News that Microsoft made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo resulted in heated discussions made by many Internet users. Here are some responses:
Diane Burke of Weeks bury, Kentucky
I think it would definitely be an interesting combination. Everyone recognizes the names Yahoo and Microsoft, but everyone also says, “Did you Google it?” Such a catchphrase (時髦話) is going to be hard to beat.
Shaun Carney of Laurelville, Ohio
I think the merger (合并) will provide more competitions for Google. I don’t think the merger will allow Microsoft to develop faster than Google, though. I believe the increased competition this merger brings will force Google to stay on top of its game by offering more fresh and original Internet tools and expanding on the tools it already offers.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
I view the merger as a necessary element in preventing a monopolization (壟斷). Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Rick R. of Edgewater, Florida
It sounds like a disaster to me. If this were to happen, I would stop using my Yahoo e-mail account because I don’t like the feeling of Microsoft spying upon my business. I will sign up for Google.
Antonio Glosser of Kansas City, Missouri
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
小題1:How many companies are mentioned in the passage?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

小題2:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Shaun’s attitude towards Google is passive.

B．Toni believes the Internet will have a promising future.

C．Rick will support Google after the merger.

D．Antonio is afraid that the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features.

小題3:The passage is mainly about ______.

A．opinions on the merger of Yahoo and Microsoft

B．the strengths of Yahoo and Microsoft

C．the strengths and weaknesses of large companies

D．the future of Yahoo and Microsoft

“Global warming could make humans shorter,” warn scientists who claim to have found evidence that it caused the world's first horses to shrink(收縮) nearly 50 million years ago. In fact, a team from the universities of Florida and Nebraska says it has found a link between the Earth heating up and the size of mammals – horses, in this case.
The scientists used fossils to follow the evolution of horses from their earliest appearance 56 million years ago. As temperature went up，their size went down, and vice versa（反之亦然）;“ At one point they were as small as a house cat,” said Dr Jonathan Bloch, curator（博物館長） of the Florida Museum of Natural History, which was quoted by the "Daily Mail" as saying.
The scientists say that the current warming could have the same effect on mammals and could even make humans smaller."Horses started out small, about the size of a small dog . What's surprising is that after they first appeared, they then became even smaller and then dramatically increased in size, and that exactly corresponds to the global warming event, followed by cooling”
"It had been known that mammals were small during that time and that it was warm, but we hadn't realized that temperature specifically was driving the evolution of body size," Dr Bloch said in the "Science" journal.
小題1:How did scientists find out the horses’ earliest appearance millions of years ago?

A．searching the data on the net

B．sorting through the pictures of ancient times

C．using fossils to follow the evolution

D．a(chǎn)nalyzing the related images

小題2:What can we infer form the passage?

A．As temperatures went up, horses dramatically increased in size

B．The temperature has no effect on mammals’ evolution

C．As temperatures went up, horses’ size went down

D．In history, it used to be warm at early times , followed by a certain period of sharply cooling down.

小題3:Which is the most closest meaning to the underlined words most probably mean _______.

A．react to	B． be contradictory to
C．be consistent with	D． differ from

小題4:What is the best title of the passage?

A．Global warming is to disappear

B．The temperature on earth is to decrease

C．Global warming makes human shorter

D．Mammals are dying out.

On Oct4,2011 , I phone 4s made its international appearance at the press conference claimed by the Iphone cooperation . Ever since then , Iphone4s has become a hot cake and even made a fashion around the globe. Meanwhile , many new expressions come about in relationship with this type of high-tech products. “Jailbreak” is one of them.
“ Jailbreak” means to unlock the operating system of a mobile phone or other device so that it can run software which it is not normally authorized to use because of restrictions imposed（實施） by the device's manufacturer.
If someone jailbreaks a smartphone, tablet computer or other device（設(shè)備）, they use a special piece of software in order to remove the restrictions imposed by the manufacturer on the kind of applications that can be downloaded and run on the device. The concept of jailbreaking is most often associated with products from Apple Inc, such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad, which routinely restrict the user to applications licensed exclusively（獨家地） by Apple and purchased via its App Store. As well as wanting to lift the restriction（解除限制） on what kinds of applications they can purchase, those who jailbreak often do so as a reaction against what they consider as a form of censorship（監(jiān)控） imposed by Apple Inc in only allowing the use of their 'approved' apps.
The concept of jailbreaking dates back to July 2007, when it was applied to the iPhone within a month of the device's first release. This first occurrence related to the adding of custom ringtones（個性鈴音）, but the idea quickly developed as a means to lift the restriction and equip the phone with games and other applications not licensed by Apple Inc.
小題1:“jailbreak” means that________________.

