阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　“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, and 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 can you feel calm and happy?

　　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 no 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 1940's 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 had less to fight over, such as their computer．Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy(时髦), 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．

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　　I have a rule for travel：Never carry a map．I prefer to ask for directions．

　　Foreign visitors are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don't have names．In Japan, people use landmarks in their directions instead of street names．For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner．Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market．The post office is across from the bus stop．”

　　In the countryside of the American Midwest, usually there are not many landmarks．There are no mountains, so the land is very flat(平坦的)．In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles．Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance．In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles．Turn east, and then go another mile．”

　　People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map：They measure distance by means of time, not miles．“How far away is the post office?” you ask．“Oh,” they answer, “It's about five minutes from here．” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don't know．

　　People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because visitors seldom understand the Greek language．Instead of giving you the direction, a Greek will often say, “Follow me．” Then he'll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office．

　　Sometimes a person doesn't know the answer to your question．What happens in this situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea．” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers, “I don't know．” People in Yucatan think that “I don't know” is impolite．They usually give an answer, often a wrong one．A visitor can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

　　One thing will help you everywhere-in Japan, in the United States, in Greece, in Mexico, or in any other place．You might not understand a person's words, but maybe you can understand his body language．He or she will usually turn and then point in the correct direction．Go in that direction, and you may find the post office!

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　　Linda Evans was my best friend-like the sister I never had．We did everything together：piano lessons，movies，swimming，horseback riding．

　　When I was 13，my family moved away．Linda and I kept in touch through letters，and we saw each other on special times-like my wedding(婚礼)and Linda's．Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes，and we wrote less often．One day a card that I sent came back，stamped “Address(地址)Unknown” I had no idea about how to find Linda．

　　Over the years，I missed Linda very much．I wanted to share(分享)happiness of my children and then grandchildren．And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died．There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill．

　　One day，I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman-Linda's married name．“There must be thousands of Wagmans．” I thought，but I still wrote to her．

　　She called as soon as she got my letter．“Mrs．Tobin!”she said excitedly，“Linda Evans Wagman is my mother．”

　　Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much，even after 40 years，laughed and cried and caught up on each other's lives．Now the empty place in my heart is filled．And there's one thing that Linda and I know for sure：We won't lose each other again!

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　　A good way to pass an examination is to work hard every day in the year．You may fail in an examination if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the examination．If you are taking an English examination, do not only learn rules of grammar．

　　Try to read stories in English and speak English whenever you can．A few days before the examination you should start going to bed early．Do not stay up late at night studying and learning things．Before you start the examination, read the question paper over carefully．Try to understand the exact meaning of each question before you pick up your pen to write．When you have at last finished your examination, read your answers over．Correct the mistakes if there are any and make sure that you have not missed anything out．

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　　Dear Mom and Dad,

　　I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you．I have been very naughty and the school master is very angry with me．She is going to write to you．You must come and take me away from here．She does not want me in the school any longer．The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed．As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room．I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away．

　　Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket．It caught fire．

　　There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket．It caught fire too．Soon the whole room was burning．The master phoned the fire brigade．The school is a long way from the town and before the fire brigade arrived, the whole school was on fire．The master said that the fire was all my fault and I must pay for the damage．She will send you a bill for about a million dollars．

　　I'm very sorry for this．

Much love

Sarah

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Do you know Henry Ford? He was the first person to build cars which were cheap, strong and fast．He was able to sell millions of models because he could produce them in large numbers at a time; that is, he made a great many cars of exactly the same kind．Ford's father hoped that his son would become a farmer, but the young man did not like the idea and he went to Detroit where he worked as a mechanic(机械师)．By the age of 29, in 1892, he had built his first car．However, the car made in this way, the famous “Model T” did not appear until 1908-five years after Ford had started his great motor car factory．This car showed to be well-known that it remained unchanged for twenty years．Since Ford's time, this way of producing cars in large numbers has become common in industry and has reduced the price of many goods which would otherwise be very expensive．

