In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players.

    When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball. This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters^① will be filled by non-Americans. NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend. On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010.

    The NBA is now planning to take China by storm.

    “Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,” said Stern. The strategy^② in China is television. “We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite.” The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China. The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. The NBA knows that it needs a global market to compensate for tough times on home soil.

“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout^③ internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations. “It has increased the level of competition here.” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers. Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming — number one draft pick in 2002 — and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic — number two overall in this year’s draft — are icons^④in-waiting. It is the ultimate^⑤ revolution — the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball.

Notes:

roster  n. 花名册

strategy  n. 战略，策略

scout  vt. 寻找，觅得

icon  n. 偶像

ultimate  adj. 最后的，根本的

Choose the best answers according to the above:

According to the report,       ___.

A. Michael Jordan is still playing a very important role in NBA

B. the part played by the foreign players in NBA will be great

C. Yao Ming is to play two pre-season games in NBA

D. European countries will host the 2004 NBA games

The underlined phrase “take China by storm” has the meaning of       ___.

A. NBA intends to make China its “marketing center”

B. NBA is planning to set up some training centers in China

C. there’ll be a big storm when NBA comes to China to play against the Sacramento Kings

D. the NBA’s live basket games will be broadcasted on all the TVs in China

. What seems to be the biggest change that is happening to NBA?

A. NBA is expecting more foreign players to join the league.

B. China’s rapid development in sports affects NBA.

C. Yao Ming has taken the place of Michael Jordan.

D. The NBA will stop teaching the world how to play basketball.

When the writer talked of “home soil”, he was referring to        __.

A. farms in the States             B. native Americans 

C. the NBA training center         D. the USA

Which of the following can be used as the best title for the passage?

A. The Non-American Basketball Players    B. NBA Is Coming to China

C. The Foreign Ties That Bind the NBA      D. NBA Is Making Big Progress

    In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province, will begin test-launching (试发射) a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube.

    The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit. Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes.

    There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada. 30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace (航空航天的) experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations.

    The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program. It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba. Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space.

    “These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation (创新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson. “We want to make science more relevant (相关的), interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added.

    The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students. It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce—all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth.

56. According to the passage, the Win-Cube satellite is _________.

   A. named after Manitoba and its shape               

  B. intended for international communication

   C. designed like a Rubik’s cube both in shape and size

   D. challenged by university students around the world

57. According to Mr. Bjomson, ___________.

   A. those Manitoba high school students are worth praising

   B. the study of space can be practically made in classrooms

   C. Manitoba high schools are famous for the study of space

   D. scientific research is too far away from high school students

58. The primary purpose of the project is to _________.

   A. find the early signs of earthquakes             B. relate studies to practical

   C. help high school students study real-world engineering

   D. inspire a strong desire for discovery among the students

59. The best title for this passage may be ________.

   A. Manitoba School        B. Win-Cube Program         C. Space Co-operation

   D. Satellite Launching

       In Britain today, is it possible to tell a person’s class just by looking at him? Physical details alone tell us about health, diet and the type of work a person does. A hundred years ago the working class often looked unhealthy, small and they were either too thin or too fat. The upper classes were often tall, sporting types who were used to a good diet and looked healthy. Today living and working conditions have improved, and such descriptions are no longer true. People are taller now than a hundred years ago. Everyone in Britain today is able to have free medicine, a good diet, acceptable working conditions and enough rest and leisure. WWW.K**S*858$$U.COM

       The clothes people choose to wear, however, do provide information about their backgrounds. Expensive clothes look expensive and show their wearer is rich. Clothes can provide other clues as well. The upper classes appear to be less interested in fashion and wear good quality clothes in non-bright colours, made of natural material like wool, leather and cotton. Lower working-class people often choose clothes in bright colours, made of man-made materials. A sociological explanation for this would be that colour and interest are missing from their lives, and therefore any opportunity to produce this is taken.

       Clothes are available at a price within most people’s reach. New clothes make the wearer feel good and show some degree of wealth to the outside world. Today it is the younger people who spend most money on clothes. Fashion is no longer for the upper classes and the rich. Young people from all social classes spend a lot of money on clothes. Some new fashions are started by working-class people who want to look different and feel important. They want people WWW.K**S*858$$U.COMto look at them.

In the past, a person’s appearance could not tell other people about his ________.

      A. health              B. diet                C. occupation (职业)    D. habits

The clothes people choose to wear tell us about their ________.

      A. education             B. richness              C. backgrounds             D. hobby

A working-class person may start a new fashion because ________.

      A. she wants to draw the attention of other people

       B. she wants to look different and healthy

       C. she wants to show their wealth

       D. she wants to show their taste

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

      A. Expensive clothes look expensive and show the wearer is rich.

       B. Working-class people prefer clothes in bright colours because they lack colour in their lives.

       C. Today, it is still the upper class people who spend most money on clothes.

       D. Today, fashion is no longer for the upper classes and the rich.