1.It can be concluded from paragraph 1 that _______.

A.the problem of global warming will have been quite solved by 2020

B.gas emissions have been effectively reduced in developed countries

C.the Paris Agreements is more influential than the Kyoto Protocol

D.humans have made continuous efforts to slow down global warming

2.If nations could only keep the initial promises of the Paris Agreement, what would happen by the year 2100?

A.The human population would increase by one third.

B.Little over 50% of all species would still exist.

C.Nations would not need to tighten their emissions targets.

D.The Agreement’s minimum goal would not be reached.

3.If those island nations not far above sea level are to survive, the maximum temperature rise, since the start of the industrial age, should be_______.

A.0.8℃ B.1.5℃

C.2℃ D.3.5℃

Section B

Direction：Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished sattments. For each of them there are four choices markedA, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

(A)

One early morning, I went into the living room to find my mother reading a thick book called Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again. My interest was aroused only by the fact that the word “Poems” appeared in big, hot pink letters.

“Is it good?” I asked her.

“Yeah,” she answered. “There’s one I really like and you’ll like it, too.” I leaned forward.

“‘Patty Poem,’” she read the title. Who is Patty? I wondered. The poem began:

She never puts her toys away,

The poem was just three short sections. The final one came quickly:

And I’ll be sad.               

A terrible sorrow washed over me. Whoever Patty was, she was a mean girl. Then, the shock.

“It’s you, honey,” My mother said sadly.

To my mother, the poem revealed a parent’s affection when her child grows up and leaves. To me, the “she” in the poem was horror. It was my mama who would be sad. It was so terrible I burst out crying.

“What’s wrong?” my mother asked.

“Oh Mama,” I cried. “I don’t want to grow up ever!”

She smiled. “Honey, it’s okay. You’re not growing up anytime soon. And when you do, I’ll still love you, okay?”

“Okay,” I was still weeping. My panic has gone. But I could not help thinking about that silly poem. After what seemed like a safe amount of time, I read the poem again and was confused. It all fit so well together, like a puzzle. The language was simple, so simple I could plainly understand its meaning, yet it was still beautiful. I was now fascinated by the idea of poetry, words that had the power to make or break a person’s world.

I have since fallen in love with other poems, but “Patty Poem” remains my poem. After all, “Patty Poem” gave me my love for poetry not because it was the poem that lifted my spirits, but because it was the one that hurt me the most.

1.Why was the writer attracted by the book Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again?

A.It was a thick enough book.

B.Something on its cover caught her eye.

C.Her mother was reading it with interest.

D.It has a meaningful title.

2.After her mother read the poem to her, the writer felt ______ at first.

A.sad B.excited

C.horrified D.confused

3.The writer’s mother liked to read “Patty Poem” probably because______.

A.it reflected her own childhood

B.it was written in simple language

C.it was composed by a famous poet

D.it gave her a hint of what would happen

4.It can be concluded from the passage that“Patty Poem”leads the writer to _______.

A.discover the power of poetry

B.recognize her love for puzzles

C.find her eagerness to grow up

D.experience great homesickness

Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.

We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue(疲惫) and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel.

Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones. The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.

Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them in alphabetical(按字母顺序), never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the difficult task of essay-writing. Experience proved that the rule works.

Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can-then let the unconscious take over.

When planning Encyclopaedia Britannica (《大英百科全书》), I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.

One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relived, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.

An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind provided correct at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.

Human beings, I believe must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.

1.People with start-up fatigue are most likely to ________.

A.delay tasks B.work hard

C.seek help D.accept failure

2.What does the author recommend doing to prevent start-up fatigue?

A.Writing essays in strict order.

B.Building up physical strength.

C.Leaving out the toughest ideas.

D.Dealing with the hardest task first.

3.On what occasion does a person probably suffer from performance fatigue?

A.Before starting a difficult task.

B.When all the solutions fail.

C.If the job is rather boring.

D.After finding a way out.

4.According to the author, the unconscious mind may help us ________.

A.ignore mental problems B.get some nice sleep

C.gain complete relief D.find the right solution

5.What could be the best title for the passage?

A.Success Is Built upon Failure

B.How to Handle Performance Fatigue

C.Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success

D.Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems

    When John was growing up, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him weeding the garden, carrying out the garbage and delivering newspapers. But when John reached adulthood, he was better off than his childhood playmates. He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage and was healthier. Most of all, he was happier. Far happier.

These are the findings of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from Boston. The study showed that those who had worked as boys enjoyed happier and more productive lives than those who had not. ＂Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence(能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society,＂ said George Vaillant, the psychologist(心理学家) who made the discovery. ＂And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them.＂

Vaillant’s study followed these males in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25,31 and 47. Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men’s mental-health scores with their boyhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

The link between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was surprisingly sharp. Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm relations with a wide variety of people, five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to have been unemployed. The researchers also found that IQ and family social and economic class made no real difference in how the boys turned out.

Working — at any age — is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings(基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this. Yet work isn’t everything. As Tolstoy once said, ＂One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one’s work.＂

1.What do we know about John?

A.He enjoyed his career and marriage.

B.He had few childhood playmates.

C.He received little love from his family.

D.He was envied by others in his childhood.

2.Vaillant’s words in Paragraph 2 serve as　　　　.

A.a description of personal values and social values

B.an analysis of how work was related to competence

C.an example for parents’ expectations of their children

D.an explanation why some boys grew into happy men

3.Vaillant’s team obtained their findings by　　　　.

A.recording the boys’ effort in school

B.evaluating the men’s mental health

C.comparing different sets of scores

D.measuring the men’s problem solving ability

4.What does the underlined word ＂sharp＂ probably mean in Paragraph 4?

A.Quick to react. B.Having a thin edge.

C.Clear and definite. D.Sudden and rapid.

5.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A.Competent adults know more about love than work.

B.Emotional health is essential to a wonderful adult life.

C.Love brings more joy to people than work does.

D.Independence is the key to one’s success.

Why College Is Not Home

The college years are supposed to be a time for important growth in autonomy(自主性) and the development of adult identity. However, now they are becoming an extended period of adolescence, during which many of today’s students are not shouldered with adult responsibilities.

