Britain Today
Food
British people like good food, and more than half of them go to a restaurant every month. Fast food is also very popular— 30% of all adults have a hamburger every three months, but 46% have fish and chips!
Sports
British people don’t do a lot of sports. Only 17% of people go swimming every week, about 9% go cycling and 8% play golf—and only 6% of people play football (but 32% go to watch it).
Cinema and TV
Films are very popular in Britain, and about 60% of people between 15 and 24 go to the cinema every month. At home, men watch TV for about three hours every day — two quarters more than women.
Holidays
British people love going on holiday, and have 56 million holidays every year. Most of these holidays aren't in the UK—27% are in Spain, 10% are in the USA, and 9% are in France. Maybe this is because the weather in Britain isn't very good!
【小題1】Which food could be more popular among British adults, a hamburger or fish and chips?

A．A hamburger.

B．Fish and chips.

C．Both.

D．Neither.

【小題2】 Those who are interested in movies are ____.

A．men

B．women

C．old people

D．young people

【小題3】 How long do British women spend watching TV every day?

A．Three hours.	B．Three hours and a half
C．Two hours	D．Two hours and a half

【小題4】British people's favorite country for a holiday is ____.

A．Spain

B．France

C．America

D．Australia

The tough economy is bringing new shoppers to the secondhand market. Plato’s Closet in Charlotte, NC is a private company which mainly buys and sells used clothes. While Charlotte has outstanding secondhand stores offering high-end and sophisticated (高雅時尚的) brands for women, most of their stock applies to adults. Plato's Closet targets teens and those in their 20s.Plato's Closet, with stores in Matthews and the university area, sells clothes and accessories (裝飾品) that are currently popular at up to 70 percent off retail prices (零售價).
The two hottest brands, for buying and selling, are Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch. Even though the offerings tend to be suitable for young people, there are a variety of shoppers at Plato's Closet of varying ages. Women in their 30s; 40s and older could easily find a purse, jacket or piece of jewelry they like.
Customer Beth Gibbs, 52, who has three teenage daughters, said she used to shop at name-brand stores, but “this year I'm shopping more in secondhand stores”, because of the economy.
If you're selling
Unlike higher-end resale stores which usually work on consignment (寄售), Plato's Closet buys on the spot.
Items can be gently used, but must be in very good condition.
Clothes should be less than two years old and styles should be the same as those still being sold at the shopping center.
There is no negotiation; prices are set company-wide. If what you sell amounts to $30 or less, they'll give you cash. More than that, you'll get a Visa cash card.
Secondhand success
Don't get discouraged if you can't find something on your first trip. Resale shops are always getting new lists of goods and change their styles with each season.
Be sure to check each piece carefully before buying.
Price comparison
Jackets: New York & Company black blazer, $12; retail: $37.
Pants: Express Editor-style pants, $12; retail: $69.90.
Shoes: Nine West black peep-toe pumps, $12; retail: $89.
Jewelry: Necklaces, $3-$5; retail: $18-$30. (365)
【小題1】What is the difference between Plato's Closet and other resale shops?

A．They offer service for people of different ages.

B．The offerings in Plato's Closet are more expensive.

C．Plato's Closet only offers high-end brands for women.

D．Plato's Closet also sells books to the customers.

【小題2】Which of the following about Plato's Closet is NOT true?

A．Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch are the two hottest brands in Plato's Closet.

B．Only young people can buy proper clothes and accessories in Plato's Closet.

C．Goods in Plato's Closet are sold at up to 70 percent off retail prices.

D．Plato's Closet targets teens and those in their 20s.

【小題3】In Plato s Closet, which of the following is not accepted?

A．Items you sell must be. in very good condition.

B．You can bargain with buyers about the prices of goods.

C．The clothes you sell should be less than two years old.

D．You can sell your goods on the spot instead of on consignment.

【小題4】 If you buy a pair of Express Editor-style pants in Plato's Closet, you can save_______.

A．57.9 dollars

B．44 dollars

C．77 dollars

D．25 dollars

Although English is not as 0old as Chinese it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always creating（創(chuàng)造）new words, and we should be able to know where most words come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham（火腿）? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They did not speak good English. But they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating round pieces of beef（牛肉）,they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans did not understand the question and answered, “We came from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of beef like what the men from Hamburger ate. Then he put them between two pieces of bread and started selling them. Today “hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. The reason may be found in any large English dictionary.
【小題1】 According to the writer, English ___   _.

