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, expected to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her job.
They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching the industry(产业). “We knew it had to be a specialty(专业) store because we couldn’t afford enough money,” says Mary. One idea came to her: She’d read somewhere that about 20 percent of books sold were mysteries, and many buyers spent more $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 pay the $100,000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from friends and from an bank.
The store only broke even in its first year, with only $120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract(吸引) buyers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and provided dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited some 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 workers, Richard and Mary together earn about $34,000.
“The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income(收入)” says Richard. “This has always been about a pleasant life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money.”When Mary was in hospital, the couple realized that ____.
| A．they had to put their plan into practice |
| B．health was more important than money |
| C．heart trouble was a serious illness |
| D．they both needed to stop working |
After Mary got well from her illness they began _____.
| A．to study how to open a bookstore |
| 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 pay all the costs. |
| C．They succeeded in making a lot of money. |
| D．They failed though they worked hard. |
According to Richard, the main purpose of opening the bookstore is _____.
| A．to pay for their children’s education |
| B．to get to know more writers |
| C．to set up more bookstores |
| D．to do what they like to do |
Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every evening my mother looks through magazines at home. And every night, I look at the posters with photos of David Beckham and Yao Ming on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep. Can we imagine life without paper or print?
Paper was first created about 2,000 years ago, and has been made from silk, cotton, bamboo, and, since the 19th century, from wood. People learned to write words on paper to make a book. But in those days, books could only be produced one at a time by hand. As a result, they were expensive and rare. And because there weren’t many hooks, few people learned to read.
Then printing was invented in China. When printing was developed greatly at the beginning of the 11th century, books could be produced more quickly and cheaply. As a result, more people learned to read. After that, knowledge and ideas spread quickly.
Today information can be received online, downloaded from the Internet rather than found in books, and information can be kept on CD-ROMs or machines such as MP3 players.
Computers are already used in classrooms, and newspapers and magazines can already be read online. So will books be replaced by computers one day? No, I don’t think the Yao Ming poster on my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a computer two metres high!What does the writer do before he goes to sleep’?
| A．He reads books. | B．He reads newspapers |
| C．He looks through magazines | D．He looks at the posters on the wall. |
When was paper first created?
| A．About 2.000 years ago. | B．In the 19th century. |
| C．About 1.000 years ago. | D．In the 11th century. |
Why were books expensive and rare before the invention of printing?
A. People could not read.
B. People could not write words on paper.
C. People could not find silk, cotton or bamboo.
D People could only produce books one at a time by handWhat happened after books became cheaper?
| A．People didn’t want to buy books. |
| B．Printing was invented in China. |
| C．Knowledge and ideas spread quickly. |
| D．The Internet was introduced to people soon |
What is the writer’s opinion about books and computers’?
| A．People won’t need books any more |
| B．Books won’t be replaced by computers. |
| C．People prefer to find information in books. |
| D．Computers have already replaced books. |
My grandfather Jack is 96 years old, and he has had an interesting life. He has travelled a lot in his life in the Far East. He visited the Taj Mahal in India and the Pyramids in Egypt. He hunted (狩猎) lions in Africa, and rode a camel in the Sahara Desert. He says the most beautiful place he has travelled to is Kathmandu in Nepal.
Jack has married twice. His first wife died when she was 32. He met his second wife Maria while he was cycling round France They have been married for 50 years, and they have lived happily in a small village since they got married.
Jack says that he has never been ill in his life. The secret of good health, according to my grandfather, is exercise He goes swimming every morning. He has done this since he was a boy. He also has a glass of wine every night! Perhaps that is his secret!What kind of life has Jack lived?
| A．A short life. | B．An interesting life. |
| C．A lonely life | D．A poor life. |
Which of the following does Jack think is the most beautiful place?
| A．Kathmandu. | B．The Pyramids |
| C．The Sahara Desert. | D．Taj Mahal |
How many times has Jack married?
| A．Once. | B．Twice. | C．Three times. | D．Four times. |
Where did Jack meet Maria?
| A．In India. | B．In Nepal. | C．In France | D．in Egypt. |
What does Jack do every night?
| A．He has a glass of wine. | B．He goes swimming |
| C．He hunts lions. | D．He rides a camel. |
阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。
Every year, wildfires(野火) destroy much forest land. homes are broken down, and thousands of people die. smokejumpers are stop helping to stop this.
