It is a wonderful morning, as I write this: hot, but without being too hot．Outside my window, I can see the sunniest sky of the year reflected in a huge natural expand of water．It is the kind of sun that makes you well aware of summer's temporary nature a reminder that if I am ever to go around to book this year's holiday, time is running out．
It is now close to four years since I last took a holiday．This is because I have come to the conclusion, over the course of my adult life, that I am not very good at it．You might say this sounds like saying you are not very good at drinking tea or listening to music．What could possibly be difficult about the natural act of putting your working life on hold for a couple of weeks and going somewhere to do nothing?
So what is my problem? On the surface, I'm probably a bit of homebody．And I just find the pressure of being on holiday too severe: it always feels like having a gun held to my head and being forced to have fun．Somehow, packing a carefully itemized（详细列举的）list of possessions and meeting a scheduled flight has none of the excitement of suddenly deciding to take a day off and driving somewhere for the fun of it．
Thankfully, I am not alone． This summer, most of my friends have decided not to have a break． And a recent survey highlighted the downside（负面）of holidays, with the results showing that nearly two thirds of people found that the calming effects of a holiday wore off within 24 hours, as stress levels returned to normal．And this year's the Idler magazine published its hook, Awful Holidays．Here you will find a list of the five most ecologically-damaging vacations it's possible to take, along with 50 horrible holidays experiences voted for on the idler website． Over the last decade, The Idler has become well known for promoting the idea of an easy, lazy life．The leisure（休闲）industry might seem an unlikely target of its criticism, but Dan Kienan, the book ' s editor, says that he was flooded with entries from readers for his list of awful holidays．According to the first paragraph we can know that the writer ．
| A．has a strong desire to book a holiday |
| B．wishes that the weather would change |
| C．finds it is too late to enjoy the sunshine |
| D．realizes it's time to decide whether to go on a holiday |
The reason why the writer dislikes going on holidays is that ．
| A．it usually costs too much money |
| B．he is tired of making preparations too much for holidays |
| C．it is far less enjoyable than breaks planned in advance |
| D．he feels embarrassed when other people are having fun but he isn't |
We can learn from the survey that ．
| A．most people pretend to enjoy their holiday |
| B．all people fail to relax while they are on holiday |
| C．a lot of people feel that the benefits of going on holidays are limited |
| D．many people have made the same decision as the writer and most of his friends |
The writer takes the book of Awful Holidays as an example to ．
| A．damage the reputation of the magazine |
| B．prove the idea of living an easy, lazy life to be wrong |
| C．indicate that his dislike of holidays is widely shared |
| D．focus entirely on bad personal experiences of holidays |
Section One
The city is an accumulation of human civilization. Just as the American social philosopher Lewis Mumford put it, it is a special system which, fine and compact, has been designed to preserve the fruits of human civilization. Many Western languages have developed their versions of the term “civilization” from the same Latin word “civitas”(meaning “city” ), and it is by no means a coincidence. The city has played a significant role in the perfection of order in human society.
Section Two
The emblem(会徽), showing the ima
ge of three people ― you, me, him/her holding hands together, symbolizes the big family of mankind. Inspired by the shape of the Chinese character “世” (meaning the world), the design conveys the organizers' wish to host an Expo which is of global scale and which shows the various urban cultures of the world.
Section Three
Created from the inspiration of Chinese character “人”, the design roots deeply in Chinese culture. It tells the world the eternal core (永恒的核心) and theme of Shanghai World Expo will be always human. The mascot “Haibao” will become the messenger for the theme of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China “Better City, Better Life”.
The basic structure of the Chinese character “人” in which each stroke supports each other also shows the concept that the beautiful life should depends on mutual-help（互相帮助）. If the human are willing to support one another, the harmony among human, nature, and society will be available. Such an urban life will be nice.
Haibao’s confident smile is expressing his sincere greeting from China ― “World Expo 2010 Shanghai China welcomes you!”
Section One mainly tells about ______.
| A．the part cities play in human civilization | B．the development of the  word “city” |
| C．why the Expo is held in Shanghai | D．where human civilization originated |
The underlined word “it” in Section One refers to ______.
| A．the civilization | B．the philosopher | C．the word | D．the city |
Which correctly matches the sections with the pictures they describe?
| Pictures |
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Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school， but it wasn’t until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were” says Ryan．Why couldn’t they create green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines?
