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 (手腕); sales of watches to young adults have been going down since 2007. 
But while these wise people have realized that they don’t need them, others — including some distinguished ones 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. Yes, you may say expensive watches will come with some extra functions — but who needs them? How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea to test its function of waterproof, or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole by using its compass? 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 re-invented the watch, with the aid of millions of pounds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man —— usually a famous star, 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 classified as “investment items” (投资项目) now. A 1994 Philippe recently sold for nearly £ 350, 000, while 1960s Rolexes have gone from 15, 000 to 30, 000 plus in a year. But, to some wealthy people, a watch is more than an investment. It’s a valuable toy for self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion. Prices may keep going up — they’ve been rising for fifteen years. But when fashion moves on, the owner of that £ 350, 000 treasured object will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Times. 
【小题1】The sales of watches to young people have fallen because ______. 

A．they have other devices to tell the time

B．they think watches are too expensive

C．they have little sense of time now

D．they prefer to wear an iPod on their wrists

【小题2】It seems ridiculous to the writer that ______. 

A．some people often dive 300 metres deep into the sea

B．expensive clothes sell much better than cheap ones

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

D．expensive watches with unnecessary functions still sell

【小题3】What can be learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage?

A．It targets rich people as its potential customers.

B．It seems hard for the industry to beat its competitors.

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

D．It is easy for the industry to re-invent cheap watches.

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

A．Timex Being better than Rolex

B．My Expensive Childhood Timex

C．Super-level Watches? Not for Me!

D．Watches — a Valuable Collection

China has input several billion yuan of money to stop the dirty water waste on the upper and middle area of the Pearl River from polluting the lower reaches of the river, especially the Macao Spe??cial Administrative Region．

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the upper and middle reaches of the Pearl River has been rapidly urbanized（城市化）and industrialized in recent years, leading to a rise in the amount of urban rubbish to the damage of the land, rivers and atmosphere．

Refuse dumps and special plants in most cities treat rubbish to make it harmless, with 5,800 tons of wastes being burnt, buried or made into fertilizers on a daily basis．

He Suping, a woman engineer with the water re??sources department in Guangxi said, it is imperative for the autonomous region to treat sewage wastes to protect the area’s Karst terrain（喀斯特地形）and rain water which brings contact between groundwater and surface water, making groundwater more easily polluted．

The Xijiang River, a branch of the Pearl River which runs from Guangxi to neighboring Guangdong Province, provides fresh water for a number of river??side cities such as Macao, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Zhaoqing, so Guangxi must begin to treat rubbish quickly to protect the water sources, said Liu Chen, a senior engineer with the Ministry of Water Resources．

The government 2001—2006 plan to spend bil??lions of yuan to turn wastes harmless has been mainly provided by national debt payments and overseas in??vestment．So far wastes treatment projects have re??ceived a total of 400 million yuan（48 million US dol??lars）from national debts and 60 million yuan（7．22 million US dollars）from overseas loans（贷款）．

The main idea of the passage is __     

       A．A large number of waterways have been polluted in China up to now．

       B．Guangxi and Guangdong have taken the lead in making water clean．

       C．China's rivers are badly in need of improve??ment．

       D．China is making efforts to reduce pollution of the rivers．

The main idea of the last paragraph is __

       A．The government has no ability to afford the expenses of treating wastes．

       B．The government has a long-term plan to treat wastes．

       C．National debt payments and overseas investment are taking an important part in developing China's economy．

       D．A great deal of money is needed in dealing with wastes．

The basic reason why the amount of urban rubbish rises in Guangxi lies in _____．

       A．the improvement of people’s living standard

       B．people’s wasting too much

       C．urbanization and industrialization

       D．too many tourists’ coming

The word “imperative” here probably means _______．

       A．unnecessary          B．important            C．easy          D．unbelievable

It seems that the Englishman just cannot live without sports of some kind. A famous French humourist once said that this is because the English insist on behaving like children all their lives. Wherever you go in this country you will see both children and grown-ups knocking a ball about with a stick or something, as if in Britain men shall always remain boys and women girls! Still, it can never be bad to get exercise, can it?

Taking all amateur（业余）and professional sports in Britain into consideration, there can be no doubt that football is at the top of the list. It is called soccer in the United States. The game originated in Britain and was played in the Middle Ages or even earlier, though as an organized game, or “association football”, it dates only from the beginning of the 19th century.

The next is rugby, which is called “football” in the United States. It is a kind of football played by two teams of fifteen players rather than eleven. The rugby, in which an oval-shaped ball is used can be handled as well as kicked. It is a pretty rough game.

In summer, cricket is the most popular sport. In fact, it has sometimes been called the English national game. Most foreigners find the game rather slow or even boring, but it enjoys great popularity among the British.

