Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     A straight-A student got a C in cooking class and didn’t like it. She didn’t like it so much that her dad filed a complaint in federal court about it. He insists that the teacher, who is white, discriminated against his daughter, who is black. He seeks to have her grade changed from a C to an A and asks for unspecified financial damages.
     Virginia Brown is in the ninth grade at Ashley High School. Since her first year in school, she has had perfect attendance and all her grades have been A’ s. Virginia’s father said her heart was broken when she got the C.
     “She cried the whole weekend,” he said. “She wouldn’t come out of her room. Her eyes were red and puffy（肿）. My little girl hasn’t been this upset since her cat got run over by a car when she was 6 years old.”
     Virginia is a model student. She’s the class president. She’s on the swim team, the volleyball team, and the track team. She belongs to the chess club. She is a member of the Girl Scouts and sings in her church choir.
     The home economics teacher is 28-year-old Jessica Smith. This is her first year teaching. Ms. Smith said that discrimination was absolutely not the issue. “Some of my best friends are African Americans,” she said. “This isn’t a black and white problem. Everybody in America wants to sue（起诉）everybody else. I’m going to sue them for defamation（毁坏名誉） of character and whatever else my lawyer comes up with.“
     The school principal, who grew up in India, said that he supported Ms. Smith 100 percent. He said that Virginia is an excellent student who would have no problem getting into the best universities even with a C in cooking. “She won’t have any difficulty finding a great university, but she might have problems finding a husband,” he laughed. “She’d better look for man who likes to eat out a lot.”

阅读选择。阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的4个选项（A、B、C、D）中选出 1个最佳选项。 

Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。
     Yoshio and Hiromi Tanaka are a young Japanese couple living in the USA while Yoshio studies electrical engineering. They clearly love each other very deeply, but, says Yoshio, “We didn't marry for love in the Western sense. We got married in the time-honored Japanese way. Our parents arranged our marriage through a matchmaker. In Japan we believe that marriage is something that affects the whole family, not just the young couple concerned. So we think it is very important to match people according to their social background, education and so on. Matchmakers are usually middle-aged women who keep lists of suitable young people with information about their families, education and interests. When our parents thought it was time for us to get married they went to a local matchmaker and asked her for some suggestions. We discussed the details and looked at the photos she sent, and then our parents asked her to arrange a ‘marriage interview’ for the two of us.”
     A Japanese marriage interview is held in a public place, such as a hotel or restaurant, and is attended by the boy and the girl, their parents and the matchmaker. Information about the couple and the couple and their families is exchanged over a cup of tea and a meal. Then the boy and the girl are left alone for a short time to know each other. When they return home they have to tell the matchmaker whether they want to meet again or not. If both of them want a second meeting, the matchmaker arranges it, and after that they can decide whether to carry on the courtship themselves. Here Hiromi said with a gentle smile, "Not so long ago, the girl could never refuse to go out again with a boy who liked her, but now she can. I thought Yoshio was really nice, so I didn’t refuse.”
     Yoshio continued: “When our parents realized we were serious about each other, they started to make arrangements for our wedding. My family paid the ‘Yuino’ money to Hiromi’s. This money is to help pay for the wedding ceremony and for setting up house afterwards. We also gave her family a beautiful ornament to put in the best room of their house, so everyone knew that Hiromi was going to marry. Six months after our first meeting we were married. A traditional Japanese wedding is a wonderful ceremony, and our traditional custom of arranged marriage has given me a wonderful wife.”

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。     

     The dark smoke that comes out of stacks or from a burning dump contains tiny bits of solid or liquid matter. The smoke also contains many gases, most of which cannot be seen. Altogether, they make up the serious problems of air pollution. In so many places it keeps us from seeing the sun, irritates our eyes, causes us to cough, and makes us ill. 

