Runners in a relay(接力) race pass a stick in one direction.However, merchants passed silk, gold, fruit, and glass along the Silk Road in more than one direction.They earned their living by traveling the famous Silk Road.

The Silk Road was not a simple trading network.It passed through thousands of cities and towns.It started from eastern China, across Central Asia and the Middle East, and ended in the Mediterranean Sea.It was used from about 200 B.C.to about 1300 A.D., when sea travel offered new routes(路线).It was sometimes called the world’s longest highway.However, the Silk Road was made up of many routes, not one smooth path.They passed through what are now 18 countries.The routes crossed mountains and deserts and had many dangers of hot sun, deep snow and even battles.Only experienced traders could return safe.

The Silk Road got its name from its most prized product.Silk could be used like money to pay taxes or buy goods.But the traders carried more than just silk.Gold, silver, and glass from Europe were much found in the Middle East and Asia.Horses traded from other areas changed farming practices in China.Indian merchants traded salt and other valuable goods.Chinese merchants traded paper, which produced an immediate effect on the West.Apples traveled from central Asia to Rome.The Chinese had learned to graft(嫁接) different trees together to make new kinds of fruit.They passed this science on to others, including the Romans.The Romans used grafting to grow the apple.Trading along the Silk Road led to world-wide business 2,000 years before the World Wide Web.

The people along the Silk Road did not share just goods.They also shared their beliefs.The Silk Road provided pathways for learning, diplomacy(外交), and religion (宗教).

61.It’s probable that traders along the Silk Road needed         .

       A.to remember the entire trade route      B.to know the making of products

       C.to receive certain special training        D.to deal with a lot of difficulties

62.The Silk Road became less important because          .

     A.it was made up of different routes       B.silk trading became less popular

       C.sea travel provided easier routes         D.people needed fewer foreign goods

63.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 refer to?

     A.Silk.                             B.A trading network.

       C.The world’s longest highway.         D.Goods.

64.New technologies could travel along the Silk Road because people          .

       A.learned from one another              B.shared each other’s beliefs

       C.traded goods along the route            D.earned their living by traveling

65.What is the best title for the passage?

     A.The Silk Road: Past and Present        B.The Silk Road: East Meets West

       C.The Silk Road: Routes Full of Dangers D.The Silk Road: Pathways for Learning

Just five one-hundredths of an inch thick, light golden in colour and with a perfect “saddle curl”( 马鞍状卷曲 ), the Lay’s potato chip seems an unlikely weapon for global domination. But its maker, Frito-Lay, thinks otherwise. “Potato chips are a snack food for the world,” said Salman Amin, the company’s head of global marketing. Amin believes there is no corner of the world that can resist the charms of a Frito-Lay potato chip.

Frito-Lay is the biggest snack maker in America owned by PepsiCo, and accounts for over half of the parent company’s $3 billion annual profits. But the U.S. snack food market is largely saturated( 市场基本饱和 ), and to grow, the company has to look overseas.

Its strategy rests on two beliefs: First, a global product offers economies of scale with which local brands cannot compete. And second, consumers in the 21st century are drawn to “global” as a concept. “Global” does not mean products that are consciously identified as American, but ones that consumers--- especially young people--- see as part of a modern, innovative( 创新的 ) world in which people are linked across cultures by shared beliefs and tastes. Potato chips are an American invention, but most Chinese, for instance, do not know that Frito-Lay is an American company. Instead, Riskey, the company’s research and development head, would hope they associate the brand with the new world of global communications and business.

With brand perception a crucial factor, Riskey ordered a redesign of the Frito-Lay logo. The logo, along with the company’s long-held marketing image of the “irresistibility” of its chips, would help facilitate the company’s global expansion.

The executives ( 行政主管 )acknowledge that they try to swing national eating habits to a food created in America, but they deny that amounts to economic imperialism(帝国主义). Rather, they see Frito-Lay as spreading the benefits of free enterprise across the world. “We are making products in those countries, we’re adapting them to the taste of those countries, building businesses and employing people and changing lives,” said Steve Reinemund, PepsiCo’s chief executive. 

72. It is the belief of Frito-Lay’s head of global marketing that _____.

A. People over the world enjoy eating their company’s potato chips

B. Their company must find new ways to promote domestic sales

C. The light golden color enhances the charm of their company’s potato chips

D. Potato chips can hardly be used as a weapon to dominate the world market

73. One of the assumptions on which Frito-Lay bases its development strategy is that _______.

A. products identified as American will have promising market value

B. local brands cannot compete successfully with American brands

C. products suiting Chinese consumers’ needs bring more profits

D. consumers worldwide today are attracted by global brands

74. Why did Riskey have the Frito-Lay logo redesigned? ______

A. To suit changing tastes of young consumers.

B. To change the company’s long-held marketing image.

C. To promote the company’s strategy of globalization.

D. To compete with other American chip producers.

75. Frito-Lay’s executives claim that the promoting of American food in the international market ______.

A. won’t affect the eating habits of the local people

B. will be in the interest of the local people

C. will lead to economic imperialism

D. won’t spoil the taste of their chips 

The Friday after the American holiday of Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It’s said that it’s the day that store ledgers(分类账)move into the black and companies become profitable. On that day, retailers slash prices to get consumers to buy.  It is also a time when many Americans start their Christmas shopping. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee tells us how the economy may affect consumers on that bargain day.

