What brings a nation together? Of the four choices — shared values, language, history, and religion, it’s shared values. In our latest poll (民意调査), seven out of 16 countries chose values as the greatest factor (因索）bringing a nation together, and six preferred language. Both choices scored high in the poll, suggesting that our values and how we express them are closely linked Still, history was not forgotten in some countries, particularly in Mexico and Russia. Even Canada and the United States chose national histories as the second-most important factor uniting their people. The biggest surprise? Not one country picked religion as its top choice.
| Respect your elders In most countries, the oldest generation considered values more important to a nation than did those who are under 45 years old. |
Do you speak Canadian? Language scored lower in Canada than in all other countries polled, perhaps because the country speaks two official languages, French and English. |
Church and state Most people polled do not connect their religious beliefs to their national pride. Religion ranked last in 13 countries — with France scoring it at 1%, the lowest of all. |
According to the poll, what was the most important factor in bringing a nation together?
| A．Language. | B．Values. | C．History. | D．Religion. |
In which country did language score the lowest in their national pride?
| A．Canada. | B．Mexico. | C．France. | D．America. |
According to the charts, shared values and language were considered equally important in .
| A．Australia | B．Brazil | C．China | D．India |
Shanghai: Car rentals(出租) are becoming more and more popular as an inexpensive way of taking to the roads. Business people, foreigners and families alike are making good use of the growing industry.
The first car rental firm opened in Shanghai in 1992 and now 12 car rental players are in the game, with more than 11,500 cars in their books.
The largest Player----Shanghai Bashi Tourism Car Rental Center Offers a wide variety of choices-deluxe sedans, minivan, station wagons, coaches. Santana sedans are the big favorite.
Firms can attract enough customers for 70 percent of their cars every month. This figure shoots up during holiday seasons like National Day, Labor Day and New Year's Day, with some recording 100 percent rental.
The major market force rests in the growing Population of white-collar employees (白领雇员工),who can afford the new service, said Zhuang Yu, marketing manager of Shanghai Angel Car Rental Co.The words “deluxe sedans'," minivans" and station wagons" used in the text refer to
| A．cars in the making | B．bar rental firms. |
| C．cars for rent | D．car makers |
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
| A．70% of the cars can be rented out on holiday |
| B．70% of the customers are white-collar employees. |
| C．More firms are open for service during holiday seasons. |
| D．Some firms rent out all their cars during holiday seasons. |
Shanghai's car rental industry is growing so fast mainly due to --,
| A．better cars supplied by producers |
| B．fast service offered by car rental firms |
| C．the increasing number of white-collar employees. |
| D．people's growing interest in travelling during holidays |
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?”“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. “How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he required. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she said rudely. The little boy again counted the coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the bill and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed nearly beside the empty dish, were two five-cent coins and five one-cent coins---her tip.In the days , an ice cream is ______________.
| A．dearer than usual | B．as dear as usual |
| C．much cheaper than usual | D．as cheap as usual |
How much money did the boy probably have in his pocket?
| A．thirty-five cents. | B．More than fifty cents. |
| C．only fifty cents. | D．Less than fifty cents. |
Why did the little boy have only a dish of plain ice cream?
| A．The plain ice cream cost him much less. |
| B．He enjoyed the cheaper ice cream better. |
| C．The coins were not enough for an ice cream sundae. |
| D．He wanted to save some coins to tip the waitress. |
We can infer that the waitress might have felt _____ when she got the tip.
| A．very surprised. | B．a bit of shame |
| C．quite pleased | D．a little worried |
Do you enjoy reading? Do you read newspapers or magazines? Chances are, if you do any of these activities, your pre-school child is on his way to becoming a reader.
The process of learning to read is complex, and one of the most important things to know is that parents can help their children learn to read. As children have conversations with adults, they hear both new and familiar words and their vocabulary grows.
There are many opportunities for adults and children to talk together, such as when riding in the car or in a bus, doing housework like fixing dinner, or bathing and getting ready for bed. A major part of conversation is listening. When children talk, adults listen and respond. Then children listen and respond, and so the flow of conversation happens.
