C
My father was, by nature, a cheerful, kindly man．Until he was thirty-four years old he worked as a farm-hand for Thomas Butterworth near the town of Bidwell, Ohio．On Saturday evenings he drove his horse into town to spend a few hours in social intercourse with other farm-hands．He was quite happy in his position in life．
It was in his thirty-fifth year that father married my mother, a school teacher．Something happened to the two people．The American passion for getting up in the world took possession of them．Mother induced father to give up his place as a farm-hand, sell his horse and start an independent enterprise of his own．They rented ten acres of poor stony land and launched into chicken raising．
One inexperienced in such matters can have no idea of the many and tragic things that can happen to a chicken．It is born out of an egg, lives for a few weeks as a tiny fluffy thing, then becomes naked, gets diseases, and dies．A few hens, and now and then a rooster, intended to serve God’s mysterious ends, struggle through to maturity．The hens lay eggs out of which come other chickens and the awful cycle is thus made complete．It is all unbelievably complex．Most philosophers must have been raised on chicken farms．One hopes for so much from a chicken and is so awfully disappointed．Small chickens, look so bright and in fact so awfully stupid．They are so much like people they mix one up in one’s judgments of life．If disease does not kill them they wait until your expectations are thoroughly aroused and then walk under the wheels of a carriage．
In later life I have seen how a literature has been built up on the subject of fortunes to be made out of the raising of chickens．It is intended to be read by the gods who have just eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil．It is a hopeful literature and declares that much may be done by simple ambitious people who own a few hens．Do not be misguided by it．It was not written for you．Go hunt for gold on the frozen hills of Alaska, put your faith in the honesty of a politician, believe if you will that good will defeat evil, but do not read and believe the literature that is written concerning the hen．
For ten years my father and mother struggled to make our chicken farm pay and then they gave up that struggle and began another．They moved into the town of Bidwell, Ohio and began the restaurant business, with the tiny hope of looking for a new place from which to start on our upward journey through life．
1.Which of the following is the right order of what happened?
a．Father got married to Mother, a school teacher．
b．Father quitted working at Butterworth’s．
c．My parents launched a business in Bidwell．
d．Father socialized in town on Saturday evenings
e．My parents started their job of chicken farming．
A．d-a-b-e-c
B．d-a-c-b-e
C．d-b-a-e-c
D．d-b-a-c-e
2.By saying “Most philosophers must have been raised on chicken farms”, the author means that chicken farming _____．
A．is so complex that only philosophers can comprehend it
B．gives you a philosophical insight into life
C．exposes you to a complete circle of life
D．allows you the time to judge the life
3.In the author’s opinion, the literature about chicken raising _____．
A．is full of hope and positive energy
B．proves the victory of good over evil
C．persuades you to believe in politicians
D．tends to be blindly optimistic about its rewards
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards parents’ dream of rise to success?
A．approving
B．optimistic
C．skeptical
D．indifferent
B
We might think we know which colours do what．The idea that red wakes us up or blue calms us down is deeply rooted in Western culture．But do they really change our behaviour in the ways that we assume?
When it comes to scientific research, the results are mixed and at times contested．Some studies have found that people do better on cognitive tasks when faced with red rather than blue or green; others show the opposite．The idea is that if you repeatedly have a particular experience surrounded by a certain colour, then you eventually begin to associate that colour with the way you were feeling or behaving．A school career spent reading your teacher’s red writing circling your mistakes forever makes you link red with danger．Blue meanwhile is more likely to be associated with calmer situations like marvelling at a big blue expanse of sky．
Of course there will always be exceptions --- the comment from the teacher saying “well done” is also written in red．It is true that people do make different associations with different colours, but whether this translates into behaving in a certain way or succeeding at a particular task is a different question．
In 2009 researchers tried to clarify the situation．They sat their participants at computer screens colored blue, red or “neutral” and tested them on various tasks．With a red screen people did better on tasks requiring attention to detail, but when the screen was blue they did better on creative tasks．In practice this might be tricky．In a classroom you might want to think creatively some of the time and pay attention to detail at others．
However, when another team tried to repeat the study with a larger group of people in 2014, the effect of color disappeared．The initial study consisted of just 69 people．In this new, bigger study, of 263 volunteers, background color made no difference．
So colors might well have an effect, but so far those effects have been difficult to demonstrate consistently and sometimes don’t seem to exist at all．
1.What’s the major function of the first paragraph?
A．To present a widely held view
B．To raise a question of behavior change
C．To introduce the theme of the passage
D．To summarize the whole passage
2.The author mentions the exception in Paragraph 3 in order to show _____．
A．there are exceptions to every rule
B．people tend to associate colors with behaviors
C．colors don’t necessarily mean particular behaviors
D．colors do matter to those who desire success
3.It can be concluded from the results of the studies in 2009 and 2014 that _____．
A．the research findings are practical in indoor decoration
B．solid evidence is inadequate to prove how colors affect us
C．a larger study may help confirm colors’ effects on our behaviors
D．walls should be painted different colors depending on different tasks
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Homonym: a word that has the same spelling and the same pronunciation as another world, but a different meaning
Same spelling, different meaning
Imagine, then a situation where two words are spelt and pronounced exactly the same way, but have completely different meanings．Welcome to the world of homonyms．Take, for example, the word ‘fail’ --- it can be a kind of festival, and adjective to describe the color of your hair or how you should play a game．
Don’t take it literally
So how do you know which meaning someone is referring to? --- You don’t, except by the context．Obviously, if someone asks you to ‘give them a hand’, they don’t want you to remove what is at the end of your arm．
What’s in a name?
