SPEED READING
Skim or scan the following passages and then decide on the best answer.
    Do you dream of opening a bookstore amidst the hills of Scotland? If you do, you probably dismiss the fantasy as a daydream—but that's where The Open Book steps in. This unique vacation rental in Wigtown—Scotland's National Book Town—lets guests run their own bookstore by the sea.
    The Open Book is the brainchild of American writer Jessica Fox, who gave up her Californian lifestyle at the age of 24 after dreaming of another life in Scotland. Fox fell in love with Wigtown and its surplus of book shops. "It's a magical place, it has all the things you could hope for in a trip to Scotland," says Fox.
    The idea for The Open Book was sparked by Fox's own passionate love of Wigtown, which hosts the popular Wigtown Book Festival each September. "I'd never been to Scotland, I'd only seen it in films," recalls Fox. "I went from a very densely populated place with a car, and stuck in traffic a lot, to a place with hardly any people, amazing scenery, and absolutely no car. I absolutely loved it." Fox knew most people wouldn't want to give up their old life forever, but she was sure a week experiencing a slice of "Local Hero"-style small-town Scotland would appeal to many. So she decided to take over a closing bookshop and try out her idea. Five years later, The Open Book is a great success. It's booked up on the Internet until 2021, and there's an extensive waiting list. The Open Book's success has put Wigtown firmly on the map, with book-lovers travelling to this coastal corner of Scotland from across the globe.
    The Open Book is run by local volunteers. "Any profit that The Open Book makes goes right back into the community of Wigtown," explains Fox. Local people pick guests up from transport hubs (站点) and bake them homemade bread. Visitors become local celebrities for the week. "The town really makes sure they're comfortable and will invite them to dinner or the pub, so it's a community effort," says Fox. In return, guests look after the shop.
    "We suggest that people take the initiative and do events in the shop, even share the culture that they're coming from with Wigtown. People really do that. They do some imaginative, wonderful ideas," says Fox. "We've had Spanish wine tasting, book readings and game nights—so they bring a lot of life to the bookshops themselves."

SPEED READING
Skim or scan the following passages, and then decide on the best answer.

     About twenty years ago, when the Internet was not so easily accessible, children used to spend much more time outdoors. Nowadays, however, children prefer to spend free time at home, watching more TV, playing computer games and so on. Although this may also be more comfortable for parents, as they can watch and control their child more easily when at home, for a child's sake, it is better to encourage him or her to play outdoors.
     According to a new study held in Australia, teenagers who are regularly engaged in moderate-to-vigorous outdoor activity tend to have better health and easier social interactions then their peers who prefer to stay at home and play games. On average, the difference in time spent outdoors for these two groups was about 2.5 hours. Bamini Gopinath, a university professor, says that "Parents should be conscious of the fact that outdoor physical activity is beneficial to their child's overall health and well-being, and should try to limit the time their child spends in front of the screen."
     Indeed, as it has been discovered, outdoor activity does not just generally improve the way a child feels; there are a number of specific benefits a child or teenager receives from it. In particular, such children build stronger bones and muscles. They tend to be more flexible with a better sense of balance and a more healthy weight. Playing outdoors helps teenagers avoid or reduce stress and feel more relaxed have more confidence in themselves, boosts self-esteem, and allows them to keep in touch with old friends and also make new ones.
     What is also important, playing outdoors helps children to develop skills connected to creativity and invention. The objects of the outdoors grant children with limitless possibilities for playing, and each time a child steps outside these games change, or new ones are invented. Natural spaces and materials stimulate children's limitless imagination and serve as the medium of inventiveness and creativity. Creative skills that a child develops when playing outside can help him or her in the future-for example, when there is a need to solve a non-standard task, or come up with a new idea.
     Playing outside not only improves a child's general physical and psycho-emotional condition, but makes him or her physically stronger, more flexible, and self-confident. It positively affects self-esteem, helps a child to maintain a healthy weight, and develop social contacts.Moreover, it contributes to the development of creative thinking and imagination. Therefore, parents should encourage their children to spend much more time outdoors. 

SPEED READING
Skim or scan the following passages and then decide on the best answer.