For previous generations, college was a decisive break from parental control; guidance and support needed to come from people of the same age and from within. In the past two decades, however, continued connection with and dependence on family, thanks to cell phones, email and social media, have increased significantly. Some parents go so far as to help with coursework. Instead of promoting the idea of college as a passage from the shelter of the family to autonomy and adult responsibility, universities have given in to the idea that they should provide the same environment as that of the home.

To prepare for increased autonomy and responsibility, college needs to be a time of exploration and experimentation. This process involves ＂trying on＂ new ways of thinking about oneself both intellectually(在思维方面)and personally. While we should provide ＂safe spaces＂ within colleges, we must also make it safe to express opinions and challenge majority views. Intellectual growth and flexibility are fostered by strict debate and questioning.

Learning to deal with the social world is equally important. Because a college community(群体) differs from the family, many students will struggle to find a sense of belonging. If students rely on administrators to regulate their social behavior and thinking pattern, they are not facing the challenge of finding an identity within a larger and complex community.

Moreover, the tendency for universities to monitor and shape student behavior runs up against another characteristic of young adults: the response to being controlled by their elders. If acceptable social behavior is too strictly defined(规定) and controlled, the insensitive or aggressive behavior that administrators are seeking to minimize may actually be encouraged.

It is not surprising that young people are likely to burst out, particularly when there are reasons to do so. Our generation once joined hands and stood firm at times of national emergency. What is lacking today is the conflict between adolescents’ desire for autonomy and their understanding of an unsafe world. Therefore, there is the desire for their dorms to be replacement homes and not places to experience intellectual growth.

Every college discussion about community values, social climate and behavior should include recognition of the developmental importance of student autonomy and self-regulation, of the necessary tension between safety and self-discovery.

1.What’s the author’s attitude toward continued parental guidance to college students?

A.Sympathetic. B.Disapproving.

C.Supportive. D.Neutral.

2.The underlined word ＂passage＂ in Paragraph 2 means___________.

A.change B.choice

C.text D.extension

3.According to the author, what role should college play?

A.To develop a shared identity among students.

B.To define and regulate students’ social behavior.

C.To provide a safe world without tension for students.

D.To foster students’ intellectual and personal development.

4.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?

A. B.

C. D.

    December 15, 2014

Dear Alfred，

I want to tell you how important your help is to my life.

Growing up, I had people telling me I was too slow, though, with an IQ of 150+ at 17, I’m anything but stupid. The fact was that I was found to have ADHD(注意力缺陷多动障碍). Anxious all the time, I was unable to keep focused for more than an hour at a time.

However, when something did interest me, I could become absorbed. In high school, I became curious about the computer, and built my first website. Moreover, I completed the senior course of Computer Basics, plus five relevant pre-college courses.

While I was exploring my curiosity, my disease got worse. I wanted to go to college after high school, but couldn’t . So, I was killing my time at home until June 2012 when I discovered the online computer courses of your training center.

Since then, I have taken courses like Data Science and Advanced Mathematics. Currently, I’m learning your Probability course. I have hundreds of printer paper, covered in self-written notes from your video. This has given me a purpose.

Last year, I spent all my time looking for a job where, without dealing with the public , I could work alone, but still have a team to talk to. Luckily, I discovered the job—Data Analyst—this month and have been going full steam ahead. I want to prove that I can teach myself a respectful profession, without going to college, and be just as good as, if not better than, my competitors.

Thank you. You’ve given me hope that I can follow my heart. For the first time, I feel good about myself because I’m doing something, not because someone told me I was doing good. I feel whole.

This is why you’re saving my life.

Yours,

Tanis

1.why did’t Tanis go to college after high school?

A.She had learned enough about computer science

B.She had more difficulty keeping focused

C.She preferred taking online courses

D.She was too slow to learn

2.As for the working environment, Tains prefers____.

A.working by herself

B.dealing with the public

C.competing against others

D.staying with ADHD students

3.Tanis wrote this letter in order to_____.

A.explain why she was interested in the computer

B.share the ideas she had for her profession

C.show how grateful she was to the center

D.describe the courses she had taken so far

    If you are a fruit grower — or would like to become one — take advantage of Apple Day to see what’s around. It’s called Apple Day but in practice it’s more like Apple Month. The day itself is on October 21, but since it has caught on, events now spread out over most of October around Britain.

Visiting an apple event is a good chance to see, and often taste, a wide variety of apples. To people who are used to the limited choice of apples such as Golden Delicious and Royal Gala in supermarkets, it can be quite an eye opener to see the range of classical apples still in existence, such as Decio which was grown by the Romans. Although it doesn’t taste of anything special, it’s still worth a try, as is the knobbly(多疙瘩的) Cat’s Head which is more of a curiosity than anything else.

There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions. One of the very best varieties for eating quality is Orleans Reinette, but you’ll need a warm, sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it, so it’s a pipe dream for most apple lovers who fall for it.

At the events, you can meet expert growers and discuss which ones will best suit your conditions, and because these are family affairs, children are well catered for with apple-themed fun and games.

Apple Days are being held at all sorts of places with an interest in fruit, including stately gardens and commercial orchards(果园). If you want to have a real orchard experience, try visiting the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, near Faversham in Kent.

1.What can people do at the apple events?

A.Attend experts’ lectures.

B.Visit fruit-loving families.

C.Plant fruit trees in an orchard.

D.Taste many kinds of apples.

2.What can we learn about Decio?

A.It is a new variety.

B.It has a strange look.

C.It is rarely seen now.

D.It has a special taste.

3.What does the underlined phrase “a pipe dream” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A.A practical idea.

B.A vain hope.

C.A brilliant plan.

D.A selfish desire.

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A.To show how to grow apples.

B.To introduce an apple festival.

C.To help people select apples.

D.To promote apple research.

    On one of her trips to New York several years ago, Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner. They settled in at a comfortable East Side cafe and within minutes, another customer was approaching their table.