Sometimes even the context doesn’t help much --- the result can be amusing．These sentences play with the double meaning of a noun:
I used to be a banker, but I lost interest．
Have you heard about the cross-eyed teacher who couldn’t control his pupils?
A small boy swallowed some coins and had to go to hospital．When his grandmother phoned to ask how he was, the nurse said: ‘No change yet’．
More ambiguity
And these examples play with the different meanings of a verb:
I wondered why the ball was getting bigger．Then it hit me．
No one knew she had a dental implant until it came out in a conversation．
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat．
Double trouble
And sometimes a word can be a noun and a verb, but have different meanings．Can you work this one out?
Time flies like an arrow．Fruit flies like a banana．
If you like these homonyms, you will be pleased to know that English has plenty more!
Explanations of jokes in the text
I used to be banker, but I lost interest．(I became bored with the job / I lost money)
Have you heard about the cross-eyed teacher who couldn’t control his pupils? (students / parts of his eyes)
A small boy swallowed some coins and had to go to hospital．When his grandmother phoned to ask how he was, the nurse said: ‘No change yet’．(no difference in the situation / no money)
I wondered why the ball was getting bigger．Then it hit me．(the ball hit me / I suddenly realized)
No one knew she had a dental implant until it came out in a conversation．(became known / fell out)
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat．(can’t be better / difficult to mix with a fork)
Time flies like an arrow．(time goes quickly) Fruit flies like a banana．(insects enjoy eating fruit．)
1.Which of the following statements about homonyms is NOT true?
A．They share the same spellings regardless of meanings．
B．We can’t know their meanings without context．
C．We may still feel confused even with context．
D．Their ambiguity brings great trouble to our life．
2.The “beat” in the sentence “A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat, making for a satisfying breakfast．” has a similar meaning to _____．
A．The rain was beating down on the tin roof．
B．Taking the bus sure beats walking．
C．The doctor could feel no pulse beating．
D．You’ve been working too hard, you look dead beat．
完形填空（共1小题）
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
All of us go through some difficult times as we approach teenage years．It's the age when we have to deal with the most ________ in our life．This transition (过渡) from childhood to adulthood is ________ for some, but rough for others．The most important thing about being a teenager is ________．When we are teenagers, we would get blamed or even punished for anything wrong we do．Unlike before when we were small kids, even if we made a big trouble, we didn’t need to pay anything for it．
It’s all not so ________about being a teenager though．We don’t have to have our ________ take us to somewhere we want to go or we couldn’t go before．We can have ________ with friends or even alone, which we couldn’t have because we were too ________ to know what pleasure is! It's a very enjoyable time of life．During this age, we are old enough to ________what is good for us, and make decisions by ourselves without ________ others．
But like the saying goes ‘‘All good things must come to an end, but all bad things can continue ________．” During this period, we are having much ________ for our studies．If we don't pass, we won’t get jobs, and things will take a turn for the ________ ．With the present world economy in ________ , we have to do really, really well in our ________ for a job．Adults say that their ________is the hardest part of life．But I think the transition from a kid to an adult is much ________ than being already an adult．What we do in our teenage years will ________ what we become and how we lead our life in the future．
In conclusion, it is quite ________ that parents put much pressure on an already stressed out teenager．If they realized that, living condition for teenagers would be much better．________ for the teens ourselves we should get to know what is best for us．What's more, we should understand the right ________ of life we choose at this age can make us happy for the rest of our existence．
1.A．chances B．changes C．feelings D．expectations
2.A．smooth B．practical C．demanding D．necessary
3.A．knowledge B．independence C．confidence D．responsibility
4.A．easy B．strange C．bad D．interesting
5.A．guides B．partners C．parents D．friends
6.A．fun B．trouble C．relation D．business
7.A．proud B．young C．smart D．mature
8.A．predict B．remember C．imagine D．understand
9.A．guiding B．helping C．inviting D．consulting
10.A．occasionally B．temporarily C．forever D．increasingly
11.A．pressure B．passion C．motivation D．panic
12.A．better B．worse C．fewer D．more
13.A．decline B．hope C．increase D．debt
14.A．contribution B．education C．application D．qualification
15.A．promotion B．work C．experience D．age
16.A．harder B．happier C．easier D．lighter
17.A．reflect B．confirm C．determine D．identify
18.A．vital B．urgent C．common D．unnecessary
19.A．Or B．Otherwise C．But D．Because
20.A．experience B．way C．condition D．power
--- Do you know what they are whispering about? They look mysterious．
--- ________．None of our business．
A．I am all ears
B．Don’t be a fly on the wall
C．Let the cat out of the bag
D．The wall has ears．
With your help, there is no doubt ______ our plan is meant for will work out successfully．
A．that whatB．whether that
C．what thatD．that whether
