J.K. Rowling set children’s imaginations on fire. Can the creator of Harry Potter do the same for a grown-up audience? The British author will find out on September 27, when more than 2 million hardcover(精裝書) copies of her first novel for adults hit bookstores in the UK and the US, along with the digital edition. Set in a little English town, The Casual Vacancy is about an election held after an unexpected death.
Michael Pietsch, Rowling’s US publisher, says the novel reminded him of Dickens “because of the humanity, the humor, the social concerns, the intensely real characters”. No magic though, apparently: “This book isn’t Harry Potter”, says Pietsch. “It is a completely different concern”. As with Harry Potter, there are no advance copies for the media, no early reviews. To date, the seven-book series has sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, and it became one of the most successful movie franchises in July 21, 2007.
Back then, fans could buy books at midnight parties hosted by bookstores. But recent years have seen a great challenge for brick-and-mortar(實(shí)體的) bookstores. People are still buying books, indeed more books than in 2007, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers. But they are reading them in a new format(樣式)—the e-book. The Harry Potter series just became available digitally for the first time in April. It will be different for The Casual Vacancy, with the publisher simultaneously releasing an e-book. For Rowling fans who once queued up for Harry Potter, this means that instant satisfaction is now only a click away.
Moving from children’s books to adult literature is a big transition. Will Rowling’s new book be successful? Arthur Levine, the US co-editor of the Harry Potter books, seems confident: “If you read or re-read the Harry Potter books, you can see that Rowling has all the strengths she needs for great success as a fiction writer –you have great characters, an involving plot, a sense of humor and great empathy”.
【小題1】In Paragraph 2, what Michael Pietsch says means that_____.

A．Dickens’ works are too impressive to forget.

B．J.K. Rowling has all the strengths of Dickens.

C．The new book is similar to Dickens’ works in some way.

D．The new book is quite different from the works of Dickens.

【小題2】The underlined word “simultaneously” has the closest meaning with“______”.

A．willingly

B．meanwhile

C．especially

D．eventually

【小題3】What’s the main purpose of Paragraph 3?

A．To explain why the new book will have a digital edition.

B．To show the Harry Potter series are popular with readers.

C．To compare J.K. Rowling’s old books and her new book.

D．To clarify the great challenges for brick-and-mortar bookstores.

【小題4】What do the Harry Potter series and The Casual Vacancy have in common?

A．They are both intended for children.

B．They both show the author’s great talent.

C．Their characters both have magical power.

D．Both of them won’t be read on the Internet.

People often say that money talks. They mean that a person with a lot of money can say how he or she wants things done. But it is not easy to earn enough money to gain this kind of power. Ask anyone in a business, they will tell you that it is a jungle out there. The expression probably began because the jungle is filled with wild animals and unknown dangers that threaten people. Sometimes people in business feel competing businesses are as dangerous as wild animals. And they feel that unknown dangers in the business world frighten the survival of their business.
People in business have to be careful, if they are to survive the jungle out there. They must not be led into making bogus investments. Bogus means something that it is not real. Nobody is sure how the word got started. But it began to appear in a American newspapers in 1800s. A newspaper in Boston Massachusetts said the word came from a criminal whose name was Bogazy. The newspaper said Bogazy wrote checks to people, although he did not have enough money in the bank. After he wrote the checks, he would flee from town. So people who were paid with his checks received nothing. The newspaper said Americans shortened and changed to the criminal's name Bogazy to bogus.
People try to earn money also must be aware of being ripped off. A person who is ripped off has had something stolen or at least has been treated very unfairly. A writer for the magazine American Speech said he first saw the expression used in 1971. It was on a sign that a student carried during a protest demonstration at a university. The message on the sign was that the student felt ripped off or cheated. Perhaps the best way to prevent getting ripped off in business is to not try to get rich quickly.
To be successful, a person in business works hard and tries to get down to brass tacks. This expression means to get to the bottom or most important part of something. For example, a salesman may talk and talk about his product without saying the price. You get down to brass tacks when you say it sounds good but how much does it cost？
Word expert Charles Funk thinks the expression comes from sailors on ships. They clean the bottom of a boat. When they have removed all the dirt, they are down to the brass tacks, the copper pieces that hold the boat together. So if we get down to brass tacks, we can prevent rip-offs and bogus ways of earning money in that jungle out there. And some good luck will help too.
【小題1】This passage is mainly written to________.

