Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives.
Several agencies have sprung up(涌现)offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals.The first guest-for-hire company was established about nine years ago and around 10 agencies now send out dozens of pretend friends to family events.
Agencies such as Hagemashi Tai, which means “I want to cheer you up”, charge around ￡100 for each “guest”. Other services such as giving a speech in praise of a bride or the groom cost extra.
The appearance of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan.With lifetime employment (终身雇佣制)a thing of the past, couples feel uncomfortable about inviting work colleagues to their wedding.Increasingly busy and put upon, many Japanese surround themselves with only a very small circle of friends.
When they marry, however, they are under pressure to match the number of their new partner’s wedding guests.
Office Agents, the largest provider of pretend friends, makes sure that its employees have done their homework and know all about the bride or groom before the wedding.
Hiroshi Mizutani, the company’s founder, said the fake friends he provides must look happy, be well dressed and look like people with good jobs.
【小题1】Why did fake friends industry come into being in Japan?

A．Because of social and economic changes	B．Because of lifetime employment
C．Because of normal social life	D．Because of work pressure

【小题2】Pretend friends will be present at the following occasions except ________.

A．weddings

B．funerals

C．work

D．family gathering

【小题3】The agents make sure that ________.

A．fake friends have done their housework	B．fake friends have good jobs
C．fake friends must look happy and be well dressed	D．fake friends feel uncomfortable

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

A．Japanese Couples are Under Pressure to Get Married	B．Japanese Couples’ Social Life
C．The First Guest-for-hire Company in Japan	D．Japanese Couples Rely on Fake Friends

They like using the Internet. They have lots of pocket money to spend. And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy----games, CDs and clothing----are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit(信用) cards. Most have to use a parent’s card. They want a facility that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products can stimulate(刺激) online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK. Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school－88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK. According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online－mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children. Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as InternetCash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a hidden 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.
【小题1】What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Sellers.

B．Buyers.

C．Teenagers.

D．Parents.

【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access.

B．Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards.

C．Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online.

D．Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop.

【小题3】A new way to help teenagers shop online is to use ______.

A．a new machine

B．prepaid cards

C．special coins and notes

D．pay-as-you-go mobile phones

【小题4】What is the passage mainly about?

A．Online shopping traps.	B．Internet users in the US and the UK.
C．New credit cards for parents.	D．The arrival of cyber pocket money.

How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments－mostly for entertainment purposes－is fair and respectful?
Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. How ever, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats (栖息地). Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural bones.
Zoos claim to educate people and save endangered species(物种), but visitors leave zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals’ natural behavior, intelligence, or beauty. Zoos keep animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and natural range(分布区). The animals’ normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs.
The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusual and self-destructive behavior called zoochosis. A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars, and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.
Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding(圈养繁殖)of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted n their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?
Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.
【小题1】How would the author describe the animals’ life in zoos?

A．Dangerous.

B．Unhappy.

C．Natural.

D．Easy.

【小题2】In the state of zoochosis, animals _________.

A．remain in cages

B．behave strangely

C．attack other animals

D．enjoy moving around

【小题3】What does the author try to argue in the passage?

A．Zoos are not worth the public support.

B．Zoos fail in their attempt to save animals.

C．Zoos should treat animals as human beings.

D．Zoos use animals as a means of entertainment.

【小题4】The author tries to persuade readers to accept his argument mainly by _____.

