In December,2010,many American newspapers publish a list of the best books of the year. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen is one of the most repeatedly praised books on this year’s list of favorites. It tells about the ups and downs of the Berglund family over many years. Mr.Franzen fills the book with sharp observations about American politics, culture and society.
Jennifer Egan’s book A Visit from the Goon Squad takes place in 13 chapters over 40 years. The story moves back and forth in time,from different viewpoints. One main character is former rock musician Bennie Salazar who works for a record company. The other main character is a troubled young woman named Sasha who works for Bennie. The reader learns about their pasts and those of their friends.
The main character in The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman is a failing English Language newspaper published in Rome,Italy. Each chapter of the book tells about a reporter or editor working for this paper. Their stories are filled with intelligence and great personality.
Two of the most popular non­fiction books of 2010 were about rock and roll stars. Just Kids is by rock singer Patti Smith. It tells about her friendship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe in the 1960s and 1970s before they became famous. Life is the autobiography of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. It is an honest and exciting look at the development of rock and roll and the wild times this famous band has experienced.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand tells about a man named Louis Zamperini. She tells about his extraordinary survival story after his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean during Would War Two.
Stacy Schiff has received great praise for her book Cleopatra: A Life. It tells about one of the most misrepresented and famous women in his story, Cleopatra. She ruled ancient Egypt about 2,000 years ago. One critic said Ms. Schiff has brought Cleopatra to life again by unearthing her story from centuries of lies.
【小題1】The following books are related to music EXCEPT________.

A．The Imperfectionists	B．A Visit from the Goon Squad
C．Just Kids	D．Life

【小題2】If your major is the history of ancient Africa, you may pay attention to ________.

A．Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

B．Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

C．The Imperfections by Tom Rachman

D．Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

【小題3】Which book will give you a practical understanding of the USA?

A．Life	B．Cleopatra: A Life
C．Freedom	D．A Visit from the Goon Squad

【小題4】The last sentence of the passage implies that ________.

A．Stacy Schiff is an archaeologist

B．the critic finds the character in the book very real

C．the critic speaks highly of Cleopatra in history

D．Stacy Schiff tells a story about an imaginary Egyptian queen

Snapshots, the new fashion for an artistic portrait (肖像) photo: Take it underwater. Zhang Xiaomei, a 20 something Shanghai native who works in the media industry, tried it out twice.
"It was a completely different experience," says Zhang of her first such experience last May. "You get the feeling that you're cut off from the rest of the world. But also it s romantic and like a fairy tale."
She then successfully convinced her husband to be to have their wedding photos taken underwater a couple of months after her first try. "Can you imagine a 1.87-meter-tall man trying out something like a fishtail under the water?" Zhang says, laughing.
A commercial underwater photo portrait is perfect for post 80 and post 90 generations who adore taking snapshots, but are looking for new ways to be artistic, says Ai Cheng, owner and photographer of No.55 Underwater Photography in Shanghai.
Ai opened a studio in Shanghai's suburb of Songjiang two years ago, building a 5-meter- deep, fan-shaped pool equipped with heating facilities to start up the business. A 30-minute training on how to smile under the water so that you won't drink too much water and how to open your eyes underwater is offered in his studio for those who don't know how to swim.
Ai says most of his customers are female—half of them coming for an artistic portrait photo and the rest for wedding pictures. "Some of them drag their boyfriends or husband-to-be, who are unwilling to go down to the water, to shoot as well," he says.
【小題1】What would be the best title for the text?

A．The Best Smiles May Be All Wet.

B．The Sweetest Smile in the World.

C．Smiling, a Universal Language.

D．A New Challenge, a New Trend.

【小題2】What does Zhang Xiaomei think of underwater snapshot?

A．Funny.

B．Dangerous.

C．Fantastic.

D．Strange.

【小題3】Who are most likely to take photos underwater?

A．Young people eager to be special.

B．Senior people to recall their old days.

C．Couples to celebrate their anniversary.

D．Artists to create new styles.

【小題4】It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that ______.

A．young people are in for this fashion

B．fewer men would show interest in this fashion

C．men are more romantic than women

D．women would like to take more adventures

Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been made illegal. But one popular form continues to exist, that is alphabetism (字母排序法). This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames(姓氏)begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
It has long been known that the cars of a taxi firm called AAAA have a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers look through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbot has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a quite large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.
Thus the American presidents and vice-presidents have surnames starting with B and  C separately and 26 of those before George Bush took office (including his father ) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The world's three top central bankers ( Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami)are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. The same case are the world's five richest men ( Gates, Buffet and so on) .
Can this merely happen by chance? At the start of the first year in primary school, teachers seat pupils, alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted and small-sized Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is seldom asked the improving questions by those teachers. At that time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.
The unfairness continues. At university graduation parties, the ABCs proudly get their awards first. However, by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are a little tired. Lists of job interviews and conference speakers and attendees all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their readers lose interest as they plough through them.
【小題1】What does the author intend to show with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?

