Denmark is one of the happiest nations on earth with some of the best quality of life . You don’t need statistics to understand the Dane’s happy lot . Walk around any Danish town and you’ll experience some of the most harmonious civic spaces anywhere . Their intimate scales and perfect transport systems combine the rich history and bold modern lines of the built environment to delight the eye , and the locals’ manners and sense of humor is refreshing .
Denmark’s capital Copenhagen is a remarkable city with well-preserved medieval streets , renowned art galleries , Michelin-starred restaurants and a healthy business center . Finding something to do is never a problem and if all else fails , just admiring the streets with a hotdog in hand is an enjoyable way to spend a few hours .
Beyond the capital and the bigger cities , Denmark offers a mix of lively towns such as Ribe and Odense plus rural countryside , medieval churches , Renaissance castles and tidy 18th-century villages .
The coastline of Denmark with its sand dunes and greenery is a sight that always attracts visitors . So , no matter what time of year you’re in Denmark , you shouldn’t miss out on a trip to the nearest beach .
It’s hard , in short , to find fault with the place . The visitor’s most heartfelt complaint is usually the cost of visiting Denmark . True , it is not a cheap destination , but no more so than the UK , and which nation’s public transport system would you rather use ?
Cheer yourself up by thinking of the country’s remarkable organization and clockwork railway timetable as being financed by the extremely high taxes paid by your hosts . When viewed in this way , this first-rate destination seems like good value , and you get the fairy tales thrown in for free : the Danish royal family is genuinely loved and respected by the vast majority of its citizens , not least handsome Prince Frederik , his beautiful Australian-born princess-bride , Mary , and their young family . Which of the following words can best describe Danes ?
| A．Polite and humorous . | B．Happy and romantic . |
| C．Kind and friendly . | D．Out-going and humorous . |
The writer implies in the last two paragraphs that __________ .
| A．Visiting the U.K. will cost less than travelling in Denmark . |
| B．The transport system in the UK can’t equal that in Denmark . |
| C．People in Denmark pay high taxes to welcome visitors . |
| D．The Danish royal family plays an important role in politics . |
How does the passage mainly develop ?
| A．By providing examples . | B．By making comparisons . |
| C．By giving descriptions . | D．By following time order . |
What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage ?
| A．To introduce Danish culture . |
| B．To show the attractions of Denmark . |
| C．To share experiences of travelling in Denmark . |
| D．To describe the happy life people live in Denmark . |
“Who does the cooking in your home?” I’m often asked by my colleagues. “My wife and I share it 50/50,” I usually say without hesitation.
It’s a lie, of course. We’re pretty much even（相等的）when it comes to the children and the elderly. But the paying of bills isn’t 50/50-my wife pays all sorts of household expenses, so I never even have to set eyes on them. And the cooking isn’t 50/50, either.
The truth is that I am the cook. On my recent 40th birthday, I received the following gifts from my children: a new pot, two mini bottles of truffle oil, a decorative salad-dressing pourer, and a juice-making machine. For a moment I longed for something more manly, a cricket bat, perhaps, and then had to admit that all these things would be useful for me.
It’s not that my wife can’t or doesn’t like to cook (she makes delicious Welsh cakes). Nor has it always been this way. In the early years of our marriage I’d be relaxing with a glass of wine while my wife prepared for dinner after work.
But at some point that changed and I became the cook. Ten years with my wife gave me the rewards-I can throw together a roast, and I can make much foreign food. But I have truly become a monster（怪物）in the kitchen, unable to keep myself away from cooking. “You have to add Dijon to the sauce; it brings out the taste of the cheese,” I volunteer, as my wife is cooking. “Quick, stir in the butter so the dish becomes delicious.”
Is it any wonder that my wife has given up coming into the kitchen while I find the whole process of chopping, mixing, and adding things deeply satisfying?
What do the writer and his wife probably share evenly at home?
a．Cooking in the kitchen.
b．Taking care of the children.
c．Paying household expenses.
d．Taking care of the elderly at home.
| A．ab | B．bd | C．bc | D．ac |
The gifts that the writer received on his 40th birthday show that .
| A．he is in charge of the cooking at home |
| B．his children don’t know him at all |
| C．he doesn’t get along well with his children |
| D．his children have made wrong choices |
What do we know about the writer’s wife?
| A．She can’t cook. |
| B．She doesn’t like cooking. |
| C．She only knows how to make Welsh cakes |
| D．She used to cook for the family. |
From Paragraph 5 we learn that the writer .
| A．likes sticking his nose into other people’s business |
| B．doesn’t think his wife is good at cooking |
| C．studies very hard in order to cook well |
| D．enjoys cooking in the kitchen |
India has a very vast history and heritage（遗产）. The country has witnessed some of the most important events in the past and every event has an effect of its own on the culture, religion, lifestyle, and economy of the country. This is one of the leading reasons why tourists prefer India to travel and explore. Historical tours in India provide everything that a traveler expects from his/her journey. These historical tours give an opportunity to study and explore Indian history.
