People in the US thought Ebola was only a disease, accompanied with fever and found in Africa at the beginning. then a man from west Africa died from Ebola at a hospital in Dallas, Texas. And two nurses for him became infected(感染) with the virus, which made the US government publish new guidelines to health workers．

Top American have repeatedly said that most people have little chance of being infected．Experts have that Ebola can only be spread through infected person’s body fluids — like blood．But it many Americans are what they have heard．

A recent survey found more than 80 percent of Americans believe that Ebola can be spread in many , including air forced through the nose or mouth. The Harvard School of Public Health the findings. The study also showed that most adults fear there will be a(n) of Ebola in the United States soon.

survey found that more than 70 percent of Americans would support calls to travel to and from Ebola-affected parts of Africa.

Thomas Frieden heads the U.S．Centers for Disease Control and Prevention．When asked whether officials had considered a travel ban, Mr．Frieden had to say：“We won’t be able to check travelers for when they leave or when they arrive. We won’t be able, as we do , to take a detailed history to see if they were when they arrive. When they , we wouldn’t be able to impose quarantine（強加隔離）as we now can if they have high-risk touch.”

Last week, President Barack Obama urged Americans not to what he called “ panic or fear ”.

This week，the administration announced that all travelers reaching the United States from some African nations are to pass through one of five airports.

1.A. Just B. Yet C. So D. Even

2.A. arranging B. caring C. searching D. standing

3.A. treat B. attend C. inspect D. protect

4.A. officials B. officers C. physicists D. doctors

5.A. stated B. suggested C. considered D. regretted

6.A. proves B. happens C. says D. appears

7.A. studying B. discussing C. questioning D. determining

8.A. means B. areas C. organs D. countries

9.A. announced B. received C. admitted D. rejected

10.A. increase B. income C. decrease D. outbreak

11.A. The other B. Another C. The same D. One

12.A. forbid B. expect C. require D. allow

13.A. foreign B. royal C. African D. federal

14.A. that B. this C. nothing D. those

15.A. change B. money C. fever D. crime

16.A. immediately B. previously C. presently D. regularly

17.A. examined B. searched C. explored D. exposed

18.A. leave B. arrive C. live D. stay

19.A. look forward to B. pay attention to C. give in to D. add up to

20.A．persuaded B．required C. advised D. guided

If a sitcom(情景喜劇) that lasts for l0 years is considered popular, then surely one that still arouses emotions after 20 must be considered a classic. Friends first aired in the US in 1994, telling about six young men and women in New York．Since then, it’s become one of the most famous titles in the sitcom style, aired in over 100 countries and regions in the world.

The show is typical among those who grew up in the 1990s because it explores basic yet important themes like friendship, struggling to survive in a big city, and finding independence and identity, all of which are still relevant to young audiences today.

Against the background of the Internet age, IT staff who were once marginalized(排斥) and laughed at have been brought back to life due to the popularity of hit show The Big Bang Theory, in which four talents lacking normal social skills make an attempt at living on a college campus.

At the same time, Gossip Girl, describing a young cast of New Yorkers born with silver spoons in their mouths, showing the difficulties upper-class adolescents experience. The play’s fashion and mature subject matter allowed it to draw the interest of both teenagers and adults.

Although these typical TV shows cover a wide timeline and a variety of themes, they all have a universal topic. Why are they still appealing? It remains to be found out.

1.Why is the sitcom Friends typical among young people in the 1990s?

A. Because it is a breakthrough in the producing style.

B. Because it is the most influential sitcom of all time.

C. Because it predicts the future of the young at that time.

D. Because it addresses the subjects faced by the youth.

2.What can we learn about The Big Bang Theory?

A. It improves the conditions of the people in IT.

B. It arouses people’s enthusiasm for computers.

C. It is about four talents who are good at everything.

D. It is set in the time before the Internet came into being.

3.According to the passage, Gossip Girl .

A. describes the hardships of upper-class people

B. attracts people of all ages

C. shows eye-catching style and adult subject

D. describes the life of ordinary girls

4.What will the author most probably talk about next?

