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Scratchy throats, stuffy noses and body aches all spell misery, but being able to tell if the cause is a cold or flu may make a difference in how long the misery lasts. The American Lung Association (ALA) has issued new guidelines on combating colds and the flu , and one of the keys is being able to quickly tell the two apart. That's because the prescription drugs available for the flu need to be taken soon after the illness sets in. As for colds, the sooner a person starts taking over-the-counter remedy, the sooner relief will come. The common cold and the flu are both caused by viruses. More than 200 viruses can cause cold symptoms, while the flu is caused by three viruses - flu A, B and C. There is no cure for either illness , but the flu can be prevented by the flu vaccine, which is, for most people, the best way to fight the flu, according to the ALA. But if the flu does strike, quick action can help. Although the flu and common cold have many similarities , there are some obvious signs to look for. Cold symptoms such as stuffy nose, runny nose and scratchy throat typically develop gradually, and adults and teens often do not get a fever. On the other hand, fever is one of the characteristic features of the flu for all ages. And in general, flu symptoms including fever and chills, sore throat and body aches come on suddenly and are more severe than cold symptoms. The ALA notes that it may be particularly difficult to tell when infants and preschool age children have the flu. It advises parents to call the doctor if their small children have flu-like symptoms. Both cold and flu symptoms can be eased with over-the-counter medications as well. However, children and teens with a cold or flu should not take aspirin for pain relief because of the risk of Reye syndrome ,a rare but serious condition of the liver and central nervous system. There is, of course, no vaccine for the common cold. But frequent hand washing and avoiding close contact with people who have colds can reduce the likelihood of catching one. If children have flu-like symptoms, their parents _ . A are advised not to give them aspirin B should watch out for signs of Reye syndrome C are encouraged to take them to hospital for vaccination D should prevent them from mixing with people running a fever Answer: A (1)Full-time Secretary Position Available Applicants should have at least 2 year's experience and be able to type 60 words a minute.No computer skills required.Apply in person at United Business Ltd, 17 Browning Street, Leeds. (2)Part-time Job We require three part-time shop assistants to work during the evening.No experience required, applicants should be between 18 and 26 years old.Call 0115665643 for more information. (3)Computer Trained Secretaries Do you have experience working with computers? If you want to know more about us, call 0457996754. (4)Teaching Assistants Needed Hania's Playshool needs 2 young teaching assistants to help with classes from 9 to 3 pm.Applicants should have references.For more information please visit www.Haniaplayschool.com.uk. (5)Weekend Work Available We are looking for retired adults who would like to work part-time on weekends for Rubberlast Group Ltd.Duties include answering the telephone and giving customers' information.For more information call us at 0113--6741326. (6)University Positions Open The University of Bristol is looking for 4 teaching assistants to help with homework correction.Applicants should have a degree in one of the following Political Science, English, Economics or History.Please call the University of Bristol for more information. (7)Home Delivery Representative We are looking for someone who has excellent customer care, communication skills, a sales background with at least one year's experience and is a good team player with creative ideas.In return we offer a starting salary of $ 20,000 and 25 days paid holiday per year.For more information please call Direct Delivery Team of Yorkshire Post on 0113--2388318. Which position is most suitable for a retired person? A Part-time Shop Assistant. B Teaching Assistant in Hania's Playschool. C Weekend Work in Rubberlast Group Ltd. D Teaching Assistant in the University of Bristol. Answer: C Reading is very important. World Book Day falls on April 23 every year. It encourages people, especially teenagers, to discover the pleasure of reading. It is also the day to honor great writers. Many countries celebrate World Book Day. On that day, millions of school children can buy books at a much lower price than usual in any bookstore in England. It has been done every year since 1998. World Book Day is also celebrated in China. Wen Jiabao, Premier of China, is an avid reader. He does lots of reading every day though he is very busy. On World Book Day 2009, he called on people to do more reading. Wen suggested that young people should spend more time reading. "Books can not change the world, but people can change the world by changing themselves through reading," he said. Reading helps us become more knowledgeable and smarter. Reading helps us to follow the latest developments of science and technology . Reading gives us information about other cultures and places in the world. Reading is also one of the most important ways to learn a foreign language like English. We all know that it is difficult to learn everything in the classroom, for example, the ways English people are living and working today can be learnt by reading. Books, magazines, newspapers and other kinds of reading materials can help us to know more about the outside world. Therefore, it is necessary for us to spend time reading every day. When is World Book Day? A August 8 every year. B March 12 every year. C April 23 every year. D June 6 every year. Answer: C Many families take their children on vacation. They will usually travel for a few days or weeks during school breaks. But Julie and Tim Rivenbark planned a longer vacation with their two children--the Rivenbark family is on a one-year trip around the world. They plan to visit 30 countries in all. Right now, the four travellers are about halfway through their trip. Ms. Rivenbark says they are trying to see as much of the world as they can. She says "we have been through Europe, southern Africa, now we are kind of working our way through Asia. So we have been to a bunch of big cities, like Dubai, Johannesburg, Rome and Bangkok." The family has also spent time floating in kayaks(long narrow boats) in Italy, flying in hot air balloons in Myanmar, hiking to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal and going on a journey to see or hunt animals in South Africa. Mr. Rivenbark says the family has also ridden on ostrich birds, elephants, and camels. But, he says, one of the most interesting experiences of the trip has been meeting new people. "People have been extremely friendly, very welcoming and love our kids--interacting with them and their reaction to see our kids enjoying themselves in their country." Eleven-year old Tyler says he has enjoyed learning about the people they have met. "I learned in Africa that people have very different lifestyles compared to Americans." His sister, 9-year-old Kara, discovered that she liked Thai food. Ms. Rivenbark says that the extended trip teaches the children a lot more than short visits would have. "I think that the longer we travel, the more impact it has on how they see the world. I can see them changing more than they can see themselves." It took the family a year to prepare for the trip. They had to sell their house and cars. Ms. Rivenbark quit her job and her husband is using unpaid leave. They carry small bags filled with lightweight clothing and whatever else they need. Ms. Rivenbark says she enjoys being able to carry everything she needs on her back. She says she does not miss the things she has back home. "What has become more important is making these memories as a family and taking those with us instead." Tyler and Kara each have iPads so they can communicate with teachers to stay current with their schoolwork. Tyler is also creating a 365-day video blog. The Rivenbarks will continue to head east for the next six months. They plan to visit Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Australia. To follow their adventures, visit their website: earthtrekkers.com. The passage is meant to _ . A share with the readers an extraordinary family trip B introduce some great parents and their jobs C remind us of the pleasure of getting close to nature D inform us of the benefits of travelling around the world Answer: A "Avoid the rush hour" must be the slogan of large cities all over the world. Wherever you look it's people, people, people. The trains which leave or arrive every few minutes are packed. The streets are so crowded; there is hardly room to move on the pavements. It takes ages for a bus to get to you because the traffic on the roads has almost come to a standstill. Even when a bus does at last arrive, it's so full, it can't take any more passengers. The smallest unexpected event can bring about conditions of complete chaos. The strange thing is not that people stand these conditions, but that they actually choose them in preference to anything else. Large modern cites are too big to control. People living there are forced by their environment to take a wholly unnatural way of life. They lost touch with the land and rhythm of nature. It is possible to live in such an air-conditioned existence in a large city that you can hardly tell the season. A few flowers in a public park may remind you that it is spring or summer. All the simple, good things of life like sunshine and fresh air are hard to find. Even the distinction between days and nights is lost. The funny thing about it all is that you pay dearly to live in a city. The demand for accommodation is so great that it is often impossible for ordinary people to buy a house of their own. The cost of living is also very high. Just about everything you buy is likely to be more expensive than it would be in the country. Besides, the crime rate in most cities is very high. If you think about it, they're not really fit to live in at all. Can anyone really doubt that the country is what man was born for and where he truly belongs? What is the passage mainly about? A It's crazy to choose to live in a large city B City life can be very disagreeable C Country life is better than city life D Conditions of cities should be changed Answer: A
On a freezing cold day, a couple had to move into a small apartment because of their failure in business.The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife.So she thought, "He doesn't love me any more, he just cares about his business, not me". One day, she was about to take a shower when he stopped her at the door, "Let me take it first, okay?""Why not me first?" she asked."I am tired, honey, you take it later, okay?"She was entirely unhappy. One day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer.A few words came into her sight.Reading them, she burst into tears.It was his diary: Today, I was quite sad.She asked me why I was always taking the shower first, and I said to her, I was exhausted.She was unhappy.In her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but what could I do? I was not as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, and there was only one shower in the bathroom.It was so cold to take a shower in such a cold winter.But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warmer.So every day I rushed to the bathroom first.I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, even if it was only 1degC. Now I cannot give her a comfortable life, take her to good restaurants, or buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1degC love. What can be inferred from the passage? A They would live a richer life soon. B The woman misunderstood her husband. C The man would care less about his business. D The woman would get angry after reading the diary. Answer: B Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they don't act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, "I love you" is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers on Valentine's Day is even more out of the question. One day, my mother was sewing a quilt . "Mom, I have a question to ask you." "What?" she replied, still doing her work. "Is there love between you and Dad?" My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. Then she said, "Susan, look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The _ really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. Love is inside." I listened carefully but I couldn't understand until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. After they were back from the hospital, my mother helped him walk slowly on the beautiful country road every morning. My father had never been so gentle. But after two months he still couldn't walk by himself. All of us were worried about him. "Dad, how are you feeling now?" I asked him one day. "Susan, don't worry about me, "he said gently. "To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. "Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply. Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm. ,. What is the best title for the story? A Love Is Just a Thread B Love Is Just a quilt C Love Is to Say"I love you" D Love Is to Walk Together Answer: A How do you like your school? Have you ever written to your headmaster to express your idea? Here are some letters written by students from different schools. Luke, 14, from Jiangsu I will give some suggestions about our school uniform. In our school, we students have to wear uniform every day. But the yellow and green sports kit looks really dark and old. It can't stand for young and lively spirit. We can add some red or orange colors and make a new type of uniform. I hope our headmaster will think about it. Danny, 14, from Zhejiang I have two suggestions for my headmaster. First of all, I think we should have more hobby classes in science , such as plane model making class and computer programming class. It is really boring to study basic subjects all the time. And second, I hope we can have more PE lessons or more time for physical exercise. Lots of students now don't have a strong enough body. Sam, 15, from Shanxi I'd like to say thank you to my headmaster. About one week ago, I got a bad cold after playing basketball. Our headmaster came to me after he knew about it. He took care of me until my parents came. I really want to thank him for that. Helen, 14, from Shandong In the letter I wrote, I want to talk about the possibility of personal classes. Now many middle schools are trying the "personal class" system. Students don't have regular classes. They can choose lessons they want to take. _ And it is also good for exercise. We don't have to stay in one classroom all the time. According to the passage, most students write to their headmasters about _ . A personal experiences B how to make schools better C spare time activities D how to deal with other students Answer: A Canada, the world's second-largest country, has a massive Atlantic coastline . So, the best way to experience it is by car. One week Cross over to Wolfville and the Bay of Fundy via HWY 12. Spend a day criss-crossing the country roads and grassy hills of Cape Blomidon to catch some of the most impressive views of the Fundy tides . The next day, drive east, stopping at wineries and shopping for unique jams and other local foods at Tangled Garden, where you can also cool down with a herb-flavored ice cream. Drive through the rural roads and maybe get lost on the way to Maitland to sign up for a day of white-water rafting, which can be relaxing and one of the most exciting experiences in your life. On the last day, head back to Halifax via east coast Martinique Beach, one of the longest beaches in Nova Scotia, a beautiful place for stretching legs and bird watching. Two weeks With more time, you can go directly up to Cape Breton, along the circuitous roads of the "Cabot Trail", over high sea vista points, where you have to watch for moose on the road. Those with more time can go to Newfoundland and continue on the "Viking Trail" that links the Gros Morne National Park with Leif Eriksson's historic Viking settlement. When to go Outside of June to October the coast will be extremely cold and most businesses will be shut. Where to stay * Lennox Inn 1791 (Lunenburg): Canada's oldest continually operating hotel. * The Olde Lantern Inn & Vineyard (Grand Pre): in the heart of winery and Fundy tide country. Where to eat * Fleur de Sel (Lunenburg): widely considered this coast's finest restaurant. * Hall's Lobster Pound (Hall's Harbour): pick your lobster, get it boiled and enjoy it on a park bench. If you intend to go for a drive along the coast in Canada, you should go there _ . A in January B in May C in July D in November Answer: C One morning, it was already a quarter to eight when I got up. I was afraid that I would be late so I put on my clothes hurriedly and left without breakfast. There were so many people at the bus stop that it was not easy to catch a bus. Five minutes went by, I still couldn't get on one. The only thing I could do was to walk. I rushed through the crowded and ran towards my school. Unexpectedly, I hit an old woman, and she fell down. Without saying sorry, I left her and went on my way. That evening, when I was back from school, I learned that the old woman was badly hurt in the leg from the fall. Some kind people sent her to a hospital after I left. I felt very sorry and nearly cried. The only way for me to ask her pardon was to pay her a visit. The next day, I went to the hospital, I met the old woman and told her who I was. At first I thought that she would give me _ To my surprise, she didn't, but smiled. For me, that smile was worse. She touched my hand and said, "Never mind, my girl, I knew you didn't want to hurt me, did you? Don't worry, I will be better soon." The writer had to walk to school because _ . A he got up early B he hit the woman the bus C the bus was late D it was difficult to get on Answer: D
Question: Sunshine Sports Center One of the most modern sports centers in town, the Sunshine Sports Center is not just a sports club but much more! With a swimming pool for adults and teens, and a smaller one for children, our center has something for all the members of the family.Parents can relax while children play in the water.For anybody who is interested in competitive sports, football and basketball courts are the ideal places to work off stress. Whether you just want to keep in shape, lose some weight or build your strength, there's the super-modern equipment and three personal trainers to look after you and answer your questions.They can also give you general advice about healthy eating and dieting. Lessons It doesn't matter if you're five or eighty-five, there's something for you at the Sunshine Sports Center! We offer personal training in all sports if you want it, but there are also group lessons for all sports if you prefer teamwork. Kids and teenagers Take advantage of our special offer for younger members.For members between five and sixteen years old, there are special lessons in water polo, competitive swimming and diving.There are many classes for all levels of swimmers, with a lifeguard on duty from 9:00 am when the pool opens until it closes at 7:00 pm. Social events Sunshine Sports Center is not only for sport! You can enjoy a delicious meal at our restaurant or have a milkshake with your friends on the balcony overlooking the swimming pool and the courts.In addition, there are lovely gardens where families or friends can have a picnic! To celebrate a birthday, there is no better place than the Sunshine Sports Center. So, come on Sign up for Sunshine Sports Center today! In Sunshine Sports Center _ . A. children are not allowed to swim alone B. lifeguards are on duty 24 hours a day C. people can have birthday parties D. special lessons in diving are offered to adults Answer: C Question: A student is given a liquid compound in a beaker. Which of the following is the best way to describe this liquid compound? A. definite shape, indefinite volume B. indefinite shape, indefinite volume C. definite shape, definite volume D. indefinite shape, definite volume Answer: D Question: Jim Dunbar has been late for work, holidays, meals with friends, left women waiting on first dates and even had to sneak into funerals long after they've begun. The 57-year-old said that his poor timekeeping is down to a medical condition that he was diagnosed with at an appointment at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, which he was 20 minutes late for. It is thought that the condition is caused by the same part of the brain affected by those who suffer from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and means Mr Dunbar cannot properly judge how long things take to complete. "I blamed it on myself and thought.Why can't I be on time? I lost a lot of jobs.I can understand people's reaction and why they don't believe me," said Mr Dunbar. Mr Dunbar recently tried to go to the cinema and knowing it could be a problem getting there for a 7 pm showing, he gave himself an 11-hour head start.But he still managed to arrive 20 minutes late. He has a special clock in his living room to make sure that the time it displays is always exactly right, but it doesn't help.He has tried wearing a watch, setting his clocks fast but still hasn't found a solution. "I've been late for funerals and slipped in and hid at the back of the hall.I arranged to pick my friend up at midday to go on holiday and was four hours late.He was angry because we had booked a ferry and everything.A friend invited me for a meal and I was more than three hours late.It has affected my entire life." But some experts are skeptical about Mr Dunbar's diagnosis. "The condition isn't in the DSM5 (the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) so I'm not sure you can really call it a condition," said Dr Sheri Jacobson."Repeated lateness is usually a symptom of a condition such as ADHD or depression but it can also just be habit.I think making everyday human behaviour into a medical condition is unwise." Why was Mr Dunbar late for the cinema showing? A. He got up too late to get there. B. He forgot the exact time of it. C. He can't exactly measure the time. D. He didn't prepare well for it in advance. Answer: C Question: I would have a harder time sliding with my socks on A. marble floors B. a shag runner C. wood floors D. ice Answer: B Question: In the morning Mr Smith comes into the garden at the back of his house. He sees much snow in the garden. Mr Smith wants to take his car out, so he asks a man to clean the road from his garage , to the gate. He says to the man, "Don't throw any snow on that side. It'll damage(, ) the flowers in the street, or policeman will come." Then he goes out. When he comes back, his road is clean. There is no snow on the flowers, on the wall or in the street. But when he opens the garage he sees the garage is full of snow, the snow from the road, and his car is under the snow! In the morning Mr Smith finds there is a lot of snow in _ . A. his garden B. his garage C. his house D. his car Answer: A
Some advice : (1) Always play in a safe place. A park is a safe place because there are no cars or trucks. But do not talk to anyone you do not know. Never go with a stranger into a motor car. (2) Before crossing the road, stop and look both ways. Look left, look right, look left again. (3) Keep away from houses or building that are being built or knocked down. Something might fall on your head, or you might cut yourself on broken grass. (4) Medicines or pills can be dangerous. Never swallow any pills or medicines you find in the cupboard. (5) Wear a life jacket whenever you go out in a boat. Even if you are not in the open sea and the water is not deep, you should have your life jacket on. It's easy to fall out of a boat. (6) Do not put your head out of a car, bus or train. Many children have been killed by doing this. Which is not mentioned in the passage? Answer: Of all the websites,one that has attracted attention recently is _ .Most of this attention has come from the media and tells every reason why the website should be shut down.The threat of internet predators is indeed a tough reality,but shutting down the site is not the answer.If _ were shut down,another site would quickly take its place.Therefore,the right way is to teach teens how to use the site safely and educate them about who may be predators and how to avoid them. The key to staying safe on the Internet is to make sure that your profile is secure.The simplest way is to change the privacy setting on your profile to "private", which protects your information so that only the people on your friend list can view it.Although this is effective,it is not perfect.Predators can find ways to view your profile if they really want to,whether through hacking in or figuring out their way onto your friend list.Thus,you should never post too much personal information.Some people actually post their home and school addresses,date of birth,and other personal information, often letting predators know exactly where they will be and when.The most information that is safe is your first name and province.Anything more is basically inviting a predator into your life. Another big issue is photos. I suggest completely skipping photos and never posting a photo of a friend online without asking permission. Most importantly, never,under any circumstances,agree to a real-life meeting with anyone you meet online.No matter how well you think you know this person, there are no guarantees that they have told the truth.But you could feel free to chat with people you meet on the site, but just remember that not everyone is who they say they are.Hopefully,the next time you edit your profile,you'll be more informed about the dangers of internet predators and take the steps to defend yourself. We can learn from the passage that_. Answer: Thanksgiving Day is an American national holiday. It usually lasts four days. Americans celebrate it on the fourth Thursday of November each year. It's a time for people to give thanks to God, and it's also a time for family members to get together. Thanksgiving Day is like a warm family meeting. On the Eve of Thanksgiving, members of the family will drive and even fly home. The next day, they sit around the table, enjoying a traditional dinner together. Turkey ,sweet potatoes and a pudding are always ready for the Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving Day is also a day for students to give thanks to parents and teachers who give them help and who love them very much. Which of the following sentences is TRUE? Answer: April Fool's Day is on April 1st. On this day, strange things may happen. Our friends will play jokes on us and try to fool us. People don't know the origin of April Fool's Day clearly. Some say April Fool's Day began many years ago in France. Long ago in France, the old New Year's festival was celebrated from March 25th to April 1st and ended with exchange of presents. Later the King changed the New Year to January 1st. some people still celebrated the New year in April. They were called April Fish and were given presents as a joke. But in many countries, April Fool's Day is not celebrated on April 1st but on other days. In Mexico( ), April Fool's Day is on the 28th of December. In ancient Rome , the day was on the 25th of March. In India, the day is on the 31st of March. In America, the day is mostly decided by young people and jokes who want to make fun of other people. But it is important to remember that your friends and you will be both happy. One must remember the difference between a good joke and a bad one. When is April Fool's Day in France now? Answer: The organization representing British universities has expressed concern about the potential effect of tuition fees after figures showed a drop of more than 6% in student applications with less than a month to go before the deadline for 2013 applications. Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed there were 265,784 university applications by UK-based candiates up to 17 Decemeber, 6.3% down on the parallel period in the admissions cycle the year before. While this is less than the 8.4% year-on-uear fall seen in earlier Ucas figures, released in mid-November, the coming January deadline makes it ever more likely that the total 2013 applicant figure will see a second sizeable fall following the introduction of annual fees of up to PS9,000. Nicola Dandridge, the chairman of Universities UK, said : "However, we must be concerned about any drops in the numbers applying to university and in particular, we must look closely at how the increase in graduate contributions in England may be affecting the decisions of promising students. However ,the December figures show a drop in numbers across the UK, suggesting that it is not only a question of tuition fees in England putting off from applying." A report of the Uncas figures to mid-December shows a 6.5% fall for applicants in England and 11.7% for those in Wales, with smaller drops of 3.9% for Scotland and 0.5% for Nortern Ireland. Scotiish students at home insitiutions pay on fees, while those from Nothern Ireland have fees capped to PS3,575 for Northern Irish universities. Dandridge added: "No one should be put off applying to university because of worries about finance." "It is important that no one is put off applying to university because they do not have information about the student support available to them. Most new students don't need to pay directly. There will be more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone will make lower loan repayments thatn they do now once they are in well paid jobs." Why is the fall for application the smallest in Soctoland and Northem lreland? Answer:
Hello!I'm Tim Hand, I'm English, but I'm in China. This is my mother. Her first name is Steve. My telephone number is seven-six-zero, nine-one-seven-six, My friend is Li Lei. His English name is Paul. He is Chinese. His telephone number is 281-5248.Look at the photo. Who's that in the photo? It's my Chinese teacher. His name is Liu Yong. He is a good teacher. My father's last name is _ . Answer: Hand Forget hard work and perseverance. Getting ahead is as simple as tidying your desk. According to a leading expert, having a cluttered environment reflects a cluttered mind, but the act of tidying up can help you be more successful. The advice comes from Jayne Morris, the resident"life coach" for NHS Online, who said it is no good just moving the mess around. In order to clear the mind, unwanted items must be thrown away to free your "inner world", she said. Ms Morris, who claims to have coached celebrities to major business figures, said:"Clearing clutter from your desk has the power to transform your business. " How? Because clutter in your outer environment is the physical sign of all the clutter going on inside of you. " Clearing clutter has a chain effect across your entire life, including your work. Having an untidy desk covered in clutter could be stopping you achieving the business success you want. " She is sure cleaning up will be helpful even though some of history's biggest achievers lived and worked in messy conditions. Churchill was considered untidy from a boy throughout his life, from his office to his artist's studio,and the lab where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin was famously untidy. Among the recommendations is that simply tidying a desk at work and an overflowing filing cabinet will instantly have a positive impact on "your inner world. " Anything that is no longer used should not be put into storage but thrown away completely. Keeping something in the loft, garage or other part of the house, does not help because it is still connected to the person "by tiny energetic li.nes", Ms Morris. claims. She said, "The things in your life that are useful to you, that add value to your life, that serve a current purpose are charged with positive energy that refreshes you and enriches your life. But the things that you don't ever use and don't need anymore have the opposite effect on your energy. Things that no longer fit or serve you, use up your energy. " According to Ms Morris, an untidy desk probably means that _ Answer: you are in a messy mind My name is Nick. I have four new good friends. They are Dick, Helen, Jack and Amy. Now, they're in the garden. Dick and Jack are boys. Dick is tall and strong. Jack is tall but he's not strong. He is thin. Helen and Amy are girls. They're twins. They are short and slim. Dick is thirteen. Helen is thirteen too. They're in the same class. Jack is in Class4. His shoes are black and his T-shirt is white. Who is tall and thin? Answer: Jack About a year ago, I went to stay at a Detroit hotel. I didn't want to carry too much money with me, so I asked the desk clerk to put a one-hundred-dollar bill in the safe for me. The next morning, however, the clerk said he knew nothing about my money. I didn't have any proof that I had given the man the money. There was nothing I could do but go to the nearest lawyer. The lawyer advised me to return to the hotel with him and give another one-hundred-dollar bill to the clerk. This I did. An hour later, I went back to the desk alone and asked for my money. Since I had the lawyer as an eyewitness to the second one-hundred-dollar bill, the clerk could not say he knew nothing about it. Another hour later, I put the second part of the lawyer's plan into action. This time both the lawyer and I went to the hotel. I asked for the one-hundred-dollar bill once again, and when the clerk insisted he had already given it to me, I denied it. The lawyer said to him, "I saw this gentleman give you a hundred dollars. If you don't hand it over immediately, I'll be forced to call the police." The clerk realized he had been tricked, so he gave me back the first one-hundred-dollar bill. "I don't know how to thank you enough for getting my money back," I said to the lawyer. And what do you suppose he answered me? He said, "Oh, don't thank me. That will be a hundred dollars, please." The hotel clerk at last returned the first one-hundred-dollar bill to the man because _ . Answer: he wanted no trouble with the police A dog has a piece of meat in his mouth. He's going to eat it at home. As he is walking on a bridge, he looks down and sees himself in the river. That dog looks like him and he has a piece of meat in his mouth, too. The dog thinks it's another dog. So he says to himself, "I want to eat more meat. I must make him run away from here and get the meat in his mouth. Then I can have two pieces." He opens his mouth to bark. That dog in the water barks at him. Suddenly, his meat goes down into the water. The dog is so angry, he jumps into the water to catch the other dog. How many dogs are there in the river? Answer: None.
Rollem, an automobile retailer, had an adult daughter, Betsy, who needed a car in her employment but had only $3,000 with which to buy one. Rollem wrote to her, "Give me your $3,000 and I'll give you the car on our lot that we have been using as a demonstrator." Betsy thanked her father and paid him the $3,000. As both Rollem and Betsy knew, the demonstrator was reasonably worth $10,000. After Betsy had paid the $3,000, but before the car had been delivered to her, one of Rollem's sales staff sold and delivered the same car to a customer for $10,000. Neither the salesperson nor the customer was aware of the transaction between Rollem and Betsy. Does Betsy, after rejecting a tendered return of the $3,000 by Rollem, have an action against him for breach of contract? Although they are an inexpensive supplier of vitamins,minerals,and high--quality protein,eggs also contain a high level of blood cholesterol ,one of the major causes of heart disease.One egg yolk,in fact,contains a little more than two--thirds of the suggested daily cholesterol limit. This knowledge has caused egg sales to drop in recent years,which in turn has brought about the development of several alternatives to eating regular eggs.One alternative is to eat substitute eggs. These egg substitutes are not real eggs, but they look somewhat like eggs when they are cooked.They have the advantage of having lower cholesterol rates,and they can be scrambled or used in baking.One disadvantage, however,is that they are not good for frying,poaching,or boiling.A second alternative to regular eggs is a new type of eggs,sometimes called"designer''eggs.These eggs are produced by hens that are fed low-fat diets consisting of ingredients such as canola oil,flax,and rice bran.In spite of their diets,however,these hens produce eggs that contain the same amount of cholesterol as regular eggs.Yet,producers of these eggs claim that eating their eggs will not raise the blood cholesterol in humans. Egg producers claim that their product has been described unfairly.They use scientific studies to back up their claim.And in tact studies on the relationship between eggs and human cholesterol levels have brought mixed results.It may be that it is not the type of egg that is the main determinant of cholesterol but the person who is eating the eggs.Some people may be more sensitive to cholesterol from food than other people.In fact,there is evidence that certain dietary fats stimulate the body's production of blood cholesterol.Consequently,while it still makes sense to limit one's intake of eggs,even designer eggs,it seems that doing this without regulating dietary fat will probably not help reduce the blood cholesterol level. The main cause of the recent drop in egg sales is_. Are you a high school student who loves to be outdoors and is eager to experience new challenges, learn new skills and meet new people? Learn all about the world of building and maintaining hiking trails, and experience it in a safe, teamwork-oriented environment in various locations across the state. WTA offers first-time participants country trips and returning students have the option to go on trips in the back country . Front Country Trips Our front country trips provide opportunities for people to experience projects near the ocean, in the scenic Cascade Mountains and in northeast Washington. All our trips provide you with experienced crew leaders, a great project, some camping tents, sleeping bags and all your meals for the week. Advanced Back Country Trips On these trips you will be backpacking to the work site and will have a chance to advance your trail and leadership skills under the supervision of a WTA crew leader. Approval from a previous crew leader is necessary. Trip Details In 2014, trip fees for WTA members will be $195 for the first trip and $145 for each additional trip. Non-members will pay an additional $40 for their first trip and can be qualified to be members in the second trip. There will be a $30 cancellation fee for cancellations more than 30 days prior to the trip, and no refund for cancellations less than 30 days prior to the trip. Due to the popularity of our trips, please submit your payment and application within two weeks of signing up for a trip. If a trip is full and you would like to be added to the waiting list, please call us at 206/625-1367 or email trail _ teams@wta.org. Scholarships We believe no student should have to stay at home this summer because he or she can't afford to go outside. Thanks to donations from members and supporters, WTA is proud to announce that we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships. Application deadline: March 1, 2014. 2014 Youth Volunteer Vacation You must be 14 to 18 years old to go on one of our Youth Volunteer Vacations. We always recommend that volunteers go on a one-day trip before attending a Youth Vacation to understand what the work will be like for a week. From the text we can learn that 2014 Youth Volunteer Vacations _ . In Barnes London Wetland Centre, you can enjoy a large number of wild birds and wild animals. Adults' fare is PS7.95, and children's fare is PS4.50. But if holding a London pass, you can have free admission . London Wetland Centre is thought to be the European City's best place to contact wild animals. London Wetland Centre is the UK's most worthy of showing off, and the most exciting wildlife projects, including 43 hectares of grassland, as well as pools. Barnes wetlands are located in the Thames. This award-winning centre always interest many scientists. There are many different kinds of animals, including the cormorant ,the Kingfisher and the endangered water vole . In London Wetland Centre there are a large number of different habitats. When visiting the centre, visitors can watch movies through the video to learn more about wetlands and the knowledge of biological species . For children, London Wetland Centre is a good choice to learn a lot about the knowledge of nature. There are many other interesting places about wildlife. If you are interested in wildlife, why not go to London Zoo, Regent Park or River Thames _ to experience the world's most beautiful gardens. Holders of London Passes can visit them freely. London Wetland Centre includes _ hectares of grassland. Without most people realizing it, there has been a revolution in office work over the last ten years. Before that time, large computers were only used by large, rich companies that could afford the investment. With the advancement of technology, small computers have come onto the market, which are capable of doing the work that used to be done by much larger and expensive computers, so now most smaller companies can use them. The main development in small computers has been in the field of word processors , or WPS as they are often called. 40% of British offices are now estimated to have a word processor and this percentage is growing fast. There are many advantages in using a word processor for both secretary and manager. The secretary is freed from a lot of daily work, such as re-typing letters and storing papers. He or she can use this time to do other more interesting work for the boss. From a manager's point of view, secretarial time is being made better use of and money can be saved by doing daily jobs automatically outside office hours. But is it all good? If a lot of daily secretarial work can be done automatically, surely this will mean that fewer secretaries will be needed. Another worry is the increasing medical problems related to work with visual display units . The case of a slow loss of sight among people using word processors seems to have risen greatly. It is also feared that if a woman works at a VDU for long hours, the unborn child in her body might be killed. Safety screens to put over a VDU have been invented but few companies in prefix = st1 /Englandbother to buy them. Whatever the arguments for and against word processor are, they are a key feature of this revolution in office practice. According to the writer, the main feature of the revolution in office work over the last ten years is _ .
President Barack Obama speaks as he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping over international security issues during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, March 31, 2016. While they report slow progress over major disagreements, what do average citizens in those countries think about each other? A study by the Pew Research Center offers some answers. Only 38 percent of Americans said they have a positive view of China, according to a 2015 Pew survey. And in China, only 44 percent of people surveyed gave the United States a positive rating. Americans expressed concern about the large amount of U.S. debt held by China and the loss of jobs to China. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department said China held $1.2 trillion in U.S. government debts. People polled in China said they believe the United States is trying to prevent China from becoming as powerful as the U.S. The views reflect some of the tensions between the nations' leaders. The United States has been strongly against China's construction of artificial islands and military facilities along the disputed South China Sea. And there have been disagreements over how to respond to recent North Korean nuclear and missile tests. A joint statement from U.S. and China after Thursday's Obama-Xi meeting said both countries agreed to work together on nuclear security. The Obama administration said China has agreed to sanctions to protest recent North Korean nuclear tests. But Xi expressed opposition to a new missile defense system for South Korea, according to Chinese media reports. Such a system is being considered by U.S. and South Korean leaders to protect South Korea from a North Korean attack. At the start of his meeting with Xi, Obama said, "Of great importance to both of us is North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons, which threatens the security and stability of the region." Xi said China and the United States "have a responsibility to work together." As for issues dividing the two nations, Xi said both sides could "seek active solutions through dialogue and consultation." The two leaders met during a 53-nation conference on nuclear security in Washington, D.C. Which of the statements is not true according to passage? Answer: China is unlikely to work together with the U.S. on North Korean nuclear issues. The early Greeks are credited with many valid concepts in astronomy. Some of their theories were correct; some were later proven incorrect. One theory was that Earth was the center of the universe and that other planets circled Earth. The Greeks thought Earth did not move because its movement was not obvious from the surface of the planet. The Greeks also believed that an invisible sphere surrounding our planet contained the stars. This sphere rotated, explaining the apparent movement of constellations over time. Which celestial motion is responsible for the phases of the moon? Answer: the moon revolving around Earth I came to live here where I am now between Wounded Knee Greek and Grass Greek. Others came too, and we made these little grey houses of logs that you see, and they are square. It is a bad way to live, for there can be no power in a square. You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the respectful circle of the nation, and so long as the circle was unbroken, the people were getting rich. The flowering tree was the living center of the circle, and the circle of the four quarters nursed it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and strong wind gave strength and continuous power. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our brief. Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. Birds make their nests in circle, for theirs are the same as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our places were like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's circle, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to nurse our children. But the "white people" have put us in these square boxes. Our power is gone and we are dying, for the power is not in us any more. You can look at our boys and see how it is with us. Where we were living by the power of the circle in the way we should, boys were men at twelve or thirteen years of age. But now it takes them very much longer to grow up. Two things being compared in the passage are _ . Answer: the Indians' past and present living conditions Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road. " Millions of animals die each year on the U. S. roads, " the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots , an endangered wild cat, exist in the U. S. today. The main reason? Roadkill. "Eco-passages" may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. " These ecopassages can be extremely useful,so that wildlife can avoid road accidents ," said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society. But do animals actually use the eco-passages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an eco-passage that went under a highway. This showed that the lions used the passage. Builders of eco-passages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses. The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animal over-pass ! The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when they are traveling because _ . Answer: they may see wild animals on eco-passages Have you ever heard the old saying ,"Never judge a book by its cover" ?This is a good rule to follow when trying to judge the intelligence of others. Some people have minds that shine only in certain situations. A young people with an unusual gift in writing may find himself speechless in the presence of a pretty girl when he speaks. He may not be able to find the right words. But don't make mistake of thinking him stupid, with a pen and a paper, he can express himself better than anybody . Other people may fool you into overestimating their intelligence by putting up a good front. A student who listens attentively and takes notes in class is sure to make a favorable impression on his teachers. But when it comes to exams, he may score near the bottom of the class . It all boils down to this: you can't judge someone by appearance. The only way to determine a person's intelligence is to get to know him. Then you can see how he reacts to different situations. The more situation you see, the better your judgment is likely to be. So take your time. Don't judge a book by its cover . The passage suggests that we should judge a person's intelligence through _ . Answer: his reaction to different situations
My father had returned from his business visit to London when I came in, rather late, to supper. I could tell at once that he and my mother had been discussing something. In that half- playful, half-serious way I knew so well, he said, "How would you like to go to Eton?" " You bet, " I cried quickly catching the joke. Everyone knew it was the most expensive, the most famous of schools. You had to be entered at birth, if not before. Besides, even at 12 or 13, I. understood my father. He disliked any form of showing off. He always knew his proper station in life, which was in the middle of the middle class; our house was medium-sized; he had avoided joining Royal Liverpool Golf Club and went to a smaller one instead; though once he had got a second-hand Rolls-Royce at a remarkably low price, he felt embarrassed driving it, and quickly changed it for an Austin 1100. This could only be his delightful way of telling me that the whole boarding school idea was to be dropped. Alas ! I should also have remembered that he had a liking for being different from everyone else, if it did not conflict with his fear of drawing attention to himself. It seemed that he had happened to be talking to Graham Brown of the London office, a very nice fellow, and Craham had a friend who had just entered his boy at the school, and while he was in that part of the world he thought he might just as well phone them. I remember my eyes stinging and my hands shaking with the puzzlement of my feelings. There was excitement, at the heart of great sadness. "Oh, he doesn't want to go away , " said my mother, " You shouldn't go on like this. " "It's up to him, " said my father. "He can make up his own mind. " From the text, we can know that Eden is _ . A a famous school B an expensive car C one of the author's friends D one of the father's colleagues Answer: A The seventh-inning stretch is one baseball tradition that helps make the game one of America's favorite pastimes. In the middle of the seventh inning fans ritualistically stand and stretch before the home team comes to bat. No one really knows the origin of the custom, but there are theories on how it started. Baseball historian Dan Daniel provided this explanation: "It probably began as an expression of fatigue. That would explain why the stretch comes late in the game instead of at the halfway point." A more popular story involves President William Howard Taft and the birth of two baseball traditions. According to the account, Taft attended the first game of the 1910 baseball season. On the spur of the moment, plate umpire Billy Evans gave Taft the ball. He asked him to throw it over the plate. Taft did so, and the custom of having the president launch the baseball season with the first pitch was born. The story continues that later that same day, President Taft, who weighed well over 300 pounds, became uncomfortable in his small chair. In the middle of the seventh inning, he stood up to stretch his legs. The crowd thought that the president was leaving, so they stood up out of respect. A few moments later, Taft sat down again. The fans followed, and the seventh-inning stretch was born. What a day for traditions! No matter how the tradition began, fans have since added to the fun. Now, as they stand to stretch during the seventh inning, they can sing along to Jack Norworth's 1927 version of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" after the visiting team has batted. In the more popular story, _ . A Billy Evans attended the first game of the 1910 baseball season B Taft asked Billy Evans to throw the ball over the plate C President Taft stood up to stretch his legs to relax himself D the crowd thought the president didn't respect the players Answer: C Londoners are great readers. They buy vast numbers of newspapers and magazines and of books -- especially paperbacks , which are still comparatively cheap in spite of ever-increasing rises in the costs of printing. They still continue to buy "proper" books, too, printed on good paper and bound between hard covers. There are many streets in London containing shops which specialize in book-selling. Perhaps the best known of these is Charring Cross Road in the very heart of London. Here bookshops of all sorts and sizes are to be found, from the celebrated one which boasts of being "the biggest bookshop in the world" to the tiny, dusty little places which seem to have been left over from Dickens' time. Some of these shops stock , or will obtain, any kind of book, but many of them specialize in second-hand books, in art books, in foreign books, in books on philosophy, politics or any other of the myriad subjects about which books may be written. One shop in this area specializes only in books about ballet! Although it may be the most convenient place for Londoners to buy books, Charring Cross Road is not the cheapest. For the really cheap second-hand volumes, the collector must venture off the beaten track, to Farringdon Road, for example, in the East Central district of London. Here there is nothing so impressive as bookshops. Instead, the booksellers come along each morning and pour out their sacks of books onto small barrows which line the gutters . And the collectors, some professionals and some amateurs , have been waiting for them. In places like this one can still, occasionally, pick up for a few pence an old volume that may be worth many pounds. Londoners are great readers means that _ . A Londoners are great because they read a lot B There are a great number of readers in London C Londoners are readers who read only great books D Londoners read a lot Answer: D A famous building in New York City is turning 100 years old. A year-long celebration is planned for Grand Central Terminal, which is usually called Grand Central station, the sixth most-visited place in the world. The huge building has not changed much since it opened in February, 1913. About 750,000 people pass through Grand Central every day. Some just come to look at it, others to visit the stores. But most are there to catch the trains that enter and leave from the station. It is the largest train station in the world. There are 67 train tracks, all of them underground. The main part of the building has large, arched windows, a jeweled four-sided clock and ticket windows. Grand Central has been seen in many movies through the years. Dan Brucker is with the New York Transit Authority, which operates the station. Dan Brucker has worked for the transit authority at Grand Central for 30 years. In all those years, he has not lost his interest in the building. Justin Ferate, a historian, has been giving tours of Grand Central Station for 30 years. He says the station was designed to make travel a pleasure. "Why people don't run into each other in Grand Central is simple: each block of stone in Grand Central is the length of your leg. Each block of stone in Grand Central is the length of your arm. Each block of stone is a different color, so it's a checkerboard, based on you." A ten-year-long fight against plans to build a huge office building over Grand Central in 1968 helped create the modern preservation movement. Now, no one would think of changing the beauty of the station. Which of the following statements can we infer according to the passage? A The station won't be changed. B People will spend one month celebrating its anniversary. C More and more people will catch the trains in the station D The station will become larger and larger. Answer: A Beverage Service We serve a variety of soft drinks, coffee, tea and free of charge. However, as flying has a dehydrating effect, water and non-alcoholic beverages are recommended. Electronic Equipment Cellphones, FM/AM radios, portable television sets and electronic toys with remote controls must not be used in the cabin, as their signals may interfere with the aircrafts navigational instruments. Laptop computers and CD (MD, MP3) players may be used during cruising portions of the flight but not during the takeoff and landing. Inflight Entertainment A wide selection of international publications are available for your reading pleasure. You may keep this free copy of Morning Calm magazine, but kindly return all other reading materials after you have finished with them for the benefit of fellow passengers. A selection of music is available on eight channels, from channel 3 to 10. The channel changer is on your armrest. We also offer a selection of popular films; you may listen in English on channel 2. Paduk (go) and chess are available on request, and we have free postcards and stationery. Medical Needs We keep a selection of nonprescription medicine for any passenger suffering from mild sicknesses. An emergency medical kit is also available for more serious illnesses. Travelling with Infants and Children Baby bassinets are provided on a first come first serve basis and should be requested at the time of booking. Special meals for children and infants can be served if the request is made 24 hours before departure. Selected giveaways for children aged 2 to 12 are available on all international flights. Which of the following is not allowed according to the passage? A Watching popular films. B Listening to MP3. C Having nonprescription medicine. D Using mobile phones. Answer: D
Which function is a role of a feedback system? A. stimulation of appetite B. identification of gender C. determination of blood type D. regulation of growth in the skeletal system Answer: D What kind of pets do people have in your country? Dogs? Cats? How about a duck, hippo or lion? Here are two cases of animal owners with unusual pets. Barrie Hayman has a pet duck called Star. Barrie adopted him after his brothers and sisters stayed away from him at birth. Barrie, a duck breeder, realized the little duck needed special attention. So he began taking Star with him everywhere he went. "I would put him in my pocket while I did my shopping," said Barrie. Now, at five months, Star is too big for Barrie's pocket, but the two are still _ . They watch sports, together and even share a drink together. Barrie said, "He is a fantastic duck. I've never known any like him." Star even has his own Facebook page, with more than 2,000 Face book friends. Then there is the case of Tonie and Shirley Joubert in South Africa. They live with their hippo, Jessica. Tonie saved Jessica from floodwaters when she was only a day old. Jessica lives outside their riverside house, but she knows how to open the kitchen door, and often goes there for a snack. Tonie recently said, "I don't know whether Jessica sees me as a hippo or whether she sees herself as a human." Shirley is more certain, "Jessica sees herself as our child and I see Jessica as my daughter. I can't imagine my life without Jessica." Jessica is free to leave, and often visits wild hippos that live nearby. But she always returns home at night. Jessica's website notes that she has three hippo boyfriends, but one in particular,Fred, is her favorite. They often go grazing together and Fred has recently moved onto the Joubert's house as well. What's the main idea of the passage? A. Some websites are set up to protect pets. B. Some unusual pets are adopted by people C. People should take good care of their pets D. Pets sometimes can be very interesting Answer: B BEUING (Associated Press ) --China has a growing middle class, a tradition of expecting education and 21 million new babies every year. Selling educational toys should be easy. While China may be the world's biggest toymaker, many of the best are exported . Department stores here do not have enough high quality toys. It is said that the demand for educational toys is low. A US company, BabyCare, is trying to change that with a new way to sell toys in China. BabyCare works basically together with doctors in Beijing hospitals. People who join the company's "mother club"can get lectures and newsletters on baby and child development at no extra cost, if they agree to spend 18 dollars a month on the company's educational toys and childcare books. "We want to build a sevenyear relationship with those people," said Matthew J. Estes, BabyCare's president. "It starts during pregnancy , when the anxiety and needs are highest." BabyCare works on a onetoone basis. Doctors, nurses, and teachers paid by BabyCare advise parents, explain toys that are designed for children at each stage of development to age six. BabyCare opened its first store in China last June in a shopping center in central Beijing and another near Beijing Zoo. It plans to have 80 stores in China within six years. It is a new model for China and develops a market in young children's education and health that no other companies are in. Which of the following is a fact according to the passage? A. Club members buy BabyCare products for free childcare advice. B. Doctors in Beijing help in making BabyCare products. C. Parents are encouraged to pay $ 18 for club activities. D. BabyCare trains Chinese doctors at no extra cost. Answer: A Which of these substances conducts electricity the best? A. Wood B. Brick C. Copper D. Plastic Answer: C The Independent Project at the Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is attracting huge interest in the education field. The program is a new concept that has developed a wide variety of students' abilities and excited their interest in education and self-directed learning. They are a group of students that , instead of being educated through the normal school courses, have created their own subjects and project-based interactive learning. The students are almost completely independent. They choose a goal that they want to accomplish and work on for the whole year. These goals have included some impressive attempts such as writing a novel, writing a play , learning the piano and more. Along with these larger attempts , the students meet every day to ask questions about other subjects like natural sciences , social sciences, etc. Although most of them say that they don't like math, they did eventually develop an interest in math through this independent learning technique. The education program, which has attracted a huge variety of students, allows the students to learn and develop research skills and questioning techniques and allows them to truly be interested in the subjects they are diving into . They also teach each other what they have learned , which allows them to develop different way of presenting and gathering material that they have researched. I wish that I could have participated in such a project during my high school career, like writing a novel. I am currently studying English as well as education to pursue a teaching degree. I would love to adapt independent driven projects into a classroom in the future. This project also raises some crucial questions. Do we need to rethink the structure of the education system itself? Are too many students being simply fed through a conveyor belt that we blindly see as working toward their education? I think that the education system needs some improvements , and different learning styles need to be addressed immediately. Individual differences in learning are huge keys to the functioning of a classroom. This project takes the idea to a whole new level. This is an extremely important event in the development of the American education system and I think everyone needs to keep an eye out for more programs like this. What can we learn about the Independent Project? A. There is little involvement from teachers. B. Normal school courses are also available. C. The students meet every week to discuss their courses. D. It was designed to improve the students' interest in math. Answer: A
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)--Kids who eat better perform better in school, a new study of Nova Scotia fifthgraders confirms. Students who ate an adequate amount of fruit,vegetables,protein,fiber and other components of a healthy diet were significantly less likely to fail a _ test,Dr.Paul J.Veugelers of the University of Alberta in Edmonton and colleagues found. While a healthy diet is generally assumed to be important for good school performance, there has actually been little research on this topic, Veugelers and his colleagues note.To investigate,they looked at 4, 589 fifthgraders participating in the Children's Lifestyle and Schoolperformance Study, 875 (19.1 percent) of whom had failed an elementary literacy assessment. The better a student's eating habits based on several measures of diet quality,including adequacy and variety, the less likely he or she was to have failed the test, the researchers found,even after they adjusted the data for the effects of parental income and education, school and sex.Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, and getting fewer calories from fat, was also associated with a lower risk of failing the test. To date, Veugelers and his team say, most research on diet and school performance has focused on the importance of eating breakfast, as well as the ill effects of hunger and malnutrition . "This study extends current knowledge in this area by demonstrating the independent importance of overall diet quality to academic performance.We should not only realize the importance of children's nutrition at breakfast but also that throughout the day," the researchers conclude. Another research from the UK is suggesting that children's diets in the preschool years affects how they perform at school later on.The researchers from the Institute of Education, at the University of London say in fact that what children were eating in those days before primary school has more of an effect than the chicken nuggets they ate at lunchtime.The researchers say they have found that children who ate a diet of "junk food" at the age of three, made less progress in school between the ages of six and ten.They say children's diet at later ages appears to have less impact on their school attainment. .According to Dr.Paul J.Veugelers, students who have a healthy diet _ . Everyone has a dream. Some are good dreams. Some are bad dreams. Here are some kids talking about their dreams they had last night. Lucy: In my dream, I saw my favorite band EXO singing a wonderful song. One of the main singer Lu Han wore special clothes and sang songs only for me. The songs were so beautiful that it touched my heart. I hope I didn't wake up this morning. Kelly: Last night I dreamed I was an astronaut. I flew a rocket around the earth. The sky was so blue and the white clouds were here and there. I felt I was like a bird. I even sang a song because I was so happy. John: I had a really bad dream last night. I invited lots of friends to my home to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. All the preparations were ready. Turkey was in the oven. Other food was on the table. Guests were happy and ready to enjoy the meal. However, someone shouted "Oh, my God!" All the guests disappeared . I didn't know what happened. I was scared so much. Emma: I dreamed I became a pediatrician.. I could be a doctor for all small kids. It was really wonderful. I tried my best and saved many kids. Parents came to thank me. How happy I was! Who dreamed something about singing? Let's pay a visit to some of the most amazing and unusual places in the world, from icy hotels to temples on the side of cliffs . Hotel de Glace -- Canada If you don't mind the cold, this igloo style hotel is certainly for you. Nearly everything, including the bedding, is made of ice! This hotel is so well insulated that whatever the temperature outside is, the temperature inside never changes more than a few degrees. It's around 23 degrees to be exact. Since it is made of ice the hotel does have some dress requirements that can be found on their website. Arctic sleeping bags are provided for every guest, including children. For more information, visit the website: http://www.icehotelcanada.com. The Tigers Nest Monastery -- Bhutan Built directly onto a cliff side, this ancient temple has claimed its spot since 1692. Rich in history, Tigers Nest is constructed around eight attractive caves on the mountainside. Most of the caves are easy to reach through the natural rock stairways. However, some are more difficult, and can only be reached by shaky rope bridges. Visit the website http://www.bhutantouroperators.net/taktsang-monastery.php for more information. Dinosaur Provincial Park -- Canada Known to be one the greatest fossil locations in the world, Dinosaur Provincial Park has nearly 500 specimens in all shapes and sizes. The park itself has a vast collection of fossils and a unique natural ecosystem. For more information, please visit http://tpr.alberta.ca/parks/dinosaur/index.aspx. Leshan Giant Buddha -- Sichuan China The world's largest Buddha sits on the edge of two great rivers. Construction is believed to have started around the year 713, and at the time of this construction it was the tallest carved statue in the world. All 233 feet of the stature was carved from the surrounding cliffs and preserved in amazing condition. Even the 2008 earthquake was not enough to shake it. Its website http://yeschinatour.com/china-guides/china-attractions leshan-giant-buddha-leshan will provide you with more information. Which of the following websites can give information about the Tigers Nest? Book into the new prefix = st1 /AucklandHospitalat a typical hour, say 11 on a Saturday night, and you will notice changes in the way you are treated. Let's start with the blood sample taken from your arm as you are wheeled in the door. By the time you are through the security doors and into the emergency area, that sample could have been sent through to the lab by vacuum tube and analysed by a machine which automatically feeds a preparative result into the clinical database. Less than a minute after the sample is processed, the doctors can see the results through the monitors beside every position in the emergency suites. As you are being wheeled in, you may notice cameras in the ceiling. The hospital has spent $4 million on its camera security system to protect staff and patients. When you come to in the neighbouring Admission and Planning Unit, the clinician may be looking at all your records, x-rays and even documents sent in by your GP on a Compaq tablet PC wirelessly connected to the network by an 802.11 "WiFi" card. It's not ideal for viewing images, but it should be good enough for a bedside consultation . If the clinician needs to consult a specialist or your GP, the other party can see the same records from home or office through a secure internet connection. Dr Nigel Murray, general manager of the hospital building programme, said about $30 million of the $500 million budget for the project had been spent on information technology. Which statement is not true according to the passage? David Beckham, a well-known football player, was born in London on May 2nd, 1975. He is about 1.8 metres tall. He is very strong and big. He is very quite a good football player. He scored a lot of goals for his old team---- the National Football Team of England . He joined the Real Madrid after he left his old team. He wants to play football in Pairs in the next World Cup. What is David Bechham like? _ .
Water runs downhill from mountaintops to streams to rivers to oceans. But downhill isn't the only way that water moves .A new study measures how water travels from country to country for human consumption. This flow isn't the type we usually think about .These scientists looked at the water used to grow and make the products which get shipped from nation to nation as imports or exports. They call this a flow of"virtual water ". We typically think about water as the liquid that flows from a tap. However,92%of the water used by people goes into growing crops,according to water researcher Arjen Hoekstra. He recently studied the hidden travels of virtual water used in products made from things like crops and meats .These products are shipped around the world. For example.consider a sugary soft drink. Hoekstra estimated that to produce one half-liter of the drink requires between 170 and 310litersofthewater--about 95%--is used to grow and process the ingredients .Another 4%goes into the packaging and labeling. In Hoekstra's calculation, when one country produces a half-liter of soda and sells it abroad,it exports as much virtual water as would fill a large refrigerator. According to Hoekstra's new report,dry countries like Israel and Kuwait,both in the Middle East, get the majority of their virtual water from other countries,through imported products. More surprisingly, some wetter countries,like the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, also get the majority of their virtual water from other places. That means that most of the water used to grow or produce the products and food consumed in those countries came from other countries. In the United States most of the virtual water used comes from American sources .In China even less of the water associated with its products In which countries does most part of virtual water come from outside? Kuwait and the Netherlands Many Chinese students think American students enjoy more freedom than them at school. In fact, American schools also have their rules. If students break the rules, they will get punishment , too. On the first day of a new term, 128 students of Morton High School were sent back home for wearing the wrong clothes. There are altogether 1,200 students in the school. Usually only 20 students break the school dress rule every day. So the headmaster Theresa Mayerik said it was the worst new term she had ever seen. At Morton High School, students' favorite clothes such as wide pants and low-necked shirts are not allowed( ). Some students think they have the right to choose what to wear, but the headmaster doesn't think so." I'd be _ if half the school was sent back home ,because 99% will get the message that our school is for education" "Freedom" doesn't mean "free of restrictions ". That is to say, there is no total freedom in the world, no matter in the US or in China. Some students in Morton High School thinks they have the right to _ choose what to wear to school Visitors to Britain may find the best place to _ local culture is in a traditional pub. But these friendly pubs can be dangerous places of potential gaffes for the newcomers. A team of researchers have discovered some of the unknown customs of British pubs-starting with the difficulty of getting a drink. Most pubs have no waiters-you have to go to the bar to buy drinks. A group of Italian youths were waiting 45 minutes before they realized they would have to fetch their own. This may sound inconvenient, but there is a hidden purpose. Pub culture is designed to promote sociability in a society known for its reserve. Standing at the bar for service allows you to chat with others waiting to be served. The bar counter is possibly the only site in the British Isles in which friendly conversation with strangers is considered entirely suitable and really quite normal behavior. "If you haven't been to a pub, you haven't been to Britain." This tip can be found in a booklet, Passport to the Pub: The Tourists' Guide to Pub Etiquette, a customers' rule of conduct for those wanting to sample "a central part of British life and culture". The trouble is that if you do not follow the local rules, the experience may fall flat. For example, if you are in a big group, it is best if only one or two people go to buy the drinks. Nothing annoys the regular customers and bar staff more than a group of strangers blocking all access to the bar while they chat and hesitate about what to order. If you don't follow the local rules in a pub, _ . you may fail to feel the local culture Dear Li Ming, I've been in England for two months now. I hope you don't think I have forgotten you. There have been so many places to see and so many things to do that I've not had much time to write letters. I will soon be starting my studies at King's College. So far I've been learning about England and British ways of living. I will tell you about London. One great thing about it is that it has lots of books you can read and lots of pictures you can look at. I am sure you'll be more interested to know what I think about the life here. I found some of the customs new and interesting. People here don't shake hands as much as we do in Germany. During the first few weeks I was often surprised because people didn't put out their hands when I met them. Men raise their hats to women but not to each other. Wang Gang The writer _ . came to England two months ago When you were looking for a reliable, honest auto mechanize, how did you find him? Before you went into that restaurant you recently tried, how did you know that it served great good? If you are like most people on the planet, you want to lower your risk of a big ugly surprise so you asked people you trust to refer to a business they trust. Marketers call this friend-to friend recognition of business "word-of -mouth advertising. When you do a treat job for your customer for a band job, people are going to talk about your business. Unfortunately, because we humans seem to feel negative emotions more intensively than positive ones, there're more likely to tell more of our friends about bad experiences with busyness than positive ones. Understand this: customer believes their own experience. You can't make them believed that your company is wonderful when they felt they were treated badly. So, to get positive word-of-mouth going for your business in this service- based economy, you've got to do a really outstanding job for everyone, exactly. And when you do, you build a great reputation. That takes time. But it forms a close link with your customers in a way that no advertising and no promotional coupon ever could. The good news is that because there are so many different businesses chasing after your customers' money, people want to know whom they can trust. So people are going to be talking about you. Create a free sales force for your business - an army of delighted customers who tell everyone that they know how good your company is to do business with. That's great antidote to _ . What is the main topic of this passage? A good name will bring you money.
Is there intelligent life on other planets? For years, scientists said "no." or "we don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers . They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe. They also think we sill soon contact these beings(;). Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size--the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble Telescope have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth." In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes allow scientists to discover smaller planets--the size of Mars or Earth--in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life. Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals . In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other." Why haven't beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak? A They're afraid of us. B It's a long way away. C They don't want to see us. D They don't know how to use radio signals. Answer: B Giving bad news is a difficult ball game. To help you get through an already difficult situation, try these tips when you have to tell someone bad news. Think about your audience. People respond differently to bad news. Think about who you're talking to and how best to pass on unpleasant information to that person. Consider the news. Are you the best person to give this news? If not, then you should consider letting others do it. Remember, however, that if you're talking to someone about your relationship, there is no other choice. It is something you yourself have to face. Look for an appropriate moment to break the news. You don't tell the bride her grandfather died right before she walks down the passage. Wait until the time is right and you are at a private place where you won't be interrupted. Find a chair. No one should be standing when receiving bad news. Go straightforward. Give bad news the same way you take off a bandage: QUICKLY. Say that you have bad news and then tell it. Don't leave the receiver twisting in the wind. Let it sink in. Many people mentally shut down when hearing bad news. There's no reason to keep talking if someone can't hear you any more. Be ready for anything. Your audience may do nothing or may instead scream and throw things when you give unwelcome news. You just never know. If things get out of hand, you may need to temporarily excuse yourself or seek the help of friends or s. Offer your help. Let people know you are there for them. If you're breaking up with someone, however, you should consider skipping this step, because the last thing she'll want is your help. The proper way to express your dissatisfaction with your best friend is to _ . A think about his reaction and avoid letting him know it B go to your friend and let him know your dissatisfaction C try to find someone else to pass on your dissatisfaction D consider you are the best person to tell the truth Answer: B Weekend Miracles Weekend Miracles give children aged 9 and older in the Children's Center the opportunity to visit a host family who partners the child to find the child a permanent family. The host family arranges activities that the child will enjoy and introduces the child to their circle of friends--in order to develop a lasting connection with someone. Organization: Kidsave International Location: the United States Duration: 2 days to 6 weeks Web Designer Needed We need the skills of a Web designer to help us redesign our website. The project will be fun and fulfilling, and give much needed visibility to our grass-roots projects that are serving children and mothers in every corner of the world. Organization: Children's Fund Location: the United States Duration: 3 weeks to 2 months Living Miracles Doctors and dentists are needed as volunteers at Shechen Medical Clinic in Nepal for two months or longer. In Tibet, we need doctors for only 1-2 months. Dentists can come for one month or longer. Please understand that modern conveniences are not available here. Organization: Dilgo Khyentse Fellowship Location: Nepal Duration: 21 days to 6 years Teaching English to Children in India The Salus Foundation, Inc. needs help from volunteers, teachers, college students or recent college graduates trained in ESL, or who are willing to be trained in ESL to teach English to the students at the Sulaxim School. Organization: The Salus Foundation, Inc. Location: India Duration: 6 weeks to 9 months Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Cameroon In Defense of Animals in Africa needs help from highly motivated, mature volunteers who care about the conservation of great apes and are willing to live in an isolated, challenging, French-speaking environment for six months to benefit our future generation. Organization: In Defense of Animals in Africa Location: Cameroon Duration: 6 months We can infer from the passage that _ . A serving children in every corner of the world is the Web designer's duty B volunteers going to Cameroon should be able to speak French C more dentists are needed than doctors in Nepal D the time you work in one of these places can be changed Answer: B Dyslexia is a problem that restricts the ability to recognize words and connect sounds with letters when people read. People with this learning disorder may also have problems when they write. Dyslexia is not related to eyesight or intelligence. The problem involves areas of the brain that process language. Brain scientists are studying whether they can predict which young children may struggle with reading to provide them with early help. John Gabrieli at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is leading the study of five-year-olds in about twenty schools in the Boston area. They studied in the schools with kindergartens. And for all the children joining in the study, they give them a brief set of paper-and-pencil tests to look at which children appear to be at some risk for struggling to read. So far, fifty of them have been examined in a scanner, a special machine, to show brain activity. Written tests are not always able to identify dyslexia or other problems, while brain scans may offer a more scientific way to identify problems. And with reading problems, early identification is important. When it comes to helping children overcome reading difficulties, the younger the child, the more effective they are. Reading problems are not usually identified until a child is in the third or fourth grade. The later children are recognized as poor readers, the less treatment can help. And, as Professor Gabrieli points out, poor reading can make education a struggle. Reading is everything. Even math and science have textbooks. While the children are given tasks related to reading, the brain scans measure the extent to which certain parts of the brain become active while the children do the work. The scientists say they are pleased with early results from the study, but have a long way to go. According to the passage, which of the followings has the best time to overcome reading difficulties? A Tom, a boy in the kindergarten. B Kate, a high school leaver. C Jane, a primary school student. D Steve, a man in his thirties. Answer: A Looking back on China's road to outer space, people can easily find it has not been very smooth. In the past years, Chinese people have made hard and determined efforts to realize the dream their ancestors had for thousands of years. After China's first satellite into the Earth's orbit in 1970 came four flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions from 1999 to 2002. The country carried out its first one-piloted space flight in October, 2003, making China the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight ability after the Soviet Union and the United States. Then came another breakthrough on October 12, 2005, when Shenzhou 6, China's second human spaceflight, was launched, with a crew of two astronauts. What's more, the landmark spacewalk done by Zhai Zhigang, one of the three boarding Shenzhou 7, launched on Sept. 25, 2008, leads the country further in its space exploration. Meanwhile, China's moon exploration project, started in 2004, has also been progressing satisfactorily. Fifty years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, China's first circumlunar satellite Chang'e 1 took off on Oct.24, 2007, which became another milestone in China's space achievements after the above-mentioned manned flights. Chang'e 1 was expected to fulfill four scientific goals, one of which was to probe mineral elements on the moon, especially those not existent on Earth. It's said that the lunar regolith is abundant in helium-3, a clean fuel that may support the Earth's energy demands for more than a century. Nearly 3 years later, Oct. 1, 2010 witnessed the blasting off of Chang'e 2, China's 2nd unmanned lunar probe, marking another step forward in moon exploration. This time the aim is to test the key techniques of Chang'e 3 and Chang'e 4, as a preparation for a soft lunar landing in the future. With great expectations, people all over the world are looking forward to China's greater space achievements. According to the text, which of the following is TRUE? A China sent its first satellite into the Moon's orbit in 1970. B China is the third country in Asia to make human spaceflight. C China has blasted off 4 unmanned lunar probes. D The launching of Chang'e 1 became the third milestone in China's space achievements. Answer: D
When I was 15, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my short-comings . Week by week her list grew. I was skinny , I talked too loud, I was too proud, and so on. I put up with her as long as I could. At last, I ran to my father in tears and anger. He listened to my outburst quietly. They he asked, "Are the things she says the true or not?"True? I wanted to know how to strike back. What did truth have to do with it? "Mary, didn't you ever wonder what you are really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinion. "Go and make a list of every thing she said and mark the points that are true. You needn't pay attention to the other things she said. I did as he told me and discovered to my surprise that about half the things are true. Some of them I couldn't change(like being skinny), but a good number I could and suddenly wanted to change. For the time in my life I began to get a quiet clear picture of myself. I brought the list back to Daddy, but he wouldn't take it."That's just for you,"he said."You know better than any else the truth about yourself, once you hear it. But you've got to learn to listen, not close your ears in anger or hurt. When someone says something about you, you'll know if it's true or not. If it is ,you'll find it will echo inside you." "I still don't think it very nice of her to talk about me in front of everybody." "Mary, there is one way you could stop others talking about you ever again, and criticizing you--just say nothing and do nothing. But then, if you do that, you'd find you were nothing. You wouldn't like that now, would you?""No, I admitted " The writer's father asked her _ . A. to pay attention to all that her"enemy"said about her. B. not to pay attention to what her"enemy"said about her. C. to pay attention only to the points that were true about her. D. to pay attention only to the points that were not true about her. Answer: C On July 12, 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan, located in the country's Swat Valley. Yotsafzai attended a school that her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, had founded. After the Taliban began attacking girl schools in Swat, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2008. The title of her talk was, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" When she was 14, Malala and her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat against her. Though Malala was frightened for the safety of her father----an anti-Taliban activist-she and her family initially felt that the fundamentalist group would not actually harm a child. On October 9, 2012, on her way home from school, a man boarded the bus Malala was riding in and demanded to know which girl was Malala. When her friends looked toward Malala, her location was given away. The gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head. Two other girls were also injured in the attack. Despite the Taliban's threats, Yousafzai remains a firm advocate for the power of education. On October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Yousafzai the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize, but was named a nominee again in March 2014. Malala Yousafzai's Speech at the United Nations (Excerpt) Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing. Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality.Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured.I am just one of them. ... Dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity: We call upon the world leaders that all the peace deals must protect women and children's rights. We call upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world. We call upon all governments to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of educational opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave--to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential. We can learn from the passage that _ . A. the Taliban attacked Ziauddin Yousafzai's school for girls B. the Taliban caught Malala's father for his fight against the Taliban C. the Taliban shot Malala in the head on her way to school D. local people lived in the shadow of the Taliban Answer: D John sent his mother expensive presents on his mother's birthday every year. He liked to show her how rich he was. "I must find something wonderful for her, and it must be the only one in the whole world. Then my mother must be very happy." John thought. He advertised in the newspapers. "Wanted--the best present for the woman who has everything. " For many days his telephone did not stop ringing. People phoned him from all over the world. They wanted to sell him "the best present". But they did not have anything that was the only one in the whole world. Then less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He was carrying a cage, and in the cage there was a large bird. "This bird, "the man said, "can speak ten languages and sing any pop song. There is no other bird like it in the world. " "I will listen to it, "John said. "If what you said is true, I will buy the bird from you." The man spoke to the bird. "Talk to me in French, " he said. The bird spoke to him in French. "Tell me a joke in Japanese, " he said. The bird told him a joke in Japanese. "Sing a famous pop song, "he said. The bird sang a famous pop song. "I'll buy it, "John said. "How much do you want?" "One hundred thousand dollars, "the man said. This was a lot of money but John paid him. Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card. The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her. "Well, mother, "he said, "Is the bird wonderful?" "Oh, it was delicious, dear, "she said. Why did John send her mother expensive presents for her birthday every year? A. Because he loved his mother very much. B. Because his mother needed these presents. C. Because he wanted to show he had a lot of money. D. Because he was the richest man in the world. Answer: C Once there was a girl named Ruth, who loved to play outside whenever she could. One day, she was running around outside with a friend, but she tripped and scraped her knee very badly. She doubled over in pain, screaming for her father "DADDY!!!" she yelled, until he ran outside to help. "Thank goodness that only the skin on your knee was hurt!" he said, as he picked her up to bring her inside. "We need to cover your cut, and it looks like it was about to start raining anyway," he said. He brought her into the restroom, so he could wash the cut, then put on medicine and a large bandage. "That medicine hurt..." Ruth said, but her cut was feeling better than it did before. "Well, at least now you don't have to worry about it getting worse," her father said. "Hopefully it won't take long for your cut to get better, then you can go back to playing outside again - be careful from now on!" How did Ruth hurt herself? A. She screamed B. She put on a bandage C. She used medicine D. She tripped Answer: D Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research shows that the reason could be that men's hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age. The largest study of the effects of aging on the heart has found that women's longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age. "We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age," "Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the ages of 20 and 70 , one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men," . What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. "This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men," said Goldspink. The team has yet to find why aging takes a greater toll on the male heart, said Goldspink.. The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. We can know from the passage that _ . A. the reason why ageing causes a greater loss to the male heart has been found out B. scientists are still doing research into why the male heart loses more of the cells C. team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss of the cells D. women over 70 could lose more cells than those at the age of 20. Answer: B
Li Peng is a good student. On weekdays he gets up at six in the morning. He has breakfast at home. Then he reads English from 6:30 to 7:00. He goes to school at seven. He has four classes in the morning. He has lunch at school, but on Sundays he has lunch at home with his family. He has three classes in the afternoon. He leaves school at 5:00. He often has dinner at home. In the evening he sometimes watches TV. Sometimes he does his homework. He goes to bed at ten o'clock every night. How long does it take Li Peng to read English after breakfast? A 6:30 B 7:00 C an hour D thirty minutes Answer: D A leading question is LEAST likely to be permitted over objection when A asked on cross-examination of an expert witness. B asked on direct examination of a young child. C asked on direct examination of a disinterested eyewitness. D related to preliminary matters such as the name or occupation of the witness Answer: C Hello! Nice to meet you. Now let me introduce myself to you. My name is Mary. I'm 12 years old. I'm from Canada and I speak English. I'm a tall girl. I have long brown hair and big blue eyes. I like _ a lot. I often sing songs with my friends in my free time. I have a happy family. There are four people in my family. They are my mom, my dad, my sister and me. I like China very much and I want to visit Beijing, but I can't speak Chinese at all. I hope to be your friend, then we can help each other with English and Chinese. ,. What does Mary look like? A She is short. B She has short hair. C She has a round face. D She has big blue eyes. Answer: D Which of the following is a harmful waste material that leaves the blood and travels through the lungs before leaving the body? A CO2. B O2. C H2O. D NaCl. Answer: A Too often we accuse others of not listening, pretending that we ourselves are faultless, yet in our hearts we know that many of the mistakes we make come about because we haven't listened carefully enough. We get things wrong because we haven't listened carefully enough. We get things wrong because we haven't quite understood what someone meant when they were talking to us. Anyone who has ever taken the minutes of a long meeting will know how hard it is to remember-- despite the benefit of notes-- exactly what everyone said. But success depends on getting things right--and that means listening. Listening is not the same thing as hearing; it is not an effort actively. It demands attention and concentration. It may mean quizzing the speaker for additional information or for clarification------ it is always better to ask than to continue regardless and get things wrong. However, if you allow your mind to wander onto something else, even for a few minutes, you'll miss what the speaker is saying------ probably at the very moment when he or she is saying something critical. And not having heard, you won't know you've missed anything until it's too late. The most common bad habit we have is to start thinking of what we are going to say about the subject long before the other speaker has finished. We then stop listening. Even worse, this often adds rudeness to inattentiveness, as once you have decided what to say there is a fair chance you will interrupt to say it. Good listeners don't interrupt. In fact it is often worth explaining the main idea of what you have just been told before going on to make your own points. Nobody is offended by this and it shows that you have listened well. Above all be patient and accept that many people are not very good communicators. It's helpful to remember that the ways people move and position themselves while they are speaking can reveal a great deal about what they are saying. Equally important you should put yourself in the other person's place, both intellectually and emotionally; it will help you to understand what they are getting at and form a response. But don't be too clever. Faced with a know-all, many people keep quiet because they see no point in continuing. What is the writer's opinion? A If you want to be a good listener, you should be very clever and emotional. B Speakers won't continue talking when their listeners explain what they've heard. C If you don't want to get things wrong, it's important to be a good listener, D It's hard to be a good listener because listening tests you on your intelligence. Answer: C
Dobbs, while intoxicated, drove his car through a playground crowded with children just to watch the children run to get out of his way. His car struck one of the children, killing her instantly. Which of the following is the best theory for finding Dobbs guilty of murder? Answer: It all started when my sister was invited to speak at a threeday conference in Budapest. Mom and I thought we would join her because she was not able to take her husband or daughter. After all, how often does a trip to Budapest come along? We began planning a week long trip to Budapest. It was the first visit to Europe for all three of us, and there was so much we wanted to see that we couldn't narrow our base destinations down any further than Venice, Budapest, Rome, Sorrento and Florence. We immediately applied for passports. We looked over maps and through books trying to decide exactly where to stay. I spent hours and days researching hotels, transportation, museums. We waited and waited to book tickets so we had a starting point on our dates. Finally everything fell into place and we decided our plans. The excitement continued to build day by day. I researched packing tips online and my list of necessities grew. Mom and I compared notes for weeks trying to decide what to wear, what to bring, what to buy ... in the end, however, we just chose whatever was comfortable and to be honest, mainly wore the same couple of clothes day after day, washing them in the hotel as necessary. The only good clothes we took were for the ballet in Budapest. And thank goodness for that -- I can't imagine lugging a larger suitcase on and off during the journey to Florence, and some other places. The big day arrived and with bags packed and repacked, it was off to the airport for our first European adventure! We can learn from the text that _ . Answer: A man went to buy a piece of meat. As he didn't know how to cook meat, he asked the butcher to tell him the way of cooking it. The butcher told him how to cook it, "But I can't remember your words," the man said. "Will you please write them down for me?" The butcher was kind enough to write them down for him. The man went home happily with the meat in his hand and the note in his pocket . A dog followed him on the way. It jumped at him, took the meat away and ran off. The man stood there, not knowing what to do. Then he laughed and said, "never mind. You don't know how to eat it. The note is still in my pocket." The man went to buy a piece of meat in _ . Answer: Hello! I'm Tom Green. I'm English. This is my mother. Her first name is Mary. This is my father. His first name is Steve. My phone number is seven six zero, nine one seven six. Li Lei is my friend. His English name is Paul. He is Chinese. His phone number is two eight one, five two four eight. Look at the photo. Who is that in the photo? It' s my cousin. His name is Eric. He is a middle school student. _ is in the photo. Answer: The new university hospital in Trenton, which the Health Minister Victoria Culley has described as a "shining example" to hospitals all over the country, has been open now for over six months. Having heard several complimentary comments about the organization and efficiency of the place, I decided to see for myself. In spite of arriving early, I found that there were already long queues at the reception desks. While I was waiting, I looked around and had to admit that it is an impressive building: large and light with marble everywhere. Eventually my turn came and I presented my doctor's letters to the receptionist, who informed me that I was in the X-ray queue and I'd have to go to another queue and start again! I couldn't believe it and asked her if it might be possible to give me an appointment card anyway without making me queue up again. She informed me it was no good arguing with her and I should have read the sign, an almost invisible piece of card saying "X-rays" just in front of her where very few people can have seen it. No matter how hard I tried to persuade her, she wouldn't give me an appointment card for a blood test, so I started queuing again and finally got the card at 8: 30! I then set off for the blood test room, following the nice new signs until they suddenly stopped and I realized that I was in a part of the hospital that hasn't been finished yet! When I got to the door I saw a notice saying "Back in 10 minutes". I sat down and waited for 30 minutes before a doctor appeared and told me to come in without, of course, apologizing for keeping me waiting. I asked him why I'd had to wait and he explained he'd had to help out in another ward which was understaffed as a result of a flu epidemic among the doctors! I got out of the hospital at 9:45 a.m. and breathed a sigh of relief. I'm now waiting for the results. So, Mrs. Culley, a far from rosy picture. Certainly the public should be under no illusions that things have changed for the better. Perhaps you should visit the hospital as an anonymous outpatient rather than a government minister if you really want to know what it's like unless, as I suspect, you don't actually care about much. Why did the author go to the hospital? Answer:
Wildfires are exacerbated in part due to dangerously low moisture content in light fuels, commonly brought on by A periods of less than usual precipitation B torrential rains across the plains C too many firefighters with McLeods and Pulaskis D high moisture content on incident commanders' heads Answer: A. periods of less than usual precipitation There are many traditions around the holidays. "Holiday traditions" are things that people do every year during a holiday such as Christmas or Thanksgiving. At Christmas, for example, many people put up a Christmas tree or Christmas lights. These are Christmas traditions that have been going on for many years. But there is a "new" Christmas tradition that has become very popular: _ , a TV channel that shows nothing but a large log fire, blazing in a fireplace. People put it on their TV and it makes them feel like they are watching and listening to a crackling fire. It makes them feel calm and comfortable. The origin dates back to 1986 in Canada. At that time, not very many people knew about it or watched the channel. Today, more than three million people watch the firelog channel during the winter holiday season. That year, the firelog channel was created to give the workers in the company that is now called Shaw Cable, a break at Christmas. By running the firelog during the holidays, everyone could go home for a few days and enjoy a bit of time off. At that time, it was only broadcast to people in Edmonton but today it reaches people across Canada and beyond. This year, the Shaw firelog was updated. It is pretty high tech. Although it's still really just a fire log that has been filmed, it has its own Twitter account (@ShawFireLog), its own Facebook page and it even has a computer App so you can see the burning log on a smartphone or a tablet. The Shaw firelog will burn until Jan. 5 on Shaw Cable, channel 222. What can we learn about the TV firelog from the passage? A More than three million people watched the channel in 1986. B It was broadcast to people in Edmonton and across Canada when it first started. C It has its own Twitter account but no Facebook page now. D The burning of the firelog will last until Jan. 5 on Shaw Cable. Answer: D. The burning of the firelog will last until Jan. 5 on Shaw Cable. Jim was a farmer. He lived in a village far away from the town. One day he was very ill , and everyone thought he would die . But his family wouldn't give up. They decided to sent for a doctor in town . The doctor arrived the village two days later and looked over the man. The doctor wanted a pen and some paper , But there was no pen or paper in the village , because nobody could read or write . The doctor looked around and picked up a piece of burnt wood. Using the wood, he wrote the name of the medicine on the door of the house." Get the medicine for him right away, " he said, "and he will soon get well.' family and friends did not know what to do . They could not read the writing . Then the village baker had an idea . He took off the door of the house and took the door to the nearest town . He bought the medicine, and Jim was saved. After that Jim would not let anyone wash the magic words off the door . What do you think of the people in the village? A They were rich and clever. B They were lazy. C They could read and write well. D They were poor and fell behind the times. Answer: D. They were poor and fell behind the times. People who are slightly overweight or mildly obese have a lower risk of early death than normal weight individuals(;), according to a new analysis of nearly 100 international studies. The studies, most conducted within the past decade, included about three million adults from around the world. The result of these studies by researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics in Maryland, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that slightly overweight or obese people were six percent less likely to die from all causes compared to people of normal weight. But the researchers found that seriously obese individuals were still at a 30 percent greater risk of death compared to healthy-weight individuals. Study lead author Katherine Flegal says she was not surprised that overweight people would not have a higher death risk. "Because we'd actually already read a lot of this literature and realized that death rates for overweight would be at least not higher than normal[weight," she said. "I guess l was a little bit surprised that it was definitely lower. And l was also surprised that the lower rates of obesity didn't seem to differ from normal weight." But Flegal stresses the difference in death rates appear to be small between normal-weight people and overweight and mildly obese individuals. The finding by Flegal and colleagues have raised new questions about the reliability of the so-called "body mass index" or BMI, a measurement of body fat as a ratio(,)of height to weight, that has become popular in recent years among public healthexperts to measure potential health risks. But Heymsfield warns that individuals should not conclude that it's okay to put on extra kilograms, since being at a healthy weight lowers the risk for heart disease and diabetes. What can we conclude from the passage'? A It's OK to put on extra weight. B It doesn't matter if you are slightly obese. C Obese people are much healthier. D Body weight has nothing to do with death rates. Answer: B. It doesn't matter if you are slightly obese. Buying insurance is a way in which people can protect themselves against large losses. Protection against fire is one kind of insurance. Large numbers of people pay small sums of money to an insurance company. Although thousands of people have paid for fire insurance, only a few will lose their homes by fire. The insurance company will pay for these homes out of the small sums of money it has collected. The first modern fire insurance company was formed in London, England, in the 1760s. A great fire had just destroyed most of the city, and people wanted protection against further losses. The first company grew rapidly. Soon other companies were founded in other areas. Benjamin Franklin helped form the first fire insurance company in America in 1752, and then a new kind of insurance for farmers was suggested. The new insurance would provide protection against the loss of crops from storms. Later on another new insurance company was started in America. This company, which offered life insurance, collected small sums of money regularly from many different men. If a man died, his family was given a large sum of money. Over the years, insurance companies have offered new kinds of insurance protection. The new kinds of insurance cover losses from such accidents as car and plane crashes. Today, most people have some kind of insurance. The first modern insurance company offered _ . A life insurance B fire insurance C a new kind of insurance D both A and B Answer: B. fire insurance
China needs to set absolute restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions if it is to fulfill its aim to set up a carbon market over the next five years, a cabinet office think tank said in a paper. "It is only under an absolute emissions cap that carbon emission permits will become a scarce resource and possess the qualities of a commodity," the State Council"s Development and Research Center said in a paper in Seeking Truth, a magazine published by the ruling party. China has traditionally baulked at the idea of emissions caps either on a regional basis or for industrial sectors, invoking a key Kyoto protocol principle that puts most of the burden of cutting green-house gases on developed countries. China, the world 's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has also been under external pressure to make stronger commitments in the battle against global warming .The country has been the biggest beneficiary of the Clean Development Mechanism, a UN-backed scheme that allows industrialized countries to meet their CO2 reduction targets by purchasing certified emission reductions or CERs from low-carbon projects launched in developing nations. However, the European Union, the biggest buyer of CERs, has said it will not accept CERs generated by Chinese projects once the first phase of its Emissions Trading Scheme ends in 2012, though projects already registered will remain valid. What is the main idea of this passage? China will need to cut its emissions in the near future in order to keep up with the international community A place you would want to avoid that is prone to Earthquakes would be Osaka LONDON --- A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake bomb detectors to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences. It is believed that James McCormick got about $77.8 million from the sales of his detectors which were based on a kind of golf ball finder to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. McCormick, 57, was convicted of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London. "Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people," Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. "you have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt." The detectors, sold for up to $42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were of no use. McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand. "I never had any bad results from customers," he said. ks5u It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _ . did not think he had committed the crime In the Internet age, speed reading is a necessary and important skill. We skim over articles and e-mails to try to get key words and the main idea of the text. With so much information through our electronic devices , it would be impossible to get through everything if we read word by word, line by line. However, a new trend calls on people to enjoy reading slowly. A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smartphones. They sit back in comfortable chairs and read in silence for an hour. Unlike typical book clubs, the point of the slow reading club isn't to exchange ideas about certain books, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment. According to the story, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement started by book lovers who miss the traditional way of reading. Traditional readers, like Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to understand others. Some of these benefits have been backed up by science. For example, a study of 300 elderly people published by the journal Neurology last year showed that adults who take part in activities that use their brain, such as reading, suffer less memory loss as they get older. Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand others' mental states and beliefs -- a key skill in building relationships. Yet technology has made us less careful readers. Computer and phone screens have changed our reading patterns from the top-to-bottom, left-to-right reading order we traditionally used, to a wild skimming pattern as we hunt for important words and information. Reading text online that has many links to other web pages also leads to weaker comprehension than reading plain text. The Internet may have made us stupider, says British journalist Patrick Kingsley, only half joking. Because of the Internet, he says we have become very good at collecting a wide range of factual tidbits , but we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, think and connect all these facts with each other. Members of the Wellington book club are expected to _ . read peacefully for an hour Rock stars and their money Around the world young people are spending unbelievable sums of money listening to rock music. Forbes reports that at least fifty rock stars have incomes between two million and six million dollars per year. "It doesn't make sense," says Johnny Mathis, one of the older music millionaires, who made a million dollars a year when he was popular in 1950s. "Performers aren't worth this kind of money. In fact, nobody is." But the rock stars' admirers seem to disagree. Those who love rock music spend about two billion dollars a year for records. They pay 150 million to see rock stars in person. Luck is a key word for explaining the success of many. In 1972 one of the luckiest was Kon Mclean, who wrote and sang "American Pie". Mclean writes his own music, so he earns an additional two cents on every single record of the song. Neil Young who performs in torn blue jeans, sometimes sings to an audience of 10,000, each of whom has paid five dollars for a ticket. After paying expenses, Young leaves with about $ 18,000 in his blue jeans at the end of an evening. How do the rock stars use their money? What do they do when the money starts pouring in like water? Most of the young stars simply show the money around. England's Elton John gave someone a $ 38,000 Rolls car and bought himself 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses, then lighted up and spelt :E-L-T-O-N. He also bought himself two cars, "one for each foot". Many rock stars live like Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane. Those performers return from a tour, pay their bills, and buy new toys. Then when they need money again, they do another tour. They save no money and live _ www.zxxk.com In the end the rock stars' life is unrewarding. After two or three years riches and fame are gone. Left with his memories and his tax problems, the lonely star spends his remaining years trying to attract strangers. New stars have arrived to take his place. How much expense does Neil Young pay for a performance? $32,000
Every culture has a recognized point when a child becomes an adult, when rules must be followed and tests passed. In China, although teenagers can get their ID cards at 16, many only see themselves as an adult when they are 18. In the US, where everyone drives, the main step to the freedom of adult life is learning to drive. At 16, American teens take their driving test. When they have their license, they drive into the grown-up world. "Nobody wants to ride the cheese bus to school," said Eleanor Fulham, 17. She brought the pressure back to memory, especially from kids from wealthier families. "It's like you're not cool if you don't have a car," she said. According to recent research, 41% of 16 to 19-year-olds in the US own cars, up from 23% in 1985. Although, most of these cars are bought by parents, some teens get part-time jobs to help pay. Not all families can afford cars for their children. In cities with subways and limited parking, some teenagers don't want them. But in rich suburban areas without subways, and where bicycles are more for fun than transportation, it is strange for a teenager not to have a car. But police say 16-year-olds have almost three times more accidents than 18 and 19-year-olds. This has made many parents pause before letting their kids drive. Julie Sussman, of Virginia, decided that her son Chad, 15, will wait until he is 17 to apply for his learner's permit. Chad said he has accepted his parents' decision, although it has caused some teasing from his friends. "They say that I am unlucky," he said, "But I'd rather be alive than driving, and I don't really trust my friends on the road, either." In China, as more families get cars, more 18-year-olds learn to drive. Will this become a big step to becoming an adult? Which may serve as the BEST title of the article? A Cars Helping You to Grow-Up B Driving into the Grown-Up World C Teenagers' Driving in America D Recognized Point of Becoming an Adult Answer: B. Driving into the Grown-Up World Johnny wakes up early this morning. He is so happy. Today Daddy is taking him to the aquarium. Johnny wants to see blue fish, red fish, yellow fish, and green fish. He also wants to see really big fish. Daddy and Johnny are at the aquarium. "Look!" Johnny says. "There's a big red fish!" The fish swims away. A small yellow fish swims up to the glass and looks at Johnny. "A yellow fish!" says Johnny, "He's tiny." Lots of blue fish swim by behind the yellow fish. "Look at all of those blue fish!" says Johnny. "They stay together." Daddy points at a long fish and says "That one is as big as me!" Johnny laughs. He still wants to find a green fish. He sees a lot of fish, but none of them are green. "Daddy, I can't find a green fish. I want to see a green fish." Daddy laughs. "Let's go to the next window and look." Johnny looks through the next window and sees lots of fish, but none of them are green fish. "I still don't see any green fish," says Johnny. "Look there," Daddy tells him. Johnny sees a green sea turtle! It's a lot bigger than a fish. After looking at all the fish, Daddy and Johnny go home again. What color was the sea turtle? A red B blue C green D yellow Answer: C. green To most of us,school means classes,teachers,schedules,grades,and tests.But for the children at Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts,school is very different. Firstly,there are no lessons.All the children,aged between 4 and 19,do whatever they want.There are no teachers--only "staff members".The idea behind this is that you do not need to make children learn,because children want to learn anyway."You do not need to say to a three yearold,'Go explore your environment.'You can't stop them!" says Daniel Greenberg,a founder of the school."But if you make children do what you want all day,they will lose all taste for learning." At Sudbury Valley School,you will permit children to talk,read,paint,cook,work on computers,study French,play the piano,climb trees or just run around.Two boys spent three years just fishing! The other way that Sudbury Valley School is different is that the children can decide the rules.Every week,there is a school meeting where both children and staff have one vote each--even the fouryearolds.They decide the school rules,how to spend the school budget,and even which staff they want and do not want any more. When the school first opened in 1968,people said it would never work.But today,the school has 200 students,and 80%of its students go on to college. Even the two boys who went fishing all the time have successful careers today.One of them is a musician and the other is a computer scientist. What does the school believe? A Teachers cannot teach children Well. B Children learn best when they do what they want to do. C Learning is for adults--children should only play. D Children should only learn about one thing at a time. Answer: B. Children learn best when they do what they want to do. Making lists is relaxing. It dictates the shape of the immediate future; it calms you down (it's OK, it's on a list somewhere) and it makes you feel good when you cross something off List-making is standard practice in therapy for depression). It might even help you to get things done too. The more you have to do, the more you need a list and few people with high-powered jobs get by without them. Women always think they're better at lists than men. Men tend to have tasks which they assemble 'into Action Plans whereas women just have lists of Things To Do. James Oliver, psychologist, has created his own "time management matrix ". He writes a list of things to do and then organizes them into _ : things that have to be done straight away, other things that it would be good to do today, things that are important but haven't got to be done immediately and things that are less urgent but that he doesn't want to forget. "Using categories to order the world is the way the human mind works," he says. "After that, you should divide things into levels of importance." But he also warns, "If people get too absorbed in making lists, it doesn't work. They have too many categories and lose their ability to decide which is the most important." It's all a question of what works best for you, whether it's a tidy notebook, a packet of Post-it notes or the back of your hand. Having tried all these, student Kate Rollins relies on a computerized list, which is printed out each morning. "My electronic organizer has changed my life," she says. "Up to now, I've always relied on my good memory, but now that I'm working and studying, I find I've got too much to keep in my head." So what are you waiting for? No, you're not too busy to make today the first day of your upgraded time-managed life. In fact, there's no better time than the present to begin to take increased control of your work and life. So, get out your pencil and pen and make a list. We can learn from the passage that _ . A good memory helps in list making B too much listing might be misleading C women usually make a lot more lists than men D people with high-powered jobs make lists most Answer: B. too much listing might be misleading One of the major functions of an iPhone is, of course, to play music. The iTunes app has been designed in such a way as to take advantage of the iPhone's touch screen. But what if you want to listen to music that isn't in your iTunes library, or you want to discover new music without sitting in front of computer? There are plenty of ways to access music, but not everyone knows what options are available. Either that, or there are so many options that going through all of them is tiring. For these reasons, here we offer a few convenient ways of listening to music on your iPhone without using iTunes. Stream some radio (Tuneln Radio) Tunnel Radio provides a quick and easy way to listen thousands of Internet radio stations on your Apple products. In addition to local radio stations, this app compiles more than 40 000 radio stations from around the country. What makes the app special is that it allows you to pause and rewind live radio----pause your station to take a phone call or rewind to replay a favorite song. You can also browse by genre of location, and the app includes plenty of talks, news, sports and weather stations in addition to music. From desktop to smartphone (QQ Music) QQ Music seems like obvious choice, and it is. It's a streaming service based on the Tencent technology that is already wildly popular on the Internet and now also offers a (free) app. Through this app you can listen to existing playlists or create new ones based on the patterns of music you like. It works amazingly well and everything can be saved to your QQ account for access from a computer. What was that song? (Shazam) Shazam is an innovative and free app that cures your"what was that song?"problem. It happens to all of us : we hear a song (on TV or in a store ), love it, know we have heard it before but just can't remember what it is called . With Shazam you don't need to. Just hold your iPhone up and through its microphone, Shazam will identify the album, artist and song title for you. You can then either purchase the song in iTunes or search it on other apps for streaming. How cool is that? If you are to enjoy the freedom to go backward or make a phone call without missing anything your are listening, you can turn to _ . A Tuneln Radio B iTunes C Shazam D QQ Music Answer: A. Tuneln Radio
Have you ever received a gift that was so dearly, not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite "Why, thank you," but you knew _ . Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and bad) reflect about your personal qualities? Choosing the right gift is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy -- the ability to put yourself into someone else's head and heart. We're all able to do this; in fact, we're born with a kind of natural empathy. After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be reinforced -- by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn't, we're not able to understand other people's feelings as sharply. This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional qualities. Think back to the presents you've given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package. Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world. (Of course, you may express yourself differently with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.) We live in a society where exchanging presents is an important part of communication. Ignoring the tradition won't make it go away. If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time. The best possible title for this passage is " _ ". Message in a Gift My father got his first job at eleven years old. cleaning up the garbage outside of the bowlingalley . Two years later his dad died. and my fatber worked odd jobs to help put food onthe table during the Depression. Ten years after that. Dad fell in love. married Mom and had ababy girl. Eight more children followed. During those years, Dad slipped into a routine he neverbroke He woke up before six. took the train to work and wouldn't get home until after five thirly.After supper, Dad spent the rest of the evening in the basement making dental parts for extra Two years ago, at the age of sixty-four, Dad retired. When I was young, Mom and Dad did well to hide the fact that we were poor. All nine of us attended Catholic schools and we always had plenty of school supplies. We slept in wooden beds, shared one bathroom and watched television from a tiny black-and-white set in the living room. Mom and Dad never bought anything for themselves. They clipped coupons, wore the same pair of sneakers for twenty years and sewed wom clothing together every Saturday afternoon. At his retirement party. I wanted to thank Dad for all his hard work and sacrifice by buying him the best present I could think of. As I shopped though. l realized there was nothing I could buy for Dad. Dad taught me through his own faith that the greatest gifis come from the heart Finally. I left my present on the kitchen table for Dad to find before he Ieft for his frnal day at work. What can be the best title for the text? Thank You. Dad. Adult color1ing books have been in circulation for a few years now, and actually the first adult color1ing book was published in 1960, however, during the past year they've really taken the world by storm. Many adults can benefit and enjoy these popular color1ing books, particularly today's busy parents. Here are some fun and calming reasons you might want to purchase one or two of your own. As parents, we tend to get caught up in the daily routine of getting our families hurriedly out the door for school and work each day--only to fall into bed exhausted and then get up and do it all over again the next day. We may not have much time to devote to a hobby, but if you grab yourself an adult color1ing book, you can get your creative juices flowing in a matter of minutes. Parenting is wonderful but it's also full of daily stress that naturally go along with the job. Whether it be at the end of a busy day or you have a few free minutes while the baby naps, picking up a box of freshly, sharpened color1ed pencils and your favorite color1ing book can take your mind off your "to do" list and transport you to a whole other world--one where you can be free to just enjoy the rainbow and simply embrace a little unwinding time. Whether you choose to delight in color1ed pencils or an old-fashioned box of crayons, all you'll need to grab is either one and your favorite color1ing book. So if you're in the car while your son's finishing up soccer practice, or in the reception area waiting to have your teeth cleaned, your color1ing supplies are a breeze to take along and help you pass the time in a color1ful way. Another benefit to taking up color1ing is that it can also become a family affair. Sitting together with your kids and color1ing is a great way to spend some quality time together, regardless of whether or not you stay within the lines! People like to purchase color1ing books because _ . it can relieve their pressure and get them relaxed When a magazine for high school students asked its readers what life would be like in twenty years, they said: Machines would be run by solar power. Buildings would rotate so they could follow the sun to take maximum advantage of its light and heat. Walls would "give light" and "change color with the push of a button." Food would be replaced by pills. School would be taught by electrical impulse while we sleep. Cars would have radar . Does this sound like the year 2000? Actually, this article was written in 1958 and the question was, "what will life be like in 1978? The future is much too important to simply guess about, the way the high school students did, so experts are regularly asked to predict accuately. By carefully studying the present, skilled businessmen, scientists, and politicians are supposedly able to figure out in advance what will happen. But can they? One expert on Cities wrote: Cities of the future would not be crowded, but would have space for farms and fields. People would travel to work in "airbuses", large all-weather helicopters carrying up to 200 passengers. When a person left the airbus station he could drive a coin-operated car equipped with radar. The radar equipment of cars would make traffic accidents "almost unheard of". Does that sound familiar? If the expert had been accurate it would, because he was writing in 1957. His subject was "The city of 1982". If the professionals sometimes sound like high school students, it's probably because future study is still a new field. But economic forecasting, or predicting what the economy will do, has been around for a long time. It should be accuate, and generally it is. But there have been some big mistakes in the field, too. In early 1929, most forecasters saw an excellent future for the stock market. In October of that year, the stock market had its worst losses ever, ruining thousands of investors who had put their faith in financial foreseers. One forecaster knew that predictions about the future would always be subject to significant error. In 1957, H.J. Rand of the Rad corporation was asked about the year 2000, "Only one thing is certain," he answered. "Children born today will have reached the age of 43." The high school students' answers to "What would life be like in 1978?" sound _ . imaginative My name is Paul Miller. Sometimes I am too fat, but lately I do not have this problem. My doctor tells me to jog. So early every morning I run for two miles. I do not run fast, but I do not stop to rest. I jog before breakfast. People call me a jogger. There are many joggers on my street. We often run together in the park or along the road. Jogging helps to keep us strong and healthy. Jogging is very popular in the United States. People like to feel well and look nice. When my neighbors and I jog, we help to keep our hearts and legs strong. Many people do not jog, but they do not get fat. They work hard on their jobs and they do not need to run before they go to work. Diets are also popular. People on diets do not eat many foods that will make them fat. They learn to eat fruits and vegetables instead of candy or cakes. My doctor tells me to eat only three meals a day. A diet is not necessary if I do not eat between meals. Some people like to eat many times a day. This is called snacking. I feel healthy and my doctor is happy because I jog every day and I do not snack in the evening or after breakfast. Jogging can't help us to _ . get fat
My mother always told us there is no use crying over spilt milk. That means you should not get angry when something bad happens and cannot be changed. She also told us you have to break some eggs to make an omelet . This means you have to do what is necessary to move forward. My mother believed you are what you eat. A good diet is important for good health. She would always give us healthy food. She liked serving us meat and potatoes for dinner. The meat and potatoes can also mean the most important part of something. It describes someone who likes simple things. People always said my father was the salt of the earth, because he would never pour salt on a wound , or make someone feel worse about something that was already a bad experience. However, sometimes he told us a story that seemed bigger than life. So we had to take it with a grain of salt. That is, we could not believe everything he told us. My manager at work does not always know what is going on in our office. Yet she is right about one thing: there is no such thing as a free lunch. Something may appear to be free, but there may be a hidden cost. When we fail to see problems at work, the manager tells us to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to pay more attention and fix the problem. I once made a big mistake at the office and felt silly. I had egg on my face. Over the weekend, my friend invited me to watch a football game on television. But I do not like football. It is not my cup of tea. I hope I have given you food for thought, that is, something to think about. Which of the following is used to describe someone who likes simple things? A. The milk and eggs. B. The salt and water. C. The tea and coffee. D. The meat and potatoes. Answer: D A hobby is not a job or a school subject. A hobby is something you enjoy doing in your spare time. It's not something you need to do. It's just fun. Some people make model ships, keep pets, plant flowers, play computer games or chat on the Internet. Some paint pictures or dance to music. Some collect everything from stamps to seashells ... People take up hobbies because they think these activities can bring them many things like happiness, friendship and knowledge. Anyone, rich or poor, old or young, sick or well, can have a hobby. A hobby will make your life colorful. ,. What is a hobby? A. A job. B. A school subject. C. Something interesting. D. Something you enjoy doing in your spare time. Answer: D It's 4 am, and Danilo C. Dequina is already awake. Holding a flashlight and a bucket, he is walking in the pre-dawn darkness along the shore of Old Poblacion Beach in the town of Maitum, Sarangani, in the far south of the Philippines. A few minutes later, he spots a patch of sand that appears to have been disturbed by a turtle. Dequina studies the area carefully, figuring out where the eggs have been buried, and then starts digging slowly. After clearing away several centimeters of sand, he uncovers a large group of eggs, roughly the size of ping-pong balls. He picks them up and puts them in the bucket. Dequina carries the eggs to his hatchery , some 50 meters away from the seashore. The hatchery is really just a sandy patch of land under the coconut trees enclosed by a black fence. It is here that he buries the turtle eggs he has collected. Today, Dequina scoops a hole, puts the eggs in it, and covers them with sand. After 45 to 70 days, the eggs will hatch. Dequina will then carry the hatchlings to the shore, and release them into the sea. He admits to feeling sorrow as he sets the hatchlings free -- most are hunted down by natural predators, and just one percent survive to adulthood. According to the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), eight species of sea turtles face extinction, including four that come to the shores of Sarangani to lay their eggs -- the Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and Green Turtles. After learning about their plight , Dequina attended a DENR training session on turtle conservation and decided to take action. He helped the local government to set up the Pawikan Nesting Sanctuary next to his house in 2003. The hatchery drew the attention of the locals. "They started to change their attitudes towards sea turtles," 52-year-old Dequina says. "If they see turtle eggs, they will either bring them to me or inform me of the nesting places." Over the past ten years, more than 3,000 hatchlings have been released to the ocean. What do we learn from the passage? A. Dequina feels sad when he releases hatchlings. B. Dequina has worked for the hatchery for six years. C. The hatchery is far from Dequina's house. D. The hatchery mainly protects injured turtles. Answer: A Student Residences Banbury House Tel: 564839 Enjoy mixing with other students in comfortable accommodation ? 10 minutes' walk to the university district and close to all main bus stops. Single and double rooms. All cleaning services offered. Please bring your own bedding. Three Seasons Tel: 445987 We can provide all types of accommodations for all types of single students. Rooms are fully furnished with bedding and there are four bathrooms each floor. Meals provided. 20minutes' walk to the university and city center. First Stop Tel: 223300 Suitable for new students. We provide double rooms. If you wish, we can offer help in finding a suitable person to share a room with. All washing and cleaning services offered at extra charge. Large canteen and three bathrooms on each floor. Sturtin Hotel Tel: 876333 Located in pleasant countryside surroundings. We offer scenic views and old-world attractiveness. Relax after a long day by swimming in the pool or using the exercise gym. Separate study rooms; bar & restaurants available. No children. Downtown Digs Tel: 882312 Do you worry that you'll not have enough money to see the term through? Don't waste it on expensive housing. This is a hostel run by students. No references and no rules. Shared bathroom, dormitory accommodation. 30 minutes' walk to the university and city center. Hilton Hostel Tel: 846241 It is not quite the Hilton Hotel but all rooms are fully provided with meals, bedding and cleaning services included. 5minutes' walk to the university and bus stops to the city downtown. Minimum stay period of six months. Singles only. If you like swimming, you will choose _ . A. Banbury House B. Three seasons C. Sturtin Hotel D. Downtown Digs Answer: C The Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to _ the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that would give every American the right to a place to call home. According to the Coalition's studies, of over two hundred million people living in the United States, up to three million are homeless--and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s, fast-rising house prices, large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession have make it impossible for many Americans to meet housing costs. Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes. According to another research, families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it. The old idea of a homeless person, that of the single man who gets drunk all the time, is no longer true. A much larger part of the population now finds itself homeless. Even worse, once a person becomes homeless, he often finds it impossible to find a job, since most employers require anyone who wants a job from them to provide a home address on a job application. How many people are homeless in the U.S according to the Coalition studies? A. About 3 million people B. 200 million people C. 39% of the population D. About one-fifth of the population Answer: A
Question: I wish there would be a way to describe China in simple terms but that's impossible. For the most part Chinese people are friendly, easy-going and optimistic. They are curious and unusually patient and they are also the hardest-working people I have ever met. In China, family is everything. In my English classes when the students were asked what they would do if they only had a few hours to live, most students told me how they would spend their last few hours with their families and parents. Many times the subjects in the classes center on families and friends. I teach many students a year, talking to them freely. The cost of living here is very low compared with that of the US. The city of Xiang Fan I live in isn't large and I live better. Non-imported foods are very cheap, so are clothing and articles of everyday use. The cost of public transportation is very low, too. Chinese value education. However, it is reported that many children can't afford the expenses of schooling and are forced to leave school in some poor area in China. But they organized Project Hope many years age. It creates conditions for the poor children to go back to school. In my opinion, Project Hope is of great importance to the development of the rural education. When we read news of China in the west, rarely, if ever, will we see anything mentioned of the positive changes China has gone through. While it is true that economic miracles have not reached many areas of China, but we also have the same problems. When I am asked which country I consider better. China or the US, my answer has always been the same, "We are not worse or better than each other, we are only different." We can infer from the passage that the author thinks _ . A. the westerners have got to know China well B. China's economic miracles have appeared everywhere C. the progress of China is seldom reported in the US D. the education in rural areas is never cared about in China Answer: C Question: Cursive writing is about to become extinct.Do we raise the red flag? To teach or not to teach cursive writing is a question that several state education departments are meeting with. Before you read this text, do a simple exercise.Pick a pen and paper and start writing in cursive.Yes, that fancy handwriting that you learned in grade school.You may not have forgotten the good times you had while writing curly Ms and Ns.However, the chances are that you won't be able to write it as excellently as you used to.Some people are good at making the perfect curls, while some are bad.I am still terrible at it. Cursive writing is hardly used by kids anymore as even adults don't write in this style, unless they are using it for their signature.Learning it was a usual practice in school for several decades.However, in 2011, the Indiana Department of Education made it optional for schools to teach cursive writing to the students.In fact, there are 46 more states that have also done the same. There are some who believe that it is high time for cursive writing to retire from school curriculum.After all, if we don't leave the past behind, we cannot make way for new things.If you walk into any classroom, you would find children using keyboards to communicate in the written form.On the other hand, fans of cursive writing insist on its usefulness.They remind us that if we stop teaching and learning cursive writing in school, very soon most of our historical documents will become hard to us.Where do we stand on this subject? Is it the right time to erase an almost forgotten writing style and live in the keyboarding world? Or can we do both without compromising on our school curriculum? Let me know your thoughts on this matter by leaving a comment in the section below. It can be inferred that the author _ . A. prefers to learn cursive writing B. is a cursive writing teacher C. welcomes people to show their opinions D. is a very famous expert in education Answer: C Question: A group of British schools are banning skirts after helplessly watching the fashion of "hemline _ creep" when girls roll up skirts to show more of their legs.Rising hemlines among girls in their midtolate teens have long been a headache for schools.Now,it seems,girls who are leaving homes with perfectly proper skirt lengths manage to transform their uniform into microminiskirts by the time they get to school. Some are so short that the headmaster of Tewksbury School in Gloucestershire said they are "almost like belts".Obviously,they have become a bit of a distraction for both boys and male teachers. Robert Kelly,headmaster of Berwickshire High School in Scotland,said short skirts could cause "inappropriate thoughts" among boys.And Hilary Winter,headmaster of Piggott School in Wargrave,Surrey,described short skirts as a "difficult distraction for members of staff ". In the town of Ipswich alone three schools have removed skirts from their approved uniform list.David Hutton,headmaster of Northgate High School,said,"Unfortunately,despite getting in touch with specific parents,sending some girls home to change,requiring others to wear a schoolowned skirt for the day and repeatedly asking others to unroll their skirts,we still had some girls coming to school in inappropriate skirts." "I have therefore introduced a trousersonly policy,which will enable my staff to focus their time and effort on providing students with the best education possible." Girls at Nailsea School near Bristol are used to a uniform ban.Two years ago,they were forbidden from wearing trousers made by the clothing brand Miss Sexy,which were reportedly too low on the hips and too tight."Staff were becoming embarrassed by seeing too much of the girls instead of the uniform,"headmaster David New said."They were very low, hipsterstyle,very tight trousers." Now they have been banned from wearing skirts. "We didn't want to waste any more time on it.It just means that teachers can concentrate on what's important in education,"New said. Megan Throp,a 15yearold student at Guiseley School in Leeds,facing a trousersonly policy,told the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper,"Our rights and freedom of being young women have been taken away because we have been forced into wearing school trousers." However,students are likely to find another means of adjusting dress code ,as David New told the LA Times,"I suspect that,teenagers being teenagers,there will be a new uniform violation that becomes the habit,"he said."That was true when I was at school,and I'm sure it was true when my father was at school." What measure has Northgate High School taken to keep girls from wearing short skirts? A. Asking parents not to buy skirts for their daughters any more. B. Keeping girls wearing inappropriate skirts out of school. C. Reminding girls not to roll up their skirts again and again. D. Permitting only a small number of girls to wear skirts at school. Answer: C Question: John was travelling around the country in the town. One evening he was driving along a road and looking for a small hotel. When he saw an old man at the side of the road, he stopped his car and said to the old man, "I want to go to the Sun Hotel, Do you know it?" "Yes," the old man answered, "I'll show you the way." He got into the car, and they drove for about twelve miles. When they came to a small house, the old man said, "stop here. " John stopped and looked at the house and said, "but this isn't a hotel" "No," the old man answered, "this is my house. And now I'll show you the way to the Sun Hotel, Turn around and go back nine miles, then you'll see the Sun Hotel on the left." What is John looking for? A. the Sun Hotel B. The Moon Hotel C. his home D. the old man's house Answer: A Question: The London Underground (The Tube) The main source of public transport in London revolves around the Underground (or the Tube as it is known to Londoners). This network of 12 lines can get you to most places in the center of the city quickly. It's most necessary to get an Oyster Card or a Travelcard. Single tickets are priced starting at the intentionally absurd price of PS 4.80 (Zone 1-3), if you pay cash. Using an Oyster card, a single fare is PS 2.30 if you are traveling within the central Zone 1. On hot days it is also advisable to take a bottle of water with you as Underground trains are not air-conditioned. Last trains leave central London at around 00:30 weekdays, 23:30 Sundays. First trains leave the suburbs at around 5:00. The Bus System Outside the center of London, Tube stations are farther apart, so buses help fill the gaps. Also, the bus offers a cheaper alternative, even if it is a slower journey. Cash fares for London buses have been abolished -- you cannot pay cash. A bus fare costs PS 1.50 if using only buses, the fare is capped at PS 4.40 per day for Oyster or contactless users. River Services There are a number of different routes along the River Thames. The faster commuter services operate all day from Greenwich Pier to Embankment and from Putney and Chelsea harbour to Blackfriars during Peak Hours only. These routes will pass a number of places of interest including the Houses of Parliament and London Bridge. A return fare from Putney to Blackfriars will cost about 12 pounds. National Rail Once you leave Central London or if you are traveling South of the River Thames, the best public transport option will often be National Rail. There are numerous connections to the Rail System from the Tube. Travelcards can be used for travel on the National Rail (but not the Heathrow Express). Oyster cards can be used up to Zone 6 except certain services including Heathrow Express, Heathrow Connect and HSI. When taking the London Underground, _ . A. you should buy tickets with cash B. you can save more money with a single ticket C. you can go to any place in London quickly D. you are advised to take a bottle of water along on hot days Answer: D
Schoolgirls have been wearing such short skirts that a Staffordshire school has ordered them to wear trousers instead. All skirts will be banned from September at Paget High School in Branston. Tight-fitting trousers will also be banned and Muslim head-dressed will have to be "School blue" colour. Head teacher Don Smith said, "one of the big problems for us at the school has been the number of girls who have been wearing improperly short skirts. This has been an area of special concern at a time when there have been a lot of wrong ideas of being beautiful." Mr Smith said it would be impossible to determine how long girls' skirts should be and that _ would be easier for teachers to carry out. The head teacher said pupils' and other teachers' opinions were asked for before the new rule was set. The new clothing policy has been explained in a letter sent to parents of the school's 1,000 pupils and will come into force after the summer holiday. The school also wants pupils to wear clip-on ties instead of traditional neckwear. This rule will be gradually out over the next year and support will be given to parents unable to afford the new tie. One parent, whose teenage daughter studies at school, said, "I completely agree some girls were wearing skirts that were too short. However, I think girls should be allowed to wear skirts. Other school manage to let girls wear skirts while making sure they are not improperly dressed. I don't see why Paget can't do the same" The underline phrase " a blanket ban" probably means " _ ". Answer: The Kyoto Protocol is a plan created by the United Nations for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.The plan aims to reduce the amount of industrial gases released into the environment.Some scientists say carbon dioxide and other industrial gases are to blame for climate change around the world.The scientists say such gases build up in the atmosphere and trap heat below.They say this results in increasing temperatures and rising sea levels. The plan is called the Kyoto Protocol because it was negotiated in Kyoto,Japan in December,1997.The goal of the agreement is to reduce the amount of emissions --industrial gases released to below the levels of 1990. Nations responsible for at least 55%of the world's industrial carbon dioxide emissions had to approve the agreement before it could go into effect.The European Union and many other industrial nations quickly approved the Kyoto Protocol.They receive credit for their own emissions if they invest in cleaned technologies in developing nations.Developing nations do not have to meet the emissions requirements of the agreement. The United States produced 36%of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 1999.But the United States refused to approve the Kyoto Protocol.Before the Protocol was negotiated,the United States Senate voted that any treaty harmful to the economy of the United States could not be signed.President Bush has said that he supports the general idea of the treaty but will not send the treaty to the Senate for approval.Mr. Bush said that the agreement sets unfair differences between industrial and developing nations.He also said that the treaty could cause some Americans to lose their jobs. After the United States rejected the Kyoto Protocol,approval by Russia was necessary for the agreement to come into effect.Russia approved the Protocol in November,2004 and the Kyoto Protocol went into effect on February 16th,2005.157 countries have approved the agreement. How many years was the Kyoto Protocol negotiated before its coming into effect? Answer: The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market. In the international market, goods on sale coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting , what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor's offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot. Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course , there are some other ways of making market investigations. All the following are channels to get market information except _ . Answer: The Internet has become part of teenagers' life. A news report on 3,375 students aged from 10 to 18 in seven Chinese cities found that 38 per cent of them believe they use the Internet often. While most of them get useful information and use the Internet to help in their studies, some are not using it in a good way. Many are playing online games too much. A few even visit Web sites they should not look at. A middle school teacher from Beijing warns that bad things can happen if young people spend too much time on the Internet. She had a student who used to be good at school. But then he started visiting sex Web sites. He went mad, cheated a girl and was taken away by the police. In order to help young people use the Internet in a good way, a textbook on good Internet behavior has started to be used in some Shanghai middle schools this term. The book uses real examples to teach students all about good ways of using the Internet. The book gives useful advice such as it's good to read news or find helpful information to study. Some students also make online friends. But if you are meeting a friend offline, make sure your parents know. Teachers and parents all think the book is a very good idea. This teacher said the book will be a guide for teens using the Internet. She believes it will keep students away from bad sites. "Many students are using the Internet without guidance from their parents," she said. "The book will teach students how to be a good person in the online world." The writer advises the readers to _ . Answer: A shoe manufacturer randomly selects 10% of the production from each shift. Each of these shoes is checked to ensure that it is correctly made. What is this process called? Answer:
It's normal for parents to disagree and argue from time to time. Sometimes parents stay calm when they disagree, and they give each other some time to listen and talk. But many times when parents disagree, they argue. It's OK for parents to argue sometimes. It's common for people to have different opinions, feelings, or ways to do things. Talking about these differences is the first step to solve the problem. It's important for people in a family to be able to tell each other how they feel and what they think, although sometimes they may disagree with each other. Sometimes parents can feel so terrible about their differences that it may cause arguments. Try to create a happy and healthy family. If your family argue from time to time, try not to worry about it. No family is perfect. Even in the happiest home, problems will happen and people will argue. Usually the family members should know what the problems are and talk about them. Then everyone feels better and life can get back to normal. Being part of a family means everyone should try to make life better for each other. Arguments may happen but with love, understanding, and some work, families can solve almost any problem. What should you do when your parents argue? Answer: Learn about the reason of the argument. Police Officer Tidwell left the station just after 8 a.m.on Sunday June 4.He had spent aboring night on duty and was looking forward to his day of rest.By habit he took a short-cutdown the path behind Dugby Hall road and after a minute or two he saw a man climbing down a drainpipe from an open bedroom window of Number 29.In silence,Tidwell crept into the garden.The man reached the ground and was dusting himself down when he felt his arm caught. "It's 8:15 on a Sunday morning,"said the officer,"and this sort of thing seems an unlikely adventure at such a time.Would you mind explaining?" The man was obviously scared but tried to keep calm.He said,"I know what you are thinking,officer,but it isn't true.This is a funny mistake." "It's part of my job to take an interest in unusual events.I think you've just left this house in a manner other than the customary one.That may be quite innocent,but I'd like to make sure."Tidwell took out his notebook and a pen."Name,address and occupation and then,please,tell me your story..." "Charlie Crane,lorry driver,from Nottingham,51 Breton Street.My story..." "Yes.What were you doing like a fly on that wall,Mr.Crane?" "Well,I had a breakdown yesterday and had to stay the night here.Bed and breakfast.Theland-lady's name is Mrs.Fern.She gave me breakfast at seven,and I was out of here in the right way and down at the lorry by half past seven.Only when I felt around for a cigarette did I realize I'd left$80in my envelope under the pillow here at number 29.I always put it under my pillow at night.It's a habit I've got into.I even do it at home..." "I see.Why didn't you miss it when you went to pay Mrs...What's her name?" "I'd paid her last night.You've got to pay when you take the room,see?So I came rushing back,but it's Sunday,and she'd gone back to bed,and could I wake her?I rang the bell and banged on the front door for ten minutes before I came round here to the back and spotted my bedroom window still open.Up I went,then,up this pipe.It's a trick I learned in the army.She didn't make the bed,and money was still there.You know the rest,I hope you believe it because..." "Mr.Crane,whatever are you doing here?I thought you'd gone an hour ago."It was Mrs.Fern,speaking from the kitchen at the corner of the house. Why was Tidwell walking along the path behind Dugby Hall road? Answer: He knew he would get home quicker that way. Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing. Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic. The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast . The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food. In time, other colonies began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbors. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October. Which of the following is NOT true? Answer: Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people's thanks to God. We drink tea every day. But more than three hundred years ago most of the people in Europe did not know anything about tea. Some people heard about it, but very few of them know what to do with it. There is a story about an English sailor who went to countries in the east, the west and the south. He went to India and China. One day he came home and brought some tea as a present for his mother. She told her friends about the present and asked them to a "tea party". When her friends came to the "tea party", the old woman gave them brown tea-leaves. The old woman's friends began to eat them. Of course, nobody liked the tea-leaves. At that time the sailor came in. He looked at the table and said, "Mother,what did you do with the tea?" "I boiled it,as you said." "And what did you do with the water?" "I threw it away ,of course." answered the old woman. "Now you may throw away the leaves,too," said her son. One day the English sailor brought his mother some tea from _ . Answer: India or China Two graduates from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found themselves about to graduate, yet with loans to pay off. The pair decided to begin a strange, year-long project to battle their debt. The men, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, set up the site BuyMyFace.co.uk. last October as a way to get rid of the $80,000 they shared as student loans. The idea behind the project was to earn money by selling their faces as advertising space every day for a year. Each day, they advertise a different business on their site by painting the brand's logo or name on their faces and including a link to the company's site. After they paint their faces and publish them on the site, Harper and Moyse go out to highly populated areas such as music festivals and theme parks to maximize their faces' exposure. At this time, Harper and Moyse have advertised their faces for over four months without skipping a day and they're more than halfway to their goal. Though they first started charging a minimum of about USD $1.60 per company, the prices have risen as their popularity increased. For advertising space during the remainder of April, they range between USD $250 and $750. Terri L. Rittenburg, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming, said she had heard of people tattooing logos on themselves before, but this idea is much better. According to her, at first the idea would be new and novel and attract attention, but she is unsure how long it would last. At least for now, companies that have bought Harper and Moyse's faces have written positive comments on the pair's website. "We had a three percent increase in website traffic on the very day and for two days more afterwards," said an alcoholic beverage company. Harper and Moyse go to highly populated areas to _ . Answer: show their faces
Another cultural aspect of nonverbal communication is one that you might not think about: space. Every person perceives himself to have a sort of invisible shield surrounding his physical body. When someone comes too close, he feels uncomfortable. When he bumps onto someone, he feels obligated to apologize. But the size of a person's "comfort zone" depends on his cultural ethnic origin. For example, in casual conversation, many Americans stand about four feet apart. In other words, they like to keep each other "at arm's length", people in Latin or Arab cultures, in contrast, stand very close to each other, and touch each other often. If someone from one of those cultures stands too close to an American while in conversation, the American may feel uncomfortable and back away. When Americans are talking, they expect others to respond to what they are saying. To Americans, polite conversationalists empathize by displaying expressions of excitement or disgust, shock or sadness. People with a "poker face", whose emotions are hidden by a deadpan expression, are looked upon with suspicion. Americans also indicate their attentiveness in a conversation by raising their eyebrows, nodding, smiling politely and maintaining good eye contact. Whereas some cultures view direct eye contact as impolite or threatening, Americans see it as a sign of genuineness and honesty. If a person doesn't look you in the eye, American might say, you should question his motives--or assume that he doesn't like you. Yet with all the concern for eye contact, Americans still consider staring--especially at strangers--to be rude. In a conversation between friends, Americans regard it as sincere and truthful to _ . Angry survivors demanded answers on Sunday after a terrible accident at "Love Parade 2010", a music festival in Germany, killed 19 people and left hundreds hurt. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her shock over Saturday's tragedy in the western city of Duisburg., "This was a very sad day," Merkel said. Witnesses said that people pushed into the narrow tunnel, the only entrance to the Love Parade festival, from both sides until it was dangerously overcrowded. The panic began as festival-goers began to lose consciousness as they were crushed against the walls and each other. The dead included eight foreigners, from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Bosnia and Spain. More than 340 people were injured. After the panic, a lot of emergency vehicles , including helicopters, could be seen carrying away the injured people. The festival itself, however, went on. Police were afraid that ending the music altogether could cause further unrest among the crowd. "The event was a real mess," Patrick Guenter, a 22-year-old baker, said. "Although the festival was full, they kept letting people in," he added. "It seems the organizers didn't plan the route. And no one knew what was going on." said Taggart Bowen-Gaddy, 20, an American from Philadelphia. Officials said 4,000 police officers and 1,000 security guards provided security for the event, which attracted up to 1.4 million people. "I warned one year ago that Duisburg was not a suitable place for the Love Parade. The city is too small and narrow for such events. It is a pity that..." German police union chief Rainer Wendt said. The chief organizer, Rainer Schaller, said the popular event would never be held again, "out of respect for the victims and their families". According to the passage, we learn that _ . Have you ever dreamed about sending a letter to yourself or your friends in the future? While express mail is a fast way to send your letters, there is another type of mail appearing in China as a new business--future mail. "The letter should be sent next Mother's Day and not a day earlier!" Lin Xiaofan, a college student in Shanghai, tells one of the companies offering the service. Lin Xiaofan wrote the letter to her mother nearly a year earlier to express her love to her mother for next Mother's Day. "Offering this service makes people slow down and lets them understand the meaning of 'time' in another way," said Zheng Zhimin, manager at a "future mail" company. Zheng thinks "future mail" letters help remind us of care, friendship and love. While "future mail" is becoming more and more popular, some people are wondering what will happen if the postal address changes or if the company goes broken before the letters arrive. Zheng said customers are glad to sign a contract to make sure that they can be _ if their letters are lost or damaged. Most of the customers are college students and young white-collar workers. Psychologists said that young Chinese might have a new way to express their feelings through this service. Most people put their hopes and wishes in the letter so that they can experience the connection between the past and the present when they receive the letter. The "future mail" service is popular among _ . I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved. It happened like this. There was a big revival at my Auntie Reed's church. Then just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for children, "to bring the young lambs to the fold ". My aunt spoke of it for days ahead. That night I was accompanied to the front row and placed on the mourners' bench with all the other young sinners, who had not yet been brought to Jesus. My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. I believed her. So I sat there calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus to come to me. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened. Now it was really getting late. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd better lie and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved. So I get up. The whole room broke into a sea of shouting and my aunt threw her arms around me. The minister took me by the hand and led me to the platform. That night I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldn't stop. My aunt woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, and because I had seen Jesus. But I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everyone in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus any more, since he didn't come to help me. From the story, we know the writer wanted to see Jesus _ . Bookie's, the campus bookstore is located at the Campus Activity Centre, main floor. Bookie's is the only place in Kamloops to buy your course textbooks. There is a booklist in the bookstore listing the books required for each course. If you need help in finding your course textbooks, ask any of the staff in the bookstore. There are more than just textbooks at bookie's. They carry a wide variety of stationary, art supplies and gift items. You can also buy telephone cards, postage stamps and bus passes. You must show your student card to get a discount for the bus passes. TEXTBOOK RETURNS 1) Do I need my receipt to return books? Yes. 2) How long do I have to return books? Books purchased must be returned within ten working days of the date of the purchase. 3) What if I wrote my name in the book? Unfortunately, we can not give you a full refund for books not in mint condition as publishers will not accept this for credit. 4) What happens if I miss the last day for return? We may purchase the text book as "used" in accordance with our Buyback program. 5) What if I discover that my book has missing pages half way through the semester? We will replace the _ books, new or used, for a like copy of that title. Cash refunds are not given for defective books returned outside the normal return dates. BUYBACKS 1) What books do you buy back? We buy back all current edition textbooks. If we do not use them at UCC, we buy them back according to the value established in the North American marketplace. 2) How much do I get for my books? If bookie's is buying the book for use at UCC, you will receive 50% of the current new retail price. In order to receive optimum buyback price, discs and supplements must accompany the book. 3) What happens to the books that I sell? Books for bookie's are processed by our staff and sold to students at 75% of the new retail price. 4) What condition do my books need to be in? Books should be in good condition, meaning that the cover is still attached and all pages intact. Notes and markings on the pages of the books are perfectly fine. Workbooks and study guides are generally not purchased back unless they are free of all markings. No sales receipt is required for these books. BOOKSTORE HOURS Monday-Thursday 9:00am-6:00pm Friday 9:00am-5:00pm Saturday and Sunday Closed Bookie's will not buy back your used textbook if _ .
Mom was a teacher most of her life. When she wasn't in the classroom, she was educating her children or grandchildren: correcting our grammar; starting us on collections of butterflies, flowers or rocks; or inspiring a discussion on her most recent "Book of the Month Club" topic. Mom made learning fun. It was sad for my three brothers and me to see her ailing in her later years. At eighty-five, she suffered a stroke and she went steadily downhill after that. Two days before she died, my brothers and I met at her nursing home and took her for a short ride in a wheelchair. While we waited for the staff to lift her limp body back into bed, Mom fell asleep. Not wanting to wake her, we moved to the far end of the room and spoke softly. After several minutes our conversation was interrupted by a muffled sound coming from across the room. We stopped talking and looked at Mom. Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly trying to communicate with us. We went to her side. "Whirr," she said weakly. "Where?" I asked. "Mom, is there something you want?" "Whirr," she repeated a bit stronger. My brothers and I looked at each other and shook our heads sadly. Mom opened her eyes, sighed, and with all the energy she could muster said, "Not was, say were!" It suddenly occurred to us that Mom was correcting brother Jim's last sentence. "If it was up to me..." Jim leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Mom," he whispered. We smiled at each other and once again shook our heads...this time in awe of a remarkable teacher. What does the writer think of his mother? Answer: Just when scientists think they have discovered and recorded every species of insect that crawls on the earth they find something new.Earlier this month, Peter Jager, the head of Frankfurt's Senckenberg Research Institute reported the discovery of a unique eyeless spider! The creature that has a leg span of six centimeters and a body size of just twelve millimeters was found in a cave inside the tiny nation of Laos, in Southeast Asia. It was identified as a member of the Huntsman spider, a large family that consists of 1100 species.However, the other members of the family all have eyes.The spider is the first one that has no eyes.The scientists believe that the reason for the lack of eyes can be that these spiders spend their entire life inside caves.In the past they have seen other members of the Huntsman spiders living in caves with six or less eyes.They believe that the kind of spider has adapted to the fact that they do not really need the eyes to such an extreme measure that they have _ them altogether. But they are not the only creature to have done that.Over the years, scientists have discovered completely blind cave fish, and even a freshwater crab, which happens to live in the same cave as this eyeless spider! Surrounded by Burma and China on the northwest, Vietnam on the east, Cambodia on the South and Thailand on the west, the landlocked nation of Laos has been a treasure trove of an incredible number of new and exotic species.In the last few years researchers have discovered the Saola -- never-before seen antelope-like creature, a small deer species called muntjacs, a tiny striped rabbit and a rock rat that was thought to have been extinct 11 million years ago.In addition to that it is also home to over one hundred species of large mammals ranging from tigers to macaques and over 165 species of amphibians and reptiles like the terrible King cobra and the noisy Tokay gecko, a permanent resident inside most Laos households. What can we know about the newly discovered species of spider? Answer: Ask most people how they define the American Dream and chances are they'll say, "Success." The dream of individual opportunity has been home in American since Europeans discovered a "new world" in the Western Hemisphere. Early immigrants like Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur praised highly the freedom and opportunity to be found in this new land. His glowing descriptions of a classless society where anyone could attain success through honesty and hard work fired the imaginations of many European readers: in Letters from an American Farmer (1782) he wrote. "We are all excited at the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself ... We have no princes, for whom we toil ,starve, and bleed: we are the most perfect society now existing in the world." The promise of a land where "the rewards of a man's industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor" drew poor immigrants from Europe and fueled national expansion into the western territories. Our national mythology is full of illustration of the American success story. There's Benjamin Franklin, the very model of the self-educated, self-made man, who rose from modest origins to become a well-known scientist, philosopher, and statesman. In the nineteenth century, Horatio Alger, a writer of fiction for young boys, became American's best-selling author with rags-to-riches tales. The notion of success haunts us: we spend million every year reading about the rich and famous, learning how to "make a fortune in real estate with no money down," and "dressing for success." The myth of success has even invaded our personal relationships: today it's as important to be "successful" in marriage or parenthoods as it is to come out on top in business. But dreams easily turn into nightmares. Every American who hopes to "make it" also knows the fear of failure, because the myth of success inevitably implies comparison between the haves and the have-nots, the stars and the anonymous crowd. Under pressure of the myth, we become indulged in status symbols: we try to live in the "right" neighborhoods, wear the "right" clothes, eat the "right" foods. These symbols of distinction assure us and others that we believe strongly in the fundamental equality of all, yet strive as hard as we can to separate ourselves from our fellow citizens. The characters described in Horatio Alger's novels are people who _ . Answer: How Does Your Body Keep the Same Temperature? The temperature of your body should always be the same if you are fine, no matter whether the weather is hot or cold. That is why the doctor tests your temperature with a thermometer when you are sick. Normally, your body temperature is ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit . If it is higher than that, it is a sure sign that something is wrong with your body. Your body keeps the same temperature all the time, because it balances the heat it produces and the heat it gives off. It is always burning up food and producing heat. It can produce heat faster when the body needs or give off heat faster when the body becomes too warm. Let's see how this works. The heat of your body is given off chiefly through the skin. When you feel cold, your skin is tight and shows "goose flesh". When you feel chilly , you must jump around to keep warm. Then your muscles begin to work, burn up fuel and produce more heat. It is not pleasant to shiver so you usually prefer warming up by taking exercise, or put on more clothes to keep warm. When you get warm, the skin is loose and soft. It is so supplied with blood that heat is given off rapidly. If you get too warm, you begin to sweat and more body heat is used in evaporating the moisture in your body. In warm weather or warm rooms, you wear less clothing, so that heat can be given off freely. You prefer less exercise because your body is warm enough, and the extra heat produced by taking too much exercise makes you uncomfortable. Now you see why you feel differently in different kinds of weather. In summer, when it is hot, you feel tired and lazy. You do not care to work or play, but enjoy lying down and doing nothing. When you get out of doors in winter, the cold air makes you feel lively. You want to run and play. How does the body keep the same temperature all the time? Answer: Dancing the night away It is a measure of how little control I have over my own life that in middle March I am escorting a pretty young redhead to a debutante ball.(A formal presentation of young ladies when they reach the age of maturity. This was originally used in the past to introduce young ladies to society so that they could meet a possible marriage partner , so it was for the upper class, the nobility and titled families. At a debutante ball, the expensively-dressed girls stand in a line to be introduced individually. Their fathers then walk them, arm-in-arm around the dance floor, followed by a waltz.) "Daddy, you OK?" she asks. "Never better," I lie. "Good," she says, hugging my shoulder and giggling . Generally, deb balls belong to the upper class, and that is decidedly not us. The other day, I was trying to figure out which to buy -- a garage door opener, or a DVD player. Both were broken, yet we could afford to replace only one. That's how "upper class" we are. We're more like "fixer upper class." So it's a mystery how we ended up at this deb ball. Two mothers are checking for alcohol, making sure the debs aren't drinking. Anyway, they won't let the dads eat dinner till we "present" the girls, which means we have to escort our daughters around the dance floor one by one, as the mistress of ceremonies reads out the young lady's accomplishments. "Trish plans to attend Stanford in the fall, where she will study molecular engineering in hopes of one day developing a way to help predict earthquakes." On and on these introductions go. One girl hopes to grow food on Mars. After the introductions we finally get to the Big Waltz. For the last month, the dads and daughters have all been taking lessons for the Big Waltz, under the direction of the widow of Otto von Bismarck. Fortunately, she is a people person. "Forward, BACK!" she screamed, while teaching us to waltz. Her gentle directions have worked miracles. Suddenly, on this big night, we are a well-organized team of 27 father-daughter dance pairs. Honestly, waltzing is like math, in the sense that some people never get it. The success of this Big Waltz comes as a huge relief to the mothers, who have been planning this ceremony for six years and have been a little tense lately. In the end, everything turned out OK at the deb ball. The 27 dads developed into a fairly supportive fellowship. And the little red-haired girl? She hugged my shoulder and giggled happily, making it all -- the waltz lessons, the rental tuxedo , the 14 years of coaching softball -- worth every awful-wonderful moment. According to the writer, waltzing is like math because _ . Answer:
Question: The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel. The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sport car. Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras. The bride wore a silk wedding dress. She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time. Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station's competition. The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other. Miss Germaine, 23, is a model. Mr. Cordell, 27, is a TV salesman. They were among the two hundred people who entered a special "experiment" organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham, England, Greg, and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on a radio. They took a lie detector test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities. The competition judges include an astrologer who declared that they were suited. The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening, but not everyone shared their joy. Miss Germaine's mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr. Cordell's parents are reported to be less than delighted. Organizations, including the marriage guidance Service Relate, have criticized the marriage. As one person put it, "We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this. Marriage should always be about love." The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists. Their other prizes include a year's free use of a wonderful apartment in the center of Birmingham, and a car. But will it last? How did the couple's parents react to the wedding? A. The bride's mother shared their joy. B. The bride's father felt uncomfortable about the wedding. C. The bridegroom's parents were not that joyful. D. The bridegroom's parents were quite delighted. Answer: C Question: Fun, and maybe more Nickname: tatoosun Email: tatoosun2003@yahoo.com When to travel: Jun 2007 - Aug 2007 Who am I: Slender African girl in her late 20's. Quite charming, loving, pretty, fun to be with. My travel plans: Nothing in mind for sure, just looking to come with you. Who am I looking for: Looking for a white male between 40-50 years, someone who is full of energy and lively. When was this ad published: Nov 11 2006, Sat. 20yr old aussie looking for travel companion Nickname: Aly Email: alyssia _ europe@hotmail.com When to travel: May 2007 Who am I: a lovely girl, with fun, honest, caring. My travel plans: I will be traveling to Europe cities, then the world!! Whom am I looking for: An extremely fun and entertaining male / female, middle-aged. Someone that I can enjoy every travel moment with. When was this ad published: Nov 12, 2006, Sun *Just for fun Nickname: Queen Email: qrutta@yahoo.co.uk When to travel: Jan 2007 - Dec 2007 Who am I: Young slender girl, looking to see Asia with anyone who wants to travel. My travel plans: I most prefer a white man in his late 30's to have fun with me as he travels either on business or leisure trips. Whom am I looking for: someone who is kind, loving, honest, friendly, good sense of humor, adventurous. When was this ad published: Nov 6, 2006, Mon By Road Around the World Nickname: H N Solanki Email: ragwani@hotmail.com When to travel: May 2007-Aug 2007 Who am I: I am 55. From my childhood, have this dream to go around the world by hitch hiking. However this is now changed and I want to go by Road. My travel plans: Going throughout the world and studying various people, culture and habits. Whom am I looking for: A female companion, and she must have similar interest as me. When was this ad published: Oct 3 2006, Tue How will H N Solanki travel this time? A. By plane B. By road C. By water D. By beach hiking Answer: B Question: A bird can be saved in a harsh winter if it is driven to locate a A. long metal rod B. small tiger sanctuary C. stocked provisions D. easy dial phone Answer: C Question: The Olympic Games are seen as the greatest test of an athlete's ability and are supposed to celebrate the spirit of fair play. But in fact, sportsmen have been using drugs to cheat their way to victory since the Games first began. In the early years, athletes ate mushrooms and plant seeds to improve their performance. Nowadays, this kind of cheating has a name doping . Just last month, Britain's top sprinter Dwain Chambers and several American athletes tested positive for the drug THG. Until a coach secretly gave a sample of THG to scientists, no one knew how ho test for it. "We're like cops chasing criminals--athletes are always adapting and looking for areas we haven't investigated," said Jacquew de Ceaurriz, a French anti-doping expert. Since the first drugs test was carried out at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, many cheats have been caught out. The most famous case in history is that of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. He broke the 100 meters world record in winning gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. But days later, he tested positive for drug use, lost his gold medal and was banned from the sport. Five years later, he returned to action--only to be found positive again and banned forever. China has also had problems with drug cheats. At the 1994 Asian Games, 11 Chinese athletes--seven of them swimmers--tested positive for banned drugs. Sports organizations promised that cheating on this scale would not happen again. Experts are also worried that doping can damage a person's health. It is believed to increase the risk of liver and kidney diseases, and women may experience reproductive problems. As long as they can stay ahead of the scientists, it is unlikely the cheats will stop. But experts say there is a limit to what can be achieved and that athletes will not be able to change their bodies using gene technology. "For the moment, genetic doping does not exist," said de Ceaurriz. "Even in 10 or 15 years it will not be done easily--the scientific community will not let it happen." How many countries are mentioned in the passage in which there were athletes doping? A. Two. B. Four. C. Sic. D. Eight. Answer: B Question: Which of these are broken down during chemical, but not physical, changes? A. elements B. mixtures C. solutions D. compounds Answer: D
When a boy stands in a field in the sunlight, he usually is able to see his A. weight B. temperature C. reflection D. shadow Answer: D Mary Buendia once spent a day in an airplane, looking for a cat. She didn't find it that day. The plane flew around all over the world for three weeks with the cat on board. She finally found it in the cargo hold and sent it home first-class. Another time ,she found two suitcases full of birds from Turkey. But her strangest experience was when she pulled a snake out of a man's pants. Mary Buendia is an animal health inspector at JFK Airport in New York. She takes care of all the animals that pass through the airport and checks that they are healthy. In the Animal Health Center, there are areas for dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, and fish. There is also an area for very big animals. The biggest they ever had was a black rhino. "It was no problem." she says. At the center, they receive all types of animals monkeys, wild cats, poisonous spiders. It's impossible for one person to know about all of these, but there are 20 people working with Mary. Among them, they understand how to take care of the animals. She recently had to feed a group of toucans, which are rare birds. "luckily," she says, "there is a supermarket nearby which is open 24 hours. I had to go at 2 a.m to buy bananas. Mary often works at night. "It's quiet between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m." she says, "because we don't have night flights. We try to give the animals a quiet night." Mary clearly loves her job. "You never know what the day will bring,"she says, and goes off to feed the birds. The best title of the passage will probably be _ . A. JKF Airport in New York B. Airport Health Inspector C. Mary Buendia D. Animal Health Center Answer: B China's first moon rover,Yutu,or Jade Rabbit,separated from the lander early on Sunday,December l5,2013,several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe soft-landed on the lunar surface.The l 40 kg six-wheeled rover touched the lunar surface at 4:35 a.m.,leaving deep trace on the loose lunar soil. The process was recorded by the camera on the lander and the images were sent to the earth,according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. After the separation,the rover and lander will take photos of each other and start their own scientific explorations. Engineers made final checks of the environment of the landing site,the situation of the probe and sent signals of separation to Chang'e-3. Yutu, on the top of the probe,extended its solar panel and started to drive slowly to the transfer mechanism at 3:10.The transfer mechanism unlocked at 4:06 with one side reaching the moon's surface,allowing the rover to descend to the surface following a ladder mechanism. Chang'e-3 landed on the moon's Sinus Iridum,or the Bay of Rainbows,at 9:11 p.m.Saturday,making China the third country in the world to carry out such a rover mission after the United States and former Soviet Union. In ancient Chinese mythology,Yutu was the white pet rabbit of the lunar goddess Chang'e.The name for the rover was selected following an online poll that collected several million votes from people around the world. The rover,1.5 meters long with its two wings folded,1 m in width and l.1 m in height,is a highly efficient robot controlled by the command center from the earth.It will face challenges including temperature differences of more than 300 degrees Celsius on the moon. Yutu will survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances and look for natural resources for three months,while the lander will conduct in-situ exploration right at its landing site for one year. What's the passage mainly about? A. China's first moon rover,Yutu,touched the lunar surface. B. The rover and the lander took photos of each other successfully. C. Chang'e-3 landed on the moon's Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows. D. Yutu will survey the moon's geological structure to find substances. Answer: A There are seven continents in the world. Among them, Antarctica is the most special one. It is a world of snow and ice all year round. China has sent many scientists there. They try to find resources under the icy land and study climate change and sea biology. What do they eat? Scientists don't have many choices on what they eat. About 60% their food is frozen food. It is easy to heat . Meat is common on the menu, while vegetables are not usual. Fresh vegetables are hard to grow in the cold weather. Therefore, people often eat dried and canned vegetables. How do they sleep? In Antarctica, summer lasts from November to March. During this time, Antarctica faces the sun and gets sunlight 24 hours of the day. In order to get some sleep,scientists cover the window with black cloth to make "night". How do they work? People can wear warm clothes to be against the cold weather, but they can do little with the strong wind. Sometimes, the wind is even stronger than a typhoon. It can easily blow people away. So there are ropes that connect some research stations. People can hold these ropes to keep balance in strong winds. How do they keep in touch with others? There are no cables or Internet on the frozen continent. So mobiles and computers don't work there. Scientists usually use two-way radios to communicate at work. If they want to say hello to family and friends, they can use the satellite phones. If scientist wants to say "I love you"to her daughter, what can she use? A. Mobile phones B. Tow-way radios C. Satellite phones D. Iphones and Ipods. Answer: C Every time I came home from work at midnight, I often saw a shadow walking in our neighborhood. Was it "a night walking"? Someone walked alone in the dark, and this always made me afraid a lot. I think it was "a sleep walker". So I never bothered it. But one night, when I walked past it quietly and quickly as usual, I heard a low voice. "Do you often have to work at night?" I was a little afraid. I looked around, but no one was nearby. I ran home as quickly as possible. Later on, I heard it was a neighbor, an old man who has been living alone at home. He's NOT a sleep walker. He enjoys having a walk at night. So I seldom see him in the neighborhood in the day. It's said that he was a soldier many years ago. He has two children, a son and a daughter. His son has a family in Shanghai. His daughter went abroad, in Sydney. He has been living alone since his wife died several years ago. Without any children living with him, he feels lonely and helpless. I feel sorry for the old man. We might care less about our parent who lives alone. When we grow up, our parents get old. We should often go back home even though we're busy with work. When does the writer come home from work? A. In the morning. B. At noon. C. In the afternoon. D. At midnight. Answer: D
I knew I was all right now. Nobody else would come ahunting after me. I got my traps out of the canoe and made me a nice camp in the thick woods. I made a tent out of my blankets to put my things under so the rain couldn't get at them. I caught a catfish and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper. When it was dark I sat by my camp fire, feeling pretty satisfied; but by and by it got sort of lonesome, so I went and sat on the bank and listened to the current crashing along, and counted the stars and drift logs and rafts that came down, and then went to bed; there was no better way to when you are lonesome; you can't stay so, and you soon get it over. And so for three days and nights. No difference--just the same thing. But the next day I went exploring around the island. I was boss of it; it all belonged to me, and I wanted to know all about it; but mainly I wanted to spend the time. I found plenty of strawberries and green summer grapes; and the green blackberries were just beginning to show. Well, I went fooling along in the deep woods till I judged I wasn't far from the foot of the island. I had my gun along, but I had shot nothing; it was for protection. About this time I almost stepped on a goodsized snake, and it moved quietly and smoothly through the grass and flowers, and I was after it, trying to get a shot at it. I clipped along, and all of a sudden I bounded right on to the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking. My heart jumped up among my lungs. I never waited to look further, but unlocked my gun and went sneaking back on my tiptoes as fast as I could. Every now and then I stopped a second among the thick leaves and listened, but my breath came so hard that I couldn't hear anything else. I moved quietly along another piece further, then listened again; and so on. If I saw a stump , I took it for a man; if I stepped on a stick and broke it, it made me feel that a person had cut one of my breaths in two and I only got half, and the short half, too. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? A. The boy felt a bit lonely on the island. B. The boy brought with himself a tent. C. The boy was surely the only person on the island at that time. D. The boy might be bitten by some animal when the story happened. Answer: A. The boy felt a bit lonely on the island. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine what life would be like if you couldn't see. Imagine having to read this page, not with your eyes but with your fingers. How do you feel, then? With medical knowledge and skills today, two-thirds of the world's 42 million blind people should not have to suffer. Unluckily, rich countries have this knowledge, but developing countries do not. ORBIS is an international charitable organization. Its goal is to help fight blindness all over the world. Inside a DC-8 airplane, there is a teaching hospital with television room and classroom. Doctors are taught the latest technology of helping the blind get sight again here. ORBIS is always trying to keep a closer relation among countries. ORBIS helps those developing countries by providing sight-saving training. It has taught over 35,000 doctors and nurses. They continue to treat thousands of blind people every year. They have traveled around the earth 3 times, visited 76 countries and treated over 20,000 blind people. They need your help to continue their work and free people from blindness. For just $ 38, you can help one person see; for $ 380 10 people can see; $ 1,300 helps train a doctor new skills; and for $ 13,000 you can provide a training program for a group of doctors who can make thousands of blind people see again. Your love can help them open their eyes to the world. A lot of blind people in the world have to suffer because _ . A. ORBIS didn't do its best to offer help B. there is no good medical knowledge and skills C. some countries can't afford medical knowledge and skills D. developing countries don't pay much attention to the blind Answer: C. some countries can't afford medical knowledge and skills Throughout his early years, Obama was known at home and at school as "Barry". Obama's parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student. They separated when he was two years old and later divorced . His father received Master's degree in Economics from Harvard University, then returned to Kenya, where he became a finance minister before dying in an automobile accident in 1982. His mother married another foreign student, Lolo Soetoro, and the family moved to Soetoro's home country of Indonesia in 1967. Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, from age 6 to 10, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language. During his time in Indonesia, he first attended St. Francis Assist Catholic school for almost three years. When Obama was in third grade he wrote an essay saying that he wanted to be president. His teacher later said that his reason for becoming president was that he wanted to make everybody happy. Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his materal grandparents while attending Punahou School, a private college elementary school, from the fifth grade until his graduation in 1979. Obama's mother, Ann, died of cancer a few months after the publication of his 1995 memoir , Dreams from My Father. In the memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother's middle class family. Of his early childhood, Obama writes, "That my father looked nothing like the people around me---that he was black as pitch , my mother white as milk ." Some of his fellow students at Punahou School later told the Honolulu Star--Bulletin that Obama was mature for his age as a high school student and that he sometimes attended parties and other events in order to connect with African American college students and military service people. Which of the following is NOT true? A. Obama's father was very black while his mother very white B. Obama's materal grandparents lived in Honolulu of Indonesia C. Obama wanted to be president because he liked making people happy D. Obama's classmates thought he was mature for his age as a high school student Answer: B. Obama's materal grandparents lived in Honolulu of Indonesia An old woman diverted ( ) attention from the book when I was sitting in my car. She walked slowly towards my parked car with a large shoulder bag. She stopped and put a hand out to rest against the car. She gently closed her eyes, took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Was there a way I could do anything to help her? But I wondered if the lady noticed me sitting inside the car, she would feel embarrassed and walk away. I stilled my body while my mind searched for answers. I turned my head towards my driver, wanting him to ask the lady if we could give her a ride. Because of my head movement, she noticed me and moved her hand away from the car. Her calm expression changed to a cautious one. I grabbed the water bottle next to me, smile, gently opened the door and offered the bottle to her. She looked at me hesitatingly, shook her head with downcast eyes and walked away. I was so annoyed with myself. I should have been more careful not to move. However, she was back I opened the door and patted the seat next to me. She sat down, opened her bag and offered me a banana. I took it and offered her the water bottle again. She took it. I ate, she drank and we smiled. She rested for a couple of minutes. Those minutes brought such tranquility to me. She took my head in both her hands and kissed my forehead, and then she left. I was trying to help someone in distress(,). In turn, I became distressed and she took away my distress and replace it with tranquility. What did the author want to do when the old woman rested against her car? A. She wanted to communicate with the old woman B. She wanted to let driver warn the old woman off. C. She wanted to make the old woman notice her existence. D. She wanted to help the old woman without bothering her. Answer: D. She wanted to help the old woman without bothering her. The Internet began in the 1960s as a small network of academic and government computers primarily involved in research for the prefix = st1 /U.S.army. Originally limited to researchers at a handful of universities and government departments, the Internet has quickly become a worldwide network providing users with information on a range of subjects and allowing them to purchase goods directly from companies via computer. By 1999, 84 millionU.S.citizens had access to the Internet at home or work. More and more Americans arc paying bills, shopping, ordering airline tickets, and purchasing stocks via computer over the Internet. Internet banking is also becoming increasingly popular. With lower overhead costs in terms of staffing and office space, Internet banks are able to offer higher interest rates on deposits and charge lower rates on loans than traditional banks. "Brick and mortar" banks are increasingly offering online banking services via some special websites to enlarge their traditional services. At present, 14 percent of Internet households conduct their banking by means of the Internet, and the figure is expected to double during the next two or three years. Increasing commercial use of the Internet has heightened security and privacy concerns. With a credit card, an Internet user can order almost anything from an Internet site and have it delivered to their home or office. Companies doing business over the Internet need many security measures to protect credit card, bank account, and social security numbers from unauthorized access as they pass across the Internet. Any organization that connects its networks to the global Internet must carefully control the access point to ensure that out-siders cannot disturb the organization's internal networks or gain unauthorized access to the organization's computer systems and data. The term "brick and mortar banks"(Line 3, Para.2)refers to A. .banks with dependable reputations B. banks with competitive interest rates C. traditional banks with walk-in services D. banks with reliable on-line services Answer: C. traditional banks with walk-in services
Qi Haoran, a Junior 1 student, was quite busy over the past winter vacation - and not just with homework.Qi, together with 10 other classmates made a volunteer group to call on people to join the Clean Your Plate Campaign (""). The 11 students went to many restaurants and told people the importance of saving food."Excuse me, do you know that 950 million people around the world still haven't got enough to eat? Please don't waste food." They would say this kind of thing hundreds of times every day. The Clean Your Plate Campaign began on the Internet in January.It calls on people to reduce food waste. China in these years had serious problems with wasted food.CCTV reported in January that the food Chinese people waste every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year. Chinese people are well known for being hospitable and generous .Many even feel that they lose face if their guests have eaten all the food. Luckily, the campaign has got the support of many.In a restaurant in Xinjiang, the owner give the guests who have eaten all that they ordered a sticker .People can enjoy a free meal when they have 10 stickers.More than 750 restaurants in Beijing have begun to offer smaller dishes and encourage their guests to take leftovers home. To reduce food waste is a big task, and it needs time.It's important that everyone does their bit, just like Qi.Did you finish your meals today? ,A, B, C, D. The Clean Your Plate Campaign calls on people to _ . cut down on food waste Scientists from the United States say they have found fish and other creatures living under key waters in Antarctica. They made the announcement after completing three months of research at the Ross Ice Shelf, the world's largest floating ice sheet. The researchers hoped to find clues to explain the force of the melting ice and its effect on sea level rise. Reed Scherer and Ross Powell are with Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. They just finished up their research on our southernmost continent. Money for the project came from America's National Science Foundation. "We chose a study site where, in the first year ,We went into the subglacial lake and tried to understand the environment in there, both ecologically and in terms of the ice dynamics about how the lake operates ,and how the sediment underneath the ice sheet operates, as well, because it's the water and the sediment underneath the ice that controls how fast the ice is flowing into the ocean" says Ross Powell, who led the investigation. The team included scientists ,engineers, machinery and other supplies across the ice from the main U.S. scientific base at Mc Murdo Station to the researcher's camp .The camp was near a subglacial lake ,where an earlier study took place, Ross Powell says the latest study may provide evidence that can help predict the effect of climate change on rising sea levels. "What we have found is that these are very sensitive areas to the stability of how dynamic the ice is and how fast the ice may react to increases of melting both from the ocean and the atmosphere." Among the new instruments built for the project was a powerful hot water drill. The researchers used the drill to dig down some 740 meters. They collected water ,sediment and other material from the grounding zone. Working around the clock before the deep hole refroze, they sent a video camera down to the 400-square-meter undersea area. Reed Scherer says the video images they saw in the Command Center were a total surprise. "It's a very mobile environment. The bottom is changing constantly. And so the things that we saw were all very mobile organisms, things that swim and some things that crawl. And obviously they are getting enough nutrition that they can thrive, Some of the little crustacean-like creatures called amphipods that we saw swam quite quickly and were quite active." This is the farthest south that fish have ever been seen. How did the creatures get here? What do they feed on? And what effect will the retreating ice have on them? Ross Powell says the ice and sediment cores taken from the grounding zone can offer clues. "We know that the ice is melting there at the moment and so by opening up the cores once they get back, we hope to be able to understand what the ice was doing in the past ,relative to what it is doing now. And because it is melting so fast or seems to be melting fast at the moment, we anticipate that there will he some differences that we'll see in the history of the ice sheet from the sediment cores, once we open them up ."But Ross Powell says the work raises more questions than it answers. What can be inferred from the passage? Scientists will conduct a follow-up study on the frozen continent. Raised in a motherless home, my father was extremely tightfisted towards us children. His attitude didn't soften as I grew into adulthood and went to college. I had to ride the bus whenever I came home. Though the bus stopped about two miles from home, Dad never met me, even in severe weather. If I _ he'd say in his loudest father-voice, "That's what your legs are for!" The walk didn't bother me as much as the fear of walking alone along the highway and country roads. I also felt less than valued that my father didn't seem concerned about my safety. But that feeling was cancelled one spring evening. It had been a particularly difficult week at college after long hours in labs. I longed for home. When the bus reached the stop, I stepped off and dragged my suitcase to begin the long journey home. A row of hedge edged the driveway that climbed the hill to our house. Once I had turned off the highway to start the last lap of my journey, I always had a sense of relief to see the hedge because it meant that I was almost home. On that particular evening, the hedge had just come into view when I saw something gray moving along the top of the hedge, moving toward the house. Upon closer observation, I realized it was the top of my father's head. Then I knew, each time I'd come home, he had stood behind the hedge, watching, until he knew I had arrived safely. I swallowed hard against the tears. He did care, after all. On later visits, that spot of gray became my watchtower. I could hardly wait until I was close enough to watch for its secret movement above the greenery. Upon reaching home, I would find my father sitting innocently in his chair. "So! My son, it's you!" he'd say, his face lengthening into pretended surprise. I replied, "Yes, Dad, it's me. I'm home." Which of the following can be the best title for the text? My Father's Secret. There are many unusual hotels around the world .In Greenland ,there is a hotel made out of ice ,open between December and April every year .In Turkey ,there is a cave hotel with a television ,furniture ,and a bathroom in each room .And in Bolivia ,there is the Salt Palace Hotel . Thousands of years ago ,the area has the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake . But over time ,all the water disappeared . Today ,the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts . The larger of the two deserts the Uyuni salt desert ,is 12000 square kilometers .During the day ,the desert is bright white because of the salt .There are no roads across the Uyuni desert ,so local people must show guests the way to the hotel . In the early 1900s ,a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel .He cut big blocks of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt ;the walls , the roof , the chairs , the tables ,the beds ,and the hotels bar . The Sun heats the walls and the roof during the day . At night is very cold , but the rooms stay warm . The hotel has twelve rooms . A single room costs 40 dollars a night .and a double room costs 60 dollars . A sign on the hotels wall tells guests ,Please do not lick the walls. What is unique about the Salt palace hotel ? What it is made of Senior citizens are permitted to travel cheaply on a bus if they have a special card. Women may get cards when they are sixty. Mrs. Matthews lived in the country but she went into town once a week to buy food and other things for the house, and she usually went by bus. She always had to pay the full price for her ride. Then she reached the age of sixty and got her senior citizen's card, but when she used it for the first time on the bus, it made her feel very old. The bus driver had often seen her traveling on the bus before, and he noticed that she was feeling unhappy, so after she had paid her money, he winked at her and whispered, "Don't forget to give your mother's card back to her when you see her again." Mrs. Matthews was very happy when she heard this. Mrs. Matthews used to pay the full price for her ride because _ . she wasn't old enough
Susan owned Goldacre, a tract of land, in fee simple. By warranty deed, she conveyed Goldacre in fee simple to Ted for a recited consideration of "$10 and other valuable consideration." The deed was promptly and properly recorded. One week later, Susan and Ted executed a written document that stated that the conveyance of Goldacre was for the purpose of establishing a trust for the benefit of Benton, a child of Susan's. Ted expressly accepted the trust and signed the document with Susan. This written agreement was not authenticated to be eligible for recordation and there never was an attempt to record it. Ted entered into possession of Goldacre and distributed the net income from Goldacre to Benton at appropriate intervals. Five years later, Ted conveyed Goldacre in fee simple to Patricia by warranty deed. Patricia paid the fair market value of Goldacre, had no knowledge of the written agreement between Susan and Ted, and entered into possession of Goldacre. Benton made demand upon Patricia for distribution of income at the next usual time Ted would have distributed. Patricia refused. Benton brought an appropriate action against Patricia for a decree requiring her to perform the trust Ted had theretofore recognized. In such action, judgment should be for A. Benton, because a successor in title to the trustee takes title subject to the grantor's trust. B. Benton, because equitable interests are not subject to the recording act. C. Patricia, because, as a bona fide purchaser, she took free of the trust encumbering Ted's title. D. Patricia, because no trust was ever created since Susan had no title at the time of the purported creation. Answer: C. Patricia, because, as a bona fide purchaser, she took free of the trust encumbering Ted's title. COLUMBUS, Ohio--The heart operation taking place in the pale-green operating room at the Ohio State University Medical Center was unusual. The patient, a 62-year-old man, was made to sleep, tied with blue drapes and lying face up on a narrow table. But no one was touching him. Instead, the operation was being performed by a robot, whose three metal arms went through pencil-sized holes in the man's chest. At the ends of the robot's arms were tiny metal fingers, with turning wrists, which held a tiny instrument, a light and a camera. The robot's arms and fingers were controlled by Dr. Randall K. Wolf, sitting at a computer in a corner of the operating room about 20 feet away. This sort of operation, heart surgeons say, is the start of what may be the biggest change in their profession since heart bypass surgery began nearly 30 years ago. "The reason we make cuts is that we have big hands," said Dr. Wolf, the director of the surgery at Ohio State. The robot's _ fingers, no longer than a nail on the small finger, at the end of the long sticks could work better. Eventually, surgeons believe, most heart surgery will be done by robots whose arms are put in through pencil-sized holes punched in patients' chests. Instead of directly staring into a patient's body, surgeons will view magnified images of the operation on computer screens. In theory, the doctor would not have to be in the same room, or even the same country, as the patient. According to the passage, the reason that most operations require large cuts is that _ . A. patients have large organs B. surgeons have large hands C. large cuts take less time D. large cuts cost less money Answer: B. surgeons have large hands Japanese doctors have used thin sheets of tissue from people's cheeks repair damaged corneas . A team from Osaka University transplanted thin layers of cheek cells onto the eyes of four patients with a rare and painful eye condition,reports BBC online. Patients whose vision had been cloudy could see well afterwards,and the"new corneas"remained clear more than a year after the operation. Doctors can also take cells from a healthy eye and grow them in a dish to produce a new cornea,or they can transplant corneas from donors . But these techniques may not work when both eyes are too badly damaged by accident or disease. The team hope their work may help solve the problem and lead to other types of grow-your-own tissue transplants. The cornea is the clear layer of cells on the surface of the eye. It can be damaged by trauma or by a range of diseases. The team worked with four patients who had a painful condition that causes cloudy corneas and dry eyes. Often the eye can regenerate cornea cells but none of the four patients had this ability. The researchers took a 3 mm-wide square of tissue from inside the mouth(cheeks)and grew it into a thin layer in the lab. They used a special low temperature technique to separate a very thin sheet off each batch. They then laid that onto the patient's eye. The cell layers stuck onto the eye and developed into tissue that looked and acted like a healthy cornea. However,long-term follow-up and experience with a large series of patients is needed to assess the benefits and risks this method. Yet,"it does offer the potential of treating severe eye diseases that are resistant to standard approaches,"said the head of the research,Kohji Nishida. Which of the following is the best title? A. A new invention B. A new technique C. Mouth tissue can restore your vision D. Transplanting can restore your vision Answer: C. Mouth tissue can restore your vision Look at this. What's this in English? Ah, it's a photo. Who's that in the photo? It's Li Yan. Li Yan is my good friend. She is a nice girl. Who's that? The boy in black? It's Jim. He is an English boy. He is very cool. He is my friend, too. We are all in the same class. I like Jim and Li Yan. ,,. Li Yan is _ . A. a good boy B. a cool boy C. a nice girl D. an English girl Answer: C. a nice girl Have you ever been to the following places? If not, try to find a chance to visit them. Fez, Morocco Fez, about 240 miles northeast from Marrakesh,a wonderful scene is taking root slowly. It started with immigrants building castles, and continues as hotels and restaurants. The biggest news is that the Hotel Sahrai is completed with a bar and 50 rooms, many overlooking a pool. Catskills, New York The region that welcomed Jewish families in the 50s,hippies in the 60s, and soon, casino gamblers . Many stylish B&Bs have opened. Among them are the Hotel Dylan in Woodstock, the Arnold House in Livingston Manor,with its bar and diminutive spa . So now is the time to enjoy fly-fishing, hiking and other peaceful experiences. Rotterdam, Netherlands The constantly unfolding city center in Rotterdam has become one amazing explosion of style, which surprised the tourists greatly. The latest attraction, and reason enough to visit, is the MVRDV-designed Markthal, an igloo -like horseshoe that houses 20 shops, nine restaurants, and 228 apartments. It also happens to be Holland' s largest artwork. Chengdu, China Famous for its 1,600 pandas, most of which still live in the wild, Chengdu has introduced a 72-hour no-visa policy that makes it easier for Americans to drop in on one of the city' s three major panda research facilities. But it' s worth sticking around longer to experience what' s doing in Chengdu, a city on the rise. One of the shiniest attractions is New Century Global Centre, the world' s largest building, complete with an artificial beach. What can a tourist do in Catskills? A. Join the local people in building castles. B. Design igloos with the tourists. C. Play with the pandas in the wild. D. Go fishing and hiking. Answer: A. Join the local people in building castles.
Question: Warning: reading too much Cinderella to your daughter may damage her emotional health in later life. A paper to be developed at the international congress of cognitive psychotherapy in Gothenburg suggests a link between the attitudes of women abused by their parents and early exposure to the wrong sort of fairy tales. It says girls who identified with Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast were more likely to stay in destructive relationships as adults. The theory was developed by Susan Darker Smith, a psychotherapist at the University of Derby. She interviewed 67 female abuse survivors and found that 61 put up with severe abuse because they believed they could change their partners with patience, composition and love. The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children. Hardly any of the women in a control group, who had not experienced abuse, thought they could change their partners in this way. The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children. These women and men said they would leave a relationship rather than put up with abuse from a partner. Ms Darker Smith found the abused women were much more likely to identify with Cinderella and other _ female characters in fairytales, who were later rescued by a stranger prince or hero. Although most girls heard the stories, damage appeared to be done to those who adopted the characters as role models. "They believe if their love is strong enough they can change their parents' behaviors," she said." Overexposure in children to stories that emphasize the transformational qualities of love may make women believe they can change their partners." For example, they might never have understood the obvious flaw in the story of Rapunzel, who remained locked in a high tower until rescued by a knight on a white horse, who broke the door down. "The question," said Ms Darker Smith, "is why she did not break the door down herself." Which of the following statements is true of the women in a control group? A. They don't believe in fairy tales. B. They don't believe in the transformational qualities of love. C. They have also experienced abuse. D. They survived abuse. Answer: B. They don't believe in the transformational qualities of love. Question: "Made in China" has Changed Many shoppers in the West still prize labels, boasting a product was made in Italy without knowing that a growing number of Italian products come from factories that are Chineseowned and staffed. The products which were marked "Made in China" gave the buyer an impression of "low pride and low cost, low technology and development". The statement used to be true, but now it has changed. "Made in China" is becoming a leading part in the world market. China's garment industry has been investing in producing technology and training for decades, and its workforce has collectively gotten better at sewing garments. As a result, the quality of Chinesemade clothes is rising fast. It has been home to a highlyskilled, highlyspecialized garment industry, one that supplies even some highend labels and offers the best mix of price, speed, and quality. "If I was to make a basic men's jean, I'd make that in Pakistan," said Edward Hertzman, coowner of the trade publication Sourcing Journal. "If I was going to make a fashionable women's garment, I would move to China because their skill set is better, their hand is better, their finishing is better, and they can handle that type of fashion." Indeed, luxury fashion labels now routinely make things in China. Burberry, Armani, and Prada have all produced things there, because they're still able to get good workmanship at a relatively low price. Even the Japanese brand Visvim, known for its crazy attention to detail, also produces highend, handmade footwear in China. Despite the rising wages and costs of doing business in China, companies have not walked away. "China is viewed by people who make buying decisions as unique and hard to copy elsewhere," says Josh Green, CEO of Panjiva. Which of the following is NOT true about "Made in China"? A. It used to be associated with poor quality. B. It has lost its leading status in the world market. C. Its products are recognized by luxury fashion brands. D. It reflects China's investment in producing technology. Answer: B. It has lost its leading status in the world market. Question: A pretty, well-dressed young lady stopped a taxi in a big square, and said to the driver, "Can you see that young man at the other side of the square?" "Yes," said the taxi-driver. The young man was standing outside a restaurant and looking impatiently at his watch every few seconds. "Take me over there." said the young lady. There were a lot of cars and buses and trucks in the square, so the taxi- driver asked, "Are you afraid to cross the street." 'Oh, no !" said the young lady. "But I said that I would meet that young man for dinner at one o'c1ock, and it is now a quarter to two. If I arrive in a taxi, it will at least seem as if I have tried not to be too late." Has she tried not to be too late ? A. Yes, she took a taxi there. B. Yes, she had tried her best though she couldn't succeed. C. No, she thought being late was better than being earlier. D. No, she was just going to pretend that she had tried. Answer: D. No, she was just going to pretend that she had tried. Question: The Most Unusual Jobs Pet Food Tester . Yes, it's a thing and yes it's totally gross . But Mark Gooley ---the owner of a pet food company, eats dog food for a living. He eats everything from doggie treats and chewy bones to liver mixture. Teddy Bear repair Engineer When your favorite toy loses an arm, or suffers a bad injury, it is upsetting. But now you can get help in the Build-A-Bear Workshops, the teddy bear repair engineers repair your favorite teddy bears and get them back to themselves. Water slide Tester Monday morning surely seems more enjoyable if you spend your working week slipping down water slides in a theme park, especially in summer. You might also spend your lunch break on a roller coaster, eating a hot dog for lunch. Working holiday, am I right? Paint Watcher You may have heard some people say they'd "rather watch paint dry" than do something they don't want to do. Well, if they really mean it, the chance is there---- studying the drying time and effects of paint as a full-time job for a paint company. Where can you get help if your favorite toy loses an arm? A. In a theme park B. In a paint company C. In a pet food company D. In a Build-A-Bear Workshop. Answer: D. In a Build-A-Bear Workshop. Question: There was once a fairy who was learning how to be a fairy godmother. She was the kindest and cleverest of all fairies. However, she was also a very ugly fairy. And no matter how friendly she was to others, it seemed that everyone always believed that the most important thing about a fairy was her beauty. In the fairy country, she was always laughed at. Every time she flew off to help a child or anyone else in trouble, before she could say a word they were already shouting: "Ugly! Get out of here!" Although she was little, her magic was very powerful because she studied very hard in the fairy school. And more than once she had considered using her magic to make herself beautiful. But then she remembered what her mother had always told her: "My dear, you are what you are, so just be yourself. Remember, you are this way for a very special reason." Then, one day, the witches of the neighboring land invaded the country, putting all the fairies in prison. The ugly fairy was helped by her ugly face, since the witches believed all fairies were beautiful. So no witches thought she was a fairy. That way she was able to follow the witches back to their home. Once there she used her magic to prepare a big party for everyone. The witches got really excited. They sang and drank. While _ , the fairy hurried off and set free all the fairies. Then they worked together and succeeded in locking the witches inside the mountain for the next hundred years and more, everyone remembered the great bravery and intelligence of the fairy. From that day on, no one in that land ever saw ugliness as a bad thing, and whenever someone ugly was born, people were filled with joy, knowing that for that new person great things waited ahead. The little fairy would have had no chance to save her country if _ . A. her magic had been poor B. she had been very beautiful C. her mother hadn't helped her D. she hadn't learned magic Answer: B. she had been very beautiful
About ten men in every hundred suffer from colour blindness in some way. Women are luckier. Only about one in two hundred is affected in this matter. So some people say it is safer to be driven by women. There are different forms of colour blindness. In some cases a man may not be able to see deep red. He may think that red, orange and yellow are all shades of green. Sometimes a person cannot tell the difference between blue and green. In rare cases an unlucky man may see everything in shades of green--a strange world indeed. Colour blindness in humans is a strange thing to explain. In our eyes there are millions of very small things called "cones". These help us to see in a bright light and to tell differences between colours. There are also millions of "rods", but these are used for seeing when it is nearly dark. They show us shapes but no colour. Some insects have favourite colours. Mosquitoes like blue but do not like yellow. A red light will not attract insects, but a blue lamp will. In a similar way humans also have favourite colours. Yet we are lucky. With the aid of the cones in our eyes we can see many beautiful colours by day, and with the aid of the rods we can see shapes at night. One day we may even learn more about the invisible colours around us. With the help of the cones, we can _ Answer: tell orange from yellow When an iron nail wrapped in a copper wire is attached to a circuit, it forms Answer: an electromagnet. It was midnight in Paris and we were rolling toward Avenue Bosguet. As we came to the Pont Alexandra III, the taxi slowed down, for the traffic light was red against us, and then, without stopping, we sailed through the red in a sudden burst of speed. The same performance was repeated at the Alma Bridge. As I paid the driver, I asked him why he had driven through two red lights. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, breaking the law and endangering your life that way." I protested. He looked at me, astonished, "Ashamed of myself? I am a law abiding citizen and have no desire to get killed either." He cut me off before I could protest. "No, just listen to me before you complain. What did I do? Went through a red light. Well, did you ever stop to consider what a red light is? What it means?" "Certainly,"I replied. "It's a stop signal and means the traffic is rolling in the opposite direction." "Half-right,"said the driver, "But incomplete. It's only an automatic stop signal. And it does not mean that there is cross traffic. Did you see any cross traffic during our trip? Of course not. I slowed down at the light, looked carefully to the right and to the left. Not another car on the street at this hour. Well, then! What would you have me do? Should I stop like a stupid animal because an automatic, brainless machine turns red every forty seconds? No, sir,"he shouted, "I am a man, not a machine. I have eyes and a brain and judgment, given me by God. Ashamed of myself, you say? I would only be ashamed of myself if I let those blinking lamps do my thinking for me. Good night,sir." To the taxi driver, a red light _ . Answer: didn't always mean that there was cross traffic (Reuters)--A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew was presumed to have crashed off the Vietnamese coast on Saturday, and European officials said two people on board were using false identities. There were no reports of bad weather and no sign of why the Boeing 777-200ER would have vanished from radar screens about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. "We are not ruling out any possibilities," Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told a news conference. By the early hours of Sunday, there were no confirmed signs of the plane or any wreckage, well over 24 hours after it went missing. Operations will continue through the night, officials said. There were no indications of sabotage nor claims of an attack. But the passenger list issued by the airline included the names of two Europeans--Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi--who, according to their foreign ministries, were not in fact on the plane. A foreign ministry spokesman in Vienna said: "Our embassy got the information that there was an Austrian on board. That was the passenger list from Malaysia Airlines. Our system came back with a note that this is a stolen passport." Austrian police had found the man safe at home. The passport was stolen two years ago while he was travelling in Thailand, the spokesman said. The foreign ministry in Rome said no Italian was on the plane either, despite the inclusion of Maraldi's name on the list. His mother, Renata Lucchi, told Reuters his passport was lost, presumed stolen, in Thailand in 2013. U.S. and European security officials said that there was no proof of any terrorist link and there could be other explanations for the use of stolen passports. According to the passage, the foreign ministry spokesman in Vienna had made sure _ . Answer: the Austrian on board was actually at home If you're still of the belief thaJ mental health conditions aren,t as serious as physical ones,a new report will open your eyes. The United States spent about $201 billion on mental illness in 2013, according to the new analysis published in the journal Health Affairs. That makes it the costliest medical condition in the country. Heart conditions were the second costliest condition, falling far behind menial disorders at $147 billion. Trauma and injury was third at $143 billion. "One key finding of this study is the degree to which spending on mental health disorders in 2013 topped those on all other medical conditions, including heart conditions, trauma, and cancer. Researcher Charles Roehrig wrote in the study's conclusion. Just a decade ago, heart conditions outweighed mentd disorders. Health care costs on heart Problems were about $105 Million in 1996, with mental disordere coming in second at $79 billion. The findings are just another example of how important it is to recognize mental illness as a widespread public health issue. Nearly one in four people will experience a mental health condition at some point in his or her life. Despite this fact, though, there's still a lack of sensitivity and understanding in society--and even the medical community--when it comes to mental disorders. Research shows discrimination involved in mental health. Negative thoughts surrounding mental illness often prevent people from seeking treatment, which can have serious consequences. Data also suggests that not paying attention to mental illness can affeci a company 's bottom line. Serious mental illnesses result in about $193 billion in lost earnings per year. Lastly, the cost of mental health issues extends beyond a dollar sign, but perhaps the shocking figure in the report will finally serve as a wakeup call for those who believe psychological conditions aren't real issues. In other words, can we please take mental illness seriously now? How much more is spent on mental disorders_in 2013 compared with 1996? Answer: $122 billion.
On January 2, Hugh Homey and Sue Structo entered into a written contract in which Structo agreed to build on Homey's lot a new house for Homey, according to plans and specifications furnished by Homey's architect, Barbara Bilevel, at a contract price of $200,000. The contract provided for specified progress payments and a final payment of $40,000 upon Homey's acceptance of the house and issuance of a certificate of final approval by the architect. Further, under a "liquidated damages" clause in the agreement, Structo promised to pay Homey $500 for each day's delay in completing the house after the following October 1. Homey, however, told Structo on January 2, before the contract was signed, that he would be on an around-the-world vacation trip most of the summer and fall and would not return to occupy the house until November 1."For this question only, assume the following facts. Because she was overextended on other construction jobs, Structo did not complete the house until October 15. Homey returned on November 1 as planned and occupied the house. Ten days later, after making the $40,000 final payment to Structo, Homey learned for the first time that the house had not been completed until October 15. If Homey sues Structo for breach of contract on account of the 15-day delay in completion, which of the following will the court probably decide? Father's Day is the third Sunday in June. It is a day to thank fathers. On that day, fathers usually receive greeting gifts and cards. On the cards, children will write, "Thanks, father." "Best wishes for Father's Day" and so on. Father's Day is also a day families get together at home as well as in the restaurants. Where does the idea for the holiday come from? We should thank an American. In 1909 she wrote letters to some important persons. In her letter she advised to make Father's Day on the third Sunday in June. In June in 1910, people celebrated the first Father's Day in Washington. People whose parents are dead often decorated their parents' graves with flowers on these days. These are days of family fun and creating good feelings and memories. Which sentence is NOT true? A brick wall stops You may think that sailing is a difficult sport, but it is really not hard to learn it. You do not need to be strong. But you need to be quick. And you need to understand a few basic rules about the wind. First, you must ask yourself, "Where is the wind coming from? Is it coming from ahead or behind or from the side?" You must think about this all the time on the boat. The wind direction tells you what to do with the sail. Let's start with the wind blowing from the behind. This means the wind and the boat are going in the same direction. Then you must always keep the sail outside the boat. It should be at a 90deg angle to the boat. Then it will catch the wind best. If the wind is blowing from the side, it is blowing across the boat. In this case, you must keep the sail half way outside the boat. It should be at a 45deg angle to the boat. _ needs to be out far enough to catch the wind, but it shouldn't flap . It shouldn't look like on a flagpole. If it is flapping, it is probably out too far, and the boat will slow down. Sailing into the wind is not possible. If you try, the sail will flap and the boat will stop. You may want to go in that direction. It is possible, but you can't go in a straight line. You must go first in one direction and then in another. This is called tacking. When you are tacking, you must always keep the sail inside the boat. Where can you probably find the text? Parents are fighting for their child's right to rest across the country. Twenty-three elementary schools in Orange County, Florida, have been cutting back on rest, and even canceling it to increase class time. In a recent Orange County School Board meeting, parents demanded that rest time be carried out in all local schools for all students. Angela Browning, a parent in the area, said that schools' rest is ranging from zero to 30 minutes per day. "Five-year-olds not getting rest means abuse," said Browning, whose twins in the second grade benefit from taking a break and learn better. The main reason for reducing the rest time is Common Core exams including math, language arts and literacy, where the students' performance often controls teachers' pay and sometimes teachers may lose their jobs. Many teachers are using that extra 20 minutes that would have been spent on the schools' scores, everybody is stressful," said Diana Moore, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. The decision of whether reducing rest takes place, and for how long is up to each school's rule. "Florida law requires that districts provide 900 teaching hours during the school year," Florida's Department of Education press secretary Cheryl Etters said in a statement. "Whether test is part of the school day is a decision made by the school board." Reducing test also can take away an opportunity for children to learn social skills, according to many experts. "In society, who cares if you have straight A's and you get a scholarship to Harvard if you lack social skills?" said Mallet, a mother of two children. What will Angela Browning agree with?
Put an ice cube from your fridge into a glass of water. You have a piece of string 10 centimeters long. The problem is to take out that piece of ice with the help of the string. But you must not touch the ice with your fingers. You may ask your friends to try to do that when you are having dinner together. There is a saltcellar on the table. You must use salt when you carry out this experiment. First you put the string across the piece of ice. Then put some salt on the ice. Salt makes ice melt . The ice round the string will begin to melt. But when it melts, it will lose heat. The cold ice cube will make the salt water freeze again. After a minute or two you may raise the piece of string and with it you will raise your piece of ice! This experiment can be very useful to you. If, for example, there is ice near the door of your house, you must use very much salt to melt all the ice. If you don't put enough salt, the water will freeze again. How long will it take to carry out this experiment? Answer: Only one minute or two. Hannah Levine decided she wanted to give hugs to all of the children and families in need at local hospitals. Because she couldn't give them one by one, Levine, then a sixth-grader, decided she would use her talents to do the next best thing. She began to knit hats, scarves, and blankets for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. Her creations also went to Bundle of Joy, a program that provides newborn baby items for families in need, and to Knitting Pals by the Bay, a local organization that provides hand-knitted caps to cancer patients. "I love to knit, and I thought it would be a great idea to make all these handmade items for kids and adults who need them. It would be like a hug for them," Levine explained. Levine started the project about a year ago. "I think it's just really fun to do, and it keeps me busy," said Levine, now 13. Once she got started, Levine realized that her project could be much bigger than the goods she was able to produce with just her own hands. So she sent emails to her school and communities , asking for knitted donations to the project she named "Hannah's Warm Hugs". She also posted advertisements at Starbucks and other locations in her area. The warm goods began to _ . "It was amazing; more strangers than people she knew started dropping donations at our door," said Levine's mother, Laura Levine. "We ended up with this huge box of items she was donating." The knitted items numbered in the hundreds. Levine made her first round of donations around Hanukkah (an eight-day Jewish holiday in November or December) and later received thank-you letters from the organizations. Levine is still knitting, and she said the project will continue. "It has turned into a bigger thing than she had thought," her mom said. "It made her feel pretty good; it made us feel pretty good." Hannah Levine knitted hats and scarves _ . Answer: for children and families in difficulty A student crumples up a sheet of paper. Which property of the paper has changed? Answer: shape No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to the Art Institute, which is the second largest art museum in the nation. Opening hours: Mon - Wed & Fri - Sun, 10:30 am - 5 pm; Thu, 10:30 am- 8 pm; closed on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Highlights: * The Modern Wing contains contemporary masterpieces by Dali, Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Pollock, and Warhol. * View one of the world's finest Impressionist collections, including masterpieces by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Seurat, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. * Thorne Miniature Rooms offer a detailed view of European homes from the 16th century through the 1930s and American homes from the 17th century to 1940. * The past returns as over 550 works from 4,000 years of art come together in Of Gods and Glamour, located in the beautiful new Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art. Advice for visitors: * Free guided tours are available daily at noon. * Free art-making activities are available for children each weekend from 11 am to 2 pm. * Visit the Family Room in the Ryan Education Center, open daily from 10:30 am - 5 pm, and introduce your child to the museum's collections with a variety of hands-on activities. Assemble puzzles based on masterpieces you'll see in the galleries, build architectural wonders with colorful blocks, and learn about art through stories and games at Curious Corner. * Check out the Lion's Trial tour for children ages 5-10. This tour is especially designed for the young people in your group! Don't miss it! Getting there: You can take the follow buses: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 26, 28, 126, 143. Whose works can you see in the Impressionist collections? Answer: Monet's Many animals recognize their food because they see it.So do humans.When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate,you know that these are things you can eat.You can also use other senses when you choose your food.You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good.You may dislike some types of food because they do not look,smell or taste very nice.Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food.A few animals depend on only one of their senses,while most animals use more than one sense. Although there are many different types of food,some animals spend their lives eating only one type.The giant panda eats only one particular type of bamboo f).Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice.A kind of white butterfly will stay on the leaves of a cabbage,even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden.However,most animals have a more varied diet .The bear eats fruits and fish.The fox eats small animals,birds and fruits.The diet of these animals will he different depending on the season. Humans have a very varied diet.We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us.In countries such as France and Britain.people eat foods with too much sugar.This makes them overweight,which is bad for their health.Eating too much red meat and animal products,such as butter, can also be bad for the health.Choosing the fight food,therefore,has become an area of study in modem life. Which of the following eats only one type of food? Answer: The bear
Tom and Fred are students. They are twelve years old, and they are in the same class in their school. On Monday morning, they have a fight in class, and their teacher is angry. She says to the boys, "Come here after school this afternoon, and write your names 1,000 times ." After the last class, Tom and Fred are in the classroom with their teacher and write their names. But Fred cries . The teacher looks at him and asks why. "Because his name is Tom King, and my name is Frederick Hollingsworth," Fred says ," It is bad . I have a very, very long name!" Fred cries because _ Answer: When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you're hearing, and say: "Thank you". This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice. I'll give you an example from my life when I totally _ in terms of practicing what I teach. In my work I travel constantly. I always put off going to the airport until the last second. My wife, Lyda, was sitting next to me in the front seat. I was racing along and not paying much attention. Lyda cried out: "Look out! There is a red light up ahead. " Being a trained behavioral science professional--who teaches others the value of encouraging advice--I naturally screamed at her: "I know there is a red light up ahead! Don't you think I can see?" When we arrived at the airport, Lyda didn't speak to me. I wondered why she seemed mad at me. During the flight to prefix = st1 /New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis. I asked myself: "What was the cost of just listening when Lyda called out the warning? Zero." I then reasoned: "What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?" Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people. I landed in New Yorkfeeling ashamed of myself. I immediately called Lyda and told her my cost-benefit story. I convinced her: "The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, 'Thank you.'" A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident. Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lyda cried out: "Look out for the red light!" I was embarrassed, and then shouted: "Thank you!" I'm a long way from perfect, but I'm getting better. My suggestion is that you get in the habit of asking the important people in your life how you can do things better. And be ready for an answer. Some people may tell you things like "Look out for the red light." When this happens, remember that there is possibly some potential benefit. Then just say: "Thank you." It can be inferred from the passage that people_. Answer: Beijing opera or Peking opera (Pinyin: Jingju) is a form of Chinese opera which arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.Major performance troupes (,) are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north,and Shanghai in the south.The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan,and has spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan. Beijing opera features four main types of performers.Performing troupes often have several of each variety,as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers.With their elaborate (,) and colorful costumes,performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera's characteristically small stage.They make use of the skills of speech,song,dance,and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive,rather than realistic.Above all else,the skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements.Performers also hold a variety of stylistic conventions that help audiences navigate the plot of the production.The layers of meaning within each movement must be expressed in time with music.The music of Beijing opera can be divided into the Xipi and Erhuang styles.Melodies include arias ,fixed-tune melodies,and percussion patterns.The repertoire of Beijing opera includes over 1,400 works,which are based on Chinese history,folklore,and,increasingly,contemporary life. In recent years,Beijing opera has attempted numerous reforms in response to sagging audience numbers.These reforms,which include improving performance quality,adapting new performance elements,and performing new and original plays,have met with mixed success.Some Western works have been adopted as new plays,but a lack of funding and an adverse political climate have left Beijing opera's fate uncertain as the form enters the 21st century. How many art forms of Beijing Opera at present? Answer: Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling. In 1849, after graduation from medical school, she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea. Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women. Why couldn't Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon? Answer: It is that time of year again. _ There is so much to do to get ready for the party. Planning a child's birthday party is necessary. It can be fun, exciting and sometimes busy. When planning a child's birthday party, there are many important details( ) to remember: First, you should decide on a theme. It is very important to plan a successful party. Without a theme there would be no party to plan. If the child is old enough, he can choose what theme he wants to have. He can also choose invitations, decorations, cake design, and even games. Next it is time to decide on a date, a place, and the time to have the party . Most people have the child's party on the weekend for conveniece of the parents' schedule . When you have already decided on a date and time, you need to choose a place to have the party. It should be a place your child will enjoy, such as a favorite park, a nice restaurant or your own home. Another important detail to keep in mind is the guest list. Always be sure to only invite people that your child knows and likes. Let the child help you write out the guest list. This helps avoid unwanted guests. The writer advises us to decide on _ first for a birthday party. Answer:
MOST recently, my world has been shaken by the death of a teacher at my school. He was Dr Allan Woolley and he was only 52. Suddenly he took his own life, which remains a mystery. That morning, everyone sensed that something wasn't right. During our lessons, an announcement was made that an assembly was scheduled for morning break, which was only done in emergencies. Once morning break came, the entire school gathered in the main hall. As our headmaster marched out to announce the "momentous news", it felt like the air around us trembled . Many students broke down in tears, and the reaction afterward was intensely powerful and unifying . The headmaster said that students were allowed to miss lessons and have a free period to _ themselves if they found the news too distressing . Many students went outside and shared memories of Dr Woolley to control theirselves. Dr Woolley taught me chemistry two years ago, but up until his death he still taught many of my close friends. Many of my friends were so shocked that they still couldn't believe the person that they had owed some homework to was now dead. It was heart-warming to spend time with teachers that morning and get to know more about them. _ Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? A The real cause of Dr Woolley's death is known to us. B Many students didn't prepare themselves for the bad news so that they felt very sad. C It takes the whole school some time to recover from the dispressing news. D Dr Woolley's death allows students to understand teachers better. Answer: A Do you like dogs? Do you know the following things about dogs? The first pet dog Dogs are meat-eating animals. They belonged to the family of wolves a long time ago. About 15,000 years ago, people started keeping wolves for hunting . Over the time, the wolves began to look like dogs and they became people's pets. What a dog looks like Dogs come in different sizes, colors and shapes, but they're the same in some ways. All kinds of dogs have a set of forty-two strong teeth for eating. They have sharp claws at the end of their feet for digging up soil and holding onto the ground when they walk. They have very good eyesight. They also have high ability to hear and smell. How a dog grows A mother dog gives birth to one to twelve babies at a time. New-born baby dogs cannot see or hear until they are two weeks old. The mother dog gives the baby dogs milk. When they are four weeks old, they start eating soft food. When they're eight weeks, the baby dogs have very strong legs and they can go for long walks. How to read a dog's feelings Dogs act differently when they have different feelings. When a dog is angry, it opens its mouth and shows its teeth. When a dog is frightened, it lowers its ears and holds its tail between its legs. A happy dog always wags its tail. ,. (10) What can the sharp claws of dogs be used for according to the passage? A Climbing a tree. B Looking for food. C Digging up soil. D Fighting against other animals. Answer: C Welcome to the International Summer School Students can have an enjoyable English language learning experiencce--together with organized sports, activities and excursion program. The International Summer School runs 4 different summer school centers for boys and girls aged from 7 to 20. Two of these schools--Moira House and University Hall of Residence--are based in East Bourne on the south coast of Englanded--in the much favored Meads area of the town, within walking distance of the seafront and town centre. Gatwick Airport is about an hour's drive away and Healthrow around 90 minutes. Our 4th school--Bethany Centre--is located in the heart of Kent--an area known as "The Garden of England" close go woods of the High Wealed but only 20 minutes from the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Gatwick and Heathrow Airports are easily accessible, as are Euro star InternationalStations at Ashford and Ebbs fleet. The aim of International Summer School is to create a lively and happy atmosphere that makes learning and international communication enjoyable. Young people can have fun, but also gain considerable skills in English. A full day in London is always included, as well as other places of cultural interest. Students of all cultures are welcomed as our aim is to create a summer school which can truly be described as International. When we return your child to you at the end of their stay, we hope they will feel enriched by their experience with us and will look forward to returning to meet friends made at International Summer School the following year, as so many do. From this text we learn that _ . A Kent is a very beautiful university in England B Bethany Centre is very inconvenient in transportatton C Children will feel relaxed at the International Summer School D Only students from England will be admitted to the school Answer: C Last week, my granddaughter started kindergarten, and I wished her every success. But part of me didn't. I actually wanted her to fail in some ways because I believe that failure can be good for our learning process. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do, or doing something correctly the first time, which can often be a problematic victory. First-time success is usually a fluke . First-time failure, by contrast, is expected to be the natural order of things. Failure is how we learn. In Africa they describe a good cook as "She who has broken many pots." If you've spent enough time in the kitchen to have broken a lot of pots, probably you know a fair amount about cooking. I once had dinner with a group of cooks, and they spent time comparing knife wounds and burn scars. They knew how much credibility their failures gave them. I earn my living by writing a daily newspaper column. Each week I am aware that one column I write is going to be the worst column. I try my best every day. I have learned to cherish that column. A successful column usually means that I am discussing my familiar topic, writing in a style I am used to or saying the same things as anyone else but in a fancy way. My younger daughter is a trapeze artist. She spent three years putting together a show, and she did it successfully for years. There was no reason for her to change it but she did anyway. She said she was no longer learning anything new and she was bored. And if she was bored, there was no point in subjecting (......) her body to all that stress. She risked failure and great public embarrassment in order to feed her soul. My granddaughter is a perfectionist. She will feel her failures, and I will want to comfort her. But I will also, I hope, remind her of what she learned, and how she can do better next time. I hope I can tell her, though, that it's not the end of the world. Indeed, with luck, it is the beginning. The writer talked about his own experience to show that _ . A we cannot depend on luck to live a good life B we should try every possible way to avoid failure C past failures made him dare not take risks in writing D the thought of failure will make you work even harder Answer: D In pea plants, tall is dominant over short. What size pea plants would result when two short plants are crossed? A short plants only B short and tall plants C tall plants only D middle-sized plants Answer: A
In the United States you will find yourself being urged from every page of every newspaper and every television station to buy all kinds of goods. Not only is there a wide range of prices for goods in America, there is also a wide range in the quality of goods offered for sale. Unlike some countries, Americans generally pay the price of a product without question, instead of trying to get a lower price by bargaining. However, there are many "sales" in the United States, during which time stores will lower their normal prices. This may all be very confusing to visitors. How are you going to know how to "get your money's worth" when you shop? Perhaps the best advice is: Don't hurry. Visit various stores and determine the quality of goods. Read the advertisements so that you can compare prices. There is a great variety of shops in the United States, ranging from very large stores called "department stores" to very small shops. There are "discount houses" offering goods at low prices, and "dime stores" specializing in a wide range of inexpensive items. Most department stores in large cities carry better quality products at higher prices. However, they offer the shoppers great convenience since they contain such a wide variety of products. If convenience isn't as important to you as price, you may want to shop in discount houses. These stores have nearly as great a variety of goods as department stores, but offer lower prices. They can do so for several reasons. They don't offer the same services to buyers that department stores do; there may be fewer sales people; and the store probably doesn't deliver purchases. Another popular shop is the "dime store". No longer selling many things for five or ten cents, these stores got their name in the last century when it was decided that a small profit on a great quantity of goods would be better than a large profit on fewer sales. Dime stores specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive items and today, prices range from a quarter or 50 cents up to several dollars. What's special about dime stores? The legislature of the state of Chetopah enacted a statute requiring that all law enforcement officers in that state be citizens of the United States. Alien, lawfully admitted to permanent residency five years before the enactment of this statute, sought employment as a forensic pathologist in the Chetopah coroner's office. He was denied such a job solely because he was not a citizen. Alien thereupon brought suit in federal district court against appropriate Chetopah officials seeking to invalidate this citizenship requirement on federal constitutional grounds. The strongest ground upon which to attack this citizenship requirement is that it Which of the following groups of organisms uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen? The Boy Made It! One Sunday, Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost, all alone! He didn't have food, water, a phone, or other supplies. He was getting colder by the minute. Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic. He thought about all the survival shows he had watched on TV. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use. He decided to stop skiing. There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to find shelter form the freezing wind and snow. If he didn't, his body temperature would get very low, which could quickly kill him. Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could. By that evening, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn't lose too much water. Not knowing how much longer he could last, Nicholas did the only thing he could- he huddled in his cave and slept. The next day, Nicholas went out to look for help, but he couldn't find anyone. He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave, because without shelter, he could die that night. On Tuesday, Nicholas went out to find help. He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him. After two days stuck in the snow, Nicholas was saved. Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV. He had often watched Grylls' survival show. Man vs. Wild. That's where he learned the tips that saved his life, In each episode of Man vs. Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out. When Grylls heard about Nicholas' amazing deeds, he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive. What happened to Nicholas one Sunday afternoon? When my grandfather died, my 83-year-old grandmother, once so full of life, slowly began to fade. No longer able to manage a home of her own, she moved in with my mother, where she was visited often by other members of her large, loving family. Although she still had her good days, it was often hard to arouse her interest. But one chilly December afternoon three years ago, my daughter Meagan, then eight, and I were visiting her, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll."I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl," she told a wide-eyed Meagan. "I got it one Christmas when I was about your age. I lived in an old farmhouse in Maine, with Mom, Dad and my four sisters, and the very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll you'd ever want to see." "She had an exquisite(,), hand-painted face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow. Her eyes were blue, and they opened and closed. I remember she had a body of kidskin, and her arms and legs bent at the joints." GG's voice dropped low, taking on an almost respectful tone. "My doll was dressed in a pretty pink gown, decorated with fine lace. ... _ -- my parents must have had to sacrifice so much to afford it But how happy I was that morning!" GG's eyes filled and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas of long ago. "I played with my doll all morning long. And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my new doll down gently on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table, I heard a loud crash." "I hardly had to turn around -- I knew it was my precious doll. And it was. Her lace skirt had hung down from the table just enough for my baby sister to reach up and pull on it. When I ran in, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. She was gone forever." A few years later, GG's baby sister was also gone, she told Meagan, a victim of pneumonia . Now the tears in her eyes spilled over -- tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for a lost time. Subdued for the rest of the visit, Meagan was no sooner in the car going home than she exclaimed, "Mom, I have a great idea! Let's get GG a new doll for Christmas. Then she won't cry when she thinks about it." My heart filled with pride as I listened to my sympathetic little daughter. But where would we find a doll to match GG's fond memories? Where there's a will, as they say, there's a way. When I told my best friends, Liz and Chris, about my problem, Liz put me in touch with a local doll-make. From a doll supply house I ordered a long brown hair and a kidskin body to copy the outfit GG had so lovingly described. Liz volunteered to put the doll together, and Chris helped me make the doll's outfit. Meagan wrote the story of the lost doll by giving examples. Finally our creation was finished. To our eyes it was perfect. But there was no way it could be exactly like the doll GG had loved so much and lost. Would she think it looked anything like it? On Christmas Eve, Meagan and I carried our happily packed gift to GG, where she sat surrounded by children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. "It's for you," Meagan said, "but first you have to read the story that goes with it." GG no sooner got through the first page than her voice cracked and she was unable to go on, but Meagan took over where she left off. Then it was time to open her present. I'll never forget the look on GG's face as she lifted the doll and held it to her chest. Once again her tears fell, but this time they were tears of joy. Holding the doll in her frail arms, she repeated over and over again, "She's exactly like my old doll, exactly like her." And perhaps she wasn't saying that just to be kind. Perhaps however impossible it seemed, we had managed to produce a close copy of the doll she remembered. But as I watched my eight-year-old daughter and her great-grandmother examining the doll together, I thought of a likelier explanation. What GG really recognized, perhaps, was the love that inspired the gift. And love, wherever it comes from, always looks the same. This passage implies that _ .
A botanist developed a new fertilizer that was tested on different types of plants under different conditions. The results indicated that the fertilizer increased plant growth. Which would be the best way to validate the results? Answer: Recycling is a way to take trash and turn it into new products. There are a number of different recycling processes that allow materials to be used more than once. All kinds of materials can be recycled. Some of the most common processes in use today involve recycling plastic, glass, metals , paper, electronics and so on. Items made of these materials include soda cans, plastic boxes, newspapers, old computers, and cardboard boxes. There are many steps in recycling. It isn't actually a simple process and is different for each type of material. For example, paper starts its recycling process by being mixed with water and other chemicals to break it down. This process finally turns the paper into a pulp . Then remove the plastics and other useless materials from the pulp. After that, it gets cleaned. Now the pulp is ready to be made into new paper. However, computers and batteries are usually recycled in order to remove harmful chemicals as well as to find again some valuable materials such as gold. In general, we should follow different steps in the recycling process. These steps are: Collecting recyclable materials, like cans and plastic bottles. Processing the old materials and making new items. *Buying items made from recycled materials. ,. What is recycling? Answer: Five years ago, I was sent to a better middle school. For me, everything there was new and strange. After I had been there for two months, there was an important test in the middle of the term. It covered all my courses. In that test, I didn't get a good grade, but most of my classmates got an A. It made me upset for a long time. I felt everything in the world was changing. I thought my classmates were all better than me. During those days I was very unhappy. One day, my aunt, after talking with my teachers, talked to me. She told me to think about what I had done in the past and what I should do in the future. I was shocked by her words. I thought about what I had done during the past months, and I found I had done nothing to improve my grades. I thought I should work harder. After that, I paid more attention to the teachers' talking in the classes, and I asked my teachers or my classmates when I didn't understand something. I studied very late at night when I met with difficult problems. Most of all, I came to understand the importance of taking notes in class. As a result, I did better in some tests. About three months later, the most important test came at the end of the term. _ From then on, I have tried to do my best when I do something because I know if I want something, I should work hard for it. Which of the following studying methods helped the writer most? _ Answer: Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and Della had only one dollar and eighty-seven cents to buy her husband Jim a gift. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Now, Mister and Missus James Dillingham Young had two possessions which they valued. One was Jim's gold time piece, the watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. She put on her coat and her old brown hat. With a quick motion and brightness still in her eyes, she danced out the door and down the street. Where she stopped the sign read: "Madame Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." Della ran up the steps to the shop, out of breath. "Will you buy my hair?" asked Della. "Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the hair with an experienced hand. "Give it to me quick," said Della. The next two hours went by as if they had wings. Della found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. It was a chain--- simple round rings of silver. She gave the shopkeeper twenty-one dollars and she hurried home with the remaining eighty-seven cents. ...... Jim was never late coming home from work. Della held the silver chain in her hand and sat near the door. Then she heard his step and she turned white for just a minute. She had a way of saying a little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty." The door opened and Jim stepped in. He stopped inside the door, as immovable as a dog smelling a bird. His eyes were fixed upon Della. There was an expression in them that she could not read, and it frightened her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor fear, nor any of the feelings that she had been prepared for. He simply looked at her with a strange expression on his face. Della went to him. "Jim, my love," she cried, "do not look at me that way. I had my hair cut and sold because I could not have lived through Christmas without giving you a gift. My hair will grow out again. I just had to do it. My hair grows very fast. Say 'Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let us be happy. You do not know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I have for you." "You have cut off your hair?" asked Jim, slowly, as if he had not accepted the information even after his mind worked very hard. "Cut it off and sold it," said Della. " I tell you--sold and gone, too. It is Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it was cut for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the meat on, Jim?" Jim seemed to awaken quickly and put his arms around Della. Then he took a package from his coat and threw it on the table. "Do not make any mistake about me, Dell," he said. "I do not think there is any haircut that could make me like my girl any less. But if you will open that package you may see why you had me frightened at first." There were the beautiful combs, made of shells, with jewels at the edge ----just the color1 to wear in the beautiful hair that was no longer hers. She held the combs to herself, and soon she was able to look up with a smile and say, "My hair grows so fast, Jim!" Then Della happily held the silver chain out to him in her open hands. It seemed so bright. "Dell," said Jim, smiling, "let us put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They are too nice to use just right now. I sold my gold watch to get the money to buy the set of combs for your hair. And now, why not put the meat on." What two adjectives could be used to describe Jim and Della according to the passage? Answer: If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how "foolish" the Finnish people are. Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety. The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge. The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly. With so many loopholes in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to _ . But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real "gentleman". We can infer from the passage that _ . Answer:
Years ago, I worked for a trucking company as a driver. It was my habit to go to company on Saturday and spend a couple hours maintaining my truck. As I was under the truck, I noticed the owner's elderly father making his way over to his grandson's truck next to mine. The old man asked the kid to take him fishing. But the grandson told him all about how much he'd love to, but he couldn't due to the prior promises. The old man then walked away. Some minutes later, the father came out and asked his son what the old man had wanted. After telling the story, the kid ended it with saying, "I'm not taking that old man fishing. It's worse than taking a kid." That just broke my heart. I quit working immediately and headed home. I loaded up something like a lawn chair, a pole , and headed back to the yard. On the way I bought a big bobber and some worms. When I got there, I knocked on the door and invited him fishing. If I was like taking a kid fishing, I had determined to take him where I'd take a kid. When we got there I put him in the lawn chair beside the water, baited and cast the line, and handed him the pole. Soon that big old bobber started to dance; he set the hook, drew the fish in skillfully. And handed the pole to me. I unhooked the fish, re-baited and cast, and again handed it to him. This went on for about half an hour at which point he informed me he was tired and needed to go home. Then I got home. When I got him home I gave the fish to his daughter-in-law with instructions to make sure he got them for dinner and then left. Two weeks later, the old man died. His family told me later all he talked about during that time was his fishing trip. While I get the satisfaction of knowing I took an old man on his last fishing trip, his family has to live with the knowledge that a stranger took their grandpa on his last fishing trip. Whenever you get the chance, don't forget about taking grandpa fishing, you may be in the same place and you'll want your family to care about you too. The author stopped his work immediately because he _ . A became quite angry after listening to the words of his boss's son B decided to drive home for fishing tools and take the old man fishing C needed to go and buy a big bobber and some worms he needed D had got to head home to deal with some urgent situations Answer: B. decided to drive home for fishing tools and take the old man fishing Look to many of history's cultural symbols, and there you'll find an ancestor of Frosty, the snowman in the movie Frozen. It appeared on some of the first postcards, starred in some of the earliest silent movies, and was the subject of a couple of the earliest photos, dating all the way back to the 1800s. I discovered even more about one of humanity's earliest forms of life art during several years of research around the world. For example, snowmen were a phenomenon in the Middle Ages, built with great skill and thought. At a time of limited means of expression, snow was like free art supplies dropped from the sky. It was a popular activity for couples to leisurely walk through town to view the temporary works of chilly art. Some were created by famous artists, including a 19-year-old Michelangelo, who in 1494 was appointed by the ruler of Florence, Italy, to build a snowman in his mansion's courtyard. The Miracle of 1511 took place during six freezing works called the Winter of Death. The city of Brussels was covered in snowmen--an impressive scene that told stories on every street corner. Some were political in nature, criticizing the church and government. Some were a reflection of people's imagination. For the people of Brussels, this was a defining moment of defining freedom. At least until spring arrived, by which time they were dealing with damaging floods. If you fear the heyday of the snowman has passed, don't worry: I've learned that some explosive snowman history is still being made today. Every year since 1818, the people of Zurich, Switzerland, celebrate the beginning of spring by blowing up a snowman. On the third Monday of April, the holiday Sechselauten is kicked off when a cotton snowman called the Boogg is stuffed with explosive and paraded through town by bakers and other tradesmen who throw bread to the crowds. The parade ends with the Boogg being placed on a 40-foot pile of firewood. After the bells of the Church of St. Peter have rung six times, representing the passing of winter, the pile is lit. When the snowman explodes, winter is considered officially over--the quicker it is burnt down, the longer summer is said to be. What can be concluded about snowmen from the passage? A They were appreciated in history B They have lost their value C They were related to movies D They vary in shape and size Answer: A. They were appreciated in history Mrs. Goff is a math teacher at Lincoln High School. Mrs. Goff and I met my freshman year. Zach Howe and I were on our way to a baseball game when he said he needed to get his stuff from Mrs. Goff's room. I had no idea who she was then, but he said she was great. Well, he was definitely right. Last year, I had a college math class that required me to be in the computer lab, which was located directly behind Mrs. Goff's room. When I struggled in the section, I would go to Mrs. Goff's and ask for assistance. She told me that I was a little too dependent and not confident enough in my ability. A little confidence, combined with effort, will do wonders for anyone in anything. If you go into something thinking negative thoughts, negative things will happen. Mrs. Goff taught me that it was OK to make a few mistakes. Mistakes are a part of everyone's life. She told me that it is how you learn from them that defines your character. A person that learns from his or her mistakes is more likely to be a successful person in life. This year, I have spent a lot of time with Mrs. Goff. She really helps me instill confidence in myself and others around me. The encouragement that she has given me made me realize that I can do the same thing for people. Therefore, she has helped my leadership skills and increased my confidence in being outgoing. Mrs. Goff is a great role model in my life, and I appreciate everything she has done for me. I will never forget the things that she has done for me and the things she has helped me learn and accomplish throughout high school. I hope to be as good a teacher as she and give encouragement that she has for me and all of her students. What can we conclude from the passage? A A little confidence may help you achieve what might be impossible. B Mrs. Goff is the best math teacher. C A teacher determines the fate of a student. D The author became successful due to Mrs. Goff. Answer: A. A little confidence may help you achieve what might be impossible. Zhou Yan, a Junior 3 student, wishes he never got a mobile phone. Last week, he went to see a doctor because his arms and fingers were injured. The doctor told him that he had had "mobile phone disease ". A growing number of teenagers are getting "mobile phone disease" because more and more are using mobile phones. Zhou got his mobile phone five months ago. He sent messages to his friends with it all the time, even when going to bed. Zhou started to do badly in exams because he spent too much time playing with his mobile phone. His mom got very angry with him, but he didn't stop playing with the mobile phone until his arms got injured. Yang Ling, a doctor, says that if someone uses his mobile phone too much, like Zhou Yan, he might get "mobile phone disease". If teenagers find their arms or fingers hurt , they should go to see a doctor as soon as possible. Yang says teenagers should try to use their mobile phones less, especially at school. Zhou Yan wishes he never got a mobile phone because _ . A it is useless to him B it doesn't work well C it made his arms and fingers hurt D his mother got angry with him Answer: C. it made his arms and fingers hurt Traveling is one of the most important things and people have been interested in it for many years. Modern traffic develops fast. So traveling to different places has become much easier than before. Staying healthy while traveling can make your trip happier. But do you know how to keep healthy during a trip? The following information may be useful for you. Before traveling: Wear comfortable shoes, a hat and sunglasses. Take some necessary medicine with you. They can be used when you get sick or have other problems. If you do lots of sports like walking or climbing during your trip, you should do some exercise for weeks or months before you leave. While traveling: Be sure not to eat dirty food or bad fruit. Have enough time to take a rest during your trip. Tap water is not safe, so drink bottled water and always clean the cover of the bottle. You had better not _ while your are having a trip. A wear glasses B wear a hat C be too tired D take a rest Answer: C. be too tired
After finishing my teaching for a school year, I thought that I should go back to Montreal, Quebec, my hometown for a visit. My main goal was to relax in preparation for the challenges of my retirement in the coming year. Through my stay in Montreal, I met lots of Chinese who are struggling to succeed and then lead a better life in Canada. Some travelled thousands of miles to get knowledge. When I spoke with some of them about the major barrier they had to face after they arrived in Canada, they all talked about the two official languages of Canada. But I was impressed by their ability to express their ideas while switching between English and French. Almost all of those people said they often felt homesick. They miss their families and friends. Though Montreal has lots of Chinese restaurants, they long for a home-cooked meal. I met some tourists who were trying to realize their childhood dreams of experiencing the life in a developed country. When I asked them if Montreal had lived up to their expectations, they hesitated. They said that reality never agrees with fantasies. However, they were glad to have the opportunity to visit Montreal and didn't regret taking the trip. Not all the Chinese people I met were happy. I once met a young lady who met with a gentleman through the Internet. However, to her disappointment, he disappeared after he promised to marry her in Montreal. I was served by another Chinese person who could not handle the challenges of studying in an English environment and ended up working in a restaurant with minimum pay. Exploring different parts of the world, without any doubt, is an enriching experience. However, one should be realistic when it comes to leaving his hometown to set up a new life in a foreign country. One should take the time to examine the advantages and the shortcomings of the venture before they decide to chase an uncertain dream of achieving success or leading a better life. The writer thinks that _ . people should think carefully before chasing the dreams abroad BEIJTNG, July 21 (Xinhua) -- An armed police officer who died in the riot in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been honored as a "loyal guard devoted to his mission ", one of the highest-level honors in the Chinese army. Premier Wen Jiabao and Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman Hu Jintao signed the order to honor Wan Jingang, a 31 -year-old officer in the Xinjiang Armed Police recently. Wan was awarded the honorary title of "loyal guard devoted to his mission" for his bravery and loyalty in carrying out his mission and task, according to the order. Wan and his men were patrolling the streets when a group of rioters started to attack passengers on a bus in Urumqi on July 5. He was surrounded and attacked by rioters while helping passengers escape. He later died of serious injuries. The State Council and the CMC also called on the army and police officers to learn from Wan's loyalty in carrying out his mission, bravery and fighting spirit and strong sense of responsibility in safeguarding national unity and social stability. The State Council and the CMC also called on the army and police to follow Wan's example and firmly fight against the criminal activities of lawbreakers to safeguard social stability , socialist legal system and the interests of the people. The July 5 riot in Urumqi left 197 people dead and more than 1, 600 injured. The homes of 633 families were damaged and 627 vehicles were destroyed. Which statement is Not true? Wan failed to fight back when he and his men were attacked by the rioters. What is a source of nectar? daffodils One silly question I simply can't understand is "How do you feel?" Usually the question is asked of a man's action-- a man on the go, walking along the street or busily working at his desk. So what do you expect him to say? He'll probably say," Fine, I'm all right.", but you've put a bug in his ear. ---Maybe now he's not sure. If you have a good friend, you may have seen something in his face, or his walk, that he overlooked that morning. It starts him worrying a little. First thing you know, he looks in a mirror to see if everything is all right, while you go merrily on your way asking someone else. "How do you feel?" Every question has its time and place. It's perfectly acceptable, for example, to ask "How do you feel?" if you're visiting a close friend in hospital. But if the fellow is walking on both legs, hurrying take a train, or sitting at his desk working, it's no time to ask him that silly question. [:Z _ xx _ k.Com] When George Bernard Shaw, the famous writer of plays, was in his eighties, someone asked him, "How do you feel?" Shaw put him in his place. "When you reach my age," he said, "either you feel all right or you're dead." According to the writer, greetings such as "How do you feel" _ . generally make one feel uneasy. GAOMI, Shandong, Oct.11( Xinhua)--Chinese writer Mo Yan said last Thursday that he was "very surprised" at winning the Nobel Literature Prize. Speaking to reporters at a hotel in his hometown Gaomi city in east China's Shandong Province, Mo said, "(I was)very surprised upon winning the prize because I felt I was not very senior in terms of qualification(among Chinese writers).There are many good writers and my ranking was not so high." "I am very happy," he said."I was having dinner when I received the news.I was surprised." "Thank you for coming all the way to Gaomi.This should be a season of red sorghum, but no such crop is planted any more.I believe none of you have seen the crop," he said. "The Nobel Literature Prize is a very important literature prize, but not the top award.It represents the opinions of the jury( ).I am satisfied with my major works and I still keep writing by hand.My works are Chinese literature, which is part of world literature.They show the life of Chinese people as well as the country's unique culture and folk customs.Meanwhile, my novels described human beings in the broad sense.I wrote in the perspective of a human being.These works stand beyond regions and ethnic groups," he said. "The folk arts and folk culture accompanied my growth and I was influenced by the cultural elements I witnessed through my childhood.When I picked up the pen for literature creation, the folk cultural elements inevitably entered my novels and affected and even determined the artistic styles of my works," he added. Mo's win brought joy to other writers and readers throughout the country as he is the first Chinese national to win the Nobel Literature Prize in its century--long history. Born into a farmer's family in a village in Gaomi, Mo has been known since the late 1980s for his novels such asBig BreastsandWide Hips and Red Sorghum, which was later adapted into a film by director Zhang Yimou. Which of the following words can best describe Mo Yan? modest
Since I became a full--time freelancer , I've found one of the hardest things to do is to get up early. Without the danger of being fired, there just hasn't been a lot of motivation to get out of bed. I've quickly learned that getting up is the key to success and better yet: waking up early is really just a habit. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you must have strong reasons to get out of bed. Motivation is the only thing keeping us from lying in bed all day. Writing down all the big and important things you'll do the next day can give you an extra push in your goal to wake up early and quickly. Don't read in bed. Spending as little time as possible in bed will actually help your body realize that the bed is for sleeping, and not for lying awake for hours. The goal of reading in bed is just to help you fall asleep within 10 minutes. Stress is one of the main causes of poor sleep. Relax yourself before getting into bed. Try controlled breathing exercises or yoga to lower your stress level. These are just a few ways you can use to wake up earlier. Finding the best way is the most important, and it requires a little work. The key thing is that waking up should be a pleasant experience. If you can make waking up something you are looking forward to, you're already halfway on your journey toward becoming an early riser. What is the point of getting up early? Answer: Motivation. Over thousands of years, human beings have been learning about more and more about this world, and have figured out many ways to avoid risks and make our lives easier. Even in ancient times, we used fire to frighten away animals, built simple boats to cross waters, and armed ourselves with sharpening stones and sticks. Nowadays, with advanced technology and instrument, people know the world better than ever. It's surprising how much people already know about this world and how much we've changed our lives by using the knowledge we have. But if you think we know everything, that's wrong. I guess sometimes we have to accept the limitation on our understanding of the world. No matter how much we're already known about the world, there are things that remain mysterious. I learned this from my pregnancy which ended in the 6th month, due to a placental abruption . I started to see my OB/GYN every month, taking vitamins regularly, doing all the lab tests to make sure we were expecting a healthy baby. All the results looked promising, and we thought we would have a healthy baby girl in January next year. Even in the week before placental abruption, when I was in hospital because of a sudden bleeding, doctors didn't believe there were any bad possibilities after reading my blood tests. Unfortunately it still happened. Later, I asked my doctor "So what caused this?" She said, "I don't know. We probably will never know." After leaving the hospital, I sometimes do feel frustrated for what happened. But I already accept the fact that there are simply things that we do not know. No matter how well you plan and monitor your life there are uncertainties that can not be predicted and thus can not be avoided. _ Her name was Janet. She came to the world in April, and left us 6 months later. Though we never had the chance of meeting her, she is always our beloved daughter. In the late May 2013, during our first OB visit, we saw a little heart beating happily inside its mother. We couldn't even tell that was a baby, but we knew the magic was happening. The first three months was a disaster, Janet showed her power by making her mama throw up every day. Daddy became the cook of the family, and spent hours learning new dishes to please his picky wife. In the 12th week, we saw her again during an OB screening. When the doctor tried to measure her, she suddenly waved her hand to us, as if saying "I know you are spying on me again." Every regular OB check became our favorite experience, when we could hear her heart beating and knew she was enjoying herself. In the 18th week, one day when daddy was singing, she suddenly kicked her mama. We never felt so happy. Since then, she became more and more naughty, doing all sorts of exercise in her warm little house. We started to think about names, decorate her pink room, and shared the news with our friends. For young parents, there are always a lot to learn! Then it was the end of 25th week. A sudden bleeding terrified mama and daddy. After staying in the hospital for three days, things looked all right again, and Janet did not seem to be affected. However, the night after we went out of the hospital, a much worse contraction started which caused placental abruption. When we went back to the hospital, mama survived from an emergency operation, but Janet's heart was no longer beating. Janet, thank you for all the joy you brought to us. We love you and we will miss you forever. Rest in peace! What does the writer mean by saying " _ "? Answer: We have to accept the limitation of human knowledge. Long, long ago the world was a happy place. Nobody was ever sick or sad. At that time there lived a little girl named Pandora. One day a fairy gave her a wonderful box. The fairy made Pandora promise not to open it. Pandora and her friends often looked at the box and wondered what was in it. For a long time Pandora kept her promise, but at last she couldn't help herself. She opened the box a little. Then hundreds of bad fairies flew out. They stung Pandora and her friends. The bad fairies flew out of the door and stung all the children in the land. Then Pandora heard a voice crying, "Let me out, and I will help you." She opened the box again, and a beautiful fairy flew out. She told Pandora that her name was Hope. She kissed Pandora and her friends, and made them feel well. Then she flew away to help the other children. Until now, when people are sick or unhappy, the little good fairy, Hope, comes to comfort them. What's the best title of this passage? Answer: Pandora's box The best family vacation that ever had was going on a road trip to Myrtle Beach. The trip was for 2 weeks during the March break from school. This trip was probably about 20 years ago so it was before the time of things like portable video games and being able to watch movies in the back seat. So to pass the many hours of travel my brother and I had to entertain ourselves and each other. My mum would set the back set up so that it was out own little playroom. She would pack everything up in the feet well so that we had a big level area to play in. We would play cards and board games. When it got to the point that _ we would be sent back to out own side of the seat and would be forced to either nap or read by ourselves until we could be friendly to each other again. I can remember us playing for quite some time when we turned the back seat into a spaceship and travelled around the earth. Another time we turned it into a kitchen and had a bake-off . But the thing that I remember the most and that gave us many hours of enjoyment was using each other's faces as silly Plasticine and making funny faces. We would see how far we could stretch each other's mouth open, see how thin we could make the other's eye by pulling on it. We would keep going until one of us begged for mercy because we had to give our faces a rest. So while I can remember us having a great time on the beach, laughing a lot trying to put the tent up in the rain, what I remember the most of that trip and what always makes me smile the most is remembering the pain that our faces would be in after the trip. Which of the following titles would best suit the passage? Answer: How to Kill Time while Traveling in the Past Super Dan Lin Dan is a famous badminton player. Now he plays for Badminton team of the People's Republic of China. Many people around the world know him because he won the gold medals in 2008 and 2012. He is from Fujian. He was born on October 14, 1983. He lives with his parents, grandmother and his wife now. Lin Dan's favorite player is Jordan. Jordan is a basketball player. Lin loves Coke. He likes pets, but dog is his favorite. Many young people love him very much. They think Lin Dan is their super star. They also call him Super Dan. How many people are there in Lin Dan's family? Answer: 5
Question: Han Dan comes from China, she is a clever and beautiful girl. She studies in a middle school. She has four pen pals. They are from different countries and like different animals. Linda is from America. Her favorite animal is the penguin. The penguin likes ice very much. Lily comes from Australia .The koala is her favorite animal. The koala likes to eat leaves. And it sleeps all day, but it gets up at night. Bob is from India. His favorite animal is the elephant. Grass is the elephant's favorite food. Tom is a Canadian boy. He likes the tiger best. The tiger likes to eat meat. What is Han Dan's favorite animal? It is the panda. Bamboo is panda's favorite. Where is Tom from? A. He's from America B. He's from Canada C. He's from India D. He's from China Answer: B Question: Today Grandma comes for a visit. She gives my sister and me a box of chocolate candies. We say "thank you!" Then Jenny quickly takes off the box. The pieces all look the same! I can't tell which pieces are hard inside and which are soft! I only like the soft ones. Jenny does not care. She is happy to get any kind of candy! I slowly look at all the pieces; I don't know which one to choose. Just then Dad calls us Grandma is going home, He wants us to say goodbye to her. I hurry to the front door where they are standing. Jenny comes a few minutes later. I say, "Grandma, I hope to see you soon. I always feel sad when you leave. "Jenny stands behind me and doesn't say anything. After Grandma goes home, I find out why Jenny doesn't say anything. She has most of our candies in her mouth! Only a few pieces are left in the bottom of the box! Then I'm sad! What do they get from their grandma? A. Chocolate cakes B. Bar of chocolate C. A box of chocolate candy D. Some sweet cookies Answer: C Question: President Coolidge's statement, "The business of America is business," still points to a very important truth today -- that business organizations have more prestige in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions still possess this great prestige? One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the idea of competition than other organizations in society. Since competition is seen as the main source of progress and development by most Americans, competitive business organizations are respected. Competition is not only good in itself; it is the means by which other basic American values, such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected. Competition protects the individual freedom by making sure that there is no monopoly of power. Compared with one and all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for benefit. If one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to the competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Since there are many businesses competing for the customers' dollars, they cannot afford to treat them unfairly and the customers would lose nothing.A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it gives more support for freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people while business leaders are not. Many Americans believe that competition is as important, or even more important, as democracy in protecting freedom. Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the idea of equal opportunities. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to any person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American choice of the higher social position which is not based on one's family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equal opportunities. Who can benefit from business competition? A. Businessmen who compete. B. Customers of those businesses. C. People with the idea of equality and freedom. D. Both business organizations and government. Answer: B Question: He may not have an "S" across his chest but this dog is most certainly a hero. Harley, who was rescued from a puppy mill four years ago, was named the American Humane Association's 2015 American Hero Dog. Harley, who is missing an eye and has other medical issues from his time at the mill, is now a "spokes-dog" against puppy mills. He serves as the adorable furry face of the"Harley to the Rescue"campaign, which raises funds for the National Dog Mill Rescue, according to a press release. The pup was rescued back in 2011 and adopted by Rudi and her husband, Dan. "It was just four years ago that he was pulled from the cage in the puppy mill and left to die," Harley's owner, Rudi, said during the awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles this past weekend, according to Today. com. "We never would have ever thought he would live this long and make such a difference for so many puppies. " The dog was one of eight finalists up for the American Hero Dog and was chosen as the winner through public votes. The finalists all won $ 1,500 to be donated to one of American Humane Association' s charity partners, with Harley receiving another $ 5 ,000 to go toward his charity partner, New Leash On Life. According to the release, Harley spent 10 years at the puppy mill, and endured rough treatment there, which led to his many medical issues. He lost his eye as a result of his cage being power-washed with him inside. The dog isn't just the face of his campaign, he also goes on rescue missions and makes public appearances at events and schools to raise awareness for puppy mills. This incredible work is all due to the dog' s fighting spirit. That spirit is allowing him now to be the voice for dogs who cannot speak for themselves and give everybody hope that tomorrow's going to be a better day. How did the "Harley to the Rescue" campaign function? A. By saving dogs from a puppy mill. B. By operating the American Humane Association. C. By collecting money for the National Dog Mill Rescue. D. By giving endangered dogs-enough medical treatment. Answer: C Question: During the week days,they are luckily busy office people; but on weekends,they are just a brood of stay home animals.A recent survey shows that office workers in China prefer quiet and easy ways to spend their weekends. In the survey,conducted by job seeking and offering website Zhaopin.com,32.8 percent of the 6000 respondents choose to stay home at weekends and have a good rest,the Beijing Morning Post reported. Twenty percent use their days off to do housework. And only 19.3 percent are willing to have fun during the break time from work.Their first choice of fun is shopping. Other choices,though practiced by few,include meeting friends,accompanying the children,trips to the suburbs,and lessons for more skills. When they go shopping,54.5 percent of the white collars actually shop in supermarkets,while 27.9 percent attend other stores,especially when discounts are offered. These activities don't seem to cost much,as 60 percent spend average less than 200 yuan(US$26)during weekends,and 30 percent no more than 500 yuan. When asked whom they would spend the weekends with,about 40 percent mention their partners,and 30 percent prefer a weekend all by themselves.Less than 20 percent hang out with friends. Only 5.8 percent would kill the time with their colleagues.This is because we tend to avoid too many personal contacts with our coworkers when we don't have to work with them,according to some experts. How many of the office workers who are the respondents do the housework at weekends? A. 1968. B. 1158. C. 1200. D. 1674. Answer: C
A shout is made into the night sky and carries Answer: One evening Mr. Green is driving his car in the country and looking for a small hotel. When he sees an old man on the side of the road, Mr. Green stops his car and says to the old man, 'I want to go to the Sun Hotel. Do you know how to get there?' 'Yes, of course,' the old man answers, 'I will show you the way. Please let me sit in your car. I can go with you and tell you where to turn.' He gets in Mr. Green's car. They drive about twelve miles . When they come to a small house, the old man says, 'Stop here.' Mr. Green stops his car and says, 'But this isn't a hotel.' 'No,' the old man answers. 'This is my house. Thank you very much for driving me home. And I'll show you the way to the Sun Hotel. Turn around and go back nine miles. Then you will get to the hotel.' What is Mr. Green doing? Answer: When you have a question about something, where do you go? For many people the answer is simple as they can go online to a search engine like Google or Yahoo. But what about people in rural or underdeveloped areas who may have no way to get on the Internet? A business and international development professor in California, Rose Shuman, found an answer for them: Question Box. Question Box is a service that provides answers---free of charge---for people who cannot search the Internet directly. The users of Questions Box might be those who might not be able to read, or simply have no access to the Internet. Question Box began three years ago in India. People used a metal call box with a push-to-talk button to connect a live operator. Rose Schuman explained," You just need to push a big green button on the box which will connect you directly to our operators who are sitting in front of computers, and speak your language. You can ask them any sort of question you want, and they'll look it up in English or in Hindi, or whatever the main language is, and translate the answer back for you." The service is currently offered in two villages. The latest version of the box uses mobile phone technology, and solar panels in case the electrical power fails. Rose Shuman says the aim was to make the box as easy as possible for users, "It is very efficient . Rather than try to bring a lot of difficulties to them and expect them to spend a lot of time to learn how to use the Internet, the idea was to make a technology that even Grandma could use." In April 2009, Question Box was introduced to Uganda. Forty community workers with mobile phones connected villagers to call center operators in Kampala. The community workers went around telling people about the service. They wore T-shirts that said "Ask me." But Internet service in Uganda proved slow and undependable. So Question Box teamed up with a local technology company to store information on a local server. That way, the researchers in Kampala could quickly search the database for answers. What can we know from the passage? Answer: My cat's name is Lucy. She is a very pretty cat. Her hair is _ . She has four children. She is very happy with her young babies. The four children are not all like Lucy very much. The biggest child is quite black. It is black with white feet and white ears. Two children are like their mother. They are black. My daughter says, "Aren't they pretty ? Can' t I have the black and white one? Isn't he a tomcat ?" I say, "I don't know, but I know the yellow and black ones are female ." "Are they? How do you know?" "For they are yellow and black. Tomcats never have that colour. I' ll tell you something about that. Listen---" The story tells us the female cat' s hair is _ . Answer: My family lives very happily on a farm near a small town. My father always learns some information about weather through the TV, the Internet and newspapers. One evening, he asked us to meet at the table after dinner. "I have some bad news," he said. "The weather reports on the television warned that we would face a typhoon tomorrow." At 6.30 a.m. the next day, the winds started and the rain was falling heavily. There were new warnings that the sea level could go up as much as 5 meters. The winds were terribly strong and tree branches were flying everywhere. Trees were falling down and the rain kept coming down. Just after 10:30, the wind stopped suddenly-it was strangely calm and the sun was shining. Then the winds came howling again, but this time more rain fell. There were more flying things and the storm came in. Everything within 1 km of the coast was flooded-there was fish in the streets. Now the winds were dying down, but the rain was still falling. After another two hours, the wind came to a stop at last. My home was in a mess and my mum burnt her arm when the hot water from the stove hit her skin. We were all frightened, but we were all safe, including the cat. What were the new warnings? Answer:
Max was sitting at home reading his favorite book. The story was about cakes. Max thought to himself, "I am going to go to the store and get stuff to make a cake!" Max headed to the grocery store to get the cake ingredients. Max was going to make a banana and chocolate cake. On his way he saw his friend Greg, a small wolf. Greg was also heading to the store. Greg was going to make a pie for his mother. He needed to get strawberries and blueberries. Max asked Greg if he wanted to walk to the store together. Greg the wolf said yes, so they walked to the store together. At the store the other people looked at Max and Greg. They had never seen an alligator and a wolf who are friends before. Max and Greg laughed at this. Max got the chocolate and bananas to make his cake and Greg got the strawberries and blueberries to make his pie. They left the store. Max waved good bye to Greg. "See you later alligator," said Greg. Max went home and made his cake, it was very good. What type of animal is Max? A. Alligator B. Blueberries C. Fox D. Wolf Answer: A. Alligator Once there were two brothers. They were very good to each other. They were half brothers because the elder brother's mother was dead, and then his father married again. The stepmother was not kind to the elder brother, but the younger brother loved him and often helped him. One day, the mother gave each of the brothers a box of seeds and enough food for a few days. She said to them, "Take them. Go and plant them. One of you must plant them on the east hill, and the other on the west hill. Don't come back if the seeds don't come out. " The mother gave very bad seeds to the elder brother, but the two brothers didn't know this, and set out the next morning. When they came to a bridge, they sat down to rest. After that, they got up to say good-bye to each other, but they took the wrong boxes of seeds! Ten days later, the elder brother's seeds began to grow and he came back. But the younger brother did not return home because his seeds didn't grow. At last, he died on the hill. ,. (10) One day, the mother gave two boxes of seeds _ A. only to the elder son B. only to the younger son C. to their father D. to the two sons Answer: D. to the two sons London will stage its biggest political funeral in almost half a century on Wednesday when Britain's governing elite join the Queen and global leaders to bid farewell to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, better known as the " Iron Lady". In an event comparable to that of Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965, Thatcher's coffin will be carried on a horse-drawn gun carriage through streets lined with admirers from parliament to the city's most famous cathedral. The bells of London's symbolic Big Ben clock tower will fall silent for the first time since Churchill's funeral and more than 700 men and women from Britain's armed forces will honor a woman who led them to victory in the 1982 Falklands War as foreign politicians from around 170 nations look on. Surveys have shown that many are unhappy that the estimated l0-million($15 million)pound bill for the funeral is being picked up by the taxpayer, while some left-wing lawmakers say the luxurious funeral is too expensive. But her admirers, of whom there are many in her party and in southern England, argue that her historical profile deserves such a funeral. She was the country's first and only woman premier, was Britain's longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, and won three general elections. More than 2,300 mourners will attend including 11 serving prime ministers from around the world, the British government's entire cabinet, two heads of state and 17 foreign ministers. But there will be notable absences. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is too ill to attend and Nancy Reagan, the widow of Thatcher's great U*S. ally Ronald Reagan, is also unable to come. Thatcher struck up a close relationship with Reagan during the Cold War, backed the first President George Bush during the 1991 Gulf War, and was among the first to discover that Gorbachev was a man she could "do business with. " Covered in the red, white and blue British flag, Thatcher's coffin lay overnight in a 13th-century church in Britain's parliament, a forum she dominated for years. From the passage we know that Big Ben clock tower will fall silent to _ . A. get repaired for the first time B. honour the passing away of the great woman C. tell the specific time to the public D. welcome the officials from all over the world Answer: B. honour the passing away of the great woman A statute of the state of Orrington provides that assessments of real property for tax purposes must represent the "actual value" of the property. The Blue County Tax Commission, in making its assessments, has uniformly and consistently determined the "actual value" of real property solely by reference to the price at which the particular property was last sold. In recent years, the market values of real property in Blue County have been rising at the rate of 15% per year. Owner is required to pay real estate taxes on her home in Blue County that are 200% to 300% higher than those paid by many other 200. owners of similar homes in similar neighborhoods in that county, even though the current market values of their respective homes and Owner's home are nearly identical. The reason the taxes on Owner's home are higher than those imposed on the other similar homes in similar neighborhoods is that she bought her home much more recently than the bought her home much more recently than the other owners and, therefore, it is assessed at a much higher "actual value" than their homes. Persistent efforts by Owner to have her assessment reduced or the assessments of the others raised by the Blue County Tax Commission have failed. Owner has now filed suit against the Blue County Tax Commission, charging only that the tax assessment on her property is unconstitutional. The strongest constitutional argument to support Owner's claim is that the comparative overvaluation of Owner's property by the Blue County Tax Commission in making tax assessments over time A. deprives Owner of the equal protection of the laws. B. deprives Owner of a privilege or immunity of national citizenship. C. constitutes a taking of private property for public use without just compensation. D. constitutes an ex post facto law. Answer: A. deprives Owner of the equal protection of the laws. Are you ever so worried about something that you even have a headache or can't sleep at night? Do you ever feel a stomachache during a test? If so, then you know what stress is. Stress is what you feel when you are worried about something. When you are under stress, you may feel angry, sad, scared, or afraid --all this can give you a stomachache or a headache. In modern society, most people are under the higher stress than ever before. There are different kinds of stress. Some kinds of stress are good and others are bad. Good stress may happen when someone asks you to answer questions in class or when you have to give a report. This kind of stress can help you to finish things better. Under this stress, you will find yourself have more motivation and energy to study. However, bad stress can happen if the stress lasts too long. You may not feel well if a family member is sick, if you're having problems at school, or if anything else makes you upset every day. That kind of stress isn't going to help you. The best way to keep stress away is to have a balanced life. If you get enough sleep and food, and if you exercise and leave time for fun, you'll feel less stress. The passage is written in some ways except _ . A. By raising questions. B. By following time order. C. By making comparisons . D. By making examples. Answer: B. By following time order.
India was once part of the British Empire, but thanks to modern technology and a booming economy, it has turned the tables on its former colonial master. Indian tutors are helping to teach math to British children over high-speed Internet connections. Early results suggest the idea is improving exam results. But not everyone is happy at this "outsourcing" of tutoring. It's 3:30, and pupils at Raynham Primary School in London are gathering for their after-school maths lessons. Five time zones-- thousands of kilometers away--their math tutors are also arriving for class. High-speed Internet has made it possible for Indian tutors to teach British pupils in real time. Each pupil gets a dedicated one-to-one online tutor. The students work with activities on their computer screen and wear a headset and microphone to talk to their tutor. The class teacher, Altus Basson, says he has seen an improvement in results. "There are some children who've really rocketed in their results. Children who struggleto focus in class focus a lot better on the laptops. The real advantage is that each child gets a focused activity and a single tutor," he said. Such individualized teaching is the core idea of Brightspark Education, the company that provides the online tutoring, says founder Tom Hooper. "Children today feel very confident online; they feel very engaged; they feel very in control. And that's half the battle with education.Give them control, make them feel confident and enjoy their learning and you'll see them start to improve and embrace it," he said. Raynham Primary School is among the first in Europe to try online tutoring. At between $20 and $25 an hour, it's about half the cost of face-to-face coaching. But some people say an Internet connection is not enough of a connection for teaching and learning. Kevin Courtney is deputy General Secretary of Britain's National Union of Teachers. "We think, there's a really important emotional connection between a teacher and a child whether it's a whole class or whether it's one-to-one. You need that immediacy of feedback and we're not convinced that that can happen across an Internet connection. In one of the wealthiest.countries in the world, we think that we can afford to have teachers with genuine emotional connection there with the children," he said. Brightspark Education says the online tutoring is used only as an addition to supplement regular teaching. The company says its service does not represent a threat to teachers' jobs in Britain. Parents say they're very satisfied with the results they've seen. And what about the children?Children: "I love it!"I love it!"I hate maths!" So math--or, as the British call it, maths--is still not everyone's favorite subject even with the latest technology to teach it. What's the best title for this passage ? Indian Tutors Teach British Kids Online Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, seldom walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day. When Mary was hospitalized with heart trouble in 1989, they decided it was time to get serious. Richard, who worked for a business company, was eager to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her demanding job. They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching the industry. "We knew it had to be a specialty store because we couldn't match the big chains dollar for dollar," says Mary. One figure caught her attention: She'd read somewhere that roughly 20 percent of books sold were mysteries , and many buyers spent more $300 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers. On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Cafe near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family's money to start a shop. To cover the $100,000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from an bank. The store merely broke even in its first year, with only $120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract customers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and served dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited dozens of writers to discuss their stories. Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $420,000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales clerks, Richard and Mary together earn about $34,000. "The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income," says Richard. "This has always been about an enjoyable life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money." According to Richard, the main purpose of running the bookstore is _ . to do what they like to do Mark got a letter from his granddaddy that said there was something cool to see. He called his granddaddy on the telephone and asked what it was. He was told that he needs to come over to see it for himself. After asking his parents if it was OK, Mark went to his granddaddy's house. When he got there, they turned off the television and lamp and went around to the backyard. In his granddaddy's backyard, there was a river and lots of plants and flowers. They followed the river and found a pond. The pond was full of goldfish because it was a goldfish pond. There were goldfish of every different color in the pond and it was an amazing sight. Mark had lunch with his granddaddy by the pond and thanked him for showing the interesting pond to him. After that, Mark went home and told his parents about how cool the trip was. Where was the goldfish pond located? By the river behind Mark's granddaddy's house. You know Australia is a big country, but you may not know how easy it is to get around. The _ beaches that go for miles and deserts that touch the horizon are just there, waiting to be reached and explored. The following are the different ways you can explore our vast country. Getting around Australia Air Flying is the best way to cover large distances in a short time. You can spend more time on the Australia's can't-miss landscapes and relaxing lifestyle. Moreover, competition among airlines makes great flying fees available for you. Drive Australia has a vast network of well-maintained roads and some of the most beautiful touring routes in the world. You have no difficulty finding car rental companies at major airports, central city locations, suburbs and attractions. Bus Bus travel in Australia is comfortable, easy and economical. Buses generally have air conditioning, reading lights, adjustable seats and videos. Services are frequent, affordable and efficient. Rail Train travel is the cheapest and gives you an insight into Australia's size and variety, all from the comfort of your carriage. Scheduled services are a great way to get quickly between our cities and regional centers. Ferry The Spirit of Tasmania runs a passenger and vehicle ferry service between Melbourne and Tasmania nightly. Extra services are running during summer rush hours. Sealink ferries connect South Australia and Kangaroo Island several times a day. Ferries connect suburbs in our capital cities. Walk With easy on the feet pedestrian streets, walking is a great way to get around our cities. Besides all the above, you can also experience some of the longest tracks and trails in the world in central Australia--impressive journeys of a thousand kilometers or more that can take several weeks to complete. If you have only 5 days and want to visit Australia's famous attractions that are far away from each other, which way of travelling best suits you? By air. I went to bed at 11pm, it was snowing. I slept deep and my clock didn't work. It was so cold that I didn't want to get up again. I called my mother "Mom, my alarm clock is dead, but tomorrow morning I need to get up at six o'clock to catch an early bus . Can you give me a wakeup call?" My mother's voice was a little dull, "Fine, dear." Phone rings pulled me out of my dreams. Mom said from the other end of the line,"It is time to get up, and you need to catch the early bus." I looked at my watch-5:40."Didn't I ask you to wake me up at SIX?" I complained."Let me have some more sleep, please!" I got up and ready for the trip. It was a dark, cold morning, and everywhere was filled with snow. As I reached the bus stop, I found a white-haired couple had already been waiting. "You see, you didn't sleep at all night and got here so early," the man murmured( ) to his wife. The bus finally came. The driver was a very young man. He waited just long enough for me to get on before he started the bus again. "Please wait," I said to the driver. "There are two older people that need to get on, too. It is so cold, and they have waited for a long time. How could you leave them behind?" Without stopping the bus, the young driver said"That's OK, they are my parents. This is my first day on the job, so they came to make sure I was all right." I couldn't hold back my tears. My mobile phone rang, incoming was my father's message, "Sweetie, your mom is not feeling well, she was awake most of the night so that she wouldn't miss your wakeup call." The wakeup call, the older couple, the young driver...reminded me of a Jewish proverb: "When a father gives something to his son, the son smiles; when a son gives something to his father, the father cries." What can we learn from the last proverb( )? Parents' love is great
Question: When a dog loses a leg, the animal eventually figures out the best way to get around on three legs. In a short time, the dog learns to deal with its physical disability. Now, scientists have developed robots that behave in much the same way. We can find robots everywhere. Robots build cars, play chess and can clean your house. They may someday drive your car, too. Two robots, named Spirit and Opportunity, were sent to Mars on a mission to explore the red planet. Jeff Clune is a computer scientist with the University of Wyoming. He says robots also help people in natural disasters. Robots are deployed in search and rescue operations following an earthquake. They may someday also be used to examine the wreckage of a nuclear accident, like the one in Fukushima, Japan. Mr. Clune says robots can be sent to a lot of places said to be unsafe. "The problem is that all of those types of situations and environment are extremely unpredictable and dangerous. And it is very likely that robots and humans in those situations become damaged." He and other scientists are developing technology so that robots will continue operating after the first sign of injury. They want the machines to have the ability to make changes and continue performing until they can be repaired. Mr. Clune and researchers in France have added one more operation to the skill set of robots working under difficult conditions. They say they programmed a hexapod robot, one with six legs, and a robotic arm to learn how to deal with injury. Their findings were reported in the journal "Nature". Mr. Clune said that once the robots become damaged, they use their intuition and knowledge of how their body works to find a way to deal with the damage. He says the robots are also programmed with child-like curiosity. In other words, they are always asking questions and looking for answers. The whole process takes about a minute for the robots to find a way to overcome damage. According to the passage, nowadays robots can't _ . A. play chess or clean the house B. be sent on a mission to explore on the Mars C. help people in search and rescue operations following an earthquake D. examine the wreckage of a nuclear accident Answer: D. examine the wreckage of a nuclear accident Question: Imagine this situation. You pass a group of people. The people are talking to each other. You cannot hear what they are saying. But suddenly they start laughing. What would you think? Would you think they were laughing at something funny that one of them said? Or -- be honest with yourself -- would you think they were laughing at you? Yes, you. Being laughed at is a common fear. But a major study published in two thousand and nine found that this fear is not the same around the world. It differs from culture to culture. People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Less than ten percent of Finns in the study said they would think that, compared to eighty percent of people in Thailand. Some people in the study said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations but hid their feelings of insecurity. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before. The study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia were more likely to be in the first group. They would hide their feelings of insecurity if they were around other people's laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan were more likely to try to avoid such situations if they felt they had been laughed at before. Shy people often avoid situations that would force them into close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make other people laugh at them. But some people worry much more than others. They may have a disorder called gelotophobia. Gelos is a Greek word. It means laughter. Phobia means fear. This fear of laughter can be truly sad for those who live with it. It can affect how they lead their lives. In the study, a team from the University of Zurich led more than ninety researchers from around the world. They wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another purpose of the study was to compare the levels of fear of being laughed at in different cultures. The researchers surveyed more than twenty-two thousand people in forty-two different languages. The findings appeared in the scientific journal Humor. The passage is likely to occur in _ . A. an advertisement B. a science magazine C. a science fiction D. a storybook Answer: B. a science magazine Question: Fly Alone for the First Time I began flying lessons at the age of 14; but the Federal Aviation Administration requires you to be 16 before you make flight by yourself. So I had to wait for two long years until I could fly a plane by myself. I used that time to master the basic maneuvers of flying. I learned emergency procedures and practiced hundreds of takeoffs and landings until I could land the airplane smoothly without bouncing it down the runway. It wasn't always easy, and many times I would come home feeling discouraged and thinking maybe everyone was right - I would never learn to fly, but by the next day, I was always eager to try again. On the day of my 16th birthday, I made my first solo flight, which meant I could finally fly alone. The night before, my dad, who was my flight instructor, explained that the winds were forecast to be high. He said if we were in the air by dawn, the winds would probably be calm enough for me to solo. The next morning it was cold, but the sky was completely clear, and the winds were calm. I expected my dad to stay in the plane for at least three takeoffs and landings. But after the first one, he told me to pull off the runway, and he got out of the plane. I was alone. As I climbed higher and higher, the world began to change. Everything on the ground became _ . Houses, cars, and all looked like tiny toys that could fit in the surface of my hand. I made three takeoffs and landings that day. Each landing was perfect. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Today, as a flight instructor, I stand alongside runways watching as my own students take to the sky on their first solo flights. I understand the joy faces, which always bring me back to that day when my dream came true. I learned that no matter how people tell you that you can't do something, if you believe in yourself, you can succeed. What was the father concerned about before his son flied alone? A. Whether his son was brave enough. B. Whether it would be too windy. C. Whether he was able to protect his son. D. Whether there were negative comments. Answer: B. Whether it would be too windy. Question: Welcome to the entrepreneur's Club. Don't hesitate to contact any of the entrepreneurs if you are interested in. Recycled-Bath Bole Workshop Bath Bike Workshop is a recycling social enterprise initiative, unique to Bath and aims to rake action about environmental issues by getting mire people cycling. It makes cycling as green as possible by recycling used bikes for re-use and selling them at competitive prices. It also provides affordable bike repair and servicing. All our reeycled . repaired and serviced bikes are certified safe by a qualified bike mechanic before they leave the shop. Email: info@ bath-bike-workshop, org ok. Old Bank Antiques Centre Antiques are the very last word in rccyeling, and at Old Bank Antiques Centre, on the London Road in Bath, we do it with style. Among out fifteen dealers is Norman kemp, who not only restores furniture but gives abandoned timber a whole new lease of life. Norman has worked as a restorer specializing in painting effects for more than thirty years, and examples of his work have been exported to many parts of the globe. 14-17 Walecot Buildings. London Road. Bath Bal 6AD. Email: alexatontague@ aol.com Heyokah Photos My personal photography projects are concerned with the beauty in the ordinary. I like to celebrate real people and the way they interact with their surroundings and material possession. I also etcate images for businesses and performers in a documentary style, trying to get beneath the hype and show something about who they really are. These photos are part of my recent project: Boater on the Kennet and Avon Canal. Contact: www.ehyokah.co.uk Hannah Bartlett The garments are a mix of tailored wools and leather. I trained as the UCA as a creative pattern cutter so I like my work to be cut in a creative way. It is important for me not to waste too much fabric so I like to make some garments out of leftovers. Email: hannanh-bartlett@botmail.co.uk _ can both receive emails and letters from the customers. A. Bath Bike Workshop B. Old Bank Antiques Centre C. Heyokah Photos D. Hannah Bartlett Answer: B. Old Bank Antiques Centre Question: I used to hate my mother because she worked a lot and didn't spend much time with me. Then one Friday morning I took part in a three-day self-help program for teenagers. Whether you believe it or not, that weekend changed my life. About 100 other teenagers were there. During the first two days I met a lot of great people. I was glad because I made so many friends there. On Sunday, the leader did an interesting exercise called "Chocolate or Toys". He asked a girl which she liked better, chocolate or toys. She chose chocolate. Then he asked her to choose again between chocolate and chocolate. Of course, she didn't have a choice. This exercise told us that sometimes we don't have a choice in life, and that sometimes we have to accept something, rather than complaining . A girl stood up and started talking about her mom who was a drug addict and how much she hated her mother. "I want a new mom," she cried. "Unluckily, you can't have one," the leader replied. "You have to accept the mother that you have." This hit me hard. I realized that, for better or worse, my mom was my mom. I couldn't choose another mom, but I could try to make the best of the situation. From the end of the passage, we can know that _ . A. the writer used to love his mom for years B. the writer's mom is a very bad person C. the writer's mom loves her son very much D. the writer will try to get along with his mother Answer: D. the writer will try to get along with his mother
In New York State, the longest period of daylight occurs during which month? A June B March C December D September Answer: A I learned how our attitudes made a big difference in our everyday lives from my friend Mary. She doesn't have any pets. I happened to see her outside on a -30 degree morning walking a dog. I felt sorry for Mary, out there walking a dog that's not hers in such cold weather. I thought maybe she was saying to herself, "Yeah, this is why I don't have any pets! I hate walking dogs." Later that day I saw Mary and said, "I saw you out there walking a dog this morning. Are you unhappy because you had to walk it on such a cold day?" To my surprise, she said that she enjoyed getting out there and walking the dog and that she got good exercise because of the dog. She also said she had talked to her brother, the dog's owner, who was on holiday in Orlando, Florida with his family. He said his children were enjoying Disney World and the resorts . His four-year-old son had breakfast with Mickey Mouse and said it was the best day in his life. Mary said, "If I can help my brother and his family have a wonderful time relaxing for a week, knowing that their pet is being loved and cared for, what more could I ask for?" She added, "It's worth it for me to make the sacrifice so that they can go and have fun." I learned a lesson from Mary. What can we infer from the passage? A The author mistook Mary that morning. B Mary would raise a dog after helping her brother. C Mary made a lot of sacrifices for her brother. D Mary disliked raising any pets. Answer: A A cloud gets fat and heavy because A precipitation destroys B clouds float C precipitation condenses D precipitation falls Answer: C One advantage of the Internet is shopping conveniently online for clothes; one disadvantage of the Internet is also shopping conveniently online for clothes. "Nothing fits," said Lam Yuk Wong, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University. "Everyone says this. They order clothes and they don't fit. People get very unhappy." Wong and her design partner, Xuaner "Cecilia" Zhang, are Team White Mirror, creators of what they call a "virtual fitting room". Their goal is simple and consumer-friendly: to let online clothing shoppers have a perfect fit and a perfect look when shopping every time. Both women are from China, Wong from Hong Kong and Zhang from Beijing. They both order most of their clothing online. They got the idea from their own experience as consumers and from listening to the complaints of friends and relatives. "They say, 'The color is wrong' or 'I got the right size but it still does not fit.' We want to make it like you're in the store trying on the clothes," Zhang said. Using a Kinect developed by Microsoft for use with its Xbox 360 video game player, Zhang scans Wong and turns her image into, in effect, a virtual model, keeping Wong's dimensions , and even her skin and hair color. "We put the clothes on the shopper's 3-D body models and show how they look when they are dressed," Wong said. So far, Wong and Zhang have adapted the software to show dresses and shirts, and they are now working on shorts. Asked if she thought men as well as women might be interested in using their virtual fitting room, Wong said, "I think their wives will care about this, so it will also be important to men." What did Wong think of her virtual fitting room? A It is perfectly developed. B It will have its market share. C It is limited to women shoppers. D It is like a kind of video game player. Answer: B Store shelves are filling up with so-called "green" products promising to benefit the environment. A recent argument shows that it can be as difficult for buyers to confirm such statement as for producers to defend them. The argument concerns the GreenPlug Electricity Saver. The GreenPlug is supposed to prevent energy waste by electrical equipment whose constant -speed motors operate at less full load---as is especially true of older refrigerators. Research showed that such motors can be made to do the same work with less heat, noise, and power consumption just by lowering the voltage of the power supply. John and Wyck Hay, started Green Technologies to apply that finding to home appliances. In the USA, there are more than 140 million refrigerators in use, accounting for an average of 16% of the household electric bill. Two years of research resulted in the GreenPlug. Connecting between wall socket and refrigerator, the equipment contains a minicomputer that gives a motor full power (120 volts on average) for start-up, then reduces the power to 106 volts. Older refrigerators are the most overpowered and, thus, save the most energy with a GreenPlug. Refrigerators less than two years old are already energy-saving that a GreenPlug actually makes them waste electricity. The higher the voltage, the larger the difference a GreenPlug makes. Higher power costs shorten the payback time. The population-weighted national average is 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. But some residents in Washington State pay 1.5 cents. Some in Alaska pay 41.6 cents. Then come highly individual household differences like the number of children or refrigerator -opening age. All in all, the GreenPlug should save the average consumer $20 a year. Although the GreenPlug lowered the voltage as it was designed to do,Consumer Reports, an influential magazine, questioned how quickly---if ever---electricity savings due to the plug would repay its cost. People would be better off buying a new, high-efficiency refrigerator, the magazine advised. Consumer Reports also said that the GreenPlug didn't give a promised 25% savings worth $50 a year. The savings on the oldest model was the best at 8.6%, worth $20 a year. Green Technologies ordered tests of the GreenPlug on up to 2,800 refrigerators through next year. The company will not put that data in stores. Instead, potential buyers will call to learn how their model of refrigerator performed. Meanwhile, there is little evidence of consumer dissatisfaction. Sales topped 45,000 units last month. The return rate is less than 0.2%. What do we know about the GreenPlug? A It is especially designed for old refrigerators B It works well with all home appliances C It can't guarantee lower electric bills D It doesn't function with lower voltage Answer: C
What supplies most of the energy that plants need to make food? Answer: Sam: Hey, Maria and John. This Thursday is Bill's birthday. Let's think about the presents. Maria: Sure, Sam. I want to give him a computer game. Sam: No, Bill never plays computer games. John: I want to buy a CD of his favourite songs. Sam: Good idea. Bill likes listening to music. Maria: How about buying a birthday cake for him? Sam: Oh, you don't have to do it. His mother usually buys a birthday cake for him. Maria: How about buying him a cinema ticket? I remember Bill likes watching films. Sam: That sounds a good idea. Maria &John: What about you? What would you like to buy for Bill, Sam? Sam: It's a secret. Bill's birthday is _ . Answer: Ever wonder how this season's celebrations affect the environment? Guest blogger Krista Fairles takes an amusing look at this very topic: The holidays are a wonderful, cheerful time when most people wait for Santa to bring them presents. But I'm not like most people. I spend my time wondering just what the environmental impacts of Santa Claus and his reindeer are, and more importantly, how I can calculate those impacts. Lately I've been particularly curious as to whether Santa's old sled is a clean green flying machine, or if he should be replacing his 8 reindeer with an environmentally-friendly car. I should mention that, surprisingly, I was unable to find statistics specific to Santa's magical flying reindeer, so these calculations use numbers from various sources and may not represent actual pollution caused by Santa and his animals. In other words, don't complain to the government about the damage Santa is causing the environment based on this article. Santa's yearly trip around the globe is 44,000km long, twice the average of a North American driver. If we assume that the magic provides the altitude for this trip, then reindeer power only needs to push Santa's sled forward. To complete the trip in 12 hours, I estimate they must travel at a speed of about 3100km/h. To travel at this speed, for this length of time, the reindeer need to eat an incredible 980 million calories each!! So the next question is: how much food is in 980 million calories? Well, if they're eating corn, they'd need to eat 16,500 lbs each -- or 1.6 acres of food. Growing 12.8 acres of corn has its own implications for the environment that we'll leave for another calculation. We now need to consider that during the global trip the reindeer are "letting out" some of that corn in the form of methane (,). A resting cow produces 110 kg of methane per year, so flying reindeer would each let out about 4.8 tons. With methane causing 20 times the global warming damage of CO2, and the altitude increasing that damage by 1000% that another 20 times, we can put Santa's round-trip emissions at 15,488 tons. This is much more than the 100 tons an environmentally-friendly car would release on the same trip! Bad Santa. Which of the following statements would the writer most probably agree with? Answer: A quail's life starts after it leaves the Answer: There is a boy in my gym class (I'll call him Bill) who has unbearably yellow teeth that almost make everyone feel unpleasant. Recently another boy told Bill that he should "go Ajax" his teeth. Bill was crushed. Had the other boy been thinking, he would have realized that there is a better way to handle such a situation. He could have dealt with it with tact. He could have showed this hurtful truth in a more careful, sensitive way--that's "tact". If a person isn't sensitive to another's feelings, there is no way he or she can be tactful. Yesterday, my 5-year-old brother proudly announced that he had cleaned the screen on our television set. Unfortunately, he used furniture polish , which produced an oily film on the television screen. My mother smiled and thanked him for his efforts--and then showed how to clean the screen properly. Her sensitivity enables my brother to keep his self-respect. Yet, sensitivity alone does not make tact. "Tactfulness" also requires "truthfulness". Doctors, for example must be truthful. If a patient has just been disabled in an accident, a tactful doctor will tell the truth--but express it with sensitivity. The doctor may try to give the patient hope by telling them curing techniques under study or about advanced equipment now available. Doctors must use tact with patients relatives as well. Instead of bluntly saying, "Your husband is disabled," a doctor might say, "I'm sorry, but your husband has lost feeling in his legs and..." Tact should not be confused with trickery. Trickery occurs when a nurse is about to give a patient an injection and says, "This won't hurt a bit." Instead of trickery, the nurse might guarantee the patient that the discomfort of the injection is a small thing compared to the benefits of it. It would also be thoughtful for the nurse to tell the patients about some of these benefits. Tact is a wonderful skill to have, and tactful people are usually admired and respected. Without tact our society would become an intolerable place to live in. According to the author, his mother's praise for the brother is _ . Answer:
Question: At the World Expo Shanghai 2010, you will be able to see the world in just one day. The World Expo (short for "exposition") is the third largest world event after the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. Countries build pavilions at the Expo, showing off technologies and cultures with colorful exhibitions and performances. People can experience the most advanced technologies at the World Expo. Throughout history, many new inventions have made their debuts at the World Expo, including the TV, telephone and even the ice cream cone. But the Expo is not just a trade fair . It's a platform for cultural exchange, bringing people closer to the rest of the world. For example, at the Shanghai Expo, couples may be able to marry in French-style weddings at the France Pavilion. Thailand will let visitors walk into its emperor's palace. Visitors to the Austria Pavilion will have the chance to experience the snow-capped mountains of the country. Many countries have also decided to bring their national treasures to the event. Since the 1993 Expo in Chicago, the World Expo began to focus on one theme. It changed from a show into a community event. Visitors are invited to help solve global issues, such as environmental problems. The theme of the Shanghai Expo is "Better city, better life". It will call on the world to solve the problems human beings face as a result of urbanization . In the future, more and more people may care about protecting the places they live in. Which of the following is NOT true at the World Expo in this passage? A. People can experience the most advanced technologies. B. Couples may be able to marry in French-style weddings at the France Pavilion. C. Visitors can walk into the emperor's palace of Thailand. D. Australia Pavilion will let the visitors experience the snow-capped mountains of the country. Answer: D. Australia Pavilion will let the visitors experience the snow-capped mountains of the country. Question: New findings suggest that brainy card games such as contract bridge may temporarily raise production of a key blood cell including in fighting off illness. After 90 minutes of play, bridge players had increased level of immune cell, according to research reported last week. A researcher, Diamond, studies bridge players from a woman's bridge club. She chose bridge players because the game includes skills stimulating a part of the brain called the dorsolateral cortex. Earlier animal research suggests that this part of the brain may play a role in the immune system. The findings are based on blood samples drawn from 12 women players. Their blood samples showed a rise in levels of white blood cells called T cells after they played bridge for 90 minutes. T cells are produced by the thymus gland and used by the immune system against diseases. The T cells count jumped significantly in eight of the bridge players, and slightly in the other four. The findings contribute to the field of neuroimmunology , whose name reflects the fact that the nervous system and the immune system are not considered separate and isolated systems. What isn't clear is whether the help to the immune system from an activity like contract bridge is lasting or temporary. It's also not clear whether the increase in T cells could finally be targeted against special illness. A T cell is _ . A. a brain cell B. a white blood cell C. a red blood cell D. a kind of dangerous blood Answer: B. a white blood cell Question: I'm Wang Ping. I'm in Beijing. I like healthy food. I have milk and fruit for breakfast; rice , chicken and vegetables for lunch; vegetables, fruit and salad for dinner. Here is what my friends like eating. Let's have a look! Zhang Jian(inBeijing)Like: Li Ming(inShanghai)Like: Zheng Hui(inBeijing)Like: ,. The passage mainly talks about _ . A. how old Wang Ping's friends are B. what sports Wang Ping likes playing C. where Wang Ping's friends are D. what food Wang Ping and his friends like Answer: D. what food Wang Ping and his friends like Question: In our town, there is a big zoo with a lot of animals in it. There are so beautiful tigers and two old lions. They eat a lot of meat every day. There are also two big elephants and one baby elephant. The elephants are kind animals. They eat a lot every day. They like children. Children often give them bread and bananas. Elephants like bananas best. In our zoo there are also brown bears, black bears and white bears. They stand on their hind legs, hold up their four legs and ask for food. They like cakes very much. There's also a children's corner in our zoo. Children ride horses and donkeys and watch the monkeys there. The monkeys are very funny. They climb up ropes and jump down again and play with each other like small children. Which animal plays like small children ? A. the monkeys B. the tigers C. the bears D. lions Answer: A. the monkeys Question: Driving a car is not just handing controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected. When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant , damaging eyesight, judgement and co-ordination , slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving limit, driving will be affected. Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed _ up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee. The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is: 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood; or 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath; or *67 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of urine . Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested. Any driver found drinking beyond the limit will be charged. The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK$25,000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving-offence points; or temporarily banned from driving. The same punishment applies to failing to provide specimens for breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse. Drink driving is a criminal offence. Be a responsible driver, think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? A. Drinking below the drink driving limit has no effect on driving. B. Alcohol is taken in more quickly when drunk with fruit juice. C. Having a cup of tea helps to get rid of alcohol from the body. D. 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of breath is below the drink driving limit. Answer: B. Alcohol is taken in more quickly when drunk with fruit juice.
The following are some tips for becoming a successful businessman by Michael Bloomberg. They are based on his experience of building a company from the ground up, leading New York City as mayor , and so on. Take Risks Life is too short to spend your time avoiding failure. In 1981, at the age of 39, I lost my job. The next day I took a big risk and began my own company. In 2001, when I was debating whether to run for mayor, most people advised me not to do it. But one person said, "If you can imagine yourself giving a concession speech, then why not go for it?" That was the best advice I received, and I followed it. In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail-- and you must have the courage to go for it anyway. Make your own luck Luck plays a part in success. The harder you work, the luckier you get. Whatever you choose to do, even if it's not the job of your dreams, always work hard at it. Be the first person at work in the morning and the last to leave at night. Hard work creates chances. Never stop learning The most powerful word in English language is "why". There is nothing so powerful as an open, inquiring mind . Whatever field you choose for starting a business -- be a lifelong student. Give back You are responsible for your success and failure, but you only succeed if you share the reward with others. My first donation was a $ 5 check to my alma mater . And while the checks may be bigger today, they come with the same spirit. You don't have to be wealthy to give back. You can give back by giving your time and talents. In this passage, Michael Bloomberg is the name of a _ . A. newspaper B. place C. company D. person Answer: D. person Three astronauts returned to Earth safely on Wednesday after a successful 15-day mission , marking another step forward towards the country's goal of building a manned space station by 2020. Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, said the Shenzhou X mission was a "complete success". The Shenzhou X landed safely in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at about 8:07 a.m. on June 26, 2013. All three astronauts were in good physical condition. Nie Haisheng, commander of the Shenzhou X crew and a second-time space traveler, was the first to get out of the bowl-like module , followed by Wang Yaping, the only female astronaut of the mission, and Zhang Xiaoguang. During a brief welcoming ceremony held at the landing area, the astronauts waved happily to a crowd consisting of officers, the search and recovery team, and health personnel. "It feels really good to be back home," said astronaut Nie Haisheng. "We are dreamers, and we have now realized our dream," said Zhang Xiaoguang. "Our space dream knows no limit, and our hard work will never stop," he said. Compared with its previous mission Shenzhou IX last year, the Shenzhou X is no longer experimental but considered an applicable shuttle system for sending astronauts and supplies to orbiting modules. The mission aims to further test technologies designed for docking and supporting astronauts' stay in space, as well as to use new technologies related to the construction of a space station. In its 15-day journey in space, Shenzhou X docked with the orbiting space lab Tiangong-1 twice, once through automatic operation and the other manual .The Tiangong-1 space lab has been in orbit for more than 600 days. It's designed to work for two years. The module is considered the first step in building a permanent space station in the future. And the astronauts spent 12 days in Tiangong-1, where they conducted space medical experiments, technical tests and gave a science lesson to students on Earth on June 19 about basic physics principles. The lecture was the second video class sent from space, with US astronaut Barbara Morgan's 25-minute class being the first in 2007. China is the third country after the United States and Russia to acquire the technologies and skills necessary for space rendezvous and docking procedures, as well as supply manpower and material for an orbiting module via different docking methods. Previous docking procedures conducted between Shenzhou-type spacecraft and the orbiting space lab included two automated dockings by the unmanned Shenzhou-8 in 2011 and both an automated and manual docking by the manned Shenzhou-9 in 2012. Since its first manned space space mission in 2003, China has sent ten astronauts and six spacecrafts into the space. What is the best title for the passage? A. China Prepares for Next Manned Mission B. Shenzhou X Spacecraft Mission Is a Success C. China's Shenzhou X Is Now in Space D. Astronauts of Shenzhou X Mission Are Meeting Media Answer: B. Shenzhou X Spacecraft Mission Is a Success In many parts of the world, cars play an important role in daily life and many societies would not exist without them. So the idea that in 20 years' time, no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously, not only by government but also by car manufacturers. The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized. That will mean much saving, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car in the future will drive itself. And it will not be owned by one individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing. According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture, which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air, and caused more deaths than both world wars put together. Davis says, cars will be fitted with some intelligent devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. The car will automatically speed up, or slow down, to match the speed of the car in front. computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people. By 2016, Dr. David Davis believes, car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road, whatever the weather conditions, by projecting an image of the road ahead on to the car's windscreen. And by 2020, cars will travel in line, linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow bar to the car in front to form "road-trains". "The front vehicle in such a train burns the normal amount."says Davis. "but all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount, and so produce about ten percent of the pollution." Which of the following will be the characteristic of transport in 2020? A. The cars will consume no fuels. B. There won't be any car accidents. C. All cars will be driven at the same speed. D. All car drivers will be trained to be more skillful than today's. Answer: B. There won't be any car accidents. The earthquake that shook Japan with historic strength on March 11th, 2011 created a _ wave ten meters high. The water washed away boats, cars and houses in coastal areas north of Tokyo. It also led to tsunami warnings across the Pacific. Scientists recorded the magnitude of the earthquake at 8.9.The United States Geological Survey says it was the fifth largest earthquake since nineteen hundred. The largest, with a 9.5 magnitude, shook Chile in nineteen sixty. The quake struck near the east coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. It was centered under the sea about one hundred thirty kilometers east of Sendai.The tsunami washed away whole neighborhoods in Sendai. So far (April 4th), the tsunami has taken 12, 0009 people's life away. Now Japanese are all trying to rebuild their hometown, but there are too many difficulties. The first, Japan is the world's third largest importer of oil. The shortage of oil makes it almost impossible to carry the food, medicine and water to the quake area by cars. The second, the Fukushima nuclear power station was damaged by the March eleventh earthquake and tsunami. The extent of the problems is still not clear. Japan's nuclear crisis may mean greater need of imported food. Japanese are facing _ kinds of problems when trying to rebuild their hometown. A. one B. two C. three D. four Answer: B. two A purse containing a million dollars worth of jewelry was on its way back to its owner inprefix = st1 /Canadaafter being forgotten on a bench in a town nearSan Francisco, police said . Shahla Ghannadian had entrusted her 2 , 00-dollar Louis Vuitton handbag and its precious contents to her husband after they stopped at an ice cream parlor in the city ofSunday, according to authorities . He left it on a bench near a downtown parking lot , and the oversight was not noticed until the couple was back at their hotel , saidSausalitopolice sergeant Kurtis Skoog The couple had traveled from Toronto toSan Franciscofor a daughter's wedding . The purse contained a Cartier watch , cash , and jewelry worn by the mother and the bride at the ceremony , said Skoog . The gems included emeralds , pearls and diamonds , one of them a 12-karat stone , according to police . Ghannadian and her husband had a bit of sightseeing before catching a flight back toCanadaon Sunday night . Family members checked the bench , but the purse was gone . Local resident John Suhroff walked into the police department the next day with the bag , its contents intact , Skoog said . Suhroff handed the bag to a clerk , saying it held " either costume of junk jewelry " . " We caped the owner . and they were excited , " said Skoog . A family friend picked up the bag and was to take it to Ghannadian . The family indicated Ssuhroff was in line for a reward , but did not specify an amount , Skoog said . The finder Suhroff _ . A. thought the content in the purse isn't worth much B. turned in the purse immediately he found it C. kept back some of the jewelry for himself D. asked for some reward Answer: A. thought the content in the purse isn't worth much
In a Police Mess , an officer wanted to get some fresh vegetables. He was so pleased with his mushrooms that he decided to share them. When their breakfast arrived the next day, each officer found some mushrooms on his plate. "Try the dog with a piece first." Suggested one cautious officer who was afraid that the " mushrooms" might be poisonous. The dog seemed to enjoy its mushrooms, and the officers then began to eat their meal, saying that the mushrooms tasted wonderful. An hour later, however, there was great confusion when the gardener rushed in to announce that the dog was dead. Immediately, the officers jumped into their cars and rushed to the nearest hospital. Stomach pumps were used and the officers had a very unpleasant time getting rid of the remains of the mushrooms. When they returned to the mess, they sat down and started to discuss the symptoms of the mushroom poisoning. The gardener was called in to give a full account of the way the poor dog had died. " Did it suffer much before death?" asked one of the officer, feeling very pleased that he had escaped a painful death himself. The gardener looked rather surprised , " No, " he said in a puzzled tone. " It was killed when a car ran over it." , . They tried the dog first _ . A. because they loved the dog very much B. because the dog was hungry C. because it was the officer's dog D. because they wanted to know if the mushrooms were poisonous Answer: D positively impact your bodies strength by A. dead-lifting B. thinking C. sleeping D. singing Answer: A It's that time of year again. The lead-up to everyone's favorite holiday -- Christmas! Usually Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day all the stores open early and offer the best discounts to their customers. Interestingly, people push to buy the cheapest products, just a few hours after giving thanks for the things they have. Usually televisions and laptops are the most popular products on Black Friday. People are willing to wait for hours for their favorite stores to open because they want very much to get the items they need. This year I decided to go out and grab a bargain at one of these sales, just to see what it is like. After a delicious Thanksgiving meal, I drove to the mall around half an hour before the stores opened. Already there were people lining up and waiting outside. Some had even prepared themselves with tents and hot chocolate to stay warm in the cold weather. I entered the store, but I wasn't looking for anything specific. I just walked around the store checking out the prices. I bought some cheap clothes, while other people were _ their shopping carts with tons of different items. Some people come to the Black Friday sales for the products, and others come to enjoy the experience. However, some stores can be a little dangerous during Black Friday. Every year there are always some cases of people fighting over the small number of goods. This year Wal-Mart learned its lesson and made the sales last longer. They made sure customers came for the first hour, got what they wanted and then left quickly. What is special about Black Friday? A. It is a wonderful time to do shopping. B. It is a good time to enjoy the experience. C. People are in great need of many things. D. People have just given thanks for what they have. Answer: A Which of the following is the farthest from Earth? A. Halley's comet B. the Andromeda galaxy C. Neptune D. the Sun Answer: B Have you ever seen a horse with toes ?Millions of years ago, horses had many toes. They had four toes on each front foot. They had three toes on each back foot. The horses were no bigger than the cats.These small horses lived in the forest. The toes helped the horses run on the soft, wet ground. At first, it was very hot in the forest. But the weather changed. It became very cold. Many trees could not live in cold weather. The trees died and fell. Open fields took the place of forests. The sun made the ground dry and hard. Horsed began to change, too. They began to get bigger. This took a long time. On the dry, hard land, horses needed only their middle toes for running. Their middle toes became hard. After a long time, horses had only one hard toe on each foot. Now we call this hard toe a Which is WRONG according to the passage? A. The horses were much bigger than the cats millions of years ago. B. The trees died and feel because the weather changed. C. On the dry, hard land, horses needed only their middle toes for running. D. The horses have fewer toes than before. Answer: A
Grandpa Nybakken loved life -- especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, "Oh, forevermore!" But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and grandpa wasn't laughing. Grandpa worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage abroad. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless. Suddenly, he realized what had happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China! The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning. "It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this." Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on vacation in the United States.He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather's small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation . "But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year." "Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses.Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your boxes arrived.When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on the top." After a long pause, he continued, "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that!" The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses. But the director surely must have confused their church with another, they thought, there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized _ had used him in an extraordinary way. Which of the following is NOT true about Grandpa Nybakken according to the passage? Answer: Water is the "life blood" of our earth. It is in every living thing. It is in the air. It runs through mountains and valleys. It forms lakes and oceans. Water is everywhere. Nature has a great water system. Rain water finds its way to streams and the oceans. Here at the mouth of a river there is much important plant and animal life. Pollution destroys this life, so we have to clean out streams and rivers. Man has to work with nature--not against it. The mouth of the river is near _ . Answer: A world-famous Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, has created the world's first long-distance signing device , the LongPen. After many tiring book-signing tours from city to city, Atwood thought there must be a better way to do them. She hired some technical experts and started her own company in 2004. Together they designed the LongPen. Here's how it works: The author writes a personal message and signature on a computer tablet using a special pen. On the receiving end, in another city, a robotic arm fitted with a regular pen signs the book. The author and fan can talk with each other via webcams and computer screens. Work on the LongPen began in Atwood's basement . At first, they had no idea it would be as hard as it turned out to be. The device went through several versions, including one that actually had smoke coming out of it. The investing finally completed, test runs were made in Ottawa, and the LongPen was officially launched at the 2006 London Book Fair. From here , Atwood conducted two transatlantic book signings of her latest book for fans in Toronto and New York City. The LongPen produces a unique signature each time because it copies the movement of the author in real time. It has several other potential applications. It could increase credit card security and allow people to sign contracts from another province. The video exchange between signer and receiver can be recorded on DVD for proof when legal documents are used. "It's really fun", said the owner of a bookstore, who was present for one of the test runs. "Obviously you can't shake hands with the author, but there are chances for a connection that you don't get from a regular book signing." The response to the invention has not been all favorable. Atwood has received criticism from authors who think she is trying to end book tours. But she said, "It will be possible to go to places that you never got sent to before because the publishers couldn't afford it." Why did Atwood decide to invent the LongPen? Answer: The North America Nebula is named for its similarity in shape to the North American continent. It was discovered within the Milky Way by astronomer William Herschel in 1790. What was Mr. Herschel most likely observing? Answer: Bats might use what to get home Answer:
Question: London has a new magazine.However,it is not printed on paper any more.Everyone who has a television can receive it because it is already on TV! In order to read this magazine,you need to have a decoder.Each page of it is numbered,so you have to dial a number to choose which subject you want to read about.You have a wide choice of topics to choose from-everything from cooking to the latest news. If you want to read some news,the first thing you have to do is to check at the index page which has an easy-to-remember page number,1 00 for example.From page 100,you can then choose from the news articles on page 101 to 109.From here,you will have to key in the numbers again.Then,the news will appear written across your screen.If you want to go out in the afternoon,you can press 181,and a brightly color1ed weather map will appear on the screen.But if you want to buy some cheap things,you can press 162 for a list of the week's best bargains.And whether you should drive or just take the train,you can simply press 189 for the traffic report.This new magazine on TV is very simple to use.But probably,the best thing about the service is that is being updated all the time.Journalists type new materials directly onto screen and the page of the magazine is replaced in minutes. London already has three services.One,transmitted by ITV ,is called ORACLE while the other two,on BBC,are called CEEFAX because they let you see facts.Although CEEFAX and ORACLE have been operating for some time, they have not been well publicized.BBC engineers do not think that their idea will ever replace books and newspapers because this new invention can't be taken with you wherever you go.But many people would agree that this is a breakthrough as great as the invention of printing, which could change not only our reading habits but also our lifestyles. What topics in the magazine _ are mentioned? A. news, weather, cooking and driving B. traffic, shopping, reading and weather C. news, shopping, cooking and traffic D. weather, traffic, cooking and swimming Answer: C. news, shopping, cooking and traffic Question: What causes orbits? A. pulling down B. sunlight C. planetary pull D. solar flares Answer: C. planetary pull Question: Lots of kids hate school, a new study found. Usually this kind of feeling doesn't last long. School is a fact of life and getting a good education can help you build the kind of future life you want. So let's talk about school and what to do when you don't like it. The first step is to find out why. You might not like school because you don't have enough friends, or maybe you don't get along with your teachers. Sometimes it's a big problem with your classes and school work. You may be getting further and further behind, and it may seem like you'll never catch up. When you know why you don't like school, you can start taking steps to make things better. It's a good idea to talk to someone about your problems with school. Your mom, dad, or teachers will be able to help you. Another good idea is to write down your feelings about school in a notebook. It's a great way to let out emotion . Remember, you don't have to share what you've written with others. And here are some ways to give you the best first day of school. The night before school starts, you can do something quiet and peaceful to calm yourself down, like reading a book with your parents, taking a walk or taking a photo of your smiling face. By doing these, you will have a nice day at school. According to the new study, we can find that _ . A. lots of kids go to school every day B. lots of kids don't like going to school C. lots of kids don't have enough friends D. kids can get a good future if they like school Answer: B. lots of kids don't like going to school Question: Joann is testing soils to see which kind is best for growing marigolds. Which of the following should she do? A. Plant the marigolds in the same soil, but water some plants more than others. B. Plant the marigolds in one kind of soil, radishes in another, and daisies in a third kind. C. Plant the marigolds three kinds of soil, and give them different amounts of sun. D. Plant the marigolds in three kinds of soil, and give them the same amounts of water and sun. Answer: D. Plant the marigolds in three kinds of soil, and give them the same amounts of water and sun. Question: While going to the office, I found an old man lying by the side of the bus stop.He seemed very sick and poor.Instinctively.I gave him some money.After a few minutes, I realized that he was probably too sick to get up and buy something with that money.I was thinking about how to help him when my bus arrived, halting my brainstorm.I quickly got on and rode off. However, that night I couldn't sleep.I felt very angry at my own heartless and selfish behavior.How could I just walk away from that man without a thought for his suffering? I felt restless and very upset. The next morning, while waiting at the bus stop, I hoped to run into him again.But he wasn't there.I thought he may have gone to the sidewalk to sleep for the night.I looked around for him, but he had disappeared.Disappointed, I decided to check for him again on my way back. While returning from work that day, I came back to the bus stop and resumed my search for him. Thankfully, he was there.I quickly went to a nearby store and got him a blanket, some bread, and biscuits. When I handed them to him, he seemed very grateful."Now I will be safe from the cold," he smiled. I also gave him some more money and told him to keep it safely.After being able to help him, I felt very at peace. Why did the author feel restless and upset that night? A. He was regretful that didn't give the old man any money. B. He was exhausted while he was working at his office. C. He felt guilty in his mind for not helping the old man out D. He suffered being restless and upset at night for a long period. Answer: C. He felt guilty in his mind for not helping the old man out
Which object is least likely to have any light pass through it? A a dog B a plastic bottle C a prism D a window Answer: A. a dog The English policeman has several nicknames but the most frequently used are "copper" and "bobby". The first name comes from the verb to "cop", meaning to "take" or "capture", and the second comes from the first name of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth-century politician, who was the founder of the police force as we know it today. An early nickname for the policeman was "peeler", but this one has died out. Whatever we may call them, the general opinion about the police seems to be a good one except, of course, among the criminal part of the community where the police are given more bad nicknames which came from America, such as "fuzz" or "pig". Visitors to prefix = st1 /Englandseem, nearly always, to be very impressed by the English police. It has, in fact, become a standing joke that the visitor toBritain, when asked for his views of the country, will always say, "I think your policemen are wonderful." Well, the British bobby may not always be wonderful but he is usually a very friendly and helpful sort of character. A music-hall song of some years ago was called, "If You Want To Know The Time, Ask A Policeman". Nowadays, most people own watches but they still seem to find plenty of other questions to ask the policemen. In London, the policemen spend so much of their time directing visitors about the city that one wonders how they ever find time to do anything else! Two things are noticeable to the stranger, when he sees an English policeman for the first time. The first is that he does not carry a gun and the second is that he wears a very special type of helmet . His helmet, together with his height, enables an English policeman to be seen from a long distance, a fact that is not without its usefulness. From time to time it is suggested that the policeman should be given a gun and that his helmet should be taken from him, but both these suggestions are not accepted by the majority of the public and the police themselves. Which of the following statements is true? A There are fewer criminals in Americathan inBritain. B The English police usually leave a deep impression on visitors. C The British bobby is friendly but not helpful. D The English police enjoy having guns. Answer: B. The English police usually leave a deep impression on visitors. The fast development of modern technology has not only provided people with more income, but also enable them to enjoy long weekends and holidays. Never before have so many people traveled to so many different parts of the world and, with the help of fast, comfortable forms of modern transport, more and more people are tempted to leave their homes to see more of the world. It seems as if there are travelers everywhere. People travel because traveling benefits them in a number of ways. First, it enables them to get much pleasure from sight-seeing and photo-taking. Second, traveling makes them fully relaxed and ready to get back to work happily. Third, it offers them an opportunity to visit old friends and make new friends as well. Finally, it allows them to see different customs, learn new things, gain new experience and enables them to come back with a broader mind. With so many advantages to traveling, I think people should be encouraged to travel from time to time, especially on holidays, if their pocket and health permit. Traveling benefits people in _ ways A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 Answer: C. 4 A field of flowers has pollen filled flowers. The most likely thing to do the seed spread would be A striped falcons B human children C wild boars D avian creature Answer: D. avian creature How Do Animals Catch their ZZZ's ? Different creatures have developed some pretty creative ways to get their rest and stay safe. The lizard likes to sleep at the far end of small branches hanging out over a pond or lake in the rain forest. If a snake tries to slither up the branch to eat it, it will shake the branch and knock the lizard off, and the lizard will fall safely into the water. Chameleons can change color to match their surroundings in order to hide even while sleeping. Gorillas like to sleep high in the trees. They build a new bed every night, sometimes taking up to half an hour to pile branches, twigs, and leaves into a comfortable bed. Birds also find it safe to sleep in the trees, but unless they have eggs or young chicks, they don't use a nest. They just lock their feet around a branch and hang on. A special tendon in their legs is automatically tight when they are at rest, so they won't let go and fall. Dolphins live underwater, but must come to the surface to breathe. Scientists now believe that dolphins may sleep with only half their brain, while the other half stays awake to keep them safe and breathing. Seals also do this, lying on their sides on the surface of the water with one flipper underwater paddling to keep their noses above the surface. Some ducks may also have this ability, and actually sleep with one eye closed and one eye open. What does the writer intend to tell us? A The cleverest animal is the gorilla because it can make beds. B Differences in habitat can lead to different living habits. C The ways animals catch their ZZZ's are pretty much the same. D In order to protect themselves most animals choose not to sleep Answer: B. Differences in habitat can lead to different living habits.
Which of these is a renewable resource found in Nevada? A zinc metal B gravel deposits C petroleum products D geothermal energy Answer: D. geothermal energy Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman's smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion across cultures. For example, many people in Russia smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don't smile enough. In Southeast Asian culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile. Our faces show emotions, but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly. It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of "reading" the other person incorrectly. What would be the best title ? A Cultural Differences B Smiles and Relationship C Facial Expressiveness D Habits and Emotions Answer: C. Facial Expressiveness A person needs to make a stove run with only energy that will run forever, so they make a A propane stove B gas stove C corn stove D solar stove Answer: D. solar stove Penguins live together,but each pair has a little piece of ground of their own.When a penguin wants to walk through its neighbor's ground,it must ask permission.If it does not do that,it will have to fight.Most of the time,penguins live on the water.They eat shell fish and look after their children carefully. All penguins are good parents--the male penguins are perhaps the best parents in the world. They walk in the sea in the middle of the dark Antarctic water. They choose their wives in the dark.They can only hear them--not see them.Then the female penguins lay their eggs and go away for about two months.The males take care of the eggs.If the eggs get cold,there will be no chicks.There is no food.The snow falls heavily and the wind blows strongly--sometimes at 150 kilometers an hour.The penguins do not move.When the females return from the sea,they will not remember their husbands.It does not matter.Only one thing matters--the eggs.Male penguins never fight--unless a penguin leaves a chick for a minute.They then fight because they all want it.They are strange and wonderful birds. From the passage we know that _ . A penguins live a hard life B penguins live in pairs C penguins will fight if one walks through others' ground without permission D each penguin has a little piece of ground of its own Answer: C. penguins will fight if one walks through others' ground without permission Ever since Stephanie's 13th birthday we have been receiving comments from other adults expressing their sympathies because our daughter is now a teenager.We've heard everything from,"Sure she's a good kid,but just wait,now that she's teenager..."to the ever inspiring,"Well,all kids are rotten when they are teenagers,just try to go through it the best way you can."What's more upsetting is that many of these insensitive adults feel the need to share their negative predictions well within the hearing of both our daughters. I know that teenagers can be moody and difficult at times,but I'm 38 and I can also be difficult and moody.We worry about the future and want today's kids to know that we care for them and that there are opportunities that wait for them.However, at the very point they set out on that journey toward adulthood we stand there watching them disapprovingly ,just waiting for them to make mistakes."just like we knew they would."We tell them to respect themselves and to say no to drugs,yet we fail to set a positive example by treating them with kindness and consideration,demonstrating our respect for them. I have,at times been guilty of this behavior but am now realizing that the more I see each person as a person,the more I am pleasantly surprised in some way or another. For example,a few weeks ago my husband and I were having dinner at our favorite restaurant and two teenage boys came in and sat down right beside us.I must admit that my first thought was,"perfect,there goes our quiet, peaceful dinner."I was so wrong! These young men were well behaved.quiet and left a nice tip for the waitress.Once I looked beyond the jeans so loose they were practically falling off and the multi-colored hair, I saw what fine people these kids were. Many of the people who,perhaps unknowingly, treat teens with disrespect are unhappy about the fact that pop singers and sports stars are our children's heroes. I feel that unless we give them something better to go after, we really shouldn't complain. When their children reach their teens,parents usually expect _ . A trouble B sympathy C congratulations D inspiring comments Answer: A. trouble
It is common for older people to forget things. Now an American study has found that memory starts to fail when we are young adults. People younger than thirty years of age usually do not know that they are starting to forget information. But scientists from the University of Michigan say the loss of memory has usually already started. Researchers say people do not observe this slow reduction in mental ability until the loss affects their everyday activities. Denise Park led the new study. She directs the Centre for Aging and Cognition at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Her team studied more than 350 men and women between the ages of twenty and ninety years. The study identified people in their middle twenties with memory problems. She says young adults do not know they are forgetting things because their brains have more information than they need. But she says that people in their twenties and thirties are losing memory at the same rate as people in their sixties and seventies. Ms. Park says people between the ages of sixty and seventy may note the decrease in their mental abilities. They begin to observe that they are having more trouble remembering and learning new information. The study found that older adults are more likely to remember false information as being true. For example, they remembered false medical claims as being true. Younger people remembered hearing the information. But they were more likely to remember that it was false. Ms. Park is now using modern imaging equipment to study what happens in the brains of people of different ages. She is studying what parts of the brain older adults use for different activities compared to younger adults. Ms. Park says mental performance is a direct result of brain activity and brain structure. She says keeping the brain active is important. She hopes future studies will identify ways to improve the operation of our aging minds. It can be inferred from what Denis Park says that _ . A. mental performance can be improved B. mental ability is determined entirely by brain structure C. people of different ages use different parts of the brain for memorizing D. different parts of the brain are responsible for different mental activities Answer: A Do you have any skiing equipment you no longer need? A ski school in the far north of India could put it to good use. In March we published a photo story about the extraordinary Zsnskar region in northern India,which is cut off from the outside world for more than seven months of the year,and only accessible via a frozen river.We also included information about the limited use of skiing in the region and the recent creation of the Zanskar Ski School: "Despite the difficulties of travelling through the region when the snow comes,skiing hasn't traditionally been used as a means of transport by the locals,largely because trees don't grow here, so there is little in the way of raw materials from which to make skis.In 1995, a group of British scientists in the region noticed the lack of skis and one of them returned to set up the Zanskar Ski School in Padam.The school provides lessons for a small fee and rents skis to the local people. Among the benefits that the school hopes to bring are improved education--children often find it difficult to get to school through the deep snow--and the possibility of offering ski tours to tourists in the future.So far,more than 300 local people have received training,and local doctors and policemen regularly borrow skis." But what we weren't able to include in the article is that the ski school is always on the look out for old skiing equipment--particularly of a size suitable for children--and, I thought. Now the European ski season is drawing to a close,there might be a few of you out there who have some old equipment you'd like to see go to a good home.If that's the ease you can get in touch with the school via their website www.zanskarski school.org. The local people don't use skiing to go about because _ . A. it is against the local custom B. they don't have the wood to make skis C. trees are in the way of the skiing route D. it is dangerous to go skiing in this region Answer: B Mr. Perkin did not like to be different from other people, so he always tried to wear the same clothes, eat the same food, and do the same things after work as others. One day Mr. Perkin stood at the bus-stop. As he watched the cars go by, he noticed that many of them were new Beta 400s and most of them were yellow. The following week, Mr. Perkin bought a new bright yellow Beta 400s. He was very pleased with it, and drove to work in it the next day. He was even more pleased with his new car, when he saw all the other Beta 400s, in front, behind, and on both sides of him. Mr. Perkin parked his car near his office, and walked the rest of the way. But when he came back at five o'clock, there were so many bright yellow Beta 400s that Mr. Perkin didn't know which car was his. He tried his key in some of the cars, but people gave him a strange look which he didn't like, so he stopped. Poor Mr. Perkin had to wait nearly two hours until there was only one yellow Beta 400S left. Mr. Perkin was even more pleased with his new car when he was _ . A. in front of other cars B. Behind other cars C. on both sides of other cars D. in the middle of other cars like his Answer: D Sometimes people come into your life and you know at once that they were sure to be there. They serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help find out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be: your classmate, neighbor, teacher, long-lost friend or even a real stranger. But you know that every moment they will affect your life in some serious way. Sometimes things happen to you. At the time they may seem terrible, painful and unfair. But later you realize that without getting over those difficulties you would have never realized your further ability and strength. Everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by chance or with good or bad luck. The people you meet affect your life, and the successes and failure you experience, create who you are. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most _ and important ones. Enjoy every day even every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and really listen. You should set your sights high, hold your head up, tell yourself you are a great one and believe in yourself. You can make your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it. ,A, B, C, D. From the passage, we know that bad things can make us _ . A. terribly meet bad luck B. realize our further ability C. find no serious success D. possibly enjoy every moment Answer: B As a father, I always do my best to help my son, Peter. I like to help him with his study. I encourage him to join team sports. I send him to the summer camp if he wants to go. I also teach him to be both a good student and a useful man. He used to make me feel proud. I often thought he was the best son and I was the best father in the world. However, things changed two years ago. It was Peter's 12th birthday. My wife and I bought him a computer as a present. We thought it was necessary for him to learn how to use a computer in the modern world. We knew that some children were addicted to computer games and that they didn't study or work at all. Someone said that computers and the Internet were bad for children, but I didn't worry about it. I trusted my son. I believed that he could control himself. Peter did very well at first. He played computer games, but for only two hours every week. Most of the time he studied or wrote articles on the computer. We felt very happy to see that. When we finally learned that Peter was also addicted to computer games, it was too late. He didn't like studying at all. He no longer joined team sports. Sometimes we even couldn't find him at night. He spent several days and nights at the Internet cafe. We tried everything to help him, but nothing worked. What should we do? What did the writer buy for his son as a birthday present two years ago? A. A computer. B. Some computer games. C. Some books. D. A computer book. Answer: A
Let's say you have a piece of wood, a nail, and a hammer. Pretend the wood is a person, and the nail is a mean rumor about that person. If you hammer in the nail, you're obviously hurting him or her. If you then pull out the nail, there's still a hole in the wood, and the damage has been done. There are many reasons why that nail of a rumor can be so harmful. Rumors are, quite simply, a form of bullying . When a person or a group makes up a rumor about someone or decides to spread gossip, it's usually to hurt someone, break up a friendship, or make someone less popular. It's the same thing as teasing, only it's done behind someone's back instead of to his or her face. When you spread a rumor about someone, you're sending a signal that the person is outside of the group, and somehow less worthy of friendship than others. You're making fun of that person or pointing out negative things about him or her. This can let others think that it's okay to make the person feel bad, and make him or her an outsider. We need to be able to trust our friends, and gossip and rumors can break this trust. If you tell a personal secret to a friend, and he turns around and tells it to someone else, you might feel like you will get burned if you ever get close to him again. Letting a rumor influence your behavior is like letting someone else make a big decision for you. Let's say you hear that the teacher plans to call a Snow Day tomorrow because a blizzard is coming. Expecting a day off, you don't do your homework. The next morning, the blizzard turns out to be nothing more than a drizzle , and school isn't off after all. You get zeroes on your work. The purpose of this passage is to _ . Answer: How can you make liquid water become solid? Answer: One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said. "Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said, "It isn't worth the trouble." His father said nothing but picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the pennies he bought some grapes. It was very hot, and there wasn't a house or a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time. his father dropped a grape on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while. his father dropped another grape and once again. his son picked it up and put it in his mouth. And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the grapes and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the grapes, his father said to him. "My dear son, if you had bent down early to pick up that horseshoe. It would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the grapes, always remember the lesson : A person who does not worry about the little things will find that he can not do the great things." Thomas picked up the grapes and ate them because _ . Answer: Steven Jobs was born in 1955. He was an American businessman and inventor. He was the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple Inc. In the late 1970s, Steve, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series and later, the Macintosh. Steve was among the greatest of American inventors - brave enough to think differently, and believed he could change the world and in fact, he had the power to change the whole world. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. He changed the way each of us sees the world. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is much better because of Steve. On October 5, 2011, Steve died of cancer. The world has lost _ . We all feel sad about it. Where can we find this passage? Answer: Researchers believe that the insect is better at managing congestion than humans. Ants are the most many type of animal on earth with brains that contain about 250,000 cells ---- the largest among insects. Now an intelligence expert Dr. Dirk Helbing says understanding more about ants could help solve one of the headaches of modern life -- road congestion. His team set up an "ant motorway" with two routes of different widths from the nest to some sugar syrup . Soon the narrower route soon became crowded . But when an ant returning along the crowded route to the nest met with another ant just starting out, the returning ant pushed the newcomer onto the other path. However, if the returning ant had enjoyed a trouble-free journey, it did not send the newcomer in a different direction. The result was that just before one route became _ , the ants had turned to another route and traffic jams never formed. The researchers also created a computer model of more complex ant networks with routes of different lengths. The team found that even though ants being sent in another direction sometimes took a longer route, they still got to the food quickly and efficiently. Dr. Helbing, of the Dresden University of Technology in Germany, said that while you cannot allow cars to meet with traffic coming in the opposite direction as a form of traffic control, you could do the next best thing and allow them to communicate. His plan is to force cars traveling in one direction to tell oncoming traffic what the conditions they are about to meet with-- so they can avoid that situation if necessary. If an ant returns along crowded route to the nest, how does the ant solve the traffic problem? Answer:
Hello, Listeners. Welcome to Henton Hospital Radio. Before our music programme at four, I'm going to repeat some of our hospital rules. The hospital can sleep 800 patients. There're 8 beds in each ward . The visiting hours are in the afternoon from 2:30 to 3:30 and in the evening from 7:00 to 8:00. But remember only two people can see you at the same time. Sorry about that, but you can see what would happen if we didn't have these rules. The other rules are about our hours. We start quite early---you might not be used to that. We wake you at 6 o'clock, and breakfast is at 8 o'clock, lunch is at noon. There's tea at 3:30 and supper is at 6 o'clock. You can see the non-smoking sign---we don't allow smoking in the wards. I'm sure you understand why. However, if you do need to smoke, there are some smoking rooms where it is allowed. You will find the radio switch on the wall near your bed, with your own headphones, if you want to listen. It's our own hospital radio wishing you a quick recovery. Who do you think the listeners might be? A Patients. B Visitors. C Doctors D Nurses Answer: A Death Valley is the lowest, hottest, driest area in North America. This California National Park has less than 5 cm of rainfall a year and temperature up to 53degC in summer. That's enough to keep Americans away during the hottest months from June to August. But it is the high temperature and terrible heat that draw their most crazy fans, the foreign tourists. From all over the world, they come to the valley floor in cars, carrying maps and water bottles, and fanning themselves with newspapers to keep cool. About 1.3 million visitors enter the park each year, from June through August. 90% of them are foreigners. They go there to experience the summer heat that gives Death Valley its name. The average high in July is 53.2 degC and the low 30 degC. For August, the average high is 52.2 degC and the low 29.4 degC. So what do Americans think of the foreign visitors who arrive for the heat, just when locals from the United States try to avoid it? Park manager Brenda Henson says, " The foreigners want to experience the heat in Death Valley. We think it's crazy." In fact, Death Valley is a series of salt flats 225 km long and 6 km to 26 km wide. Birds and animals are largely absent, and only the plants have some chance of existence in this extreme place. One tourist from Paris concluded, " We come to it because we can tell all our friends and family that we've been to the hottest place in the world." The real attraction of Death Valley for foreigners is that _ . A summer heat keeps Americans away B experiencing the heat in it is cool C it is a series of salt flats D it is a famous place in the world. Answer: D There is nothing in the Hippocratic Oath that tells doctors what to do when they make a mistake with a patient. Nor is there much on this subject in medical school curriculums or in training programs. _ Much was made of the Institute of Medicine's 1999 report that 44,000 to 98,000 people die each year in hospitals from preventable medical errors, many of them made by doctors. The report stated much first-hand information to address the problem, but there was little discussion about how doctors, when they have made mistakes, should deal with their patients, Everyone assumes that the ever-present threat of accusation has made doctors more anxious about admitting error, and no doubt it has, But doctors have always been tight-lipped about their mistakes, in part to preserve an illusion(,) of medical omnipotence Studies suggest that patients are less likely to accuse doctors when they apologize for mistakes, and many hospitals now encourage their physicians to admit their errors. According to an supportive group called The Sorry Works! Coalition, 16 states have already passed laws giving doctors legal immunity for their apologies to patients. Of course, there are plenty of doctors with a nice bedside manner who can get away with bad treatment. How else to explain patients who often line up in court to support doctors accused of malpractice ? The surprising truth is that many patients have a hard time knowing whether they are really getting good medical care. Because so many diseases change randomly over time, patients sometimes spontaneously improve despite improper treatment. On the other hand, a patient who receives exemplary medical care may fare badly simply because the illness is hard to treat. In other words, doctors are often praised or blamed, when the outcome is in fact a chance event. Many, perhaps even most, medical errors probably have little ill effect and go unnoticed by patients. Many lawyers would disagree, but doctors ought to let their patients know when they've made a mistake; it humanizes them and builds trust. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? A The doctor made the mistake deliberately so they do not apologize. B Doctors never tell the patient they have made a mistake. C The patients won't forgive the doctor if he make the mistake. D The patient will usually forgive the doctor when the mistake are not intentional. Answer: D How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and the old wishing they were young again! Each age has its pleasure and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting any time in useless regrets. Children is a time when there are few duties to make life hard. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after, and loved whatever he may do. It's impossible for him to be given so much again in his life without having to do anything in return. Besides, life is always giving new things to the child. A child finds pleasure in playing in the rain, or in the snow. His first visit to the seaside makes him wild. But a child has his pains; he is not so free to do as he wishes. He is continually being told not to do this, not to do that, or being punished for what he has done wrong. His life is therefore not perfectly happy. When the young man starts to make his own living, he becomes free from the rules of school and parents; but at the time he is forced to accept duties. He can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes and his room, but has to work for them if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry and suffer. And if he breaks the law of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison, lf, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble, and has good health, he can have the great happiness of seeing himself make steady progress in his job and of building up his own position in society and enjoy success and good reputation.. Old age has always been thought of as the worst age to be, but it is not necessary for the old to be unhappy. Old age has its own happiness. They can have the joy of seeing their children making progress in life; they can watch their grandchildren growing up around them and, perhaps, best of all, they can, if their life has been a useful one, feel the happiness of having come through the battle of life safely and of having reached a time when they can lie back and rest, leaving others to continue the fight. Children is a time when there are few duties to make life hard means " _ ". A Children shouldn't be made to live a hard life B All the children won't have to work for their own living C Children shouldn't answer for the hard life they are leading D A child bas few duties to try hard to make a living for himself or for his seniors Answer: D I got my first driver's license in 1953 by taking driver education in my first year at Central High School in Charlotte,North Carolina.Four years later when it was time to renew my license I was a married woman.Henry and I were living in Baltimore,Maryland.Two weeks before my 20th birthday,Henry drove me to the motor vehicle office on a hot July afternoon.When I got to the office and showed to the man behind the counter my North Carolina driver's license,ready to renew,the man told me that I was under age by Maryland law since I was not yet 21."Mr. Henry Smith,your husband,will have to sign for you," he said. I argued,pointing to a very large belly of mine,"I am married.I am having a baby.Why should I have to have someone sign for me to drive?"He answered coldly."It's the law,madam." Henry encouraged me to calm down,just go ahead and get the license and be done with it."No,"I said.I refused to have him sign for me.So I left without a Maryland license. I called the North Carolina Motor Vehicle office and renewed my NC license by mail--using my name Susan Brown.And thus it was for the next twelve years.Since Henry was in the army I could drive under my home state license.By the time Henry left the army we were once again living in Maryland,and I had to take the Maryland driver's exam.Since then I just go in and renew every four years--sign the name Susan Brown,have my new picture taken, and walk out with a license to drive. Susan failed to renew her license the first time in Maryland because _ . A she was forbidden to drive by Maryland law B she lacked driving experience in Maryland C she was to give birth to a baby soon D she insisted on signing for herself Answer: D
A holiday is any day when people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word came from Old English. At first, holidays honored some holy events or persons. People in Great Britain and other countries speak of holidays as Americans speak of vacations. Every nation has its special holidays. China _ New Year's Day (January 1), May Day and National Day as legal holidays , as it was on Oct.1,1949 that the People's Republic of China was founded. The Chinese have long celebrated the Chinese lunar year. In the United States, congress has declared several days as legal holidays such as New Year's Day (January 1), Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday, Washington's birthday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and so on. Some holidays celebrated special events in the development of a country, such as Greece's Independence Day, Italy's Liberation Day and India's Independence Day. In the United States, banks and schools usually close on a legal holiday. When such a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is usually observed. Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and business do not close then. Those holidays include Valentine's Day and Halloween. From the passage we can infer that _ Chinese and Americans share at least one holiday "Panopticon" is a place in which everything is in full view of others. A recent New York Times " House and Home" article featured the story of a man who lives in a glass house.Every wall in his home is transparent; he has no walls to hide behind, not even in the bathroom.Of course, he lives in a remote area where he doesn't exactly have neighbors looking in and watching his every move.But he has chosen to live without any physical privacy in a home that allows every action to be seen.He has created his own panopticon of sorts. The term panopticon was coined by Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century when he was describing an idea for how prisons should be designed.The prisoners' cells would be placed in a circle with a guard tower in the middle.All walls facing the center of the circle would be glass.In that way, every prisoner's cell would be in full view of the guards.The prisoners could do nothing unobserved, but the prisoners would not be able to see the guard tower.They would know they were being watched - or rather, they would know that they could be being watched-but because they could not see the observer, they would never know when the guard was actually monitoring their actions. Similarly, it is common that people behave differently when they know they are being watched.We act differently when we know someone is looking; we act differently when we think someone else might be looking.In these situations, we are less likely to be ourselves; instead, we will act the way we think we should act when we are being observed by others. In our wired society, many talk of the panopticon as a metaphor for the future.But in many ways, the panopticon is already here.Monitoring cameras are everywhere, and we often don't even know our actions are being recorded.In addition, we leave a record of everything we do online.And most of us have no idea just how much information about us has been recorded and how much data is available to various sources.We can do little to stop the information gathering and exchange and can only hope to be able to control the damage if something goes wrong. A key difference between prison panopticon and panopticon in our daily life is that _ . prisoners know that they may be being watched, but we often don't High school plays a major role in shaping up your future and your whole development. extracurricular activities along with the studies can be very helpful. Make yourself take part in various activities and at the same time try to stand out in your studies. When you move out to college these efforts that you put in may count for a lot. High school is not just about books or classes. Schools always provide opportunities for students to socialize . There are various group tasks designed which allow the students to learn to work together. High school is the right time for you to discover yourself and bring out some of your hidden talents. In your lessons, you may find that you are better at English than you were earlier or have grown an interest for Math. High school also provides many other opportunities for students to take part in. These help develop leadership skills and management skills at an early age, which in turn is a way of preparing students to manage and plan their careers better. Balancing all activities is an experience in time management. If you have taken up a part-time job along with your high school you would have to arrange your time for studies, and extracurricular activities. Such management can go a long way in teaching you to manage things better when you take up a job. Moreover, they help build your character. You would be better prepared for additional stress that you may feel sometimes. When at high school you should pick up your classes wisely. Depending upon what you like and your career plan you should choose suitable classes. Doing something that you hardly like may get you very low grades as well as lose valuable time. Take up interesting and challenging classes that would allow you to put in those extra efforts. What is the author's attitude towards a part-time job at high school? Supportive. Have you heard of snake robots? Scientists and doctors are already using tiny snakes that coil through the human body armed with sharp surgical tools to perform operations on hearts, prostate cancer, and other diseased organs. The snake robots that carry tiny cameras, scissors and forceps, and even more advanced sensors are being developed. The next generation of the robots will be wireless, and will explore inside your body on their own--- not attached to any cables. For now, they are powered by cables that humans control. Experts say the day is coming when some robots will roam around the body on their own. But the experts in robotics say the new creations work best when they are designed for very specific tasks. Howie Choset has been researching and building robots, particularly snake robots. He believes that his snake robot and others like it can help reduce medical costs by making complex surgery faster and easier. Choset says his new design is smaller and more flexible than earlier models. The size of surgical robots allows surgeons to operate with far less damage to the body, helping the patient heal faster. Choset has also built larger snake robots designed for search and rescue, or just exploration. They can climb poles and trees and then look around through a camera in the head and slither through places that humans cannot reach. " We sent our snake robots into these caves in the Red Sea to look for evidence of ancient Egyptian ships," he said. " To me, archeology is like search and rescue, but everyone has been dead for 5,000 years." The doctors are very excited about the potential for surgical robots to do things that humans can't do. The variety of sensors available for surgical robots keeps expanding. As they get smaller, maybe one day they will be able to test chemicals or blood in the body, or even the electrical connections in nerves. The writers attitude towards the new technology is _ . optimistic Passwords are no safeguards Typing your password or credit card number into a computer is a moment's work. But if you think your personal details disappear as soon as you hit the Return key, think again: they can sit on the computer's hard disk for years waiting for a hacker to take them. As people spend more time on the web and hackers become more experienced, the dangers of storing personal information on computers are growing by the day, security experts say. There are some safe-guards, such as never allowing your computer to store your passwords. But even that in no guarantee of security. When you type in a password, it is stored in random access memory (RAM), where it is held temporarily until other data overwrites it or the computer is switched off. But every so often , the computer copies the contents of its RAM onto hard disk, where it is easy to prey for a hacker, who can read it directly or design a worm to e-mail it back. The longer sensitive data stays in RAM, the more likely it is to be copied onto the disk, where it stays until it is overwritten-which might not happen for years. Tal Garfinkel and colleagues from Stanford University have created a software tool which simulates the workings of a complete computer system. Within the simulation, sensitive data can be tagged and then tracked as it passes through the system. Next, Garfinkel and his team simulated computers running common software that regularly handles passwords or secret personal information, such as Internet Explorer, the Windows login script and Apache server software. In a paper to be presented, they conclude that the programs took no measures to limit the length of time the information is kept. Some of the tested software even copied the sensitive information, obviously without restraint . Hackers usually get others' information from _ . the hard disk
Kalle Lasn was in a supermarket parking lot one afternoon when he had an experience that changed his life.In order to shop at the store, he needed to put money into the shopping cart to use it.Annoyed that he had to "pay to shop," Lasn jammed the coin into the cart so that it wouldn't work.It was an act of _ --the first of many--for Lasn. Born in Estonia, Kalle Lasn moved to Australia as a young man and then later to Japan, where he founded a marketing research firm in Tokyo.Eventually, Lasn moved to Canada and for several years produced documentaries for public television.In the late 1980s, Lasn made an advertisement that spoke out against the logging industry and the deforestation going on in the Pacific Northwest.When he tried to show his ad on TV, though, no station in this area would give him airtime.In response, Lasn and a colleague founded Adbusters Media Foundation, a company for the "Human right to communicate. Adbusters produces magazine, newspaper, and TV ads with a social message.Many use humor and irony to make their points: In one, for example, a man chain smokes a brand of cigarettes called "Hope".In another, a child is dressed in an outfit used in fast-food ads.Next to the child is a note from its mother telling the restaurant to leave her child alone. Adbusters also has a magazine and a web site, the Culture Jammers Network, whose members include students, artists, and activists as well as educators and businesspeople interested in social change.Many of these "culture jammers" are working to raise awareness about different social issues by hosting events like "Buy Nothing Day" , " No Car Day" and "TV Turnoff Week" .Lasn and his partners hope these events will encourage people to think about questions such as; What kinds of things are we being encouraged to buy by the media? Should cars be our primary means of transportation? How are television and radio being used now? How could we be using them? Some culture jammers are using other methods to challenge how people think.Some pretend to be shoppers.They move items in stores from one shelf to another making it difficult for people to find things easily.Other culture jammers break into large company well sites and jam them so that they become unusable.The goal in both cases ia to prevent "Business as usual" and to gel people to ask themselves questions such as "Why am I shopping here?" or "Why should I buy this product?" Lasn and members of the Culture Jammers Network want to make people aware of social issues, but they also believe it's important to think of solutions, too."A lot of people tell you everything that's wrong but they never say much about how to fix these problems," says Lasn."But there is plenty we can do.If you start despairing, you have lost everything." Though many TV stations still won't show Adbusters' " uncommercials" , some cable TV stations have started to.People all over the world have joined the Culture Jammers Network and are doing their part to promote social change. What's the main point of the ad for "Hope" cigarettes? A Smoking can help to remove your worries and make you hopeful. B Hopefully, the bad taste of the cigarette can help you to quit smoking. C You are hopeless at abandoning the habit of smoking. D Smoking can ruin you if you are hopelessly addicted to it. Answer: D. Smoking can ruin you if you are hopelessly addicted to it. The first ever trans-Atlantic telephone call was made from New York City to London in 1927. In keeping with this spirit, we'd like to tell you some of our other communication records: Most spammed person Microsoft chairman William H.Gates III(the U.S.A.)receives up to four million spams each day. However, with the help of all the people who are working in Microsoft and anti-spam technology, only around ten spares reach his inbox per day. * Earliest e-mail In l971,Ray Tomlinson,an engineer at the computer company, and Newman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the U.S.A. sent the first e-mail.At first it was an experiment to see if he could get two computers to exchange a message.(It was Ray who decided to use the @ symbol to separate the other's name from their location. The first e-mail message was "QWERTYUIOP") * Largest LAN party The largest LAN(Local Area Network)party was made up of 8531 unique computers and 9184 members in Sweden from 30 November to 2 December 2006. * Most telephone books torsi in three minutes Tina Shelton tore 21 telephone books at last, each with l028 numbered pages in a time of three minutes in California, the U.S.A. on 9 February 2007. Who is the person that receives up to four million e-mail spams each day? A William H. Gates III. B Ray Tomlinson C Newman D Tina Shelton Answer: A. William H. Gates III. Things you need to know about studying there Study style Since the 1950s, the Netherlands has had courses in English especially for foreign students. Students are expected to be critical of what they read and hear, and to be able of working independently. Foreign students will soon notice that at Dutch institutions for higher learning people are expected to do a lot of talking. The most common form of teaching is the seminar or working group, where a small group of students work under a teacher's supervision to analyze a certain problem. On exams, they have to show that they know the material, and that they have formed well-founded opinions on the subject. Accommodations If you are in an exchange programme or an international course, it is quite possible that a room will be arranged for you. Accept it immediately, or you will regret it later. That's because finding a place to live in a country as crowded as the Netherlands is not easy. Before you leave China, ask your host institution whether or not housing will indeed be arranged in advance. If you are in the Netherlands and still looking for a place, ask the international relations office or the student dean for advice. Expences Tuition: Bachelor's degree:about 2,500 euros a year Master's degree: 5,000-12,000 euros a year Living expenses: Experience has shown that a year in the Netherlands costs a Chinese Student about 450-700 euros a month. Here is a breakdown of average prices of supermarket goods: Litre of milk: 0.5--0.8 euro Kilo of apples: 1.5 euros Shampoo, 400ml: 4 euros Tube of toothpaste: 1 euro Bed sheet: 20 euros Other expenses: Haircut: 15 euros Air ticket to China: 600-800 euros Mobile phone call(one minute): 0.1-0.3 euro Phone call to China (with IP card): 7 euros(one minute) Postage stamp in the Netherlands: 0.39 euro Stamp for China: 0.78 euro (1 euro-about 10 yuan) Transportation Trains, buses and trams run throughout the country. If you really want to sample Dutch life, and get around quickly and easily, buy yourself a bicycle. Most students buy second-hand bicycles. A reasonable one will cost you 70-120 euros. You can find them at second-hand bicycle shops or at the bicycle parking facilities near railway stations. It costs at least _ a year for a Master degree. A 104,000 yuan B 104,000 euros C 174,000 yuan D 134,000 euros Answer: A. 104,000 yuan Imagine a boy from a small village in East Africa, He from a very early age has been looking after cattle. At twelve years old he knows more about cattle than most of you. However, he has never been to school. Has this boy ever had any education? Education is discovering about ourselves and about the people and things around us. All the people who care about us -- our parents, brothers, sisters, friends -- are our teachers. In fact, we learn something from everyone we meet. We start learning on the day we are born, not on the first day" we go to school. Every day we have new experiences, like finding a bird's nest, discovering a new street in our neighborhood, making friends with someone we didn't like before. New experiences are even more fun when we share them with other people. Encouragement from the people around us enables us to explore things as much as possible. As we grow up, we begin to find out what we are capable of doing. You may be good at cooking, or singing or playing football. You find this out by doing these things. Just thinking about cooking doesn't tell you if you are good at it. We learn so much just living from day to day. So why is school important? Of course you can learn some things better at home than at school, like how to do the shopping, and how to help old or disabled people who can' t do everything for themselves. At school, teachers help us to read and write. With their guidance, we begin to see things in different ways. The passage tells us that _ . A everyone gets education from the day he or she is born B different education trains different classes of people C school is absolutely necessary if one wants to understand the world D everyone will find out what he or she is good at Answer: A. everyone gets education from the day he or she is born Are you interested in country music? I like it very much !It will take me away for a while after I am tired . The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit of America ,easy to understand ,slow and simple. Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of famers . They talk about love, crops or death. The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s,people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records. When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America. John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is well-known and people still play it today. ,,. ( ,2,10) Why did Country music become popular in America? A Because city people liked the music. B Because people in the city moved to the countryside. C Because country music talked about city people's lives. D Because farmers moved to cities with their music and it continued to change. Answer: D. Because farmers moved to cities with their music and it continued to change.
