Affordable Boutique Hotels in New York City By STEPHEN HEYMAN    June 20, 2010 A new breed of hotels is trying to stand out from the masses with designer details, memorable allowances and prices around $250 a night. Welcome to Boutique Hotel.
	To Get Those Summer Tickets in New York, Strategize By FELICIA R. LEE        May 28, 2010 “The Merchant of Venice” is on show. Tickets can now be requested online, Most New Yorkers know the drill: on the day of the show, line up outside the Theater in Central Park several hours before 1 p.m., when free tickets start being handed out.
	Climbing the Walls in Brooklyn By LOUISE STORY         May 28, 2010 Since opening last fall, Brooklyn Boulders, an 18,000-square-foot gym, has become a destination for New York rock climbers of all levels.
	Hotel Review: Ace Hotel, New York By FRED A. BERNSTEIN    September 27, 2009 The owners are hoping that guests will enjoy the spacious accommodations, but that depends on whether they find the hotel’s oddities off-putting or endearing.
	Tent City: A Child’s Urban Adventure By ERIC KONIGSBERG     July 24, 2009 One of the better-kept secrets of the city is the series of one-night family campouts that the Parks & Recreation Department has every summer weekend.

1.If you want to stay in a hotel in New York City for a week and enjoy designer details, memorable allowances, you need to get prepared for at least____________.

A. $ 1550             B. $ 1650              C. $ 1750           D. $ 1850

2.___________ is a good destination for New York rock climbers of all levels.

A. the Parks & Recreation Department           B. Brooklyn Boulders

C. Lower Manhattan                     D. Tent City

3. Suppose you are interested in Shakespeare’s plays, you may pay attention to more details written by _________.

A. ERIC KONIGSBERG                    B. LOUISE STORY    

C. FRED A. BERNSTEIN                  D. FELICIA R. LEE

 

 

       ①I(mǎi)t’s “l(fā)aughably absurd” on one blog and a “magical revolution” on another．Bloggers are talking about the same device—the Apple iPad, which hit store shelves last week．

       ②Tech-heads hate the iPad because it has many functions—you can e-mail, browse the Web, read books—but it has no specialty．There are other devices on the market that do all its functions faster, cheaper and more efficiently．Get a Blackberry to scan e-mails or any old laptop to access the Internet．

       ③This first version of the iPad lacks many basic features．Tech-heads dislike the device not because of what it offers, but because of what it doesn’t offer．It doesn’t have Flash, and it doesn’t have a camera．It can’t access many of the world’s mobile applications, and it has a very restricted apple store．Based on purely technological grounds, the iPad is said to lack more than it gives．

       ④But if you are not a crazy tech-head, and you love the iPod and iPhone, “this device is for you,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO．The iPad will take online activities truly mobile．It will allow you to read the news in bed, check a recipe in a busy kitchen or view a large-scale Google map．

       ⑤Perhaps most important to the masses, it is a traditional computer without trouble．There are wireless, but it’s totally mobile．You press a button and it comes on in seconds．To add a program, you just download it from the Internet．Since almost everyone uses a computer in the office or at school, the need for the traditional desktop model at home is disappearing．Slate Magazine’s Farhad Manjoo calls the iPad the perfect alternative to the home computer system．

       ⑥But no matter how you feel about the iPad, as a tech-head or an everyman, there’s no arguing with its appeal．Love it or hate it, the iPad sold over 600,000 units on its opening weekend, surpassing the iPhone’s record sales in 2007．

1．What can be the best title for the text?

       A．Loving and hating the iPad      B．An exciting invention

       C．A home computer substitute        D．The iPad—a wise choice

2．According to the text, which of the following is Not true of the iPad?

       A．It can access the Internet．          B．It is wireless but portable．

       C．It can play any online video．       D．It can help you scan e-mail．

3．Which of the following best shows the structure of the text?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4．Farhad Manjoo’s attitude towards the iPad might be that of ______．

       A．doubt      B．unconcern       C．sympathy      D．support

5．Tech-heads dislike the iPad because of ______．

       A．its after-sale services               B．its high price

       C．its function shortages   D．its slow speed

 

 

                                  A spirit of adventure, curiosity about different cultures and the desire for a challenge can be found in young people everywhere. More and more students in China are backpacking around the country.

    According to the China Youth Travel Service, Hainan, Dalian, Zhangjiajie and Qingdao were among the most popular spots for young Chinese backpackers last year. Backpacking allows the traveler a greater sense of independence.

