4】The best title for this passage is____.

A．Technology and Language.	B．Development of the English language
C．New Technology and New words	D．New Verbs from Nouns

The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一度时髦的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of The Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former head of the Language Center at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBCMagazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便).” Adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBCMagazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.
【小题1】People use iPlayer to _________.

A．listen to music	B．make a call
C．watch TV programs online	D．read newspapers

【小题2】We can infer that The Independent’s “i” is aimed at _________.

A．young readers	B．old readers
C．fashionable women	D．engineers

【小题3】Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are _________.

A．portable	B．environmentally friendly
C．advanced	D．recyclable

【小题4】The writer suggests that _________.

A．“i” products are often of high quality

B．iTeddy is a living bear

C．the letter “b” replaces the letter “i” to name the products

D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long

Strange things happen when you travel, because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones. The time difference between two zones is one hour. You can have days with more than twenty-four hours and days with fewer than twenty- four hours. You can have weeks with more than seven days and weeks with fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-trip across the Atlantic Ocean , your ship come into a different time zone every day. As you come into each zone, the time changes one hour. If you travel west, you set your watch back. If you travel east, you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you make a trip by ship across the Pacific Ocean , you cross the International Date Line. This is the point where a new day begins when you cross the line, you change one full day. If you travel east, today becomes yesterday, if you travel west it is tomorrow.
【小题1】Something interesting will happen to the time if you travel because ______.

A．a day has always fewer than twenty-four hours

B．a day has always more than twenty- four hours

C．a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours,

D．some time zones are large and some time zones are small

【小题2】The time difference between two time zones is ______.

A．twenty-four hours	B．one hour
C．two hours	D．twenty-three hours

【小题3】If we travel east across the International Date Line on July 5th, the date becomes July ____.

A．3rd

B．4th

C．5th

D．6th

To American visitors, Iceland is a very interesting country, partly because it is different in so many ways from what he or she is used to seeing at home. There are quite a few things that are not done, or that do not exist on the island - quite a few "No's".
There is no pollution, for instance. No dogs are permitted in Reykjavik, the capital. There is no television on Thursdays or during the entire month of July, and only three hours of black-and-white TV the rest of the time. There is no hard liquor on Wednesdays and no beer at any time. There are no handguns; only one jail of thirty-five cells（牢房） in the entire land – an admirable figure, even for a small country of 313,376 people.
There is no army, air force or navy. There is no tipping for anything. There are no large stores open on Saturdays or Sundays. Since Iceland is situated just under the Arctic Circle, there is no darkness in summer and do daylight in winter. But thanks to Gulf Stream, the climate is rather mild, with temperatures ranging from 34 degrees Fahrenheit to 52 degrees in July.
The rules on television, liquor, and guns are the result of governmental decision. But the absence of pollution is due in great part to the fact that Iceland gets its power from the enormous geyser（间歇泉）and the thousands of hot springs that come out of the ground. They provide all the energy needed by the country. In fact, Iceland uses only 3 percent of all its available power.
Iceland has been described as a democratic (民主的) independent country where more fish are caught and more books published per person than anywhere else in the world. The Icelanders have always felt a particular love for literature. They composed their first works in the ninth and tenth centuries AD. These works were poems and tales about the kings, heroes, and heroines of Iceland and Norway. At first the stories were memorized and passed from generation to generation. The Icelanders have never stopped writing ever since. “Rather shoeless than bookless," they proudly say.
【小题1】American visitors enjoy visiting Iceland probably because     .

A．no dogs are permitted in the capital

B．the police do not carry handguns

C．it is very different from America

D．the climate is rather mild.

【小题2】The following statements are true EXCEPT       .

A．there are no soldiers in Iceland

B．the Icelanders don't drink beer

C．there is no service fee of any kind

D．there are no crimes in Iceland

【小题3】There is no pollution in Iceland mainly because         .

A．Iceland uses only 3 percent of all its available power

B．the Icelanders use hot water from the ground below as their energy

C．it is located just under the Arctic Circle

D．it is a democratic independent country

【小题4】"Rather shoeless than bookless" means         .

