One night when I was in the second grade, I saw something on the news that really bothered me. It was about a group of homeless people sleeping outside in the cold, with nowhere to go for warmth and comfort.

    So I decided to start a club, whose goal was to raise money to help the homeless. I called it the Rock Club. When I first started, we only had about five members, but that quickly grew to about twenty. I hardly had to ask anybody if they wanted to be a member. In fact, they came up to me and just asked me if they could join!

    We spent all of our free time painting rocks. We painted animals, flowers and shapes — even the names of sports teams. We’d go around the school in search of teachers who would buy our rocks. By Christmas, we had raised thirty-three dollars and then we decided to give the money to a local homeless shelter.

    As we were leaving the homeless shelter, I saw a man sitting on the snow-covered street. He was wearing a dirty coat and black pants that were covered with mud. He was holding a Christmas tree covered with red decorations. I felt so sorry for him because he had nowhere else to put a tree except the streets where he lived.

    A few days later, a newspaper reporter and a photographer came to our school and took a picture of our Rock Club members. The photo and article came out in the paper the next day. We all felt proud that we had done something that gave more attention to the needs of the homeless in our town. Our school decided to start a program just for kids to help the homeless shelter.

    Something as simple as some rocks, some paintings and a few caring kids made me realize that you're never too young and that you don't need much to make a difference.

21. How did the author feel when seeing the news?

   A. Angry.                      B. Worried.                 C. Disappointed.                      D. Puzzled.

22. What do we know about the Rock Club?

   A. It was supported by the school.

   B. It was popular among students.

   C. It was rarely visited by teachers.

   D. It raised money for sports teams.

23. What touched the author when he was leaving the homeless shelter?

   A. A man had no clothes to wear.

   B. A man had nowhere else to rest.

   C. A man had no place to put his Christmas tree.

   D. A man was expecting a Christmas dinner eagerly.

24. What has the author learnt from the Rock Club?

   A. Making a difference is limited by age.

   B. Painting is a good way to help others.

   C. Helping others is not so difficult.

   D. It is important to start a club.

Sightseeing Tours in Germany

Germany has a variety of cities each with its own characteristics, from the busy city of Berlin, to the ancient city of Cologne, to the Bavarian capital of Munich. Thankfully, these major German cities offer sightseeing tours that offer the opportunity to better explore(探索) the surrounding regions and the country’s most historic sites.

Berlin on Bike

berlin image by Jürgen Remmer from Fotolia.com 

Berlin on Bike takes visitors through the German capital via five bicycle tours, all with guides. Regular tours include the Wall Tour and Berlin’s Best, with stops at some of the city’s most famous landmarks, such as the Reichstag and the Berlin Wall. Specialty tours include the East Unplugged, which explores what life was like in East Berlin under Communist rule.

berlinonbike.de/english/index.php

Munich City Sightseeing Tour

The Munich City Sightseeing Tour transports travelers throughout the city via an open-air, double-decker bus. This tour includes stops at such sites as the Munich central train station, the 1972 Olympic Stadium Park, Munich’s opera house and Karlsplatz, the gate to the historic city. The bus features a narrated tour guide and offers an English-language option.
    raileurope.com/activities/munich-city-sightseeing-tour/index.html

Nice City Tours－Cologne

Nice City Tours offers three tours of Cologne, available to private or business groups in a variety of languages. The Old Town Tour runs for two hours and includes a guided tour of the Cologne Cathedral and some of the city’s old squares. The Brewery Pub Tour explores some of the city’s most beloved breweries and pubs, and details the history behind Kolsch, Cologne’s resident beer.

nicecitytours.com/tours.htm

25. The similarity of the three tours lies in that they all include______.

   A. bus tours               B. English service            C. guide’s service              D. three routes   

26. If you take a great interest in beer, which tour might be suitable for you?

A. The Wall Tour                                             B. The Brewery Pub Tour

C. The Old Town Tour                                     D. The Munich City Sightseeing Tour

27. Where can you probably see this passage?

   A. In a textbook                    B. In a journal                    C. In a report              D. On a website

No two cultures are the same. The American and Indian cultures have very vast differences between them. While the culture of America is a mixture of different cultures, the Indian culture is unique and has its own values.

One of the major differences that can be seen between American and Indian culture is in family relations. While the Indians are very much family oriented(以...为方向的), the Americans are individual oriented. In Indian culture, the family values are given more importance than the individual values. Indians respect family values. On the other hand, in American culture the individual values get more importance than the family values.

In another sense, it can be said that the American culture is more goal oriented and the Indian culture is more people or family oriented. Indians may even forsake their individual wishes and also happiness for the sake of families. But in American culture, this trend(倾向) cannot be seen.