A．Criminals escape out of the jail

B．People make a great breakthrough in their life

C．It is a way to lift the restriction specially imposed by the Iphone manufacturer.

D．It’s a breakthrough beyond one’s dream.

小題2:Which is probably the correct Chinese meaning of a hot cake？

A．熱蛋糕

B．搶手貨

C．熱門話題

D．最高禮遇

小題3:Which one is the correct statement from this passage?

A．The original mobile phones also require jailbreaking

B．People jailbreak not only in order to lift the restrictions of applications licensed by the Iphone Cooperation.

C．The concept of jailbreak is seldom associated with products from Apple Inc

D．The concept of jailbreak dates back to the twentieth century

The illegal ivory(象牙) trade has been a major problem in Africa for decades. Poachers have killed hundreds of thousands of elephants to obtain ivory. Now, affected areas are taking action. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on Wednesday key African states where poaching takes place have promised to stop the ivory trade to protect elephants.
Over the past few days, top officials and experts from 30 states met at the African Elephant Summit. The conference, organized by the IUCN and the government of Botswana, was held in Gaborone, Botswana.
Conservation efforts will include China and Thailand, where much of the ivory is sent. “Now is the time for Africa and Asia to join forces to protect this universally valued species,” said Botswana President Ian Khama.
In the 1980s, as many as 1 million elephants across Africa were killed for their ivory. The ivory was used to make jewelry and other items. This continued until 1989, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to ban all the trade in ivory. As a result, demand for ivory fell. Governments cracked down on poachers. Elephant populations slowly began to increase. However , this progress was short-lived.
According to the IUCN, 2011 saw the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trading in at least 16 years. Around 25,000 elephants were killed in Africa that year. Data from the IUCN  show even higher levels of illegal trade may have been reached in 2013. “With an estimated 22,000 elephants illegally killed in 2012, we continue to face a critical situation,” said John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General. “Current elephant poaching in Africa remains far too high, and could soon lead to local extinction if the present killing rate continues.
At the African Elephant Summit , key African states where elephants make their home agreed to develop a “zerotolerance approach” to poaching. The deal calls for maximum sentences for poachers and hunters, and increased cooperation between affected states. Officials are committed to classifying wildlife trafficking (交易) as a serious crime --- and to making sure that the people who commit it are punished. All participants at the conference agreed to sign the deal. With these states working together, there may yet be hope for elephants.
小題1:The purpose of holding the African Elephant Summit is to _________.

A．make new laws to punish poachers.

B．prevent elephants from being poached.

C．collect money for elephants’ protection

D．call for African countries to save elephants.

小題2:Why are China and Thailand mentioned in the text?

A．The ivory is illegally sold in these two countries.

B．Elephants need protecting in these two countries.

C．They know how to protect wildlife like elephants.

D．They prefer jewelry and other items made of ivory.

小題3:What can we learn from Paragraph 5 ?

A．The governments do nothing to protect animals.

B．Elephant poaching in Africa is out of control.

C．A large number of elephants have been killed.

D．Illegal ivory trading is to blame for the elephants’ extinction.

小題4:What would be the best title for the text?

A．Wild Animals Are at Risk	B．New Hope for Elephants
C．Elephants Need Our Help	D．Wildlife Protection in Africa

As many as 4 out of every 1,000 infants born today have permanent hearing loss. When parents learn that their child has hearing loss, they are faced with many difficult decisions. These decisions can include choosing therapies and schools, as well as finding financial help for hearing aids or cochlear implants (人工耳蝸). Help Me Hear Foundation is a public charity that gives the gift of hearing to deaf children from families existing on very low incomes around the world. The foundation offers life-changing services for impoverished families, and provides real help for children with hearing impairment who may otherwise be left behind in schools or society due to their lack of hearing.
Help Me Hear Foundation believes that a child’s first years of development are critical. Being able to hear is vital to human, and Help Me Hear Foundation seeks to provide a positive lasting impression on society through its programs. Help Me Hear Foundation has many goals, including relieving the burden on communities with hearing-impaired infants and children, and strengthening the social structure of families and neighborhoods.
Recipients of Help Me Hear Foundation’s benefits receive state-of-the-art hearing devices that otherwise would cost thousands of dollars per child over the course of their lifetime. The Foundation raises money through donations for hearing aids and cochlear implants, which saves recipients and their families on average over $50,000 on related expenses.
The Foundation tries to be a transparent charity, and wants to be a catalyst for allowing deaf and hearing-impaired children to develop in a typical fashion alongside their peers.
Needy families can obtain information on specific services, and find out about deafness education by visiting the Help Me Hear Foundation’s website. The website offers helpful information on how hearing aids work, and how hearing aids ease many of the learning and language challenges that hearing-impaired children deal with on a daily basis.
小題1:Help Me Hear Foundation was probably set up to _____.