A. The introduction to other hit sitcoms.

B. The further information about the plot.

C. The analysis of the reasons for the appeal.

D. The emotional response among audience.

Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island, failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.

As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island, they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well-known bay mud. However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon, they decided to drive on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud. To make matters worse, the tide(潮汐) started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle. Just four hours later the car was trapped in two metres of water — to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.

Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and “it told us we could drive down there. It kept saying it would navigate(導航) us to a road. But we got stuck…there’s lots of mud.” She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck(吊車) driver who was called to the trapped car. No such luck for the hired car though – after assessing the situation, no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo, who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit. Mr. Tomonari said, “It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back it will be sunny.”

The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about $1500 in extra charges.

1.The three Japanese tourists got stuck because .

A. there was no way to the island

B. their GPS was broken during their journey

C. their GPS had given the wrong information

D. their car was not made in Japan

2.They didn’t abandon their car until .

A. some onlookers went to save them

B. they got stuck in the mud

C. there came the tide

D. they managed to travel around 500 metres

3.How did these Japanese students get back?

A. They had to walk back to their living place.

B. They had to take a lift from the tow truck driver.

C. They had to repair their GPS and drove back.

D. They had to turn to passengers on boats and ferries.

4.According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A. The passengers saved these students in the end.

B. Mr. Tomonari got very down after the journey.

C. No money has to be paid thanks to insurance.

D. The car was left where it was trapped.

Music died here last spring, or rather, it was killed by members of the school committee who ignored the importance of music as part of the high-school curriculum.

The committee decided that teaching students how to take a test is more important than a curriculum in which students can explore their interests in the arts as well as academics. Because the school system is running out of funding(資金), it needs to make sure that students pass the test or even more money will be lost. If students fail the state test，it is not the fault of music classes — they are failing because the “academic” classes are not adequate.

It is painful to think of how many students will be discouraged from singing, acting, and playing instruments because school programs are no longer offered. Many families cannot afford private music lessons, and many potential musicians may not find their calling if they are not exposed to it in school. The fact that the school committee thinks the arts are not worth the investment(投資) will certainly make some students believe the arts are not worth their time or support and the cycle will continue.

Teaching for a test does not shape students into complete, well-rounded people. It blocks the natural sense to create and express feelings through art — there is more to life than the analytical(善于分析的) thinking that math and English provide. What happens after a test? Sure, a student might graduate, but they will have limited knowledge — certainly not a good preparation for the real world.

1.Music is not included in the high school curriculum mainly because .

A. the school committee pays no attention to it

B. the students are not interested in it

C. the school is afraid of losing financial support

D. the state test is more important

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The number of the classes determines students’ performance in the test.

B. The school committee completely influences students’ attitude towards art.

C. Students can be musicians only if they can afford private music lessons.

D. Quite a few students are discouraged from learning music at school.

3.We can learn that music and art can .

A. make students round-shaped people in future

B. motivate students in creativity and expression

C. provide students with analytical thinking

D. prevent students graduation from high school

4.The best title of the passage can be .

A. Who on earth killed music?

B. Can curriculum go without music?

C. Can we ignore the importance of music?

D. How to prepare for the real world?

Stop wasting your time thinking of reasons for your failures. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.

The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.

You cannot be successful without first developing your self-confidence. Your level of self-confidence is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-confidence are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed (搖擺) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.

You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.

Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify(確定) the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

In all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success.

1.People with low self-confidence are compared to leaves because they .

A. don’t have the power to face their lives

B. are ready to change their minds

C. can’t exercise control over themselves

D. are easily affected by windy weather

2.Losers would think that .

A. they fail only because of bad luck

B. they don’t make efforts to succeed

C. success is the result of hard work

D. working hard will lead to success

3.It can be inferred from the fifth paragraph that .

A. what we believe in is the result of creative mind

B. whether we will succeed depends on our attitudes

C. setting our expectations is vital before taking action

D. knowing cause and effect is the key to future success

4.The last paragraph serves as .

