War Horse author Michael Morpurgo is being interviewed:
Reporter:How did War Horse become so successful?
Michael:War Horse was published in 1982,and it did not sell very well.But my publishers kept it in print,along with all my books.I am very grateful to Egmont and I’m sure now they are very grateful to themselves.
The book was discovered 21 years later,by accident.I was on Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 in 2003 when my work was becoming better known.One of the listeners was the mother of a director called Tom Morris,and after reading War Horse herself she told her son to read it.Two years later the play came out,and it was a huge hit that went to the West End,Broadway and now Canada and Australia,then a nationwide American tour in June this year.
In 2009 kathy kennedy,the producer who worked with Steven Spielberg,walked into the New London Theatre to see the play because her daughter liked it very much.She then phoned Spielberg and told him this would be his next film!The way it all happened is better than any of my stories.War Horse has now sold over 1 million copies.
Reporter:Has War Horse changed your life?
Michael:It has made all the difference in the world.The most important gift it has given us is not to have to worry about money,because there has always been a slight anxiety.It has allowed us to ensure our grandchildren’s education.There is a disadvantage to it as well,which is an assumption that I am super rich.I’m not,actually.It is very nice and completely unexpected but I have got to go on writing.If I were younger,I think,it would go to my head.Now I am too old for anything to go to my head.It is not the same as winning the lottery(彩票)。
【小题1】Why are Michael’s publishers grateful to themselves too?

A．Because they never stopped printing it and it finally proved successful.

B．Because they earned a lot thanks to books of high quality they printed.

C．Because they have the ability to enlarge their company.

D．Because they have the potential to film the story.

【小题2】War Horse got the first huge success thanks to____.

A．Steven Spielberg and his daughter

B．Tom Morris and his listeners

C．Kathy Kennedy’s daughter

D．Tom Morris’ mother

【小题3】Why did Kathy Kennedy watch the play of War Horse?

A．Because she knew that the film was very popular.

B．Because her daughter was mad on the play.

C．Because her friend,Steven Spielberg,advised her to see it.

D．Because she was looking for a story with an animal in her mind.

【小题4】What change made Michael feel most valuable because of War Horse?

A．He could stay at home looking after his grandchildren.

B．He can make friends with famous film directors.

C．He needn’t worry about his financial problems.

D．He needn’t spend time writing another book.

【小题5】What is the attitude of Michael to his great success?

A．Calm.

B．Unbelievable.

C．Confused

D．Excited.

A MENTORING (导师制) program is giving life changing opportunities to Banbury youth.
Young Inspirations was founded two years ago to provide mentoring sessions for students and unemployed young adults aged 11 to 21.
Alex Goldberg, the program's founder, said; "We set up Young Inspirations because we wanted to give young people experiences which will potentially be life changing and broaden their outlook.
"We try to create work experience opportunities that will really make a difference to our youth. For example, we've secured internships (实习) with world-famous firms such as Honda.
"At a time of funding cutbacks where schools are finding it more and more difficult to offer this kind of mentoring, it is extremely important that these opportunities are available both to help youth with their school work and grades and to give them opportunities which may help shape their futures. " Kieran Hepburn, 14, is one of a group of Banbury youth who has benefited from the program so far. In October the Banbury School pupil was accompanied by Young Inspirations staff to Paris where he was an observer at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) International Youth Forum (论坛).
The event was held for young people from around the world, to seek their views on how the future of youth and education should look. Kieran joined several hundred observers mostly in their 20s and was the only UK school pupil to attend the event. Kieran thinks the trip was a life changing experience. " Before we left I didn't quite know what to make of it but when we got there we didn't stop, it was amazing," he said, " We went to three or four hours of debates each day and then did something cultural each afternoon. "
The main theme of the forum was how youth can drive change in political and public life. It dealt with issues (问题) such as drug abuse, violence and unemployment.
Kieran said: " It has really helped me to improve my confidence and social skills as well as my school grades and I was voted most improved pupil at school in August. "
The Young Inspirations mentoring sessions take place each Friday in Banbury. For details visit www.younginspirations.com.
【小题1】The Young Inspirations mentoring program aims to _____.

A．train staff for world-famous firms	B．offer job opportunities to young adults
C．provide youth with unique experiences	D．equip the unemployed with different skills

【小题2】According to Alex Goldberg, it is difficult for schools to offer the mentoring due to _____.

A．the lack of support from firms	B．the cultural differences
C．the effect of unemployment	D．the shortage of money

【小题3】According to the passage, the forum focused on how youth can ____.

A．build up their confidence at school	B．find work experience opportunities
C．improve their social skills for the future	D．play an active role in the change of society

【小题4】We can learn from the passage that _____.

