Some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup because they think it shows their class. However, for the Chinese NBA idol Yao Ming, doing so is unacceptable as the practice has led to the overfishing of sharks.
When Yao and his wife Ye Li got married in 2007, they publicly announced that they would not allow shark fin soup to be served at their wedding banquet.
Actually, Yao had been saying no to shark fins since 2006, when he was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for wild life protection.
Now, the 226-cm big guy is resorting to his personal influence to encourage more to say no to eating the soup and to raise awareness of animal protection. "Sharks are friends of human beings. They are not our food," Yao said.
Other celebrity athletes like Olympic champions Li Ning and Kong Linghui are following on the heels of Yao, throwing themselves into serving the public as Goodwill Ambassadors for wild animal rescue. Recent reports about Yao's retirement have saddened tens of thousands of basketball fans both at home and abroad. Yet Yao's influence goes far beyond the basketball courts.
Yao has engaged himself in charity and public welfare services for quite a while. When the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Wenchuan in southwest China in 2008, Yao donated 2 million yuan . "When I was a little boy, my parents and teachers told me to help others and to be a good man," Yao recalled.  "But I could not donate then because I had not much pocket money. After I moved to Houston, I got involved in quite a number of community service activities and I felt a strong sense of achievement when I got people together," Yao said.
Like Yao, newly crowned French Open champion Li Na has showed her willingness to donate. Li gave 480,000 yuan of her prize money from the open, plus 20,000 yuan from her own pocket, to a local nursing home in her hometown. Another Chinese sports icon, hurdler Liu Xiang, has also been actively involved in charity for years.
小題1:The reason why some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup is that they think _______ .

A．it is very delicious	B．it is very cheap and healthy
C．it is very popular in society	D．it can show their status

小題2:Yao Ming is against eating shark fin soup because ________ .

A．too many sharks are killed	B．he dislikes eating sharp fin
C．it is too expensive	D．sharks are dangerous animals

小題3: Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A．Li Na donated 500,000 yuan to a local nursing home in her hometown.

B．Yao Ming donated 2 million yuan after the earthquake of Wenchuan.

C．Yao Ming has encouraged more people to stop eating shark fin soup and protect animals.

D．Yao Ming was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for protecting wild life in 2007.

小題4:What words can be used to describe Yao Ming according to the passage?

A．Rich and generous.	B．Influential and warmhearted.
C．Energetic and optimistic.	D．Popular and confident.

小題5:From the passage , we can learn that________.

A．most athletes don't like eating shark fin soup

B．Yao Ming has been donating money to charity since he was a child

C．Yao Ming has an influence on not only the basketball courts but also charity and public welfare services

D．Yao Ming has taken part in many community service activities when he was in China

Imagine an eco-conscious city where rooftops have been transformed into fertile, green gardens. It's a place where every home is equipped with a system that recycles valuable water resources. In this town, protecting the planet is a way of life. That's how Abby Sharp, 14, Wyatt Peery, 13, and Tom Krajnak, 14, saw their city of tomorrow. The vision won the eighth-graders from Bexley, Ohio, first prize at the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition.
The annual design competition challenges middle school students to use engineering to deal with issues that affect the earth. This year the competition focused on water conservation. Participants had to come up with ways to improve water use in the home. Kids from 38 middle schools across the country competed in the finals. The event took place from February 17-18 in Washington, D.C. More than 30,000 students entered the competition.
Abby, Wyatt and Tom call their winning city Novo Mondum. The name means "new world" in Latin. Novo Mondum sits on the coast of Iceland. The group chose the spot for its wealth of clean energy resources, such as geothermal（地?zé)岬模?energy and hydropower. Both sources use the power of nature to generate electricity. Geothermal energy draws heat from deep inside the Earth. Hydropower gets energy from flowing water. "Our city is very globally aware," Abby told TFK.
Students team up with a teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor（顧問）to develop their cities. Each group creates a fictional city on SimCity 4 Deluxe, a computer game that allows players to build virtual towns. Then they construct tabletop models of the cities and write essays describing their project. The models must be made using recycled materials and cost no more than $100 to build.
小題1: What’s the main feature of the city designed by the three winners?

