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 a11．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 1 0 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming withSingapore 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 Beiling 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’11 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 countnes．
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 a11．And they’11 trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．
1．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
2．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
3.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．
4．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

It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.
But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful, we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.
【小题1】DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to ____.

When did you last see a polar bear(北极熊）? On a trip to a zoo,perhaps?  If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago,  you would have seen a whole polar bear club.  These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water.  That day, the air temperature was 3℃, and the water temperature was a little higher.  The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60.  Members must satisfy two requirements.  First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club.  Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February.

Doctors don't agree about the medical effects of cold-winter swimming.  Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so low that finally the heart stops.  Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and water temperature is much greater in summer than in winter.

The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming.  They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system(循环系统）because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm.  Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water.  A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and should not try cold-water swimming.

　　The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental.The Polar Bears love to swim all year round;  they find it fun and relaxing.  As one 70-year-old woman says,"When I go into water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away."

The members of the Polar Bear Club must meet the following requirements except that_____.

A.they must swim outdoors at least 8 times in the four cold months

B.they must reach the age of 60

C.they should be easy to make friends with

D.they must agree to swim outdoors from November through February

According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that_____.

A.Polar Bears are bears swimming in freezing water

B.cold-water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high

C.you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue

D.cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter

The Polar Bears like to swim year-round, for_____.

A.it is an easy way to keep the body warm in winter          B.they can remain young

C.they find it enjoyable and interesting        D.they might meet fewer troubles in life

The passage is mainly about_____.

A.the requirements of the Polar Bear Club         

B. a group of cold-water-swimming livers

C.the Polar Bears' life in New York            

D. doctors' ideas about cold-water swimming

It was the summer of 1965. Deluca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked Deluca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”

That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.

But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.

DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful, we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.

But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.

And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.

DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.

1.DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to ____.

         A．support his family

         B．pay for his college education

         C．help his partner expand business

         D．do some research

2.Which of the following is true of Buck?

         A．He put money into the sandwich business.

         B．He was a professor of business administration.

         C．He was studying at the University of Bridgeport.

         D．He rented a storefront for DeLuca.

3.What can we learn about their first shop?

         A．It stood at an unfavorable palce.

         B．It lowered the prices to promote sales.

         C．It made no profits due to poor management

         D．It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches

4.They decided to open a second store because they ___    .

         A．had enough money to do it.

         B．had succeeded in their business

         C．wished to meet the increasing demand of customers

         D．wanted to make believe that they were successful

5.What contribute most to their success according to the author?

         A．Learning by trial and error.        B．Making friends with suppliers.

         C．Finding a good partner.         D．Opening chain stores.

To err is human. To blame the other guy is even more human.
Common sense is not all that common.
Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?
These three popular misquotes(戏谑的引语)are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature .To err, or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don’t want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do .The original quote about human nature went like this:” To err is human, to forgive, divine(神圣的).”This saying mirrors an deal people should be forgiving of others’ mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite –find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a making of great maturity.
Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Commonsense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine．Common sense does not seem to be common for large organizations, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company,”the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.”
And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people. get the idea that it’s okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary(直接推论)to that: if good excuse is “good”even if it isn’t honest, then where is the place of the truth?
1. According to tile passage, which of following seems the most human?
A. To search for truth．                    B. To achieve one’s ideal
C. To make fun of others’mistakes．          D. To criticize others for one’s own error.
2．According to the author, what is a sign of a man’s maturity?
A．Doing things his own way.
B．Bearing responsibility for his mistakes.
C．Making as few mistakes as possible．
D．Thinking seriously about his wrongdoing.
3．Which of the following is N0T based on common sense?
A．A man tries to take charge of everything in a large company.
B．A student goes out with an umbrella in stormy weather.
C．A company’s next move follows a good plan．
D．A lawyer acts on fine judgments．
4. What is the author’s opinion about a good excuse?
A. Making a good excuse is sometimes a better policy.
B. Inventing a good excuse needs creative ideas.
C. A good excuse is as rewarding as honesty.
D. Bitter truth is better than a good excuse.
5. What would be the best title for his passage?
A. A Mirror of Human Nature            B. To Blame or to Forgive
C. A Mark of Maturity                  D. Truth or Excuse