—The two people speak different languages and can not communicate with each other well.
—Oh，I see. That’s ________ misunderstanding occurs.
A．when B．what C．which D．why
________ the Hong Kong singer’s current popularity, she was largely unknown in the Chinese mainland before the talent show.
A. With B. Despite C. Besides D. Beyond
阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
As we all know, the “(passenger) transport during the Spring Festival period” has been a hot phrase all through the China land.
The volume of passenger traffic(客运量) reaches its climax before and after the Spring Festival. Especially, the number of those who decide to go back to their hometown by train is increasing rapidly, so it promotes the short of the tickets of passenger train. Luckily, the Ministry of Railways(铁道部) has come up with solutions. For instance, it arranges extra trains during the peak time for passenger transport as well as opens 24-hour ticket sales windows for passengers in order to ease the traffic pressure. Moreover, it helps to deliver train tickets to the doorsteps, providing convenience for passengers.
One thing that has to be mentioned this year is about start of selling tickets on-line this year. For one thing, it to some degree shortens the time of purchasing tickets. However, most of the passengers are migrant workers returning home for Spring Festival. They are not familiar with the process of buying tickets and as a result cannot buy the tickets on time. What is worse, many computers selling tickets broke down under too much pressure of operation. Therefore, many people blame such a method in that it doesn’t suit nowadays’ situation.
[写作内容]
以约30个词概括上文的主要内容。
以约120个词对“春运”进一步叙写，内容包括：
自己亲身经历或者听闻的一次火车春运的状况；
“网上售票”引起人们不满的原因；
给铁道部或者农民工提出解决“网上购票”问题的合理化建议。
[写作要求]
作文中可以使用亲身经历或者虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子；
作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
[评分标准]
概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，语句连贯。
请认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填上一个最恰当的单词。注意：请将答案写在答题纸上。
Imagine living in a country torn by war. Or maybe you live in a place where there are few jobs and little chance to earn a living. Your family decides to move — not to ano
ther town, but to another country. You and your family have become immigrants. People are called immigrants when they move to a foreign country to make their homes.
People become immigrants for many reasons. The most common one is economic opportunities. Most immigrants are attracted to other countries by the promise of jobs, farmland, or business opportunities.
Other people become immigrants in order to get away from mistreatment or natural disasters. They are refugees. Some refugees move to avoid wars and political unrest. Others are seeking freedom to express their religious views. Still others are uprooted by disasters, such as terrible flooding or drought.
Some people have become immigrants against their will. Captured in Africa, shipped to foreign lands and forced to work as slaves, many early African immigrants to North and South America came in chains.
Except for Native Americans, all people came to the United States from someplace else. For nearly 500 years, immigrants have landed on America’s shores seeking a better life. Throughout American history, immigrants often worked low-paying, dangerous jobs that other people refused to do.
Immigrants from around the world helped shape American life. Many immigrants absorbed the customs and language common to most Americans. They also brought their own traditions, including music and foods. Over time, many of these traditions have become part of American life.
The first European immigrants to America hoped to colonize new lands. By the mid-1500s, Spaniards had ventured into Florida, California, and the American Southwest. French immigrants arrived in the early 1600s and built their first colony in Canada. The English also arrived in the early 1600s. They established 13 colonies along America’s Atlantic Coast.
In the 1700s, England became the major power in colonial North America. But many European immigrants came to live in the English colonies. They included people from Sweden, Holland, Germany, Scotland, and Ireland.
Immigrants still come to the United States seeking freedom and economic opportunities. Most new immigrants no longer come from Europe. They come mainly from Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Asia.
Today, the U.S. government limits the number of immigrants into the country each year. People who sneak illegally into the United States are called illegal immigrants, who, if caught, would be sent back to their home countries.
Key Points | Detailed Information |
1. | Immigrants are those who move to a foreign country to make their homes. |
Reasons | Most people come for 2. opportunities, such as good jobs, farmlands, or business opportunities. Some move to the US to 3. away from wars or disasters. Some people immigrate to4. for religious freedom. Some people have become immigrants 5. , like many early African immigrants. |
History | French immigrants 6. Canada in the early 1600s and built their first colony there. The English also came to the early 1600s and 7. thirteen colonies along America’s Atlantic Coast. In the 1700s, European immigrants came to live in the English colonies, people from Sweden, Holland and etc. are 8. . |
Today | 9. from the past, the origins of most new immigrants are mainly Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Asia, instead of Europe. The US government erects dams to 10. the number of immigrants into the country each year in check. Illegal immigrants, if caught, would be sent back to their home countries. |
Is the ‘Go to College’ Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared 
with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16-24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists cautions that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two avenues for improving the situation: increasing vocational(职业的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized(资助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.
1.People usually think that _____.
A. the cost of technical schooling is a problem
B. one will not succeed without a college degree
C. technical skills are most important for landing a job
D. there is an increased competition in getting into a college
2.What does the underlined part “taking a page from” mean?
A. Hearing from.B. Changing from.
C. Differing from.D. Learning from.
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Public institutions charge more for education.
B. European universities are stricter with students.
C. Students with certain skills are in great demand.
D. Canadian students prefer to major in engineering.
4.Ms. Sawhill may probably agree that _____.
A. too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees
B. technical training is more important than college education
C. a college degree will ensure promising employment
D. it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs
The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, is said to be the only one 
in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound(白蚁堆).
Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air-conditioning and almost no heating. The building—the country’s largest commercial and shopping complex—uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning plant didn’t have to be imported.
The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium(天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通风口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through forty-eight brick chimneys.
During summer’s cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.
This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature swings—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,” Pearce said.
The engineering firm of Ove
Arup&Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is fresh—far more so than in air-conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.
1.Why was Eastgate cheaper to be built than a conventional building?
A. It was designed in a smaller size.
B. No air conditioners were fixed in.
C. Its heating system was less advanced.
D. It used rather different building materials.
2.What does “it” refer to in Paragraph 3?
A. Fresh air from outside.B. Heat in the building.
C. Hollow space.D. Baseboard vent.
3.Why would a building like Eastgate Not work efficiently in New York?
A. New York has less clear skies as Harare.
B. Its dampness affects the circulation of air.
C. New York covers a larger area than Harare.
D. Its temperature changes seasonally rather than daily.
4.The data in the last paragraph suggests Eastgate’s temperature control system_____.
A. allows a wide range of temperatures
B. functions well for most of the year
C. can recycle up to 30% of the air
D. works better in hot seasons
