January 1,2002 was a day that would be remembered for year to come. On the day, the euro became the official currency of twelve European countries, replacing currencies as famous as the German mark and the French franc.

       But the change from the old currencies to the new one was only a success after lots of problems were solved.

       The first problem was what to call the new currency. People in different countries had different suggestions. After a long discussion, the name “euro”was finally accepted by all of the countries involved.

       The next problem was the design. A normal bill or coin has a design related to the country concerned, like the picture of a famous person of monument. So how could they design something that was representative of twelve different countries and their traditions? The final answer was a compromise. Every euro coin has a standard European face on one side, but each Member State is allowed to decorate the other side with an image linked to their own country. For example, Spanish coins have the image of the Spanish king, and German coins have pictures of Berlin’s famous Brandenburg Gate. So even though you can spend the coins in any of the twelve counties, you can tell which country they originally came from. Euro bills will be uniform throughout the euro area.

       The final problem was how to introduce the money. Imagine how complicated it was to change the kind of money you use, not just for ordinary people, but also for companies: Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines.(自動售貨機(jī)) to accept the new coins. To help people get used to the idea, stores started publishing prices in both the old and the new currency from January 2000.

       The final change from the old currencies to the new euro was a huge success. People in Europe are now using the euro bills and coins as easily as Americans use dollars.

1．How long has the euro been an official currency?

       A．For over 7 years.                                 B．For over 8 years.

       C．For over 6 years.                                 D．For over 5 years.

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

       A．When the euro first came into use, the stores got into trouble.

       B．People can tell in which country a euro coin was made.

       C．The new euro bills have different designs.

       D．Some people still have difficulty in using the new currency.

3．The author mentions Coca-Cola in paragraph 5 to        .

       A．indicate that Coca-Cola has steady financial foundations.

       B．tell us Coca-Cola has made a contribution to Europe.

       C．prove it took lost of effort and money to introduce the euro.

       D．show Coca-Cola is very popular with consumers.

4．Which of the following were the problems when changing from the old currencies to the new one?

    a．What to call the new currency.

       b．How to introduce the new currency to Europeans.

       c．How to decide what the euro would be worth.

       d．What the design of the new currency should be.

       A．a(chǎn),b,c                   B．a(chǎn),c,d                   C．a(chǎn),b,d                   D．b,c,d

5．What is the passage mainly about?

       A．The efforts at making the euro a success.

       B．The causes of the birth of the euro.

       C．The importance of the euro.

       D．The design of the euro.

——The Thirteen Women in Nanjing directed by Zhang Yimou is said to be well worth seeing.

——You must be kidding! It’s one_____in at least a year.

A. Completed    B. completing       C. to be completed      D. having been completed

 

This story is well worth ____________.

A．to read

B．being read

C．to be read

D．reading

 

On March 5, 2009, Michael Jackson stood in front of crowds of fans．Before screaming fans, he pronounced with pumping arms: "This is it!"
A few months later, Jackson was dead．With the late pop star’s return to radio, television and the cultural events, Forbes judges that Jackson has made $90 million since his death June 25．This figure is based on his royalties（版稅） from album sales, radio play, rights to his name and royalties from his stock in the Sony/ATV music catalog （編目權(quán)）．
Jackson's music was his most easily-seen source in the last months．“Nothing increases the value of an artist than death ．．．a(chǎn)n untimely death,” says Barry Massarsky, a music industry economist．
The music's immediate value was clear．Since June, Jackson has sold more than 5．9 million albums in the U．S．a(chǎn)nd another 4．5 million overseas．In the first weeks after his death, there were 5．6 million single downloads across North America, Europe and Australia．Jackson recently has three of the top 20 best-selling albums of the year in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan．His 2003 hits album Number Ones is the best seller of the year, beating Taylor Swift's Fearless．
More than 500,000 Jackson ringtones and 100,000 music videos were sold．In the week following his death, songs by The Jackson 5, The Jacksons and Michael were played over 100,000 times on the radio, according to Nielsen BDS．
Jackson's estate（遺產(chǎn)）will likely see more money by the end of this year, as it has rights to some of the profits from This Is It as well as the two-disc album of the same name．The estate will share 90% of the film profits with AEG．
Ticket sales from an exhibit opening in London will also contribute a likely profit．Hundreds of Jackson's personal belongings－h(huán)is L．A．Rolls Royce etc－will remain on show for three months at the O2 Arena for fans willing to shell out $25 for a view．
The pop singer bought ATV Publishing, for $47．5 million in 1985．Ten years later, he sold the catalog to Sony for $95 million and took a 50% stock in Sony/ATV, which is now worth about $1．7 to $2 billion．So he still owned half the Sony/ATV catalog at his death．
Jackson's future earning potential is based on his stock in valuable music as well as the value of his image（肖像）．As many musicians, actors and artists before him, Jackson's fame could have a long tail on the market with allowable products, advertising and entertainment events．
【小題1】What do Barry Massarsky’s words in Paragraph 3 imply?

