Wang Jiaming from Beijing Chenjinglun High School says he is a lucky boy. He’s happy that he’s sitting the senior high school entrance exam (中考) in 2014 instead of 2016.
On Oct 22, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (北京市教委) announced that, from 2016, the English scores in the senior high school entrance exam will be reduced from 120 to 100. Of the 100 points, the listening ability scores will increase to 50. Meanwhile, the points for Chinese will increase from 120 to 150.
“The change won’t affect me. I feel so lucky because English is my strongest subject,” said Wang.
Why such a change? It places the importance on Chinese in our study, and reduces students’ pressure, said Li Yi, spokesman of the commission.
“The change will also push us to pay attention to the practical usage of English,” said Li. “ Students will be encouraged to learn to understand English menus and read English news on mobile phones.”
There isn’t news that other cities will have the same change. But several places are making changes to English tests in the college entrance exams.
For example, Shandong is considering taking out the listening part of the English exam in its gaokao.
But, “being tested for less points doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly.,” Bai Ping wrote in China Daily.
English has long been the world’s most commonly used language. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji once said: “In a globalizing economy, if you cannot interact with foreighers, how can one be part of the world economy?”
Wang Jiaming said he understood the change. “Chinese, not English, is our mother tongue,” he said. “But still, I think English is both interesting and useful.” In the Beijing senior high school entrance exam of 2016, __________.
| A．the English scores will be cut down to 100 |
| B．the English listening ability scores will be lowered |
| C．the points for Chinese will be reduced by 30 points |
| D．the points for chemistry will increase y 20 points |
Wang Jiaming feels lucky because ____________.
| A．he doesn’t need to take the important exam |
| B．the exam changed from 2016 doesn’t affect him |
| C．he does well in Chinese |
| D．he is poor in chemistry |
What is the main purpose of the change?
| A．To encourage students to learn how to order meals in English. |
| B．To make students learn to read English news on mobile phones. |
| C．To ask students to prepare for the college entrance exam. |
| D．To make students pay more attention to learning Chinese. |
What does Bai Ping think of the reforms?
| A．They make students spend less time on English. |
| B．They make it harder to get a high score. |
| C．Studying English is still important for the students. |
| D．English is both interesting and useful. |
Malls (购物中心) are popular places for Americans to go to. Some people spend so much time at malls that they are called mall rats. Mall rats shop until they visit hundreds of stores.
People like malls for many reasons. They feel safe because malls have police stations. Parking is usually free. And the weather inside is always fine. The newest malls have beautiful rest places with waterfalls and large green trees.
The largest mall in the United States is the Mall of America in Minnesota. It covers 4.2 million square feet. It has 350 stores, eight nightclubs, and a large park! There are parking spaces for 12,750 cars. About 750,000 people shop there every week.
The first indoor mall in the United States was built in 1965 in Edina Minnesota. People love doing all their shopping in one place. More malls are built around the country. Now malls are town centers where people come to do many things. They shop, and of course, they also eat in food courts (广场) that have food from all over the world. They see films at theaters. Some people even get their exercise by doing the new sport of “mall walking”. Others go to malls to meet friends.
In some malls, people can see a doctor and even go to the church. In other words, people can do almost everything in malls. Now people can live in their favorite shopping centers in fact.The passage gives ______ reasons why American people like malls.
| A．2 | B．3 | C．4 | D．5 |
According to the passage, Americans like doing shopping ______.
| A．in one place | B．in a quiet place |
| C．in a busy place | D．in different places |
Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．People can see a doctor in some malls. |
| B．Parking is free in all the malls. |
| C．The malls are only in big cities. |
| D．The largest mall is in Hong Kong. |
Researchers have found that there are some basic things that you can do to become happier.
◆Self
Yourself includes your education, your health, and your sense of purpose. It is important to take care of yourself and to connect the people around you. First, find a hobby. This gives you a chance to meet people with similar interests. You can also volunteer. Volunteering takes the focus off your own problems and makes you feel grateful for what you have.
◆Home
Create a quieter, dark area where you can sit and relax. Paint your living room yellow – it can increase energy and improve mood (情绪). It also helps to own a pet. Pets can make their owners feel calm, and provide love and friendship.