Historical tours of India generally consisted of four phases: ancient, medieval（中世纪的）, modern India and contemporary（当代的）India. Some of the historical travel packages are:
Forts and Palaces
The rich cultural past of India is reflected in the countless（无数的）forts and palaces across the country. Most of the forts were constructed as a defense device to keep the enemy away and palaces were made on the names of the kings and queens. Some of the famous forts and palaces are: Agra Fort (Agra), Fatehpur Sikri (Agra), Hawa Mahal (Jaipur), Amber Fort (Jaipur), City Palace (Jaipur), Gwalior Fort (Gwalior), Mysore Palace (Mysore), Red Fort (Delhi), etc.
India Heritage Tours
The main purpose of India Heritage tours is to make Indians as well as tourists familiar with the rich Indian legacy（遗产）. The heritage of the country is at least 5000 years. Some of the heritage tours are: medieval heritage, Rajput heritage, Golden Triangle, splendid Gujarat, etc.
South India Historical Tours
The Southern India is known for its diversity and there are many places, which attract tourists, not only from the country but also from all around the world. The famous tourists’ destinations（景区）in South India include Goa, Cochin, Kerala, Munnar, Periyar, Kottayam and the list goes on and on.
The main purpose of this passage is .
| A．to report some important events in the history of India |
| B．to help study the culture and history of India |
| C．to tell us how to explore the history of India |
| D．to introduce some tours that can explore the history of India． |
Many tourists prefer to travel to and explore because .
| A．its culture is greatly influenced by its history |
| B．modern India has little to study |
| C．Indian people have an interesting lifestyle |
| D．India’s history is longer than that of any other country |
Most forts were built in order to .
| A．honor the kings | B．keep enemies away |
| C．act as a palace for queens | D．attract tourists |
According to the passage, Rajput heritage .
| A．is a famous fort in India |
| B．has a history of no more than 200 years |
| C．lies in South India |
| D．is one of the heritages in India |
To get to the tennis court, Conner Stroud has to push his wheelchair there.
The 15-yea-old from North Carolina, US was born without legs. But when he picks up his racquet(球拍) and begins to hit a ball, you quickly see that the young man just want to win.
Stroud began playing tennis at age 5 at the small tennis club his parents own. For years, he played against able-bodied players by putting rubber on the stumps (残余部分) of his legs. Though he was a foot (30.48cm) or two shorter than many of the players he played against, he won a number of matches. He became well-known enough that he got to meet Rafael Nadal, his favorite player at the US Open in 2013.
“The most important thing is that he’s happy,” Nadal told reports about Stroud after that 15-minute meeting. “He’s playing tennis... That’s a great example of being happy even if life doesn’t give you everything.”
Stroud started playing wheelchair tennis at 13 and now he is No 1 in the US.
Earlier this summer, he played for the US in the world’s biggest junior wheelchair team tennis event --- the World Team Cup. He played six matches and won five of them as the US won the cup for the first time since 2000.
“He is a polite boy , but he will rip（撕扯）your heart out trying to beat you,” Jason Harnett, a United States Tennis Association coach, said of Stroud. “You see that attitude in a lot of the best players, whether they are able-bodied or disabled.
Teenage players can often get disappointed and angry. Racquets sometimes get thrown. Players shout at themselves after missed shots. Stroud never does that.
“ I just try to stay positive,” Stroud said. “After every point, I try to say I’m going to win the next point, or the next game, or the next game, or the whole match.
“ There’s always room to be positive . You can always win another time.”
