Auctions（拍卖）are public sales of goods conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd gathered in the auction-room to make offers or “bids”, for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures, and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods.

Almost all goods of various qualities are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, skins, wool, tea, fruit, vegetables and wines. Auction sales are also useful for land and property, antique（古董）, furniture, pictures, rare books, old china（瓷器）, and works of art.

An auction is usually advertised beforehand with a full description of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by possible buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues（目录）are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together, called a “lot”, is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with Lot 1, and continue with Lot 2, Lot 3 and so on; he may wait until he sees certain dealers in the room and then produces the lots they are likely to be interested in. The auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up the bidding as high as possible.

The auctioneer must know quite accurately the current market values of the goods he is selling, and he should be acquainted（熟悉）with regular buyers of such goods. He will not waste time by starting the bidding too low. He will also encourage the rivals among buyers to bid against each other in order to get a high price. It is largely in his advice that a seller will fix a “reserved” price, that is, a price below which the goods cannot be sold. Even the best auctioneer, however, finds it difficult to stop a “knock-out”（连裆拍货）, because dealers illegally arranged beforehand not to bid against each other, but choose one of them as the only bidder, in the hope of buying goods at very low prices. If such a “ knock-out” succeeds, the real auction sale takes place privately afterwards among the dealers.

1. At what prices are auctioned goods usually sold?

A. The reserved prices fixed by sellers.

B. The prices officially approved.

C. the highest prices offered by bidders.

D. The prices the dealers arranged beforehand.

2. Which of the following statements about an auctioneer is NOT true according to the passage?

A. He encourages buyers to bid higher prices.

B. He gives advice to sellers.

C. He should know the current values of the goods on sale.

D. He is a government official.

3. “A reserved price” in the last paragraph means______.

A. a price which an article can be sold at

B. a price below which an article cannot be sold

C. a price fixed by the local government

D. a price acceptable to possible buyers

4. Even the best auctioneer finds it hard to stop a “knock-out” because______.

A. dealers sometimes arranged in advance not to bid against each other

B. he is not familiar with the regular buyers

C. he does not know the values of the goods

D. he has never heard of such a thing

Way of Life for Students

The Internet is way of life for US college students, with research showing them to be one of the most connected groups.

A recent study by Harris Interactive and 360 Youth found that 93 percent of American college students visit the Internet, and this market is expected to grow from 15.2 million in 2003 to 16.4 million in 2007. That is slow but could be the result of the already high number of college Internet users.

About 88 percent of American college students own a computer, and more than half have broadband（宽带）connections. Furthermore, 67 percent own cell phones and 36 percent use their mobile devices to visit the Internet. Study findings are that 42 percent go online mainly to communicate socially, and 72 percent of college students check emails at least once a day, with 66 percent using at least two email addresses.

The most popular online social activity is forwarding messages to friends orお family, with 37 percent of college students saying they do so. The study also looked beyond the Internet surfing（冲浪）habits and into the buying habits of this group, and found them responsible for more than US $ 210 billion in sales last year alone.

College students have learned how to spend their money, with 93 percent saying low prices were important when shopping.

The study also showed that 65 percent make loan（贷款）payments; 41 percent of freshmen have a credit card; and 79 percent of seniors have a credit card. A significant number of charges on these credit cards are likely to be for entertainment and leisure expenses.

1. College students in the US, as this passage shows,______.

A. waste much time visiting the Internet

B. lead an exciting life by using the Internet

C. don’t have to learn their lessons in their classrooms

D. spend too much time, in the opinion of the writer, visiting the Internet

2. We can find, from the third paragraph, that in the US_______.

A. most college students are from rich families

B. cell phone will take the place of computers in colleges

C. mobile phones make Internet life easy for college students

D. college students can have a computer from their colleges

3. To communicate with friends, nearly half of the college students use________.

A. letters

B. telephones

C. text messages on mobile phones

D. emails

4. By using the Internet, college students in the US can do the following EXCEPT_______.

A. going swimming　　　　    B. chatting with friends

C. reading newspapers　　　　  D. buying goods

Never reply to message or bulletin board items that are：Suggestive／Obscene(下流的)／Ready to fight／Express intention to hurt／Make you feel uncomfortable．

