1 . We all know what it is like to be unable to turn your head because of a cold in the muscles (肌肉) of your neck, or because an unexpected twist (扭曲) has made your neck ache. The slightest move makes you jump with pain. Nothing could be worse than a pain in the neck.
That is why we use the phrase to describe some people who give you the same feeling. We have all met such people.
One is the man who always seems to be clapping his hands—often at the wrong time—during a performance in the theater. He keeps you from hearing the actors.
Even worse are those who can never arrive before the curtain goes up and the play begins. They come hurrying down to your row of seats. You are comfortably settled down, with your hat and heavy coat in your lap. You must stand up to let them pass. You are proud of yourself-control after they have settled into their seats...Well, what now ... God, one of them is up again. He forgot to go to the men 's room, and once more you have to stand up, hanging on to your hat and coat to let him pass. Now, that is "a pain in the neck".
Another, well-known to us all, is the person sitting behind you in the movies. His mouth is full of popcorn (爆米花); he is chewing (嚼) loudly, or talking between bites to friends next to him. None of them remain still. Up and down, back and forth, they go for another bag of popcorn, or something to drink.
Then, there is the man sitting next to you at lunch, smoking. He wants you to enjoy it too, and blows smoke across your food into your mouth.
We must not forget the man who comes into a bus or subway and sits down next to you, just as close as you will let him. You are reading the newspaper and he gets closer so that he can read the paper with you. He may even turn the paper to the next page before you are ready for it.
We also call such a person a "rubber neck", always getting close to where it does not belong, like neighbors who watch all your visitors. They enjoy learning about your personal business. People have a strong dislike for "rubber necks". They hate being watched secretly.
1. According to the passage, how do you feel when late comers walk back and forth in front of you in a cinema?| A．Disturbed. | B．Bored. |
| C．Ignored. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．says bad words behind people |
| B．quarrels face to face with neighbors |
| C．bargains with salespeople over the price |
| D．asks about other people's business |
| A．Someone who often claps at the wrong time during a performance. |
| B．Someone who feels ache in his neck due to a cold in the muscles. |
| C．Someone who sits next to you smoking, which you never enjoy. |
| D．Someone who keeps eating or talking all through the movies. |
| A．To tell people what might be bad manners in public. |
| B．To criticize (批评) the people who might be "a pain in the neck". |
| C．To show anger to those who are described as "a pain in the neck". |
| D．To tell people how to stop the pain in the neck. |
2 . A Vietnamese man hopes to raise the quality of education in his country by building "parent libraries" in rural schools. Nguyen Quang Thach provides libraries to the schools so books are more available in farming communities. He works with publishers in Hanoi to get the books at reduced rates for teachers and their students.
Mr. Thach says most schools have enough textbooks. But he says many poor families have few books at home and do not visit school libraries. He learned this by talking with farmers, workers and students.
More than 90 percent of Vietnam's population can read and write. But academic performance in the schools remains low compared to other Southeast Asian nations. Corruption is a big part of the problem. Vietnamese media often have stories about teachers giving high grades in exchange for money.
Some experts criticize teaching methods that depend heavily on dictation. They say asking students to repeat everything a teacher says to the class harms their ability to think for themselves.
Nguyen Quang Thach says he wants people to invest money in books for a better future. To date, almost 1,000 parent libraries have been built in Thai Binh Province, Hundreds of books are in each one. Several other provinces have copied this model.
For each school, Mr. Thach helps build libraries for up to four classes. Other people then follow his example. Parents of school children pay three dollars each for the first year and one dollar in other years.
The head of the An Duc Secondary School, Pham Duc Duong, told reporter Marianne Brown that Mr. Thach's work has improved the quality of education.
"He says students have been doing better in competitions, especially in social science."
Duong Le Nga heads the school youth group. She says that after the libraries were built, students started asking teachers more questions. The students also set up debating teams. She thinks Mr. Thach's example helps students think more creatively ----"outside the box."
The deputy head of the school, Uong Minh Thanh, says many students there will work in factories. But after seeing the influence of the new libraries, he hopes the children will set high goals for themselves.
1. We can learn from the passage that Vietnamese teachers .| A．lack creative teaching methods |
| B．don't have a high salary to support family |
| C．make money by forcing students to attend classes |
| D．don't have enough books to read |
| A．Every school will be provided with four libraries. |
| B．Mr. Thach and parents co-fund for the libraries. |
| C．Parents pay three dollars every year. |
| D．Parents should pay four dollars in all. |
| A．have been doing better in compositions |
| B．need to have a box when thinking |
| C．are more creative in thinking than before |
| D．should set high goals for themselves |
| A．People think highly of Nguyen Quang Thach's “ parent libraries”project. |
| B．Vietnamese teachers' corruption is ruining the future of children. |
| C．Schools in Vietnam are in great need of libraries. |
| D．A Vietnamese helps the quality of education by a book revolution. |
3 . Yasuda is 95 years old. Looking for easier ways to search the Web and send email, he bought Apple’s iPad. The company has sold 3.27 million iPads since they entered the market in April. Although it’s impossible to know with certainty how many seniors (老年人) are buying them, evidence suggests that it’s a hit with seniors.
The iPad’s intuitive interface (直观界面) makes it attractive to seniors around the world, says Takahiro Miura, a researcher at the University of Tokyou. “The iPad is a good tool for seniors because it’s very easy to use,” he says. Unlike the PC, it doesn’t require former knowledge.”
James Cordwell, a researcher in London, says the iPad’s popularity with seniors is helping Apple reach beyond its traditional base of young customers. “The world’s population, especially in developed markets, is getting older. It’s probably a market where Apple has least entered,” Cordwell says. Senior users are a key source of growth for them in the future.
Seniors make. up about 22 percent of the population in Japan. They may prove that seniors are willing to accept the iPad. Besides the customer group under 30, they spend more than any other group in the country, according to a report. Motoo Kitamura, 78, a former gas salesman, bought an iPad to help him communicate with his 2-year-old grandson and prevent him from experiencing some of the mental problems that sometimes come with getting older. “Trying new things like that is good mental exercise,” he says.
1. The underlined part “a hit” in Paragraph 1 probably means .| A．a sudden attack |
| B．a heavy burden |
| C．very familiar |
| D．quite popular |
| A．It has intuitive interface. |
| B．It is easy to operate. |
| C．People can use it as a way to do mental exercise. |
| D．Beginners can use it without similar experiences. |
| A．The traditional customers of Apples products are usually the young. |
| B．People above thirty are Apples largest customer group in Japan. |
| C．Seniors will soon grow into Apples largest customer group. |
| D．Seniors in Japan are fond of buying latest hi-tech products. |
| A．iPad influencing the customer group. |
| B．iPad leading Apple to seniors. |
| C．iPad’s arrival causing Japanese to think. |
| D．iPad beating the traditional PC. |
