It is obvious that various festivals are times of happiness, fun and excitement, not of sadness. They have many origins.
Some are 1. (religion) and some are seasonal. Easter is 2. important festival for Christians all over the world. People are thankful because their food is gathered for the winter and the agricultural work is over. Some festivals 3. (hold) to honor or satisfy and please the dead. In Japan the festival is called Obon. They have lamps on and play music 4. they think this will help the dead back to earth. The Dragon Boat Festival 5. (honor) the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan. Columbus Day is in memory of the 6. (arrive) of Columbus in the New World. India honors Mohandas Gandhi who helped gain 7. (India) independence from Britain. And the most energetic and important festivals are the ones 8. look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring, such as the Lunar New Year, 9. which people get together to eat, drink and have fun with each other.
No matter 10. the reason is, festivals are always times for feasts with lots to eat, special and often new clothing to wear and generally lots of fun.
The night fell heavy in the heights of the mountains and the man could not see anything. All was black. The moon and the stars were ______ by the clouds. As he was climbing only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he suddenly ______ and fell into the air, falling at great ______. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the ______ sensation（感觉）of being pulled by gravity grew more and more ______ .
He ______ falling, and in the moments of great ______ ,it came to his mind all the good and bad ______ of his life. He was thinking now about how ______ death was getting ______ all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in the air. ______ the rope was holding him and in that moment of ______ he could do nothing but ______ : “Help me! Help me! God” Suddenly a deep voice coming from the sky answered, “What do you want me to do?”“Save me, God.”
“Do you really think I can save you?”
“Of course! I ______ you can.”
“Then ______ the rope tied to your waist.”
There was a moment of silence and the man decide to ______ the rope with all his strength.
The next day people found the climber dead and ______ , hid body hanging from rope, his hands holding tight to it. Only one foot away from the ______ .
And we? How ______ we are to the rope tied to our waist? Sometimes we always tied to what we take as the only ______ .maybe we should have a try to let ourselves go.
1.A. covered B. filled C. broken D. polluted
2.A. stood B. slipped C. stopped D. risked
3.A. length B. speed C. depth D. width
4.A. length B. sensitive C. terrible D. confusing
5.A. energetic B. distant C. regular D. powerful
6.A. sank B. observed C. heard D. kept
7.A. excitement B. peace C. terror D. calmness
8.A. experience B. dreams C. disadvantages D. crossroads
9.A. close B. opposite C. fierce D. long
10.A. as B. because C. when D. after
11.A. But B. Only C. Nowhere D. Actually
12.A. patience B. appreciation C. excitement D. stillness
13.A. figure B. scream C. recognize D. present
14.A. wish B. suggest C. believe D. order
15.A. cut B. occupy C. brake D. handle
16.A. pull up B. back out C. take off D. hold onto
17.A. frozen B. calm C. exhausted D. reliable
18.A. top B. heaven C. ground D. attached
19.A. addicted B. attracted C. adopted D. destination
20.A. route B. dependence C. goal D. intelligence
The Science of Risk-Seeking
Sometimes we decide that a little unnecessary danger is worth it because when we weight the risk and the reward, the risk seems worth taking. 1. Some of us enjoy activities that would surprise and scare the rest of us. Why? Experts say it may have to do with how our brain work.
The reason why any of us take any risks at all might have to do with early humans. Risk-taking were better at hunting, fighting, or exploring. 2. As the quality of risk-taking was passed from on ration to the next, humans ended up with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for risk.
So why aren’t we all jumping out of airplanes then? Well, even 200,000 years ago, too much risk-taking could get one killed. A few daring survived, though, along with a few stay-in-the-cave types. As a result, humans developed a range of character types that still exists today. So maybe you love car racing, or maybe you hate it.3.
No matter where you are on the risk-seeking range, scientist say that willingness to take risk increases during your teenage years.4. To help you do that, your brain increases your hunger for new experience. New experiences often mean taking some risks, so your brain raises your tolerance for risk as well.
5., for the risk-seeker a part of the brain related to pleasure becomes active, while for the rest of us, a part of the brain related to fear becomes active.
As experts continue to study the science of risk-seeking, we’ll continue to hit mountains, the waves or the shallow end of the pool.
A. It all depends on your character.
B. Those are the risks you should jump to take.
C. Being better at those things meant a greater chance of survival.
D. Thus, these well-equipped people survived because they were the fittest.
E. This is when you start to move away from your family and into the bigger world.
F. However, we are not all using the same reference standard to weight risks and rewards.
G. New brain research suggests our brains work differently when we face a nervous situation.
It is widely acknowledge that cities with some kind of functioning ecosystems make for better place for humans to live. More plants and animals in cities make for happier, healthier people.
A study conducted on green spaces in Sheffield, England, for instance, revealed that the greater the biodiversity（生物多样性）, the greater the psychological well-being（健康）of the city’s citizens. In Paris, researchers found that getting citizens to take part in day-long activities involving urban wildlife opened their eyes to the natural world for a time, at least.
Few cities have been associated with urban ecology for as Berlin. “Slow economic recovery after the Second World War meant that reconstruction would take a long time. This provide local ecologist with the ideal conditions to develop an ambitious ecological research program in the bombed-out wastelands of West Berlin,” said Jens Lachmund, a sociologist at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands.
