阅读理解。
For many people，volunteering is a way of life.Holidays are the time of the year that more people are in a giving mood.Homeless shelters，children’s hospitals，and nursing homes are excellent places to give of one’s time.
Volunteering in Homeless Shelters
There is a homeless directory online that anyone can easily access to find the closest homeless shelter to their home.According to the homeless shelter directory，currently there are 3,233 shelters in the US，so it is not difficult to find a shelter.Helping to serve food，picking up donations of food，preparing meals，and cleaning up are things that one can do to help at a homeless shelter.
Volunteering in Children’s Hospitals
Every child needs comfort and joy，especially during the holiday seasons.By visiting sick children in hospitals，an individual provides helping hands by supplementing the services usually done by the hospital staff.Personalizing the hospital experience adds to the comfort and happiness of the children and their families.Volunteers provide help，and positive interactions (相互交流) which enhance the patient’s quality of care.Help is needed almost everywhere in a hospital；from the lobby，parking lot，cafeteria，to admitting，helping with the gift cart，and even reading to children in the waiting rooms or their hospital rooms.
Volunteering in Nursing Homes
According to the National Center for Health Statistics，“Over 50% of those living in nursing homes do not have close relatives and 46% have no living children.” Life in a nursing home is lonely，confusing，and frightening for many residents. Volunteering at a nursing home is a great opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life.Playing cards，sitting with and talking to a resident，taking a walk，or sharing a meal makes a huge difference，especially when they have no other sole on earth to visit them.
The three examples above are only a small fraction of institutions in which volunteers are needed.Giving of oneself，especially during the holidays blesses and cheers others.
1.According to the passage，what can a volunteer do in nursing homes?
A．Visiting the sick children.
B．Picking up the donated food.
C．Helping with the gift cart.
D．Playing cards with a lonely old man.
2.What can we learn about the volunteering?
A．You can only volunteer during the holidays.
B．You can help prepare meals in a nursing home.
C．It is easy to find a homeless shelter to volunteer.
D．Help is needed everywhere in a homeless shelter.
3.In a children’s hospital，which of the following is true?
A．Over 50% of those living there do not have relatives.
B．A personal visit brings happiness to a sick boy.
C．Children live a lonely and frightening life.
D．Children love listening to volunteers’ reading.
4.The best title for the passage would be ________.
A．Giving of oneself cheers others
B．Volunteering is a way of life
C．Volunteering during the holidays
D．Giving is better than taking
阅读理解。
“Have a nice day！” may be a pleasant gesture or a meaningless expression. When my friend Maxie says “Have a nice day” with a smile, I know she sincerely cares about what happens to me. I feel loved and secure since another person cares about me and wishes me well.
“Have_a_nice_day. Next！” This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words come out in the same tone (腔调) with a fixed procedure. They are spoken at me, not to me. Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else's is the management's attempt to increase business.
The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don't know what to say. “Oh, you just had a tooth out? I'm terribly sorry, but have a nice day.”
The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heartwarming because someone you don't know has tried to be nice to you.
Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it's nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don't care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.
1.How does the author understand Maxie's words?
A.Maxie shows her anxiety to the author.
B.Maxie really wishes the author a good day.
C.Maxie encourages the author to stay happy.
D.Maxie really worries about the author's security.
2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.The salesgirl is rude.
B.The salesgirl is bored.
C.The salesgirl cares about me.
D.The salesgirl says the words as a routine.
3.By saying “Have a nice day”， a stranger may________.
A.try to be polite to you
B.express respect to you
C.give his blessing to you
D.share his pleasure with you
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A.Have a Nice Day — a Social Custom
B.Have a Nice Day — a Pleasant Gesture
C.Have a Nice Day — a Heartwarming Greeting
D.Have a Nice Day — a Polite Ending of a Conversation
阅读理解。
The interview had been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well.Then，suddenly，the interviewer asks an unexpected question，“Which is more important，law or Dove?”
Job applicants in the West increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this.And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China.
