Japan's 24-hour convenience stores, already struggling with lagging sales and growth, may soon face yet another threat - moves to limit business hours and close the stores late at night. The district of Saitama, which borders Tokyo, may follow in the footsteps of the western city of Kyoto and urge convenience stores to close during late night hours in an effort to limit carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）emissions, Japanese media reported.

 Kyoto, a former capital, wants to persuade convenience and other 24-hour stores to close late at night so as to improve evening views of the city and cut down on energy use. The Nikkei business daily said closures could last from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The move is strongly opposed by the industry, which fears a bad impact on an already troubled sector also grappling with the specter of a higher tobacco tax, which could hit overall sales.

 "Even if we only operate the stores for 16 hours, we can't stop the refrigerators," said Toshiro Yamaguchi, the president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co, which is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd, at a news conference in Saitama on Tuesday. He said such cuts in operating hours would reduce each store's profit by 20 percent. "If this happens, our current business model will lose its foundation."

 Analysts said that while it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of the move without a concrete plan, their overall impression was that it was likely to be negative. "This could cut profits and lead to less efficient operations and the increased loss of opportunities," said Masafumi Shoda, an analyst at Nomura Securities. "But it depends on the store -- urban stores do better than others. There are some in the countryside that are inefficient."

 Some have suggested that if governments were sincere about reducing carbon emissions there were much more efficient methods, such as cutting back on the huge number of automatic vending machines（自动售货机）

Which of the followings was the first to try to limit convenience store hours?

 A. Saitama           B. Tokyo C. Kyoto D. Nomura Security

What's the main goal of the proposal?

  A. To give employees more free time.

  B. To limit carbon dioxide emissions.

  C. To sell more tobacco products.

  D. To reduce each store’s profit.

How's the convenience store sector doing in Japan?

 A. It is not mentioned.    B. It's doing great. Business is booming.

 C. Not very well.        D. It’s about to close.

According to the passage, which convenience stores are generally more successful?

 A. The ones in big cities.     B. The ones in the countryside.

 C. The ones in Tokyo.       D. The ones in Saitama.

According to the convenience store industry, what impact would closing for the night have on a typical store?

  A. It could cause a 10% increase in sales.

  B. Its effect would be maximal. It would close soon.

  C. Its effect would be minimal. People would simply shop earlier.

  D. It could cause a 20% decrease in profits.

When you practice reading with passages shorter than book length, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get the stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the passage. It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized word can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the heading of this paragraph?
Most paragraphs of a passage or chapter have a 'topic sentence' which expresses the central idea. The remaining sentence expand or support that idea. It has been estimated that between 60% and 90% of all expositive（说明的）paragraphs in English have the topic sentence first. Always pay special attention to the first sentence of a paragraph; it is most likely to give you the main idea.
Sometimes , though , the first sentence in the paragraph does not have the feel of 'main idea' sentence. It does not seem to give us enough new information to justify a paragraph. The next most likely place to look for the topic sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Remember that the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage or chapter are particularly important . The opening paragraph suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while the closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence （精髓）.
【小题1】It is a good idea to skim through a passage quickly first ________.

A．at about 350 w. P.m.(words per minute)

B．to get the general idea of each paragraph

C．so that you can take in each word separately

D．to make sure you get to the end at least once

【小题2】The topic sentence of an expository paragraph in English_______.

A．usually comes in the middle

B．is most likely to be found at the end

C．is most often at the beginning

D．is usually left out in expository writing

【小题3】Most expository paragraphs in English have a clearly defined topic sentence. In such paragraphs the topic sentence comes first ________.

A．in about 40% of cases	B．in about 80% of cases
C．in about 20% cases	D．very rarely

【小题4】Some times we know the first sentence is not the topic sentence because ________.

A．it does not seem to give us enough new information

B．it is not long enough

C．it does not come at the beginning

D．it does not make complete sentence

8:30 p.m.

Outlook

Outlook is back with a new series of reports to keep you up-to-date with all that’s new in the world of entertainment. Stories go all the way from the technical to the romantic, from stage to screen. There will be reports of the stars of the moment, the stars of the future and the stars of the past. The director with his new film, the designer with the latest fashion, and the musician with the popular song are part of the new Outlook. The program is introduced by Fran Levine.

9:00 p.m.

Discovery 

When a 10-year-old boy gets a first class degree in mathematics or an 8-year-old plays chess like a future grand master, they are considered as geniuses (天才). Where does the quality of genius come from? Is it all in the genes (基因) or can any child be turned into genius? And if parents do have a child who might become genius in the future, what should they do? In this 30-minute film, Barry Johnson, the professor at School of Medicine, New York University will help you discover the answer.

10:00 p.m.

Science/Health

Is it possible to beat high blood pressure without drugs? The answer is “yes”, according to the researchers at Johns Hopkins and three other medical centers. After a study of 800 persons with high blood pressure, they found that after 6 months, those devoted to weight loss exercise and eating a low-salt, low-fat food lost about 13 pounds and became fitter. Plus, the blood pressure of 35% of them dropped into the “normal” category (范畴). This week, Dr. Alan Duckworth will tell you how these people reduce their blood pressure to a level similar to what’s achieved with Hypertension drugs.

The main purpose of writing the three texts is to ______ .

   A. invite people to see films

B. invite people to topic discussions

C. attract more students to attend lectures

D. attract more people to watch TV programs

From Outlook, you can get a great deal of information about ______.

   A. story tellers                  B. famous stars   

C. film companies               D. music fans

______ is the name of a research center.

   A. Alan Duckworth              B. Fran Levine

C. Johns Hopkins                D. Barry Johnson

According to the third text, which of the following has almost the same effect as Hypertension drugs?

   A. Working as researchers for six months.    

B. Loss of thirteen pounds in weight.        

C. Six months of daily exercise without drugs.    

D. Weight loss exercise plus low-salt, low-fat food.

Amanda Clement grew up in Hudson，South Dakota．Baseball was always her favorite sport．Once in a while her brother Hank and his friends would let her play first base in their games．More often，however，they asked her to umpire(裁判)for them, because they knew her calls would be fair and there would be no arguing．

One day in 1904，Amanda and her mother traveled to Hawarden，Iowa，to watch Hank play for the home team against Hawarden．When they arrived at the ball field，two local teams were waiting to play a preliminary(预备)game．The umpire hadn’t arrived，so Hank argued that the teams should let his sister serve as umpire．The players finally agreed．

Amanda，then sixteen and standing five feet，ten inches tall，made perfect calls．

She was so good that players for the main game asked her 10 umpire for them and even

offered to pay her．Thus，at sixteen，Amanda Clement became the first paid female

baseball umpire on record．She is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown，

New York．

Hank and his friends often asked Amanda to umpire for them because      

A．they wanted to make her happy

B．she called them brothers

C．no one else wanted to do it for them

D．she knew the rules well and was fair

Amanda went to Hawarden in order to      

A．serve as umpire

C．make money

B．watch her brother play

D．help the local teams

Amanda most probably learned how to umpire a baseball game       .

A．in her P．E．classes at school    B．in an umpire training school

C．by watching and playing the games D．from her mother，a baseball umpire

Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Amanda Clement．First Female Umpire

B．A Family of Baseball Fans

C．Baseball Games in Hawarden，Iowa

D．The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown