Sony and Toyota are struggling. But one brand name is booming (繁荣) in Japan during the economic slowdown—Mickey Mouse.

According to the company that runs Tokyo Disneyland, Japan’s busiest theme park will be more packed than ever over Christmas and New Year’s Day. Despite the bad economy, it’s already been a record year for an escape which is cheaper than the average night out in pricey Tokyo.

“Here, economic depression (萧条) seems a world away,” visitor Namie Katsunuma said. “This is the only place where I can totally forget the economic worries and hardships of my life.”

The single mother’s salary at an auto factory was cut in November but, with her $500 yearly pass in hand, she makes the 95-km journey from her home to Tokyo Disneyland every couple of months.

The park’s operator, Oriental Land Co, estimates (估算) a record 26.5 million people will visit Tokyo Disneyland and its nearby sister park, Disneysea, during the financial year ending in March. The company is forecasting sales of a record $4.2 billion, up almost 10 percent.

“In a way, the economy works well for Tokyo Disneyland,” said Hiroshi Watanabe, an economist at the Tokyo-based Daiwa Research Institute. “Because of the economic depression, people have stopped buying cars and houses or going to Hawaii, and Tokyo Disneyland offers an affordable and pleasant alternative.”

Around the world, Disney’s theme parks have been a bright spot for the brand this year as people seem to look for an escape from bad times.

1.According to the passage, what happens to Tokyo Disneyland this year?

2.What can be the possible reason for Tokyo Disneyland’s boom?

3.What does the underlined word “alternative” mean in the sixth paragraph?

4.According to the last paragraph, what is the writer probably going to write?

Most people are worried about the health of economy. But does the economy also affect your body health?

It does, but not always the ways you might expect. The data(数据) on how an economic downturn influences an individual’s health is mixed.

It’s clear that a long-term economic rise leads to improvements in a population’s overall health, in developing and developed societies alike.

But whether the short-term economic fall will damage your own health depends on your health habits when times are good. And economic studies suggest that people usually do not take care of themselves in good times—drinking too much, dining on fattier restaurant meals and skipping exercises.

“The value of time is higher during good economic times,” said Grant Miller, a professor of medicine at Stanford. “so people work more and do less of the things that are good for them, like cooking at home and exercising. ”

Similar patterns have been seen in some developing nations. Dr. Miller, who is studying the effects of fluctuating coffee prices on health in Colombia where coffee plays an important role in economy development, says that although falling prices are bad for the economy, they appear to improve the population’s overall health. When prices are low, laborers have time to enjoy their own life such as doing housework, exercising and taking care of their children, etc.

“When coffee prices suddenly rise, people work harder on their coffee fields and spend less time doing things around the home, including things that are good for their children,” he said.

Christopher J. Rohm, professor of economics at University of North Carolina. US shares similar ideas.

57. What would be the best title?

A. Does the economy affect your body health?

B. Does your life habit play an important role in economy development?

C. Economic rise leads to improvement in people’s health.

D. Coffee prices affect people’s health.

58. According to Grant Miller, it is implied that_______.

A. a long-term economic rise can damage your body health

B. a long-term economic fall can damage people’s body health

C. a short-term economic rise can improve people’s body health

D. a short-term economic fall can improve your body health

59. What does the underlined word “fluctuating” in the sixth paragraph mean?

A. lasting         B. changing        C. rising       D. falling\

60. Professor Christopher J. Rohm thinks that_________.

A. people work harder when it is in long-term good economy times

B. people work less when it is in short-term good economy times

C. people have more time to enjoy their own life in short-term bad economy times

D. people do less of the things around the home in long-term bad economy times

"A survey was conducted in Shanghai where interviewees were asked if they wanted to be a factory worker．One percent of all people interviewed said “YES," Wang Hongjun, a technician, said, raising his voice for dramatic effect．"But I can tell you, only a small part of that 1 percent are telling the truth．"

       I've met colorful people like Wang all over China．They are cynical （玩世不恭的） yet warmhearted, plain spoken but smart．And many of them are confined （局限于） to work in factories．

       Wang is a top technician but also represents manual factory workers, who are China's most important natural resource．Their energy is powering China's economic boom, and their muscle is turning the wheel of the world's factory．

       But does their unskilled labor give their life meaning? At school, did they tell their friends: "When I grow up I want to work in a factory making socks?" Did you?[来源:Zxxk.Com]

       Factory work has always been a stepping-stone from farm life to the city and a modern life．It's been happening for centuries, but today, with our space-age technology, it's outdated．Earning 1,200 yuan （$169） per month working in a factory is better than that on a farm, but as Wang points out, it's not a dream career．There should be better ways to earn your rice．

       Many modern factories no longer have production line workers．Robots do the assembly （装配）．People just do the monitoring．In this age of technology, in which China is now working smarter and not just harder, why are people still standing in production lines?

       But life is cheap in China．So why not continue to exploit the low-cost labor situation and keep the economy growing fast, some entrepreneurs may ask．

1.How many people surveyed really like to be factory workers?

       A．One percent                      

       B．Only a small part

       C．Only a small part of that one percent   

       D．The writer didn’t mention it．

2.Which is NOT the writer's opinion of factory workers?

