BEIJING, Feb. 26 (China Daily) -- As the smog orange warning continues, tourist attractions in Beijing are experiencing a significant decline (下降) in visitor number.

A new report launched by Beijing authorities on the morning of February 24 indicates that the concentration of PM 2.5 has risen, with no sign of decreasing, the orange warning will still be in effect, according to Xinhua News Agency.

According to data released by the Beijing Tourism Website, by 2:00 pm, February 24, popular tourist attractions including The Great Wall and Palace Museum had been affected by the smog in terms of tourist numbers.

As for the Palace Museum, the number of visitors was only 11,200 that day, far from the figure of 40,000, which is the daily average number of visitors it normally receives.

There were a few visitors in Beihai Park on the morning of February 24, and two visitors from Hebei province planned to end their morning tour earlier than scheduled because of the smog. One of them said, “The visibility is so poor that we can’t take good photos, or even see clearly. We’d better leave early.”

In response to worsening air conditions, travel agencies have also taken some measures to avoid a further decline in tourist numbers. An employee with China Youth Travel Service, Wang Tao, said the agency will inform tourists of the weather conditions at their destinations. A tour guide with China Travel Service also told the media that it was a tour guide’s duty to inform foreign visitors of the smog conditions in Beijing, and the agency will provide free face masks to those in need. But efforts to do so merely treat the symptom rather than the disease itself, because the root cause is air pollution. China will introduce various emergency responses and long-term measures against air pollution. Officials and experts called for combined efforts by governments, industries and the public to cooperate more efficiently and to jointly solve the problem.

1.In the following statements, which one is NOT TRUE?

A. The tourism in Beijing was influenced by the hazy weather.

B. Both the Great Wall and Palace Museum had been affected by the smog.

C. The concentration of PM 2.5 has risen, but it will decrease soon.

D. According to the data released by the Beijing Tourism Website, we can know the information.

2.According to the passage, if the weather is fine, how many visitors will the Palace Museum receive in a week?

A. About 11,200.        B. About 78,400.

C. About 40,000.        D. About 280,000.

3.The most effective way to solve the problem of air pollution is to _______.

A. take some measures of treating the symptom merely

B. unite the power of governments, industries and the public

C. provide free face masks to those in need

D. inform tourists of the weather conditions at their destinations

4.What does the author most probably mean by saying “efforts to do so merely treat the

symptom rather than the disease itself” in the last paragraph?

A. These efforts could treat the symptom and the disease.

B. Treating the symptom is more important than the disease.

C. These efforts are not enough to solve the problem thoroughly.

D. These efforts couldn’t treat the disease, so they are unnecessary.

I know what you’re thinking：pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.

I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saving” calories（卡路里）, still others just don’t like breakfast food.

But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all，”says Katherine Brooking, R. D.，who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s“SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.

Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.

So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself', “You can always eat it tomorrow, ”I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.

1.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means __________.

A. pizza topped with fruit

B. things left undone

C. meals made of vegetables

D. food remaining after a meal.

2.According to the last paragraph, it is important to__________.

A. eat something for breakfast

B. be careful about what you eat

C. heat up food before eating it

D. eat calorie-controlled food

3. What can we infer from the text?

A. Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry.

B. Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast.

C. There are some easy ways of cooking a meal.

D. Eating vegetables helps save energy.

4.The text is written mainly for those__________.

A. who go to work early              B. who stay up late

C. who want to lose weight           D. who eat before sleep

5.What does the author advise the readers to do?

A. Better eat up all the food at dinner in the night.

B. Better eat less in the night.

C. Better eat leftovers in the morning.

D. Better get up late and eat nothing in the morning in order to burn more calories.

Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair. The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth－so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I’ll give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing."

Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I’ll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You’re right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “ Would you mend this chair for me?”. “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it," he said. "We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver (five pounds)?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _____.

A. was rather impolite

B. was warmly received

C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2.The underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means _____.

A. plan for dealing with things

B. decision to sell things

C. idea of repairing things

D. way of doing things

3.The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _____.

