Recently, a scientist did some experiments．He left a group of 4-year-olds in a room with a bell and a candy．If they rang the bell, he would come back and they could eat the candy．If, however, they didn't ring the bell and waited for him to come back on his own, they could then have two candies.
In videos of the experiment, he can see the children kicking, hiding their eyes--trying to exercise self-control so they can wait and get two candies．The results are different．Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute．Others lasted 15 minutes.
The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores．They got into better colleges and had better adult success．The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to have received worse teacher and parental evaluations 10 years later and were more likely to have drug problems at age 32.
The experiments are worth noting because people spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve education, how to become rich．But when the result is not good, they will come back to ask "how do we get people to get the sort of self-control that leads to success?" This is to enter the world of human nature.
So these experiments along with everyday experience, tell us that self-control is most important．Young people who can sit through sometimes boring classes to get a degree can work hard in order to learn a language well．They can avoid drugs and alcohol．For people without self-control skills, however, school is a series of failed ordeals（煎熬）．No wonder they drop out and their later life is a group of foolish ideas, such as drug use, stealing and so on.
1.The scientist did some experiments to .
A. test children's self control and later success
B. test children's intelligence of ringing the bell
C. find good ways of training children to learn
D. prove that children's education is important
2.How long did the scientist's experiments last according to the text?
A. Just 15 minutes． B. Within 10 years.
C. Less than 14 years． D.More than 28 years.
3.What is the best title for this passage?
A. Ways of self-control training
B. Experiments on children's ringing the bell
C. Higher score, better achievements
D. Self-control is the key to success
Years ago, I owned the very best dog in the world. I was a child when we got her. She grew up with me, and was always there when I needed her. She died during one of my college vacations. My heart broke then, and I knew that there would never be another dog like her.
However, I was wrong. My next dog came into my life when I was married. My husband traveled for a living, and I was often lonely. This dog taught me to be patient. He always stayed at my side until the children were born, and then he became their guardian (保护者), too. When he passed away, my heart broke. I was sure I would never love another dog as much as I loved him.
I was wrong again. We got the next one when the children were little. When he played with the children, he made them laugh. These days he spends more time with me since the children aren’t around so much. He is, of course, the very best dog in the world.
I wonder if that’s part of the lessen: to teach us that love has a spirit that returns again and again and never really dies.
It’s amazing. They make room for one another. And they fit into our families, our lives, and our hearts, because they always have been and will be the best dogs in the world.
1.According to the story, the writer may agree with the opinion that __________.
A. love me, love my dog
B. love never really dies
C. a dog is necessary to a family
D. where there’s love, there’s a dog
2.What does the writer think about the third dog she owns?
A. He brings happiness to the children.
B. He is better than the other two dogs.
C. He loves to play with children rather than adults.
D. He is lonely since the children have left home.
3.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means__________.
A. they leave the room when the family needs a new one
B. each dog has a single room to live in
C. they leave the house when the family no longer needs them
D. they come into the writer’s life one after another
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The writer doesn’t keep a dog at the moment.
B. The writer was very sad every time the dog died.
C. The second dog stayed longer than the first one.
D. The writer’s husband doesn’t like dogs.
When I walk through the streets, I pass strange rooms where people are doing strange things. Some are biking madly. Others are holding metal bars to keep them from dropping down. Still others are jumping around while someone is shouting at them. It looks like something out of Dante’s Inferno (但丁《神曲》中的《地狱篇》). But what is the most amazing is that people pay for these sufferings!
The strange rooms are gyms. It is reported that some 41 million Americans are gym members. 12% of the memberships are born in January, as they are determined to knock off (使减少) the holiday fat. Maybe it is good to exercise in the gym. However, should they know they can keep in good shape, spending little money, would they still agree with its necessity?
At the age of 23, I joined a gym. I lifted weights twice a week in Muscle’s Gym. I paid as little as $200 per year. You can’t find such gyms in every city any more. Too often, the gym is fancy (花哨的) with lots of equipment. If you ask how much it costs to join it, the person at the front desk often won’t tell you straight. Instead, he’ll let you meet with a fitness consultant (健身顾问), who will provide you with a great number of reasons and suggestions, such as losing weight and getting healthier, just in order to put pressure on you to spend much money joining the gym and becoming a member there.
