Q: Christine and Elena grew up in the same suburb of Sydney and first met at kindergarten. They took to each other immediately and became inseparable friends throughout their school lives. Elena's parents had moved from Greece to Australia, and her grandparents still lived on the small Greek island of Santorini, When she was 16, Elena visited her grandparents for the first time. On returning to Australia, she talked endlessly about her grandmother's next-door neighbor, Mara. When Christine expressed puzzlement at Elena's obsession with people next door, Elena admitted that Maria had a handsome son called Nicos. She showed Christine a photo of him, standing next to his prize possession, a motorbike. Elena and Nicos exchanged emails for a while, but suddenly Nicos stopped writing. While not heartbroken, Elena was nevertheless hurt. A year later, when Christine announced that she was going to visit Greece, Elena begged her to visit Santorini and say hello to Maria and Nicos. Christine agreed to do so.

When she flew into Athens on an unseasonably cold day in September, she quickly realized that she hadn't brought enough warm clothes. Walking through the streets of the Greek capital, she happened to see a nice coat in a shop window and went in to ask about the price. The coat was too expensive, but as Christine was about to leave the shop, the woman asked her where she was from. When Christine answered Australia, the woman agreed to reduce the price because she knew a nice girl from Australia called Elena. Christine then noticed a photo of a young man standing next to a motorbike. Her eyes opened wide with astonishment. It was Nicos! Indeed the young man was Nicos, and the woman in the shop was Maria. She had come to Athens from Santorini to look after the shop for a friend.

Sadly, the story has a tragic ending. Nicos had been killed in a motorcycle accident.

"I wanted to tell Elena," said Maria. "But I didn't know how. Now that I have met you, I know that it's time to tell her."

Answer the following questions:
1. Who was killed in a motorcycle accident?
2. Whose son was he?
3. What was his prized posession?
4. Where did Christine and Elena first meet?
5. In what city?
6. Why was Elena concerned about the next door neighbors?
7. Where was Elena's family from?
8. Who still lived there?
9. On which island?
10. How old was she when she visited?
11. Was this her first visit?
12. How did Elena and Nicos keep in touch?
13. Who stopped communicating?
14. What did Elena see in the shop that caught her eye?
15. What was she thinking about purchasing?
16. Could she afford it?
17. Why did the shopkeeper offer her a discount?
18. Who was the shopkeeper?
19. Where had she moved from?
20. Had she told Elena why Nico stopped writing?
A: 1. Nicos
2. Maria's
3. a motorbike
4. at kindergarten
5. Sydney
6. Elena admitted that Maria had a handsome son
7. Greece
8. her grandparents
9. the small Greek island of Santorini
10. 16
11. yes
12. They exchanged emails for a while
13. Nicos
14. a photo of a young man
15. a nice coat
16. no
17. Because Christine answered that she was from Australia
18. Maria
19. Santorini
20. no
Q: Wang Jiaming from Beijing Chenjinglun High School says he is a lucky boy. He's happy that he's sitting the senior high school entrance exam in 2014 instead of 2016. On Oct 22, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education announced that, from 2016, the English scores in the senior high school entrance exam will be reduced from 120 to 100. Of the 100 points, the listening ability scores will increase to 50. Meanwhile, the points for Chinese will increase from 120 to 150. "The change won't affect me. I feel so lucky because English is my strongest subject," said Wang. Why such a change? It places the importance on Chinese in our study, and reduces students' stress, said Li Yi, spokesman of the commission. "The change will also push us to pay attention to the practical usage of English," said Li. "Students will be encouraged to learn to understand English menus and read English news on mobile phones." There isn't news that other cities will have the same change. But several places are making changes to English tests in the college entrance exams. For example, Shandong is considering taking out the listening part of the English exam in its college entrance exams. But, "being tested for less points doesn't mean the subject _ ," Bai Ping wrote in China Daily. English has long been the world's most commonly used language. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji once said: "In a globalizing economy , if you cannot communicate with foreigners, how can one be part of the world economy?" Wang Jiaming said he understood the change. "Chinese, not English, is our mother tongue ," he said. "But still, I think English is both interesting and useful."

Answer the following questions:
1. Who is happy he's taking the exam in 2014?
2. Where does he go to school?
3. When did the Commission of Education announce changes to the exam?
4. When do the changes start?
5. Which section of the test scores will be reduced?
6. From 120 to what?
7. Will the listening ability scores increase?
8. Which section will increase from 120 to 150?
9. Will the change affect him?
10. Why?
11. How does that make him feel?
12. Who is the spokesperson for the commission?
13. Man or woman?
14. What will the changes encourage the students to learn?
15. Are other cities making the change?
16. What about college entrance exams?
17. Which city is taking out the listening part?
A: 1. Wang Jiaming
2. Beijing Chenjinglun
3. 2016.
4. 2016
5. senior high school entrance exam
6. 100
7. to 50
8. points for Chinese
9. won't affect him
10. English is his strongest subject
11. unknown
12. Li Yi
13. unknown
14. to learn to understand English menus and read English news on mobile phones
15. no, There isn't news that other cities will have the same change
16. several places are making changes to English tests in the college entrance exams
17. Shandong is considering
Q: Michael Jackson's sudden death really astonished his fans, but soon they are glad to find another younger "King of Pop" has appeared. Wang Yiming, who is known as Xiao Bao, has already been popular across the world with his wonderful dance moves. He once appeared on U.S. television show "Ellen" and performed successfully at the World Expo 2010. About seven years ago, Xiao Bao was born prematurely , which made his mother really worried. He was so weak. What could he do? Doctors suggested that moving his body to music would help make him strong, but soon his parents were surprised by how quickly Xiao Bao fell in love with music! "When he was young, we just started playing music to him and he started moving around like this. But we didn't think that he had such a strong feeling for music. When he was just several months old, we would let him listen to music and he would stop crying and calm down at once," the proud mother once said. So far, Xiao Bao has learned the moonwalk and other Jackson's moves well. His fans are crazy about his wonderful shows. He has drawn more people's attention. He is fast becoming internationally popular. There are lots of problems waiting for him, but Xiao Bao will never give up. He is serious about his dancing career . Where there is a will, there is a way. We are sure that Xiao Bao's dream will come true one day.

Answer the following questions:
1. Who is the younger King of Pop that's recently appeared?
2. What is he also called?
3. Why did he learn to move himself to song?
4. Who decided he should move himself to song?
5. What daytime program was he on?
6. Was he delivered later than expected as a baby?
7. Was he seven years old when he found his affection for song?
8. How old was he?
9. Does he struggle with Jackson's dances?
10. What are his followers crazy about?
11. Did he once perform at the European Exposition in 2010?
12. Where he did perform in 2010?
A:
1. Wang Yiming
2. Xiao Bao
3. unknown
4. Doctors
5. Ellen
6. No
7. No
8. Several months old
9. No
10. His shows
11. No
12. At the World Expo