A
My father wasn't a king， he was a taxi driver， but I am a prince-Prince Renato II， of the country Pontinha， an island fort on Funchal harbour． It's in Madeira，Portugal， where I grew up． It was discovered in 1419．
In 1903， the king of Portugal sold the land to a wealthy British family， the Blandys， who make Madeira wine． Fourteen years ago the family decided to sell it forjust €25，000， but nobody wanted to buy it either． I met Blandy at a party． and he asked if I'd like to buy the island． Of course I said yes，but I had no money-I was just an art teacher．I tried to find some business partners， who all thought I was crazy．So I sold some of my possessions，put my savings together and bought it．Of course， my family． my friends-all thought I was mad．
When the King originally sold the island，he signed a document， selling all the “possessions and the dominions”of the island．It means I can do what I want with it-I could start a restaurant， or a cinema but nobody thought someone would start a country．So that's what I did：I decided it would be my island， about the size of a one-bedroom house．
I have both a Portuguese passport and one for Pontinha （where my passport number is 0001）．There are four citizens： me， my wife， my son and my daughter．I am the police， the gardener，everything．I am whatever I want to be-that's the dream，isn't it？If l want to have a national flag，it could be blue today，red tomorrow．I can change it any time．Of course，my power is only absolute here， where I am the true sovereign．
I don't live in my country full time， but I am often there．My family sometimes drops by， and other people come every day because the country is free for tourists to visit； I never close for bad weather．Sometimes I come here when I'm feeling lively，after a few drinks．
Madeira is surrounded by water，but for some reason we all have to pay to swim in the ocean now，at the swimming spots．However．I have my island，which means I can come swimming whenever I want-it's as if someone has given me the key to the waters．
Our lives are gone in a flash．All change in the world begins with something very small， and this is my country-just a small island．How did the author get the island？
| A．It was a present from Blandy． |
| B．The king sold it to him． |
| C．He inherited from his father． |
| D．He bought it from Blandy． |
It can be learned from the passage that____．
| A．the author made his living by driving |
| B．the author's wife supported to buy the island |
| C．blue and red are the main colors of his national flag |
| D．people can travel around the island free of charge |
What did the author do with his island？
| A．He set up a restaurant． |
| B．He started a cinema． |
| C．He founded his own country． |
| D．He opened a swimming pool． |
From his own experience， the author wanted to tell the readers that____．
| A．you can change your life through small things |
| B．you should buy your own country and become a king |
| C．becoming a real ruler is of much fun |
| D．life is too short， so enjoy it to the fullest |
Can you imagine a classroom missing the one thing that has long been considered a necessary part to reading and writing? No paper. No notebooks, no textbooks, no test papers. Nor are there any pencils or pens, which always seem to run out of ink at the critical moment.
A “paperless classroom” is what more and more schools are trying to achieve. Students don’t do any handwriting in this class. Instead, they use palm-sized, or specially-designed computers. The teacher downloads texts from Internet libraries and sends them to every student’s personal computer.
Having computers also means that students can use the Wed. They can look up information on any subject they’re studying, from Maths to social science.
High school teacher Judy Herrell in Florida., US, described how her class used the Wed to refugee camps,” she said. “Using a book that’s three or four years old is impossible.”
A paperless classroom is a big step towards reducing the waste of paper each week to each student.
“Think about the money and trees we could save with the computers,” she said.
But, with all this technology, there’s always the risk that the machines will break down. So, in case of a power failure or technical problems, paper textbooks are still widely available for these hi-tech students.In a paperless classroom, what is a must?
| A．Pens. | B．Computers. | C．Textbooks | D．Pencils. |
The high school teacher, Judy Harrell, used the example of her class to show that ________
| A．the Web could take them everywhere |
B．the Web t aught them everything. |
| C．the Web is a good tool for information |
| D．the Web is where you can download information |
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of a paperless classroom?
| A．You won’t get angry with your pen. |
| B．Computers may break down sometimes. |
| C．Students can get information from Internet. |
| D．A lot of money or money or trees will be saved. |
Research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behaviour when they are watched. Do you?
A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation, collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box.
Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behaviour. Their report also referred to other research showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realizing it.