A．build schools for deaf children

B．research deaf children’s behavior

C．protect deaf children from being ignored

D．offer real help to poor deaf children

小題2:We learn from the text that _____.

A．the local government is in charge of the foundation

B．the work of the foundation depends on donations

C．even blind children can turn to the foundation

D．poor deaf African children cannot get help from the foundation

小題3:Visit the foundation’s website, and you will learn about _____.

A．the function of hearing aids

B．the specific services the foundation needs

C．the challenges that children face every day

D．the prices of a variety of hearing aids

小題4:For whom is the text most probably written?

A．Poor parents who have deaf children.

B．Doctors who want to improve skills.

C．Students who cannot see the blackboard clearly.

D．Teachers who have deaf children in their class.

小題5:The author writes the text mainly to _____.

A．tell how to avoid permanent hearing loss

B．explain how hard a life deaf children live

C．introduce Help Me Hear Foundation

D．a(chǎn)dvise people to give money to Help Me Hear Foundation

China’s new term, tuhao, may be in next year’s Oxford English Dictionary. The word caught the attention of the dictionary's editing team after BBC’s recent program on influential Chinese words. “If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words,” said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team.
In Chinese tu means uncouth (笨拙的) and hao means rich. It has traditionally been referred to rich people who throw their weight around in China’s countryside. The word became more popular in September with the launch of Apple’s new gold-colored iPhone, which is loved by China’s rich people. The color became known as “tuhao gold.” The word is now also used by the online community to refer to people who have the cash but lack the class to go with it. Kleeman also mentioned two other Chinese words — dama and hukou — which may also make it into the dictionary.
People can have an intuitive (直觀的) grasp of the meanings if they see pinyin, Kleeman said, adding that people avoid using an English word to keep the original meaning.
“We have nearly 120 Chinese-linked words now in Oxford English Dictionary,” she said. Some of them are: Guanxi, which means “connection”; Taikonaut, a mix of taikong, meaning outer space, and astronaut.
The new words will be first uploaded on the official website before the dictionaries arrive. The online version is also renewed every three months. “It at least broke our old rules. It used to take 10 years to include a new word but now we keep the pace with the time,” according to a statement from ex-chief-editor John Simpson.
小題1:Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

A．Dama and hukou have made it into Oxford English dictionary.

B．Some influential Chinese words appeared on one of BBC’s recent programs.

C．tuhao refers to people who have both the cash and the class.

D．John Simpson thinks that it is not good to break old rules.

小題2:What does the underlined part in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Give orders to others.	B．Get ready to help others.
C．Go on a diet.	D．Put on weight.

小題3:Tuhao becomes more popular in September partly because ______.

A．it is very likely to appear in Oxford English Dictionary

B．it is often used by the online community

C．people use Chinese pinyin to keep the original meaning

D．Apple launched a new gold-colored iPhone

小題4:The main idea of the text is that ______.

A．tuhao may end up in Oxford English Dictionary

B．sometimes pinyin makes Chinese words better understood

C．tuhao has a new meaning at the present time

D．Oxford English Dictionary Includes new words faster than before

Unemployment in Europe has recently hit record highs. Although Denmark has been protected from economic problems thanks to its low public debt, qualified (有資格的) professionals are still finding it tough to get a job. Danish marketing firm Reputation Copenhagen has come up with a way of helping academics get noticed -- putting them on display (展示) in storefront windows.
Many highly-trained professionals, ranging from former CEOs to lawyers and tax experts, are currently finding it increasingly difficult to find proper employment on the Danish job market. Some of them have been trying for years, leaving their resumes (簡歷) with dozens of companies, without ever hearing back from them, and are now at a point where they are willing to try anything, even putting themselves in display windows like goods, hoping to get noticed.
Alexander Peitersen, managing director of Reputation Copenhagen, came up with the idea of using his company's office as a storefront for the campaign (活動), as there are many businesses nearby that might be interested in the talents on display. So he set up a small desk, put up the “an available academic is sitting here” sign and asked the unemployed to just sit in the windows like goods. It seems like a pretty desperate measure, but at least it works. According to the agency's website, three of the jobseekers in their window display got a job in a day or two.
Peitersen says he came up with the idea after realizing human resource managers get hundreds of job applications every day, which look more or less the same, and that creative thinking is required in order to increase the chances of finding employment. Apart from companies interested in qualified job-seekers, the campaign has also attracted the attention of both local and international media.
小題1:Which of the following words can be used to describe Peitersen?

