Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 = to, 3 = free, 4 = for, 8 = ate, so h8 = hate, etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation (标点). Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?)

What do you think these text messages mean?

Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll.

Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll.

I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy.

Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols (符号) to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face. Like this: Why didt u call me? I’m so sad.   (

Here are some others. Can you think of text messages where you could use them?

) laughing     ( sad     ＜ really sad

Ⅴ shouting    |·| asleep    ：0 shocked

8·| surprised    \·o bored

Why are text messages popular?

A. Because they are expensive.             B. Because they are cheap.

C. Because they are hard to write.          D. Because they are not important.

The first paragraph tells us that we can make the text messages shorter in             ways.

A. one          B. two          C. three          D. four

What does this text message “Do U wnt 2 cm?” mean? It means “                    ?”.

A. Do you want to come                      B. Do you wear two caps

C. Do you want two cakes                    D. Do you go home early

Why do people use emoticons?

A. Because they can show how users feel.  B. Because the symbols are beautiful.

C. Because text messages are short.         D. Because the users can’t make the words shorter.

I had this exchange with my 6-year-old last week．

       Him: Mom, we have to start buying Danimals．

       Me: Why?

       Him: So, I can bring it to |school for lunch．It's yogurt ．

       Me: Why do you want it so badly?

       Him: Because Danimals i|s giving away five fantastic Caribbean vacations．

       I had to explain that there was little chance that he would win a vacation．It's a strategy used to encourage kids to beg for artificially-colored （人工着色的） yogurt that costs a lot．

       Marketing follows my kids —and yours—wherever they go ．It comes via TV commercials． Store displays and websites are also constantly selling at our kids ．But the most powerful means in kids" lives is the presence of licensed characters on every product imaginable．

       Children can begin their day in character clothing．There's even character -themed wall paint available．A breakfast in a character bowl can be followed by a character toothbrush and character toothpaste（牙膏）, character soap and shampoo, and a character wash cloth and towel ．Then, they can put on character clothing and character shoes．Check that, character clock on the wall: Is it time for characier-shaped fruit snacks yet?

       Surround kids with enough of the characters and they'll come to believe they need them．Most of us, of course, don't buy all those items．But say no to four products out of five and your home can still get filled with these tiny items encouraging brand loyalty （品牌忠诚）

       At this time of year, parents buy licensed school supplies．With so much marketing around us, it can be tough to stop the tide．

       "One thing that helps parents'is that they can talk to other parents about, this kind of thing," Linn suggested ．"If you decide you want to buck this, it helps to find other people who will do the same thing ．That way, if your child says．"Everyone's doing it," you can really have a sense of whether everyone is．" |

From the dialogue between the author and the son, we can infer that ____-

       A．the son likes drinking yogurt a lot．

       B．buying Danimals may win a free tour

       C．the son's school encourages kids to eat yogurt

       D．Danimals in the most popular yogurt among kids．

We can learn from th^ passage that     '

       A．character bowls increase kids' appetite．

       B．character-themed wall paint is expensive

       C．household goods are becoming the target of advertisers．

       D．Linn considered character-themed products a foolish marketing strategy．

The underlined word "buck" in the last paragraph probably means _____．

       A．support        B．resist           C．advertise            D．learn

What does the passage mainly tell us ?  ．

       A．Marketing is affecting kids all the time．

       B．Most kids now don't have a happy childhood,

       C．Kids like buying licensed school supplies a lot.

       D．Licensed character produce are doing great harm to kids.

It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. As wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妆) or decimum. Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion (遗弃)，but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The decimum was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to withhold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, And more than just a right: the documents showed that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case did the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.

The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance(遗产，继承物)against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria, Vivas, a Catalan woman of Barcelona. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the Catalan wife knew how to win herself, within the context of the family, a powerful economic position.

A decimum was      .

       A. the wife’s inheritance from her father    

       B. a gift of money to the new husband 

       C. a written contract            

       D. the wife’s right to receive one-tenth of her husband’s property

In the society described in the passage, the legal standing of the wife in marriage was      .

       A. higher than that of her husband       B. lower than that of her husband

       C. the same as that of her husband D. higher than that of a single woman

What compensation did Maria Vivas get for the field?

       A. Some of the land Miro had inherited.      B. A tenth of Miro’s land.

       C. Money for household expenses.       D. Money from Miro’s inheritance.

Which of the following is Not mentioned as an effect of the dowry system?

