1 . “Get your hands off me, I have been stolen,” the laptop, a portable computer, shouted. That is a new solution to laptop computer theft: a program that lets owners give their property a voice when it has been taken.

The program allows users to display alerts on the missing computer’s screen and even to set a spoken message. Tracking software for stolen laptops has been on the market for some time, but this is thought to be the first that allows owners to give the thief a piece of their mind.

Owners must report their laptop missing by logging on to a website, which sends a message to the model: a red and yellow “lost or stolen” banner pops up on its screen when it is started. Under the latest version of the software, users can also send a spoken message.

The message can be set to reappear every 30 seconds, no matter how many times the thief closes it. “One customer sent a message saying, ‘You are being tracked. I am right at your door’,” said Carrie Hafeman, chief executive of the company which produces the program, Retriever.

In the latest version, people can add a spoken message. The default through the computer’s speakers is: “Help, this laptop is reported lost or stolen. If you are not my owner, please report me now.”

The Retriever software package, which costs $29.95 but has a free trial period, has the functions of many security software programs. Owners can remotely switch to an alternative password prompt if they fear that the thief has also got hold of the access details.

If a thief accesses the internet with the stolen laptop, Retriever will collect information on the internet service provider in use, so that the police can be alerted to its location.

Thousands of laptops are stolen every year from homes and offices, but with the use of laptops increasing, the number stolen while their owners are out and about has been rising sharply.

Other security software allows users to erase data remotely or lock down the computer.

1. The expression “to give the thief a piece of their mind” can be understood as “      ”.

A．to express the owners’ anger to the thief

B．to give the thief an alert mind

C．to remind the thief of his conscience

D．to make the thief give up his mind

2. Different from other security software, Retriever can       .

A．record the stealing process	B．help recognize the lost laptop
C．send a spoken message	D．lock down the computer remotely

3. One function of the program is that it allows the owner to        at a distance.

A．turn on the laptop by using the original password

B．change some access details for switching on the laptop

C．operate the laptop by means of an alternative password

D．erase the information kept in the stolen laptop

4. Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of the passage?

A．With no Retriever, thousands of laptops are stolen every year.

B．Retriever has helped to find thieves and lost computers.

C．A new software provides a means to reduce laptop theft.

D．A new program offers a communication platform with the thief.

2 . Aerial (空中的）performer Jennifer Bricker was born without legs, but she never let it stop her.

Wrapped in a loop (圈）of red silk hung from the ceiling, Jennifer Bricker climbs and twists to the music. Her head hangs down and her strong arms let go as she balances on her back, high above the ground — a move that is all the more daring because she has no legs.

Jennifer was a few months old when she was adopted by Sharon and Gerald Bricker. She had big brown eyes, a bright smile, and huge amounts of energy. When a doctor advised her adoptive parents to carry her around in a kind of bucket (桶)，they refused.

Jennifer soon learned to walk and run on her hands and bottom, and grew up fearlessly climbing trees and bouncing on the trampoline (蹦床）with her three older brothers.“My parents didn’t treat me differently so I didn’t grasp the concept that I was different .1 knew I didn't have legs but that wasn’t stopping me from doing the things I wanted to do.”

At the age of three she was fitted with artificial legs, but she never really took to them she moved more freely without them.

In 1996 the Olympic Games took place in Atlanta. Jennifer loved to watch the women's gymnastics team, and especially adored the 14-year-old Dominique Moceanu who competed for the US. When Moceanu and the women’s team won the gold, Jennifer decided she was going to be a gymnast, too. She took up power tumbling, which involves performing floor exercises down a runway. But Jennifer did not want any allowances to be made for her disability.

At the age of 10 she took part in the Junior Olympics and by age 11 she was the tumbling champion for the state of Illinois.

Jennifer now travels the world as an inspirational speaker and acts as an aerial performer.

1. What do we know about Jennifer Bricker?

A．She felt embarrassed without legs.

B．She was carried in a bucket as a baby.

C．She was brought up as a normal child.

D．She lost her legs when she was adopted.

2. Why did Jennifer determine to be a gymnast?

A．Because she knew that she was different from others.

B．Because she was greatly influenced by Dominique Moceanu.

C．Because she was eager to participate in the Junior Olympics.

D．Because she wanted to make allowances for her disability.

3. Which of the following can best describe Jennifer Bricker?

A．Clever.

B．Cautious.

C．Sensitive.

D．Self-respecting.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The growing process of a disabled person.

B．The memory of an aerial performer.

C．The experiences of an adoptive family.

D．The sufferings of a gymnast.

