Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic has, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
“Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic.
When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.
As the poem suggests, the Atlantic is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise—it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing, and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breath—perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach. It mimics(模仿) nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with symbiotic existences, too: unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking

  1. 1.

    Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is______

    1. A.
      always energetic
    2. B.
      lacking in liveliness
    3. C.
      shaped like a square
    4. D.
      favored by ancient poets
  2. 2.

    What is the purpose of using the poem “Storm at Sea” in the passage?

    1. A.
      To describe the movement of the waves
    2. B.
      To show the strength of the storm
    3. C.
      To represent the power of the ocean
    4. D.
      To prove the vastness of the sea
  3. 3.

    What does the underlined word “symbiotic” mean?

    1. A.
      Living together
    2. B.
      Growing fast
    3. C.
      Moving harmoniously
    4. D.
      Breathing peacefully
  4. 4.

    In the last paragraph, the Atlantic is compared to______

    1. A.
      a beautiful and poetic place
    2. B.
      a flesh and blood person
    3. C.
      a wonderful world
    4. D.
      a lovely animal

Contribution of Coeducation
Imagining being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of own sex. How would you react? Unless there was something definitely wrong with you, you wouldn’t be too happy about it, to say the least. It is all the more surprising therefore that so many parents in the world choose to impose such abnormal conditions on their children – conditions which they themselves wouldn’t put up with for one minute!
Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. Stuffing children’s heads full of knowledge is far from being foremost among them. One of the chief aims of educations is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society. Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it? Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.
A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical advantage it is ( to give just a small example ) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense co-education makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girl or vice-versa. When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. Rivalry between the sexes is fostered. In a coeducational school, everything falls into its proper place.
But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures – airy goddesses, more like book-illustrations to a fairy-tale, than human beings. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together at school dispel illusions of this kind. There are no goddesses with freckles, pigtails, piercing voices and inky fingers. There are no romantic heroes with knobby knees, dirty fingernails and unkempt hair. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment. Segregated schools sometimes provide the right conditions for sexual deviation. This is hardly possible under a co-educational system. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women

  1. 1.

    What is the best title for this passage?

    1. A.
      only co-education can be in harmony with society
    2. B.
      people are in great need of co-education
    3. C.
      any form of education other than co-education is simply unthinkable
    4. D.
      co-education has many features
  2. 2.

    what does co-education offer to children?

    1. A.
      A society
    2. B.
      A true small model of society
    3. C.
      A real life
    4. D.
      True version of social condition
  3. 3.

    According to the passage, what is one of the chief aims of education?

    1. A.
      It is for students to acquire knowledge
    2. B.
      It is to equip future citizens with scientific technology
    3. C.
      It is to equip future citizens with what is required in getting a position in society
    4. D.
      It is for students to get academic achievements
  4. 4.

    Why do boys and girls in co-education have no illusion about each other?

    1. A.
      They live together and know each other too well
    2. B.
      Years of living together at school dismiss such illusion
    3. C.
      co-education encourage them to have an healthy attitude toward life
    4. D.
      They are familiar with each other’s problems

Riding a London subway, a person from other countries will notice one major difference: in London, people do not look at each other．In fact, eye contact is avoided at all times. That’s not rudeness ― people are just too busy to bother looking．
Busy doing what, you ask? Well, they’re certainly not using the time for a moment of quiet thinking．Nor are they reading a book．New technology has replaced quiet habits．Today the only acceptable form of book on the London underground is an e-book．
Apple must earn a fortune from London commuters（使用月票上下班者）. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, over 40, 000 ― yes, 40, 000 “apps” have been designed．
Commuters love them because they are the perfect time - fillers. One “app”, called iShoot, is a game that features tanks．Another one, Tube Exits, tells passengers where to sit on the train to be closest to the exit of their destination. iSteam clouds the iPhone screen when you breathe into the microphone. You can then write in the “steam” on your phone screen．
For those without an iPhone, another Apple product, the iPod, may be the distraction (消遣) of choice. It’s not just teenagers who “plug in” to their music - iPods are a popular way to pass the time for all ages．
And if games, e-books and music aren’t enough to keep you occupied, then perhaps you would prefer a film? The development of palm DVD technology means many commuters watch their favorite TV shows or films on the way to work．With all these distractions, it’s amazing that people still remember to get off the train．

  1. 1.