A. changed his mind

B. accepted the offer

C. saw the writer’s purpose

D. decided to help the writer

4.How much did the writer pay?

A. ￡5.     B. ￡7.     C. ￡20.       D. ￡27.

5.From the text, we can learn that the writer was _____.

A. honest      B. careful      C. smart      D. funny

Finding a friend doesn’t seem like a difficult job. However, bad friends are easier to find than good friends these days. If you’re sitting there and wondering if you have a bad friend, let me define it for you.

A bad friend is someone whose jealousies and insecurities outweigh their love for someone. They night want to be a good friend but they’re too messed up in their own head to ever actually do it. They wonder if their friends are going out without them or if they’re being forgotten and left behind. People who are violently insecure don’t have what it takes to be the quality of a friend.

Bad friends are narcissistic(自恋的). They look for any opportunity to bring the conversation back to them. Worse, they might not even be aware that they’re doing it. In their mind, they might think they are the best friend ever, which is truly frightening.

Bad friends are quick-change. They’re by your side when you’re fun and you have something to give them but as soon as you’re going through a difficult time, they will become indifferent quickly. They won’t bring you cold medicine. They won’t give you a ride to the doctor, everything they do is self-serving.

If you find a friend who has these same characteristics, send them to your bad friend list immediately. Your friends are supposed to be the solution to your problems, not the source.

I believe your twenties are a time when you need positive and helpful friends. In such a time, friendships aren’t easy to maintain like they once were in school. Now we actually have to put work into it, we have to make a conscious effort to keep the friendship going. You need to ask yourself, “Is this person worth it? Do they treat me like a fool or what?” if your have doubts, try to make them clear by considering the past experiences. Toxic(有毒的) friendships do nothing but drag you down. My point is that you have to take care of yourself and stop getting in touch with your bad friends. Only surround yourself with people who bring out the best qualities in you. It may sound cruel but it’s true,.

1.The author believes that we can easily find a         .

A. close friend B. poor friend C. good friend D. bad friend

2.Bad friends give the author the following impressions EXCEPT being         .

A. outgoing     B.insecure

C. narcissistic D. self-centred

3.We can infer from the passage that a bad friend will         when you have trouble.

A. feel worried as you do  B. try hard to help you out

C. do nothing but leave you D. pay more attention to you

4.In the last paragraph, you are advised         .

A. not to treat your friends like fools B. not to keep a terrible friendship

C. not to be a bad friend of others D. not to doubt but ask yourself

5.What is the purpose of the passage?

A. To tell us finding a friend is not an easy job for everyone.

B. To help us know about bad friends and get rid of them.

C. To encourage us to make more friends in school.

D. To advise us not to treat our close friends badly.

Mother’s Day is coming. It is a time to let Mom know she’s special to you. Finding the right for Mom on that day is not always easy. We often want something personal and thoughtful. But how can we make it? These following ideas may help you.

Gift of Time

Moms just want to spend time with their children so make it a Mother-Daughter/Son day. Spend the whole day with her. Do the things she likes doing with her.

Home Video

Take your family videos and make them a short home video. She can enjoy it whenever she misses you. Although it may take a lot of time, the process(过程) can be great fun and the result is often priceless(无价).

Mom Mix

Make a CD for her. It’s a collection of all the songs that remindher of you and your growing up.

Write a Letter

Write a letter instead of a simple card. Write about all the good memories you have with her and all the things she has done for you.

Flowers

People send carnations(康乃馨) on Mother’s Day. You can easily spend a lot of money on them. If you have flowers in your garden, or can handpick them, it can be a great gift.

Dinner

Make a dinner and invite her over. You can also take it over to her house and surprise her. Just don’t’ forget to wash the dishes after the dinner.

1.Why is it not easy to find a right gift on Mother’s day?

A．Because we want to save money

B．Because mothers don’t like gifts.

C．Because we always want to get something special

D．Because mothers are very difficult to deal with

2.Making a home video may be _______.