A．An example of competition of two kinds of cars.

B．Some advantages of AAAA cars in the taxi firm.

C．An example of unfairness caused by alphabetism.

D．Some disadvantages of Zodiac cars in the taxi firm.

【小題2】What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?

A．The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.

B．In both East and West, names are important to success.

C．Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies' names.

D．The discrimination in alphabetism can be found in many areas.

【小題3】The fourth paragraph suggests that         .

A．a(chǎn)lphabetically disadvantaged often escape from class

B．teachers should pay equal attention to all their students

C．questions are often put to the more intelligent students

D．students should be seated according to their eyesight

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

A．VIPs in the western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.

B．People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often misunderstood.

C．Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional unfairness.

D．The movement to get rid of alphabetism still has a long way to go.

A report brought back by most visitors to the US is how friendly, polite, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet American’s friendliness and helpfulness is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of distraction, and brought news of the outside world．
The tough realities of the border also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest settler agent. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or only a charitable impulse (沖動(dòng)） on the part of the settlers. It reflected the hardship of daily life: if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation．
Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the exhausted traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist routes. "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner, amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be understood neither as superficial（表面的）nor as artificial（虛偽的）, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals and customs is the basis of all social inter-relationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural meanings of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to tell polite customs from individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue （美德） that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
【小題1】In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, ________．

A．rude taxi drivers are hardly seen in the US

B．small-minded officials deserve a serious comment

C．Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors

D．most Americans are ready to offer help

【小題2】We can know from the last paragraph that _______．

A．culture has an influence over social inter-relationship

B．polite customs and individual interest are inter-related

C．various virtues shows themselves only among friends

D．social inter-relationships equal the complex set of cultural customs

【小題3】Families who lived far from one another used to entertain strangers _______．

A．to improve their hard life	B．in view of their long-distance travel
C．to add some taste to their own daily life	D．out of a charitable impulse

【小題4】The tradition of hospitality to strangers _______．

A．tends to be superficial and artificial

B．is generally well kept up in the United States

C．is always understood properly

D．has something to do with the busy tourist route

Are you feeling stressed out? Anxious? Is your mind racing in circles? Are you worried about all the things you have to get done? Here’s a quick—acting trick that can make you feel better.
If you are sitting at a desk, place the palm of your hand on the desk, and take a moment to focus on what the surface of the desk feels like. Is it hot or cold, rough or smooth? Put all of your attention on the sensations in your palm, on how the desk feels underneath your hand. If you are not at a desk, do the same exercise by placing your palm on any nearby object—a wall, a chair, even your opposite arm.
When you are feeling stressed, your thoughts tend to take on a life of their own. You may be thinking about things you wish you had done differently in the past or worrying about things that you have to do in the future. These thoughts will make you feel anxious. The anxiety, in turn, increases the number of anxious thoughts.
If you can ground yourself even for a moment in the present, you will break the cycle and feel instant relief. Paying attention to what objects in your environment feel like forces you to pay more attention to the present moment than to negative, anxiety—provoking (刺激的，誘發(fā)的)thoughts about the past or about the future.
Try using your other senses too:
Try closing your eyes for a second(don’t try this while driving!) and breathe deeply through your nose. What do you smell?
When eating, put all your attention on how your food tastes.
What do you hear? What little noises are there around you that you didn’t notice before?
Look closely at an ordinary object. Do you see anything you haven’t noticed before?
【小題1】By saying  “Is your mind racing in circles”, the author intends to mean that______.

A．you did something wrong in the past and wouldn’t forgive yourself

B．your mind is quick and bright when in a state of anxiety

C．you are thinking in a stupid way when anxious thoughts worries you a lot

D．you worried a lot and the anxious thoughts will increase your anxiety

【小題2】The author advises to put your palm on the desk or any things nearby in order to ____

A．play a small trick	B．feel the surface of the object
C．do some exercises	D．reduce your anxiety

【小題3】The writer mentioned some senses that could be used to reduce stress except the _____.

A．sense of touching

B．sense of smell

C．sense of humour

D．sense of listening

【小題4】Which of the following can be served as a title for the article?