A．Making full use of water resources.

B．Turning rooftops into green gardens.

C．Protecting our home — the earth.

D．Costing no money to build

小題2:It can be inferred that water conversation is __________.

A．one of the problems that influence the Earth.

B．the main theme of 2009 Future City Competition.

C．one of the issues for the participants to deal with abroad.

D．a(chǎn)n easy topic for all the students to design.

小題3:According to the passage, Abby, Wyatt and Tom are _____.
A. ninth-graders from Bexley, Ohio.
B. second prize winners at the 2009 Future City Competition.
C. lucky to get the first prize at the 2009 Future City Competition.
D. eighth-graders from Washington, D.C.
小題4:The underlined word “hydropower” means ______________.

A．electric power from burning oil.

B．electric power from burning coals.

C．electric power from deep inside the earth.

D．electric power from moving water.

小題5: What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The process of developing a Future City.

B．How teachers instruct the students in the competition.

C．The process of building virtual towns.

D．What materials should be used in the competition.

You’re out to dinner. The food is delicious and the service is fine. You decide to leave a big fat tip. Why? The answer may not be as simple as you think.
Tipping, psychologists have found, is not just about service. Instead, studies have shown that tipping can be affected by psychological reactions to a series of different factors from the waiter’s choice of words to how they carry themselves while taking orders to the bill’s total.
“Studies before have shown that mimicry (模仿) brings into positive feelings for the mimicker,” wrote Rick van Baaren, a social psychology professor. “These studies show that people who are being mimicked become more generous toward the person who mimics them.”
So Rick van Baren divided 59 waiters into two groups. He requested that half serve with a phrase such as, “Coming up!” Those in the other half were instructed to repeat the orders and preferences back to the customers. Rick van Baaren then compared their take-home(實(shí)得收入). The results were clear---it pays to mimic your customer. The copycat waiters earned almost double the amount of tips to the other group.
Leonard Green and Joel Myerson, psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis, found the generosity of a tipper may be limited by his bill. After research on the 1,000 tips left for waiters, cab drivers, hair stylists, they found tip percentages in these three areas dropped as customers’ bills went up.
“That’s also a point of tipping,” Green says. “You have to give a little extra to the cab driver for being there to pick you up and something to the waiter for being there to serve you. If they weren’t there you’d never get any service. So part of the idea of a tip is for just being there.”
小題1:According to the passage, a customer gives the cab driver a tip for ____.

A．driver’s politeness

B．being there

C．driver’s attitudes

D．driver’s mimicry

小題2:According to the passage, which of the following will be likely to show the right change of the tip percentages for the three areas researched?

小題3:According to the passage, we know the writer seems to _________.

A．oppose Mr. Green’s idea about tipping

B．support the opinions of Mr. Green and Rick van Baaren about tipping

C．give his generous tip to the waiters very often

D．think part of Mr. Green’s explanation is reasonable

To get an extra 14 years of life, don’t smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in a proper amount. That is according to a study published this Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal.
After tracking more than 20,000 people aged 45-79 years in the United Kingdom from about 1993-2007, Kay-Tee, Khaw of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues found that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived an average of 14 years longer than those who didn’t.
“We’ve known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we’ve not seen this benefit before, ” said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health at Britain’s Medical Research Council. “The benefit was also seen regardless of whether or not people were fat and what social class they came from.”
Study participants（參與者）scored a point each for not smoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake．
Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspire governments to introduce policies helping people to adopt these changes．But because the study only observed people rather than testing specific changes, it would be impossible to conclude that people who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would surely gain 14 years．
“We can't say that any person could gain 14 years by doing these things, ”said Dr．Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization．“The 14 years is an average across the population of what's theoretically（理論上地）possible．”
“Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smoking isn't good for them, ”Susan Jebb said．“We need to work on providing people with much more practical support to help them change．”
小題1:Which of the following DOESN'T belong to the four healthy habits?

