You may think that sailing is a difficult sport, but it is really not hard to learn it. You do not need to be strong. But you need to be quick. And you need to understand a few basic rules about the wind.
First, you must ask yourself, “Where is the wind coming from? Is it coming from ahead or behind or from the side?” You must think about this all the time on the boat. The wind direction tells you what to do with the sail.
Let’s start with the wind blowing from the behind. This means the wind and the boat are going in the same direction. Then you must always keep the sail outside the boat. It should be at a 90° angle (角度) to the boat. Then it will catch the wind best.
If the wind is blowing from the side, it is blowing across the boat. In this case, you must keep the sail half way outside the boat. It should be at a 45° angle to the boat. It needs to be out far enough to catch the wind, but it shouldn’t flap (摆动). It shouldn’t look like on a flagpole. If it is flapping, it is probably out too far, and the boat will slow down.
Sailing into the wind is not possible. If you try, the sail will flap and the boat will stop. You may want to go in that direction. It is possible, but you can’t go in a straight line. You must go first in one direction and then in another. This is called tacking. When you are tacking, you must always keep the sail inside the boat. What should you consider first while sailing?
| A．Sailors’ strength. | B．Wave levels. |
| C．Wind directions. | D．Size of sails. |
What does the word “It” underlined in Paragraph 4 refer to?
| A．The boat. | B．The wind. |
| C．The sail. | D．The angle. |
What do you have to do when sailing against the wind?
| A．Move in a straight line. | B．Allow the sail to flap. |
| C．Lower the sail. | D．Tack the boat. |
Where can you probably find the text?
| A．In a popular magazine. | B．In a tourist guidebook. |
| C．In a physics textbook. | D．In an official report. |
Riding a London subway, a person from other countries will notice one major difference: in London, people do not look at each other．In fact, eye contact is avoided at all times. That’s not rudeness ― people are just too busy to bother looking．
Busy doing what, you ask? Well, they’re certainly not using the time for a moment of quiet thinking．Nor are they reading a book．New technology has replaced quiet habits．Today the only acceptable form of book on the London underground is an e-book．
Apple must earn a fortune from London commuters（使用月票上下班者）. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, over 40, 000 ― yes, 40, 000 “apps” have been designed．
Commuters love them because they are the perfect time - fillers. One “app”, called iShoot, is a game that features tanks．Another one, Tube Exits, tells passengers where to sit on the train to be closest to the exit of their destination. iSteam clouds the iPhone screen when you breathe into the microphone. You can then write in the “steam” on your phone screen．
For those without an iPhone, another Apple product, the iPod, may be the distraction (消遣) of choice. It’s not just teenagers who “plug in” to their music － iPods are a popular way to pass the time for all ages．
And if games, e-books and music aren’t enough to keep you occupied, then perhaps you would prefer a film? The development of palm DVD technology means many commuters watch their favorite TV shows or films on the way to work．With all these distractions, it’s amazing that people still remember to get off the train．Those who want to save time to reach where they go can download ________ to their iPhones
| A．iShoot | B．Tube Exits | C．iSteam | D．iPod |
People in London do not make eye contact on the subway because ________．
| A．they are going to work and have no time to communicate with each other |
| B．they love reading books and do not want to be disturbed |
| C．they feel sleepy because of getting up early |
| D．they’re busy playing games, reading e-books, listening to music or watching films |
The underlined word “apps” in the third paragraph means ________．
| A．computers |
| B．programs downloaded for the iPhone |
| C．computer companies |
| D．fortune from London commuters |
The main idea of the passage is that ________．
| A．London commuters are unfriendly to strangers |
| B．Apple has earned a lot of money from selling 40, 000 apps |
| C．technology is changing how London commuters spend their traveling time |
| D．riding a London subway is a must when visiting London |
Springtime in Paris
Departures: May 5, 12, 19 and June 9
4 days for $129 per person
Paris in the Springtime was, is and always will be, something rather special. Why not experience it for yourself with this excellent break for four days? This attractive city has something to offer everyone and with prices at just $129. It's great value too.
Your break begins with executive coach transfer (中转) from regional (各地的) pickup points and travel to Paris is via crosschannel ferry (渡船), arriving at your hotel in the evening. The Ibis is an excellent quality hotel with private facilities in all rooms: satellite TV, radio, telephone and alarm clock. It has a bar and a restaurant and is situated about two miles south of Notre Dame enabling you to explore Paris with ease.
The following day, after continental breakfast (included), the coach takes you on a comprehensive sightseeing tour of the city, during which you will see the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, L'Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, in fact almost every famous landmark you will ever have heard of. You then leave Paris and take a short drive to the magnificent Palace of Versailles, the home of Louis XIV. The tour ends midafternoon back in Paris where you will have the remainder of the day at your leisure. In the evening there is a ‘Paris By Night’ tour showing you the beautiful buildings with bright lights.
Day three takes you to Montmartre, perhaps the most picturesque quarter of Paris and home of the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. In the afternoon you are free to explore this beautiful city as you wish, perhaps a pleasure voyage on the River Seine, wander around the picturesque gardens or look through among the antique shops (古玩店). In the evening you will have the opportunity to visit the best nightclub in the city, the splendid Patin. On the final day it's back to the UK via channel ferry.
Included in the price of $129 per person：
* Return executive coach travel to Paris;
* Return ferry crossings；
* Three nights accommodation in a twin bedded room in a Central Paris hotel with private facilities；
* Continental breakfast during your stay；
* Guided sightseeing tour of “Paris By Day” and “Paris By Night”；
* Visit to Chateau of Versailles (admission not included)；
* Tour on Montmartre；
* Services of an experienced bilingual tour guide at all times.This advertisement is mainly________.
| A．to tell tourists the route to Paris |
| B．to show the price of traveling to Paris |
| C．to introduce the city of Paris |
| D．to attract tourists to Paris |
During the stay in Paris, the tourists will________.
| A．have a free time of half day |
| B．have a “Paris By Night” on the first evening |
| C．have a pleasure voyage on the River Seine together |
| D．live in a hotel two miles away from Paris |
After paying $129，the tourists will have to pay ________ in Paris.
| A．the continental breakfasts |
| B．tour on Montmartre |
| C．admission ticket to Chateau of Versailles |
| D．services of a bilingual tour guide |
We learn from the text that________.
| A．the tourists can telephone in Ibis without paying |
| B．the tourists will see the Eiffel Tower on the third day |
| C．Palace of Versailles is not in the center of Paris |
| D．it will take you a long time to get to Montmartre from Paris |
It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. If we didn’t see some rain soon we would lose everything.
I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.
Moments later, however, he was once again walking toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I went out of the house and followed him on his journey.
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held in them. Branches and thorns (荆棘) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.
Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water, lift its head with great effort to drink the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.
I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart working so hard to save a life. As my tears began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride. Why did the author follow her son?
| A．Because there might be danger. |
| B．Because her son was doing a good deed. |
| C．Because she was curious. |
| D．Because she intended to help. |
Which of the following statements is Not True according to the passage?
| A．Rain was in great need. |
| B．There were few trees in the woods. |
| C．Billy carried water with his small hands. |
| D．Billy walked into the woods and then returned over and over again. |
What Billy did mainly showed that he was ________.
| A．caring | B．beautiful | C．childlike | D．brave |
Which is the correct order of the development of the story?
① The author was moved to tears.
② Billy fed the water to the baby deer.
③ Billy walked towards the large deer.
④ It began to rain.
⑤ The author followed Billy into the woods.