A．Frist Aid to Anxiety----Senses

B．How Anxiety Works

C．The Cause of Anxiety—Senses

D．How to Deal with Anxiety

Honesty comes in many forms. First there’s self-honesty. Is what people see the real article or do you appear through smoke and mirrors? I find that if I try to be something I’m not, I feel unsure of myself and take out a part from my PBA(personal bank account). I love how singer Judy Garland put it , “Always be a first-class version of yourself,instead of a second-class version of somebody else.”
Then there’s honesty in our actions. Are you honest at school, with your parents, and with your boss? If you’ve ever been dishonest, I think we all have, try being honest, and notice how whole it makes you feel. Remember, you can’t to wrong and feel right. This story by Jeff is a good example of that:
In my second year of study, there were three kids in my math class who didn’t do well.
I was really good at it. I would charge them three dollars for each test that I helped them pass. I’d write on a little piece of paper all the right answers, and hand them off.
At first I felt like I was making money, kind of a nice job. I wasn’t thinking about how it could hurt all of us. After a while I realized I shouldn’t do that anymore, because I wasn’t really helping them They weren’t learning anything, and it would only get harder down the road. Cheating certainly wasn’t helping me.
It takes courage to be honest when people all around you are getting away with cheating on tests, lying to their parents, and stealing at work. But, remember, every act of honesty is a deposit(儲(chǔ)蓄)into your PBA and will build strength.
【小題1】The underlined part “appear through smoke and mirrors” in the first paragraph means “     ”.

A．to be honest

B．to be unreal

C．to become clear

D．to come from an imagined world

【小題2】Which of the following can best explain Judy Garland’s words?

A．Be your true self rather than follow others.

B．Don’t copy others or you can’t be the first class.

C．Make efforts to be the first instead of the second.

D．Don’t learn from others unless they’re excellent.

【小題3】What does the author expect to show by Jeff’s story?

A．Honesty can be of great help.

B．A bad thing can be turned into a good one.

C．Helping others cheat can do good to nobody.

D．One should realize the wrong in his bad deeds.

【小題4】In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to express             .

A．one must be brave to be honest

B．it’s difficult to be honest when others are not

C．one should be honest when making a deposit

D．honestly in one’s actions can help him in the future

The interview has been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well．Then, suddenly, the interviewer asks an unexpected question, “Which is more important, law or love?”
Job applicants in the West increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this．And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China．
Employers want people who are skilled, enthusiastic and devoted．So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicant will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are．In response, employers are increasingly using the questions which try and show the applicant’s true personality．
The question in the first paragraph comes from a test called the Kiersey Temperament Sorter．It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems, rather than what they know．This is often called aptitude (天資) test．
According to Mark Baldwin of Alliance, many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult．“When a Chinese fills out an aptitude test, he or she will think there is a right answer but they may fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see．”
This is sometimes called the prisoner’s dilemma(窘境)．Applicants are trying to act cleverly in their own interest, but they fail because they don’t understand what the interviewer is looking for．Remember that in an aptitude test, the correct answer is the honest answer．
【小題1】What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To give a piece of advice to job interviewees．

B．To tell you how to deal with job interviews．

C．To advise you how to find a good job．

D．To describe an aptitude test．

【小題2】According to the writer, in an aptitude test, Chinese job applicants should ________.

A．not tell the truth

B．offer a complete answer

C．learn to tell what they really think

D．find out what the examiner wants to know

【小題3】From the passage we know that ________．

A．job applicants are always trying to show their actual feelings

B．a(chǎn)pplicants should not act as cleverly as possible

C．more Chinese applicants fail to find a job

D．a(chǎn)ptitude test is becoming world-wide popular

Research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behavior when they are watched. Do you?
A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation, collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box.
Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behavior. Their report also referred to other research showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realizing it.
It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched. A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning. The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption 'I Want You' It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese.
【小題1】According to the report, why does a person behave better when he feels he is being watched?

A．He does not want to be shamed by others.

B．He needs to show he is a good person.

C．He desires others to like him more.

D．He feels he will receive some social reward.

【小題2】What is the text mainly about?

A．It describes changed behavior when observed.

B．It details ways to control people's behavior.

C．It tells how to make people work harder.

D．It discusses different advertising methods.

【小題3】According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

A．People pretend to behave worse when they are watched.

B．Fish bite other fish in a fish tank when they are alone.

C．People donatemore money when they feel they are watched.

D．Soldiers fought better during World War II because of a poster.

【小題4】The underlined word “coded” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____

A．hidden

B．programmed

C．forgotten

D．learnt

【小題5】Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?

A．In a newspaper.	B．In a scientific journal.
C．In an advertising magazine.	D．In a science textbook.

