Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, seldom walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day.
When Mary was in hospital with heart trouble in 1989, they decided it was time to get serious. Richard, who worked for a business company, wanted to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her job.
They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching(调查) the industry. “We knew it had to be a specialty store because we couldn’t match the big chains dollar for dollar,” says Mary. One figure caught her attention: She’d read somewhere that roughly 20 percent of books sold were mysteries(推理小说), and many buyers spent more than $300 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers.
On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Café near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family’s money to start a shop. To cover the whole $ 100, 000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from a bank.
The store broke even in its first year, with only $ 120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract customers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and served dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited dozens of writers to discuss their stories.
Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $ 420,000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales clerks, Richard and Mary together earn about $ 34,000.
“The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income,” says Richard. “This has always been about an enjoyable life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money.” After Mary got well from her illness they began _________.
| A．to study industrial management (工业管理) |
| B．to buy and read more mystery books |
| C．to do market research on book business |
| D．to work harder to save money for the bookstore |
How did their bookstore do in the first year?
| A．They had to borrow money to keep it going. |
| B．They made just enough to cover all the costs. |
| C．They succeeded in earning a lot of money. |
| D．They failed though they worked hard. |
According to Richard, the main purpose(目的) of running the bookstore is _________.
| A．to pay for children’s education |
| B．to get to know more writers |
| C．to set up more bookstores |
| D．to do what they like to do |
Tornadoes(龙卷风) are one of the worst weather events on earth. Each year, tornadoes kill many people. The storms often carry homes, cars and trees from one place to another. And they can also destroy anything when they pass by.
A tornado comes from a thunderstorm(雷雨) in the sky down to the ground. It is big at the top and small at the bottom.
A tornado appears when winds in different directions meet in the cloud and begin to turn in circles. People can see tornadoes almost everywhere in the world. But most happen from late winter to middle summer. There is a second high season in November. During spring, warm air moves north and mixes with the cold air left from winter. In November, the opposite happens. Cold air moves south and mixes with the warm air left from summer.
Tornadoes always come suddenly. Weather scientists have done something to predict(预测) tornadoes. But the storms often move too fast for people to protect themselves. Last year, tornadoes killed more than one hundred people in United States.
Scientists say the best place to be in is a small room, without windows, in the middle the lowest part of a building when tornadoes come.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。According to the passage, we know the shape of the tornadoes may be like ______.
In the United States, most tornadoes happen _____.
| A．from late summer to middle summer |
| B．from late autumn to middle winter |
| C．from late autumn to middle spring |
| D．from late winter to middle summer |
According to Paragraph 4, tornadoes appear when ______.
| A．warm air and cold air mix |
| B．cold air and cold air mix |
| C．warm air and warm air mix |
| D．warm water and cold water mix |
What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined word “destroy”?
| A．保护 | B．珍惜 | C．毁灭 | D．惩罚 |
From the passage, we know that ______.
| A．the United States has very few tornadoes |
| B．tornadoes are one of the worst weather events in the world |
| C．people should stay in big rooms with windows when tornadoes come |
| D．more than one thousand people were killed by tornadoes in the USA last year |
Travelling around the world is a dream for many people, but a young couple from China has made his dream come true. They drove along the ancient Silk Road, from China to the UK.
Luo Chang and Ding Jie, a young couple from China’s Guizhou Province, spent two months drving from their home in Shanghai all the way to London. The journey covered about 20,000 kilometer, and they crossed 14 countries and regions(地区).
Ding Jie said, “ People were excited to see two travelers driving a foreign license car, appearing on their streets. We were stopped many times to take photos with them. Sometimes, when we couldn’t understand each other’s language, they would express their ideas with gestures(手势).
During their driving trip, they also spent many nights in local people’s homes. Luo Chang said, “This is an amazing experience. We were driving on a highway or a country road to someone’s home. Someone you’ve never met but was already preparing dinner for you. We feelwe have friends all over the world.
