Since long ago,greeting cards have been considered a time-saver.More than 150 years ago,a busy Englishman,Sir Henry,asked a friend to design a card so that he didn't have to labour to write holiday letters to his friends at the end of the year.Those paper cards are now the tradition.
But time,like sunlight,is still in short supply for December.That's why the Internet is ready to make a change in holiday greeting customs.Already,those,who are always busy,like sending video greetings by e-mail.So,don't be surprised to find a lively card in your electronic mail box at the end of the year or at any time you should have one.
A recent survey by the Shared Greetings Company found 50 percent of all the Internet users will send online cards especially during the holiday seasons.“That is a lot easier,and it is lively,”said Carol,a New Yorker,who had stopped at the Shared Greetings Company demonstration() online.With her children's help,she sent her first e-card before Thanksgiving Day.“It was the first time I had done something like this;it's quite enjoyable,”she said.
“I will send online Christmas cards to my friends,”said Marcos,a 22-year-old student.“It costs so little and you can even send numbers of greetings at a time.”But he added “the e-card also has its limits,and I don't think it is ready to replace the paper card for the more formal or traditional occasions.For some people,I would rather buy paper cards and mail them traditionally.I believe it is more personal and respectful in that way,”he said.
Well,for those who are very busy but still prefer to do a lot of greetings to different receivers in the holiday season,the Internet may have another way.“Now you can use the Net to decide and send as many as 50 beautiful cards,which allows the buyer to choose the inside saying,as well as the ink colour and typeface,only costing about 30 minutes,”said Julie,vice-president of marketing for an electronic card company-Hallmark Company.“And if you are in less of a hurry,you can spend another 30 minutes sitting in your home or office to create a photo card,showing off your kids,your pets or even your new house-anything as your favorite design for your relatives and friends.”How can we understand “But time,like sunlight,is still in short supply for December”in Paragraph 2?
| A．December cannot supply enough time for people because the sunlight in this month is short. |
| B．People are always busy at the end of the year,so time is precious like the sunlight in winter. |
| C．Time is short at the end of the year,like the sunlight in December. |
| D．Time passes quickly like the sunlight in winter as December comes. |
According to the 22-year-old student,he would probably mail e-cards to everyone except_________.
| A．the members of his family |
| B．his girlfriend |
| C．the teachers who have taught him |
| D．his schoolmates |
If you are quite busy,but having many greetings to send,which of the following is your best choice?
| A．Ordering a lot of cards you like online and sending them from the post office. |
| B．Getting as many cards from your electronic mail box and mailing them on the Net. |
| C．Sitting and writing lots of beautiful cards at home and sending them just in a traditional way. |
| D．Choosing personalized cards in numbers and mailing them directly on the Net. |
Japan will hand out its first “Nobel Prize of Manga (国际漫画奖)” for artists in the comic book field abroad. This i
s another step in Japan’s efforts to show the power of pop culture diplomacy.
The International Manga Award, which was compared by manga lover Foreign Minister Taro Aso to a “Nobel Prize” when he first proposed it, will be given to an artist working abroad whose work best contributes to the spread of the manga form worldwide.
Manga, a name used for Japanese style comic books, often combines stories with drawing styles that differ from the overseas superhero comics and cartoon, particularly in their frequent emphasis on cuteness.
The winner will receive a certificate and a cup at an award ceremony, and will spend 10 days in Japan meeting with local comic book artists and publishers.
“Manga has been spreading overseas and are selling quite well,” Aso said when announcing the award to the public. “I want to further improve the communicative power of these so-called ‘pieces of pop culture’.”
Aso has argued that warm feelings for Japanese comics and cartoon can translate into warm feelings for Japanese foreign policy.
He has proposed sending cartoon artists overseas as cultural ambassadors and the government has named some officials to advise ways to promote Japanese cartoon and culture to foreign audiences.
The award committee, consisting of manga artists and publishers, is expected to make its selections quite soon.
