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: $ 15 for four weeks of online and mobile application access, $ 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.The author’s main purpose in the text is to _______.

A. describe research findings                   B. report a piece of news

C. make advertisements                        D. suggest a solution

2.Why will the Times charge their online readers?

A. It wants to stay relevant in the social media world.

B. It has too many readers coming from the other sites.

C. It is seeking new financial sources for its development.

D. It is trying a way to offer better service to its readers.

3. Who will be limited to the New York Times articles?

A. Those subscribing to the printed newspapers

B. Readers clicking through from Facebook.

C. Those using Google research engine

D. Readers paying $ 35 a month.

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

A. It may bring the Times more competition with the other media

B. It may stop the Times connecting to the global network

C. It may block the readers from the other websites

D. It may result in huge drops in papers' online readership

On numerous drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle (甲虫) from certain tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.

    Though Mother’s Day follows Earth Day, for me, they have always been related. My mom has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift (节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, Mom saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and re-uses her plastic bags.

    Mom creates a kind of give-and-take relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to fend off the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders out at night, it’s likely they’ll be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house are captured (捕获) in a juice glass and set loose in the garden.

    I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for spent (开败的) dandelions (蒲公英) to parachute; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mom didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came compassion and an instinct (本能) for preservation.

    I am slowing down and it isn’t because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and re-use packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other through the palm (棕榈树) leaves above my porch (门廊).

    Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness I immediately wanted to share with my mom.

Why does the author say Earth Day is connected with Mother’s Day?

A. Because Mother’s Day falls shortly after Earth Day.

B. To stress that all the older women in her family are environmentalists.

C. To stress how much her mother cares about the environment.

D. Because on Mother’s Day her mother shows her how to be friend to nature.

According to the fourth paragraph, which of the following is the author’s mother NOT likely to do?

A. When she came across a lost dog, she helped it to find its shelter.

B. In spring, she spent some time watching the plants growing in the garden.

    C. She joined in the campaign to encourage the public to contribute actively towards a better environment.

    D. She walked to a nearby shop which was within ten minutes’ walk rather than drove there.

What can we conclude from the article?

A. The author’s mother is very patient with her children.

B. The author’s mother knows how to live in harmony with nature.

C. The author’s mother always took care of the wildlife that came into her yard.

D. The author’s mother used to remind her to slow down to protect the environment.

We can infer from the article that ______.

A. the author thinks that too many people now label themselves environmentalists   

B. the author’s mother knows how to get rid of the wildlife in her yard   

C. the author believes that only by learning to slow down, can we enjoy life

D. the author realizes that she should teach her children by example as well

What is the main idea of the last three paragraphs?

A. How the author taught her children to protect the environment.

B. How the author’s mother influenced the author.

C. What inspired the author to slow down and enjoy life.

D. How the author spent her time with her children.

This is the age of being busy. Many of us live in busy places and have busy lives. Even the roads are busy as we try to get from here to there. Adults are busy going to jobs and taking care of their families. Kids are busy, too, going to school and doing a lot of homework after school and on weekends.
Busy isn’t bad, necessarily. If you are not busy enough you might be bored. But if you are too busy, you might break down. For example, if you have a soccer game that runs late on a school night and you haven’t eaten dinner or done your homework, that’s a not-so-fun kind of busy. We wanted to know what kids thought, so we did a kidsPoll about being busy with 882girls and boys aged 9 to 13.
Almost all of them said they felt stressed because they were too busy. About half said they felt this way once in a while or some of the time. But 17% said they felt this way most of the time and 24% said they felt this all the time! Oh dear, that’s no fun.
Only 4% of kids said they wanted less free time and 18% said they already had just the right amount. But, no big surprise, 61% of kids wish they had a lot more free time. If they had more time, most would spend it hanging out or playing with friends.
Often, adults plan large parts of a kid ’s day, especially during the school year. kids can’t tell their parents they’ll be skipping school(逃学) today to get more free time! But they can tell their parents they’d like to play a game or read a book during their free time instead of watching TV.
【小题1】The purpose of the first paragraph is to _____.

根据对话情景的内容，从对话后所给的选项中选出能够填入每一空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。该选项中有两个为多余选项。

M: How are your new neighbors, Nancy?

W: They seem nice enough, but they have a son who’s driving me crazy．

M: ___6___

W: He comes home every night around 10 with his car window rolled down and radio turned up really loud．___7___ But by then Brian and Lisa are wide awake．

M: Oh, no．

W: Oh, yes．Sometimes it takes us until midnight just to get them to settle down again．

M: ___8___

W: We haven’t even really met them yet except to say a quick hello．

M: You are not going to like them when you do meet them, I dare say．

W: I know, but I feel stupid complaining．___9___ I’m just not getting enough sleep and neither are the children．

M: ___10___

W: Yeah．

M: Then you could mention that the hardest thing at present is getting your children to sleep at night．

       A．Have you tried talking to them?

       B．What do you mean?

       C．Actually, they didn’t say anything．

       D．Maybe you could ask about their son and they’ll be sure to ask about yours．

       E．Well, you know how early I have to get up to be here at the office．

       F．Don’t get your hopes too high!

       G．It stops as soon as he turns the car off．

When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall of 2009, they’ll be joined by a new face; Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who’ll become Oxford’s vice-chancellor—a position equivalent to university president in America.

　　Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc, have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Higher education has become a big and competitive business nowadays, and like so many businesses, it’s gone global. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel tend to head in only one direction: outward from America.

　　The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board ultimately picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist (活动家) who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a distinctively American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.

　　Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student number. The decline in government support has made funding-raising an increasing necessary ability among administrators and has hiring committees hungry for Americans.

　　In the past few years, prominent schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen “a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position.”

　　Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind of promote international programs and attract a global student body. Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective on established practices.

1.What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the passage?

A.Institutions worldwide are hiring administrators from the U.S.

B.A lot of political activists are being recruited as administrators.

C.American universities are enrolling more international students.

D.University presidents are paying more attention to funding-raising.

2.What is the chief consideration of American universities when hiring top-level administrators?

A.The political correctness.

B.Their ability to raise funds.

C.Their fame in academic circles.

D.Their administrative experience.

3.What do we learn about European universities from the passage?

A.The tuitions they charge have been rising considerably.

B.Their operation is under strict government supervision.

C.They are strengthening their position by globalization.

D.Most of their revenues come from the government.

4.Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because _____.

A.she was known to be good at raising money

B.she could help strengthen its ties with Yale

C.she knew how to attract students overseas

D.she had boosted Yale’s academic status

5.In what way do top-level administrators from abroad contribute to university development?

A.They can enhance the university’s image.

B.They will bring with them more international faculty.

C.They will view a lot of things from a new perspective.

D.They can set up new academic disciplines.