Sicily, an island of Italy, is home to beautiful beaches, outstanding food, and a bit of Italian history on every corner. It’s located just southwest of the Italian mainland and it’s the largest Mediterranean island. Controlled by many armies over the centuries, it became the site of Roman and Greek colonies(殖民地). Those cultures remain to this day.
As part of the Year of Italy in China, an exhibition of Sicilian culture is being held at the National Museum of China from April 29 to June 27. Although they have a rich culture and history, Sicilian people lead a simple life. Living on land with fertile (肥沃的) soil, most of them work in agriculture, fishing and of course tourism.
In Sicily, most stores and businesses are closed from one to four in the afternoon. Streets become crowded around five as people start to go out and engage in a variety of activities. They may take a walk to the shops, enjoy a pastry (糕点)or just meet up with friends.
Food is one of the great pleasures of Sicilian people. There is an old Sicilian saying: “With a contented stomach, your heart is forgiving. With an empty stomach you forgive nothing.”
People will go miles out their way to eat fresh seafood, such as tuna(金枪鱼), swordfish(箭鱼) and sardines(沙丁鱼).
Pasta (意大利面)is the main food. Each region has its seasonal pasta dishes, and every family cook their own specialty. Bread is common too. As another Sicilian saying goes, “A table without bread is like a day without sunshine.” In Sicily, bread is always freshly baked or bought, and usually twice a day.What can be learned from the passage?
| A．Sicily is the only island in Italy. |
| B．It is easy to do shopping in the afternoon. |
| C．Sicily was controlled by several countries. |
| D．Sicilian people seldom take part in activities. |
The local people work in several fields EXCEPT .
| A．fishing | B．mining | C．tourism | D．agriculture |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph is used to show .
| A．bread is a must for Sicilians |
| B．food is a great pleasure for them |
| C．bread should be cooked every day |
| D．Sicilians have nothing to eat but bread |
The best title of this passage might be______.
| A．Italian people |
| B．Italian culture |
| C．A Sicilian exhibition |
| D．Sicily—an Island of Italy |
Robert Ballard was born in 1942. From an early age, he loved the sea. Ballard grew up in Southern California. He spent his free time at the beach near his home. He enjoyed fishing and swimming. He even learned to dive. 
When Ballard wasn’t at the ocean, he loved reading about it. At age 10, he read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a book which describes the undersea adventures of Captain Nemo. Ballard decided he wanted to be like Captain Nemo when he grew up. His parents helped him follow his dream.
Ballard was a hardworking student. He spent many years learning all he could about the ocean. By the age of 28, he was an expert. In 1970, he took a job as a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. There he studied underwater mountains of the Atlantic Ocean. He came up with ways to predict（预知）volcanoes under the oceans. Working with other scientists, Ballard also found previously（以前）unknown sea animals. These animals lived far below the ocean’s surface, where scientists had believed no animals could live.
By the 1980s, Ballard’s interests changed. He developed unmanned（无人的）vehicles to explore the ocean bottom. His first find, the well-known ship Titanic, made Ballard famous. He was not happy with just one big find, however. He looked for — and found — other well-known ships. One was the German battleship Bismarck. Another was the U.S.S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier (航空母舰) that sank during World War II.
Today Robert Ballard is still an underwater explorer. He also heads an organization that encourages students to learn about science. Ballard hopes that some of the students will follow in his footsteps. After all, the world’s huge oceans are mostly unknown. Who knows what remains to be discovered under the sea?What was Ballard’s dream when he was young?
| A．To be a science teacher. | B．To be an underwater explorer. |
| C．To be an animal expert. | D．To be a famous writer. |
When Ballard worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, he _____.
| A．explored the undersea world by ship |
| B．thought of ideas to predict underwater volcanoes |
| C．found some unknown sea animals alone |
| D．set up an organization to teach students science |
Which is the correct order of the events mentioned in the text about Ballard?
a. He found the German battleship Bismarck.
b. He read a book about Captain Nemo.
c. He found the famous ship Titanic.
d. He became an expert in science.
| A．b-c-d-a | B．d-b-c-a | C．b-d-c-a | D．d-c-a-b |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Ballard’s parents felt disappointed at his undersea adventures. |
| B．Ballard didn’t like fishing and swimming in his childhood. |
| C．Ballard was greatly influenced by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. |
| D．Human beings have explored more than half of the sea. |
How many family members are there in Mandy’s host family?
| A．4. | B．5. | C．6. | D．7. |
Next month, Mandy is going to visit__________.
| A．Pattaya beach | B．Phuket Island |
| C．Phairat’s hometown | D．Bangkok |
From the letter we know that Mandy is__________ when she stays in Thailand.
| A．bored | B．quiet | C．excited | D．proud |
What is the letter mainly about?
| A．Study trip in Thailand | B．Food culture in Thailand |
| C．Elephant riding in Thailand | D．International schools in Thailand |
For most people, shopping is still a matter of wandering down the street or loading a cart in a shopping mall. Soon, that will change. Electronic commerce (trade) is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from being cheated will be harder. Many governments therefore want to apply street regulations to the electronic world. But politicians would be wiser to see cyberspace as a basis for a new era of corporate self-regulation.
Consumers in rich countries have grown used to the idea that the government takes responsibility for everything from the stability of the banks to the safety of the drugs or their rights to refund when goods are faulty. But governments cannot enforce national laws on businesses whose only presence is on the screen. Even in a country where a clear right to compensation exists, the on-line customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to get a refund (退款) for a clothes purchase.
One answer is for government to cooperate more: to recognize each other’s rules. But that requires years of work and volumes of detailed rules. And plenty of countries have rules too fanciful for sober countries to accept. There is, however, another choice. Let the electronic businesses do the regulation themselves. They do, after all, have a self-interest in doing so.
