I want to tell you the story of one of my old friends called Bob，His teachers called him A Troublemaker，They also said that he had no future and no hope. But now he owns a small second -hand bookstore store which makes him enough money to live on and also to support his mother.

He told me that after he finished grade nine, he went to study at a technical college. He was a pretty bad student so he became one of the gang (一帮) leaders there. Many of them got caught many times for fighting.

It looked like nothing could change his life. That was until one sad day when his father died. That changed everything.

After his father died, his mother had to work very hard to make enough money to support the family. He told me that he really pitied his mum after his dad died. He felt that he needed to earn some money rather than let his mum work alone. He loved reading cartoon(卡通)books and had been collecting them for years. As his family was short of money, he decided that he should sell them. He did this by the side of the road where his mother was selling food.

Soon he realized that his books were very popular. So he decided to set up his own business. He started his business by going around buying cartoon books from other people. He bought them for 25% and then sold them for half price. He could make enough money to help support the family.

He was a troublemaker to his teachers but he is a hero to me. If you are judged as a bad student or as someone being stupid, I suggest you pay no attention to what they say. Just do your best in everything. Don’t give up so easily. Believe in yourself. If you think that you can do it, then you can. Believe me, one day you could be more successful than those persons who looked down upon you.

1.What does the author want to tell the readers?

A. How a young man helped his mother.

B. How a young man graduated from college.

C. People can change when they are determined to.

D. People can be successful after they lose a family member.

2.Bob felt that he should change his way of life mainly because he     .

A. pitied his mother                     B. got caught for fighting

C. wanted to work with his mother         D. had to sell food by the roadside

3.Bob decided to start his own business when he     .

A. sold all his cartoon books

B. found others liked cartoon books

C. could write his own cartoon books

D. could buy cartoon books from others

Fun games and activities play all important role in making picnics enjoyable. Here are some examples.

    Picnic Games for all Age Groups: Running and jumping races, playing balloons are some of the very popular picnic games for children. Grown ups in the picnic mood often enjoy taking part in children’s games too. While organizing picnic games that suit all age groups, think of all those going to the picnic and think of their preferences. Picnic games for grown ups can include playing frisbee (飞盘), ball games and other sports activities. Prepare playing cards and board games for those who may not be able to take part in active games.

Family picnic games: family picnics are for all the family members to get together and share some priceless moments with each other. When on a family picnics, spend quality time with your family members, chat with them and talk about what you have not spoken about due to your busy lives. Playing together helps you refresh yourself and your relationship with your near ones.

Company Picnic Games: Company picnics are team-building events, organized with the purpose of nurturing（培养）team spirit in the company and developing in them a sense of belongings towards the organization. You can organize outdoor sports, team games and enjoyable activities for the team members. Make sure that the company picnic turns out to be a refreshing break from work for the team.

4.The main purpose of the text is to introduce games for    .

A. teams        B. races         C. picnics       D. children

5.What kind of games do children probably like best?

A. playing cards     B. throwing frisbee     C. team sports      D. running races

6.The under lined words near ones in paragraph 3 most probably refer to     .

A. school mates                    B. family members

C. people working for you            D. people sitting next to you

7.Why do companies organize games?

A. To select the strongest teams.

B. To make the organizers more famous.

C. To build a link between work and play.

D. To help their employees build team spirits.

If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.

Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to(料理), and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.

The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card(住宿登记卡) to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.

The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate(价钱). From then on, they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly(相应地).

With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.

In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?

8.While taking a taxi in Finland, _____.

A. a passenger can go anywhere without having to pay the driver

B. a passenger pays two US dollars for a taxi ride

C. a passenger can never be refused by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go

D. a passenger needs to provide good faith demonstration (证明) before leaving without paying

9.We know from the passage that big hotels in Finland ________.

A. are mostly poorly managed

B. provide meals for any diners

C. provide free wine and charge for food

D. provide meal for only those who live in the hotels

10.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The workers in Finland are paid by the hour.

B. The workers are always honest with their working hours.

C. The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay.

D. The bosses in Finland are too busy to check the working hours of their employees.

11.The word “those” in the last but one paragraph probably refers to _____.

