Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 years ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even die out completely. About 1,000 years ago English was a little -known relative of German spoken on one of the borders（边界）of Europe.
If a language has a lot of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China cannot understand speakers from other parts.The first paragraph mainly tells us that_______.
| A．most people in the world speak Chinese |
| B．there are thousands of languages in the world today |
| C．man has much knowledge about languages |
| D．some people know several languages |
Many European and Indian languages ______.
| A．will soon die out completely |
| B．were once a relative of English |
| C．are the same as before |
| D．come from the same family |
____ seems to have changed a lot
| A．Chinese | B．English | C．Spanish | D．German |
The best title of this passage is .
| A．English | B．Changes of English |
| C．Chinese | D．Knowledge of Language |
Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Exhibition of Shakespeare’s World
Welcome to the world—famous house where William Shakespeare was born in l564 and where he grew up. The property(房产)remained in the ownership of Shakespeare’s family until 1806 .The House has welcomed visitors traveling from all over the world ,for over 250 years.
Enter through the Visitors’ Centre and see the highly praised
exhibition of Shakespeare's World，a lively and full introduction
to the life and work of Shakespeare
Stand in the rooms where Shakespeare grew up
Discover examples of furniture and needlework from
Shakespeare’s period
Enjoy the traditional(传统的)English garden，planted with trees
and flower mentioned in the poet’s works
The Birthplace is within easy walking distance of all the car parks
shown on the map；nearest is Windsor Street(3 minutes’ Walk)
The House may present difficulties but the Visitors’ Centre，its
exhibition．and the garden are accessible (可进入的)to wheelchair users
The Shakespeare Coffee House(opposite the Birthplace)
How much is the admission for a family of two grown-ups and two children？
| A．￡9.80． | B．￡12.00． | C．￡14.20． | D．￡16.40． |
Where is the nearest parking place to Shakespeare’s Birthplace？
| A．Behind the exhibition hall． |
| B．Opposite the Visiturs’ Centre． |
| C．At Windsor Street． |
| D．Near the Coffee House． |
A wheelchair user may need help to enter ．
| A．the House | B．the garden |
| C．the Visitors’Centne | D．the exhibition hall |
Hong Kong businesses hit by nearly two months of illegal street occupations breathed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday. Police finally cleared illegal protesters camped at the main intersection in the Mong Kok district, arresting two student leaders.
More than 7,000 officers backed bailiffs (执达官，法警)clearing occupied sections of Argyle Street and Nathan Road. The two-day operation saw 148 people arrested for various offenses, including contempt (藐视) of court, resisting arrest, possession of offensive weapons, unlawful gathering and attacking police.
The Chief Leader Stephen Hui said 22 officers were injured during the clearances.
Police used pepper spray and batons (警棍)to keep protesters from reclaiming cleared roads and from spreading the illegal occupation to neighboring streets.
Six-lane Nathan Road, which goes through the heart of Kowloon, was cleared after nearly five hours. However, comments on the Internet said protesters were looking to reoccupy roads later in the evening.
This week's actions mark the first time the authorities have successfully cleared one of the three main protest sites, which sprang up after demonstrators seized key intersections in late September to press for unconstitutional reforms.
Contractor Kwan Sui-sum, 55, said he wished the Nathan Road clearance had come earlier, as he has had to pay HK$20,000 ($2,580) after the protesters delayed building reconstruction work. The owner of the Chung Hing Duty Free drug store was cautiously optimistic and eager for his store at the corner of the cleared intersection to get back to business. Sales dropped by 40 percent during the occupation, he said.
“I'm not worried about the guess that the protesters will return. I trust in Hong Kong's rule of law and in the police,” the man said, who wished to remain unknown as he fears attack from protesters.
