Online grocery shopping was counted as the next great innovation to make our lives easier. In China more than 3,000 websites offer the service, but none have turned a profit.

Xiang Nian has had a hard day at the office but at least she can skip the trip to the grocery store. A text message on her phone lets her know the order she placed earlier in the day has been delivered to a locker outside her apartment.

"It’s really convenient for an office worker like me. My fresh products are waiting for me when I get home and can start cooking. No need to go to the supermarket any more," Xiang says.

One of the largest online supermarkets in Wuhan is Just-easy Fresh Produce. Over the past 3 years, the company has developed its online retail grocery business by guaranteeing fresh produce and an innovative delivery system. They've installed thousands of lockers in communitieshttp:// / around downtown Wuhan.

"We get an average of 8,000 orders per day. That's the most in China, I'm proud of it. We have placed over 20 thousand lockers in more than half of the communities in Wuhan and we plan to expand to all of them. Many e-commerce giants, like Taobao, are talking about cooperation with us," Jie Xiaofeng, manager of Wuhan Just-easy Agricultural Science & Technology Co., says.

While Just-easy may have thousands of customers, a staff of almost 300 and 40 delivery trucks, it's still operating in the red.

"There are over 3,000 companies selling fresh products online in China. But none is making a profit. It will take them at least 3 years before they make a profit. The major challenge is the cost of delivery. But they do have many advantages. The price of their goods is lower than the supermarkets," professor He Dehua at Huazhong Agricultural University, says.

A number of China's e-commerce giants are making moves into online grocery sales, with Taobao opening an online platform it calls "Cainiao". And traditional retailers(零售店) including Wal-Mart and Carrefour are also looking to start selling their produce online.

Many big B2C e-commerce players usually take fresh farm produce as the last category to add to their offerings. But now more and more large businesses have set their eyes on the industry. They want to prove the fresh food market is definitely suited to online sales.

1.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The online grocery shopping is making our life easier.

B. Just-easy Fresh Produce is a pioneer of the online retail grocery business.

C. Conventional retailers are facing challenges.

D. None of the online grocery supermarkets has made a profit.

2.The underlined part “it's still operating in the red” probably means _______.

A. the present situation of the company makes them angry

B. the company is not making a profit

C. the company is very popular with customers

D. the staff of the company are aggressive

3.What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. The fresh food market is definitely suited to online sales.

B. Fresh farm produce is the last category that people will buy online.

C. Online grocery sales have drawn the attention of e-commerce giants.

D. Traditional retailers choose to sell their produce on Cainiao.

4.What’s the author’s attitude towards online grocery shopping?

A. Pessimistic.                      B. Indifferent.                      C. Objective.               D. Supportive.

Shanghai-More Shanghai people are renting cars to travel over the coming National Day holiday, Tom reported today.

Most cars in large local car-rental companies such as Yongda, Anji and Dazhong are leased（出租）so far with the Buick Sport Utility Vehichle (SUV) in high demand.

Santana and Jetta were previously the most popular car models rented by Shanghai people for travel, while the high-end Buick models have generated great interest among locals renting cars these years. However, the rent on a Buick GL or GS model is between 650 yuan and 750 yuan a day, nearly double those of the Santana and Jetta cars.

Compared with Santana, Buick looks better, has greater capabilities and is safer and more comfortable, said a car leaser. “I don’t mind paying a higher cost for a Buick to enjoy the holiday,” he said.

SUV cars are very popular in the car renting market, according to some car rental firms.

“All the 31 Buick GL8SUV cars were leased out several days ago,” said an employee with the Shanghai Yongda Car Rental Co.

Local people are more inclined (倾向于) to go travel with groups of friends, so SUV cars are a better choice, said an industry analyst (分析家). Moreover, SUV car are safer on rugged and rough roads, the analyst said.

According to the data, most people rented cars for seven days; a less number rented them for two or three days.

1.What’s the best title for the passage ?

2.According to the passage we can see SUV is ________.

