Every year thousands of tourists visit Pompeii, Italy. They see the sight that Pompeii is famous for—its stadium and theaters, its shops and restaurants. The tourists do not, however, see Pompeii’s people. No one has lived in Pompeii for almost 2,ooo years.
Once Pompeii was a busy city of 22,000 people. It lay at the foot of Mt Vesuvius, a grass-covered volcano. Mt Vesuvius had not erupted for centuries, so the people of Pompeii felt safe. But they were not. In August of the year 79 AD, Mt Vesuvius erupted. The entire top of the mountain exploded, and a huge black cloud rose into the air. Soon stones and hot ashes began to fall on Pompeii. When the eruption ended two days later, Pompeii was buried under 20 feet of stones and ashes. Almost all of its people were dead.
For centuries, Pompeii lay buried under stones and ashes. Then in the year 1861, an Italian scientist named Ginseppe began to uncover Pompeii. Slowly, carefully, Ginseppe and his men dug. The city almost looked the same as it had looked in 79 AD. There were streets and fountains, houses and shops. There was a stadium with 20,000 seats. Perhaps the most important of all, there were everyday objects, which tell us a great deal about the people who lived in Pompeii. Many glasses and jars had some dark blue color in the bottom, so we know that the people of Pompeii liked wine. They liked bread too; metal bread pans were in every bakery. In one bakery there were 81 round, flat loaves of bread—a type of bread that is still sold in Italy today. Tiny boxes filled with a dark, shiny powder tell us that women liked to wear eye-makeup.
Ginseppe has died, but his work continues. One-fourth has not been uncovered yet. Scientists are still digging, still making discoveries that draw the tourists to Pompeii.
【小题1】Why do large number of people come to Pompeii each year?

A．To visit the volcano.	B．To shop and eat there.
C．To watch sports and plays.	D．To see how Pompeiians lived.

【小题2】Why did the city uncovered look almost the same as it had looked in 79 AD ?

A．Because Ginseppe and his men dug it slowly and carefully.

B．Because the city was buried alive and remained untouched.

C．Because scientists successfully rebuilt the city with everyday objects.

D．Because nobody had lived in the city ever since the volcano erupted.

【小题3】What do we know about the Pompeiians who lived 2,000 years ago?
A. They lived more or less the same as Italians now do.
B. They liked women wearing all kinds of makeup.
C. They enjoyed a lazy life with drinking and eating.
D. They went back to Pompeii after the eruption in 79 AD.

The internet has led to a huge increase in credit-card(信用卡) fraud. Your card information could even be for sale in an illegal Website(非法网站). Websites offering cheap goods and services should be regarded with care Online shoppers who enter their credit-card information may never receive the goods they thought they bought.
The thieves then go shopping with your card number—or sell the information over the Internet. Computer hackers(黑客)have broken down security(安全) system, raising questions about the safety of card holder information.
Several months ago, 25,000 customers of a CD universe, an online music retailer(批发商), were not lucky. Their names, addresses and credit-card numbers were posted on a Website after the retailer refused to pay US $ 157,828 to get back the information.
Credit-card firms are now fighting against online fraud. Master-card is working on plans for Web only credit-card, with a lower credit limit. The card could be used only for shopping online. However , there are a few simple steps you can take to keep from being cheated.
Ask about your credit-card firm’s online rules: under British law, cardholders are responsible for the first US $ 78 of any fraudulent spending. And shop only at secure sites: send your credit-card information only if the Website offers advanced secure system.
If the security is in place, a letter will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. The Website address may also start http://--the extra “s” stands for secure. If in doubt, give your credit-card information over the telephone.
Keep your password safe: most online sites require a user name and password before placing an order. Treat your password with care.
【小题1】The underlined word “fraud” in the first paragraph probably means ______.

A．cheating

B．sale

C．payment

D．use

【小题2】According to this passage most people worry about shopping on the Internet because ______.

