E
Just days after the January 4 premiere (首映) of Hollywood blockbuster Avatar in China, the box offices across the country had gone beyond 100 million yuan (around $14.7 million), thanks to the enthusiasm of huge number of Chinese movie fans. China Film Group Corp. Estimates are that the total box office may finally reach 500 million yuan.
Though almost every movie theater in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai gives Avatar top billing（最优先的档期）, with as many as 20 show times a day, Chinese audience still find it tough to get a ticket. In Beijing, the Wanda Movie Theater in Shijingshan, the first IMAX theater in Asia, is the first choice for Avatar moviegoers. The theater shows the 3D IMAX version of Avatar five times a day, and tickets are generally sold out a day in advance.
In Shanghai, to get an IMAX ticket for Avatar can mean waiting in freezing weather all night for a show three days later. Shanghai local media reported that on Friday, around 500 people were queuing for tickets at 8 a.m. in front of the downtown Peace Cinema, including some who had waited for 12 hours. Movie fans came equipped with quilts, wooden stools and snacks, in a scene reminding of that at train ticket windows before the New Year, when huge numbers of Chinese travel to be with family.
For the 3D version of Avatar, ticket prices varied for different theaters and time slots(场次), ranging from 60 yuan to 120 yuan. Meanwhile, illegal tickets traders asked as much as 600 yuan for the IMAX version in Shanghai. The Peace Cinema is planning to raise the ticket price for the IMAX version to as much as 200 yuan from the current 150 yuan from Jan. 14 for some time slots.
A report by the People's Daily owes the difficulty in getting tickets partly to the lack of 3D screens in China. There are only 11 IMAX commercial theaters in nine cities across China. Because of this, people are traveling long distances to see the movie. In southern China, the IMAX-equipped Dongguan Wanda theater has seen a huge coming of people from Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Wednesday afternoon, due to a technical breakdown of the system, the movie was stopped for an hour, and the sound didn't come together with the picture. In the end, the general manager of the theater had to beg forgiveness on his knees twice to lessen the angry audience who drove a long way to see the movie. The theater had to pay back each audience member the full ticket price as well as 200 yuan for traffic expenses.
The world-wide gross（总收入） for "Avatar" is now at $1.335 billion, second only to the $1.843 billion pulled in by "Titanic," another film directed by Cameron. But how long will 'Avatar' manage to hold its death grip around the number one spot?
57. The behavior of movie fans in Shanghai shows that __________.
| A. the time slots of the film are not enough |
| B. people are too enthusiastic about the film Avatar |
| C. Chinese seldom have chances to enjoy Hollywood blockbusters like Avatar |
| D. the tickets for the film are harder to get than train tickets before the New Year |
58. Chinese audience still find it difficult to get a ticket for Avatar because __________.
| A. the weather is freezing and the queue is too long |
| B. the cinemas have raised the ticket price for Avatar |
| C. not many 3D screens are available in China |
| D. there are many illegal tickets traders in different cities |
59. From“how long will 'Avatar' manage to hold its death grip around the number one spot?”in the last Paragraph, we learn that the writer __________.
| A. thinks the film is sure to hold the number one spot |
| B. questions the truth of the number one spot of the film |
| C. concludes that the film Avatar is not better than Titanic |
| D. doubts whether the film can keep its popularity with the people |
60. The best title of the passage should be __________.
| A. Hollywood Blockbuster Avatar Hitting China |
| B. Chinese People Kneeling Down for a Film |
| C. Lack of IMAX Theaters in China |
| D. Difficulty in Seeing Avatar in China |
With another invention in use, viewers will be also able to watch TV while walking to the office, taking a bus or simply waiting in line for lunch.
A Beijing-based company named Innofidei Inc. claims to have developed the first mobile TV chip for the market, which can change hundreds of thousands of mobiles into micro-TVs.
With this chip, people can receive TV signals on their phones and watch programs without any time or space limitations.“As long as the handset terminal（接收终端设备） has a colored screen and a battery, our chip can turn it into a mobile TV,” said Meng Fei, director of Innofidei’s business development department. The chip can be placed into a cell phone, a PDA, an MP4, a digital camera or even a laptop. He said that this, together with plans by China’s state broadcaster, would ensure the 2008 Games lives up to its promise as a “People’s Olympics”.
“Our chips are cheap so that cell phones with them will not be much different in price from regular phones,” Meng said. “CCTV will offer some free channels during the Games, so people can enjoy the Olympics for free.”