     Air pollution can spread from city to city. It even spreads from one country to another. Some northern European countries have had “black snow” from pollutants that have traveled through the air from other countries and have fallen with the snow. So air pollution is really a global problem. 
     Air pollution can kill babies, older people, and those who have respiratory diseases. In London, in 1952, four thousand people died in one week as a result of a serious air-pollution episode. In 1948, in the small town of Donora, Pennsylvania, twenty people died in a four-day period of bad air pollution.
     As levels often found in cities, air pollution increases the risks of certain lung disease, such as emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma. Of course, smoking and other factors help to cause these illnesses too, but these cases have increased greatly during recent years as air pollution has become worse. Air pollution can cause both airplane and auto accidents because it cuts down visibility. There are other possible health dangers from air pollution that we don't know much about. For example, scientists are trying to find out whether chemicals that reach us from the air may cause changes in our cells.
     These changes might cause babies to be born with serious birth defects. Scientists are trying to learn how all the many chemicals we are apt to take into our bodies from air, water, food, and even medicines act together to affect our health and the way our bodies work. That is another reason why it is so important to begin to control pollution now instead of waiting until we learn all the answers. 
     Air pollution costs us a lot of money. It soils and corrodes our buildings. It damages farm crops and forests. It has a destructive effect on our works of art. The cost of all this damage to our government is astronomical. It would be much more worthwhile, both for us and for the environment, to spend our tax dollars on air pollution control.

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     One day, the principal came into our room and, after talking to the teacher, for some reason said: “I wish all of the white scholars to stand for a moment.” I rose with the others. The teacher looked at me and, calling my name, said: “You sit down for the present, and rise with the others.” I did not quite understand her. She repeated: “You sit down now, and rise with the others.” I sat down puzzled and dumb. I saw and heard nothing. When the others were asked to rise, I did not know it. When school was dismissed, I went out unconsciously. A few of the white boys laughed at me, saying “Oh, you’re a nigger, too.”
     I hurried on as fast as I could to where my looking — glass hung on the wall in my own little room. For an instant I was afraid to look, but when I did, I looked long and earnestly. I was accustomed to hearing remarks about my beauty; but now, for the first time, I became conscious of it and recognized it. I noticed the ivory （象牙） whiteness of my skin, the beauty of my mouth, the size and liquid darkness of my eyes. I ran downstairs and rushed to where my mother was sitting. I buried my head in her lap and cried out：“Mother, tell me, am I a nigger?” I could not see her face, but I felt her hands on my head. I looked up into her face. There were tears in her eyes and I could see that she was suffering for me. And then it was that I looked at her critically for the first time. I had thought of her in a childish way only as the most beautiful woman in the world； now I looked at her searching for defects. I could see that her skin was almost brown, and that she did differ in some way from the other ladies who came to the house; yet, even so I could see that she was more beautiful than any of them. She must have felt that I was examining her, for she hid her face in my hair and said with difficulty: “No, my darling, you are not a nigger.” She went on: “If anyone calls you a nigger, don’t notice them.” But the more she talked, the less was I reassured, and I stopped her by asking: “Well, mother, am I white? Are you white?” She answered tremblingly: “No, I am not white, but your father is one of the greatest men in the country. The best blood of the South is in you.” This suddenly opened up in my heart a fresh fear, and I almost fiercely demanded: “Who is my father? Where is he?” She stroked my hair and said: “I’ll tell you about him some day.” I sobbed: “I want to know now.” She answered: “No, not now.”

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

     Robert Spring, a 19th century forger (伪造文件者), was so good at his profession that he was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of famous Americans. Spring was born in England in 1813 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he became rich by selling his small but genuine collection of early U.S. autographs（签字）. Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection, he sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale and circulation.
     Forgers have a hard time selling their products. A forger can’t approach a respectable buyer but must deal with people who don’t have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways to make their work look real. For example, they buy old books to use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemicals.
     In Spring’s time, right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the Southern states, so Spring invented a respectable maiden lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny’s financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts（手稿）belonging to her famous father. Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. All this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals.