A．fun              B．boring            C．easy             D．nothing

3.What does the underlined word “remind” mean in Chinese?

A．使……防范       B．使……想起        C．使……经过        D．使….. 痛苦

4.How many kinds of ideas have been mentioned here for Mother’s Day?

A．4                B．5                C．6                D．7

5.From the passage we know _________.

A．you can buy a big cake for your mom on Mother’s day

B．writing a letter is better than sending a simple card to your mom on Mother’s Day.

C．inviting your mom to eat in a restaurant is a good gift for her.

D．buying carnations for her is a good way.

Children have their own rules in playing games. They seldom need a referee (裁判) and rarely trouble to keep scores. They don’t care much about who wins or loses, and it doesn’t seem to worry them if the game is not finished. Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be directly compared. They also enjoyed games that move in stages, in which each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side shall start, is almost a game in itself.

Grown-ups can hardly find children’s game exciting, and they often feel puzzled at why their kids play such simple game again and again. However, it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons. He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person, and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinary afraid. He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn. He can be confident, too, in particular games, that it is his place to give orders, to pretend to be dead, to throw a ball actually at someone, or to kiss someone he has caught.

It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control. Everyone knows the rules, and more importantly, everyone plays according to the rules. Those rules may be childish, but they make sure that every child has a chance to win.

1.What is true about children when they play games?

A. They can stop playing any time they like.

B. They can test their personal abilities.

C. They want to pick a better team.

D. They don’t need rules.

2.To become a leader in a game the child has to _________.

A. be a useful partner

B. wait for his turn

C. be confident in himself

D. be popular among his playmates

3. Why does a child like playing games?

A. Because he can be someone other than himself.

B. Because he can become popular among friends.

C. Because he finds he is always lucky in games.

D. Because he likes the place where he plays a game.

4.Which is the best title for this passage?

A. Rules in Children’s Games

B. Advantages of Playing Games for Children

C. Reasons for Children’s Games  

D. How to Be a Popular Game Player

Nutrition influences not only students' grades at school but their growth and development. Improper nutrition is one of the causes of childhood obesity. What can you do to help your child avoid childhood obesity?

My first piece of advice is to look in your fridge. What are you buying at the grocery store? Think about it: if you don't buy junk food or snacks, your kids won't eat them at home. Now if you're like me — both of your kids are at school, you'll know you can't police them every second of the day. This is the time when you'll need to talk to your children about their food choices. If you don't know the right food choices, there are so many free resources on-line to guide you.

Try new things. I was very surprised to find out my 4-year-old daughter likes balsamic vinegar — she calls it the "black sauce". She likes to have it with tomatoes and cucumbers. You just never know what your kids might like.

Don't get stressed if you can't always prepare something healthy. You may sometimes leave the house and forget to take something out for dinner, or you are running late and there's no time to cook before you have to take one of the kids somewhere. However, you can still make healthy choices while dining out. Many of the fast food restaurants offer fruit and milk instead of soda. I like to buy organic frozen pizzas from the organic market — for a quick dinner solution(解决办法). All the ingredients are natural. What I do is to serve the pizza with something raw: lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, or fruit to try to give the kids something healthy with that meal.

In closing, take baby steps. Don't try to change your family's eating habits in one go, or you'll go nuts.

1.This passage is written mainly to          us

A．explain why today’s kids are overweight

B．tell us the importance of healthy eating

C．give parents some healthy eating tips

D．teach parents what to cook at home

2. The writer believes it is very important for parents to          

A．make sure their fridge is full of food.

B．teach their children how to eat healthily

C．check their children’s grades at school

D．provide their children with their favorite food

3. Paragraph 4 tells parents they should           .

A．never take their kids to a fast food restaurant

B．eat out in a nice restaurant with their kids at times

C．choose healthy food while eating out with their kids

D．cook healthy food for their kids however busy they are

4.According to the passage, it does NOT seem to be a good idea to        .