A．is as old as Chinese	B．is older than German
C．is not so old as Chinese	D．is very difficult to learn

【小題2】Hamburger is___   _.

A．a kind of food	B．a round piece of beef
C．the name of a village	D．a city in Germany

【小題3】According to the story, ___   __.

A．few Americans like hamburgers

B．hamburgers are made with beef

C．hamburgers are made with ham

D．Hamburgers were sold all over the world about a century ago.

【小題4】According to the writer, which of the following can be found in any large English dictionary?

A．Where all the new words come from.

B．Where those Germans came from.

C．The reason why any word has a certain meaning.

D．The reason why English is spoken around the world.

【小題5】According to the story, the word “hamburgers” comes from_____  __.

A．China because it has a long history.

B．England because Germans don’t speak good English.

C．The round pieces of beef those people from Hamburg brought to America.

D．English speakers because they always create new words.

Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia(蒙古), some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp(打嗝)” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like the food.
In some countries, if you give a loud burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please.”
In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia(波利尼西亞)it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.
What are manners like in an East African town? People try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.
Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.
【小題1】In Mongolia, burping is a way to show that__________.

A．the host is very friendly with the visitors

B．one doesn’t want to eat anything at all

C．one enjoys the meal that is prepared by the host

D．one is not polite at table

【小題2】 In some parts of Polynesia, to be polite while eating, one should____________.

A．eat as fast as possible	B．eat with his mouth full of food
C．turn his back on others	D．sit still without doing anything

【小題3】It is good manners for people in East African towns__________.

A．to sit down beside others and wait for them to talk

B．to say “hello” to others on the street

C．to try to talk to others when they are working

D．never to speak to anyone on the street

【小題4】We have good manners to show that we________.

A．are different from other

B．begin all manners in the same way

C．want to be friendly to other people

D．don’t want people to trouble us

【小題5】Which of the following is not true?

A．Manners are not the same in different countries.

B．It is good manners to give a burp when you’ve had enough in any place.

C．Sometimes manners are different in different places in the same country.

D．A person with good manners is liked by other people.

The English language started about 1500 years ago in England. Three groups of people came to the country. They were the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. These three groups brought their languages with them to England. After some time, the three languages became one new language—English. The name "English" comes from the Angles. They lived in most of England. "England" means "Angle Land" or "Country of the Angles".
　　The language that we speak today—Modern English—is not the same as the English that people used 1500 years ago, including Old English（before ll50）and Middle English（up till 1500）. That language—Old English—sounds different, and it has some different rules of grammar. There were only a few thousand words in Old English. But Modern English does come from Old English, and it is still like it in many important ways.
【小題1】When did Modern English start?

A．About the year 1150.

B．Before the year 1500.

C．Between the 12th century and the 16th century.

D．About 1500 years ago.

【小題2】How many languages did Old English come from?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

【小題3】Which language did the name "English" come from?

A．Modern English.

B．The Angles.

C．The Jutes.

D．The Saxons.

【小題4】According to the passage, Modern English differs from Old English in ________.

A．grammar

B．pronunciation

C．words

D．All of the above

【小題5】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Modern English has nothing to do with Old English.

B．Modern English has more words than Old English.

C．Modern English has a vocabulary（詞匯量）twice as large as old English.

D．There is no difference between Old English and Middle English.

From Monday until Friday most people are busy working or studying, but in the evenings and on weekends they are free to relax (放松) and enjoy themselves. Some watch TV or go to the movies; others take part in sports. It depends on individual interests. There are many different ways to spend our spare time.
Almost everyone has some kinds of hobbies. It may be anything from collecting stamps to making model airplanes. Some collections are very expensive, but others don’t cost anything at all. Some collections are worth a lot of money; others are valuable only to their owners.
I know a man who has a coin collection worth several thousand dollars. A short time ago he bought a rare (稀有的) fifty cent piece worth $250! He was very happy about his buying and thought the price was reasonable (合理的). On the other hand, my youngest brother collects matchboxes. He has almost 600 of them but I doubt (懷疑) if they are worth any money. However, to my brother they are very valuable. Nothing makes him happier than to find a new matchbox for his collection.
That’s what a hobby means, I guess. It is something we like to do in our spare time simply for the fun of it. The value in dollars is not important, but the pleasure it gives us is.
【小題1】The underlined word “individual” in the first paragraph most probably means____ .

