I went on line to check if my pay was in my bank account（账户）. To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, but a company I’d never worked for had also paid me! I know I would have been beside myself (情绪失控) if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person. Easier said than done.
The bank couldn’t help as it “wasn’t a bank problem.” The human-resource department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn’t have enough details. I rang the bank again. Thankfully I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for.
I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel. I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he’d tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error. He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves.
We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me. Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his. I never had any intention of keeping Daniel’s pay but red tape（繁琐手续）made it difficult to do the right thing. It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do — admit a mistake has occurred and fix it.

  1. 1.

    What was the attitude of the author towards the extra money in his bank account?

    1. A.
      He didn’t know what to do with it.
    2. B.
      He felt lucky to get it.
    3. C.
      He thought of keeping it for himself.
    4. D.
      He wanted to return it to the right person.
  2. 2.

    How was the problem solved in the end?

    1. A.
      The author and Daniel solved the problem themselves.
    2. B.
      It cost Daniel a lovely bottle of wine to get back his money.
    3. C.
      The author gave the money back to the company.
    4. D.
      The call operator offered to solve their problem.
  3. 3.

    From the passage we can infer that _________.

    1. A.
      the bank could solve the problem soon and easily with the red tape
    2. B.
      some large organizations usually have troublesome official rules
    3. C.
      Daniel didn’t know the error until he contacted the author
    4. D.
      it was easy for a company to have a mistake which had occurred fixed

United States President George W. Bush is expected to issue a directive in the next few weeks. It will give the US Air Force a green light for the development of space weapons, US media reported last week.
This would potentially start a new global arms race, some experts have warned.
To keep that from happening, last Wednesday the White House explained that it was not considering putting weapons in space. It said it was making a shift in US space policy to allow for protection of satellites.
But some defense analysts and arms control advocates argue that the policy will pave the way for the US to put both defensive and offensive  weapons in space.
“No one should be fooled,” said Theresa Hitchens, an American weapons expert.
The US is now restricted by a 1996 directive  signed by President Bill Clinton. Plans for space weapons were vetoed by the Clinton cabinet. The directive emphasized the peaceful use of space , in agreement with almost unanimous global opinion.
The US military has placed importance on space and has sent up numberous satellites for troop communications and to provide intelligence and data to guide bombs to their targets.
The US Air Force wants to develop space- based weapons that could strike targets anywhere in the world within 90 minutes of receiving the order to open fire.
These new weapons under development cover a wide range. They include hunter- killer satellites and orbiting weapons. And they use lasers, radio waves, or even dense metal tubes, known as “ Rods from God”, dropped from space to do the damage.
There are many barriers to the setting up of this kind of program, experts say.
First is the coast. It is estimated that the budget may be US数学公式1 trillion .
The technical difficulties of developing reliable space weapons are also a problem.
And, the program will draw strong criticism from around the world. Experts worry about starting a space arms race

  1. 1.

    Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

    1. A.
      US Military Plans
    2. B.
      The Global Arms Race
    3. C.
      A Comparison between Two Presidents
    4. D.
      President George W. Bush and the World Peace
  2. 2.

    According to this passage, which of the following is NOT true?

    1. A.
      President George W. Bush supports space weapon development
    2. B.
      The space weapon program will threaten world peace
    3. C.
      Clinton government was poorer than Bush government
    4. D.
      The US space weapon project is very expensive
  3. 3.

    After reading this passage, it can be inferred that “___________ “

    1. A.
      George W. Bush’s directive to be issued will be against global opinions
    2. B.
      The White House is right in explaining that US new space policy aims to protect satellites
    3. C.
      US government has little difficulty in developing new space weapons
    4. D.
      President George W. Bush and Bill Clinton share a lot in common
  4. 4.

    The author’s attitude towards the coming space weapon development is _______

    1. A.
      optimistic
    2. B.
      critical
    3. C.
      excited
    4. D.
      indifferent

No doubt her husband could have told her, but he didn't ________．


  1. A.
    choose
  2. B.
    choose to
  3. C.
    choose from
  4. D.
    choose to do

A cancer-stricken British teenage girl said Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do before dying.
Alice Pyne, l5, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. “ I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now l know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one,” she wrote.
For her list, the teenager took inspiration from the 2007 film “The Bucket List”, in which two terminally ill (患绝症的) men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, draw up a list of things they wish to do before they die.
On her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor (骨髓捐赠者), swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer.
Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter.
“Oh dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!” she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. “Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me.”
Pyne, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, revealed (透露) the management of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell register.

  1. 1.

    What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her“Bucket List”?

    1. A.
      The media called on people to help her.
    2. B.
      People sent gifts to her from all over the world.
    3. C.
      A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her.
    4. D.
      People around the world sent messages to support her.
  2. 2.

    Alice Pyne wrote her “Bucket List” to     .

    1. A.
      express her last few wishes
    2. B.
      say goodbye to a few friends
    3. C.
      give comfort to two terminally ill men
    4. D.
      catch people's attention
  3. 3.

    It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne       .