  Be careful when someone offers something for nothing，Such as gifts or money．Be very careful about any offers that get you to meet or have someone visit your house．

Tell your parents right away if you come across any information that makes you feel uncomfortable．

 Never arrange a face-to-face meeting without telling your parents．If your parents agree to the meeting, make sure that you meet in a public place and have a parent with you. Even hear the person，it would be easy for someone to misrepresent himself or herself．Thus someone says that “She is a 12-year-old girl” could really be an old man．

 Be sure that you are dealing with someone that you and your parents know and trust before giving out any personal information about yourself through E-mail．

 Get to know your “online friend” just as you get to know all of your friends．

1. The best title for the passage is　　　　      ．

A．Warnings against making online friends

 B．Messages one can get on the Internet

C．HOW to make friends on the Internet

D．Safety suggestions for kids on t he Internet

2. The underlined word “misrepresent” in the means    ．

A．making a wrong judgment about

 B．understanding somebody wrongly

C．giving a wrong description of

D．forming a wrong opinion about

3. In the last four paragraphs，the writer suggests that one should    ．

A．believe nobody on the Internet

B．be careful about the online friend

C．not be honest on the Internet

D．make friends with those you believe in

 One in every ten thousand males has the most common kind of hemophilia．It's extremely rare for females to have it．Patients can be treated with the missing clotting substance．They generally can lead normal lives．

  Scientists say gene treatment may be a possible way to cure hemophilia in the future．Researchers consider hemophilia the best disease for gene treatment because it is caused by a single fault gene．Also, only a small increase in the missing clotting substance could provide good results．They tested gene treatment in six patients with severe hemophilia．

  First，they removed skin ceils from the patients’ arms．The researchers grew the cells in the laboratory. They added copies of the needed gene taken from healthy people. Then they created hundreds of millions of genetically  changed cells．They placed these cells into the patients’ stomachs．After four months，the amount of blood clotting substance in the blood increased in four of the six patients．Some of the patients reported a decrease in bleeding problems．However，ten months later, the clotting substance was no longer in the patients’ blood. It is not clear if the implanted cells died or the added genes stopped working．

The researchers say the study showed that gene treatment is safe for people with the most common kind of hemophilia．But others expressed concern about the treatment because the effects were only temporary.

1 Which of the following statements is NOT true about hemophilia?

A．It is caused by a fault gene and is passed from parents．

B．It suffers uncontrolled bleeding．

C．People with hemophilia don't have any physical damage and can lead normal lives.

D．It doesn't succeed in making protein needed for blood to form into clots．

2． People with hemophilia can live normally when 　　　　　　.

A．they are treated with the missing clotting substance

B．they accept the scientists’ help

C．good copies of gene are placed in their bodies

D．they place some genetically changed cells into their stomachs

3. By carrying out the experiment，scientists conclude that    ．

A．the effects of treatments are excellent and last long

B．gene treatment is a safe and possible way to treat hemophilia

C．people with hemophilia can recover completely with gene treatment

 D．hemophilia is a disease that can be treated easily

4. Which of the following can be the title of the passage?

A．Whether people with hemophilia can live a normal life．

B．How to control the bleeding for the patients．

C．How the researchers remove skin cells from patients and place these cells into the patients．

  D．The gene treatment to the hemophilia.