    Those who want to save time to reach where they go can download ________ to their iPhones

    1. A.
      iShoot
    2. B.
      Tube Exits
    3. C.
      iSteam
    4. D.
      iPod
  2. 2.

    People in London do not make eye contact on the subway because ________．

    1. A.
      they are going to work and have no time to communicate with each other
    2. B.
      they love reading books and do not want to be disturbed
    3. C.
      they feel sleepy because of getting up early
    4. D.
      they’re busy playing games, reading e-books, listening to music or watching films
  3. 3.

    The underlined word “apps” in the third paragraph means ________．

    1. A.
      computers
    2. B.
      programs downloaded for the iPhone
    3. C.
      computer companies
    4. D.
      fortune from London commuters
  4. 4.

    The main idea of the passage is that ________．

    1. A.
      London commuters are unfriendly to strangers
    2. B.
      Apple has earned a lot of money from selling 40, 000 apps
    3. C.
      technology is changing how London commuters spend their traveling time
    4. D.
      riding a London subway is a must when visiting London

Research at the University of Liverpool, UK, has found that Shakespeare’s language stimulates positive brain activity.
Shakespeare uses a linguistic（语言的）technique known as functional change that involves, for example, using a noun to serve as a verb．Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence．This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say.
Professor Philip Davis, from the university’s School of English, said: “The brain reacts to reading a phrase such as ‘he godded me’ from the tragedy of Coriolanus, in a similar way to putting a jigsaw puzzle（拼图玩具）together．If it is easy to see which pieces fit together you become bored of the game．But if the pieces don’t appear to fit, when we know they should, the brain becomes excited．By throwing irregular words into seemingly normal sentences, Shakespeare surprises the brain in a manner that produces a sudden burst of activity — a sense of drama created out of the simplest of things.”
Experts believe that this heightened brain activity may be one of the reasons why Shakespeare’s plays have such a dramatic impact on their readers.
Professor Neil Roberts, from the university’s Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Research Center, and Professor Davis, together with Dr Guillaune Thierry, from the University of Wales, UK, monitored 20 participants using an electroencephalogram (EEG) as they read selected lines from Shakespeare’s plays.
“The brain signal is relatively stable when we understand the meaning of a word but when the word changes the grammar of the whole sentence, brain readings suddenly peak．The brain is then forced to retrace its thinking process in order to understand what it is supposed to make of this unusual word,” explains Professor Roberts

  1. 1.

    The research conducted by the professors has showed that______.

    1. A.
      Shakespeare uses functional change to mislead readers
    2. B.
      Shakespeare’s language excites positive brain activity
    3. C.
      Shakespeare’s plays have a dramatic effect on their readers
    4. D.
      Shakespeare’s language makes the brain signal relatively stable
  2. 2.

    Which of the following words can replace the underlined pronoun “it” in the 2nd paragraph?

    1. A.
      technique
    2. B.
      word
    3. C.
      brain
    4. D.
      sentence
  3. 3.

    In the 3rd paragraph, the example of a jigsaw puzzle is used here to state______.

    1. A.
      the function of Shakespeare’s linguistic technique
    2. B.
      a sense of drama created by playing the game
    3. C.
      the Shakespeare’s thinking process
    4. D.
      the brain’s reaction to reading a book
  4. 4.

    Based on the research, Shakespeare’s plays have a great effect on their reader lies in______.

