Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice．Gifts are easy—they’re given after all．Choice can be hard．

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago．I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year．I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast，and the idea of building all online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old，and I’d been married for a year．I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t and I wasn’t sure what to expect．MacKenzie told me I should go for it．As a young boy，I’d been a garage inventor．I’d always wanted to be all inventor，and she wanted me to follow my passion．   

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired．I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet．He took me on a long walk in Central Park，listened carefully to me，and finally said，“That sounds like a really good idea，but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job．”That 1ogic made some sense to me，and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision．Seen in that light,it really was a difficult choice，but finally，I decided I had to give it a shot．I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing．And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.

After much consideration ，I took the less safe path to follow my passion ，and I’m proud of that choice．For all of us，in the end，we are our choice．

21．What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?

A．His dream of being an inventor．                    B．The support of his wife．

 C．The greatly increasing usage of the Internet．     D．Millions of exciting titles,

22．Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?

A．The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him．

B．He would be very excited if he tried it out．   

C．He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try．

D．The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him．

23． Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Cleverness and Kindness            B．The Starting of Amazon

 C．Following My Passion               D．We Are What We Choose

Instagram is a fast，beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends and family．Take a picture or video，choose a filter to transform its look and feel．and then post to Instagram—it’s that easy．You can even share to Facebook．Twitter and more．It’s a new way to see the world．So many photos of food are contained on Instagram—now a pop-up diner in London is taking advantage of this new trend by letting people settle the bill for their meals simply by uploading photos of their dishes to social networks．

I always thought people’s taking pictures of their food was kind of silly，but at this new pop-up restaurant in the UK，I’d probably do it too．“The Picture House” is the world’s first pay-by-photo restaurant—yon order，click a photo of the food，share on Instagram and eat for free!

The testaurant belongs to frozen food giant(巨人)Birds Eye，who came up with the idea to cash in on people’s addiction with photographing food and sharing the pictures online．They conducted a survey and found out that more than half of the British population regularly took pictures of their meals．So they realized it was a better way to advertise their new dining range．

The pop-up diner was open in Soho，London for three days in May，and is now moving to other    major UK cities．They serve two-course meals that customers don’t have to pay for，if they photo and Instagram it.

The restaurant is a part of Birds Eye’s “Food for Life” campaign，a new marketing project that  aims at changing the way people look at frozen food．“Taking photos of food enables people to show off and to share their mealtime moments—from the everyday to the special，”said marketing director Margaret Jobling．

The reaction to the Picture House has been great so far And the pay-by-picture concept has  proven to be an effective way．Alternative payment methods are actually gaining popularity among a lot of businesses．Last year in a care in Germany customers pay by how much time they spend there，not by what they eat．

24．Instagram probably is________．

  A．a program used to share photos      B．a campaign of“Food for Life”

  C．a restaurant free of charge                D．a new marketing project

25．What’s the author’s attitude to this new trend?

  A．Confused    B．Interested    C．Opposed  D．Unconcerned

26．“The Picture House” encourages sharing photos of its food to_______．

  A．raise the price of frozen food          B．create a new social media trend

  C．attract more customers                    D．reward the regular customers

27．Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?

  A．Food for Life                                B．The Pop-up Diner

  C．No Need to Pay                            D．Pay by Picture

    This Monday，the nation will start to celebrate Presidents’ Day，just seven days before George Washington’s birthday．Everyone agrees that day is a holiday，but is it just to celebrate George Washington’s Birthday? What about Abraham Lincoln? Some government offices call it Presidents’ Day．Others say the holiday is officially Washington’s Birthday．Confused yet?

    George Washington was elected the country’s first President on April 30，1789．Soon after，Americans began publicly celebrating his birthday．Presidential historians say the actual date of George Washington’s birth is February 11，1732．But a change in the calendar system 20 years later shifted all dates，making Washington’s birthday February 22，which is now well accepted．In 1879．Congress made Washington’s birthday an official federal holiday．It was the first federal holiday to celebrate an individual’s birthday．In 1968，Congress passed the Monday Holidays Act，which moved the holiday to the third Monday in February．The new law did not change the holiday’s name．It was still called Washington’s Birthday，even though some lawmakers wanted to call it Presidents’ Day to include Abraham Lincoln，whose actual birthday is February 12．

    Many people argue that the holiday should celebrate all past Presidents．They feel Lincoln should be honored for his role in preserving the nation during the Civil War and helping to free slaves．Others feel the holiday should only honor Washington．the country’s first President．They say shifting the focus away from Washington would mean future generations of kids would not know about the Father of Our Country．   

    Laws have been introduced in Congress over the years to require use of the term “George Washington’s Birthday．”but none of those laws have been passed．Meanwhile，many state governments and school districts now use the term “Presidents’ Day．”Many stoles also use it to promote holiday sales．

    Should the holiday honor Washington，Washington and Lincoln，or all past Presidents? Write to emailbag@timeforkids．com and tell us what you think．

28．The President’s Day was originally designed to honor______．

  A．George Washington         B．Abraham Lincoln

  C．all presidents                     D．the Civil War

29．What can we infer from the passage?

