My Favourite Books
Jo Usmar is a writer for Cosmopolitan and co-author of the This Book Will series（系列）of lifestyle books. Here she picks her top reads.
Matilda
Roald Dahl
I once wrote a paper on the influence of fairy tales on Roald Dahl's writing and it gave me a new appreciation for his strange and delightful words. Matilda's battles with her cruel parents and the bossy headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, are equally funny and frightening, but they're also aspirational.
After Dark
Haruki Murakami
It's about two sisters-Eri, a model who either won't or can't stop sleeping, and Mari, a young student. In trying to connect to her sister. Mari starts changing her life and discovers a world of diverse "night people" who are hiding secrets.
Gone Girl
Gillian Fynn
There was a bit of me that didn't want to love this when everyone else on the planet did but the horror story is brilliant. There's tension and anxiety from the beginning as Nick and Amy battle for your trust. It's a real whodunit and the frustration when you realise what's going on is horribly enjoyable
The Stand
Stephen King
This is an excellent fantasy novel from one of the best storytellers around. After a serious flu outbreak wipes out 99.4% of the world's population, a battle unfolds between good and evil among those let. Randall Flagg is one of the scariest characters ever.
（1）Who does "I" refer to in the text?
| A． | Stephen King. |
| B． | Gillian Flynn. |
| C． | Jo Usmar. |
| D． | Roald Dahl |
（2）Which of the following tells about Mari and Eri?
| A． | Cosmopolitan. |
| B． | Matilda. |
| C． | After Dark. |
| D． | The Stand. |
（3）What kind of book is G one Girl?
| A． | A folk tale. |
| B． | A biography. |
| C． | A love story. |
| D． | A horror story. |
Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above t
he rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “r
ubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as it can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your workweek, to getting to know your neighbours.
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire ideas of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clean as it is, the Oprah is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middle-class America
ns. Most of these people have the time, money and ability to deal with life’s tougher problems. Jerry Springer on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. There are 18-to-21-year-old whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value 
and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation.
1.Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are __________.
A. more interesting B. more formal
C. more detailed D. unusually popular
2. Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people
who watch the shows________.
A. show disbelief in them B. are ready to face up to them
C. remain cold to them D. are willing to get away from them
3. Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?
A. A new type of robot. B. National hatred.
C. Family income planning. D. Street accident.
4. We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows________.
A. have become the only ones of its kind
B. exploit the weaknesses in human nature
C. appear at different times of the day
D. attract different people
5. What is the advantage of the Jerry Springer show ?
A. The show exposes the dark sides of society.
B. The show pours poisonous waste into society.
C. Jerry sums up the whole idea of the show.
D. Jerry talks about the improvement of society.
With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save the endangered species. That’s a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark.”
Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos（胚胎）, semen （精液）and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen（氮）. If certain species should become extinct（灭绝的）, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’ s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2,000 species of mammals, birds reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years.The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years. 
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nuclear transfer（核子移植）of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available (capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes.” They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking sc
ience if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A & M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinciton. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn form what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”
1. The aim of “Noah’s Ark”project is to_______ .
A. make efforts to clone the e
ndangered pandas
B. save endangered animals from dying out
C. collect DNA of endangered animals to study
D. transfer the nuclear of one animal to another
2. According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be
the lack to_______.
A. available panda eggs B.host animals
3. The best title for the passage may be_______ .
A . China’s Success in Pandas Cloning
B. The First Cloned Panda in the World
C. Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas
D. China—the Native Place of Pandas Forever
4. From the passage we know that .
A. Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog
B. scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit
C. Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches
D. about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century
Tiny tot’s big adventure: Super Baby, a multimedia children’s play co-produced by Beijing Children’s Art Theater and Yeowoobi Animation Company of South Korea, is running at Beijing’s Cultural Palace of Nationalities.
Adapted from a popular South Korean cartoon book by Korean writer Cho Soo Min , the play tells the story of the boy named Siqing, who sets out in search of adventure with his friend Weiwei, a dinosaur, and a panda to rescue his kidnapped grandfather.
In director Hang Cheng’s eyes, it is a story of hope, dreams and courage.
He says it is a Chinese interpretation of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, and Cheng hopes it could inspire the young a
udience members to love one another, treasure friendship and pursue their dreams.
Time: 7:30pm, until August 26
Place: 49 Fuxingmen Neidajie Street, Xicheng District
Tel: 400 – 810 – 1887 , 5905 – 9082
Lords of the rings: The Chinese Acrobatics（杂技）Group, established in 1950, will put on a performance that includes traditional acrobatics, circus, magic, old Beijing 
folk plays and more.
The show blends music, dance, local opera and martial arts with acrobatics.
Time: 7:30pm, daily
Place: Tiandi Theater, Dongsi Shitiao, 100 meters north of Poly Theater, Chaoyan
d District
Tel: 6416 – 9893
Fooling around: Dashan is taking to the stage with the otherwise all-Chinese cast of Chaoji Bendan, or Super Idiot. The play is an adaptation of the famous French comedy, Le diner de Cons (The dinner Game).