    1. A.
      language used in plays
    2. B.
      characters showed in works
    3. C.
      brain activity increased in reading
    4. D.
      thinking process when writing

On March 28th, the New York Times will begin charging all but the most infrequent users to read articles online.
In a letter to readers, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., the publisher of the paper, laid out the details of the paywall, which he said will go into effect immediately in Canada and on March 28th for the rest of the world. He called the move “an important step that we hope you will see as an investment in the Times, one that will strengthen our ability to provide high-quality journalism to readers around the world and on any platform.”
Sulzberger said that readers will be able to read 20 articles per month at no charge. Once they click on the 21st piece, however, they’ll be presented with three payment options: 数学公式 20 for access to the site and the iPad application, or $ 35 for access to everything. People who already receive the printed paper through home delivery will enjoy free and unlimited access to the Times on all platforms.
These details largely agree with earlier reports on how the paywall would work. The Times had made it clear that it did not want to imitate the total paywalls put into effect by papers such as The Times of London and Newsday, which block access to all contents unless the reader pays.
The paper also signaled that it wants to stay relevant in the social media world. According to Sulzberger's announcement, people who come to the Times site from Facebook, Twitter or from blogs will be able to read those articles even if they have gone over their monthly limit.
However, Sulzberger said that a limit will be placed on “some search engines”, meaning that after readers have accessed a certain number of articles from search engines, any further articles they access from there will be added to their monthly count. It was reported that the only search engine that will be affected this way is Google, where there will be a five-article limit. This marks a clear attempt by the Times to close what could be a giant loophole （漏洞）, since so much online traffic is directed through Google. But it also presents a risk for the Times for the same reason.
Sulzberger seems well aware of the risk. “The challenge now is to put a price on our work without walling ourselves off from the global network,” he said, adding that the Times must “continue to engage with the widest possible audience.”

  1. 1.

    The author’s main purpose in the text is to _______

    1. A.
      describe research findings
    2. B.
      report a piece of news
    3. C.
      make advertisements
    4. D.
      suggest a solution
  2. 2.

    Why will the Times charge their online readers?

    1. A.
      It wants to stay relevant in the social media world
    2. B.
      It has too many readers coming from the other sites
    3. C.
      It is seeking new financial sources for its development
    4. D.
      It is trying a way to offer better service to its readers
  3. 3.

    Who will be limited to the New York Times articles?

    1. A.
      Those subscribing to the printed newspapers
    2. B.
      Readers clicking through from Facebook
    3. C.
      Those using Google research engine
    4. D.
      Readers paying $ 35 a month
  4. 4.

    What challenge may the paywall bring to the New York Times?

    1. A.
      It may bring the Times more competition with the other media
    2. B.
      It may stop the Times connecting to the global network
    3. C.
      It may block the readers from the other websites
    4. D.
      It may result in huge drops in papers' online readership

It was a cold December, and Mrs. Bell wanted to do a lot of shopping. She waited until it was Saturday, when her husband was free, and she took him to the shops with her to pay for everything and to carry for her what she had bought. They went to a lot of shops, and Mrs. Bell bought everything she could think of.
She often stopped and said, “Look, Peter! Isn’t that beautiful?”
“All right, my dear. How much is it?” answered Mr. Bell, and then he took money out to buy it for her.
It was almost dark when they came out of the last shop, and Mr. Bell was tired. He was thinking about a nice drink by the side of a warm fire home. Suddenly his wife looked up at the sky and said, “Look at that beautiful moon, Peter!”
Without stopping, Mr. Bell answered at once. “All right, dear. How much is it?” Then he took his wallet out of his pocket

  1. 1.

    Mrs. Bell did shopping ________

    1. A.
      alone
    2. B.
      together with her husband
    3. C.
      every day
    4. D.
      in the morning
  2. 2.

    Mrs. Bell took her husband to the shops because ________

    1. A.
      he liked beautiful things
    2. B.
      he liked to do shopping too
    3. C.
      she wanted him to pay money
    4. D.
      he was always free
  3. 3.

