I would like to talk to you about one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I was born and raised there and now I visit it from time to time. My family moved to the city, so I only go back to see friends or to camp and fish.
I grew up in a small town called Antonito Co. It is surrounded by mountains. So camping is a big source of happiness in the valley. There are so many beautiful places to hike.
The town itself is very small. It is said that if you blink when you’re going through it, you’ll miss it. This has some truth in it considering the size of the town. We have one grocery store, a tiny post office, and a tiny bank. There are also a few gas stations, bars, some excellent restaurants, a small hospital and of course several schools. However, for clothing and shoes, you have to drive thirty miles to Alamosa to shop there.
Everyone in the town is nice and we all know each other. The crime rate is zero unless you count some weekend fights that break out because some people drink too much. The classes in school are small, so you get a lot of attention from the teacher.
You’re probably wondering why I don’t live there. Well, I can’t get a job there. A lot of the businesses are family-owned. And they never fire their employees. So the employees work there usually until they retire. Most people have to go to other places to get a job .
【小题1】What is this passage mainly about?

If you have to miss one meal a day, which meal will cause you fewest health problems if you don’t eat it? If they have to make a decision of this type, most people (especially very busy people) will choose to skip (not to eat) breakfast.
However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast (the meal which “breaks” your “fast---- a period of time without eating anything ” which started the night before) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients we need to begin our working day with vigor and hopefully with good humour. But many people skip breakfast or replace it with snacks or a cup of coffee for a well-balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance of breakfast?
One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants included both males and females who ranged in age from 12—83. During the experiment, these people were given a variety of breakfasts, and sometimes, they had to skip breakfast completely. Special tests, including blood tests and endurance tests, were set up to analyze how well the participants’ bodies functioned when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast.
The result showed that if a person eats an adequate (充足的) breakfast, he or she will work more efficiently and more productively than if he or she skips breakfasts or eats a very poor breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental activity. The study showed that if schoolchildren eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will learn more quickly and will be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than if their breakfast diet is inadequate .
The study also showed that, contrary to what many people believe, if you skip breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you are on a diet, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.
【小题1】According to the passage, we can safely say _____.

In the computer age, most of us take a broadband Internet connection for granted. Whether cable or mobile broadband, today’s connections are many times faster than those in the early days. Videos play smoothly, complex websites load quickly, and files download much faster than ten years ago. And the files are much bigger too.
There’s a catch, of course. You have to live near enough to a major city to get broadband Internet. If you don’t, it’s slow dial-up access for you. And for those living really far out, there may be no Internet access at all.
Technology experts often talk about the “last mile” problem, which refers to the difficulty of bringing Internet access to remote locations. In cities and suburbs, it’s relatively easy to provide access for everyone. It is much more difficult to deliver access to those living far from cities, especially in developing countries. Internet service providers, for their part, have been reluctant to provide access to sparsely(稀疏地) populated areas. The handful of Internet users they would reach wouldn’t cover the expense.
But every year, technological advancements allow of more and more Internet users. Most broadband connections today run over existing cable TV and telephone lines although these technologies aren’t available everywhere. Some companies have delivered the Internet over standard power lines. Advancements in cheaper, more efficient fiber optics cables(光纤电缆) promise to bring extremely fast Internet connections to more users.
Still, the “last mile” problem remains hard to deal with. There will always be somewhere that doesn’t have an affordable broadband connection. But someday that might not matter. If the rapid progress in cell phone technology is any indication(迹象), it may not be too long before an Internet connection simply follows you wherever you go.
【小题1】The underlined part “ a catch” (in Paragraph 2) probably means “________”.

When foreigners come to Chengdu, a good alternative is to get around by taking the bus. Once getting used to going by bus, you will discover that it is actually not that bad.
Although a ride usually covers two or twenty stops, a bus ride costs RMB 2 in Chengdu. It is important to carry enough small money with you, because it is not usual to get back changes. Even though it is cheap, you can pay less and save some trouble if you get a RMB 25 bus card at your local pharmacy, Hongqi Chain Store or bus station terminal office—note that personal identification is needed. Explain to the worker that you want to purchase a bus card.
With this card, one bus drive costs only RMB 1 if you use a card based on frequency of your ride. If your card is based on the so called E-purse, you pay each time RMB 1.80 for the bus. If you require the use of subway, you can ask the cashier at the Hongqi Chain Store to activate the metro. After having your bus card, you can store money on your travel card. The fees for bus and metro have to be stored separately.
It is important to keep in mind that the money on the card does not overlap. For example, you charge 40 bus rides on the card, but you only used 20 during the month, the rest 20 will be invalid at the beginning of the next month and you have to recharge the card. Therefore, it is important to calculate the exact numbers of bus rides you will have to take.
After you have your own bus card, one swipe is only needed when you get on the bus at the front door. If you only manage to get on the bus at the back door, just ask the passengers to pass your card to the front and swipe it for you. With the bus card, you can transfer buses for fee if the travel time is within two hours.
Furthermore, it is to stress that you should keep an eye on your belongings while being on the bus. Generally, Chengdu is a safe place but most of the thefts are occurring on buses, at train stations or crowded large area, like the shopping street Chunxi Road.
Due to the fact that the place names are announced in Chinese, it is better to know the Chinese name of your destination. Even though there are announcements in English, they will sound like the following: “The next stop is Jinjiang Binguan (Jinjiang Hotel)”
【小题1】Which of the following statements is true when taking the bus in Chengdu?

Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood. When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the tree and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and that way have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home, I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch（门廊）, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth . The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened? I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time and, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred: “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.
【小题1】The boy caught a mockingbird because___________.