阅读理解。
I have been teaching animal behavior at the Boulder County Jail in Colorado for 10 years. The course is one of the most popular in the prison. Prisoners have to earn the right to attend the course and they work hard to get in.
One reason why the course is so popular is that many prisoners find it easier to connect with animals than with people, because animals don't judge them. They trust animals in ways they don't with humans.
Yet, they hold a misunderstanding of how animals treat one another. Many admit that their own “animal behavior” is what got them into trouble in the first place. I teach that though there is competition and aggression in the animal kingdom, there is also a lot of cooperation (合作) and sympathy.
Many of the students want to build healthy relationships, and they find that the class helps them. I use examples of the social behavior of groupliving animals such as wolves as a model for developing and maintaining (维持) friendships among people who must work together for their own good and also for the good of the group.
It's clear that science inspires the students here and it also gives them hope. I know some students have gone back into education after their being set free while others have gone to work for humane (人道的) societies or contributed time and money to conservation organizations. One went on to receive a master's degree in nature writing.
Science and humane education help the prisoners connect with values that they otherwise would not have done. It opens the door to understanding, trust, cooperation and hope. There's a large population of people to whom science could mean a lot, if only they could have access to it. The class helps me, too. I get as much out of it as the students and it has made me a better teacher.
1.The author's course is welcomed by the prisoners because ________.
A．they consider animals their best friends
B．they are curious about the animal kingdom
C．they feel it easier to get along with animals
D．they are more familiar with animal behavior
2.The author used wolves as an example to ________.
A．provide the prisoners with more knowledge
B．explain the cruel side of groupliving animals
C．help the prisoners realize the importance of teamwork
D．inform the prisoners that animals get people into trouble
3.We can infer from the text that some prisoners ________.
A．have turned over a new leaf
B．are required to attend the course
C．are willing to learn working skills
D．prefer humane education to science
阅读理解。
Two recent studies have found that punishment is not the best way to influence behavior.
One showed that adults are much more cooperative if they work in a system based on rewards. Researchers at Harvard University in the United States and the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden did the study.
They had about two hundred college students play a version of the game known as the Prisoner's Dilemma. The game is based on the tension (紧张气氛) between the interests of an individual and a group. The students played in groups of four. Each player could win points for the group, so they would all gain equally. But each player could also reward or punish each of the other three players, at a cost to the punisher.
Harvard researcher David Rand says the most successful behavior proved to be cooperation. The groups that rewarded it the most earned about twice as much in the game as the groups that rewarded it the least. And the more a group punished itself, the lower its earnings were. The group with the most punishment earned twentyfive percent less than the group with the least punishment. The study appeared last month in the journal Science.
The other study involved children. It was presented last month in California at a conference on violence and abuse. Researchers used intelligence tests given to two groups. More
than eight hundred children aged two to four the first time they were tested. More than seven hundred children aged five to nine.
The two groups were retested four years later, and the study compared the results with the first test. Both groups contained children whose parents used physical punishment and children whose parents did not. The study says the IQs — or intelligence quotients — of the younger children who were not spanked were five points higher than those who were. In the older group, the difference was almost three points.
Murray Strauss from the University of New Hampshire worked with Mallie Paschall from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Professor Strauss has written extensively about physical punishment of children. He says the more they are spanked, the slower their mental development. He also looked at average IQs in other nations and found them lower where spanking was more common.
1.Which could be the best title of the passage?
A．Punishment
B．The Best Way to Influence Behavior
C．Punishment or Reward: Which Works Better on Behavior?
D．Two Recent Studies
2.The underlined word “spanked” probably means “______”．
A．won B．punished
C．tested D．praised
3.According to the passage, the researchers may agree the best way to influence behavior is ________.
A．rewarding good behavior
B．correcting bad behavior
C．punishing badlybehaved children
D．praising wellbehaved children
4.The author develops the passage ________.
