阅读理解

　　Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling．Recycling in the home is very important of course．However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need．We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place．

　　The total amount of packaging increased by 12％ between 1999 and 2005．It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK．In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard．

　　Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment．The UK, for example, is running out of areas for burying this unnecessary waste．If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect．Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy．The solution is not to produce such items in the first place．Food waste is a serious problem, too．Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need．However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example．

　　But this is not just about supermarkets．It is about all of us．We have learned to associate packaging with quality．We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality．This is especially true of food．But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary．

　　There are signs of hope．As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realise just how much unnecessary material are collecting．We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb．

阅读理解

　　There are over one million superstitions(迷信), and most people believe at least one or two of them．

　　Many people are superstitious about numbers．They think that there are lucky numbers and unlucky numbers．

　　The number 13 is often considered unlucky．In some parts of the world, buildings have no 13th floor and streets have no houses with the number 13．In Japan, "4" is considered unlucky because in Japanese the word "four" is pronounced the same as the word "death"．

　　Japanese never give gifts of four knives, four napkins, or four of anything．

　　What are the lucky numbers? Seven is a lucky number in many places, and "8" is considered a lucky number in Japan and China．In China, businesses often open on August 8, and many couples register to get married at eight past eight on August 8．

　　Superstitions about numbers are so widespread that some people－called numerologist--make a living by giving advice about numbers．

　　In 1937, when the Toyoda family of Japan wanted to form a car company, they asked a numerologist if "Toyoda" would be a good name for the company．The numerologist said it would not be．He explained that "Toyota" would be a better name for the company．The family took his advice．As a result, millions of people drive "Toyota" and not "Toyoda"．

　　There are many other kinds of superstitions．There are superstitions about eating, sleeping, sneezing and itching(抓痒)．There are superstitions about animals and holidays and horseshoes．

　　There are even superstitions about superstitions．Those superstitions will tell people how to reverse bad luck．

　　When the Japanese bump heads, they immediately bump heads again．According to a Japanese superstition, the first-bump means their parents will die, but the second bump "erases" the first bump

　　To reverse bad luck in general, people turn around three times, turn their pockets inside out, or put their hats on backwards．

　　In the United States, baseball players sometimes wear their caps backwards when their team is losing．It looks silly, but the baseball players do not mind if it helps them win the game．

阅读理解

　　Food sometimes gets poisoned with harmful things．A person who eats such food can get an illness called food poisoning．Food poisoning is usually not serious, but some types are deadly, The symptoms of food poisoning usually begin within hours of eating the poisoned food．Fever is one of the most common symptoms．

　　Certain microorganisms(微生物)cause most types of food poisoning．Bacteria and other microorganisms can poison eggs, meat, vegetables, and many other foods．After entering the body, these tiny living things release(释放)poisons that make people sick．

　　Some chemicals can also cause food poisoning．They are often added to food while it is being grown, processed, or prepaid．For example, many farmers spray chemicals on crops to kill weeds and insects．Some people may have a bad reaction to those chemicals when they eat the crops．

　　Some plants and animals contain natural poisons that are harmful to people．These include certain kinds of seafood, grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and mushrooms．

　　When people handle food properly, the risk of food poisoning is very small Microorganisms multiply rapidly in dirty places and in warm temperatures．This means that people should never touch food with dirty hands or put food on unwashed surfaces．Food should be kept in a refrigerator to stop microorganisms from growing．Meat needs to be cooked thoroughly to kill any dangerous microorganisms．People should also wash food covered with chemicals before eating it．Finally, people should not eat raid mushrooms or other foods that grow in the wild．Some of these foods may contain natural materials that are poisonous to humans．In addition, some types of fish can be poisonous．

　　Most people recover from food poisoning after a few days of resting and drinking extra water．If people eat natural poisons, they must go to the hospital right away to have their stomachs emptied．

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION

　　I am a writer．I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language－the way it can evoke(唤起)an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth．Language is the tool of my trade．And I use them all－all the Englishes I grew up with．

　　Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks．Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English．But feel embarrassed to say that．It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness．I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example．But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions(认识)of the limited English speaker．

　　I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her．I was ashamed of her English．I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say．That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect．And I had plenty of evidence to support me：the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her．

　　I started writing fiction in 1985．And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with：the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal(内在的)language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure：I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts．

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION

　　The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them．It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment．

　　A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo．"Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it．Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising．

　　Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities．Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers．

　　The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things：To identify the advertiser．To know what the advertiser is really saying．And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do．

　　Children learn these things through a video game．They create their own game character．They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes．Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards．The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level．

　　The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found．It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing．

　　One such area is food marketing．The Federal Trade Commission(FTC)says it is a big business．The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009．

　　The FTC says children are important for three reasons．They buy products．They influence parents and caregivers to buy．And they are the future adult buyers of the products．

　　A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value．First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children．

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION

　　However important we may regard school life to be, there is always the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom．Therefore, the teacher should realize that parents have a great influence on their children．Parents can become strong allies(助手)of the school or they can get in the way of the school education．

　　Experts have realized the need to keep parents informed of the newer methods used in schools．Many headmasters have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness, program writing and mathematics to parents．

　　Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors(管理者), can also play an important part in giving more knowledge to reporting pupils progress, teachers can help parents a lot in educating their children and parents can give much help to teachers．

