Most city parks are places where you can escape from big，ugly structures of metal and stone．The Manhattan High Line is different．Raised 25 feet above the ground，this massive metal structure once supported a rail line．The line opened in 1934 but it was hardly used after the 1960s，and much of it was torn down．However，one stretch remained in a region of Manhattan．The railway structure was ugly and everyone knew that at some time，it would have to be removed．
But the High Line was not destroyed．In fact．now the old rail line serves as one of the most peaceful places in the city．The idea to change the rail line into a park came from Joshua David and Robert Hammond．In 1999，they attended a community meeting to decide the fate of the High Line．David and Hammond were the only people at the meeting interested in saving the historical structure. Later on，when they asked railway officials to take them up to look at the High Line，they saw a mile and a half of wild flowers growing in the middle of the city，and they realized that the High Line had potential to become a park．There was growing interest in improving urban centers，and so the project quickly gathered funds for construction．
The first section of the High Line opened in 2009 and immediately became popular with tourists and locals alike．Each part of the park has a different atmosphere．Some areas are like balconies with wonderful city views．Other sections have wide lawns and walkways planted with wild flowers．Only the final section remains the way it has been for the last fifty years—a railway line overgrown with weeds．
【小题1】What is the text mainly about?

A．A park．	B．A train line．
C．City transport．	D．A historical monument．

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT true about the High Line?

A．It is above ground level．	B．Only part of the line remains.
C．It is now a popular park．	D．Trains still use the line.

【小题3】Why did David and Hammond want to save the High Line at first?

A．They thought it would make a good park．

B．They wanted to reopen the train line．

C．They thought it had historical value．

D．They were interested in improving the city.

【小题4】Why were people easily persuaded by David and Hammond’s idea?

A．They wanted to make cities nicer places．

B．They wanted to see the wild flowers too.

C．They realized the High Line was important.

D．They knew that funds were available．

【小题5】We can infer from the last paragraph that the park is ______________.

A．popular with tourists	B．similar to what it used to be
C．various in its design	D．1ike natural countryside

阅读下列材料，从每题所给的四个选项（A. B. C. D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
A
Like many other parts of our lives today, education has become a global enterprise. In microcosm(微观世界), my school is proof of just how global. Monkseaton High School is an ordinary state-funded school of 850 students in the unfashionable part of northeastern England. Over the past seven years it has sent 12 students to American universities --- two of them to Harvard. Monkseaton has, in turn, attracted students from other countries, including Germany and Latvia. Monkseaton now almost routinely receives inquiries from students in Eastern European countries. Obviously, learning English is a big draw, but his pattern of student movement was unheard of five years ago.
The brain drain is a universal phenomenon, and countries that don’t face up to the new reality will be losing some of their most precious resources. The northeast of England is its poorest region, and has experienced a severe loss of highly qualified professionals-to-be. Some of the most able 18-year-olds are going to other parts of Britain, even to other countries. What is happening here is happening to Britain as a whole. Most noticeably, there is a growing trend of British students taking degrees in American universities. This year the number will break the psychological barrier of 1,000 students for the first time.
And what is happening at the secondary-school level is happening to higher education. Wherever they come from, today’s students have a very different perspective on education from their parents. Because of television, the Internet and their travels, these students see the world as a much smaller place than their parents once did. They are more confident in accepting the challenge of moving from one country to another, from one culture to another; in many cases they can even apply to schools over the Internet. Students are also more aware of the overall cost of education and are looking for value for money. Plus, for many, education linked to travel is a better option than education at home.
【小题1】  Why does the author say education has become a global enterprise?

A．Monkseaton High School used to be a very unfashionable school in the Northeast England.

B．Monkseaton High School is now one of the state-funded middle schools in England.

C．Monkseaton High School has sent two top students to the Harvard University in U.S.

D．There is now an extensive exchange of students among different countries.

【小题2】 What can we infer about northeast England from the passage?

A．It is one of the poorest regions in England.

B．It has experienced a severe loss of professionals.

C．It will face a more serious brain drain in the near future.

D．It is losing its young talents to other parts of the world.

【小题3】 According to the passage, students today have different perspective from their parents on the following EXCEPT that _________________.

