Walking down any of Shanghai’s main shopping streets this week, newcomers might think the locals have been celebrating Christmas for centuries. Christmas may not be a customary holiday in China, but businessmen in Shanghai know it will bring something more valuable than tradition: people are willing to spend money. Most Chinese may feel little connection with the Christmas celebration, but with most shops offering discount (折扣), the message couldn’t be clearer-- it is the season to part with one’s hard-earned cash.
Much of that marketing drive is directed towards thousands of foreigners and foreign companies that call Shanghai home. But for Shanghai’s 13 million locals, regardless of personal interest, there seems no avoiding the season’s commercial greetings. Along some major roads, nearly every shop window displays some symbols to the holiday: a man-made fir tree(杉树) with lights, or a snowman.
With an increasing number of westerners arriving in the city for work, young Shanghainese, eager to keep pace with the latest western fashions, have begun to show their interest in Christmas. But some people still don’t think Christmas is an important festival in China. At least it is less important than the New Year and China’s Spring Festival.
1.. Why are people willing to spend money during Christmas?
A. They have earned a lot of money.
B. Goods are much cheaper during this period of time.
C. It is time for shops to sell goods.
D. Businessmen like Christmas.
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Christmas is the season people will hold their hard-earned money tightly.
B. Most Chinese people think they have something to do with Christmas.
C. Christmas is the season for common people to earn money.
D. Few Chinese people feel they are connected with Christmas celebrations.
3.Why do some young Shanghainese show great interest in Christmas?
A. They think themselves connected with Christmas celebrations.
B. They think Christmas is more important than New Year’s Day.
C. They want to follow the up-to-date western fashions.
D. They want to part with their hard-earned cash during Christmas.
4.From the first paragraph we know that _______.
A. It is difficult for most people to earn money.
B. It is easy for most people to earn money.
C. Only foreigners in Shanghai celebrate Christmas.
D. Christmas will be as important as China’s Spring Festival.
Even as Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda wrapped up a tired appearance before Congress，the head of the world’s largest automaker wasn’t leaving his problems behind．
Toyota faces a criminal investigation by federal lawyers in New York．The company is now being investigated．Its US dealerships in difficulty now are facing repairs to potentially millions of customer cars that have been recalled．The company is offering customers money back for rental cars and other expenses．
Its lawyers are busy preparing to cope with lawsuits．A new hearing will be conducted. And the cost to Toyota’s reputation is only now starting．
Despite back-to-back hearings this week，left to be said were a better explanation for slow actions to deal with the faults and believable promises that the problems that led to sudden，unintended accelerations will be fixed．
Toyoda said those changes were being made nearly around the clock，but during three hours of often tense questions and answers he repeated that there was no link to the vehicle’s electronic systems．
Many drivers making complaints against Toyota and the government say their acceleration problems had nothing to do with floor mat interference(油门踏板故障)or sticky gas pedals(刹车)．Outside experts have suggested electronic problems.
House lawmakers expressed serious criticism on Toyoda，the grandson of the company’s founder．
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA)is seeking records on Toyota’s recalls and is conducting its own review on whether electronics were behind the car faults．NHTSA also continues to look into steering complaints from drivers of the popular Corolla model．
Toyota has recalled 8．5 million cars，more than 6 million of them in the United States．
It may be a while before car buyers believe that Toyota really makes safe cars．
Toyota’s January sales already fell 16 percent even as most other automakers jumped back from last year’s bad results．Analyst Koji Endo of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo said he expects February sales，due out next week，to be down 30 percent to 40．Toyota’s sales problem could continue beyond that．
It will take some time to feel the full effect of this，he said．
1.The best title for this passage is ．
A．Toyota is in trouble B．Toyota is under hearing
C．Toyota is finished D．Toyota is still running
2.What is the purpose of the hearing?
A．America hopes that Toyota apologizes to the US customers．
B．America wants to get Toyota out of the US market．
C．America wants to help Toyota out of difficulty．
D．America hopes that Toyota admits their cars have electronic system problem．
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A．Toyota provides very good post sale service．
B．Toyota’s biggest market is in the United States．
C．Toyota will be closed soon．
D．Toyota’s dealership in the US will all be closed．
4.The last sentence of this passage indicates .