A. an introduction to another topic

B. a comparison between two views

C. the proof of the author’s points

D. the conclusion of the argument

Alibaba started taking the lead in China by connecting big Chinese manufacturers(制造商) with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed business to buy almost everything. Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to judge: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards. Its market attracts 231 million active buyers, 8 million sellers, 11.3 billion orders a year — and Alibaba is just the middleman. It encourages people to use its markets — not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale.

If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.

Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is second to consumer buying. Chinese retail(零售) buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items(物品) for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.

What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping — big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.

I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how wide the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine.

1.Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in .

A. its business-to-business service

B. its big size

C. its not charging small sellers

D. its low price

2.What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage?

A. Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites.

B. Alibaba will continue to develop.

C. Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers.

D. Alibaba stands out as the best online site.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail.

B. Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites.

C. TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao.

D. The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Shopping online in China is TaoBao.

B. Alibaba influences people’s daily purchase in China.

C. Shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping.

D. How the author purchases online in China.

閱讀下面短文，根據(jù)所讀內(nèi)容在表格中的空白處填入恰當?shù)膯卧~。注意：每個空格只填一個單詞。

New discoveries suggest that trade between Europe and Asia along the Silk Road probably began many centuries earlier than once thought. The findings add a fascinating new page to the epic(史詩) of the Silk Road, which spread far and wide in no time.

The latest and most surprising discovery is pieces of silk found in the hair of an Egyptian mummy(木乃伊) from about l,000 BC, long before regular traffic on the Silk Road and at least one thousand years before silk was previously thought to be used in Egypt. Other researches may extend human activity along this road back even further, perhaps a million years to the moving of human ancestors into eastern Asia.

The official origin of East-West trade along the road is usually placed in the late 2nd century BC when an agent of the Chinese Emperor Wu-di returned from a dangerous secret task across the desert into the remote high country of Central Asia. The agent, Zhang Qian, traveled as far as Afghanistan and brought back knowledge of even more distant lands such as Persia, Syria and a place known as Lijien, perhaps Rome. Historians(歷史學家) have called this one of the most important journeys in ancient times. His journey opened the way for what have been thought to be the first indirect touches between the ancient world’s two super-powers, China and Rome. Chinese silk, first traded to Central Asia for war horses, was soon finding its way to the markets of Rome through a network of businessmen.

But the new discoveries show that Chinese silk apparently existed in the West long before the Han emperor started to organize trade over the Silk Road. The research could change thinking about the early history of world trade and provide comprehension into the mystery(謎) of just how and when Europe first realized the glorious culture at the other end of Eurasia.

感恩，是我們生活中永恒的話題。假設你校正在舉行一場有關“感恩”的演講比賽，請你在“父母、老師、朋友” 中選擇一個感恩對象，寫一篇英語演講稿參加比賽。

內(nèi)容要點如下：

1. 為何感恩；

2. 如何感恩。

注意：

1．詞數(shù)120左右；

2．演講稿中不能出現(xiàn)與本人相關的信息；

3．演講稿的開頭與結尾已為你擬好，不計入總詞數(shù)。

Good afternoon, everyone! it’s a great honor to have the opportunity to be with you today. The topic of my speech is “Thank you, …”

Next year marks the 150th anniversary of when large numbers of Chinese started working on a huge project in the United States. They help to build America’s first transcontinental railroad between 1863 and 1869, connecting the East Coast with the West.

People know little about the Chinese railroad workers and what happened to them after the project was finished. Stanford University in California wants to learn more about the lives of these men by reaching out to their families.

Bill Yee’s ancestors came from southern China. He said, “My great-great-grandfather came to America during the‘gold rush’days and he returned to China as a wealthy man. And then my great-grandfather came to work on the railroad and died there.”

But that did not stop his grandfather from coming to the US on false papers. He operated a laundry. Bill Yee’s father continued to run the business and has never returned to China.