    1. A.
      is unaware of her own conditions
    2. B.
      is calm to know that death is approaching
    3. C.
      is very sad to know that she will die
    4. D.
      is still quite confident in fighting against cancer
  4. 4.

    Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne's “Bucket List”?

    1. A.
      To meet a boy.
    2. B.
      To get a cool computer.
    3. C.
      To swim with sharks.
    4. D.
      To ask people to donate bone marrow.
  5. 5.

    Take That will arrange to       .

    1. A.
      invite Pyne to join the band
    2. B.
      help Pyne in any possible way
    3. C.
      donate money to Pyne
    4. D.
      meet Pyne in person

When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and pestered (纠缠) his relatives, but they had problems of their own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed, then depressed, then a little hardened. Still he went on trying and still he failed. He began to think that he had no future at all.
“Why don't you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him. “The world is a money-locker. You'd better find a way of opening it.”
“But what can I do?”
“Get out and have a look round.” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way. “See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it.”
Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit. A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good: in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other snag(障碍). But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no competition.
Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles. Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last, Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.

  1. 1.

    Which of the following best describes Boris' job hunting experience?

    1. A.
      Surprising.
    2. B.
      Encouraging.
    3. C.
      Boring.
    4. D.
      Disappointing.
  2. 2.

    Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

    1. A.
      Goodwill is the key to success
    2. B.
      The world is a money-locker
    3. C.
      No education, no future
    4. D.
      Difficulty of starting a small business
  3. 3.

    Boris started his career by       .

    1. A.
      repairing cycles
    2. B.
      developing a waste ground
    3. C.
      cycling around the town
    4. D.
      buying empty shops
  4. 4.

    Boris finally chose an empty shop on a new estate because       .

    1. A.
      it was not so expensive
    2. B.
      he had a lot of old customers there
    3. C.
      there were good opportunities there
    4. D.
      he could make good use of his skills there
  5. 5.

    We can infer from the last paragraph that Boris     .

    1. A.
      still couldn't make good profits
    2. B.
      found a lot of gold coins by accident
    3. C.
      set off in a successful career
    4. D.
      had great difficulty running his business

In Greek mythology（神话）, the gods punished Sisyphus by forcing him to roll a rock up a steep hill for eternity（来世）. But he was probably better off than if they’d forced him to sit and stare into space until the end of time, conclude the authors of a new study on keeping busy. They found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit around.
“The general phenomenon I’m interested in is why people are too busy doing what they are doing in modern society,” says Christopher K. Hsee, of the University of Chicago. “People are running around, working hard, the way beyond the basic level.” Sure, there are reasons, like making a living, earning money, and so on. But, Hsee says, “I think there’s something deeper: We have extra energy and we want to avoid idleness.”
In a study 98 students were asked to complete two surveys. After they had completed the first they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or at a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever option they chose, they received a chocolate bar. Not everyone chose to go to the faraway location. Two-thirds chose the lazy option. Yet those who chose to stay busy by going to the faraway location were found to be happier than those who had stayed put.
But if the chocolate bars offered at the  two locations were different, they were more likely to choose the far location—because they could make up a good and acceptable reason for the trip, Hsee and his colleagues say.
Hsee thinks it may be possible to use this principle—people like being busy, and they like being able to show being busy right or reasonable—to benefit society. “If we can find a way for idle people to engage in activity that is at least not harmful, I think it is better than destructive business,” he says. Hsee himself has been known to  give a research assistant a useless task when he doesn’t have anything to do, so he isn’t sitting around the office getting bored and depressed.

  1. 1.

    The author starts the passage with the Greek mythology story to ________.

    1. A.
      make it easier to understand the passage
    2. B.
      draw readers’ attention to Greek culture
    3. C.
      show Greek people enjoyed being busy
    4. D.
      bring about the subject of the passage
  2. 2.

    According to Hsee, people are busy in modern society because they want to _________.

    1. A.
      make others think they are not lazy
    2. B.
      keep their energy at the basic level
    3. C.
      earn more money to support their family
    4. D.
      avoid the state of having nothing to do
  3. 3.

    The underlined phrase “stayed put” in Paragraph 3 probably means __________.

    1. A.
      remained there
    2. B.
      kept occupied
    3. C.
      got around
    4. D.
      stayed awake
  4. 4.

    How does Hsee’s assistant probably feel while performing a task?