A．they regard books more important than shoes.

B．they would rather have shoes on than write books

C．they prefer traveling to reading

D．they prefer not to have shoes or books

Have you ever thought of taking a train and having an adventure？Riding the train can be a real adventure. That is how I feel every time I take Amtrak. I often take a four-hour trip to visit my children. Every time I take this trip I never know what will happen.
Last week when I was on the train, there was a man sitting by himself in the back of the train carrying on a mobile phone conversation—in another language. It was loud and disturbed most of the people on the train. I think it was annoying.
Fortunately I sat next to a wonderful old lady who was taking a two-day trip by train. She said her two daughters were worried at the thought of driving for three days to reach her home, although she had no trouble driving. The train ride was the only choice for her. She loved to look out of the window and watch the world go by on the train.
She was fun to talk to and asked me when my children started being parents. That is a very good question. Both of us are old and have children. She asked that same question from time to time.
There are always many people on the train from all walks of life, different countries, and many languages. Riding the train is a great way to increase your knowledge and learn all kinds of cultures. If you get hungry, you can buy food in the food car at any time. If you need to use the restroom, there is always one for you.
It surely beats driving the car, which has to stop for food and restrooms. And it is better than taking the bus.
【小题1】According to the passage, the purpose of the author’s train ride was ______.

A．to do business	B．to see her children
C．to visit places of interest	D．to see her old friends

【小题2】In the author’s opinion, on the train Amtrak ______.

A．the services are quite good	B．the food is terribly expensive
C．all the passengers are polite	D．all the passengers are American

【小题3】What is the best title for this passage?

A．A painful experience on the train	B．A wonderful lady
C．Train ride—a cultural experience	D．The history of Amtrak

It is "one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy," says Zeng Ming． He is talking about e-commerce． Mr Zeng, the chief strategy officer for Alibaba, a giant Chinese Internet firm, predicts that digital transactions on his firm's platforms will top l trillion yuan （$159 billion） this year-more than Amazon's and eBay's combined． That is a bold claim, but consider what happened on Singles Sunday．
Invented a few years ago by students and seized upon by digital marketers, this festival for lonely hearts falls annually on the  llth day of the llth month （since l is the loneliest number）．It is like St Valentine's Day, only worse． Singletons shower each other with tender gifts: a barrage of pearls; a storm of sweets．
This November llth they spent a surprising 19 billion yuan on Alibaba's online platforms-a fourfold increase on a year ago, and more than double what Americans spent online last Cyber Monday （the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers urge Americans to shop online）． About 100m purchases were logged, accounting for 80% of the packages shipped that day． Couriers（怏递员） were buried in parcels．
So life is good for China's e-tailers, then? Not exactly． The number of digital marketers is increasing and online sales are booming． Consumers are enjoying lower prices, better service and more variety． The problem? The pressure on profits in Chinese e-commerce is worse than in America, reckons Elinor Leung of CLSA, a broker． "Almost no one makes money," she says．
The fiercest battles are being fought between online retailers and their bricks-and-mortar（实体的） rivals．Dangdang, a firm． that resembles Amazon,．and 360buy, another online retailer, have cut prices fiercely． Tencent, a cash-rich online giant known for its instant-messaging software, is splashing out to win market share． 360buy has also just raised $400m from investors to do the same． But it is unclear how much longer such firms can burn through capital．
【小题1】What's the best title of this passage?

A．The Ambition of Alibaba

B．Fierce Competition between Retailers

C．A Newly Sprung Festival for the Singles

D．Chinese Booming and Developing E-commerce

【小题2】According to Zeng Ming, this year Alibaba will        ．

A．outweigh Amazon and eBay in worldwide influence

B．rank top among all the Internet firms

C．have more than 159 billion dollars' sale

D．create another sales miracle just like the one on Singles Day

【小题3】How many packages were shipped on November ll th from Alibaba's online platforms?

A．About 80 million．	B．About 100 million．
C．About 125 million．	D．About 180 million．

【小题4】What's the author's attitude towards online retailers in China?

A．Optimistic．	B．Concerned．
C．Sympathetic．	D．Indifferent．