How is Conner Stroud different from other tennis players?
| A．He was disabled in a car accident. |
| B．He has been coached by his father since the age of 5. |
| C．He is too short to be a tennis player |
| D．He was born disabled , yet he plays tennis well. |
What impressed Rafael Nadal the most about Conner Stroud?
| A．His desire to win the match. |
| B．His happiness about playing tennis. |
| C．His faith in life, even though he is disabled. |
| D．The training he went through to play tennis. |
Which of the following words best described Conner Stroud?
| A．Positive | B．Independent |
| C．Humorous | D．Considerate |
With the development of science and technology, new inventions, especially new electronic products, have made people’s lives easy and convenient. But as the saying puts: A coin has two sides.
One day, I was walking in the park with a friend and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and…I became invisible, absent from the conversation.
The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction. With email and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated, the alienation(疏远) index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person any more. Directory assistance is almost always fully automated.
Pumping petrol at the station? Why say good morning to the attendant when you can swipe(刷)your credit card at the pump and save yourself the bother of human contact?
Making a deposit at the bank? Why talk to a teller who might live in the neighborhood when you can just insert your card into ATM?
Pretty soon you won’t have the burden of making eye contact at the grocery shop. Some supermarket chains are using a self-scanner so you can check yourself out, avoiding those check-out people who look at you and ask how you are doing.
I am not against modern technology. I own a cell phone, an ATM card, a voice mail system, and an email account. Giving them up isn't wise…they're a great help to us. It's some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.
More and more, I find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up a call because I didn't really have time to talk. The communications industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier.
So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging, with people who live near me，no cell phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I'm at home.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Advance of Communications Technology |
| B．The Consequences of Modern Technology |
| C．The Process of Communications Revolution |
| D．The Automation of Modern Communications |
Paragraphs 5 to 7 are listed as examples, which show that the use of modern communications is ___________.
| A．encouraging | B．disappointing |
| C．satisfying | D．embarrassing |
The passage implies that _______________.
| A．modern technology is bridging the people |
| B．modern technology is separating the people |
| C．modern technology is developing too rapidly |
| D．modern technology is interrupting our lives |
What does the writer think to do with the modern technology?
| A．We may use them no matter what others are doing. |
| B．We can throw them away and return to the ancient. |
| C．We can be far away from them forever. |
| D．We can use them less and communicate with the people around us. |
You may have experienced the annoyance of being fined because of parking illegally or finding your car towed away(拖走)after leaving it parked somewhere for a couple of minutes．But now a high-tech car sticker that’s designed to be stuck to a car’s windscreen could help motorists avoid such a situation．
The TowStop sticker sends a text message to a driver when touched by a traffic policeman，to allow motorists to send a reply and give them time to move their cars immediately．Frankfurt-based IT consultant，Daniel Kalliontzis，came up with the idea and is raising money to put his ￡43 sticker into production．
Car owners can put the sticker inside their car’s windscreen，having set it up with key information，such as their phone number．The slim design will include a sensor(传感器)that，when touched by a traffic policeman，will send a text message warning a driver of a possible fine．The driver could then type a reply for the policeman using a smartphone，which will appear on the sticker’s screen．
The smart sticker system will rely on the good will of traffic policemen and in a way，a German law．The law states：an officer has to choose the most efficient and inexpensive way for the car owner to remove the vehicle．It could be cheaper for the government to call the driver than to tow his car．
Mail Online asked the Department of Transport whether the sticker could be used in the UK in a similar way．A spokesman said，“In England there is no legal duty to warn the motorist before issuing the ticket．However，a policeman does have the discretion not to issue a ticket if he doesn’t think the situation is that bad or he just wants to issue a warning．”
So far，Mr．Kalliontzis has raised just over￡2,362 of his￡39,381 goal．If he manages to raise the money，the stickers will be shipped in June 2015．But it appears that car owners using the smart system could get some unnecessary warning messages，because anyone could touch the smart sticker．The author wrote the third paragraph to _______________．
| A．explain how a smart car sticker works |
| B．advise drivers to buy a car sticker |
| C．show the importance of a sensor |
| D．tell drivers how to park a car |
We may infer from the text that in Britain _______________．
| A．car owners don’t have to worry about a parking ticket |
| B．smart car stickers wouldn’t work as well as in Germany |
| C．traffic policemen prefer to call a driver rather than tow his car |
| D．the Department of Transport thinks highly of smart car stickers |
The underlined word “discretion” in Paragraph 5 can best be replaced by“____________”．
| A．trouble | B．pressure | C．freedom | D．opportunity |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Daniel Kalliontzis — a great inventor |
| B．Environment-friendly car stickers |
| C．Parking systems in Europe |
| D．End of the parking ticket? |
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