It happened to me recently, I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President.A friend I wsa talking to agreed with me that it was,in his words,”a brilliantly written book”.However,he then went on to talk about Mr.Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his back-ground at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven't.  In the World Book Day's" Report on Guilty Secrets" ,Dreams From My Father is at number 9.  The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I'm not one to Lie too often (I'd hate to be caught out) , I'll admit here and now that I haven't read the entire top ten.  But I am pleased to say that,  un- like 42 percent of peoples I have read the book at number one, George Orwell's 1984.  I think
it's really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie  about having read Jane Austen,  Charles Dickens ,  Fyodor Dostoevsky  (I haven ' tread him, but haven't lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why  they lied, the most common reason was to "impress" someone they were speaking to.  This could be tricky if the conversation became more in-depth !
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella ( ah,  the big sellers, in other words).  Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I' lI come clean: I do thi8 and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).
【小題1】Which of the fokllowing is a "guilty secret" according io the world Book Day report?

A．42% of people pretended to have read 1984.

B．Charles Dickens is very low on the top--tcn list.

C．The author admitted having read 9 books

D．Dreams From My Father is hardly read.

【小題2】How did the author find his friend a book liar?

A．By mentioning a famous name.	B．By discussing the book itself
C．By judging his manner of speaking.	D． By looking into his background.

【小題3】By lying about reading, a person hopes to_____.
A.learn about the book
C. appear knowledgeable
B. control the conversation
D make more friends
【小題4】What is the author's attitude to 58% of readers?

A．Doubtiful

B．Favorable

C．Uncaring

D．Friendly

【小題5】In the sentenced I'd hate to be caught  out".  "catch out" can have the similqr meaning with ____.

A．catch up

B．1ook for

C．catch at

D．find out

The adderis the only poisonous snake nativeto Britain. Adders have the most highly developed poison injecting mechanism of all snakes, but they are not aggressive animals. Adders will only use their poison as a last means of defence, usually if caught or trodden on. No one has died from adder bites in Britain for over 20 years. By far the most common smake in Britain is the adder. In Scotland, in fact, there are no other snakes at all. The adder is also the only British sanke with a poisonous bite. It can be found almost anywhere, but prefers sunny hillsides and rough open country, including high gournd. In Ireland there are no snakes at all.
Most people regard snake bites as a fatal misfortune, but not all bites are serious, and very few are fatal . Sometimes attempts at emergency treatment turn out to be more dangerous than the bite itself, with amateurs heroically, but mistakenly, trying do-it-yourself surgery and other unnecessary measures.
All snakes have small teeth, so it follows tha tall snakes can bite, but only te bite of the adder presents any danger. British snakes are shy animals and are far more frightened of you than you could possibly be of them. The adder will attack only if it feels threatened, as can happen if you take it by surprise and step on it accidentally, or if you try to catch it or pick it up, which it dislikes intensely. If it hears you coming, it will normally get out of the way as quickly as it can, but adders cannot move  very rapidly and may attack before moving if you are very close.
The effect of a bite varies considerably. It depends upon severa things, one of which is the boidy-wight of the person bitten. The bigger the person, the less harmful the bite is likely to be, which is why children suffer far more seriously from snake bites in Britain ,and thought these bites can make some pepe very ill, there are probably just as many cases of bites having little or no effect, as there are of serious illness.
【小題1】What does the underlined phrase “ trodden on” probably mean?

A．Found out

B．Heard from

C．Stepped on.

D．Robbed of.

【小題2】Where are adders to be found?

A．In fertile fields in Scotland.

B．On wild land throughout Britain.

C．In many parts of Britain and Ireland.

D．Everywhere in Britian except Scotland

【小題3】What should you do if you are with someone who is bitten by an adder?

A．Catch the biting adder at onece.

B．Don’t worry about the bitten person.

C．Don’t try to treat the bite by yourself.

D．Operate on the person as soon as possible.

【小題4】What’s the best title of the passage?