A．different

B．strange

C．secret

D．one's own

【小題2】In the writer's opinion, ____.

A．all hobbies are very expensive	B．some hobbies don't cost anything
C．hobbies are worthless	D．hobbies are valuable to everybody

【小題3】Something that one enjoys doing in one's spare time is a____ .

A．job

B．pleasure

C．hobby

D．habit

【小題4】Which of the following statements (陳述) is NOT true?

A．The writer's brother has a large collection of matchboxes, which makes him very happy.

B．We collect a subject in our spare time simply for the fun of it.

C．The pleasure that a hobby can give is important.

D．To have a hobby means to spend a lot of money.

Nowadays, the increase in the prices of agricultural products is one of the greatest concerns of the people and the government. The government has announced a series of policies(政策) to prevent the prices from rising further. Rising housing prices is still a big concern for the people, but since farm products are needed every day, the increase in their prices has made life very difficult for them.
Many people may think the increase will help farmers. But have higher prices of farm products really benefited the farmers? 
Take the increase in vegetable prices in the first half of this year for example. Though natural disasters such as droughts and spring frost did not cause the prices of farm products to increase greatly—in fact, prices of some products did not increase at all—vegetables have become dearer by as much as 20 percent compared to that of last year. This means only a small part (or even none) of the extra money that city people have paid to buy farm products has gone to the farmers. The extra cost actually has gone to middlemen.
As the fact shows, just increasing prices of farm products will have negative influence on the entire economy. On one hand, the price increase has created some abnormal phenomena, which hurts farmers’ interests. On the other hand, resources will enter the agriculture because of the high price of farm products, which would finally create negative effect on the whole economy.
In such a case, it would be better to leave the market to decide the prices instead of raising farm products’ prices to protect the interests of farmers. Actually, such a way will be better for farmers in the long run.
【小題1】What does the author mainly want to tell us by writing the passage? 

A．Farmers benefit a lot from the price increase.

B．Price increase has not helped farmers.

C．We should be sorry for farmers.

D．Price increase has a bad effect on economy.

【小題2】 Many people think the increase in the prices of farm products benefits ______ .

A． nobody

B．the country

C．middlemen

D．farmers

【小題3】The following statements are true EXCEPT ______ .

A．the government has done something to prevent the prices from rising further

B．it is better for farmers to leave the market to decide the prices in the long run

C．natural disasters did not cause the prices of farm products to increase greatly

D．rising housing prices has made life very difficult for people

【小題4】What is probably the author’s attitude to raising the farm products’ prices? 

A．Negative.	B．Indifferent.(漠不關心的)
C．Enthusiastic.	D．Positive.

There are many TV programs on Chinese cuisines(烹飪、美食)，but few are like A Bite of China（舌尖上的中國）. It tries to bring something new by introducing more cultural features related to dishes, such as eating habits and wonderful stories about food.
It’s said that more than 100 million Chinese people are watching the program. Most Chinese people see this program as more than just the regular food shows. They see it as an amazing documentary providing a special view of Chinese as well as the relations between people and food and between people and society.
On the other hand, the documentary also stimulates(刺激) Chinese people’s consumption(消費). Taobao, one of China’s biggest online shopping sites, reports that the search(搜索) on food items that were introduced by the documentary has increased to 4 million times within one week, and sales have increased to 5.82 million, or 20%.
To get enough good stories, the production team spent three months doing research and interviews in about 60 cities before they started making the documentary last July. Filming lasted about nine months.
Liu Wen, the director, says “As CCTV-9 serves as a window, allowing the world to better understand China, the documentary aims to help the world not only appreciate the beauty of Chinese cuisines, but also learn Chinese customs.”
【小題1】A Bite of China is a     .

A．film

B．magazine

C．book

D．TV program

【小題2】This program is quite different from other food shows because it has more features of     .

A．culture

B．cuisine

C．news

D．society

【小題3】The main idea of the 3^rd paragraph is that the program brings a new opportunity on      .

A．Internet communication	B．film making
C．food business	D．story writing

【小題4】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this passage?

A．Most people watch the program because they want to learn how to cook.

B．Taobao is China’s biggest online shopping site.

C．You can buy some food that’s more delicious and cheaper through the program.

D．There’re many wonderful stories about Chinese cuisines in “A Bite of China”.