    Many Londoners would be envious of the places Matthew Anderson has lived in: the likes of Broadway Market, Angel, Camden, and Little Venice are amongst the city's most trendy and expensive. Many more would long for his electricity bill: £600 for the next 15 years. How, then, is he only 24 and a resident of London for just two years?
    Anderson, an actor, is part of a booming trend for houseboat living among young Londoners. And specifically for what's known as a "continuous cruising", meaning for around £800, which covers your annual insurance and boat license, you can moor up (停泊) wherever you want... but only if you move every two weeks.
    Houseboats, and narrowboats in particular, are peculiarly British. They were originally working boats during the Industrial Revolution. While the industrial need for narrowboats has long diminished, the nation's love for them hasn't. But until recently, only a small and hardy community actually lived on them, and fewer still constantly cruised. That's changing. Many people are fleeing London's ever escalating property prices, where house prices have risen 86% since 2009, for a life on the water. But life on a houseboat is not for everyone. It is a bit too small and the lack of space is inescapable. "But it's been a lifesaver for me," says Anderson. "You have to work so much in London just to pay your rent." Before buying the boat a year ago, he lived in the north London suburb, paying £550 a month in rent for a room in a house, not including bills. Now, he says, his monthly expenses "work out at around £200," which includes paying off the loan to buy the boat. Meanwhile, solar panels on his roof run his lighting, charge his phone and laptop and power the water pump.
    Because of the savings, Anderson says he was able to take an unpaid acting job, which got him a part in a Channel 4 series called Humans, which then helped him get a role in the film Borstal. "You can't do that if you're paying rent," he says. But it's also a lifestyle choice. "That feeling when you move house and a fresh start—you get that every two weeks!"
    Boaters are a different kind of community. Atypically (非典型地) for London, houseboating can be cheap. But typically for London, it's crowded and, while it can be rewarding, it's not necessarily for everyone.

SPEED READING
Skim or scan the following passages and then decide on the best answer.
     Arthur Morel was growing up. He was a quick, careless, impulsive boy, a good deal like his father. He hated study, made a great moan if he had to work, and escaped as soon as possible to his sport again.
     In appearance he remained the flower of the family, being well made, graceful, and full of life. His dark brown hair and fresh colouring, and his exquisite dark blue eyes, together with his generous manner and fiery temper (急脾气), made him a favourite. But as he grew older his temper became uncertain. He flew into rages over nothing, seemed unbearably raw and irritable.
     His mother, whom he loved, wearied of him sometimes. He thought only of himself. When he wanted amusement, all that stood in his way he hated, even if it were she. When he was in trouble he moaned to her ceaselessly.
     "Goodness boy!" she said, when he groaned about master who, he said, hated him, "if you don't like it, alter it, and if you can't alter it, put up with it.''
     And his father, whom he had loved and who had worshipped him, he came to detest. As he grew older, Morel fell into a slow ruin. There came over him a look of meanness and of paltriness (微不足道). And when the mean-looking elderly man bullied or ordered the boy about, Arthur was furious. Moreover, Morel's manners got worse and worse, his habits somewhat disgusting.
     "Dirty nuisance!" Arthur would cry, jumping up and going straight out of the house when his father disgusted him. And Morel persisted the more because his children hated it. He seemed to take a kind of satisfaction in disgusting them, and driving them nearly mad, while they were so irritably sensitive at the age of fourteen and fifteen. So that Arthur, who was growing up when his father was degenerate and elderly, hated him worst of all.
     Then, sometimes, the father would seem to feel the contemptuous (藐视的) hatred of his children.
     "There's not a man tries harder for his family!" he would shout. "He does his best for them, and then gets treated like a dog. But I'm not going to stand it, I tell you!"
     As it was, the battle now went on nearly all between father and children, he persisting in his dirty and disgusting ways, just to assert his independence. They hated him.

SPEED READING
Skim or scan the following passages and then decide on the best answer.