A．Poisonous Snakes	B．Adders in Britain
C．Take Care oif Sake Bites	D．Protec Endangered Adders

My sister Jodie and I are always traveling for work. As jewelry designers, we need to go to a lot of shows. We can’t pack lightly and usually bring about four suitcases filled with our work.
Most of our stuff is made from heavy materials and metals. So part of the routine for us when we fly is getting stopped by security. Our jewelry sets off the alarms, and we’ve become accustomed to arriving early to go through private screenings. Most of the time, it’s not troublesome.
However, on our recent trip to a Paris trade show, we were stopped at security and asked to empty our bags. One of the agents walked over to another agent and they started whispering to each other. Both gentlemen came back, and one of them then told us that it seemed that we were carrying a very dangerous object.
My sister and I just said, “Huh?” Of course, we were a little concerned, thinking that maybe someone put something dangerous in one of our bags when we weren’t looking.
One of the agents then started to unpack our bags. I kept asking what he was looking for and then the object in question finally appeared. It was our Cosima necklace. It’s a piece of jewelry, with large, metal triangular spikes.
My sister and I looked at each other and breathed a huge sigh of relief. We started laughing and explained to the two male agents that it was just a necklace from our collection, not a weapon of mass destruction. They thought we were lying, and one agent kept repeating that he believed it was a weapon.
I tried to explain that we were jewelry designers going to a trade show, and this was simply a piece from our collection. But the agents didn’t buy it. Then a few women guards came over to assist. One of the women guards was holding an earring up to her ear and another was trying on a ring. Apparently, they liked our stuff.
It was only at this point that the male guards gave up. And I think they also got tired of listening to a bunch of women talk about jewelry. They let us through.
We took the names of the women agents and sent them a piece of jewelry when we got back to say thanks.
【小題1】When the object in question finally appeared, the writer and her sister felt _______.

A．a(chǎn)nxious

B．relieved

C．excited

D．frightened

【小題2】The writer and her sister were stopped by the agents because ________.

A．their suitcases were too heavy

B．the agents wanted to play a joke on them

C．they were suspected to carry dangerous objects

D．the agents wanted to admire the jewelry inside the suitcases

【小題3】The underlined word “buy” in Paragraph 7 probably means ________.

A．doubt

B．believe

C．purchase

D．understand

【小題4】The writer sent the women agents a piece of jewelry in order to ________.

A．persuade them to buy her jewelry later

B．get help from them next time

C．show them her talent in designing jewelry

D．show them her gratitude for their assistance

【小題5】According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Someone put something dangerous in one of the writer’s bags.

B．The male agents didn’t believe the writer at first.

C．The female agents liked the jewelry.

D．The writer is always travelling on business.

For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet plane fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest （征服） of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured （忍受）. The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.  
Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passenger move again to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and can not turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. speed controls people’s lives；time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.
【小題1】What does the writer try to express in Paragraph1? 

A．Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages.

B．The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short.

C．The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams.

D．Man has been fond of traveling rather than staying in one place.

【小題2】How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph2? 

A．By giving instructions.

B．By analyzing cause and effect.

C．By following the order of time.

D．By giving examples.

【小題3】According to Paragraph3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because______.

A．they pay less for the tickets

B．they feel safer during the travel.

C．they can enjoy higher speed of travel

D．they don’t have to waste time being “processed”

【小題4】What does the last sentence of the passage mean? 

A．They could enjoy free and relaxing travel.

B．They needed the clock to tell the time.

C．They preferred traveling on horseback.

D．They could travel with their master.

【小題5】What is the main idea of the passage? 

A．Air travel benefits people and industries.

B．Train Travel has some advantages over air travel.

C．Great changes have taken place in modern travel.

D．The high speed of air travel is gained at a cost.

There were smiling children all the way. Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway, wave to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang. Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives. This is the simple village people of Maiaysia. I was moved.
I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train. I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread. I looked about the train. There was not one familiar face. I sighed and sat down to read my Economics.
It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia. Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past. As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green. Then the first village came into sight. Immediately I came alive. I decided to wave back.
From then on my journey became interesting. I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life. Then everything came alive. The mountains seemed to speak to me. Even the trees were smiling. I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.
The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry. I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3:00 pm. Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth. I looked at the people all around me. They all looked beautiful. When my uncle arrived with a smile, I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug （擁抱）. I had never done this before. He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile. We walked arm in arm to his car.
I looked forward to the return journey.
【小題1】The author expected the train trip to be ________.

A．a(chǎn)dventurous

B．pleasant

C．exciting

D．dull

【小題2】What did the author remember most fondly of her train trip________?

A．The friendly country people.

B．The mountains along the way.

C．The crowds of people in the streets.

D．The simple lunch served on the train.