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

        ⑤ Today Hawaii is important as a vacation destination. Each year over 6 million people visit Hawaii to enjoy the beaches, the beautiful ocean, and the historical Hawaiian culture. Come and visit Hawaii. You are sure to love it!

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

     Engineering design aims to link economic, social, environmental and of course safety factors to produce the best solution. This is especially true in earthquake engineering where it is possible to design a building that is “safe” for all types of earthquakes but does not fit the design brief. For example, it is not economically feasible to design buildings in Bristol to withstand a large earthquake as the chances are very small. Similarly a square concrete structure that has small windows and thick walls may be the ideal design for a particular area; however, it wouldn’t fit a design brief asking for a modern high-tech design. This balance of factors can only be achieved by engineers combining experience and knowledge of the area where the structure is to be located.
     Design practice has been changing over the last few years. The older design requirements used to insist that in an earthquake the building should maintain enough structural integrity to remain standing. This meant that if the serviceability limit state was passed the structure would have to be demolished, as it would be no longer safe to use. Although this concept saves lives as people can escape from buildings, it does nothing to prevent the huge financial cost of a large earthquake as a large proportion of buildings have to be demolished and rebuilt. Thus the new design requirements demand that the structure should remain standing in an earthquake and additionally not have to be demolished.
     The other factor often left unconsidered is the effect of after shocks. These shocks generally have little effect on undamaged buildings; however, on damaged ones they can have destructive effect and stop rescue operations. In the assessment of buildings the energy from an aftershock should be considered.
     Apparently the damage caused by earthquakes is almost entirely associated with man-made structures. Earthquakes only cause death by the damage they induce in structures such as buildings, dams, bridges and other works of man. And this is one of the reasons why earthquake engineering is so important.

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

     Most people think of a camel as an obedient beast of burden, because it is best known for its ability to carry heavy loads across vast stretches of desert without requiring water. In reality, the camel is considerably more than just the Arabian equivalent of the mule. It also possesses a great amount of intelligence and sensitivity.
     The Arabs assert that camels are so acutely aware of injustice and ill treatment that a camel owner who punishes one of the beasts too harshly finds it difficult to escape the camel’s vengeance. Apparently, the animal will remember an injury and wait for an opportunity to get revenge.
     In order to protect themselves from the vengeful beasts, Arabian camel drivers have learned to trick their camels into believing they have achieved revenge. When an Arab realizes that he has exited a camel’s rage, he places his own garments on the ground in the animal’s path. He arranges the clothing so that it appears to cover a man’s body. When the camel recognizes its master’s clothing on the ground, it seizes the pile with its teeth, shakes the garments violently and tramples on them in a rage. Eventually, after its anger has died away, the camel departs, assuming its revenge is complete. Only then does the owner of the garments come out of hiding, safe for the time being, thanks to this clever ruse.

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

        When I was about six years old, my mother came home one day and found that I had collected half a dozen babies of the neighbourhood — all of them too young to walk — and had them sitting before me on the floor while I was teaching them to wave their arms. When she asked the explanation of this, I informed her that it was my school of dance. She was amused, and placing herself at the piano, she began to play for me. This school continued and became very popular. Later on, little girls of the neighbourhood came and their parents paid me a small sum to teach them. This was the beginning of what afterwards proved a very lucrative occupation.
       My mother took me to a famous ballet teacher, but his lessons did not please me. When the teacher told me to stand on my toes I asked him why, and when he replied “Because it is beautiful,” I said that it was ugly and against nature and after the third lesson I left his class, never to return. This stiff and commonplace gymnastics which he called dancing only disturbed my dream. I dreamed of a different dance. I did not know just what it would be, but I was feeling out towards an invisible world into which I guessed I might enter if I found the key.
        My art was already in me when I was a little girl, and it was owing to the heroic and adventurous spirit of my mother that it was not stifled. I believe that whatever the child is going to do in life should be begun when it is very young. I wonder how many parents realize that by the so-called education they are giving their children, they are only driving them into the commonplace, and depriving them of any chance of doing anything beautiful or original.

