Online shopping is growing fast in China, and more and more Chinese are buying books online. At the same time, traditional bookstores are facing new challenges. A bookstore in Beijing is going out of business（生意）. All of its books are on sale. Bookstore owner Wang Jian says hot sales of books on the Internet pushed him to change the way he did business.

China has the highest online book buying rate（率）in the world. More than years ago, dangdang.com became the first online bookseller, and now becomes very important in the Chinese online book market.

Facing this challenge, the Xinhua Bookstore also built its online store a few years ago. Zhang Jian, CEO of the Xinhuabookstore.com, says now they are enlarging their online services.

A “price war（战争）”is taking shape between traditional bookstores and online bookstores. Faced with the low-cost advantage of online bookstores, traditional ones can do nothing but lower their prices. At the same time, online bookstores are also starting price wars between each other.

Now some traditional bookstores are trying their best to attract buyers in their own way. They exhibit books better and provide(提供) a very relaxed reading environment in the bookstore. Even though, traditional bookstores can hardly compete with some of the advantages of online bookstores, for example 24-hour service.

1.What is the passage about?

2.What made Wang Jian change the way he did business?

3.To attract buyers, traditional bookstores and online bookstores both choose to        .

4.We can know from the passage that       .

It is well known that everyone has his own dream as well as his own future. But do you know what future really is? I have to say that future is now. That is to say, we must treasure every minute now. If we want to have a bright future, we should know how important time is and use it well.

  There is an old English saying, “Gain (得到) time, gain life.” Then what’s time? Time is something that we can’t see or touch, but we feel it passing by. Time is always with us. When we are at table, time passes; when we play, time goes by unnoticeable. We always say “Time is money”, but time is even more precious (珍贵的) than money, because when money is spent, we can make it back. But if time is gone away, it will never return. So, some of us even say time is priceless (无价的).

  We should always remember: future is now. For us students, we should try our best to work hard in order to create a great future of our own. We should make the best use of every hour and be the master of today. We should do everything before us as well as possible. And never put off (推迟) what can be done today till tomorrow.

  As we all know, “Time and tide wait for no man.” If you waste today, you will regret tomorrow. So from now on, work hard. Tomorrow will be better, and your future will be brighter. Remember: “No pains, no gains.” Today’s hard work is the cause of tomorrow’s harvest.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。

1.If we want to have a bright future, we should           .

   A. know the value of time and make every minute useful

   B. feel time passing by

   C. understand that time is always with us and we can waste it

2.The word “unnoticeable” means            in Chinese.

   A. 随意的                        B. 不引人注意的                 C. 慢慢的

3.Time is more valuable than money because           .

   A. past time will return no more    

B. time can’t be seen or touched      

C. time is always with us

4.From the passage, we know           .

   A. when money is spent, we should make it back

   B. we can put off what can be done today till tomorrow

   C. today’s hard work leads to tomorrow’s harvest

5.What is the best title for the passage?

   A. A Bright Future               B. Time and Monday                  C. Future and Today

If you think you’re too shy and want to be a little bit brave, try the following:

You can make it. Tell people you’re shy. There’s no need to hide it. When they get to know you’re a shy kid, they’ll understand you better. This also helps you feel more relaxed in talks.

Try to smile more. When you smile, people think you’re friendly and easy to talk to. Remember that other people have feelings too and most people will stay away from an angry-looking face.

Learn to be a good talker. If you find it hard to start talks, say something nice about people around you. Think about how great you feel when someone says something nice to you. Doesn’t it make you want to keep talking to that person?

Get your attention elsewhere（在别处）. Think more about ways to enjoy parties or games. Don’t waste time worrying about your look or whether people like you or not.

Take one small step at a time. Each time when you say “Hi” or smile at someone, say to yourself “You did it”. Keep trying and one day you’ll never feel shy when you talk about yourself.

1.How many pieces of advice does the passage give us?

2.If you find it hard to start a talk, you can          .

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

4.What is the best title for this passage?

When the Audet family turns on the lights at Blue Farm, they are using electricity that comes from cows—cow manure (粪肥), to be specific.

Cows produce a lot of wastes. One cow can create 30 gallons of wastes each day. Now imagine the output of over 1,000 cows at Blue Farm. That’s really a big amount.

When farmers clean their barns, they put the wastes in a big heap, and spread some of them on their fields for fertilizer(肥料). But now places like Blue Spruce Farm have a new way of using cow wastes. They use them to produce electricity.

Here’s how it works: A big machine moves back and forth cleaning the barn floor. “The cows aren’t bothered,” says Marie Audet. “They are animals of habit; they get used to it, and just lift one foot and then another to let it go by.”

The machine pushes the manure into a big 600-gallon tank like a small swimming pool. The tank is called a digester (化粪池) because what happens there is just like what happens inside a cow: Bacteria(细菌) get to work and continue to digest the manure.

Methane gas (甲烷、沼气)in the atmosphere is known as a “greenhouse” gas because it keeps heat just like a greenhouse does, causing our planet to warm up. That’s an environmental concern. But the digester has a good result. Its gas is kept and used to power electric generators (发电机).

At Blue Farm, the generators make enough electricity to power 400 homes. The Audet family sells the extra electricity they can’t use themselves.

1. We learn from the text that the Audet family is using cow wastes to ______.

  A. make electricity           B. produce fertilizer       C. build their farm     D. feed the cows

2. How are the cow wastes collected into the digester at Blue Farm?

  A. Marie Audet does the work                          B. The job is done by machine  

C. The cows lift the cow wastes                         D. Bacteria get to work on them

3. According to the passage, which of the following is changed into electricity?

  A. The power of moving water.                         B. The heat of burning coal.       

C. The power of sunlight.                           D. The heat of the methane gas

4.The new way of using cow wastes at Blue Farm might be best described as ______.

  A. reducing                   B. saving                   C. recycling            D. changing

5. What is the main purpose for writing the passage?

  A. To introduce a new way of making electricity           B. To explain how a new energy works better

  C. To show a new rebuilding plan for a big farm           D. To explain the reasons for green house effect