We have an amazing 99 friends at the age of 21--more than at any other time in our life, according to a new study. The typical 21-year-old’s social circle nearly hits 100, with 13 “best” friends, 17 “close” friends and 70 acquaintances.
The research undertaken by skin care brand Nivea found our social circle peaks at 21 as we meet people at work while keeping in touch with friends from school and university. But as our working lives take over，we lose contact with some old friends causing the number to drop to around 68 by the time we are 29 years old. Although this decline continues into old age，it slows down slightly for people in their 30s when many of them become first-time parents. It is believed that this is because people form new friendships while on the maternity ward(产科病房)，at post-natal(产后) groups and when taking their toddlers(学步时期的小孩) to nursery.
The Nivea Closeness Report found the balance between our numbers of “best friends”，“close friends” and “acquaintances”，remains fairly constant throughout our lifetime. The average Briton has 18 close friends and a friendship circle，when all Facebook and other social networking “friends” are included，of 208 people. The report found that men have more than twice the number of close friends，with around 27 compared to women who have just 12. Londoners are also the most sociable，with 39 “close friends”，while the Welsh have just 11.
The age of 21 is such a critical junction in life and that’s why we have so many friends then. As we get older we become more selective and have fewer close friends with whom we talk about the things that are really important to us. Perhaps when we are younger，instead of having one trusted confidante(知己) we share different things with a variety of different people.
1.According to the Nivea Closeness Report，who have the largest number of close friends?
A．Canadians. B．The Welsh.
C． Londoners. D．Americans.
2.Older people have fewer friends than the 21-year-olds because .
A．they think friends are no longer important
B．they are more selective and cautious
C．they are less interested in making friends
D．they have little time to make friends
3.The research suggests that the number of friends in one’s late twenties reduces by or so, compared to that in one’s early twenties.
A．70 B．20 C．30 D．200
4.Why does the number of one’s friends decrease slowly when he is about 30 years old?
A．Because they achieve success in business and get acquainted with more colleagues.
B．Because many parents make friends with people who have similar experiences in bringing up children .
C．Because they make more friends through Facebook or the Internet.
D．Because as they grow older, they have more confidantes instead of acquaintances.
A
A group of 1309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace(重走) the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated first voyage on April 10, 1912. Of the 2227 passengers and crew aboard, more than1500 died. The ship, which was headed for New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants who were seeking a better life in America.
Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship were on the Balmoral. They wanted to remember the Titanic and those who died on her first and last voyage.
The Balmoral is following Titanic's original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked（进港） in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stops in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic's last port of call before sailing to New York.
The Balmoral then sailed the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where Titanic hit an iceberg . On Sunday, April 15, at 2：20 a. m. --- the time the Titanic went down---passengers and crew held a memorial service. The next two days were spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the sinking are buried. Then, the Balmoral will reach its final destination in New York City, where Titanic was supposed to dock—but never did.
So far, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered some items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And more trips are planned to the wreckage in the future. The Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there's a much more important contribution that Titanic gave us. After she sank, lawmakers and shipbuilders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.
1.We learn from the first paragraph that .
A．about 700 passengers of the Titanic survived.
B．the Titanic sank on its second voyage.
C．less than 2000 passengers boarded the Titanic.
D．all the passengers’ hopes of the Titanic lay in America.
2.Which of the following shows the correct route of the Balmoral?
a. Halifax b. New York City c. Cobh d. Southampton e. Cherbourg
A．e-d-a-b-c B．d-e-c-a-b
C．e-c-a-b-d D．d-c-e-a-b
3.What might be the most important contribution of the Titanic?
A．Its site attracts more exploring teams.
B．It makes the later ships more secure.
C．Some of its items are on public display.
D．More trips are planned to its wreckage.
The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account (交易账户) where you receive a key – card so you can get to your money 24/7 – that's 24 hours a day, 7 days aweek!
It's a club with impressive features for teenagers:
●No account keeping fees!
You're no millionaire so we don't expect you to pay large fees. In fact, there are no account keeping or transaction fees!
●Excellent interest rates!
You want your money to grow. The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits (储蓄) without taking them out in a month.
●Convenient
Teenagers are busy – we get that. You may never need to come to a bank at all. With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet. You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account. This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part – time job!
●Mega magazine included
Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money. There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members.
The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy. We can't want to hear from you. It's the best way to choose to be a winner!
1.The Winners Club is a bank account intended for _________.
A. parents B. teenagers
C. winners D. adults
2.Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?
A. Special gifts are ready for parents.
B. The bank opens only on work days.
C. Services are convenient for its members.
D. Fees are necessary for the account keeping.
3.The Winners Club provides magazines which _________.
A. encourage spending
B. are free to all teenagers
C. are full of adventure stories.
D. help to make more of your money
4.If you want to be a member of the Club, you must _________.
A. be an Internet user
B. be permitted by your parent
C. have a big sum of money
D. be in your twenties
5.What is the purpose of this text?
A. To set up a club.
B. To provided part – time jobs.
C. To organize key – cards.
D. To introduce a new banking service.
In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.
1.When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be __________.
A. a writer B. a teacher
C. a judge D. a doctor
2.Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?
A. She wanted to study by herself.
B. She fell in love and got married.
C. She suffered from a serious illness.
D. She decided to look after her grandma.
3.What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 4 and 5?
A. She was busy yet happy with her family life.
B. She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons.
C. She wanted to remain a full-time housewife.
D. She was too confused to make a correct choice.
4.What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?
A. Failure is the mother of success.
B. Little by little, one goes far.
C. Every coin has two sides.
D. Well begun, half done.
5.Which of the following can best describe the author?
A. Caring and determined.
B. Honest and responsible.
C. Ambitious and sensitive.
D. Innocent and single-minded.
Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface(BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.
Recently, two researchers, Jose Milan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right band. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord （脊髓）to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.
Prof. Milan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”
He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.
1.BCI is a technology that can ________.
A. help to update computer systems
B. link the human brain with computers
C. help the disabled to recover
D. control a person's thoughts
2.How" did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?
A. By controlling his muscles.
B. By talking to the machine.
C. By moving his hand.
D. By using his mind.
3.Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?
A. scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair
B. computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair
C. scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair
D. cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair
4. The team will test with real patients to ________.
A. make profits from them
B. prove the technology useful to them
C. make them live longer
D. learn about their physical condition
5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Switzerland, the BCI Research Center
B. New Findings About How the Human Brain Works
C. BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled
D. Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries
书面表达：共35分
感恩，是我们生活中永恒的话题。学会感恩，学会热爱生活，我们将会感受到更多快乐。假设你将参加主题为“感恩”的演讲比赛，请你根据以下要点写一篇英语演讲稿。要点：
1.感恩对象(父母、老师、朋友…)；
2.为何感恩；
3.如何感恩。
注意：
1.只能选择一个感恩对象；
2.词数120左右。开头和结尾已写好，不计入总词数。
Good morning, everyone,
It’s a great honor to have the opportunity to be with you today. The topic of my speech is “Thank you,
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Thank you for listening.