A．in order of time
B．in order of importance
C．by describing his experiences
D．by using quotations (引证) and statistics
阅读理解。
For twenty years, I saved all my college course notes and textbooks: that's a lot of paper.
Worse, it's not easy to carry them around — and trust me, they aren't light — on at least seven moves. Yet I never once looked at them. They sat in our basement, covered in a thick layer of dust. If books and papers could wonder, they'd wonder why they were still under our stairs after all those years. When would the Big Day come?
Well, the Big Day eventually did arrive; only it was different than expected. My wife, always more accepting changes than I am, finally talked me into clearing out the entire mess.
The pain I experienced was also unexpected. What hurt me was to come across those terrible papers I'd written, which reminded me of my poor study habits, and an embarrassing lack of comprehension. It was great to get rid of them. But it was also a clearing of personal history.
At first, I struggled with this. The truth was in the record that my books, my notes, and my papers were primary source materials, documenting an important time in my life. To clear them out was to clear out the truth.
What I've learned since taking this leap is that the process is more important than the truth. I feel as if much of my real education during my college years isn't in the documents but now in me.
So I am glad to free myself of this physical burden. And what's better is that I don't need to look back to those painful moments. They belong to the past.
You might want to consider doing something similar, either under the stairs of your basement or in your mind.
What is the personal rubbish piling in your life? Clear it out and make your life awesome.
1.Why was the author finally determined to desert all the college materials?
A．Because his wife persuaded him to.
B．Because they were of no use at all.
C．Because they were heavy on the moves.
D．Because they occupied space too long.
2.The author struggled at the very beginning for ________.
A．a sense of pain
B．a sense of embarrassment
C．a sense of regret for the past
D．a sense of losing part of his history
3.What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?
A．The past experiences.
B．The wasted collegerelated materials.
C．The rubbish in the basement.
D．Physical and psychological mess.
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Let It Go B．Sort It Out
C．Give up the Past D．Forget the History
阅读理解。
Students wishing to safeguard their careers against changes in the job market should opt for science rather than arts degrees, according to a survey of undergraduates.
Engineering and chemistry were considered to be the most “future proof”， as they are courses most likely to lead to an enduring and adaptable career.
Students polled by Pearson College were broadly optimistic that their chosen courses would prepare them for a world in which the job market could change dramatically during their working lives.
But opinion was sharply divided over which degrees were best for futureproof careers.
Eightytwo percent of respondents believed engineering would help develop futureproof skills, with 74 percent believing the same of chemistry and 73 percent of computer science.
But just 33 percent of undergraduates believed history would lead to a futureproof career, and 40 percent English.
However more than two thirds of students (67 percent) thought the world of work would be significantly different or completely unrecognizable in 20 years.
The findings, published today, come after Education Secretary Nicky Morgan sparked controversy with claims that teenagers should steer clear of the arts and humanities and opt for science or maths subjects if they want to access the widest range of jobs.
She said that in previous decades students would only take maths or science if they wanted to pursue a specific career such as medicine or pharmacy, but nowadays that “couldn't_be_further_from_the_truth”.
“If you wanted to do something different, or even if you didn't know what you wanted to do ... then the arts and humanities were what you chose. Because they were useful — we were told — for all kinds of jobs. Of course now we know that couldn't be further from the truth, and that the subjects that keep young people's options open and unlock doors to all sorts of careers are the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.”
She also described maths as “the subject that employers value most” and said that pupils who study Alevel maths will earn 10 percent more over their lifetime.
“These figures show us that too many young people are making choices aged 15 which will hold them back for the rest of their lives.”she said.
1.In order to guarantee your future job, which kind of courses will you choose according to the survey?
A．Engineering or English.
B．History or Maths.
C．Maths or Art.
D．Engineering or Chemistry.
2.What's the students' attitude towards their chosen courses?
A．Doubtful. B．Worried.
C．Optimistic. D．Objective.
3.How do you understand the underlined words?
A．It is far away from the truth.
B．It's to the truth.
C．It couldn't be closer to the truth.
D．It reflects the truth.
