Global financial big dogs are no match for China's "Da Ma", or housewives, who have crowded into gold stores across China, buying up 300 tons of gold over the past two weeks. No wonder gold prices have steadied after taking a dive.

During the May Day holiday, gold stores were crowded with mostly female customers. Most of them are middle-aged "Chinese housewives". This group of buyers has risen to fame recently. They are big spenders and are desperate to get their hands on a bargain. "I bought some gold jewellery and kept them as a gift for my son when he gets married," said a buyer from Shanghai.

The gold business is skyrocketing. "Our sales are growing by the day. Yesterday we sold more than ten million yuan of gold products," a gold store salesperson said. The gold rush in China started about two weeks ago thanks to a decline in global gold prices. Media reports suggest that Chinese housewives have spent about 100 billion yuan, or about 16 billion US dollars, purchasing 300 tons of gold since mid-April. That has helped support gold prices.

"Gold prices depressed since the middle of last month but have risen gradually. That is mainly due to the strong demand from Asian markets," said foreign trader Zhang Chen from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. "Some people even joked that Chinese housewives have beaten Wall Street analysts." For Chinese people, with limited investment options, the only thing better than buying gold is buying gold at discount prices.

1.What does the author indicate(表明;预示)in the first sentence of the first paragraph?

A. The global big dogs can’t match with Chinese housewives.

B. Chinese housewives spend a great deal of money on gold

C. China's "Da Ma" help a lot to support the global economic crisis

D. Chinese housewives have a better consumption idea than global financial big dogs .

2.We can infer from the passage that_______________

A. China’s "Da Ma" become the largest gold buyers due to a decline in global gold prices.

B. China's "Da Ma" crowded into stores to get gold as the best gifts for sons when they get married.

C. China's "Da Ma" are bigger spenders and cleverer than global financial big dogs.

D. Chinese housewives are most willing to spend money in buying gold .

3.In the writer’s view, Chinese housewives are desperate to get their hands on a bargain because_____.

A. it is worthy to buy gold.

B .they have a strong demand

C. it is at discount prices.

D they have unlimited investment options

4.The author’s description about the passage is ______.

A. doubtful   B. subjective    C. objective    D. Negative

 

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading(在...上面走) water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

    I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

    It takes confidence to make a new start — here’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.

    Then I met an agent(代理商)who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

    The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

    It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract(合同)of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding.

1.The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A. to finish the writing course       B. to realize her own dream

C. to satisfy readers’ wish          D. to earn more money

2.How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A. Disturbed.        B. Ashamed.        C. Confident.        D. Uncertain.

3.What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A. It pays off to stick to one’s goal.

B. Hard work can lead to success.

C. She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D. There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

 

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.

Then I met an agent(代理商)who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract(合同)of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding(有回报的).

1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

A.I was waiting for good fortune.

B.I was trying to find an admirable job.

C.I was being aimless about a suitable job.

D.I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

2.The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A.to finish the writing course

B.to realize her own dream

C.to satisfy readers’ wish

D.to earn more money

3.How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A.Disturbed.

B.Ashamed.

C.Confident.

D.Uncertain.

4.What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A.It pays to stick to one’s goal.

B.Hard work can lead to success.

C.She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D.There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

 

The drug store was closing for the night and Alfred Higgins was about to go home when his new boss approached him.

“Empty your pockets please, Alfred,” Sam Carr demanded in a firm voice.

Alfred pretended to be shocked but he knew he had been caught. From his coat he withdrew a make-up kit, a lipstick and two tubes of toothpaste.

“I’m disappointed in you, Alfred!” said the little gray-haired man.

“Sorry, sir. Please forgive me. It’s the first time I’ve ever done such a thing,” Alfred lied, hoping to gain the old man’s sympathy.

Mr Carr’s brow furrowed as he reached for the telephone, “Do you take me for a fool? Let’s see what the police have to say. But first I’ll call your mother and let her know her son is heading to jail.”

“Do whatever you want,” Alfred shot back, trying to sound big. But deep down he felt like a child. He imagined his mother rushing in, eyes burning with anger, maybe in tears. Yet he wanted to come quickly before Mr. Carr called the police.

Mr. Carr was surprised when Mrs. Higgins finally arrived . She was very calm, quiet and friendly. “Is Alfred in trouble?” she asked.

“He’s been stealing from the store,” the old man coolly replied.