Tennis rates high on the list, too. It was introduced into England from France in the 15th century, but it was from England that it spread to practically every country in the world.

Table-tennis or “ping-pong” surely is not played on a great scale as it is in China or in Japan. Basketball and volleyball were introduced into Britain during the late 19th century from America and are gaining popularity. Horse-back riding, swimming, rowing and golf all attract a lot of people.

1.The main purpose of paragraph one is to tell us that the English_______.

A．are all sports lovers	B．behave like children
C．like to kick a ball around	D．can remain young all their lives

2.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about football and rugby?

A．They differ in the shape of the ball

B．They are played by different numbers of players

C．They both can be handled

D．They both can be kicked

3.From the second and the third paragraph, we know that_____.

A．Americans love football most of all

B．British people love rugby most of all

C．Americans and British people may call the same thing differently

D．football originated in Britain in the 18th century

 

China has input several billion yuan of money to stop the dirty water waste on the upper and middle area of the Pearl River from polluting the lower reaches of the river, especially the Macao Spe­cial Administrative Region．
The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the upper and middle reaches of the Pearl River has been rapidly urbanized（城市化）and industrialized in recent years, leading to a rise in the amount of urban rubbish to the damage of the land, rivers and atmosphere．
Refuse dumps and special plants in most cities treat rubbish to make it harmless, with 5,800 tons of wastes being burnt, buried or made into fertilizers on a daily basis．
He Suping, a woman engineer with the water re­sources department in Guangxi said, it is imperative for the autonomous region to treat sewage wastes to protect the area’s Karst terrain（喀斯特地形）and rain water which brings contact between groundwater and surface water, making groundwater more easily polluted．
The Xijiang River, a branch of the Pearl River which runs from Guangxi to neighboring Guangdong Province, provides fresh water for a number of river­side cities such as Macao, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Zhaoqing, so Guangxi must begin to treat rubbish quickly to protect the water sources, said Liu Chen, a senior engineer with the Ministry of Water Resources．
The government 2001—2006 plan to spend bil­lions of yuan to turn wastes harmless has been mainly provided by national debt payments and overseas in­vestment．So far wastes treatment projects have re­ceived a total of 400 million yuan（48 million US dol­lars）from national debts and 60 million yuan（7．22 million US dollars）from overseas loans（贷款）．
【小题1】The main idea of the passage is __     

A．A large number of waterways have been polluted in China up to now．

B．Guangxi and Guangdong have taken the lead in making water clean．

C．China's rivers are badly in need of improve­ment．

D．China is making efforts to reduce pollution of the rivers．

【小题2】The main idea of the last paragraph is __

A．The government has no ability to afford the expenses of treating wastes．

B．The government has a long-term plan to treat wastes．

C．National debt payments and overseas investment are taking an important part in developing China's economy．

D．A great deal of money is needed in dealing with wastes．

【小题3】The basic reason why the amount of urban rubbish rises in Guangxi lies in _____．

A．the improvement of people’s living standard

B．people’s wasting too much

C．urbanization and industrialization

D．too many tourists’ coming

【小题4】The word “imperative” here probably means _______．

A．unnecessary

B．important

C．easy

D．unbelievable

Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Vi??olence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive(重温) these experiences in nightmares.                       

Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase the effect of painful memories.

In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body re??leasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research had suggested that only the emo??tional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.

The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it. Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war.

They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories. “Some memories can ruin people’s lives. They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions.” said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at Harvard Medical School. "This could relieve(减缓) a lot of that suffering.”

But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity. They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past. “All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I'm not sure we’d want to wipe those memories out.” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist (伦理学家).

Some people fear that although the drug would first be used in only very serious cases, it would be??come more and more common.“People always have the ability to misuse science,” said Joseph LeDoux, a New York University memory researcher. “All we want to do is help people have better control of memories.”

The underlined word “it” in paragraph 4 refers to “_____.”

A. the new drug                       B. the research into the drug

C. the memory                        D. the chemical in the drug

Which of the following is Not the opinion of the supporters?

A.The pill can erase all the memories in the past.

B.Some memories can ruin people's life. The pill can relieve emotional suffering.

C. The pill can also help many other types of people who suffer from terrible memories.

D. The pill can prevent or treat troubling memories in soldiers after war.

Which of the following is Not the opinion of the opponents (反对者) ?

A. Our memories give us our identity.

B. The memories help humanity avoid mistakes of the past.

C. The drug should be used in only very serious cases.

D. People may not be sure whether they want to wipe the memories out.

Which of the following statements might be the main idea of the text?

A. People often suffer from bad memories.   

 B. The nightmares are terrible.

C. Forget bad memories and be happy.

D. The research has caused a heated argument.