A．education linked to travel is much better than education at home

B．overall cost of education should be considered against money value

C．moving from one culture to another is a welcomed challenge

D．the Internet is more popular and easier to access in the near future

【小题4】 The students today tend to see the world as a much smaller place NOT because __________.

A．they are having more exposure to the television programs

B．they are having easier access to the Internet

C．they are having frequent travels to the other parts of the world

D．they are having better communication with their parents

【小题5】 The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to __________.

A．tell us the benefit of globalization of education

B．analyze the causes for students’ moving trend in Great Britain

C．criticize the universal phenomenon of brain drain worldwide

D．draw attention to students’ moving from one country to another

When your parents advise you to “get an education” in order to raise your income, they tell you only half the truth. What they really mean is to get just enough education to provide manpower（人力资源）for your society, but not so much that you prove an embarrassment to your society.
Get a high school diploma, at least. Without that, you will be occupationally dead unless your name happens to be George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison, and you can successfully dropout in grade school.
Get a college degree, if possible. With a B. A., you are on the launching pad. But now you have to start to put on the brakes. If you go for a master’s degree, make sure it is an M.B.A., and the famous law of diminishing(逐渐减少的) returns begins to take effect.
Do you know, for instance, that long-haul truck drivers earn more per year than full professors? Yes, the average salary for those truckers was $24000 while the full professors managed to earn just $23030.
A doctorate is the highest degree you can get. Except for a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes, if you pursue such a degree in any other field, you will face a future which is not bright. There are more doctors unemployed or underemployed in this country than any other part of the world.
If you become a doctor in English or history or anthropology or political science or languages or—worst of all—in philosophy, you run the risk of becoming overeducated for our national demands. Not for our needs, mind you, but for our demands.
Thousands of doctors are selling shoes, driving cars, waiting on table, and endlessly filling out applications month after month. They may also take a job in some high school or backwater(闭塞) college that pays much less than the doorkeeper earns.
You can equate the level of income with the level of education only so far. Far enough, that is, to make you useful to the gross national product, but not so far that nobody can turn much of a profit on you.
【小题1】 According to the writer, what the society expects of education is to turn out people who ______.

A．will not be a disgrace to society

B．will become loyal citizens

C．can take care of themselves

D．can meet the nation’s demand as a source of manpower

【小题2】 Many doctors are out of job because ______.

A．they are improperly educated

B．they are of little commercial value to their society

C．there are fewer jobs in high schools

D．they prefer easier jobs that make more money

【小题3】The nation is only interested in people ______.

A．with diplomas

B．who specialize in physics and chemistry

C．who are valuable to the gross national product

D．who receive little education

【小题4】 Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Bernard Shaw didn’t finish high school, nor did Edison.

B．One must think carefully before pursuing a master’s degree.

C．The higher your education level, the more money you will earn.

D．If you are too well-educated, you’ll be overeducated for society’s demands.

【小题5】 The writer sees education as ______.

A．a means of providing job security and financial security and a means of meeting a country’s demands for technical workers

B．a way to broaden one’s horizons

C．more important than finding a job

D．an opportunity that everyone should have

Most people agree that honesty is a good thing. But does Mother Nature agree? Animals can't talk, but can they lie in other ways? Can they lie with their bodies and behavior? Animal experts may not call it lying, but they do agree that many animals, from birds to chimpanzees, behave dishonestly to fool other animals. Why? Dishonesty often helps them survive.

Many kinds of birds are very successful at fooling other animals. For example, a bird called the plover sometimes pretends to be hurt in order to protect its young. When a predator（猎食动物）gets close to its nest, the plover leads the predator away from the nest. How? It pretends to have a broken wing. The predator follows the "hurt" adult, leaving the baby birds safe in the nest.    
Another kind of bird, the scrub jay, buries its food so it always has something to eat. Scrub jays are also thieves. They watch where others bury their food and steal it. But clever scrub jays seem to know when a thief is watching them. So they go back later, unbury the food, and bury it again somewhere else.
Birds called cuckoos have found a way to have babies without doing much work. How? They don't make nests. Instead, they get into other birds' nests secretly. Then they lay their eggs and fly away. When the baby birds come out, their adoptive parents feed them.
Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky. After a fight, the losing chimp will give its hand to the other. When the winning chimp puts out its hand, too, the chimps are friendly again. But an animal expert once saw a losing chimp take the winner's hand and start fighting again.
Chimps are sneaky in other ways, too. When chimps find food that they love, such as bananas, it is natural for them to cry out. Then other chimps come running. But some clever chimps learn to cry very softly when they find food. That way, other chimps don't hear them,  and they don't need to share their food.
As children, many of us learn the saying "You can't fool Mother Nature." But maybe you can't trust her, either.
【小题1】A plover protects its young from a predator by______.