A．a great number of stolen credit-cards are sold on the Internet every day

B．fraud on the Internet happens very often

C．many Websites break down every day

D．there are too many illegal Websites on the Internet

【小题3】Thieves usually get the information of the credit-card ______.

A．because many customers lost their cards

B．by paying money for people working in the information companies

C．because of the carelessness of the customers

D．by stealing the information from Websites

【小题4】If the passwords of your credit-cards are not probably kept, _____.

A．the bank and the shop will suffer great losses

B．you will not be able to get back your information

C．you might suffer great losses

D．the bank will answer for your loss

【小题5】What’s the best title of the passage?

A．How to Beat Online Credit-card Thieves

B．How to Shop on the Internet

C．Never Use Credit-card Without an Advanced Computer

D．Why Thieves Steal Credit-card Information

When I was seven my father gave me a Timex, my first watch. I loved it, wore it for years, and haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking a decade ago. Why? Because I don’t need one. I have a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod or something like that. All these devices（装置）tell the time—which is why, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists; sales of watches to young adults have been going down since 2007. 
But while the wise have realized that they don’t need them, others—apparently including some distinguished men of our time—are spending total fortunes on them. Brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Breitling command shocking prices, up to £250.000 for a piece.
This is ridiculous. Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars. Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clothes. But these days all watches tell the time as well as all other watches. Expensive watches come with extra functions—but who needs them? How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole? So why pay that much of five years’ school fees for watches that allow you to do these things?
If justice were done, the Swiss watch industry should have closed down when the Japanese discovered how to make accurate watches for a five-pound note. Instead the Swiss reinvented the watch, with the aid of millions of pounds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man wearing it. Rolexes are for those who spend their weekends climbing icy mountains; a Patek Philippe is for one from a rich or noble family; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the world. 
Watches are now classified as“investments”(投资). A 1994 Philippe recently sold for nearly £350, 000, while the 1960s Rolexes have gone from £15, 000 to £30, 000 plus in a year. But a watch is not an investment. It's a toy for self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion. Prices may keep going up—they’ve been rising for 15 years. But when fashion moves on, the owner of that £350, 000 beauty will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Timex.
【小题1】It seems ridiculous to the writer that_______________.

A．people dive 300 meters into the sea

B．expensive clothes sell better than cheap ones

C．cheap cars don’t run as fast as expensive ones

D．expensive watches with unnecessary functions still sell

【小题2】What can be learned about Swiss watch industry from the passage?

A．It’s hard for the industry to beat its competitors.

B．It targets rich people as its potential customers.

C．It wastes a huge amount of money in advertising.

D．It’s easy for the industry to reinvent cheap watches.

【小题3】Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Watches? Not for Me!	B．My Childhood Timex
C．Timex or Rolex?	D．Watches—a Valuable Collection

I do desire to help my Chinese students to find a better way of learning. I once divided my Chinese MBA students into six groups and set them an assignment: brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”, for example: a restaurant chain. Originality would be valued most. As a result, five groups proposed projects for restaurant chains. The sixth showed a catering service. I couldn’t help expressing my disappointment, though the time limit had been rather challenging.
Those middle managers and financial analysts from state-owned enterprises and global companies were not untalented or without opinions, but they had been accustomed to an educational system that rarely rewarded critical thinking or Originality. Papers were often copied from the Internet and the Harvard Business Review. Students insisted that copying was a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.
In China, you can see almost all kinds of products you can imagine have been made and sold, but so few well developed marketing and management minds have been produced that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand!
Partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established so as to solve the problem mentioned above. And there’s also the “thousand talent scheme”: this new government program is designed to improve technological modernization by inviting top foreign trained scientists to the mainland with large sums of money. But there are concerns about China’s research environment, which is known for lacking in encouraging independent thinking and inventiveness, and even high salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.
If China wants to become a major world creator, it is no good just seeking partnerships with top Western universities or gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s time to establish a rich learning environment for young minds. Yes, new way of learning is the key!
【小题1】The author feels disappointed when the students hand in their plans because_____

A．there’s one group presenting a catering service.

B．all groups followed his idea of restaurant chains.