“Things were pretty bad in some parts of China in the 1860’s. They came to America at all costs in order that they no longer had to bear hunger,” Bill Yee said.

Shelley Fisher Fishkin is helping to direct the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University. She said, “Many of the Chinese workers who came to work on the transcontinental and other railroads returned to China after their work was done and created families there. Some of them settled in America and created new families, but they had families who they left when they came here and they may have descendants in China.”

There is a need to create a record of the object and spoken history from the families of the railroad workers.

“The US could not have become the modern industrial nation without the railroads. And the railroads would not have come together without the work of these Chinese workers,” said Shelley Fisher Fishkin.

1.What do you know about Bill Yee?

A. His family was rich in the 1860’s.

B. His father settled in the USA.

C. He knows little about his ancestors and hopes to know more.

D. His grandfather came to America with his great-grandfather.

2.According to Bill Yee, many Chinese went to America in the 1860’s mainly .

A. to run their own businesses

B. to find their ancestors

C. to make a living

D. to dig gold

3.According to Shelley Fisher Fishkin, .

A. the descendants of the Chinese railroad workers all live a good life

B. they expect to find all the descendants of the Chinese railroad workers

C. some Chinese railroad workers hope they can find their descendants in China

D. some Chinese railroad workers have descendants both in China and the US

4.Why did Stanford University carry out the project?

A. Because they want to help the Chinese railroad workers’ descendants to get together.

B. Because they want to show the importance of America’s first transcontinental railroad.

C. Because they want to learn more about how to build a railroad in the past in America.

D. Because they want Americans to remember the Chinese railroad workers’ role in US history.

The World Bank has looked at the distinguishing features of successful school system.

According to the World Bank’s education specialist, Harry Patrinos, this include: improving the quality of teachers and making sure that teachers are highly regarded; providing information to make schools accountable and giving autonomy to schools and head teachers.

This matters not only for individual pupils but also for the well-being of countries, he says, because improving educational performance has a direct impact on improving economic performance.

China’s education performance— at least in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong— seems to be as spectacular as the country’s fast growing economy.

Certainly both these open and outward-looking cities consider education to be important and are willing to adopt the best educational practices from around the world to ensure success. In Hong Kong, education accounts for more than one-fifth of entire government spending every year.

“Shanghai and Hong Kong are small education systems, with a concentration of ideas, manpower and resources for education,” says Prof Cheng.

Under the banner “First class city, first class education”, Shanghai set about systematically re-equipping classroom, upgrading schools and improving the curriculum in the last decade.

It got rid of the “key schools” system which concentrated resources only on top students and top schools. Instead staff were trained in more interactive teaching methods and computers were brought in.

About 80% of Shanghai school leavers go to university compared to an overall average of 24% in China.

Meanwhile, dynamic Hong Kong was forced into educational improvements as its industries moved to cheaper mainland Chinese areas in the 1990s.Its survival as a service and management hub depends on upgrading knowledge and skills.

In the last decade Hong Kong has concentrated on closing the gap for all students, says a report by McKinsey management consultants.

The report, How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, rated Hong Kong’s education system among the best in the world.

1.The World Bank’s survey about education mainly concentrates on .

A. what has made some education systems successful

B. China’s education system and competitive exams

C. how to relieve Chinese students of their heavy schoolwork

D. the relationship between education and economic development

2.According to Harry Patrinos, the key to successful school systems is .

A. to give autonomy to all teachers to educate students freely in class

B. to let students attend after-school tutoring and do more exercises

C. to improve teachers’ abilities and give schools free performance right

D. to make school education directly serve the economy of the country

3.We can learn from the text that .

A. the “key school” system is the key to many schools’ failure

B. students in Shanghai and Hong Kong work the hardest

C. Hong Kong’s educational performance isn’t as good as Shanghai’s

D. Shanghai and Hong Kong’s economic performance will improve

4.What is the author’s attitude towards the school systems of Shanghai and Hong Kong?

A. Negative. B. Positive.

C. Neutral. D. Critical.