       A．cynical                                     B．unimportant

       C．warmhearted                                D．plain spoken

3.Wang Hongjun is a person who is         ．

       A．difficult to get along with

       B．humorous but serious

       C．cynical but warmhearted, plain spoken but smart

       D．full of energy but doesn't want to work hard

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．Factory workers make contributions to China's economic boom．

       B．Working in a factory is better than that on a farm．

       C．Factory workers are satisfied with their living conditions．

       D．Some entrepreneurs exploited the low-cost labor situation．

5.The writer uses          to begin the passage．

       A．a lot of figures                                    B．many examples

       C．some dialogue                                     D．the result of a survey

The Friday after the American holiday of Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It’s said that it’s the day that store ledgers(分类账)move into the black and companies become profitable. On that day, retailers slash(砍) prices to get consumers to buy.  It is also a time when many Americans start their Christmas shopping. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee tells us how the economy may affect consumers on that bargain day.

This day should be a shopper’s dream. “It’s just the deals, the sales and everything you can get for a lesser price,” said Sandy Thomas, a shopper. But it’s a nightmare for others. “I think it’s crazy. I’ve done all of my shopping throughout the week so I don’t have to go out on Friday,” she said. It’s called Black Friday, the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season in the United States. Every year it’s the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. Stores open before sunrise and there are deep discounts everywhere you look.

Last year a crowd of bargain-hunters killed a Wal-mart worker in a New York suburb. This year, many stores are increasing security while they slash prices. “This is a huge time for the retail stores,” said Fred Joutz from George Washington University. “This is when they begin making their profits for the year.”

Economics professor Fred Joutz says how Americans spend the weekend after Thanksgiving is a good indication of how consumers feel about the future.

With the unemployment rate above 10 percent, Joutz says Americans are saving more and spending less. Some retailers are attracting consumers by opening on Thanksgiving Day, when shops are traditionally closed.  Other stores open their doors anywhere from midnight to four in the morning.

And shoppers will be lining up in front of the doors in order to be one of the first ones to walk through and get a big discount. Electronics like flat screen TVs are usually the first items to go. Sandy Thomas says it’s an annual family tradition and well worth it. “I just save maybe half of what I would have spent on a regular, you know, shopping trip,” she said.

Economists say U.S. consumers will spend money this Black Friday, but they will spend it more carefully.

1.By saying “This day should be a shopper’s dream”, the writer means ________ .

2.Why are many stores increasing security according to the passage?

3.From the passage we know that_________.

4.We can find this passage in_________.

5.Why American people call it a black day?

D
“Pay has little to do with motivation in the workplace”．That’s the argument put forward by best-selling author Daniel Pink in his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us．“Pay for performance is supposed to be a folk tale,” he says．
Daniel argues that, if employees receive a basic level of payment, three other factors matter more than money: a sense of independence, of mastery over one’s labor, and of serving a purpose larger than oneself．For example, in 2008 at the offices of Best Buy’s Richfield, salaried workers there were allowed to organize their own work day, putting in only as many hours as they felt necessary to get their jobs done．Productivity increased by 35% according to The Harvard Business Review．
But the managers at Goldman Sachs aren’t exactly making some efforts to adjust．Like others on Wall Street, the banking giant argues that fat bonuses （extra rewards） are essential to make its numbers．“That’s exactly the attitude that leads to the recent financial crisis in the United States,” responds Daniel, “as managers always focus on short-term rewards that encourage cheating, shortcuts, and dishonest behavior．”
Moreover, the 45-year-old author and former Al Gore speechwriter refers to social-science experiments and experiences at such workplaces as Google and 3M．In one 2005 experiment he describes, economists working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston tested the power of incentives （激励） by offering cash rewards to those who did well in games that included reciting a series of numbers and throwing tennis balls at a target．The researchers’ finding: Over and over, higher incentives led to worse performance --- and those given the highest incentives did the poorest job．
From this and other cases, Daniel draws a conclusion that monetary incentives remove the element of play and creativity, transforming “an interesting task into a dull one．” It’s even possible, he adds, for oversized rewards to have dangerous side effects, like those of a drug dependency in which an addicted requires ever larger amounts．He refers to scientific testing that shows the promise of cash rewards increase a chemical in the brain similar to that brought on by cocaine or nicotine．
Daniel, however, is also aware that his company examples --- no GE, no IBM, no Microsoft --- hardly represent the commanding heights of the economy．But he thinks his approach will catch on, even in the biggest companies．“Managers tend to be realistic, and in time they will respond,” he says．
53．In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink is promoting the idea that _____．
A．it is a money-driven society    B．all workers are not driven by money
C．money plays a key role in management  D．pay has nothing to do with workplaces
54．In Daniel’s point of view, many Wall Street managers are _______．
A．dishonest      B．considerate   C．short-sighted       D．ridiculous
55．In paragraph 5, the example of drug-taking is given to show _______．
A．money is as addictive as cocaine or nicotine
B．big rewards bring about dangerous side effect
C．nicotine and money bring the same chemical
D．workers do not need the incentives of money at all
56．We can learn from the last paragraph that _______．
A．Daniel’s approach will be popular in a wider field
B．realistic managers will first consider Daniel’s approach
C．Daniel’s approach meets the demand of economic crisis
D．GE, IBM and Microsoft will join in Daniel’s approach next