A．pointing out the faults in what zoos do

B．using evidence he has collected at zoos

C．questioning the way animals are protected

D．discussing the advantages of natural habitats

All you need to participate in home exchange is a house! You don't need to compare values of the houses or search for a swapping partner in the case of a home similar to yours. It just requires identifying a home where you and your family can stay comfortably in the place you wish to visit. You need to search for a person or a family with whom you would be comfortable exchanging your home with，for a short period of time. In home exchange，you would be taking care of other people's home，as well as enjoying the country while they would be doing the same from your home.
People who have traveled a lot would know that the most expensive part of traveling is paying hotel bills. In many cases, vacations cannot last for long mainly because of the high accommodation (住房) expenses. Holiday home exchange is one of the most simple and intelligent ways to cut down an accommodation expenses. It is an equal trade for bath the families and enables both to enjoy the advantages of a home while traveling to another country.
Home exchanges have become very popular in major cities in the United Kingdom as it allows you to benefit from time-share. Mostly, people participating in home exchanges prefer to involve their friends or neighbors to entertain their visitors, by providing the home exchange visitors with information regarding the local sightseeing attractions. Many families with children try to swap houses with families who have children of the similar age group. It saves time and energy that is often exhausted in carrying around a number of toys and equipment. The individual traveler often finds house swapping a great way of relaxing in the comforts of a home after a tiring day of sightseeing and can spend more time to get to know the area better.
【小题1】The most suitable title for the passage is__________.

A．Home Exchange for Your Holiday

B．How to Find the Best House

C．Everyone Loves Exchanging Homes

D．Tips for Your Trip

【小题2】What does the underlined word “swapping” mean in Line 2? __________

A．participating

B．enjoying

C．exchanging

D．identifying

【小题3】What's the main reason for people exchanging homes during the holiday?

A．To experience other people's lifestyles.

B．To get to know new neighbors and make new friends.

C．To avoid paying expensive hotel bills while traveling

D．To get more information from locals.

【小题4】We can learn from the last paragraph that___________.

A．more families prefer to exchange homes than individual travelers.

B．families with kids are more likely to exchange homes with families with kids.

C．it is difficult for individual travelers to find partners to exchange their homes.

D．the individual travelers love to introduce their friends and neighbors to the visitors.

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They had to move back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
【小题1】Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.

A．want others to know or to think that they are rich

B．want to be as rich as their neighbours

C．don’t want others to know they are rich

D．want to be happy

【小题2】It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.

A．live in New York City	B．live outside New York City
C．live in apartments	D．live with many neighbours

【小题3】What’s the author’s attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?

A．Supportive.

B．Objective.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

In South Korea, children get used to the Internet at an early age. A survey last year by the Ministry of information and Communication showed that nearly half of children between the age of 3 and 5 use the internet.
“In south Korea, the Internet has become a babysitter, said Lee Kyong Ko, a professor at Duksing, Women’s University in Seoul.   
Online role-playing games, where participants make friends and band together, have a strong appeal to Koreans,“One problem with those games is that you build your online person through countless hours of battles, and you develop a huge emotional attachment to your game character,”said Chang Woo Min, a one-time online gamer.
Parents report that their children steal money and do not come home for days and even weeks, practically living in Internet Cafes, and sometimes they refuse to look for jobs and play games all night and sleep during the day.
The authorities require Internet cafes to keep their distance from schools, and they open camps for teenage addicts and distribute booklets(小册子) on the dangers of game addiction. In addition, they are training hundreds of counselors, who visit schools and Internet Cafes.
In the 28,000 Internet Cafes in South Korea, persons under 18 are banded from entry after 10 p.m.. The authorities have even discussed reducing the points of gamers who play for more than three consecutive (连续的) hours, But such talks have produced no agreement, amid concerns that such restrictions would put a high-growth industry in danger and worse the problem of teenagers stealing adult online identification numbers,“Sooner or later we will be able to announce our measures,”the minister of Information and Communication, Rho Jun Hyoung, said at a news conference in May.“Since South Korea is one of the most active and developed countries in the Internet, the world is paying great attention to What policy we will adopt on this problem.”
【小题1】According to the passage, in order to solve the Internet problem, the authorities of South Korea took the following measures EXCEPT              

A．demanding the Internet Cafes to be far away from schools

B．telling the students about the dangers of game addiction

C．training counselors to visit schools and cafes

D．banning all the people from entering the Internet after 10 p.m.

【小题2】We can learn that                 from the passage.

