It can’t be truer that when in Rome do as the Romans do. So it’s necessary for you to know what you can talk with the local people in France, Australia and Switzerland, and different customs of these countries.
In France
You’ll find that conversations often turn into heated debates. Give opinions only on subjects that you are knowledgeable about. There is rarely a moment of silence, except when the topic under discussion has been exhausted, and nothing new has been introduced.
Food, art, music and current events or history are welcome topics. French believe in freedom, and you can criticize anyone, but not Napoleon, who is a symbol of French spirit and never use the standard. U.S. conversation opener “What do you do”.
In Australia
Australians tend to be enthusiastic debaters. A wide range of topics may be open to discussion, including religion and politics. The best policy, however, is to wait for Australian companions to bring up these two subjects; be prepared to hear their arguments.
Sport is a common topic of conversation in Australia and Australians tend to use sporting comparisons. Australians like to criticize themselves, but they can’t stand criticism from others. Don’t talk big；instead Australians prefer to judge your competence and abilities through your actions. People who show off their education in conversation may be subject to teasing.
In Switzerland
The Swiss may seem cold. Once you get close to them, however, you’ll find that they are honest, responsible people, who will be loyal to your interests.
They are good listeners and will remember practically everything you say to them. Sometimes they will even go so far as to take notes while you speak. The Swiss are a very private people, so you should avoid asking personal questions. They can be rather serious, so it is advisable to avoid making jokes on them.
小題1:Which of the following statements is TURE according to the passage?

A．There is no moment of silence when you talk with French.

B．French don’t like others asking their careers.

C．The Swiss may seem cold but humorous sometimes.

D．Australians tend to judge you by your words.

小題2:It is suggested during talking that ______

A．you should tell the Australians what education you have received.

B．you should not use too much sporting comparisons with Australians.

C．you should not ask personal questions from people of the three countries.

D．you should have the Australians bring up subjects first.

小題3:We can infer from the passage that ______

A．Australians don’t like to show off their success before others.

B．Australians like to criticize themselves and others.

C．you can talk with French about anything even if you know little.

D．you can criticize anyone in France because you have the right.

小題4:What is the best title of the passage?

A．Talking in western countries

B．How to argue with foreigners

C．Things that can’t be talked with foreigners

D．How to adapt to the life in western countries

小題5:What will the author talk about in the following paragraphs?

A．How to talk efficiently with foreigners.

B．Customs of the three countries.

C．How to choose topics in the western countries.

D．How to be a good listener.

Once in a blue moon,(極為罕見(jiàn)) there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial(天空的) neighbor. A full moon occurred on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.
The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.
“Blue moons have no astronomical significance,” said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California. “`Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter's moon'(a full moon in octorber) or a `harvest moon,'” Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac(年歷) defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons.
小題1:What’s the color of blue moon?

A．blue

B．golden

C．green

D．red

小題2:If you are in China, in which month can you see the blue moon?

A．December, 2009	B．November, 2009
C．January, 2010	D．February, 2010

小題3:Compared with the hunters moon, the blue moon ________ .

A．is more beautiful

B．is rarer

C．is larger

D．is brighter

小題4:Which full moon should be called blue moon according to the original definition?

A．The second full moon in a month with two full moons.

B．The third full moon in a month with three full moons.

C．The second full moon in a season with four full moons.

D．The third full moon in a season with four full moons.

小題5:What would be the best title for the passage ?

