1 . Like all big cities, Paris has a traffic problem: lots of cars, lots of traffic jams and lots of pollution from exhaust fumes (废气). So the city began a scheme (计划) to improve the situation.

Under the Velib project ('Velib' comes from vélo liberté, or 'bicycle freedom') people can take a bicycle, use it for as long as they want, and then leave it at the same or another bicycle station. The first half-hour on the bike is free, but if you don't return it after 30 minutes, you have to pay. But it's only €1 a day or €29 a year! The bicycles are heavy (25 kg), and they are all grey and have baskets. There are about 20,000 of them in the city, and around 1,450 bicycle stations. So there are a lot more Velib stations than the 298 subway stations!

Paris is not the first city to have a project like this. But not everybody thinks it's a great idea. One Parisian said, "These bicycles are only for short journeys. If people want to travel across the city, they won't use a bicycle — they'll still use their cars."

A city spokesman said, 'The bicycle project won't solve all our traffic problems, of course. But it might help reduce air pollution. Traffic, together with factory fumes, is a big problem. There aren't any simple answers to traffic problems and pollution in cities. But unless we do something now, there will be more traffic jams and temperatures will continue to rise, so the problems in our environment will get worse. The bikes might help people to lead a healthier life, too.'

1. What can we learn about the Velib scheme?

A．Its bikes have no baskets.	B．Its bikes are light and colorful.
C．It aims to make traveling easier.	D．It owns more stations than the subway.

2. If you use a Velib for 1 hour, you should pay _______.

A．€l

B．€30

C．€29

D．no money

3. Why do some people disagree with the Velib scheme?

A．The cost is rather high.

B．It's hard to find a Velib station.

C．It's not suitable for a long journey.

D．The distance between two Velib stations is long.

4. What's the city spokesman's attitude towards the bicycle scheme?

A．Doubtful.	B．Positive.
C．Uncaring.	D．Worried.

2 . If you're looking to buy cheap theater tickets, then you've come to the right place! Whether it is on Broadway, or a show at your local theater, here at Sizzling Tickets we've got some great deals for you!

Aladdin the Musical
Run Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one intermission（幕间休息）of 15 minutes
Audience: All ages

This musical comedy provides generous family entertainment with lively dance routines and constant action. Well-loved songs such as A Whole New World and Prince Ali will have members of the audience singing along. This timeless story and its beauty, energy and magic will take your breath away.

Lion King the Musical
Run Time: 2 hours and 45minutes, including one intermission of 15 minutes
Audience: AU ages

The Lion King musical was first staged on Broadway in 1997, when it achieved great success. In fact, the Lion King musical has won several awards over the years for the way that this popular story has been displayed and the cartoon characters really come to life in a very exciting way when they reach the stage.

The Book of Mormon
Run Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one 15 minutes' intermission
Audience: Young teens and older

Winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical and many other awards, the Book of Mormon is entertaining from start to finish and looks set to stay on Broadway in the near future.

Phantom of the Opera
Run Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission of !5 minutes
Audience: All ages

The box office revenue（票房收入）for this show is higher than for any other movie or stage production. Some people love it so much that they have seen it twice, perhaps even again and again. The opera has been playing continuously at Her Majesty's Theatre in London since its first performance in 1986. And it's not just audiences that love the show. Phantom has won many awards, including Olivier Awards and Tony Awards.

1. If you want to see a play longer than 2 hours and 30minutes, you can choose.

A．Aladdin the Musical	B．The Book of Mormon
C．Lion King the Musical	D．Phantom of the Opera

2. The Book of Mormon.

A．has won numerous awards	B．is telling an unhappy story
C．is suitable for all ages	D．will not be played on Broadway in the future

3. According to the text, which of the following is true?

A．Aladdin the Musical runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes with two intermissions.

B．Lion King the Musical has well-loved songs for audience to sing along,

C．The Phantom of the Opera was first staged on Broadway.

D．The Phantom of the Opera is worth seeing repeatedly.

3 . Things You Should Stop Doing to Be Successful

Are you a happy person？ How often do you think of reasons why everyone around you is successful though they are not better than you in general? What do you do wrong? Here are some things you should stop doing to be successful.

•    1    

Different people may interpret “success” in different ways: some of them measure it in money, and other ones in positive changes to people around them and the world in general.     2     Don’t worry about what other people think but care about what makes you happy.

•Do not believe anything without questioning it.

    3     They are critical thinkers, and they understand that we all are ruled by our prejudices, so they will always question new information.

