Maybelle said she wouldn't be coming with me to the library. I asked why, and she said she could get all the short stories she wanted off the Internet. Saved walking all the way to the library, and putting up with my long chat on the way there, and on the way back. Maybelle is very direct like that, always has been.
"But, Maybelle, we've been walking to the library every' Monday for the last fifty years!"
She said," Why don't you get Internet'? We can send each other emails."
So I had to get Internet. I called the local high school. They said they'd send me a good student to tell me all about computers and such.
Evil thing, this Internet. Makes you lose old friends, forces you to learn new complex ideas, even if you're too old. But Maybelle said you have to be modern; otherwise, you're dead.
The kid came the next day. Tall skinny black kid, by tile name of Arsenius, said his work would cost me.
I said, "All right. As long as I get Internet."
"You need a computer, then you need to get hooked up," he said.
"Let's buy a computer and get hooked up, then."
"How much you want to spend?"
"Whatever it takes."
"How many rams you want?"
I wasn't going to show him my ignorance, so I said, "Whatever it takes."
"Let's go to the mall. You got a car?"
"In the garage."
When I opened the garage door, he gasped. Daddy's car is still there, a'57 Chevy. I never drive it. Walk everywhere.
I said," Let's walk. It's only a mile or so."
He said," Let's drive, or you will faint on me in this heat."
"Young man, I don't faint, never have. We're walking."
"I get paid by the hour," he said. "Walking will cost you a lot more. Also, you feel like carrying a computer a mile or so?"
【小題1】What kind of person is Maybelle?

A．She always says what she means in an honest way.

B．She no longer likes reading in her old age.

C．She doesn't want to be friends with the writer any mort.

D．She doesn't want to keep up with the time.

【小題2】Why does the writer want to have Internet at his place?

A．Because the writer believes that one is never too old to learn.

B．Because the writer thinks that it is better late than never.

C．Because of the pressure from people of his age.

D．Because of the convenience the Internet will bring.

【小題3】Arsenius gives _________ reasons for driving to the mall.

A．two

B．three

C．four

D．five

Jack London had endured more hardships by the age of twenty-one than most people experience in a lifetime. His struggles developed in him sympathy for the working class and a lasting dislike of hard work and provided inspiration for his career as a writer.
London grew up in San Francisco in extreme poverty. At an early age, he left school and supported himself through a succession of un skilled jobs ----working as a paper boy, in bowling alleys, on ice wagons, and in canneries（罐頭食品廠） and mills. Despite working long hours at these jobs, London was able to read constantly, borrowing travel and adventure books from the library.
The books London read inspired him to travel, and his job experiences led him to become active in fighting for the fights of workers. He sailed to Japan on a journey aiming at catching seals and joined a cross-country protest march with a group of unemployed workers. After being arrested for vagrancy near Buffalo, New York, London decided to educate himself and reshape his life. He quickly completed high school and entered the University of California.
After only one term, however, the appeal of fortune and adventure proved uncontrollable. London gave up his studies and traveled to the Alaskan Yukon in 1897 in search of gold. Jack London was among the first of these miners. He may have searched for more than gold, however. London once commented, “ True, the new region was mostly poor; but its several hundred thousand square miles of coldness at least gave breathing space to those who else would have choked at home.” Although he was unsuccessful as a miner, London’s experiences in Alaska taught him about the human desire for wealth and power and about humankind’s inability to control the forces of nature. While in Alaska, London also absorbed memories and stories that would make him known one hundred years later.
Once back in California, London became determined to earn a living as a writer. He rented a typewriter and worked up to fifteen hours a day, spinning his Alaskan adventures into short stories and novels.
According to legend, London’s piles of rejection slips from publishers grew to five feet in height!
Even so, London preserved. In 1903, he earned national fame when he published the popular novel The Call of the Wild. He soon became the highest paid and most industrious writer in the country. During his career, he produced more than fifty books and earned more than a million dollars. Several of his novels, including The Call of the Wild(1903),the Sea-Wolf(1904),the White Fang(1906),have become American classics. In fact, he was a creative writer whose fiction explored several regions and their cultures: the Yukon, California, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. He experimented with many literary forms, from traditional love stories and dystopias（反面烏托邦小說）to science fantasy. His noted journalism included war communication, boxing stories, and the life of Molokai lepers（麻風病患者）. He was among the most influential figures of his day, who understood how to create a public persona and use the media to market his self-created image of poor-boy-turned-success. London's great passion was agriculture, and he was well on the way of creating a new model for spreading through his Beauty Ranch when he died of kidney disease at age 40. He left over fifty books of novels, stories, journalism, and essays, many of which have been translated and continue to be read around the world. His best works describe a person’s struggle for survival against the powerful forces of nature. “To Build a Fire”, for example, tells the story of a man’s fight to survive the harsh cold of the Alaskan winter.
【小題1】_________made Jack London reconsider his life in the future.

A．His job experience	B．The books he read
C．Being arrested	D．Long-hour work

【小題2】What is TRUE about Jack London?

A．Jack London was poor all his life.

B．Jack London got enough money while in the search of gold.

C．The books Jack London read inspired him to travel and become active.

D．The experience of gold searching made Jack London determined to write novels about Alaska adventures.

【小題3】After the experience in Alaska, Jack London ________________.

A．realized the nature of human beings.

B．knew people could control the nature finally.

C．regretted being there.

D．thought highly of himself.

【小題4】In paragraph 4, the sentence “True, the new region was mostly poor; but its several hundred thousand square miles of coldness at least gave breathing space to those who else would have choked at home.”  implies_______________________________.

A．Jack London regarded Alaska a poor place as he never got any gold there.

B．people would have been ill at home if they had never been Alaska.

C．People searching for gold there still have chance to win.

D．Alaska was a poor but large region.

【小題5】Which one of following works doesn’t belong to Jack London according to the passage?

A．love stories

B．poetry

C．journalism

D．essays

【小題6】What can we learn from Jack London’s final success?

A．Failure is the mother of success.

B．Practice makes perfect.

C．Knowledge is powerful.

D．All of above.

Today most Chinese teenagers are happy to be favored by two parents and four grandparents in their families. But have you ever thought about how to take care of four to twelve old people when you grow up and get married? This could be a problem for most Chinese youths as China is entering a new stage of an aging society.
An aging society refers to one where 10 percent or more of its population is over 60. By the end of 2007, Chinese over 60 years old have made up 11.7 percent of the nation’s total population. “China is getting old before becoming rich,”said Cai Chuang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The population increase that has powered Chinese growth for three decades will give way over the next ten years to a rapid aging of the society. This will lead to weaker economic growth, because of a lack of labor resources.
As a result of the family planning policy, it is expected that the country’s total working population will decrease after 2015.
China is not the only country getting old. More that 60 countries have become aging societies and one in three people in the European Union is a senior citizen.
However, experts said that China doesn't have a highly developed social security network to support the old. Social security is an insurance program protecting those in need, including the old, the disabled and others.
【小題1】An aging society is a society that _________.       

A．less that 10% of its population is over 60

B．10% or more of its population is over 60

C．there are four old people in a family

D．most of its population is over 60

【小題2】If China enters an aging society, __________.     

A．there will not be enough labor resources

B．the family planning policy will be ended

C．everyone needs to take care of four to twelve old people

D．China will have a highly developed social security network

【小題3】What does Cai Chuang mean by saying“China is getting old before becoming rich.”?

A．China will be an aging society, then be a developed country.

B．China will be a rich country before being an aging society.

C．An aging society will affect Chinese economy development.

D．China will stop developing because of its aging problem.

【小題4】The passage mainly talks about         .

A．a(chǎn)n aging society	B．Chinese social problem
C．family panning policy	D．a(chǎn)ging problem in China

As many as one in five US teenagers have some degree of hearing loss, according to researchers. They say the problem is growing.
“Teenagers really don’t pay attention to how much noise they are exposed to(接觸),” Josef Shargorodsky of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston told Reuters. “Often people won’t notice it, but even very little hearing loss may influence language development,” said Shargorodsky, one of the researchers.
The study compared surveys from the early 1990s and the mid-2000s. Each included a few thousand teenagers. In the first survey, about 15 percent of teenagers had some degree of hearing loss. Some 15 years later, that number had risen by a third, to nearly 20 percent.
“This certainly is big news,” said Alison Grimes, an ear doctor. “Hearing loss is very common in old people,” Grimes said, but she added that it was worrying to see it happen in the younger age group.
In babies and young children, hearing problems are known to slow language development. The science is less clear for teenagers, but it is easy to imagine how being hard of hearing could influence learning, said Grimes.
The reasons for the rise are still unclear. When researchers asked teenagers about noise exposure – on the job, at school or from activities, for example – the teenagers didn’t report any change. But Shargorodsky said that might not be true. “We know from before that it is difficult to ask this age group about noise exposure – they underestimate it.” Few people would call it noise when they listen to music on their MP3 player, for example. “There is a difference between what we think is loud and what is harmful to the ear,” said Grimes.
Although it’s not clear that the MP3 players cause teenagers’ hearing loss, Grimes said it was still a good idea to turn down the sound and take short breaks from listening.
【小題1】The writer advises teenagers __________.

A．to turn the sound down

B．to stop using MP3 players

C．to be clear about the problem

D．to report the change in hearing loss

【小題2】The underlined sentence “they underestimate it” means __________.

A．their love for music prevent them realizing the harm

B．their hearing loss is happening without being noticed

C．they think music can be taken as noise to some degree

D．they think it’s harmful sometimes although it’s not loud

【小題3】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Hearing loss may lead to slow language development.

B．Hearing loss in old people is as common as in young people.

C．Researchers have already found some causes of hearing loss.

D．Teenagers know MP3 is harmful, but they can’t stop listening to it.

【小題4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．A word short and simple	B．A report by teenagers
C．A message loud and clear	D．A letter from MP3 users

Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt（嘗試）to “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to conclude about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.
【小題1】What does the smile usually mean in the U.S.?

A．Love.

B．Politeness.

C．Joy.

D．Thankfulness.

【小題2】The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ___ .

A．show friendliness to strangers	B．be used to hide true feelings
C．be used in the wrong places	D．show personal habits

【小題3】What should we do before attempting to “read” people?

A．Learn about their relations with others.

B．Understand their cultural backgrounds.

C．Find out about their past experience.

D．Figure out what they will do next.

【小題4】What would be the best title for the test?

A．Cultural Differences	B．Smiles and Relationship
C．Facial Expressiveness	D．Habits and Emotions

In China, many people are leaving the countryside to find jobs in the cities, because the countryside is much poorer than the city, and often there isn't much work there. Services such as hospital and transport are usually much better in the city than in the countryside. They hope that their lives will improve when they move to the city.
But in the big cities of Europe like London or Paris, people are moving out of the city. These rich families want to live a quieter life. They are tired of the noise and the dirt of the city, and they are tired of the crowded streets, crowded trains and buses. They don't want to live in the cities any more. They want a house with a garden in the countryside, and breathe the fresh air there.
So they move out of the cities. Some don't go very far, just a little way out of the city, to the towns near the cities, other people move to the real countryside with sheep, cows and green fields. There, they start new lives and try to make new friends.
Not all those who move from the city to the countryside are happy. After two or three years, many people who have done this feel that it was a big mistake. They don't make so much money and there isn't much work to do. People in the countryside are very different and aren't always very friendly.
As a result, quite a lot of people who have moved to the countryside move back to the city. “It’s wonderful to see crowds in the streets and cinema lights,” they say.
【小題1】Which is NOT the reason for people moving to the cities in China?

A．The countryside is much poorer than me city.

B．People in the countryside have nothing to eat.

C．People in the countryside don't have much work to do there.

D．Services in cities are usually much better than those in the countryside.

【小題2】Why do some rich families in Europe move to the countryside?

A．Because they will find good jobs.