During the trip, Luo and Ding took nearly 10,000 photos and kept diaries to record the beautiful scenery(风景), the friendly people and the different customs on the way.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。The young couple’s dream was _______.
| A．to travel around the world |
| B．to travel around the UK\ |
| C．to travel around China |
| D．to travel around the USA |
The young couple covered about ______ kilometers and crossed _____ countries and regions.
| A．20,000; 15 | B．20,000; 14 | C．10,000; 15 | D．2,000; 14 |
How did the young couple travel?
| A．By train. | B．By ship |
| C．By car. | D．By plane. |
During the trip, the couple recorded the following EXCEPT ______.
| A．beautiful scenery | B．friendly people |
| C．different customs | D．foreign licenses |
From the passage, we can learn that _____.
| A．the couple knew 14 languages |
| B．the couple spent all the nights in hotels |
| C．the couple was welcomed during the trip |
| D．the couple drove along the Silk Road, from China to Brazil |
George was head of an African country. He was going to pay a visit to the USA. He decided to learn some English words so that he might greet Bill Clinton, president of the USA then, in English. So he asked his wife for help because she knew a little English. His wife told, “When you meet Mr. President, just greet him with “How are you”, and he may answer ‘I am fine’. Then you need only to say ‘Me, too’, and leave the rest to your interpreter(口译).”
When his plane landed at the airport, George said to the smiling Clinton, “Who are you?”. This was quite unexpected to the president and surprised him greatly. But he quickly calmed() down. Still with a smile on his face, he answered, “I am Hillary’s husband.” To his reply, George answered back without a moment “Me, too”, and looked at the president’s wife, Hillary, smiling sweetly as well.
根据短文内容判断正误，正确的在答题卡上涂A，错误的在答题卡涂B。George was from Africa.
George’s wife knew a lot of English.
George wanted to learn some English words to greet Bill Clinton in English.
Bill Clinton was very surprised at first when George said “Who are you?” to him.
From the passage we know that George was Hillary’s husband.
Reform the gaokao
The college entrance examination is one of the most important tests in our lives. Now, the big exam has got a big change.
the government announced a reform(改革) plan on Sept 4, 2014. According to the plan, there are only three required(要求的) tests that everyone to take – Chinese, maths and foreign language. Each subject is marked out of 150. Students can take foreign language tests twice.
Students also have to learn six other subject – physics, chemistry, biology, geography, politics and history. They will have a final test after finishing their studies in each subject. They can choose three to hand in when applying for(报考) universities.
Nowadays, liberal arts(文科) and science(理科) have different tests. For example, in some places, liberal arts students get easier math questions. Under the new system, everyone will have same tests.
The reform will begin trials(试验) from this year in some cities. Current Senior 1 students in Shanghai and Zhejiang don’t have to choose between studying liberal arts and science.
Liu Yunsong, and English teacher at Beijing 101 Middle School, believes the reform is good news for junior students, especially for the English tests. “Two opportunities help the students show their real level better. As a result, we will pa y more attention to helping students be interested in the language instead of just teaching them the skills of dealing with tests. We will give them more chances to use the language, such as reading English.”What will be reformed according to the passage?
| A．The college graduation examination. |
| B．The middle s chool graduation exam ination. |
| C．The college entrance examination. |
| D．The middle school entrance exanmination. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the reform plan?
| A．Everyone has to take five tests. |
| B．Students can take all of the tests twice. |
| C．Students choose their best English scores. |
| D．Only Chinese and math are marked out of 150. |
How many subjects do students have to learn?
| A．Three. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Nine. |
The underlined word “opportunities” in the passage means ________.
| A．机会 | B．相反 | C．看法 | D．操作 |
According to Liu Yunsong, ______.
a. students can’t show their real level
B. the reform is bad news for students
C. students have to read more newspapers
D. students can benefit from the two English tests
In Britain, when people meet each other for the first time, they talk about things like family, work, school,or sports. They ask question like “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” “Where do you work?” “What school do you go to?” and “Do you like sports?” They also ask questions like “Where do you come from?” and “Where do you live?” These are polite questions. They are not personal or private. But some things are personal or private, and questions about them are not polite. People don’t ask questions about a person’s salary(薪水). They don’t ask how much or someone is paid for something. It is not OK to ask people questions about politics, party(政党) or religion(宗教) unless you know them very well. People don ’t ask unmarried people “Why are you single?” and they don’t ask a married couple with no children “Why don’t you have any children?”Which is a polite question in Britain when people meet?
| A．How’s your family? |
| B．You’re not married, why? |
| C．What do you think of the Labor Party? |
| D．How much does your boss pay you each week? |
The British usually don’t ask questions about a person’s _______.
| A．interest | B．work | C．religion | D．family |
It’s not polite for a person to show interest in the ______ life of others.
| A．school | B．private | C．hard | D．happy |
In Britain, which of the following questions is NOTpolite?
| A．Where are you from? |
| B．Do you like play football? |
| C．Which subject do you like best? |
| D．You look much older than your husband. How old are you? |
This passage is mainly about ______.
| A．school life | B．politeness | C．working | D．sport |
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