Anger at the practice of demanding dowries, which can lead to violence against brides, has caused a takeoff of "Angry Birds" called "Angry Brides" that aims to highlight the illegal practice still common in many South Asian countries.
Dowries -- such as jewelry, clothes, cars and money -- are traditionally given by the bride's family to the groom and his parents to ensure she is taken care of in her new home.
The custom was outlawed more than five decades ago. But it is still widely practiced, with the groom's family demanding even more money after marriage, leading to mental and physical abuse that can drive the woman to suicide.
"The Angry Brides game is our way of throwing a spotlight on the nuisance (陋习) of dowry," said Ram Bhamidi, senior vice president and head of online marketing for Shaadi.com, a matrimonial (婚姻的) website with two million members.
"According to a 2007 study, there is a dowry-related death every four hours in India. We condemn this and have consistently run campaigns on social media to help create awareness of the issue."
The name of the app, available on the group's home page, is a spinoff from the globally popular "Angry Birds" game. Its home page shows a red-clad, eight-armed woman resembling a powerful female Hindu goddess. Underneath, there is a caption: "A woman will give you strength, care and all the love you need ... NOT dowry!"
To play the game, users have to try and hit three dodging grooms -- a pilot, builder and doctor. There is a wide array of weapons to choose from, including a stiletto shoe, a frying pan, broomstick, tomato and loafer.
Each groom has a price tag, starting at 1.5 million rupees ($29,165). Every time the player hits a groom, his value decreases and money is added to the player's Anti-Dowry Fund, which is saved posted on their Facebook page.
"Since we launched the game last week, more than 270,000 people have liked the app. Both men and women seem to be playing it," said Bhamidi.
【小题1】What caused "Angry Brides" to appear online?

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading(在...上面走) water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

    I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

    It takes confidence to make a new start — here’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.

    Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

    The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

    It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding.

1.The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A. to finish the writing course       B. to realize her own dream

C. to satisfy readers’ wish          D. to earn more money

2.How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A. Disturbed.        B. Ashamed.        C. Confident.        D. Uncertain.

3.What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A. It pays off to stick to one’s goal.

B. Hard work can lead to success.

C. She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D. There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

Mini  Book  Excerpts（节选）
Biography
When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land , the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it… The townspeople never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.
  J. D.  Salinger：A  Life by Kenneth Slawenski（Random House,$27）
Mystery（疑案小说）
“You’re a smart boy.  Benny’s death was no accident, and you’re the only who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it ? ”The boy was starting stubbornly at his lap again.
A  thought suddenly occurred to Annika ,“Did you …You recognized the man in the car , didn’t you?”
The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers ,“Maybe ,”he said quietly.
  Red Wolf by Liza Marklund（Atria Books, $25. 99）
Short Stories
She wants to say to him what she has learned , none of it in class. Some women are borm stupid,and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give ,and some women only know how to take.  Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers,some who they don’t want to be.  Some mothers suffer so their daughters won’t.  Some mothers love so their daughters won’t.
    You Are Free by Danzy Senna （Riverhead Books,$15）
Humor
Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun  Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times! ’s “amusement cycling ”is the most fun you can have , legally , in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half to that within a day’s drive lf most cities?
Happy And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle（Ecco,$14. 99）
【小题1】If the readers want to know about the life of Salinger , they should buy the book published by
                  .

Sunny countries are often poor. A shame, then, that solar power is still quite expensive. Eight19, a British company by Cambridge University, has, however, invented a novel way to get round this. In return for a deposit of around $10 it is supplying poor Kenyan families with a solar cell able to generate 2.5 watts of electricity, a battery that can deliver a three amp（安培） current to store this electricity, and a lamp whose bulb is a light-emitting diode（二极管）. The firm thinks that this system, once the battery is fully charged, is enough to light two small rooms and to power a mobile-phone charger for seven hours. Then, next day, it can be put outside and charged back up again.
The trick is that, to be able to use the electricity, the system's keeper must buy a scratch card—for as little as a dollar—on which is printed a reference number. The keeper sends this reference, plus the serial number of the household solar unit, by SMS to Eight19. The company's server will respond automatically with an access code to the unit. 
Users may consider that they are paying an hourly rate for their electricity. In fact, they are paying off the cost of the unit. After buying around $80 worth of scratch cards—which Eight19 expects would take the average family around 18 months—the user will own it. He will then have the option of continuing to use it for nothing, or of trading it in for a bigger one, perhaps driven by a 10-watt solar cell. 
In that case, he would go then through the same process again, paying off the additional cost of the upgraded kit at a slightly higher rate. Users would therefore increase their electricity supply steadily and affordably.
According to Eight19's figures, this looks like a good deal for customers. The firm believes the average energy-starved Kenyan spends around $10 a month on oil—enough to fuel a couple of smoky lamps—plus $2 on charging his mobile phone in the market-place. Regular users of one of Eight19's basic solar units will spend around half that, before owning it completely. Meanwhile, as the cost of solar technology falls, it should get even cheaper.
【小题1】The underlined word “get round” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _______ .

Mothers and daughters go through so much—yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down to write a book together about it all? Perri Klass and her mother，Sheila Solomon Klass，both gifted professional writers，prove to be ideal co?writers as they examine their decades of motherhood，daughterhood，and the wonderful ways their lives have overlapped(重叠)．

Perri notes with amazement how closely her own life has mirrored her mother’s: both have full?time careers; both have published books，articles，and stories; each has three children; they both love to read.They also love to travel—in fact，they often take trips together.But in truth，the harder they look at their lives，the more they acknowledge their big differences in circumstance and basic nature.

A child of the Depression(大萧条)，Sheila was raised in Brooklyn by parents who considered education a luxury for girls.Starting with her college education，she has fought for everything she’s ever accomplished.Perri，on the other hand，grew up privileged in the New Jersey suburbs of the 1960s and 1970s.For Sheila，wasting time or money is a crime，and luxury is unthinkable while Perri enjoys the occasional small luxury，but has not been successful at trying to persuade her mother into enjoying even the tiniest thing she likes.

Each writing in her own unmistakable voice，Perri and Sheila take turns exploring the joys and pains，the love and bitterness，the minor troubles and lasting respect that have always bonded them together.Sheila describes the adventure of giving birth to Perri in a tiny town in Trinidad where her husband was doing research fieldwork.Perri admits that she can’t sort out all the mess in the households，even though she knows it drives her mother crazy.Together they compare thoughts on bringing up children and working，admit long?hidden sorrows，and enjoy precious memories.

Looking deep into the lives they have lived separately and together，Perri and Sheila tell their mother?daughter story with honesty，humor，enthusiasm，and admiration for each other.A written account in two voices，Every Mother Is a Daughter is a duet(二重奏) that produces a deep，strong sound with the experiences that all mothers and daughters will recognize.????????????? ????????????? (2013·湖北，B)

1.Why does Perri think that her own life has mirrored her mother’s?

A．They both have gone through difficult times.

B．They have strong emotional ties with each other.

C．They have the same joys and pains，and love and bitterness.

D．They both have experiences as daughter，mother and writer.

2.The word “luxury” in Paragraph 3 means________.

A．something rare but not pleasant

B．something that cannot be imagined

C．something expensive but not necessary

D．something that can only be enjoyed by boys

3.What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The content of the book.

B．The purpose of the book.

C．The influence of the book.

D．The writing style of the book.

4.How are women’s lives explored in this book?

A．In a musical form.

B．Through field research.

C．With unique writing skills.

D．From different points of view.