  A．Washington’s Birthday is the same as Lincoln’s．

  B．The change in the calendar system was not wise．

  C．The new act changed the holiday’s name．

  D．This Monday is the third one of this February．

30．What’s the main argument about this holiday?

  A．When to celebrate the holiday．      B．How to celebrate the holiday．

  C．Which president to honor．                     D．Where to celebrate the holiday．

31．What’s the best title for this passage?

  A．Why people celebrate President Day.

  B．The history and debate behind Presidents’ Day

  C．To celebrate Presidents’ Day or not

  D．Colorful activities on Presidents’ Day

  What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a shop? The products displayed(展示)at  the entrance? Or the soft background music?

But have you ever noticed the smell? Unless it is bad，the answer is likely to be no．But while a shop’s scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds，it is certainly there．And it is providing to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase．

A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance，Via scent machines．A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for freshening air．One sports goods company once reposed that when it first introduced scent into its stores，customers’ intension to purchase increased by 80 percent．

When it comes to the best shopping streets in Pairs，scent is just as important to a brand’s success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sales．That is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be．

Some years ago，the focus for brand name shopping was on a few people with sales  assistants’ disproving attitude and don’t-touch-what-you-can’t afford displays．Now the rise of electronic commerce(e-commerce)has opened up famous brands to a wider audience．But while e-shops can use sights and sounds，only bricks-and-mortar stores(实体店)can offer a full experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave．Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop，but rather a destination．And scent is just one way to achieve this．

Now a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department，and coconut(椰子)scent in the swimsuit section．A department store has even opened a new lab，inviting customers on a journey into the store’s windows to smell books，pots and drawers，in search of their perfect scent．

32．According to the passage，what is an increasingly powerful tool in the success of some brand store?

  A．Friendly assistant    B．Soft background music

  C．Unique scents．          D．Attractive window display．

33．E-shops are mentioned in the passage to________．

  A．urge shop assistants to change their attitude

  B．show the advantages of brick-and-mortar stores

  C．push stores to use sights and sounds

  D．introduce the rise of e-commerce

34．The underlined word  “destination”  in Paragraph 5 means_____．

  A．a place where customers love to go        B．a spot where travelers like to stay

  C．a platform that exhibits goods           D．a tat’get that a store expects to meet

35．The main purpose of the passage is to______．

  A．compare and evaluate      B．inform and explain

  C．argue and discuss                     D．examine and assess

The Internet has opened up a whole new online world for us to meet，chat and go where we’ve never been before．But just as in face-to-face communication，there are some rules of behavior that should be followed when on line．  36  Imagine how you’d feel if you were in the other person’s shoes．

For anything you’re about to send：ask yourself, “Would I say this to the person’s face?”If the answer is no，rewrite and reread． 37

    If someone in the chat room is rude to you，your instinct(本能)is to fire back in the same manner．But try not to do so．  38  If it was caused by a disagreement with another member，try to fix the situation by politely discussing it．Remember to respect the beliefs and opinions of others in the chat room．

39  Offer advice when asked by newcomers，as they may not be sure what to do or how to communicate．When someone makes a mistake，whether it’s a stupid question or all unnecessarily long answer，be kind about it．If it’s a small mistake，you may not need to say anything．Even if you feel strongly about it，think twice before saying anything．Having good mariners yourself doesn’t give you license to correct everyone else． 40  At the same time，if you find you are wrong．be sure to correct yourself and apologize to those that you have offended．

It is not polite to ask others personal questions such as their age，sex and marital status．Unless you know the person very well，and you are both comfortable with sharing personal information，don’t ask such questions．

A．The basic rule is simple：treat others in the same way you would want to be treated．

B．Everyone was new to the network once．

C．Repeat the process till you feel sure that you’d feel comfortable saying the words to the person’s face．

D．It’s natural that there are some people who speak rudely or make mistakes online.

E．When you send short messages to a person online，you must say something beautiful to hear.

F. You should either ignore the person，or use your chat software to block their messages.

G．If you do decide to tell someone about a mistake，point it out politely．