C．the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness.

D．the time limit had been rather challenging.

【小题2】Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A．China can make and sell all kinds of product all over the world

B．High pay can solve the problem of China’s research environment

C．Foreign trained scientists are expected to invent a Chinese brand

D．The new government program is aimed at encouraging imagination

【小题3】Which can serve as the best title of the passage?

A．Look for a New Way of Learning

B．Develop MBA Students’ Creative Thinking

C．Help China to Become a Creator

D．Improve China’s Research Environment

Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together, they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sport encourages international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident including the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by incidents caused mainly by smaller national contests.
One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in great anger when he said, “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension（停赛）of the team for at least three years.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages  aggressive patriotism (爱国主义).
【小题1】According to the author, recently the Olympic Games have ______.

A．created goodwill between the nations

B．brought about only false national pride

C．hardly showed any international friendship

D．put an end to misunderstanding and hatred

【小题2】The underlined word “disallowed”(in Paragraph 2) means “______”.

A．permitted to pass	B．considered as reasonable
C．won by the other side	D．refused to accept

【小题3】What did the manager mean by saying, “Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished"?

A．His team would no longer take part in international games.

B．Hockey and the Federation are both ruined by the unfair decisions.

C．There should be no more Hockey matches organized by the Federation.

D．The Federation should break up.

【小题4】The author gives the example in paragraph 2 to show ______.

A．how false national pride led to undesirable incidents in international games

B．that sportsmen are often against the final decisions

C．that competitiveness in the games discourages international friendship

D．that unfair decisions are common in the Olympic Games

【小题5】What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?

A．The organization of the Olympic Games must be improved.

B．Athletes should compete as individuals in the OlympicGames.

C．A game should be played competitively rather than for the love of the game.

D．More and more athletes will compete for their own honor.

Friends play a very important part in everyone’s life. Friendship usually develops during childhood. New friends are made when you progress through school. Those friends that you make as a student can usually last long. Friends influence (影响) your development, maturity (成熟) and sense of responsibility. A familiar expression is “You can tell a lot about a person by knowing who his friends are.” Friendship is based on common interests. If you like sports, most of your friends are likely to be athletic (竞技的). If you enjoy reading and shopping, most of your friends do the same.
Some people call you their friends for the wrong reasons. These people are not really friends. They are superficial(表面上的) only “friends” on the outside, not the inside where it counts. Superficial friends only want to be your friends if it is to their advantage. True friends are there if you are rich or poor. It is easy to have many so-called “friends” if you are rich. By this time you should be able to separate your friends into the real or the “phoney”.
True friends are most special. They are also difficult to find. You can consider yourself very lucky if you have one true friend. This friend is eager to help you whenever necessary. He or she knows you would do the same for them. A true friend is someone you can talk to about any subject or problem. You and your true friend have good understanding of each other. True friends support you, take your side, and build up your confidence.
【小题1】The first paragraph tells us _____.

A．how to make a true friend

B．we should make friend in our childhood

C．what is friendship based on

D．friends play a very important part in our life

【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．What you value above anything is the friendship developing during childhood.

B．The friendship developing during your school days will be with you for a long time.

C．Only through your friends’ influence will you take the responsibility for your task.

D．If you have no music in you, none of your friends will be a music lover.

【小题3】“So-called” friends in paragraph 2 refer to _____.

A．someone who only wants to be your friend when you are successful

B．those who want to benefit from you

C．the friends who are on the surface only

D．all the above

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A．You should tell true friends from phoneys.

B．True friendship is too difficult to find.

C．You can share your joys and sorrows with a true friend.

D．A true friend will stand by you whatever happens.