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　　American teenagers hear it all the time from their parents, “Are you listening to me? Turn down that music or you'll hurt your ears．” A new study has found the parents may be right．

　　The study has found that many young people in the United States do not hear as well as they used to．One out of five American teenagers have some hearing loss．That is a 30％ increase in the past fifteen years．One out of twenty teens have a large hearing loss．That is a fifty percent increase．

　　The researchers used results of hearing tests taken in the past years．They have found that boys are more likely to have hearing problems than girls．The age or race of the teens who were tested had no effect on their chances of a hearing loss．The researchers say they are not sure why some teenagers are losing their hearing．Not enough studies have been done and more are needed．Some say the causes may be found in their diet, exposure to poisons, or in their genes．Others believe that listening to loud music on MP3 players with earphones is the major cause．

　　Researchers think that some teenagers do not realize that they are listening to music at very loud levels．Researchers suggest parents stand next to their children while they are wearing earphones．If the parents can hear the music, the sound is too loud．Teenagers should set the volume control on their music players to somewhere between one-half and two-thirds the highest level, never louder．

　　Even a small hearing loss can affect a child’ s social development．Communication skills and grades in school can also suffer．Doctor Eavey says, “What we’re seeing is a big jump in the prevalence(患病率)of hearing loss in a very short time, in less than one generation．”

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　　During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P．E and wrote several books．While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing．He was the inventor of basketball．

　　Dr James Naismith was born in Canada in 1861 and his first job was at a special sports school in the USA．One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students．Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside．He told James that they needed a sport the boys could play indoors and gave the teacher two weeks to think of something．

　　It was on the very last day that James came up with his idea．The “birth of basketball” is said to be on December 21, 1891, when two teams from the school played the first game．It was quite different from the basketball games of today．It had 9 players on each team and footballs were used instead of basketballs．Soon after, the game changed to 5 players on each side, using special “basketballs” through nets．

　　Although Dr Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game it is today, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became an Olympic sport at the Games in Berlin．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Most American students go to traditional public schools．There are about 88, 000 public schools, all over the US．Some students attend about 3000 independent public schools called charter schools．

　　Charter schools are self-governing．Private companies operate some charter schools．They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools．They receive tax money just as other public schools do．Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning．These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate．

　　Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws governing traditional public schools．Local, state, or federal governments cannot tell them what to teach．Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach them．Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools．

　　The Bush Administration strongly supports charter schools as a way to re-organize public schools that are failing to educate students．But some education agencies and unions oppose charter schools．One teachers' union has just made public the results of the first national study comparing the progress of students in traditional schools and charter schools．

　　The American Federation of Teachers criticized the government's delay in releasing the results of the study, which is called the National Assessment of Educational Progress．Union education experts say the study shows that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than students in regular public schools．

　　Some experts say the study is not a fair look at charter schools because students in those schools have more problems than students in traditional schools．Other education experts say the study results should make charter school officials demand improved student progress．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENTS

　　Position：IT manager

　　Major Duties and Responsibilities：

　　Prepares and carries out the annual budget of the department．

　　Builds and develops the whole school IT system

　　Provides excellent IT services with IT team for teaching and business．

　　Requirements/Qualifications：

　　Bachelor or above, majoring in Information Technology or Finance．

　　Good command of both Chinese and English

　　Minimum 5 years working experience, 3 years in a managerial level

　　Able to work in a collaborative style

　　Position：Sales Internship

　　Major Duties and Responsibilities：

　　Builds and develops good relationship with new customers

　　Maintains strong relationship with the existing customers

　　Explores potential customers further

　　Conducts market ~ competitors analysis to improve customer satisfaction．

　　Requirements/Qualifications：

　　Graduates with Bachelor degree．

　　Major in Finance, Economics, International Trade．

　　Fluent English(in both written ~ spoken)and Mandarin(汉语)．

　　Familiar with MS office, especially Excel and PowerPoint and Internet application

　　Willingness to accept challenges and work under pressure．

　　Strong sense of responsibility．

　　Prepare for business trainee．

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