阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　One of the most popular new online game is Second Life．Second Life is not about winning or losing．Second Life is technically a computer game．But people involved in it do not consider it a game, because the players create everything．Second Life is more for socializing and creating communities．

　　Users of Second Life are called residents．To take part, they must create an avatar, or an electronic image of themselves．Some avatars look like humans, while others look like animals．Inside the Second Life world, residents live different versions of themselves．They build homes, run business, buy and sell things, work, play, and attend school．They even have relationships and get married．

　　Second Life was created in 2003 by Linden Lab in San Francisco, California．Linden Lab controls the website where the ever-changing world is being created．There are now about one million people around the world who are active in Second Life．The number has growing quickly since the beginning of the year when there were about one hundred thousand users．

　　The average age of people involved with Second Life is about thirty．However, Linden Lab recently created Teen Second Life for young users．Second Life has its own economy and its own money called Linden dollars．Millions of dollars are made and spent each month in Second Life．Users can enter Second Life for free．But they must pay for a membership if they want to own land or buy and sell goods and services．

　　Lately, several major companies have become involved with Second Life．They want to be part of the growing business world that exists within the made-up reality．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Fresh flowers actually continue to grow while in a vase．So in order to keep flowers fresh, you need to consider what the flowers need to grow and stay healthy．Flowers need water, light, and food．Besides, you need to be aware of a few precautions to take．

　　Distilled water(蒸馏水)is the best kind of water to use for fresh flowers, because there are no chemicals in it．Change the water for your fresh flowers every day or no less than every 2 days to prevent bacteria(细菌)building up．Cut the stems under water again before putting them back in the vase, so that they will be able to draw water up easily．

　　Keep your fresh flowers out of direct sunlight．At night, put them in the fridge．This will prolong(延长)their life．Adding commercial flower food to good water is probably the best method of keeping flowers fresh．Some people put sugar in the water for food．That is OK, but commercial flower food has bacteria-killing ingredients(成分), which can make the water more acidic(酸性的)．If you want a more natural food for your fresh flowers, try water that has been specially treated．That solution will also give the water acidity, sugar, and bacteria-killing ability．

　　Keep your fresh flowers away from fruit．Fruit gas, or ethylene, will reduce the life of your fresh flowers, making them get older faster．Ethylene is what makes fruit ripen．It is given off by dead flowers, too, so be sure to remove them．

　　If you follow these tips, your fresh flowers will last a long time and beautify any room in which you put them．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　IHOP, one of America's favourite restaurants has announced plans to serve millions of free pancakes in celebration of National Day on February 24, 2009．The celebration is designed to bring together friends and family, as well as to raise ＄1 million for Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organization to help children's hospitals, and other worthy causes．

　　2009 will mark IHOP's fourth year of celebrating the national event, and nearly 1,400 IHOP restaurants throughout the States will once again invite guests to enjoy its free buttermilk pancakes from 7 a. m. to 10 p. m. In return, IHOP guests are asked to donate what they would have paid for the free pancakes．Miracle Balloons will be sold for ＄1 each from February 1 through February 24, 2009, offering guests another way to show their support of Children's Miracle Network．

　　Known also as Fat Tuesday, National Pancake Day dates back several centuries to when the English prepared for the food restrictions of Lent(大斋节)．Strict rules forbad the eating all dairy products(乳制品)during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of milk, butter and other dairy products．

　　Since the first National Pancake Day in 2006, IHOP has raised nearly ＄2 million to support charities in communities in which it operates．In 2008, IHOP gave away more than 1.5 million pancakes and raised over ＄875, 000 in support of Children's Miracle．

　　For more information about IHOP's National Pancake Day, visit www.ihoppancakeday.com．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　There is no doubt about it．The best way to learn new words is to do it unconsciously(无意地)．I don't mean while you're unconscious．I mean while you are unconscious of the fact that it is sinking in．

　　That is how I learnt the 30,000 words in my vocabulary by living in an English-speaking world, mother tongue．I just pick them up．But some of them may be misunderstood．Now, to misunderstand does not mean not to understand．To misunderstand is to understand but incorrectly．

　　The 5％mislearnt of all the words we “know” will be the least frequently used words, as the more frequently used words are less likely to be mislearnt．Some of the misunderstandings may live with all our lives, without knowing that we got them wrong．

　　Many English teachers think that this natural method of learning words in one's own mother tongue can be used for a second language learning．They teach their students how to play the Guessing Game．“There is no time to look up in your dictionaries all the new words you come across,” they will say．“You have to practise guessing what the word means from the context．”

　　This method of guessing in a second language learning does not work．It may succeed in many cases, but results in hundreds or thousands of wrongly-guessed meanings of words．

　　And what's more, there are more separate meanings than there are words themselves．Our learners' dictionaries usually have many meanings．A good dictionary is what makes self-learning possible．

　　Don't guess! Look it up!

