1 . About 20 years ago Nissan introduced the world's first "talking car". Actually, it was just a recorded voice that would tell you that your door was open, and would continue talking to you until you closed it. Of course, it never caught on.
Times have changed and the talking car of the near future is a car that you talk to, rather than a car that talks to you. You'll be able to control your radio by giving voice orders, get traffic reports and directions, and send and receive e﹣mails. To do this, you needn't push a button at all.
This is good news for those who spend more and more of their lives in their cars. In fact, the new type of cars will be more like offices on wheels, with computers, wireless Internet access, and satellite radio inside. Companies are hoping that time wasted in traffic could be put to better use. If workers are able to check their e﹣mails, faxes, and meeting time on the way to work, they can spend more time at the office doing more important tasks.
Microsoft, of course, is hoping that every one of those mobile offices will use Windows. "It's a great goal. " says Dick Brass, VP of Microsoft's automotive division, "But we'd like to have one of our operating systems in every car on earth. " There are already 650 million cars in the world, and every year about 50 million new cars roll off the production lines. If Brass' wish came true, cars could become a bigger business for Microsoft than computers.
1. Which is TRUE about the world's first "talking car"?| A．Nissan invented it. |
| B．It was introduced in the late 20th century. |
| C．It could record voices. |
| D．It could not only record but also talk itself. |
| A．traffic reports | B．voice orders |
| C．light signals | D．electricity energy |
| A．much time will be wasted in traffic |
| B．their workers will get to the office earlier |
| C．their workers will have more time to do more important work |
| D．their workers will check e﹣mails, faxes, and meeting time at home |
| A．turned on | B．took off |
| C．become popular | D．was colourful |
| A．all of the mobile offices will use Windows |
| B．about 50 million new cars are produced every year |
| C．the new type of talking car has a recorded voice inside |
| D．the talking car of the near future is a car that talks to you |
2 . Let’s Celebrate!
No matter what kind of culture you come across, there’s always a reason to celebrate! Check out four amazing festivals around the world.
 | Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival Every June people get together in Wisconsin,USA, to honor cheese (奶酪).The celebration lasts three days and it's full of different events for the whole family. There are concerts, free cheese tasting, the Big Cheese Parade and Big Cheese Breakfast, etc. |
 | La Tomatina Every August, Buiol, Spain, hosts a festival where the world’s biggest hour-long food fight takes place. Around 20,000 people take part in the event, throwing over a hundred tons of tomatoes at each other in all. What a juiced-up celebration! |
 | Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival Are there any festivals to celebrate in winter？Sure! Come to Harbin, China. It is home to Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. The festival starts on January s every year. During the month-long festival, people can enjoy the largest and most beautiful ice and snow sculptures (雕塑) in the world. |
 | Monkey Buffet Festival The Monkey Buffet Festival is on the last Sunday of November. It is a great day for monkeys in Thailand. People there think monkeys can bring good luck to them. So, to thank monkeys, they have this special festival to feed them. |
| A．Throw fruits. | B．Play with animals. | C．Enjoy music. | D．Go snowboarding. |
| A．Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival. | B．La Tomatina. |
| C．Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. | D．Monkey Buffet Festival. |
| A．In a science report. | B．On a sports website. | C．In a grammar textbook. | D．In a culture magazine. |
1.询问当地的天气情况以及你要的准备的东西；
2.询问当地的景点以及收费情况；
3.请Bob帮你在宾馆预定一个房间；
4.询问Bob 当地的法规以防出错。
Dear Bob,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
4 . More and more Chinese are having English names, but not everyone is good at finding one. Why not offer them some help? An American girl called Lindsay Jernigan is now teaching people how to get better English names.
While working in Shanghai, Lindsay met many Chinese people with strange English names. Some of them chose a lucky number of “Seven,” a favorite fruit, “Apple,” and a cartoon character, “Snow White.” Others had names like “July” and “Rabbit.”
After noticing the problem, Lindsay had an idea. She quit her job and set up a website (bestenglishname.com) to help Chinese people get better English names.
The website helps people in two ways. After they take an online quiz, people will get five English names based on their personal information, such as age, job and even future plans. This costs 18 yuan. People can also meet with Lindsay to talk about their English name. But that costs more.
Now, about 2,000 people each day visit the website. Most of them are preparing to study or work abroad. Lindsay is planning to offer them more help, such as helping them write resumes (简历).
1. What does Lindsay think of the name of “Rabbit”?| A．Wonderful. | B．Strange. | C．Creative. | D．Boring. |
| A．continued | B．asked | C．picked up | D．gave up |
| A．18 yuan | B．less than 18 yuan |
| C．more than 18 yuan | D．more or less than 18 yuan |
| A．Her website mainly helps the English-speaking people. |
| B．Her idea came from his work experience in China. |
| C．She plans to provide more service for the customers. |
| D．She can help the people to get name in two ways. |
| A．A hard-working American girl |
| B．How to find an good English name |
| C．Don’t choose English names without thinking |
| D．An American girl helps to choose an English name |