    Mrs. Bell bought ________ in the shops

    1. A.
      nothing
    2. B.
      a drink
    3. C.
      the most beautiful thing
    4. D.
      a number of things
  4. 4.

    Mr. Bell _______ shopping

    1. A.
      was addicted to
    2. B.
      was thinking about
    3. C.
      was tired of
    4. D.
      was very interested in
  5. 5.

    According to the last paragraph, we know Mr. Bell _______

    1. A.
      wanted to buy the moon
    2. B.
      did not really know what his wife was saying
    3. C.
      was a millionaire
    4. D.
      did not like the idea of buying the moon

Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. His purpose is settled and decided in advance. He knows what he wants, and his objective is to find it and buy it; the price is a secondary consideration. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman promptly produces it, and the business of trying it on goes forward at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed in less than five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone's satisfaction. For a man, slight problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants, or does not have exactly what he wants. In that case the salesman, as the name implies, tries to sell the customer something else, he offers the nearest he can to the article required. No good salesman brings out such a substitute without least consideration; he does so with skill and polish（完美）: “I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size. It happens to be the color you mentioned." Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: “This is the right color and may be the right size but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on.
Now how does a woman go about buying clothes? In almost every respect she does so in the opposite way. Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind what she wants, and she is only “having a look round". She is always open to persuasion: indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her, even by what companions tell her. She will try on any number of things. Uppermost in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Contrary to a lot of jokes, most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the lookout for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one rail to another, to and fro often retracing her steps, before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a tiresome process, but apparently an enjoyable one. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands

  1. 1.

    According to the passage, a man’s shopping is based on _______

    1. A.
      his money
    2. B.
      his hobbies
    3. C.
      his need
    4. D.
      his friends
  2. 2.

    Why does a lady welcome suggestions from anyone while buying a dress?

    1. A.
      Because she wants to buy a dress that every one thinks suits her
    2. B.
      Because she doesn’t know how to buy a dress
    3. C.
      Because she doesn’t know whether to buy it or not
    4. D.
      Because she wants to show herself off in public
  3. 3.

    What does a man do when he can not get exactly what he wants?

    1. A.
      He buys a similar thing of the colour he wants
    2. B.
      He usually does not buy anything
    3. C.
      At least two of his requirements must be met before he buys
    4. D.
      So long as the style is right, he buys the thing
  4. 4.

    The passage mainly talks about the ______ between men shoppers and women shoppers for clothes

    1. A.
      similarities
    2. B.
      differences
    3. C.
      varieties
    4. D.
      intentions

Downing the last drop of an expensive famous brand H2O as well as remembering to throw the empty bottle in the recycling bin, makes you feel pretty good about yourself, right? It shouldn’t. Even when the bottles are recycled, there are all kinds of other consequences of swallowing bottled water, says Melissa Peffers, the air-quality program manager for Environmental Defense.
The containers are often filled in faraway lands, then shipped from abroad, and stored in refrigerators at your local store. Compare that with the influence on environment of turning on your tap, filling a glass, and drinking up!
Anyone who is choosing bottled water for health reasons is misguided, says Peffers, “Most bottled water is just tap water.” And what comes out of your tap is carefully monitored to follow the strict rules. Consider another fact that bottled water is surprisingly expensive, especially when compared with the alternative, which is almost free, and it is astonishing that America’s desire for bottled water seems impossible to satisfy, reaching nearly 30 billion bottles a year.
“My parents’ generation never had bottled water,” says Isabelle Silverman, an Environmental Defense legal adviser. She has made a commitment to going bottle free. “You don’t need to fetch it home from the store, and it’s cheaper,” she adds.
Bottled water’s role as a status symbol needs to change, Peffers points out. So when a waiter at an expensive restaurant offers  “And what’s your drink?” that’s no reason to forget your conviction(信念). “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘I’ll have tap.’ Say it loud enough that the other tables nearby can hear you,” Peffers says. “And then spend that money on a dessert.”

