A growing number of students in the United States are studying Mandarin(普通話). It is the official language of China. More and more people speak Mandarin than those who speak other languages in the world.
Schools that teach Mandarin want to prepare students for a future in which they are likely to work with people from China. Business in China is booming(繁榮的), and that trend(趨勢(shì)) is expected to grow.
The US government is trying to encourage even more public schools to teach Mandarin. Officials are considering spending about $1 billion on Mandarin programs in schools. China is getting involved(參與) too. The Chinese government has donated Mandarin textbooks to US schools. Some schools are also taking part in teacher exchange programs with China.
“It is important for students to learn Mandarin and Chinese culture,” said Mary Patterson, a school principal(校長(zhǎng)) in Portland, Oregon. “Students who do so will have wider opportunities when they become adults.”
小題1:Why are US schools teaching Mandarin?

A．To help students communicate with Chinese students.

B．To encourage students to move to China,

C．To prepare students for the future.

D．To get students interested in business.

小題2:The underlined word “donated” (in Paragraph 4) can be replaced by “______”?

A．provided

B．kept

C．made

D．found

小題3: What is the best title for this passage?

A．Why US students learn Mandarin	B．Schools in China
C．How to speak Mandarin	D．China today

Scientific discoveries have changed man’s life a great deal during the past century. First of all, they have greatly improved material well-being in several areas of life. In the field of medicine, cures for life threatening diseases have enabled people to live longer. In communication, the telephone and e-mail have made it possible for us to communicate with anyone in the world without leaving our homes or offices. Advances in transportation allow businessmen to fly across the ocean in the morning and return home the same evening. Space technology has put men on the moon. More efficient ways of using available resources, such as coal and solar power, have been explored.
Scientific discoveries have also changed man’s moral atmosphere. Ethical (倫理的) issues are raised by these discoveries. Should we keep a terminally ill person alive through drugs and machines or should we allow him to die in dignity? With advances in transportation had come the problem of pollution for nearly every major city in the world. If cities become uninhabitable, then such technical advances may come with too great a price to pay. Many people also question the wisdom of sending men to the moon when there are urgent problems that have not been solved on earth. During future years, increasing attention must be given to the moral as well as the practical applications of science.
小題1:Scientific discoveries have improved man’s life in several fields. Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

A．medicine	B．communication and transportation
C．education	D．space technology

小題2: Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Scientific discoveries have only changed man’s moral atmosphere.

B．Scientific discoveries have only changed man’s material well-being.

C．Scientific discoveries have helped people find efficient ways of using available resources.

D．Men are sent to the moon because there are urgent problems that have not been solved on earth.

小題3:At the end of the passage the author says that increasing attention must be given to _________.

A．the moral applications of science	B．the practical applications of science
C．urgent problems on the earth	D．both A and B

小題4:The best title for the passage is __________.

A．Science discoveries	B．Science and daily life
C．Advances in transportation	D．City pollution

This is a dangerous world we live in．The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc．You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper． But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little．
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous．For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide．This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors（腫瘤）, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once．After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth．The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background．
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said．When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths．Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view．For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe．Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike．When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics．If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s．To be warned is to be prepared．
小題1:In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?

A．We are now living in a dangerous world．

B．We get a lot of false statistics from the media．

C．Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things．

D．There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc．

小題2:Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?

A．To argue that high school students are easily persuaded．

B．To show the danger of reporting only part of the information．

C．To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous．

D．To warn us of the harmful substance around us．

小題3:Relative information is often left out because__________．

A．Relative information is not that important．

B．too much information will make readers feel confused．

C．the author is trying to show what he or she says is true．

D．readers are not able to analyze so much information at once．

小題4:What can we learn from the passage?