When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen you clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with nontoxic ways to clean while Ryan focused on marketing．In February 2001，they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 grocers to try them· Once they had their approval，they tapped friends and family and pooled their savings to come up with $90，000 in seed money．
From the start，“Go big or go home’’ was their mantra(口头禅)．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months
later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300,000.”
Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．
Consumers were hooked on the natural things and wonderful fragrance. T
oday, the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million. Such rapid growth has at times stressed the men’s friendship. “Eric and I agree on ‘what’ but never on ‘how，’ says Lowry． “Although we are willing to challenge each other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us.”The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·
| A．poisonous | B．dirty | C．expensive | D．troublesome |
When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.
| A．he knew his mom was sure to support him |
| B．his mom asked him to clean his room |
| C．his mom suspected his ability |
| D．he was discouraged by his mom |
We can learn from the third paragraph that ___________．
| A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to give up and go home at first |
| B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning |
| C．they made profit two months later after their first financing |
| D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money |
The partners’ cleaning products are sold very well because_________．
| A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice |
| B．their friends and family offered to use their products |
| C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer |
| D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them |
It can be inferred from the passage that___________．
| A．Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s |
| B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand |
| C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful |
| D．The partners get on well with each other in their business |
Some couples spend every waking minute together. Others fill their hours with personal hobbies,outside interests and even part-time jobs, just to keep their distance from each other! "There should be private time and couple time," suggests Dr. Stephen Treat at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia."You don't want your latter years to turn into a process where two people unite as one. If you hold too tightly to your partner, it's going to cause resentment and anger. If you're completely separate, you'll both be lonely and disconnected. You need balance. So you have to talk about how you'll achieve that."
The right balance? It's different for every couple. "Having a conversation about time can be difficult,but it's important for both partners to process those feelings out loud," Dr. Treat says. "You should not be accusing and act as a judge—ask the difficult questions, but do it in a loving way. You could say something like, 'How are we going to be as individuals and how are we going to be as a couple?' "
Barbara and Chris Christensen have achieved the balance that works for them. In addition to daily routines that keep them close—including about 10 minutes for a daily check-in and about a half hour of relaxation time—they each maintain separate interests and friendships.
"We have found that we need time apart," Barbara says. "I have a group of women friends that I have known for the last 30 years. We have dinner out once a month. We women also have parties and weekend or weeklong vacations as a group at a beach or somewhere. Chris, a former fighter pilot, has many aviation-oriented(航空的) groups and friends and also a poker-playing group of our friends. I may be with him during the poker night, but I don't play, and the wives usually watch a chick flick' DVD or something while the poker group has an evening of fun. We have found it important to have separate time as well as together time."The author writes the passage to ______.
| A．offer some suggestions on how to spend the time after retirement |
| B．advise couples to develop their separate hobbies |
| C．warn couples not to be accusing each other |
| D．give people some advice on how to entertain themselves after retirement |
Dr. Stephen suggests that _________after retirement.
A．couples s tay together all the time |
| B．couples express their feelings in a loving way |
| C．couples be separate |
| D．wives make many friends |
It can be inferred that________.
| A．many couples are faced with problems after retirement |
| B．America has a large population of retired people |
| C．most people join various social groups after retirement |
| D．playing poker is a popular activity among retired people |
Barbara and her friends do the following EXCEPT_______.
| A．having dinner regularly |
| B．holding parties |
| C．having weekly vacations at the beach |
| D．having fun playing poker |
The second paragraph is mainly intended to_______.
| A．warn the husband not to act as a judge |
| B．suggest couples have discussions about difficulties |
| C．suggest how to keep the correct balance |
| D．require couples to be considerate |
I used to work in an office, which had a Iocust tree growing outside the window. It had
grown into a tall tree and must have been there for a long time. The tree blocked the view and made the office seem dull. Unfortunately, this happened to be the room assigned to me, and l was dep
ressed by it for quite some time.
