1. Why are US parents so eager to make their children learn Mandarin?

A. They are urged by the government to do so.

B. They are afraid to be left behind by other parents.

C. They believe China will play a major role in the future world.

D. They are just carried away by Mandarin’s momentum.

4. Which of the following is NOT the advantages of the new digital movie?

　　 　　　 A. The director can have the objects and people added or taken out.

　　　　　　　 B. It will be more convenient for theaters to get such kind of new movies.

　　　 C. People all agree that the new digital movies are less costly than the filmed movies.

　　　 D. The director can monitor the recording and check what was recorded just now.

(2)

As the US wakes up to China’s rising status as an economic and strategic competitor, US parents are urging their children to learn Chinese, reports Julian Borger.

The US is being swept by a rush to learn Mandarin-from wealthy New York mothers hiring Chinese nannies(保姆)for their small children to a defence department education project in Oregon.

The forces driving Mandarin’s momentum(势头)are parental ambition for children facing a future in which China is almost certain to be a major player, and the government is worried about that America may get left behind in that new world.

The bottleneck is the supply of teachers. Mandarin instructors are difficult to import and difficult to train. There are visa problems in bringing over teachers from China but the biggest barrier is cultural. Teaching in Asia is generally done by rote and the change to western, interactive styles of instruction can be a large leap.

On the other hand, it requires enormous firmness for westerners to learn a language like Chinese, with its thousands of written characters. According to the Asia Society in New York, all of America’s teacher-training institutions turn out only a couple of dozen homegrown Mandarin teachers.

One way to ease the shortage is to find native Mandarin speakers and use fast-track methods to train them. However, the majority of Chinese-Americans grew up speaking Cantonese, the dialect spoken in Hong Kong, where their parents came from. Many are themselves signing on as Mandarin students at the private language schools springing up on the west coast.

3. According to the passage, which is true about the new movie Star Wars?

　　　　　　　 A. There are about 6,000 copies of the new digital movie.　

　　　　　　　 B. It has been shown in only 94 theaters around the world.

　　 　　　 C. It is the best among filmed movies.

　　　　　　　 D. It is the product of the new digital technology.

2. Which is NOT true for the real future of the motion picture industry, according to movie experts?

　　　 A. Linking computers for copies of new movies.

　　　 B. Showing filmed movies in theaters.

C. Using small computer disks to get a copy of the movie.

D. Having the digital equipment needed to show the movie.

1. According to George Lucas, what makes the best made movies possible?

　　　 A. A good story.　　　　　　 B. Film.　　　　 C. Digital cameras.　　　　 D. Videotape.

65.(2007江苏卷，C篇) The package fee does NOT cover the cost of _______.

[解析]A。所给的四幅图画分别代表了“住宿”、“交通”、“游览”和“餐饮”。根据文章中“All Fee’s Included. No Hidden Cost.”可知这次游览的费用都包含在“Package Fee”里面，没有其它暗含的费用。但是由于这是一个总共5.7小时的游览，下午乘飞机返回还不耽误吃晚饭和看日落(in time for dinner and sunset)可知是不需要住宿的，因此“住宿”的费用不包含在整个费用之内。

巩固练习：

(1)

Most people who enjoy movies do not really care how they are made. They just want to enjoy a good story. Movie producer and director George Lucas wants people to see the best made movies. So, his latest movie Star Wars was made without using film.

Star Wars was made using digital cameras. A digital camera does not use traditional film. It captures images on videotape. The images recorded on videotape are the placed in a computer.

George Lucas says that using digital cameras permits him to have much more control over the final product. For example, the image can be changed after it is placed in a computer. An expert can change color, add or take out objects, add people or beings who are not real. Much of what is seen in the new movie Star Wars is not real. Huge buildings, spacecraft and alien beings from other worlds were produced in a computer.

Movie experts say digital technology is the real future of the motion picture industry. A theater will no longer have to wait days or weeks to show a new movie. Theaters will be able to receive copies of new movies by linking computers. Or they will use small computer disks to get a copy of the movie.

When the new movie Star Wars was released last month, only 94 theaters around the world had the digital equipment needed to show it. So Mr. Lucas’ company produced about 6,000 copies of the new digital movie on traditional film for release in most theaters. However, most people who have seen the movie say these film copies are of much better quality than other filmed movies.

Critics say the new digital technology is very costly. Many theater owners will not buy the new technology, yet many of the people who worked on the new movie Star Wars say they would not like to work with film again. They said using digital equipment was faster, and videotape is much less costly than film. One cameraman said the director of a movie can immediately see what was just recorded, something impossible to do with film.

71.(2009安徽卷，D篇) The chart shows that from 2005 to 2008, ________.

　 A. the percentage of the Spanish families with a computer rose 35 points

　 B. the percentage of the White families with a computer remained unchanged

　 C. the number of the Black families with a computer was on the decrease

　 D. the number of the Asian families with a computer showed the sharpest increase

[解析]D。请看原文中的柱形图：

由柱形图可以清楚地看出，拥有电脑的亚洲家庭的数量急剧增加，其他三项表述都与图表不符，故D项正确。

59.(2008福建卷，A篇) What’s the right order of the events related to Tanni?

a. She works as a coach.　　　　　　　　

b. She took up athletics.

c. She won four gold medals in Barcelona.　

d. She competed in her first Paralympic Games.

e. She achieved a victory in her first London Wheelchair Marathon.

A. b, d, c, e, a　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a, d, b, c, e　

C. a, d, c, e, b　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. b, d, a, e, c

[解析]A。排列顺序题。本题要求判断各个事件的先后顺序。观察文章的2-6段，注意几个表示时间的词(组)：1984，1988，1992，in the same year，2007，可帮助考生迅速找到答案。

64.(2009湖北卷，D篇) Which order of steps is followed in carrying out the project?

　 A. Assessment - Prototype - Design - Construction.

　 B. Assessment - Design - Prototype - Construction.

　 C. Design - Assessment - Prototype - Construction.

　 D. Design - Prototype - Assessment - Construction.

[解析]D。请看文章第二段：

Gerner manages school facilities(设施) for Clark County, Nevada, a district roughly the size of Massachusetts. By 2018, 143,000 additional students will enter the already crowded public-education system. Gerner needs 73 new schools to house them. Four architecture teams have nearly finished designing primary school prototypes(样品); they plan to construct their schools starting in 2009. The district will then assess how well the schools perform, and three winners will copy those designs in 50 to 70 new buildings.

根据第二段的描述，工程的实施应按照“设计-提供样品-评估-建设”的程序。其它程序都不符合标准的建筑要求。