Ticket price increases at HK Disney
Source：Xinhua | 02—05—2009 11：39
Hong Kong Disneyland announced on Tuesday it will raise weekday admission prices for mainland and overseas tourists by about 19 percent．But Hong Kong residents and tourists who purchase tickets through travel agents can still enjoy the old prices until June 30．　 　　　
A one-day admission will cost HK $350($45)for adults and HK $250 for children aged up to 11 from Monday, the previous charges for weekends．Adults were previously admitted for HK $295 and children HK $210．
A Hong Kong Disneyland spokesman said the park does not expect the new pricing structure to have an immediate impact on attendances, as research shows guests choose when to visit the attraction based on time available rather than ticket prices．But the hikes(the rise of prices)drew immediate criticism from the industry．The greater tourism industry fears it may harm mainlanders willingness to visit Hong Kong．　 　　　
Joseph Tung Yao-chung, executive director of Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, said the decision was unwise in the current financial climate．He also urged the company to rethink its decision, during an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily．　 　　　
【小题1】On September 10 of 2009(weekday), 　Hong Kong　 residents and tourists will have to spend        buying three children tickets．

A．Joseph Tung Yao-chung disagreed about the ticket price increase at HK Disney．

B．Hong Kong Disneyland will make a lot of money by raising weekday admission prices for mainland tourists．

C．The Hong Kong Disneyland spokesman didn't like the new pricing structure．

D．Only tourists from mainland visit Hong Kong Disneyland．

As soon as I saw her, I understood I was in trouble. The tiny 10-year-old girl was staring at me with that specific facial expression which probably only dentists have to enjoy all day long!

Whatever question I asked, whatever activity I suggested, her reaction was pretty much the same — she was frozen with horror. She was sent to our private language school after having been the worst in English at her key school with a pretty strict ELT syllabus(教学大纲), with her peers teasing her for her mistakes in English. Moreover, her state school teacher called her name. To make things worse, she was under pressure from her family for getting bad marks in English. She was definitely expecting me to carry on the same way with her.

I have to admit that I had been staring at her with probably the same expression for a while before eventually she handed in an absolutely incredible composition which I had previously asked the class to write. It was written in perfect handwriting, was full of clever ideas and had correct paragraphing. The girl got her first excellent mark in English, and I praised her generously and from then on I started using her writing skills to support the others. Before doing an oral retelling of a story, she wrote it down. Before presenting her oral project, she was allowed to do the same thing. The day she first put up her hand to orally answer my question addressed to the class I was incredibly happy.

She taught me how to approach withdrawn students — find the skill which they can excel at, in her case writing, and help the student use it to develop other skills!

1.The writer is probably a teacher 　　　. 

A. in a language training center

B. in a private language school

C. in a state school

D. in a key public school

2.The writer’s first impression of the little girl was that she was 　　　. 

A. incredibly dull          B. hard to cope with

C. far too lovely            D. pretty confident

3.The girl came to the school because 　　　. 

A. she had some special skills

B. she was good at writing poems

C. she felt very uncomfortable at her previous school

D. she is poor at her pronunciation

Bum rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate would be $ 50,000 a month when my new media company started. So, I began looking around for individuals who would be my first investors. “Angel money” it was called. But when I reviewed my list of acquaintances to find those who might be able to help, I found the number got small.

　　With no other choices, I began meeting with the venture-capital companies. But I was warned they took a huge share of your company for the money they put in. And if you struggled, they could drop you cold.

　　As I was searching for “angel money”, I started to build a team who trusted me even though I didn't have money for paychecks yet.

　　Bill Becker was an expert in computer programming and image processing at a very famous Media Lab at M. I.T. With his arrival, my company suddenly had a major technology “guy” in-house.

　　Katherine Henderson, a filmmaker and a former real-estate dealer, joined us as our director of market research. Steve White came on as operating officer. He had worked for the developer of a home-finance software, Quicken. We grabbed him.

　　We had some really good people, but we still didn't have enough money. One night, my neighbor, Louise Johnson, came for a visit. She and I were only nodding acquaintances, but her boys and ours were constant companions. She ran a very good business at the time.

　　Louise was brilliant and missed nothing. She had been watching my progress closely. She knew I was dying for money and I had prospects but could offer no guarantees of success.

　　She told me that her attorney had talked to mine and the terms had been agreed upon. She handed me an envelope. Inside was a check for $ 500,000.

　　I almost fell down. I heard her voice as if from heaven.

　　“I have confidence in your plan,” she said. “You' 11 do well. You're going to work hard for it, but it' s satisfying when you build your own company.”

　　Who would have thought I'd find an angel so close to home? There were no words sufficient for the moment. We just said good night. She left and I just stood there, completely humbled and completely committed.

1.For a newly-established business, bum rate refers to___________.

