Riding a London subway, a person from China will notice one major difference; in London, people do not look at each other. In fact, eye contact is avoided at all time. That's not rudeness— people are just too busy to bother looking.

Busy doing what, you ask? Well, they're certainly not using the time for a moment of quiet reflection（沉思）.Nor are they reading a book. New techology has replaced quiet habits. Today the only acceptable form of book on the London Underground is an e-book.

Apple must earn a fortune from London commuters（乘车上下班的人）. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, over 40,000-yes, that's 40,000-"apps"(programs downloaded for the iPhone)have been designed.

Commuters love them because they are the perfect time-filler. One "app"，called iShoot, is a game that features tanks. Another one, Tube Exits, tells passengers where to sit on the train to be closest to the exit of their destination（目的地）. ISteam clouds the iPhone screen when you breathe into the microphone. You can then write in the "steam" on your phone screen.

For those without an iPhone, another Apple product, the iPod, may be the distraction（消遣）of choice. It's not just teenagers who "plug in" to their music-iPods are a popular way to pass the time for all ages.

And if games, e-books and music aren't enough to keep you occupied. Then perhaps you would prefer a film? The development of palm（掌上）DVD technology means many commuters watch their favorite TV show or film on the way to work. With all this distraction, it's amazing that people still remember to get off the train.

People in London do not make eye contact on the subway because they are busy     .

   A．going to work          

B．reading books    

   C．thinking private thoughts 

   D．playing games, reading e-books, listening to music or watching films

In Paragraph 4, the underlined word “them” refers to “        ”.

       A．habits       B． “apps”    C．iPhones    D．films

Those who like war games can download      to their iPhones.

   A．iShoot           B．Tube Exits     C．iSteam     D．iPod

The underlined word "occupied" in the last paragraph probably means     .

   A．delighted       B．busy            C．amused        D．controlled

The article tells us that      .

   A．London commuters are unfriendly to strangers

   B．Apple has earned a lot of money from selling 40,000 apps

   C．technology is changing the way London commuters spend their traveling time

   D．with all the new time-fillers, London commuters often forget to get off the train.

PART THREE: READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

A

“San Francisco, open your Golden Gate, ”sang the girl in the theatre. She never finished her song. The date was 18th, 1906.

The earth shook and the roof suddenly divided, buildings crashed to the ground and people rushed out into the streets. The dreadful earthquake destroyed the city that had grown up when men discovered gold in the deserts of California. But today the streets of San-Francisco stretch over more than 40 steep hills, rising like huge cliffs above the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The best way to see this splendid city, where Spanish were the first to make their homes, is to take one of the old cable cars which run along the nine main avenues. Fares are cheap; they have not risen for almost a hundred years.

You leave the palm trees in Union Square------the heart of San-Francisco and from the shop signs and the faces around you, you will notice that in the city live people from many nations—Austrians, Italians, Chinese, and others, giving every part of the city a special character. More Chinese live in China Town than in any other part of the world outside China. Here, with Chinese restaurants, Chinese post-boxes, and even odd telephone-boxes that look like pagoda(宝塔), it is easy to feel you are in China itself.

Fisherman’s Wharf, a place all foreigners want to see, is the end of the ride. You get out, and then set out to find a table in one of gay little restaurants beside the harbor. As you enjoy the fresh Pacific sea food, you can admire the bright red paint of the Golden Gate Bridge in the harbor and watch the traffic crossing beneath the tall towers on its way to the pretty village of Tiberon. When you finish your meal, you may decide to take a boat-trip around the bay to look at the sights. You can stare at the famous , now empty, prison of Alcatraz. Then why not go to the fishing village of Sansalito—a little like London’s Chelsea or New York’s Greenwich Village—to see people painting and to look at their pictures. You will be able to enjoy a view of the city from the sea and take pleasure in the soft red and blue Spanish-type houses shining in the bright Pacific light. If you have time you might like to go by bus to Carmel, a hundred miles south of San-Francisco, where you will discover a wild and wonderful coast with high cliffs.

1. The first two paragraphs tell the readers that________.

A. everybody will be attracted by the beauty of San-Francisco.

B. this fantastic modern travel city was built by many hard-working people.

C. San-Francisco has experienced so much before it became a modern international city.

D. There are so many entertainments in attractive San-Francisco

2. How many means of transportation are suggested in the passage?

A. One          B. Two           C. Three         D. Four

3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The origin city of San-Francisco is created by Spanish people.

B. More Chinese live in San-Francisco than in any other part of the world outside China.

C. Alcatraz used to be a prison but now is deserted.

D. San-Francisco lies near the blue waters of the Pacific.

4.Which is the right order of the travel route given in the passage?