 “It’s just the deals, the sales and everything you can get for a lesser price,” said Sandy Thomas, a shopper. But it’s a nightmare for others. “I think it’s crazy. I’ve done all of my shopping throughout the week so I don’t have to go out on Friday,” she said. It’s called Black Friday, the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season in the United States. Every year it’s the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. Stores open before sunrise and there are deep discounts everywhere you look.

While the lead up to Christmas is known as the season of giving, Black Friday can get ugly.

Last year a crowd of bargain-hunters killed a Wal-mart worker in a New York suburb. This year, many stores are increasing security while they slash prices. “This is a huge time for the retail stores,” said Fred Joutz from George Washington University. “This is when they begin making their profits for the year.”

Economics professor Fred Joutz says how Americans spend the weekend after Thanksgiving is a good indication of how consumers feel about the future.

With the unemployment rate above 10 percent, Joutz says Americans are saving more and spending less. “Credit is still strictly controlled whether through credit cards or through borrowing from banks,” he said. Some retailers are attracting consumers by opening on Thanksgiving Day, when shops are traditionally closed.  Other stores open their doors anywhere from midnight to four in the morning.

And shoppers will be lining up in front of the doors in order to be one of the first ones to walk through and get a big discount. Electronics like flat screen TVs are usually the first items to go. Sandy Thomas says it’s an annual family tradition and well worth it. “I just save maybe half of what I would have spent on a regular, you know, shopping trip,” she said.

Economists say U.S. consumers will spend money this Black Friday, but they will spend it more carefully.     

59. The underlined word “slash” in the first paragraph probably means _________.

A. reduce         B. raise         C. increase        D. change

60. The sentence “This day should be a shopper’s dream.” should be placed between ________.

A. paragraph two and paragraph three        B. paragraph one and paragraph two

C. paragraph three and paragraph four              D. paragraph five and paragraph six

61. Why are many stores increasing security according to the passage?

A. Because there are too many people saving more and spending less.

B. Because it’s a time when they begin making their profits for the year.

C. Because last year a crowd of bargain-hunters caused an accident.

D. Because many stores open their doors from midnight to four a.m.

62.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Christmas shopping is traditional time and this year it is no exception.

B. Electronics like flat screen TVs are usually least discounted.

C. The economy only affects consumers on that bargain day.

D. Thanksgiving is a good indication of how consumers feel about the future.

 “Around 500,000 years ago, at the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian in Beijing’s suburban Fangshan district, which is about 50 km from the city of Beijing, there lived early human beings,” says a China history textbook.

The textbook now has to be revised. New dating techniques suggest the remains of Peking Man--- found in the 1920s---are over 200,000 years older than previously thought. What’s important about that date, about 770,000 ago, is that this was an ice age on Earth.

Over Earth’s long history, there have been a number of times when ice and snow covered a large part of its surface. Such periods are known as ice ages.

Earth is in an ice age now. It started about 2 million years ago. Despite the many warm periods since then, scientists regard the whole time as one ice age because of the continuous existence of at least one large ice sheet---the one over Antarctica.

The new discovery was made by Chinese and US scientists. It suggests Peking Man is probably our oldest cold weather human being, said Darryl Granger, an atmospheric scientist at Purdue University whose research appears in Thursday’s edition of the journal Nature.

The average yearly temperature at the time in that part of China was around the freezing mark, but it was too dry for an ice sheet, Granger said.

This raises a question. How did Peking Man survive the cold weather?

Rick Potts, a Smithsonian Institution human origins expert who wasn’t involved in the research, raised three possibilities:

First, fire. Early findings showed signs of a fire in Peking Man’s cave. But there has been debate about whether the fire was accidental or controlled.

Second, fur. There is no evidence that Peking Man used simple tools to make more form-fitting clothes, it’s more likely he wore animal fur.

Lastly, he may have developed gradually to handle the cold. Peking Man may have experienced physiological changes that allowed more blood to flow to his hands and legs, Potts said. “People in general who live in colder climates tend to be shorter and wider,” he explained.

Unlike the times of Peking Man today the global temperature is rising due to the greenhouse effect. In the future, could humans develop to handle the warmth just as Peking Man did to fight the cold?

72. According to the new research, Peking Man actually dates back to _______.

A. around 500,000 years ago            B. over 200,000 years

C. about 770,000 years ago             D. about 2 million years ago

73. What is the most important standard for scientists to decide an ice age?

A. The weather conditions.              B. The continuous existence of any large ice sheets.

C. The average yearly temperature        D. The long period of snowfall

74. Which of the following is true of Peking Man?

A. He is the oldest human being           B. He used fire to keep warm

C. He wore form-fitting clothes made from fur with simple tools.

D. He might have been shorter and wider than previously thought.

75. The following are all the possibilities EXCEPT _______ that the Peking Man survived the cold weather.

A. putting up tents to keep the cold out      B. wearing animal fur

C. using fire in their cave                 D. developing gradually to handle the cold.

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