B．Because they are tired of living in the city.

C．Because they can make more money there.

D．Because they like feeding sheep and cows in the green fields.

【小題3】After moving to the countryside, some people in Europe feel unhappy because      .

A．they can’t make much money

B．there isn’t much work for them to do in the countryside

C．some people in the countryside aren’t always very friendly to them

D．A, B and C

【小題4】The underlined sentence in the last paragraph shows      .

A．they are happy to move back to the city

B．they will miss their friends in the countryside

C．they still want to move to the countryside

D．they are tired of the noise and the crowded streets in the city

【小題5】The best title of this passage may be “    ”.

A．A happy life!	B．Living in the city!
C．Moving out or moving back?	D．Living in the countryside!

If the world were a village of 1,000 people， it would include:
? 584 Asians
? 124 Africans
? 95 Eastern and Western Europeans
? 84 Latin Americans
? 55 former Soviets (including Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups)
? 52 North Americans
? 6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would speak:
? 165 Mandarin
? 86 English
? 83 Hindu/Urdu
? 64 Spanish
? 58 Russian
? 37 Arabic
The above list covers the mother tongues of only half the village.
One-third of the people in the village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to modem equipments.
This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from can­cer. Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year. With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018.
In this village of 1,000 persons, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 re­ceive only 2 percent of the income.
About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Of the 670 adults in the village, half can not read nor write.
The village has a total yearly budget , public and private, of over $3 million—$ 3 ,000 per person if it is distributed evenly. Of the total $3 million:
$ 181,000 goes to weapons and warfare
$ 159,000 to education
$ 132,000 to health care
These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together.
【小題1】Which of the following is true about Mandarin according to the text?

A．Nearly one-third of Asian people speak Mandarin in the village.

B．About 8.25 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.

C．About 16. 5 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.

D．Nearly all the Mandarin-speaking people are from Asia in the village.

【小題2】Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the text?

A．Poverty.

B．Education.

C．Environment.

D．Marriage.

【小題3】The underlined part “have access to” (in Para. 4) means_____.

A．use

B．buy

C．produce

D．try

【小題4】The last sentence in the text implies that most of the people long for _____.

A．a(chǎn) peaceful world	B．good education
C．better health care	D．a(chǎn) life without anxiety

Is war unavoidable? Can war be prevented?
History tells that there were wars, great or small, in every century, in every decade. Throughout the ages, from the Stone age to the Atomic Age, men have been fighting, first with swords and shields(盾), then with guns and cannons, and now, hydrogen bombs and missiles are used for military purpose. But, in spite of all these, it is still my belief that war can be prevented and peace can be won, but it requires the effort of every one of us.
I am sure that we would not like to experience another world war. If it ever happens, two-thirds of the world and much of the civilization which men have gained through time, patience and effort will be destroyed. Will then the remaining one-third of the world be able to survive on its own?
Our task now is not to blame the past, but to plan for the future.
If there is peace in the world, men can use their rockets to explore the mystery of space, their submarines to explore the depth of the sea, their missiles to deliver mails and their fine equipment to penetrate(穿透) the jungles of Africa, instead of using them military.
Governments can use their money to build more schools, so that more children can be educated to be useful citizens. Scientists can use atomic energy to propel (推動) steamships and planes. They can also design new machines to increase the production of goods and thus improve the way of living of the people.
How can a peaceful world be achieved? It requires, in my opinion, the understanding and friendship between all people from all nations. Let no one suffer discrimination by reason of color, race, religion, or national origin. Let the rich support the poor and the strong help the weak.
We know that neither peace nor such a dream world can come true in a day or a month. It may even take decades or centuries. But let us plan and begin now.
【小題1】The best title for this passage is _________.

A．The Past and the Future	B．To Die or To Survive
C．War and Peace	D．Understanding and Friendship

【小題2】In the writer’s opinion, __________.

A．it is too difficult to achieve peace

B．peace can be won through the efforts of all human beings

C．a(chǎn)nother world war is inevitable

D．wars will always exist in the world

【小題3】We can infer from the passage that __________.