3 . The experience of life can show one’s “determination”. Complex challenges early in life helped the following people develop skills that got them to the top of their professions.

Sean Combs, CEO, Sean John

Combs began a generation of hip-hop talent and made a lasting influence on fashion. But his story could have turned out much differently: His drug dealer father was killed when he was 3. “It made me work even harder.” he recently said.

Howard Schultz, Executive Chairman, Starbucks Schultz grew up in public housing in Brooklyn, surrounded by poverty, and was the first in his family to go to college (on a football scholarship).After training in sales, he set up the company that would later buy Starbucks. In the course of the year I spent trying to raise money，Ispoketo242people,and217ofthemsaidno.’’hesaid.

Ursula Burns, Chairwoman, VEON; Former CEO, Xerox

Her family was so poor that her single mother traded office cleaning for health care. But Bums’ early gift for maths won her a scholarship and an internship at Xerox，where she would compete her way to the top. ‘‘ I’m a black lady from the Lower East Side,” she says, S6Not a lot scares me.”

Geisha Williams, CEO, PG&E

Her parents fled Cuba when Williams was 5. By 7, she was her parents, main translator in talks with lawyers and accountants at grocery stores they owned. The experience did help her. I went from thinking I could be a manager to thinking I could do something much bigger.55 she told Fortune.

1. How did the death of Combs5 father influence him?

A．It made him even stronger.	B．He became a drug dealer.
C．It made him a failure.	D．He became a hip-hopper.

2. Who did best in math at school?

A．Combs

B．Williams

C．Burns

D．Schultz

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Cuba is a good place to do business.

B．Difficulty in life pushed Williams forward.

C．No one wanted to help Schultz at first.

D．Poor family kids can be successful easily.

4 . It seems that everyone is travelling on holidays these days. During the travel season, roads, buses, trains and airports are packed.     1    , and getting a seat at a restaurant may be impossible. You can fight these troubles alone, or you can travel, as I do, in a group led by a tour guide.

If you travel in a group, the guide will arrange everything for you.     2    . Prices are often cheaper as well, because a tour group can often get group prices and the best deals for nearly everything.

    3    . Most people do not know much about the history of an attraction and interesting stories related to it. The guide’s expert knowledge will help make the trip more interesting.

If you travel in a group, you can also make more friends.     4    . Often, friendships make the trip more interesting.

    5    . Your trip will be cheaper, more comfortable, more interesting and more rewarding if you travel this way rather than by travelling alone.

A．Hotels are full as well

B．If someone gets ill, others go to his or her aid

C．Taking part in a group is a fully preparatory plan

D．Your tour guide is often an expert in the places you visit

E．Using tour guides and travelling in a group is the best way to travel

F．After all, the travelling companies have been doing this job for long

G．There will be no need to worry about hotel or restaurant reservations

5 . James Cleveland Owens was the son of a farmer and the grandson of black slaves. His family moved to Cleveland when he was 9. There, a school teacher asked the youth his name.

“J.C., ”he replied.

She thought he had said “Jesse”, and he had a new name.

Owens ran his first race at age 13. After high school, he went to Ohio State University. He had to work part time so as to pay for his education. As a second year student, in the Big Ten games in 1935, he set even more records than he would in the Olympic Games a year later.

A week before the Big Ten Meet, Owens accidentally fell down a flight of stairs. His back hurt so much that he could not exercise all week, and he had to be helped in and out of the car that drove him to the meet. He refused to listen to the suggestions that he give up and said he would try, event by event. He did try, and the results are in the record book.

The stage was set for Owens victory at the Olympic Games in Berlin the next year, and his success would come to be regarded as not only athletic but also political. Hitler did not congratulate any of the African American winners.

“It was all right with me,” he said years later. “I didn’t go to Berlin to shake hands with him, anyway. ”

Having returned from Berlin, he received no telephone calls from the president of his own country, either. In fact, he was not honored by the United States until 1976, four years before his death.

Owens Olympic victories made little difference to him. He earned his living by looking after a school playground, and accepted money to race against cars, trucks, motorcycles and dogs.

“Sure, it bothered me, ”he said later. “But at least it was an honest living. I had to eat.”

In time, however, his gold medals changed his life. “They have kept me alive over the years,” he once said. “Time has stood still for me. That golden moment dies hard.”

