Ever since he got into the Hong Kong film industry in 1994 with He’s a Woman, She’s a Man, Hong Kong director, Peter Chan has been one of the industry’s most powerful voices. Later in 1996, another milestone Comrades: Almost a Love Story came into being. Chan’s latest film, American Dreams in China is a carefully-calculated film with an eye toward opening the mainland cinema market.
American Dreams in China is a film purely for Chinese audiences, but how it plays there remains to be seen. It sends the right messages, but whether that’s enough to make it a hit is everyone’s guess. Mainland audiences aren’t quite that easy to “speak” to.
The film began during the period of economic reforms in China in the 1980s. The bookish farm boy Cheng Dongqing (Huang Xiaoming), the ambitious and confident boy Meng Xiaojun (Deng Chao) and the poetic Wang Yang(Tong Dawei), were three friends at university in Beijing and preparing for American visa interviews. Wang was the first to be granted the visa but he gave it up for his western girlfriend, and Cheng was repeatedly denied. Only Meng actually got a study visa. As he was leaving, he told his friends that he wouldn’t come back.
Several years later, Cheng and Wang built a successful school, New Dream, from the ashes of Cheng’s misfortune(his girlfriend got a visa too, and Cheng lost his university teaching job) and Wang’s ability to connect with students often through Hollywood movies. In America, Meng suffered a lot. Disappointed, he went home and joined his friends at New Dream. Later, the three friends’ relationship became worsened, but finally was improved under the weight of their common goals. Which of the following films made Peter Chan a most influential director in Hong Kong?
| A．American Dreams in China |
| B．Comrades: Almost a Love Story |
| C．New Dream |
| D．He’s a Woman, She’s a Man |
The underlined word “granted” (in paragraph 3) probably means “_________”.
| A．prepared | B．given | C．involved | D．permitted |
When the three men made preparations for American visa interviews, how many was/were offered a visa?
| A．None | B．One. | C．Three. | D．Two |
What led Cheng and Wang to start a business?
| A．The connection with Hollywood movies. |
| B．The weight of their common goals. |
| C．Cheng’s misfortune and Wang’s ability. |
| D．Meng’s disappointment and sufferings. |
Last week I visited my friend Pete in the new home where he lives with his wife and daughter. Pete used to spend his holidays travelling the world, visiting the pyramids in Egypt or scuba diving(潜水) in the Caribbean. Nowadays he prefers to spend his holidays and weekends making his house look more beautiful. Like hundreds of thousands of other British people, he has discovered the joy of DIY (Do It Yourself), which means if there are any things that need fixing around the house, he will try to do the job himself.
As he showed me the new kitchen he put together by himself and the newly painted walls, I asked Pete where he got his inspiration (灵感) from. He told me that his favorite source of ideas was a DIY program on TV.
This got me thinking about the great popularity of DIY programs in the UK. Each major channel has at least one home or garden improving show and there’s even a satellite channel completely about the subject.
I guess it is not really surprising that DIY programs are so popular. Two common sayings in Britain－ ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ and ‘there’s no place like home’－show how important our houses are to us. With the present economic downturn, many people can’t afford to buy a bigger house so they are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. DIY is the perfect choice.
But be careful! I read a report that said over 230,000 people were injured while doing home improvements in the UK in just one year, including 41,000 who fell off ladders(梯子) and 5,800 who were seriously hurt by hammers. So I won’t be going down to the hardware store.How did Pete spend his holiday in the past?
| A．Visiting his friends. |
| B．Diving. |
| C．Travelling around the world. |
| D．Making his house beautiful. |
Which might NOT be shown in a DIY program on TV?
| A．Scuba diving |
| B．A garden improving feature. |
| C．Home improvements. |
| D．Fixing things in kitchens |
Which is NOT the reason why DIY is popular among British people?
| A．They enjoy DIY. |
| B．They want to make their houses better themselves. |
| C．They can improve their houses without spending much money. |
| D．They want to be on TV. |
At the end of the article the writer wants us to remember _____.
| A．not to go to the hardware store |
| B．to be careful not to get hurt while doing DIY |
| C．to keep watching DIY on TV while drinking a nice cup of tea |
| D．not to climb ladders or use hammers |
As we all know, it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence (《独立宣言》). He wrote it in two weeks, and after a few changes, it was accepted by the Congress (国会). As a result, he became famous.
