One day while shopping in a small town in southern California, it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk．He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase．I bought nothing, and marched angrily out of the store．
On the outside was a dark-skinned young man in his early twenties．His expressive brown eyes met and held mine, and in the next instant a beautiful, bright smile covered his face．I gave in immediately．The power of that broad smile dissolved all bitterness within me, and I felt the muscles in my own face happily responding．
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" I remarked, passing．Then I turned back．"I really owe you a debt of thanks," I said softly．
His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stand ten feet tall．
“Yes,” my reply was enthusiastic and sincere, “tell him I said, ‘Thank you!’”
“Thank you?” The woman seemed slightly puzzled．
I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure!"
Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art diligently anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．n
【小题1】Why did the author leave the store angrily?

Coupons to spend

“How did you spend your coupons?”

On their first day back to school, many students in Hangzhou greeted each other this way.

The coupons referred to the 100 yuan coupons each student received form the city government before the Spring Festival holidays. Over 260,000 primary school and middle school students were given coupons. They could use them in local stores and supermarkets, or to see movies and buy books.

The same coupons have also been given to low income families in Hangzhou. Other cities, including Chengdu and Nanjing, also gave coupons to their citizens. More cities are expected to follow their lead.

Why are local governments doing this?

These programmes are all part of a broader effort in China to increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis.

The crisis has seriously affected China’s exports and investments (投资). Many factories in southern cities have been closed down. Some companies are laying off workers or reducing their pay. The stock market and real estate market have been falling.

In a time of financial crisis, people usually respond by saving money. They are uncertain about the future and are afraid that more difficult times may be ahead. Now many people are choosing not to spend money carelessly. Major chain stores have seen a sharp slowdown in sales, analysts say.

But spending keeps an economy healthy. If people don’t spend, there will be too many products in the market. Then shops will stop buying products from factories. When factories receive no orders, they close down. The workers there accordingly lose their jobs. Also, if people don’t spend, the service industry suffers. The total result is that the whole economy breaks down.

Issuing coupons is a practical and effective way to increase domestic demand in the current situation, said Jiang Zengwei, vice-minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce. Hangzhou reported a rise in customers in local markets during Spring Festival holiday.

However, issuing coupons is only a temporary measure. To increase consumers’ confidence, the government needs to establish a sound secure social system in the long term. When people don’t have to worry about education, health care and their pension, they will be more willing to spend instead of saving.

Why are local governments issuing coupons?

A. To increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis.

B. To enable students to use them in local stores and supermarkets, or to see movies and buy books independently.

C. To help those low income families in the global financial crisis.

D. To show the government’s ability to solve economic problems

What is NOT the influence that the global financial crisis has brought us?

A. China’s exports and investments have been seriously affected.

B. People begin to spend money without a second thought.

C. Workers are faced with losing jobs and the reduction of the salaries.

D. The active stock market and real estate market have gone. 

What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Issuing coupons is a practical and effective way to increase domestic demand in a long term.

B. The total result of saving money is that the whole economy breaks down.

C. The government may carry out new policies to encourage citizens to be willing to spend in the near future.

D. After issuing the coupons, the local markets have seen a rise in customers during Spring Festival holiday.

If the government is to print a slogan on the coupons to restore consumers’ confidence, what might be used to promote the idea?

A. Spend now, save later.

B. Spend money like there’s no tomorrow; come on!

C. Spend money like it’s going out of style; let’s do it!

D. Big spender, wise spender.

The world economy has run into a brick wall. Despite countless warnings in recent years about the need to address a potential hunger crisis in poor countries and an energy crisis worldwide, world leaders failed to think ahead. The result is a global food crisis. Wheat, corn and rice prices have more than doubled in the past two years. And oil prices have increased more than three times since the start of 2004. These food-price increases, combined with increasing energy costs, will slow if not stop economic growth in many parts of the world and will even affect political stability. Practical solutions to these problems do exist, but we'll have to start thinking ahead and acting globally.

Here are three steps to ease the current food crisis and avoid the potential for a global crisis. The first is to promote the dramatic success of Malawi, a country in southern Africa, which three years ago established a special fund to help its farmers get fertilizer and seeds with high productivity. Malawi’s harvest doubled after just one year. An international fund based on the Malawi model would cost a mere $10 per person annually in the rich world, or $10 billion altogether.

Second, the U.S. and Europe should abandon their policies of paying partly for the change of food into biofuels (生物燃料). The U.S. government gives farmers a taxpayer-financed payment of 51 cents per gallon of ethanol (乙醇) changed from corn. There may be a case for biofuels produced on lands that do not produce foods — tree crops, grasses and wood products — but there’s no case for the government to pay to put the world’s dinner into the gas tank.

Third, we urgently need to weather-proof the world’s crops as soon and as effectively as possible. For a poor farmer, sometimes something as simple as a farm pond — which collects rainwater to be used in dry weather — can make the difference between a good harvest and a bad one. The world has already committed to establishing a Climate Adaptation Fund to help poor regions climate-proof vital economic activities such as food production and health care but has not yet acted upon the promise.

1. An international fund based on the Malawi model would______.

A. cost each of the developed countries $10 billion per year

B. give poor farmers access to fertilizer and highly productive seeds

C. decrease the food prices as well as the energy prices

D. aim to double the harvest in southern African countries in a year

2.With the second step, the author expresses the idea that ______.

A. we should get alternative forms of fuel in any way

B. it is misleading to put tree crops into the gas tank

C. it is not wise to change food crops into gas

D. biofuels should be developed on a large scale

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The world has made a serious promise to build farm ponds.