According to a ministry official Nobuyuki Watanabe, the prize carries no money reward. The cup’s design has yet to be finished, but it will be something “appropriate”. The International Manga Award will be presented to ____________.
| A．a Japanese who has achieved a lot in creating new methods of drawing |
| B．an artist who makes contributions to introducing manga to the other foreign countries |
| C．the person who is expert at comics and cartoon |
| D．a foreign artist who has contributed to the development of manga |
Which statement is NOT true about manga?
| A．Manga is different from the overseas comic books. |
| B．Manga is popular not only in Japan but also overseas. |
| C．Manga refers to international comics and cartoon. |
| D．There are stories and pictures in manga. |
What has the Japanese government done to show its support?
| A．To propose “Nobel Prize of Manga”. |
| B．To name officials to advise ways of spreading manga overseas. |
| C．To hand out its first “Nobel Prize of Manga”. |
| D．To send cartoon artists overseas as cultural ambassadors. |
The passage is mainly about ____________.
A．Nobel Prize of Mang a |
B．the characteristics of manga |
| C．a brief introduction of manga | D．the development of manga |
Lots of people have hobbies. Some people collect old coins or foreign stamps; some do needlework; others spend most of their spare time on a particular sport.
A lot of people enjoy reading. But reading tastes differ widely. Some people only read newspapers or comics, some like reading novels, while others prefer books on astronomy, wildlife, or technological discoveries.
If I happen to be interested in horses or precious stones, I cannot expect everyone else to share my enthusiasm. If I watch all the sports programs on TV with great pleasure, I must put up with the fact that other people find sports boring.
Is there nothing that interests us all? Is there nothing that concerns everyone—no matter who they are or where they live in the world? Yes, dear Sophie, there are questions that certainly should interest everyone. They are precisely the questions this course is about.
What is the most important thing in life? If we ask someone living on the edge of starvation, the answer is food. If we ask someone dying of cold, the answer is warmth. If we put the same question to someone who feels lonely and isolated, the answer will probably be the company of other people.
But when these basic needs have been satisfied—will there still be something that everybody needs? Philosophers think so. They believe that man cannot live by bread alone. Of course everyone needs food. And everyone needs love and care. But there is something else—apart from that—which everyone needs, and that is to figure out who we are and why we are here.
Being interested in why we are here is not a “casual” interest like collecting stamps. People who ask such questions are taking part in a debate that has gone on as long as man has lived on this planet. How the universe, the earth, and life came into being is a bigger and more important question than who won the most gold medals in the last Olympics. This text is most probably taken from __________.
| A．a research paper | B．a course schedule |
| C．a personal letter | D．a book review |
Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
| A．Philosophical questions are as interesting as collecting stamps. |
| B．Thinking about philosophical questions is a serious interest. |
| C．Figuring out who we are and why we are here is man’s basic needs. |
| D．Philosophy has universal appeal and concerns everybody in nature. |
The author believes that __________.
| A．no existing subject can interest everyone in the world |
| B．different people may have different interests and concerns |
| C．everyone has to figure out who we are and why we are here |
| D．people in modern society pay more attention to philosophical questions |
|
| A．Richard, a post-graduate from Quebec, Canada, who sent his design on Dec.20. |
| B．Amy, a 28-year-old Asian-American teacher, who sent her design on Jan. 20. |
| C．Jessie, a 16-year-old student from New York, who sent her design on Dec. 29. |
| D．John, a 68-year-old retired engineer from San Francisco, who sent his design on Jan. 10. |
Which of the following is NOT true about James Surowiecki?
| A．James Surowiecki is the author of The Financial Page column. |
| B．James Surowiecki usually has discussions with people from different fields. |
| C．James Surowiecki speaks with a chairman about issues of medicine this month. |
| D．Visiting newyorker.com/go/vasella, you can watch the conversation of this month between James and an economist. |
___________ can be provided by The Big Apple Circus Care program for sick children.
| A．Excellent treatment and care | B．Trained professional doctors and nurses |
| C．Unique methods to relieve stress | D．Special pediatric facilities |
Which of the following can be used by the Big Apple Circus Clown Care program to promote itself?
| A． We help all children live happy lives. |
| B． Our doctors jump through rings to cure the blues. |
| C． Every life deserves world class care. |
| D． Work together for a healthier world. |
Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe’s prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and bushes, according to a new report.
