Collectors（收藏家） know just what to look for in a comic book. They always check the   __1   first. They like to find the books that came out between 1938 and 1945. These years   2   the Golden Age of comic books. Now these books are very expensive. The first copy(册) of Marvel Comics cost a little money   3   it came out. Now it is worth more than $100,000.

Collectors also look for the books in which a character   4   for the first time. The first Superman story tells how Superman came to Earth. This comic book might cost as much as $125,000.   5   a character from one comic book turns up in another one. When Batman（蝙蝠侠）is   6   in a Superman comic, the price of the book goes up. These books are called crossover books. They are worth more because there are not   7   of them.

Don’t let the high prices   8   you from starting a collection of your own. Comic books that came out after the Golden Age don’t cost so much. Today’s comic books are even   9   . You can enjoy them now and   10   them for their future value(价值).

1. A. place       B. date       C. size          D. price

2. A. followed    B. reached    C. marked       D. divided

3. A. when       B. if         C. before        D. but

4. A. appears     B. travels     C. acts          D. fails

5. A. Suddenly   B. Luckily     C. Actually      D. Sometimes

6. A. lost        B. wanted     C. shown        D. protected

7. A. any        B. some       C. all           D. many

8. A. keep       B. make       C. leave         D. throw

9. A. better        B. cheaper      C. more         D. thicker

10. A. record      B. borrow      C. save         D. change

Hundreds of years ago, news was carried from place to place by people on foot or by horse. It took days, weeks and sometimes months for people to receive news. Now it is possible to send words and pictures around the world in seconds. Billions of people learn about news of their country and all over the world every day, either by watching TV or reading newspapers.
Newspapers have been an important part of everyday life since 18th century. Many countries have hundreds of different newspapers. How do newspaper editors decide which news to print？ Why do they print some stories and not others? What makes a good newspaper story?
Firstly, it’s important to report news. TV stations can report news much faster than newspapers. Yet, newspapers give more about the story. They may also look at the story in another way, or they may print completely different stories from those on TV.
Secondly, a new story has to be interesting and unusual. People don’t want to read stories of everyday life. As a result, many stories are about some kind of danger and seem to be “bad” news. For example, newspapers never print stories about planes landing safely, instead they print stories about plane accidents.
Another factor(因素) is also very important. Many people are interested in news in foreign countries, but more prefer to read stories about people, places and events in their own country. So the stories on the front page in Chinese newspapers are usually very different from the ones in British, French and American newspapers.
【小题1】According to the passage, how do people learn about news in the world now?

When people want to know about the weather, they usually go to their radios, TVs, newspapers, or to the Internet. However, you can also find many weather signs among wildlife, because of their highly developed senses. Drops in air pressure produce an effect on small animals in many ways. Mice and deer are good weather indicators. People who spend a lot of time outdoors have observed that, before a storm, field mice come out of their holes and run around. Deer leave high ground and come down from the mountains.
Birds are especially good weather indicators because they also show the effect of a pressure drop in many ways. For example, some birds become irritable(暴躁) and quarrelsome and will fight over a piece of bread. Other birds chirp and sing just before a storm. It seems they know they won’t get another chance for an hour or two. Birds also look for safe places before a storm. You will sometimes see birds settling in trees or gathering together on a wire close to a building. Pre-storm low pressure make the air so thin that birds have difficulty flying.
It is unusual to see many birds flying overhead in the summertime, rather than during the periods in the spring or autumn. Watch for other weather signs if you see this. If they fly in the wrong direction, they may be flying ahead of a storm.
By paying closer attention to some important signs in nature, we can become better prepared for any kind of weather.
【小题1】The word “indicators” in paragraph 1 probably means          .