SARFT（国家广播电影电视总局） is planning to build a regional test network in Beijing and hopes to start trials as soon as possible. The goal is to deploy CMMB (部署中国移动多媒体广播) on a national level by the first half of 2008.
Innofidei is now busy selling their chips to cell phone makers so that the new generation of phones reaches the market in early 2008.
“Our invention successfully combines the good points of the two best-selling consumer products in history—TV sets and cell phones, ” said Meng. “In the near future, soccer fans won’t be tearing their hair out because they are stuck in traffic and missing the chance to see their favorite team’s play.”
Local baseball fans, meanwhile, will be able to draw comfort from the knowledge that—both at the Olympics and afterwards—their teams will be playing on a field designed to help recycle water.Which of the following CANNOT be turned into a mobile TV according to the passage?
A. A cell phone. B. A PDA.
C. An MP3. D. A laptop.Which of the following would possibly happen with the invention of the chip?
A. Sports fans watch Olympic Games on cell phones in 2008.
B. People watch video CDs on the MP4.
C. A game addict plays 3D games on a PDA.
D. Listening to news broadcast on radio.We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．we cannot buy a mobile TV before the 2008 Olympic Games. |
| B．soccer fans will be angry when they miss the chance to see a TV program. |
| C．the baseball field will play a part in helping recycle water. |
| D．the invention of the chip successfully combines TV sets and cell phones. |
The best title for this passage would be “_______”.
| A．A new invention for Olympics |
| B．A new generation of cell phones |
| C．Watching live games on TV for free |
| D．People’s Olympics |
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.
One day I went up to Michael and asked him, “I don’t get it. You can’t be positive all the time. How do you do it?” Michael replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself ‘Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining（抱怨） I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”
I often thought about that when I made a choice about life. Several years later, Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communica－tion tower. After l8 hours of operation, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was re－leased from the hospital with rods placed in his back.I asked him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
“The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter,” Michael replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. In the operation room, I told the doctors and nurses, ‘I’m choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead’.”
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 really means that Michael is a person ______.
| A．people would fall in love with |
| B．people would easily get tired of |
| C．people would envy for his positive life attitude |
| D．people wouldn’t take seriously |
Each time something bad happens, Michael chooses to ______.
| A．be in a good mood |
| B．learn from it |
| C．complain about it |
| D．ignore the negative side of it |
From the passage we can infer that ______.
| A．most people manage to lead a positive life at any time |
| B．most people can’t lead a positive life at any time |
| C．only Michael can be so positive |
| D．the author is always a sad person |
If you feel at present that you don’t have enough friends in your life, one reason may be that you have let yourself become too busy to make time for the relationships you already have. Starting and keeping friendship requires effort and commitment.
Our lives let many of us become so busy with work and other things that we don’t get around to scheduling time for pleasure and renewal（叙旧）with the friends, relatives and acquaintances we already have.
Making the effort to call your friends more regularly and accept more of the invitations you receive from others can improve your social life quickly!
Are there any people you could call right now and are assured of a pleasant welcome? Are there people that you could count on to help you in time of difficulty? Can you have close talks with them? Do you have fun when you are together? Are you happy to have them in your life?
If you haven’t seen most of them lately, is it because you have become too busy? Have you lived apart? Was there an argument?
If the main reason you haven’t been getting together with the people you already know is that you have got too busy, take a good look at how you spend your time. Compare it with your real values and priorities（优先考虑的事）in life. Is your busy lifestyle really bringing you the quality of life that you want?
If you have become too busy to have time for friends, why has this happened? Are you seeking material joys in your life at the expense of relationships with other human beings? Have you allowed your time to be over-committed because you never say “No” to anyone? Do you insist on doing things by yourself that could be delegated to others? If so, why? Do you believe that everything depends on you?
Examine whether the way you are now spending your time accurately reflects your deepest values and priorities. Make sure that you schedule adequate time for the things that are truly most important to you.
If you really want to keep friends in your life, make space in your schedule and in your heart for them.In this passage the author mainly discusses ____.
| A．how to balance friendship and work |
| B．how to spend our spare time |
| C．whether we should keep friendship |
| D．whether we should invite friends to dinner |
Which of the following doesn’t indicate a good relationship?
| A．You have someone to count on when you are in trouble. |
| B．You have someone to have close talks with. |
| C．You have fun when you are with someone. |
| D．You feel depressed with others in life. |
.What does the underlined word “ delegated ” in Paragraph 7 probably mean?
| A．declined | B．replaced | C．appointed | D．handled |
What is the most important feature of the writing style of the passage?
| A．Offering arguments | B．Raising questions |
| C．Making comparisons | D．Giving examples |
What will power your house in the future？Nuclear, wind or solar power？According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, it might be leaves — but artificial (人造的) ones.
