“Who needs a shopping mall if you have Taobao?” says Wang Lin, 28, a writer in Beijing.
Taobao, China’s largest online shopping site (網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物站), has become an important part of Wang Lin’s life. She spends lots of money on Taobao.
A growing number of Chinese Internet users like Wang have found the joys of online shopping. Most online shoppers are students or young people. More women shop online than men. Clothing and home-use products (產(chǎn)品) are the most popular online.
It was reported that more than 250 billion yuan was spent on online shopping last year, 80% through Taobao.
Taobao means “l(fā)ooking for treasure” in Chinese. People can find almost everything they need on Taobao, from clothes to books, from candies to DVD players.
You may question the security of online shopping, Wang Lin said, “It’s very safe and convenient. Unless you receive the products from the sellers and are satisfied with them, the shop owner will not get the money. You can also get your money back if you want to return the products.”
【小題1】What are the most popular online?

1 

A Nice Clean Plate

   It’s Saturday evening. Bruce is having a birthday party. There are a lot of children at the party. They play together for an hour. Then Bruce’s mother gives them some food. But she forgets to give Sam any.

  Sam feels wronged(委屈) but then he remembers his mother’s words, “Be polite.(禮貌). Don’t ask for food.” So he waits for a few minutes, then he holds his plate up over his head and says loudly, “ Does anyone want a nice clean plate?”

1.What day is it?

A. Sunday   B. Saturday   C. Monday   D. Friday

2.What are the children doing in the afternoon? They are ___.

A. reading   B. singing   C. playing   D. dancing

3.They play for ___.

A. an hour   B. ten minutes   C. half an hour   D. twenty minutes

4.Who gives them some food?

A. Bruce’s father   B. Bruce’s uncle   C. Bruce   D. Bruce’s mother

5.Sam’s mother tells him not to ___.

A. play in the street  B. ask for food   C. play with girls  D. swim in the river

British English and American English

A student is studying British English. He wonders: Can I have a talk with Americans? Can they catch me? Learners of English often ask--what are the differences between British English and American English? How important are these differences?

Certainly, there are some differences between British English and American English. There are a few differences in grammar（語(yǔ)法）. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans “in the hospital” and “Do you have a pen?” Pronunciation (發(fā)音) is sometimes different. Americans usually sound the “r” in words like “car”and “farm”. Some speakers of British English do not sound the “r” in these words. There are differences between British English and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour”and “honour” are British English spellings. “Color” and “honor” are American English spellings.

These differences are in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. However, they are not important. For the most part, British English and American English are the same language.

1.In American English, we can say, “      ? ”

2.Between British English and American English, sometimes pronunciation is        .

3.In American English, the word “favourite”can be spelt      .

4.Englishmen say “in hospital”, while Americans say        .

5.The main idea of the passage is that                  .