But five stores at a cleared site owned by jewelry chain Chow Tai Fook were still closed hours later. A company spokesman said the outlets will remain shut while it continues to monitor the situation.You can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．the Hong Kong police cleared the roads at a cost |
| B．all the Hong Kong citizens are doubtful about the result of the clearances |
| C．all the illegal protesters were willing to leave the protest sites |
| D．the Hong Kong government’s attitude to the illegal protesters is unclear |
In the two-day operation,_________.
| A．many Hong Kong citizens joined in it |
| B．all the protest sites were cleared |
| C．many illegal protesters were arrested |
| D．all the stores were still open |
What Hong Kong police will probably do next according to the passage?
| A．They will help the owners of the stores do their businesses. |
| B．They will try their best to arrest other fled illegal protesters |
| C．They will help the officers injured during the clearances. |
| D．They will arrange to take more action to finish the clearances. |
This passage is mainly about ______.
| A．Hong Kong businesses hit by nearly two months of illegal street occupations |
| B．the event that police cleared Hong Kong protest sites |
| C．shop owners who wished to remain unknown as he fears attack from protesters |
| D．Hong Kong citizens who doubt the police's clearances |
High-quality customer service is preached (宣扬) by many, but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done.
Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store, but instead will alert their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers—and anyone who will listen.
Store managers are often the last to hear complaints, and often find out only when their regular customers decide to frequent their competitors, according to a study jointly conducted by Verde Group and Wharton School.
“Storytelling hurts retailers and entertains consumers,” said Paula Courtney, President of the Verde Group. “The store loses the customer, but the shopper must also find a replacement.”
On average, every unhappy customer will complain to at least four others, and will no longer visit the specific store. For every dissatisfied customer, a store will lose up to three more due to negative review. The resulting “snowball effect” can be disastrous to retailers.
According to the research, shoppers who purchased clothing encountered the most problems. Ranked second and third were grocery and electronics customers.
The most common complaints include filled parking lots, cluttered (塞满了的) shelves, overloaded racks, out-of-stock items, long check-out lines, and rude salespeople.
During peak shopping hours, some retailers solved parking problems by getting moonlighting (业余兼职的) local police to work as parking attendants. Some hired flag wavers to direct customers to empty parking spaces. This guidance eliminated the need for customers to circle the parking lot endlessly, and avoided confrontation between those eyeing the same parking space.
Retailers can relieve the headaches by redesigning store layouts, pre-stocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers, and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions.
Most importantly, salespeople should be diplomatic and polite with angry customers.
“Retailers who’re responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren’t so friendly,” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as simple as a greeter at the store entrance would help.”
Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filing complaints to the retailer, instead of complaining to the rest of the world. Retailers are hard-pressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong.Why are store managers often the last to hear complaints?
| A．Most customers won’t bother to complain even if they have had unhappy experiences. |
| B．Customers would rather relate their unhappy experiences to people around them. |
| C．Few customers believe the service will be improved. . |
| D．Customers have no easy access to store managers. |
What does Paula Courtney imply by saying “…the shopper must also find a replacement” (Line 2, Para. 4)
| A．New customers are bound to replace old ones. |
| B．It is not likely that the shopper can find the same products in other stores. |
| C．Most stores provide the same kind of service. |
| D．Not complaining to manager causes the shopper some trouble too. |
What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?
| A．Manners of the salespeople. |
| B．Hiring of efficient employees. |
| C．Huge supply of goods for sale. |
| D．Design of store layout. |
To achieve better shopping experiences, customers are advised to ________.
| A．exert pressure on stores to improve their service |
| B．settle their disputes with stores in a diplomatic way |
| C．voice their dissatisfaction to store managers directly |
| D．shop around and make comparisons between stores |
About five years ago, an American electrical engineer named Scott Brusaw and his wife Julie came up with the idea of putting solar panels (控制板) on the ground rather than the roof. Then they began to develop the Solar Roadway. The Solar Roadway is an intelligent road that provides clean renewable energy using power from the sun while providing safer driving conditions, along with power and data delivery. They predict that the Solar Roadway will pay for itself through the generation of electricity along with other forms of income and that the same money that is being used to build and resurface current roads can be used to build the Solar Roadways.
