Consumer electronics once again topped the list of the most wanted gifts this holiday season．“Seventy-six percent of consumers who plan to buy holiday gifts say that they will spend money buying at least one technology product; definitely a solid vote of confidence for technology．” Steve Koenig is with the Consumer Electronics Association． He says the group’s latest research also shows that Americans this year are spending more on technology products．
“Here in 2012，$252 on average–the technology spend for consumers this year．” From tablet computers to smart phones， American shoppers have been lining up to get the newest and coolest electronic devices on the market． There are more choices today than ever before．“It’s kind of hard to make a decision．”
Tablet computers are one of the best-selling products this year． Brian Tong is Senior Editor of CNET． com． The website reports on tech news and examines the latest electronic products． He says the Apple iPad Mini is one of the most popular tablets． Its starting price is $329．One of Apple’s biggest competitors is the Google Nexus 7．It starts at $199．
“The hardware inside is more powerful than what’s in the iPad Mini， but also it offers you a lot of things like maps that work better than Apple’s maps．” Brian Tong says there is one reason why people may like the iPad Mini more than the Nexus 7．“If you just want to read books and surf the Internet， you don’t really need to get an iPad Mini， but if you want the largest group of apps that’s where the iPad and Apple’s ecosystem shines the most．”
Elman Chacon is with the electronics store Best Buy．He says another hot product this season is smart cameras． They connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi． This makes it easy for users to email or upload photographs directly from the camera． “You can literally take a picture， upload it into your Facebook in a matter of seconds． These things are pretty cool because they do a lot of things．”
Streaming media boxes also connect to the Internet．People are able to watch web content such as movies and YouTube videos on their televisions．Another popular item is wireless speaker systems．The newest ones work with any device that has Bluetooth technology，including smart phones，laptops and tablets．
With the growing popularity of Internet shopping，many consumers will visit a store first to look at a product，and then go online to find it at a lower price．Stores like Best Buy understand that and they want to stay competitive．
“We have something called the perfect match promise which means if you buy a certain device and you find it cheaper within 30 days we’ll go ahead and price match that for you．” Elman Chacon said．
1.According to Brain Tong，________．
A． the Apple’s iPad Mini is more suitable for enthusiastic readers
B． the hardware in iPad Mini is more advanced than that in Nexus 7
C． iPad Mini is more eco-friendly
D． Nexus 7 has fewer apps than iPad Mini
2.If you’ve discovered that a certain device you bought at Best Buy is more expensive than one at another store，________．
A． you are sure to get double the amount you paid
B． the store will return the price differences
C． you can return the device and get your money back
D． the store will lower the price within 30 days
3.Which of the following would be the best gift for a cab driver？
A． Smart cameras．
B． Streaming media boxes．
C． Tablet computers．
D． Wireless speaker systems．
4.What is true about the smart cameras？
A． To show the varieties of products
B． The smart cameras are more powerful
C． It can make the users upload their photographs easily
D． The smart cameras makes it more convenient to go on Internet
5.From the passage ，we can infer _______．
A． Electronics have become one of the biggest consumer industries in the US．
B． There are many electronics in the United States．
C． The US becomes the Number One electronics consumers．
D． We can buy much cheaper products in US．
Alibaba started taking the lead in China， simply enough， by connecting big Chinese manufacturers（制造商） with big buyers across the world． Its business-to-business site， Alibaba． com allowed business to buy almost everything． Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to identify: size． Alibaba is just big， even by Chinese standards． Its marketplaces attract 231 million active buyers，8 million sellers，11．3 billion orders a year—and Alibaba is just the middleman． It encourages people to use its markets—not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale．
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life，take my experience．I moved to Beijing almost a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded，polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics，bathroom furnishings，and anything else my wife wanted． “You’re looking for what exactly？ Why not try it？ ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day．With that，my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began．
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is secondary to consumer buying．Chinese retail（零售）buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit，and leading that group is Taobao，with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find． TMall．com is Alibaba’s other big site，where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices．
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U．S．is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping—big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites．In smaller towns than Beijing，where big retailers have not yet traveled，shopping online is shopping，and shopping is Taobao．