3.At present for how much money can you rent a Santana or Jetta for a day ?

4.Why do many people choose SUV cars for their holidays ?

A camp built by students and volunteers spreads over Southern Methodist University（SMU）. The affordable  21  are designed to be used by the poor as well as survivors of war and natural disasters.

“By the time 2020, there’s going to be about 1.7 billion people living in slums（贫民窟） so we would like to  22  change,” says Stephanie Hunt, co-founder of the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanities at SMU. The institute, which  23  build the village on SMU’s campus, was established to solve problem of the poor in the United States and around the world through engineering, and the free  24 .

The goal is not just to  25  lives, but to change the victims’ lives. The Institute hopes some entrepreneurs（企业家） might program and  26  some money with these ideas. One of the structures in the SMU village was built with bricks made  27  from recycled plastic bags.

They’re  28  together with heavy wires. Harvey Lacey, father of two college-aged sons, including one here at SUM, heard about this project and  29  his invention. It’s a heavy-duty, hand-crank compactor（手动压缩机）that anybody can use to form the big bricks he calls Ubuntu Blox.

“The advantages are that these  30  weigh less than two pounds. They’re very, very  31  These things can go for many generations of housing, ”says Lacey, who is  32  the design. Anybody can follow his online plans to  33  the compactor that turns plastic bags into bricks.

On this warm day, it’s  34  inside the Ubuntu Blox hut, thanks  35  to the thick plastic insulation（绝缘）. Kenyan  36  Ronald Omyonga, visiting the global village before returning to his native Africa, says his country is full of these recyclable bags. With Lacey’s design, he says that litter could be transformed into  37  housing. He dreams of other  38  too.

“Look at the Harvey Lacey hut, as a means of creating  39  ,”says Omyonga.“Leaning the environment, and turning  40  into something that can form houses, not just for the poor.”