A．Analyst Koji Endo is fully confident about Toyota
B．Toyota could meet a worse situation
C．Toyota would get out of trouble sooner or later
D．Toyota would build up a better reputation among its customers
Eight days for just￥12，000
Departs：May—October 2007
Includes：
● Return flights from 6 China’s airports to Naples
● Return airport to hotel transport
● Seven nights’accommodation at the 3-star Hotel Nice
● Breakfast
● The service of guides
● Government taxes
Join us for a wonderful holiday in one of the Europe’s most wonderful-Naples in Italy if you want to have a nice time in a beautiful small quiet place．The ancient Romans called the city“happy land”with attractive coastline，colorful towns，splendid views and the warm Mediterranean Sea．Your best choice for a truly memorable holiday!
Choose between the peaceful traditional villages of Sant’ Agata，set on a hillside six miles away from Sorrento，or the more lively and well-known international resort town of Sorrento，with wonderful views over the Bay of Naples．
Breathtaking scenery，famous sights and European restaurants everywhere．From the mysterious Isle of Capri to the hunting ruins of Pompeii，and from the unforgettable“Amalfi Drive”to the delightful resorts of Positano，Sorrento and Ravello，the area is a feast for the eyes! Join us，and you won’t be disappointed!
Price based on two tourists sharing a double room at the Hotel Nice．A single room，another￥2，000．A group of ten college students，￥10，000 for each．
Like to know more ? Telephone Newmarket Air Holidays Ltd on：0845-226-7788（All calls charged at local rates）．
1.All the following are included in the price of ￥12，000 EXCEPT ．
A．transport between the airport and the hotel
B．telephone calls made by tourists
C．the service of guides to tourists
D．double rooms for every two tourists
2.If you don’t like sharing a room with others，you have to pay ．
A．￥12，000 B．￥10，000 C．￥2，000 D．￥14，000
3.If you like to visit historical sites，which of the following is your best choice?
A．Amalfi． B．Sant’ Agata． C．Pompeii． D．Sorrento．
4.Who is the advertisement intended for?
A．Potential tourists． B．College students．C．Quiet people． D．Old people．
Pushing children too hard is a really big social problem that seems to be getting worse．Now we have 6-month-olds in music classes and swimming classes．Parents fear that if other children are attending these classes，they will be holding their own children back if they do not enroll，too．
The other extreme，simply taking a laissez-faire approach and letting children do—or refuse to do—whatever they want，is not the answer either，of course．
Dr Taylor emphasizes that parents need to push their children based on what is best for the children，not what is best for themselves．If children understand that an activity is in their best interests，then they will accept it, he finds．
Dr Taylor and other family experts remain pessimistic about the possibilities for widespread social change．“The force of our popular culture，driven by money and superficial（表面上的） values，cannot be resisted，” he says．But change can take place at a“micro-level,” in families and schools．
When changes do occur，the rewards can benefit everyone in the family．One mother supporting this new approach toward parenting mentions the advantages her family experienced after her children cut back on activities．“The biggest thing is that since we have done this，we are rested,” she says．“Not only are our kids rested，because they're not in a ton of stuff, but my husband and I are rested，because we're not driving them everywhere．We weren’t living in the moment when we were always busy．We were living by the schedule．The return on our investment of spending time together has been enormous．”
1.One of the reasons why parents push children so hard is that they .
A. believe in early development in children
B. are too busy to take care of their children
C. don't want their children to lag behind(
D. want to repeat what their parents did to them
2.The phrase“a laissez-faire approach”(in Line 1，Paragraph 2)most probably refers to .
A. denying them what they need
B. controlling children in a flexible way
C. developing a keen interest in children
D. letting children do whatever they want
3.The best way to encourage children to work hard is .
A. to make them believe it’s in their best interests
B. to consider the matter from parents' standpoint(
C. to emphasize the importance of hard work from time to time
D. to make it interesting and enjoyable to them
4.What the author doesn’t approve of in the essay is _______.