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how extensive the marketplace is．Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping．I’m not even a big buyer，because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site．When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad，which helps me buy goods，I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine．
1.Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in ___________．
A． its big size
B． its business-to-business service
C． its not charging small sellers
D． its low price
2.What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage？
A． Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites
B． Alibaba will continue to develop．
C． Alibaba stands out as the best online site．
D． Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers．
3.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to？
A． a new store
B． Alibaba
C． a business
D． a foreign website
4.What can be inferred from the passage？
A． The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover．
B． Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites．
C． Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail now．
D． TMall．com provides more profit than Taobao．
5.What is the passage mainly about？
A． Shopping online is TaoBao．
B． The influence of shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping．
C． Alibaba greatly influences people’s daily purchase in China．
D． How the author purchases online in China．
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller in Devon，England in 1890，the youngest of three children in a conservative，well-to-do family．Taught at home by a governess and tutors，as a child Agatha Christie never attended school．She became skillful at creating games to keep herself occupied at a very young age．A bashful child，unable to adequately express her feelings，she first turned to music as a means of expression and，later in life，to writing．
In 1914，at the age of 24，she married Archie Christie， a World War I fighter pilot． While he was off at war， she worked as a nurse． It was while working in a hospital during the war that Christie first came up with the idea of writing a detective novel． Although it was completed in a year， it wasn’t published until 1920，five years later．
“The mysterious Affair at Styles” gave the world the unique Hercule Poirot， a retired Belgian police officer who was to become one of the most enduring characters in all of fiction． With his waxed moustache and his “little grey cell，” he was “meticulous (careful to do things correctly)，a tidy little man， always neat， orderly and a bit absurd． ”
Christie wrote more than 30 novels featuring Poirot． Among the most popular were” The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”(1926)，“Murder on the Orient Expredd”(1934)，and “Death on the Nile” (1937)．
Another of Christie’s most well-known and beloved characters was introduced in “Murder at the Vicarage” in 1930．Miss Jane Marple， an elderly single in the old- fashioned English village of St． Mary Mead， solved all manner of mysteries with intense concentration and instinct．
Christies ultimately (finally)became the acknowledged Queen of the Golden Age． In all， she wrote over 66 novel， numerous short stories and screenplays， and a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott． Several of her works were made into successful feature films， the most notable being Murder on the Orient Express (1974)．In short， she is the single most popular mystery writer of all time． In 1971 she was awarded the high honor of becoming a Dame of the British Empire．
1.Which of the following is the correct order in which the events happened？
A． Agatha became a Dame of The British Empire．
B． Agatha worked as a nurse
C． The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published．
D． Murder on the Vicarage Express was published
e． Murder on the Orient Express was filmed
f． Archie Christie went to the front as a fighter pilot．
A． f-b-d-c-e-a
B． f-b-c-d-a-e
C． f-d-b-c-a-e
D． f-d-c-b-e-a
2.What does the underlined word “bashful” probably mean？
A． Shy B． Conservative
C． Stupid D． Sensitive
3.Mary Westmacott is_________________．
A． Agatha’s governess
B． the name of Agatha’s novel
C． another name for Agatha
D． the heroine of Agatha’s novel
4.Which of the following is NOT true about Hercule Poirot？
A． He was once a policeman
B． He paid much attention to details
C． He sometimes seems rather foolish
D． He solved mysterious with a sixth sense
5.In Agatha Christie’s life， What were the most popular novels that she wrote？
A． biography
B． detective novel
C． romantic fiction
D． science fiction
完形填空
When most people travel， they pick up all sorts of things: souvenirs， T-shirts， postcards and so on． However， Harry Loomer is ．When he travels， he leaves something behind， something of lasting value — his ．
Harry began donating blood at a college blood drive four decades ago． Since then， he has donated his blood ．Not once or twice a year， but every 56 days — as often as the law ．Even though he is now retired and .extensively， it has not slowed him down at all．
For people who need blood，Harry is a/an ．Since up to four people can _ from a single pint of blood， Harry Loomer， with a donation of 480 pints of blood， has played a big role in helping save hundreds of lives．
Connie Smith also gives blood regularly． She knows that donating blood requires little work and almost no while helping to save a life．“People need to know how vital it is to have blood on hand，” she says．“There is absolutely no for it．”