A．wars were not expensive in the past

B．wars can promote the development of weapons

C．things for military use can be transformed to peaceful use

D．a(chǎn)s long as there are wars, people’s way of living cannot be improved

【小題4】What should we do to achieve peace?

A．Spend more money educating children.

B．Stop military exploration

C．Call on people to help each other

D．Act from right now on.

【小題5】Which word can best describe the writer’s picture of the future of the world?

A．Optimistic

B．Pessimistic

C．Imaginative

D．Disappointing

English is spoken as a first language by most people in the USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada. However, English is spoken all over the world. It is the main language in over 60 countries, such as India, Singapore and in many of the Caribbean and Pacific islands. In those places English is often a second language.
English is also as an important international language in many other countries, like China and Japan. People in these countries use it for business, and travelers to these countries use English when they get there. Other people may learn English because they enjoy reading books in English, listening to British or American music or watching American films.
English has changed a lot these years and still goes on changing. It is no longer right to talk about British English or American English if the speaker doesn’t come from those countries. People in Japan or Korea, for example, may use the American spelling but may not sound like Americans.
English will be the most widely used language in the world in the 21^st century. This language no longer belongs to British, American or Australian speakers. It belongs to anyone who can use this language. After you leave school, you will almost certainly need it.
【小題1】In how many countries is English spoken as a first language in the world?

A．Five.

B．Four.

C．Three.

D．Six.

【小題2】In which other countries is English spoken as a main language?

A．Britain, USA and Australia.

B．India, Singapore and many of Caribbean and Pacific islands.

C．China and Japan.

D．New Zealand, Ireland and Canada.

【小題3】People from other countries learn English for         .

A．passing exams

B．business and traveling

C．reading English books, enjoying English music or watching films

D．Both B and C

【小題4】If people in Japan or Korea use the American spelling, they         .

A．will speak the same as Americans

B．may not sound like Americans

C．will speak British English

D．will speak English much better

【小題5】Which topic is the best for the passage?

A．A first language in the world.

B．A second language in the world.

C．English around the world.

D．A useful language.

Endangered languages are languages that wouldn’t exist any longer, much like endangered species of plants or animals. Languages are considered to be endangered when parents are no longer teaching the language to their children and are not using it actively in everyday life. A language is considered to nearly disappear when it is spoken by only a few elderly native speakers.
The world faces enormous challenges in order to protect different kinds of languages. Of the more than 6,912 languages, half may be in danger of disappearing in the next several decades.
It is caused by many reasons: small numbers of speakers, the regular use of other languages, attitudes towards their languages, moving of the younger population, government policies, and languages used in education and so on. A language may lack important things such as a body of literature, and people who read and write it. A language may also lack prestige (聲望) and support of its speakers.
The survival of a language is also threatened when speakers move to other areas where different languages are spoken, or when government policies improve the use of a specific language in school, official business and the media. These situations encourage people to learn the wider-known language and may cause them, especially the young, to stop using their mother tongue. Often those speaking lesser-known languages will choose to learn a more prestigious language with the hope of greater economic opportunities. Most of the world’s parents are teaching their children English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian or some other main languages instead of their own languages for social and economic reasons.
【小題1】What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Languages in the world.

B．Reasons why languages become endangered.

C．What an endangered language is.

D．Languages spoken by few speakers.

【小題2】About ________languages will probably disappear in this century according to the passage.

A．more than 6,912

B．more than 3,456

C．6,912

D．less than 3,456

【小題3】Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
①=Paragraph1   ②=Paragraph2  ③=Paragraph3  ④=Paragraph4

【小題4】We can infer that the best way to maintain an endangered language is to _________.

A．forbid the speakers to move about

B．pass laws to protect the language

C．raise the salaries of the people who speak the language

D．teach the language to young children and encourage people to speak it often

【小題5】All of the following about languages are true EXCEPT __________.

A．many languages will be probably endangered in this century

B．government policies have a big effect on languages

C．the endangered language is a language that is spoken by a few people

D．languages are related to their speakers’ social and economic position