    The vast majority of people believe children today go on fewer school expeditions and trips than when they were at school—with the cost highlighted as the main reason for the decline.
    The survey was commissioned by Bohunt Education Trust (BET) and was conducted by polling company Censuswide. It found that only 10% of people believe that children today have more outdoor education opportunities than they had in their school years, with nearly three-quarters of people (71%) blaming cost as the biggest factor stopping children experiencing outdoor education.
    Some 72% of those surveyed called for a greater focus on outdoor education in both primary and secondary schools—more than three-quarters of people (78%) said outdoor education was important for children's self-development, and more than two-thirds (68%) said it improved academic achievement.
    This agrees with a study by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) last month, which said that: "Overall, studies of adventure learning interventions consistently show positive benefits on academic learning. On average, pupils who participate in adventure learning interventions make approximately four additional months' progress over the course of a year. There is also evidence of an impact on non-cognitive outcomes such as self-confidence. The evidence suggests that the impact is greater for more vulnerable and older learners (teenagers), longer courses (more than a week), and those in a 'wilderness' setting, though other types of intervention still show some positive impacts."
    BET, one of the country's top-performing academy trusts, is a leading proponent of outdoor education. It champions an extensive outdoor education and outdoor learning programme for all its students, nurturing talents and providing opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. BET sees outdoor education as crucial to building well-rounded individuals, for resilience (适应力), character and teamwork, as well as beneficial for academic attainment.
    BET is a course provider for Mountain Training UK and students across their seven schools have in recent years gone on expeditions to Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Greenland and the Himalayas, with ones planned next year to Norway, Azerbaijan, the Himalayas and Lanka. At Bohunt School in Wokingham, climbing is incorporated into the curriculum.
    Crucially, BET also ensures that outdoor education is available for all its students, regardless of background. Better-off students are expected to fundraise, with the expeditions programme scheduled three years in advance, allowing families to plan. All students receiving the Pupil Premium are provided with grants, so that every student who wants to go on a trip can do so.

SPEED READING 

Skim or scan the following passages, and then decide on the best answer and blacken the corresponding letter.   

        People in the developed countries are living longer. In 2005 in the U.S. the average lifespan was 77.6 years, as against 54 years in 1920 and just 34 years in 1780. By 2050 it is estimated that the average lifespan will be in the mid 80's. By 2025 in the developed countries the share of the population over 60 will be 26 percent.
         This increasing longevity is starting to impact on public finances, economic growth and general living standards. This impact is greater in countries with low employment rates, such as countries in the European Union, of which Italy is a good example. In addition, as baby boomers (those born from 1946 to 1960) reach retirement age, there is increasing pressure on social security systems and public funds for retirement and health care expenses. Economists are increasingly questioning the sustainability of the European social model with its current high welfare standards.
         "Active aging" is now being advanced by policy experts. The current division of life into three cycles—education, employment and retirement—should be changed. According to these experts, governments need to remove barriers that prevent older people from continuing to work and should extend the average working life. Schemes for lifelong learning need to be established to keep the aging workforce equipped with up-to-date job skills.
          The U.S. agricultural firm Monsanto is encouraging the government to allow it to introduce "phased retirement" for its workforce. Back in 1991 the company set up a Resource Re-entry Centre (RRC). Monsanto found it difficult to hire qualified temporary administrative assistants. Through the RRC it began to offer this work to retired administrative workers. The centre now sources human resources amongst its retired workforce for a diverse range of projects. In so doing, the company retains the skills, knowledge and social networks of its workers.
           Much of the work is project-based and highly flexible. Over 60 percent of the projects are given to workers over 60. A key feature of the scheme is workers’ access to cost-effective computer-based training to maintain and update job skills. The centre strives to educate company managers regarding the cost efficiency and quality of the work achieved by the service.

CAREFUL READING
Read the following passages carefully. Decide on the best answer and choose the corresponding letter.
    When I was growing up we used to get American TV shows rebroadcast on our stations. Most of them were dubbed (配音) into African languages. ALF was in Afrikaans. Transformers was in Sotho. But if you wanted to watch them in English, the original American audio would be simulcast (同步播放) on the radio. You could mute your TV and listen to that. Watching those shows, I realized that whenever black people were on-screen speaking in African languages, they felt familiar to me. They sounded like they were supposed to sound. Then I'd listen to them in simulcast on the radio, and they would all have black American accents. My perception of them changed. They didn't feel familiar. They felt like foreigners.
    Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it. A shared language says "We're the same." A language barrier says "We're different." The architects of apartheid understood this. Part of the effort to divide black people was to make sure we were separated not just physically but by language as well. In the Bantu schools, children were only taught in their home language. Zulu kids learned in Zulu. Tswana kids learned in Tswana. Because of this, we'd fall into the trap the government had set for us and fight among ourselves, believing that we were different.
    The great thing about language is that you can just as easily use it to do the opposite: convince people that they are the same. Racism teaches us that we are different because of the color of our skin. But because racism is stupid, it's easily tricked. If you're racist and you meet someone who doesn't look like you, the fact that he can't speak like you reinforces your racist preconceptions: He's different, less intelligent. A brilliant scientist can come over the border from Mexico to live in America, but if he speaks in broken English, people say, "Eh, I don't trust this guy."
    However, if the person who doesn't look like you speaks like you, your brain short-circuits because your racism program has none of those instructions in the code. "Wait, wait," your mind says, "the racism code says if he doesn't look like me he isn't like me, but the language code says if he speaks like me he... is like me? Something is off here. I can't figure this out."

