Hurry! Time to “steal vegetables”
Don't be afraid! We are not encouraging the stealing behavior, but to tell you maybe the most popular topic from white-collars' mouth in cities. Together with "How many vegetables do you steal today," "it's harvest time for your ripe peach," "I bought you a new car today."
Are there so many people in the city really have their own farms, or are they really so rich to buy someone else cars casually?
The answer is obviously negative. They just play some games on Social Network Sites (SNS) like kaixin001.com.
Can you imagine that more than millions of people in Chinese mainland will spend lots of time on SNS to play game and talk to friends, especially white-collars who work in the cities? Take kaixin001.com as an example, the current member of it has already hit 38 million.
However, the great number of people who would like to use such SNS indicates another social problem. That is lots of people choose to escape from the reality. And SNS just offer them a Virtual space to forget the reality.
Kinds of games and various of friends do give netizens lots of fun. Though indulging, dreaming, chatting and playing , it seems like people could really escape from all the upsets in reality. But virtual world is not real and no one can live in it forever, and reality is not that simple like noodling around on the internet.
Since this kind of social phenomenon is so popular on the internet, people start thinking to remove it in the reality.After playing the "happy farm" game on kaixin001.com, would you like to put yourself among the real corps while smelling the fragrance of the countryside? Recently, a farm land service called "happy farm in reality" was opened in the suburbs of Shanghai where white-collar workers from around that region can experience the real farmer's life by themselves
【小题1】What is the topic of the passage?

A．It’s time to” steal vegetables.”

B．a computer game called “Happy Farm”

C．open a farm in reality

D．something behind the game “Happy Farm”

【小题2】Why are so many people interested in “Happy Farm”?

A．Because they like playing computer games.

B．Because it offers them a virtual space to escape from reality.

C．because they can talk and play with their friends at the same time.

D．because they can harvest peaches.

【小题3】Which group are the majority playing the “Happy Farm” game?

A．Farmers

B．White-collars

C．workers

D．students

【小题4】What’s the author’s attitude towards the “ Happy Farm” game?

A．positive

B．worried

C．neutral

D．we don’t know

PART THREE  READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: 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.

A previously unknown kind of human group disappeared from the world so completely that it has left behind the merest piece of evidence that it ever existed — a single bone from the little finger of a child, buried in a cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia.

Researchers removed DNA from the bone and reported that it differed obviously from that of both modern humans and of Neanderthals（尼安德特人）, living in Europe until the arrival of modern humans on the continent some 44,000 years ago.

The child carrying the DNA line was probably 5 to 7 years old, but it is not yet known if it was a boy or a girl. The finger bone was unearthed in 2008 from a place known as the Denisova cave.

Researchers are careful not to call the Denisova child a new human species, though it may prove to be so, because the evidence is initial.

But the genetic material removed from the bone, found in a layer laid down on the cave floor between 48,000 and 30,000 years ago, belonged to a distinct human line that traveled out of Africa at a different time from the two known ancient human species. Homo erectus（直立人）, found in East Asia, left Africa two million years ago, and the ancestor of Neanderthals moved away some 500,000 years ago. The numbers of differences found in the child’s DNA indicate that its ancestors left Africa about one million years ago.

The region was inhabited by both Neanderthals and modern humans at that time. Counting the new human line, three human species may have lived together.

The standard view has long been that there were three human resettlements out of Africa — those of Homo erectus; of the ancestor of Neanderthals; and finally, some 50,000 years ago, of modern humans. But in 2004, archaeologists reported that they had found the bones of small humans who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores until 13,000 years ago, causing a serious problem to this view. The new line is the second such challenge.

If the nuclear DNA of the Denisova child should differ as much as its mitochondrial（线粒体） DNA does from that of Neanderthals and modern humans, the case for declaring it a new species would be strengthened. But it would be unusual for a new species to be recognized on the basis of DNA alone.

In new diggings starting this summer, archaeologists will look for remains more analytical than the finger bone. Researchers will also begin re-examining the fossil collections in museums to see if any wrongly assigned bones might belong instead to the new line. 

56. According to the passage, ________. 

A. modern humans arrived in Europe before Neanderthals

B. modern humans arrived in Europe about 44,000 years ago

C. Neanderthals arrived in Europe about 44, 000 years ago

D. Neanderthals arrived in Europe soon after modern humans did

57. Evidence from the bone of the child shows that _________.

A. the Denisova child belonged to Neanderthals

B. the Denisova child is a new human species

C. its ancestor moved to Europe 1,000,000 years ago

D. the habitat of its ancestor was in Africa

58. Which human line is the first challenge to the standard view of human resettlement?

A. Neanderthals.

B. Modern humans.

C. Small humans in Indonesia

D. Homo erectus.

59. The underlined part in last paragraph implies ________.

A. some other bones of the new line must have been wrongly identified

B. some other bones might give some evidence to support the new line

C. some other bones could help find the belongings of the new line

D. some other bones belonging to the new line might not have been found yet

60 The best title of the passage could be ________.

A. Bone May Reveal a New Human Group

B. Bone of a New Human Group Is Found

C. Human Group Once Existed in Southern Siberia

D. Bone Gives Evidence to a New Human Group

 

The Republic of Vanuatu is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. It was one of the poorest nations in the region. Within the last five years, however, it has become a hot spot for adventure travelers. In 2006 it was voted the happiest place on Earth. The reason is not that Vanuatu are the richest but that Vanuatu has white-sand islands, clear waters, the world’s most accessible live volcano, great diving and food that grows faster than it can be picked.

With a population of about 221,000, Vanuatu has 113 languages, which is a result of 3,000 years of immigration from many Pacific countries. There are three official languages: English, French, and Bislama. Bislama developed from South Pacific English, a simplified language that traders and other foreigners used it to communicate with speakers of the many local languages.

