The video rooms have been open since Jan. 2. If successful, the chain hopes to expand the service to other provinces, or even other countries. In addition to the food, customers pay 200 yuan per hour for using the room.
''The video rooms have been fully booked in February,'' said Chen Yu, manager of the Wangfujing branch. The Video room in Beijing is about 30 square meters and large enough for six customers.
''Many customers prefer to use the room for dinners rather than lunch,'' Chen said, adding the average age of customers who booked the video hotpot(火鍋) is about 30.
''The whole process is very smooth. The image and the voice transmission(轉(zhuǎn)換) are as good as those of video conferencing at work, ''said one of Chen's colleagues surnamed Luo.
''I have a lot of friends in Beijing, whom I haven’t met for a long time because of being busy at work,'' said a woman surnamed Yu who is having dinner with her husband at Haidilao.''The new service gives us a chance to have a dinner together without traveling. I would like to give it a try.''
The video hotpot also helped establish a friendship between waitresses in the two cities.
Zhao Huanhuan, in her 20s, who is specially trained for serving in the video room in Shanghai, developed a friendship with a waitress named Lu Ke in the Beijing branch.
Zhao said excitedly: ''It was too amazing to believe. I'm so interested in using the special room and enjoy serving people there. I also talk about some interesting interactive games with Lu before guests come for dinner''.
Although Lu felt a little bit nervous when she first served in front of the screens, she said the new mode of communication also encouraged her to supply better services for customers.
''It's like a service competition. We saw each other through video and I could learn from Zhao's serving,'' Lu said, adding she will visit Zhao if she goes to Shanghai.
It seems that video hotpot doesn't satisfy everyone's taste, however.
【小題1】From the passage we know that ______.

A．the video room service has been open for a long time

B．the video room service has been open in many provinces in China

C．using the video room, you have to pay extra 200 yuan per hour

D．the Video room in Beijing is only designed for six people to use

【小題2】Haidilao may be the name of ______.

A．a(chǎn) theatre

B．a(chǎn) restaurant

C．a(chǎn) cinema

D．a(chǎn) hotel

【小題3】Why do many customers choose the video room service?

A．Because the service there is excellent.

B．Because they can have dinner with friends without traveling.

C．Because the food there is delicious.

D．Because the room is large enough for six people.

【小題4】We can learn from the passage that Zhao Huanhuan ______.

A．enjoys communicating with Lu Ke

B．hasn't met Lu Ke for a long time

C．is twenty years old now

D．learned a lot from Lu Ke

【小題5】What do you suppose will be talked about in the paragraph to be followed?

A．Lu's visit to Zhao in Shanghai.

B．Other customers' praise for the service.

C．How to improve the service.

D．Other customers' complaint about the service.

In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players.
When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball. This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters（花名冊） will be filled by non-Americans. NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend. On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010.
The NBA is now planning to take China by storm.
“Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,^” said Stem. The strategy (戰(zhàn)略，策略)in China is television. ^“We^’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite.” The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China. The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. The NBA knows that it needs a global market to condensate for tough times on home soil.
“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout（尋找，覓得） internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations. “It has increased the level of competition here.” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers. Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming — number one draft pick in 2002 — and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic — number two overall in this year’s draft — are icons（偶像）in-waiting. It is the ultimate（最后的，根本的） revolution — the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball.
【小題1】According to the report,                 .

A．Michael Jordan is still playing a very important role in NBA

B．the part played by the foreign players in NBA will be great

C．Yao Ming is to play two pre-season games in NBA

D．European countries will host the 2004 NBA games

【小題2】The underlined phrase “take China by storm” has the meaning of      _______ ___.

A．NBA intends to make China its “marketing center”

B．NBA is planning to set up some training centers in China

C．there’ll be a big storm when NBA comes to China to play against the Sacramento Kings

D．the NBA’s live basket games will be broadcasted on all the TVs in China

【小題3】What seems to be the biggest change that is happening to NBA?
A. NBA is expecting more foreign players to join the league.
B. China’s rapid development in sports affects NBA.
C. Yao Ming has taken the place of Michael Jordan.
D. The NBA will stop teaching the world how to play basketball.
【小題4】When the writer talked of “home soil”, he was referring to        _        _.

A．farms in the States	B．native Americans
C．the NBA training center	D．the USA

【小題5】Which of the following can be used as the best title for the passage?

