1 . Global financial big dogs are no match for China's "Da Ma", or housewives, who have crowded into gold stores across China, buying up 300 tons of gold over the past two weeks. No wonder gold prices have steadied after taking a dive.

During the May Day holiday, gold stores were crowded with mostly female customers. Most of them are middle-aged "Chinese housewives". This group of buyers has risen to fame recently. They are big spenders and are desperate to get their hands on a bargain. "I bought some gold jewellery and kept them as a gift for my son when he gets married," said a buyer from Shanghai.

The gold business is skyrocketing. "Our sales are growing by the day. Yesterday we sold more than ten million yuan of gold products," a gold store salesperson said. The gold rush in China started about two weeks ago thanks to a decline in global gold prices. Media reports suggest that Chinese housewives have spent about 100 billion yuan, or about 16 billion US dollars, purchasing 300 tons of gold since mid-April. That has helped support gold prices.

"Gold prices depressed since the middle of last month but have risen gradually. That is mainly due to the strong demand from Asian markets," said foreign trader Zhang Chen from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. "Some people even joked that Chinese housewives have beaten Wall Street analysts." For Chinese people, with limited investment options, the only thing better than buying gold is buying gold at discount prices.

1. What does the author indicate in the first sentence of the 1st paragraph?

A．The global big dogs can’t match with Chinese housewives.

B．China's "Da Ma" help a lot to support the global economic crisis .

C．Chinese housewives spend a great deal of money on gold

D．Chinese housewives have a better consumption idea than global financial big dogs

2. The whole passage mainly developed_______ ?

A．by comparison	B．by contrast
C．by quotation	D．by time order

3. We can infer about the gold rush in China from the passage?

A．The Chinese housewives are most willing to spend money in buying gold ..

B．China's "Da Ma" crowded into stores to get gold as the best gifts for sons when they get married.

C．China's "Da Ma" are bigger spenders and cleverer than global financial big dogs.

D．China’s "Da Ma" become the largest gold buyers due to a decline in global gold prices.

4. In the writer’s view, Chinese housewives are desperate to get their hands on a bargain because_____.

A．it is worthy to buy gold.

B．they have a strong demand

C．they have unlimited investment options

D．it is at discount prices.

5. The author’s description about the passage is ______.

A．objective

B．subjective

C．doubtful

D．negative

2 . When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behaviour. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet”when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait I'm not dead yet”quickly goes away. When other ants detect the“dead”chemical without the“not dead yet”chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory , Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the“Wait—I'm not dead yet”chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the“not dead yet”chemical overrides the“dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining“dead”chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．Leading the following paragraphs.

B．Showing the main idea of the passage.

C．Introducing the background of the passage.

D．Giving a summary of the passage.

2. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?

A．is weaker than

B．is stronger than

C．is better than

D．is worse than

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.

B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.

C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.

D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.

4. Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?

A．Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.

B．Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.

C．Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory.

D．Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own

3 . It’s not just women who wear skirts.    1    In Scotland, men wear a kind of skirt called kilt. The kilt is their national dress and an important part of their tradition.
A kilt is a colored skirt reaching down to the knees. It has checks（格子）on it with different colors, like red and blue.    2    
    3    There are many stories about it. One story is that kilt was invented in the 1720s by an English factory owner, Thomas Rawlinson.
Thomas Rawlinson had a number of Scottish workers in his factory and he thought their clothing got in the way of their work.    4    
Today, most Scotsmen look the kilt as formal dress. They usually only wear them at wedding or big dinner.    5    

A．Each family in Scotland has it’s own colors.

B．There are only a few men who still wear a kilt every day.

C．How did the Scots start to wear skirts ?

D．It was important for Scots to wear skirts at any time.

E．So he cut their long clothes into shorter skirts.

F．Wearing skirts is very beautiful for women.

G．Men can wear them, too.

4 . Switzerland is the best place to be born in the world in 2013，and the US is just 16th. A new study made by the Economist Intelligence Unit says American babies will have a dimmer（暗淡）future than those born in Hong Kong，Ireland and even Canada. The EIU，a sister company of The Economist，tried to measure how well countries will provide the best opportunities for a healthy，safe and prosperous life in years to come.
People born in Switzerland will tend to be the happiest and have the best quality of life in terms of wealth，health and trust in public institutions，according to the analysis. The Scandinavian countries of Norway，Sweden and Denmark also all make the top five in a‘quality-of-lif e’index(指数）where it is best to be born next year.
One of the most important factors is being rich，but other factors come into play including crime，trust in public institutions and the health of family life. In total，the index takes into account 11 factors. These include fixed factors such as geography，others that change slowly over time such as demography (人口学) social and cultural characteristics, and the state of the world economy. The index also looks at income per head in 2030，which is roughly when children born in 2013 will reach adulthood. Small economies take up the top 10 countries，with Australia coming second and New Zealand and the Netherlands not too far behind.
Half of the top 10 countries are European，but only one，the Netherlands，is from the eurozone. The crisis-ridden south of Europe，including Greece，Portugal and Spain，falls behind despite the advantage of a favourable climate. Interestingly，the largest European economies-Germany，France and Britain-do not do particularly well. Nigeria has the unenviable(不值得羡慕的)title of being the worst country for a baby to enter the world in 2013.
1. According to the passage，the happiest people live in      ·