“Hey, aren’t you from Mississippi?” the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger. “I’m from Mississippi too.”

Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty party. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.

“They began telling me all the news of Mississippi,” Welty said. “I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking.”

Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi.

“My friends said: ‘Now we believe your stories,’” Welty added. “And I said: ‘Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.’”

Sitting on a sofa in her room, Welty, a slim figure in a simple gray dress, looked pleased with this explanation.

“I don’t make them up,” she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years. “I don’t have to.”

Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets of her native Jackson, Miss., from conversations overheard on a bus. It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story.

1.What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?

A.Two strangers joined her.

B.Her childhood friends came in.

C.A heavy rain ruined the dinner.

D.Some  people held a party there.

2.The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty’s ________.

A.readers B.parties

C.friends D.stories

3.What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction?

A.They live in big cities.

B.They are mostly women.

C.They come from real life.

D.They are pleasure seekers.

    A new collection of photos brings an unsuccessful  Antarctic voyage back to life.

Frank Hurley's  pictures would  be outstanding—undoubtedly first­rate photo­journalism—if they had been made last week.In fact，they were shot from 1914 through 1916, most of them after a disastrous shipwreck(海难), by a cameraman who had no reasonable expectation of survival.Many of the images were stored in an ice chest, under freezing water, in the damaged wooden ship.

The ship was the Endurance, a small, tight, Norwegian­built three­master that was intended to take Sir Ernest Shackleton and a small crew of seamen and scientists, 27 men in all，to the southernmost shore of Antarctica's Weddell Sea.From that point Shackleton wanted to force a passage by dog sled (雪橇) across the continent.The journey was intended to achieve more than what Captain Robert Falcon Scott had done.Captain Scott had reached the South Pole early in 1912 but had died with his four companions on the march back.

As writer Caroline Alexander makes clear in her forceful and well­researched story The Endurance, adventuring was even then a thoroughly commercial effort.Scott's last journey，completed as he lay in a tent dying of cold and hunger, caught the world's imagination, and a film made in his honor drew crowds.Shackleton, a onetime British merchant­navy officer who had got to within 100 miles of the South Pole in 1908, started a business before his 1914 voyage to make money from movie and still photography.Frank Hurley, a confident and gifted Australian photographer who knew the Antarctic，was hired to make the images, most of which have never before been published.

1.What do we know about the photos taken by Hurley?

A.They were made last week.

B.They showed undersea sceneries.

C.They were found by a cameraman.

D.They recorded a disastrous adventure.

2.Who reached the South Pole first according to the text?

A.Frank Hurley.

B.Ernest Shackleton.

C.Robert Falcon Scott.

D.Caroline Alexander.

3.What does Alexander think was the purpose of the 1914 voyage?

A.Artistic creation. B.Scientific research.

C.Money making. D.Treasure hunting.

    Reading can be a social activity．Think of the people who belong to book groups．They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them．Now the website BookCrossing．com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group．

Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share．BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book．Then the person leaves it in a public place，hoping that the book will have an adventure，traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it．

Bruce Pederson，the managing director of BookCrossing，says，"The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read．BookCrossing combines both．"

Members leave books on park benches and buses，in train stations and coffee shops．Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it．

People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it．E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found．Bruce Peterson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home．

BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the"real"and not the virtual（虚拟）．The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries．

1.Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph？ ______

A.To explain what they are．

B.To introduce BookCrossing．

C.To stress the importance of reading．

D.To encourage readers to share their ideas．

2.What does the underlined word"it"in Paragraph 2 refer to？ ______

A.The book．

B.An adventure．

C.A public place．

D.The identification number．

3.What will a BookCrosser do with a book after reading it？ ______

A.Meet other readers to discuss it．

B.Pass it on to another reader．

C.Keep it safe in his bookcase．

D.Mail it back to its owner．

4.What is the best title for the text？ ______

A.Online Reading：A Virtual Tour

B.Electronic Books：A new Trend

C.A Book Group Brings Tradition Back

D.A Website Links People through Books

    Five years ago, when I taught art at a school in Seattle, I used Tinkertoys as a test at the beginning of a term to find out something about my students. I put a small set of Tinkertoys in front of each student, and said: “Make something out of the Tinkertoys. You have 45 minutes today — and 45 minutes each day for the rest of the week.”

A few students hesitated to start. They waited to see the rest of the class would do. Several others checked the instructions and made something according to one of the model plans provided. Another group built something out of their own imaginations.

Once I had a boy who worked experimentally with Tinkertoys in his free time, his constructions filled a shelf in the art classroom and a good part of his bedroom at home. I was delighted at the presence of such a student. Here was an exceptionally creative mind at work. His presence meant that I had an unexpected teaching assistant in class whose creativity would infect(感染) other students.

Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare, “But I’m just not creative.”

“Do you dream at night when you’re asleep?”

“Oh, sure.”

“So tell me one of your most interesting dreams.” The student would tell something wildly imaginative. Flying in the sky or in a time machine or growing three heads. “That’s pretty creative. Who does that for you?”

“Nobody. I do it.”

“Really-at night, when you’re asleep?”

“Sure.”

“Try doing it in the daytime, in class, okay?”

1.The teacher used Tinkertoys in class in order to ________.

A.know more about the students

B.make the lessons more exciting

C.raise the students’ interest in art

D.teach the students about toy design

2.What do we know about the boy mentioned in Paragraph 3?

A.He liked to help his teacher. B.He preferred to study alone.

C.He was active in class. D.He was imaginative.

3.What does the underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Mistake. B.Drawback.

C.Difficulty. D.Burden.

4.Why did the teacher ask the students to talk about their dreams?

A.To help them to see their creativity.

B.To find out about their sleeping habits.

C.To help them to improve their memory.

D.To find out about their ways of thinking.

    The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups.Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap(间隙) with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person's needs.

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what may be implied(暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing.In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing(治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

1.What does the author say about silence in conversations?

A.It implies anger.

B.It promotes friendship.

C.It is culture-specific.

D.It is content-based.

2.Which of the following people might regard silence as a call for careful thought?