A．most children under 6 in the South Korea use the Internet

B．some parents hope their children use the Internet only at home

C．all kinds of measures are not supported by all the people

D．the authorities in the South Korea believe that it is most active and developed country in the Inter

【小题3】In paragraph 2,the underlined sentence “the Internet has becomes a babysitter”means     .

A．children are well looked after on the Internet

B．children likes sitting in the Internet Cafes

C．children can earn money working as a babysitter in Internet Cafes

D．Internet has become a place where children are looked after while their parents are not there

【小题4】The passage is written to tell us_________________.

A．the Internet problems in South Korea	B．the bad effects of the Internet
C．the measures of the authorities	D．teenagers like going surfing in South Korea

Earlier, in the old days, women used to sit at home separated from the outside world. They used to manage the home and look after children. They were free of the responsibility of earning money to support the family, which was left to men.
With the coming of industrialization (工业化) and technological development, the lifestyles of human beings started to change. The needs of human beings started to grow. In this process, women slowly started to move outside the home. Women received the same education as men. Gradually, women slowly started to think independently and participated equally with men in all fields of life, including politics, sports and even military.
With changing environments, the role of women has become more important in society. To match today’s standard of living, it is necessary for both men and women to support the family.
Today, women have been given bigger roles to play in society. They are even taking more responsibility than men. At first, men disagreed with women pursuing (追求) their careers outside the home. However, with growing needs and a shortage of money, they had no other way but to accept the reality.
The financial contributions from women to their families have increased, but in some places, the home is still managed only by women as in the past. It is a challenging task for women to manage both. Women are bearing the stress and suffering mental difficulties with both managing the home and pursuing their careers.
【小题1】The best title for the passage would be _________.

A．Women's Responsibility in Society	B．The Changing Social Environments
C．The Changing Role of Women in Society	D．Women's Financial Contributions

【小题2】Earlier in the old days, women used to do the following EXCEPT _________.

A．wash clothes	B．prepare dinners
C．look after children	D．make money for the family

【小题3】We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.

A．women don't need to manage the home today

B．women are taking more responsibility than before

C．men still disagree with women pursuing their careers

D．men have begun to do more housework than women

Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier，have better marriages and have more respectable occupations. Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants(被告)．But in the executive（主管领导） circle，beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder，it is harmful to a woman.
Handsome male executives were thought as having more integrity（正直） than plainer men；effort and ability were thought to account for their success.
Attractive female executives were considered to have less integrity than unattractive ones；their success was attributed（归功于） not to ability but to factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more integrity and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly，though，the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was attributed more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able？An attractive woman is thought to be more feminine and an attractive man more masculine(有男子气概的)than the less attractive ones. Thus，an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs，but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the “masculine” qualities required.
This is true even in politics. “When the only clue is how he or she looks，people treat men and women differently，”says Anne Bowman，who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates（候选人）. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs，one of men and one of women，in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again，in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males utterly defeated unattractive men，but the women who had been ranked most attractive invariably（始终如一地） received the fewest votes.
【小题1】The underlined word “liability”(in Para.1)most probably means “________”．

A．misfortune

B．instability

C．disadvantage

D．burden

【小题2】In traditionally female jobs，attractiveness________.

A．reinforces(加强)the feminine qualities required

B．makes women look more honest and capable

C．is of primary importance to women

D．often enables women to succeed quickly

【小题3】Bowman's experiment reveals that when it comes to politics，attractiveness________.

A．turns out to be an obstacle to men

B．affects men and women alike

C．has as little effect on men as on women

D．is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women

【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often________.

A．practical

B．prejudiced

C．old­fashioned

D．pessimistic

【小题5】The author writes this passage to________.