Smokejumpers are a special kind of firefight. they jump from planes into areas that difficult to reach by car or on foot. they race to put out fires as fast as they can.
At a fire site, Smokejumpers first examine the land and decide how to fight the fire. their main goal is to stop fire from spreading. using basic tools such as shovels and axes, smokejumpers clear land of burnable material like plants and other dry material. they carry water with them too, but not much.
Although most smokejumpers are men, more women are joining. Most important are your weight and height. Smokejumpers in the U.S. for example ,must be 54 to 91 kilograms, so they don’t get hurt when they land, or get blown by strong winds.
Smokejumpers must be able to live in the wilderness. in Russia ,many smokejumpers know how to find food in the forest and even make simple furniture from trees.
They work is dangerous, the hours are long. But for these firefighters, smokejumpers isn’t just a job. They love being able to jump out of planes, fight fires, and live in the forest. As 28-year-old Russian smokejumpers Alexi Tishin says,“This is the best job for the strong and brave.”What are Smokejumpers?
Where do the jump from?
What’s their main goal?
Why should they have proper weight?
What’s needed to be a smokejumpers?
Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine".
"Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"
According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."
I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system（体制）of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.
For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.
This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.
As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感）is needed in geometry(几何学）just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them .What does the writer probably think of his/her daughter?
| A．She sets herself a goal too high to reach. |
| B．She should be more polite to her parents. |
| C．She is hard-working but not very bright. |
| D．She takes her grades much too seriously. |
What does the word "obsession"in paragraph 3 mean?
| A．A plain and unavoidable fact. |
| B．A satisfied and very proud state. |
| C．A practical and widely-used way. |
| D．A fixed and often unreasonable idea. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Social skills are as important as high grades. |
| B．Interest in grades can shake self-confidence. |
| C．The writer regrets not having studied hard at school. |
| D．Danish educational system is for very smart students. |
The writer wants to tell us that____.
| A．learning happily is the key to self-development. |
| B．top marks may be helpful to increase one's interest. |
| C．tests should be improved to give children inspiration. |
| D．education should meet one's needs for word and money. |
The right name is important in the business world. All you have to do is think of the names for some of the products you buy every day and you’ll agree that the name and the product are connected in the everyone’s mind.
In many countries, successful trade or brand names are protected by law. This is so that other companies cannot make a product and, in fact, be buying something different. Businesses register a company or a product name with the government. In fact, more than 1,000 product and company names are registered every hour. Many companies spend a lot of money to find the right name for their products. A good example of this is. In the car industry. Some successful names for cars have powerful associations （联系）.The Ford Mustang and the Jaguar are only two examples of choosing the names of animals that are fast and strong.
When a U. S company decides to sell its product in another country, it has to make sure that the product name translates properly. When Coca-Cola introduced its soft drink to China, it looked for the right name. It wanted a name that would do two things. One was to present its image（形象）in Chinese and the second was to be close to its first brand name—Coke. It took some efforts before finding the right word —which sounds similar and translates as “happiness in the mouth”. Asian company names are not new to the United States. The brand names of Samsung and Sony have been successful. Finding the right brand name is a big business. Asian companies that sell to foreign markets pay to find a name that will connect with its customers. There are even naming companies that specialize in inventing product names. These companies can charge （要价）up to $100,000 a word for their creations. But it’s worth it. Successful companies know how important the right brand names are for their development.Why are trade names protected by law in many countries?
| A．To make companies pay for naming service. |
| B．To help people choose the best products |
| C．To present good images of the products. |
| D．To prevent good images from being copied |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Many companies care about the cost of finding the right names |
| B．Creative trade names can help companies to have a larger sale |
| C．The government often does business with naming companies |
| D．It is considered necessary for cars to be names after animals |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．The Business of Names |
| B．The Development of Names |
| C．The Rules of Naming Business |
| D．The Methods of Choosing Names |
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