You get anxious if there’s no wi-fi in the hotel or mobile phone signal up the mountain. You feel upset if your phone is getting low on power and you secretly worry things will go wrong at work if you’re not there. All these can be called “always on” stress caused by smart phone addiction.
For some people, smart phones have liberated them from the nine-to-five work. Flexible working has given them more autonomy in their working lives and enabled them to spend more time with their friends and families. For many others though, smart phones have become cruel masters in their pockets, never allowing them to turn them off and relax.
Pittsburgh-based developer Kevin Holesh was worried about how much he was ignoring his family and friends in favor of his iPhone. So he developed an app — Moment — to monitor his usage. The app enables users to see how much time they’re spending on the device and set up warnings if the usage limits are broken. “Moment’s goal is to promote balance in your life,” his website explains. “Some time on your phone, some time off it enjoying your loving family and friends around you.”
Dr. Christine Grant, an occupational psychologist at Coventry University, said, “The effects of this ‘always on’ culture are that your mind is never resting, and you’re not giving your body time to recover, so you’re always stressed. And the more tired and stressed we get, the more mistakes we make. Physical and mental health can suffer.”
And as the number of connected smart phones is increasing, so is the amount of data. This is leading to a sort of decision paralysis (瘫痪) and is creating more stress in the workplace because people have to receive a broader range of data and communications which are often difficult to manage. “It actually makes it more difficult to make decisions and many do less because they’re controlled by it all and feel they can never escape the office,” said Dr. Christine Grant.
1.What’s the first paragraph mainly about?
A. The popularity of smart phones.
B. The progress of modern technology.
C. The signs of “always on” stress.
D. The cause of smart phone addiction.
2.Kevin Holesh developed Moment to __________.
A. research how people use their mobile phones
B. help people control their use of mobile phones
C. make people better use mobile phones
D. increase the fun of using mobile phones
3.What’s Dr. Christine Grant’s attitude towards “always on” culture?
A. Confused. B. Positive.
C. Doubtful. D. Critical.
4.According to the last paragraph, a greater amount of data means __________.
A. we will become less productive
B. we can make a decision more quickly
C. we will be equipped with more knowledge
D. we can work more effectively
阅读理解
When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He hardly watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled the
m because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water. So, instead of wateri
ng his trees every morning, he’d beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty five years ago. They were all tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now.
I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity(逆境) seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb’s trees in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with hardship. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be torn apart.
1.With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs __________
A. kept watering them every morning
B. paid little attention to them
C. talked to them to get their attention
D. beat them to make them grow deep roots
2.The underlined word “robust” in para.3 probably means _________?
A. strange B. deep C. strong D. old
3. Which of the following will be the author’s prayer on the days ahead?
A. Have an easy life, without too much to worry about.
B. Meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.
C. Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life.
D. Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives.
4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Growing roots
B. Doctor Gibbs and his trees
C. Prayers for my sons
D. Watering trees
假设你是新华中学的高二学生李华，看到很多同学因为学习而忽略了体育锻炼，打算给学校英语报社投稿，鼓励学生们加强体育锻炼，注重身体健康。请按照以下要点，以“Health and Sports”为题写一篇英语短文。
写作要点：
1.身体健康的重要性；
2.运动对大家的好处；
3.你的建议。
注意：1.词数不少于100；
2.适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Health and Sports
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
单词拼写
1.The meeting had scarcely begun when it was ________(打断).
2.It was very ________(考虑周到的) of you not to play the piano while your mother had a bad headache.
3.The government is _________(呼吁）to people to protect the environment.
4.I am glad to hear that you have _________(克服）such difficulties.
5.We ________(原谅）his bad temper because we knew that his son’s illness had put him under great stress.
6.He was faced with the severe financial b________ of caring for his wife and five children.
7.The two men q________ bitterly and it was clear that the argument could only be settled by the police.
8.If you are in trouble, don’t h________ to ask me for help.
9.The company has to be shut down for l________ of mo
ney.
10.He has a________ himself quickly to the heat of the country.
阅读下面的短文，请根据短文后的要求答题。
It is challenging for some people to learn how to be patient with others. After all, not everybody is gifted with great patience. The good news is that it is something that can be learned and eventually perfected.
When the customer before you takes ages to pay for his or her groceries, you tap your foot impatiently and cough every now and then to remind the customer to move quickly; but no, he is still not hurrying up. It takes all of your power not to quarrel publicly. However, if you imagine that customer to be someone you like, then you will find yourself not getting angry, right?
So the next time you find yourself losing patience with somebody, simply think of that person to be someone you really adore and your patience will last longer.
The second step on how to be patient with people involves whistling. When you whistle a happy tune, you instantly cheer up. You can sing your favorite song if you can't whistle — it really doesn't make a difference. What's important here is that you have done something that makes you feel good. And when you feel good, you are more likely to be patient with the people a
round you.
When you're stressed, it's almost impossible to learn how to be patient with people. You have got to find a way to relax first. If you know you're going to be in a situation where your patience will be tested, get yourself a massage(按摩) first. Remember: the more stressed you are, the faster you'll lose your temper. However, learning how to be patient with people is not a must in life.
1.What’s the main idea of the passage? (no more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
2.What does the underlined word “adore” mean? (no more than 3 words)
________________________________________________________________
____________
3.Why does the author think singing or whistling can help you get patient? (no more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
4.What does the author advise you to do when you are getting stressed? (no more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
5.Do you think learning how to be patient with people is a must in life? Why? (no more than 20 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
Reading is a great way to improve your English. By reading, you are receiving valuable language input. As you’re reading, you’re taking in language naturally, and you’re seeing how it all fits together. This is crucial to your learning.
The key to effective reading is to read things that you want to read. There are millions of books, magazines and websites out there. You couldn’t possibly read them at all. So the important thing is to find things that you like reading. Then, you’ll be motivated to read. And then the reading won’t be difficult. It’ll be easy! And then you’ll learn. It’s simple.
Remember: read what you want to read—what you like reading and what motivates and inspires you. But where can you start? Well, you could read a book that you’ve already read in your own language first, then in English. Ma
gazines are also great. Find one that covers a topic you’re interested in: business, clothing, cooking…you name it, they’ll have it. Why not join a forum(论坛)？Go to google Groups，which has discussion groups based on common interests. Just type in the topic that interests you and join the chat.
Finally, how you read is also important. The best thing is to read without using a dictionary. Let the words flow over you. Just skip the parts you don’t understand. If you make your reading feel too much like work, it’ll stop being fun. Of course, you could make a note of any new words and phrases that you like or see repeated frequently, but try not to break your concentration too much. Also, set yourself mini-objectives. For example, if you’re reading a novel, read 20 pages a day. Very soon, you have been exposed to thousands of useful phrases and words. Have fun reading! You’ll learn so much!
1.The underlined word “crucial” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.
A. easy B. important C. difficult D. suitable
2.The key to effective reading is________.
A. to read millions of books
B. not to learn grammar rules
C. to be motivated to read
D. to read easy things
3.You can start to read by________.
A. reading the news in English first
B. reading a book that you’ve already read in English
C. going to Google Groups to practice spoken English
D. reading magazines containing topics you are interested in
4. From the passage we can learn that________.
A. when reading you needn’t look up every new word in the dictionary
B. the great thing about reading is that you can read without any effort
C. you should make notes of every new word and phrase while reading
D. to read is as much fun as to work
5. The best title of the passage is “________”.
A. How To Read English Novels
B. How To Learn English By Reading
C. How To Absorb Expressions And Phrases
D. How To Learn English Without Any Effort