A.The Chinese.

B.The French.

C.The Mexicans.

D.The Russians.

3.What does the author advise nurses to do about silence?

A.Let it continue as the patient pleases.

B.Break it while treating patients.

C.Evaluate its harm to patients.

D.Make use of its healing effects.

4.What may be the best title for the text?

A.Sound and Silence

B.What It Means to Be Silent

C.Silence to Native Americans

D.Speech Is Silver; Silence Is Gold

    Grandparents Answer a Call

As a third－generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never planned to move away.Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children, she politely refused.Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms.Garza finally say yes.That was four years ago.Today all three generations regard the move as a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.

No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing.Even President Obama’s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study by grandparents.com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs.Robinson's decision will influence grandparents in the American family.Two－thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.

“In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn't get away from home far enough or fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,”says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grand, a magazine for grandparents. “We now realize how important family is and how important it is to be near them, especially when you’re raising children.”

Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead.Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.

1.Why was Garza’s move a success?

A.It strengthened her family ties.

B.It improved her living conditions.

C.It enabled her to make more friends.

D.It helped her know more new places.

2.What was the reaction of the public to Mrs.Robinson’s decision?

A.17% expressed their support for it.

B.Few people responded sympathetically.

C.83% believed it had a bad influence.

D.The majority thought it was a trend.

3.What did Crosby say about people in the 1960s?

A.They were unsure of themselves.

B.They were eager to raise more children.

C.They wanted to live away from their parents.

D.They had little respect for their grandparents.

4.What does the author suggest the grandparents do in the last paragraph?

A.Make decisions in the best interests of their own.

B.Ask their children to pay more visits to them.

C.Sacrifice for their struggling children.

D.Get to know themselves better.

    I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”.

The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait. It is without doubt the most annoying of all. Take filling up the kitchen sink(洗碗池) as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but keep both eyes fixed on the sink until it’s full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about until the water runs over the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.

A cousin to the Watched-Pot Wait is the Forced Wait. This one requires a bit of discipline. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup required a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific. “Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix, simmer three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes.”I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience.

Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the Lucky-Break Wait. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break does not necessarily mean that it will happen.

Turning one’s life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes, but the Lucky-Break Wait well serves those who are willing to do it. As long as one doesn’t come to rely on it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.

We certainly do spend a good deal of our time waiting. The next time you’re standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you’ll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky, don’t be desperate. You’re probably just as busy as the next guy.

1.While doing a Watched-Pot Wait, we tend to ___________.

A.keep ourselves busy

B.get absent-minded

C.grow anxious

D.stay focused

2.What is the difference between the Forced Wait and the Watched-Pot Wait?\

A.The Forced Wait requires some self-control.

B.The Forced Wait makes people passive.

C.The Watched-Pot Wait needs directions.

D.The Watched-Pot Wait engages body and brain.

3.What can we learn about the Lucky-Break Wait?

A.It is less voluntary than the Forced Wait.

B.It doesn’t always bring the desired result.

C.It is more fruitful than the Forced Wait.

D.It doesn’t give people faith and hope.

4.What does the author advise us to do the next time we are waiting?

A.Take it seriously.

B.Don’t rely on others.

C.Do something else.

D.Don’t lose heart.

5.The author supports his view by _________.

A.exploring various causes of “waits”.

B.describing detailed processes of “waits”.

C.analyzing different categories of “waits”

D.revealing frustrating consequences of “waits”

    This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles(自主驾驶车辆). They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.

The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.

Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property(财产) damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.

“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.

Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability(法律责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.

An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduces earlier this year, insists that a human “ be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.

But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars.”Merat says. “You know — no driver.”

Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without operation.

Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.

That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.

1.What does the phrase “death valley” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. A place where cars often break down.

B. A case where passing a law is impossible.

C. An area where no driving is permitted.

D. A situation where drivers’ role is not clear.

2.The proposal put forward by Dobrindt aims to __________.

A. stop people from breaking traffic rules

B. help promote fully automatic driving

C. protect drivers of all ages and races

D. prevent serious property damage

3.What do consumers think of the operation of driverless cars?

A. It should get the attention of insurance companies.

B. It should be the main concern of law makers.

C. It should not cause deadly traffic accidents.

D. It should involve no human responsibility.

4.Driverless vehicles in public transport see no bright future in __________.

A. Singapore

B. the UK

C. the US

D. Germany

5.What could be the best title for passage?

A. Autonomous Driving: Whose Liability?

B. Fully Automatic Cars: A New Breakthrough

C. Autonomous Vehicles: Driver Removed

D. Driverless Cars: Root of Road Accidents

    Suppose you’re in a rush, feeling tired, not paying attention to your screen, and you send an email that could get you in trouble.

Realisation will probably set in seconds after you’ve clicked “send”. You freeze in horrors and burn with shame.

What to do? Here are four common email accidents, and how to recover.

Clicking “send” too soon

Don’t waste your time trying to find out if the receivers has read it yet. Write another email as swiftly as you can and send it with a brief explaining that this is the correct version and the previous version should be ignored.

Writing the wrong time

The sooner you notice, the better. Respond quickly and briefly, apologizing for your mistake. Keep the tone measured: don’t handle it too lightly, as people can be offered, especially if your error suggests a misunderstanding of their culture(I.e. incorrect ordering of Chinese names).

Clicking “reply all” unintentionally

You accidentally reveal(透露)to entire company what menu choices you would prefer at the staff Christmas dinner, or what holiday you’d like to take. In this instance, the best solution is to send a quick, light-hearted apology to explain your awkwardness. But it can quickly rise to something worse, when everyone starts hitting “reply all” to join in a long and unpleasant conversation. In this instance, step away from your keyboard to allow everyone to calm down.

Sending an offensive message to it’s subject

The most awkward email mistake is usually committed in anger. You write an unkind message about someone, intending to send it to a friend, but accidentally send it to the person you’re discussing. In that case, ask to speak in person as soon as possible and say sorry. Explain your frustrations calmly and sensibly—see it as an opportunity tic hear up any difficulties you may have with this person.

