Meier, 43, a marketing director in Beaver Falls, prefers her books on paper, not screens. After working on a computer all day, she says, “I want a book in my hand. Turning over its pages is my way of knowing it's time to relax and slow down.” Meier, who's sticking with physical books, doesn't consider herself any kind of digital “resister.” “I'm comfortable with all forms of technology,” she says. “However, when it comes to books, I suppose I'm a traditionalist. My preference will always be the real thing.”

To her, part of the joy of reading is the book itself: “pulling it from the shelf, inspecting the cover, letting it fall open to a random page.”

Both have lots of company. Statistics show that e-book sales grew 43% last year, but that's a slowdown compared with the triple-digit increases in recent years. E-books remain the fastest-growing part of the book market but account for only about 20% of all sales, reported by publishers.

Miscioscio and Meier are at opposite ends of a book business in transition. Even though e-book sales have grown more than 4,000% since 2008, it's unlikely that physical books will disappear the way records did in the music industry.

21. Miscioscio will ______ when a book is not available digitally.

A. give up reading such kind of books

B. switch to the book of lower price

C. buy the book on paper

D. take an e-reader onto the loungers

22. According to Meier, her “preference” refers to ______.

A. paper book B. part of joy C. a random page D. an e-book

23. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. Records are unlikely to disappear in the music industry.

B. Miscioscio and Meier are two opponents in book business.

C. The market share of e-books is bigger than that of paper books.

D. Physical books will remain to be accepted to some people.

24. What is the passage mainly concerned with?

A. E-books will dominate the book industry eventually.

B. Readers go their own way in choosing books.

C. New technology brings more benefits for readers.

D. Physical books will disappear gradually in the future.

B

Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.

In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War Ⅱ. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家)，encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

25. The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because .

A. they lived healthily in a dirty environment.

B. they believed disease could be spread in public baths

C. they thought bath houses were too dirty to stay in

D. they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease

26. Which of the following best describes Henry IV’s attitude to bathing?

A. Uninterested. B. Curious. C. Approving. D. Afraid.

27. How does the passage mainly develop?

A. By following the order of time.

B. By making comparisons.

C. By providing examples.

D. By following the order of importance.

28. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To stress the role of dirt.

B. To introduce the history of dirt.

C. To present the change of views on dirt.

D. To call attention to the danger of dirt.

C

It all began with a stop at a red light.

Kevin Salwen was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006 . While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes Coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other.

“Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal.” Hannah protested. The light changed and they drove on, but Hannah was too young to be reasonable. She pestered（纠缠）her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something.

“What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?”

Warning! Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager. Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home.

Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project —crazy, impetuous （鲁莽的） and utterly inspiring — is written down in detail in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: “The Power of Half.” It’s a book that, frankly, I’d be nervous about leaving around where my own teenage kids might find it. An impressionable child reads this, and the next thing you know your whole family is out on the street.

At a time of enormous needs in Haiti and elsewhere, when so many Americans are trying to help Haitians by sending everything from text messages to shoes, the Salwens offer an example of a family that came together to make a difference — for themselves as much as the people they were trying to help. In a column a week ago, it described neurological （神经生物学的）evidence from brain scans that unselfishness lights up parts of the brain normally associated with more primary satisfaction. The Salwens’ experience confirms the selfish pleasures of selflessness.

Mr. Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house. But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house.

29. What does the underlined word “inequity” most probably mean in Paragraph 3?

A. Unfairness. B. Satisfaction.

C. Reasonable statement D. Personal attitude.

30. What does the underlined sentence “Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager.” means? ______

A. Don’t respond to a child's demands firmly without consideration.

B. Unless a child is realistic, never give an answer immediately.

C. Give an answer if the child is reasonable.

D. Never give a quick answer to an idealistic teenager.

31. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. The Salwens regretted selling their house.

B. The relationship between the family members of the Salwens is much closer.

C. Small houses can bring happiness.

D. The Salwens intend to buy another big house.

32. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Mercedes Coupe is only an ordinary car which is quite cheap.

B. Unselfishness has nothing to do with people’s primary satisfaction.

C. Hannah asked her parents to do something charitable and they sold their house.

D. The writer’s children asked him to sell their house.

D

Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thread was made from animal muscle and sinew (腱). And the earliest needles were made from bones. Since those early days, many people have been involved in the process of developing a machine that could do the same thing more quickly and with greater efficiency.

Charles Wiesenthal, who was born in Germany, designed and received a patent on a double-pointed needle that eliminated the need to turn the needle around with each stitch (缝合) in England in 1755. Other inventors of that time tried to develop a functional sewing machine, but each design had at least one serious imperfection.

Frenchman Barthelemy Thimonnier finally engineered a machine that really worked. However, he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.

American inventor Elias Howe, born on July 9, 1819, was awarded a patent for a method of sewing that used thread from two different sources. Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point, and it used the two threads to make a special stitch called a lockstitch. However, Howe faced difficulty in finding buyers for his machines in America. In frustration, he traveled to England to try to sell his invention there. When he finally returned home, he found that dozens of manufacturers were adapting his discovery for use in their own sewing machines.

Isaac Singer, another American inventor, was also a manufacturer who made improvements to the design of sewing machines. He invented an up-and-down-motion mechanism that replaced the side-to-side machines. He also developed a foot treadle (脚踏板) to power his machine. This improvement left the sewer’s hands free. Undoubtedly, it was a huge improvement of the hand-cranked machine of the past. Soon the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical, it could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. The Singer sewing machine became the first hom