A．The Non-American Basketball Players

B．NBA Is Coming to China

C．The Foreign Ties That Bind the NBA

D．NBA Is Making Big Progress

ARIEL, West Bank: A suicide bomber blew up near Israeli soldiers outside a Jewish settlement in the West Bank yesterday, killing at least three people and wounding about 30
Ron Nachman, mayor of the settlement of Ariel. “Soldiers were among the casualties（傷亡者）. ”People on the spot said the bomber blew up after soldiers eating at a food stand in a petrol station at the entrance of the settlement found him. According to some people on the spot accounts reported by Israeli media, a soldier shot and wounded the bomber, who then exploded.
The Magen David Adorn ambulance service said at least three people were killed and at least 30 wounded in the blast（爆炸）, which set the bomber burning at Ariel, about 25 kilometers east of Tel Aviv.
　　A fire brigade（旅） official said: “The bomber was still burning when we got there and we put out the fire immediately.”
　　Meanwhile, a blast shook homes in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp early yesterday, damaging buildings but causing no injuries, Palestinian sources said. They said the bomb was planted outside the home of a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction in Ain el-Hilwch camp, and exploded while the family was sleeping.
【小題1】Some of people including ________were killed or wounded in the blast accident.

A．mayor	B．soldiers
C．rescue workers	D．a(chǎn) fire brigade official

【小題2】The suicide bomber blew himself up because________.

A．there was something wrong with his brains

B．he couldn’t see the settlement’s mayor

C．a(chǎn) soldier shot and wounded him

D．he wanted to make himself known

【小題3】It can be concluded that the passage is most probably part of a(n）________.

A．a(chǎn)nnouncement	B．a(chǎn)dvertisement
C．science research	D．news report

HK's family affair
The 32nd Hong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the theme of “family”.
The art festival, considered to be Asia's best, was launched in 1973.
“We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the multiple performances in our art festival,” Douglas Gautier, the festival's management director, told a press briefing in the capital.
In the 34 days of the festival, which runs from February 8 to March 7, 2004, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes staged by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland.
Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor spectaculars.
The programmes include Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare’s drama Romeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few.
The lineup (陣容) includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, the Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as Europe Galante, the Petersen Quartet, pianists Angela Hewitt, and arc-Andre Hamelin, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
In an effort to increase attention, hotels and airlines are offering discount packages along with art festival ticket sales.
For more information, please check www.hk.artsfestival.org.
【小題1】The press briefing must have been held ______. 

A．in Hong Kong

B．in Europe

C．in Beijing

D．in Zurich

【小題2】By means of "discount packages", you can pay ______.

A．more than the usual cost

B．less than the usual cost

C．for the air ticket but not for the festival ticket

D．for the ticket but not for hotel rooms

【小題3】We do NOT have any information about ______.

A．what programmes there will be

B．in which theatres there will be performances

C．who will perform

D．when the festival will be held

【小題4】Where is this material from?

A．Literature Magazine	B．Textbook
C．Website www.hk.artsfestival.org.	D．Newspaper

WASHINGTON—Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It’s not easy, even desperate.
“We have many children left to place: 40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a Paris-based foreign exchange programme called LEC. When exchange programmes started 50 years ago, family life was more accommodating. For one thing, more mothers stayed home.
But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30,000 teenagers who annually come from abroad to spend their academic year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who participate in summer programmes.
School systems in many parts of the US, unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic.
In searching for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their appeals to include everyone who has the ability to do it.
“We are open to many different types of families,” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25- year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers on academic year exchange programmes worldwide.
“For elderly people, exchange students keep us young; they really do!” said Jean Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Porst from Denmark.
【小題1】Vickie Weiner is the person who ________.

A．works for a programme called LEC

B．works for a programme called ASSE

C．is 25 years old

D．hosts foreign students

【小題2】From the passage we can learn that at the beginning of the exchange programmes_______.

A．a(chǎn)ll the families could host foreign students

B．only young couples could host foreign students

C．only those who were retired could host foreign students

D．those who were not too old could host foreign students

【小題3】Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A．US Struggles to Find Host Families

B．Idea of Hosting Students Is Different

C．Foreign-exchange Program Is Going On

D．Exchange Students Keep Old People Young

Mo Yan, a Chinese writer has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, announced the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on Thursday. The win makes Mo Yan the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel in its history. Informed of his win today, the author, who was having dinner at home, was “overjoyed and scared”.
Born in 1955 to parents who were farmers, Mo Yan--a pen name for Guan Moye, grew up in Gaomi in shandong province in eastern China. At the age of 12, he left school to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory, In 1976 he joined the army and during this time began to study literature and writing.
He published his first book in 1981, but found literary success in 1987 with Hong Gaoliang Jiazu, which was successfully filmed in the stone year, directed by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou. In his writing, Mo Yan draws on his youthful experiences and on settings in the province of his birth and his works show the life of Chinese people as well as the country’s unique culture and folk customs. Mo Yan is known as a prolific （多產(chǎn)的）writer. In addition to his novels, he has published many short stories and essays on various topics. Despite his social criticism, be is seen in his homeland as one of the most famous contemporary authors. Dozens of his works have been translated into English, French, Japanese and many other languages.
The awarding ceremony was held on December 10. Mo Yan won a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of about $1 million.
【小題1】How did Mo Yan feel when he was told about the news?