•Do not worry about all unpredictable things that may happen to you.

If you want to be successful, stop thinking about everything that may happen to you.     4     Be ready to improve and change your deeds and decisions when things suddenly don't go according to your plan.

•Do not care about what other people think of you.

    5     Your attempts to become “good” for everyone will turn into nothing but new worries, stresses, and problems Successful people do not concentrate on the quantity of people to please, but worry about their quality and focus on developing friendships with people they really care about.

A．Do not wait for the right time" to do anything.

B．Do not let others decide what success" is for you.

C．Successful people do not just accept any new information to be true.

D．As far as we all know, it's impossible to please all the people who surround us.

E．Try to feel comfortable with the reality and accept the fact that your future can’t be predicted.

F．If you want to be successful, do not let others force their Interpretation of success on you.

G．Successful people never ignore or avoid problems, no matter how big and awful they seem.

4 . What will our world be like in 2050?

There are two features in the growth of world population. First, the annual increase in population in 15 European countries, in the past few years, has been only 300,000. The United Nations estimates (估计)that by 2050, the population of European countries will decrease from the current 0.72 billion to 0.63 billion. Second, the population in developing countries is growing rapidly. By 2050，the population of Africa is expected to reach 1.8 billion, 0.9 billion more than its current population.

A recent research report published by the United Nations indicates that it is quite possible that the Earth's temperature is rising well above the previous estimate. The Antarctic ice sheet, which contains 90% of the world's ice, has lost significant mass in the past few years. The discovery comes as a surprise to scientists, who thought that the continent would gain ice this century because of increased snowfall in a warming climate. A research team from the University of Colorado used satellite data to estimate that the ice sheet will lose up to 48 cubic miles by 2050.

Africa's rivers face great change that will leave a quarter of the continent severely short of water by the middle of the century, according to a global warming study published today. Even modest decreases in rain in western Africa will see rivers lose as much as 80% of their water and a rise of what the scientists call "water refuges(难民)”. "In those areas where there is already a water shortage, it's going to have a destructive effect," the study says,.“If you're already walking 5 km to the nearest stream, by 2050,it's going to mean walking 30 km or moving your whole household closer to the water source."

1. Which of the following situations in 2050 is NOT mentioned in the text?

A．Population change.

B．Economic decline.

C．Global warming.

D．Water shortage.

2. What surprises the scientists according to Paragraph 3?

A．The Antarctic ice sheet has decreased.

B．The Earth's temperature is going down.

C．Global warming is destroying the Earth.

D．Snowfall increases in the Antarctic area.

3. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph stress (强调) ?

A．The ill fate of Africa's rivers.

B．The importance of doing exercise.

C．The hard life of the African refugees.

D．The seriousness of the water problem.

4. What was the most possible feeling of the author when he wrote this text?

A．Happy.

B．Angry.

C．Worried.

D．Calm.

5 . When I was sixteen years old, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn’t the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children I learned French at school. And I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand English. But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language barriers.（障碍）
How wrong I was! The misunderstandings(误解) began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to give my American friend Penny a call and tell her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking lost and asked if he could help me.
“Yes,” I said, “I want to give my friend a ring.”
“Well, that’s nice,” he said. “Are you getting married? But aren’t you a bit（点） young?”
“Who is talking about marriage?” I replied. “I only want to give my friend a ring to tell her I’ve arrived. Can you tell me where there’s a phone box?”
“Oh!” he said, “There’s a phone downstairs.”
When at last we met, Penny explained the misunderstandings to me.
“Don’t worry,” she said to me. “I had so many difficulties at first. There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from British. You’ll soon get used to all the funny things they say. Most of the time British and American people understand each other!”
1. At first the writer thought _____ in America.

A．he wouldn’t have any language difficulties

B．he would not understand the Americans

C．the Americans might not understand him

D．it wouldn’t be an easy and relaxing holiday

2. From the passage we can see that “give somebody a ring”_____.

A．means the same in America as in England

B．means “call somebody” to the American people.

C．has two different meanings

D．means “be going to get married” in England

3. In the last paragraph, the underlined “they” refers to（指的是） _____.

A．the old man and the boy	B．the Americans
C．the British	D．the French

4. Penny will agree with the idea that _____.

A．Americans use words entirely（完全地） differently from British

B．Americans speak in a funny way

C．It will be hard for the author（作者） to get used to American English

D．Americans and British can understand each other in most cases（情况）