A．getting closer to its young

B．driving away the adult predator

C．leaving its young in another nest

D．pretending to be injured

【小题2】By "Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky" (paragraph 5), the author means______.

A．chimps are ready to attack others

B．chimps are sometimes dishonest

C．chimps are jealous of the winners

D．chimps can be selfish too

【小题3】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Some chimps lower their cry to keep food away from others.

B．The losing chimp won the fight by taking the winner's hand.

C．Cuckoos fool their adoptive parents by making no nests.

D．Some clever scrub jays often steal their food back.

【小题4】Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Do animals lie?

B．Does Mother Nature fool animals?

C．How do animals learn to lie?

D．How does honesty help animals survive?

Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one’s personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person’s ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead a better way of doing things. All these, however, remains true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.
However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who missed the “good old days”, efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish to. The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadgets, such as mobile phones and ipads, people often do not take the effect to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with it the additional feature of having to be in the person’s presence for as long as the visit lasts. We cannot unnecessarily excuse our selves or turn the other person off.
With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handcrafts(手工艺品) are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handicraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.
Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.
It is people’s attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people’s attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to rethink their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new “past” is created.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, progress can benefit people when they are willing to _______.

A．live a better life

B．look for better methods

C．change ways of living

D．accept technology and advance steadily

【小题2】The underlined word “gadgets” is closest in meaning to _______.

A．tools

B．messages

C．barriers

D．skills

【小题3】The author explains “efficiency comes with a price” by _______.

A．describing a process	B．using examples
C．following time order	D．making classification

【小题4】Compared with home-made handicrafts, machine made products _______.

A．lack great accuracy	B．lack the personal touch
C．are of high value	D．are quite welcome

【小题5】What can be learned about technology from Paragraph 4?

A．It can destroy old traditions.

B．It can lead to social progress.

C．It can be used to correct mistakes.

D．It can be used to preserve old products.

【小题6】What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A．Progress can suit the needs of daily life.

B．People review the past with great regret.

C．Technology should be introduced in a fixed way.

D．People’s attitude decides the use of technology.

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine what life would be like if you had a hundred dollars less. Also imagine what it would be like spending the rest of your life with you eyes closed. Imagine having to read this page, not with your eyes but with your finger-tips.
With existing medical knowledge and skills, two-thirds of the world’s 42 million blind should not have to suffer. Unfortunately, rich countries posses most of this knowledge, while developing countries do not.
ORBIS is an international non-profit organization which operates the world’s only flying teaching eye hospital. ORBIS intends to help fight blindness worldwide. Inside a DC-8 aircraft, there is a fully-equipped teaching hospital with television studio and classroom. Doctors are taught the latest techniques of bringing sight back to people there. Project ORBIS also aims at promoting peaceful cooperation(合作) among countries.
ORBIS tries to help developing countries by providing training during three-week medical programs. ORBIS has taught sight-saving techniques to over 35,000 doctors and nurses, who continue to cure tens of thousands of blind people every year. ORBIS has conducted 17 plane programs is China so far. For the seven to ten million blind in China ORBIS is planning to do more for them. At the moment an ORBIS is working on a long-term plan to develop a training center and to provide eye care service to Shanxi Province. ORBIS needs your help to continue their work and free people from blindness.
For just US$38,you can help one person see; for $380 you can bring sight to 10 people; $1,300 helps teach a doctor new skills; and for $13,000 you can provide a training programme for a group of doctors who can make thousands of blind people see again. Your money can open their eyes to the world. Please help ORBIS improve the quality of life for so many people less fortunate than ourselves.
【小题1】The first paragraph is intended to ______.