Working out with the help of equipment at home has problems, too. In the early 2000’s, I bought a spinning bike at a cost of $700 for home use. I tried a few times only to find that it brought me a neck problem.
Now I’m back to my old way. I do Yoga（瑜伽）every morning and evening. Total cost: $60 for an exercise mat (垫子) . I’m enjoying fitness.
1.The strange rooms are places where people _________.
A. do strange things B. suffer from great pains
C. play Dante’s Inferno D. take physical exercise
2.In the author’s opinion, joining a gym nowadays is __________.
A. exciting B. inexpensive C. unnecessary D. helpful
3.The author wrote something about Muscle’s Gym to __________.
A. tell us he was fat when he was young
B. suggest a new way of losing weight
C. provide us with an example of gyms
D. compare it with the gyms of today
4.From the text we can infer that _________.
A. many Americans put on weight after Christmas and New Year’s Day
B. the author and his family had spent a lot of money exercising in gyms
C. 12% of the American people are members of gyms
D. spinning bikes are good equipment for exercise
Hundreds of years ago, news was carried from place to place by people on foot or by horse. It took days, weeks and sometimes months for people to receive news. Now it is possible to send words and pictures around the world in seconds. Billions of people learn about news stories of their own country and all over the world every day, either by watching TV or reading newspapers.
Newspapers have been an important part of everyday life since the 18th century. Many countries have hundreds of different newspapers. How do newspaper editors decide which news stories to print? Why do they print some stories and not others? What makes a good newspaper story?
Firstly, it is important to report news stories. TV stations can report news much faster than newspapers. Yet, newspapers give more about the same story. They may also look at the story in another way, or they may print completely different stories to those on TV.
Secondly, a news story has to be interesting and unusual. People don’t want to read stories about everyday life. As a result, many stories are about some kind of danger and seem to be “bad” news. For example, newspapers never print stories about planes landing safely; instead they print stories about plane accidents.
Another factor (因素) is also very important in many news stories. Many people are interested in news in foreign countries, but more prefer to read stories about people, places and events in their own country. So the stories on the front page in Chinese newspapers are usually very different from the ones in British, French and American newspapers.
1.According to the passage, how do people learn about news stories in the world now?
A. They carry news stories and tell others from place to place on foot or by horse.
B. They tell each other what they have seen with their eyes.
C. They watch TV or read newspapers.
D. They listen to the radio every day.
2.The difference between newspaper stories and TV news reports is that _______ .
A. people can learn more about the same news story from a newspaper
B. people can read the news story more quickly in a newspaper
C. people can read news stories in other countries
D. people can read news stories about their own country
3.To make a good newspaper story, how many factors does the passage talk about?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Five. D. Six.
4.According to the passage, which of the following can you most possibly watch on TV?
A. You often play football with your friends after school.
B. Your teacher has got a cold.
C. A tiger in the city zoo has run out and hasn’t been caught.
D. The bike in front of your house is lost.
书面表达
假如你是张华， 近日写信给某英文报的编辑，反映目前人们养宠物带来的问题，希望得到媒体的关注和支持。信的内容应包括以下要点：
1.宠物过多，噪音扰民； 2. 污染环境； 3. 不少人尤其孩子曾被惊吓或咬伤；4. 传播疾病。
注意：1.词数100左右;
2.信的开头和署名已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear editor,
Nowadays some people in our city are keeping too many pets, but they don’t care about it enough. So I want to tell you something about the problems caused by it.
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Yours faithfully,
Zhang Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上,老师要求同桌同学相互修改作文。假设以下小作文为你同桌所写，请你对其进行修改。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（^），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
3. 必须按答题要求做题，否则不给分。
English is my weak subject. I almost failed in all the English tests in last term, that made me worried and discouraged. Know that I was in low spirits, Mr. Li, who is in the charge of my class, advised me to read an article. I finished reading it immediate. It was a true story about a girl student who lost all her arms and a leg at the age of five. But she didn’t lose her heart. Instead, she smoothed away various discomforts and learn to write with her only foot. I was deeply moved by his story. Now I have made up my minds to learn English well.