It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched. A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning.
The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption 'I Want You' It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese.According to the report, why does a person behave better when he feels he is being watched?
| A．He does not want to be shamed by others. |
| B．He needs to show he is a good person. |
| C．He desires others to like him more. |
| D．He feels he will receive some social reward. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．It describes changed behaviour when observed. |
| B．It details ways to control people's behaviour. |
| C．It tells how to make people work harder. |
| D．It discusses different advertising methods. |
Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?
| A．In a newspaper. |
| B．In a scientific journal. |
| C．In an advertising magazine. |
| D．In a science textbook. |
The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence”:
Price: ＄10
BOOKING
There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:
------ in person
The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a. m. —8 p. m.
------ by telephone
Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card（Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted）
------ by post
Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.
------ on line
Complete the on-line booking form at www. Satanfiedtheatre. com
DICOUNTS:
Saver:＄2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.
Standby: best available seats are on sale for ＄6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible（suitable）for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.
Group Bookings: there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more.
School: school parties of ten or more can book ＄6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT _______.
| A．go to the Box Office on Sundays |
| B．ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card |
| C．use the Internet |
| D．complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office |
If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?
| A．＄126 | B．＄120 | C．＄140 | D．＄150 |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theatre. |
| B．A school party of 15 students should pay＄90 for the standby tickets. |
| C．A group of 12 persons can get 10 per cent discount. |
| D．The audience can’t refund money if the performance is on show. |
It was graduation day at 
the university where I work and a beautiful day quite unlike the first graduation I attended as a young professor. On that cold day years ago, as we watched the students walking into the hall, one of my colleagues turned to me and said, "Graduation will be one of the happiest and one of the saddest time of your life." At my inquiry, he answered, "Because the students you have gotten to know have to leave."
As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague's words no longer existed. When I came across naughty students, I have had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher. It obviously isn't the money. Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change. He was working at Nintendo Corporation. His salary was higher than my current one, though I have more education and have worked for over a decade. With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired. I thanked him, but declined his kind offer.
A few days before this current graduation, while working on final grades, I found a note a student 
had slipped in with her homework. She thanked me for being her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class — not about math, but about life — would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away. As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher.
Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of blue hats and gowns, I did so with renewed dedication (奉献) and a deeper sense of satisfaction — I will always be grateful that I am a teacher. Hearing his colleague's description of graduation for the first time, the author .
| A．quite agreed with his colleague | B．thought it very funny |
| C．was very puzzled | D．was very sad. |
The computer science student called up the author because he .
| A．wanted to inform the author of his present job |
| B．tried to persuade the author to work with him |
| C．wanted the author to share his joy and satisfaction |
| D．thought the author wasn't fit to be a teacher |
The underlined part blue hats and gowns refers to .
| A．university colleagues | B．life memories |
| C．graduates' clothes | D．decorations in the hall |
The author wrote this passage to .
| A．express his devotion to being a teacher |
| B．compare two different graduation ceremonies |
| C．talk about the meaning of graduation |
| D．give advice on how to be a good teacher |
The reason why he earns less than the computer science student is that .
| A．he was only a young professor |
| B．he didn't do well in his work |
| C．he taught his students more about life than math |
| D．salaries for different careers are different |
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others? While taking a taxi in Finland, a passenger __________.
| A．can go anywhere without having to pay the driver |
| B．only pays two US dollars for a taxi ride |
| C．can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go |
| D．needs to provide good faith demonstration before leaving without paying |
We can know from the passage that in Finland __________.
| A．both hotel guests and outside diners are served food free of charge |
| B．big hotels provide meals for all kinds of diners |
| C．guests can enjoy free food once they stayed in the hotel |
| D．big hotels are mostly poorly managed |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Generally speaking, in Finland, workers can get more pay by working long hours. |
| B．The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay. |
| C．The workers are always honest with their working hours. |
| D．The bosses are too busy to check the working hours of their employees. |
It can be concluded that _________.
| A．Finnish people are really foolish in daily life |
| B．Finland has been a good place for cheats |
| C．the Finnish society is of very high moral level |
| D．all the Finns are rich and therefore honest |
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