1.After realizing an email accident, you are likely to feel _______.

A. curious B. tired

C. awful D. funny

2.If you have written the wrong name in an email, it is best to ________.

A. apologise in a serious manner

B. tell the receiver to ignore the error

C. learn to write the name correctly

D. send a short notice to everyone

3.What should you do when an unpleasant conversation is started by your “reply all” email?

A. Try offering other choices.

B. Avoid further involvement.

C. Meet other staff members.

D. Make a light-hearted apology.

4.How should you deal with the problem caused by an offensive email?

A. By promising not to offend the receiver again.

B. By seeking support from the receiver’s friends.

C. By asking the receiver to control his anger.

D. By talking to the receiver face to face.

5.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Defining email errors.

B. Reducing email mistakes.

C. Handling email accidents.

D. Improving email writing.

    A new commodity brings about a highly profitable, fast-growing industry, urging antitrust(反垄断) regulators to step in to check those who control its flow. A century ago, the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants(巨头) that deal in data, the oil of the digital age. The most valuable firms are Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. All look unstoppable.

Such situations have led to calls for the tech giants to be broken up. But size alone is not a crime. The giants’ success has benefited consumers. Few want to live without search engines or a quick delivery. Far from charging consumers high prices, many of these services are free (users pay, in effect, by handing over yet more data). And the appearance of new-born giants suggests that newcomers can make waves, too.

But there is cause for concern. The internet has made data abundant, all-present and far more valuable, changing the nature of data and competition. Google initially used the data collected from users to target advertising better. But recently it has discovered that data can be turned into new services: translation and visual recognition, to be sold to other companies. Internet companies’ control of data gives them enormous power. So they have a "God’s eye view" of activities in their own markets and beyond.

This nature of data makes the antitrust measures of the past less useful. Breaking up firms like Google into five small ones would not stop remaking themselves: in time, one of them would become great again. A rethink is required — and as a new approach starts to become apparent, two ideas stand out.

The first is that antitrust authorities need to move from the industrial age into the 21st century. When considering a merger(兼并), for example, they have traditionally used size to determine when to step in. They now need to take into account the extent of firms’ data assets(资产) when assessing the impact of deals. The purchase price could also be a signal that an established company is buying a new-born threat. When this takes place, especially when a new-born company has no revenue to speak of, the regulators should raise red flags.

The second principle is to loosen the control that providers of on-line services have over data and give more to those who supply them. Companies could be forced to reveal to consumers what information they hold and how much money they make from it. Governments could order the sharing of certain kinds of data, with users’ consent.

Restarting antitrust for the information age will not be easy. But if governments don’t want a data economy controlled by a few giants, they must act soon.

1.Why is there a call to break up giants?

A.They have controlled the data market.

B.They collect enormous private data.

C.They no longer provide free services.

D.They dismissed some new-born giants.

2.What does the technological innovation in Paragraph 3 indicate?

A.Data giants’ technology is very expensive.

B.Google’s idea is popular among data firms.

C.Data can strengthen giants’ controlling position.

D.Data can be turned into new services or products.

3.By paying attention to firms’ data assets, antitrust regulators could 　　　.

A.kill a new threat

B.avoid the size trap

C.favour bigger firms

D.charge higher prices

4.What is the purpose of loosening the giants’ control of data?

A.Big companies could relieve data security pressure.

B.Governments could relieve their financial pressure.

C.Consumers could better protect their privacy.

D.Small companies could get more opportunities.

    If you want to disturb the car industry, you'd better have a few billion dollars: Mom-and-pop carmakers are unlikely to beat the biggest car companies. But in agriculture, small farmers can get the best of the major players. By connecting directly with customers, and by responding quickly to changes in the markets as well as in the ecosystems(生态系统）, small farmers can keep one step ahead of the big guys. As the co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC, 美国青年农会）and a family farmer myself. I have a front-row seat to the innovations among small farmers that are transforming the industry.

For example, take the Quick Cut Greens Harvester, a tool developed just a couple of years ago by a young farmer, Jonathan Dysinger, in Tennessee, with a small loan from a local Slow Money group. It enables small-scale farmers to harvest 175 pounds of green vegetables per hour—a huge improvement over harvesting just a few dozen pounds by hand—suddenly making it possible for the little guys to compete with large farms of California. Before the tool came out, small farmers couldn't touch the price per pound offered by California farms. But now, with the combination of a better price point and a generally fresher product, they can stay in business.

The sustainable success of small farmers, though, won't happen without fundamental changes to the industry. One crucial factor is secure access to land. Competition from investors. developers, and established large farmers makes owning one's own land unattainable for many new farmers.

From 2004 to 2013, agricultural land values doubled, and they continue to rise in many regions.

Another challenge for more than a million of the most qualified farm workers and managers is a non-existent path to citizenship — the greatest barrier to building a farm of their own. With farmers over the age of 65 outnumbering(多于）farmers younger than 35 by six to one, and with two-thirds of the nation's farmland in need of a new farmer, we must clear the path for talented people willing to grow the nation's food.

There are solutions that could light a path toward a more sustainable and fair farm economy, but farmers can't clumsily put them together before us. We at the NYFC need broad support as we urge Congress to increase farmland conservation, as we push for immigration reform, and as we seek policies that will ensure the success of a diverse and ambitious next generation of farms from all backgrounds. With a new farm bill to be debated in Congress, consumers must take a stand with young farmers.

1.The author mentions car industry at the beginning of the passage to introduce          .

A.the progress made in car industry

B.a special feature of agriculture

C.a trend of development in agriculture

D.the importance of investing in car industry

2.What does the author want to illustrate with the example in paragraph 2?

A.Loans to small local farmers are necessary.

B.Technology is vital for agricultural development.

C.Competition between small and big farms is fierce

D.Small farmers may gain some advantages over big ones.

3.What is the difficulty for those new famers?

A.To gain more financial aid.

B.To hire good farm managers.

C.To have fans of their own.

D.To win old farmers’ support.

4.What should farmers do for a more sustainable and fair farm economy?