1. What is the best title for the passage?

    A. Food and illness.

    B. Food and Culture.

C. Health and Science.

  D．Drug and health．

2. Which of the following statements in NOT true?

A．Some of the additives in our food are added directly to the food and some are given to living animals．

B．Food may cause forty per cent of cancer in the world．

C．Drugs are always given to animals for medical reasons．

D．Researchers have realized the possible dangers of food additives for over fifty years．

3. How has science done something harmful to mankind?

A．It has caused a lack of information concerning the food．

B．Due to the application of science，some potentially  harmful substances have been added to food．

C．Because of science，diseases caused by contaminated(被污染的)food have been actually reduced．

D．It causes the animals to become fatter．

4. What does the government try to do?

    A．To control the market price of food．

B．To get rid of the additives from the packaged food．

 C．To use no medicine on the animals．

D．To stop farmers from giving drugs to animals to make more money．

   The scientists who heard the signals did not tell anybody else．They were rather afraid to tell in case they frightened people．The signals were coming from a very small body—no bigger，perhaps，than the earth．Was that why no light could be seen from it? Or were the signals coming from a planet that belonged to some other star?

  There was no end to the questions．but the scientists kept the discussion secret．“Perhaps there are intelligent beings out there，”they thought，“little green men who are trying to send messages to other planets，or to us!” So the news was not given to the newspapers．Instead，the scientists studied the signals and searched for others like them．

  Well, all that happened in 1967 and 1968．Since then scientists have learned more about those strange，regular radio signals．And they have told the story，of course．The signals do not come from a planet；they come from a new kind of star called “pulsar”．About a hundred other pulsars have now been found，and most of them are very like the first one．

  Pulsars are strong radio stars．They are the smallest but the heaviest stars we know at present．A handful of pulsar would weigh a few thousand tons．Their light—if they give much light—is too small for us to see．But we can be sure of this：no little green men are living on them．

1. How was the first pulsar discovered?

    A．Scientists heard a new kind of radio signal．

    B．Scientists heard radio signals coming from an unknown star．

    C．Scientists searched the sky and saw it．

    D．Scientists heard radio signals sent by little green men from a small planet．

2.What made the scientists think that the signals might be a sign of intelligent life?

    A．Because they were coming from a very small body．possibly a planet．

    B．Because they couldn't see the body．

    C．Because it seemed that they were controlled by a clock．

    D．Because they couldn't understand the messages sent by the intelligent beings．

3.Why didn't they report the news?

    A．Because they were afraid of frightening people．

    B．Because scientists wanted to keep their discoveries secret．

    C．Because the signals were heard only once．

    D．Because they didn't know if the signals were from a pulsar．

4. When did they think it safe to report the news?

A．When everyone had forgotten the signals．

B．When the signals stopped．

C．When they were tired of studying the signals．

D．When other pulsars were discovered．

  The hoarse(沙哑)voice of the newsvendor echoes(回响)across the busy street．It is only just afternoon，yet “evening” papers are on sale! It is just one example of the curious world of newspapers．Morning papers “go to bed” at night；evening papers go to bed during the early day! “Going to bed” is the way the world of newspapers talks when it means that a paper is being printed．

  “Evening Paper!”

  Have you ever thought of all the men and machines involved in producing those sheets of newsprint? From all parts of the world news comes in by telephone，telegraph，radio，and every way man has of communicating．Much of this news is collected by news agencies，vast hires of busy workers who receive the news items and send them out andお other news comes in to the newspaper office from reporters．What a hopeless tangle of information a newspaper office seems! And yet，out of all this jumble and rush，and bustle，our newspapers appear with unfailing regularity．No matter what happens the paper must be on sale on time.

1.A newsvendor is a person who　　　　 .

   A．sells newspapers in the street

   B．produces newspapers

   C．collect news for newspapers

   D．writes articles for newspapers    ．

2.From the passage we know“Evening papers”are  printed　　　　  ．

A．in the evening  

B．in the afternoon　　  

  C．during the early day  

 D．at the time when people go to bed  

3.　　　　   collect news from all parts of the world for the newspapers.

    A. Only reporters    B．Readers

    C Newsvendors　　   D．News agencies

4. Which of the following is not referred to in the passage?

    A．A great number of people are engaged in producing papers．

    B．The newspaper office can get the news from time to time．

    C. How to keep the cost of a newspaper down．

    D．Whatever happens the paper would be on sale at regular time．

5.This passage implies that　　　　  .