Mrs. Higgins pulled out her hand and touched Mr. Carr’s arm with great gentleness as if she knew just how he felt. She spoke as if she did not want to cause him any more trouble. “What do you want to do, Mr.Carr?”

The woman’s calm and gentle manner disarmed the once-angry store-owner, “I was going to get a cop. But I don’t want to be cruel. Tell your son not to come back here again and I will let it go.” Then he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins’ hand.

Mrs. Higgins thanked the old ma for his kindness, then mother and son left. They walked along the street in silence. When they arrived home his mother simply said, “Go to bed, you fool.”

In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. He felt no shame, only pride in his mother’s actions. “She was smooth!” he thought. He went to the kitchen to tell her how great she was, but was shocked by what he saw.

His mother’s face looked frightened, broken. Not the cool, bright face he saw earlier. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. There were tears in her eyes.

This picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth ending. He saw all the troubles he brought her and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother.

1.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A.It was the first time Alfred had stolen anything.

B.Mr. Carr set a trap to catch Alfred stealing.

C.Alfred tried to sound big to hide his fear.

D.Mr. Carr had planned to forgive Alfred from the beginning.

2.What does the underlined word “disarmed” probably mean?

A.annoyed

B.got over

C.convinced

D.made less angry

3.What was the mother’s attitude towards Alfred?

A.She felt disappointed with him.

B.She was strict with him.

C.She was supportive of him.

D.She was afraid of him.

4.What impressed Alfred most about his mother at the drugstore was_______.

A.how angry she was

B.how effective she handled Mr. Carr.

C.that she was able to save him

D.that she didn’t cry

5.From the last paragraph, we know Alfred________.

A.was no longer a youth.

B.felt proud of his mother

C.wanted his mother to be happy

D.felt guilty and regretful for his deed.

 

Time: April 8th, 2010 at 10 PM To April 9th, 2010 at 3 AM

Location: Babyface Guangzhou

Street: No.83 Changdi Da Ma Road, Guangzhou

City/Town: Guangzhou

Website or Map: http://www.babyface.com.cn

Phone: 020-8335 5771

Organized By: Babyface China Official

Grammy nominated (格莱美奖提名)artist and globally admired DJ and Producer Paul van Dyk continues to lead the electronic music charts and appears at the highpoint of every Top DJ list across the globe. PvD, as his fans have nicknamed him, is currently ranked the World’s No. 1 DJ by DJ Magazine’s “Top 100 DJs poll” for the second successive year.

PvD is well-known as one of the hardest working artists, with sold-out tours that cross each continent, headline spots at every major festival, and a hugely successful recording career. With over 3 million albums sold worldwide, van Dyk travels around the world over 16 times each year to sold out performances internationally.

Born in Eisenhuettenstadt, East Germany, Paul van Dyk grew up in East Berlin. Because his community did not have a true club culture, Paul van Dyk listened to the radio where he discovered his passion for music that extended beyond Techno music—he wanted to create a different, more unique sound. In the early 1990’s Paul van Dyk was performing regularly at various clubs in Berlin before releasing his first album 45 RPM in 1994. But it was the release of his second album Seven Ways that put him into Top 100, followed by the release of his hit single “For An Angel,” which began to earn him praise across the globe. By the time Paul van Dyk released Out There & Back in 2000, it became clear that the Berlin-based musician had far more to offer than his signature club sets that had already defined him as one of the most influential DJs and producers of all time. His first mix CD Politics of Dancing was released in 2001, followed by Global in 2003—a DVD which illustrates his own experiences traveling the world.

1.What activity does this passage introduce to us?

A. Paul van Dyk Volume World Tour at Babyface Guangzhou.

B. Grammy Prize Ceremony at Babyface Guangzhou.

C. Release of PvD’s original album Reflections.

D. The foundation of Babyface China Official.

2. Which album first made PvD into the Top 100?

A. For An Angel.         B. Seven Ways.          C. 45 RPM.     D. Out There & Back.

3.According to the passage PvD can be best described as _______.

A. intelligent but proud                     B. hardworking but absent-minded

C. optimistic and outgoing                   D. creative and potential

4.PvD’s passion for music originated from _______.

A. performing at various clubs                   B. listening to the radio

C. his tours across the globe                    D. his true club culture

5. According to the passage, PvD _______.

A. is ranked the world’s No.1 DJ in Top 100 DJs Poll for life

B. shows us his travelling experience in Global

C. sings about politics in his mix CD Politics of Dancing

D. received Grammy Prizes several times

 

 

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