Another day begins with the call of the phone’s alarm, Where are you? Open your eyes. Turn the alarm off and you will start working out on your apps（应用软件）.
First stop, weather: Sunny day. Look outside the window. Oh, no, it isn’t. Second stop, Air Quality Index: 344, dangerous, Level 6 Severely Polluted. Mental recheck required: It really is a sunny day and the weather app isn’t lying or in need of being replaced, it’s just that you can’t see the sun through the thick fog. Note to self: Cycling to work is out, face mask is in.
Has the world stopped turning? News app merely confirms that it’s business as usual. Another government has fallen, your soccer team has lost again, and China’s economy is still increasing steadily.
Diary app informs you of all the things you failed to do the previous day and loads you up with another half-dozen tasks. Next, browse a couple of social networking apps to determine the status updates of friends.
Another sound from the phone, it’s a message from your significant friend who is already at work, saying the Taobao. com order for Italian cheese is about to arrive.
Apps have become part of our “every-moment” lives. Apps provide so much information. But the dark side to all this connectivity would be lack of privacy, being a slave to the app. The only real problem is that once you lose your smartphone, you lose your life.
Some friends and family do not have smartphones, but prefer the old-fashioned Nokia that merely makes phone calls and sends instant messages. While I respect their purity and desire to be free of the control of technology, it’s obvious they are outsiders, and their lives are loaded up with paper and old devices. They’re still buying books at stores, complaining the lack of CDs on the market, watching TV and missing out on complete news cycles. Though I would add, they have lives that aren’t spent inside small screens.
My phone is a palm-sized one-stop shop and about the only thing it doesn’t do is teleport（心灵运输）. What’s not to like?
1.The functions of apps mentioned in the passage can be listed as follows EXCEPT that _______.
A. the apps can show you weather forecast
B. the apps can tell you how to work directly
C. the apps can inform you the latest news
D. the apps can tell you what you failed to do
2. According to the passage, the author thinks that _______.
A. people’s life is governed by apps
B. people feel bored about the use of apps
C. people can’t live without apps
D. people hate apps with powerful functions
3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph but one that _______.
A. more and more people like Nokia more than apps
B. using Nokia can be free of the control of technology
C. all people don’t like the advanced smartphones
D. ordinary people don’t like shopping online
Which comes first, happiness or money? Are richer people happier? And if so, how do people get much richer? A recent study could tell you the answer.
The study looked into thousands of teenagers and found that those who felt better about life as young adults tended to have higher incomes by the time they turned 29. Those who were happiest earned an average of $8,000 more than those who were the most depressed.
The researchers, from University College London and the University of Warwick, say that very gloomy teens, no matter how tall or smart they were, earned 10% less than their peers, while the happier ones earned up to 30% more.
Happier teenagers have an easier time getting through school, college and a job interview, chiefly because they always feel better about life. It may also be true that happier people find it easier to make friends, who are often the key to homework help or networking.
A report in June suggested that professional respect was more important than dollars in terms of workplace happiness. In August scientists announced that they had found the gene for happiness in women, Alas （the same gene doesn’t appear to have the same effect on men）. And in October researchers in the UK and in the US announced that people who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day report being the happiest.
The big question is: if it really is true that happier kids end up being wealthier kids, is it necessary for parents to get their kids to do the homework? The fact is that no homework will make kids happy but surely hurt their grades. Studies do show, after all, that more education leads to better-paid jobs, which may give us a deep thought.
“These findings show that the teenagers’ happiness is important to their future success,” one of the report’s authors writes. “But what is the most important is that we should find a way to help children gain more satisfaction from doing schoolwork.”
1.What conclusion can the researchers draw from the recent study?
A. Happy teenagers grow up to be wealthier.
B. Money can make people become happier.
C. Wealth has nothing to do with happiness at all.
D. Schoolwork can help teens achieve success.
2.The main reason why happier people have more chances to succeed is that ________.
A. they are easy to communicate with others
B. they are good at doing their schoolwork
C. they are hopeful and optimistic about their life
D. they eat much more fruit and vegetables a day
3.The underlined word “gloomy” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________”.
A. upset B. glorious C. happy D. wealthy
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. The way to educate kids. B. The source of happiness.
C. How to achieve your goal. D. The secret of being wealthier.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska--The 2004 winner of Alaska’s famous 1,000-mile sled-dog race, the Iditarod, won again at age 53 to become the oldest champion in 2013, a year after his son became the youngest winner.
Mitch Seavey got his dogs to the finishing line first in 9 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes and 56 seconds. His son, Dallas Seavey, now 26, ended up ranking fourth, behind the older competitor, 43-year-old Aliy Zirkle, who followed four-time champion Jeff King, now 57.
Mitch Seavey, who lives in Seward, Alaska, operates a seasonal sled-dog touring business. The race was Mitch Seavey’s 20th Iditarod.