A．Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day．

B．Do proper exercise in the morning every day．

C．Drinking alcohol in the proper amount every day．

D．Having a cigarette before going to bed every day．

小題2:We can learn from the passage that            ．

A．Susan Jebb did not take part in the study．

B．the study observed people as well as tested specific changes．

C．there's no need for people under 45 to adopt these good habits．

D．only those from first class can benefit from these healthy behaviors．

小題3:What can be inferred from the passage?

A．All the people are well aware of the harm of their bad habits．

B．People aged 45 to 70 have bad habits in the United Kingdom．

C．Governments should take measures to help people change their bad habits．

D．People have adopted the four healthy habits after knowing they're good．

小題4:What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Smoking and Drinking Cuts You 14 Years

B．How to Live a Much Healthier Life

C．Healthy Habits May Give Extra 14 Years

D．How to Make Your Life Longer Than Others

Small talk is meaningless conversation in terms of content，but is often seen as socially important in certain situations，or context．In many English-speaking countries，it can be viewed as rude or unfriendly not to make small talk.
Discussing the weather with people who you don’t really know is an example of small talk that many of us are very familiar with on a daily basis．We may chat about the weather with the cashier at the supermarket or with the attendant at the gas station．Small talk may also be related to the situation such as waiting in line．People in the line may comment to others about how slow it is in the post office or bank that day，for instance．We also engage in small talk with people we may see every day but don’t really know such as those we share the elevator with in our office building．
Small talk is common at parties when guests may know the host but not each other．It is considered rude not to mingle and speak with other guests at social functions，so small talk can break the ice and get guests chatting．Compliments(贊美)may be a type of small talk such as one woman at party complimenting another on her dress．
Some people like small talk because they find silence uncomfortable and／or they enjoy communicating verbally．Others enjoy meeting new people and use small talk to start conversations. When making small talk，especially with strangers or those you don’t know very well，it’s important to observe certain socially acceptable conventions．First，small talk should be general and not personal or about controversial topics. Second，while compliments are acceptable，they shouldn't refer to the person’s body or sound like a pick-up line．
小題1:What do people usually talk about in small talk?

A．Light topics．	B．Personal topics．
C． Meaningless things.	D．Controversial affairs．

小題2:Who do we usually have small talk with?

A．Close friends．	B．People we don’t really know．
C．Family members．	D．Our seniors．

小題3:At parties，it’s considered rude to          ．

A．speak to one guest only and not speak with other guests

B．speak to several guests at the same time

C．compliment a woman on her dress

D．have small talk with the host

小題4:We can infer from the last paragraph that           ．

A．compliments are the most acceptable in small talk

B．we should refer to a person’s body when complimenting in order to sound sincere

C．there are some rules in making small talk

D．some people use small talk to make new friends

The entertainment profession or “show business" attracts many young people. Unfortunately, only very few can hope to become famous and successful. Talent is not enough, because show business is as competitive as any other business .Without a good manager ,a performer can never hope to succeed .Fashion is important in this business, too. The best tailor in the world will never be a success if he makes old-fashioned clothes. In exactly the same way, a performer must change his “act" in order to follow the taste of the moment. This is true for actors, dancers and comedians, but perhaps most of all singers.
“Pop" stands for “popular" and a pop singer has to work very hard to become popular .He must either give the public what they already want, or he must find a new way of singing that will attract their attention. Even when he has succeeded, and his records are sold everywhere, he can not relax. Then he must work harder than ever because there are always younger singers trying to become famous and to steal some of the popularity.The life of a successful pop singer is not at all easy. He can only relax when he is alone, because everything he does is watched and reported in the special newspaper written for the “fans”. The fans are the most important people in the world for the singers. They buy his records, they go to his concerts and they make him rich and famous. But they can be very annoying, too. Sometimes their enthusiasm get so hysterical that they do anything to get a “souvenir"（紀(jì)念品）. They steal handkerchiefs, they tear off buttons, and they even cut off pieces of the unfortunate singer's hair. Many singers have been forced to hide. A pop singer has to spend a lot of money on clothes, because he must always look smart or at any rate different. He must have a luxurious car. And — most important — he must always keep smiling for the benefit of his public.
小題1:Why must a pop singer have a good manager?___________.