A．demand equal rights for women

B．emphasize the importance of appearance

C．discuss the negative aspects of being attractive

D．give advice to job­seekers who are attractive

Today, people all over the world are moving out of small villages in the country to go and live in big, noisy cities. They are moving from the peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers and streams of the countryside to the busy world of streets, buildings, traffic and crowds. This movement from rural areas to urban areas has been going on for over two hundred years.
In many countries, the main reason people come to live in towns and cities is work. After one or two large factories have been built in or near a town, people come to find work, and soon an industrial area begins to grow. There is usually a residential area nearby, too. The families of these workers need schools, hospitals and shops, so many people come to live in the area to provide these services and a city grows.
In every major city in the world, there is a business district where the big companies have their main offices. In the United States, this area is usually in the city center downtown. It is here that you can see many huge skyscrapers and office blocks. The people who work here often travel a long way to work each day. Many of them live in the suburbs of the city, far away from the industrial area and the city center. Some suburbs are very pleasant, with nice houses and big gardens. There are usually parks for children to play in and large department stores where you can buy all you need.
But what is the future of the big cities? Will they continue to get bigger and bigger? Perhaps not. Some major cities have actually become smaller in the last ten years, and it is quite possible that one day we will see people moving out of the major cities and back into smaller towns and villages.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “a residential area” means an area________.

A．where people can buy things

B．which is suitable for living in

C．where people can do business

D．which is near a city center

【小题2】Why do people move to live in cities or towns?

A．Because they like noisy life better than peaceful life.

B．Because they can live more comfortably there.

C．Because they mainly want to find work there.

D．Because they are sure of having a better life there.

【小题3】Which of the following statement is NOT true about the business district?

A．Big companies usually have their main offices in the business district.

B．A business district usually lies in the city center downtown.

C．People usually work and live in the business district.

D．Nearly every major city has its own business district.

【小题4】In the United States, many people work in the center of a big city________.

A．and live there

B．but live in the suburbs of the city

C．and live in another city

D．but live in rural areas

【小题5】We can infer that this movement from rural to urban areas ________.

A．has been going on for more than 2,000 years

B．will surely continue in the future

C．may not continue in the future

D．has now stopped already

More than half of the parents in the United States are helping, or have helped, support their adult children who have been hit by high unemployment and poor wages(工资), according to a new survey. It showed that present economic conditions are discouraging young adults from leaving home and forcing those who have already gone, so-called boomerang kids, to return.
“Parents are continuing their financial involvement longer than we expected,” said Ted Beck, president of National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE).
About 60 percent of parents questioned in the survey said they’re helping their adult children who are no longer in school financially. Half are providing housing and nearly half are helping with living expenses.
For an increasing number of adult children, the situation is bad. Two-thirds of adult children, aged 18 to 39, who are not in school said they faced tougher financial pressures than previous generations, according to the survey. And nearly one-third of parents agreed that it was easier for them to find their financial feet than for their children.
Parents are helping their children out of genuine concern because they do not want to see them struggle. But Beck said that parents who make sacrifices(牺牲) to help their adult children should be careful about their own finances.
“If you are taking on extra debt or delaying(推迟) retirement to help your adult child, you could be making a mistake and putting your own financial future in danger,” Beck warned.
Boomerang children can also cause other problems for their parents. Thirty percent of parents said they had given up privacy since their adult children moved back home, while more than a quarter have taken on added debt, and seven percent have delayed retirement. But the survey also showed 42 percent of adult children living at home are helping with the cooking and cleaning.
【小题1】According to the text, boomerang kids refer to ____.

A．married adult children

B．grown-ups living with parents

C．adult children independent and successful in life

D．young adults depending on parents for financial support

【小题2】According to the survey, we can infer that _____.

A．about 30% of parents offer their adult children housing

B．one-third of adult children earn money more easily than their parents

C．two-thirds of adult children are faced with financial problems in school

D．about 50% of parents give money to their adult children to cover the daily cost

【小题3】What is Ted Beck’s suggestion to the parents?

A．Asking their children to help with the housework.

B．Being careful when helping their children financially.

C．Leaving their children to struggle to live.

D．Putting off their time of retirement.

【小题4】What would be the best title for the text?

A．Adult children are less independent	B．Parents help support adult children
C．Bad conditions affect children a lot	D．Adult children like living with parents