Natural leaves are able to change sunlight and water into energy. It is known as photosynthesis (光合作用). Now researchers have found a way to imitate this seemingly simple process.
The artificial leaf developed by Daniel Nocera and his colleagues at MIT can be seen as a special silicon chip with catalysts (催化剂). Similar to natural leaves, it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen when put into a bucket of water. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are then stored in a fuel cell，which uses those two materials to produce electricity，located either on top of a house or beside the house.
Though the leaf is only about the shape of a poker card, scientists claimed that it is promising to be an inexpensive source of electricity in developing countries. “One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology,” said Nocera at a conference of the American Chemical Society.
The artificial leaf is not a new idea. The first artificial leaf was invented in 1997 but was too expensive and unstable for practical use. The new leaf, by contrast, is made of cheap materials, easy to use and highly stable. In laboratory studies, Nocera showed that an artificial leaf prototype (原型) could operate continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity.
The wonderful improvements come from Nocera’s recent discovery of several powerful, new and inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformation inside the leaf more efficient with water and sunlight. Right now, the new leaf is about 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural one. Besides, the device can run in whatever water is available; that is, it doesn’t need pure water. This is important for some countries that don’t have access to pure water.
With the goal to “make each home its own power station” and “give energy to the poor”，scientists believe that the new technology could be widely used in developing countries，especially in India and rural China.Which of the following orders correctly shows how the artificial leaf is used to produce electricity?
a. artificial leaves split water into hydrogen and oxygen
b. the hydrogen and oxygen gases are stored in a fuel cell
c. the artificial leaves are put in water
d. the fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity
| A．c, a, b, d | B． c, b, a, d |
| C．b, c, a, d | D． c, a, d, b |
The purpose of the scientists at MIT in developing the new artificial leaf is to ________.
| A．build up more power stations in the world |
| B．provide cheaper energy for developing countries |
| C．offer people in developing countries access to pure water |
| D．gain a deeper understanding of the photosynthesis process |
The main idea of this passage is ________.
| A．an introduction to the history of artificial leaves |
| B．a mixture of water power and solar energy |
| C．giving energy to the poor |
| D．an invention copying photosynthesis |
On countless mornings over the past year, I stood with my son, James, in our driveway, watching our neighbor hurry off to kindergarten. My wife and I wanted to give James the best education, but that meant we’d have to change our jobs and spend less time with our kid. I asked myself, “Would this trade-off be worth it?” When I look at the research on child development, I think it might not. Where our kids go to school might matter less than most American parents think.
Social scientists have long tried to determine why some children grow up to be successful. In a 2001 study, Greg Duncan, a professor of education at the University of California, measured the influence that the people in a child’s life have on how well the child does in school. Duncan and his team found almost no relationship between how students did on the test and whom they sat beside in class, whom they hung out with after school and who lived in their block. The only meaningful link they found was between siblings（兄弟姐妹）and twins in particular.
For a long time, scholars thought that a family’s income heavily affected how well kids did in life. But that might not be the case. When Susan Mayer at the University of Chicago looked at the relationship between family income and lifetime achievement, she ran a series of experiments to measure it, finding such outcomes weren’t caused by income. She argued that the things that make a difference are relatively inexpensive: the number of books a kid has or how often his family goes to museums.
Lareau, another scholar began one of the most in-depth observations of American parenting. He concluded that success is much more related to the amount of time parents spend with their children. He said “Many parents I interviewed are anxious about their children’s futures．But they have exaggerated（夸大）the sense of the risks involved if they don't give their children the best of everything..”
So at last, we decided to leave things as it were. More time with our kid is the best we can provide.The first paragraph is intended to __________.
| A．introduce the topic of the passage |
| B．confirm the result of a research |
| C．stress the importance of good education |
| D．support a research on child development |
From the passage we know that most American parents _________.
| A．spend a lot of time with their children |
| B．like to buy a variety of books for their children |
| C．think children's achievement largely depends on schools |
| D．believe their income cannot afford children's education |
Who believes children's brothers and sisters may influence their academic performance?
| A．Lareau． | B．Greg Duncan． |
| C．Susan Mayer． | D．James． |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Parents' time matters to children's future． |
| B．School education determines children's future． |
| C．Family income counts to children's achievements． |
| D．Less education means more risks for children's success． |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号