A. Union Square—Fisherman’s Wharf—the Golden Gate Bridge—Tiberon—prison of Alcatraz—Sanalito.

B. Union Square—the Golden Gate Bridge—Tiberon--prison of Alcatraz—Sanalito--Fisherman’s Wharf.

C. Union Square—Fisherman’s Wharf—the Golden Gate Bridge—Tiberon--Chelsea—Greenwich Village.

D.Union Square—the Golden Gate Bridge—Tiberon—Chelsea—Greenwich Village—Fisherman’s Wharf.

5.Which of the following can be the best title?

A. San-Francisco—a prosperous city after the earthquake.

B. San-Francisco—a charming travel city of America.

  C. San-Francisco—a city to open her Golden Gate.

D. San-Francisco—a harbor stretching over steep hills.

“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”

This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.

We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.

But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?

Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?

Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.

One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.

The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy（时髦的）, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”

Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!

Don’t be available all the time, turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.

Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.

1.The passage is mainly about         .

         A．problem with technology  

B．improvements of our life with technology

         C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life

         D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology

2.The writer quoted（引用） what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to         .

         A．share a truth about life     

B．tell us what life was like long time ago

         C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen

         D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same

3.Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because        .

         A．they liked to live simple lives

         B．they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions

         C．they were troubled by modern inventions

         D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them

4.What do you think the underlined word “available” in the 1^st suggestion offered by the writer mean?

         A．Busy on line  B．Free.     C．Be able to  D．Be found by others.

For years, business people in Western Europe were worried. They knew they could not compete against business from the U.S. The United States is much larger and had many more resources than any Western European countries

Some European people realized that the European nations need to join together to help each other. If they could forget their language differences and the differences in customs, they might become strong competition against other countries.

In 1958, six of the European countries --- Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Italy got together and decided to cooperate. They called their group the European Economic Community, or the Common Market. These countries agreed to join their resources together.

Within a few years, the European Economic Community had worked so well that its members were more prosperous than many other European nations. Soon, other nations began to realize the advantage of the Common Market. Today the Common Market includes most of the important countries in Western Europe. It is helping Western Europe to again take its place as a leader among the industrial nations of the world.

From the passage we know the U.S. is much richer than ________ in resources.

A. any other Western European countries   B. any other country in Western Europe

C. any country in Western Europe         D. every country in Europe

The members of the European Economic Community have developed fast because they ___.

A. share their resources and become more prosperous

B. can again take the place as a leader in the world

C. forget the differences in their languages and customs

D. have become strong competition against the U.S.

Which statement is true?

A. The Common Market is only a political association.

B. The Common Market is an economic and political association

C. The Common Market is only an economic association

D. The Common Market is neither an economic association nor a political one.

In order to ______ the Western European countries decided to cooperate.

A. join together to found a united country

B. help each other to smooth away the differences in customs

C. work and act together for common purpose

D. work together and fight against the U.S.

Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own. 1 the turn of the century when jazz was born, America had no prominent 2 ofits own.No one knows exactly when jazz was 3 ,or by whom.But it began to be 4 in the early 1900s.Jazz is America?s contribution to 5 music.In contrast to classical music, which 6 formal European traditions, jazz is spontaneous and free?form.It bubbles with energy, 7 the moods, interests, and emotions of the people.In the 1920s jazz 8 like America, and 9 it does today.The 10 of this music are as interesting as the music 11 .American Negroes, or blacks, as they are called today, were the jazz 12 .They were brought to Southern States 13 slaves.They were sold to plantation owners and forced to work long 14 .When a Negro died his friend and relatives 15 a procession to carry the body to the cemetery.In New Orleans, a band often accompanied the 16 .On the way to the cemetery the band played slow, solemn music suited to the occasion. 17 on the way home the mood changed.Spirits lifted.Death had removed one of their 18 ,but the living were glad to bealive.The band played 19 music, improvising(即兴表演) on both the harmony andthe melody of the tunes 20 at the funeral.This music made everyone want to dance.It was an early form of jazz.

1.A.By B.At C.In D.On

2.A.music B.song C.melody D.style

3.A.discovered B.acted C.invented D.designed

4.A.noticed B.found C.listened D.heard

5.A.classical B.sacred C.popular D.light

6.A.forms B.follows C.approaches D.introduces

7.A.expressing B.explaining C.exposing D.illustrating

8.A.appeared B.felt C.seemed D.sounded

9.A.as B.so C.either D.neither

10.A.origins B.originals C.discoveries D.resources

11.A.concerned B.itself C.available D.oneself

12.A.players B.followers C.fans D.pioneers

13.A.for B.as C.with D.by

14.A.months B.weeks C.hours D.times

15.A.demonstrated B.composed C.hosted D.formed

16.A.demonstration B.procession C.body D.march

17.A.Even B.Therefore C.Furthermore D.But

18.A.number B.members C.body D.relations

19.A.sad B.solemn C.happy D.funeral

20.A.whistled B.sung C.presented D.showed