Each Solar Road Panel measures roughly 4 meters by 4 meters and contains a microprocessor (微处理器) that monitors and controls the panel, while communicating with neighboring panels and the vehicles traveling overhead. The inventors suggest that this provides a communications device every 4 meters on every road which could be used for example to warn drivers of cars which are moving across a centre line and various other speed control problems. The top of the Solar Road panels is made of super-strong glass that would offer vehicles the tractions (抓地力) they need.
According to the inventors, the Solar Roadway creates and carries clean renewable electricity and therefore electric vehicles can be recharged at any conveniently located rest stop, or at any business that has paved Solar Road Panels in their parking lots.
The inventors say their Solar Roadway has many functions and advantages from main roads to driveways, parking lots, bike paths, sidewalks and runways. The Federal Highway Administration has given Brusaw ＄100,000 to develop the invention and Brusaw hopes to build a smart-road parking lot in the coming spring .In the inventors’ opinion, the Solar Roadway ___________________________ .
| A．is too expensive to build at present |
| B．costs no more money than current roads |
| C．can provide as many data as present computers |
| D．will bring them a large sum of money |
The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 2 refers to .
| A．the panels | B．the inventors |
| C．the researchers | D．the vehicles |
It can be inferred from the text that ____________________________.
| A．the Solar Roadway has already been put into use |
| B．＄100,000 is only enough to build a smart-road parking lot |
| C．the Solar Roadway is not available for gas-powered cars |
| D．future electric vehicles can be charged anytime and anywhere |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Solar-powered smart road of the future |
| B．The great changes on the roadway |
| C．The influence the Solar Roadway has on people |
| D．The Solar Road—a much faster road |
It’s 4 am, and Danilo C. Dequina is already awake. Holding a flashlight and a bucket, he is walking in the pre-dawn darkness along the shore of Old Poblacion Beach in the town of Maitum, Sarangani, in the far south of the Philippines.
A few minutes later, he spots a patch of sand that appears to have been disturbed by a turtle. Dequina studies the area carefully, figuring out where the eggs have been buried, and then starts digging slowly. After clearing away several centimeters of sand, he uncovers a large group of eggs, roughly the size of ping-pong balls. He picks them up and puts them in the bucket.
Dequina carries the eggs to his hatchery (孵卵所), some 50 meters away from the seashore. The hatchery is really just a sandy patch of land under the coconut trees enclosed by a black fence. It is here that he buries the turtle eggs he has collected. Today, Dequina scoops a hole, puts the eggs in it, and covers them with sand. After 45 to 70 days, the eggs will hatch. Dequina will then carry the hatchlings to the shore, and release them into the sea. He admits to feeling sorrow as he sets the hatchlings free -- most are hunted down by natural predators, and just one percent survive to adulthood.
According to the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), eight species of sea turtles face extinction, including four that come to the shores of Sarangani to lay their eggs -- the Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and Green Turtles.
After learning about their plight (困境), Dequina attended a DENR training session on turtle conservation and decided to take action. He helped the local government to set up the Pawikan Nesting Sanctuary next to his house in 2003.
The hatchery drew the attention of the locals. “They started to change their attitudes towards sea turtles,” 52-year-old Dequina says. “If they see turtle eggs, they will either bring them to me or inform me of the nesting places.” Over the past ten years, more than 3,000 hatchlings have been released to the ocean.Dequina walks along the shore to ________.
| A．release small turtles |
| B．bury turtle eggs deeper |
| C．look for newly laid turtle eggs |
| D．clear away trash from the seaside |
When Dequina finds turtle eggs along the shore, he will ________.
| A．put them into the sea instantly |
| B．just bury them |
| C．pick them up and put them in the bucket |
| D．take them and go to his house |
What is the attitude of local people toward Dequina’s efforts?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Disappointed. |
| C．Opposed. | D．Supportive. |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．Dequina feels sad when he releases hatchlings. |
| B．Dequina has worked for the hatchery for six years. |
| C．The hatchery is far from Dequina’s house. |
| D．The hatchery mainly protects injured turtles. |
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