Employers want people skilled，enthusiastic and devoted.So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicants will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are.In response，employers are increasingly using questions which try and show the applicant’s true personality.
The question in the first paragraph comes from a test called the Keirsey Personality Sorter.It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems，rather than what they know.This is often called an aptitude test (能力倾向测验)．
According to Mark Baldwin many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult.When a Chinese person fills out an aptitude test he or she will think there is a right answer and they may fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see.
This is sometimes called the prisoner’s dilemma.Applicants are trying to act cleverly in their own interest.But they fail because they don’t understand what the interviewer is looking for.Remember that in an aptitude test，the correct answer is always the honest answer.
1.The writer wrote the passage to________.
A．give you a piece of advice on a job interview
B．tell you how to meet a job interviewer
C．describe the aptitude test
D．advice you how to find a job
2.Why do the interviewers ask such questions?
A．They want to discover what the interviewees know.
B．They are curious about the answers.
C．They try to discover the ability of the interviewees solving problems.
D．They just ask questions without thinking much.
3.According to the writer，in an aptitude test，Chinese job applicants should________.
A．not tell the truth
B．learn to tell what they really think
C．be more enthusiastic
D．try to find out what the examiner really want to know
4.From the passage we know that________.
A．job applicants are always asked such questions
B．more Chinese applicants fail to find a job
C．applicants should not act as reasonably as a prisoner
D．the aptitude test is becoming popular worldwide
阅读理解。
Cotton farmers in some Indian villages are busily buying Coca Cola and Pepsi, believing that the sugar in the fizzy (有泡沫的) drinks kills pests.
Farmers say scientists advised them to mix pesticides with a sugary juice to control pests, and they found the mixture cheaper and more effective than pure chemicals — although soft drink makers and scientists dismissed the remarks. N. Hamunayya, who has become a famous person in his village in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, said his crop survived an attack of pests which had resisted other pesticides. “We found that all the colas had uniform effect on pests. The pests became dead and fell to the ground，” he said. He said the drinks had all the elements they needed: they were cheaper, sticky, fizzy, and attracted ants, which ate the young of the pests. But Thinupathi Reddy, assistant director of the Regional Agri Research Station, Guntur, says tests had proved such results wrong. “We conducted some field trials on cotton crop at our research station. There was no obvious productivity or destruction of pests，” he says.
Statements from Pepsi and Coca Cola said there was “no scientific basis” for this_practice. But their dealers are enjoying increasing sales. Mantan Wall, who sells soft drinks in 17 villages in the region, said sales rose up, thanks to the farmers. “For the 10 days between August and September I had successful business. Instead of just 30 cases (each containing a dozen one litre bottles) of cola, I started selling almost 200 cases，” he said. “We expected the sales to drop after the news over pesticide residues (残留) in the cola drinks. Now I have to keep extra supply for the cotton farmers，” he said.
In February, an Indian environment group made a report saying drinks made by Coca Cola and Pepsi contained pesticides and called for tougher safety standards. The US firms strongly rejected the findings of the New Delhibased Centre for Science and Environment and said their products were safe.
1.Some Indian farmers think the drinks can kill pests because ________.
A.there is some pesticide left in them
B.they are sticky and fizzy
C.they have elements that kill pests
D.they made the pesticide more effective
2.The underlined part “this practice” in Para. 3 probably refers to “________”.
A.testing the mixture
B.selling more drinks in India
C.mixing the drinks with the pesticide
D.attracting ants to eat the young pests
3.The drink makers would not accept the fact that their drinks could kill pests because they ________.
A.thought it went against science
B.believed that the farmers didn't tell the truth
C.might fear that it could bring harm to their business
D.insisted that no poison was left in their products
4.The writer's purpose of writing this passage is to ________.
A.tell an interesting incident
B.warn people that some drinks might be dangerous to health
C.suggest using Coca Cola to kill pests
D.announce a new discovery of Coca Cola
阅读理解。
There are probably no people on Earth who like to gossip (说闲话) as much as the British.If prying into other’s lives were an Olympic sport，then Team GB would surely take the gold medal.