Born in 1743 in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, a wonderful student at school and almost talented(天才的 ) lawyer later, was much interested in politics.
Jefferson was elected the Governor of Virginia in 1779, and he was sent to France as the representative of the American government in 1784. Sixteen years later, at the age of 57, he was elected president after Washington and Adams.
Far from a handsome man, he was tall with long arms and big hands. Jefferson, who was an amusing(令人愉快的) talker in conversation but a poor speaker, was generally good-natured.
Jefferson was regarded as a defender of freedom in America. As a president, he protected the right of free speech. Interestingly enough, in his eight years as president, Jefferson never vetoed (否决) a bill which the Congress had passed. He did a lot in organizing the new University of Virginia.
Thomas Jefferson died on July the fourth, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence.
From the passage we can infer that America won its independence in _______.
| A．1786 | B．1800 | C．1842 | D．1776 |
How old was Thomas Jefferson when he was elected President of the U.S.A.?
A. He was 47. B. He was in his forties.
C. He was 57. D. We don’t know.
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Jefferson was an amusing talker, but not good at speaking in public. |
| B．Jefferson was not an easy person to get along with. |
| C．Jefferson was not only very talented but also very handsome. |
| D．Not being politically minded, Jefferson never vetoed a bill passed by the Congress. |
Jefferson died when he was ________.
| A．72 | B．83 | C．73 | D．92 |
Twelve-year-old Leonardo was born in a poor family in Bambamarca in Peru. He knew how to read but he had never seen a book in his life. So he asked the new priest（牧师）in his village to give him one. But there was no electricity. So Leonardo borrowed candles from the church and sat up all night reading it. The next morning, he was at the door of the priest asking for another book to read.
John Medcalf, the priest，was moved. He also realised that people would love to read if given a chance. But he knew how difficult it was for Leonardo and those in his village to get books. And yet, no one can be taught to read and write without books. To make people in a poor, faraway area grow to love books，they have to be with them. So he thought the only way was to bring books to people.
But how could this be done? Mobile libraries or car libraries would be too expensive and difficult to continue in the rocky, hilly land of Peru. So what other method could be used?
Medcalf got a new idea from the barefoot（赤脚）doctors of China. And that was how the barefoot librarians（图书管理员）first appeared in the villages of northern Peru，almost thirty years ago.
The librarians began by going from village to village, lending books to villagers. They helped start The 12ura1 Library Network of Peru.
At first，they were teachers of the village schools which these faraway libraries belonged to. But the teachers were not very interested in the job because it meant a lot of hard work.
So, village leaders took on the job themselves.
Today, there are 600 village libraries across Peru. The barefoot librarians who walk up to 15 hours a day with bags of books are their lifeline.
The first paragraph tells us that Leonardo
A. had a lot of books
B. bought candles from others
C, enjoyed reading books
D. lived in the church
The underlined word "this" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to（指）" "
A, to grow to love books
B. to bring books to people
C. to read and write
D. to build a new library
The passage doesn't mention
A, when the barefoot librarians appeared
B. who worked as village librarians at first
C. where Medcalf met Chinese doctors
D. how many village libraries Peru has today
It can be inferred（推断）from the passage that ．
| A．the first church in Peru was set up by John Medcalf |
| B．car libraries used to be popular in Leonardo's village |
| C．teachers were interested in bringing books to villagers |
| D．the barefoot librarians are important to village libraries |
The greatest scientific breakthroughs of 2014 have affected all aspects of modern life, from medicine, to space exploration, to the future of renewable technologies. Scientists all over the globe are publishing their findings and treating patients with new medicines and techniques that are changing everyday life for the human race, and adding to our vast banks of scientific knowledge.
Irish teens make a breakthrough in crop yields（产量）
16-year-old Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey, and Sophie Healy-Thow won the Google Science Fair2014, with their project “Natural Bacteria Fighting World Hunger”.
While learning about the food shortage in Africa, the three teens got thinking about how they could help. What they found may change the future of worldwide food production.. They experimented and were able to reduce germination（发芽）time by 50%and increase plants’ yield by up to 74%.
This could create the possibility of increased crop yields and reducing crop loss due to bad weather.
Cancer is cured?