A．Independent.

B．Creative.

C．Sensitive.

D．Cautious.

小題2:Some job-seekers are willing to put themselves in the windows to display in that ______.

A．they think it is fashionable

B．their parents ask them to

C．it’s increasingly difficult to get hired

D．they find it’s interesting

小題3:It can be Inferred that ______.

A．no companies show interest in the qualified job-seekers in the windows

B．both local and international media don't agree with the campaign

C．human resource managers have to reply to hundreds of applicants

D．to some degree the window displays help people find jobs

小題4:What is the text mainly about?

A．Job-seekers are displayed in the windows hoping to get hired.

B．The rate of unemployment in Europe has recently become hitter.

C．It is hard for qualified professionals to get a job.

D．Denmark has avoided economic problems due to its low public debt.

All it took was a slice of Xinjiang cake to spark heated debates online over China's policy on ethnic minorities (少數(shù)民族) .
Since Monday, qiegao (cut cake) has been a trending topic on Sina Weibo, China’s main Twitter-like microblogging service.
The cake was a reference to Xinjiang’s famed nut cake, sometimes known by its old Turkic name baklava, a popular pastry across Central Asia and the Middle East. In Xinjiang, they are sold by Uygur vendors on tricycles who are known to charge dubious prices depending on the time and season.
The ethnic flare-up started after the Yueyang police from Hunan province posted a message on their official Weibo account. It reported a dispute in Pingjiang county over an overpriced piece of nut cake between a Xinjiang Uygur vendor and a villager named "Ling".
Villager Ling got into a fight with a Uygur due to a misunderstanding. The verbal dispute eventually escalated into a fight and then a mass fight. As a result, two people were injured and Xinjiang nut cakes worth about 160,000 yuan (US$25,000) were destroyed. The total damage was worth 200,000 yuan which included a broken motorcycle and injuries to people. Local police have detained Ling. The 16 Uygur sellers were dully compensated and sent back to Xinjiang.
"Yueyang police incident" quickly became one of the most popular topics on Weibo. Yueyang police removed the post shortly after. As of Tuesday night, the topic was still amassing more than 66,000 hits. 
The incident is just one of many similar cases of ethnic tensions across China, notably in Xinjiang province, where deeply entrenched social and racial frictions between the dominant ethnic Han Chinese and minority Uygur Muslims occasionally spark violence. Many Uygurs living in major Chinese cities are viewed by locals as thieves, crooks and even terrorists.
小題1:Which of the following is true?

A．The dispute is between a Xinjiang Uygur vendor and a policeman.

B．Nut cake is a popular pastry across East Asia and the Middle East.

C．The prices of Baklava will change according to the time and season.

D．The demand of the 16 Uygur sellers were refused and they were sent back to Xinjiang.

小題2:How much did the broken motorcycle cost？

A．160,000 yuan

B．200,000 yuan

C．40,000yuan

D．We don’t know

小題3:What’s the best title of the passage?

A．World's most expensive baklava

B．Ethnic tensions across China

C．Pay attention to the Uygurs

D．Misunderstanding caused a fight

小題4:What can we infer from the passage?

A．Yueyang police are afraid of the Xinjiang Uygur vendor

B．It’s not the only ethnic tension across China,

C．Many Uygurs living in major Chinese cities are viewed by locals as thieves, crooks and even terrorists.

D．Villager Ling got into a fight with a Uygur due to a misunderstanding.

The United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, continued into their second week, Wednesday, as delegates from nearly 200 countries struggle to craft a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, the global agreement on climate change that expires at the end of this month.
The negotiations are deadlocked （陷入僵局）over demands by poorer nations for financial help in coping with climate change.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on delegates at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change to speed up their work on an agreement to address a warming planet.
“Let us be under no illusion（幻想）, this is a crisis, a threat to us all, our economies, our security and the well-being of our children and those who will come after," he said. "No one is immune to climate change, rich or poor.”
Delegates from nearly 200 countries --- rich and poor --- are in Doha to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 global climate change agreement that expires （到期）at the end of this month, and to begin to forge a new agreement to replace it.
Two issues block the way forward.  Developing countries are demanding that industrialized nations fulfill their pledges(保證)under Kyoto to reduce their climate-changing industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and to put new, larger emission curbs on the table. 
The developing nations, led by China, are also insisting that rich nations provide more aid to poorer countries to help them cope with the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and more violent storms. 
In Doha Wednesday, Tim Gore, a climate change policy advisor for Oxfam International, a confederation of groups working on social justice issues, applauded efforts by England, Germany and Sweden to increase their climate aid and expects other nations to follow. 
“Those announcements are truly welcome.  And they shine a spotlight on those that have remained silent: the U.S., Canada, Japan, even Australia," Gore said. "But we need to be very clear as well that those types of announcements made in press conferences can be no substitute for clear commitments in the text that poor countries have come here to negotiate.”
小題1:What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．China plays an important role in The United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar.

