Sunday, 31 August

We’ve been in China for a month now. Dad, Mom, Harry and I moved to Tianjin on 25 August. We’re not very far from Beijing. Two days ago, we celebrated my 16th birthday. It was great celebrating in China; the only thing that was strange was the cake—here they’re not as sweet as the ones in New York. On Monday school starts—I wonder what it will be like.

Monday, 1 September

On my first day I was looking around for a locker to put my books in. However, here all the students keep all of their books at their desks. We stay in the same classroom because apparently we don’t have to go from class to class—teachers come to us!

Today we selected teacher assistants for each subject. Their duties are to collect homework, make announcements, and do other things for the teachers and the students. It’s kind of a big deal here! Since I am from the US, I was asked to be the English assistant. I felt so proud but quite nervous at the same time because I wasn’t sure what I had to do, but I accepted the job anyway.

Friday, 3 October

Boy, what a week! Now we have nine classes every day, including the morning class, a combination of our American schools “Homeroom” and “Study Hall”. I think Chinese students work too much! I have to do my homework when I get back home. I don’t even have time to watch TV or surf the Internet like before. I sometimes miss New York and my school because we didn’t have to study so much. We had more time to hang out with our classmates and neighbors; here, besides their usual classes, students take part in weekend classes in subjects such as English, Chinese and math.

I get a lot of attention, being from another country. Everyone wants to practice English with me! A really cute girl even asked me for my phone number on my second day and sent me a text message! I’m making a lot more friends now. I just need a lot of help to improve my Chinese. Some students want to do a language exchange program with me. Nice!

1. The passage mentions all the following points EXCEPT _______ .

A．physics study	B．food flavour (风味)
C．weekend classes	D．language exchange programs

2. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the teacher assistant’s duty?

A．Collecting homework.	B．Making announcements.
C．Helping teachers with small errands (差事) .	D．Teaching classmates.

3. Where is this passage most probably from?

A．A storybook.	B．A guide book.
C．A diary.	D．A magazine.

If you enjoy reading, don’t miss Shakespeare and Company when you visit the city of Paris. It is a famous English-language bookstore on the left bank of the river Seine. The first Shakespeare and Company in history was opened in 1919 by an American, Sylvia Beach. Ms. Beach did more than sell books. Her bookstore was also a library, and she even prepared beds for writers visiting there. Ms. Beach was not only kind to people but also good at choosing books, so her bookstore was often visited by writers like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. But in 1941, after the Germans took power in Paris, Ms. Beach was told to close her bookstore.

In 1951, another American, George Whitman, opened in Paris another English-language bookstore, Librairie Mistral. Since then, just as Ms. Beach did, Mr Whitman has also made his bookstore a library for people to borrow books, and a free hotel for writers to stay in. To remember Ms. Beach, Mr Whitman changed the name of his bookstore to Shakespeare and Company in 1964, two years after Ms. Beach died.

Next time when you are in Paris, don’t forget to visit this friendly bookstore, and see if you can spend a night there!

4. When was Shakespeare and Company first opened?

A．In 1919.

B．In 1941.

C．In 1951.

D．In 1964.

5. What does Shakespeare and Company do?
a. It sells books.                              b. It lends books.
c. It offers food to readers.             d. It prepares beds for writers.

A．a, b, c

B．a, c, d

C．a, b, d

D．b, c, d

6. Ms. Beach closed her business because _______.

A．she died	B．she was made to do it
C．she left Paris	D．she didn’t manage it well

7. What do we know about Mr. Whitman?

A．He was Ms. Beach’s neighbor.

B．He used to work at Ms. Beach’s bookstore.

C．He opened a bookstore to remember Ms. Beach.

D．He has followed Ms. Beach’s ways of doing business.

The personal computer has overtaken (赶上)the family dog as man's best friend, according to a study.

Researchers found that just 6 per cent of us believe that" most people rely more on their dog than they do on their PC", while 67 percent think the opposite to be true.

Even 38 percent of dog owners admitted to relying more on their PC than on their dog, although 36 percent disagreed. And 71 percent of 18 to 24-year-old dog owners said they relied more on their computer.

Paul Allen, editor of Computer-active magazine said, "These days you can even take your PC lor a walk, if you have a laptop or tablet." "It's only a matter of time until the first PC that fetches your slippers."

Researchers questioned 2,000 British adults to find out the change modern technology has brought to their home life. They found that male dog owners are almost twice as likely as female owners to rely on their computer than acaninecompanion.

Mr Allen said, "With broadband bringing them global news and newspaper sales falling, the family dog even misses out on the pleasure of taking the paper to his owner. " But it's not all had news for obedient（顺从的）dogs. "The family PC has given dog owners access to a wealth of resources and information that can help with the long-term care that a dog needs, " Mr Allen said.

8. Who are most likely to rely on computers?

A．Teenagers	B．People in their early twenties.
C．People in their early thirties.	D．People in their early forties.

9. What is the general idea of the passage?

A．The personal computer has replaced the dog as man's best friend.

B．The computer and the dog are man's best friends.

C．Modem technology has brought changes to people's home life.

D．The dog as a pet will disappear completely from people's life.

10. What is the advantage of dogs as pets over the personal computer now ?

A．The dog can go out for a walk with people.	B．The dog can bring people more pleasure.
C．The dog can help people fetch something.	D．The dog is more likely to follow its owner's orders.

11. What does the underlined word "canine" in Paragraph 5 mean? "

A．Human.

B．Pet.

C．Family.

D．Dog.

Students in many countries are learning English. Some of these students are small children. Others are teen-agers. Many are adults. Some learn at school, others by themselves. A few learn English by learning the language over the radio, on TV, or in film. One must work hard to learn another language.
Why do all these people want to learn English? It is difficult to answer this question. Many boys and girls learn English at school because it is one of their subjects required for study. They study their own language and maths and English: Some people learn it because it is useful for their work. Many people learn English for their work. Many people learn English for their higher studies, because at college or university some of their books are in English. Other people learn English because they want to read newspapers or magazines in English.
12. People learn English _______.

A．at school	B．over the radio
C．on TV	D．not all in the same way

13. Different kinds of people want to learn English _______.

A．together with other subjects	B．for different reasons
C．for their work	D．for higher studies at colleges

14. From this passage we know that _______.

A．we can learn English easily

B．English is very difficult to learn

C．English is learned by most people in the world

D．English is a useful language but one must work hard to learn

15. Which of the following is right?

A．We don’t need to learn any foreign languages.

B．We can do well in all our work without English.

C．English is the most important subject in schools.

D．We should learn English because we need to face the world.