A．explain several expressions related to money

B．tell us some skills of learning English words

C．tell us the secret of how to do business

D．tell us the power of money

【小題2】People compare doing business to being in a jungle because________.

A．doing business is as exciting as living in a jungle

B．businessmen are as dangerous as animals in a jungle

C．doing business is as difficult as living in a jungle

D．businessmen are as careful as people living in a jungle

【小題3】If we say something is bogus, we probably mean it is not________.

A．real

B．beautiful

C．good

D．new

【小題4】According to Paragraph 2,where did the word "bogus" come from? _________

A．The name of a very successful businessman.

B．The name of a criminal who cheated others.

C．The name of a famous newspaper in Boston.

D．The name of a check written by a criminal.

In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .It’s a principle that’ been lost in the constant chat of the Western world .From my own past experience , I noticed how much faster I had to answer a question during a TV interview .It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk , and we end up frightened by silence .
Everywhere, people on the African continent write and tell stories. Even the nomads(流浪者)who still live in the Kalahari Desert are said to tell one another stories on their daylong wanderings, during which they search for roots and animals to hunt.
A number of years ago I sat down on a stone bench outside the Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, where I worked as an artistic consultant. It was a hot day, and we were taking a break, hoping that a cool gentle wind would move past. Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous.
I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, “I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and I decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead.”
The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he’d heard. Finally he, too, spoke. “That’s not a good way to die—before you’ve told the end of your story.”
What separates us from animals is the fact that we are storytelling creatures and we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats—and they in turn can listen to ours.
Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening.
Many words will be written on the wind and the sand, or end up in store. But the storytelling will go on until the last human being stops listening. Then we can send the great record of human out into the endless universe.
Who knows? Maybe someone is out there, willing to listen…
【小題1】From the very beginning of the passage, we can know Europeans ________.

A．a(chǎn)ctually lose the ability to listen

B．seldom chat constantly with each other

C．feel frightened when they are alone and silent

D．tend to talk more and listen less

【小題2】 It can be inferred from the passage that if you are in Africa, you will _______.

A．suffer hot weather and lack of water

B．be certainly helped when in trouble

C．often hear the stories told by strangers

D．have no choice but to listen during a talk

【小題3】According to the last three paragraphs, we can know _________.

A．no one knows exactly why Africans are willing to listen

B．information is hard to understand without interpretation

C．listening makes the difference between information and knowledge

D．the existence of humans’ recordings totally depends on the way of storytelling

【小題4】The passage mainly talks about __________.

A．the experience of the author

B．the art of listening in Africa

C．the importance of storytelling

D．the life styles of Africans

The influence of America is increasing in my country. Spanish people drink Coca Cola, wear blue jeans, watch Hollywood movies, listen to American music, and eat fast food, and they do these things every day.
I think that American movies are a good way to spread American culture because people are often influenced by what they see in the movies. Most of the programs and documentaries (紀(jì)錄片) we watch on TV are from America, and most of the movies we go to see are made in Hollywood.
In the last few years, the government has tried to protect the Spanish movies. Now, in our cinemas, at least twenty percent of the movies which are shown must be from Spain or from other countries in Europe.
American culture is a part of Spanish life now. It’s certain that many things from America are as much a part of people’s lives as Spanish things. For example, Coca Cola is as familiar to everybody as any typical Spanish product. I’ve known about Coca Cola for my whole life.
However, it’s different with Western fast food. For example, I don’t think McDonald’s is as successful in Spain as it is in other countries. In my opinion, one of the reasons may be the lifestyle of the Spanish people. The Spanish people normally eat at home.
On the other hand, maybe McDonald’s hamburgers will eventually replace the famous Spanish tapas. It’s true that in every city in Spain you can find a McDonald’s, and it is more popular among the Spanish children than among the adults. In any case, it’s obvious that American culture is becoming more and more a part of our lives every day.  
【小題1】From the first paragraph we can know that ____.