A．We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides．

B．Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world．

C．The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control．

D．Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong．

(NEW YORK)---Scientists have discovered small signs of awareness in some vegetative(植物人的) brain injury patients and have even communicated with one of them---findings that are beneficial to how to assess and care for such people.
The new research suggests that standard tests may ignore patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of communication may be possible.
In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by picturing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine.
“We were stunned when this happened,” said one study author, Martin Monti of the Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. “I find it really amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years.”
Ever since a research paper four years ago described obvious signs of awareness in a vegetative patient, families of patients have been demanding brain scans, said Dr. James Bernat, a spokesman for the American Academy for Neurology.
But experts said more study is needed before the specialized brain scans could be used in medical treatment. “It’s still a research tool,” Bernat said.
Experts also pointed out that only a few tested patients showed evidence of awareness. And they said it is not clear what degree of consciousness and mental abilities the signs imply.
They also noted that the positive signals appeared only in people with traumatic(外傷的) brain injury---not in patients whose brains had been lacking in oxygen, as can happen when the heart stops.
The new study used brain scanning called functional MRI, for 23 patients in a vegetative state and 31 that are minimally(極微地) conscious.
Patients are said to be in a vegetative state if they are tested and found unable to do such things as move on command or follow a moving object with their eyes. Minimally conscious patients show signs of awareness, but they are minimal and discontinuous.
小題1: What is the practical use of the research?

A．It leads to studying how to cure vegetative patients.

B．It attracts society to pay more attention to vegetative patients.

C．It helps doctors know whether patients are vegetative or not.

D．It drives the government to care about vegetative patients.

小題2:What does the underlined word “stunned” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Relaxed

B．Amazed

C．Excited

D．Worried

小題3:One is considered vegetative if _______________.

A．his eyes can’t follow a moving thing	B．his brain only has a little oxygen
C．he has a traumatic brain injury	D．his heart stops beating

小題4:The passage mainly deals with ________________.

A．how to recognize a vegetative patient	B．the significance of a new scientific finding
C．how family members look after a vegetative patient
D．the latest findings on awareness in some vegetative patients

To switch or not to switch, that is the question．Google’s announcement of its Nexus One smartphone（智能手機(jī)） happened over a week ago and I’m still receiving lots of e-mails from readers asking the same question: Should they give up their iPhone for the Nexus One?
Some people with iPhones, disappointed by American Telephone&Telegraph’s inadequate service and the high monthly cost, are wondering if they have really got something to replace it．Does the Nexus One offer the functions that Apple has led them to expect?
I’m on the fence myself, even though I never thought I’d be interested in anything but the iPhone．From my experience using the Nexus One, and from talking to people who have made the change, it’s not necessarily about the differences between the iPhone and the Nexus One．The phones are extremely similar in design and general feel．Instead, the decision can be made based on the software（軟件） services you use on your desktop．
My friend Chad Dickerson received a pre-launch Nexus One from Google three weeks ago．He said Google’s phone feels connected to certain services on the Web in a way the iPhone doesn’t．“Compared to the iPhone, the Google phone feels like it’s part of the Internet to me,” he said．“If you live in a Google world, you have that world in your pocket in a way that’s cleaner and more connected than the iPhone．”
Personally, the phones work perfectly with their own software, but both of them don’t make an effort to play well with other services．
小題1:Why are some iPhone users expecting a new type of phone?

A．Because their old ones are out of date．

B．Because they accept Google’s announcement．

C．Because of the limited service and high cost．

D．Because of the terrible software they can use．．

小題2:What’s the author’s attitude towards the new phones in the third paragraph?

A．Negative

B．Neutral

C．Indifferent

D．Positive

小題3:In Chad Dickerson’s opinion, the Nexus One is ________ the iPhone．

A．better than

B．worse than

C．a(chǎn)s good as

D．a(chǎn)s bad as

小題4:The best title of the passage might be ________．

A．Apple’s New Smartphone

B．Torn Between Two Phones

C．Good Services Matter

D．Google’s New Smartphone

Hungry for the brightest students, many of the country’s stronger universities are actively discounting tuition （學(xué)費(fèi)）．And it’s the high achievers, rather than the needy students, who are getting a good chunk of the money．The practice is remarkably widespread, reaching almost all but the 30 or so Ivy and other top colleges that forbid good grades-based financial aid．Schools are also becoming more aggressive in raising their discounts．At the DePauw University Website, enter an SAT or ACT score, grade point average and class rank, and a computer program immediately tells you what kind of "award"．Only "the real unlucky" pay full price any more．
About 76% of first-year students got some form of discount this year at 331 private schools．Average award per student: $7,000．At small schools with tuition under about $20,000, the average discount is even higher, with some schools returning over half their tuition．                                                         
Carnegie Mellon even tells students it will "negotiate（討價(jià)還價(jià)）" and perhaps match financial-aid packages if kids are offered bigger awards at other schools．Much as banks and insurers offer special rates to their best customers, schools are giving the biggest breaks to their top students．Public four-year colleges, too, are offering discounts．
The flip side of big discounts is that less money is available to improve academic programs and keep school infrastructure （基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施） up to date．Universities that have sharply increased their tuition discount rates have seen graduation rates fall, and that’s true even among highly selective schools．They get the students in the door, but don’t have the services to keep them．
小題1:From the first paragraph, we can judge that _______．

A．a(chǎn)ll the universities don’t offer tuition discounts．

B．Ivy and other top colleges offer financial aid to the high achievers

C．the needy students get more money from the universities

D．the graduation rates of the students from highly selected schools fall

小題2:The underlined words “flip side” in the last paragraph probably mean “_______”．

A．a(chǎn)dvantage

B．disadvantage

C．bad practice

D．good function

小題3:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The brightest students are not at all hungry for stronger universities．

B．About 76% of first-year students got an award of $ 20,000 per year．

C．Public colleges never offer discounts to the students．

D．Colleges should concentrate more on the services to keep the students

小題4:This passage mainly talks about _______．

A．the great benefit of offering lower tuition

B．college tuition discounts in popularity

C．the top students in need of tuition discounts

D．reducing graduation rates due to big discounts

Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world’s population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis.
　 But that doesn’t have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world---if we start valuing water more than we did in the past. Just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want.
　 Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs.
　 Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound (健康的) ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions (凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland.
　 No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water use. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate (調(diào)整) water policy.
小題1:What is the real cause of the potentials water crisis.

A．Only half of the world’s water can be used.

B．The world population is increasing faster and faster.

C．Half of the world’s water resources have been seriously polluted.

D．Humanity has not placed enough value on water resources.

小題2:As is indicated in the passage, the water problem _________ .

A．is already serious in certain parts of the world.

B．has been exaggerated by some experts in the field

C．poses a challenge to the technology of building reservoirs(水庫(kù))

D．is underestimated by government organizations at different levels

小題3: According to the author, the water price should _______ .

A．be reduced to the minimum	B．stimulate domestic demand
C．go with its real value	D．take into account the occurrences of droughts

小題4:In order to raise the efficiency of the water supply, measures should be taken to ______ .

A．guarantee full protection of the environment

B．centralize the management of water resources

C．increase the sense of responsibility of agencies at all levels

D．encourage local and regional water resources

OK, I admit it: emoticons (表情符號(hào)) are popular. Some people even think they are fun. Many seem unable to get through an e-mail or Instant Message chat sentence without using one. Some feel that they add feeling and character to otherwise cold digital communications.
Some, however, such as editor and Hollywood scriptwriter John Blumenthal, blast (抨擊) the use of emoticons as “infantile (幼稚的) just like the people who use them”  He believes that words themselves should be enough. “If you’re being funny, happy or sad, that should be apparent (明顯的) from the comment that goes before the emoticon,” he argues.
In the eyes of Blumenthal, the use of emoticons is a gender issue. “Men don’t use emoticons very much. Maybe not at all,” he said. “Teenage girls and women seem to use them a lot. Maybe there’ s an emoticon gene.”
It’s an interesting opinion, but it is not shared by all.
In an interview with The New York Times, Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, said that emoticons are popular because our brains are programmed “to seek out representations of humanity”. He believes that they appeal not because they are shortcuts for the lazy, but because they tap into (融入) something beyond language. They reach to our need to be with and communicate with people.
All of these arguments may be somehow valid (正確的). Each one of us will choose to communicate in our own way. I do not have much time for emoticons. I tried to use one once and felt like I was stealing into a primary school class that I had no place being in. I’d rather let my words do the talking.
Friends, however, send me messages and e-mails full of emoticons. I have no problem with this. I don’t regard any of my friends as lazy or immature (不成熟的). It’s just a question of individuality. :)
小題1:According to the article, emoticons are popular because ______. 

A．most of them look funny

B．they are easy for lazy people to use

C．they add feeling and character to a communication

D．a(chǎn) reader cannot understand a message without them

小題2:Which of the following views would John Blumenthal agree with?  

A．Instant Message chatters are childish.

B．It’s enough to use language in digital communication.

C．Men never use emoticons.

D．There is an emoticon gene in everybody.

小題3:From the text, we can conclude that the author ______. 

A．feels he has no difficulty using emoticons

B．thinks emoticons don’t suit him

C．encourage his friends to use emoticons

D．believes that emoticons are suitable for everyone

小題4:What is the main point of the article? 