A.Seek support beyond NYFC.

B.Expand farmland conservation.

C.Become members of NYFC.

D.Invest more to improve technology.

    In the 1760s, Mathurin Roze opened a series of shops that boasted(享有）a special meat soup called consomme. Although the main attraction was the soup, Roze's chain shops also set a new standard for dining out, which helped to establish Roze as the inventor of the modern restaurant.

Today, scholars have generated large amounts of instructive research about restaurants. Take visual hints that influence what we eat: diners served themselves about 20 percent more pasta(意大利面食）when their plates matched their food.  When a dark-colored cake was served on a black plate rather than a white one, customers recognized it as sweeter and more tasty.

Lighting matters, too. When Berlin restaurant customers ate in darkness, they couldn't tell how much they'd had: those given extra-large shares ate more than everyone else, but were none the wiser—they didn’t feel fuller, and they were just as ready for dessert.

Time is money, but that principle means different things for different types of restaurants. Unlike fast-food places. fine dining shops prefer customers to stay longer and spend. One way to encourage customers to stay and order that extra round: put on some Mozart(莫扎特）.When classical, rather than pop, music was playing, diners spent more. Fast music hurried diners out.

Particular scents also have an effect: diners who got the scent of lavender(薰衣草）stayed longer and spent more than those who smelled lemon, or no scent.

Meanwhile, things that you might expect to discourage spending—"bad" tables, crowding. high prices — don't necessarily. Diners at bad tables — next to the kitchen door, say — spent nearly as much as others but soon fled. It can be concluded that restaurant keepers need not "be overly concerned about ‘bad' tables," given that they're profitable. As for crowds, a Hong Kong study found that they increased a restaurant's reputation, suggesting great food at fair prices. And doubling a buffet's price led customers to say that its pizza was 11 percent tastier.

1.The underlined phrase "none the wiser" in paragraph 3 most probably implies that the customers were         .

A.not aware of eating more than usual

B.not willing to share food with others

C.not conscious of the food quality

D.not fond of the food provided

2.How could a fine dining shop make more profit?

A.playing classical music.

B.Introducing lemon scent.

C.Making the light brighter,

D.Using plates of larger size.

3.What does the last paragraph talk about?

A.Tips to attract more customers.

B.Problems restaurants are faced with.

C.Ways to improve restaurants' reputation.

D.Common misunderstandings about restaurants.

    Preparing Cities for Robot Cars

The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist’s dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn’t leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It’s hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.

While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars(and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions(排放) and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.

Do we want to copy — or even worsen — the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport — an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing(叫车) services.

A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure(基础设施) and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues(责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.

Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn’t extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.

1.According to the author, attention should be paid to how driverless cars can __________.

A.help deal with transportation-related problems

B.provide better services to customers

C.cause damage to our environment

D.make some people lose jobs

2.As for driverless cars, what is the author’s major concern?

A.Safety. B.Side effects.

C.Affordability. D.Management.

3.What does the underlined word ＂fielded＂ in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Employed. B.Replaced.

C.Shared. D.Reduced.

4.What is the author’s attitude to the future of self-driving cars?

A.Doubtful. B.Positive.

C.Disapproving. D.Sympathetic.

    Give yourself a test. Which way is the wind blowing? How many kinds of wildflowers can be seen from your front door? If your awareness is as sharp as it could be, you’ll have no trouble answering these questions.

Most of us observed much more as children than we do as adults. A child’s day is filled with fascination, newness and wonder. Curiosity gave us all a natural awareness. But distinctions that were sharp to us as children become unclear; we are numb(麻木的）to new stimulation(刺激), new ideas. Relearning the art of seeing the world around us is quite simple, although it takes practice and requires breaking some bad habits.

The first step in awakening senses is to stop predicting what we are going to see and feel before it occurs. This blocks awareness. One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students, I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. The students began complaining about how cold it would be. We reached the stream, and they unwillingly walked ahead. They were almost knee-deep when they realized it was a hot spring. Later they all admitted they’d felt cold water at first.

Another block to awareness is the obsession(痴迷) many of us have with naming things. I saw bird watchers who spotted a bird, immediately looked it up in field guides, and said, a "ruby-crowned kinglet" and checked it off. They no longer paid attention to the bird and never learned what it was doing.

The pressures of "time" and "destination" are further blocks to awareness. I encountered many hikers who were headed to a distant camp-ground with just enough time to get there before dark. It seldom occurred to them to wander a bit, to take a moment to see what’s around them. I asked them what they’d seen. "Oh, a few birds," they said. They seemed bent on their destinations.

Nature seems to unfold to people who watch and wait. Next time you take a walk, no matter where it is, take in all the sights, sounds and sensations. Wander in this frame of mind and you will open a new dimension to your life.z.

1.According to Paragraph 2, compared with adults, children are more ____________.

A.anxious to do wonders

B.sensitive to others’ feelings

C.likely to develop unpleasant habits

D.eager to explore the world around them

2.What idea does the author convey in Paragraph 3?

A.To avoid jumping to conclusions.

B.To stop complaining all the time.

C.To follow the teacher’s advice.

D.To admit mistakes honestly.

3.The bird watchers’ behavior shows that they __________.

A.are very patient in their observation

B.are really fascinated by nature

C.care only about the names of birds

D.question the accuracy of the field guides

4.Why do the hikers take no notice of the surroundings during the journey?

A.The natural beauty isn’t attractive to them.

B.They focus on arriving at the camp in time.

C.The forest in the dark is dangerous for them.

D.They are keen to see rare birds at the destination.

5.In the passage, the author intends to tell us we should __________.

A.fill our senses to feel the wonders of the world

B.get rid of some bad habits in our daily life

C.open our mind to new things and ideas

D.try our best to protect nature

    Fire Prevention Information

The University of Adelaide employs a full-time staff of fire prevention professionals. They inspect all campus buildings and test and maintain all sprinkler(喷水灭火装置）systems fire alarms and fire extinguishers (灭火器). They also provide educational programs or fire safety in the residence hall. Whenever you move to a new area, you should locate the fire alarm pull stations and the two exits nearest your room.