B．The United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, continued into their second week, Wednesday.

C．Developing countries want rich nations to pay for climate change.

D．Ban Ki-moon called on delegates at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change to speed up their work on an agreement to address a warming planet.

小題2:What did United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Climate change will do harm to all the countries in the world.

B．There is no hope to deal with the problem.

C．Illusion（幻想）is a crisis, a threat to us all.

D．Ban Ki-moon called on delegates to cope with a warming planet.

小題3:What does the underlined word in Paragraph Five forge mean?

A．put aside

B．deal with

C．call off

D．work out

小題4:Which of the following is Not true?

A．Climate change includes rising sea levels and more violent storms.

B．All the industrialized nations will carry out their promises under Kyoto to reduce their climate-changing industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and to put new, larger emission curbs on the table.

C．Tim Gore thought highly of the efforts by England, Germany and Sweden to increase their climate aid and expects other nations to follow.

D．The U.S., Canada, Japan, even Australia didn’t make announcements to be responsible for the climate changes.

Most students, when asked about their ideal graduation gift, would probably reply, “A car”, or “Money for a deposit on a house”. Cai Kaiyuan, 21, made a different choice. As a graduation gift to himself, he decided to work as a volunteer teacher in a remote village in Tibet.
Cai, a senior majoring in electrical engineering at Huan Railway Professional Technology College, originally planned to cycle from Sichuan to Tibet. During his journey, Cai’s idea for a different graduation gift to himself began to take shape. “I did not know beforehand what the journey would mean to me. I just want to gain a unique experience and have pleasure in appreciating the view there,” he said.
It turned out cycling on a plateau was extremely challenging. And it has kept changing his outlook on life. Cai’s fingers even became frostbitten while cycling up a 5008-meter-high mountain, where temperatures often dropped to 18 below zero. At night, the ice covered the road and he fell off his bike three times. The lack of oxygen made him feel dizzy and weak. “At the most serious moment, I felt that my life was on the line,” said Cai.
However, he also gained something unexpected. At Ya’an, a city in Sichuan, he met a group of tourists who are also university students. A girl called Wu Ling told him that she planned to work as a teacher in a primary school in Tibet after her journey. He was impressed by the idea as she looked slender and weak.
It was not until he reached a family-run hotel in Shigatse that Cai’s spirits began to rise. The hotel manager’s two daughters enjoyed talking with him. The kids asked about his experiences on his trip, and showed him the beautiful local lakes. “They told me that they always liked to talk to guests, as they wanted to improve their Mandarin,” he said, “Their parents and many locals can only speak Tibetan.”
Cai was touched by the girls’ story. Their situation is tough and the local people have little chance to learn Mandarin because the schools are short of teachers. “I want to do something to improve the situation for kids like them,” said Cai. His parents finally gave their agreement and his teachers also supported him.
小題1:According to the passage, Cai Kaiyuan’s graduation gift to himself is _________.

A．to have money for a deposit on a house

B．to travel by cycling from Sichuan to Tibet

C．to own a new car and marry a slender girl

D．to work as a volunteer teacher in Tibetan school

小題2:What words can be used to describe Cai’s journey to Tibet?

A．unique and pleasant	B．challenging but rewarding
C．relaxing but unexpected	D．freezing cold and boring

小題3:The underlined phrase “on the line” in the third paragraph means “ ____________”.

A．in a dilemma	B．making a phone call
C．a(chǎn)t risk	D．very painful

小題4:The purpose of writing this passage is to ____________.

A．tell us about an unusual graduation gift

B．introduce a dangerous journey to us

C．give advice on how to travel to Tibet

D．encourage us to be a teacher in Tibet

小題5:Which of the followings is NOT the reason for Cai to make his decision?

A．He met Wu Ling and was impressed by her plan.

B．His parents and teachers persuaded him to go to Tibet.

C．He was moved by the kid’s desire to improve their Mandarin.

D．A lack of teachers makes the local people have little chance to learn.