A．Advice on language used over the Internet.

B．The history of emoticons.

C．Arguments over the use of emoticons.

D．Reasons for the popularity of emoticons.

Few of us make money by losing sleep．But three graduate students at Brown University in Providence built a company around sleep deprivation （睡眠不足）．
Jason Donahue, Ben Rubin and Eric Shashoua were working late nights in Brown's business and engineering schools．They began thinking about ways to sleep better．They discovered they weren't alone in burning the midnight oil．Around 20% of Americans get less than six hours of rest a night．
The friends imagined a smart alarm clock that could track how much time people spend in the most restorative （有回復(fù)作用的） stages of the sleep cycle: REM （rapid eye movement） and deep sleep．What would it cost to design such a thing? Five years of research, 20 employees, $14 million and a whole lot of doubting from investors and scientists．
Their company, Zeo, based in Newton, Mass, launched its product in June, 2009．The Zeo device uses a headband with tiny sensors （傳感器） that scan your brain for signs of four sleep states- REM, light, deep and waking sleep．The smart alarm clock displays a graph of your sleep pattern and wakes you as you're not in REM sleep （which is when you're least groggy）．In the morning you can upload the data to the company's Web site, and so track your sleep over time．Most of the feedback comes in the form of Zeo's ZQ score showing how well you've slept．
"Zeo allows people to unlock this black box of sleep," says Dave Dickinson, a health-care CEO．
Whether any of this actually improves sleep is up to the consumer, who will also need to make lifestyle changes like cutting out alcohol before bedtime or caffeine after 3 pm．
For now the company is selling Zeo online only．Dickinson also plans to spread it to countries such as Australia, where sleep deprivation approaches US levels．
小題1:Who will support Zeo?

A．People full of imagination．	B．People suffering sleeping problems．
C．People having access to the Internet．	D．People having bad lifestyles．

小題2:Why did the three graduate students imagine a smart alarm clock?

A．To wake them up on time in the morning．

B．To earn enough money for their study．

C．To improve the quality of people's sleep．

D．To enjoy their life while working at night．

小題3:To design the Zeo device, the three graduate students ____．

A．spent much time and money	B．were widely supported by scientists
C．worked by themselves all the time	D．a(chǎn)ttracted many investors

小題4:What can we know from the passage?

A．Zeo has a direct effect on users' lifestyles．

B．It needs more personal efforts to make Zeo function better．

C．A large quantity of Zeo devices have been sold in Australia．

D．Consumers can go to the Zeo company to purchase Zeo in person．

Contrary to common belief, social media websites such as Facebook do not weaken personal ties, they strengthen them in unique ways for different age groups, according to a new study．
The rapid spread of Facebook, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, has prompted concerns about its negative effects, but researchers at the University of Texas have reached a different conclusion．
"Our findings suggest that Facebook is not replacing face-to-face interactions between friends, family and colleagues," said S．Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV and film who headed the research team．
"In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community．"
The researchers questioned 900 college students and recent graduates about how and with whom they interact on Facebook．
More than 60 percent of Facebook users said posting status updates was among the most popular activities, followed by 60 percent who wrote comments on their profile and 49 percent who posted messages and comments to friends．
The researchers also found that although about the same number of men and women use Facebook, they do so in different ways．
"There is a noteworthy difference in aims in how to use a tool like Facebook．We found that for women the content tends to be more affectionate, and （they） are especially interested in using it for connection," said Watkins．
"For men, it's more functional," he added．
Watkins pointed out that, for example, women are more likely to post pictures of social gatherings with friends, while men are more likely to post pictures of hobbies, or post a political or pop-culture related link．
小題1:What's the popular viewpoint of ordinary people about the function of social media websites? They think ____．

A．It is positive to personal ties

B．It has negative effects on personal ties

C．It makes no difference to personal ties

D．It has both good and bad effects to personal ties

小題2:What's the meaning of the underlined word in the second paragraph?

A．resulted from

B．had

C．showed

D．produced

小題3:What do Facebook users like to do mostly on Facebook? They like to ____．

A．create new expressions of friendship '

B．wrote comments on their profile

C．update their personal statuses

D．post messages and comments to friends

小題4:According to the study, ____．

A．Men concentrate more on the functions of Facebook

B．Much more men use Facebook than women

C．Men and women use a tool like Facebook for the same aim

D．Facebook is taking the place of face-to-face interactions between friends