The pioneering work in Berlin had several consequences, especially the formation of significant natural spaces within the city, such as the Sudgelande Nature. “Berlin has indeed benefited a lot from being a case study in urban ecology,” said Lachmund.
The recent research conducted by Mark Goddard, a biologist at the University of Leeds, and his colleagues confirmed the important of natural space within an urban setting. Goddard and his team conducted a striking global analysis of bird and plant diversity, quantifying the influence of urbanization on levels of biodiversity around the world. “Functioning urban ecosystems will be extremely important to human health and well-being,” said Goddard.
Cities take up just 3% of the land surface area, yet according to the most recent figure from the United Nations, some 3.6 billion people (just over 50% of the global population) now live in urban areas. By 2050, this figure is expected it rise to 6.3 billion. Without animals and plants to keep us company, it is a dark future.
1.The findings in Paragraph 2 are mentioned to explain the between_____.
A. citizens and their well-being
B. green spaces and urban wildlife
C. Urban ecology and citizens’ well-being
D. Functioning ecosystems and the natural world
2.What would be Goddard’s attitude towards Berlin’s work?
A. Cautious. B. Negative.
C. Uncaring. D. Admiring.
3.The author uses figures in the last paragraph to show______.
A. The negative effect of over population.
B. The important of urban ecosystems.
C. The serious problems of city life.
D. The rapid growth of urban areas.
4.Which of the following can be the best text?
A. Should more people live in urban areas?
B. Should Berlin have more natural spaces?
C. Should cities be for animals and plants too?
D. Should the global population be controlled now?
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is also the most neglected（忽视）.Common reason for not eating breakfast include having no time, not feeling hungry, traditional dislike and dieting.
Breakfast simply means “break the fast”. Your body spends at least 6 to 12 hours each night in a fasting state. In the morning your body needs energy for the day’s work ahead.
A good breakfast should provide 1/3 of your total calorie（卡路里）needs for the day. On average,we eat 400 less calories for breakfast than for dinner. If breakfast doesn’t attract you in the morning, try eating a lighter dinner earlier in the evening or save half of your dinner for breakfast in the morning.
Some people fear that eating breakfast will make them hungrier during the day and they will eat more. It is true that eating breakfast is likely to make feel hungry throughout the day. That is because your body id working correctly. Although you may feel as if you are eating more all day long, in reality you are probably not. Not eating breakfast can also cause you to overeat, since a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel very hungry later.
Since breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, choosing the right food is important, the best breakfast foods are fruits, juice, lean meat and grain products such as bread, rice, noodles and cereals（谷物）.
1.Which meal is the most neglected according to the passage?
A. Supper. B. Lunch.
C. breakfast. D. dinner.
2.Which is not the reason for people to miss breakfast?
A. A bigger meal in the mid-morning. B. Feeling full in the morning.
C. The fast pace of modern life. D. Have a little supper.
3.The best title for this article is_____.
A. Diet and Breakfast. B. Breakfast: Well Begin, Half Done.
C. What is a Good Breakfast D. Bad Eating Habits of Modern People
4.In the last paragraph，the writer mainly__________．
A. persuades us to have a good breakfast
B. tells us what food we should have for breakfast
C. tells us what food isn't suitable for breakfast
D. describes when and how we should have our breakfast．
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by A1 Neuharth in 1982 with the goal of providing a national newspaper in the US market, where generally only a single local newspaper was available. The paper has the widest circulation（发行量）of any newspaper in the United States, averaging over 2.25 million copies every weekday. It was the first color newspaper in the United States.
The newspaper was also among the first newspapers to use satellites to send the edition of the newspaper to different locations across the country for printing and distributing in those regional markets. This allowed the paper to include the most recent news and sports scores in each edition.
Each edition of the newspaper consists of four sections: News, Money, Sports and Life. On Fridays, tow life sections are included: the regular life for movies subtitled Weekend, which features television, films and trends, and a travel supplement called Destinations & Diversions. Each section is denoted（表示）by a certain color to different sections, which is seen in a box on the top-left corner of the first page, with News being blue(section A), Money with green (section B), red for Sportd (section C), and purple for life (section D). USA Today prints each complete story on the front page of the respective（各自的）section with exception to the cover story. The cover story is a longer story that requires a jump (readers must turn to another page in the paper in the paper to complete the story, usually the very next page, page 2 of that section).
Starting in February 2008, the newspaper added a magazine supplement（增刊）called Open Air, appearing several times a year.
1.It can be inferred from the first paragraph that USA Today____.
A. Developed from a famous America local newspaper
B. Was founded to cover world stories
C. Was among the first color newspapers in the world
D. Does not print on Saturdays or Sundays
2.Which of the following is TRUE about USA Today?
A. It uses satellites to print color copy.
B. It is the cheapest daily newspaper in the United States.
C. It offers readers the latest news.
D. It is the first international newspaper in the United States.
3.Mr. Watts wants to get the most recent travel information. He will turn to____.
A. Section A B. section B
C. section C D. section D