Unlike the Indians, the Americans plan things ahead. The Americans believe in controlling nature and controlling the world around them. On the contrary, Indians believe in the harmony with nature. Another difference that can be seen between Indian culture and American culture is that the Indians love stability(稳定) while the Americans love mobility.

In American culture, one can see that the individuals think of independence. On the other hand, Indians are more dependent on others. While the children in the US are brought up to live an independent life, the children in India are not brought up in that way. In Indian culture, there is respect for the elders and it is they who make decisions. But in American culture, each individual makes his own decisions.

Coming to competition, Indians are more competitive than the Americans. Coming to work nature, the Indians work for meeting the family needs. On the contrary, an American will only strive to rise on his own ability. Another difference that can be seen is that Americans have a great regard for time and its value. But Indians are different.

28. From Paragraph 2, we know that compared to Americans, Indians      .

A. are more devoted to their families

B. pay more attention to themselves.

C. place less stress on their culture

D. don’t value so many things in their life

29. What does the underlined work “forsake” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. show off                        B. give up                  C. take in            D. turn to

30. What is implied about children in India?

A. They often struggle to become independent.

B. They usually don’t show much respect to the elderly.

C. They are usually not encouraged to make decisions.

D. They are taught to depend on themselves from an early age.

31. What’s the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To help us become interested in different cultures in the world.

B. To prove that American culture is a mixture of different cultures.

C. To explain why Indian culture is different from American culture.

D. To compare the differences between Indian and American cultures.

Starting the day on an egg could keep your blood pressure (血压) under control, research suggests. Scientists have shown that eggs produce proteins with a function similar to that of powerful blood pressure­lowering drugs.

The research, from the University of Alberta in Canada, showed that when eggs come in contact with stomach enzymes (酶) they produce a protein that acts in the same way as ACE inhibitors used to treat heart disease, but more work is needed to show the effects outside a lab and in the human body.

Earlier this month, British researchers declared that, opposite to popular beliefs, it is healthy to go to work on an egg. They concluded that the type of cholesterol (胆固醇) found in eggs has little effect on increasing heart disease risks.

Researcher Professor Bruce Griffin, from the University of Surrey, said, “The wrong beliefs linking egg eating to high blood cholesterol and heart disease must be corrected. The amount of fat in our diet has an effect on blood cholesterol that is several times greater than the relatively small amounts of cholesterol found in eggs. The UK public do not need to be limiting the number of eggs they eat. They can be encouraged to include them in a healthy diet as they are one of nature's most nutritious foods.”

The British Heart Foundation has dropped its three­egg­a­week limit. However, almost half of Britons believe the limit still applies.

32. From the text we know that “ACE inhibitors” are______.

A. a kind of protein                                          B. a kind of illness      

C. a kind of medicine                                D. a kind of food

33. According to what Professor Bruce said, eggs______.

A. are the most nutritious food                        B. can be included in a healthy diet

C. have no effect on blood cholesterol            D. are forbidden to be eaten in the UK

34. We can infer from the text that________.

A. drugs to lower blood pressure will be replaced by eating eggs

B. stomach enzymes mixed with eggs can cure heart diseases

C. there is relatively quite a little cholesterol found in eggs

D. about 50% of Britons think eating an egg a day is bad for their health

35. The text is meant______.

A. to introduce scientific findings about eggs

B. to report a medicine made from eggs

C. to tell people how to lower their blood pressure

D. to advise people to eat as many eggs as possible

No fight can end, and no friendship can move on, until everyone says these little words: I’m sorry. Sometimes, however, they can be difficult to say.  36 

It is not about winning.

Friendships aren’t like the Super Bowl, and there should never be a winner and a loser. When you start fighting with a friend, it may feel important that you “win” the fight by proving you’re right and he is wrong, or by making him be the first to apologize.

In reality, you’ll both lose if you let your fight ruin your friendship, and you’ll both win if you find a way to heal it.

  37 

You may have heard the expression “His pride stood in the way”. It is usually used to describe a person who is so determined to be “right” that he lets an opportunity for happiness pass him by forever.    38   Remember: as time goes on, we usually forget who was right and who was wrong in a disagreement, and only remember the sadness of losing a friend.

Take the first step.

Are you sick of fighting? Do you think this fight is just not important enough to ruin your friendship?  39   You don’t have to take full responsibility for starting the fight, or even say that your feelings were wrong. But you should find something you did or said that’s worth apologizing for. Maybe you’re sorry that you let the fight go for so long, or that you overreacted to something your friend did. If you say you’re sorry, it’s like an invitation for your friend to do the same.  40 

A. Then try to be the first to apologize.

B. Don’t let this happen to a friendship you care about.

C. It’s about taking some responsibility for the argument.

D. Stop thinking about your pride.

E. Here are some things to keep in mind.

F. Once you’ve both said it, you’ll both feel a million times better.

G. There are some special cases when you shouldn’t be the one to apologize first.