A．Excited and proud.	B．Worried and cautious.
C．Uncertain and shocked	D．Happy and surprised..

【小題2】Mo Yan developed his ability for writing when he was ________.

A．on a farm	B．in a factory
C．in the army	D．in a school

【小題3】One of Mo Yan’s characteristics of writing is that he _________.

A．explains difficult matters in simple words

B．focuses on social problems in the country

C．writes about topics he is familiar with

D．describes his characters in a unique way

【小題4】What’s the best title for this passage?

A．Mo Yan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

B．An Introduction to Nobel Prize

C．How Mo Yan Gets Nobel Prize

D．A World Famous Writer, Mo Yan

At least 371people were killed and over 750 others injured Saturday in two earthquakes that hit Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan Province , officials said.
Saif-ur-Rehman, spokesperson of Provincial Disaster Management Authority said that a total of 359 people were killed and 750 others injured up till Saturday in the 7.7-magnitude(震級) earthquake that hit the province on Thursday, while the second earthquake measuring 7.2 at the Richter scale, which struck the area on Saturday afternoon, killed 12 people.
He said that the Thursday 's quake affected six districts with Awaran as the worst hit area, where 312 people were killed and 525 others injured when thousands of houses collapsed（坍塌）in various towns and villages of the district.
The spokesman said that Kech area of the province was also badly affected, where 46 people died and 240 injured in various villages.
The Saturday's earthquake hit Nokjo area of Awaran, killing 12 people, injuring dozens others and destroying many houses.
The spokesperson said that the condition of the injured and affected people is not yet known, as it happened in a far area where it would take several hours for the rescue teams to reach.
Overall the two quakes affected a population of 185,000 and 37, 000 families, said the spokesperson.
The Chinese government has sent three flights carrying relief assistance, including medicines, emergency medical equipment, water purifiers, blankets, tents weighing 260 tons in total.
It is said that the Chinese government will also be handing over cash grant worth 1.5 million U.S. dollars to Pakistan's Economic Affairs Division on Sept.30 for the quake victims.
【小題1】According to the text, up till Saturday, the deaths in the earthquake that hit the province on Thursday reached ________.

A．371

B．359

C．383

D．312

【小題2】 Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A．More than 750 people were injured on Saturday in the two earthquakes.

B．Five hundred and twenty-five people were injured in Awaran in the Thursday 's quake.

C．Six districts were affected by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan.

D．No more than one of the two earthquakes struck Awaran, Balochistan Province.

【小題3】 We can know from the text that         .

A．the condition of the injured people in the two earthquakes was not knownon Saturday

B．the two quakes affected a population of 37, 000 and a total of 185,000 families

C．the Chinese government would send 260-ton relief materials to Pakistan on Sept.30

D．the Chinese government showed great concern for the earthquake-hit areas

【小題4】What can be the best title for the text?

A．Earthquakes Hit Pakistan

B．Balochistan Province Manages Disasters

C．More Relief Assistance is Needed

D．Pakistan Faces Great Loss

GWANGJU, South Korea, Sept. 28，2013 (Xinhua) — Cultural ministers from China, Japan and South Korea participating in the 5th China-Japan-South Korea Ministerial Conference on Culture held here Saturday agreed to strengthen cultural exchange and cooperation to promote the cultural prosperity of East Asia.
Cai Wu, China's Minister of Culture, Hakubun Shimomura, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and Yoo Jinryong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea attended the meeting in the South Korean city with more than 2,000 years of history.
At the meeting, Cai said that the east and west differ in history, culture and values, but the East Asia as a whole, especially China, Japan and South Korea, should take good advantage of their cultural and historical similarities, trying to create “shared East Asia value”and seeking a greater say around the world.
The ministers drew the Gwangju Joint Document at the meeting to strengthen cultural exchange and cooperation in the fields of culture industry, exhibitions, cultural heritage preservation and the youth exchanges to promote the program of “East Asia City of Culture.”
China, Japan and South Korea also agreed that the host country of the annual ministerial meeting will organize a joint cultural festival, including art performances, exhibitions, academic seminars and other relevant events starting from 2014.
The annual trilateral Ministerial Conference on Culture was firstly launched in 2007. The Gwangju meeting is the fifth round of this series, and the last round of this meeting was held in Shanghai, China in May 2012.
【小題1】Which of the following information is True according to the text?