A．Rare New Year’s Eve Blue Moon to Ring in 2010

B．Blue Moon to Take Us Good Fortune

C．The Best Time to Observe Blue Moon

D．The Reason for Blue Moon’s Appearing

Humankind has tried to improve its standard of living since the very beginning of civilization. Back then, as well as today, providing food and security was the basic task for a person. However, nowadays the range of required goods has expanded significantly. People feel the need for not only some primary things, such as a piece of bread and a roof over their heads, but also for various facilities and luxuries. Providing humanity with these things is connected to the use of natural resources, which requires energy. In turn, the common sources of energy we use today cause pollution, so economic growth is almost inevitably associated with environmental damage.
Economic growth is the increase in numbers of goods and services produced over time by an economy, and it's calculated in terms of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Before growth is calculated, inflation(通貨膨脹) is adjusted in order to take into account its misleading effect on the price of goods and services. Economic growth can also be explained as the increase in expected output, which results from an increase in actual output, or total demand.
There are certain aspects of economic growth which affect the environment. The first of these is the fact that in order to produce more goods and products, at a faster rate, the construction of large industrial plants is required. These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, which may cause negative long- term health effects to nearby populations of animals, or people. They also lead to global warming.
Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption. The traditional energy sources, which are commonly used nowadays, are considered to be the greatest polluters to the environment. There also exist so-called eco-friendly sources of energy. They are sometimes preferred but replacing the traditional sources with them also requires time, during which people have to make some sacrifices to support these undertakings.
In order to produce economically practical energy, a sometimes significant transformation of the natural site is often inevitable. This is expensive and, has harmful effects on the environment. Application of wind energy would Block airflows' natural speed, which is the reason for their decrease in strength, after crossing the windmill. Consequently, the pressure balance that is brought about by this current will be affected, and it is important to remember that the environment and weather conditions are directly affected by atmospheric pressure.
For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without resulting in any environmental damage is impossible.
小題1:What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Pollution caused by plant construction

B．Effects of windmills on the environment

C．Economic growth and human civilization

D．Economic growth and environmental damage

小題2:According to the passage, the author holds the opinion that ____.

A．economic growth should be calculated in terms of GDP

B．use of natural resources causes no damage to the environment

C．industrial manufacturing may cause damage to the environment

D．a(chǎn) windmill is a perfect way to produce economically practical energy

小題3:Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

CP (Central Point)     P (Point)      Sp (Sub-point次要點(diǎn))    C (Conclusion)

The Production Department can be a fun place to work in a TV station. It can also be quite stressful if the station broadcasts a significant amount of live programming. There can be a number of interesting positions in this department. Here is a list of the core ones:
The Production Manager heads the department, and is the person to contact if you are interested in working in this area. He or she oversees all activities in the studios, hires and fires workers, meets with customers who want to produce an advertisement, and monitors expense budgets for the department. The person in this position may also sometimes act as a Director, Producer, Camera Operator, or any other role in which they are proficient.
Directors lead the crew during a production session. Over a headset, the Director tells Camera Operators what shots to get and the Technical Director (TD) what audio and video to put on the air. Directors work closely with the Producer of each program, ensuring that the final product meets with the Producer’s demands.
A Technical Director is a master at “punching” up the correct video source. In other words, if the Director calls for camera one, the Technical Director puts camera one on the air. The TD sits in front of a massive board called a “swicher” during production sessions, which allows him or her to literally switch between video sources. Since this can be a high-pressure, fast-moving job, the best Technical Directors are people who can stay even-tempered and in control.
The Stage Manager is responsible for everything that goes on in the television studio. This person makes sure all of the equipment is in good working order, oversees the building and placement of all staging, and may even set the lighting for all productions. Really efficient Stage Managers take pride in their studios, and it would not be unusual to see this person sweeping the floor or cleaning the sets between productions. This is a leadership position, which often leads to promotion to the position of Production Manager.
小題1:According to the writer, working in the Production Department _______.

A．is an interesting experience

B．is always very stressful

C．needs much professional knowledge

D．is the best choice to work in a TV station

小題2:The Production Manager ______.

A．seldom takes part in producing programs

B．is also called “Producer”

C．usually trains new workers in person

D．is responsible to deal with advertisers

小題3:The Technical Director _______.

A．decides what shots to get

B．works closely with the Producer

C．meets the demands of Camera Operators

D．carries out the orders by the Director

In western countries, especially in America, some social customs have lasted still today. For example, ladies first, that is to say, women in those countries are respected(尊重) in many ways.
In the U.S. and Europe, you will see men usually open doors for women and women generally walk ahead of men into a room or a restaurant unless the man have to be ahead of the ladies to choose the table, to open the door of a car or to give other services. On the street, men almost walk or across the street on the side of the ladies which is closer to traffic, but if a man walks with two ladies, he should walk between them.
小題1:In this passage， “customs” especially refers to _______.

A．what a group of people usually do

B．what people in western countries do

C．what people in eastern countries do

D．what people in united states do

小題2:When you introduce a group of people in English, you will probably begin with  _____.

A．Men and women	B．Women and men
C．Gentlemen and ladies	D．Ladies and gentlemen

小題3:In which country people may think it strange that men should open doors for women?

A．England

B．Italy

C．Japan

D．Germany

小題4:Which of the following statements is not true?

A．In Europe, a man generally follows a woman when they enter a restaurant together.