A. the salary it pays to its staff

B. the interest it pays to the bank

C. the way in which it raises capital

D. the speed at which it spends money

2.By "Angel money", the author refers to__________.

A. the money borrowed from banks

B. the money spent to promote sales

C. the money raised from close friends

D. the money needed to start a business

3.To get help from a venture-capital company, you may have to__________.

A. put up with unfair terms　         B. change your business line

C. enlarge your business scope      　D. let them operate your business

4.The author easily built a team for his company because__________.

A. they were underpaid at their previous jobs

B. they were turned down by other companies

C. they were confident of the author and his business

D. they were satisfied with the salaries in his company

5.Louise decided to lend money to the author because__________.

A. she wanted to join his company

B. she knew he would build a team

C. she knew his plan would succeed

D. she wanted to help promote his sales

We have saved as a final set of emotions the two most important emotions pertaining to other people: love and its opposite, hate. Love can be seen everywhere. Yet surprisingly, love has been the subject of less scientific research than other emotions, such as anger and fear. The reason for this may be twofold. First, love is a very complex emotion, difficult to describe and measure. Secondly, unlike many extreme emotions, extreme love is generally not a problem; thus less medical attention has been paid to it.

What is love? This is a complex question and requires a complex answer. Love is an enduring, strong, positive attraction and feeling for another person or thing. But it is more than this. It also involves feelings of caring, protection, excitement, and tenderness. When two people are in love, they feel drawn to one another; they greatly enjoy each other's company; and they may be sexually attracted to one another.

Sometimes it is easier to think in term of different kinds of love: “puppy” love, romantic love, brotherly love, and so forth. Though they differ in some respects, they share one important characteristic: a strong positive feeling toward another.

Our feeling toward other people are often complex. We may love someone and, at the same time, be angry with him. Or we may love someone, even though we are jealous of him. We might even love someone and, at the same time, hate him for some specific reason. Hate is a strong negative emotion toward someone, and is due to anger, jealousy, or some other factor. Like love, hate can be a very strong emotion. It can also be very dangerous. The question is often asked, “Is it bad to hate?” The best answer is probably “sometimes yes and sometimes no.” Usually hate does not help us; it makes us feel unhappy and makes us do things that may hurt others. However, sometimes it may be necessary to hate and hurt someone in order to protect loved ones.

　　  1. In the parts previous to the passage you've just read, the author has probably been discussing

　　　　   A. the two most important human emotions—love and hate

　　　　   B. some emotions that are only produced by animals

　　　　   C. some other sots of human emotions than of love and hate

　　　　   D. none of the above

　　  2. According to the passage, the emotion of love has been medically paid less attention to because——.

　　　　　　 A. it is too common to be talked about

　　　　　　 B. compared with other kinds of emotions, love is not so important

　　　　　　 C. the study of love needs great effort and advanced scientific research

　　　　　　 D. love is harmless and too complex for description

　　  3. When two people are in love, they

　　　　　　 A. will never be angry with or hate each other

　　　　 B. are strongly attracted to each other

　　　　     C. will not be jealous of each other

　　　　　　 D. tend to do all of the above

　　  4. Which of the following might best be used as the tide for the passage?

　　　　　　 A. Two Most Important Emotions towards Others

　　　　　　 B. Love More and Hate Less

　　　　　　 C. The Great Benefits of Love and the Serious Harm of Hate

　　　　　　 D. Some Advice to Those Who Are In love

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

????????????? During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was starting Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting —7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.

????????????? I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I stared at her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, attractive smile curved her lips. “Going my way , sailor?” she murmured.

????????????? Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.

????????????? And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

????????????? This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.　　"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
　　The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
? ????????????? It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are． "

1.How did John Blanchard get to know Miss Hollis Maynell?

A. They lived in the same city．????????????????

B. They were both interested in literature．

C. John knew Hollis's name from a library book．??

D. John came across Hollis in a Florida library．

2.Hollis refused to send Blanchard a photo because ?????????? .

A. she was only a middle - aged woman??????????

B. she wasn't confident about her appearance

C. she thought true love is beyond appearance?????

D. she had never taken any photo before they knew

3.How could Blanchard recognize Hollis?

A. She would be wearing a rose on her coat．?????

B. She would be holding a book in her hand．

C. She would be standing behind a young girl．???

D. She would be wearing a scarf around her neck．

4.What was the real Miss Hollis Maynell like?

A. She was a plump woman with graying hair．???

B. She was a slightly fat girl, with blonde hair．

C. She was a middle - aged woman in her forties．??

D. She was a young, pretty girl wearing a green suit．

5.When Blanchard went over to greet the woman, he was????????? ．

A. satisfied and confident

B. disappointed but well - behaved

C. annoyed and bad - mannered

D. shocked but inspired

6.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. A Test of Love??? ????????????? ????????????? B. The Symbol of Rose

C. Love is blind??? ????????????? ????????????? D. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover