Passage B 单项选择 根据短文内容， 从各题的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案，并将其代表字母涂（填）在答题卡（纸）的相应位置。

The taxi plays an important role in Britain. When thinking of London, many image （形象）come to mind: Big Ben, the Ferris Wheel（摩天轮）,red telephone boxes…and black London taxis.

But what is so special about a simple taxi? First of all, in shape and style, a London taxi is very different from an ordinary one. It looks like a half-car and half-van（半厢式货车）. It has plenty of room in the back. That means it's easy for disabled people to use. And the black color makes it special on the road.

Besides, taxi drivers play an important part in your travel. They have to pass a taxi driving test, and in London it is very difficult. As there are many tourists in London, drivers must know many roads by memory.

Apart from（除此之外）driving you to your destination, it is normal for the driver and the passenger to have a conversation. A taxi is a social space which the driver and you share. The image of a London taxi driver is one that friendly and talkactive. Every time I take a taxi, I ask how the driver is. Then we usually talk about sports or news events.

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Canada Day

      Since 1982, July 1st has been officially known as Canada Day. Canadians of all ages take part in this festival across the country.
　　Canada Day is the year's biggest national party. In many towns and cities, the government organizes a lot of events, often outdoors. These include parades（游行）, concerts, festivals, firework displays and ceremonies for new Canadian citizens（公民）. The celebrations often have a patriotic mood. Canada's national flag, a symbol for Canada Day, can be seen everywhere and a lot of people paint their faces red and white, which are Canada's national colors. The celebrations in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, are especially grand and exciting.
　　In the province of Quebec, many home rentals（租赁）start on July 1st and last for exactly one year, and many people in Quebec spend Canada Day moving from one house to another. So in Quebec, Canada Day is also known as Moving Day.
　　Many organizations, businesses and stores are closed this day. Only some bookstores, ho spitals and gas stations may be open. Post offices are closed, too. As Canada Day falls in the Canadian summer holiday period, all schools are closed as well. In some areas, special services are provided for large events. The concerts, parades and festivals may cause some traffic jams.

    The following events are moments in the 40 years of China's reform and opening up (改革开放40周年).

    When you write a text message or an email, you might put a smiling face or other pictures at the end to make the message more fun. These pictures are emojis. The first emojis were on Japanese mobile phones in the 1990s. Later, they were used on Apple's iPhone and Android phones. Now they are everywhere!

Before emojis, there were emoticons. The word is a mixture(混合) of emotion(感情) and icon(图标). Emoticons are made of the signs you can find on your keyboard, for example:) for a smiley or @};—for a rose. The first use of :-)was in 1982 and it was called "joke marker". Emoji is a Japanese word which means pictograph: e(picture) +moji (character). Emojis are real pictures, for example ，or . There are 1851emojis that can be used on mobile phones and other devices. There are all kinds of emojis, from faces and weather to things in the kitchen and animal.

    In England, we have a saying: A picture paints a thousand words. For many people, an emoji is like a punctuation mark(标点). It's like the tone of voice when we speak on the phone, or hand movements(gestures) used in conversation. Emojis are also changing the way we write. The more we use emojis, the less we use slang(俚语), such as LOL or OMG.

    When someone speaks and looks serious, we try to look serious, too, and when someone smiles, we smile as well. This is how we show empathy(同感) and make friends(and enemies!). But when we're online, we can't see the person's face and there's no emotion. The invention of emojis changed that! Scientists in Australia have discovered that when we look at a smiley face online, the same parts of the brain start working as when we look at a real smiley face. Our mood changes, and we try to change our face to match the emoji. This is something we learn as we get older. Our brains have developed this ability over the last two or three years. This means that emojis have created a new brain pattern(模式)in us!