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

 

It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor(光标) had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.

Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial(紧要关头) undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.

I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon(季风) at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.

"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."

"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.

It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.

To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.

When my voice hit a certain decibel (分贝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.

"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.

"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"

"But I do need it."

"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty (产品保证书)!"  The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.

I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.

1.Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?

A.She had saved what she had written.

B.She couldn't move the cursor.

C.The computer refused to work.

D.The computer offered to repair itself.

2.Which of the following is the author's opinion about the woman at the Global Support Centre?

A.She sounded helpful and knowledgeable.

B.She was there to make callers frustrated.

C.She was able to solve her computer problem.

D.She was quick to pass her along to a technician.

3.According to the passage, the solution offered by the technician was_________________.

A.effective          B.economical        C.unpractical        D.unsatisfied

4. "It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache" in the last but one paragraph means that_____________________.

A.the technician's proposal would make things even worse

B.the technician's proposal could eventually solve the problem

C.files stored on her computer were like a safe

D.erasing the entire system was like curing a headache

5.It can be inferred from the passage that the differences between the Global Support Centre and the local repair shop lie in all the followings except ________________.

A.efficiency         B.location           C.setup CDs         D.attitude

 

 

第二节:阅读下列材料, 从所给的六个选项(A、B、C、D、E、和F) 中,选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。选项中有一项是多余选项。

It was coming up on Mother’s Day, and John usually tried to make it “back home”, but this year he was just too tired. He was in a small town just outside of Little Rock when he drove by a flower shop. He said to himself. “I know what I will do, I’ll send Mom some roses.”

   He went into the small shop and saw a young boy talking to the clerk. “How many roses can I get for six dollars, ma’am?” The boy asked. The clerk was trying to explain that roses were expensive. Maybe the young man would be happy with carnations.

   “No. I have to have roses,” he said. “My Mom was sick so much last year and I didn’t get to spend much time with her. I want to get something special. It has to be red roses, because that’s her favourite.”

The clerk looked up at John and was just shaking her head. Something inside of John was touched by the boy’s voice. He wanted to get those roses so bad. John had been blessed in his business, and he looked at the clerk and silently mouthed that he would pay for the boy’s roses.

The clerk looked at the young man and said, “Okay, I will give you a dozen red roses for your six dollars.” The young man almost jumped into the air. He took the flowers and ran from the store. It was worth the extra thirty-five dollars just to see that kind of excitement.

John ordered his own flowers and had the clerk to be sure that delivery would include a note telling his mother how much he loved her. As he drove away from the shop, he was feeling very good. He caught a light about two blocks from the shop. As he waited at the light, he saw the young boy walking down the sidewalk. He watched him cross the street and enter a park through two huge gates. Suddenly, he realized it wasn't a park. It was a cemetery(墓地). He saw the young man stop by a small monument and go to his knees. He carefully laid the roses on the grave and began to cry.

As he cried, John heard the young man speak, “Mommy, oh Mommy, why didn’t I tell you how much I love you. Why didn’t I tell you one more time? Jesus, please, find my Mommy. Tell my Mommy I love her."

John turned, tears in his eyes, and walked back to his car. He drove quickly to the flower shop and told her he would take the flowers personally. He wanted to be sure and tell his Mother one more time just how much he loved her.

1. How much money did the young man’s flowers altogether cost?

A. 41 dollars      B. 6 dollars      C. 35 dollars       D.29 dollars 

2. What’s the main reason that John helped the young man pay the roses?

 A. Because he had a lot of money.

B. Because they are good friends.

C. Because he was moved by what the young man said.

 D. Because he likes to help others.

3. According to the passage, which sentence is true?

A. The young man’s mother has passed away.

B. The young man often tells his mother that he loves her.

C. John often goes home to visit his mother.

D. John doesn’t love his mother.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. He will have the flowers delivered to his mother.

B. He will send the flowers to his mother himself.

He decided to buy more flowers.

He will not buy the flowers.

 

 

    A German company was concerned about talks in Moscow trying to sell some 100 million dollars worth of equipment to a Russian State company. Talks went smoothly but differences remained. So Martin Bayer himself, the CEO of the German Company, decided to come to Moscow to head the talks. Besides caring about his business, the CEO wanted to go to Russia to hunt bears.

    Martin Bayer was one of the greatest hunters of our time (and the Russians knew about it). He went to the Sahara more than hundred times and hunted lions, crocodiles; he hunted polar bears in the North Pole and tigers in the rain forests of India. But he had never hunted Russian bears.