A． the visit to the United Kingdom was amazing

B． Kieran has made great progress in many aspects

C． the youth have found a way to solve their problems

D． the mentoring sessions are held every day except Friday

【小题5】What would be the best tide for the passage?

A． Alex Goldberg, Founder of Young Inspirations

B． Young People Find a World of Opportunity

C． Kieran, Banbury School Pupil to Paris

D． Debates Help Youth with Their Grades

A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
【小题1】According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A．Optimistic adults.	B．Middle-aged adults.
C．Adults in poor health.	D．Adults of lower income.

【小题2】Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

A．to fully enjoy their present life

B．to estimate their contribution accurately

C．to take measures against potential risks

D．to value health more highly than wealth

【小题3】How do people of higher income see their future?

A．They will earn less money.

B．They will become pessimistic.

C．They will suffer mental illness.

D．They will have less time to enjoy life.

【小题4】 What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B．Good financial condition leads to good health.

C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

We’ve reached a strange—some would say unusual—point. While fighting world hunger continues to be the matter of vital importance according to a recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO), more people now die from being overweight, or say, from being extremely fat, than from being underweight. It’s the good life that’s more likely to kill us these days.
Worse, nearly l8 million children under the age of five around the world are estimated to be overweight. What’s going on?
We really don’t have many excuses for our weight problems. The dangers of the problem have been drilled into us by public-health campaigns since 2001 and the message is getting through—up to a point.
In the 1970s, Finland, for example, had the highest rate of heart disease in the world and being overweight was its main cause. Not any more. A public-health campaign has greatly reduced the number of heart disease deaths by 80 per cent over the past three decades.
Maybe that explains why the percentage of people in Finland taking diet pills doubled between 2001 and 2005, and doctors even offer surgery of removing fat inside and change the shape of the body. That has become a sort of fashion. No wonder it ranks as the world’s most body-conscious country.
We know what we should be doing to lose weight—but actually doing it is another matter. By far the most popular excuse is not taking enough exercise. More than half of us admit we lack willpower.
Others blame good food. They say: it’s just too inviting and it makes them overeat. Still others lay the blame on the Americans, complaining that pounds have piled on thanks to eating too much American-style fast food.
Some also blame their parents—their genes. But unfortunately, the parents are wronged because they’re normal in shape, or rather slim.
It’s a similar story around the world, although people are relatively unlikely to have tried to lose weight. Parents are eager to see their kids shape up. Do as I say—not as I do.
【小题1】What is the “strange” point mentioned in the first sentence?

A．The good life is a greater risk than the bad life.

B．Starvation is taking more people’s lives in the world.

C．WHO report shows people’s unawareness of food safety.

D．Overweight issue remains unresolved despite WHO’s efforts.

【小题2】Why does the author think that people have no excuse for being overweight?

A．A lot of effective diet pills are available.

B．Body image has nothing to do with good food.

C．They have been made fully aware of its dangers.

D．There are too many overweight people in the world.

【小题3】The example of Finland is used to illustrate ______.

A．the cause of heart disease

B．the fashion of body shaping

C．the effectiveness of a campaign

D．the history of a body-conscious country

【小题4】Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Actions or Excuses?	B．Overweight or Underweight?
C．WHO in a Dilemma	D．No Longer Dying of Hunger

We’ve considered several ways of paying to cut in line: hiring line standers, buying tickets from scalpers (票贩子), or purchasing line-cutting privileges directly from, say, an airline or an amusement park. Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service).
Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating things, and each is appropriate to different activities. The morals of the queue, “First come, first served, have an egalitarian (平等主义的) appeal. They tell us to ignore privilege, power, and deep pockets.
The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops. But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions. If I put my house up for sale, I have no duty to accept the first offer that comes along, simply because it’s the first. Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activities, properly governed by different standards.
Sometimes standards change, and it is unclear which principle should apply. Think of the recorded message you hear, played over and over, as you wait on hold when calling your bank: “Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.” This is essential for the morals of the queue. It’s as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.
But don’t take the recorded message too seriously. Today, some people’s calls are answered faster than others. Call center technology enables companies to “score” incoming calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places. You might call this telephonic queue jumping.
Of course, markets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things. Some goods we distribute by merit, others by need, still others by chance. However, the tendency of markets to replace queues, and other non-market ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore. It is striking that most of the paid queue-jumping schemes we’ve considered—at airports and amusement parks, in call centers, doctors’ offices, and national parks—are recent developments, scarcely imaginable three decades ago. The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concern, but these are not the only places that markets have entered.
【小题1】According to the author, which of the following seems governed by the principle “First come, first served”?

A．Taking buses.	B．Buying houses.
C．Flying with an airline.	D．Visiting amusement parks.

【小题2】The example of the recorded message in Paragraphs 4 and 5 illustrates ______.