And when the British can’t watch the lives of real people with glee，they have another source of entertainment to fall back on—the soap opera.British soap operas are very different to US TV dramas.For one，they are normally longer running.The two most popular，Coronation Street and Eastenders，have been running for 48 and 24 years respectively.Both are broadcast several times a week，so remarkably there have been more than 7,000 episodes of Coronation Street.
The most obvious difference is that，unlike US dramas，the British soap operas focus on the real world.There is little glamour，the stars are rarely rich，and they normally have boring jobs.Perhaps the appeal is that the lives of the characters often mirror the lives of the audience—but with some drama added.This means the viewer can relate to the characters and feel the pain and happiness they go through on the show.
Because these soap operas last for decades，the cast is ever changing.The shows rarely focus on one or two main characters.Like the real world，people come and go all the time.However，there are exceptions.Coronation Street’s William Roach,76，has played the role of Ken Barlow since the very first episode of the show in 1960，and he is still a regular.
The choice of which soap opera you follow is often cultural：People from the north of British tend to watch Coronation Street as it is set in Manchester.People from the south generally prefer Eastenders，which is set in the east of London.The show is generally considered grittier and is aimed at a younger audience.
1.What does this passage mainly talk about?
A．British people like to know things about other people.
B．British team can get Olympic gold medals.
C．What is British soap opera.
D．People in the north like different things from the people in the south.
2.What is the main difference between American dramas and British soap operas?
A．American dramas are longer.
B．British soap operas are longer.
C．American dramas deal with dangerous things.
D．British soap operas deal with real people.
3.Why do British people like to watch such operas?
A．They can find their own life from the operas.
B．They can enjoy the operas in their free time.
C．They can watch the operas for many years.
D．They care about the fate of the characters in the operas.
4.The underlined word “episodes” in the 2nd paragraph probably means ________.
A．plays B．pages
C．issues D．parts
5.One characteristic of British operas is that ________.
A．the characters play the same role for a long time
B．the characters in the play often change
C．people don’t know what will happen next
D．there is only one or two characters in them
阅读理解。
Parties and social gatherings no longer excite us the same way they once did. This is not due to a lack of desire to socialize, but the smartphone.
At parties, more people are on their smartphones than on their drinks. According to a recent International Data Corporation study, well over half of all Americans have a smartphone and reach for it the moment they wake up, keeping it in hand all day. In addition, too many people in society are using smartphones while driving and as a result, they get into car crashes. 34 percent of teenagers admit to texting while driving, and they confirm that text messaging is their number one driving interruption. People's attachment to their smartphones is unbelievably becoming more important than the lives of themselves and others.
Just as drivers dismiss the importance of focusing while on the road, many people also fail to recognize the significance of human interaction. When with their friends, some people pointlessly check or send text messages in the presence of a friend, which sends a message to that friend: the person I am texting is more important than you. In addition, relying on our smartphones to make friends does not give us the same advantage as being able to make new friendships in the real world. Facetoface conversations will give us much stronger communication skills in the long run.
As many people risk their lives and the lives of people around them just to send a text or mindlessly check their messages, smartphones are in many ways more dangerous to people. The quality of this technology is preventing societal achievements and weakening the value of communication. Not only is the smartphone affecting our desire to interact (交流) facetoface, but it is also lowering society's ability to communicate.
1.The purpose of this text is to ________.
A.call for an end to use the smartphone while driving
B.appeal to us to pay attention to communication skills
C.express a concern about the overuse of the smartphone
D.advise us to be cautious about the addiction to the smartphone
2.The second paragraph is developed by ________.
A.giving examples B.listing figures
C.comparing facts D.analyzing the effects
3.The author advocates us to make new friends ________.
A.by using smartphones
B.in a facetoface way
C.in different ways
D.under a free circumstance
4.Overdependence on the smartphone leads to the fact that ________.
A.parties and gatherings limit their social circle
B.people are more and more narrowminded
C.people's communication skills are weakened
D.facetoface communication becomes less important