Fire Alarms

The floors of all campus buildings are equipped with manual(手动的）fire alarm systems which include fire alarm pull stations and pipes. Most are also equipped with automatic fire alarm systems consisting of heat detectors, smoke detectors and sprinklers. For your safety, never tamper with(胡乱摆弄）these systems. False fire alarms are illegal and may lead to imprisonment.

Fire Drills

A fire drill will be conducted in your residence hall every semester. During a fire drill, please do the following:

·Take your room key and ID, close and lock the door to your room.

·Exit immediately from the nearest emergency exit do not use a lift.

·Meet outside of your residence hall and wait for further instructions.

Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are located on each floor and in each apartment. Use a fire extinguisher only if you have been trained to do so. Irresponsible use of a fire extinguisher can create a dangerous situation for other residents and could result in damage to personal property.

Misuse of a fire extinguisher will result in fines.

Smoke Detector

A smoke detector is on the ceiling in your room. Some buildings also have heat detectors on the ceilings. Do the following to ensure the safe operation of your smoke detector:

·If your smoke detector is working properly, the red light should be on. If the red light is not blinking（闪动），contact residence hall staff immediately.

·Do not cover or block your smoke detector in any way.

·If a smoke detector sets off an alarm and there is no fire or smoke, inform your hall staff.

1.What is the main duty of the fire prevention professionals?

A.To provide part-time jobs for students.

B.To lead the students to the nearest exits.

C.To check and maintain fire prevention equipment.

D.To train teachers to be fire prevention professionals.

2.What do the automatic fire alarm systems include?

A.Pipes and smoke detectors.

B.Smoke detectors and sprinklers.

C.Fire alarm pull stations and pipes.

D.Sprinklers and fire alarm pull stations

3.In a fire drill, the students should ________.

A.rush quickly to a lift

B.gather at the nearest exit.

C.shut the door and leave at once

D.wait for instructions in the hall

4.What do we know about the use of fire extinguishers?

A.Using them wrongly results in punishment.

B.Irresponsible use of them can damage them.

C.Improper use of them can destroy the apartment.

D.Using them without a trainer present is forbidden.

5.To ensure the safe operation of the smoke detector, one should_________.

A.contact the hall staff regularly

B.cover the things that burn easily

C.start the smoke detector in a fire

D.make certain the red light is working

    Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein’s jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.

Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.

Among the bag makers’ argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.

The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.

Environmentalists don’t dispute(质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.

1.What has Steven Stein been hired to do?

A.Help increase grocery sales.

B.Recycle the waste material.

C.Stop things falling off trucks.

D.Argue for the use of plastic bags.

2.What does the word “headwinds” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A.Bans on plastic bags.

B.Effects of city development.

C.Headaches caused by garbage.

D.Plastic bags hung in trees.

3.What is a disadvantage of reusable bags according to plastic-bag makers?

A.They are quite expensive.

B.Replacing them can be difficult.

C.They are less strong than plastic bags.

D.Producing them requires more energy.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Plastic, Paper or Neither

B.Industry, Pollution and Environment

C.Recycle or Throw Away

D.Garbage Collection and Waste Control

    Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river. People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30,000.

Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path, killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.

But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.

1.What attracted the early settlers to New York City?

A.Its business culture.

B.Its small population.

C.Its geographical position.

D.Its favourable climate.

2.What do we know about those who first dug for gold in Dawson?

A.Two-thirds of them stayed there.

B.One out of five people got rich.

C.Almost everyone gave up.

D.Half of them died.

3.What was the main reason for many people to leave Dawson?

A.They found the city too crowded.

B.They wanted to try their luck elsewhere.

C.They were unable to stand the winter.

D.They were short of food.

4.What is the text mainly about?

A.The rise and fall of a city.

B.The gold rush in Canada.

C.Journeys into the wilderness.

D.Tourism in Dawson.

We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.

1.What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?

A. Addiction to smartphones.

B. Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C. Absence of communication between strangers.

D. Impatience with slow service.

2.What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?

A. Showing good manners.    B. Relating to other people.

C. Focusing on a topic.    D. Making business deals.

3.What does the coffee-shop study suggest about small talk?

A. It improves family relationships.    B. It raises people’s confidence.

C. It matters as much as a formal talk.    D. It makes people feel good.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. Conversation Counts    B. Ways of Making Small Talk

C. Benefits of Small Talk    D. Uncomfortable Silence

    Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection.

Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries contain a little more protein (蛋白质), iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants (抗氧化物质). The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries (樱桃), they are so delicious who cares? However, they are rich in vitamin C.

When combined with berries of slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”. For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter. Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.

If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.

1.What does the author seem to like about cherries?

A.They contain protein. B.They are high in vitamin A.

C.They have a pleasant taste. D.They are rich in antioxidants.

2.Why is fresh lemon juice used in freezing bananas?

A.To make them smell better. B.To keep their colour.

C.To speed up their ripening. D.To improve their nutrition.

3.What is “a juicer” in the last paragraph?

A.A dessert. B.A drink.

C.A container. D.A machine.

4.From which is the text probably taken?

A.A biology textbook. B.A health magazine.

C.A research paper. D.A travel brochure.

    Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit(联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.

Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.

At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages. Often spoken by many people while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 Languages: the Americas about 1,000, Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number(中位数) of speakers is a mere 6.000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.

Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico(150). Lipan Apache in the United States(two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.

1.What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?

A.They developed very fast. B.They were large in number.

C.They had similar patters. D.They were closely connected

2.Which of the following best explains "dominant" underlined in paragraph 2？

A.Complex. B.Advanced.

C.Powerful. D.Modern.

3.How many languages are spoken by less than 6, 000 people at present?

A.About 6,800 . B.About 3,400

C.About 2,400 D.About 1,200.

4.What is the main idea of the text?

A.New languages will be created.

B.Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages.

C.Human development results in fewer languages.

D.Geography determines language evolution.

    Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role — showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals on a tight budget.