A．Denmark

B．Switzerland

C．Germany

D．Nigeria

2. The factors of telling the best place to be born don’t include      ．

A．economy	B．geography
C．trust in public institutions	D．pollution

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text？

A．The Economist Intelligence Unit is a company.

B．The Economist attempted to measure the best place to live.

C．The Scandinavian countries are hardly at the top of the list.

D．Half of the top 10 countries are from the eurozone.

4. The purpose of the text is to show people      ．

A．the best place to be born in 2013

B．a new study made by the EIU

C．the worst country to be born in 2013

D．the factors of measuring the best place to be born

5 . Several recent studies have found that being randomly (随机地) assigned to a roommate of another race can lead to increased tolerance but also to a greater likelihood (可能性)of conflict.
Recent reports found that lodging with a student of a different race may decrease prejudice and force students to engage in more ethnically diverse friendships.
An Ohio State University study also found that black students living with a white roommate saw higher academic success throughout their college careers. Researchers believe this may be caused by social pressure.
In a New York Times article, Sam Boakye – the only black student on his freshman year floor -said that "if you're surrounded by whites, you have something to prove."
Researchers also observed problems resulting from pairing interracial students in residences.
According to two recent studies, randomly assigned roommates of different races are more likely to experience conflicts so strained that one roommate will move out.
An Indiana University study found that interracial roommates were three times as likely as two white roommates to no longer live together by the end of the semester.
Grace Kao, a professor at Penn said she was not surprised by the findings. "This may be the first time that some of these students have interacted, and lived, with someone of a different race," she said.
At Penn, students are not asked to indicate race when applying for housing.
"One of the great things about freshman housing is that, with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly," said Undergraduate Assembly chairman Alec Webley. "This is the definition of integration."
"I've experienced roommate conflicts between interracial students that have both broken down stereotypes(模式化形象) and strengthened stereotypes," said one Penn resident advisor (RA). The RA of two years added that while some conflicts "provided more multicultural acceptance and melding (融合)," there were also "jarring cultural resistance."
The RA said that these conflicts have also occurred among roommates of the same race.
Kao said she cautions against forming any generalizations based on any one of the studies, noting that more background characteristics of the students need to be studied and explained.
1. What can we learn from some recent studies?

A．Conflicts between students of different races are unavoidable.

B．Interracial lodging may have diverse outcomes.

C．Students of different races are prejudiced against each other.

D．Interracial lodging does more harm than good.

2. What does the Indiana University study show?

A．Few white students like sharing a room with a black peer.

B．Roommates of different races just don't get along.

C．Interracial roommates are more likely to fall out.

D．Assigning students' lodging randomly is not a good policy.

3. What does Alec Webley consider to be the "definition of integration"?

A．The school randomly assigns roommates without regard to race.

B．Students of different races are required to share a room.

C．Interracial lodging is arranged by the school for freshmen.

D．Lodging is assigned to students of different races without exception.

4. What can be inferred from Grace Kao’s saying about interracial lodging?

A．Schools should be cautious when making decisions about student lodging.

B．Students' racial background should be considered before lodging is assigned.

C．Experienced resident advisors should be assigned to handle the problems.

D．It is unscientific to make generalizations about it without further study.

6 . There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external（外部的） result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language--- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they go through new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to be faced with the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try__________is essential to our ability to grow.
These feelings of insecurity and self – doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not face and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.
1. A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when______..

A．he has given up his smoking habit

B．he has made great efforts in his work

C．he is interested in making anything new

D．he has tried to determine where he is on his journey

2. In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would______.

A．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements

B．succeed in climbing up the social ladder

C．face difficulties and take up challenges

D．aim high and reach his goal each time

3. When the author says “a new way of being” (para. 3), he is referring to _____.

A．a new way of taking risks

B．a new approach to experiencing the world

C．a new system of adapting to change

D．a new method of finding ourselves

4. For personal growth, the author may not support __________.            .

A．curiosity and more chances

B．being quick in self – adaptation

C．open – minded to new experiences

D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts

7 . The Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to address the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that of over two hundred million people living in the United States,up to three million are homeless—and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s,fast rising house prices,large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession(经济衰退)have made it impossbile for many Americans to meet housing costs. Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes. According to another research,families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it.The old idea of a homeless person,that of the single man who gets drunk all the time,is no longer true. A much lager part of the population now finds itself homeless. Even worse, once a person becomes homeless, he often finds it impossible to find a job,since most employers require anyone who wants a job from them to provide a home address on a job application.
1. The word “address” in the first line probably means        .