1. In the Big Ten Meet, Owens ___.

A．hurt himself in the back	B．succeeded in setting many records
C．tried every sports event but failed	D．had to give up some events

2. We can infer from the text that Owens was treated unfairly in the US at that time because ___.

A．he did not talk to the US president on the phone	B．he was the son of a poor farmer
C．he was not of the right race	D．he did not shake hands with Hitler

3. When Owens says “They have kept me alive over the years”, he means that the medals ___.

A．have been changed for money to help him live on

B．have encouraged him to overcome difficulties in life

C．have made him famous in the US

D．have kept him busy with all kinds of jobs

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Making a living as a sportsman	B．Golden Moment — a life time struggle
C．Jesse Owens, a great American athlete	D．How to be a successful athlete

6 . Deep in the wilderness of northern Kenya, two boys found a pair of crying cheetah cubs (猎豹幼崽). The cubs' mother had been killed by a lion. The cheetahs were only a few weeks old. In the wild, about 9 out of 10 cheetah cubs die before they are three months old. They are food for lions. But these cubs were so lucky that they were saved by their "heroes", who brought them to Jane and Ian Craig. The Craigs help save endangered animals at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.
The Craigs nursed the cheetah cubs back to health — feeding them with bottles, sleeping with them, and comforting them. They named the cubs Sambu and Toki. But what would become of these cubs? How would they survive on their own? In the wild, cubs stay with their mothers until they are almost 2 years old. During that time, cheetah mothers teach their young how to hunt and how to protect themselves. The Craigs wouldn't be able to find a cheetah mother to teach the cubs. So they turned to a man named Simon King.
King has spent more than twenty years studying cheetahs. He gave them a nod of approval when hearing about this, though taking care of two baby cubs would take a huge amount of time. For two years, he would need to have them at his side most of the time. But he felt there was no other choice. And so, when the brothers were one month old, King became their father.
The brothers followed King everywhere. If they saw large dangerous and fierce mammals, King would growl at the cubs the way a mother cheetah would have, which was a signal for the cubs to stay away. They learned quickly. King taught the cheetahs to hunt using a toy rabbit as King pulled it around on a rope. With more lessons and training, the brothers began to hunt on their own. King is one proud father now.
1. What do we know about the two cheetah cubs?

A．They like the Craigs very much.

B．Their lives were in danger in the wild.

C．Their mother was killed by humans.

D．They were not afraid of lions.

2. What worried the Craigs?

A．There was no cheetah mother to teach the cubs.

B．The cubs were dangerous.

C．They had no time to take care of the cubs.

D．There was no living place for the cubs.

3. The cheetah brothers learnt hunting skills from ________.

A．Simon King	B．the boys
C．the Craigs	D．their mother

4. In which part of a magazine would we expect to find this text?

A．History	B．Science
C．News report	D．Nature

7 . No matter what type of business you run, it has to deal with things that go wrong from your customer’s point of view. Complaints can be a great source of information for organizations to make corrections as well as further improvements.     1     Firstly, you should listen actively to what the customer has said by maintaining comfortable eye contact.     2    

Secondly,     3     It’s important for you to know that your apology must appear sincere to the customer, and not an empty exercise. And also you should show the customer you’ve accepted the responsibility and provide him with choices or, you’ll do something about his complaint.

Thirdly, talk with the client and discover the best means to resolve his problem.     4    

In this case it’s important to let your customer know an estimation of how long it will take to take action on his complaint.

Fourthly, a simple “Thank you”is one way to let the customers know you appreciate the time and effort they’ve taken to inform you about a problem of your company’s service or product that you need to know about.

Finally, create a procedure for recording different types of customer complaints.     5    

A．Listen to your customer’s complaints and you can improve your service.

B．There will be times when you’ll be unable to resolve the issue immediately.

C．When receiving a complaint, you should apologize for the failure the customer has identified.

D．They are a valuable source of information to determine various root causes that need to be addressed within your company.

E．So it’s important to learn to deal with customers’ complaints efficiently.

F．Don't feel ashamed of the failure in your service or product.

G．You should also show your customer that you do understand him by giving full attention.

8 . It was in the Victorian Era(维多利亚时期) that the novel became the leading form of literature in English. Most writers were more concerned to meet the tastes of the middle class. The best known works of the period included the works of Charles Dickens and the Bronté sisters and others.
Charles Dickens came on the literary scene in the 1830s. Dickens wrote vividly about London life and the struggles of the poor. Most of his works were written in a very humorous style, which was popular with readers of all classes.
The Bronté sisters were English writers of the 1840s and 1850s. They began to write from early childhood. In 1846 they published the first book at their own expense as poets; however, their book attracted little attention, selling only two copies. Then the sisters turned to writing novels, each producing a novel in the following year.
An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside may be seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy and a number of others.
Literature for children developed as a single style. Some works became well-known, such as those of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Adventure novels were written for adults but are now generally grouped in the list for children. Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author at the end of the Victorian Era, best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters. In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902.
1. What can we know about Charles Dickens from the text?