A．the influence of America on Spain can be found everywhere

B．most Spanish people don’t like to listen to their own music

C．fast food spreads from Spain to the United States

D．some Spanish actors go to America to improve their acting skills

【小題2】What plays an important part in the spreading of American culture in Spain?

A．American novels.	B．Hollywood movies.
C．McDonald’s.	D．American music.

【小題3】Why did the government set some rules for the films shown in Spain?

A．To protect foreign culture in Spain.

B．To earn more money from Spanish films.

C．To limit the number of foreign movies.

D．To unite the European Community.

【小題4】What do you think Spanish tapas might be?

A．The name of a drink.	B．The name of a restaurant.
C．A clothing brand.	D．A certain kind of food.

Like many languages spoken by people, Ayapaneco is dying. Only two people in the world still speak it, and they won't talk to each other.
Spoken in Mexico for centuries, Ayapaneco is one of 68 surviving languages in the mainly Spanish-speaking nation. The two speakers are Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez. Though they live only 500 meters from each other in the village, the two men seldom talk to each other. Daniel, an American expert, who is working to make a dictionary of Ayapaneco, says the two men “don’t have a lot in common,” and that Segovia can be “active” while Velasquez tends to mind his own business and stay at home.
While Segovia still speaks to his wife and son in Ayapaneco, neither of them can manage more than a few words. Velasquez hardly speaks his native tongue any more. Daniel is working to preserve the language in dictionary form before its last surviving speakers pass away. According to Daniel, Ayapaneco and the other languages began dying out with the introduction of public Spanish education in the mid-20^th century. For decades, local children weren’t allowed to speak anything else. Many people to cities, starting in the 1970s, also helped the dying out of native languages.
Ayapaneco is the name given to the language; Segovia and Velazquez call it “Nuumte Oote”, which means “true voice”. Neither man, however, speaks the same language. The dictionary will contain two versions(版本) of the language when it comes out later this year. Those behind the dictionary aren’t the only ones trying to save Ayapaneco. The National Language Institute plans to hold classes so that Segovia and Velasquez can pass on what they know to children.
It is thought that there are about 6,000 languages spoken on earth and that about half will disappear over the next 100 years. Let’s hope the “true voice” isn’t one of them.
【小題1】Which are the main reasons why the language Ayapaneco started dying out? 
a. No teacher liked to teach it.        
b. Local children had to speak Spanish.
c. many villagers went to live in cities. 
d. The surviving speakers didn’t like to use it.

A．a(chǎn), b

B．a(chǎn), c

C．b, d

D．b, c

【小題2】How does the National Language Institute try to save Ayapaneco?

A．Write a dictionary of Ayapaneco.

B．Let Ayapaneco be taught at school.

C．Introduce a public Ayapaneco education.

D．Ask villagers to speak Ayapaneco.

【小題3】From the text we learn that the author____________________.

A．a(chǎn)grees that it is natural that Ayapaneco should die out

B．thinks Daniel’s effort to preserve Ayapaneco won’t work

C．thinks highly of Ayapaneco and wants people to learn it

D．hopes that Ayapaneco will not die out in the future

Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer. But there is one question that has millions of correct answers. That question is “What’s your name?” Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?
People’s first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used. Some parents choose the name of a well-known person. A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”.
The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near brook(小溪)；someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village.Some other occupational names are: Carter---a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter---a person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or –son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.
【小題1】Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?   

A．Places where people lived.	B．People’s characters.
C．Talents that people possessed.	D．People’s occupations.

【小題2】According to the passage, the ancestors of the Potter family most probably _______.

A．owned or drove a cart	B．made things with metals
C．made kitchen tools or containers	D．built houses and furniture

【小題3】Suppose an English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-born son to become a world leader, the baby might be named _______.