A．introduce a new way of reading

B．advise the public to lead a simple life

C．direct the public’s attention to the blind

D．Encourage the public to use imagination

【小题2】What do we learn about existing medical knowledge and skills in the world?

A．They are adequate	B．They have not been updated.
C．They are not equally distributed	D．They have benefited most of the blind

【小题3】ORRIS aims to help the blind by ______.

A．teaching medical students	B．training doctors and nurses
C．running flying hospitals globally	D．setting up non-profit organization

【小题4】What does the author try to do in the last paragraph?

A．Appeal for donations	B．Make an advertisement
C．Promote training programs	D．Show sympathy for the blind

【小题5】What can be the best title for the passage?

A．ORRIS in China	B．Fighting Blindness
C．ORRIS Flying Hospital	D．Sight-seeing Techniques

You may not  have heard of Ashoka,  but for the past 27 years,this association, founded by Bill Drayton, has fought  poverty (贫穷)and sickness, promoted education and  encouraged small businesses. To support these worthy causes, Ashoka provides money for the world's most  promising "changemakers" seeking to solve (解决) urgent problems and would like to create a  world in which every citizen is a changemaker.
Drayton believes that anyone can become an agent for change. The important thing is to simply give yourself permission. If you see a problem that you care about, you can help solve it. The young in particular are willing to accept this concept because at heart every child wants to grow into a happy, healthy,  contributing adult. In fact It is many young people's ambition to set up programmes or businesses that improve social conditions. An excellent example is an Ashoka project started in 1995 in Dhaka, which handled the rubbish problem facing the city ,helped local farmers and provided an income for poor people there .
When Masqsood and Iftekhar began to study the problem of all the uncollected rubbish that lay in Dhaka’s streets,Attracting tats and disease , they discovered that 80% of it was natural waste . So they educated the poor people in the city to compost (把……制成堆粪)this waste . They knew that they would have a market for the end product because local farmers were struggling with chemical ferntilisers (化肥) which were expensive and had reduced the natural minerals in the soil over the years . At first , they were refused ,but once they were able to persuade them that there was money to be made , the project took off. In 2009 sales were $14,000.
Drayton is optimistic that in ten years Ashoka will be making really serious ,practical progress in bringing about social change by changing the way we look at economic development.
【小题1】Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A．changemakers	B．Businessmen
C．Social Conditions	D．Rubbish Problem

【小题2】The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to"       "

A．the local farmers	B．Masqsood and Iftekhar
C．Drayton and his team	D．the poor people in Dhaka

【小题3】It can be concluded from the passage that anyone can become a changemaker if he      .

A．considers Drayton's concept

B．gets permission from Ashoka

C．tries to improve social conditions

D．is a young, happy and healthy adult

【小题4】The authors attitude towards Ashoka's program can be described as        

A．changing

B．forgiving

C．cautious

D．Positive

There are many older people in the world and there will be many more.A lime­known fact is that over 60 percent of the older people live in developing countries.According to the World Health Organization，by 2020 there will be 1 billion，with over 700 million living in developing countries.
It is a surprising fact that the population ageing is particularly rapid in developing countries.For example，it took France 115 years for the proportion of older people to double from 7 percent to 14 percent.It is estimated to take China a mere 27 years to achieve this same increase.
What are the implications of these increased numbers of older folk？One of the biggest worries for governments is that the longer people live，the more likelihood there is for diseases and for disability.Attention is being paid to the need to keep people as healthy as possible，including during old age，to lessen the financial burden on the state.
Another significant problem is the need for the younger generations to understand and value  the older people in their society.In some African countries，certainly in Asia，older people are  respected and regarded as the ones with special knowledge.Yet traditions are fading away daily，which does not ensure the continued high regard of older people.As society changes，attitudes will change.
Much needs to be done to get rid of age discrimination (歧视) in employment.Life­long learning programs need to be provided to enable older people to be active members in a country’s development.
Social security policies need to be established to provide adequate income protection for older people.Both public and private schemes are vital in order to build a suitable safety net.
To achieve equality in such matters will take considerable time and effort.One thing is sure：there is no time to be lost.
【小题1】The proportion of older people________.

A．is bigger in developed countries than in developing countries

B．is one­seventh of the population in developing countries

C．will increase much faster in China than in France

D．will be sixty percent in developing countries by 2020

【小题2】According to the passage，which of the following are governments most worried about?