A. achieving a balance between pushing the children too hard and leaving them alone
B. going from one extreme of pushing children too hard to the other of leaving them alone
C. involving children in activity that will probably contribute to their development
D. enrolling them in music and swimming classes at the very early age
Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5：30．and at 6：30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last，the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house As she opened the door，she nearly tripped over Sheba．
“Hey，Sheba，”she said，“I've got no time for you now，but I'll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club．”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking Obviously，she could hardly breathe．Immediately．Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet.(兽医) When she got there，the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba，Dr．Sterne brought her quickly into his office．
“Listen，doctor，I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting . Can I leave her with you，and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up，and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?”
“Sure．”said the doctor
Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes．As she was once more entering the hallway，the phone by the door began to ring．
“This is Dr．Sterne，”said an anxious voice．“I want you to get out of that house immediately，”said the doctor's voice．“I'm coming round right away，and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”
At that moment，a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．
“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?”shouted Joanne．
“She’s fine，Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her，and she’s OK now．”
Just then，the two policemen reappeared from the house，half-carrying a white—faced man，who could hardly walk．There was blood all over him．
“My God，”said Joanne，“how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”
“I think he must be a burglar．”said the doctor．“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat：it turned out to be three human fingers”
1.What was Joanne supposed to do at 6：30？
A．To walk her dog．
B．To see her doctor．
C．To attend a club meeting．
D．To play tennis with her friends．
2.Joanne wanted to get back to her home again ．
A．to dress up for the meeting
B．to phone the police station
C．to catch the badly hurt burglar
D．to wait for her dog to be cured
3.From the passage，we can infer that ．
A．Sheba fought against the burglar
B．the police themselves found the burglar had broken in
C．Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting
D．the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog
4.In this passage，the writer intends to tell us that the dog is ．
A．clever B．friendly C．frightening D．devoted
Anger is good for you, as long as you control it properly, according to new psychology research. A new study from Carnegie Mellon University ___1___ anger may help you ____2___ the negative effects of stress and help you become healthier.
“Here getting emotional is not bad for you if you look at the case of anger.” Said Jennifer Lerner of Carnegie Mellon. “The more you display anger, the lower your ____3___ responses.”
Lerner studied 92 UCLA students by asking them to count back from 6,200. They must say out loud every 13th number. Researchers interfered with them by asking them to ___4____ faster or ask them other questions. If they made any ____5___ , they had to restart from the very beginning. Many students felt depressed about making so many mistakes or got angry ____6____ the researchers were ____7____ them.
Lerner used a ____8____ video camera and recorded all their facial _____9____ during the test. The researchers ____10____ their reactions as fear, anger and disgust. Other members recorded the students’ blood pressure, pulse and production of a high- stress hormone called cortisol.
People whose faces showed more ____11____ during the experiment had higher blood pressure and higher levels of the hormone. Both can have lasting effects such as diabetes (糖尿病), heart disease, depression and weight gain. When people fear, negative impacts ____12____, but when they get angry, those negatives go down, according to the ____13____. “ Having that sense of anger ____14____ people to actually feel some power in what ____15____ is a maddening situation.” Lerner said.
Lerner previously studied Americans’ emotional response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks two months after the incident. He found people who reacted with ____16____ were more optimistic. These people are healthier ____17____ with those who were frightened during the event.
So in maddening ____18____, anger is not a ____19____ thing to have. It’s a ____20____ response than fear.
1. A. shows B. suggests C. expresses D. insists
2.A. drop B. reduce C. lose D. throw
3. A. mistake B. sadness C. stress D. anger
4.A. read B. write C. speak D. count
5.A. mistakes B. decisions C. changes D. losses
6.A. unless B. because C. if D. until
7.A. watching B. stopping C. interrupting D. recording
8.A. rented B. stolen C. borrowed D. hidden
9.A. spots B. points C. expressions D. smiles
10.A. chose B. regarded C. treated D. described
11. A fear B. anger C. regret D. happiness
12.A. decrease B. increase C. climb D. spread
13.A. plan B. method C. study D. project
14.A. hopes B. leads C. lets D. drives
15.A. actually B. really C. otherwise D. luckily
16.A. pain B. joy C. sorrow D. anger
17.A. compared B. comparing C. satisfied D. connected
18.A. situations B. conditions C. positions D. persons
19.A bad B. good C. proper D. wonderful
20.A. shorter B. bigger C. faster D. healthier
