B

The iPhone, the iPad, the iPod : each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一时的风尚). Apple has cl everly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A  slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper came out last week under the name “i”

In general, single-letter prefixes (前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.

Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it is no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.

But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i” . Why not use “a”, “b” or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPad, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition ,” he says.

“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便).” adds Thorne.

Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

Along with “Google” and “Twitter”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.

But as history shows, fads come and go. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend inevitably(不可避免地)disappeared.

64. People use iPlayer to ____________.

A. listen to music                     B. make a call

C. watch TV programs online           D. read newspapers

65. We can infer that the Independent’s “ i ” is aimed at _____________.

A. young readers                     B. old readers

C. fashionable women                   D. engineers

66. Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products that are ______________.

A. advanced                          B. portable

C. recyclable                        D. environmentally friendly

67. The author of the passage would probably agree that _______________.

A. “i” products are often of high quality

B. all “i” products have something to do with Internet

C. the popularity of “i” products may not last long

D. iTeddy is a live bear

C

It may be one of Britain’s most successful exports – Miss World. This 53-year-old event took place in China last week and attracted over 120 women worldwide with knockout looks in a mad struggle for the crown.

Traditional values have long kept the Chinese, especially women, from displaying beauty. But Chinese people have now changed their attitude toward beauty contest(竞赛), although some men will still be shouting that the winner is no more beautiful than his wife or his former girl friend or even his mother in a sour tone. But such men are not shouting for the right reason. The question to be: Why isn’t there a Mr. World Beauty Contest?

And a further question to be asked is: Does taking part in a beauty contest show a woman’s  courage, wisdom and liberation or rather the opposite – a forced choice and a revolting act made under conditions of long-term discrimination?

Organizers of such beauty contests claim that the contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance. But still no answer is given to why there isn’t a Mr. Beauty or a Mr. World Contest? Or at least, why isn’t that kind of contest popular? Why is it that only women’s “qualities” need to be recognized but not men’s?

Think about who is always standing beside a fancy car on show? Is it a boy or a girl? And this is how “qualities” are judged: if the girl looks good, there is little reason why the car beside her is not of high quality.

The beauty contests go on year after year, with winners enjoying fame which quickly disappears. While such events go on and on, what never changes is the routine practice that in every fancy car show, a girl stands beside a fancy car. What never changes is the need to hold a women’s conference every year to appeal for the promotion of respect for and improvement of women. What never changes is the fate of women as a class. So let’s put more time and resources into trying to change all this rather than holding beauty contests.

68. Which of the following is TRUE to the passage?

A. Miss World Beauty Contest first began in China.

B. Women were not allowed to show their beauty in China.

C. 120 women took part in Beauty Contest last week.

D. Miss World was 53 years old.

69. According to the writer,  _________-     .

A. Chinese women are not allowed to display beauty

B. the winner of Miss World is not as beautiful as his wife

C. some men are not shouting for the right person

D. people can accept a beauty contest in China now

70. From the passage we can know the writer thinks that__________________.

A. contestants’ qualities are more important than their physical appearance

B. a Mr. World Contest should be held instead of a Miss World Contest

C. a boy should stand by a fancy car

D. women’s social status is still low

71. The best title for this passage is_________________.

A. What about a Mr. World Contest?   B. History of Miss World Contest.

C. Quality or Appearance?     D. A Boy Standing beside a Fancy Car.

D

An idea that started in Seattle’s public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.

In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起)the “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong kong.

In Chicago, the mayor(市长)appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the “One Book, One Chicago” program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.

The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致)can be achieved.Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point, putting all their energy and passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.

Eventually，as Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process, or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word.

72.What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?

A.To invite authors to guide readers.        B.To encourage people to read and share.

C.To involve people in community service.   D.To promote the friendship between cities.

73.According to the passage, where would the project be more easily carried out?

A.In large communities with little sense of unity

B.In large cities where libraries are far from home

C.In medium-sized cities with a diverse population

D.In large towns where agreement can be quickly reached

74.The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean        .

A.exchanged ideas with each other          B.discussed the meaning of a word

C.gamed life experience                  D.used the same language

75. According to Nancy, the degree of success of the project is judged by        .

A. the careful selection of a proper book        B. the growing popularity of the writers

C. the number of people who benefit from reading  D. the number of books that each person reads

第二节、根据短文内容，从A到F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。

A. A sense of humor is not an inborn ability.

B. A sense of humor can be developed in our life.

C. A sense of humor helps us from several aspects.

D. A sense of humor means more than telling jokes.

E. A sense of humor can be expressed in many ways.

F. A sense of humor helps people to better enjoy life.

76. _____ As awareness of the benefits of humor increases, most of us want to get all the laughs we can. It seems that almost every day there is another new discovery about the power of humor to help us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Every system of the body responds to laughter in some important or positive way.

77. _____ Many people mistakenly believe that we are born with a sense of humor. They think that  when it comes to a sense of humor, “either you’ve got it or you don’t.” This is false. What is true, however, is that the ability to laugh and smile is actually something we are born with. For example, we laugh when we are tickled under the arm, even without thinking about how to react.

78. _____ The parts of the brain and central nervous system that control laughing and smiling are mature at birth in human infants, but that is not the same thing as having a sense of humor. (After all, when a baby laughs in his small bed we don’t rush over and say, “That kid has a great sense of humor.”) Your sense of humor is something you can develop over a lifetime. Don’t be nervous before others and try to laugh at yourself—then you will make them laugh too.

79. _____ Humor includes a lot more than laughing and joke telling. Many people worry needlessly that they do not have a good sense of humor because they are not good joke tellers. More than jokes, a sense of humor requires being willing and able to see the funny side of life’s situations as they happen. In fact, one of the best definition of a sense of humor is “the ability to see the nonserious element in a situation”.

80. _____ There may be a thousand different ways to express your sense of humor, but joke telling is only one of those ways. As more is discovered about how humor benefits our life, more people will be able to see and enjoy the humor when they are in a difficult situation. Life depends on air, food and water, but it is made easier to live with a good sense of humor.

第四部分、写作(共两节，满分25分)

第一节、短文改错 (共10处错误，每处1分，共10分)

Last Saturday, I wanted very much to see a film together with my brother after supper. On my way to the cinema, we happen to meet an American named Peter, who had lost his way, looked worried. When he told us that he was able to find the hotel, we decided take him there. When we went to the hotel, we told of Peter the great changes that had taken place in our country in the past few year, and he told us a lot of things about the youths in the U.S.A. Although my brother and I missed a interesting film, we felt very happily, for we had not only helped Peter out of trouble and also learnt something from him.

第二节、书面表达(共1题，共15分)

假设你是李华，请就食品卫生问题，给某报社英文栏目编辑写一封120词左右的信，内容要点如下：

1、 你的邻居因食用从市场买回来的伪劣食品中毒。

2、你目睹了他们中毒与在邻里帮助下脱险的经过。

3、呼吁社会各界重视食品卫生与安全;……

注意：(1)短文须包含上述所有要点，也可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。

(2)文中所给出的提示不计入总词数。

(3)参考词汇：伪劣食品：fake food    食品卫生：food hygiene

I’m writing to tell you about a food poisoning incident._______________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours

Li Hua

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