    A．speed is important

    B．people like reading evening papers more than morning papers

C．the writer hates to be interrupted by the hoarse voice

D．the writer himself is an editor of a paper

  The sea is very big．It covers three quarters of the earth．The sea is also very deep in some places．There is one place．The sea is about 11 kilometers deep there．The highest mountain in the world is about 9 kilometers high．If that mountain was put into the sea at that place，there would still be 2 kilometers of water above it!

    In most parts of the sea，there are a lot of fishes and plants．Some love near the surface of the sea．Others live deep down．There are also a lot of smallお living things and lots of fish live by eating them．The sea can be very cold．When people go down，the sea becomes colder and colder．Only some men can go down into the deep sea．But，in 1970．five women scientists lived in the deep sea for fourteen days．

1. The sea is usually beautiful when it is　　  .

    A．silent    B．windy

    C．sunny　　 D．rainy

2.The sea covers　　　　 of the earth．

    A．1／3　　　　　　  B．2／3

    C．1／4   　　　　   D．3／4

3.If we put the highest mountain in the world into the deepest parts of the sea    ，

A．we can still see the sea water

B．we can hardly see the sea water

C．we can still see the top of the mountain

D．there is still 2 kilometers of mountain above the sea

4. The underlined word “them” refers to    ．

    A．fishes　　　　　　　　　　 B．plants

    C．water　　　　　　　　　　  D．small living things

5. Which of the following is not wrong?

    A．The sea looks terrible when it is cloudy．

    B．The highest mountain in the world is about 11 kilometers high．

    C．Under the sea，the deeper，the colder．

    D．In 1970，five women scientists lived in the deep sea for 15 days．

  “What happened?” asked Mrs．Smith．

  “WeIl，”said Mr．Smith，“everything was going fine．I got my ticket，checked my luggage and waited in line at the gate．I walked across the runway to the airplane and I saw my friend Jack Scott．Jack was an airplane engineer．I shouted to him and a policeman caught me．”

    “Why did he catch you?”

    “I don't know，said Mr．Smith，“All I said was ‘Hi, Jack’!”

    The word “hijack” means “to take control of a plane by force”．

1.Why did Mr．Smith want to fly to Australia? Because　　　　　　  ．

A．he was an Australian businessman

B．he was leaving for Australia on business

C．his wife wanted him to

D．he wanted to see his wife

2. Mrs．Smith was very surprised because　　　　　　   .

  A．Mr．Smith didn't arrive in Darwin

  B．Mr．Smith telephoned her late

  C．Mr．Smith didn't leave the airport

  D．Mr．Smith was in Darwin

3.Mr．Smith couldn't get on the plane because　　　　  .

A．he met with his friend Jack

B．he didn't get the ticket

C. there was something wrong with the airplane engine

D．he was stopped by a policeman

4.Which of the following is not true?

  A．The police didn't know Mr．Smith was Jack Scott's friend．

  B．Jack Scott worked as an airplane engineer．

  C．The policeman misunderstood Mr．Smith．

  D．Mr．Smith knew why the policeman caught him．

5.Why was Mr．Smith caught by the policeman? Because 　　　　　　  .

  A．he didn't keep silence at the airport

  B．he greeted an airport engineer named Jack

  C．the pronunciation of “Hi, Jack” has another frightful meaning

  D．the policeman didn't know English

1. According  to  the table，which  of the  fo1lowing is TRUE?

A. In the new teachers’ classes，pupils seem to ask questions more freely．

B. Though Veterans do not play games with pupils during breaks，their teaching is rated highly．

C. The evaluation (评价) of the middle—standing teachers is lower than that of the veterans in seven items．

D. Pupils seem to be quite satisfied with the amount of time their teachers spend with them between classes．

2. Pupils seem to regard the new and the middle—standing teachers as being more _______than the veterans．

  A. relaxed in class　　　　　　   B．neat in appearance

  C. interested in pupils’ ideas    D．skillful at explaining

3.As for Question Items_________，pupils’ evaluations can be said to rise at a comparatively steady rate as their teachers’ experience increases．

A．1 and 4　　　　 B．9 and 10<
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C．6 arid 8　　    D．3 and 5