A．To protect him from his fans	B．To look after his business interests
C．To help him to change his “act"	D．So that he can relax

小題2:Why must a pop singer work even harder when he has become famous?___________

A．Because he wants to attract the attention of the public

B．Because he wants to sell more records

C．Because he wants to become popular

D．Because he wants to stay popular

小題3:For a pop singer , the most important advantage of having fans is that____.

A．they buy his CDs or VCDs. They go to his concerts, and watch his MTV

B．they watch him and report everything he does

C．they shout and cry very loudly during the performance

D．they make him rich and famous

I am a mother of three children and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was social study. The last project of the term was called “Smile”. The last class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
Soon after we were given the project, my husband, my youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one cold March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back way. I turned around and found there standing behind me were two poor homeless men with a horrible “dirty body” smell. The short gentleman, close to me, was “smiling”. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of light as he searched for acceptance. The second man played with his hands uneasily as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation (救贖). The short man just asked for a coffee because that was all they could afford.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the men’s table. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said “Thank you”.
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That’s why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.”
On the last evening of class, I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and we all knew that we need to heal people and to be healed.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE. “LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS---NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.”
小題1: Why did the people around the author back away?

A．Because both men were poorly dressed and mentally ill.

B．Because the short gentleman was smiling to everyone around.

C．Because two homeless men were also waiting in line, with a bad smell.

D．Because the second man stood playing with his hands.

小題2:After the author handed the meals to the homeless men, she _________.

A．talked with them for a while.	B．went back to her husband and son
C．turned in her project	D．regretted and cried

小題3: What kind of woman do you think the author is?

A．Over-curious

B．Caring

C．Mature

D．Lovely

小題4: What does the author try to tell us with the last sentence?

A．Giving is a gesture of love, which people will understand and appreciate.

B．If you need help from others, you’d better present them with gifts.

C．If you want to get something from somebody, you should please him with gifts.

D．Don’t be greedy with money or ask people to do things for you.

小題5: According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．The author’s husband was very proud of her.

B．What the author did to the men touched many people.

C．Poor as the homeless men were, they had their dignity.

D．The author felt we should know how to heal people.

Hotlines have become common in China. Some radio broadcasting stations use hotlines to encourage the listeners to take part in the talk shows.
That’s a good idea. Yet, the fact is, some people do nothing but break the whole program.
Some people know little about the topic under discussion. Sometimes they do not even know what the host is talking about. So the host has to tell the caller what the show is about. Usually the caller will ask a few questions which express his hope and show his ignorance (無知). Then the host has to answer and explain—how silly this is! It wastes a lot of time.
It seems that some people phone the hotlines for fun. They just want to let the listeners hear them. They don’t care what the topic is, whether they themselves are interested or how silly they appear to be.
I’m totally bored by those people. It’s necessary for radio stations to improve the hotline programmers. In my opinion, if a caller does not know what is going on, the operator should not let the caller take part in it.
小題1:The sentence “some people do nothing but break the whole program” may tell us that _____.

A．radio stations use hotlines in a wrong way

B．it is a fact

C．it is a good idea

D．some people have unclear thoughts

小題2:Some calls waste the host’s time __________.