Air traffic controllers in the US have been advised to take 26-minute naps , after a series of accidents involving workers falling asleep. Now the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for "controlled naps" during nightshifts . NTSB member Mark Rosekind said that a 26-minute nap would improve performance by 34%. He believes that beyond the aviation industry, other professions, such as motoring and machinery, also carry obvious risks. But other experts doubt whether 26 minutes is the appropriate napping time. It's a bit too long and risks you falling into a deep sleep, says Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Council. He said, "A nap of about 15 minutes is best; once you get beyond 20 minutes, you risk a deep sleep and you can be much more tired when you wake up. Therefore, we suggest that a nap be combined with a cup of coffee so that you can enjoy an effective sleep before the caffeine takes effect in 20 minutes. However, this method only works on those who have had a poor night's sleep. If you haven't had a sleep the night before, this method won't be enough to make you fresh." Health writer, Linda Wasmer Andrews, also believes that 26 minutes is too long. She says a nap between 10 and 20 minutes is enough, and the timing of the nap is also important. Putting your head down too early means your body may not be ready to sleep yet, but a nap that is too late in a day might make it harder to fall asleep. Early afternoon is often the best time, between l pm to 3pm, when people experience a post-lunch decrease in energy. Jim Horne thinks that a 26-minute nap is not appropriate because _ . Answer: people risk a deep sleep and may feel more tired Last summer Jenny and her friends had a bus trip to New York. She felt very relaxed on the way. They visited a museum. But it was really crowded there and the display was not interesting at all. They went to different restaurants to have dinner. Some food was quite delicious, but Jenny thought the fast food was awful. When the weather was fine, they went to the beach to swim. The sea was beautiful, and they had a good time. They _ when it was fine. Answer: went to swim Swimming in the water of Hawaii's Big Island is a fun experience. But it can be more exciting if there are dolphins swimming around and jumping out of the sea too. For many people, it would be a wonderful dream to swim with these lovely animals! However, this may not be good for dolphins. They may get hurt because of human interaction . Dolphins are active and usually look for food at night. In the day, they like to rest in shallow bays . Many people think the dolphins are awake during the day as they swim. But when they sleep they rest half of their brain and keep the other half awake to breathe, so they may be sleeping even when they're swimming in the water. From 2010 to 2013, spinner dolphins of Hawaii's Big Island were exposed to human activities more than 82 percent of the time, according to Julian Tyne, a researcher at Australia's Murdoch University. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says disturbing the animals in their near-shore habitat could force them to swim to less favorable places, putting them at risk of attack by sharks and other animals. Besides, when people are around, dolphins become more active. Thus, they can't get enough sleep. "Disturbing their resting behaviors can actually affect their long term health and the health of the dolphin population," Ann Garrett of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service told the Associated Press. As a result, the NOAA wants to make rules to help protect the dolphins. For example, the agency may ban swimming with the Hawaii spinner dolphins. Or they may stop people from swimming in shallow bays when the dolphins are resting. Tour operators must also be taught to watch for signs to know when the dolphins are in their resting state. Which activity is against the rules? Answer: Swimming with the Hawaii spinner dolphins. The first ever trans-Atlantic telephone call was made from New York City to London in 1927. In keeping with this spirit, we'd like to tell you some of our other communication records: * Most spammed person Microsoft chairman William H.Gates III(the U.S.A.)receives up to four million spams each day. However, with the help of all the people who are working in Microsoft and anti-spam technology, only around ten spares reach his inbox per day. * Earliest e-mail In l971,Ray Tomlinson,an engineer at the computer company, and Newman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the U.S.A. sent the first e-mail.At first it was an experiment to see if he could get two computers to exchange a message.(It was Ray who decided to use the @ symbol to separate the other's name from their location. The first e-mail message was "QWERTYUIOP") * Largest LAN party The largest LAN(Local Area Network)party was made up of 8531 unique computers and 9184 members in Sweden from 30 November to 2 December 2006. * Most telephone books torsi in three minutes Tina Shelton tore 21 telephone books at last, each with l028 numbered pages in a time of three minutes in California, the U.S.A. on 9 February 2007. When was the first trans-Atlantic telephone call from New York to London made? Answer: In l927. Dave needed to prepare for Saturday's fishing trip. He went into his hall closet, where he had more than 20 rods and reels. Nowadays he went fishing twice a year at Big Bear, a huge lake in southern prefix = st1 /Californiaabout 7,000 feet up in the mountains. California tries to improve the fishing industry by sponsoring a Free Fishing Day twice a ear, once in June and once in September. That's enough for Dave. He went mostly because it was a social event with a few friends, not so much to catch fish. Even driving up a twisty two-lane road was worth the trip. Let alone the big, beautiful houses and trees that lined the shore of the lake. Preparing was a project in itself. Dace had even created a computer file named Fishing Trip. It was a checklist of 45 things to take to Big Bear. He took two rods, because on Free Fishing Day you were allowed to fish with two rods instead of the usual one rod. He took a sweatshirt, jeans, two pairs of socks, a heavy hooded jacket, winter gloves, and a scarf. He also took flip-flops, shorts, a T-shirt, sunglasses, a big hat, and lightweight raincoat. If you go to Big Bear in June, you'd better be prepared for hot or cold, rain or shine. He prepared a couple of magazines to read just in case the fish weren't biting. He and his friends joked that the fish were always biting- in the spot you just left or the spot you were headed for. After about an hour and a half; Dave had gathered all the items on his list into a neat pile next to his door. He went to bed knowing that tomorrow's weather and fishing were unpredictable, but the good time with his friends was a given. Which of the following would be the best title for the text? Answer: Preparing For a Fishing Trip
Can you be too beautiful? It is hardly a problem that most of us have to bother -- as much as we might like to dream that it were the case. Yet the blessings and curses of beauty have been a long-standing interest in psychology. Do those blessed with shiny faces and an attractive body live in a cloud of appreciation -- or does it sometimes pay to be ordinary? Combing through decades of findings, social psychologists Lisa Slattery Walker and Tonya Frevert at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte havereviewed all the evidence to dateand their conclusions are not what you might expect. At the most basic level, beauty might be thought to carry a kind of halo around it; we see that someone has one good quality, and by association, our deep mind may assume that they have other good ones too. Even in the courts, a pleasing appearance can work its magic. Attractive criminals are likely to get less strict sentences, or to escape punishment entirely; attractive plaintiffs , meanwhile, are more likely to win their case and get bigger financial settlements. "It's an effect seen everywhere," says Walker. But if beauty pays in most circumstances, there are still situations where it can have opposite results. While attractive men may be considered better leaders, for instance, hidden sexist prejudices can work against attractive women, making them less likely to be hired for high-level jobs that require power. And as you might expect, good-looking people of both sexes run into envy -- one study found that if you are interviewed by someone of the same sex, they may be less likely to employ you if they judge that you are more attractive than they are. More worryingly, being beautiful or handsome could harm your medical care. We tend to link good looks to health, meaning that illnesses are often taken less seriously when they affect the good-looking. When treating people for pain, for instance, doctors tend to take less care over the more attractive people. And the bubble of beauty can be a somewhat lonely place. One study in 1975, for instance, found that people tend to move further away from a beautiful woman on the pathway -- perhaps as a mark of respect, but still making interaction more distant. "Attractiveness can convey more power over visible space -- but that in turn can make others feel they can't approach that person," says Frevert. Interestingly, the online dating website OKCupid recently reported that people with the most beautiful pictures are less likely to find dates than those with less perfect pictures. Ultimately, Frevert points out that focusing too much on your appearance can itself be harmful if it creates stress and anxiety -- even for those already blessed with good looks. "If you are crazy about attractiveness, it may affect your experience and interactions," she says. It's an outdated saying, but no amount of beauty can make up for a bad personality. As the writer Dorothy Parker put it so elegantly: " _ ." What might be the best title for the passage? A Negative Sides of Beauty B Sexist Prejudice C Blessed with Beauty D Beauty vs Ugliness Answer: A Standing desks have become common across Silicon Valley, offering health benefits to those willing to work on their feet. However, due to their high price, they have failed to catch on until now. Recently, Ikea has brought out Bekant convertible standing desk that can become a normal desk at the touch of a button. The $500 adjustable desk can transform from a standard desk to a standing one, and Ikea hopes it could make the standing desk mainstream. Experts say that changing from a seated to a standing desk can improve productivity. Similar desks have become a common sight at tech firms such as Google, where some employees have even installed treadmill and bicycle desks. The desk is not the first "convertible" on the market. As early as 2013, Stir Kinect brought out an adjustable desk. The $3,890 Stir Kinect desk has a motor to raise and lower itself, converting it into a standing desk or a traditional desk. The desk can even be programmed to move up and down slightly, making it appear to take a gentle breath to remind the user to change their position. To move between sitting and standing positions, owners simply double tap on the screen. The desk can learn the user's preferences over time and suggest the best seating position. The Stir Kinect desk was created by a team of ex-Apple and Disney engineers. It has a built-in touch screen to control and track movement, and can tell users exactly how many calories they burn by standing during their working day. It also has devices containing power points and USB ports for charging phones, to keep cables hidden. "Ikea's height adjustable desk is great for opening up the lower end of the market, '' said JP Labrosse, founder and CEO of Stir. What is the text mainly about? A Ikea has brought out an adjustable standing desk. B Silicon Valley offered health benefits to officials. C Google formed their tech firms to design bicycle desks. D The Stir Kinect desk will become mainstream in the market: Answer: A Many people have to work on the weekend. Some people do not mind. Others think it is terrible. One man thinks that working on the weekend can be dangerous. He is Graham Coates. Mr Coates works in an office in Brighton, England. On Saturday, May 24, 1986, he went to the office to do some work. When he got on the lift , it stopped between floors. Mr Coates could not get out of the lift. He started to shout, but no one heard him. Then Mr. Coats remembered that it was a holiday in England. No one was going to come to work until Tuesday. There was nothing for him to do. He had to wait until one of his workmates came to work and found him. With nothing to eat or drink, Mr Coats ended up sleeping for most of the day. Now Mr. Coates says, "I only use lifts if they have telephones in them." Mr. Coates stayed in the lift for _ . A about twenty hours B nearly two days C one week D more than sixty hours Answer: D Swimmers wanted Can you swim? Do you like children? Can you help them with swimming on weekends? Come and join us. Call Jane at 330-9786 Chess Club Do you like to play chess? Do you want to play chess well? Mr. Chen can teach you. You can come here every Friday afternoon. Tel: 6723-1940 Add : Room 102 in School's P.E. Building Let's learn English Can you speak English? Do you want to learn English? Join the English Club now. Time: 9:00 a.m. --- 11:30 a.m. (from Monday to Friday) Call Henry at 543-1248 Musicians Wanted Boys and girls, are you music lovers? Can you sing or dance? Can you play any instruments ? Welcome to our Star Rock Band . Please call Victor at 891-3453 or send an e-mail to music@yahoo.com. Betty can swim well and she wants to find a job. Who can she call? A Henry B Jane C Victor D Jenny Answer: B One cold day in winter, my wife and I were walking back home from the grocery store as usual when we suddenly decided to walk into a coffee shop. My wife ordered a coffee at the counter. Just then, I saw a young woman in her thirties helping with a rather weak Mexican woman into the shop. Maybe it was the gentleness of their difficult experiences or an unclear familiarity with the situation that drew my full attention. I immediately had a strong wish to do something for them. Unfortunately, before I could think of anything reasonable to say, they left the coffee shop without ordering anything! When my wife returned, I told her about the two women and said, "I missed the chance to do something for them." Strangely enough, though, they came back into the same coffee shop five minutes later. Unbelievable! "This is my chance," I thought out loud as my wife shared some creative possibilities. The two women ordered, took their place card and left the counter. After quickly finishing our coffee, we walked up to the counter and asked the smiling cashier , "What is your most popular dessert ?" Chocolate Cake," she answered. With a childlike feeling of happiness, my wife made an unusual order. "Can I buy a chocolate cake for the two women who were here just before us? But don't tell them it is from us. Just give them this card," she said while taking out a smile card. The cashier couldn't believe it. " Do you do this all the time?" she asked. " Not all the time, but just whenever the heart calls for it," I answered with a natural smile. We, my wife and I, are people of middle income . That night, we had planned to have our once-in-a-while dinner at a restaurant. But walking out of that coffee shop, both of us stood upright and said, "Let's eat at home today." It's more filling to give a chocolate cake than to eat it. What did the author's wife do for the two women? A She shared some good ideas. B She ordered a cake for them. C She made a usual order for them. D She bought them a smile card. Answer: B
Reading for pleasure is the easiest way to become a better reader in English. It is also the most important way. Some students say they don't want to read for pleasure. They say they want to use their time to learn the rules of the language and new words. They say that pleasure reading is too busy. Many experts say pleasure reading is very important for learning English. Dr Stephen Krashen, a famous expert on learning languages, says that pleasure reading helps you learn many important things about English. Students learn more grammar and more words when they read for pleasure. They also learn more about good writing. Dr Krashen tells us that pleasure reading helps each student in a different way. Each student needs to learn something different. Pleasure reading makes it possible for each student to learn what he or she needs. Reading for pleasure is not the same as studying. When you read for pleasure, you choose your own books, and you don't have to remember everything. There are no tests on your pleasure reading books. Pleasure reading will help you: learn how English speakers use English read faster in English find examples of good writing in English learn new words learn about the culture of English speakers Each student needs to learn _ by pleasure reading. something different Jane is a nice girl. She lives in London. She studies in a middle school, she gets up at six every day. She likes learning English. She's a clever girl. She draws pictures well. After school, she often reads newspapers with her grandmother. At seven o'clock in the evening. Jane has supper at home. Every day at eight she does her homework and goes to bed at nine. What time does she go to bed? At 9:00. Schools across the country are turning green. So-called green schools are built from recycled and environmentally friendly materials. They are designed to use less energy than traditional school buildings. In the next few years, Southern California alone plans to open 150 green schools. Studies have shown that there are good reasons to go green, including good air quality that cuts down on asthma attacks and airborne germs that can cause illnesses. Students learn better in classrooms that have natural light and ideal temperatures. Green schools have lower energy bills. Go On, Get Green Here's how to save energy and help the environment. Light Savers Turn off the lights in a room when it is not in use. This bright idea can produce big savings on energy costs. Some schools use sensors that automatically shut off the lights when there is no motion in a room. Heat Smart Your school's thermostat should be set to 78degCin warm weather and 68degCin cooler weather. The temperature can be even farther from the comfort zone at night and on weekends, when no one is using the school building. Reuse, Recycle Reuse paper, cans, bottles and batteries. Use both sides of notebook paper. Carry a lunch box rather than a paper bag. Recycle whatever you can reuse. Don't Drip Leaky taps can waste large amounts of water. A small, steady flow can add up to hundreds of gallons a year. Report drips if you see them. All of the following are advantages of a green school EXCEPT _ . it is more beautiful than a traditional school Better think twice before choosing a password for e-mail, online bank or shopping. Simple passwords are easy to be stolen . A password is like a key to your home. If someone steals it, he'll get chances to steal something else. We use passwords everywhere in our life. We are so used to passwords that we don't pay any attention to them until we lose or forget one. A study of 28,000 passwords recently stolen from a popular website showed that people often do the easy thing. It found that 16 percent took a first name as a password. Another 14 percent used the easiest keyboard combinations such as 12345678 or QWERTY. 5 percent of the stolen passwords were names of television shows or stars popular with young people. 3 percent of the passwords expressed feelings like "I don't care", "whatever", "I love you", or their opposite , "I hate you". Robert Graham, who did the study, advises people to choose a password that is longer than eight characters with one capital letter and one symbol . Of course, safe passwords don't mean those hard to remember. Forgetting your password is sometimes a big headache for you. Maybe, the best password is easy for you and hard for others. Which of the following passwords is the safest ? wy640Mv "My Best Teacher Ever" Contest Students Tell us why, in 300 words or less, your teacher (present or past) is the best teacher ever. Assay Topic Who was/is your best teacher ever? What makes him or her the best? Participation The contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 2 through 12. Entries Word limit: 300 Essays will be judged on the following criteria by Readers editorial staff: originally, creativity--40 percent clarity of presentation-- 40 percent *grammar, punctuation, spelling --20 percent All entries should be word-processed, typed, or hand-printed on 8.5-inch by 11-inch paper or submitted as an attached word or text document via email. Each entry must include the entrant's name, age, complete home mailing address, phone number, school name, and grade, as well as the submitting teacher's name, school name, complete school mailing address and email address. Contest Deadline Entries must be postmarked on or before April 26, 2013, or mailed by EST on that date. Submission Email your entry with attached essay and entry information (entrant's name, age, complete home mailing address, phone number, school name, and grade, submitting teacher's name, email address, school name, and complete school mailing address) to web-contest @ readers.com or mail your entry with attached entry form to this address: Readers Publishing My Best Teacher Ever Contest Attn: Anne Flounders 44 South Broadway, 18 Floor White Plains, NY10601 Prizes One winner will be chosen in each of two categories: elementary (grades 2-6) and secondary (grades 7-12). Winning students will win a $ 50 gift card and may have their essays published on readers.com. Teachers of winning students will win one free classroom subscription to the Readers magazine of their choice. Winning essays will be posted up on signing of a release by students and their agent or guardian. Winning essays will be announced on May 7, 2013, Teacher Appreciation Day, on readers.com, and winners will be notified directly. If you become a winner, you _ . may have your essay published online
Once I invited a group of friends round to my house, telling them that I was going to record their speech. I said I was interested in their regional accents, and that it would take only a few minutes. Thus, on one evening, three people turned up at my house and were shown into my front room. When they saw the room they were a bit alarmed, for it was laid out as a studio. In front of each easy chair there was a microphone at head height, with wires leading to a tape-recorder in the middle of the floor. I explained that all I wanted was for them to count from one to twenty. Then we could relax and have a drink. I turned on the tape-recorder and each in turn seriously counted from one to twenty in their best accent. When it was over, I turned the tape-recorder off and brought round the drinks, and for the rest of the evening there was general cheerful conversation--interrupted only by the fact that I had to take a telephone call in another room, which unfortunately lasted some time. Or at least that was how it would appear. For, of course, the microphones were not connected to the tape-recorder in the middle of the room at all but to another one, which was turning happily away in the kitchen. The participants, having seen the visible tape-recorder turned off, paid no more attention to the microphones which stayed in front of their chairs, only a few inches from their mouths, thus giving excellent sound quality. And my lengthy absence meant that I was able to obtain as natural a piece of conversation as it would be possible to find. I should add, perhaps, that I did tell my friends what had happened to them, after the event was over, and gave them the choice of destroying the tape. None of them wanted to--though for some years afterwards it always seemed to be my round when it came to the buying of drinks. Linguistic research can be a very expensive business. The writer asked his friends to count from one to twenty because _ . A he wanted to record the numbers for his research B he wanted to find out whether the tape recorder was working C he wanted to make his friends relax before real recording started D he wanted his friends to think that was all he wanted to record Answer: D Tom and Simon were Americans. Once they visited Spain. One day they came into a little restaurant for lunch. They did not know Spanish , and the waiter did not know their American English, either. They wanted the waiter to understand that they needed some milk and eggs. At first Tom read the word "milk"many times. Then Simon spelled it on the table. But the waiter could not understand them at all. At last Tom took out of a piece paper and began to draw a cow. The waiter looked at it and ran out of the restaurant. "How clever you are!" Simon said to Tom, "He understood us at last!" After some time, the waiter came back, he brought no milk with him, but two tickets for a bull-fight down on their table! Where did Tom and Simon visit? A America B Spain C England D China Answer: B Li Qiang and Li Gang are brothers. But their living habits are different. Now let's go to Li Qiang's room. Li Qiang cleans his bedroom every day and puts his things away. Look! There is a computer on the desk. There are two balls under the bed. A guitar and a kite are on the wall. Some books are on the shelf. So he must be a careful boy. Now let's go to Li Gang's room. The room is not clean. Can we see his clothes on the desk? Oh, yes. We can see a football and a knife on the desk, too. Li Gang never does any cleaning on weekends. So his room is in a mess. What do you think of Li Qiang and Li Gang? Li Qiang is a good boy. Li Gang must learn from his brother. ,. How often does Li Qiang clean his bedroom? A Every day. B Every week. C Twice a week. D Every month. Answer: A When I was almost six and Jem nearly ten,our summertime boundaries were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose's house two doors to the north of us,and the Radley Place three doors to the south.The Radley Place was said to be a ghostly house That was the summer Dill came to us. Early one morning Jem and I heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford's baekyard.We looked to the right and found someone looking at us. "Hey." "Hey yourself.How old are you?"asked Jem. "Goin' on seven.'' "You look right puny for goin' on seven."said Jem. "I'm little but I'm old."he said. Jem looked at him,"Charles Baker Harris? Lord, what a name!" "Folks call me Dill,"said Dill,struggling under the fence "Do better if you go over it instead of under it,"I said"Where'd you come from? " Dill,from Meridian,Mississippi,was spending the summer with his aunt,Miss Rachel.His family was from Maycomb County originally;his mother worked for a photographer in Meridian,had entered his picture in a Beautiful Child contest and won five dollars.She gave the money to Dill,who went to the picture show twenty times on it. "Don't have any picture shows here."said Jem."Ever see anything good?" Dill had seen Dracula,a revelation that moved Jem to envy him."Tell it to us." Dill was a curiosity He was a year my senior but I towered over him. When Dill reduced Dracula to dust,and Jem said the show sounded better than the book ,I asked Dill where his father was,"You ain't said anything about him." "I haven't got one." "Is he dead?" "No'' "Then if he's not dead you've got one,haven't you? " Seeing Dill uneasy, Jem told me to hush,a sure sign that Dill had been studied and found acceptable.Thereafter the summer passed in drama sharing.Dill played the character parts before us-the ape in Tarzan, Mr. Crabtree in The Rover Boys.Thus we came to know Dill as a pocket Merlin,whose head was full of strange plans and fancies But by the end of August Dill gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out. Word went that any stealthy small crimes in Maycomb were committed by the evil phantom living in the Radley Place.Once pigs in town were found killed on a cold night; although the criminal was Crazy Addie,people still looked at the Radley Place in doubts From the passage we can learn that Dill _ . A was a year senior to Jem and had a wide knowledge of dramas B was a dull boy and unwilling to talk about his father C left for Maycomb County for another Beautiful Child contest D gained much knowledge from the picture shows Answer: D When carbon and oxygen combine chemically, the mass of the product is A greater than the mass of the carbon plus the mass of the oxygen B equal to the mass of the carbon plus the mass of the oxygen C equal to the mass of the carbon D less than the mass of the carbon Answer: B
Question: Jack is a twelve-year-old boy. One day, he was playing football. The ball went into the street and Jack ran for it. Unfortunately, a car hit him. Jack's parents took him to the hospital at once. Jack woke up after a month. When he woke up, he asked, "Who am I? Who are you? Why am I here?" He even didn't know his parents. The doctor said, "Jack's head was badly hurt. Maybe he can remember all the things he has lost one day. Maybe he will forget them forever." Every day Jack's parents told Jack something about himself, his friends and so on. But Jack still couldn't think of anything. One day, when his father talked about his dog, Tidy, Jack seemed to think of something. Then Jack's father had an idea. He took Jack back home. Jack and Tidy played together happily. After a year, with the help of Tidy, Jack's memory came back. What was Jack's problem? A. He couldn't get to sleep. B. He couldn't wake up. C. He lost his memory. D. He couldn't move. Answer: C Question: When I was four years old, I wanted nothing more in life than to play the piano. My best friend Betty had a piano. But Betty hardly played it at all. She would rather play hide-and-seek. It didn't seem fair. One day my mother came to pick me up from Betty's house. "Watch this!" I told her. Then I ran to play a song I had learned that morning. I was so proud of what I'd learned. "That's nice, Jenny," she said. "But we can't afford a piano." When I turned six, my mother bought me a recorder . The problem was that I didn't love the recorder. When I played the recorder, I didn't feel anything special inside. I asked my mother if we could have a piano. "We still can't afford one," she said. "One day, I promise." In the sixth grade, my mother traded in the recorder for a real clarinet . I like the clarinet more, but it still wasn't a piano. It wasn't the music that was inside of me. One day, when I was in the seventh grade, my mother cut an ad out of the newspaper. We drove to a stranger's home in Providence, Rhode Island. The woman had a beautiful, dark wood piano from Russia. It was called an upright piano because it was tall. It was so shiny that it looked like it was wet. "We'll take it," my mother said. "It has a nice sound." After that, I played the piano every single day.When I left for school in the morning, I would leave the sheet music open on the piano. When I got home, I would walk straight to the piano and sit down and start playing the sheet music. I even played if I stayed home sick. I had finally found the music inside of me. Do you struggle with music? Have you been given an instrument to play, but you just can't play it? Maybe you think you're just no good or that you don't have any musical talent. Don't get discouraged. It's not true! We all have music inside of us, even if it's just what we listen to. Now it's up to you to find the right way to set that music free. What did Jenny get when she was six? A. A clarinet. B. A recorder. C. A violin. D. A guitar. Answer: B Question: A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior , "said a middle-aged man. "Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. " Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..." Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted, "I know his name. I call Dad." One passenger suggested writing a letter to the company to _ . A. make a demand for more buses B. thank the conductor for his good service C. criticize the conductor for his rude behavior D. invite a newspaper reporter to write about the conductor Answer: B Question: 'Student Voice' is a student-run education conference discussing education in the 21st century. This event aims to gather the views and opinions of students not only in Victoria and Australia, but around the globe. On Sunday 29 July 2012 students will discuss a series of questions regarding the role of education in the 21st century. By the end of the day they will hopefully have comprehensive answers to be shared with schools around the state and maybe even the world. Students from Preshill would like to invite a group of 5-10 students from your school to participate in this free forum . The event is being held on Sunday 29 July 2012 from 10am-2.30pm at the Hawthorn Town Hall, 360 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn. They are inviting students who are enthusiastic on any of our topics of discussion to present a keynote speech on the day. If you can't make the day, they welcome your written or recorded thoughts on our questions, which will be on display at the event. The topics for discussion: Key Question: What is the ideal 21st century education? 1. Is it a school's place to teach ethics, values, morals, confidence, self-esteem? 2. What are the effects of a uniform national curriculum ? 3. How can we make education more engaging? 4. Should students be compared and ranked against each other? 5. What is the place of social networking and new media technology in education? 6. What is the best way to determine student knowledge? Visit their Facebook page (see below) for updates, to communicate with organizers and other participants, and to indicate your interest in making a keynote speech. The Student Voice Organizing Committee Facebook Page URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Student-Voice-The-Student-Education-Conference/101834233239391?sk=info Who can participate in the Student Voice conference? A. Anyone working on education. B. Students only from Australia and Victoria. C. Students who are free on Sunday 29 July 2012. D. Any student interested in education in the 21 Answer: D Question: Mark twain tells a boy's story in The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and always beats him. Huck's situation has freed him from the restriction of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes. Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery . They travel together on a raft made of wood down the Mississippi River. Mark twain started writing "Huckleberry Finn" as a children's story. But it soon became serious. The story tells about the social evil of slavery, seen through the eyes of an innocent child. Huck's ideas about people were formed by the white society in which he lived. So, at first, he does not question slavery. Huck knows that important people believe slavery is natural, the law of God. So, he thinks it is his duty to tell Jim's owners where to find him. Later, Huck comes to understand that Jim is a good man. He finds he cannot carry out his plan to inform Jim's owners of his whereabouts . Instead, he decides to help Jim escape. He decides to do this, even if God punished him. What is the passage mainly about? A. The outline of The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. B. The childhood of Huckleberry. C. The reason why Mark Twain wrote the story. D. The effect of slavery. Answer: A
It was a lovely day at the park and Stella Bianchi was enjoying the sunshine with her two children when a young boy, aged about four, approached her two-year-old son and pushed him to the ground. "I'd watched him for a little while and my son was the fourth or fifth child he'd pushed," she says. "I went over to them, picked up my son, turned to the boy and said, firmly, 'No, we don't push.'" What happened next was unexpected. "The boy's mother ran toward me from across the park," Stella says, "I thought she was coming over to apologize, but instead she started shouting at me for blaming her child. All I did was let him know his behavior was unacceptable. Was I supposed to sit back while her kid did whatever he wanted and hurt other children?" Getting your own children to play nice is difficult enough. Dealing with other people's children has become a hidden danger. In my house, jumping on the sofa is not allowed. In my sister's house it's encouraged. I find myself saying "no" a lot when her kids are over at mine. That's OK between sisters but becomes dangerous when you're talking to the children of friends or acquaintances. "Kids aren't all raised the same," agrees Professor Naomi White of Monash University." But there is still an idea that they're the property of the parent. We see our children as a mirror of ourselves, so if you're saying that my child is behaving improperly, then that's somehow a criticism of me." In those situations, it's difficult to know whether to approach the child directly or the parent first. There are two opinions. "I'd go to the child first," says Andrew Fuller, author of Tricky Kids. "Usually a quiet reminder that 'we don't do that here' is enough. Kids have antennae for how to behave in different settings." He points out bringing it up with the parent first may make them feel careless, which could cause problems. Of course, approaching the child first can bring its own headaches, too. This is why White recommends that you approach the parents first. Raise your concerns with the parents and ask them to deal with it," she says. Asked how to approach a parent in this situation, psychologist Meredith Fuller answers: "Explain your needs as well as stressing the importance of the friendship. Start with something like: 'I know you'll think I'm silly but in my house I don't want...'" What did Stella Bianchi expect the young boy's mother to do when she talked to him? A Make an apology B Come over to stop her C Blame her own boy D Take her own boy away Answer: A George Gershwin, born in 1998, was one of America's greatest composers. He published his first song when he was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs. Many of Gershwin's songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way -- from jazz to country. In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular. In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It still remains one of his most famous works. George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. People mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have still written. What did Gershwin do during his stay in Paris? A He created one of his best works B He studied with Nadia Boulanger C He argued with French critics D He changed his music style Answer: A From poor beginnings to most expensive player ZINEDINE Zidane,who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month,has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words. Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany's Leverkusen 21. He became one of the world's most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy's Juventus for US $ 66 million.And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3-O defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final. But despite his success,Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground.He leads a quite family life,there is hardly any gossip about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight. "Just because I'm a public figure it doesn't mean I have to express myself on everything.I don't like to discuss some personal matters publicly."he said. Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille,France,where he was raised by his Algerian parents,Zidane was shy. He loved football even as a little kid."I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,"he said. Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread,Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich. Before he was 10 years old,it was obvious that he could become a great footballer.He was offered his first professional contract when he was just 20.Now,at the age of 29,he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards. This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup.But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he'll do this time. The sentence"Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich"means _ . A football made Zidane's poor family wealthy when he was a child B Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child C football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family D Zidane knew that if he wanted to be rich he must play football from childhood Answer: C America, has always had people of many different nationalities and languages. The 1990 census indicates that almost 14% of Americans speak a non-English language at home. Yet only 3% reported that they spoke English "not well" or "not at all ". That means that slightly more than one out of 10 Americans could be considered _ . Besides that, many high school and college students---and even some elementary school students---are required to take a foreign language. Actually, a growing number of Americans are coming to appreciate the benefits of using different languages. Ethnic enclaves have preserved the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can function quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. Regions such as southern Florida and the Southwest have numerous Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. In fact, Spanish speakers---numbering over 17 million---form the largest non-English linguistic group in America. But Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish and many other ethnic group add to the linguistic flavor of America. Foreign languages are so commonly used in some ethnic neighborhoods that visitors might think they are in another country! Although some Americans welcome this linguistic and cultural diversity, others have begun to fear that the English language is being threatened. Since the 1980s, the "English Only " movement has sought to promote legislation which would establish English as the "official language" and restrict the use of non-English language. However, some groups, including TESOL, the organization for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other language, object to such "language restrictionism". But so far, 19 states have passed "English Only" legislation, and the topic is the focus of an ongoing debate. Whether or not English is the official language of the United States, it remains the "language of wider communication". Nearly everyone recognizes the need to develop the ability in using English in order to do well in America. American also recognize that English is the international language, and people with good English skills can get by in many international settings. On the other hand, in a world growing increasingly smaller, second language skills can be a great favor. They can build cross-cultural bridges and give people an edge in a variety of career field. Indeed, lack of foreign language skill can limit one's chances for advancement and keep one in a cultural dead-end street. Which of the following is TRUE about "English Only" movement? A Its purpose was to establish a legislation of restricting the use of English. B TESOL was in favor of "English Only " by objecting to "English plus". C It was launched because English was being threatened. D A large majority of American states support the movement. Answer: C Russia is on the north of China. It is bigger than other countries .How much do you know about it ? Let's talk about something about its capital ----- Moscow . There is a famous square called Red Square in Moscow .It is the centre of Moscow .Is the square red? Why is it called Red Square ? Red has another meaning ---- beautiful . So " Red Square " means a beautiful square .As we all know ,there is a palace to the north of Tian'anmen Square .And there's a palace beside Red Square , too . Now , it is the offfice for the Russian government . A High bell tower stands in the palace . There is a shining red star on the top of the tower . ,, . (1,5) There is a _ to the north of Tianmen Sqaure A Red Square B tower C palace D square Answer: C
People are switching to electric cars because cars that use gas Answer: dirty the air Here in Alaska, the wolf almost disappeared a few years ago, because hunters were killing hundreds of them for sport. However, laws were passed to protect the wolves from sportsmen and people who catch the animals for their fur. So the wolf population has greatly increased. Now there are so many wolves that they are destroying their own food supply. A wolf naturally lives on animals in the deer family. People there also hunt deer for food. Many of the animals have been destroyed by the very cold winters recently and by changes in the plant life there. When the deer can't find enough food, they die. If the wolves continue to kill large numbers of deer, the deer will disappear some day. And the wolves will, too. So we must change the life cycles there. If we killed more wolves, we would save them from starving. We also save deer and some farm animals. In another northern state, wolves attack cows and chickens for food. Farmers want the United States government to send a team of scientists to study the problem. They believe it is necessary to kill wolves in some areas and to protect them in places where there is a small population. Why is it that if wolves go on killing a good many deer the wolves will die out? Answer: Because wolves mainly live on deer. Pete Rose,the famous baseball player,whom I have never met,taught me something so valuable that it changed my life.Pete was being interviewed in spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb's alltime hits record.One reporter asked, "Pete,you only need 78 hits to break the record.How many atbats do you think you'll need to get the 78 hits?" Without hesitation,Pete said,"78." The reporter yelled back,"Ah,come on Pete.You don't expect to get 78 hits in 78 atbats,do you?" Mr. Rose calmly shared his rule in life with all the reporters who were anxiously awaiting his reply."Every time I step up to the plate,I expect to get a hit! If I don't expect to get a hit,I have no right to step in the batter's box in the first place! If I go up hoping to get a hit,then I probably don't have a prayer of getting a hit.It is the positive expectation that has gotten me all of the hits in the first place." When I thought about Pete Rose's rule and how it was applied to everyday life,I felt a little embarrassed.As a business person,I was hoping to make my sales meet the quotas .As a father,I was hoping to be a good dad.As a married man,I was hoping to be a good husband.The truth was that I was an adequate salesperson,I was not so bad as a father,and I was an okay husband.I immediately decided that being okay was not enough! I wanted to be a great salesperson,a great father and a great husband.I changed my attitude to one of positive expectation,and the results were amazing.I was fortunate enough to win a few sales trips,I won Coach of the Year in my son's baseball league,and I share a loving relationship with my wife! Thanks,Mr. Rose! What can be inferred about Pete Rose from the passage? Answer: He set himself a goal of being the best. "Food in France is still primarily about pleasure,"says Mark Singer, technical director of cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris."Cooking and eating are both pastimes and pleasure."The French might start their day with bread, butter, jam, and perhaps something hot to drink -- it's a time of the day when the whole family can be united. Singer, born in Philadelphia, has lived in France for more than 40 years. "Although things have changed greatly in the past 20 years when it comes to food in the country,"he says,"and what was a big affair with eating has been slowly softened up, there are still events in the year, like birthdays and New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve that are still really anchored in traditional food and cooking. But it's not every day." Some people think French food life may be a performance, adds Jennifer Berg, director of graduate food studies at New York University."They want to believe that France is this nation where people are spending five hours a day going to 12 different markets to get their food. The reality is most croissants are factory-made, and most people are buying convenience food, except for the very small group of people in high society. But part of our identity relies on believing that myth." In Italy, as in France, takeout is still ly rare."Eating fast is not at all part of our culture,"says Marco Bolasco, editorial director of Slow Food and an Italian food expert. Our meals are relaxed, even during a lunch break. Food in Italy is love, and nutrition, and pleasure, he says. An Italian child's first experience with food is not small round cakes or rice or eggs, but probably ice cream, notes Bolasco. Status and wealth play less of a role in food. What's the main idea of the passage? Answer: Food as status. Hans was an honest fellow with a funny round good-humored face. Living alone, every day he worked in his garden. In all the countryside there was no garden so lovely as his. All sorts of flowers grew there, blooming in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower's place, so that there were always beautiful things to see, and pleasant odors to smell. Hans had many friends, the most devoted being the Miller. So devoted was the rich Miller to Hans that he'd never go by his garden without plucking a large bunch of flowers or a handful of sweet herbs, or filling his pockets with fruits. The Miller used to talk about noble ideas, and Hans nodded and smiled, feeling proud of having such a friend. The neighbors thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave Hans anything in return, though he had hundreds of sacks of flour, many cows and sheep, but Hans never troubled his head about these, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things about the unselfishness of true friendship. In spring, summer, and autumn Hans was very happy, but when winter came, and he had no fruit or flowers to sell, he suffered from cold and hunger. Though extremely lonely, the Miller never came to see him then. "There's no good in going to see Hans while the snow lasts." The Miller said to his wife, "When people are in trouble they shouldn't be bothered. So I'll wait till the spring comes when he's happy to give me flowers." "You're certainly very thoughtful," answered his wife, "It's quite a treat to hear you talk about friendship." "Couldn't we ask Hans up here?" said their son. "I'll give him half my meal, and show him my white rabbits." "How silly you are!" cried the Miller. "I really don't know what's the use of sending you to school. If Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our red wine, he might get envious, and envy is a most terrible thing, and would spoil anybody's nature. I am his best friend, and I'll always watch over him, and see that he's not led into any temptation. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me for some flour. Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they shouldn't be confused. The words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things. Everybody can see that." He looked seriously at his son, who felt so ashamed that he hung his head down, and grew quite scared, and began to cry into his tea. Spring coming, the Miller went down to see Hans. Again he talked about friendship. "Hans, friendship never forgets. I'm afraid you don't understand the poetry of life. See, how lovely your roses are!" Hans said he wanted to sell them in the market to buy back his things which were sold during the hard time of the winter. "I'll give you many good things. I think being generous is the base of friendship." said the Miller. "And now, as I'll give you many good things, I'm sure you'd like to give me some flowers in return. Here's the basket, and fill it quite full." Poor Hans was afraid to say anything. He ran and plucked all his pretty roses, and filled the Miller's basket, imagining the many good things promised by the Miller. The next day he heard the Miller calling: "Hans, would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to market?" "I'm sorry, but I am really very busy today." "Well," said the Miller, "considering that I'm going to give you my things, it's rather unfriendly of you to refuse. Upon my word, you mustn't mind my speaking quite plainly to you." Poor Hans was driven by his friendship theory to work hard for his best friend, leaving his garden dry and wasted. One evening Hans was sitting by fire when the Miller came. "Hans," cried the Miller, "My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I'm going for the Doctor. But he lives so far away, and it's such a bad windy night. It has just occurred to me that you can go instead of me. You know I'm going to give you my good things, so you should do something for me in return." "Certainly," cried Hans. He struggled into the stormy night, and got the doctor to ride a horse to the Miller's house in time to save the boy. However, Hans got lost in the darkness, and wandered off into a deep pool, drowned. At Hans' funeral, the Miller said, "I was his best friend. I should walk at the head of the procession." Every now and then he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. The author described the Miller's behavior in order to _ . Answer: warn the readers about the danger of a false friend
Have you ever heard of Paynes Prairie? It is one of the most important natural and historical areas in Florida. Paynes Prairie is located near Gainesville. It is large, 21,000 acres. This protected land is called a preserve. The Florida Park Service manages the preserve. The Paynes Prairie basin was formed when limestone dissolved and the ground settled. It is covered by marsh and wet prairie vegetation. There are areas of open water. During brief periods it has flooded enough to be considered a lake. Except for that, the basin has changed little through time. Man has lived on Paynes Prairie a very long time. He lived there as far back as 10,000 B. C. At one time, the Seminoles lived there. The prairie is thought to have been named after King Payne, a Seminole chief. During the late 1600s, the largest cattle ranch in Florida was on Paynes Prairie. Today, Paynes Prairie is preserved land. It is occupied by visitors and Florida Park Service employees. Willam Bartram visited Paynes Praire. Bartram was the first person who portrayed (described) nature through personal experience as well as scientific observation. He lived 200 years ago. He visited Paynes Prairie in 1774. At that time he described it. He called Paynes Prairie the "great Alachua Savannah." Most of the animal life, which Bartram described, is still here. A large number of sandhill cranes, hawks and waterfowl are here in winter. The animal _ is increased by the presence of pine flatwoods, hammock, swamps and ponds. The Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is open year round. The Florida Park Service works hard so that the park will appear as it did in the past. It offers many opportunities for recreation. At the park you can camp and picnic. You can hike and bike. You can boat and fish. You can ride on horse trails. And you can see lots of nature and wildlife. You can see Florida as it was in the early days. Paynes Prairie is a part of our Florida history. It is an example of our Florida natural resources. It is a place for recreation. Paynes Prairie is an important experience of the Real Florida. The purpose of the passage is to _ . Answer: attract people to this preserved park Here is some news of the future. March 20. 2035 There was a lot of news around the life extension drugs that hit the market a decade ago. They didn't promise that you would live forever. but they gave you a chance to extend your life an extra five to ten years. Even though the life expectancy rate at birth has increased greatly. the life expectancy for seniors hasn't improved that much. Basically. you have a greater chance to become a senior, but you will not have a much longer lifespan, and this is where the anti-aging drugs intend to kick in. So ,do the anti-aging drugs work? Well. it is too early to tell. But the sales so far are very good. April 19, 2035 Of the total US population of 378 million, people over 65 years of age now make up 20% for the first time. The senior ratio was only 4.1% by year 1900. and l2.4% 30 years ago. The number of people above 65 compared to those of what is considered working ages. between 15 and 64. is currently 33.7%. This is up from l85% since year 2005. which means that for every retired person there are now two workers. compared to four workers 30 years ago. The number of people above the age of 80 has grown t0 23.8 million; making them 6.3% of the total population compared t0 3.6% in 2005. April 12. 2040 Although introduced in the market only five years ago, 10% of all hydrogen fuel now sold in the US is of the environmentally friendly Re-Hydro label, produced through. eletrolysis based on a source of 1OO% renewable energy. Several producers have turned to producing Re-Hydro. mainly because of lower tax. which also keeps the price of. Re-Hydro on the same level as regular hydrogen. Most analysts believe that Re-Hydro will be the .dominating fuel in the future What can we infer from News 3? Answer: Re-Hydro will be widely used in the future. More than 6000 children were expelled from US schools last year for bringing guns and bombs to school, the US Department of Education said on May 8. The department gave a report on the expulsions as saying handguns accounted for 58 percent of the 6093 expulsions in 2005--2006, against 7 percent for rifles or shotguns and 35 percent for other types of firearms. "the report is a dear sign that our nation's public schools are cracking down" on students who bring guns to school, " Education Secretary Richard Riey said in a statement. "We need to be tough-minded about keeping guns out of our schools and do everything to keep our children safe." In March 2006, a 1l-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy using handguns and rifles shot dead four children and a teacher at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In October, two were killed and seven wounded in a shooting at a Mississippi school. Two months later, a 14-year-old boy killed three high school students and wounded five in Daducab, Kentucky. "Most of the expulsions, 56 percent were from high schools, which have students from about age 13, 34 percent were from junior high schools and 9 percent were from elementary schools", the report said. How many students were shot dead in 2006 in US schools? Answer: 9 During a recent phone interview with a mom who had just moved to Colorado, the conversation turned to disaster planning." I am standing here looking out of the window at the smoke from wildfires," she told me, "and have absolutely no idea what we will do if the wind shifts our way." Fortunately, the fire was put out, saving her home. Making a disaster plan isn't something anyone does for fun. But being caught without one in a time of need is worse. Emergency management officials say too few families have a disaster plan ,even in areas that have been hit hard by hurricanes or flooding. I have prepared food, water, flashlights, candles, a battery-powered radio and firewood since our family was hit years ago by a hurricane that blocked off streets and knocked out our power for more than a week. Still we lack the medications, emergency contacts, and emergency-meeting and pet-care plans we should also have .Officials in my state of Oregon have warned us that one of us is really ready for the major disaster which is very likely to hit here---- a big earthquake. Working parents need to coordinate their disaster plans with their children's schools or child-care centers. Many parents in the 2003 New York blackout weren't able to get home to their children because public traffic was stopped and lights were out. After that, many parents made detailed plans with child-care providers about where to meet in emergencies, an whom to contact if unable to reach each other. Good emergency planning and training helped teachers at a child-care center in the World Trade Center successfully move children to a safe place during the 2001 terrorist attacks. Do you have an emergency plan for your home? If not, you know what to do. Which of the following things has the writer NOT prepared for disasters? Answer: Medicine How to apply for a free mailbox ? First you have to connect to the Internet and go to the homepage of the ICP providing free mailboxes. Then you will find an icon , an agreement about the rules for using the free mailbox will appear. If you want to go, click the icon "I agree". Then you have to fill in a form about your basic personal data, and the name and PIN of the mailbox. The PIN is the key to the mailbox. After finishing these, you will get a mailbox like this:your name @ mail server (for example:tvguide@mail.cctv.com.cn. "tvguide" is the name of the mailbox, and "mail.cctv.com.cn" is the name of the mail server.). The mailbox is separated into two parts by a separator "@", which is read as "at". The former part is the name of the mailbox. The latter is the domain name of the mail server. All mails to you will be received by the server and put into your mailbox. You can read these mails on any computer on the Internet in the world, if you have the name and PIN of the mailbox. The writer mainly wants to tell us how to _ in this passage. Answer: get a free mailbox
Residential construction is expanding in Florida. The expansion has caused fragmentation of habitats. One of the results of the increased construction is a decrease in the number of large predators such as the coyote, black bear, and panther. Which will be the most immediate local result of this fragmentation? Answer: Most families love home cooking! The food tastes good and warm, and a family meal brings everyone together.In some families, meals are often the only times everyone sees one another the same time. Another reason people enjoy home cooking is that it is often a way of showing love.A parent who makes some cookies is not just satisfying a child's sweet tooth. She or he is sending a message.The message says, "I care about you enough to spend an hour making cooking that you will eat up in 15 minutes if I let you." There is also something about the smell of home cooking.The smell of home cooking pleases people of all ages.It makes most of us feel good and loved----- even if we are the ones doing the cooking! Next time you smell a cake making, stop for a moment and pay attention to your mood . Why do fewer people cook now? Answer: Climatic conditions are delicately adjusted to composition of the Earth's atmosphere. If there were a change in the atmosphere -- for example, in the amounts of atmospheric gases -- the climate would probably change also. A slight increase in water vapor , for example, would increase the heat-keeping capacity of the atmosphere and would lead to a rise in global temperatures. The level of carbon dioxide, CO2, in the atmosphere has an important effect on climatic change. Most of the Earth's incoming energy is short-wavelength radiation , which tends to pass through atmospheric CO2easily. The Earth, however, reradiates much of the received energy as long-wavelength radiation , which CO2absorbs and then goes toward the Earth. This phenomenon, known as the greenhouse effect, can result in an increase in the surface temperature of a planet. An extreme example of the effect is shown by Venus, a planet covered by heavy clouds composed mostly of CO2, whose surface temperatures have been measured at 430~C.If the CO2 content of the atmosphere is reduced, the temperature falls. According to one respectable theory, if the atmospheric CO2concentration were halved, the Earth would become completely covered with ice. Another equally respectable theory, however, states that a halving of the CO2concentration would lead only to a reduction in global temperatures of 3degC. If, because of an increase in forest fires or volcanic activity, the CO2content of the atmosphere increased, a warmer climate would be produced. Plant growth, which relied on both the warmth and the availability of CO2, would probably increase. As a consequence, plant would use more and more CO2. Eventually CO2levels would decrease and the climate, in turn, would become cooler. With reduced temperatures many plants would die; CO2would thus be returned to the atmosphere and gradually the temperature would rise again. Thus, if this process occurred, there might be a long-term oscillation in the amount of CO2present in the atmosphere, with regular temperature increase and decrease. Some climatologists argue that the burning of fossil fuels has raised the level of CO2in the atmosphere and has caused a global temperature increase of at least 1degC. But a supposed global temperature rise of 1 degC may in reality be only several regional temperature increases, restricted to areas where there are many meteorological stations. Other areas, for example, the Southern Hemisphere oceanic zone, may be experiencing an equal temperature decrease that is unrecognized because of the shortage of meteorological recording stations. Which of the following questions does the information supplied in this passage try to answer? Answer: Don't worry, be happy and, according to new research, you will also be healthy. It is estimated that over the course of one year, Americans suffer 1 billion colds. But new research shows that all it may take to avoid this common affliction is a positive and upbeat attitude. People who are energetic, happy and relaxed are less likely to catch a cold than those who are depressed, nervous or angry, finds a new study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Healthy volunteers first underwent an emotional assessment in which they were asked to rate their tendency to experience positive and negative emotions--how often they felt pleased, relaxed, happy, or anxious, depressed and hostile. The subjects were next given a squirt up the nose of a rhinovirus, the nasty little germ that causes colds. Researchers then watched the volunteers to see who came down with a cold and waited to see how the unlucky ill manifested their cold symptoms. "We found that people who regularly experience positive emotions, when exposed to rhinovirus, are ly protected from developing illness," said Dr. Sheldon Cohen, lead author of the study and a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University." Increases in positive emotional styles were linked with decreases in the rate of clinical colds, but a negative emotional style had no effect on whether or not people got sick," Cohen said. So how can your emotions influence your health? In simple terms, when the brain is "happy" it sends messages to our organs that help keep the body healthy and sound." It's like a drug that is released by your state of mind and simply changing the state of mind can produce effects on the rest of the body through the nervous system and hormones," said Dr. Neil Shulman, associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and author of Doc Hollywood. "Your chance of developing the common cold, pneumonia, or even cancer may very well be decreased by keeping your brain in a healthy state." In addition, happy and relaxed people tend to better health practices than their negative and stressed counterparts. They are more likely to get plenty of sleep and to engage in regular exercise, and have been shown to have lower levels of certain stress hormones. The experiment states that _ Answer: Right in the heart of America -- in Smith Center, Kansas, to be exact -- high school football coach Roger Barta glanced at his notes as he stood among the sea of players gathered before him. It was 6:30 a.m. on August 18, 2008, the first day of practice for this edition of the Redmen and the 31st opening day of the season for Barta, longtime coach and former math teacher at Smith Center High School. Barta wore a red T-shirt covering a ball-shaped belly . Barta began with basic instructions: Drink lots of water. Fine advice. But what Coach Barta laid out next was the essential game plan -- life lessons that many people consider his greatest strength. "Someone here is the best, and someone is the worst," he said. "It's time to forget about that. Let's respect each other. Thus, we'll like each other and then love each other. That's when, together, we'll become champions." He paused for a moment. When he continued, he spoke with even more fervor to the 56 young men sitting before him. "One more thing, guys. We don't talk about winning and losing. We talk about getting a little better every day, about being the best we can be, about being a team. And when we do that, winning and losing take care of themselves." Over the next four months, the Redman went on to beat each competitor, winning another perfect season. As their coach, Barta has created a 289-58 record, eight Kansas state championships, and 67 victories. In high school football, it's the longest win in the nation. Through it all, Coach Barta kept his word: Not once did he ever say that a game was do-or-die. "None of this is really about football," he had explained to me back in 2007, convincingly enough to force me to move to Smith Center from New York City with my wife, Mary, and three-year-old son, Jack, so I could write about him for a year. "What I hope we're doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something." According to the passage, we learn that Barta _ . Answer:
In some locations, squirrels sleep for long periods of time during the winter months. Which of the following most likely causes these squirrels to sleep for long periods of time? Answer: decrease in temperature Nearly 300 miles long, up to 18 miles across and 4000 vertical feet down, the 8th new wonder: the splendid Grand Canyon . Viewing its glory, President Theodore Roosevelt called the Grand Canyon "a natural wonder, ly unparalleled throughout the rest of the world". He urged Americans to preserve what he described as the "wonderful greatness, the nobleness, the great loneliness and the beauty of the canyon". More than a hundred years later, it's still easy to see why almost 5 million annual visitors call the Grand Canyon a wonder. The canyon stretches as far as the eye can see. Some 5 or 6 million years ago, the Colorado River rushed through this land, carving out the massive canyon we see today, exposing even older layers of rock previously buried. Geologists say some are 2,000 million years old. Native Americans were the first people to make these rocky walls as their homes about 12,000 years ago. Today the Hualapi and Havasupai Indians live deep in the canyon, balancing age-old traditions with modernity. There are no roads to this village; mules carry the mail here. But at the same time, the tribes are designing a skywalk that promises an excellent view over the canyon early next year. The bald eagle, wild and endangered American icon is another longtime resident of the Grand Canyon. President _ sang high praise for the Grand Canyon. Answer: Roosevelt Having spent two and a half years in China over several visits, I don't remember ever going through a phase we in the United States call "cultural shock". This period of difficulty in adjusting to a new culture would probably have set in during my semester at Peking University. Of course, this is not to say that I didn't notice any differences between the American and Chinese cultures upon my arrival at Peking University, I did notice the differences. Looking back, I remember one of the first differences I noticed: Chinese universities are surrounded by walls. To an American, this is one of the most striking aspects of a Chinese university which immediately sets it apart from an American campus. Having grown up in the United States, I had never seen a university surrounded by high, cement walls. My idea of a university, based on having seen scores of them in different states of the U.S., was a place of life and learning, an inseparable part of the community in which it was located, open not only to the students of the school itself, but also fully accessible to students from other schools and to the broader public. My idea of a university was that it was a center of cultural life, a resource for the entire community. In all my twenty-one years, it had never occurred to me that a school would have a wall around it. Walls enclose and separate; schools expand and integrate . _ I asked a Chinese friend if all Chinese universities have walls around them. "You know, I have never really thought about it. I guess so. I guess all Chinese schools have walls around them, not just universities." "Why?" I asked, "What's the point?" "I don't know. To protect us, I suppose." "From whom?" "I don't know. Don't you have walls around your schools in the United States?" I thought carefully before answering. "No, I've never seen or heard of a university encircled by a wall." My Chinese friend seemed puzzled. Walls around schools came to strike me as more than just an architectural difference between the United States and China. As China continues to open up to the outside world, these walls seem increasingly out of place. What did the author's friend feel about the walls around universities? Answer: He was shocked that American universities are not enclosed. Let's face it.No one drinks die t soda for the taste.People drink diet soda in the hope that it will help them lose weight or at least keep them from gaining it.Yet it seems to have exactly the opposite effect, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Texas said those who drank two or more diet sodas a day had waist size increases that were six times greater than those of people who didn't drink diet soda."What we saw was that the more diet sodas a person drank, the more weight they were likely to gain," said Sharon Fowler. The study was based on data from 474 participants in a large, ongoing research project, where the participants were followed for nearly l0 years. While the findings are surprising, they also offer some explanations. Nutrition expert, Melanie Rogers, who works with overweight patients in New York, has found that when patients are switched from regular to diet soda, they don't lose weight at all."We weren't seeing weight loss necessarily, and that was confusing to us," said Rogers. So why would diet soda cause weight gain? No one knows for sure yet, but it could be that people think they can eat more if they drink diet soda, and so over-compensate for the missing calories( ). A related study found some sweeteners raised blood sugar levels in some mice." Data from this and other potential studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners may be risky," said study researcher Helen P.Hazuda, professor at the University of Texas's school of medicine. Theymay be free of calories, but not of consequences. The new study suggests that drinking diet soda _ . Answer: causes people to become heavier Cold-blooded animals are unable to live in cold climates, which is why you always see this type of creature in hot areas Answer: Iguanas
1. The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough Another must-read for history fans, McCullough tells the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright, the brothers who taught the world how to fly. Drawing on all types of historical data -- from personal diaries and scrapbooks, to thousands of private letters of family letters -- we get a close look at the actual personalities behind one of the most influential moments in history. 2. The Wonder Garden, by Lauren Acampora This novel is really a collection of several interwoven stories of people living in the rich Connecticut suburbs. From tales of an elderly artist to a young mother to a woman whose husband just behaves carelessly, The Wonder Garden gives us an unforgettable reminder that there's often so much we don't know about what happens with our neighbors behind closed doors. 3. Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, by Mary Norris Does someone mistaking who for whom make your blood boil? Do you want to throw a dictionary at someone for mistaking sit for cite? Enter Between You & Me. Mary Norris brings her experience working in The New Yorker's copy department to eager grammar fans in this laugh-out-loud book that looks at some of the most common spelling, punctuation, and usage problems in the English language. 4. My Struggle: Book Four, by Karl Ove Knausgaard My Struggle is a six-volume autobiographical novel that follows the life of Karl Ove Knausgaard, a Norwegian father of three. In Book Four, he writes of his decision at the age of 18 to move to a fisherman's village in the far north of the Arctic circle to work as a school teacher. It's there that he struggles with love, alcoholism, and becoming loved by one of his students. Who describes his or her real life experiences in the novel? A. David McCullough. B. Lauren Acampora. C. Karl Ove Knausgaard. D. Mary Norris. Answer: C. Karl Ove Knausgaard. When you leave home to go and live somewhere else, you naturally take your own personality and cultural ways with you. When you arrive in a new country with a different culture you can experience different kinds of feelings and reactions. For example, you may feel confused and nervous, and like to depend on others. If you do experience these things, then you are probably experiencing culture shock. For example, coming to Australia from another country certainly gives you a chance to face many new things: the buildings look different, and the food is not what you are used to. You may not be able to speak with other people confidently. Learning to function effectively in a new culture is not easy. Meanings in cross-cultural situations are often unclear. This can be stressful because you are not sure what others expect of you or what you can expect of them. In these situations it is natural to feel anxious and frustrated . If you recognize that these feelings are a normal part of the experience of living away from "home", you may be able to deal with them more efficiently. Your sense of humor and openness will also help. As you gain greater understanding of the new culture, you can expect the stress to disappear. Dealing with culture shock needs a special effort, but it is the most important to remember that you are not alone in your feelings of distress. Most people in their first weeks and months in a new country experience similar reactions. Why do people have many kinds of feelings in a new country? A. Because they are surprised at everything they see. B. Because buildings are very beautiful. C. Because culture shock does have a great effect on them. D. Because they have to learn something quickly. Answer: C. Because culture shock does have a great effect on them. At one time or another we have all stopped to think about the weather. Some days the weather is good. Some days the weather is bad. Sometimes a day that seems bad turns out better than you thought it would. There are ways of understanding the weather. One way is to study the clouds. No two clouds are ever alike. We can see the different kinds of clouds and watch them for signs of changing weather. To forecast the weather, there are three things about clouds. you should look for: movement, colour, and change. As a rule, the higher the clouds, the better the weather. And the lower the clouds, the worse the weather is likely to be. Fair-weather cumulus clouds* are another sign of good weather. These are clouds we often see on warm summer days. Clouds can tell you if a storm is on the way. If the thick, fluffy cumulus clouds get bigger early in the day, then you know it will rain. If there is a sudden, cool and dark thunder* cloud appears, then a storm is about to break out. Colours in the sky tell us about the weather, too. A golden ring around the moon warns us that a storm is on the way. A watery yellow sunset is a sign that rain may be near. The rainbow* has a message, too. The colours of the rainbow come from the sun rays shining through falling rain. If you see the sun in the east and a rainbow in the west, the rain may be coming your way. If the sun is in the west and the rainbow is in the east, the rain will be moving away from you. According to this article, one way to understand the weather is to _ . A. study the clouds B. monitor the temperature every hour C. watch the signs of the wind D. note the changes in wet Answer: A. study the clouds Oxygen reacts with iron to produce rust and with hydrogen to produce water. Which statement describes both reactions? A. A different mixture is formed in each case. B. A different solution is formed in each case. C. Both a change of state and of elements is involved. D. New molecules are formed but the same elements exist. Answer: D. New molecules are formed but the same elements exist. Many years ago, when I was working as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Lisa. The poor little girl had a very serious disease and was dying. The doctor had done his best but no medicine really worked. The only chance to save her seemed to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother. The little boy had the same disease before and had developed the antibodies to fight the illness. The doctor talked to the little boy about what they planned to do, and asked him if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for a moment. He took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I'll do it if it can save Lisa." As the transfusion was going on, the little boy lay quietly in bed next to his sister. He looked at her and smiled all the time. When everything was done and the colour returned to his sister's face, his smile disappeared and he looked a little afraid. He looked up at the doctor and asked, " Will I start to die now?" He was too young to understand the doctor. He thought he would have to give all his blood to his sister, but he agreed. How did the five-year-o1d boy understand the doctor's plan? A. He thought he was going to lose all his blood. B. He thought he was going to be killed. C. He thought he was going to die together with his sister. D. He thought he was going to die when he grew up. Answer: A. He thought he was going to lose all his blood.
Where Are We Going, Dad? Is a popular reality show from Hunan TV station. In the show, five pairs of fathers and kids went to strange places and finished interesting tasks . They had some interesting experiences while they were staying in different places. The show is about growing up. Five fathers said that they grew up with their kids. They learned to take good care of their kids. The kids learned about teamwork and being independent. For Kimi, a 4-year-old boy, need _ In the show, Kimi got the most fans(,). People fell in love with him because of his cute face and a good personality. At the beginning of the show, Kimi was a little shy. He found it's hard to finish his task alone. Sometimes he refused to accept the tasks, His father Jimmy Lin encouraged him to be brave. Soon Kimi learned to communicate with other kids. He learned to finish the tasks by himself. He grew up and changed a lot. ,. At the beginning of the show, Kimi found that it was not _ to finish his task alone. A. easy B. hard C. different D. suitable Answer: A In America, people change jobs ten times during their lives. They change their homes eleven times. Americans like change because they think it _ their lives. In China, some people, of course, don't like change. They want life to be predictable . They want to do the same things every day and to see the same people every day. When something changes, it makes them feel uncomfortable, like a child who can't go to sleep unless all his toys are in their proper places. But can't you see there are many changes in China? People are healthier and they are living longer. People have more money, more food and they are better educated . Without change, our lives would be very boring. It would be like listening to the same song over and over again. Change is a big part of life and we all change in small ways every day --the young get stronger, the old get weaker; we meet new friends; we find new interests. Change is good for China and it will be good for you, too. The best title for the passage is _ . A. Change Is Good B. Americans Like Change C. Chinese Like Change D. Chinese Dislike Change Answer: A 1685 was a very good year for German composers. Within the space of a month, two of the greatest were born: Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Handel's father was a barber and surgeon, which sounds like a strange combination today, but back then those occupations went hand in hand. Even though Handel was very interested in music, his father didn't think that was a good way to earn a living, so he wanted his son to be a lawyer. The story goes that Handel _ a quiet piano into the house so that he could practice in secret. One day, Handel went along when his father went to shave a duke. While his father was working, Handel sat down and played the duke's organ. The duke was so impressed that he convinced Handel's father to let his son study music, and Handel finally got to learn how to compose. Handel soon discovered that what he liked most was opera. In fact, he was so passionate about opera that he even fought a duel over it with one of his friends. Since Italy was the place to learn about opera composing, Handel went off to Italy to study. When he got home, he got a job as court composer for a German prince. Having landed such a wonderful job, Handel immediately asked his boss for time off. He wanted to go to England, where he'd heard that there weren't nearly enough composers to satisfy the British taste for Italian opera. After great success writing opera in London, Handel came back to Germany. Then fate played a funny trick on Handel and his boss. The Queen of England died, and it just so happened that the prince Handel worked for was next in line to the British throne. When he arrived in London as King George, followed Handel, his court composer in Germany. In addition to serving the King, Handel became one of the most successful opera composers of his time. And he also produced them and traveled all over Europe to hire the best singers. There are stories of battles with rival opera producers and of fights between rival singers. Handel apparently had quite a temper. If you ever go to London, look for Handel's grave in Westminster Abbey, where there's a wonderful monument to him. Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe Handel, as shown in the passage? A. bad-tempered B. talented C. enthusiastic D. optimistic Answer: D If a tall tree falls over in a crowded forest, which resource becomes available to the surrounding plants? A. air B. soil C. water D. sunlight Answer: D Fair Way The Westborough High School golf team had taken the official photos with the state prize. The other teams, disappointed, were on the bus heading home. And then Westborough instructor Greg Rota noticed something wrong on one of the score cards. A 9 had been recorded as A 7. They were not the state prize winner; Woburn High had won. "No one would have known," said Woburn's instructor, Bob Doran. For Rota, it wasn't a difficult decision: "The prize wasn't ours to take." Coin Stars "College students are lazy, but they also want to help," says University of Pennsylvania graduate Dana Hork. So she made it easy, placing cups in rooms where students could leave their spare coins, and handing out cups to first-year students to keep in their homes. Her " for Change" effort has collected $40,000 for charities, which were decided upon by students. Never Forgotten A school in Massachusetts received a $9.5 million check from Jacques LeBermuth. But it took officials several days of digging to discover his connection to the school. Records showed the LeBermuth came from Belgium and studied in the school in the 1920s. When his family fell on hard times, he was offered free room and board. LeBermuth became a trader, owned shares of AT&T and lived off the earnings until he died, at age 89. What did the school officials do after receiving the check from Mr. LeBermuth? A. They tried to find out why he gave them the money. B. They went to Belgium to pay their respects to him. C. They dug out the records that were buried underground. D. They decided to offer their students free room and board. Answer: A
I entered high school having read hundreds of books. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to get a point of view. I searched books for good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes--anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated. When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a "complicated idea" until he had read at least two thousand books, I heard the words without recognizing either its irony or its very complicated truth. I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read. Strict with myself, I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How, after all, could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?) There was yet another high school list I made. One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college. The article had a list of the "hundred most important books of Western Civilization." "More than anything else in my life," the professor told the reporter with finality(firmly), "these books have made me all that I am." That was the kind of words I couldn't ignore. I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles. Most books, of course, I hardly understood. While reading Plato's The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about. However, with the special patience and superstition of a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text. And by the time I reached the last word, pleased, I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list The writer's purpose in mentioning The Republic is to _ . Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think. They may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and take photos wherever you are, but they also turn you into a workaholic . A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the smartphone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles. The study shows the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further 2 hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers say they are on call almost 24 hours a day. Nearly two-thirds say they often check work emails just before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up, while over a third have replied to one in the middle of the night. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first email in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11pm and midnight. Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said: "The ability to access millions of applications has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are disadvantages. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people cannot get away from work. The more constantly in touch we become, the more is expected of us in work . " Where can we most probably read this text? How do most students spend their free time? Do they have time to do the things they like? Let's see what some students do during their free time. Ben is eleven. He has a sister, Kate. Both of them like going to the cinema. Every Sunday morning, they go to the town by train and then they go to the cinema because they live in the country and there is no cinema there. They arrive in the town at noon. They usually have a big lunch in their favourite restaurant first, and then they buy some food in the supermarket before they go to their favourite cinema called Star Cinema. They like it because the seats there are comfortable and the films shown in the cinema are always the newest. They always have a good time on Sundays, but when the weather is bad or they are busy with their homework, they can't go. When they are in the town, they _ first. Oleksander Pylyshenko is either very fearless,very foolish... or both. The 40-year-old zookeeper from the Ukraine recently spent five weeks in a cage with Katya, a 200-kilo African lioness. Why? Well for a start, he wanted to raise awareness of the treatment of animals in captivity. Secondly, he hoped to break the Guinness World Record for time spent living in a cage with a lion. And thirdly? "I wanted to show my children what kind of man I am," said Oleksander. For 36 days, Oleksander and Katya shared the cage together. They ate hunks of meat thrown into the cage by Oleksander's wife, and slept side by side on a bed of hay. Oleksander did have a few more creature comforts than his feline flatmate - he built himself a shower and toilet inside the enclosure. But he didn't use any soap as the sharp scent is upsetting to lions. And as if living with the king of the jungle wasn't dangerous enough, Katya was also pregnant at the time. She gave birth during Oleksander's stay. Wild animals are very protective of their young but the zookeeper said Katya trusted him completely. Oleksander' wife, Olena, was also very trusting. "when he first told me about the plan I was very scared. But I decided to support my husband." Once the five weeks was up, Oleksander stepped out of the cage and declared the experiment a success. He told a Russian news agency, "Katya taught me a lot about honesty and kindness." Also, a representative from Guinness World Records confirmed that Oleksander ahd beaten the previous record by three weeks. But the parting was also bittersweet. "Katya was very sad to see me go," Oleksander noted. Oleksander's wife, on the other hand, was very happy to have her husband back. [(<<>> 20121 "Into the Lion's Den" )] Which is not the purpose of spending 5 weeks in cage with a lion according to Oleksander? [ ] Flashlights require batteries
Question: The earth is 4 600 million years old. We humans have lived on earth for only 35 000 years, but during this period we have changed our planet a lot in many ways. Some things we've done are very good for the earth while some are bad. All over the world, people have cut down millions of trees. When it rains or when the wind blows, the earth is taken away. Forests have become deserts, so more and more sorts of animals and plants are disappearing. In big cities, cars and buses have polluted the air. Many people in cities now have health problems. Factories have also polluted the land and the water. As a result, many rivers and lakes are now dead. Around the earth, there's a special kind of oxygen called "ozone"(O3). It is important to the earth. But now air pollution is destroying it and that has made a very big hole in the ozone layer. Too much harmful radiation from the sun passes through the hole and reaches the earth directly. This is very dangerous because this kind of radiation can cause cancer. Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air has increased a lot. It mainly comes from burning oil, coal and wood. This has formed a "blanket" around the earth. The heat from the sun can't escape so the temperature is rising. This is called "the greenhouse effect". It causes the level of the oceans to rise and the climate of the earth to change. All these problems are very serious, so we must do something now. ,A, B, C, D. In the passage, "blanket" refers to _ . A. carbon dioxide around the earth B. the ozone layer in the sky C. the forests around the world D. pollution all over the world Answer: A. carbon dioxide around the earth Question: Win $ 50 in the Coolest Gadget of the Week Look at what's the coolest gadget (vote for a chance to win $ 50). Cryo S: A Cool Netbook Cooler Like the other devices of NZXT, the Cryo S was designed to provide a competitive advantage at PC gaming. It has two adjustable 120mm fans that provide powerful cooling. The full post can be found on Trends Updates. Starry Night Bed Are you having trouble getting that good nights sleep that you're needing? Well, not any more. Why not take a look at the Starry Night Bed? The Starry Night Bed is a great new invention which will revolutionize the way in which you sleep. Not only is this bed fashionable and comfortable but it's also a gadget heaven. With this bed you get many added gadgets including anti-snore technology, movie projector with speakers, temperature control and many more. The full post can be found on Tech Styling. Fugoo--talking gadgets Fugoo gets all your appliances(,) talking to each other so your alarm clock could first wake you up and then tell the coffee machine to start working while checking traffic conditions online to tell you how long it will take you to get to work. The full post can be found on Decide What to Buy. Vote What is this week's coolest gadget? 0 A Cool Netbook Cooler 0 Starry Night Bed 0 Fugoo--talking gadgets Where can you find the full post of the "Cryo S"? A. Tech Styling. B. Super Cool Pets. C. Trends Updates. D. Decide What to Buy. Answer: C. Trends Updates. Question: How often do you let other people like a bad driver, a rude waiter, or an angry boss, change your mood ? Sixteen years ago I learned a lesson. I got in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver used his brakes , the tires made a loud noise, and at the very last moment our car stopped just 3cm from the back of the other car. I couldn't believe it. But then I couldn't believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, turned his head around and he started shouting at us. I couldn't believe it! My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy could have killed us!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck". He said, "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of anger and disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. So I started thinking how often I let Garbage Trucks run right over me and how often I take their garbage and spread it to other people. I began to see Garbage Trucks. I see _ people are carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don't take it personally. I just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. How did the author learn to deal with Garbage Trucks? A. Fight back immediately. B. Call the police for help. C. Smile and move on. D. Dump it on someone else. Answer: C. Smile and move on. Question: Earth's magnetosphere is not uniformly shaped. It is compressed on the side facing the Sun and has a long tail extending away from the Sun. Which phenomenon is responsible for this shape? A. centripetal force of Earth's rotation B. gravitational attraction between Earth and the Sun C. solar winds bringing high-energy particles toward Earth D. differences in the distance between Earth and the Sun during Earth's orbit Answer: C. solar winds bringing high-energy particles toward Earth Question: The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float. An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives-a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean-virtually by 2100, the UN's climate change panel has warned. President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a convention center, homes and an 18-hole golf course. The company , Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai. The Maldives began work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have been settled there to ease congestion. The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat climate change. Nasheed has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are submerged. He has also pledged to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming "carbon neutral " by 2020. His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and powering all vehicles and buildings from "green" sources such as burning coconut husks. What are the government's ways to combat climate change? A. Buy land elsewhere in the world. B. Make the nation "carbon neutral" by 2020. C. Use "green" sources instead of fossil fuel. D. All of the above. Answer: D. All of the above.
She was 6 years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. She insisted on talking to me. "I'm building," she said. "I see that. What is it?" I asked, not caring. "Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand." That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by. "My mom says sandpipers come to bring us joy." "Good-bye joy," I muttered to myself, "Hello pain," and turned to walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance. "What's your name?" She wouldn't give up. "Robert," I answered. "Mine's Wendy... I'm 6. Why are you so quiet?" I turned to her and shouted: "Because my mother died!" "Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day." "Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and - oh, go away!" "Did it hurt?" she asked. "Did what hurt?" I was annoyed with her, with myself. "When she died?" "Of course it hurt!" I replied angrily, misunderstanding. A month after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there. Feeling guilty, ashamed, I went up to the cottage and knocked at the door. A young woman answered. "Hello," I said. "I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was." "Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukemia . Maybe she didn't tell you." I had to catch my breath, saying nothing. "She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly... "She left something for you... if only I could find it," she said. "Could you wait a moment while I look?" It was a drawing in bright color1s- a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry," I muttered over and over, and we wept together. But then we looked at the picture of the sandpiper and slowly both of us began to smile, remembering the lesson that Wendy had left us. Even when life seems sad, joy can be found in the smallest of things. We should take time to seek out these little joys in life and live for the love that we have for each other. The author felt guilty when he saw Wendy was not on the beach, because he didn't _ . A. know the girl had a disease B. treat the girl nicely a month ago C. attend the girl's funeral D. keep his promise to meet the girl on the beach Answer: B For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey children. They're children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern. Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, "We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant." Slowly, she learned they were house keys. She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the impact working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety. The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They'll often play it at high volume. It's hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone. The main feeling these children have when they are at home by themselves is _ . A. tiredness B. freedom C. loneliness D. fear Answer: D Nora, a 17-year-old American, notices that when she has to do a paper for school and researches it on the Internet, she rarely reads a whole page and does deep reading. "I'll read the beginning of a paragraph and then I'll skip the rest," she says. While Nora's mother, Martha, loves sitting down with a good book and reading carefully, her daughter may be the wave of the future. "Deep reading", or slow reading, is a process in which people think carefully while they read. With most, that means slowing down --- even stopping and rereading a page or paragraph to really understand what the author is trying to say. Last summer, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said he was concerned about what he sees as a decline in slow reading. Instant messages and 140-character tweets appear to be reducing out ability to concentrate on a single idea or theme of a book, he told Foreign Policy Magazine. It's easy to forget the benefits of deep reading in an age when anything worth doing is done fast. Experts warn that without deep reading, it is impossible to be an educated person of the world, a knowledgeable voter or even an imaginative thinker. "If you want to have a deep relationship with a text and understand a complex idea, then slow reading is a preferred style. It is good for pleasure, too. It is not a rushed experience and you can lose yourself in a text," said Canadian writer John Miedema, the author of the book Slow Reading. US' Ohlone College English professor Cynthia Lee Katona says reading is a highly social activity that builds the mind and social connections. If you read, she says, you simply know more and have more to talk about with friends, partners and people you know. Deep reading can also take a reader on a trip around the world even if they are sitting in a living room armchair, Katona says. Also, deep reading helps people develop thinking, writing and conversation skills. "If you like beautiful things, authors put words together that are really beautiful and expressive," she says. "If you want to write well--- and there are lots of reasons to express yourself clearly --- you should read." What leads to the decline of deep reading, according to Eric Schemidt? A. The fast pace of modern society. B. The lack of desire for knowledge C. The weakening ability to concentrate. D. The wide use of instant messages and tweets. Answer: D In the past month,we've been holding our breath for news about a Boeing 777 plane,MH 370. It took off from Kuala Lumpur ,Malaysia.On March 8.It was heading to Beijing.But about two hours into the flight, the plane went missing. There were 239 people on the flight,including 154 Chinese. A total of 12 countries including China and the US have joined the search for the plane. Did it crash? We know that the weather was clear that day.The pilots didn't make any distress calls .And as of March l3,experts have not found any broken parts of the plane. Was it hijacked ? Two Iranians used stolen passports to get into the flight.But now they do not appear to be linked to any possible hijacking of the plane,international police agency Interpol official said on March 11. The search is still going on.It could take months or even years to find out what happened to the flight. How many Chinese are there on the flight? A. 239 B. 1 54 C. 1 45 D. 85 Answer: B What can technology do to make the world better? Three young people are starting new businesses to answer the question. Eighteen-year-old Mach was the youngest person in Poland to receive money from others to develop his company. He started FIVE, a mobile messaging app , for deaf people. The app lets deaf people create their own hand signs to communicate with friends. The app now has more than 10,000 deaf users. And Mach thinks there will be about 150,000 more deaf users next year. Mach says, "I love to create. I will stick to it to the end of my life." William Zhou was born in Beijing and grew up in Canada. He strongly wanted to make a change in education. So he created CHALK. It is a group of programs that supports individual teaching and learning. CHALK is now used in 20,000 schools by more than 100,000 users worldwide. Zhou says you have to find something you truly care about. Or you may just end up giving it up. George was born in Tanzania . He learned about renewable energy in Europe and began thinking about using solar energy in Africa. Tanzania is a place with bright sunshine, but more than 90 percent of people have no electricity to use. After graduation, George returned to Tanzania and started his own company, SunSweet Solar. It has found early success in rural areas. George hopes to create jobs and help build his country. He understands the process will take time. "But I think we are on the right way." Which of the following is true? A. None of them was born in Europe. B. Mach developed his business with the others' help. C. CHALK is a group of schools. D. George's company serves only the rural areas. Answer: B
A great man married a woman and they had a little lovely girl. When the little girl was growing up, the man usually hugged her and said, "I love you, little girl." The Little girl would say, "I'm not a little girl any more." Then the man would laugh, "But to me, you'll always be my little girl." The little girl later left her home and went into the world. No matter where she was, the man would call her and say, "I love you, little girl." One day the little girl received an unexpected phone call. The great man became ill. He couldn't talk, smile, walk, hug or dance. So she went to the side of the great man. He looked at her and tried to speak, but he could not. She sat next to the great man, and drew her arms around his useless shoulders . Her head on his chest , she thought of many good memories. She felt sad as she couldn't hear the words of love that had comforted her. And then she heard from within the man, the beat of heart. The magic happened. She heard what she wanted to hear. His heart beat out the words that his mouth could no longer say... I love you, little girl... I love you, little girl. The little girl went to her father because _ . he became ill When I was having a walk through the park today, I met a friend I hadn't seen for ages. She stared at me curiously. "You have kept this umbrella for years; it's old and out of date. I wonder why you keep it and take it wherever you go." I smiled, "it means a great deal to me." I simply gave her my shortest answer. Honestly speaking, I, either, could not understand the reason why I kept it. Then all of a sudden, fallen leaves darkened my eyes with a strong wind. I grabbed the umbrella instinctively. The rain poured down. Thanks to my umbrella, I didn't get wet at all. "Why have I kept it for so long?" I asked myself, staring at my umbrella. I couldn't remember when and where I bought it, for I'm always tired and lazy to answer questions. It could protect me from the heavy rain, I told myself eventually. Looking at the people rushing through the street, I felt safe. This might be another reason. It is always so. We know a thunderstorm comes unexpectedly and goes without a warning. The sky cleared up. The sun shone brightly. Just as usual, I seized the umbrella with my left hand. Still there's water dropping down. I walked among the noisy crowd and listened to what they were murmuring in their heart. "Today I will ask for a rise, or I'll leave this company." Good luck to you, I smiled to him. "I'll manage to make you live forever." A little boy held a pet dog close to him. "She'll be all right, because she is blessed." I heard angels singing in this city. The moment my fingertips touched the umbrella, I felt it's dry, and it's warm. Soon it became hot. I held it up to avoid harmful sunshine. Do I need a reason to explain why? Maybe I should think about it. I need my umbrella when it is sunny as well as when it is rainy. From the author's feelings with people among the noisy crowd, we can see that _ . he is kind enough to hope everyone will plan their life well According to the endosymbiotic theory, double-membrane mitochondria originated as a result of some larger eukaryotic cells with flexible membranes engulfing smaller prokaryotic cells. Which of these explains where the outer layer of the double membrane of the mitochondria originated? the plasma membrane of the eukaryotic host A smart phone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing abilities than a common phone. The first smart phones enabled the users to send and receive emails. Later models added the function of portable media players, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many modern smart phones also include touchscreens and web browsers that display web pages. A recent report says we spend an average of two hours and 40 minutes each day looking at a smart phone. That doesn't mean making calls, but playing phone games and browsing the Web. Nowadays we always find people checking emails in a restaurant, taking a picture of the food when it arrives, or checking a message during a conversation instead of traditional communication. It's no secret that our lives are being affected by our smart phones _ . However, this phenomenon has never been presented so vividly as in the short YouTube film I Forgot My Phone. Despite only being online for a few days, it's already been viewed more than 10.5 million times. Whether it will be screened in the cinema remains to be seen. Ironically, YouTube's data show that the site gets a billion views per day from mobile devices, so a lot of those people watched it on their phones. The short film, written by and starring actress Charlene Deguzman, shows groups of people in various social situations, the majority of whom are absorbed in their phones instead of the world around them. To a certain extent, we all do it. Which of the following is right? The film hasn't been put on in the cinema. Stanley, as a son of a very poor farmer, left school early and went to work in a factory, for education was for the rich then. So, the world became his school. With great interest, he read everything he could, listened to the town elders and learned about the world beyond his hometown. "There's so much to learn," he'd say. "Though we're born stupid, only the stupid remain that way." He decided that none of his children would be refused an education. Therefore, Stanley insisted that we should learn at least one new thing each day. Though, as children, we thought this was crazy, we'd still do _ . And dinner time seemed perfect for sharing what we learned. We would talk about the news of the day. Sometimes the news was unimportant, but it was always taken seriously. Stanley would listen carefully and discuss it with us. Then came the moment--the time to share the day's new learning. "Felice," he'd say, "tell me what you learned today." "I learned that the population of Denmark is ...." Silence. Stanley was thinking about what was said. "The population of Denmark. Hmm. Well..." he'd say. "Get the map; let's see where Denmark is." And the whole family went on a search for Denmark. This same experience was repeated until each family member had a turn. Dinner ended only after we had a clear understanding of at least half a dozen such facts. As children, we thought very little about these educational wonders. Our family, however, was growing together, sharing experiences and joining in one another's education. And by looking at us, listening to us, respecting what we learned, confirming our value, Stanley was surely our most influential teacher. Later during my training as a future teacher, I studied with some of the most famous educators. They were imparting what Stanley knew all along--the value of continual learning. His skills have served me well all my life. Not a single day has been wasted, though I can never tell when knowing the population of Denmark might prove useful. From the passage, we know that the writer _ . thought his father's educational skills useful
Some trees can survive a long time without water. Think of trees that grow in the desert. But other trees may need more moisture than they can get from rainfall or from the air . Trees and other plants can look thirsty. Leaves can become weak and hang downward. They can also turn yellow. Yellowing can be a sign of too much water. But it can also be a warning sign of too little water. With a newly planted tree, the roots have not yet spread out from the root ball. The root ball can become dry faster than the dirt around it. So put water on the area of the root ball and the surrounding soil until the roots become established. Once a tree is well established, water deeply instead of watering often. The amount of water needed depends on the tree and the soil. Clay soils hold water for longer periods while sandy soil holds less water. During the hottest season, a deep watering may satisfy a tree for anywhere from ten days to four weeks. Ted Swiecki is a plant scientist . He says people should not water established trees at the base of the trunk . This can harm the tree. Too much water in the soil at the base of a tree can lead to the growth of fungi . If the area is too wet, harmful organisms have a better chance to invade the tree and cause disease. Mr. Swiecki says this is true especially in Mediterranean and semi-dry climates. Many trees in these climates have adapted to having a dry area near their base during the hottest season. He said, "Water displaces (,)air in the soil. And roots are aerobic ; they require oxygen for the soil to function properly. So if you keep the soil completely wet and there's no air there, then the roots are starving for oxygen." Which of the following does NOT share a close meaning in the passage? A Fungus and organism B Moisture and water C Root and base D Dirt and desert Answer: D English is the native or official language of one-fifth of the land area of the world. It is spoken in North America, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. In South Africa and India it is one of the official languages. More people study English than any other language. In many countries, the textbooks in universities are in English. Many university classes are taught in English even though the native language is not English. English is the language of international communication. It is the language of international business, research, and science. More than three-fourths of the world's mail is written in English. More than half of the scientific research journals are in English. Most other languages have borrowed many English words. Why did English become the international language? In the middle of the nineteenth century, French was the international language. The Britain became very powerful in the world. England started colonies in North America and India in the seventeenth century. By 1900 England also had colonies in other parts of Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. The people in the colonies had to use English. Slowly it became more important than French internationally. After the Second World War, the United States became very powerful, and even more people began to learn English. Is English a good international language? It has more words than any other language. The grammar is simpler than in other major languages. However, English spelling is difficult. Foreigners all have trouble spelling English. So do native speakers! Since 1880, people have invented over fifty artificial (not natural) languages. No one speaks them as a native language. However, none of them has ever become popular. Some people don't want to study English, but it is the international language. There is no way to change that now. England started a colony in India in the _ . A 1600s B 1800s C 1700s D 1900s Answer: A Donna is 19 years old and loves animals, which is why I'm always happy to leave my dog with her when I go on holiday. Donna also helps to train hunting dogs, but recently, her boyfriend told me, she returned home from a farm in tears after being told to hit some dogs. "She wasn't being asked to hit them because they didn't behave well," he said. "She was told to _ these puppies with a closed fist simply to let them know who is the boss," Donna refused. Good for Donna. In my view, you hit an animal for only two reasons: as a way to teach it an important lesson to protect it from danger, such as not into the road; or because you like hurting animals. Last summer, I attended a horse race. I don't know much about horses, but I was alarmed when I saw a horse with a huge ulcer on its legs. "Surely this horse won't race?" I asked. I was very surprised that nobody in the crowd seemed concerned. The horse began the race, but later it fell heavily. It had broken its leg. The next thing I saw was its dead body in a bag, being driven past. No one seemed to care, except those who had bet on it. I know people care for horse racing, but do they really care for horses? I doubt it. Oh, but it's a tradition, I hear you say. Wouldn't the world be a boring place if we didn't occasionally hit, shoot and chase animals? Traditions are made by man and can be unmade. It was once acceptable to kill servants when their master died, to visit the mental hospitals to laugh at the patients or to watch public execution . Nor should it be forgotten that in our progress to a more civilized world, animals have played an important role: they have fed us, carried us, worked for us, rescued us, died for us and sometimes just saved us from loneliness. Surely by now they deserve our kindness. At the very least, they deserve our respect. What's the best title of the passage? A No One Cares for Animals Nowadays. B Let's Protect the Endangered Animals. C Show Animals the Respect They Deserve. D The Stories Between Animals and People. Answer: C A rich man was riding along the road and saw an old man digging in his garden. On the ground lay a young tree, ready to be planted. The rich man called out to the old man. "What kind of tree are you planting there, my good man?" "This is a fig tree, sir." He said. "A fig tree?" The rich man was very surprised. "Why, how old are you, may I ask?" "I am ninety years old this year." "What ?" cried the man. "You are ninety years old. You are planting a very young tree now and it will take years to give fruit. You certainly don't hope to live long enough to get any fruit from this tree." The old man looked around the garden. Then he said with a smile, "Tell me , sir. Did you eat figs when you were a boy?" "Sure , why do you ask this question?" the man asked. "Then tell me this,"he said. "Who planted the fig tree?" "Why-why? I don't know." "You see, sir. Our forefather planted trees for us to enjoy and I am doing the same for the people after me." The rich man was quiet and said, "You are right, my good man. We should do something for the people after us. Thank you very much." The rich man rode away. Who was he planting the trees for? A For himself B For the rich man C For his friends D For the people after him. Answer: D There are now about 376 million people who speak English as their first language and about the same number who have learnt it in addition to their mother tongue. There are said to be one million people learning English now and about 80% of the information on the Internet is in English. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Should we celebrate the fact that more and more of us can communicate, using a common language, across countries and cultures? Or should we worry about dangers of "non-culturalism", a world in which we all speak the same language, eat the same food and listen to the same music? Does it matter if an increasing number of people speak the same language? Not necessarily, I have never agreed that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars. Ask the people ofprefix = st1 /India, where many of them speak at least some English, andPakistan, the same situation withIndia... If we all speak English, will we then all start eating McDonald's burgers? Surely not. If English becomes more dominant , will it kill other languages? I doubt it. When I travel in Africa or Asia, I am always surprised by how many people can speak not only their own language but often one or more other related languages, as well as English and perhaps more French or German as well. When we discussed this on Talking Point a couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic e-mail from a listener inIreland. "The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe it's like a rose," he said. "But who would ever want their garden just full of roses?" Well, I love _ and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don't necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that'll be fine by me. This passage is mainly about _ . A why English has become a global language B how many people in the world speak English C how people in the world learn English as a foreign language D whether we need to worry about English being a world language Answer: D
Tim and Li Fang are not going to have any classes next week. They're going to work on a farm. They are going to leave at about seven thirty on Monday morning. They are going to travel to the farm by bus. They are going to wear old clothes because they are going to grow rice. They are going to have fish for lunch. They are also going to have a swim at the farm. Tim and Li Fang are excited about going to the farm. Not only are they going to help around the farm, they are going to learn about farming. Li Fang is worried that Tim won't arrive on time to catch the bus because he is nearly always late. Li Fang often has to say to him, "Don't be late, Tim." Who is often late? Answer: When the availability of food sources increase in an environment, what will also increase? Answer: The drug store was closing for the night and Alfred Higgins was about to go home when his new boss approached him. "Empty your pockets please, Alfred," Sam Carr demanded in a firm voice. Alfred pretended to be shocked but he knew he had been caught. From his coat he withdrew a make-up kit, a lipstick and two tubes of toothpaste. "I'm disappointed in you, Alfred!" said the little gray-haired man. "Sorry, sir. Please forgive me. It's the first time I've ever done such a thing," Alfred lied, hoping to gain the old man's sympathy. Mr Carr's brow furrowed as he reached for the telephone, "Do you take me for a fool? Let's see what the police have to say. But first I'll call your mother and let her know her son is heading to jail." "Do whatever you want," Alfred shot back, trying to sound big. But deep down he felt like a child. He imagined his mother rushing in, eyes burning with anger, maybe in tears. Yet he wanted to come quickly before Mr. Carr called the police. Mr. Carr was surprised when Mrs. Higgins finally arrived . She was very calm, quiet and friendly. "Is Alfred in trouble?" she asked. "He's been stealing from the store," the old man coolly replied. Mrs. Higgins pulled out her hand and touched Mr. Carr's arm with great gentleness as if she knew just how he felt. She spoke as if she did not want to cause him any more trouble. "What do you want to do, Mr.Carr?" The woman's calm and gentle manner _ the once-angry store-owner, "I was going to get a cop. But I don't want to be cruel. Tell your son not to come back here again and I will let it go." Then he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins' hand. Mrs. Higgins thanked the old ma for his kindness, then mother and son left. They walked along the street in silence. When they arrived home his mother simply said, "Go to bed, you fool." In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. He felt no shame, only pride in his mother's actions. "She was smooth!" he thought. He went to the kitchen to tell her how great she was, but was shocked by what he saw. His mother's face looked frightened, broken. Not the cool, bright face he saw earlier. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. There were tears in her eyes. This picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth ending. He saw all the troubles he brought her and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother. Which of the following is true according to the passage? Answer: A MILLION people on Mars within 100 years. This is the brave vision of Elon Musk, the founder of the space technology company SpaceX. "We need to be laser-focused on becoming a multi-planet civilization. That's the next step," he said in a recent interview with Aeon magazine. Musk expects to see about 80,000 people living on Mars by 2040. It's all about protecting the human race from extinction, according to Musk. The Earth has always been a ticking time bomb. As the sun begins to die, it will grow bigger, becoming what is known as a Red Giant. In 500 million years, the sun will have become large enough to kill off any plant and animal life on Earth, according to US scientist Edward Guinan. In a billion years, the Earth will have become a hot planet with little or no water. The brave dream of getting the human race to Mars is not only Musk's; others have made plans, too. A Dutch entrepreneur set up the Mars One foundation in 2011, hoping to be the first project to put humans on Mars. It received over 200,000 applications to become part of the first group of astronauts to go there. According to Mars One, "human settlement on Mars is possible with existing technologies." Water, food, energy, and oxygen are needed for life anywhere. According to Mars One, water that was still in the Martian soil would be boiled and taken out. By using a process called "electrolysis", astronauts could split water into hydrogen and oxygen for breathing. Astronauts on the International Space Station have already done similar things. Food can also be grown in space. Certain plants such as lettuce and onions can be grown using LED light for different color spectrums and much less heat. NASA has been researching this to prepare for visiting Mars. But how will people get there? The Mars One project plans to use SpaceX's Dragon capsule as part of its mission. But it is rumored that Musk already has a design in mind for a giant spaceship. He calls it the Mars Colonial Transporter. Mars One is a program that focuses on _ . Answer: I believe children have a very pure sense of humor. Well, I would like to share my experiences with you. The other day when I was out with a friend and her daughter Jane at a restaurant, Jane ordered an apple dessert, which was the most attractive dish in that restaurant. However, when she had a bite of the pie, she shouted loudly, "Mom, why does it look good but tastes like rubber?" My friend was uneasy. Then the waiter gave us another dish. A child can say funny things. I was at a friend's home for tea and her son, Mark, wanted her to get up. His mom replied, "I can't, because my foot has fallen asleep now." Little Mark then sang a song and asked, "Mom, will it wake up now?" We laughed together. The other day we were having an interesting conversation over lunch and my friend, an animal activist , was arguing with another group member. Her son Tommy suddenly stood up, "Mom, people should never be allowed to shoot extinct animals!" That was funny and the child did manage to turn the argument into a pleasant conversation. Well, children sometimes really surprise us. I think we can have a lot to learn from them. They can help us understand the simple world through their eyes. Why did Mark try to sing a song? Answer:
Man still has a lot to learn about the most powerful and complex part of his body -- the brain. It may be surprising to learn that it isn't age that makes you lose your memory. The reason could be that you have a "lazy" memory, not an old one. Like your body your memory improves with exercise. Once given plenty of exercise, the brain keeps its power. Before discussing how to improve the memory, let's look at how the brain works. There are two sides to the brain, the left and the right. The right side deals with the senses (what we see, hear, feel and smell). It's the creative and imaginative side. The left side is concerned with logic. It analyzes information and puts it in order. Some recent research suggests that we remember everything that happens to us. The problem most of us has is recalling events. Most forgetting takes place immediately after learning. An hour after learning something new, more than 50% has been forgotten. After a month, 80% has been forgotten, and so on. This shows revision is very important. If you revise new material you have learnt, you remember much more. So it's of vital importance to revise newly learned material often, and have frequent breaks. We best remember what we learn at the beginning of a learning period and at the point where we stop. After the break, revise what was learned before the break and then continue learning the new material. These breaks should happen every 20 or 45 minutes. Other experiments have shown the brain needs time to "digest" what has been learned. The time necessary for this is 5 to 10 minutes. After the break, the memory will have absorbed what it has just learned, and more will be remembered. During this period it is important to exercise the right side of the brain, because the left side is used during the learning period. Therefore you should relax. Listening to music, breathing in fresh air, and looking at a picture are all ways of using the other side of the brain. So when you are studying alone, make a plan which shows when to have breaks and to revise newly learned material immediately before you begin studying again. If you do in this way, your memory will improve. To fight forgetting effectively, we're advised to _ . Answer: Men have long been puzzled by the amount women pack, when they go on holiday. They despair when they watch their beloved spend much money on extra baggage charge. Nearly half of these women admitted to lying about the weight of their case to their partner before leaving for the airport, in fear of being made to unload some unnecessary items. But it's a fact that women pack more than they need. On average, a woman needs around 57 items in suitcase for a two-week holiday, yet most women pack nearer to 150 items, ranging from skirts, tops, underwear and high heels. In addition, women pack more sun cream, make-up and hair appliances than they were likely to need. They all take up space in the suitcase, only a third of them will see the light of day once at the holiday place. 79 percent of women admitted to taking extra items with them, with the reason for this being "just in case". Women plan their holiday wardrobe months in advance. Packing enough clothes and other items to last a month is not enough for some women. They'd take a chance to shop for new items while holidaying abroad. So they'll return with even more luggage in their cases. Professor Karen Pine said: "Women are tempted to take familiar items with them on holiday, often everything except the kitchen sink. Some people find traveling stressful, particularly when they're unsure about the home comforts available at their holiday place. They over-pack to help cope with those feelings of stress and reduce the uncertainty." This will come as no surprise to some men, who are used to trying to squeeze their partner's luggage into the boot of the car with their own, smaller case. On the other hand, men pack very lightly, with only an average of 40 items for a two-week holiday. Women pack too much on holiday because _ . Answer: My name is Jim Smith. I come from Canada. I teach English in a high school in China. I like my work. I have a son, Mike and two daughters, Jane and Jenny. They are all in China. We lived in a tall building of the city center one month ago. But now we live in the countryside. We think the cost of living is high and the traffic is heavy in the city. And there is a beautiful park. It's not far from my home. It is _ . Where does Jim's family live now ? Answer: Hello! My name is Joy. I'm a girl. I'm eleven. I'm in Class Eight, Grade Seven. This is my friend, Joan. She is twelve. She is in a Middle school. She is in Class Seven, Grade Eight. My English teacher is Miss White, but her English teacher is Miss Green. Look!Who's that? Oh, she's my mum. She's a Chinese teacher. Joy's mother is _ . Answer: Storms brought a tornado and 2-mch-thin hail ( ) to Wyoming on Thursday, a day after thunderstorms hit parts of Wyoming and Colorado with golf ball-sized hail and heavy rain.Three homes were heavily damaged by the tornado on Thursday, and 10 to 12 other buildings also had damage.One person was treated at a hospital for a cut on the head.Some power lines were also down to the ground.The tornado touched down briefly near Wheatland, north of Cheyenne, in a populated area, officials said. Hail, the size of golf balls, was reported in the Wheatland area, and 2-inch-thin hail was reported in Laramie.Forecasters said thunderstorms that can _ tornadoes could develop and flooding was possible.Citizens should be careful. A fire, which is believed to have been started by lightning on Sunday night, has burned about 3,500 acres about 20 miles northwest of Wheatland.About 120 firefighters, aided by helicopters and air tankers, were on the scene.The rain provided some help for firefighters who fully controlled a 227-acre wildfire in northern Colorado, but the weather in the beginning hurt efforts to control a 6,000-acre blaze in Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest.Storms passed close to the Wyoming fire but mostly brought winds that fanned the flames.Rain and hail fell later but didn't make a big difference, said fire spokeswoman Beth Hermanson. Kyle Fredin, working for the National Weather Service in Denver, said the beginning of June is the peak time for such severe weather in Colorado.Most of the state has been experiencing moderate-to-extreme drought conditions. The weather hurt efforts to control a 6,000-acre blaze because _ . Answer:
Question: Congress provides by statute that any state that fails to prohibit automobile speeds of over 55 miles per hour on highways within the state shall be denied all federal highway construction funding. The state of Atlantic, one of the richest and most highway-oriented states in the country, refuses to enact such a statuteThe federal statute relating to disbursement of highway funds conditioned on the 55-m.p.h. speed limit is probably A. unconstitutional. B. constitutional only on the basis of the spending power. C. constitutional only on the basis of the commerce power. D. constitutional on the basis of both the spending power and the commerce power Answer: D Question: Researchers work in teams to make cars more fuel efficient. Which of these statements describes the main advantage of working in teams rather than working individually? A. The research is more likely to be published. B. The research costs less to perform. C. The researchers can share their ideas. D. The researchers have more time to complete work. Answer: C Question: Jack drives a school bus.His bus is different from other school buses because it doesn't carry children.Jack's bus takes dogs to school in the morning and brings them home at night.Jack takes the dogs to "The Dog School".There four men teach the dogs to obey and protect their owners.All kinds of dogs go to the school--large dogs,small dogs,young dogs and old dogs Jack says that young dogs are the easiest to teach,but the old ones can learn,too. Do you have a dog? Maybe it would like to go to "The Dog School". Which kind of dogs are easy to teach? _ . A. Old dogs. B. Young dogs. C. Large dogs D. Hot dogs. Answer: B Question: As the economic crisis forces corporations and small businesses to shed jobs , one large employer still has the "help wanted " sign out :the U.S .government Experts say the federal governments' civilian workforce of 2.8 million is likely to expand significantly over the next several years as it aims at stimulating the economy , rescue troubled banks, _ health care and pursue other elements of President Barack Obama's agenda With the economy in turmoil the stability of a government career now holds greater appeal. And it doesn't hurt that the new boss, President,Barack Obama, has encouraged citizens to consider public service-a marked contrast to predecessor George W. Bush who disparaged government "It's the same thing that happened 40-some-old years ago when Kennedy came in "said Ross Harris whose Federal Research Service helps applicants find government jobs, "It was a new generation and there was the same type of excitement behind it , and we're seeing the same type of thing with Obama"Harris said he has seen the number of unique visitors to his website double over the past year as the recession has taken hold, He estimated that the $ 787 billion economic stimulus package signed into laws last month could create at least 100,000 more government jobs next year and 120,000 by 2012 Government hiring has increased steadily over the past four years, from 79,000 in the year 2004 to 99,000 in 2007 according to the Office of Personnel Management What can we learn from the passage about Ross Harris'? A. He works for the Office of Personnel Management B. He is a famous economist in U.S. C. He runs a website named Federal Research Service to help people find government jobs. D. Unemployed people go to his website to take job reviews Answer: C Question: Dear friend, I am an American ( ) girl. My name is Alice Green. I am a middle school student. I am fifteen. I have two brothers. They are middle school students, too. We go to school from Monday to Friday. We don't have any classes on Saturdays and Sundays. My father and mother are teachers. They always say China is great. I like reading. I am reading a Chinese book. I think it's very interesting. My brothers and I like playing football and basketball. What sports do you like? Let's be good pen pals , OK? Please write to me soon. Yours, Alice Green How old is Alice Green? A. 13. B. 14. C. 15. D. 16. Answer: C
Many tourists visiting the USA on vacation enjoy shopping for bargains. You can find many bargains in the US if you know where to shop and how to take advantage of the competitive sales. Department stores offer good quality and high fashion Macy's department stores offer a wide selection of merchandise , including fashion clothing, luggage and jewelry. They normally offer good quality merchandise, well known brands and the latest fashions, but not low quality products at bargain prices. They frequently have seasonal sales with attractive discounts. At such times, you can get high quality or fashion merchandise at bargain prices. General merchandise stores offer affordable quality Sears and JCPenny are two large national chains with stores across the US. They are similar to department stores but they do not offer high fashion merchandise or luxury brands. Instead, they feature good quality merchandise at affordable prices. They are particularly known for their selection of children's clothing and domestic goods. Sears is famous for its selection of tools and garden products.[] Discount stores sell at low prices Discount stores sell some good quality merchandise at affordable prices and some lower quality merchandise at very low prices. If you are not looking for the latest fashions, famous brands, or the best quality, you can find some very inexpensive merchandise at a discount store. Some national discount chains with stores across the US are K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target and Caldor. Outlet stores are a bargain hunter's wonderland Outlet stores or factory outlets sell high quality merchandise and well-known brands at discounted prices. They usually offer merchandise with slight flaws and remainders from the last season or the previous year. They do not have end-of-season sales like the department stores, as their merchandise is always discounted 20% to 40% below department store prices. If you want to buy a new dress that is fashionable, you should go to _ . A. Sears B. Wal-Mart C. JCPenny D. Macy's Answer: D Earthquakes are something that people fear.There are some places that have few or no earthquakes.Most places in the world,however,have them regularly .Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous . The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906.Over 700 people died in it.The strongest one in North America was in 1964.It happened in Alaska. Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people.In 1755,one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal.Around 2,000 people died. In 1923,a very strong earthquake hit the Tokyo,Yokohama area of Japan.A hundred and forty thousand people died.Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake. One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 2008.It killed a large number of people.The worst earthquake ever reported was also in China,in which 400,000 people were killed or injured.This earthquake happened in 1556. Earthquakes worry people a lot.The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming.People can not prepare for it. When and where was the worst earthquake ever reported? A. 1964;Alaska. B. 1556;China. C. 1923;Japan. D. 2008;China. Answer: B Trip 1 Black bear Count There have been fires in this area in the last few years and the Office of the National Park is not sure how many black bears are still living. Some bears have been seen since the fires, and the Office has asked for young people to help count them. The entire trip will last three hours. Bookings necessary. Cost: Free When: May 8 Trip 2 Garland Valley Bring your drink and lunch for this walk in a beautiful area of the Blue Mountains. Garland Valley is close to the town of Garland but is part of the National Park. Many wild animals live in this area, including many rare birds. This is a great walk for bird-lovers. The trip lasts four hours. Bookings necessary. Cost: $15 When: May 8, May 15 Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley, part of the National Park. A guide will lead the tour. Many of the animals you will see on this trip. The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see. Numbers are strictly limited on night trips, so be sure to book early. This walk lasts two and a half hours. Cost: $12 When: May 8, May 15, May22 Equipment to be needed: Please bring enough water and food for all walks. Wear good walking shoes---no high heels. Wear a hat for day walks. Dress warmly for night walks. Children must be with an adult. Make sure your flashlight works well and bring extra batteries for night walks. Follow all instructions from guides during the walks. The mountains are a dangerous place. Bookings: Bookings for the above trips can be trade by telephone (893 m 4847) or on the Internet at www. Blue mountain tour. com What is the best title for the passage? A. Adventure Travel in America B. Discovery Trips in the Blue Mountains C. Interesting Trips in the East of the USA D. Hunting around the Great Mountains Answer: B An organism, such as a nematode worm, may have only 1000 cells. It should be classified as being A. a virus. B. a bacteria. C. unicellular. D. multicellular. Answer: D Tears are nature's way of making us feel more comfortable. When our eyes is made uncomfortable by some small pieces of pollution, or when we are cutting onions, or when we are exhausted and "red-eyes" from over work and late hours, tears form in our eyes to clean and refresh them. Tears are also a sign of strong emotion . We cry when we are sad and we cry when we are happy. And tears seem to be uniquely human. We know that animals also experience emotion fear, pleasure, loneliness, but they do not shed tears. Biologically speaking, tears are actually drops of saline fluid, which is a little bit salty, produced by a gland in the body. Because salt is an important component, tears may actually constitute the most conclusive evidence that the human animal is the end product of a long evolutionary process that began in the sea. And it is clear that, in addition to the emotional benefits, the shedding of tears has a specific biological function as well. Through tears, we can eliminate from our body certain chemicals which build up in response to stress and create a chemical imbalance in the body. Crying actually makes us feel better by correcting that imbalance and making us feel good again. And thus the emotional and the biological functions of tears merge into one and make us even more "human" than we would otherwise be. Which of the following is the best title of the passage? A. Tears are a sign of strong emotion. B. Tears are always making us feel more comfortable. C. Tears are uniquely human. D. Tears have certain biological functions. Answer: B
Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good ,most would admit that their spoken English is poor .Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say, "My spoken English is poor." However ,their spoken English does not have to remain "poor" ! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English. First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary . Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary. However ,you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive .Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know. Second ,they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous .Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY. Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly .However ,in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across ,to talk to someone in English ,as quickly and as well as you can ,even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense ,but it doesn't matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances(,)for any mistakes he hears. The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening .You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking. Fourth ,most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners .Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor .If you have this proactive outlook ,then you will see English opportunities wherever you go. If you do not use your English beyond the classroom you will forget what English you know .Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more. What is most probably the writer's purpose in writing the passage? A To improve your reading. B To improve your spoken English. C To improve your listening. D To improve your vocabulary. Answer: B Answering the Community Needs of Our City The Silver City Council recognizes that citizens have certain needs. To better meet your needs, we have made several changes to community facilities in 2004. This chart shows how we have tried to make your life better. Transport Three stations for the suburbs have been added to the western train service.20 new buses for the southern line were purchased in January. 50 percent of city bus-stops have been upgraded . Buses to the eastern suburbs will run every15 minutes. Communication Broadband cable is now available to all parts of the city. All of the new Government buildings are ' smart'-wired for better computer service! Medical Facilities The new state-of-the-art Nightingale Hospital was opened in June. To overcome a shortage of trained medical staff at Dover Hospital, 10 doctors have been employed from overseas.Some facilities at Station Street Hospital have been upgraded. Education Textbooks will be free to all primary students in 2004 ! Rent for private schools has been reduced. Teachers report that the 'no hat - no play' rule has been successful. Protection and Security Extra police now patrol ( ) the tourist areas. 50 new police officers graduated in July and have taken up duties in the city area. Entertainment / Recreation The John Street basketball courts have been re-surfaced ! The new Central Community Building opened in May. 5,000 new fiction books were bought for the Silver City Library. All the following are true EXCEPT that _ A both residents and tourists can enjoy more security now B Station Street Hospital had out-dated facilities before 2004 C primary students had to pay for their textbooks in 2003 D Dover Hospital is still short of trained medical staff Answer: D Thailand's capital Bangkok is both attractive and wonderful, a city of glass towers and concrete buildings crowded with nearly 10 million people. The ground beneath is spongy and moist. Imagine a brick resting on top of a birthday cake. That's Bangkok-and it's sinking into the Earth at an alarming rate. Thailand's disaster specialists have been warning of this coming disaster for years. One expert has said he's worried about Bangkok resembling Atlantis. Another previously told Global post that the city will be under five feet of water by 2030. The latest estimates suggest that Bangkok is now sinking as fast as two centimeters per year in parts of the city. The predictions for 2100 are even more terrible. By then , Bangkok will be fully submerged and unlivable. Like global warming, which will accelerate the city's submersion by raising the sea leavel, Bangkok's sinking problems are repeatedly _ But the monsoon season, currently underway, tends to bring this crisis to mind. A nasty storm can suddenly turn Bangkok's streets into gushing streams. Sewers overflow, taxis move through dirty water and, occasionally, kids can pick up displaced fish. Anond Snidvongs, director of the Southeast Asia Regional Research Center, predicts the city's outskirts will be the first to go. Parts of the shoreline ebyong Bangkok are already liend with pumps that make noises and help to transform invading seawater. They don't always work. During heavy rains, salt water flows in the streets of the city. Bangkok is swallowed up a little more each day. Experts tend to offer two solutions. The first is to pu up a massive seawall that could cost nearly $3 billion-nearly 1 percent of Thailand's current GDP. The second option is to give up entirely and move the capital to higher ground. Why is Bangkok sinking into the earth? A Its buildings are too heavy. B It has an overlarge population. C Its underground is too loose. D It is resting on top of a lake. Answer: C I was quite close to my grandmother, Julia. We lived with her and then she lived with us. She was a very nice person, both kind and patient. She taught me to read and write when I was young and helped me to be interested in stories and poems. In my mind, my grandmother was a great tailor. She made clothes or toys better than anything you can buy in a shop today. She always made clothes for family and friends. My grandmother was also a hard worker both at home and at work. I can still remember the difficult time when we were very poor. At that time, my grandmother was already sixty years old but she worked in a hospital for a long time every day--not in the office but doing the cleaning outside and taking care of me at the same time while my mom was at work! My brother and sisters also love her. We will never forget our grandmother. She is really important in our lives and is always there for all of us in one way or another. I am proud to be her grandson. His grandmother always made _ for family and friends. A cakes B cards C meals D clothes Answer: D Let's face the facts. On most occasions, some things may seem impossible, but in every impossibility, there is possibility. Impossible situations don't last forever. While it might be impossible for one, it could still be possible for another. In a word, everything is possible. Someone once said, "Success belongs to those who can look at challenges offered by the world as an inspiration." So your challenges are golden opportunities for success. How can there be wonders if there are no difficulties? You need challenges to show your ability and success comes from the problems you face. Those who refuse to give in come out smiling. Robert X. Perez once said, "The seeds of success spring from failure's ashes; failure is not defeat and it just directs you in the right direction. To fail is to understand what you should not do. Remember it and don't give up until your goal is achieved." What should you do when you face difficulties? Jasbeen says, "Yeah, life is difficult, but you shouldn't give up. You should have a positive and calm attitude towards all your difficulties and make the best of them. You may learn something new. You can accept failure and develop mental toughness. Mental toughness is to see the long-term pains rather than be put off by short-term pains. Once you have this toughness, you have an advantage of winning." The only thing in life you ever really regret is the chances you didn't take. You will only regret when you are faced with the consequences of not taking chances and seizing the moment. Take every chance you can! Everything you've done in life may be good or bad, but no matter what you may do, you must try your best. You must do something meaningful and do it right now. We are most likely to find the passage in _ . A an advertisement for customers B a story for young children C a speech for young students D a guide for those competitors Answer: C
Question: Many Western people are not used to sitting on the floor any more. In Japan, however, sitting upright on the floor is common in different situations. For example, meals are traditionally had when people sit on the tatami floor around a low table. Also during the tea ceremony and other traditional events, one sits on the floor. The formal way of sitting for both men and women is kneeling upright. People who are not used to sitting in this style may feel uncomfortable after a few minutes, and their legs may go numb. However, foreigners are not usually expected to be able to sit in this style for a long time, and an increasing number of Japanese people themselves aren't able to do so, owing to a more westernized lifestyle. In other situations, men usually sit cross-legged, while women sit on their knees laying both legs to one side. The former sitting style is considered wholly male, while the latter is considered completely female. The most important guest sits on the honored seat which is set farthest from the entrance. If there is a tokonoma in the room, the guest should be seated in front of it. The host or the least important person is supposed to sit next to the entrance. Of course, there are other things to be considered in each particular case. When some guests are in a Japanese home, _ should sit nearest to the entrance. A. the most important guest B. both the host and the hostess C. the host or the least important person D. the host himself Answer: C. the host or the least important person Question: Darling Kelli, I'm so sorry I will not get to see you grow up as I so want to. Please don't blame people or the world for this. A lot of life is simply luck and mine is running out. I wish I had the words to make you feel better. I wish you didn't have to see me in pain as you often do now. I wish so many things were different but they are not. But while your old dad is still around, I thought I'd try to give you some life advice in one go. I hope it gives you some comfort. I hope cancer never returns so that your life is long, fulfilled and happy. Everyone will say it's of great importance to work hard at school. I hope you'll always do your best. I did well at school but did it do me much good in life? Not really. Schoolwork is important, but make sure you have fun too. You and your mom will argue at times, especially when you're a teenager. Please remember she loves you and wants the best for you. Give Mommy a hug when she is feeling sad. When you're a teenager you might think your friends are right and your mom is wrong. But she has to make hard decisions for you. Treat her well. You'll have boyfriends when you're older, so here's some advice. It's very hard to describe how it feels to really be in love. You might remember seeing your mom and I laughing together and cuddling on the sofa, and once the love hearts and flowers fade that's what real love looks like. Have fun finding it. Most important of all: Your laugh takes over your whole body. I hope you never lose that. There is no point in asking you not to be sad when I go. I know you will be, princess. And I wish I could be there to hug you until you smile again. And finally, thank you for being you, Kelli. Enjoy your life. Don't rush through it. All my love, always, goes to you, princess. The father feels sorry because _ . A. he is badly ill and in pain B. he argues with his wife at times C. he won't get to see his daughter grow up D. his daughter is not willing to take his advice Answer: C. he won't get to see his daughter grow up Question: Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as "the world's best." SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA The city has comfortable weather all year round (15degC to 26degC ). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city's older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafes . Beautiful mountains are around the city. You can visit them easily from San Jose. So lots of people go sightseeing there every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center. HONG KONG, CHINA This lively city--once a small fishing village--is today an international business center. It is an interesting mixof East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples . Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There's also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population. Nearly 7 million people live in Hong Kong! That's why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem. The writer thinks housing in Hong Kong is expensive because _ . A. it was a small fishing village B. it is a mix of East and West C. it is famous for its wonderful food D. there are too many people in the city Answer: D. there are too many people in the city Question: The seas and rivers are being poisoned by radioactive wastes, by chemical discharges and by the dumping of dangerous raw swage . The air we breathe is polluted by smoke and fumes from factories and motor vehicles; even the rain is poisoned. It's little wonder forests and lakes are being destroyed and everywhere wildlife is disappearing, and yet the destruction continues. Governments and industries throughout the world are intensifying their efforts to extract the earth's mineral riches and to destroy its living resources. The great rain-forest and the frozen continents alike are seriously threatened, despite the warnings of the scientific community and the deep concern of millions of ordinary people. In fact, we can create environmentally clean industries, use the power of the sun, wind and waves for our energy needs and manage the finite resources of the earth in a way that will safeguard our future and protect all the rich variety of life-forms which share this planet with us. The main idea of the passage is that . A. the seas and rivers are being poisoned B. we can protect natural environments C. the natural world is under violent attack from man D. governments and industries should be responsible for the destruction of the natural world Answer: C. the natural world is under violent attack from man Question: Most people report that they do not usually feel confident. But exciting things can happen when we actually believe in ourselves. Here is a man who believed in his own ability even as a boy, and that confidence helped shape his adult life. At the turn of the last century, a young boy quit school to help with the family expenses. When he was fifteen, he became interested in automobiles and worked in a garage. He subscribed to a correspondence home study course on automobiles and, after a long day in the garage, studied at the kitchen table by lamplight. When he felt ready, he walked into the Frayer-Miller Automobile Company of Columbus, Ohio. When Mr. Frayer noticed him, he asked, "Well, what do you want?" "I just thought I'd tell you I'm coming to work here tomorrow morning," the boy replied. "Oh! Who hired you?" "Nobody yet, but I'll be on the job in the morning. If I'm not worth anything, you can fire me." Early the next morning the young man returned to the plant. Noticing the floor was thick with metal shavings and accumulated dirt, the boy got a broom and set out to clean the place. Because of his self-confidence and work ethic, the boy's future was predictable. He went on to stand out in many fields, including automobile racing, piloting World War I planes and founding what was to become one of America's largest airline companies -- Eastern Airlines. People who become more confident habitually encourage themselves. Without confidence, we are not likely to move far in the direction of our dreams. But become our own best friend and almost anything will be possible. It is important that we always believe in ourselves. In order to reach victory, we must believe in ourselves even when we make mistakes and fall short. Due to his efforts and confidence, the man _ . A. made World War I planes B. learned much knowledge in a garage C. achieved everything in his life D. set up the Eastern Airlines Answer: D. set up the Eastern Airlines
Jeffrey Bezos, the founder, president and chairman of the board of Amazon. com, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother's ancestors were early settlers in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre farm at Cotulla. Jeffrey spent most summers of his youth working with his grandfather on their farm. Jeffrey showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He set up an electric alarm to keep his younger sisters and brothers out of his room and changed his parents' garage into a laboratory for his science projects. After he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, Jeffrey Bezos found employment on Wall Street, where computer science was increasingly in demand to study market trends. He rose quickly, becoming a senior vice president, and looked forward to a bright career in finance, when he made a discovery that changed his life, and the course of business history. In 1994, there was still no Internet commerce to speak of. One day that spring, Jeffrey Bezos observed that Internet usage was increasing by 2,300 percent a year. He saw an opportunity for a new circle of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities. Bezos founded Amazon. com in 1994, setting up the original company in his garage. The company was called Amazon for the seemingly endless South American river with its numberless branches. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified to all kinds of products. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most excellent dot-com entrepreneurs. He was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 1999. In 2008, he was selected by U. S. News & World Report as one of America's Best Leaders. Bezos's Amazon has become "the Earth's biggest anything store". Amazon. com is now called "one of the smartest strategies in business history. Today Jeffrey Bezos lives North of Seattle and is increasingly concerned with charity activities. "Giving away money takes as much attention as building a successful company," he has said. Bezos named his company Amazon with the aim of _ . A opening numberless branches all over the world B living a quiet life along the Amazon River C earning endless money and being wealthy D wishing his company to run smoothly and endlessly Answer: D. wishing his company to run smoothly and endlessly Western artist R.V. (Ron) Jahns creates his unique western wildlife paintings by tapping into his vast experience of true life. He had rich western experiences out in the mountains in the great Northwest. Ron paints from the heart and his experience as a cowboy in the west. He has a particular passion for the mountains from Eastern Oregon to Alaska and draws from his many years of mountain adventures as inspiration for his western paintings. Born and raised on a farm, this cowboy artist is well knowledgeable with the subjects of his Western art. Ron struggles for historical accuracy in his western cowboy paintings when an artist gives a false description of the facts about cowboys in the west! Living in Alaska for 17 years added a new factor to Ron's western art. As a hunter and fisherman he observed the wildlife in its natural setting and has conveyed this spirit to his canvas. Ron's western art can be viewed throughout the United States, in Europe and through occasional private showings. You can find western wildlife paintings by Ron at various art shows throughout the year. For a list of art shows the Cowboy Artist will be attending, visit his Art Show page. Although a self-taught western artist, Ron himself has taught painting in colleges and through private lessons. Ron is quite a storyteller and the last of an old kind of cowboy poets and western storytellers. If you've met Ron at the Flea Markets in Sumpter, Oregon then you no doubt have already had a taste of his knack for telling tall tales and sharing his original cowboy poems of true life on the ranch. From the passage we can see Ron is _ . A a good artist as well as a story teller and poet B skilled at his teaching C a rich artist D a British artist Answer: A. a good artist as well as a story teller and poet Ricky and Carmen were friends. Ricky was an inchworm. He had a skinny body and was bright green. Carmen was a ladybug. She had a round body and was red with black spots. They liked to play together in the grass. One day Ricky and Carmen were playing in the grass. Carmen saw something new. She asked Ricky, "What is that yellow thing?" Ricky did not know. They went over to the yellow thing. It was not grass. It was not alive. It was big and flat and looked like it might be fun for jumping. Carmen said, "Let's jump on it." Ricky said, "Okay, but I hope we don't get in trouble." They jumped on the big yellow thing. It was fun! They were happy jumping together! All of a sudden, the big yellow thing moved. It went up in the air. Ricky and Carmen held on. It went up and up. It went into the sky. Ricky and Carmen were scared. They wanted to get down. They shouted, "Help, help!" A bird heard them and flew over. His name was George. George said, "What's wrong? Don't you like it up here on your kite?" "No, we don't!" said Ricky. "What's a kite?" said Carmen. George told them they were on a kite. He showed them the string. He said, "You can follow that string all the way to the ground." It looked like a long way down. But they thanked George for his help and slowly crawled down the string to the ground. They were safe. What color was Ricky? A black and yellow B green C black and red D yellow Answer: B. green Children with autism have difficulty with social skills and communication. They often behave in restricted and repetitive ways and have what seem like abnormally intense interests. Autism is more common in boys than girls. What causes it is not clear. Scientists are studying genes and possible environmental influences. Doctors usually cannot confirm a diagnosis of autism until a child is about three years old. Rebecca Landa is a researcher at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland. Professor Landa wanted to find out what differences in development might be seen earlier. She led a new study that observed 235 babies between six and 36 months of age. "At six months of age, the signs of some risk for developing communication and social delays, including autism, include motor delays. Like when you lay your baby on their back and you pull them by the arms gently into a seated position, the baby's head may nod back behind the shoulders, like poor head control. So that does not mean that the baby is going to have autism, but it does mean the baby needs to have some exercises to strengthen their body. And when they strengthen their body, they are better able to play with toys and engage with people, which then goes on to help them have better outcomes." By the time a baby is one year old, signs of possible autism include difficulty in using words and not looking eye-to-eye or reaching out to other people. By 14 months, the baby might smile less and use language less. However, Professor Landa says these signs can be so small that they might be missed during a short health exam. "It's important for parents to stay tuned into their children's development, and if a parent is concerned about a child's development, for professionals to listen to them." The earlier parents notice delays, she says, the sooner they can begin doing simple things that may help improve their child's development. For example: talking to the child about what they are doing, commenting when the child shows them something, and playing simple games that keep the child's attention. When a baby with signs of possible autism is a year and two months, he may _ . A avoid eye contact B have difficulty in raising his head C develop bad manners D hate to communicate with others Answer: D. hate to communicate with others Jim was a 15-year-old boy living with his little sister, Joy. Their parents had passed away long ago. Jim took care of Joy by himself. One day, Jim woke up at 3 in the morning as usual. When Joy was sleeping alone, Jim left their little house to deliver newspapers. As he did so, he found something unusual. One man was sitting in front of Jim's house. Jim was so surprised that he stopped to look at him closely. It was an icy morning and he looked very old. The poor old man didn't have anything to cover himself with. Jim went into his house to get the old man a blanket . However, there were no extra blankets, so Jim thought hard and took his father's coat. It was the only thing of his father's that he had left. Jim wrote a short note. "Sir, I found you sleeping in front of my house. This is my father's coat. I hope it fits you well." He put the note in a pocket of the coat, and covered the old man with the coat. Then he went to work. When he came back three hours later, both the man and the coat were gone. Jim thought that it was the best thing he could have done with his father's coat. That afternoon, Jim hurried home after school because Joy was at home alone. However, Joy and the old man were standing in front of the house, and Joy shouted to Jim, "Brother!He's our grandfather!" The grandfather smiled and said, "Jim, I have been looking for you all around the country for eight years. I'm not rich. But I can take care of you two. Thank you for giving me the coat and letting me know what a good person my grandson is. This coat was the very one that I gave my own son, a long time ago." What did Jim do when he saw an old man was sitting in front of his house? A He took a blanket and gave it to him. B He took his father's coat to cover him. C He stopped and talked to him. D He wrote a letter to the police. Answer: B. He took his father's coat to cover him.
We went into a secondhand shop to get out of the rain. I took my 6-year-old daughter's hand and we started to walk around. Suddenly she reached out her hand to touch a pair of shiny black shoes. "Buy for me?" she asked. "Oh, Sweetie, they are tap dancing shoes. You aren't taking tap dance." "Buy for me?" she repeated. "Well, let's try them on." She sat on the floor and took off her bright pink rain boots. When she stood up we heard "click". She took a step, "click, click, click." The sun came out and we went on our way. Our next stop was the grocery store. "Click, click, click..." people turned to look as we entered the store. People would never allow their daughter to wear tap dancing shoes to the grocery store. "Excuse me, dear. Why would you allow your daughter to wear tap dancing shoes here? They make such a noise." "Isn't it wonderful?" "Wonderful? My dear, this is not the place to wear those shoes." "You don't understand. When she was a baby, doctors told us that she would never walk or talk. It has taken a lot of hard work and patience, but she asked for the shoes and the 'click, click, click' says that she can walk," I said. My daughter is 18 now and will graduate from grade 12 in June. It has not always been easy, but it has all been worthwhile . She has taught me that it doesn't matter what others think. _ People would never allow their daughter to wear tap dancing shoes to the grocery store because _ . A they are noisy B they are expensive C they are dirty D it is not allowed Answer: A. they are noisy Tulou, the special residential architecture of Fujian Province was included on the UNESCO's World Heritage List during the 32ndsession of the World Heritage Committee in Quebec, Canada. In the fourth century, Han Chinese living in the Central Plains area began to migrate south, gradually gathering in Fujian and forming the Hakka communities. As a defence against enemies, the Hakkas chose to live in compact communities, and the tulou was their preferred houses. Tens of thousands of such earthen structures were constructed in Fujian Province. Most tulous are to be found in the valleys, surrounded by high mountains, and some are in the depths of the great mountains. Most are three to four stories high, and look like circular blockhouses . Rooms on the first floor are used as kitchens, rooms on the second floor are used as barns , and rooms on the third and fourth floors are for bedrooms and living rooms. For defensive purposes, the rooms on the first floor have no windows. Raw materials for the tulou were obtained locally. Their main building material was a mixture of clay, sand, lime and water, and egg whites, brown sugar and rice water were added as adhesive agents . It was then mixed to form the walls. Once they dried, the walls were so hard that driving a nail into them would have been difficult. Fir branches, which are extremely strong and do not rot, were used to strengthen them, and many centuries later they have remained their original look. Tulous are located in a region where earthquakes happen frequently, and their circular construction helps them resist the regular shocks. The proven design even inspired one famous Peruvian architect, who paid several visits to Yongding, to build a tulou back home. Not long after, an earthquake struck only 10 kilometers away, and while all the houses around the earthen building fell down, his tulou remained. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? A Hakkas built tulous when they lived in the Central Plains area B Raw materials for the tulou were obtained from far away C It is difficult to dig a hole into the walls of the tulou D Fir branches may help them resist the regular shocks Answer: C. It is difficult to dig a hole into the walls of the tulou In the US, elementary and middle schools are advised to give students two and a half hours of physical activity a week. That is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association recommend. They say high schools should provide about four hours of physical activity each week. Yet many schools across the country have reduced their physical education programs. Criticism of the cuts has led in some places to efforts to give students more time for exercise, not less. The future health of Americans may depend on it. A study reports that life expectancy has fallen or is no longer increasing in some parts of the United States. The situation is worst among poor people in the southern states, and especially women. Public health researchers say it is largely the result of increases in obesity,smoking and high blood pressure. They also blame differences in health services around the country. In 2006, a study found that only 4% of elementary schools provided daily physical education all year for all grades. This was true of 8% of middle schools and 2% of high schools. The study also found that 22% of all schools did not require students to take any P. E. One problem for P. E. teachers is that schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects. Also, parents may agree that children need exercise in school. Yet many parents today still have bad memories of being chosen last for teams because teachers favored the good athletes in class. But experts say P. E. classes have changed. They say the goal has moved away from competition to personal performance, as a way to build a lifetime of activity. These days, teachers often lead activities like weight training and yoga. Some parents like the idea of avoiding competitive sports in P. E. class. Yet others surely dislike that idea. _ . Which statement is TRUE? A High schools in the US should provide fewer hours of physical activity than that in elementary and middle schools. B Not all schools in the US have reduced their physical education programs. C 22% of all schools in the US require students to take any P. E. D 8% of middle schools provide daily physical education all year for all grades now. Answer: B. Not all schools in the US have reduced their physical education programs. Santi's big brother Len had told him never to push all the remote control buttons at the same time. He said that something terrible would happen if he did. Santi didn't really believe this. While Len was out of the room, Santi jumped down on the sofa with the remote control in his hand. For a while, he changed from channel to channel, looking for something interesting to watch. Bored, Santi decided to see what Len could have meant. With a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Len hadn't come back,he pushed all the buttons at once. Santi saw a bright flash,and he dropped the remote control. "I've broken it,"he thought. "Now I'm in trouble!" As he looked around for the remote control,he realized he was in more trouble than he'd thought. He was suddenly only the size of a mouse. "Oh,no!"Santi shouted. He had to find his parents quickly. Carefully, he climbed down the side of the huge sofa and hurried across the floor. In the kitchen, Santi could see that the sliding door had been left open. "If the door is open, then the cat might be in here," tiny Santi said. Just then, Santi and the cat saw each other. Santi ran for the door, the cat closing in quickly behind him. Just as the cat reached out to attack Santi, it slipped on some water and slid across the kitchen floor. Out of breath, Santi hid behind a flowerpot in the corridor. He could see his mum far away in the garden. "How will I ever get there?" he wondered. As he looked out from behind the flowerpot, there was the huge cat looking right at him! Santi rushed for the garden and then..., he woke up. "It was only a dream!" he said with a relieved smile. "Thank goodness!" Santi thought the cat might be in the kitchen because _ A he heard a moving sound B the cat liked the kitchen C the sliding door was open D he saw the cat came into it Answer: C. the sliding door was open Venice is a great place in the world. People call it "City of Water" because it is built on the water just like some stone buildings floating on the water. There are more than 350 bridges in the city. It's in the southeast of Italy. You can hardly hear the sound of cars in the city. All transportation is by boat or on foot. And the most popular vehicle is gondola . You can see the beautiful sights and at the same time hear Italian operas on it. It's also a city of art and music. It played a very important role in the Renaissance . There are a lot of buildings there. Venice is a special and unique place in the world, so a lot of people come to visit it every year. It's better to visit the city in July, August, or September. And the people who come here will never forget this beautiful place. When is better to visit Venice? A In June and July. B In August and September. C In September and October. D In May and July. Answer: B. In August and September.
Sarah lives in the country, and she loves playing in the river near her house. But her father gets a job in a big city, and he moves there with his family. Their new house has a garden, but the garden is very small. Sarah isn't happy. "Is there a river near here?" she asks her mother on the first morning. Her mother answers, "No, there isn't, but there is a nice park near here and there is a pool in it. We are going there this afternoon." Sarah is happy now. After lunch, Sarah and her mother go to the park. Sarah wants to walk near the pool, but there is a sign before it. Her mother reads it to her, "Warning : This pool is dangerous. 367 people fell into it." Sarah looks into the pool carefully , and she says, "But I can't see them." Sarah's father works _ . Answer: in a big city My life plan is to visit all the states in the US. Several years ago, my husband and I were traveling in the northwest. One day, when we were having our breakfast, I lost my wallet that had over $300 in it. There was no way for us to be able to find it, but we went on with our trip. We went off to drive around and enjoy the city, completely forgetting my missing wallet. Later on, when I checked my phone, there was a message from the boss of the restaurant where we had our breakfast: "I have something that belongs to you, and you're going to be very happy." We got back to the restaurant and there was the wallet on the table with all the money in it! The boss's son found the wallet in front of the door, and brought it to him. He thought that it must belong to someone who had a meal in the restaurant, so he checked inside and found my phone number on a piece of paper. According to the passage, we can say that _ . Answer: the message was a good surprise to the writer Everyone must go to bed early and get up early, or we won't be healthy and clever.Is this true? Maybe it is.The body must have enough sleep.Children of your age need ten hours'sleep every day.If you don't go to bed early, you won't have enough sleep .Then you can't think properly and can't do your work properly.You will not be clever.Some people go to bed late and get up late.This is not good for them.We must go to bed at night when it is dark.The dark helps us to sleep soundly.When the daytime comes, we must get up.This is the time for exercise.If you lack exercise, you will become weak.Exercise keeps a strong body.Exercise helps the blood flow around inside the body.This is very important.Blood takes food to all parts of our body.The brain also needs blood, we think with our blood.If we keep our body healthy and take exercise, we can think better. Exercise makes the body _ Answer: strong Money and Happiness A Guide to Living the Good Life Author: Laura Rowley Publisher: Wiley (March 1, 2016) Laura Rowley helps us all understand the money-happiness connection in our own lives so that we spend our time and efforts wisely. She offers insights that every reader can use to make smarter decisions that will lead to living a rich life in every possible definition of the term. Happiness The Science Behind Your Smile Author: Daniel Nettle Publisher: Oxford University Press (July 1, 2016) This is the first book to look thoroughly at what happiness is and how it works. Nettle examines whether people are basically happy or unhappy, whether success can make us happy, why some people are happier than others, and much more. The Happiness Makeover How to Teach Yourself to Be Happy and Enjoy Every Day Author: M. J. Ryan Publisher: Broadway (May 10, 2016) Ryan's own desire to be happier first led her to study what is known about happiness from brain science, psychology, and the wisdom traditions of the world.The Happiness Makeover draws on this wide-ranging knowledge and presents a plan that will help you: Clear away happiness problems like worry, fear, envy, and dislikes. Learn to think confidently. Find daily ways to truly enjoy, even relish, the moments of your life. Health and Happiness Hormones and Qualities Llives Author: Steven F. Hotze Publisher: Forrest Publishing (April, 2016) Dr Steven Hotze is leading a wellness revolution that advances a new model of healthcare. Unlike the popular medical way of treating individual symptoms with the familiar "anti" drugs, Dr Hotze deals with the basic causes of poor health. In Hormones, Health, and Happiness you are shown how to reach and keep the best body functioning. Based on a process of biologically the same hormones and other natural treatments, it can help you enjoy a better quality of life. Whose model will possibly help readers obtain health and wellness naturally? Answer: Steven F. Hotze's. As most university students are packing their bags,boarding trains or flying home for the Spring Festival,some will stay behind to spend the holiday on campus. Zhou Yunyun,22,a senior finance major at Jilin University,has decided that instead of traveling to Hainan province,he will kill the time by playing computer games with his online friends. "I'm used to chatting and playing with them every day.It's just fun to make friends this way,"he said."When I returned home in past years,my relatives always asked me a lot of questions about my plans after graduation.They had high expectations of me,which made me feel stressed," said Zhou. The campus,usually lively,will probably turn into a death town,with most restaurants,shops and student centers closed during the break.But there are also a few advantages,according to Jia Debao,2 1,a junior majoring in administration at China Agricultural University."I might feel a bit lonely,but at least I can stay away from my parents' complaining and enjoy the peaceful and quiet stay," he said."More importantly,I can enjoy the high speed of the Internet,I can always find empty seats in classrooms,and I don't have to wait to use the bathroorm" But education experts recommend students who stay on campus to come up with more interactive plans.That's because communication on the Internet can't replace real life interpersonal relationships. Society has promoted a kind of" _ " or close-in culture among some young people, according to Shi Tongyu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He warned that this kind of lifestyle can damage students' mental and physical development. "When you constantly stare at a computer screen and type on your keyboard,you gradually lose the ability to socialize and survive normally,"said Shi."A human's most important task is to survive,which cannot be completed by staying at home all the time. Instead,it must be achieved through real life experience and communication." What can we learn about Zhou Yunyun? Answer: He will spend the Spring Festival with on-line friends.
Customs are social habits. They have been handed down through generations among groups, social classes, etc. Customs can be described as ways of doing things. They are particularly strong in social practices on the occasions of births, marriages and deaths. In China, these days, some people in cities are learning from Western customs. For example, some brides dress in the long white dress that is usual bridal wear in many Western countries. Every people has special customs for New Year. The Han people have many interesting Spring Festival customs. And now, quite a number of people living in the cities have followed the Western customs of sending New Year greeting cards for January 1st. One interesting custom in China is that mothers wrap up their babies tightly .This is not the custom in Western countries, where babies are usually dressed in loose garments. How do the Chinese young people learn from Western countries at their marriages? Answer: The brides have on the white clothes. Good parent - teacher communication is necessary for a child's success in school. Recent studies show that the more actively parents are involved in the child's school life. The better the child does in his studies. Like all relationships, parents and teachers affect each other, but the person who is most affected is the child. What they need to understand is that the educational success depends on many things, including the ability of the parents and teacher to know his needs and what he likes, and encourage him. When a child's teacher and parents work together in the best interests of the child, he may feel able to learn, but, more importantly, also feel supported. Education is about much more than just academic success. We must use the parent-teacher relationship to help a child grow and learn. So, how should parents and teacher work together? It doesn't require a change in the school subjects. It simply means that they should work together to help make lessons practical . For instance, if a child is learning about money at school and the teacher takes the time to communicate this to the parents, the parent can take the child to the store to practice what he is learning at school. At the store, he has to pick out a thing he can afford to buy, take out the right amount of money to pay for it and check to make sure the clerk has given him the right amount of _ . Doing this can help him to learn about the world in which he lives. This is how good parent-teacher communication supports the parent, teacher and, finally, the child. Who is most affected by the parent-teacher relationship? Answer: The child Rome-Doctors and medical groups around the world last weekend reacted with strong opposition to the news that an Italian specialist is _ cloning the first human baby. DL Severino Antinod,who is the head of a hospital in Rome,has been referred to in an Arab newspaper as claiming that one of his patients is eight weeks pregnant with a cloned baby. Antinori refused to comment on the reports,but in March 2001 he said he hoped to produce a cloned embryo for implantation within two years.So far seven different kinds of mammals have already successfully cloned,including sheep,cats and most recently rabbits. Doctors showed their doubt and were strongly opposed although they admit that human cloning would finally come true unless there was a world wide ban on the practice. Professor Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says,"I find it astonishing that people do this where the result can be foretold that it will not be a normal baby.It is using humans as guinea pigs.It makes people feel sick."But Ronald Green,director of the Ethics institute at Darmouth College in the US,said it is unlikely that an eight-week-old pregnancy would lead to a birth. So far all cloned animals have suffered from some different serious disorders,many of them dying soon after their births. Doctors are opposed to human cloning because they are worried about the welfare of the cloned child if there is one. "There are no benefits of cloned human begins,just harm."said Dr.Michael Wilks of the UK. Which is the best title for the embryo? Answer: First Cloned Human Since new technologies are ever growing, employers now have the chance to monitor their employees to make them spare more time to work when they use their phones, computer terminals, emails and even when an employee is using the Internet. Recent surveys have shown that a majority of employers monitor their employees' activities.It was found that three fourths of employers monitored the websites their employees visited in order to prevent improper surfing.The survey further indicated that 65% of employers used software to block connections to websites considered off limits to employees.One third of employers monitored their employees' number of keystrokes and the amount of time spent on the keyboard and lastly just over half of the employers surveyed review and kept email messages. Most of the time, email is not considered private if the email system is used at a company, the employer owns it and is allowed to review its contents.Email messages that are sent within the company, as well as those that are sent from the employee's terminal to another company, or from another company to the employee are subject to monitoring.If an email is deleted out of the employee's account, that doesn't mean that they are totally deleted.The messages are kept in memory.Emails are often backed up along with other important data from the computer system.If an employer's email policy specifically states that messages marked as "private" will be kept confidential ,however, there may also be some exceptions to that policy . In order to know their employer's email policy, employees should read over the employee handbook.If the handbook doesn't address the issue of email monitoring, they should speak with their employer about their policy for emails and privacy.Currently there are very few laws that address workplace privacy; however, there are some organizations that are working to advocate for employees so that there will be a stronger government regulation of employee monitoring activities. According to the author, the employers' monitoring _ . Answer: is quite common nowadays More than 2,400 years ago, a sickness struck Athens. The disease is said to have killed up to one third of all Athenians, including their leader Pericles. The huge loss of life helped to change the balance of power between Athens and its enemy, Sparta, in the ancient world. Historians say the sickness began in what is now Ethiopia. They say it passed through Egypt and Libya before it entered Greece. Knowledge of the disease has come mainly from the writings of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who survived it. So what caused the fall of Athens? Now, a study based on genetic testing says it was probably typhoid fever. Greek researchers announced the results. Journal of Infectious Diseases published the findings online last week. Researchers from the University of Athens tested human remains from an ancient burial place in the Greek capital. The researchers collected genetic material from teeth. They say tests found genetic evidence similar to that of the modern-day Salmonella . Manolis Papagrigorakis led the University of Athens team. He says the findings throw light on one of the most debated mysteries in medical history. Typhoid fever is a life-threatening disease that is common today in developing countries. Experts say there are more than 21,000,000 cases each year. Typhoid can be spread by food or drink that has been handled by a person infected with the bacteria that causes it. Bacteria in human waste can pollute water supplies. So water used for drinking or to wash food can also spread the infection. Hand washing is important to reducing the spread of typhoid. And there are vaccines that can help prevent it. Some people recover but continue to carry the bacteria. These carriers can get sick again. And they may continue to infect others. Doctors can do tests to make sure the bacteria has left the body. The writer mentions the fall of Athens in order to _ . Answer: introduce the seriousness of typhoid
"In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight." "Two full inches in the first three days!" These are the kinds of statements used in magazine, newspaper, radio and television ads, promising new shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device (;). The promoters (;) of products say they can shape the legs, slim the face, smooth wrinkles, or in some other way to beauty or desirability. Often such products are nothing more than money--making things for their promoter. The results they produce are questionable, and some are dangerous to health. To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public, it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation . If the product is a drug, FDA(Food Drug Administration) can require proof under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that is safe and effective before it is put on the market . But if the product is a device, FDA. has no author to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the marker is a danger to health, FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily, or it can take legal action , including seizure of the product. One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor, which had been sold for reducing the waistline. The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that it was dangerous to health and life. Obviously, most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings ,and new devices appear continually. Before buying, it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items. The Relaxacisor is mentioned as _ . a product whose distributor (;) was involved in a legal case Both children and grown-ups look forward to New Year vacation since it is that time of the year to pack up and set out on a trip with family and friends. New Year's Eve is the perfect time to travel and have holiday. Gone are the days when you had to depend on word of mouth to learn about vacation destinations. With the development of technology and the increase in the number of travel agencies, you can use all the information for the place you want to visit. However, New Year being peak season, planning well in advance will be a wise thing to do. New Year cruises have been gaining popularity over the past few years, with the number of people booking for the first class increasing every year. Sailing to island destinations is a new experience for many who consider it a romantic way of celebrating the New Year. Warmer island destinations like the Hawaiian Islands are hot favorites with all their unique traditions and customs, fruits and food to delight in. Cruise lines provide a wide range of choices about the destinations and travel packages for you to choose from. There are special packages offered for families with children that include many activities and games. There are packages offered for young people which involve a dance party followed by a New Year party. There are even special cruises for newly married couples or people who are in love and wish to spend their New Year's Eve in a comfortable and romantic destination. Some people would also like to take this opportunity to spend some time alone and get beauty treatments done. On the other hand, there are other people who visit the unfortunate, old and poor people and orphans and try to make them happy. Planning ahead will make your New Year vacation better as you won't have to bother about booking tickets, hotels and making transfer arrangements at the last minute. To have a trip during New Year vacation, . you shouldn't take everything for granted The origination of the "gap year" concept came in the decade following the Second World War when youth travel and cultural exchange was discussed among governments as a useful tool to create more of a global understanding to prevent future global wars. However, the first gap years actually started in the UK in the 1960s when the Baby-Boomer generation in the midst of the Swinging Sixties headed off to India on the infamous Hippie Trails ,inventing the independent travel market. Australian Graham "Screw" Turner, based in London in 1973, loaded a double-decker bus with the first paying customers and drove them to Kathmandu. They arrived three weeks late. Top Deck Travel, the company he founded, still exists today. In 1979 another Australian, Dick Porter, founded STA Travel to bring in the final piece of the puzzle. It was a high street travel agent for students and youth (those under 26) with which he was able to develop global youth travel as he opened student travel agencies around the world. In the UK in the 1980s the Baby-Boomers were accustomed to family life with their young children and so traveling less, and the next generation were influenced by the addiction to money, careers and wealth. The housing market crash meant fewer funds available for parents to fund youth travel. But steady UK and global growth continued as STA Travel opened up branches around the world. A combination of the Baby-Boomer's children reaching 18 (whose parents encouraged world travel as they did in their youth), the UK coming out of decline and new, exciting, color1ful media channels to bring gap year products to market resulted in an explosion of activity in the UK in the 1990s as gap year travel and gap year volunteering took off pre-, during, and post-university. Demand grew, prices for air travel fell, and the roots of it becoming a tradition of growth were set. The modern gap year pioneers came in the form of Tom Griffiths and Peter Pedrick who brought the gap year market onto the web in 1988 with the launch of www.gapyear.com. The two pioneers have invented products, offerings, phrases, and concepts that form the frame of the global gap year industry seen today. Known as the gap year guru. Tom Griffiths is recognized as a global authority on gap years and acts as a media spokesperson around the world. Why was the "gap year" concept was originated in the decade after the World War II ? Because the governments wanted to guard the world against future global wars. Robinson Crusoe is a famous novel written by Daniel Defoe. The book tells the story of a man who is shipwrecked . He spends 28 years on an island near Venezuela. The book tells the story of everything that happens to Robinson Crusoe. He hopes someone will rescue him, but he has been there for so long on his own that he also begins to fear being rescued. Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719. Most experts believe the story is based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, who was a Scottish sailor. On an expedition in 1704, Selkirk had an argument with his ship's captain. Selkirk thought the ship was not safe and was about to fall apart. When the ship stopped at a remote island to get fresh water, Selkirk got off. He tried to get the other crew members to leave with him, but nobody would. The shop then sailed away without him. Selkirk spent four years and four months on his own on the island, known as Aguas Buenas. Selkirk was finally rescued by a ship that visited the island in 1709. The ship's captain was grateful to Selkirk because he provided food for the crew when they arrived. Now archaeologists think they have found the remains of Selkirk's camp on Aguas Buenas. They found two deep holes that would have held wooden posts. The archaeologists say this is evidence that Selkirk built a shelter there. The post holes are near a fresh water stream. They are located quite high up, which would have meant that Selkirk was able to watch out for the ships coming close to the island. The most interesting evidence, the archaeologists say, is part of a piece of equipment used by sailors to navigate . Historians believe Selkirk was a navigator, so the instrument could have belonged to him. Robinson Crusoe was published ten years after Selkirk was rescued. Most experts think Daniel Defoe heard and read stories about Selkirk, which inspired him to write the book. The author wrote the text to _ . explain the origin of Robinson Crusoe If a snake bites you, take a photo with your mobile phone! It may save your life. This is the surprising advice of a British cook. One day Henry Jackson was working in a restaurant kitchen. He picked up a dish from the table, and suddenly a snake appeared... and bit him on the hand. A few days earlier, the snake came to the restaurant from Asia in a box of bananas. It climbed out of the box and hid under the dish. "I went to try to pick it up and it bit me again. I threw it across the kitchen, and it landed in the fridge. So I closed the door," Mr. Jackson said. Anyway, Mr. Jackson stayed cool and he took a photo of the snake with his mobile phone. Soon his hand began to ache and he went to hospital. Then his chest began to hurt. Doctors couldn't say what was wrong because they didn't know what kind of snake it was. Then Mr. Jackson remembered his mobile phone photo. The doctors sent it to London Zoo. When they knew the kind of snake, they could give Mr. Jackson the right medicine, and he left hospital the next day. "So my advice is this: if a snake bites you, pick up your phone. Take its photo first and then show the photo to the doctors," suggests Mr. Jackson. "Oh, and if the snake doesn't smile for its photo, don't worry." It can be inferred from the passage that _ . Jackson has a mobile phone with a camera
When I was a child I never said, "When I grow up, I want to be a CEO," but here I am. When I look back on my career, I realize the road to becoming a CEO isn't a straight, clearly clarified path. In fact, no two paths are the same. But whether you want to be a boss one day or not, there's a lot to learn from how leaders rise to the top of successful companies. As this series of stories shows, the paths to becoming a CEO may vary, but the people in that position share the qualities of commitment , work ethic and a strong desire for building something new. And every CEO take risks along the way--putting your life savings on the line to start a software company or leaving a big business to be one of the first employees at a startup. I grew up in Minnesota, and learned how to be an entrepreneur from my father, who has run a small business for almost 30 years. I went to Georgetown University and tried a lot of business activities in college with varying degrees of success. And I always had a dream job pattern: to walk to work, work for myself and build something for consumers. I'm only 29, so it's been a quick ride to CEO. Out of college, I worked for AOL as a product manager, then moved to Revolution Health and ran the consumer product team. In mid-2007 I left Revolution Health and started LivingSocial with several other colleagues, where I became a CEO. Career advice: Don't figure out where you want to work, or even what industry you'd like to work at. Figure out what makes you do so. What gives you a really big rush? Answer why you like things, not what you like doing...and then apply it to your work life. Also, just because you're graduating , don't stop learning. Read more books than you did in college. If you do, and they're not, you're really well in a position to succeed in whatever you do. What can we know about the author from the passage? Answer: She might not be paid, but Carnegie Mellon University's newest staff member does all that a typical receptionist can do: give directions, answer the phone -- and even gossip about her life. University officials revealed what it considers to be the world's first robot receptionist with a personality of her own. The blond receptionist, named "Valerie," puts on a headset and interacts with people by talking about her boss, her psychiatrist and her dream. Valerie, the roboceptionist, sits in a custom-made booth at the entrance of a computer science hall. With her ability to distinguish motion, she greets visitors as they come near. Type in a question on a keyboard and she gives directions around the Pittsburgh campus and provides visitors information about the weather. More than that, she tells stories about her life. From her booth, passers-by often can hear her talking on the phone. She recognizes when someone is in front of her and remembers their characteristics. She can change between tasks from talking on the phone to answering a question. Valerie, however, does have her limit. She is a drum-shaped mechanical device with a digitally lively face that appears on a computer display. Visitors have to type on a keyboard to communicate with her. And she understands only simple questions. Eventually her creators would like to install face recognition so people don't have to insert an identity card for her to remember them. And people won't have to type their questions on a keyboard if they can solve the problem of voice recognition in a crowded hall. Valerie will tell the story of a robot living in a human world. Which would be the best title for this passage? Answer: Cindy and Mary were playing at recess. They were having a great time until Cindy brought up Allison's birthday party. Cindy had been invited to it, but Mary had not. This hurt Mary's feelings a lot. The girls kept on playing and Mary was trying to have fun, but all she felt like doing was crying. She couldn't believe that she had not been invited to Allison's birthday party. She thought that they were friends and if her best friend Cindy had been invited, why not her? After recess was over, the class walked back into the school. Mary saw Allison in line and tried to smile, but it was hard. Cindy felt horrible now that she had talked about the party that her friend was not going to. Mary found it hard to pay attention to the teacher now. She kept thinking over and over why Allison didn't invite her to the party. Did Mary do something to make Allison mad or to hurt her? She couldn't understand it. Her eyes started to get wet with tears. She was hoping that no one saw this. Mary thought she saw Allison looking at her in a funny way. Suddenly Mary felt like she was going to start crying. She reached into her desk to pull out some tissues. She felt a strange piece of paper. She pulled it out and there was the invitation to Allison's party. It had gotten mixed up in her papers in her desk. She immediately started to smile. She smiled at Allison and at Cindy. Cindy gave her a puzzled look because she thought that Mary was sad. At lunch Mary explained everything to Cindy. Then Mary, Allison, and Cindy all went off to play. Who did we think was not invited to the party? Answer: Beautiful people are indeed happier,a new study says,but not always for the same reasons. For handsome men,the extra kicks are more likely to come from economic benefits,like increased wages, while women are more likely to find joy just looking in the mirror. "Women feel that beauty is naturally important," says Daniel Hamermesh,a University of Texas at Austin labor economist and the study's lead author. "They just feel bad if they're ugly." Hamermesh is the acknowledged father of pulchronomics, or the economic study of beauty. It can be a dangerous job. He once made angry an audience of young Mormon women, many of whom wished to stay home with future children, by explaining that homemakers tend to be less attractive than their working-girl peers . "Since beautiful women tend to be paid more,they have more motivation to stay in the work force," he says. The pursuit of good looks drives several huge industries--in 2010, Americans spent $845 million on face-lifts alone--but few economists focused on beauty's financial power until the mid-1990s,when Hamermesh and his colleague, Jeff Biddle of Michigan State University, became the first scholars to track the effect of appearance on earnings potential for a large sample of adults. Like many other desirable commodities , "beauty is rare," Hamermesh says, "and that rareness commands a price." A handsome man is estimated to make 13 percent more during his career than a "looks-challenged" peer, according to calculations in Hamermesh's recent book, Beauty Pays. Interestingly, the net benefit is slightly less for pretty women, who may make up the difference by trading on their looks to marry men with higher earning potential. And some studies have shown that attractive people are more likely to be hired in a recession . Hamermesh argues that "there's not much we can do to improve our pulchritude ". There are even studies suggesting that for every dollar spent on cosmetic products,only 4 cents returns as salary--making lipstick a truly awful investment. _ . One 2006 study showed that the less beautiful may actually profit from their lack of looks. People tend to expect less from the unattractive, so when they go beyond those low expectations they are rewarded. And the beautiful ones are often primarily held to a higher standard-- "then hit with a 'beauty penalty' if they fail to deliver." Hamermesh says. What is the best title of this passage? Answer: With hospitals and nursing homes tending to thousands of patients every year accidents can---and do ---happen. These incidents whether they are through carelessness or otherwise, can leave patients feeling powerless. That's not the case. "There is growing public awareness. People are feeling they have more rights and they have tools in hand to make a complaint," said Ralph Montano, spokesman for the California Department of Public Health, which regulates hospitals and long term care facilities in the state. That department received more than 6000 complaints about hospitals in 2007; in the most recent year statistics are available. The complaints can be about mixed-up lab results, medicine errors, foreign objects left in a patient during surgery or a host of other topic. Similarly, the California Department of Aging received 43000 nursing home complaints in 2009. Some said patient abuse or neglect of patients; others reported missing items. And some commented on the quality of the food. But finding the channels through them to put forward a complaint can be tiring and time consumption. Many consumers simply don't bother, and some become lost in the system. Whether the complaint is against a hospital or a long-term care facility, the process is similar--- and many people can help, including the facility's staff, insurance company representatives and state regulators. If you want to make a complaint while in the hospital, Patti Harvey, vice president of quality and patient care services for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, recommends talking with the bedside nurse. If that doesn't work, you can talk with other people higher in the chain of command, up to the hospital administrator. If the problem isn't still taken care of ---say you disagree with your treatment plan or have a problem with your doctor---member service offices at each hospital can help address your concerns. Many consumers don't make a complaint because _ . Answer:
Friday, December 30, 2011has been cut for the tiny South Pacific island nation, Samoa as it moved its time zone 24 hours ahead to catch up with Asia, New Zealand and Australia.On New Year's Eve, Samoa will Slave jumped to the west of the international dateline, which runs through the Pacific Ocean and broadly follows the 180 degree line of longitude . Its Prime Minister said it would make it easier for Samoa to trade with their key partners."No longer shall we have people ringing us up on Monday from New Zealand and Australia thinking it is Monday when we are closing our eyes and praying at churches.And in the same way, on our Fridays when we ring up and already our contacts are holidaying on their Saturdays," he told Radio New Zealand on Friday. To help win public support, the government declared employers must still pay workers for the missing Friday, although banks will not be allowed to charge interest for the lost day. Countries are free to choose whether the dateline passes to the east or west, and Samoa's decision means all new maps will need to change.But some tourism operators are worried Samoa will lose business by losing its position as the last place on earth to see the sunset each day, although it is now one of the first places to see in each new day. Samoa, a country of about 180,000 people, used to be in the same time zone as New Zealand and Australia, but went back a day in 1892, celebrating July 4 twice and _ itself with the United States.The date change is not the first major change in Samoa in recent years.In 2009, the country switched to driving on the left hand side of the road from the right hand side, in line with New Zealand and Australia. Samoa moved its time zone 24 hours ahead to _ . A. trade with the United States B. be the first place to see in each new day C. follow the international dateline D. be in the same time zone as Australia Answer: D. be in the same time zone as Australia A student concludes that a chemical reaction performed in a classroom investigation was exothermic. To communicate the validity of this conclusion, which would make the best visual evidence in a presentation? A. photographs of reactants and products B. listing of masses of reactants and products C. listing of time from start to finish of reaction D. photograph of a flame produced when the chemicals reacted Answer: D. photograph of a flame produced when the chemicals reacted It was wonderful to travel around Taiwan. I still remember my last trip to Taiwan. First, I visited National Palace Museum in Taiwan. It was built in 1962. It was completed in 1965. In this museum, you can find lots of exhibitions. It is said that the museum keeps about 600,000 artworks. The workers of the museum said they changed exhibitions every three months. Yinke was the second place I visited. The town is like 19th century European houses and has a lot of small streets as in old England. _ was a great experience to visit Keelung. The Keelung coasts are very famous for their wonderful scenes. There is also a seafood market. You can buy fresh products there. I then arrived at Danshui. The most interesting place of Danshui is the Lovers Bridge. The bridge connects one side of the river with the other side. It is about 40 meters long. However, only one person can cross it at a time. I like Taiwan and I want to visit Taiwan again if I have time. What is the best title for the passage? A. Taiwan And Keelung. B. Lovers Bridge. C. A Visit To Yinke. D. Traveling In Taiwan. Answer: D. Traveling In Taiwan. Zero gravity looks cool. But what about the thing no one likes to talk about? Yes, that is right: going to bathroom. Zero gravity makes this everyday task quite a challenge. Astronauts have to be toilet-trained all over again. The Apollo astronauts raised themselves off the seat of their chairs and stuck a clear plastic bag to their back sides with sticky strips. A second astronaut watched closely to be sure no waste matter escaped the seal. (You would not want that stuff floating around the cabin!) When the deed was done, the astronaut cleaned up with a piece of plastic attached to the inside of the bag, removed the bag, dropped a disinfectant pill in with the waste matter, and put the whole thing, sealed, into a special container. Donald W. Rethke, an engineer for Hamilton Standard Space Systems, developed a more private way to answer nature's call: the space toilet. It is somewhat like the kind of toilet one would find on commercial airplanes --- with unique adaptations for zero gravity, of course. For instance, it has thigh bars that keep the astronaut from floating off the seat. The astronaut (male or female) defecates in a bag and urinates in a hose. Solid and liquid wastes are kept separated because at least 85% of the urine is recycled and, yes, after careful filtration, used for drinking and other purposes. (Water is always in demand in space.) A vacuum sucks the waste materials into the toilet, where the waste is compacted into hamburger-like patties for easy storage. Although not exactly like an earthbound visit to the toilet, it is at the very least much more private than in the early days of space travel. To ensure the user remains seated, the toilet comes equipped with _ A. a plastic bag B. a sticky strip C. a wide hose D. a thigh bar Answer: D. a thigh bar Just as some people think that certain numbers are lucky or unlucky, others believe that we can use numbers to understand our personalities, or predict what will happen to us in the future. Numerology is a way of using numbers to describe a person's character, and to make predictions about future life events. Numerologists use the numbers 1-9, 11 and 22 -- also known as the "master" numbers -- to help a person understand his or her personality, life goals, and destiny. Numerologists consider yourLife Path number to be the most significant because this number describes your character. To find this number, add together all the numbers in your date of birth. For example, a person born on April 25, 1985 would add the month (4), to the numbers of the date (2+5), plus the numbers of the birth year (1+9+8+5). In this case the total is 34, so this person's life path number is 7(3+4). Numerologists believe that people with this number are peaceful and affectionate but can also be very reserved. Your Expression numberdescribes your talents and predicts how you should use these to fulfill your destiny in life. Numerologists assign a number between 1 and 9 to each of the letters in your name. These numbers are then added together in the same way as before to find your Expression number. Numerologists can also do calculations to predict when the most challenging periods of your life will be. Numerologists also believe that the day a person is born is important. Each day of the month has a character description. People born on the fourth are said to be responsible, honest, and stubborn. People born on the fifteenth have very strong attachments to family and home. Those who celebrate their birthday on the thirtieth are artistic, creative, and imaginative, and often make good writers. If we calculate the numerical value of our name and birth date, numerologists believe that we can learn more about our personalities. They also believe that we can predict our destinies, how our lives will progress, and what challenges we may face along the way. To the numerologist, numbers can be used in many more ways than we think. According to the passage, a person born on the fifteenth tends to be _ . A. stubborn B. home-loving C. artistic D. imaginative Answer: B. home-loving
Roads need repaved in spring because Answer: ice ruins them A famous Renoir had been stolen from a museum. Detective Earl Blackman was to work on the case. Everyone was in the dark before an art professor came to point out the false picture. So the museum even didn't know when the picture had been stolen. Thousands of people came to visit the museum every day. After long work, some art students were focused on. The five students who had made copies of the Renoir during the last six months were asked to bring their copies to the museum. The fifth student said she had sold her copy, which was later proved to be the one in the museum. She, however, could only remember the buyer was a man with the little finger on his left hand missing. Blackman went back and stayed in his office looking at all the pictures of known thieves. No success. The next afternoon, at about closing time, Blackman went to the museum to ask if the cleaning men were in the museum after everyone else had left. The director told him they had no cleaning man but six cleaning women. As the detective left the director's office, he saw five cleaning women. He stopped one and asked about her work. Then came the sixth cleaning woman. She was dressed just like the other women except the gloves on her hands which made her different. Blackman watched her for some time. When she came near, Blackman caught her. The woman cried out in a man's voice, "What was that?" Blackman was more sure. Blackman caught the cleaning woman because of _ . Answer: the glove On the broad landing between Miss Havisham's own room and that other room in which the long table was laid out, I saw a garden chair -- a light chair on wheels that you pushed from behind. It had been placed there since my last visit, and that same day I pushed Miss Havisham in this chair (when she was tired of walking with her hand upon my shoulder) round her own room, and across the landing and round the other room, which, from that day on, became my regular job. As we began to be more used to one another, Miss Havisham talked more to me, and asked me such questions as what had I learnt and what was I going to be? I told her I was going to be apprenticed to Joe, my sister's husband; then I explained my knowing nothing and wanting to know everything, in the hope that she might offer some help. But, she did not; on the contrary, she seemed to prefer my being ignorant. Neither did she ever give me any money - or anything but my daily dinner - nor even mentioned that I should be paid for my services. Estella was always about, and always let me in and out, but never told me I might kiss her again. Sometimes, she would coldly tolerate me; sometimes, she would be seemingly kind to me; sometimes, she would be quite familiar with me; sometimes, she would tell me energetically that she hated me. Miss Havisham would often ask me in a whisper, or when we were alone, "Does she grow prettier and prettier, Pip?" And when I said yes, Miss Havisham would seem to enjoy it greedily. Also, when we played at cards Miss Havisham would look on Estella's moods, whatever they were. And sometimes, when her moods were so many and so contradictory of one another that I was puzzled what to say or do, Miss Havisham would hold her tightly with great fondness, saying something quietly in her ear that sounded like "Break their hearts my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!" What did Pip regularly do at Miss Havisham's home? Answer: He pushed Miss Havisham in the wheel chair. Fire fighting is a serous matter, knowing what to do during a fire can save people's lives. It is important to know the ways you can use and show them to everyone else in the family, such as stairways and emergency exits, but not elevators. From the lower floors of building, escape through windows is possible. Learn the best way to get out from a window with the least chance of serious injury. The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. An average person, hanging by the fingertips will have a drop of about 6 feet to the ground. It is about twice the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way down than to stay in a burning building. Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed before opening the window. Otherwise, smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked into the room. On the second or third floor, the best windows for escape are those which open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto cement might end in injury. Bushes and trees can help you to have a soft landing. If you are on the second or third floor when a fire breaks out, you'd better _ Answer: drop from a roof window then onto bushes and trees Olympic medalist Dara Torres, the 41-year-old swimmer, is more than a feel-good story. Torres is as determined and driven in her daily life as she is in the pool. She is dedicated to pursuing her passions and following her dreams-something she hopes to instill in her 2-year-old daughter and women and girls everywhere. After all, her dreams took her to Beijing. Upon her return after the Olympics, SUCCESS writer Don Yaeger, caught up with Torres, who shared her insights. What insights can you offer others ( non-athletes, too) about setting and staying on track to reach goals? Everyone has his highs and lows when doing things, but you have to remember what the end result is when you're having those tough times. I think about the end and about my feelings of success, and that keeps me going. I definitely set goals for myself and try not to get too distracted trying to reach them. And always remember to have fun ! Any strategies or tips for overcoming mental obstacles to be your very best? Mental obstacles are tough. For my personally, if I was having mental obstacles, I would talk to my coach, who was the most important person to me during this comeback. It's so important to have that person in your life, a trusted advisor. Communication is very important, and I've learned it's OK to turn to others if you're having a tough time. When I was younger, I would internalize(...) things. Not any more. It's a great relief to be able to share. Which of the following words can best describe Torres? Answer: Positive
Have you listened to music on an iPod? Used a computer at home? Those are just two of the ways your life was touched by the work of Steve Jobs. Jobs, one founder of Apple Computers, died on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at the age of 56. He had been fighting with cancer since 2004. Steven Jobs was born in Los Altos, California. He and his childhood friend, Steve Wozniak, designed and built the first Apple computer in his parents' garage in the 1970s. The Apple II, built when Jobs was just 21 years old, was the first personal computer to be widely sold to the public. Steven Jobs didn't stop there. He went on to invent more devices that allowed people to bring their own creativity to computing: the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad. People found his products beautiful and easy to use. Jobs also changed the music and film industries. He started Pixar, a film production company in 1986. Toy Story was the world's first computer-animated feature film . "Steve was among the greatest of American _ -- brave enough to think differently, confident enough to believe he could change the world, and clever enough to do it," said President Barack Obama. "By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only easy to reach, but fun ... And there may be no greater praise to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his death on a device he invented." All around the world, people are talking about the effects that Jobs' creations have had. By creating products that surprised people, he changed the way people worked and lived their everyday lives. According to Barack Obama, the highest praise for Steve Jobs is that _ . A his products are widely used all over the world B his products are thought to be beautiful and easy to use C people all over the world are sad at his death D people learned about his death from his products Answer: D Reading is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons. First , reading is fun. You can always keep yourself happy if like reading. You will never feel bored or tired. Next, you can read a book anywhere----in a car, on a plane, or even in the bathroom. All you need is a book! Another good reason for reading is that it is useful. If you read as a hobby, you will get better and better at it. And you will read faster and find it easier to understand what you read. As your reading skills improve, you will probably find your schoolwork becomes much better. Some people say that reading is out of date . This is not true. You can read on computers, and the better you read, the better your computer skills will be. Good readers may become writers, too. They always have more things to write about. Reading is a wonderful hobby. Why not start reading ri ght now? It is _ that reading is out of date. A not true B true C sure D easy Answer: A To travel around the world is the dream of many adventurous people. But very few people can afford a global tour because hotels, food and airplane tickets are too expensive. Some people, however, have thought of some ways to realize their dreams. Laura Cody and Tanbay Theune, a couple from Britain, decided to travel around the world. They have found a good way to pay for their trips. They look after pets for rich house owners. In exchange, they can stay in the houses for free. They have looked after horses, cows, cats, dogs and fish. In two years, the couple has been to Australia, Germany, Spain and Italy. They have stayed in big cities and small villages. The home owners are usually very generous and have given them food, wine and day trips. Another person who tries to realize her travel dream is photographer Rhiannon Taylor. She travels around the world to visit, review and take photos of the best hotels. She shares the places she stays in and the food she eats on the Internet with tens of thousands of followers. With these ways of making money, traveling around the world is no longer a dream. More and more young people are thinking creatively to make their dream come true. It is known from the passage that Laura and Tanbay paid for their trips by _ . A staying in the house for free B being given food and day drinks C going to Australia and other countries D looking after pets for rich house owners Answer: D A few days ago, I went to school with lots of books,hoping to get a locker . Suddenly, it started raining heavily. I hurried to pay for my locker, but I was disappointed when they informed me they only accepted cash. I was $ 7.00 short, which meant I had to carry the books back home. It would be an exhausting two-hour journey back home with all those books. An elderly gentleman nearby noticed my problem. He asked how much cash I needed. When I told him I was $7 short, he quickly took out the money from his wallet ."You don't have to pay me back ,"he said. I was speechless; I didn't know whether to take the money or come back with the books the next day. A young student who was working there noticed my hesitation. "He's really nice ,"said the student. I was starving this morning and he bought breakfast for me. He always helps people in different ways. The next day, I went to him and thanked him for trusting me and lending me the money. He said he forgot about it and didn't expect I would give it back. "I'm very happy," he said,"not because I'm getting my money back, but because this is the right way to go---whatever you get from this world, give it back as much as you possibly can. Spread kindness around the world with the smallest things you can do." Later, I found out he wasn't involved with any charity organizations. He has been performing these types of acts for years. Earlier, someone had done something incredibly kind for him and he has been spreading the kindness ever since. He taught me a very important lesson in life. We come to this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. Whatever we own, it will become somebody else's and whatever we leave, it will become somebody else's. Why did the writer need a locker in the school? A To help him get away from the sudden rain. B To store his large quantity of books. C To carry it back home with his books inside. D To make it easier for him to go on a trip. Answer: B According to some researchers, you should not praise children for everything that they do. It does not help them build self-confidence. Most parents and teachers agree that praise can help increase children's self-confidence --the more, the better. However, according to some researchers, only proper praise is good for children. If adults praise everything children do, it makes children look for praise all the time, not trying to do their best. "Teachers should not say things like 'good job' or 'nice work' whenever a child does anything. They should encourage them to continue to improve," some researchers advise. Another idea is that children with high self-confidence are happier, and do better at school. About this, Marshall Duke, a researcher in children, says, "High self-confidence brought in by too much praise does not make children happier, get more, or become able to do more. Finding a child's advantages and developing them can help build confidence more than too much praise can." Praise also loses its effect if it is given equally to all students. "It's important to tell children the truth about what they've done. Honest feedback is far better than empty praise," Duke adds. "People have got into the habit of not telling children when they're wrong. That makes it hard for them to deal with difficulties when they grow up. That's just how the world is." According to some researchers, if parents praise their children too much, their children will _ . A always look for praise B increase self-confidence C become strong D do better in their studies Answer: A
Please do not leave your valuables in your room unattended. The hotel provides safe deposit boxes at the reception desk. When you leave the hotel, please put your key at the reception desk. PLEASE DO NOT TALK TO OR DISTRACT THE DRIVER WHEN THE BUS IS MOVING. PLEASE PAY EXACT FARE. The local government has advised skaters not to go out on the central pond today. There is a danger of the ice breaking. Skaters are advised to enjoy their sport at the local indoor ice rink instead SALE Sports fans Don't miss out! Tennis rackets - down to $15 Basketballs - down to $ 10 Aerobic wear - from just $ 10 Swimwear--from just $5 First five people in the store today will meet Yao Ming . Hotel Rendezvous 30 Kings Road Swindon UK 23/04/07 Mr. & Mrs. Biggs 80 Cuscaden Road London Dear Mr. & Mrs. Biggs, We are pleased to confirm your reservation as follows: Date:21-23 June (2 nights) Room: double Rate: $120 a night When you take a bus, what can you do? A. Talk with the bus driver loudly. B. Read the newspapers. C. Distract the driver when the bus is moving. D. Discuss something with the strangers loudly. Answer: C invites applications for the following posts: HOUSEKEEPING Housekeeping Supervisor Salary: $1,200 per month At least 2 years similar experience Female only Housemaids Salary: $700 per month No experience required Part-time posts for Housemaids only LAUNDRY Laundry Valet Salary: $700 per month Duties - to collect and deliver laundry parcels Shift work require Laundry Attendant Salary: $700 per month Male applicants only Shift work required Preference will be given to people with some experience. FOOD AND DRINKS (for new 24-hour restaurant) Head waiter Salary: $1,200 per month Experienced waiters can apply Waiter/ Waiters Salary: $800 per month No experience needed (Willing to work shifts) Part-timers needed for permanent night shift 6 pm to 11 pm. GENERAL Car Driver Salary: $800 per month Clean driving record At least 1 year of experience Willing to work irregular hours Pool Attendant Salary: $700 per month Must know life-saving technique Some related experience Both posts for male only. Interviews will be conducted at the Royal Hotel, East Room, 2nd Level on the 25th and 26th Nov. from 10:00 to 4:00 pm. Which of these jobs require shift work? A. Housemaid and waiter. B. Laundry valet and waiter. C. Car driver and pool attendant. D. Laundry attendant and pool attendant. Answer: B When former American President Bill Clinton traveled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam, he repeatedly referred to the Korean president's wife as Mrs. Kim. By mistake, President Clinton's advisers thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese. Clinton had not been told that, in Korea, wives keep their family names. President Kim Young Sam's wife was named Sohm Myong Suk. Therefore, she should be addressed as Mrs. Sohm. President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture _ . His failure to follow Korean customs gave the impression that Korea was not as important to him as Japan. In addition to Koreans some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names. This practice often puzzles English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil's parents. They become puzzled about the student's correct last name. Placing the family name first is common among a number of Asian cultures. Mexican naming customs are different as well. When a woman marries, she keeps her family name and adds her husband's name after the word "de", which means "of". This affects how they fill in forms in the United States. When requested to fill in a middle name, they generally write the father's family name. But Mexicans are addressed by the family name of the mother. This often causes puzzlement. Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations: don't always think that a married woman uses her husband's last name. Remember that in many Asian cultures, the order of first and last names is reversed . Ask which name a person would prefer to use. If the name is difficult to pronounce, admit it, and ask the person to help you say it correctly. The story of Bill Clinton is used to _ . A. improve US Korean relations B. introduce the topic of the text C. describe his visit to Korea D. tell us how to address a person Answer: B Good Housekeeping has discovered that even if a child wear a helmet when she bikes, or skates, it may not protect her from a serious head injury. Every year, 390,000 children under age 15 go to hospital emergency rooms with bike-related injuries. Of that number, about one third children suffer head injuries and an estimated 200 die. By wearing a helmet, a child can reduce her risk of injury by as much as 85 percent. But remember ---- a bicycle helmet must fit properly to be safe. Here are five steps to making sure your child's helmet fits properly. 1) If you haven't bought your child's helmet already, you might want to consider one with a rear stabilizer . A rear stabilizer holds the back of the head gently and helps the helmet stay correctly positioned. 2) The helmet should fit closely and shouldn't slide from side to side or front to back. If your child can put two fingers on both temples inside the helmet, it's too big. Try a smaller size. But if the next size down is too small, use the fit pads . Fit pads come in different sizes and attach to the helmet with Velcro. 3) Tell your child to open her mouth widely and ask if she can feel the helmet push down onto the top of her head. If she can't, you need to readjust her helmet. 4) To prevent strap slippage, wind a rubber band around the strap where it meets the fastener. 5) Recheck the fit regularly. You should replace the bicycle helmet: If she has been in an accident with it. If the buckle breaks or if a piece breaks off. If it doesn't have a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, American Society for Testing and Materials, or Snell Memorial Foundation sticker. If it doesn't fit correctly. Even if the helmet fit perfectly two years ago, it might be too small now. Phil White, a father, found the buckle of his girl's helmet broken, he can _ A. buy a new bicycle helmet for her B. mend the bicycle helmet himself C. continue to use the bicycle helmet D. throw away the broken buckle Answer: A What would be passed down from parents to their children? A. hobbies enjoyed B. head size C. number of friends D. sports played Answer: B
The United States is trying to improve an education system that produces millions of citizens who cannot read, write, or add--let alone finding their country on a map. In his first State of Union message since taking office a year ago, President George Bush promised to wipe out illiteracy in the next decade and declared that "by the year 2008, U.S students must be first in the world in math and science achievements. " They have a long way to go. American students were placed 14th in a recent general science test conducted in 16 countries. In a separate survey of chemistry students, the United States came 12 out of 14. In a mathematics test, they were last. According to Bush, there are 17 million illiterates in this country of 245 million people. Other estimates put the number as high as 23 million. In percentage terms, that ranks the United States alongside Nicaragua and below C], 'uba. "This nation," Bush said in his State of the Union address, "will not accept anything but excellent in education." Bush, who has declared himself "Education president", and senior officials of his administration are warning that the United States will be unable to compete in the world without an educated workforce. How to increase educational standards is a matter of debate in a country whose schools have no uniform national curriculum and are subject to a confusing variety of state and local controls. Most experts think that the problem lies at the elementary and high school' levels rather than with universities-but even their graduates show huge gaps in general knowledge. Among the root causes most frequently mentioned in education debates is the low respect in which U.S. society holds teachers-in contrast to Japan and Germany. In Japan teaching is a profession of high prestige and high pay. In the United States teachers are near the bottom of the society. By "the United States came 12 out of 14"(Para. 2), the author means A the United States ranked 12th not 14th in the chemistry test B the United States ranked 12th in the chemistry test conducted by 14 countries C .the United States progressed from 14th to 12th in the chemistry test D the United States ranked 12th in chemistry test and 14th in general science test Answer: B I know it is wrong to envy your children. But when I see my son, Tonio and his younger brother Sam going down a slide together, one's arm around the other, I know I have missed something wonderful. Not only did I never have a brother, but also I had no friendships like theirs. My sister was old enough to help take care of me, so she was more a mother than a playmate, and I was more a _ than a friend. A brother would have been wonderful, but it was not in the family planning. Now I finally live with brothers, my sons, Tonio and Sam. I am watching them build the kind of relationship that I once dreamed about. They go to bed together. When one comes into our bed after a nightmare, my wife and I know that before morning his brother will follow. Sam manages the world with more ease than his elder brother, whose frustrations often bring him to tears. With a sincere "Smile, Tonio," Sam is the one who comforts him. Tonio, on the other hand, has stopped playing with boys at his age who don't like playing with Sam. They are always backing each other up. I don't know what kind of relationship they will have when they grow up. Parents always want their children to have what they never could. I want them to have each other. So I imagine them going to the same college, marrying sisters and living on the same block. That's why I was so worried the day Tonio started kindergarten. I felt that I would lose something too. As we headed for school that morning, both boys seemed relaxed, as if neither had any idea that the day was going to be different, that starting then, Tonio would be leaving behind his brother, his best friend, his right arm. Tonio's first day was chaotic, with hundreds of children outside looking for their teachers. Before any of us could say goodbye, Tonio disappeared with his new classmates. He turned to wave and then was gone. It was so sudden. Sam even didn' t see him go. Although parents had been asked to ease the craziness of the first day by statying out of the school, I lifted Sam up and took him to Tonio's classroom, looking for a glimpse of Tonio. Sam spotted him first. My wife and I didn't head back home immediately, stopping instead at a coffee shop to treat Sam to hot chocolate. We even let him eat ice-cream with his fingers. Sam was still quiet, so I asked him if he missed his brother already. He didn't answer. Instead he asked, "Daddy, is Tonio going to be gone forever?" "No, Sammy," I said, feeling happy about his sweet question. "Not forever, just until three o'clock." I sometimes think that the greatest thing I have ever done is to help create these brothers. And I didn't stop with them. We had another child, and for the third time in a row, it was a boy. It wasn't long before his brothers climbed into the crib to play with him. I am surrounded by brothers. On the first day of the kindergarten, _ . A Tonio had a nice day playing with his new classmates B Sam was very sad because Tonio was gone forever C Sam was allowed to have ice-cream with fingers as usual D the father felt happy when he sensed Sam's love to Tonio Answer: D The pink rabbit is sitting on a bench in the park. The pink rabbit loves being at the park because she loves bird watching. She watches birds, and sometimes feeds them. She doesn't feed them corn, candy bars, or pizza. She feeds them sunflower seeds. Across from the pink rabbit, a blue dinosaur is sitting alone at a seesaw. The blue dinosaur likes playing on the seesaw because he thinks it's fun. The blue dinosaur is sad, because he can't ride on the seesaw by himself. The pink rabbit sees the blue dinosaur. She sees that he is by himself. She feels sad because she knows he cannot play on the seesaw. The pink rabbit hops over to the blue dinosaur and asks, "Would you ride the seesaw with me?" The blue dinosaur said, "Sure." And they rode on the seesaw for the rest of the afternoon. It was the best afternoon of their lives. What does the rabbit feed the birds? A pizza B candy bars C corn D sunflower seeds Answer: D Jean is a bright young woman from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has almost everything that money can buy. But the people in Jean's family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. In fact, Jean is quite lonely. So Jean spends a lot of her time on QQ. She likes being anonymous talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and made a lot of friends. Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and he lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had the same interests in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them many hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot the time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: he was a tall, good-looking young man with big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other. When Jean's father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him, so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of the rock singer they liked most. But when Jean knocked in David's door in San Francisco, she found that the special friend she had written to was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim! What's the best title of the passage? A A Real Surprise B A Talk on QQ C A Bright Young Girl D A Good-looking Boy Answer: A She's not afraid of anything. Snakes? No problem. Walking alone in the dark? Easy. We're not talking about a superhero here -- SM is a 44-year-old mother. And she's fearless because she happens to be missing part of her brain: the amygdala . Shaped like a pair of almonds sitting in the middle of your brain, the amygdala helps control fear and anxiety. A rare condition called Urbach-Wiethe disease left SM without her amygdala, and seems to have completely erased her sense of fear. To try to understand how the amygdala works, a team of researchers made their efforts to scare SM. They showed her horror movies and took her to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House in Kentucky. She pushed out one of the monsters and laughed. SM said she didn't like snakes, but at a pet store full of poisonous creatures, she kept asking to touch them. When asked to rate her feelings, SM reported feeling surprised or disgusted, but never fearful. "She tends to approach everything she should be avoiding," says Justin Feinstein of the University of Iowa. This means the amygdala could control deeper urges to approach or avoid danger. Other scientists have a different opinion, though. "I don't believe you can make a general statement about what the amygdala does by a single case study," Elizabeth Phelps said. In 2002, Phelps published a study on a similar patient with amygdala damage who still showed fear. It may sound like fun to be totally fearless, but we get scared for a good reason. "The nature of fear is survival and the amygdala helps us stay alive by avoiding situations, people, or objects that put our life in danger," Feinstein said. SM was once followed in a park after dark by a man with a knife, and she simply walked away. "It is quite remarkable that she is still alive," said Feinstein. Researchers tried their best to frighten SM in order to find _ . A The function of a particular organ B SM's reaction of fear and anxiety C The process of removing amygdale D A special way to get along with monsters Answer: A
A "blogger" is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a "blog". The word "blog" is a short way of saying Web log, or personal Web site. Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like. There are millions of blogs on the Internet today. They provide news, information and ideas in many people who read them. They contain links to other Web sites. And they provide a place for people to write about their ideas and react to the ideas of others. A research company called Perscus has studied more than 300 Web logs. It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls. They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year. However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas. For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products. At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service weblogs. com. He says the site became too costly to continue. He started the blog four years ago. And thousands of people had written on it. They are now upset because they did not know that the site was closing. One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca's Pocket. Rebecca Blood created the Website in 1999. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site. That article led to a book called "The Weblog Handbook". It has been translated into four languages so far. Ms. Blood says Rebecca's Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month. She writes about anything and everything--politics, culture and movies. She recently provided medical advice. And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from on-line bank accounts. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text? Answer: In early autumn I applied for admission to college. I wanted to go nowhere but to Cornell University, but my mother fought strongly against it. When she saw me studying a photograph of my father on the sports ground of Cornell, she tore it up. "You can't say it's not a great university, just because Papa went there." "That's not it at all. And it is a top university." She was still holding the pieces in her hand. "But we can't afford to send you to college." "I wouldn't dream of asking you for money. Do you want me to get a job to help support you and Papa? Things aren't that bad, are they?" "No," she said. "I don't expect you to help support us." Father borrowed money form his rich cousins to start a small jewellery shop, His chief customers were his old college friends. To get new customers, my mother had to help. She picked up a long-forgotten membership in the local league of women, so that she could get to know more people. Whether those people would turn into customers was another question. I knew that my Parents had to wait for quite a long time before their small investment could show returns. What's more, they had not wanted enough to be rich and successful ;Otherwise they could not possibly have managed their lives so badly. I was torn between the desire to help them and change their lives, and the determination not to repeat their mistakes. I had a strong belief in my power to go what I wanted. After months of hard study I won a full college scholarship .My father could hardly contain his pride in me, and my mother eventually gave in before my success. Why did the mother renew her membership in the league? Answer: Most English people have three names: a first name, a middle name and a family name . For example, my full name is Ann Allan Green. Green is my family name. Ann and Allan are my given names. People don't use their middle names very much.So we can say Ann Green. We can say Miss Green or Mrs. Green. But we can't say Miss Ann or Mrs. Ann. It's different from Chinese names. In China, the first name is the family name and the last name is the given name. In English-speaking countries, the first name is the _ . Answer: Imagine the situation. You are driving along a desert or on a mountain. You have no idea where you are. You passed the last house two hours ago. Then your car breaks down. It is night and it is cold. You have no mobile phone. What do you do? Well, next time take a GPS with you. This invention may be able to help you. It is a device which uses satellites to find the user's position. It can find your position in 20 meters. A GPS can't start your car, but at least you will know where you are. GPS, which means Global Positioning System, is a small radio receiver. It looks like a mobile phone. You can hold it in your hand, or put it in your pocket. It is sometimes put into a watch or a telephone. We also find GPS devices in cars, planes, or boats. Some of these devices have electronic maps, so you know where you are. For example, in a city they can tell you the name of the street. There are three parts to the Global Positioning System. The first part is the receiver. You can hold it in your hand, or have it fixed into your car, plane, etc. The second part is a group of satellites orbiting the earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates its position. The third part of the system is a network of ground stations. They are all over the world. They control the satellites and make sure they are working well. Some people think that in the future the GPS will be as common as the mobile. They are becoming cheaper and more and more accurate . There are also many new uses for the GPS. Perhaps they will become like watches. Everyone will have one and you will never be lost again. . From the passage we know that _ . Answer: People aren't walking any more---if they can figure out a way to avoid it.. I felt superior about this matter until the other day I took my car to mail a small parcel. The journey is a matter of 281 steps. But I used the car. And I wasn't in any hurry, either. I had merely become one more victim of a national sickness: motorosis. It is an illness to which I had thought myself immune, for I was bred in the tradition of going to places on my own two legs. At that time, we regarded 25 miles as good day's walk and the ability to cover such a distance in ten hours as sign of strength and skill. It did not occur to us that walking was a hardship. And the effect was lasting. When I was 45 years old I raced -and beat--a teenage football player the 168 steps up the Stature of Liberty. Such enterprises today are regarded by many middle-aged persons as bad for the heart. But a well-known British physician, Sir Adolphe Abrahams, pointed out recently that hearts and bodies need proper exercise. A person who avoids exercise is more likely to have illnesses than one who exercises regularly. And walking is an ideal form of exercise--- the most familiar and natural of all. It was Henry Thoreau who showed mankind the richness of going on foot. The man walking can learn the trees, flower, insects, birds and animals, the significance of seasons, the very feel of himself as a living creature in a living world. He cannot learn in a car. The car is a convenient means of transport, but we have made it our way of life. Many people don't dare to approach Nature any more; to them the world they were born to enjoy is all threat. To them security is _ r thundering on a concrete road. And much of their thinking takes place while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. I say that the green of forests is the mind's best light. And none but the man on foot can evaluate what is basic and everlasting. What is the national sickness? Answer:
(Happy Children's Day!) Come and see the Indian elephants and the tigers from America. The bears are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from Thailand are waiting to throw things at you. The lovely dogs from Australia are waiting to laugh at you, and the giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you. Tickets: Adults: Y=60, Children: free Time: June1-June2 9:00 a.m.-----7:00 p. m Keep the park clean! Do not touch, give food or go near the animals. The poster may be made just _ . A. on New Year's Day B. on Christmas Day C. after Children's Day D. before Children's Day Answer: D. before Children's Day Many people say dolphins are very intelligent. They seem to be able think, understand, and learn things quickly. But they are smart like humans or more like cats or dogs? Dolphins use their brains differently from people. But scientists say dolphin intelligence and human intelligence are alike in some ways. How? FACT 1: Talk to Me Like humans, every dolphin has its own "name". The name is a special whistle . Each dolphin chooses a specific whistle for itself, usually by its first birthday. Actually, scientists think dolphins, like people, "talk" to each other about a lot of things, such as their age, their feelings, or finding food. And, like humans dolphins use a system of sounds and body language to communicate. But understanding their conversations is not easy for humans. No one "speaks dolphin" yet, but some scientists are trying to learn. FACT 2: Let's Play Dolphins are also social animals. They live in groups called pods, and they often join others from different pods to play games and have fun ---just like people. In fact, playing together is something only intelligent animals do. FACT 3: Fishermen's Helpers Dolphins and humans are similar in another way: both make plans to get something they want. In the sea of southern Brazil, for example, dolphins use a interesting strategy to get food. When fish are near a boat, dolphins signal to the fishermen to put their nets in the water. Using this method, the men can catch a lot of fish. What is the advantage for the dolphins? Why do they assist the men? The dolphins get to eat some of the fish. Which of the following best describes dolphins? A. Talkative and easygoing. B. Carful and hardworking. C. Brave and determined. D. Friendly and smart. Answer: D. Friendly and smart. There is an old man living with his granddaughter. Every morning the old man goes out for a walk in the park and comes home at half past twelve for lunch. But one morning a police car stops outside the house at twelve. One of the policemen says , "The old man can't find his way home in the park and call us for help, so we bring him home ." The old man's granddaughter is very surprised ,but she thanks the policemen and they leave. "But my grandfather," the granddaughter asks, "You go to the park every day for twenty years. How can't you find your way home ?" The old man smiles, "I'm just tired and don't want to walk home." Why is the old man's granddaughter is surprised ? A. Because she thinks her grandfather is lost B. Because her grandfather doesn't go home that day. C. Because the old man takes the bus home. D. Because she doesn't believe her grandfather lost his way home. Answer: D. Because she doesn't believe her grandfather lost his way home. The brain receives information from the outside world through the sensory system.This information is collected through the eyes,the nose,the ears,the mouth and the surface of the body.It is then kept in the memory.In fact,scientists do not completely understand how the memory works but they are not sure how much information that the human brain can store.Also, it appears that the information is never lost.Very old people often remember things that happened in their childhood which have not come to their minds for sixty to seventy years.If we have kept something in our memory, it is here.But can we get it out again and use it? That is the difficulty. Some of the information we receive only goes into the Short Term Memory.We only keep this information for a minute or two,then we lose it.This temporary memory is very important in our thinking and understanding.It is used,for example,when you try to remember a name that someone told you a moment ago or a telephone number that you are going to dial .School children in class often seem to use the Short Term Memory if they are not interested in the subject.When school teachers describe this,they say that things go"in one ear and out in the other".But if a child is interested,he puts the information in his Long Term Memory, and he never loses it.Long Term Memory depends heavily on our understanding of the meaning of the information we receive. If a school child is not interested in a subject, _ . A. he forgets what he learns quickly B. he memorizes what he learns quickly C. he forgets what he learns slowly D. he memorizes what he learns slowly Answer: A. he forgets what he learns quickly Nancy's hobby is collecting sharpeners. She spends a lot of time on it after school. She has been collecting more than one hundred sharpeners from different countries. They are all different in color and size. Nancy likes sharpeners with animals and birds on them. In this way, she learns the names of many animals and birds. She also borrows books on animals and birds from her school library. She learns a lot about them from books. Sometimes Nancy has many sharpeners of the same kind. She gives them to her friends. Then they give her other different sharpeners in return. Nancy has many pen pals in many countries. She sends them sharpeners of her country. In return, they send her sharpeners of their countries. Nancy's father also gives her sharpeners. He brings them home from his friends for her. Many of Nancy's friends collect other things. Some collect coins and others collect matchboxes or stamps. But, all of them say that Nancy's collection is the most interesting of all. Nancy spends a lot of time on her hobby _ . A. before school B. in class C. after school D. during her holidays Answer: C. after school
Conventional wisdom says that hardship can make us old before our time. In fact, a new study suggests that violence not only leaves long-term scars on children's bodies, but also changes their DNA, causing changes that are equal to seven to ten years of premature aging . Scientists measured this by studying the ends of children's chromosomes , called telomeres, says Idan Shalev, lead author of a study published in Molecular Psychiatry. Telomeres are special DNA sequences which prevent the DNA in chromosomes from separating. They get shorter each time a cell divides, until a cell cannot divide any more and dies. Several factors have been found to shorten telomeres, including smoking, radiation and psychological stresses such as being treated badly when young and taking care of a chronically ill person. In this study, researchers examined whether exposure to violence could make children's telomeres shorten faster than normal. They interviewed the mothers of 236 children at ages 5, 7 and 10, asking whether the youngsters had been exposed to domestic violence between the mother and her partner, physical maltreatment by an adult or bullying. Researchers measured the children's telomeres--in cells obtained from the insides of their cheeks--at ages 5 and 10. Telomeres shortened faster in kids exposed to two or more types of violence, says Shalev. Unless that pattern changes, the study suggests, these kids could be expected to develop diseases of aging, such as heart attacks or memory loss, seven to 10 years earlier than their peers. Shalev says there is hope for these kids. His study found that, in rare cases, telomeres can lengthen. Better nutrition, exercise and stress reduction are three things that may be able to lengthen telomeres, he says. The study confirms a smallbutgrowing number of studies suggesting that early childhood hardship imprints itself in our chromosomes, says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. Which of the following is TRUE, according to the text? Answer: Children who have shorter telomeres may suffer from a heart attack earlier. Smith entered Mr.Watson's office.The boss was a hard man.He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance. "Smith," said Mr.Watson,"this past year your department hasn't earned money.We're going to drop that department.It's finished.I'm sorry,--but you'll have to go." "But,sir--if I just had a little more time.For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School." "What's that!" said the boss."Riverside!I didn't know you had a boy there.That's an expensive school for a man with your salary." "I know,sir.But he likes it there so much!He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school.The boys call him Champ there." The boss sat perfectly still for a long time--a faraway look in his eyes.Then,suddenly,he said,"We've got to close your department,Smith. But you'll take over a new job in another department.It means longer hours--maybe more pay.Now get out.You're here for life." Smith got out,with surprise on his face.Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk.It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School--written a few days before he died.He had read it over and over again with sick pain.The letter read: I can't say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were.I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple .But don't worry about me,Dad.They've got a good chemistry department here.And there's one boy here who is really great.He's a track star and boxing champ and just tops in chemistry.The boys call him Champ.He made them stop throwing my books around.And he knocked a boy down who hit me.He is the best friend I ever had.Dad,when I grow up,I want to do something for Champ.Something big--that he won't even know about. The author wrote the text in order to _ . Answer: share a moving story with us Each year, prizes are presented to adults who accomplish great things in art, writing, science, and economics.So why not give awards to kids? Harry Leibowitz asked himself that question in 1996.As an answer, he and his wife, Kay, created the World of Children organization and began handing out awards to kids and adults whose work has helped kids all over the world.The awards World of Children presents are nicknamed the "Children's Nobel Prize." On Thursday, World of Children honored six adults and two kids at its 11th Annual Changemakers for Children awards ceremony held at the UNICEF House at United Nations Plaza in New York City. Talia Leman, from Iowa, was awarded a Founder's Youth Award for Leadership.She is only 13 years old, but she has accomplished a lot.In 2005, she founded "RandomKid." Since then, the nonprofit organization has raised more than $10 million to help kids in 48 states in the U.S.and in 19 other countries develop funding solutions to real-world problems.One place helped by RandomKid was a school built in Cambodia to enable 300 kids to go to school.The organization has also helped fix a school for 200 kids in Slidell, Louisiana, and provided interactive play centers that serve more than 500 kids in hospitals in Iowa.In faraway places like Africa, RandomKid has provided money for the purchase of water pumps. Talia never thought that the organization she founded would be as successful as it has become."I did a project called TLC, which meant Trick or Treat for the Levy Catastrophe, where kids would trick-or-treat for coins along with getting candy," she told me."My goal was to raise $1 million.That seemed really high, but when you reach a goal, you always wind up reaching higher--and we actually raised $10 million." The money RandomKid raised provided help to the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Talia Leman was honourd by the World of Children _ . Answer: because of her sucessful work in RandomKid It was an exciting moment for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a retired married _ from Harbin, China. It was also a great moment for China because it was the country's first gold medal in the pairs figure skating competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Everyone was very quiet when Shen and Zhao were skating onto the ice. They were expecting something wonderful to happen. As soon as the music started, Shen and Zhao skated around the field quickly with beautiful style; every move was perfect. When the music stopped, all the people cheered. In the end Shen and Zhao won the Olympic gold medal. In China, winter sports are not as popular as they are in America and Northern European countries. So China sent only 90 athletes to Vancouver to take in a few, carefully chosen sports. Such a good decision also led to Wang Meng and Zhao Yang winning gold medals in the little known, but exciting sports of short track speed skating. China did not win a lot of medals at these Winter Games. Most of the events are still very new to China and need to be developed. But Chinese athletes learn very quickly. For example, China's women's curling team only began in 2003, but they were No. 1 at the 2009 World Women's Curling Championship. This means that with hard work and a bit of luck, China's winter stars could soon shine on the world stage. China's women's curling team won't be eight years old until _ . Answer: 2011 The sun was rising when Daryl's delivery truck reached the highway. This was the best time of day to drive, when the roads were wide open and empty. He felt sure he was going to make it to Los Angeles before midnight. It looked like it was going to be a good day. Then he saw it, a large lump in the middle of the road. Daryl often passed dead animals on the roadside but he knew than this was something different. He slammed on his brakes and the truck screeched to a halt. The lump was a girl. He tried shaking her awake but she wouldn't move, so he picked her up and carried her to the side of the road. At least she wouldn't be run over there. Now she was someone else's problem. He had to make it to Los Angeles by midnight and didn't have time to be a here. He climbed back into his truck but as he looked in his mirror and saw the girl lying still by the side of the road, he knew he couldn't leave her. Daryl put her into his truck and drove to the next town. An hour later he pulled up at the police station. After explaining what had happened, he prepared to leave, only for the policeman to say that he needed to make a report. Daryl knew this would take several hours, but he had no choice. There was no way he'd get to Los Angeles on time now. Three hours later the report was done and the girl had recovered somewhat. She explained that she had fallen on the highway, weak from hunger, but could remember nothing else. She also thanked Daryl for saving her life. Daryl told her that he had been happy to help, but as he got back into his truck he knew his boss wouldn't be. Just as he was about to pull back onto the road, his mother called. "Have you seen?" she said, "A bridge collapsed two hours ago, the one that you drive over on the way to Los Angeles." Daryl's blood run cold. If he had been on time, he would have been on that fallen bridge about two hours ago. Daryl realized how lucky he was. What did Daryl plan to do in Los Angeles? Answer: Deliver some goods.
Which term identifies a single unit of hereditary information? A egg cell B sperm cell C nucleus D gene Answer: D. gene Everyone would like to be a millionaire, a person with a lot of money, but can you imagine having over $30 million and only being 20 years old? Britney Spears from Kentwood, a small town in Louisiana, is only 20 years old. She is a world famous film star with not only $30 million but also a $2 million house in LA. At her young age, she can look after her family financially all her life. This year is a big year for Britney. She is now on a 31-day tour of the US and every concert is a sell-out. That means she plays in front of a crowd of around 18,000 people every time. It's a tiring schedule but brings her a lot. When touring, she goes to bed around 1 a.m. and then has a lie-in until 1 p.m. the next day. Her philosophy is to take care of the body and relax but always make sure you work hard and have fun. Spears is not pleased with only touring and selling nearly 40 million records so she decided to step into the movie business and try a bit of acting. She made an appearance in "Austin Power 3" this year and she is filming a teenage light play that will come out in March 2003. In this movie, she has a starring role. For Britney, acting is another way to express herself and she is enthusiastic about it all. If her movies are successful, her money in the bank is sure to grow by another few million dollars but she does it for the love, not the money, as she herself tells the reporters. According to Britney Spears, she works _ . A to be a great actress B for the enjoyment C for money D to be more famous Answer: B. for the enjoyment In England recently three foreign gentlemen came to a bus stop and waited . About five minutes later, the bus they wanted came along. They were just going to get on when suddenly there was a loud noise behind them. People rushed onto the bus and tried to push them out of the way . Someone shouted at them. The bus conductor came rushing down the stairs to see what all the trouble was about. The three foreigners seem all at sea and looked embarrassed ( . No one had told them about the British custom of lining up for a bus that the first person who arrives at the bus stop is the first person to get on the bus . Learning the language of a country isn't enough. If you want to have a pleasant visit, find out as much as possible about the manners and customs of your host country. You will probably be surprised just how different they can be from your own. A visitor to India would do well to remember that people there consider it impolite to use the left hand for passing food at table. The left hand is supposed to be used for washing yourself. Also in India, you might see a man shaking his head at another to show that he doesn't agree. But in many parts of India a shake of the head means agreement. Nodding your head when you are given a drink in Bulgaria will most probably leave you thirsty . In that country, you shake your head to mean 'yes'-- a nod means 'no' . At a meal in countries on the Arabic Peninsula, you will find that your glass is repeated refilled as soon as you drink up . If you think that you have had enough , you should take the cup or glasses in your hand and give it a little shake from side to side or place your hand over the top. In Europe it quite usual to cross your legs when you are sitting talking to someone even at an important meeting. Doing this in Thailand, however, could bring about trouble . Also, you should try to avoid touching the head of an adult ----it's just not done in Thailand . According to the article, if you want to have a pleasant journey in a foreign country, you should _ A learn the language of the country B understand the manners and customs of the country C have enough time and money D make friends with the people there Answer: B. understand the manners and customs of the country Remember those highly charged first days? They were full of real-life tests where there was always something new to learn, and not always from a book. One of my first lessons occurred on my first day of kindergarten, when I got on the wrong bus --- as my older sister still likes to remind me. Life's minor embarrassments do happen, and I know I can't protect my own children from them. I just try to teach them to laugh at theirs like I do at mine. My daughter Erin started on the wrong foot in the 1st grade, at a new school where she knew no one. All the other 1st graders couldn't resist opening and closing, closing and opening their new desks. Wouldn't you know Erin would neither open nor close? She came to find out she was sitting on the wrong side! Even getting around in a new school can be a challenge. Erin's older sister, Molly, almost missed her first lunch in junior high. The school secretary came to her rescue, arming her with the knowledge that while the gym and flex space were next door to each other, lunch was served only in the latter. The first day sometimes has _ for Mom and Dad, too. Once, I managed tostockpile Molly and Erin's school supplies as they went on sale the previous year. I thought everything was ready for the first day --- oh, yeah! My victory dance was short-lived, however. After day one my ladies rushed off the bus, both worried and confused, saying "Mom, we need wide-rule not college-rule paper, and three 2-inch notebooks instead of two 3-inch ones! And for standardized testing, standardized No. 2 pencils only, please." Perhaps my favorite first-day memory happened the first time my two daughters went to full-day public school together, when I was understandably emotional. Erin noticed my red eyes and white smile. "You are happy and sad, huh, Mommy?" Such a sensitive girl! She added, "Just like the time when you were crying and laughing after the car stopped running on the ice and we were OK." Well, at least I could laugh! What happened to Molly the first day she went to junior high school? A She couldn't find her new classroom. B She didn't know how to use her new desk. C She couldn't find the place to have lunch. D She didn't get along with her classmates. Answer: C. She couldn't find the place to have lunch. William wants to borrow a book from the library. He comes to the library with his classmates. They can't see any assistant in it, but only some robots standing there. He says to the robot, "Hey, give me a book on music." But the robot doesn't move. Then another student tells William, " You must say 'Excuse me' and 'please' first when you want some help." William does so and the robot brings the book. But William can't get the book from the robot's hands. He thinks for a moment, then he says a word to the robot. The robot gives him the book. John gets the book and goes home happily. What kind of book does William borrow? A A picture book B A music book C A Chinese book D An English book Answer: B. A music book
Question: the solstice with the longest day happens in the month after A. november B. may C. january D. march Answer: B Question: After lots of hype, the new iPhone 3GS has arrived, boasting an improved camera, better battery life, and speedier performance. But is it a must? The iPhone 3GS is available in two versions: 16GB and 32GB. The 16GB version costs $199, while the 32GB version costs $299. From the outside, the iPhone 3GS looks exactly like the iPhone 3G. Like the iPhone 3G, the new model comes in black and white versions, and sports a 3.5-inch touch screen. Most of the changes to the iPhone 3GS have been made on the inside. Apple says that battery life is better, but the biggest boost is in the iPhone's speed: The iPhone 3GS runs twice as fast as the iPhone 3G. Instead of a lot of software installed on it, the iPhone 3GS comes with the most recent version of the iPhone Software --version 3.0- installed, but it does come with easy access to Apple's App Store. The speedier performance of the iPhone 3GS extends to surfing the Web, too. You can see entire Web pages, and can zoom in and out with ease. The notable new messaging feature on the iPhone 3GS is support for MMS. You can send pictures and videos by SMS, rather than having to send them via e-mail. Other new and very-handy e-mail features include the ability to search through your e-mail messages and contacts, as well as the option to use a landscape-oriented keyboard when composing messages. The camera has been upgraded from 2 megapixels to 3 megapxiels, and adds auto-focus. If you already own an iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS may not be worth the additional cost, since you can get many of its cool features for free with the iPhone 3.0 software upgrade. But if you've been using an older iPhone or smart phone, or are new to the smart phone world, the iPhone 3GS will amaze you with its speed and plentiful features. What does MMS probably refer to in the passage? A. Multi-media Messaging Service. B. Membership Management System. C. Major Messaging Software. D. Multi-Media Software Store. Answer: A Question: Anger is a kind of feeling. Many things can make you angry. When your teacher gives you too much homework, when your team loses an important game, when a friend borrows your favorite thing and then breaks it, you may get really angry. Usually, your body will tell you when you are angry. For example, you breathe faster, your face turns red, and you may want to break something or hit someone, but sometimes, you hide your anger. For example, you may hide it in your heart. The problem is that if you do this, you may get a headache or your stomach may hurt. In fact, it's not good to hide your anger, and it's normal for you to get angry sometimes. But anger must be let out in the right way, without hurting others or yourself. When you get angry, you can talk about it with other people. It's helpful to talk about your anger with an adult, such as parents, a teacher, etc. When you talk about anger, those bad feelings can start to go away. Here are some other things you can do when you start to feel angry: talk to a good friend; count from 1 to 100; give someone a hug ; go for a bike ride; think about good things, etc. Remember that how you act when you are angry can make everything better or worse. Don't let your anger you. This passage is mainly about _ . A. anger B. excitement C. happiness D. sadness Answer: A Question: It's that time of year when people need to lock their cars. Is it because there are many criminals stealing cars? Not indeed. Rather, it's because of good-hearted neighbors who want to share their harvest. Sharon recently had a good year for tomatoes. She and her family had eaten and canned so many that they'd begun to feel their skin turn slightly red. That's when she decided it was time to share her blessings. Eventually she found a neighbor willing to have the tomatoes."Feel free to take whatever you want,"Sharon told her. Later that day, Sharon found that her garden had indeed been harvested. She thought it a good way to help someone and the food didn't go to waste. A few days later, the neighbor knocked at the door, holding a loaf of bread:"I want to thank you for all of the tomatoes, and I have to admit that I took a few other things and hoped you wouldn't mind."Sharon couldn't think of anything in her garden that had been worth harvesting and said so."But you did,"the neighbor said."You had some of the prettiest zucchini." Sharon was confused. She hadn't even planted any zucchini. But her neighbor insisted that there were bright green zucchini. Sharon's curiosity got the better of her and she had to go to see where the zucchini had grown. When the neighbor pointed at the long green vegetables, Sharon smiled."Well, actually, those are cucumbers that we never harvested, because they got too big, soft and bitter." The neighbor looked at Sharon, shock written all over her face. She hesitated a few times, and then smiling, held out the bread, part of a batch she had shared all over the neighborhood,"I brought you a loaf of cucumber bread. I hope you like it." How did Sharon feel when she found her garden harvested? A. Delighted. B. Confused. C. Annoyed. D. Surprised. Answer: A Question: When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way. It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright color1s like purple, orange, blue and green. "Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint." She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes of color1s across the pavement . Stripe by stripe, our color1s turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic! The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother's face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble. My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, "What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors' trees, but this! Come inside right now!" I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted my art. "Now go clean it up!" Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement. Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams color1ful. In his mother's eyes, the writer _ . A. was a born artist B. worked very hard C. was a problem solver D. always caused trouble Answer: D
There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with his students. Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee, the students would be in fear, because he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave. A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him. At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again. Now a student entered the exam room and got seated before the committee. This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all. The professor began to ask. The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK. Then the professor asked about the cure for the illness, and the student, too, answered just as right. "Good," said the professor, "and how much will you give the patient?" "A full spoon," answered the student. "Now you go out and wait for what you can get," said the professor. At the same time the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given. Suddenly the student noticed there was something wrong with his last answer. "A full spoon is too much," he thought to himself. Anxiously he entered the room and cried, "Mr. Professor, I've made a mistake! A full spoon is too much for the patient. He can take only five drops. " "I'm sorry, sir," said the professor coldly, "but it's too late. Your patient has died." The students were afraid of the professor because _ . Answer: their answers seldom satisfied him SUZHOU-Jinji Lake has become the latest Chinese landmark to enjoy global fame. The lake was ranked one of the most popular Chinese scenic spots for its highest search rate during the Labor Day holiday, according to statistics revealed by China Central Television. During this year's Labor Day holiday, Jinji Lake attracted 287,400 visitors. Located in Suzhou Industrial Park, the lake is China's largest urban lake and is home to a great number of cultural, entertainment, commercial and business facilities. Jinji Lake has earned high praise around the world. In 2013, it received about 9.77 million tourists, increasing by 47.76% from the year before and ranking first among major attractions in Suzhou. The lake area was designed by EDAW, a United States architectural firm that has worked with Disney theme parks, as well as eight other themed attractions in Suzhou, including Harmony Times Square, the Ferris Wheel Park, the musical fountain, Ligongdi, Linglong Bay, Lakeside Street, the water corridor with art and culture facilities , and Jinji Lake Bridge. A tourism app for Jinji Lake, providing information about transportation, food, accommodation and other resources in the area is available to the public. Which one is NOT right about Jinji Lake? Answer: It was built by a United States architectural company. Anne LaBastille was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. Her first experience with the wilderness was in the Adirondacks in the northeast of New York, where she worked at a summer resort to earn money for college tuition by caring for the horses, giving riding lessons, and working as a waitress. And she had many chances to begin her adventure in the Adirondack wilderness. Anne returned to school in the fall, but she continued to spend as much time as she could in the Adirondacks. She grew to love her time alone in the mountains. Anne graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in conservation of natural resources and began working for the National Audubon Society in Florida as a wildlife tour leader. Although Anne took great pleasure in showing people the animals living in the Florida Keys and the Everglades National Park, she longed for the mountains in the northern parts of New York. Finally she decided to build a cabin near Black Bear Lake. Over the years, however, more and more tourists began hiking near her cabin. As a result, Anne decided to build another cabin deeper in the woods at Lily Pad Lake. Anne lived in the woods for most of her life. She enjoyed living alone in the woods, and her life was far too busy for her to be lonely. When she was not writing books, she wrote articles for National Geographic, Reader's Digest, and other magazines. In her later years, Anne conducted research in Guatemala on an endangered bird called the grebe. She also lectured nationwide about ecology. Besides, Anne worked with a number of organizations dedicated to conservation. As a respected guide, author, and conservationist, Anne not only loved the land but also had found a way to become part of it. We can conclude from the text that Anne _ . Answer: made the wilderness a part of her life A.Choose the best answer (,) Carole's Cooking Journal Monday, April 6 This month, we had to choose an optional activity. Should it really be called "optional" if you have to do it? Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to sign up. Many of the activities were already full, but I made a decision to join the Cooking Club because at least that way I would get a snack to eat. Tuesday, April 7 It was the first time to be here. Like many of my ideas, joining the Cooking Club made sense at first but was turning out to be a disaster. Most people have been in the club for more than a year, so they already know what they're doing. And since they all know each other, they weren't exactly interested in a newcomer. Thursday, April 9 What a terrible day! How could I know that if a recipe says to beat cookie batter , you couldn't do it with your fists ? I thought the other kids would never stop laughing. And it was not easy to get cookie batter off your clothes. Friday, April 10 I have more funny things in Cooking Club. Now I know that chocolate mousse is a dessert and it isn't spelled m-o-o-s-e. "Mousse" and "Moose" sound exactly the same. So I don't think my question about whether vegetarians can eat chocolate mousse was really that silly. Monday, April 13 One of my bright ideas worked out for a change! Everyone laughed when I handed out the chocolate "moose" cookie that I made yesterday, but this time I was laughing, too. The peanut butter antlers were a _ . We're even planning to bake more cookies for the school food festival next week. Why did the writer beat the cookie batter with her fists? Answer: Because she misunderstood a cooking recipe. Five Booming Careers in Health Care Loving what you do is great,but knowing your career will be there tomorrow is even better. And when it comes to booming fields,the health care industry is one that's primed for growth. Want to prepare to take your place in the health care field?Check out these five indemand health care careers. Career 1 Medical and Health Services Manager If you want to take your leadership skills into the growing health care field,consider pursuing a career as a medical and health services manager. As a medical and health services manager you might plan,direct,and organize health services in an entire health care facility,or a specific department or clinical area,says U.S. Department of Labor. Daily duties could include handling a facility's finances,creating work schedules,and making sure that health care services are delivered efficiently. Career 2 Medical Assistant If you are interested in working in a doctor's office,consider preparing for a career in the indemand field of medical assisting. As a medical assistant,you could play a role in helping patients' visits go smoothly from when they first walk in the door. Your duties might include measuring vital signs,assisting the physician with examinations,recording health information,and scheduling appointments,according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Career 3 Registered Nurse Ready to put your helpful nature to use in the largest health care field?Look into prepping to pursue a career in registered nursing. As a registered nurse,you could work closely with patients by providing care,education,and emotional support. You might give patients medicines and treatments,observe their conditions,or perform diagnostic tests,says the U.S. Department of Labor. Career 4 Physical Therapist Assistant Want to enter an indemand health care field where you could really play a handson role in helping patients restore their physical functionality?If so,a career as a physical therapist assistant could be a good fit. Under the supervision of a physical therapist,you could help patients regain movement as they recover from injuries,illnesses, or surgery. Your role in the rehabilitation process could include assisting patients with techniques(massage[],stretching)and therapeutic methods like electrical stimulation and mechanical traction,says the U.S. Department of Labor. Career 5 Pharmacy Technician Prefer a health care career that is less handson?Consider pursuing a career in the growing pharmacy technician field. Pharmacy technicians can be responsible for counting pills,filling prescriptions,providing customer service,and fulfilling administrative tasks under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist,according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As a medical assistant,your duties might NOT include _ . Answer: providing customer service

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