Are you a compulsive spender, or do you hold on to your money as long as possible? Are you a bargain hunter? Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash? Your answers to these questions will reflect your personality. According to psychologists, our individual money habits not only show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’ spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage. Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry at their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love. They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy themselves expensive presents because they need love.
People can be addicted to different things — for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or even television. They are compulsive in their addictions, i.e. they must satisfy these needs to feel comfortable. In the same way, according to psychologists, compulsive spenders must spend money. For people who buy on credit, furthermore, charge accounts are even more exciting than money: in other words, they feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasures in spending enormous amounts are actually greater than those they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, etc. in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(疗法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money: they give them “assignments”. If a person buys something in every store that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self-discipline in this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything. Soon he will learn that nothing bad will happen to him if he doesn’t buy anything, and he can solve the problem of his compulsive buying.  
【小题1】If you use charge accounts, ____.

A．you pay in cash	B．you pay with credit card
C．you pay less than you should	D．you pay more than you should

【小题2】Compulsive bargain hunters buy things for all the following reasons except that ____.

A．the things they buy are cheap

B．they believe they can balance their budgets

C．they get psychological satisfaction

D．they really need the things they buy

【小题3】Behavior therapy in this case aims at____.

A．helping businessmen to increase their business

B．helping compulsive spenders to buy less

C．finding out how people will react if they are allowed to buy

D．finding out what people will do in front of a bargain

【小题4】The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ____.

A．different things	B．their addictions
C．charge accounts	D．their pleasures

【小题5】From the passage we can conclude that ____.

A．how you spend money reveals if you are psychologically healthy

B．money is a necessity and will bring you happiness if you have much

C．compulsive buying problems can be solved by taking some medicine

D．all businessmen understand well the psychology of customers

Until late in the 20th century, most Americans spent time with people of generations. Now mid-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves.That’s because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care center, our 13-year-olds in school and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes. Why?
We live away from the old for many reasons: young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears for aging and dying. It is much harder to watch .someone we love disappear before our eyes. Sometimes it’s so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.
Fortunately, .some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young.
A reporter moved her family onto a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter baked banana bread for the neighbours and had her children deliver it and visit. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. “My children have never been less lonely,” the reporter said.
The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home when a visitor showed up with a baby. She was immediately surrounded. People who hadn’t gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep wake up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.
Grandparents are a special case. They give grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it, “my grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end.”
Grandchildren speak of attention they don’t get from worried parents. “My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and my grandparents told me to slow down,” one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have relationships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer, more trusting.
【小题1】Now in an American family, people can find that ____.

A．children never live with their parents

B．not all working people live with their parents

C．aged people are supported by their grandchildren

D．grandchildren are supported by their grandparents

【小题2】The reason why old people are left alone may be that ____.

A．the old don’t like to live in a big family

B．the young can’t get enough money to support the old

C．different generations have different lifestyles

D．the old are too weak to live with the young

【小题3】The fact that the reporter told us shows that ___.

A．old people in America lead a hard life

B．old people in America enjoy banana bread

C．she had no time to take care of her children

D．old people are easy to get along with

【小题4】Seeing a baby, the old people get excited because ____.

A．they had never seen a baby before

B．the baby was clever and beautiful

C．the baby brought them the image of life

D．the baby’s mother would take care of them

【小题5】Why do children not get attention from their parents?

A．Because they often make trouble and make their parents disappointed.

B．Because their parents are too busy to take care of them.

C．Because their parents have to take care of their grandparents.

D．Because their parents have been out of work for a long time.

Every day 25 million U.S. children ride school buses. The safety record for these buses is much better than for passenger cars; but nevertheless, about 10 children are killed each year riding on large school buses, and nearly four times that number are killed outside buses in the loading zones. By and large, however, the nation’s school children are transported to and from school safely.
Even though the number of school bus accidents is not large, the safety of children is always of intense public concern. While everyone wants to see children transported safely, people are divided about what needs to be done-particularly whether seat belts should be compulsory.
People in favor of seat belts on school buses-many of them parents and medical organizations-argue that seat belts are necessary not only to reduce fatality and injury, but also to teach children lessons about the importance of using them routinely in any moving vehicle. A side benefit, they point out, is that seat belts help keep children in their seats, away from the bus driver.
People who object to seat belt installation suggest that children are already well protected by the school buses that follow the Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) safety requirements set in 1977. They also believe that many children won’t wear seat belts anyway, and that may damage the belts or use them as weapons to hurt other children.
A new research council report on school bus safety suggest that there are alternate safety devices and procedures that may be more effective and less expensive. For example, the study committee suggested that raising seat backs four inches may have the same safety effectiveness as seat belts.
The report sponsored by the Department of transportation at the request of Congress, reviews seat belts extensively while taking a broader look at safety in and around school buses.
【小题1】According to the passage, the “school bus” is _________.