A．tell children what to eat at school

B．find free resources on healthy eating online

C．put balsamic vinegar on tomatoes or cucumbers

D．try to change a family’s eating habits in a very short time

Everyone has got two personalities(性格)—the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control your behavior, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.

If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident.

If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive(不坦率的)person. You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset. You’re very stubborn, but you aren’t very ambitious(有雄心的). You usually live for today not for tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.

If you sleep curled up(卷曲), you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive（提防的）. You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You’re easily hurt.

If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You’re usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get depressed（压抑）. You always say what you think even if it annoys people.（words: 278）

1.According to the writer，you naturally show your secret and real personality _______.

A．only in a normal night

B．only when you go to sleep

C．only when you refuse to show yourself to the world

D．only when you change sleeping position

2.Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person’s personality?

A．He or she is always open with others.

B．He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others.

C．He or she is always easily upset.

D．He or she tends（倾向） to believe in others.

3.Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach?

A．He or she is careful not to offend（冒犯） others.

B．He or she doesn’t want to stick to his or her opinion.

C．He or she likes to bring others happiness.

D．He or she can’t be successful in any business.

4.Maybe you don’t want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up. Why?

A．He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you.

B．He or she is rarely ready to help you.

C．He or she prefers staying at home to going out.

D．He or she wouldn’t like to get help from you.

5.It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because __________.

A．he or she always shows sympathy for people

B．he or she is confident，but not stubborn

C．he or she has more strengths than weaknesses

D．he or she often considers annoying people

Memory, they say, is a matter of practice and exercise. If you have the wish and really make a self-effort, then you can quite easily improve your ability to remember things. But even if you are successful, there are times when your memory seems to play tricks on you.

　　Sometimes you remember things that did not happen. One morning last week, for example, I got up and found that I had left the front door unlocked all night, yet I clearly remembered locking it carefully the night before.

Memory “trick” works the other way as well. Once in a while you remember not doing something, and then find out that you did. One day last month, for example, I was sitting in a barber(理发师) shop waiting for my turn to get a haircut, and suddenly I realized that I had got a haircut two days before at the barber shop across the street from my office.

　　We always seem to find something funny in incidents（小事） caused by people’s forgetfulness or absent-mindedness(心不在焉). Stories about absent-minded professors have been told for years, and we never got tired of hearing new ones. Unfortunately, however, absent-mindedness is not always funny. There are times when “trick” of our memory can cause us great trouble. （words: 169）

1.If you want to have a good memory, ________.

A．you should force yourself to remember things

B．you should make a self-effort of practice and exercise

C．you should never stop learning

D．you should try hard to remember things

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．One night the writer forgot to lock the front door.

B．One night the writer forgot having locked the front door.

C．The writer remembered to lock the door.

D．The writer remembered unlocking the front door.

3.From the sentence "We never get tired of hearing new ones", we can infer that______.

A．we enjoy hearing new stories about absent-mindedness of professors

B．we don’t want to know anything more about absent-mindedness of professors

C．we will never get rid of（摆脱） listening to new stories about absent-mindedness

D．absent-mindedness happens not only to professors but to many other people

If you dream of going to someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather, a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up. The planet, named OCLE-TR-56b, has temperatures of more than 3,000 °F. “This is the hottest planet we know about,” says Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, a scientist who led the discovery team, “It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets（细沫）”

The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists before. It is in the Milky Way（银河）but it is not in our solar（太阳的）system The new planet moves around a star much like our sun, however. Scientists discovered the planet by using a new planet-searching method, called“transit technique” They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star, causing the star’s light to dim（变暗）.Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away. “We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like Earth,” says Sasedlov.

1.We can infer from the passage that_________.

A．there is iron on the new planet

B．we could go to the new planet in winter

C．the star could block our view of the new planet

D．scientists are studying the weather on the new planet

2.The “transit technique” can_________.

A．help dim the light of a star.

B．help scientists with a searchlight

C．help discover a bee on a planet

D．help find a planet moving before its star

3.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．New Planet-searching Technique

B．New Distant Discovery

C．Space Searching

D．Dream Planet