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

Dear Mr．Perkins,

　　We would like to introduce ourselves．Our company was organized only two years ago, but we are one of the largest boat companies in California．As you know, your son has bought a boat from us recently, and I think you know how pleased he is with our product．Also, John Webb, one of your son's friends, has bought a boat from us and, we understand, is very happy with his boat．We are always happy to know that our customers are satisfied．We are writing to you now because, as you know, your son has decided to buy a larger boat, and we need your signature(签名)on the loan(贷款)papers．The loan application has already been signed by Danny．As you will see, there is one form to fill out, and there are three contracts to sign．Danny's 26-foot boat was returned to our San Pedro Dock yesterday, and we are pleased to say that the new 36-foot “Challenger” will be delivered in two weeks from today．It is being examined by our manager right now．The auto-pilot(自动领航仪)has already been installed(安装)by our mechanic(机械师)．It looks as though everything will be ready in time for delivery．All we need are the signed contracts from you．

　　Thank you．

Tony Valentine

阅读下面语言材料，然后按要求作题。

　　About a year ago, I went to stay at a Detroit hotel．I didn't want to carry too much money with me, so I asked the desk clerk to put a hundred-dollar bill in the safe for me．

　　The next morning, however, the clerk said he knew nothing about my money．I didn't have any proof(证据)that I had given the man the money．There was nothing I could do but go to the nearest lawyer．

　　The lawyer advised me to return to the hotel with him and give another hundred-dollar bill to the clerk．This I did．An hour later, I went back to the desk and asked for my money．Because I had the lawyer as an eyewitness to the second hundred-dollar bill, the clerk could not say he knew nothing about it．

　　Another hour later, I put the second part of the lawyer's plan into action．This time both the lawyer and I went to the hotel．I asked for the hundred-dollar bill once again, and when the clerk insisted he had already given it to me, I denied(否认)it．The lawyer said to him, “I saw this gentleman give you a hundred dollars．If you don't return it immediately, I'll be forced to call the police．”

　　The clerk realized he had been tricked, so he gave me back the first hundred-dollar bill．

　　“I don't know how to thank you enough for getting my money back,” I said to the lawyer．And what you suppose he answered?

　　He said, “Oh, don't thank me．That will be a hundred dollars, please．”

阅读下面语言材料，然后按要求作题。

　　It was Sunday．Mrs. Read got up early in the morning．She had some housework to do．After breakfast she had a look at the watch and found it didn't work．She bought it ten years ago, so she wanted to buy a new one．Her daughter Sue was only four．Her husband was busy with his work that day and nobody looked after the girl, she couldn't leave her at home．So she took Sue to the nearest shop in the town．

　　It was fine that day and there were a lot of people in the shop．Mrs. Read and her daughter went upstairs and they got to the third floor and she began to pick a watch there．But when she bought one, she couldn't find Sue．She ran to the manager's office and asked for help．Mr．King began to go up and down to look for the little girl with her．

Suddenly the woman heard someone calling, “Kate” She found it was her daughter．How happy she and the girl were!

　　“Whose name did you call, dear?” asked the woman．

　　“Yours．”

　　“Why not call ‘Mother?'”

　　“There are lots of mothers in the shop,” said the girl．“Which mother answered me?”

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳选项。

　　Change is natural part of language development．The words you like to use are probably a little different from those that your grandparents used when they were young．A study carried out by a British company found that the use of e-mail has had a bad influence on the standard of written English．

　　According to the research, computer users today are too busy to hit the“shift”buttons on their keyboards e-mails are often written in lower case, that is to say, with no capital letters for names or the beginning of sentences Spelling mistakes are generally accepted even in formal e-mails．And nouns are often used as verbs(e. g. Please bookmark this site．)With the development of the Internet, e-mail and mobile phone messages, a new language has deve10ped within just a few vears-we call it Weblish．The latest oxford English Dictionary has included many new words showing the changes in our communication culture While some language experts are concerned about the future of English and want to do something, John Simpson, chief editor of the dictionary says,“The standards may be different now but it has certainly encouraged writing and communication, which means a faster development of language change．There are a large number of words that either come from the Internet or have been given new meanings by the Internet．”

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳选项。

　　Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert, seeking a million in prize money．To win, they had to finish the 142-mile race in less than 10 hours．Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at a11, because these vehicles were missing a key Part-drivers．

　　DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, organized the race as part of a push to deve10p robotic vehicles for future battlefields．But the Grand Challenge, as it was called, just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance One had its brake 10ck up in the starting area．Another began by throwing itself onto a wall．Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles．

　　One turned upside down．One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote control．One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence；another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock．The “winner”, if there was any, reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long, narrow hole, and the front wheals caught on fire．

　　“You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things,”says Reinhold Behringer, who helped design two of the car-size vehicles for a company called Sci-Autonics．“Even ants(蚂蚁)can do a1l these tasks effortlessly．It's very hard for US to put these abilities into our machine”．

　　The robotic vehicles, though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance, had trouble figuring out fast enough the b10cks ahead that a two-year-old human recognizes immediately．Sure, that very young child, who has just only learned to walk, may not think to wipe apple juice off her face, but she already knows that when there's a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table, and that when she gets the cookie it will taste good She is more advanced(高级，先进), even months old, than any machine humans have designed．