A．the bus offered by the school and different from the public bus

B．the bus that has no difference from the public bus

C．the bus that is driven by the students

D．the bus that is not safe

【小题2】According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control of the school buses “safety”?

A．A new Research Council.

B．The Department of Transportation.

C．The Medical Organization.

D．National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

【小题3】It may be inferred from this passage that __________.

A．many of the opponents(反对者) of seat belt installation are parents and officials of the Department of Transportation

B．proposals of seat belts on school buses would be seriously considered

C．an alternate safety device (raising seat backs four inches) may be taken into consideration

D．The Department of Transportation may either take the idea of seat belts or other measures when it reviews the whole situation

【小题4】The title below which best expresses the idea of the passage is“_______”.

A．Making School Buses Even Safer for Children

B．Seat Belts Needed on School Buses

C．Alternate Safety Devices and Procedures

D．Safety in and around School Buses

【小题5】What is the writer’ s attitude towards the safety of the school bus is _______.

A．Critical

B．Negative

C．Objective

D．Indifferent

Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s smartest physicists, once said: “I’m obsessed by time.”Many of us are, and the popularity of time travel TV series has just proved that.
After Palace and Startling by Each Step 《步步惊心》achieved startling ratings last year, Palace 2 aired on January 20, attracting time travel fans back to TV.“It’s fun to watch characters travel back in time and deal with the conflicts between modernity and ancient times,” Xia Xiaoyan, who works for a foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai, told China Daily. “Time travel series connect both today and the past, thus offering room for imagination,” said Cai Yinong, the producer of Startling by Each Step.
“I’m hooked by the shows because they are characterized by dramatic and poetic love and have eye-pleasing actors,” Xia explained her love for time travel TV series.Her comment echoes a 2011 survey by Great Marketing Research Co Ltd in China. When asked about what’s so appealing about time travel TV series, 21 percent of respondents answered: “Those attractive characters.”
A bigger reason behind the popularity of time travel stories, however, is the relaxation they offer, according to the survey.Cai Yinong agrees. “Many people are facing tremendous pressures in their fast-paced lives, so this genre is more relaxing than other shows as it provides people with a terrific outlet to escape reality,” Cai told China Daily.
The love for time traveling is universal.Woody Allen’s latest movie Midnight in Paris, which has been nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Art Direction for the 2012 Academy Awards, features modernity versus cultural nostalgia.
【小题1】Which might be the best title for this passage ?

A．Time travel is universal	B．Time travel TV series
C．A introduction to Startling by Each Step	D．Time travel wins fans

【小题2】The reasons why people like time travel are as followings except______.

A．It’s fun to watch characters travel back and deal with the conflicts between modernity and ancient times.

B．Time travel series offer room for imagination.

C．The characters are attractive.

D．After watching time travel series, you can escape reality.

【小题3】Which word can replace the underlined word “hooked” in the third paragraph.

A．pleased

B．moved

C．attracted

D．surprised

【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．Stephen Hawking likes time travel TV series.

B．A bigger reason behind the popularity of time travel stories, however, is the relaxation they offer.

C．Not only Chinese audience but also foreigners like watching time travel stories.

D．Startling by Each Step has been nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Art Direction for the 2012 Academy Awards.

【小题5】We can learn form what Cai Yinong said in the fourth paragraph that ________.

A．Everyone likes watching time travel stories.

B．Many people want to escape reality because of the pressures in their fast-paced lives.

C．Many people want to go back to the ancient times.

D．People can get more relaxation in the ancient times.