A．The diseases and disability of older people.

B．The longer life and good health of people.

C．The loss of taxes on older people.

D．The increasing respect for older people.

【小题3】It is stated directly in the passage that older people should________.

A．be treated differently in different cultures

B．enjoy a similar lifestyle

C．be ignored as society changes

D．be valued by the younger generations

【小题4】Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to solve the population ageing problem?

A．Getting rid of age discrimination in employment.

B．Ensuring adequate income protection for older people.

C．Providing free health care for sick older people.

D．Supplying life­long learning programs to older people.

【小题5】The author concludes in the last paragraph that________.

A．governments have spent lots of time in solving the ageing problem

B．population ageing is a hard problem，but it needs to be solved urgently

C．people are too busy to solve the population ageing problem

D．much time and effort will be lost in solving the ageing problem

Since we are social beings，the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships.One strength of the human conditions is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful (有压力的) conditions.Social support consists of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties.Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems.People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties.Studies over types of illnesses，from depression to heart disease，show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness，and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways.First，friends，relatives and co­workers may let us know that they value us.Our self­respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties.Second，other people often provide us with informational support.They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them.Third，we typically find social companionship supportive.Taking part in free­time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles.Finally，other people may give us instrumental support—money aid，material resources，and needed services—that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.
【小题1】Interpersonal relationships are important because they can________.

A．deal with life changes

B．smooth away daily problems

C．make people live more easily

D．cure types of illnesses

【小题2】The researches show that people’s physical and mental health________.

A．has much to do with the amount of support they get from others

B．lies in the social medical care systems which support them

C．depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles

D．is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes.

【小题3】Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “cushions”？

A．takes place of	B．makes up of
C．lessens the effect of	D．gets rid of

【小题4】Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of________.

A．instrumental support

B．informational support

C．social companionship

D．the strengthening of self­respect

【小题5】What is the subject discussed in the text?

A．Effects of stressful conditions.

B．Kinds of social support.

C．Ways to deal with stress.

D．Interpersonal relationships.

If you see a group of people dancing and singing on the street or in the railway station, you don't need to feel surprised. They are a flash mob(暴民). Who are they? Are they mobs? Don't be confused by their name. Actually, a flash mob is a group of people who gather suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, and then quickly disappear.
They are usually organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communications networks. The messages may be sent to friends, who send to more people. At a predetermined time, they gather and perform some activities such as exchanging books, coming together to look at the sky, waving their hands and yelling something at the top of their voice for 30 seconds. Then, they quickly disappear before the police can arrive. Using mobile phones, the flash mob can change its place if the first one has been cancelled for any reason.
Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, organized the first flash mob in Manhattan in May 2003 and the first successful flash mob gathered on June 3,2003. Wasik claimed that he created the flash mob as a social experiment designed to laugh at fashion seekers and stress the cultural atmosphere of wanting to be an insider or part of “the next big thing”．
Flash mob gatherings can sometimes shock people. Such an activity might seem amusing and magical, but it also might frighten people who are not aware of what is taking place. Undoubtedly, flash mob can serve as good political tools and have great potential, such as using to advertise a product.
The flash mob is now becoming more and more popular. People use it to do many things. Flash mobs give people from all walks of life an opportunity to come together to create a memory.
【小题1】What is NOT the feature of the flash mob?

A．It can get together quickly.

B．It can change its place freely.

C．It can do activities suddenly.

D．It can injure people seriously.

【小题2】How do flash mobs inform one another?
①By using the Internet.②By writing letters.③By yelling.④By waving hands.⑤By using mobile phones.
⑥By holding a meeting.

A．③④

B．①⑤

C．②⑥

D．⑤⑥

【小题3】Why did Bill Wasik create the flash mob?

A．To advertise some products.

B．To help people make friends.

C．To laugh at fashion seekers.

D．To create some memories.

【小题4】What can we learn about the flash mob from the passage?

A．Bill Wasik organized the first successful flash mob in May, 2003.

B．People are encouraged to take a more active part in an activity.

C．Flash mobs tend to do something illegal for a short time.

D．Flash mob gathering can frighten all the people present.