    So the Russians decided to organize a bear hunt for Mr. Bayer to sweeten the talks. This wasn't a simple task. Some people in the west still believe that bears may be found and seen everywhere in Russian cities just like squirrels may be seen in our back yards. This is not true. The closest place one may find bears in the wild is maybe 2,500 miles away from Moscow. However, a solution was quickly found. The Russian businessmen went to Moscow Circus(马戏团)and for $2,000 bought a very old bear. This bear used to amuse and amaze audiences in many countries for 30 years, but got and looked too old, and was retired.

    “Be careful, the Russian bears are very dangerous, and frightening,” they told to Mr. Bayer. “If compared to the Russian bears, your African lions are nothing more than harmless cats.” The bear was brought to a forest 50 miles from Moscow and was left there. Mr. Bayer was told that bears were plentiful in that forest and that many cattle and even people had been eaten in the surrounding villages.

    Meanwhile, an 18-year old female drove through the forest on a motorcycle and suddenly saw a bear (no bears had been seen in those places for 200 years). She was frightened, fell, left her helmet and her motorcycle and ran away.

    Mr. Bayer was excited and ready to hunt. This could become the most successful part of his extraordinary hunting experience. The next moment Mr. Bayer saw a bear in a helmet driving on a motorcycle through the forest in front of him. The bear had a happy expression on his face, as he was doing something he had been doing in the circus for 30 years: circling on a motorcycle!

    Mr. Bayer lives in a private mental institution near Hamburg happily ever after. The equipment was never sold to Russia. It was sold to Iraq instead.

1. Why did the Russians invite Mr. Bayer to hunt bears?

         A. Russian bears are famous for their cruelty.

         B. They managed to find a bear for hunting.

         C. They expected the trade to be successful.

         D. There was a bear in Moscow Circus.

2. Why did the Russians say “Be careful, the Russian bears are very dangerous, and frightening”?

         A. To tell Mr. Bayer that many people had been killed by bears.

         B. To make Mr. Bayer feel the hunting really challenging.

         C. To warn Mr. Bayer to mind his safety while hunting.

         D. To tell Mr. Bayer that the bear is really dangerous.

3. We can infer from the last paragraph that __________.

         A. Mr. Bayer has gone ma   

B. the bear injured him badly

         C. he has worked in a mental institution since then

         D. the trade has gone smoothly between Russian and Iraq

4. Which would be the best title of the passage?

         A. Mr. Bayer, a Brave Hunter        B. Russian Bears, Dangerous Animals

         C. Don’t Hunt in Russia         D. Don’t Deal with the Russians

 

Crosstalk(相声),a traditional form of comic storytelling,is making a comeback in China’s tea houses and theaters.

Audiences can laugh the night away every Saturday at the Qianxiangyi Teahouse in Tianjin,entertained by the apprentices(学徒)of Hou Baolin,Ma Sanli or Yin Shoushan—all leading crosstalk artists of years past—for only 20 yuan($2.40).

The success in Tianjin has also caused the rejuvenation(复活) of crosstalk in Beijing and other places.

Although the art form originated in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911),Tianjin became a place where rising stars formed their styles and new pieces were tried out.The city was well—known nationwide for the quality of its crosstalk performances.

Known in Chinese as xiangsheng(1iterally,“face and voice”),crosstalk was the predominant(支配的)form of comedy throughout most of the 20th century.In the old days in Tianjin and elsewhere,temple fairs and markets were the main places for crosstalkers to perform,although they occasionally also appeared in teahouses or theaters.

Crosstalk pieces draw on every aspect of Chinese culture,from history and folk tales to social issues of the time.Although there’re hundreds of traditional pieces,they’re constantly rewritten to suit the times and the audience, while new works are written as well.It’s one of the features that have made crosstalk a

public art form throughout its history.

“Crosstalk was in the doldrums(萎靡不振)with competition from other art forms,especially TV,”said Wang Xiaochun,headmaster of the Northern Storytelling Arts School of China(NSAS).“But it has regained its status with crosstalk fans,especially young people,growing aware of its rare qualities.”

“More and more students are coming to NSAS to study crosstalk,including some girl students,”said Wang, “They’re sure that crosstalk will have a strong market.”

1.Crosstalk means“__________ ”in Chinese.

A.storytelling

B.face and voice

C.folk tale

D.dialogue

2.According to the text, crosstalk is so popular throughout its history because____________.

A.it is constantly changed and renewed

B.it is often performed at temple fairs

C.it is different from other arts

D.it is comic and humourous

3.Crosstalk makes a comeback mainly because__________.

A.it is a popular traditional art after all

B.the pieces contain some famous folk tales

C.the crosstalkers make it return to teahouses

D.the pieces are made to suit the times and the audience

4.We can learn that the future of crosstalk first lies in ____________.

A.setting up more storytelling art schools

B.beating TV and other arts

C.young people’s awareness of its value

D.a strong market

 

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