Have you watched you pre-school child pretend to read to his younger sisters or brothers? Have you read his favorite story over and over? These experiences tell children that reading is fun. And when things are fun and they are repeated, your child will see letters. He begins to connect them to familiar words, especially the letters that make up his name. A natural next step for him to take is to write the letters.
When children see parents make a grocery list, they want to use a pencil and paper to make their own list. To encourage these beginning writing activities, have pencils, markers, crayons and scrap paper within your children’s reach.
The more children get connected with talking, listening, reading and writing, the easier it is for them to become active readers. While you as a parent have a big influence on these early behaviors, it is important to remember that opportunities for literacy experiences happen when you and your child share in the basic routines（日常生活）of everyday life. The third paragraph tells us that parents can talk with their children__________.
| A．during daily routines | B．only in quiet places |
| C．in their spare time | D．when they are eager to walk |
During the process of learning to read, children may _________.
| A．copy the action of the adults. |
| B．prefer to talk with those of their own age. |
| C．show no interest in reading at all. |
| D．waste a lot of paper and other materials. |
When do children want to learn to write?
| A．When their parents ask them to do so. |
| B．When they believe they can write well. |
| C．When they know what they want to know |
| D．When they can connect letters with familiar words. |
The passage is written to _____________.
| A．talk about parents’ influence on their children’s behavior |
| B．encourage parents to set a good example to their children |
| C．advise parents to make reading a part of their children’s daily life |
| D．make parents believe in the importance of early reading |
Language is always changing. In a society where life continues year after year with few changes, the language does not change, either. The earliest known languages had difficult grammar but a small, limited vocabulary. Over the century, the grammar changed, and the vocabulary grew. For example, the English and Spanish people who came to America during the sixteenth century gave names to all new plants and animals they found. In this way, hundreds of new words were introduced into English and Spanish vocabularies. Today life is changing very fast, and language is changing fast too.
There are several major language families in the world. Some scientists say there are nine main families, but other scientists divide them differently. The languages in each family are connected, and scientists think that they came from the same parent language About 3 percent of the people in the world speak languages that are not in these major families. The early language had ______.
| A．a lot of problems | B．words and easy grammar |
| C．words but no grammar | D．grammar but not many words |
In the next few hundred years we can expect language to ______.
| A．stay exactly the same | B．change a great deal |
| C．change only a little | D．add more words and drop some grammar |
What this article shows is that ______.
| A．languages change fast | B．languages really don’t want to change |
| C．language changes with changes of society | D．Spanish and English change |
From this article we can see that ______.
| A．language can change very slowly or very quickly |
| B．Though our life changes, our language won’t change. |
| C．we should give our plants new names |
| D．English and Spanish are the only languages that have changes |
More and more often we heard of people talking about Karaoke (卡拉OK). But what on earth it is about still remains a question for many people. Karaoke is a sort of acoustic (听觉的) equipment which was invented in Japan around the middle of the 1970's. It means "a band without people" in Japanese. In fact, it is just a music tape without words. This equipment first appeared in some public houses and snack bars, and mainly for the customers to enjoy themselves. Most of the music in Karaoke was popular music. Therefore, at times, when anyone felt like it, he might sing songs to the accompaniment (陪伴) of the music that came from the equipment. Shortly after its invention, Karaoke was spread to the whole world. It was introduced to China and was welcomed by many people. Although you are not a good singer, or even sometimes you may sing out of tune, you can always enjoy yourself by singing Karaoke.In this passage "band" means "group of persons ________."
| A．who play games on the sports ground |
| B．who play music together |
| C．living in the same neighborhood |
| D．doing things together under a leader and with a common purpose |
Karaoke is just a ______.
| A．cassette tape with only music | B．cassette tape recorder |
| C．band from Japan | D．voice recording equipment |
Karaoke was spread to the whole world ________.
| A．as soon as it was invented | B．long before |
| C．not long after it was invented | D．before long |
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