A．Beatrice Smith	B．Leonard Carter
C．George Longstreet	D．Donald Greenwood

【小題4】The underlined word “descendants” in the last paragraph means a person’s _____.  

A．later generations	B．friends and relatives
C．colleagues and partners	D．later bosses

One might expect that the ever­growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive the holiday­makers.Indeed，a rosy picture is painted for the long­term future of the holiday industry.Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere.And every month another rock­bound Pacific island is advertised as the ‘last paradise(天堂) on earth’．
However，the scale and speed of this growth seem set to destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy.In those countries where there was a rush to make quick money out of sea­side holidays，over­crowded beaches and the concrete jungles of endless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.
Those countries with little experience of tourism can suffer most.In recent years，Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health and education.Its forests，full of wildlife and rare flowers，were offered to tourists as one more untouched paradise.In fact，the nature all too soon felt the effects of thousands of holiday­makers traveling through the forest land.Ancient tracks became major routes for the walkers，with the consequent exploitation of  precious trees and plants.
Not only can the environment of a country suffer from the sudden growth of tourism.The people as well rapidly feel its effects.Farmland makes way for hotels，roads and airports；the old way of life goes.The one­time farmer is now the servant of some multi­national organization；he is no longer his own master.Once it was his back that bore the pain；now it is his smile that is exploited.No doubt he wonders whether he wasn’t happier in his village working his own land.
Thankfully，the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers.The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and in fact obtain financial support from tourist companies.At the same time，tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.
The way tourism is handled in the next ten years will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit.Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies.Increased understanding in planning world­wide tourism can preserve the market for these companies.If not，in a few years’ time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed.
【小題1】What does the author indicate in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?

A．The Pacific island is a paradise.

B．The Pacific island is worth visiting.

C．The advertisement is not convincing.

D．The advertisement is not impressive.

【小題2】The example of Nepal is used to suggest________.

A．its natural resources are untouched

B．its forests are exploited for farmland

C．it develops well in health and education

D．it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists

【小題3】What can we learn about the farmers from Paragraph 4?

A．They are happy to work their own lands.

B．They have to please the tourists for a living.

C．They have to struggle for their independence.

D．They are proud of working in multi­national organizations.

【小題4】Which of the following determines the future of tourism ?

A．The number of tourists.

B．The improvement of services.

C．The promotion of new products.

D．The management of tourism.

【小題5】The author’s attitude towards the development of the tourist industry is________.

A．optimistic	B．doubtful
C．objective	D．negative

Do you like shopping? Or does the thought of wandering round the shops fill you with terror? For some of us，shopping is an enjoyable way of spending our spare time and our money. For me．it's something I would rather avoid．Thank goodness for the Internet! It's more convenient to buy CDs，electrical items，even food，from the comfort of your sofa．But that’s not the only reason：price is an important factor．We can buy goods and services cheaper online. But sometimes the problem is knowing what to buy．This has led to a type of shopping called “showrooming”．
Showrooming is something I've done．I will go to a shop to see，touch and try out products but then go home and buy them online at a knock—down price．I'm not alone in doing this．Research by a company called Foolproof，found 24％of people showroomed while Christmas shopping in 2013．
Amy Cashman，Head of Technology at TNS UK，says the reasons for this new shopping habit are that“people are lacking time，lacking money and they want security about the products they are buying．”She explains that consumers are not only shopping online at home but they are using the Internet in store or on their smartphones to shop around．
But does this mean technology will kill shops? Certainly shops will change．They will have to offer more competitive prices or encourage people to buy more by giving in—store discounts or free girls．
We mustn’t forget that buying in a shop means you can get expert advice from the sales assistant and you can get good aftercare．It’s good to speak to a real human rather than look at a faceless computer screen but at least by showrooming，you get the best of both worlds!
【小題1】The two questions in Paragraph l are raised to       

A．introduce the topic	B．give two examples
C．compare different opinions	D．get answers from readers

【小題2】What does showrooming mean in the text?