4.What did Nicky Morgan indicate in her claim?
A．If you want to do something different, the arts and humanities are what you choose now.
B．STEM subjects can make young people choose their future jobs freely.
C．At college, young people should make choices for their lives.
D．Maths and science are considered to be the subjects that employers value most.
语法填空。
Two weeks before Christmas, two little girls were walking down the street 1. they saw old Harry, who was on his knees pulling weeds around a tree.
He wore a pair of worn gloves. His fingers were sticking out 2. the ends, blue from the cold. They stopped to talk to him.
Harry told them he 3. (get) the yard in shape as a Christmas gift for his mother, who had died several years before. “My mother was all I had. She loved her yard and trees, so I do this for her every Christmas.”
His words touched the girls and soon they _4._ (join) him, pulling weeds. When they finished, Harry pressed a coin into each of their hands. “I wish I could pay you more, but that's all I've got right now，” he said.
The girls had often passed his house, and they remembered that it had always been 5. poor condition. No decorations to add cheeriness were anywhere in sight.
As they walked on, the coin in one little girl's hand seemed to burn a hole of 6. (guilty). The next day she called her friends 7. they agreed to put their coins in a jar marked “Harry's Christmas Gift”. Then they began to seek out small jobs to earn more. Every coin they earned went into the jar.
Finally, they had enough 8. (buy) new gloves. On Christmas Eve they were on Harry's doorstep singing carols. They presented him with the gloves. With 9. (tremble) hands, he held the gloves to his face and wept. No doubt he once again felt _10._ love of others as the girls reached out to him.
完形填空
Whenever Christmas is drawing near, an Iowa radio station has an annual tradition. Listeners send in “wish letters”， and the hosts select some to __________. They've been making Christmas dreams come true for more than 20 years, but they never _________ they would receive a letter from a person who was already dead.
Last week, the hosts of the station invited listener David Schmitz to their _______， but the station didn't tell him who had sent in the _______ for his family. They read the letter to him on the _________：“Hello, my name is Brenda Schmitz. When you receive this letter, I will have already _________ my battle to cancer.”
The big _________ made David's eyes swim in tears.
David heard three wishes from his ________ wife. The first was to his new partner.“Thank you, I love you whoever you are.” And the second: “For my family, a wonderful________， with many scenic spots where they all can enjoy their companionship as a new ________ and make memories that will be with them forever.” ________， she wanted to give a night of food and fun to the hospital ________ that cared for her during her _________ days.
The letter was written by Brenda two months before __________. She prepared it and asked a friend to send it to the station once her husband fell in love _________.
“I began to know Jayne, my present wife, __________. On a cold afternoon, I took my little son, Marx, to the ________ where a group of seagulls were flying over his head. I didn't ________ it until Marx burst into tears, running to Jayne and asking her to be his ________， who was playing there with her two children. Later, she became Marx's new mom and she ________ him as her own son. Brenda will live in our hearts forever.”
1.A.praise B．send C．discuss D．broadcast
2.A.thought B．found C．remembered D．assumed
3.A.office B．hospital C．show D．home
4.A.expectation B．thanks C．wish D．dream
5.A.scene B．occasion C．vacation D．air
6.A.won B．lost C．accepted D．refused
7.A.news B．disaster C．surprise D．enjoyment
8.A.late B．present C．next D．innocent
9.A.trip B．holiday C．concert D．dinner
10.A.relative B．Christmas C．family D．journey
11.A.Clearly B．Lastly C．Surely D．Sincerely
12.A.staff B．doctor C．colleague D．manager
13.A.special B．final C．tough D．busy
14.A.going away B．falling down C．giving up D．passing away
15.A.twice B．again C．ever D．already
16.A.by chance B．by mistake C．by luck D．by choice
17.A.forest B．seaside C．grassland D．mountain
18.A.predict B．imagine C．insist D．realize
19.A.friend B．teacher C．mother D．playmate
20.A.treats B．accepts C．misses D．controls