A．the necessity of patience in queuing

B．the advantage of modern technology

C．the uncertainty of allocation principle

D．the fairness of telephonic services

【小题3】The passage is meant to ______.

A．justify paying for faster services

B．discuss the morals of allocating things

C．analyze the reason for standing in line

D．criticize the behavior of queue jumping

Does Fame Drive You Crazy?
Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today’s star, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine. They are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives. Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature.
According to psychologist Christina Villareal, celebrities — famous people — worry constantly about their public appearance. Eventually, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names. “Over time,” Villareal says, “they feel separated and alone.”
The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages. In the 4th century B.C., painters followed
Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers. When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold-out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain (抱怨) about his lack of privacy. Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film-stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.
Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras. When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.
If fame is so troublesome, why aren’t all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it. Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities. They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.
Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice. Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are. They are tired of being famous already.
【小题1】It can be learned from the passage that stars today___.

A．are often misunderstood by the public

B．can no longer have their privacy protected

C．spend too much on their public appearance

D．care little about how they have come into fame

【小题2】What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A．Great heroes of the past were generally admired.

B．The problem faced by celebrities has a long history.

C．Well-known actors are usually targets of tabloids.

D．Works of popular writers often have a lot of readers.

【小题3】 What makes it much harder to be a celebrity today?

A．Availability of modern media.	B．Inadequate social recognition.
C．Lack of favorable chances.	D．Huge population of fans.

【小题4】What is the author’s attitude toward modern celebrity?

A．Sincere.

B．Sceptical.

C．Disapproving.

D．Sympathetic.

“Dining out”, or “eating out”, is a phrase people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or a pub. Eating out is more popular in Britain today than ever before.
However, eating out can be expensive. Restaurants are normally more expensive than pubs, though many pubs serve very good, simple food. As British people don’t dine out every night of the week, eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion. When going for the first date, or if celebrating an anniversary or a birthday, many people like to go to a restaurant. People often eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theatre.
As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette (礼节)surrounding food and eating, and nowhere is this more pronounced than when eating in a smart restaurant. People are almost always expected to eat with a knife and fork and these should be held in the correct hand and used in the correct way. It is also impolite to have your elbows on the dining table when you are eating.
There’re many such “unspoken” rules — they are normally only important when eating in a very elegant and expensive restaurant, and vary slightly from restaurant to restaurant and place to place. A recent nationwide survey showed that there was a divide in manners between the north and south of Britain — the “worst” manners were in Scotland and the northeast, and the “best” in Wales and the southeast! However, this survey was almost certainly conducted by someone in the southeast, so it may not be entirely fair.
Naturally, restaurants vary greatly in quality and price. However, almost all British cities have a vast range of food and cooking styles to choose from as well as traditional British food,. from the very cheap to the very expensive — French, Italian, Indian, Greek, Thai, Japanese and many more. In fact, when asked what their favorite food is, many British people say an Indian curry (咖喱菜）rather than any other dish!
As well as dining in a restaurant, when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a “takeaway”. This means they order from a takeaway or takeout restaurant by phone, then go to collect it and take it home to eat. Many takeout restaurants also deliver to your house. While you can normally find a takeout restaurant for almost any cuisine, the most popular are Italian, Indian and Chinese — and all you have to do is to open the door, pay and eat!
【小题1】What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?

A．The British spend more eating out than cooking at home.

B．The British pay great attention to eating in a restaurant.

C．The British often dine out when celebrating festivals.

D．People tend to eat in a restaurant after watching a movie.

【小题2】The underlined word ^“pronounced” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_____”.

A．polite

B．expensive

C．strange

D．obvious

【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．There exist great differences of rules in different restaurants.

B．People from Wales and southeast Britain are the most polite.

C．Your order in a takeout restaurant can be sent to your home.

D．Traditional British food is seldom served in British restaurants.

【小题4】What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Restaurant culture in Britain.	B．Table manners in Britain.
C．Different restaurants in Britain.	D．Traditional and foreign foods in Britain.