A．Trying in shops and buying online．

B．Showing products in a room．

C．Buying something in a store．

D．Shopping on the Internet．

【小題3】According to Amy Cashman，which is not the reason for showrooming?

A．The lack of time．	B．The comfort of the sofa．
C．The shortness of money．	D．The security of the product．

【小題4】What can be inferred from Paragraph 4 ?

A．Online shops will disappear．

B．Free gifts will surely promote sales．

C．Shops need necessary changes．

D．Shops will be replaced by online shops．

【小題5】The author's attitude towards showrooming is         

A．critical

B．neutral

C．supportive

D．casual

In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism--the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize all possible basic knowledge. Instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves.There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.
In most Asia societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both systems of education. For example, one advantage of the system in Japan is that students there learn much more about math, physics, biology and chemistry than American students by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.
The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.
【小題1】The writer’s purpose of writing this passage is      .

A．to share his idea with others in a new way

B．to introduce two different systems of education through contrast

C．to criticize the society that values memorization

D．to prepare students for society

【小題2】Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The system of education in the West is more creative than that in the East

B．Japanese students learn much more about science than American students.

C．Canadian students are more individual than Korean students.

D．Students in North America are not so friendly as those in Asia.

【小題3】From the facts, we can infer that       .

A．Asian students are more likely to do better in teamwork than American students

B．Chinese students are more hard-working in their studies than Mexican students

C．the Western educational system is much better than the Eastern educational system.

D．the Eastern educational system is as difficult as the Western educational system.

【小題4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Advantages and Disadvantages of Educational System.

B．The Value of Individualism.

C．Educational System-an Obvious Difference between the East and the West.

D．Memorization-an Important Learning Method.

Market analysts in the United States have recently been quoted as saying that the biggest threat to the luxury (奢侈品) industry in the US is the tech industry. This is according to an article by fellow journalist Ashley Lutz. Her suggestion is sound. The main idea of her article is that products from Tiffany & Co. find their biggest competition not from other luxury brands but from companies like Apple. Lutz points out that luxury products are often only for “show,” while the attraction behind tech products is functionality.
You find few people in the United States today willing to purchase luxury goods at full price. It didn’t use to be that way. Luxury goods used to be actually exclusive. That meant you needed to travel to the right store to purchase them, and you didn’t even have the option of getting a deal.
Today, no one wants to pay full price for luxury goods. People have the unfortunate belief that fakes (贗品) somehow are equal to originals, and if you can’t get a deal on eBay, Amazon, or in an outlet store, purchasing a luxury product probably isn’t worth it. Luxury brands struggle to remain high-end (高檔的) images despite the reality that the American consumer is motivated much more by discounts than they are by brand names or image.
Yet people stand in line to pay full price for a new product from Apple and crowds gather to hear about a new smart phone. While electronics are updating every day, people are purchasing technology at full prices much more than they are purchasing luxury goods. What are high-tech makers doing right that luxury makers are pitifully failing at?
Carefully looking at the situation, it would appear as if the Internet didn’t hurt the luxury industry, expectation from the consumers did. What people want these days more than anything is stuff that does something. They want cars that drive, shoes that are comfortable, games that are fun to play, screens that are beautiful to look at, tools that are useful, and entertainment that is entertaining. Little of that fits into what the luxury industry has typically offered with its status, image, and fine materials. The sad reality is that luxury products aren’t that luxury any more.
【小題1】What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．Nobody likes luxury goods any more.

B．Luxury goods are of poor quality nowadays.

C．Tech products become the new “l(fā)uxury goods”.

D．Iphones have taken the place of luxury products.

【小題2】The underlined word “exclusive” in paragraph 2 means _______.

A．unique and with no bargain	B．low in price
C．hard to find	D．easy to sell

【小題3】From paragraph 3 we can know that _______.

A．people have found that some luxury goods are fakes

B．people can buy luxury goods at a low price on eBay

C．luxury brands will give up high-end images

D．consumers prefer brand names to discounts