A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions(氮排放) from cars, factories and farming were threatening biodiversity. It’s the second report this week warning of the on-going risks and threats linked to nitrogen pollution.
Nitrogen in the atmosphere is harmless in its inert(惰性的) state, but the report says reactive forms of nitrogen, largely produced by human activity, can be a menace to the natural world.
Emissions mostly come from vehicle exhausts(排气), factories, artificial fertilizers(肥料) and animal waste from intensive farming. The reactive nitrogen they emit to the air disrupts the environment in two ways: It can make acidic soils too acidic to support their previous mix of species. But primarily, because nitrogen is a fertilizer, it favors wild plants that can maximize the use of nitrogen to help them grow.
In effect, some of the nitrogen spread to fertilize crops is carried in the atmosphere to fertilize weeds, possibly a great distance from where the chemicals were first applied.
The effects of fertilization and acidification favor common aggressive species like grasses, brambles and nettles. They harm more delicate species like mosses(苔藓), and insect-eating sundew plants.
The report said 60% of wildlife sites were now receiving a critical load of reactive nitrogen. The report’s lead author, Dr Kevin Hicks from the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), told BBC News that England’s Peak District had a definitely low range of species as a result of the reactive nitrogen that fell on the area.
“Nitrogen creates a rather big problem that seems to me to have been given too little attention,” he said. “Governments are responsible for protecting areas like this, but they are clearly failing.”
He said more research was needed to understand the knock-on effects for creatures from the changes in vegetation accidentally caused by emissions from cars, industry and farms.
At the conference, the representatives agreed “The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen”. The document highlights the importance of reducing reactive nitrogen emissions to the environment, adding that the benefits of reducing nitrogen outweigh the costs of taking action.The underlined word “menace” is used to express that the reactive nitrogen, largely produced by human activity can be ___________.
| A．frightening | B．threatening | C．unique | D．unusual |
We can infer from the passage that _________.
| A．it’s harmless to have reactive nitrogen existing in the atmosphere |
| B．reactive nitrogen emissions help aggressive species less than crops |
| C．the harm to those delicate species has a negative impact on biodiversity |
| D．reactive nitrogen can fertilize soils and keep their biodiversity |
The team of EU scientists released the second report of nitrogen emissions this week when __________.
| A．no action was taken to stop nitrogen emission |
| B．governments were willing to protect areas harmed by nitrogen |
| C．“The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen” was agreed |
| D．nitrogen emissions were threatening wildlife sites’ biodiversity |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Keeping Away From Nitrogen Emissions | B．Stopping Nitrogen Emissions |
| C．Air Pollution Damaging Europe’s Wildlife | D．Saving Europe’s Wildlife |
I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.
“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”
“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.
I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had involved me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.
So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, she punished me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.
Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest—and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term. The author’s mother __________.
| A．thought white lies were not lies |
| B．helped the author get out of trouble with white lies |
| C．told the author to lie when in trouble |
| D．taught the author the importance of being honest |
The author __________.
| A．was thankful to her mother’s advice |
| B．felt more awkward when being caught lying |
| C．found that telling the truth hurt more than telling a lie |
| D．felt guilty when hurting people with her honesty |
It can be inferred that the author’s mother __________.
| A．met her friends in the same restaurant regularly |
| B．didn’t get along with the author’s teachers |
| C．was not popular among her friends |
| D．wanted to have something else for her birthday |
Finally the author and her mother agreed that __________.
| A．kind-heartedness is more important than honesty |
| B．appropriate methods are the key to telling a good lie |
| C．honesty is defined as kindness as well as truthfulness |
| D．absolute honesty is basic to good interpersonal relationships |
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