A．because the host works hard

B．because of the caller’s ignorance

C．because the host likes talking to the caller

D．because of a lot of questions raised by the caller

It is not only experts in China who are arguing over whether women should work after marriage or not. Worldwide this question is being discussed as an interestingly large number of married women enter the workplace. Take the United States for example. Since 1960, the percentage of married women in the work force has jumped from 31.9 per cent to 59.4 per cent.
American women first moved into the paid labour force during the World War II, when men left their jobs to fight. In the last fifty years, more and more women have worked outside the home. And over these years of developing, Americans have changed their social values as a result. In 1975, women aged 35 and above made up half of all working women. And by 1980, 60 per cent were women at the age of 45 and above.
Now in Japan, women’s work group is M-shaped with middle-aged women and those aged 20-25 at the two peaks. According to statistics(統(tǒng)計(jì))， 37.7 per cent of Japanese women at childbearing age(25-29) still engaged themselves in work in 1980. and the number reached 50 per cent the next year.
Being a housewife has always been regarded as a “graceful occupation” in Japan. Some young Japanese women believe it is good to be a “ professional housewife”. However, old attitudes have been changing everywhere, and sometimes just out of economic necessary. In recent years, a great number of city housewives have poured out of homes to take part time jobs. Even the UN has given its support.. The 34^th Congress of the United Nations in 1979 put forward the decision for formal agreement on the getting rid of discrimination(歧視) against women.
So far, most UN members have agreed on it, but some still haven’t,  including the United States.
小題1:From the first passage, we can learn that ________________.

A．experts encourage women to take paying jobs.

B．men encourage women to take paying jobs

C．government encourage women to take paying jobs.

D．more and more people begin to care about women’s life

小題2:In the United States _________________.

A．married women are lazier than their husbands.

B．Husbands are lazier than their wives

C．Few married women used to work outside

D．More married women used to work outside

小題3:Married women in Japan________________.
A, all work outside their homes     
B. seldom work outside their homes
C. have different opinions on their working outside 
D. all do housework at their homes
小題4:More and more women have taken jobs outside for the reason that ____________.

A．they have no children to take care of

B．they have no housework to do

C．they want to make more friends

D．they want to improve their living conditions

Almost a decade ago, the federal government dropped $10 million for an Earth-monitoring satellite that never made it into space. Today it sits in a closet in Maryland. Cost to taxpayers for storing it: $1 million a year. And that's just what's hiding in one closet. Who knows what's in the rest of them?
Because we think the government should be held to at least the same standards as a publicly traded company, and because as taxpayers, we're America's shareholders, we performed an audit （財(cái)務(wù)檢查）of sorts of the federal books. We're not economists, but we do have common sense. We tried to get help from Congressional staffers from both parties, as well as various watchdog groups and agencies. In the end, we found that the federal government wastes nearly $1 trillion every year.
That's roughly equal to the amount collected annually by the Internal Revenue Service in personal income taxes. Put another way, it's also equal to about one-third of the country's $2.9 trillion total annual budget. And reclaiming that lost trillion could help wipe out the country's annual budget deficit（赤字）, improve education, and provide health insurance for those who don't have it.
So how do you define "waste"? David Walker of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal watchdog agency, calls it "the government's failure to give taxpayers the most for their money." For our part, we used the kind of household test you would use on a piece of meat sitting in your refrigerator: If it smells rotten, it's waste. Our government regularly pays for products and services it never gets, wildly overpays companies to do things it could do more cheaply itself, loses money outright due to lax（不嚴(yán)格的）accounting and oversight, and spends money randomly on unnecessary programs.
How exactly does the federal government waste your hard-earned tax dollars? We've identified what we consider ten of the worst ways.
小題1:The underlined sentence in Paragraph1 really means        .

A．there are many other closets	B．there are some other satellites
C．there is something else in the closets	D．the waste may be quite amazing

小題2:Which of the following can best describe the feeling of the author?

A．Annoyed.

B．Calm.

C．Surprised.

D．Not concerned.

小題3:Which of the following statements may be right?

A．The country’s annual budget is usually decided by the public.

B．The government failed in launching the satellite.

C．The government is only wasting money in space experiments.

D．The amount collected annually in personal income taxes is equal to the country’s budget.

小題4:The best title for the passage would be        .

A．Protecting Our Rights!

B．Our Country Is In Danger!

C．The Government Is Wasting Our Tax Dollars!

D．How to Prevent Government from Wasting Money!

小題5:What might be talked about if the passage is continued?

A．The government’s taking some steps to stop wasting taxes.

B．Presenting people’s feelings against the government’s wasting taxes.

C．Giving suggestion to help the government solve the financial problem.

D．Listing how the government is wasting taxes.