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。  

     Kay James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia state government, loves to turn the tables on those who don’t think it’s possible to be middle-class, conservative, educated and still be truly black. Once, during an abortion debate, a woman in the audience angrily told James she was so middle-class that she didn’t have a clue about real African-American life. “If you understood what these women go through,” the woman said, “you would realize that abortion is their only choice.” 

     James then asked the woman to consider a poor black mother on welfare. She already has four children and an alcoholic husband who has all but abandoned the family. Now she discovers another child is on the way. “How would you counsel that woman?” asked James.
     “Have an abortion,” the woman responded. “That child would have a very poor quality of life.”
     “I have a vested interest in your answer,” James said. “The woman I described was my mother. I was the fifth of six children born into poverty. And, in case you’re interested, the quality of my life in just fine!”

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     Prince was an intelligent dog and a slave to Williams. From morning till night, when Williams was at home, Prince never left his sight. The dog had a number of clearly defined duties, for which Williams had patiently trained him and, like the good pupil he was, Prince lived for the chance to demonstrate his abilities. When Williams wanted to put on his boots he would murmur "boots" and within seconds the dog would drop them at his feet. At nine every morning Prince ran off to the general store in the village, returning shortly not only with Williams' daily paper but also with a half-ounce packet of Williams' favorite tobacco. A gun-dog by breed, Prince possessed a large soft mouth specially evolved for the safe carrying of hunted creatures, so the paper and the tobacco came to no harm, never even showing tooth mark.
     Williams was a railway man, and he wore a blue uniform that smelled of oil fuel. He had to work at odd times, "days,""late days"or "nights." Over the years Prince got to know these periods of work and rest, and knew when his master would leave the house and return. If Williams overslept, Prince barked at the bedroom door until he woke, much to the annoyance of the family.
     A curious thing happened to Williams during the snow and ice of last winter. One evening he slipped and fell on the icy pavement somewhere between the village and his home. He was so badly shaken that he stayed in bed for three days; and not until he got up and dressed again did he discover that he had lost his wallet. The house was turned upside down in the search, but the wallet was not found. Two days later, Prince dropped the wallet into Williams' hand. Very muddy, stained and wet through, the little case still contained fifty-three pounds, his driving license and a few other papers. No one could tell where the dog had found it. Perhaps he had found it by the faint oily smell on the worn leather.

