Today, we talk to an up-and-coming (有前途的) erhu player, Lee Hang, from Hong Kong. He’ll play with the Hong Kong Orchestra (管弦乐队) next Sunday in a special concert by young Chinese musicians.

Interviewer: Thank you for talking to us, Lee. You must be very excited.

Lee: Yes, I am. This is the first time that I’ve played with such a famous orchestra and in front of so many people. They’re expecting about 4,000 people.

Interviewer: Does that scare you?

Lee: To be honest, yes. I haven’t slept much in the last few days. But my teacher told me I wouldn’t take it seriously enough if I wasn’t scared. That helped a lot.

Interviewer: Tell me about why you started playing the erhu.

Lee: My parents took me to piano and violin lessons. I quite liked them but they had to force me to go sometimes. One night, I saw a documentary about Yo Yo Ma, the famous Chinese American cello(大提琴) player. He talked about his love of Chinese instruments and we should follow our interests. I always enjoyed listening to Chinese instruments like the erhu and guzheng. That inspired me to learn the erhu. My parents were glad that I was playing something I actually liked.

Interviewer: What do your friends think of you playing a Chinese instrument?

Lee: Well, a lot of my classmates think playing things like the erhu isn’t cool. I don’t care. It makes me happy. I got a letter from Yo Yo, saying how much he admired me and that he’d like to meet me next time when he’s in Hong Kong. They thought that was pretty cool!

Interviewer: And what does the future hold for you?

Lee: I’d like to study music in a university in China then hopefully play in orchestras. My ambition is to bring the beautiful sound of the erhu to all the corners of the world.

Interviewer: Well, if anyone can, it’s you. Thanks for talking to me, Lee. Good luck.

Lee: Thanks.

What will Lee Hang do next Sunday?

A. He will have an interview. 

B. He will talk to a newspaper reporter.

C. He will play a Chinese musical instrument at a concert.

D. He will study in a university in China.

Lee _______ because of the concert.

A. hasn’t been sleeping well    B. hasn’t been sleeping 

C. will meet 4000 people       D. has been afraid of his teacher

Lee started playing the erhu ________ a film about Yo Yo Ma.

A. before seeing   B. while seeing   C. after seeing    D. to copy

Lee likes playing the erhu _______ the piano and violin.

A. less than   B. as much as   C. more than    D. because his parents like

Lee’s friends thought _______ was great.

A. getting a letter from a famous musician     B. writing a letter to a famous musician

C. playing Chinese musical instruments       D. seeing Yo Yo Ma in Hong Kong

For millions of Chinese Internet users, the penguin is more than a flightless bird from the Antarctic. To them it is the symbol of QQ, the instant-messaging service marking its 10th anniversary.

QQ’s creator, Ma Huateng, 38, is a lover of stargazing, and describes himself as a combination of idealist and realist. “ I’m introverted. My friends believed I was too shy to find a girlfriend,” Ma said. He found a girlfriend, now his wife, through chatting online on QQ. Born in Hainan province, Ma loved watching stars and dreamed of becoming an astronomer. He moved to Shenzhen, along with his parents, in southern Guangdong province when he was in his teens. Ma was impressed by the slogan “ Time is money, efficiency is life” found all over the city. It was the most famous slogan born in Shenzhen, representing China’s reform and opening. The pioneering city provided chances for Ma to watch burgeoning reforms. He saw people carry big bags of cash to buy stocks after China launched a capital market in Shenzhen and Shanghai in the late 1980s. When he graduated from Shenzhen University in 1993, Ma designed a stock exchange software system and sold it for 50,000 yuan ($ 7,3000). He then worked as an IT engineer for five years.

It was in 1998 that Ma realized Internet would transform China and the world, and launched his own company, Shenzhen Tencent Inc. A unit of Tencent, Tencent Holdings Ltd, went public on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. “ China’s reform and opening provided me with a chance to grow the company,” Ma said. The country had only 3 million Internet users when QQ made its debut in 1999, but now China has around 300 million Internet users, Ma said. Hu Qiheng, chairwomen of the Internet Society of China(ISC), said reform and opening not only improved people’s living standards, but also gave them a chance to explore the outside world and a chance for the Internet to boom in the country.

It was in the late 1990s that China’s major Web portals mushroomed, including Sina, Sohu, 163, Tencent and Alibaba. That boom came to sa sudden halt when the internet bubble burst in 2000. “We were under great pressure when the Internet bubble burst. Things have only recovered since 2005,” Ma said. The IT sector was among the first batch of industries in China to experience zero-tariff treatment, meaning that the nation’s Internet sector had to face challenges from international peers.

QQ, with around 450 million users, provides services such as chatting, music, games and QQ currency-an indispensable currency in china’s virtual community. “ Chinese websites have survived the competition with foreign peers over the past ten years, but it will be the next ten years that decide Chinese Internet enterprises’ fate,” Ma said. Domestic enterprises have to compete with international companies on services, innovation and core technology, he said. One of Ma’s favorite films is March of the Penguins-a French documentary directed by Luc Jacquet. He said: “Penguin is a lovely animal to me. It is a combination of love, courage and adventurism.”

1.Which of the following is true about the founder of QQ?

A．Creating an IT company of his own had always been his dream since childhood.

B．He constantly moved from place to place when he was in his teens.

C．The instant-messaging service he created brought him not only money but also a family.

D．He worked for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after graduation.

2.China’s reform and opening led to the following results EXCEPT_________.

