[单项选择]Christmas is America’s most popular holiday. Some people attend church and observe Christmas as the birthday of Christ. For others Christmas is just a day of fun and celebration, a time for family and friends to get together, exchange girls and enjoy a huge holiday dinner- During the last days of November American homes and stores begin to be decorated with Christmas trees and bright lights. Schools and churches prepare special holiday concerts. People go to parties, buy fine gifts and prepare special Christmas food.
When do Americans begin their Christmas activities
A. At the end of November.
B. In the middle of November.
C. At the beginning of December.
D. In the middle of December.

[简答题]Some of the most popular attractions across America are the many free concerts offered to the public throughout the year. These involve not only amateur performers, but professional artists as well. The public parks of many cities across the country usually have bandstands and large lawns. As a service to citizens, they rent out space to performers free of charge. Amateur groups, with nothing more than a desire to perform, offer their talents freely to the public. Semi. professional artists are pleased to get the chance to perform before the public to perfect their craft and nurture the hope of being discovered before beginning a professional career. Famous professionals also give free concerts to make contact with their admiring fans. Often such concerts are sponsored by a large corporate organization and offered to the public free of charge as a cultural service and support for the arts.
The free concerts feature all kinds of music from rock and roll, jazz, country-western to

[单项选择]What’s the most popular heating system according to the engineer
A. Every room has a heater.
B. The Central room has a heater.
C. A heat chamber heats air and passes the warm air through ducts and openings into rooms.
D. The rooms are installed with blowers or convection.

[填空题]
Do you carry a lucky penny Have you ever knocked on wood or crossed your fingers after talking about something pleasant Do you avoid walking under a ladder
Most of today’s superstitious beliefs can be traced back to those of primitive people who had no understanding of the laws of nature. However, there are few people even today who are completely free of superstitious beliefs. So have fun with them and enjoy them, but don’t take them seriously.
Crossing Your Fingers. Often people cross their fingers when making a wish. They believe this will make the wish come true. This came from the idea that when two lines crossed, the wish was held at the center of the lines until it came to pass,
Umbrellas. Will opening an umbrella indoors bring bad luck and disappointments This superstition began in the Old World many years ago, when umbrellas were made big enough to cover a whole f

[单项选择]White rice is the world’s most popular form office. But it goes through a milling process that removes many nutrients (营养成分). As a result, people who eat a poor diet based on white rice may not get enough vitamin A.
Each year about 250,000 to 500,000 children go blind from vitamin A deficiency. The World Health Organization (WHO) says haft of them die within a year of losing their sight. Vitamin A deficiency is a problem especially in Africa and Southeast Asia.
So scientists thought of an answer. They combined white rice with plant compounds that the body can change into vitamin A. These plant colorings give the rice a golden color.
The scientists also thought of a plan to give away this Golden Rice for free to poor farmers. But the rice cannot be made using traditional methods. The scientists worked for ten years, until 1990, to develop the technology to add genes to rice. Then it took nine more years to get the genes they wanted into the seed.
Professor
A. In 1980
B. In 1990
C. In 2000
D. In 2004

[单项选择]Some of the world’s most accommodating businessmen specialize in getting you what you want at a fair market price. But they’re businessmen with a difference — they’re smugglers who deal only in what’s illegal.
A smuggling operation is complex, so it has to be businesslike. It has managers who plan trips, make deals, and arrange for purchases and pick-ups. It has travelers who deliver the goods, and specialists who recruit and train them. In fact, smugglers frequently have legitimate businesses on the side. A travel agency is helpful because the modern smuggler is a world traveler. When a gold smuggler was arrested recently, he had airline tickets from Geneva to Bangkok by way of Frankfurt, Istanbul, Beirut, Vancouver, Tokyo, Heng Kong, Manila, and Jakarta.
The best places for smuggling operations are border cities and seaports. In one such city, annual sales at local stores amounted to $6,900 for every person in town. But the average person only made $3,575 per year. A ti
A. it is carried out in small cities and seaports.
B. it is helped by people doing legitimate businesses.
C. the smuggled goods are carried to faraway places.
D. the smuggled goods are hidden in the smuggler’s clothes.