B. A Climate Adaptation Fund has been established to help poor.

C. A rain-collecting pond is a simple safeguard against dry weather.

D. It makes a great difference whether we develop wood products or not.

4.In the passage, the author calls on us to______.

A. slow down but not to stop economy

B. act now so as to relieve the global food shortage

C. achieve economic growth and political stability

D. develop tree crops, grasses and wood products

An ancient Egyptian mummy thought to be that of Pharaoh Ramses I(法老一世)has returned home after more than 140 years in North American museums. The body was carried off the plane in Cairo in a box covered in Egypt’s flag.

       The Michael Carlos Museum gave it back after tests showed it was probably that of the man who ruled 3,000 years ago. The US museum acquired it three years ago from a Canadian museum, which in turn is thought to have bought it from Egyptian garve robbers in 1860. The mummy was welcomed back home with songs and military band music during a ceremony at the national museum in Cairo.

       Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities(文物最高委员会), traveled from the US with the body and said it would be moved next year to the Luxor Museum in southern Egypt. “We are not 100% sure that mummy is that of Ramses I,” said Mr. Hawass. “But we are 100% sure that it is of a king.”

       Atlanta’s Michael Carlos Museum acquired the mummy in 1999, but offered to return it after hi-tech scanning equipment indicated it was likely to be that of Ramses I. The museum website said it had been acquired from the Niagara Falls Museum. It is thought a Canadian collector bought the mummy for the Niagara Falls Museum around 1860 from an Egyptian family which had came across a tomb filled with royal mummies at a site near Luxor.

       Mr. Hawass praised the handover as “a great, civilized gesture”. And he appealed to other world museums to return Egypt’s antiquities, particularly the Rosetta Stone in the Britain Museum and the Bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum.

Where was Ramses mummy kept in just before the handover?

       A. the Luxor Museum                        

B. the Michael Carlos Museum

       C. the Niagara Falls Museum              

D. a Canadian Museum

Which is the correct order of the following events according to the passage?

       a. The mummy returned home.

       b. The mummy was kept in the Niagara Falls Museum.

       c. Egyptian grave robber sold he mummy.

       d. A Canadian collector bought the mummy.

       e. The mummy was kept in the Michael Carlos Museum.

A. c-d-e-b-a          

B. c-b-e-d-a          

C. a-d-c-b-e          

D. c-d-b-e-a

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

       A. All the Egypt’s antiquities have returned home after the handover.

       B. Niagara Falls Museum is an American museum.

       C. Buying the mummy from the Egyptian family was a civilized gesture.

       D. Ramses Mummy had been kept in Canada for more than a century.

What would be the best title for the passage?

       A. The history of Ramses mummy.

       B. The handover ceremony of Ramses mummy from Canada.

       C. The returning of Ramses mummy to its homeland Egypt.

       D. The history of the royal family of Ramses.

The Chinese word “Shanzhai” means a small mountain village, but now it becomes an accepted name for fakes (假货) after “Shenzhen Cellphones” produced by small workshops in southern China became popular in the mainland market over the past two years.

Besides “Shanzhai” has electronic products, there are “Shanzhai” movies, “Shanzhai” stars and even a “Shanzhai” Spring Festival Gala, a copy of the 25-year-old traditional show presented by CCTV on Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve.

“Shanzhai” has become a culture of its own, symbolizing anything that imitates something famous.

The phenomenon has caused a public debate over whether it is healthy or sick being a copycat.

In southwestern China’s Chongqing Municipality, a “Shanzhai” version “Bird’s Nest” woven by farmers with bamboo attracts wide attention and the “Shanzhai” version “Water Cube” is popular with tourists too. Both are copies of the famous Olympics buildings in Beijing.

Xie Xizhang, a literature critic, said that taking the “Shanzhai” Gala as an example, when the traditional CCTV program becomes less and less attractive to the audience, the “Shanzhai” version appears naturally to attract people.

“In spite of its poor techniques and operation, ‘Shanzhai’culture meets the psychological demands of common people and could be a comfort to their minds,” Xie said.

Tian Huiqun, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said that “Shanzhai” culture never copies classic things, only trendy products. In that sense, it’s like a computer virus, multiplying without meaning.

Though controversial, “Shanzhai” culture is becoming a widely accepted phenomenon.

To the mainstream culture, the rise of “Shanzhai” culture is a challenge as well as a motivation, said Xie.

Tian said different kinds of cultures developing together is an ideal situation and it is for the public to choose.

1. The Chinese Word“Shanzhai”may have its origin in _________.

A. fake cellphones          B. electronic products 

C. Spring Festival Gala     D. Olympics buildings

2. A. The underlined word “imitates” is closest in meaning to _______.

A. steals     B. copies     C. advertises    D. cheats

3. A. According to the passage, “Shanzhai” culture refers to ________.

A. The action that a person imitates famous people

B. anything that imitates something famous

C. those similar names to famous brand

D. products with poor techniques and quality

4. A. We can infer that the mainstream culture ________.

A. Will be held back by “Shanzhai” culture

B. will sooner or later be replaced by “Shanzhai”culture

C. may develop faster because of the challenging of “Shanzhai”culture

D. thinks nothing of the challenge of “Shanzhai”culture

5. Which of the following might be the best title of passage?

A.“Shanzhai”culture will definitely fade out

B.“Shanzhai”culture –the mountain village culture

C.“Shanzhai”culture – the mainstream culture

D.“Shanzhai”culture takes on life of its own