Dashan, or Mark Rowswell, is a Canadian who became a household name and popular TV host who speaks superb Chinese. He plays the role of Pierre Brochant, a successful Parisian publisher, who attends a weekly “idiots’ dinner”. Each guest must bring along an “idiot” for the amusement of the other invitees. At the end of the dinner, the vevning’s “champion idiot” is selected.
Time: 7:30pm, September 29~30
Place: Poly Theater, 14 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6416 – 9990
Classic comeback: Chinese drama classic The Top Restaurant (Tianxia diyilou) will be staged by Beijing People’s Art theater. Written by He Jiping, the drama has been one of the most popular Chinese theatrical works performed by the renowned Beijing People’s Art Theater. It has been staged more than 400 times since the premiere.
Time: 7:30pm, September 5~14
Place: Capital Theater, 22 Wangfujing Dajie
Tel: 6524 – 9847
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1.If you want to enjoy magic on Sunday, you can go to _______.
A. Red Theater B. Tiandi Theater C. Poly Theater D. Capital Theater
2.The advertisements are about “_______ ”
A. exhibitions B. meetings
C. stage performances D. western cultures
3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Super Baby, a children’s play, is performing at Beijing’s Cultural Palace of
Nationalities.
B. The Chinese Acrobatics Group can perform old Beijing folk plays.
C. Dashan is a popular TV host who speaks superb Chinese.
D. The Top Restaurant will be performed by He Jinping
4. This passage is most probably taken from _______ .
A. a textbooks B. a magazine C. a newspaper D. a website
As an effect of the high fuel prices spent on bus transportation, some American schools are changing to a four-day week. That means longer days instead of the traditional Monday through Friday schedule.
Having been approved for three years and beginning in the fall, students in the Maccray school district in Minnesota will be in school from Tuesday to Friday. Each school day will be 65 minutes longer. Officials say the district expects to save about sixty-five thousand dollars a year in transportation costs.
In new Mexico, the first school district changed to a four-day week in 1974 because of the Arab oil boycott(抵制). Now, 17 out of 89 districts use it.
In Custer, South Dakota, students have been going to school four days a week since 1995. Superintendent(主管人)Tim Creal says the change has saved about one million dollars over just the past eight years. He sees other benefits, too. Students get more instructional time, and activities that used to take up class time are now held on non-school days. He says that in the future, the growth of online classes could make it possible to require even fewer days in school. High fuel prices are driving college students to take more online classes.
A four-day school week sounds like a great idea for students and teachers, but working parents may have to pay for child care for that fifth day.
1. According to Tim Creal, what makes it possible to have even fewer days in school?
A. The increasing number of private tutors.
B. The development of teaching methods.
C. The increase in the number of online classes.
D. The growth in the income of Americans.
2. It can be learned from the passage that______
A. students will be in school from Monday to Tuesday.
B. four-day week was first carried out in South Dakota.
C. Maccray will save one million dollars every year.
D. Minnesota state has approved the four-day week plan.
3. The passage is mainly about______
A. some school’s four-day week plan B. districts using a four-day week.
C. how to save on transportation fees. D. expense of school transportation.
第三部分：阅读理解 (共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分)
Foreign Media Praise China's Earthquake Relief
The Wall Street Journal Asia Edition (U.S.), the Globe and Mail (Canada), the Guardian (U.K.), among other foreign news agencies, have recently published articles on China's earthquake relief. They have all praised the earthquake relief efforts made by the Chinese government.
The Wall Street Journal Asia Edition published an article on May 21 saying that on the eighth day of the most serious natural disaster to hit China in decades, rescuing survivors from the ruins had been quickly replaced by the formidable challenge of helping them. The article said that people overseas have been deeply impressed by earthquake relief efforts by the Chinese government.
The Associated French Press (AFP) reported on May 21 that China has become more open amid the campaign.
Aircraft loaded with relief supplies from Ukraine, Russia, the United States, Singapore and other countries have arrived in disaster areas in southwestern China.
The Associated Press (AP) published an article on May 21 reporting that China is making great efforts to deal with a formidable task caused by the earthquake how to provide temporary shelter for so many people. The article said that many tents have been built; and food and medical care are provided to the people whose lives have been completely disrupted (混乱) by the earthquake.
The Global and Mail of Canada published an article on May 20 that said the rapid earthquake relief work in Sichuan demonstrates China's powerful economic strength.
An article carried in the British Guardian said that one week after the Sichuan earthquake, China began a three-day national mourning period at 14:28 on May19, and all Chinese people stood in silence for three minutes in memory of the victims.
The ongoing search and rescue action is encouraged by one miraculous survivor after another. Chinese officials said that, so far, 
no epidemic had occurred after the earthquake.
1. How many press media are mentioned in the article?
A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 D. 6
2. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Foreign media praise China's earthquake relief
B. the rapid earthquake relief work in Sichuan demonstrates China's powerful
economic strength
C. the most serious natural disaster to hit China in decades
D. Tens of thousands of people’s lives have been completely disrupted by the
earthquake.
3. According to the passage, what is the most pressing task in the earthquake-hit areas?
A. rescuing survivors
B. providing temporary shelter and food for the victims
C burying dead bodies
D. clearing away the ruins
4. What is the possible meaning of the underlined word “formidable” in paragraph 4?
A. very difficult B. glorious C. light D. pressing
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