Most of the islands are mountainous and of volcanic origin. There are several active volcanoes in Vanuatu, including Yasur on the island of Tanna, one of the world’s most accessible volcanoes. If you’ve ever fancied getting close to a volcano, here’s your chance.

Vanuatu Post’s Underwater Post Office has quickly become one of the busiest post offices for postcards in the world! Visitors from around the world want to experience the world’s first underwater post office. The Post Office is only 50 meters offshore and at just three meters below the surface, very appealing to the young and young at heart. Since opening in 2003, the underwater post office has received about 100,000 visitors. They have posted one of the waterproof（防水的）postcards available in Vanuatu; these cards are collected regularly by one of Vanuatu Post’s four trained divers. The underwater branch is manned daily for usually about an hour, longer with demand.

1.Vanuatu was voted the happiest place on Earth because _______.

A．it’s the poorest nation in the region

B．it’s Vanuatu that are the richest

C．it’s a favorite place for adventurers

D．it’s blessed with abundant nature

2. From the text, _______ led to over one hundred languages spoken in Vanuatu.

A．immigration        B．location           C．dialects           D．foreigners

3.Which of the following is true about Vanuatu? 

A．Bislama developed from local Pacific French.

B．Yasur is one of the live volcanoes in Vanuatu.

C．Vanuatu has more than 113 official languages.

D．Underwater Post Office has opened for 5 years.

4.Which of the following would be the most proper title for the text?      

A．Working at the underwater branch          B．Great diving in amazing Vanuatu

C．A hot spot for adventure travelers          D．The busiest post office on Earth

5.What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?

A．Various languages.                       B．Underwater diving.

C．Food in Vanuatu.                        D．History of Vanuatu.

 

Why should you learn Sign Language? Do you want to improve your communication with a family member or friend who is deaf? Do you want to be able to communicate with deaf people in general? Would you like to advance in your career by being able to communicate in ASL? Do you want to be a Sign Language interpreter?

Sign language is not just a random (随意的) collection of gestures but a full-blown (完全成熟的) language in its own right, complete with its own grammatical rules. Each country or region has its own sign language, as different from each other as English is from Spanish. Each version of sign language is somewhat linked to the spoken language in its region. For example, American sign language does share similarities with English, even though it is its own language.

The advantages of knowing sign language in addition to a spoken language are many. Communication becomes possible on many levels with the deaf community, with other people either hearing or not in any of the above situations, as well as many more.

While other languages take years to learn, American Sign Language can be taught in a much shorter time period. It is one of the easiest languages to learn because most of the signs were developed to mimic the actual word or phrase it is representing. Even the alphabet signs look like the letters of the English alphabet.

American Sign Language, or ASL, is the third most used language in the United States. Used by the deaf community, interpreters, and friends and family of the deaf. There are a lot of sites on the internet that not only shows you the sign with video, but will help you practice reading signs as well.

Teaching even hearing babies sign language seems to be the fashion in recent years and for good reason. Communicating in sign language is fun and natural as babies naturally use body gestures in early communication. Teaching baby sign language actually appears to enhance the learning of verbal skills and brain development of the children involved.

Which two regions share similarities in their sign language?

A. Spain and Britain.

B. Mexico and USA.

C. Australia and Canada.

D. Japan and Korea.

Sign language ________.

A. is a collection of gestures

B. is easier to learn than English

C. is not very popular in USA

D. has no link to the spoken language

One of the reasons for learning sign language is that it ________.

A. increase self-confidence

B. provides more choices of career

C. trains brains

D. is interesting

Babies’ learning sign language cannot ________.

A. help them talk sooner

B. help them walk sooner

C. increase communication at a very early age

D. enrich relationship with parents and the people who take care of them

Which of the following topics is not discussed in the passage?

A. What is sign language?

B. The advantages of knowing sign language.

C. The relation of American sign language and English.

D. Ways of learning sign language.

Section C

Direction：Read the following text and choose the most suitable summary from A—F for each paragraph. There is one extra summary which you do not need.

A. Promotion by the press and media.

B. Foreign influences into British cuisine.

C. The variety of British cuisine.

D. The effect of history and climate.

E. Traditional meals for different times of the day.

F. International awards to British cuisine.

1 ______

They say a country’s cuisine（烹饪） is a reflection of its culture and national character. Therefore, the UK has always been a diverse country, since every region has its own traditional foods. For example, traditional Scottish cuisine is famous for its robust character： haggis, Aberdeen Angus beef, shortbread and whisky. Wales is well known for its lamb and leeks. Ireland is synonymous with Guinness, Irish whiskey and Irish stew.

2 ______

There are of course dishes common to the whole UK as well. Everyone （except vegetarians） likes a full English breakfast in the morning, followed by a Sunday roast for lunch, perhaps followed by fish and chips or a pork pie for dinner. For dessert, there are dozens of famous British cheeses to choose from.

3 ______

British cuisine has had a better international reputation for the last decade or so. Why is that？One reason is definitely that the wide range of ethnic groups in the UK has given British cuisine new ingredients, flavours, combinations and techniques. Curry, which is originally an Asian dish, is now officially the most popular food in the UK, whereas sandwiches used to be the most popular. With significant numbers of Polish people coming to the UK recently, Polish food shops can be found in almost every British city. Most cities have a Chinese quarter as well.

4 ______

Another reason for the improvement, however, is the large number of cookery programmes on British television. British people are more educated about food than they ever before. British chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White are internationally famous and even have television shows in the USA.

5 ______

So what are the results？In 2009, British restaurants received more Michelin stars than in any other previous year. The Michelin Guide （first established in France） sets the international standard for restaurant cuisine. With so much good food to eat, perhaps it is not surprising the UK now has an obesity problem.