A．Jackson died at the time as expected．

B．Only at death can an artist become famous．

C．Jackson became more famous at death than when he was alive．

D．Jackson’s unexpected death raised his value as an artist immediately．

【小題2】All the following is true EXCEPT that _____．
A．“This is it” is the last concert that Jackson gave
B．Jackson has sold 10．4 million albums since June
C．Jackson’s L．A．Rolls Royce is now for show and will finally be sold
D．Jackson’s stock in music and his image will keep on earning money in the future
【小題3】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Jackson’s album Number Ones beat Taylor Swift’s Fearless in 2003．

B．Taylor Swift’s Fearless is the second best seller of music albums of 2009．

C．AEG takes in more film profits from “This is it” than Jackson’s estate．

D．More Jackson’s music videos were sold than his ringtones right after his death．

【小題4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Why Michael Jackson’s music is so popular all over the world．

B．How Michael Jackson has earned $90 million in the months since his death．

C．What Michael Jackson's future earning potential is based on．

D．How much Michael Jackson earned in the first few months after his death．

An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies.

James Harrison has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia. He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood.

Mr. Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations. When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.

He was also nicknamed the “man with the golden arm” or the “man in two million”. He said: “I've never thought about stopping. Never.” He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood. “I was in hospital for three months,” he said. “The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18.”

Just after he started donating he was found to have the rare and life-saving antibody in his blood. At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease. Other newborns suffered permanent brain damage because of the condition. The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood. It stems from one having Rh-positive blood and the other Rh-negative.

His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D. After his blood type was discovered, Mr. Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine. “They insured me for a million dollars so I knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of,” he said. “I wasn't scared. I was glad to help. I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away.”

Mr. Harrison is Rh-negative and was given injections of Rh-positive blood. It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women. It has also been given to babies after they are born to stop them developing the disease.

It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far. Mr. Harrison is still donating every few weeks now.

1.How old is James Harrison？

A．56               B．70               C．74               D．78

2.What does the underlined phrase “two million” refer to?

A．dollars            B．babies            C．mothers          D．a(chǎn)ll of the above

3.Why did James decide to donate his blood? Because _____.

A．someone else’s blood saved his life

B．he has a golden arm worth a million dollars

C．a(chǎn) vaccine called Anti-D is to be developed

D．his daughter asked him to help her son

4.The sentence “The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood” (underlined in Paragraph 5) suggests that _____.

A．a(chǎn)ll the patients have a rare antibody in their blood

B．babies suffer permanent brain damage before born

C．Rhesus disease contributes to permanent brain damage

D．. the mother and the baby have different types of blood

5.What can we infer from the sixth paragraph?

A．His wife Barbara needed to be taken care of badly then.

B．Some of the tests to develop the vaccine are dangerous.

C．Mr. Harrison was glad to help develop a new vaccine.

D．His blood type was accidentally discovered after tests.