A．a rise in the living standards of Chinese people

B．an opportunity for IT companies to grow

C．potential industrial competition from other countries

D．a chance for people to invest in overseas stock market

3.Which of the following events did actually take place?

A．QQ suffered from a sudden decrease in  the number of users when the Internet bubble burst in 2000.

B．QQ heped China’s Internet take flight.

C．QQ was equipped with the most advanced technology in the world when it made its debut in 1999.

D．QQ went public on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the late 1980s.

4.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Sina and Sohu will develop services like chatting, music and games in order to survive the future international competition.

B．For the sake of domestic enterprises, the tariff needs to be adjusted to a higher value.

C．Ma Huateng views penguin as a lovely animal because it processes the characteristics that he does not.

D．The 50,000 yuan Ma earned from selling the stock exchange software system might be a part of his initial investment in Tencent.

Just how far does the euro(欧元) have to fall before Europe actually becomes reasonable?

Anyone traveling to the old continent from the U.S. in recent years has learned the hard way how expensive it is. The situation has improved in the last couple of months, thanks to the Greek financial crisis. But it still has a way to go.

Alarm about Greece—and other financially unstable countries in Europe—has dragged down the euro sharply. In November, before the crisis struck, you needed about $1.49 to buy one euro. Today you need only about $1.36. That's a 9% cut.

What does that mean for you, the would-be traveler? It's a big sale.

As recently as November, when the euro was flying high, the OECD estimated that countries like France, Italy and Germany were about a third more expensive than the U.S. Not all European countries were quite as expensive for the American visitor: Greece only cost about 17% more than the US, while the Czech Republic (which is not part of the eurozone) was actually about 15% cheaper than back home.

Fast-forward two months, and the situation looks somewhat better.

At current exchange rates, places like France will still cost you about 23% more than the U.S., but cheaper countries such as Spain and Greece are now only about 6% more expensive. The Czech Republic's a fifth cheaper than the U.S.

European prices will only break even(持平) with the U.S. if the euro falls to about $1.10, says the OECD. But is it going to get there?

Greece's financial crisis may or may not be over. Members of a labor union just occupied part of the finance ministry to protest against the planned austerity(紧缩) measures. No, it doesn't inspire confidence!

Julian Jessop, chief international economist at the Capital Economics consultancy in London, sees the euro falling to $1.25 by year-end. “We still think the euro should be a lot lower,” he says. “We think the outlook for the European economy is a lot worse than for the U.S. And Greece is only a symptom of a wider problem: Does the eurozone make sense as a currency union?” If he's right, you may want to wait to change your money or book a trip.

67.   In the passage the writer offers some suggestions to the travellers from______.

A．USA           B．Europe             C．Greece             D．China

68.   The underlined word “it” in the passage refers to ______.

A.the planned austerity measures

B.Greece’s financial crisis

C.the protest from a labor union

D.the decline of the euro in value

69.   Julian Jessop has a negative attitude toward the euro because he thinks ______.

A.Greece’s financial crisis may not be over

B.the euro will drop to $ 1.25 by the end of the year

C.the European economy is a lot worse than the US’

D.the other European countries have a similar problem like Greece

70.   The purpose of the author writing the passage is to tell the readers that ______.

A.the euro shall be further reasonably lowered

B.travelers to Europe will save less in the future

C.the economic situation in Europe is worsening

D.the Greek financial crisis influences the whole Europe

 

Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the Website you've visited，Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.

In fact, it's likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girl friend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen ---- the 21st century replacement of being caught naked.

Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs(碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.

The key question is: Does that matter?

For many Americans, the answer apparently is "no."

When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found a strong bad feeling about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is "slipping away, and that bothers me."

But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths(收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give away personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(优惠卷)。

But privacy does matter ---- at least sometimes. It's like health: When you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.

51. What does the author mean by saying "the 21st century replacement of being caught naked"?

A. People's personal information is easily accessed without their knowledge.

B. In the 21st century people try every means to look into others' secrets.

C. People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age.

D. Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology.

52.What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?

A. Friends should open their hearts to each other.

B. Friends should always be faithful to each other.

C. There should be a distance even between friends.

D. There should be fewer arguments between friends.

53. Why does the author say "we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret"？

A. Modern society has finally developed into an open society.

B. People leave traces around when using modern technology.

C. There are always people who are curious about others' affairs.

D. Many search engines benefit from giving away people's identities.

54. What do most Americans do as for privacy protection?

A. They change behaviors that might disclose their identity.

B. They use various loyalty cards for business transactions(交易)..

C. They rely most and more on electronic devices.

D. They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.

55. According to the passage, privacy is like health because ___.

A. people will make every effort to keep it.

      B. its importance is rarely understood

C. it is something that can easily be lost

      D. people don't treasure it until they lose it

补全对话。  根据对话内容，从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。选项中有两项多余选项。（共5小题；每小题1分，满分5分）

--- Hi, David. You look so happy! Why?

--- I have just finished a short play.     

--- I’m writing a love story, but after the first few pages I just couldn’t write any more.

--- The same thing often happens in the middle of my writing.     

--- Then how should we solve it?

--- Well, take me for example.       Seeing anything interesting happens, I write it down, even it doesn’t make any sense.

--- Does that work for you?

---    

--- Then what is the way out?

--- I usually take a walk in a park and enjoy the sunshine and clean air.     

--- Great! Your measure sounds good. I hope it will work for me.