阅读选择 

阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。          

        Disney is one of the most powerful companies in the world. In fact, it is so big and has so much influence that a new word has come into English: DISNEYFICATION. Here is a quick guide to the effects of Disneyfication.
        A few media and publishing giants control many of the things we watch, read and listen to. Therefore the West — mainly the USA — has a strong influence on the world’s popular culture. It is easy for people to identify with the products of the entertainment corporations. These products are glamorous, exciting and full of the latest technology; they easily become part of the culture that people share with their friends and their communities.
        As the culture of western entertainment spreads, the world will lose a lot of its cultural variety. Everyone is becoming more and more alike: all around the world teenagers wear the same “uniform” of baseball caps, blue jeans and running shoes.
       Countries like Canada, France and Malaysia have been fighting hard to protect their traditional culture by restricting the import of foreign books, films and so on. However, companies that want to increase their culture exports are in favor of a new treaty, the Multilateral Treaty of Investment. This treaty would limit the power of governments to control cultural imports.
       Major corporations like Disney make consumerism part of sports, arts and entertainment. After you have taken your children to see the latest Disney movie, they will want you to buy the video, the key chain, the toys, the T-shirt, the note-paper, the pencil set…Every film comes with a package of products, games, and children’s books — and, of course, a careful plan for marketing them all.
      Theme parks are becoming a model for towns and commercial development. Everywhere, you can find chain restaurants, giant shopping malls, and modernized city centers that all follow the same pattern. They are all designed to make us feel as if we are getting away from life’s problems — and to make us spend money. As this kind of development spreads, there is less and less space for other values and other ways of doing things.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     These days there are pills for just about everything. If you cannot sleep, take a pill. If you are unhappy, take a pill. What if you are overweight and you do not have time to exercise? A new fitness pill may soon be available. Scientists are developing a pill that provides the same benefits as exercise. According to a BBC report, the fitness pill will"build muscle and strength, and even burn fat."
     Researchers found that mice who took these pills could run long distances without previous training. The test mice also ran almost twice as fast. Would you take a pill if it meant you no longer needed to exercise? There is evidence that humans on these pills will also be able to build muscles without exercising. Furthermore, the research suggests that those who exercise and take the fitness pill will be even stronger.
     Some researchers think the fitness pill will be useful in certain situations. People who cannot get out of bed due to ill health may benefit from the drug. Those with too much blood sugar may also benefit. And, this pill may help patients recover from muscle wasting caused by many diseases. Other researchers feel that the average adult might benefit from such a drug. Most adults do not get the 40 minutes of daily exercise doctors recommend. The fitness pill eliminates the need for that time.
     The greatest concern about the fitness pill is in the sports world. Some fear that sportspersons may already be taking this drug to enhance performance. In order to prove to the public that his strength came from hard work and training, Michael Phelps, the world-renowned gold medalist swimmer, voluntarily went through extra drug testing before the 2008 Olympics. Now, all professional sportspersons are required to go through extensive testing for the fitness pill listed as a performance enhancing drug.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     Judging from business profits, we should be enjoying a powerful economic recovery. During the depression, profits dropped by about 30%. But now profits grow every day. In the first quarter of this year, profits have recovered 87% of what they lost in the depression. When second-quarter results are out, profits may rise above their previous peak.
     The recovery in profits should be a good sign. It makes companies more aggressive. They have a huge amount of money and are able to do whatever they want-hire, make new investments, raise salaries. Historically, higher profits lead to higher employment. Yet, except for new companies, loss-making companies don't create new jobs.
     So far, the contrast between recovered profits and small job growth is surprising. Last year, employment dropped 3.3 million. Since then, the economy has recovered only 11% of those lost jobs. Companies are doing much better than workers; that's a characteristic of today's economy.
The most obvious explanation is that the relationship between labor and capital has changed. Capital has become stronger; labor has become weaker. The situation has made business managers eager to cut costs in depressions and unwilling to hire workers early in recoveries. Reducing the number of employees is the quickest way to recover profits.
     The big job cuts in this depression should not have been surprising. With the breakdown of the financial system, companies had to do everything they can to save money, because they couldn't rely on outside money. So they cut jobs and new investment projects. Last year, business investment dropped 26%. Nothing like that had happened since the 1940s.
     However, there are some good signs. Many companies have started to replace their old equipment. This can create new jobs. General Electric says its research budget is up 18% and it supports new product development. But it's not clear whether business leaders were so scared by the crisis that they've become extremely cautious. That is bad. If labor is scared and capital is overcautious, the recovery must suffer.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     Are we getting more intelligent? The fact is that IQ scores have increased sharply in many countries of the world, Britain, the USA, Argentina, China and Canada to name only a few. The average child today is as bright as the near genius of 50 years ago."This destroys our belief about the rigidity of IQ, "says Prof Neisser of Cornell University. Even if we do not consider the problem of whether IQ is a satisfactory description of intelligence, we still have to find an explanation for this increase. Neither nature nor environment alone answers the question. Some research indicates that genetics accounts for 75% of the difference between one individual and another. So there's not much room for environment. But in a group of people genes do not change fast enough to explain the rise in scores over the last 50 years. And in any case most psychologists continue to believe that genes explain the differences in IQ. A recent study by Dickens and Flynn suggests that genes do indeed have an important effect, because they encourage people to look for certain environments and certain life experiences. Biologically bright children tend to enjoy school, books, puzzles, asking questions and thinking abstractly. All these things tend to increase brainpower. You will probably study more, choose bright children of the same age as friends, thus boosting your intelligence even more. A child who loves stories will ask his parents to read to him night after night. This will improve his cognitive skills and he will perform better at school. On the other hand a child biologically less gifted may get frustrated at school and come to hate learning, thus reinforcing his genetic tendencies.