“I can no longer put up with the instructions of a tourist guide,” said Huang Ye, a 19-year-old college student in Beijing. “They are always driving you to places that you do not want to go to and trying to make you buy local souvenirs（紀(jì)念品）.”

Huang likes to travel as a backpacker. She prefers an independent trip that she took with two friends to Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province. There, they chose some scenic spots to visit and avoided the masses of tourists.

Backpackers see the difficulties of such travel as a challenge. Living on bread and water for days on end, wearing the same clothes over and over again and carrying a heavy bag on their backs while climbing a mountain are all character-building experiences.

But perhaps the greatest challenge that a backpacker faces is not a physical one, but mental. They may face loneliness if they travel alone.

Chen Xuewei, 21, suffered when he took off around China last year. “I felt very lonely at the beginning of my journey. A walkman didn’t make me feel better, but rather heightened the sense of loneliness I felt. I even called up my friends to tell them that I wanted to give up and go back to Beijing,” he recalled. But he kept going. He started to make friends and appreciate the local customs. He took lots of photos to record his trip and now he is glad he stuck it out.

Backpackers generally find themselves to be mature（成熟）after their experiences. “Their travel logs（旅行日志）track their development as people.” “When I feel frustrated, I read my travel log again,” said Tang Weifeng, a postgraduate at Peking University. “By reading it, I get a sense that I am better off now than I was when I wrote those words by the light of a torch in a hot tent.”

63. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as one of the advantages of backpacking according to the story?

A. It builds up your character.

B. Through the experience, you learn to live in a tent.

C. Through the experience, you learn to rely on yourself.

D. Through the experience, you learn to deal with loneliness.

64. What does the underlined word “frustrated” in the last paragraph mean?

A. Disappointed.       B. Happy.       C. Tired.       D. Excited.

65. What is the story mainly about?

A. Some backpackers’ experiences.  

B. The advantages of backpacking.

C. Young people’s love of backpacking.

D. The increasing popularity of backpacking among Chinese students and its reasons.

 

Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it's best to sleep on a problem. They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day.

Lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, "Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences. It's like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it's hard to explain."

The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols (象征) , reports New Scientist. They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept. They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night's sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day. They also found it easier to remember themes (主題) that the words had in common. But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake. Prof. John Groeger, of Surrey University's Sleep Research Centre, said, "People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative (有助恢復(fù)的) value. " "We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with it all."

1.The phrase" to sleep on a problem" in Paragraph 1 most likely means to______.

A. pay full attention to a problem                         B. wait until later for a decision

C. sleep to forget a problem                                  D. have difficulty sleeping

2.In the study by the US research team, students were asked to______.

A. put together words of similar meanings

B. remember words and their meanings

C. show their knowledge of words

D. make up lists of related words

3.Which of the following may be easier to remember?

A. Themes learned right before the test

B. Rules from personal experience

C. Words learnt before a good sleep

D. Ideas stored together in the brain

4.What may be the importance of the research?

A. It shows sleep may help us manage information

B. It helps find out the common themes of word

C. It tells us that more sleep can improve health

D. It proves the value of old-fashioned advice

 

Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it’s best to sleep on a problem．They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day．

         The lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, “Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences．It’s like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it’s hard to explain．”

         The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols, reports New Scientist．They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept．They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night’s sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day．They also found it easier to remember themes that the words had in common．But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake．

         Prof．John Groeger, of Survey University’s Sleep Research Centre, said, “People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative （促使康復(fù)的）value．”

         “We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with them all．”

1.The phrase “to sleep on a problem” in Paragraph 1 most likely means “________”．

    A．to pay full attention to a problem              

         B．to wait until the next day for a decision

    C．to sleep to forget a problem                  

         D．to have difficulty in sleeping

2.In the study by the US research team, students were asked to ________．

    A．put together words of similar meanings        

         B．remember words and their meanings

    C．show their knowledge of words                

         D．make up lists of related words

3.Which of the following may be easier to remember?

    A．Themes learned right before the test．        

         B．Rules from personal experiences．

    C．Words learned before a good sleep．  

         D．Ideas stored together in the brain．

4.What may be the importance of the research?

    A．It shows that sleep may help us manage information．

    B．It helps find out the common themes of words．

         C．It tells us that more sleep can improve health．

         D．It proves the value of old-fashioned advice．