When the first spring came, everything was green except the locust tree.I felt very happy because I had thought it had died!
One morning, when I opened the window for some fresh air, I unexpectedly smelt a familiar sweet scent floating into my office which I could not name. Suddenly,I realized it was the locust tree!The tree that I thought dead was in full bloom!
From then on, I usually came to the office very early to see dew forming on the locust tree blossoms, and was eager to see spring again every year.
During summer, the green leaves provided shade protecting me from the harsh sunlight, but allowing enough light in to make it pleasant. In autumn, the leaves turned many different colors. Its beauty touched my soul. Many times, I thought to take photos but never did. Then, I had to leave in a hurry. Later in life, it became a great regret that I had not done so.
Actually, many times in our lives we think we own something and thus do not value it. We don't feel regretful until we lose it one day! Moreover, sometimes, we have to accept the things we don't want and need to discover the hidden beauty to find unexpected joy! The locust tree first attracted the author most by____.
| A．the way it blocked the view | B．its height |
| C．the smell of its flowers | D．its green leaves |
In which season do you think the author paid the least attention to the locust tree?
| A．Spring. | B．Summer | C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
Which of the following statements is true of the author according to the passage?
| A．He would have regretted if the locust tree had died as he had thought it had. |
| B．The locust tree turned out to be a lovely memory for him. |
| C．He felt unhappy as he had forgotten to take the photos with him. |
| D．His work in the office changed with the seasons every year. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．the locust tree died soon after the author left the office |
| B．the author worked in the office for at least a few years |
| C．it was summer when the author took his job in the office |
| D．the weather was dry when the author first saw the tree |
What advice does the author intend to give us?
| A．Treasure what we've owned. | B．Look before you leap. |
| C．Treat everything calmly. | D．Never forget the past. |
BEIJING---The Beijing government has set out to recruit thousands of university graduates to work as junior officials in rural areas to both improve rural administration and ease the city's employment problems.
The government plans to recruit 3,000 university graduates this year, 1,000 more than last year, to work as assistants to village heads or Party secretaries in suburban areas.
People interested in jobs in Beijing's rural villages and townships can submit applications to the Beijing Municipal Personnel Bureau or online at www. bjbys, com from February 1 through March 15.
"We hope university graduates will seize this opportunity to use their knowledge in rural villages and to start their careers," Sun Zhenyu, deputy director of Beijing Personnel Bureau, told Xinhua News Agency.
The government has promised successful candidates a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan( $ 250) in the first year, 2,500 yuan ($ 320) the second year and 3,000 yuan ($ 385) the third year, provided their performance is up to the required standards, Sun said.
Wang Lina, who graduated from Beijing Union University last year, was one of the first graduates to find work in the city's countryside. After majoring in industrial and commercial administration, Wang served as the assistant to the village head of Ertiaojie Village in suburban Beijing’s Pinggu District. For one project, Wang contacted people at the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences and arranged for the local farmers to receive training in strawberry planting. Her efforts paid off. The village had a plentiful harvest of organic strawberries earlier this year.
Nationwide, about 150,000 university graduates found employment in rural areas last year, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Education.
The ministry predicts that 4．95 million students will graduate from universities across the country this year, 820,000 more than last year. About 1.4 million of them are unlikely to find jobs when they graduate.
In Beijing, a record 200,000 people are expected to graduate from university this year. Less than half of them are expected to be offered jobs, according to the personnel bureau.The underlined word "recruit "in the first paragraph probably means_____________.
| A．force | B．employ | C．encourage | D．train |
From the story of Wang Lina we can learn that________________.
| A．the sooner you go to the countryside, the sooner you will be successful. |
| B．local farmers can get big harvests if they learn more knowledge. |
| C．university graduates can also realize their value in rural areas. |
| D．Wang had great difficulty in helping villagers planting organic strawberries. |
The last two paragraphs aim to tell us that________________.
| A．more and more graduates will work as junior officials |
| B．the universities should not have so many students |
| C．there are more and more graduates in recent years |
| D．it is not easy for graduates to find jobs nowadays |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．Job hunting for university graduates. |
| B．Go to the countryside. |
| C．What is the best career? |
| D．A good choice for university graduates. |
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