阅读选择
阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

Improve Your Memory    

     If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this, and nobody would think of questioning this fact. Yet there are many people who do not seem to know that the memory works in the same way. When someone says that he had a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it regularly, either consciously or unconsciously. When someone says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough opportunity to become strong. The position is exactly the same as that of two people, one of whom exercises his arms and legs by playing tennis while the other sits in a chair or a motor car all day.
     If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is just as much his own fault as if it was his arms or legs that were weak. Not all of us can become extremely strong or extremely clever; but all of us can, if we have ordinary bodies and brains, improve our strength and our memory by the same means—practice.
     Have you ever noticed that people who cannot read or write usually have better memories than those who can? Why is this? Of course, because those who cannot read or write have to remember things; they can not write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember dates, times and prices, names, songs and stories; so their memory is the whole time being exercised.
     So if you want a good memory, learn from the poor and humble; practice remembering. 

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

      If you start each day desperately wishing for an extra hour in bed, the following is likely to leave you feeling even more bad-tempered. Scientists have identified a＂sleepless elite＂— a small group of people for whom staying in bed longer is a waste of time.
     Rather than being tired and bad-tempered losers, they are an energetic, outgoing and optimistic group who can happily and healthily get by on just four or five hours of sleep a night. And, they tend to be slim, able to hold down two jobs at the same time, and handle their extra-long days easily without needing coffee or catnaps（小睡）.
     Working out how the gene(基因)cuts sleep without any obvious impact on health could help in the design of drugs that give us all a few extra hours in our day. The bad news is that while many of us get by on a few hours' sleep a night, just one to three people in 100 qualify to be part of the sleepless elite.
     The research team is now calling for members of the lucky group to come forward to allow their DNA to be studied. Harvard University researcher Dr. Christopher Jones said: "My long-term goal is to someday learn enough so we can control the sleep mechanism without damaging our health. Everybody can use more waking hours, even if you just watch movies."
     Many of those who have already volunteered share fascinating characteristics. They are cheerful, thinner than average, and seem to have a high tolerance for physical pain and psychological setbacks.
     Dr. Christopher Jones told the New York Times: "Typically, at the end of a long phone interview, they will admit they have been sending short text messages and surfing the Internet and doing word games at the same time, all on less than six hours of sleep.”

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     Michael Stadtlander set Toronto's restaurant world on fire in the 1980s with his original food, and established a national and international fame. In 1994, however, he decided to leave the city restaurant scene and seek a quiet life in the country, where he has been preparing meals on his farm two hours north of Toronto and asks guests to bring their own wine.
     Not long ago, Stadtlander was charged with selling liquor without a license. He said when a guest asked for wine at a dinner in December, he provided two bottles from his private stock. But the customer turned out to be an undercover Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer who returned a few days later along with four armed officers to seize 83 bottles of wine, and to search the farmhouse for records. The punishment could run as high as $ 100,000 in fines and a year in jail.
     When Mr. and Mrs. Smith arrived at the farm on a weekend before Christmas, they said that it was their annual celebration and asked if they could get some wine. Nobuyo, Stadtlander's wife, told them the policy was that guests provide their own.
     Given the occasion, though, Stadtlander agreed to provide a bottle of white wine from his own cellar, at cost, as a favor. Later, Mr. Smith asked for a second bottle and a detailed receipt that included the price of the wine. He turned out to be OPP Detective Paul Smith and "his wife, "an assistant who went as a witness.
     "I was shocked, " Nobuyo Stadtlander recalls, "How could they do this to us when we did them a favor? We sold them our wine at our cost. "But Mr.Smith says,"No, they made $1. 20".
     Stadtlander is determined to prove his innocence and continue the business. "People who live in the area have been very supportive, he says. "And when this is over, I want my wine back."