A

A group of 1309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace(重走) the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated first voyage on April 10, 1912. Of the 2227 passengers and crew aboard, more than1500 died. The ship, which was headed for New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants who were seeking a better life in America.

Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship were on the Balmoral. They wanted to remember the Titanic and those who died on her first and last voyage.

The Balmoral is following Titanic's original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked（进港） in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stops in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic's last port of call before sailing to New York.

The Balmoral then sailed the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where Titanic hit an iceberg . On Sunday, April 15, at 2：20 a. m. --- the time the Titanic went down---passengers and crew held a memorial service. The next two days were spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the sinking are buried. Then, the Balmoral will reach its final destination in New York City, where Titanic was supposed to dock—but never did.

So far, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered some items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And more trips are planned to the wreckage in the future. The Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there's a much more important contribution that Titanic gave us. After she sank, lawmakers and shipbuilders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.

21．We learn from the first paragraph that .

A．about 700 passengers of the Titanic survived.

B．the Titanic sank on its second voyage.

C．less than 2000 passengers boarded the Titanic.

D．all the passengers’ hopes of the Titanic lay in America.

22．Which of the following shows the correct route of the Balmoral?

a. Halifax b. New York City c. Cobh d. Southampton e. Cherbourg

A．e-d-a-b-c B．d-e-c-a-b C．e-c-a-b-d D．d-c-e-a-b

23．What might be the most important contribution of the Titanic?

A．Its site attracts more exploring teams.

B．It makes the later ships more secure.

C．Some of its items are on public display.

D．More trips are planned to its wreckage.

B

We have an amazing 99 friends at the age of 21--more than at any other time in our life, according to a new study. The typical 21-year-old’s social circle nearly hits 100, with 13 “best” friends, 17 “close” friends and 70 acquaintances.

The research undertaken by skin care brand Nivea found our social circle peaks at 21 as we meet people at work while keeping in touch with friends from school and university. But as our working lives take over，we lose contact with some old friends causing the number to drop to around 68 by the time we are 29 years old. Although this decline continues into old age，it slows down slightly for people in their 30s when many of them become first-time parents. It is believed that this is because people form new friendships while on the maternity ward(产科病房)，at post-natal(产后) groups and when taking their toddlers(学步时期的小孩) to nursery.

The Nivea Closeness Report found the balance between our numbers of “best friends”，“close friends” and “acquaintances”，remains fairly constant throughout our lifetime. The average Briton has 18 close friends and a friendship circle，when all Facebook and other social networking “friends” are included，of 208 people. The report found that men have more than twice the number of close friends，with around 27 compared to women who have just 12. Londoners are also the most sociable，with 39 “close friends”，while the Welsh have just 11.

The age of 21 is such a critical junction in life and that’s why we have so many friends then. As we get older we become more selective and have fewer close friends with whom we talk about the things that are really important to us. Perhaps when we are younger，instead of having one trusted confidante(知己) we share different things with a variety of different people.

24．According to the Nivea Closeness Report，who have the largest number of close friends?

A．Canadians. B．The Welsh. C． Londoners. D．Americans.

25．Older people have fewer friends than the 21-year-olds because .

A．they think friends are no longer important B．they are more selective and cautious

C．they are less interested in making friends D．they have little time to make friends

26．The research suggests that the number of friends in one’s late twenties reduces by or so, compared to that in one’s early twenties.

A．70 B．20 C．30 D．200

27．Why does the number of one’s friends decrease slowly when he is about 30 years old?

A．Because they achieve success in business and get acquainted with more colleagues.

B．Because many parents make friends with people who have similar experiences in bringing up children .

C．Because they make more friends through Facebook or the Internet.

D．Because as they grow older, they have more confidantes instead of acquaintances.

C

Today’s museums include plenty of high culture, but you can still find shrines（圣地）to the extraordinary. Here’s a look at five curious museum stops across Canada.

Vancouver Police Museum

The setting, terrible enough, is the old Coroner’s（验尸官）Court and forensics lab, including the morgue(room where dead bodies are kept). Artifacts, from the 1870s on, include badges, uniforms, police equipment, items from criminals, and even preserved organs—all in all an arresting experience.

Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station

Designed to resemble a spacecraft, the Treck Station celebrates Vulcan’s coincidental relationship to Mr. Spock’s planet, Go to a building that features an 800-piece collection of Star Trek memorabilia — including Spock’s ears and floor-to-ceiling space paintings. If you want to know more about it, click here: http//www. Vulcantourism. com

Accordion（手风琴）Museum

Through instruments, photos and recordings, the museum traces the history of the accordion and its influence on Quebec culture. They’ve even acquired Asian instruments that show the use of the free reed— call them ancient ancestors of the accordion—that date back 4000 years.

Chocolate Museum

It’s chocoholic heaven — whole museum featuring displays on how chocolate is made, hands-on exhibits, collections of historic chocolate boxes, and antique candy- making equipment and, of course, lots of chocolate treats ,located in an old candy factory building. Click below to learn all about their hours and admission rates. http:// www. Chocolate museum .ca

Potato museum

A 14--foot high potato greets you at what’s billed as the world’s largest exhibit of potato artifacts. Explore the humble potato’s role in the economy, a collection of farm tools related to growing and harvesting potatoes, Hall of Fame.

28．If you are very interested in thrilling movies, you will probably be attracted by .

A．potato Museum B．Chocolate Museum

C．Vancouver Police Museum D．Accordion Museum

29．We can infer from the passage that the ancestors of accordion originated in .

A．Canada B．America C．Africa D．Asia

30．People having a sweet tooth may prefer visiting .

A．Accordion Museum B．Potato Museum

C．Chocolate Museum D．Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station

31．The passage is most likely to be taken from .

A．a magazine B．a website C．a newspaper D．a brochure

D.

Shenzhen’s transport police recently declared a policeman a “star” member of staff, after he continued to serve in his post even after losing his newborn son. After a netizen made that known, internet users were merciless in their criticism, claiming Sun had sacrificed his son for his career and was unqualified to be a father or even a human being. Though Sun’s wife said via her micro blog he was the best husband and father in the world, it didn’t stop the tide of condemnation.

I feel deeply sorry for this man. It’s not that he should have received the award. It’s traditional in China for individuals to make sacrifices for a group or the country, which remains to be questioned. What annoys me is the netizens pouring anger on the father instead of showing sympathy. Why are they so quick to claim the moral high ground and set themselves up as judges? Whether the father accompanied his son until the last moment or not is a personal affair. The treatment of Sun is a case in point—of the “tyranny(专制)of the majority”. And the majority is not always correct or fair.

Micro blogs have been a growing trend in China in the last few years, becoming a channel for ordinary people to express their opinions, which was previously the preserve of elites(精英) and the media. The positive side of this has been praised enough. But we also need to examine the downside: Self-proclaimed（自诩的）online arbiters of what is right and wrong form another type of unfair rule running cruelly over opinions that don’t match their own. Without knowing enough details and without any serious thought, they pronounce their judgment as opinion of the “majority”.

We should question this expression of personal opinion and the commonness of group attacks. What we need is real, independent critical thinking instead of an Internet mob（暴徒）.

I have no idea how to change the situation but I do hope it happens.

32．What do we know about the policeman referred to ?

A．He was a model policeman but a failure as a father.

B．He cared little about the loss of his newborn son.

C．He was severely under verbal（言语上的） attack of the netizens.

D．He did not even have his wife’s understanding.

33．The writer of the passage probably will agree that .

A．the policeman quite deserved the honor of