       A. The husband had to share the power of decision in marriage.

       B. The wife was protested from desertion.

       C. The wife gained a powerful economic position.

       D. The husband was given control over his wife’s property.

   “BANG”the door caused a reverberation．“Never set foot in this house again!”shouted father．With tears weiling(涌出)up in my eyes，I rushed out of the hofase and ran along the street．

    A young father who held a child in his arlzis walked past rile．I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space：happy and harmonious(和谐)

    But now I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because Dad is getting old．We are just like two people coming from two different worlds．It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened．

    1 wandered the street，without a destination in my n'nnd．My heart was frozen oil this hot summer night．As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people m the streets，until I had only streets to keep me company When I finally reached the high rise apartment block in which I livegt，I saw that the light was still on．

     I thought to myself，“Is father waiting for rile．or is he still angry with me?”

    In fact，it was nothing．Perhaps，Dad was throwing some of his old stamps．Perhaps he thought they were useless．I never had th,e courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps．

    All the lights were off except father’S

    Dad was always 1ike this．Maybe he didn’t know bow to express himself．After shouting at me，he never showed any mercy or regret After an argument he will creep(蹑手蹑脚)up in my sleep and then tuck rile underneath the covers

    This was how he always was．Fie has been a leader for So long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature．

    The fight was still oil With the key in hand，1 was as nervous as 1 had ever been．At last，I decided to open the door．As soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks．I suddenly realized that the iron door that l had imagined between us did not exist at all Love－it is second to none．

The underlined word“reverberation”refers to    ．

    A．an earthquake    B．a heavy Mow  ．

    C．a shake D．a sound forced back

When seeing a young father with a child in his arras．the writer might have

  the following feelings EXCEPT             

   A．She／He admired them very much

   B．She／He wished that the relation between him／her and his／her father could

    also be so harmonious

  C．She／He felt that happiness had been far away from him／her

   D．She／He felt disappointed with his／her father

Why do you think the father often shouts at his child?

    A．The father is getting older and older．

    B．The child had already grown up．

    C．They never agree with each other．

    D．The father has got used to doing that．

What conclusion can you draw after reading the text?

    A．The father treats his child in an unfair wav．

    B．The father is actually kind to his child

    C．The father is neither kind nor cruel to his child

    D．The father is always finding fault with his child．

It is "one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy," says Zeng Ming． He is talking about e-commerce． Mr Zeng, the chief strategy officer for Alibaba, a giant Chinese Internet firm, predicts that digital transactions on his firm's platforms will top l trillion yuan （$159 billion） this year-more than Amazon's and eBay's combined． That is a bold claim, but consider what happened on Singles Sunday．
Invented a few years ago by students and seized upon by digital marketers, this festival for lonely hearts falls annually on the  llth day of the llth month （since l is the loneliest number）．It is like St Valentine's Day, only worse． Singletons shower each other with tender gifts: a barrage of pearls; a storm of sweets．
This November llth they spent a surprising 19 billion yuan on Alibaba's online platforms-a fourfold increase on a year ago, and more than double what Americans spent online last Cyber Monday （the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers urge Americans to shop online）． About 100m purchases were logged, accounting for 80% of the packages shipped that day． Couriers（怏递员） were buried in parcels．
So life is good for China's e-tailers, then? Not exactly． The number of digital marketers is increasing and online sales are booming． Consumers are enjoying lower prices, better service and more variety． The problem? The pressure on profits in Chinese e-commerce is worse than in America, reckons Elinor Leung of CLSA, a broker． "Almost no one makes money," she says．
The fiercest battles are being fought between online retailers and their bricks-and-mortar（实体的） rivals．Dangdang, a firm． that resembles Amazon,．and 360buy, another online retailer, have cut prices fiercely． Tencent, a cash-rich online giant known for its instant-messaging software, is splashing out to win market share． 360buy has also just raised $400m from investors to do the same． But it is unclear how much longer such firms can burn through capital．
【小题1】What's the best title of this passage?

A．The Ambition of Alibaba

B．Fierce Competition between Retailers

C．A Newly Sprung Festival for the Singles

D．Chinese Booming and Developing E-commerce

【小题2】According to Zeng Ming, this year Alibaba will        ．

A．outweigh Amazon and eBay in worldwide influence

B．rank top among all the Internet firms

C．have more than 159 billion dollars' sale

D．create another sales miracle just like the one on Singles Day

【小题3】How many packages were shipped on November ll th from Alibaba's online platforms?

A．About 80 million．	B．About 100 million．
C．About 125 million．	D．About 180 million．

【小题4】What's the author's attitude towards online retailers in China?

A．Optimistic．	B．Concerned．
C．Sympathetic．	D．Indifferent．