| A．③②⑤①④ | B．④①③②⑤ | C．⑤③②①④ | D．⑤②①③④ |
The 115-year-old prestigious (有名望的)Oxford Dictionary will now include popular new Chinese terms like“shanzhai” “youtiao” and “fangnu”, as part of the modern Chinese language．
As China plays a more and more important role in the world economy, the Chinese language is forever developing, attracting more attention from people who want to understand this ancient yet lively language．
For instance, the word “shanzhai” is used to describe the countless knockoffs（名牌仿制品）of iPhones or designer bags imprinted with Louis Vuitton logos．
Another new term in the new edition is the word “fangnu”, or a “mortgage slave”—a term used to describe the phenomenon in large cities where well-educated youth complain of a miserable existence due to the heavy burden of a home mortgage．
All these new or often fashionable terms can be found in the new Oxford English –Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary that was unveiled(公布于众的)in the recently concluded Beijing International Book Fair last week．
The dictionary now is available for retail sales since the beginning of this month．This dictionary is the largest single volume English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary and contains 670,000 words and phrases after five years of preparation．Sixty editors from the Oxford University Press and its partner in China—the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press—worked together on the project．According to Julie Kleeman, the dictionary’s chief editor, most of the firm’s editors were Chinese, while about one fourth were native-English speakers．
“We don’t want to make it florid（绚丽的）, we want it to be modern and conversational．．．many of the words in the present dictionary are no longer in use,” said Kleeman．“The need for studying Chinese by foreigners today is totally different from decades ago．．．Precise, native and practical—that is our main advantage,” she said．
Kleeman said newer publications updates will be available only for the online version as language often changes too quickly for book versions to keep pace．The online version will also offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide．The online version, allowing access via different platforms from the PC to the iPad, will be ready “as soon as possible”, Kleeman said．According to the above passage, we learn that ________
| A．knockoffs can be found in China but not very often. |
| B．the Oxford University Press made the dictionary without outside aid. |
| C．most Chinese editors are also native speakers of English. |
| D．well-educated youth in China’s big cities have difficulty buying houses. |
The possible reason why newer publications updates are not available for book versions is that ________．
| A．book versions can’t keep up with the changes of language. |
| B．the computer network is available everywhere. |
| C．book versions can’t offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide. |
| D．computer technology like the PC and the iPad keeps pace with language. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．New Chinese terms like “shanzhai” and “fangnu” have got into Oxford Dictionary． |
| B．The latest Oxford English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary is on the market． |
| C．Oxford Dictionary has become more fashionable due to the Chinese language． |
| D．Beijing International Book Fair was where the new Oxford Dictionary was published． |
Hundreds of students from around the world gathered in New York City last week for the Microsoft Imagine Cup finals. They came to present their ideas for using technology to solve world problems.
Microsoft education director Suzi Levine says the nine-year-old program began mainly as a competition to create technology.
SUZI LEVINE: "When we realized that students really actually want to have a purpose for what they're creating, we introduced the idea of inspiring them with the UN Millennium Development Goals and suggesting that they use those for their muse(灵感). "This past year we also rolled out something called the Imagine Cup Solve This library（创新杯求解计划知识库）, where IGOs, NGOs and nonprofits can submit some of the technical challenges that they would like students to consider for their solutions."
Microsoft says over 350，000 high school and college students registered for this year's competition. Judges chose more than four hundred of them to attend the finals.
SUZI LEVINE: "One from Thailand was called NewKrean, where they created a Windows Phone 7 application that allows you to broadcast your location to your social network of friends so that you can be more easily rescued." They named their application Terra.
Suzi Levine says there were also ideas from Egypt inspired by the revolution that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in February.
SUZI LEVINE: "One was to use Bluetooth as sort of a Twitter equivalent so that if the government shuts down the Internet, you actually can still have a massive social distribution."
Students competed in nine categories. For example, in software design the top prize of twenty-five thousand dollars went to Team Hermes from Ireland. The students developed a device for cars to collect information on road conditions, driving behavior and traffic incidents.
A team from Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University won first place in the embedded（内嵌的） development category. They developed a network of wireless devices to help plot the safest escape routes during a fire.
Next year's awards ceremony will take place in Australia. Registration for Imagine Cup twenty-twelve opened Friday. Also, Microsoft announced plans for a three million dollar program to help Imagine Cup winners further develop their projects.Which of the following is true ?
| A．The program is sponsored by Microsoft. |
| B．Next year, the awards ceremony will be held in New York City. |
| C．Any high school or college student can attend the finals. |
| D．The initial purpose of the program is to solve world problems using technology. |
What can we infer from the third paragraph?
| A．The UN offers great help to the program. |
| B．Microsoft sets up a library for the students who want to achieve their goals. |
| C．IGOs, NGOs and nonprofits also provide help for the students. |
| D．Microsoft takes effective measures to inspire the students. |
What does the underlined word “overthrew ” in Paragraph 6 mean ?
| A．Abandoned | B．Supported | C．Drove away | D．Overturned |
What can we know from Paragraph 7?
| A．They want to replace Bluetooth with Twitter. |
| B．They want to combine Bluetooth with Twitter. |
| C．They want to replace Twitter with Bluetooth. |
| D．Twitter can still be used without the Internet. |
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