B．In America a man who walks ahead of a women always gives services.

C．In the U.S, women almost always walk closer to the running cars.

D．In the U.S, men should always walk by the side of the ladies.

小題5:Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of this passage?

A．In western countries, some social customs have lasted till today.

B．Women in western countries are respected in many ways.

C．Men usually open doors for women in the U.S. as well as in Europe.

D．Men show respect for women by giving them good services.

To take the apple as a forbidden fruit is the most unlikely story the Christians (基督教徒) ever cooked up. For them, the forbidden fruit from Eden is evil. So when Colu brought the tomato back from South America, a land mistakenly considered to be Eden, everyone jumped to the obvious conclusion. Wrongly taken as the apple of Eden, the tomato was shut out of the door of Europeans.
What made it particularly terrifying was its similarity to the mandrake, a plant that was thought to have come from Hell. What earned the plant its awful reputation was its roots which looked like a dried-up human body occupied by evil spirits. Though the tomato and the man were quite different except that both had bright red or yellow fruit, the general population considered them one and the same, too terrible to touch.
Cautious Europeans long ignored the tomato, and until the early 1700s most of the Western people continued to drag their feet. In the 1880s, the daughter of a well-known plant expert wrote that the most interesting part of an afternoon tea at her father's house had been the "introduction of this wonderful new fruit -- or is it a vegetable?" As late as the twentieth century some writers still classed tomatoes with mandrakes as an "evil fruit".
But in the end tomatoes carried the day. The hero of the tomato was an American named Robert Johnson, and when he was publicly going to eat the tomato in 1820, people journeyed for hundreds of miles to watch him drop dead. "What are you afraid of?" he shouted. "I'll show you fools these things are good to eat!" Then he bit into the tomato. Some people fainted. But he survived and, according to a local story, set up a tomato-canning factory.
小題1:The tomato was shut out of the door of early Europeans mainly because _______.

A．it made Christians evil	B．it was the apple of Eden
C．it came from a forbidden land	D．it was religiously unacceptable

小題2:What can we infer from the underlined part in Paragraph 3?

A．The process of ignoring the tomato slowed down.

B．There was little progress in the study of the tomato.

C．The tomato was still refused in most western countries.

D．Most western people continued to get rid of the tomato.

小題3:What is the main reason for Robert Johnson to eat the tomato publicly?

A．To make himself a hero.

B．To remove people's fear of the tomato.

C．To speed up the popularity of the tomato.

D．To persuade people to buy products from his factory.

小題4:What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To challenge people's fixed concept of the tomato.

B．To give an explanation to people's dislike of the tomato.

C．To present the change of people's attitudes to the tomato.

D．To introduce the establishment of the first tomato-canning factory.

( A )
There are fifty states in the United States. The largest in population is California, the largest in area is Alaska. Alaska is the smallest in population and Rhode Island is the smallest in size. The oldest states are the ones along the Atlantic coast. The newest states are Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska is also the coldest state. California and Florida are the warmer. Henry and his family live in Seattle, a big city, on the Pacific coast. But Los Angeles and San Francisco, also on the Pacific coast, are larger than Seattle. Henry's cousin, Susan, lives in New York. It is the largest city in the United States. Thousands of people visit New York each year. The most important city in the United States is Washington, D. C. It is the capital, but it is much smaller than New York.
小題1:How many states are there in the U. S. A. ?
A. Five    B. Forty- Five.    C. Fifty    D. Fifteen.
小題2:Which state is the largest in population?

A．California.	B．Rhode-Island.
C．Alaska	D．Los Angeles.

小題3:Which state is the newest, and the smallest in population?

A．Rhode Island.

B．Seattle.

C．San Francisco.

D．Alaska.

小題4:Which of the following is true?

A．The oldest states are the ones along the Pacific coast.

B．Washington is the most important and the largest city.

C．New York is the largest city in the United States.

D．Henry's cousin lives in the Seattle.

小題5:Why is Washington, D. C. the most important American city?
Because _________.
A. it is the largest city            B. it is the largest in population
C. it is the most beautiful city      D. it is the capital of the United States

( B )
“Cool”is a word with many meanings．Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold．As the world has changed，the word has had many different meaning．
“Cool”can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything．
When you see a famous car in the street，maybe you will say，“It’s cool．”You may think“He’s so cool，”when you see your favourite footballer．
We all maximize（擴(kuò)大） the meaning of“cool”．You can use it instead of many words such as “new” or “surprising”．Here’s an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used．A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall（瀑布）they had visited．On one student’s paper was Just the one sentence，“It’s so cool．Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt．
But the story also shows a scarcity（缺乏）of words．Without “cool”，some people have no words to show the same meaning．So it is quite important to keep some credibility（可信性）．Can you think of many other words that make your life as colourful as the word “cool”？ I can．And I think they are also very cool．
小題1:We know that the word“cool”has had ________.