  1. 1.

    In the first paragraph, the underlined sentence “It shouldn’t.” suggest that people _______

    1. A.
      shouldn’t feel pleased with finishing the water in the bottle
    2. B.
      shouldn’t feel good about drinking an expensive brand H2O
    3. C.
      shouldn’t be pleased with just recycling empty bottles
    4. D.
      shouldn’t be satisfied with drinking only bottled water
  2. 2.

    According to the author, tap water is _______

    1. A.
      as safe as bottled water
    2. B.
      morel likely to be polluted
    3. C.
      healthier than bottle water
    4. D.
      less convenient than bottled water
  3. 3.

    The underlined part “going bottle free” (in Para. 4) means “_______”

    1. A.
      making bottled water free
    2. B.
      giving up bottled water
    3. C.
      recycling use water bottles
    4. D.
      providing free water containers
  4. 4.

    Why does Peffers ask people to say “I’ll have tap.” Loudly?

    1. A.
      To encourage them to set an example for others to follow
    2. B.
      To advise them to save the money for one more dessert
    3. C.
      To remind them to be aware of their social status
    4. D.
      To persuade them to speak confidently in public

When I was at university,  I studied very hard. But a lot of my friends did very little work. Some did just enough to pass exams. Others didn’t do quite enough. Fred Baines was one of them. He spent more time drinking in the Students’ Union than working in the library. Once, at the end of the term, we had to take an important test in chemistry. The test had a hundred questions. Beside each question we had to write “True” or “False”. While I was studying in my room the night before the test, Fred was watching television. Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test. But that night he looked perfectly calm. Then he told me of his plan. “It’s very simple. There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test. I’ll take a coin into the examination room. I haven’t studied a chemistry book for months, so I’ll just toss the coin. In that way, I’m sure I’ll get half the questions right.” The next day, Fred came cheerfully into the examination room. As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers. Then he left half an hour before the rest of us. The next day, he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor.
“Oh good,” he said, “Have you got the results of the test?”
The professor looked at him and smiled.
“Ah, it’s you, Baines, just a minute.”
Then he reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He threw it into the air, caught it in his hand and looked at it.
“I’m terribly sorry, Baines,” he said, “You failed!”

  1. 1.

    Fred often went to the Students’ Union where he ________

    1. A.
      worked extra hours
    2. B.
      enjoyed himself in the bar
    3. C.
      borrowed books
    4. D.
      attended a few lectures
  2. 2.

    This time Fred expected to get ________

    1. A.
      an excellent mark
    2. B.
      a low mark
    3. C.
      his usual mark
    4. D.
      the pass mark
  3. 3.

    The chemistry professor ________

    1. A.
      didn’t mark the test papers correctly
    2. B.
      tossed a coin when he marked test papers
    3. C.
      knew about Fred’s method
    4. D.
      thought Fred’s method was good
  4. 4.

    According to the text, we can know working hard is ________

    1. A.
      unnecessary
    2. B.
      valuable
    3. C.
      useless
    4. D.
      a waste

The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一度时髦的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of The Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former head of the Language Center at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBCMagazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便).” Adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBCMagazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared

  1. 1.

    People use iPlayer to ______.

    1. A.
      listen to music
    2. B.
      make a call
    3. C.
      watch TV programs online
    4. D.
      read newspapers
  2. 2.

    We can infer that The Independent’s “i” is aimed at ______.

    1. A.
      young readers
    2. B.
      old readers
    3. C.
      fashionable women
    4. D.
      engineers
  3. 3.

    Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are ______.

    1. A.
      portable
    2. B.
      environmentally friendly
    3. C.
      advanced
    4. D.
      recyclable
  4. 4.

    The writer suggests that ______.

    1. A.
      “i” products are often of high quality
    2. B.
      iTeddy is a living bear
    3. C.
      the letter “b” replaces the letter “i” to name the products
    4. D.
      the popularity of “i” products may not last long
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