A. people who are dishonest

B. people who often have meals in big hotels

C. people who often take taxis

D. people who are worthy of trust

Now scientists believe that global warming affects hibernating(冬眠的) animals, causing them to wake up earlier. While this may seem a little concern, it is in fact a significant environmental problem. The shortened hibernation (冬眠)period could actually lead to significant declines in the populations of several species.

Some of the first concrete evidence of the phenomenon came from Colorado, where researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological lab have been observing marmot（旱獭）hibernation behavior since the 1970s. In the early days of their studies, marmots generally hibernated several weeks into the month of May. Nowadays, however, temperatures in the area have risen by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit(华氏度), and the marmots are waking up about a month earlier.

At least the marmots are still hibernating. Several other animals have not been hibernating at all recently. Brown bears in the Spanish Cantabrian Mountains did not hibernate last year. In parts of the United States, chipmunks （花鼠）also skipped the hibernation period. The bears seem to have survived without losing many individuals. The chipmunks, however, were not so lucky. Many of the animals died of starvation during the winter.

The problem with animals waking up early, or skipping hibernation altogether, lies with the creatures’ metabolism（新陈代谢）. When an animal hibernates, their metabolism drops significantly. The animals’ heart rate slows, and they require very little energy to live. When the animals awake from their winter slumber, their metabolism returns to normal.

But while their metabolism may be as active as it was before hibernation, food sources aren’t as available as they were before. A marmot may wake up when temperatures get warmer, thinking it’s spring, but plants will not have gotten the amount of sun they need to signal their spring period of growth. So until the plants grow, the marmots have no reliable food source.

Many scientists believe the problem will continue to get worse. In addition to changes in hibernation patterns, some believe that other animals will also begin to change their migration patterns or begin to give birth earlier. For many biologists, that’s a scary prospect. Terry Root, an animal expert at Stanford University, said: “I do think what we will be facing is the extinction of many species."

12.What is the viewpoint of the writer?

A. Global warming will continue to get worse as time goes on.

B. Global warming will lead to shortened hibernation of some animals.

C. Shortened hibernation will result in declines in the population of animals.

D. Some animals will skip hibernation altogether.

13.The writer sets the example of the marmot so as to __________.

A. explain that global warming influences animals’ hibernation

B. indicate that the weather gets warmer and warmer now

C. show that the weather in the United States is quite different

D. say some animals do not hibernate now due to warm weather

14.Why can’t marmots find enough food when they wake up?

A. Because there are too many marmots in the wild now.

B. Because plants haven’t received enough sunlight for spring growth.

C. Because winter days end much earlier than before.

D. Because more and more animal species skip hibernation now.

15.Terry Root holds a(n) __________ attitude towards the future of animals.

A. optimistic         B. doubtful           C. pessimistic              D. sensitive

It is necessary but difficult for English beginners to memorize new words, and long lists of words seem to make the task impossible. They are puzzled why they try to memorize words with great efforts but forget them easily. That's why there are often inquiries about how to memorize new words.  16  Here are some tips to help.

    17  We too often separate the process of new words memorization from pronunciation. In fact

these two can be combined and each will enhance the other. Saying the word to ourselves helps activate hearing memory, which helps the memory.  18   The more familiar we are with the word, the greater chance we will have to keep it for the rest of our life.

    Never memorize single English words.   19   Relate the word to terms we already know, either as synonym（同义词） or antonym（反义词）. For example, the word "gargantuan" is similar in meaning to words "gigantic",”huge" and "large". Make a order of words: "small, medium, large, gigantic, and gargantuan".

Create a mental image of the word that involves strong emotions. Think, "The gargantuan whale is going to swallow me whole".

    Learning English words requires action. Complaining how difficult it is to memorize new words will be of little help.  20   Have a try with ten words a day and you will see what a difference you will make in our English learning.

A. So take action right now.

B. Speak the word while memorizing it.

C. Memorizing new words is very important.

D. Actually, some have given up learning new words.

E. In fact, learning new words needn't be that difficult.

F. Make as many associations and connections as possible.

G. The sound of word helps us recall the spelling and familiarizes us with the word.