A．only one meaning	B．no meanings
C．many different meanings	D．the same meaning

小題2:In the passage，the word“express”in second paragraph means“________”.

A．see

B．show

C．know

D．feel

小題3:If you are _______ something，you may say，“It’s cool．”

A．interested in	B．a(chǎn)ngry about
C．a(chǎn)fraid of	D．unhappy with

小題4:The writer takes an example to show he is ________ the way the word is used．

A．pleased with	B．strange to
C．worried about	D．careful with

小題5:In the passage，the writer suggests（暗示）that the word “cool”________．

A．can be used instead of many words

B．usually means something interesting

C．can make your life colourful

D．may not be as cool as it seems

D
To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains．But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against rain．Its first use was as a shade against the sun．
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times．Probably the Chinese were the earliest to use it in the eleventh century BC．We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade．And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor and authority．In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by royalty or by those in high offices．
In Europe, the Greeks were the earliest to use the umbrella as a sunshade．And the umbrella was allowed in common use in ancient Greece．But it is believed that the earliest persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against rain were the ancient Romans．
During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared．Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century．And again, it was considered a symbol of power and authority．In around 1680, the umbrella appeared in France and later on in England．
By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe．Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become  much lighter in weight．It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women’s umbrellas began to be made in a whole variety of colors．
小題1:The first use of umbrella was as ______________．

A．protection against rain	B．shade against the sun
C．a(chǎn) symbol of power and authority	D．a(chǎn) symbol of honor and authority

小題2:In Europe, the umbrella was first used against rain ___________．

A．in Greece

B．in Rome

C．in England

D．in France

小題3:From the text, we can infer that _________．

A．the umbrella changed much in style in the eighteenth century．

B．no one knows why the umbrella was used in very ancient times．

C．once ordinary people had no right to use umbrellas．

D．during the Middle Ages the umbrella was common in Europe．

小題4:This passage talks mainly about ____________．

A．when and how the umbrella was invented．

B．why the umbrella was so popular in Europe．

C．the development of the umbrella．

D．the history and use of the umbrella．

C
We all love festivals. But since culture develops differently in many places, some festivals are, to us, very strange. Let’s take a look at some unique(獨(dú)特的)festivals around the world.
Cheese Rolling Festival (England)
The festival started in the 15^th century in May. When a round cheese is rolled, competitors run down the hill and try to catch it before it reaches the bottom. As the cheese can reach speeds of up to 112 km/h, it’s rare that someone catches the cheese. First to the bottom wins the cheese. But running down a very steep(陡峭的) hill behind a cheese can be dangerous. Eight people were injured in 1992.
Roswell UFO festival (New Mexico, US)
The Roswell UFO festival celebrates the anniversary(紀(jì)念日) of the “Roswell Incident”, when a UFO was said to have crashed(墜毀) nearby. Every year in July, experts, authors, researches and lecturers come to discuss the incident. The celebration also includes an alien parade, an alien costume contest, and an alien hot air balloon ride.
Hemingway Days (Florida, US)
This festival has normal stuff (材料，東西) like short-story readings and exhibits about the author. But the highlight (亮點(diǎn)) of the festival is definitely (一定地) the Hemingway look alike contest.
Imagine walking into a bar and being greeted by 20 middle-aged men who all look alike: stocky with thick white beards. The festival takes place in mid-July every year.
小題1:Which festival takes place in mid-July every year?

A．Cheese Rolling Festival.	B．Roswell UFO festival.
C．Hemingway Days.	D．All of the above.

小題2:Which festival may cause injuries according to the passage?

A．Cheese Rolling Festival.	B．Roswell UFO festival.
C．Hemingway Days.	D．None of the above.

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

A．All the three festivals are celebrated in America.

B．It’s common that someone catches the cheese in Cheese Rolling Festival.

C．It’s said that a UFO once crashed in New Mexico, US.

D．In Hemingway Days, you’ll see 20 old or young Hemingways