In electronic commerce, a reputation for honest dealing will be a valuable competitive asset. Governments, too, may compete to be trusted. For instance, customers ordering medicines on- line may prefer to buy from the United States because they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration; or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy from Switzerland instead.
Customers will still need to use their judgment, but precisely because the technology is new, electronic shoppers are likely for a while to be a lot more cautious than customers of the normal sort. And the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent(出现) of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.In case an electronic shopper bought faulty goods from a foreign country, what could he do?
| A．Refuse to pay for the purchase. | B．Go to the seller and ask for a refund. |
| C．Appeal to consumer protection law. | D．Complain about it on the Internet. |
In the author’s view, businesses would place a high emphasis on honest dealing because in the electronic world _______.
| A．international cooperation would be much more frequent |
| B．consumers could easily seek government protection |
| C．a good reputation is a great advantage in competition |
| D．it would be easy for consumers to complain |
We can infer from the passage that in licensing new drugs the FDA in the United States is______.
| A．very quick | B．very cautious | C．very slow | D．rather careless |
According to the author, what will be the best policy for electronic commerce?
| A．Self-regulation by the business. | B．Strict Consumer protection laws. |
| C．Close international cooperation. | D．Government protection. |
Bayfield Shopping Coupons(赠券)
| 1. Six Hours Free Parking If you spend $100 or more in our stores you will receive six hours of free parking. When you have spent $100 or more, just take this coupon and your receipt to the customer service desk on lever 4. They will stamp your parking ticket to allow 6 hours of free parking. Offer here until November 14. |
|||
| 2. Win a $1,000 CD Collection Win your choice of $1,000 worth of CDs from JB Music Store. Just buy any two CDs and your name will go into the competition. Select your own prize from our wide variety of rock, pop, jazz, and classical music. Competition ends November 14. Prize drawn on November 21. Check store for more information. |
|||
| |
3. Buy One, Get One Free Buy one shirt or tie at Deniel’s Menswear, and get another shirt or tie of the same value free. Choose from any of our dress shirts and we will give you another one at no cost. Hurry! Offer ends November 14. Offer limited to one per customer. |
||
| |
4. 10% Off Present this coupon at Tile Book Store to get a 10% discount on any books you buy. We have lots of books to choose from, including children’s books, novels, travel guides, and science works. You’ re sure to find something that you will enjoy. Shop now for Christmas. We have plenty of toys as gifts for you and avoid the rush! Offer here until November 14. |
||
| |
5. Half price Movie Tickets Buy any full price movie ticket on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and you can buy a second ticket for a friend for only half price. The latest movies are show in one of our five theaters at Bayfield Shopping Centre. Offer here through December 1. Limit one per customer. |
||
| |
6. Free Soft Drink Buy any meal for at least $ 6 at Mike’ s Cafe, and receive a free soft drink. We serve the best fast food in the Shopping Centre. Come in and try our delicious meals and our excellent service. You won’ t be disappointed ! Free soft drink offer ends November 14. |
||
What are these ads for?
| A．Food you can order for delivery. | B．Places to go on vacation. |
| C．Special offers at a shopping center. | D．Things on sale in a big store. |
Which of the following is true according to the ads?
| A．Spending $ 50 means 3 hours of free parking. |
| B．One person can buy 4 tickets for the price of’ $ 2. |
| C．After buying two CDs, you can get another two CDs for free. |
| D．At Mike’ s Cafe, people can get a free soft drink after spending $ 6. |
We can know from the passage _______.
| A．there is more than one theatre in the centre |
| B．if you buy a book there, you may pay less than half the price |
| C．you may get a free one if you buy a shirt, or a tie, or a pair of shoes |
| D．you won’t get a free soft drink unless you spend more than 10 dollars on the meal |
People who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds. It’s possible that being full of vim and vigor helps the body fight illnesses, say the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh.
“We need to take more seriously the possibility that a positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk,” says psychologist Sheldon Cohen, the study’s lead researcher.
In a previous study, Cohen and his colleagues found that people who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to develop sniffles, coughs, and other cold symptoms(症状).
Those findings were interesting, but they didn’t prove that a person’s attitude affects whether he or she gets sick. Instead, it was still probable that a person’s underlying personality is what matters.
Evidence suggests, for instance, that certain people are naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic, with high self-respect and a sense of control over life. This would mean that who we are, not how we feel, finally decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more (personality or emotions), the CMU team interviewed 193 healthy adults. The researchers talked to each person over the phone every evening for 2 weeks. They told the researchers about the positive and negative feelings they had experienced that day.
The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get infected. Their symptoms, however, differed depending on the types of emotions that they had reported over the previous 2 weeks.
Among those who reported good moods and had been infected with the flu virus, for example, 28 percent developed coughs and stuffy(堵塞)noses. On the other hand, those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had been less positive. Scientists argue about whether negative emotions or positive emotions have a stronger effect on how healthy we are. For now, it can’t hurt to look on the bright side more often than not! What is the text mainly about?
| A．how to get rid of colds | B．Attitude determines life |
| C．Smiles turn away colds | D．Different opinions about colds |
The word “full of vim and vigor” underlined in Paragraph 1 probably means_______.
| A．ignorant | B．well-informed | C．energetic | D．in low spirits |
According to the finding a leading factor of catching colds should be one’s _______.
| A．health. | B．personality. | C．quality | D．mood |
By saying the last paragraph, the writer intends to suggest_______.
| A．positiveemotionsareasgoodasnegativeemotions |
| B．itisnotnecessarilygoodforyouifyoualwayslookatproblemspositively |
| C．itwillbegoodforyourhealthtoalwayskeepupanoptimisticstateofmind |
| D．thesaying---everycoinhastwosides. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号