This year’s contest was marked by unusual conditions and unseasonable rain in the northern part of the trail, and conditions that Seavey said helped his team. “It seems like the tougher it is, the better we can do.”
He also thought highly of Zirkle, a New England immigrant（移民）who now lives in Two Rivers, Alaska. “She’s a great musher（赶狗拉雪橇的人）, and she’s going to win the Iditarod sometime, and probably more than once. We just had a little more energy, I think.” Zirkle, one of the most popular mushers, was greeted by shouts of “Aliy, Ally” from the fans as she drove her dog team approaching the finishing line on Nome’s Front Street. “I am pretty happy to be here,” she said. “I was going for it.”
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is one of the few major U. S. sports events in which men and women compete on an equal footing. The name “Iditarod” dates from a local Athabascan term meaning “a far, distant place”. Youthful mushers in the race may have some physical advantages--they can do some things more easily. But more importantly, winning the race needs the experience in dog race.
The year’s event started on Saturday, March 2 with a ceremonial nm in Anchorage. Of the 66 mushers who started the race, 10 had dropped out of competition as of Tuesday night. For his victory, Mitch Seavey will take home $50,400 and a new truck.
1.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Mitch Seavey is the oldest competitor in the sled-dog race in 2013.
B. Mitch Seavey, who operates a touring business, is a New England immigrant.
C. Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 2004 and 2013.
D. Mitch Seavey managed to help his son become the youngest winner in 2012.
2.On which day did Mitch Seavey probably win the champion in the 2013 Iditarod?
A. On Saturday, March 2. B. On Monday, March 11.
C. On Saturday, March 9. D. On Tuesday, March 13.
3. Who ranked the 2nd place in the 2013 Iditarod according to the passage?
A. Aliy Zirkle. B. Dallas Seavey.
C. Mitch Seavey. D. Jeff King.
4. According to the passage, we can learn that ________.
A. the sled-dog race is the most important sports event in the US
B. experience also has a major influence on the result of the race besides age
C. men and women can’t compete in the sled-dog race together at the same time
D. all the athletes in the sled-dog race are limited by age to win the sled-dog race
THE CHARM OF CHARITY
A poor young man lost his job and had no one to help him. Helpless, homeless and hopeless, he decided to commit suicide. He 36 all the coins he had with him and bought a ripe banana wrapped in an old newspaper. He opened the packet and started to eat his last food 37 an old beggar approached him. With trembling lips, the beggar told him that he hadn’t had anything to eat for several days and was too weak to walk. The young man felt 38 . So he didn’t eat the banana. 39 , he gave the banana to the beggar. The beggar ate it with great joy and 40__ him. While leaving, the beggar gave him a very old coin, saying, “Thank you very much. You gave me everything you had. Kindly accept this coin as my gift 41 your kindness.”
After the old man left, he 42 glanced at the piece of paper used to wrap the fruit. There he saw a（n） 43 from an agency dealing with old coins. Anyone 44 old coins was invited to visit the agency and receive suitable price for their old coins on the spot. Out of simple 45 , he carried the coin to the agency after 46 it by phone. He showed the coin gifted by the beggar. The person who 47 the agency stared at it and told him in excitement, “What a __48 ! It is very 49 and several centuries old. It is worth a（n） 50 !” Jumping with joy on receiving the 51 amount of money, he searched everywhere to find the old man who gifted him the coin. He wanted to 52 his joy and the money with the beggar. But he could not find him anywhere. Since then, he started a new life with renewed 53 and enthusiasm about the future.
Kindness will be 54 . It always comes back! As William Wordsworth wrote,“ The best part of a good life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of 55 and love.”
1.A. collect B. spread C. spotted D. donated
2.A. while B. when C. before D. until
3.A. worried B. nervous C. pity D. guilty
4.A. Still B. Thus C. Besides D. Instead
5.A. scolded B. admired C. respected D. thanked
6.A. in search for B. in terms of C. in return for D. in favor of
7.A. carelessly B. purposely C. Immediately D. normally
8.A. suggestion B. advertisement C. appeal D. requirement
9.A.possessing B. seeing C. ordering D. deserving
10.A. distrust B. curiosity C. wonder D. hobby
11.A. replying B. repeating C. contacting D. begging
12.A. charged B. consisted C. attended D. managed
13.A. shame B. prize C. surprise D. pleasure
14.A. private B. fresh C. rare D. casual
15.A. value B. fortune C. wealth D. effort
16.A. unexpected B. unlucky C. unlimited D. unnoticed
17.A. hide B. share C. cover D. spare
18.A. wisdom B. chance C. hope D. luck
19.A.changed B. damaged C. lost D. rewarded
20.A. courage B. promise C. memory D. kindness
Boys and girls, you should know what a great difference good manners in public will ________ to a person.
A. owe B. belong C. contribute D. make
Nowhere else in the world ________ to find this kind of fish except Brazil.
A. went he B. he went C. did he go D. he did go