    1. A.
      Blue.
    2. B.
      Empty.
    3. C.
      Contented.
    4. D.
      Trapped.

Steve Jobs made technology fun.The co-founder of Apple died last Wednesday at the age of fifty-six He had fought for years against cancer.Mourners gathered outside his house in Palo Alto, California, and Apple stores around the world.
Tim Bajarin, president of a high-tech research and consulting company, said "If you actually look at a tech leader, they're really happy if they have one hit in their life.Steve Jobs has the Apple II, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Pixar."
Steve Jobs was a college dropout.He was adopted by a machinist and his wife, an accountant.They supported his early interest in electronics.
He and his friend Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer—now just called Apple—in nineteen seventy-six.They stayed at the company until nineteen eighty-five.That year, Steve Wozniak returned to college and Steve Jobs left in a dispute（分歧）with the chief executive.
Mr.Jobs then formed his own company, called NeXT Computer.He rejoined Apple in nineteen ninety-seven after it bought NeXT.He helped remake Apple from a business that was in bad shape then to one of the most valuable companies in the world today.
Steve Wozniak, speaking on CNN, remembered his longtime friend as a "great visionary and leader'' and a "marketing genius（天才）".
President Obama said in a statement: "By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity.By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun."
David Carroll is a professor at Parsons School of Design in New York City.He says Steve Jobs not only revolutionized technology, he also revolutionized American business.
"The fact that he was able to redesign American commerce top to bottom and across is really stunning （令人惊奇的）.He probably will be considered an industrial giant on the scale of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, so one of the great[s] of all time." David Carroll said.
Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple's chief executive in August because of his health.He died a day after the company released a new iPhone version that met with limited excitement.Apple's new chief, Tim Cook, will also have to deal with the new Kindle Fire tablet computer from Amazon.com.It costs less than half as much as an iPad but also does less.

  1. 1.

    Why did people all over the world mourn Steve Jobs?

    1. A.
      He was very courageous in the face of cancer.
    2. B.
      He became very rich though dropping out college.
    3. C.
      He released a new iPhone version before death.
    4. D.
      He revolutionized technology and made it enjoyable.
  2. 2.

    Which of the following can easily prove that Jobs is a "marketing genius"?

    1. A.
      After Apple, he founded NeXT Computer.
    2. B.
      He made Apple very valuable once again in the world.
    3. C.
      He developed a series of Apple products.
    4. D.
      He was considered the greatest industrial figure of all time.
  3. 3.

    What does the underlined part in Paragraph 7 mean?

    1. A.
      Jobs was a typical example of American spirit of creation.
    2. B.
      Jobs enriched the American spirit of science and freedom.
    3. C.
      Jobs eventually realized his American dream.
    4. D.
      American people are good at inventing things.
  4. 4.

    Which of the following is true according to the text?

    1. A.
      Jobs's parents discouraged him from working on electronics
    2. B.
      Jobs stayed in Apple as chief executive for about 24 years.
    3. C.
      Jobs started his career in his family garage.
    4. D.
      Run unsuccessfully, Apple was sold to NeXT Computer.

If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles（蜡烛）. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past twenty years, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes(孔子学院) in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学). Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing(比赛)to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the west, even if his birthday is

  1. 1.

    The opening paragraph is mainly intended to______

    1. A.
      provide some key facts about Confucius
    2. B.
      attract the readers’ interest in the topic
    3. C.
      show great respect for the ancient thinker
    4. D.
      prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations
  2. 2.

    We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students______

    1. A.
      have a great interest in studying Chinese
    2. B.
      take an active part in Chinese competitions
    3. C.
      try to get high scores in Chinese exams
    4. D.
      fight for a chance to learn Chinese
  3. 3.

    What is the best title for the passage?

    1. A.
      Forgotten Wisdom in America
    2. B.
      Huge Fans of the Chinese Language
    3. C.
      Old Thinker with a Big Future
    4. D.
      Chinese Culture for Westerners
  4. 4.

    The passage is likely to appear in a _______

    1. A.
      leaflet
    2. B.
      history paper
    3. C.
      newspaper
    4. D.
      philosophy textbook

Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter(传话器) passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers （计步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

  1. 1.

    According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.

    1. A.
      keep a record of the steps of the wearer
    2. B.
      deal with overweight among teenagers
    3. C.
      enable children to resist the temptation of TV
    4. D.
      prevent children from being tricked by TV programs
  2. 2.

    Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

    1. A.
      They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.
    2. B.
      They determine a child’s daily pocket money.
    3. C.
      They have raised the hot issue of overweight.
    4. D.
      They contain information of the receiver.
  3. 3.

    What is stressed（强调）by health experts in their suggestion?

    1. A.
      The exact number of steps to be taken.
    2. B.
      The precise number of hours spent on TV.
    3. C.
      The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.
    4. D.
      The way of changing steps into TV watching time.
  4. 4.

    Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.

    1. A.
      makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat
    2. B.
      counts the wearer’s steps through shaking
    3. C.
      records the sudden movement of the wearer
    4. D.
      sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver
  5. 5.

    Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

    1. A.
      Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time
    2. B.
      Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise
    3. C.
      Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise
    4. D.
      Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

When I first got an e-mail account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisements and other correspondence that do not interest me at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need specific laws that make spamming(发送垃圾邮件) a crime.
If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to send hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual(个人的) e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?
This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam e-mails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passes on to the consumer.
For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate (立法) against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.

  1. 1.

    According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?    

    1. A.
      Companies rely on e-mail for communications.
    2. B.
      More people in the world communicate by e-mail.
    3. C.
      More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam.
    4. D.
      Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail.
  2. 2.

    According to Paragraph 3, who is the final victim of spam?             

    1. A.
      The business
    2. B.
      The advertiser
    3. C.
      The consumer
    4. D.
      The employee
  3. 3.

    What is the purpose of the text?

    1. A.
      To inform
    2. B.
      To educate
    3. C.
      To instruct
    4. D.
      To persuade
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