Motorists over the age of 75 face compulsory tests of their eyesight and ability to drive under proposals being considered by ministers.
The biggest overhaul of motoring law in a generation could also lead to all drivers having to give assurances of their fitness to get behind the wheel every 10 years.
Other changes under consideration include issuing daylight driving licenses for motorists with night blindness, together with stricter checks on all drivers whose medical condition brought a threat to other road users.
It is understood that the proposals will be part of a review of the law governing the medical fitness of drivers that will be announced publicly by the summer.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is dealing with a rising number of motorists who are concerned that they have conditions---from failing eyesight to epilepsy---that could affect their driving.
In 2006, the DVLA dealt with 600,000 motorists whose physical ability to drive needed to be recertified（重新認(rèn)證）, a 20 per cent rise on the previous year. With an ageing population, the biggest challenge is dealing with the rising number of elderly motorists. By 2021, there will be an estimated three million drivers over the age of 70 on Britain’s roads.
Drivers must renew their licenses at the age of 70 and every three years thereafter. The applicant is legally required to tell the DVLA of any conditions that could weaken their ability behind the wheel.
Ministers have ruled out a compulsory maximum age for driving but will instead rely on tightening up the checks on motorists over the age of 75. The most likely option would be tests to ensure motorists were fit to drive. They would include an eyesight test and a cognitive（認(rèn)知） test that would prove a driver's ability to react to road signs, driving conditions, pedestrians and vehicles.
However, checks are likely to be tightened at all ages. The strictest controls are expected to be imposed（強(qiáng)制）on motorists of any age who have had a heart attack or stroke. They could have to produce a doctor's approval to resume（重新得到）driving. Anyone making a false declaration would be guilty of a criminal offence.
【小題1】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The new motoring law will come into effect by the summer．

B．Drivers over the age of 75 must renew their licenses every three years．

C．Doctors will decide whether one can get their driving licenses．

D．Drivers at all ages will be expected to provide their medical condition．

【小題2】What is the biggest challenge to the traffic safety in Britain according to the writer?

A．Ageing population．	B．Increasing number of cars．
C．Increasing number of elderly motorists．	D．Driving conditions．

【小題3】The underlined word “overhaul” in Paragraph 2 means _______．

A．change

B．consideration

C．concern

D．challenge

【小題4】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．There will be more and more aged drivers in Britain．

B．Anyone can get a driving license as long as he/she is in good health．

C．Health tends to decline as one gets old．

D．It will be guilty to make a false declaration．

It's time to remind myself what I love about life here in California,USA, to remember what I desperately miss when I go home.
Real radio
In the USA there are so many radio stations that those iPod tuner things don’t work at all. There is, simply, no dead air. It took me a while to discover the USA's many pub­lic radio stations, which don't broadcast any advertisements. KCRW is my favorites station, for its blend of indie music and current affairs. But I also listen to KJAZZ and KPCC. But before you feel jealous — it’s all online. My favorites: American life Snap Judgement and Henry Rollins live every Saturday night. Take listen online for free News? Well, there's not a lot of news from South Africa, and when it is, it's bad and full of fear, so I ignore it. But I care about any place I live in, and that includes the USA. And on public radio, the USA is covered in depth, from the perspective of individual stories rather than statistics.
The festivals
I’m jealously watching tweets and Facebook boasts and reviews from SXSW — seems like half the people I used to work with in South Africa are there,meeting Grumpy Cat and watching bands they’ve always wanted to see live. It’s great to know that these 1000s of festivals are so close, and that one day,if film school schedule ever allows me to leave campus for more than a few days, I can go to one or two of them. I have already ex­changed my much loved Ford Mustang for a bigger, less sexy car — a car spacious enough to sleep in — so that next year I can be there, not just dream of it.
The famous people
When I go back to SA, I'm often asked if I’ve spotted any famous people. It's awkward for me. I feel the the same way about it as I feel when an American asks me if there are lions in the streets. Except yes, I have. No,not lions. I have met some famous people. I chatted to RJ Mitte from Breaking Bad outside a dub in West Hollywood. Many of my professors are famous directors. The problem is, once you meet these famous people, they're just people, FFS. This feels disappointing at first, like you're missing a Jesus mo­ment of some sort. But if you think about it, it's inspiring. What it means, is that I, litlle me (right now, also "just a person") could be a famous just-a-person person one day, and get to make all the films I just dream of now.
【小題1】The underlined sentence "There is,simply, no dead air." probably means____.

A．there is no useless radio programmes in the USA

B．there is no useful radio programmes in the USA

C．there is no polluted air in the USA

D．there is no advertisements from the radio programmes in the USA

【小題2】There are so many festivals that_____.

A．I often leave campus for more than few days

B．I often attend some of them in person

C．I bought a bigger Ford? Mustang

D．I can share many reviews and performances online with my friends in South Africa

【小題3】The author thinks the famous people in the USA _____.

A．a(chǎn)re just Like lions	B．a(chǎn)re well-known but ordinary
C．a(chǎn)re disappointing	D．a(chǎn)re inspiring

【小題4】The author is most likely to be _____.

A．a(chǎn) director in America	B．a(chǎn) professor in South Africa
C．a(chǎn) student in America	D．a(chǎn)n actor in South Africa