SPEED READING
Complete the following sentence with the proper form of the word in the bracket.

     Cliff House has gone through five major constructions and reconstructions since its beginning in 1858. That year, Samuel Brannan, a prosperous man from Maine, bought for $1,500 the lumber from a ship that wrecked on the cliffs below. With this material he built the first Cliff House. The second Cliff House was built for Captain Junius G. Foster, but as it was a long difficult trip from the city, the house hosted mostly horseback riders, small game hunters or picnickers on day outings. With the opening of a toll road a year later, the Cliff House became successful with the Carriage trade for Sunday travel. On weekends, there was little room at the Cliff House for horses and carriages. Soon, omnibus railways and streetcar lines made it to near Lone Mountain where passengers transferred to stagecoach lines to the beach. The growth of Golden Gate Park attracted beach travelers in search of meals and a look at the Sea Lions sunning themselves on Seal Rock, just off the cliffs to visit the area.
     In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Boulevard, was purchased by the City of San Francisco for around $25,000. In 1883, after a few years of downturn, the Cliff House was bought by Adolph Sutro, a multimillionaire who made his fortune from mining. After a few years of quiet management by J. M. Wilkens, the Cliff House was severely damaged by an explosion of the ship, which destroyed the northern part of the house. Seven years later, on Christmas 1894 the repaired old building burned down.
     In 1896, Adolph Sutro built a new Cliff House, a seven-story Victorian style castle, called by some“the Gingerbread Palace.”In the same year, work began on the famous Sutro Baths, which included six of the largest indoor swimming pools north of the restaurant that included a museum, a skating rink and other pleasure grounds. Great throngs of San Franciscans arrived on steam trains, bicycles, carts and horse wagons on Sunday excursions.
     The Cliff House and Sutro Baths survived the 1906 earthquake with little damage but burned to the ground on the evening of September 7, 1907. Rebuilding of the restaurant was completed within two years and, with additions and modern restorations, is the one seen today.
     The building was acquired by the National Park Service in 1977 and it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The site overlooks the Seal Rock and the former site of the Sutro Baths. More than thirty ships have been pounded to pieces on the southern shore of the Golden Gate below Cliff House. 

SPEED READING 

Skim or scan the following passages, and then decide on the best answer.

     The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that some 260 million people speak it as a native language, mainly in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the standard varieties of English found in these areas, there are a great many regional and social varieties of the language, as well as various levels of usage that are employed both in its spoken and written forms. 

     It is virtually impossible to estimate the number of people in the world who have acquired an adequate working knowledge of English in addition to their own language. The purposes for which English is learned and the situations in which such learning takes place are so varied that it is difficult to define and still more difficult to assess what constitutes an adequate working knowledge for each situation. 

     The main reason for the widespread demand for English is its present-day importance as a world language. Besides serving the infinite needs of its native speakers, English is a language in which some of the most important works in science, technology and other fields are being produced, and not always by native speakers. It is widely used for such purposes as meteorological （气象学的）and airport communications, international conferences, and the dissemination (传播）of information over the radio and television networks of many nations. It is a language of wider communication for a number of developing countries, especially former British colonies. Many of these countries have multi-lingual populations and need a language for international communication in such matters as government, commerce, industry, law and education as well as for international communication and for access to the scientific and technological developments in the West. 

prospect 这个单词的意思是？（） 

希望工程的意思是（ ）

exclusive right的意思是（ ）

self-reliance的意思是（ ）

social security的意思是（ ）

生态平衡的意思是（ ）

context 这个单词的意思是？（）

TRANSLATION
The following is taken from the textbook. Read carefully and translate underlined sentence into Chinese.

Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness and indulgence towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters, others are severe over times of coming home at night, punctuality for meals or personal cleanliness. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child's own happiness and well-being.

TRANSLATION
The following is taken from the textbook. Read carefully and translate underlined sentence into Chinese.

Also, parents should realize that "example is better than precept".

floods and droughts的意思是（ ）

WORD FORMATION
Complete each of the following sentences with the proper form of the word in brackets.

​(hunger) Joanne is so  for success that she'll do anything to achieve it.