【小題3】Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “relish” in the second paragraph_____?

A．choose

B．enjoy

C．prepare for

D．carry on

【小題4】Where was the writer going________?

A．Johore Baru.

B．The Causeway.

C．Butterworth.

D．Singapore.

【小題5】What can we learn from the story________?

A．Comfort in traveling by t rain.

B．Pleasure of living in the country.

C．Reading gives people delight.

D．Smiles brighten people up.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!
The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call “The Law of the Garbage Truck. ”
Many people are like garbage （rubbish） trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy with what you did.
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do anymore.”
Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? If you let more garbage trucks pass you by, you’ll be happier. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.
【小題1】What happened one day when the author was taking a taxi?

A．The taxi almost hit another car.

B．The taxi driver was injured.

C．The author scolded the driver of the other car.

D．The author learned a lesson from the driver of the garbage truck.

【小題2】How did the taxi driver respond to the behavior of the driver of the black car?

A．He yelled back at the driver.

B．He sent the driver to the hospital.

C．He was friendly towards the driver.

D．He dumped some garbage in front of his car.

【小題3】What does the taxi driver think of people according to Paragraph 3?

A．Many people like to drive garbage trucks.

B．Many people dump garbage wherever they like.

C．Many people are warm-hearted to make others happy.

D．Many people tend to be very much depressed.

【小題4】What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．The author used to have a lot of garbage trucks.

B．The author used to complain a lot.

C．The author used to have a lot of money.

D．The author used to be a good manager.

【小題5】According to the passage, what should you do if people “dump garbage” on you?

A．Ignore them and go on with our own work.

B．Try our best to persuade them not to do that again.

C．Tell them to dump the garbage in the right place.

D．Take over their work and carry the garbage to somewhere else.

Why do we laugh and get amusement from so many different things，from puns (雙關(guān)語(yǔ)) to pratfalls? Why are some things funny to some people and not to others? How is that while a successful joke can cause pleasure，a sick one can cause serious harm?
Over the centuries，various scholars have attempted to produce a universally agreed-upon theory of humor．Plato and Aristotle introduced the superiority(優(yōu)越感) theory，the idea that people laugh at the misfortune of others．Their theory seems to explain teasing，but it doesn’t work well for knock-knock jokes．Sigmund Freud argued for his relief theory，the concept that humor is a way for people to release psychological tension and reveal their inner fears and desires．His theory works well for dirty jokes，less well for most puns．
The majority of humor expels today agree with the incongruity theory，the idea that humor arises when there’s a gap between what people expect to happen and what actually happens．Incongruity has a lot going for it — jokes with unexpected funny lines，for example，fit well．But scientists have found that in comedy，unexpectedness is overvalued．
With the goal of developing a new，more satisfactory explanation，I produced “the gentle violation(違背)theory”，the idea that humor arises when something seems wrong or threatening，but is actually OK or safe．A dirty joke，for example，trades on moral or social violations，but it’s only going to get a laugh if the person listening is open enough to consider the subject OK to talk about．Similarly，puns can be seen as linguistic violations that still make grammatical sense．
And while most humor theories have struggled to account for tickling (撓癢癢)，or just avoided the phenomenon altogether，my theory accounts for even this kind of laughter．Tickling involves violating someone’s physical space in a gentle way．People can’t tickle themselves — because it isn’t a violation．
【小題1】What is the author’s attitude towards Plato and Aristotle’s theory?

A．Critical．

B．Approving

C．uncaring

D．Unclear

【小題2】According to Sigmund Freud’s theory，we can infer that __________ .

A．people will laugh when they see others suffer

B．telling dirty jokes is a relief of one’s nervous feelings ’

C．unexpectedness can explain how humor works

D．tickling doesn’t involve psychological tension

【小題3】According to the author，why are some things funny to some people but not to others?

A．Because the sense of humor varies greatly from person to person．

B．Because people have different expectations for the same thing．

C．Because some people lack the sense of safety deep in their heart．

D．Because people’s understanding of violation is different．

【小題4】What is the author’s main purpose of writing this passage?

