Imagine, one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．

       Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high-speed railway system．And that’s not all．China has an even greater high-speed railway plan — to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．

       China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．

       China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．

       If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days．

       The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour，almost as fast as some airplanes．

       China’s bullet train（高速客车），the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．

       Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge（轨距），maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．

       But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion．

       China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．

       It’ll be a win-win project．For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countries．

       For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all．And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．

China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ________．

       A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions

       B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways

       C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries

       D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation, business and tourism

According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is ________．

       A．technical issues                                        B．safety of the system

       C．financial problems                                     D．maintenance of railway tracks

Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?

       A．Critical．             B．Reserved．           C．Doubtful．          D．Positive．

Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

       A．New Railway Standards.                          B．Big Railway Dreams.

       C．High-speed Bullet Trains.                           D．International Railway Network

Neil _______ in Xiamen for five years before he finally decided to go back to Scotland.

A. has been                   B. was                          C. is                             D. will have been

--- Have you moved to your new house?

   --- Not yet. My house ______.

   A. has been painted     B. is painted           C. is painting     D. is being painted

He kept a little notebook, in which ______ the names and addresses of his friends．

       A．wrote　        B．was writing    C．was written      D．were written

Why are you doing that? If I ____you, I’d stop.

A. had been       B. hadn’t been       C. were         D. were not

Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States. The Gallup(民意调查) Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.

The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.

Arthur Stone at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.

Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.

The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.

What can be the best title of the text?

       A. Happiness Varies with Ages

       B. Experience More, Worry Less

       C. The Older, the Wiser

       D. Being Young, Being Happy

We can learn from the research that _________.

A. only when people get older will they feel happier

B. stress levels among the youngest are the highest

C. older people tend to be grateful

D. older people usually have no worries

According to the research, when people get older, _________.

       A. they miss the old days

     B. they are physically weak

C. they have better self-control

       D. they are more emotional

What would the author probably talk about next?

       A. What influences happiness.

       B. How to live better.

       C. How to keep happier.

      D. Why women are less happier.

The author is intended to _________.

   A. advise how to reduce stress

   B. introduce a scientific finding

   C. describe how to do research

   D. talk about human emotions

The US Space Agency sent up a space probe to hit the moon to see ______.

   A. whether there was water on it            B. whether was there water on it

   C. whether on it was there water            D. whether was water on it

---Put these glasses away before they __________.

  ---OK. I’ll put them in the cupboard.

  A. have broken       B. are breaking     C. will be broken     D. get broken

Four out of ten women who diet end up heavier than when they started watching their waistline（腰围）, a study revealed today. The research also showed that a large percentage of women start noticing the pounds creeping back on just 21 days after reaching their ideal weight.

Yesterday, Dr Ian Campbell of the Jenny Craig weight management program said: 'In the UK 61.4 per cent of adults are overweight or obese. Successful weight management requires a long-term commitment in order to lose weight successfully and for good. Dieting can be a real challenge so setting realistic goals and remaining focused on them is important. Otherwise as this research shows, women could end up heavier than when they started.'

The 'Food: Body: Mind' report was publicized by Jenny Craig who quizzed 2000 women aged between 18 and 65 who diet regularly on their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors around weight loss. Six in ten said they are currently on a diet and one in five women said they are on a 'continuous diet'.

It found the most common triggers to start dieting was seeing their 'reflection in the mirror', preparing for a summer holiday or unflattering photos posted on social networking sites. Other popular reasons include comments by friends or relatives or their other half.

However, the study showed that one in ten give up within one day, while almost a fifth manage to make it to a week or more. The average is ten days. Many blamed pressure they put on themselves to lose weight too quickly for the weight gain, which leaves them with a bigger appetite than normal. Others blamed colleagues, who tuck into fatty lunches and snacks unaware of the effect it has on the dieter, while mothers who polish off their children's leftovers was another common cause of weight gain.

Which of the following might be the best title for this article?

A. Three reasons to fail in dieting               B. Important things for successful diet

C. Four in ten women gain weight on diets  D. Obesity: problem for 61.4% adults in UK

In the UK, women who go on a diet __________.

A.    are all overweight or obese

B.    all fail because they are not persistent enough

C.    are likely to gain weight again after reaching their ideal weight

D.    end up heavier than when they start to diet

The underlined word “triggers” in Paragraph 4 probably means_________.

A. effects              B. causes    C.     examples        D. imagination

Which of the following is NOT the reason why many people quit dieting very soon?

A. The pressure they put on themselves to lose weight quickly.

B. Colleagues who give them fatty lunches and snacks.

C. Leftovers of children’s taken by their mothers.

D. Reflections they see in the mirror.

The police set about arresting the suspect ______ they found enough evidence to prove him guilty.

A. immediate      B. as long as             C. the moment          D. as far as