A．He described the struggles of the poor in London.

B．He showed an interest in rural matters in his writing.

C．He focused on changing social and economic situation of the countryside.

D．He published the highly successful children's book.

2. Which is TRUE about the Bronté sisters?

A．They were English writers of the 1830s.

B．They paid to have their first book published.

C．They began their writing from adulthood.

D．Their first book was successful.

3. The author states in the last paragraph that ________.

A．society changed rapidly in the Victorian Era

B．Thomas Hardy was not as famous as Lewis Carroll

C．Edward Lear was famous for writing about animals

D．adventure novels were not written for children at first

4. This text is mainly about ________.

A．literature in the Victorian Era

B．writing styles in the Victorian Era

C．famous works in the Victorian Era

D．the importance of literature in the Victorian Era

9 . 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Saturday, March 24th
We have arrived in the hot, wet city of Bangkok. This is our first trip toThailand(泰国). All the different smells make us want to try the food. We aregoing to eat something special for dinner tonight. The hotel we are staying in is
cheap, and very clean. We plan to stay here for a few days, visit some places in
the city, and then travel to Chiang Mai in the North.
Tuesday, March 27th
Bangkok is wonderful and surprising! The places are interesting. We visited
the famous market which was on water, and saw a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Everything is so colorful, and we have taken hundreds of photos already! Later
today we will leave for Chiang Mai. We will take the train north, stay in
Chiang Mai for two days, and then catch a bus to Chiang Rai.
Friday, March 30th
Our trip to Chiang Rai was long and boring. We visited a small village in
the mountains. The village people here love the quiet life-no computers or
phones. They are the kindest people I have ever met. They always smile and say
"hello". Kathy and I can only speak a few words of Thai, so smiling is the best
way to show our kindness. I feel good here and hope to be able to come back
next year.
1. The diaries above show the writer's _____ days in Thailand.

A．3	B．7
C．15	D．30

2. It seems that visitors _____ in Bangkok.

A．often feel hungry

B．can always find cheap things

C．can’t take any photos

D．can enjoy themselves

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Chiang Mai is a beautiful city in the south of Thailand.

B．The writer left Chiang Mai for Chiang Rai by bus.

C．Chiang Rai is a boring city in the mountains.

D．The writer is traveling alone in Thailand.

10 .

Time	Event	Location	Audience
10：15 a．m. on Wednesday	BABY_AND_ME Babies from birth to 18 months old and their parents/caregivers can enjoy great books, lively songs, and rhymes, and meet other babies in the neighborhood. This program is limited to 35 participants.	Muhlenberg Library, Community Room	Children, Infant (0－18 months)
10：30 a．m. on Wednesday	OPEN_LAB Are you having trouble with your email? Don’t know how to cut and paste? Never touched a computer? This is the time and place for you to get ahead with 21st century technology! Bring your technology questions and/or your wireless enabled device and get one­on­one assistance, discover online tutorials, improve your skills, exceed the limits of your imagination！	St. George Library Center, TechConnect Lab	Adults
10 a．m. on Thursday	I_NEED_A_DOCTOR:_HEALTH_INFO_ONLINE Learn to find consumer health information online, including doctors’ credentials, hospital information, drug side effects, conventional and alternative medical treatments of diseases, diets, weight loss, nutrition and exercises, and how to evaluate these websites.	Kips Bay Library	Adults
12 noon on Thursdays	No talking, no cell phone, and no noise are required in our quiet study room. This room is open thanks to our volunteers, and is subject to their availability. If you are interested in keeping the quiet study room open more hours, please see a staff member about becoming a volunteer! Quiet Study Hours: Mondays 12－5, Tuesdays 1－5, Wednesdays 1－5, Thursdays 12－5, Fridays 10－3, Saturdays 10－3. Subject to cancellation /change of hours without prior notice.	67th Street Library	50＋， Book Lovers， Business­ people

1. Who will probably take part in the event “BABY AND ME”？

A．Book lovers.	B．Businessmen.
C．Infants.	D．Adults 50＋.

2. Where will you go if you want to learn about computer technology?

A．Muhlenberg Library.	B．St. George Library Center.
C．Kips Bay Library.	D．67th Street Library.

3. In which event can you work as a volunteer?

A．BABY AND ME.

B．OPEN LAB.

C．I NEED A DOCTOR: HEALTH INFO ONLINE.

D．QUIET STUDY ROOM.