If you are asked to name some national emblems of China, the dragon will probably be one of the famous images that pop into your head. We Chinese often consider ourselves "the descendants（后代）of the dragon." It is not unfamiliar to you that your parents hope that you "may become the dragon".  
　　As a mythical（神秘的）creature, the dragon is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Traditionally, dragons are considered to govern rainfall. They have the power to decide where and when the rain falls. In addition, the dragon is a symbol of imperial （帝王的）power. The emperors thought they were real dragons and the sons of the heaven.  　
But the creature is regarded differently in Western countries. In the Bible, dragons represent the devil（惡人）. Western people usually see dragons as cold-blooded reptiles（爬蟲）, like snakes and cruel killers. In their eyes, dragons are also dishonest.　　
　　Dragons in Western literature are presented as monsters（怪物）. It is a common tale for a mediaeval knight（中世紀的騎士） to kill a dragon and save a princess and her country from its evil. Even the popular boy wizard Harry Potter has to battle against a dragon.  　　
　　However, dragons are not all bad in the West. "Puff the Magic Dragon" is a well-known song. The lyrics(歌詞) tell a bitter-sweet story of the dragon Puff and his playmate Jackie Paper, a little boy. When Jackie grows up, he loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff upset. Puff represents the innocence of a child's imagination, which is very positive for a dragon.  　　
【小題1】The underlined word” emblems” in the first paragraph means “_______”.

A．symbols

B．names

C．places

D．parks

【小題2】What is a dragon presented as according to Western literature?
A wizard      B. A mediaeval knight  C. A princess           D. A monster
【小題3】The writer gave the example of “ Puff the Magic Dragon” to show_____.

A．dragons can represent the innocence of child’s imagination

B．children don’t like to play with dragons

C．dragons are not all bad in the West

D．not all people in the West like dragons

JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, has signed a deal with Little, Brown and Company, to publish her first ever novel for adults, which is set to become one of the most anticipated (期望的) book in years.
The deal means that Rowling’s long-standing relationship with Bloomsbury, the London-based publisher that launched (發(fā)行) the Harry Potter books, has come to an end, at least in terms of new works by the author.
Rowling is keeping her fans guessing about the characters and plot of her new book. She only said that the new novel will be nothing like the Harry Potter series, which was sold over 30 million copies in the UK alone. She thought that with the move from children’s to adult fiction, a switch to a new publisher seemed like a natural and reasonable step.
She said, "Although I've enjoyed writing it every bit as much, this book will be very different from the Harry Potter series. The freedom to explore a new field is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me."
Ian Rankin, the Edinburgh-based author whose highly-successful detective novels are also set in the city, suggested Rowling’s book will be a crime novel.
"Wouldn’t it be funny if JK Rowling’s first novel for adults turned out to be a crime story set in Edinburgh?" he said.
Industry insiders guessed that the deal is worth more than ￡5 million and the new book is expected to come out later this year.
A spokesman said, "JK Rowling’s audience is vast and her position is unique. Harry Potter books were a global success and her fans are very loyal. Children that were eight, nine, or ten when the books first came out in the 1990s are now in their 20s. Plenty of adults, loved the books regardless of whether they had children, so the potential market for her is huge."
【小題1】What does the text mainly tell us?

A．JK Rowling has signed a deal with a new publisher.

B．JK Rowling's new book will be more successful than her Harry Potter series.

C．JK Rowling’s first book for adults will be published later this year.

D．JK Rowling has to switch to a new publisher in order to publish her new book.

【小題2】JK Rowling’s new book for adults       .

A．has been sold 30 million copies in the UK alone

B．is poorly thought of by the London-based publisher Bloomsbury

C．has nothing in common with the Harry Potter series

D．is expected to bring her more money than the Harry Potter series

【小題3】The author used Ian Rankin’s words in order to         .

A．tell us that some famous novelists offer to give Rowling some advice

B．show that many readers are curious about Rowling’s new book

C．tell us that many readers prefer to read detective or crime novels

D．prove that a crime story set in Edinburgh is sure to be successful

【小題4】We can learn from the text that         .

A．Little, Brown and Company is specialized in publishing adult books

B．the author has no doubt about the success of Rowling’s new book

C．JK Rowling will be a crime novelist as good as Ian Rankin

D．it was in Edinburgh that Ian Rankin got to know JK Rowling