　　Suppose that a father has been drilling Junior arithmetic lessons night after night．In a friendly talk between the teacher and the father, the teacher can help the parent to make Junior interested in it．He might be persuaded to let Junior join in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a ruler or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating the distance of a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis．

　　If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to say that he will soon realize that his son is making satisfactory progress in mathematics, and at the same time, enjoying the work．

　　Too often, however, teachers’ talks with parents are devoted to small accounts of children’s misdemeanors(不良行为)．They talk about the laziness and poor work habits of the children．

　　What is needed is a more creative way in which the teacher, as an adviser, plants ideas in parents’ minds to make sure that the child spends the many hours out of the classroom learning something useful．

　　In this way the school and the home join forces in educating children．

Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

　　Many people know the names Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison．However, most people don't know the name of the man who invented the television, Philo Farnsworth．

　　Philo Farnsworth was born in 1906 and grew up on a potato farm．As a boy, he loved to learn about science, and he read a lot of science books．When he was only thirteen years old, he drew a picture of a machine that could send pictures as radio sends sounds．He got the idea from the way the potatoes were planted in the field．The potatoes grew in long lines, side by side．This made a shape in Philo's mind．This shape helped Philo think of a way to send the TV picture onto a piece of glass．But he was poor, so Philo could not try to make his idea into a machine at that time．

　　Later, Philo worked at many different jobs．He worked with trees．He worked on broken radios．He worked on trains．He also worked as a street cleaner．At last, two rich men heard about his idea for television, and they gave him the money to make it．On September 7th, 1927, they watched Philo test the machine he built．When Philo turned on the machine, a small line could be seen on the glass．Philo said, 　“There you have it, electric television．”

　　Later, a big company, RCA, said they had made the first television．Philo had to spend a lot of money on lawyers to fight them．Finally, he won．Then, World War Two started in 1939．During the war, Philo spent a lot of money helping the US army instead of building up his television company．After the war, other bigger, richer companies started making televisions．In the end, Philo had to sell his company．

Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

　　Everyone has got two personalities(性格)－the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real．You don't show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control yourself, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you．In a normal night, of course, you often change your sleeping positions．The important position that best shows your secret personality is the one that you go to sleep．

　　If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person．You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by new ideas．You don't like to make people unhappy, so you never express your real feelings．You’re quite shy and you aren't very confident．

　　If you sleep on your stomach, you are a person who likes to keep secrets．You worry a lot and you’re always easily becoming sad．You never want to change your ideas, but you are satisfied with your life the way it is．You usually live for today not for tomorrow．

　　If you sleep on curled up(蜷缩), you are probably a very nervous person．You have a low opinion of yourself and often protect yourself from being hurt, so you are very defensive．You're shy and you don't usually like meeting people．You like to be on your own．

　　If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well－balanced(平衡的)personality．You know your strengths and weaknesses．You’re usually careful．You have a confident personality．You sometimes feel worried, but you don't often get unhappy．You always say what you think, even if it makes people angry．

Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

Food

　　British people like good food, and more than half of them go to a restaurant every month．Fast food is also very popular－30％ of all adults have a hamburger every three months, but 46％ have fish and chips!

　　Sports

　　British people don't do a lot of sports．Only 17％ of people go swimming every week, about 9％ go cycling and 8％ play golf－ and only 6％ of people play football(but 32％ go to watch it)．

　　Cinema and TV

　　Films are very popular in Britain, and about 60％ of the young people go to the cinema every month．At home, men watch TV for about three hours every day－30 minutes more than women．

　　Holidays

　　British people love going on holiday, and have 56 holidays every year．Most of these holidays aren't spent in the UK－27％ are in Spain．10％ are in the USA, and 9％ are in France．Maybe this is because the weather in Britain isn't very good!

　　Presents

　　British people don't send others expensive presents like other Europeans．They often send chocolates, wine and flowers of good quality．

阅读理解

　　Coffee experts are willing to pay large sums of money for high-quality coffee beans．The high-end beans, such as Kona or Blue Mountain, are known to cost extraordinary sums of money．Then there is Kopi Lowak(translated as “Civet Coffee”), the world's most expensive coffee, which sells for as much as US ＄50 per quarter-pound．

　　This isn't particularly surprising, because approximately 500 pounds a year of Kopi Lowak make up the entire world supply．What is surprising is why this particular coffee is so rare．In fact, it's not the plants that are rare．It's the civet droppings．That's right, the civet droppings－the body waste of the palm civet．Coffee beans aren't Kopi Lowak until they've been digested(消化)and come out in the body waste of the palm civet．

　　Palm civets are tree-dwelling, raccoon-like little animals, native to Southeast Asia and the Indonesian islands．They also have a love for coffee cherries．According to Kopi Lowak suppliers, palm civets eat the fruit whole, but only digest the outer fruit, leaving the beans intact(完好无损)．While the beans are not destroyed, they undergo a transformation in the animal's body．A chemical substance in the digestive system of the palm civet causes some changes to the beans to give them a unique flavor(味道)．However, this is not the only explanation why coffee beans retrieved from civet droppings have a special flavor all their own．Another possible reason is that palm civets have an unfailing instinct for picking the coffee cherries at the peak of their ripeness．

　　Kopi Lowak is reported to have a character in taste unlike any other coffee, complex with caramel undertones and an earthy flavor．Currently, most of the world's supply of Kopi Lowak is sold in Japan, though a few US markets are also starting to stock up on Kopi Lowak．