In May 2014, the Mayo Clinic published a study in which they treated a 50-year-old female patient’s blood cancer with the measlesvaccine（麻疹疫苗）.After receiving the vaccine, Stacy Erholtz’s body is completely free of cancer.
Stephen Russell, who led the research, said, “It’s a landmark. We’ve known for a long time that we can introduce a virus into the blood and destroy cancer in mice. Nobody’s shown that you can do that in people before.” The measles vaccine will not work for all types of cancer, but is an unbelievable step forward.
Water found on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
In April, scientists announced that NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovered a body of water on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn（土星）. Enceladus is an icy moon about 300 miles in diameter （直径）.and its mysterious body of water appears to be 5 miles deep, around the size of Lake Superior.
Scientists have also discovered that the body of water features a rock is a possible sign of conditions good for the development of life.The text is mainly about _______.
| A．the new findings in medicine |
| B．the greatest scientists in 2014 |
| C．the new techniques in space exploration |
| D．the greatest scientific breakthroughs of 2014 |
What’s the aim of the three Irish teens’ Project?
| A．To attract Google’s attention. |
| B．To do research on Africa’s soil. |
| C．To solve the problem of world hunger.. |
| D．To understand different plants’ germination time. |
What can be inferred about the Mayo Clinic’s study?
| A．Blood cancer is very is very easy to cure. |
| B．All kinds of cancer will be cured soon. |
| C．Medical experiments on people are not allowed. |
| D．The research is a breakthrough in cancer treatment. |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．Enceladus is a warm moon |
| B．Enceladus may be suitable for life. |
| C．Enceladus is as big as Lake Superior. |
| D．Enceladus has several rocky sea floors. |
We use both words and body language to express our thoughts and opinions and to communicate with other people. We can learn about what a person is thinking by watching his or her body language. Words are important, but the way a person stands, folds his or her arms, or moves his or her hands can also give us information about his or her feelings.
Just like spoken language, body language varies from culture to culture. Making eye contact —looking directly into someone’s eyes — is in some countries a way to show interest. In other countries, however, eye contact is rude or disrespectful. The gesture for Ok, making a circle with one’s thumb and index finger, has different meanings in different cultures. In Japan, someone who sees another person making the gesture will think it means money. In France, a person seeing the same gesture will think it means zero. In Brazil and Germany, however, the gesture is rude. The thumbs-up gesture, meaning “great” or “good job” in the US is rude in Nigeria, but in Germany and Japan it means the number one. The “crazy” gesture, moving the index finger in a circle in front of the ear, means “you have a phone call” in Brazil.
Even the gesture we use for “yes” and “no” are different around the world. In many countries, shaking one’s head means “no”, and nodding means “yes”. In Bulgaria, parts of Greece, and Iran, however, the gestures have the opposite meaning. There are also differences as to how often we touch each other, how close we stand to someone we are talking to, and how we act when we meet or part. In some countries, for example, France and Russia, a visiting friend is greeted with a kiss on the check, in other countries people greet each other with a firm handshake, a loving hug, a bow or a simply a nod of the head.
While there are many different interpretations of our body language, some gestures seem to be universal. Pressing one’s palms together and resting one’s head on the back of one’s hand while closing the eyes as if sleeping means “I am tired.” A good way of saying “I am full” is moving the hand in circles over the stomach after a meal. If a person pats his or her stomach before a meal, it usually means “ I’m hungry.”
Perhaps the best example of universally understood body language is the smile. A smile can help us get through difficult situation and find friends in a world of strangers. A smile can open doors and tear down walls. It can be used to express almost any emotion. We can use a smile to apologise, to greet someone, to ask for help or to start a conversation. We can smile at ourselves in the mirror to make ourselves feel happier and stronger. And if we are feeling down or lonely, there is nothing better than to see the smiling face of a good friend.
In our daily life, which of the following do we use to communicate with each other?
| A．gestures | B．words | C．smiles | D．all above |
As a Chinese , if you are lost in Germany, without knowing German, you’d better---- to ask for help?
| A．use eye-contact | B．thumb-up |
| C．smile | D．say “excuse me” |
What does this passage mainly about?
| A．all the gestures in the world |
| B．the same body language in the world |
| C．gestures in the western countries |
| D．using proper gesture to express yourself |
The underlined word “universal” in the last second paragraph probably means ______.
| A．wide | B．common | C．not similar | D．in space |
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