A．talk about

B．deal with

C．fight for

D．write to

2. How many people are homeless in the U.S. according to the Coalition studies?

A．39% of the population.	B．200 million people.
C．About 3 million people.	D．About one-fifth of the population.

3. Homeless people often have difficulty finding a job because________.

A．they have no home addresses

B．they mostly have a drinking problem

C．they aren't supported by government programs

D．they often don't have enough work experience

4. What is the main cause of the rising number of the homeless in the U.S.?

A．The passing of new housing laws.

B．The fast growth of family size.

C．The slow construction of houses.

D．The ever-rising price of housing.

8 . Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working harder than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops, and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunchrooms. In almost all lines of work, emphasis now falls on ever-increasing output thus the “ typical” Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago he gains in creature comfort and ease of life what he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.

Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products. The so-called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that “assembly-line life” will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style.

What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life- to enjoy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local café?

Since the late 1950’s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.

In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.

1. The passage is about ______.

A．changes in the life style of the French	B．criticism of the old life style
C．approval of the new life style	D．analysis of the old way of life in France

2. The old French way of life mainly featured ______.

A．elegance, leisure and romanticism	B．efficiency, elegance and leisure
C．elegance, leisure and taste	D．efficiency, leisure and taste

3. Which of the following about the French is NOT true?

A．They show more concerns about money than before

B．They do enjoy working on the assembly line.

C．Many of them prefer the new life style to the old.

D．They are more competitive than the elder generation.

4. What is the attitude of the general Frenchmen towards the new life style?

A．They fear that France is threatened by the new trend.

B．They are unsatisfied with the new way of life.

C．They welcome the new life style enthusiastically.

D．They confuse the traditional life style with the new one.

9 . When I stepped out the plane from Miami into Charlotte, North Carolina, airport for a connecting flight home, I immediately knew something was wrong. Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm. The earliest they could get us out of Charlotte was Tuesday. It was Friday. A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted, “Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!”

I joined a crowd that ran from terminal to terminal in search of a flight out. Eventually, I found six strangers willing to rent a van with me. We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.

The real problem, of course, is that incidents like this happen every day, to everyone who flies, more and more often. It really gets to me, though, because for eight years I was on the other side, as a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines(TWA).

I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the lines napkins with the TWA logo in the lower right-hand corner of the first-class diners’ trays. As are the days when there were three dinner options on flights from Boston to Los Angeles in economy class. When, once, stuck on a tarmac (机场停机坪) in Newark for four hours, a planeload of passengers got McDonald’s hamburgers and fries by thoughtfulness of the airline.

I have experienced the decline of service along with the rest of the flying public. But I believe everything will change little by little, because I remember the days when to fly was to soar (翱翔). The airlines, and their employees, took pride in how their passengers were treated. And I think the days are sure to come back one day in the near future.

1. Many people crowded the terminal because ________.

A．they were ready to board on the planes

B．something was wrong with the terminal

C．the flights to the Northeast were canceled

D．the gate agent wouldn’t help the passengers

2. The writer got to Providence ________ at last.

A．by air

B．by van

C．by train

D．by underground

3. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A．Incidents happened to those who fly quite often.

B．The writer used to be a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines.

C．Even a small mistake might cause complaints from passengers in the past.

D．McDonald’s hamburgers and fries were among regular dinner options.

4. What can be implied from the passage?

A．The writer lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.

B．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be.

C．The writer with other passengers waited to be picked up patiently.

D．Passengers would feel proud of how they were treated on the plane.

10 . BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident.

Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress.

The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a.m-more than three hours after it happened.“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine.

The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group.

At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p.m.Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later.

He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years.The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each.The company has not released the names of the miners.

The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect （remove） the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that.“ We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said.

1. According to the passage, we can infer that ________.

A．all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive

B．communication with the trapped miners was cut off

C．the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time

D．the rescue started as soon as the accident happened

2. If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about _______ per hour.

A．1,000 feet

B．2,400 feet

C．1,200feet

D．4,800feet

3. Where can the passage be seen?

A．In a magazine.	B．In a newspaper.
C．In a science book..	D．On an advertisement.

4. Which of the following shows the position where the miners were trapped?
E:entrance P: position where the miners were trappe

A．

B．

C．

D．