◆Financial (财务的) life
According to Ed Diener, the key to greater well-being is to have money, but not to want it too much. Try to spend money on things that give you long-lasting pleasure. Buy things that will enrich your life, such as music lessons and dinners with friends and family.
◆Social life
Have friends that encourage you to eat right, to be active, to laugh, and to do your best. Meet with your friends regularly and share with them when you have more of something than you need. Support each other in difficult times.
◆Workplace
Your office should be a place that you like. Find a job with people that you enjoy being around. That includes your boss. And do something that you feel strongly about. That is more important than money.
◆Community
If possible, live near people who have about the same amount of money as you. This makes you less aware (意识到的) of what you don’t have. Live in a neighborhood where you feel safe and where you can walk a lot. Walking makes you healthier, and healthier people are happier people.What does yourself include according to the passage?
How can we increase our energy and improve mood?
What is the key to greater well-being, according to Ed Diener?
Why should we live near people as rich as ourselves?
What does the passage mainly talk about?
Reading books is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons.__________. You can always keep yourself pleasant if you like reading. This is especially useful when the weather is bad. It is a relaxing hobby too. You can really become lost in a book.
Next, you can read a book almost anywhere: in a car, in a waiting-room, on a plane, in bed-even in the bath. __________! Reading is a convenient hobby as it is easy to stop and then start again.
__________. If you read as a hobby you will get better and better at it. This means that you will read faster and will become better at understanding what you read. As your reading improves, you will probably find your schoolwork becomes much easier. Many school subjects depend on good reading and, as you read, you learn more and more.
Some people say that reading is out of date. __________. You have to be able to read to use a computer and, the better you read, the better your computer skills will be. Reading is hardly out of date!
Good readers are most likely to be good writers, too. They are usually good at spelling as well, and have more things to write about. Reading books is a wonderful hobby, one of the best.
| A. This is not true. B. All you need is a book C. First, reading books is fun. D. Try to read a book once a month E. Another good reason is that reading is useful |
I needed to buy a camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照). So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations (推荐) and headed for my nearest big camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked a salesgirl, “Can I have one of those?” “Do you want to try it first?" she said. It didn’t quite sound like a question. “Do I need to?” I replied. “There’s nothing wrong with it?” “No, no. But you should try it,” she said encouragingly. “Compare it with the others.”
I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering different prices. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to consider Z and possibly H at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.
But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps (陷阱) by making the right choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The salesgirl seemed a kind girl. So I let her take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers... and when she started to introduce the special features, I cut in to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.
Why do we think that new choices still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer a chance to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.The salesgirl insisted that the writer should ______.
| A．try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it |
| B．compare the camera he had chosen with the others |
| C．get more information about different companies |
| D．trust her and stop asking questions |
What does the writer mean by “it would be worth half what I paid for it”?
| A．The camera was not good. |
| B．He should get a lower price. |
| C．The camera would soon fall in value. |
| D．The price of the camera was too high. |
The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he ______.
| A．knew very little about it |
| B．didn’t trust the salesgirl any more |
| C．wanted to make sure he chose the best one |
| D．wanted to take pictures of his fellow shoppers |
It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer’s opinion, ______.
| A．salespersons are not always very kind |
| B．people waste too much money on cameras |
| C．cameras have become an important part of our daily life |
| D．we don’t actually need so many choices when buying a product |
When something goes wrong, it can be very satisfying to say, “Well, it’s so-and-so’s mistake.” or “I know I’m late, but it’s not my fault; the car broke down.” It is probably not your mistake, but once you form the habit of blaming (指责) somebody or something else for a bad situation, you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation. This is the winner’s key to success.
Winners are great at solving problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you need to have your car examined more regularly. Or, you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague (同事) causes you problems on the job for being short of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or don’t depend on the person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.
This is what being a winner is all about – creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don’t have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and chances to develop their own talents. So, stop focusing on “whose mistake it is.” Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stones for success. What does the underlined word “remedy” probably mean?
| A．Avoid. | B．Accept. |
| C．Improve. | D．Consider. |
When your colleague brings about a problem, you should ______.
| A．blame him for his being short of responsibility |
| B．find a better way to deal with the problem |
| C．tell him to find the cause of the problem |
| D．ask a more able colleague for help |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Winner’s Secret. | B．A Winner’s Chance. |
| C．A Winner’s Problem. | D．A Winner’s Progress. |
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