Connie is participating in a Red Cross programme designed to pair closely _ donors with people who need blood regularly because of long-term ．She is paired with a child who needs a pint of blood every two weeks．To ensure an adequate _ for this young patient，Connie and another donor donate their blood every 56 days．
“It’s not always ，” Connie admits，“but it’s more than worth it to know that I’m helping that precious child． I’m sure if other people know how vital blood donations are，they would be to sacrifice too．”
1.A． unlucky B． strange C． different D． brave
2.A． help B． blood C． money D． smile
3.A． regularly B． monthly C． occasionally D． gradually
4.A． suggests B． allows C． requires D． believes
5.A． drives B． travels C． exercises D． researches
6.A． doctor B． father C． example D． hero
7.A． benefit B． suffer C． choose D． start
8.A． surprising B． fair C． generous D． reasonable
9.A． condition B． courage C． pain D． time
10.A． substitute B． access C． place D． reward
11.A． matched B． balanced C． linked D． involved
12.A． developments B． illnesses C． tests D． processes
13.A． support B． application C． supply D． attention
14.A． necessary B． helpful C． effective D． convenient
15.A． excited B． willing C． lucky D． able
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
1.People traveled in search of food and shelter or in order to flee from their enemies． Sometimes they were looking for gold or silver in order to become rich． On other occasions they were searching for rich farmland．
This is not to say that no one ever traveled just for fun． Even in ancient times， some pleasure travel occurred． During a typical season，700，000 tourists would crowd into the ancient city of Rome， where animals performed and magicians entertained them．2.__
3.International tourist arrivals alone reached as many as 546 million in 1994 and are forecast to rise to 937 million in 2010，according to the World Trade Organization．
4.Probably the most common reason for traveling is related to our physical wellbeing． Actually， traveling to sports events is one of the fastest growing types of travel． In our fast developing society where stress has become part of people's life， people can rest and relax by having a change of environment and activities．
5.No one seems to doubt that travel broadens the mind． In 18th century Europe， young men would go on a Grand Tour to various countries in order to complete their education． Today the desire to travel to different countries is encouraged by modern mass media． People who travel to other countries can at the same time learn more about their own country and culture．
A． Throughout history， most travel was not for pleasure．
B． But why do people like traveling so much？
C． So they travel to a lake for a swim or a park for a bike．
D． The improvement in transportation has also encouraged people to travel．
E． Wealthy Romans made trips to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games．
F． The growth of tourism has become a modern phenomenon experienced by all countries in the world．
G． Another important reason for traveling is to satisfy our curiosity about different places and cultures．
Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for paid leave from work to care for a newborn child． Last spring one of the two，Australia， gave up the bad distinction by setting up paid family leave starting in 2011．I wasn’t surprised when this didn’t make the news here in the United States—we’re now the only wealthy country without such a policy．
The United States does have one explicit family policy， the Family and Medical Leave Act， passed in 1993．It entitles workers to as much as 12 weeks’ unpaid leave for care of a newborn or dealing with a family medical problem． Despite the modesty of the benefit， the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups fought it bitterly， describing it as “government-run personnel management” and a “dangerous precedent（先例）．” In fact， every step of the way， as (usually) Democratic leaders have tried to introduce work-family balance measures into the law， business groups have been strongly opposed．
As Yale law professor Anne Alstott argues， justifying parental support depends on defining （定义） the family as a social good that， in some sense， society must pay for． Parents are burdened in many ways in their lives: there is “no exit” when it comes to children． Society expects—and needs—parents to provide their children with continuity of care． And society expects—and needs—parents to persist in their roles for 18 years， or longer if needed．
1.What do we learn about paid family leave according to Paragraph 1？
A． It came as a surprise when Australia adopted the policy．
B． Setting up this policy made Australia less influential．
C． It has now become a hot topic in the United States．
D． No such policy is applied in the United States．
2.What makes it hard to take work-family balance measures in the States？
A． The incompetence of the Democrats．
B． The opposition from business circles．
C． The lack of a precedent in American history．
D． The existing Family and Medical Leave Act．
3.What is Professor Anne Alstott’s argument for parental support？
A． Children need continuous care．
B． Good parenting benefits society．
C． The cost of raising children has been growing．
D． The U．S．should keep up with other developed countries．
4.Why is the author against classifying parenting as a personal choice？
A． Parenting is regarded as a moral duty．
B． Parenting relies largely on social support．
C． Parenting produces huge moral benefits．
D． Parenting is basically a social responsibility．