1.                A．shelters        B．clubs           C．parties   D．rooms

2.                A．affect          B．adapt          C．effect    D．adopt

3.                A．discovered      B．helped         C．studied   D．explored

4.                A．entry          B．competition     C．trade D．market

5.                A．save           B．survive         C．defend   D．cure

6.                A．share          B．donate         C．earn D．cost

7.                A．briefly         B．relevantly       C．mostly    D．efficiently

8.                A．held           B．stressed        C．knocked  D．packed

9.                A．delivered       B．contributed      C．devoted  D．sacrificed

10.               A．piles           B．masses         C．loaves D．blocks

11.               A．fragile         B．thick           C．hard  D．bitter

12.               A．giving out       B．giving off       C．giving up  D．giving away

13.               A．build          B．invent          C．improve   D．possess

14.               A．hot            B．cold           C．wet  D．cool

15.               A．nearly         B．exactly         C．partly D．fairly

16.               A．doctor         B．athlete         C．photographer   D．architect

17.               A．safe           B．dangerous      C．beautiful  D．large

18.               A．advantages      B．chances        C．benefits   D．profits

19.               A．things          B．jobs           C．wonders   D．conditions

20.               A．waste          B．resources       C．ideas D．technology

Nervous suspects (嫌疑犯) locked up in Britain's newest police station may feel relieved by a pleasant yellow color on the door. If they are close to confessing（供认，坦白） a crime, the blue on the wall might tip the balance.
Gwent Police have abandoned colors such as grays and browns of the 20th-century police cell (牢房) and have used color psychology（心理学） to decorate them.
Ystrad Mynach station, which recently opened at a cost of ￡5 million, has four cells with glass doors for prisoners who suffer from claustrophobia(幽闭恐怖症). Designers have painted the frames yellow, which researchers say is a calming color. Other cells contain a royal blue line because psychologists believe that the color is likely to encourage truthfulness.
The station has 31 cells, including 12 with a “live scan” system for drunken or disturbed prisoners, which detects the rise and fall of their chest. An alarm alerts（报警） officers if a prisoner's breathing stops and carries on ringing until the door is opened.
Designers and psychologists have worked for years on color. Blue is said to suggest trust, efficiency, duty, logic, coolness, thinking and calm. It also suggests coldness and unfriendliness. It is thought that strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft colors will calm the mind and aid concentration.
Yellow is linked with confidence, self-respect and friendliness. Get the color wrong and it could cause fear, depression and anxiety, but the right yellow can lift spirits and self-respect.
Ingrid Collins, a psychologist who specializes in the effects of color, said that color was an “energy force”. She said: “Blue does enhance communication but I am not sure it would enhance truthful communication.”
Yellow, she said, affected the mind. Red, on the other hand, should never be considered because it could increase aggression（攻击性）. Mrs. Collins praised the designers for using colors in the cells. Gwent is not the first British force to experiment with color to calm down or persuade prisoners to co-operate. In the 1990s Strathclyde Police used pink in cells based on research carried out by the US Navy.
49. The expression “tip the balance” in paragraph 1 probably indicates that the blue might _____.
A. let suspects keep their balance     B. help suspects to confess their crimes
C. make suspects cold and unfriendly in law court  D. enable suspects to change their attitudes to colors
50. Which of the following colors should NOT be used in cells according to the passage?
A. Pink.      B. Yellow      C. Blue.     D. Red.
51. Which of the following helps alert officers if someone stops breathing?
A. Scanning equipment. B. Royal blue lines. C. Glass doors.     D. Yellow frames.
52. The passage is mainly concerned with _____.
A. the relationship between colors and psychology 
B. a comparison of different functions of colors
C. the use of colors in cells to affect criminals’ psychology
D. scientific ways to help criminals reform themselves in prison

Wilderness activity week, Finland

Set off on a really wild adventure to Finland, where night is a distant memory during the endless days of summer.

From your cottage, set high in the hills above Koli National Park, you can explore a perfect wilderness, and pull over at a lakeside beach whenever you like a dip（游泳）.

Seven-night breaks cost from ￡899 per adult, ￡699 per child, including flights, accommodation, some meals and a guide.  The Adventure Company (0845 450 5311; www.adventurecompany. co. uk).

Horseriding in the Tarn France

Learn to ride, or perfect your horse-riding skills at Les Juliannes in the Tarn Valley.  Activities include everything from show-jumping to hacking（骑马）through the rolling hills and medieval（中世纪的）villages.  Between sessions, you can relax by the pool, cycle along the country lanes or roam the grounds.  Guests stay at a rural 17th-century farmhouse.

Seven-night breaks cost from ￡658 per adult, ￡628 per child aged 12-15 years.  ￡553 for 10 to 11-year-olds and ￡423 for under-nines.  Price includes return flights, transfers, half-board accommodation and ten hours’ riding, Inntravel（01653 617906；www. inntravel. co. uk）.

Learn to sail in Greece

Sunvil Sailing has live-aboard learn-to-sail breaks off the island of Lefkas that are designed for both the complete novice（新手）as well as those with a degree of sailing.

Seven-night breaks cost from ￡721pp in peak season, including return flights, transfers, live-aboard accommodation and tuition.  Meals and dinner ashore are not included.  Sunvil Sailing  (020 8758 4780; www. sunvil. co. uk).

If you want to have some experiences of country life in the past, you’d better go to        .

A. explore a perfect wilderness

B. stay for a few days in Finland

C. Horseriding in the Tarn, France

D.  Learn to sail in Greece

How much would a family of two adults and a ten-year-old boy pay altogether if they join in Horseriding in the Tarn, France?

A. ￡2030            B. ￡1316                        C. ￡1869                 D. ￡1211

  If you join in Wilderness activity week, Finland, the most unusual thing you will see is           .

A. a national park

B. a cottage high in the hills

C. a perfect wilderness

D.  summer days without night

If you want to learn to sail in Greece, you can log on to             to find more information.

A. www.  activitiesabroad. com

B. www. adventurecompany. co. uk

C. www. inntravel. co. uk

D. www. sunvil. co. uk