In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £5 per family a day. And the Good Morning Britain presenter says she’s been able to put a lot of what she’s leant into practice in her own home, preparing meals for sons, Sam,14, Finn,13, and Jack, 11.

"We love Mexican churros, so I buy them on my phone from my local Mexican takeaway restaurant," she explains. "I pay £5 for a portion(一份), but Matt makes them for 26p a portion, because they are flour, water, sugar and oil. Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we’re not aware how cheaply we can make this food ourselves. "

The eight-part series(系列节自), Save Money: Good Food, follows in the footsteps of ITV’s Save Money: Good Health, which gave viewers advice on how to get value from the vast range of health products on the market.

With food our biggest weekly household expense, Susanna and Matt spend time with a different family each week. In tonight’s Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget. The team transforms the family’s long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.

1.What do we know about Susanna Reid? 学-科网

A.She enjoys embarrassing her guests. B.She has started a new programme.

C.She dislikes working early in the morning. D.She has had a light budget for her family.

2.How does Matt Tebbutt help Susanna?

A.He buys cooking materials for her. B.He prepares food for her kids.

C.He assists her in cooking matters. D.He invites guest families for her.

3.What does the author intend to do in paragraph 4?

A.Summarize the previous paragraphs. B.Provide some advice for the readers.

C.Add some background information. D.Introduce a new topic for discussion.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Keeping Fit by Eating Smart B.Balancing Our Daily Diet

C.Making yourself a Perfect Chef D.Cooking Well for Less

    Who cares if people think wrongly that the internet has had more important influences than the washing machine? Why does it matter that people are more impressed by the most recent changes?

It would not matter if these misjudgments were just a matter of people’s opinions. However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce resources.

The fascination with the ICT(Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so “yesterday” that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in “post-industrial society” has led those countries to neglect their manufacturing sector(制造业), with negative consequences for their economies.

Even more worryingly, the fascination with the internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the “digital divide” between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people’s lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up internet centres in rural villages, I am not saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative uses of their money.

In yet another example, a fascination with the new has led people to believe that the recent changes in the technologies of communications and transportation are so revolutionary that now we live in a “borderless world”. As a result, in the last twenty years or so, many people have come to believe that whatever change is happening today is the result of great technological progress, going against which will be like trying to turn the clock back. Believing in such a world, many governments have put an end to some of the very necessary regulations on cross-border flows of capital, labour and goods, with poor results.

Understanding technological trends is very important for correctly designing economic policies, both at the national and the international levels, and for making the right career choices at the individual level. However, our fascination with the latest, and our under valuation of what has already become common, can, and has, led us in all sorts of wrong directions.

1.Misjudgments on the influences of new technology can lead to ________.

A.a lack of confidence in technology

B.a slow progress in technology

C.a conflict of public opinions

D.a waste of limited resources

2.The example in Paragraph 4 suggests that donators should ________.

A.take people’s essential needs into account

B.make their programmes attractive to people

C.ensure that each child gets financial support

D.provide more affordable internet facilities

3.What has led many governments to remove necessary regulations?

A.Neglecting the impacts of technological advances.

B.Believing that the world has become borderless.

C.Ignoring the power of economic development.

D.Over-emphasizing the role of international communication.

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A.People should be encouraged to make more donations.

B.Traditional technology still has a place nowadays.

C.Making right career choices is crucial to personal success.

D.Economic policies should follow technological trends.

    Would you BET on the future of this man? He is 53 years old. Most of his adult life has been a losing struggle against debt and misfortune. A war injury has made his left hand stop functioning, and he has often been in prison. Driven by heaven-knows-what motives, he determines to write a book.

The book turns out to be one that has appealed to the world for more than 350 years. That former prisoner was Cervantes, and the book was Don Quixote（《堂吉诃德》）. And the story poses an interesting question: why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days, while others go to seed long before?

We’ve all known people who run out of steam before they reach life’s halfway mark. I’m not talking about those who fail to get to the top. We can’t all get there. I’m talking about people who have stopped learning on growing because they have adopted the fixed attitudes and opinions that all too often come with passing years.

Most of us, in fact, progressively narrow the variety of our lives. We succeed in our field of specialization and then become trapped in it. Nothing surprises us. We lose our sense of wonder. But, if we are willing to learn, the opportunities are everywhere.

The things we learn in maturity seldom involve information and skills. We learn to bear with the things we can’t change. We learn to avoid self-pity. We learn that however much we try to please, some people are never going to love us—an idea that troubles at first but is eventually relaxing.

With high motivation and enthusiasm, we can keep on learning. Then we will know how important it is to have meaning in our life. However, we can achieve meaning only if we have made a commitment to something larger than our own little egos(自我), whether to loved ones, to fellow humans, to work, or to some moral concept.

Many of us equate(视……等同于) “commitment” with such “caring” occupations as teaching and nursing. But doing any ordinary job as well as one can is in itself an admirable commitment. People who work toward such excellence—whether they are driving a truck, or running a store—make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They’ve learned life’s most valuable lesson.

1.The passage starts with the story of Cervantes to show that ________.

A.loss of freedom stimulates one’s creativity

B.age is not a barrier to achieving one’s goal

C.misery inspires a man to fight against his fate

D.disability cannot stop a man’s pursuit of success

2.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A.End one’s struggle for liberty.

B.Waste one’s energy taking risks.

C.Miss the opportunity to succeed.

D.Lose the interest to continue learning.

3.What could be inferred from Paragraph 4？

A.Those who dare to try often get themselves trapped.

B.Those who tend to think back can hardly go ahead.

C.Opportunity favors those with a curious mind.

D.Opportunity awaits those with a cautious mind.

4.What does the author intend to tell us in Paragraph 5？

A.A tough man can tolerate suffering.

B.A wise man can live without self-pity.

C.A man should try to satisfy people around him.

D.A man should learn suitable ways to deal with life.

5.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage？

A.To provide guidance on leading a meaningful adult life.

B.To stress the need of shouldering responsibilities at work.

C.To state the importance of generating motivation for learning.

D.To suggest a way of pursuing excellence in our lifelong career.