A．The 5th China-Japan-South Korea Ministerial Conference on Culture was held on Sunday.

B．The 5th China-Japan-South Korea Ministerial Conference on Culture is aimed at promoting the cultural prosperity of West Asia.

C．Yoo Jinryong, Minister of Culture, Science, Technology and Tourism of Korea attended the meeting.

D．GWANGJU is a South Korean city that has a history of more than 2,000 years.

【小題2】The underlined phrase “seeking a greater say”in Paragraph 3 probably means         .

A．looking for more chances to speak Asian languages

B．trying to get greater power or right of acting or deciding

C．a(chǎn)ttempting to take up more space in the world

D．getting more time to set a good example to others

【小題3】This text mainly tells us ________.

A．three Asian leaders meet each other to discuss economic problems

B．how the program of “East Asia City of Culture”came into being

C．three Asian countries agree to promote cultural prosperity of East Asia

D．the trilateral Ministerial Conference on Culture firstly began in 2007

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

A．the fourth Ministerial Conference on Culture was held in GWANGJU

B．the trilateral Ministerial Conference on Culture is held once a year

C．the Ministerial Conference on Culture has never been held in China

D．no changes were made about the forms of activities to be held in the future

Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9,000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep.
What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano(火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava（巖漿）broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes（灰燼）were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep.
【小題1】Paracutin was once the name of______.

A．a(chǎn) peasant

B．a(chǎn) village

C．a(chǎn)n old mountain

D．a(chǎn) Mexican

【小題2】Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Paracutin is not active now.

B．Paracutin is the first volcano in the world.

C．Paracutin did not exist until the early 1940s.

D．It took Paracutin 10 years to grow to its present size.

【小題3】What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?

A．The little hill of stone.

B．The villagers living close by.

C．The forest and fields round Paracutin.

D．The Mexican peasant and his wife.

【小題4】In this passage the writer is trying to______.

A．tell us an interesting happening

B．explain a scientific theory

C．make us believe something

D．make up an interesting story

【小題5】What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage?

A．New volcanoes may appear in places where people do not expect them to be

B．Volcanoes are always growing.

C．Volcanoes are active from time to time.

D．New volcanoes are active for only ten years.

Kodak’s decision to file for bankruptcy (破產(chǎn)) protection is a sad, though not unexpected, turning point for a leading American corporation that pioneered consumer photography and dominated the film market for decades, but ultimately failed to adapt to the digital revolution.
Although many attribute Kodak’s downfall to “complacency (自滿) ,” that explanation doesn’t acknowledge the lengths to which the company went to reinvent itself. Decades ago, Kodak predicted that digital photography would overtake film (膠片) — and in fact, Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975 — but in a fateful decision, the company chose to shelf its new discovery to focus on its traditional film business.
“It wasn’t that Kodak was blind to the future”, said Rebecca Henderson, a professor at Harvard Business School, but rather that it failed to execute on a strategy to confront it. By the time the company realized its mistake, it was too late.
Kodak is an example of a firm that was very much aware that they had to adapt, and spent a lot of money trying to do so, but ultimately failed. Large companies have a difficult time switching into new markets because there is a temptation to put existing assets (資產(chǎn)) into the new businesses.
Although Kodak predicted the unavoidable rise of digital photography, its corporate (企業(yè)的) culture was too rooted in the successes of the past for it to make the clean break necessary to fully embrace the future. They were a company stuck in time. Their history was so important to them. Now their history has become a liability.
Kodak’s downfall over the last several decades was dramatic. In 1976, the company commanded 90% of the market for photographic film and 85% of the market for cameras. But the 1980s brought new competition from Japanese film company Fuji Photo, which undermined Kodak by offering lower prices for film and photo supplies. Kodak’s decision not to pursue the role of official film for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics was a major miscalculation. The bid went instead to Fuji, which exploited its sponsorship to win a permanent foothold in the marketplace.
【小題1】What do we learn about Kodak?

A．It went bankrupt all of a sudden.

B．It is approaching its downfall.

C．It initiated the digital revolution in the film industry.

D．It is playing a dominant role in the film market.

【小題2】Why does the author mention Kodak’s invention of the first digital camera?

A．To show its early attempt to reinvent itself.

B．To show its effort to overcome complacency.

C．To show its quick adaptation to the digital revolution.

D．To show its will to compete with Japan’s Fuji photo.

【小題3】Why do large companies have difficulty switching to new markets?

A．They find it costly to give up their existing assets.

B．They tend to be slow in confronting new challenges.

C．They are unwilling to invest in new technology.

D．They are deeply stuck in their glorious past.

【小題4】What does the author say Kodak’s history has become?

A．A burden.

B．A mirror.

C．A joke.

D．A challenge.