A．To draw people’s attention to the research of humor．

B．To criticize people’s misconceptions about humor．

C．To explain what exactly causes people to laugh．

D．To prove the sense of humor can be developed．

The slavery drama “12 Years a Slave” won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday, making history as the first movie from a black director to win the film industry's highest honor in 86 years of the Oscars．Can anyone tell me your ideas about this movie? —— GreatMartin
“12 Years a Slave is a surprisingly underwhelming movie．It is more of a string of picture about several heartless and evil white men(and women)who are just mean without the motivation of running a plantation on their minds．There is very little character development and most of the film relies on what the audience already knows and feels about slavery．” 一一GeminiJef
‘‘Never have I been stunned into an emotional silence after watching a film in the theater．I've come out of films before thinking” My god，that was unbelievable”，like when I saw The Lord of the Rings for the first time，but this film just hits you on another level entirely．You sit there after it’s over，wondering if what you’d just experienced was real．The day after．you feel the same．”一一Pauljohnson
“This movie is just an average movie about slavery．Are you kidding me，segregation movies are a dime a dozen and this movie beat out Gravity for Golden Globes? Gravity has never been done before．12 Years a Slave I watched once and will never watch again．I watched Gravity 5 times and still love it．’’一一Dominionator
“This movie was realistic and engaging at every second．Even the dramatic pauses were worthwhile and definitely not a waste of time．The script inferred and hinted at events rather than just plain saying them，and that was genius．Outstanding photography，amazing special effects and the acting is top notch．There were a few people that walked out during some scenes．What a shame!” 一一Apols
【小題1】The main purpose of GreatMartin’s writing is __________ .

A．to give a brief introduction of the movie

B．to share his own opinions with others

C．to invite answers to his question

D．to explain why he asks the question

【小題2】The underlined word “stunned’’ in the third paragraph probably means __________ .

A．puzzled

B．shocked

C．disappointed

D．concerned

【小題3】Among the four speakers，who made positive comments on the movie?

A．GeminiJef and Pauljohnson	B．Pauljohnson and Dominionator
C．GeminiJef and Dominionator	D．Pauljohnson and Apols

【小題4】Which of the following best states Pauljotmson’s ideas about l2 Years a Slave?

A．It leaves little room for character development．

B．It reaches the height of The Lord of the Rings．

C．It doesn’t deserve such high praise．

D．It amazes the audience with its special effects．

Phil White has just returned from an 18,000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip．White had two reasons for making this epic journey．First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did．He raised ￡70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam．White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world．He is still waiting to find out if he has broken the record or not.
White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June 2004 and was back 299 days later．He spent more than l,300 hours in the saddle（車座） and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains．He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas．Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team．No jeep carrying food, water and medicine．No doctor．Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road.
The journey was lonely and desperate at times．He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains．He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need．There were other dangers along the road．In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to escape with his life and the little money he had．The worst thing that happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia．For l,000 kilometres he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him．This part of the trip was slow, hard work and depressing, but he made it in the end．Now Mr．White is back and intends to write a book about his adventures.
【小題1】When Phil White returned from his trip, he __________.

A．broke the world record	B．collected money for Oxfam
C．destroyed several bikes	D．travelled about l,300 hours

【小題2】What does the underlined word "epic" in Paragraph l most probably mean?

A．Very slow but exciting．	B．Very long and difficult.
C．Very smooth but tiring．	D．Very lonely and depressing.

【小題3】During his journey around the world, Phil White __________.

A．fought heroically against robbers in Iran

B．experienced the extremes of heat and cold

C．managed to ride against the wind in Australia

D．had a team of people who travelled with him

【小題4】Which of the following words can best describe Phil White?

A．Imaginative．	B．Patriotic．
C．Modest．	D．Determined.

【小題5】What actually inspired Phil White to overcome all the difficulties?

A．To help people in need.	B．To test his new bicycle.
C．To prove his potential.	D．To show off his ability.

Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman.
Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success.
Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine (女性的，嬌柔的) and has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualifies required.
This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候選人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.
【小題1】The underlined word in the first paragraph “l(fā)iability” most probably means_________.

A．trust

B．trouble

C．disadvantage

D．benefit

【小題2】Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness________.

A．is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women

B．turns out to be a disadvantage to men

C．has more effects on men than on women

D．has nothing to do with one’s work

【小題3】It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often__________.

A．objective

B．supportive

C．old-fashioned

D．subjective

【小題4】The author writes this passage to_________.

A．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive

B．discuss the disadvantages of being attractive

C．emphasize the impact of appearance on both sexes

D．make women pay more attention to their appearance