Faced with a tough job market, fresh graduates are dreaming of running their own businesses instead．But a recent survey has showed that such ambitions lack the required support and remain just that---dreams．
The Shanghai Municipal Employment Promotion Center poll of 1,276 graduates in several universities and colleges in the city, released last Friday, showed 59.78 percent of respondents considered the possibility of setting up a company or at least a small store．“But they just stop at the‘thinking’stage,” it stated．
Respondents put the top reasons for not going it alone down to a shortage of investment and a lack of business opportunity．They also listed lack of business experience and social networks, the need to advanced study and objections from family members as factors that stood in their way．
More than 90 percent of the interviewees said they would rather take up a job after graduating and then consider starting their own business two or three years down the road．
Guo Bing, a senior student in Shanghai International Studies University majoring in English, decided he wanted to be his own boss last year．But he is looking for a job first．“If I fail to find a satisfying job, I would like to establish a company in exhibition services,” Guo said．The Shanghai native has some relatives working in a local printing plant．With their help, Guo hopes to produce exhibition brochures(小册子） at a relatively low price．He is also confident that his English language skills can help him do well in the industry．
“Social networking is an important factor leading to business success,” Guo said．
Guo said that the shortage of graduate jobs is the main reason driving more university students to set up a business right after their graduation．
Jiang Ye, deputy director of Yangpu District Business Guide Center, said the universitysets up a business guide team made of government officials and professionals．They
regularly give training courses to students who show an interest in having their own business．
The parents of university graduates are more willing to help their children start up alone, the survey showed．"Once you win the support of your family, you have won half the battle," Guo added．
【小题1】Which of the following can be the best title?

A．A Tough Job Market	B．Graduates Dream of Being Boss
C．The Ambitious Fresh Graduates	D．The Story of Guo Bing

【小题2】 In the view of Guo Bing, what is the key factor that makes fresh graduates dream of being boss soon after graduation?

A．Their family don't support them．	B．Their social networking is not good．
C．There are not enough graduate jobs．	D．They want to achieve greater success．

【小题3】Who is this article mostly intended for?

A．The parents whose child goes to university soon.

B．Those who will graduate from university．

C．Those who want to be bosses．

D．The officials who work in the government．

When it comes to human resources, hiring highly-skilled staff is not usually enough for a company to function successfully. Besides the knowledge in their particular fields, employees must always have additional skills-----those of co-operation. In the case that work tasks can only be carried out by communicating with people, accepting common decisions, solving problems, sharing information and helping one another, teamwork skills are important.
While some jobs may require talent, the ability to work as a team is learned. There are no complicated formulas(规则); you don't need to have any special qualities or exceptional mental abilities. Individuals can be effective as a team if they have developed certain behaviors or habits of communication. Many companies, clubs and organizations use team building activities. Team building activities may include a number of teamwork elements. They are aimed at encouraging active participation in task accomplishment while all members have their roles as individuals and are able to co-operate towards a common goal as a team.
Many team building activities focus on problem solving and discussing team issues; thus argument as a way to common consensus (共识) is encouraged. Team building activities often involve recognition and identification of team member skills, talents, knowledge, and experiences which allow the team members to learn more about each other and fully utilize (利用) those skills where appropriate（合适的）. Many team activities are focused on developing keys to trust during challenging times.
【小题1】In the author's opinion, which of the following is important for a company to be successful?

A．Specialized knowledge.	B．Highly-skilled staff.
C．Exceptional talent.	D．Teamwork skills.

【小题2】According to the second paragraph, co-operation skills______.

A．require special qualities and abilities

B．are learned while working in a team

C．need exceptional mental abilities

D．are quite complicated to learn

【小题3】Team building activities are good for______.

A．hiring employees with special talent

B．encouraging employees to co-operate

C．helping employees work independently

D．training employees in their special fields

【小题4】What is the best title of the passage?

A．Team Building	B．Problem Solving
C．Communication Skills	D．Company Management

How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question, as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.
There are now more than a thousand genetic tests, for everything from baldness to breast cancer, and the list is growing. Question is, do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance, Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’（老年痴呆症）.
“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease, that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious, through which you see the rest of your life as you wait for that disease to hit you. It could really mess you up.” Said Dr. Robert Green, a Harvard geneticist.
“Every ache and pain,” Smith suggested, “could be understood as the beginning of the end.” “That ’s right. If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot, you think the disease has started.”
Dr. Green has been thinking about this issue for years. He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. It was thought that people who got bad news would, for lack of a better medical term, freak out. But Green and his team found that there was “no significant difference” between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives. In fact, most people think they can handle it. People who ask for the information usually can handle the information, good or bad, said Green.
【小题1】Which of the following is true about James Watson？

A．He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease.

B．He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests.

C．He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease.

D．He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

【小题2】The first paragraph is meant to__________.

A．ask some questions	B．satisfy readers’ curiosity
C．introduce the topic	D．describe an academic fact

【小题3】According to Paragraphs 3 and 4, if a person is at a higher genetic risk, it is__________.

A．necessary to remove his anxiety	B．impossible to hide his disease
C．better to inform him immediately	D．advisable not to let him know

【小题4】The underlined part “freak out” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to“_________”.

A．leave off

B．break down

C．drop out

D．turn away

【小题5】The study led by Dr. Green indicates that people__________.

A．can accept some bad news	B．tend to find out the truth
C．prefer to hear good news	D．have the right to be informed