1 . There is no better way to enjoy Scottish traditions than going fishing and tasting a little whisky(威士忌) at a quiet place like the Inverlochy Castle. When Queen Victoria visited there in 1873 she wrote in her diary, “I never saw a lovelier spot,” And she didn't even go fishing.

Scotland is not easily defined. In certain moments, this quiet land of lakes and grass mountains changes before your very eyes. When evening gently sweeps the hillside into orange, the rivers, teeming with fish, can turn into streams of gold. As you settle down with just a people and a basket on the bank of River Orchy, near the Inverlochy Castle, any frustration will float away as gently as the circling water. It's just you and purple, pink, white flowers, a perfect harmony. If you are a new comer to fishing, learning the basics from a fishing guide may leave you with a lifetime's fun. For many, fishing is more than a sport; it is an art.

Scotland offers interesting place where you can rest after a long day's fishing. Set against a wild mountain and hidden behind woodland, the beautiful Inverlochy Castle Hotel below the Nevis is a perfect place to see the beauty of Scotland's mountains. Ben Nevis is the highest of mountains, and reaching its 1342-metre top is a challenge. But it's not just what goes up that matters; what comes down is unique. More than 900 metres high, on the mountain's north face, lies an all-important source of pure water. Its name comes form the Gaelic language "usqueb" or "water of life"; and it is the single most important ingredient(原料) in Scotland's best known whisky.

1. The story of Queen Victoria is to show that                 .

A．the queen is rich in tour experience

B．the Castle is a good place to go in Scotland

C．tasting whisky is better than going fishing

D．1873 is a special year for the queen

2. How is Paragraph 2 mainly developed?

A．By giving descriptions.	B．By following time order.
C．By analyzing causes.	D．By making comparisons.

3. What is Ben Nevis special for?

A．The Inverlochy Castle Hotel.

B．The beauty of its surroundings.

C．The water from the mountain.

D．The challenge up to its top.

4. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To introduce Scottish traditions to tourists.

B．To show the attractions of Scotland to readers.

C．To explore geographical characteristics of Scotland.

D．To describe the pleasures of life in Scotland.

2 .

The Pillow

At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.

We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house — something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.

On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, “What do you want for your new room?” Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, “I just want a bed.”

The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.

When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.

That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds together, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.

As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, “What is that?”

“A pillow,” he replied.

“What do you do with it?” Eric continued to ask.

“When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow.

“Oh . . . that’s soft,” he said, hugging it tightly.

Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, “Do you have a pillow?”

We know exactly what he means.

1. The writer’s first volunteer project was ________.

A．working on a poor trailer	B．helping a poor family
C．donating beds and bedding	D．dealing with a housing problem

2. On bearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because ________.

A．the family lived in a trailer	B．he expected to get some toys
C．he didn’t know what a bed was	D．the boys had no bed to sleep in

3. From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen before ________.

A．a trailer

B．a truck

C．a pillow

D．a house

4. By sayg “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that ________.

A．what they want to get may be unnecessary

B．they should not waste money on small things

C．they should do more volunteer work for the poor

D．what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow

3 . The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it’s purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. It you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would hive her some idea of a fascinating circle who might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’s be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.
Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practising in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious. Automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance form the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems — how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.
The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine; the latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.
1. The passage mainly deals with         .

A．the function of I.Q. in cultivating a writer

B．the relationship between genius and success

C．the decisive factor in making a genius

D．the way of gaining some sense of distinction

2. By reading novels and writers’ stories, the girl could        .

A．come to understand the inner structure of writing

B．join a fascinating circle of writers someday

C．share with a novelist her likes and dislikes

D．learn from the living examples to establish a sense of security

3. In the girl’s long painstaking training process, ________.

A．her adviser forms a primary challenging force to her success

B．her writing turns into an automatic pattern of performance

C．she acquires the magic of some great achievement

D．she comes to realize she is “hard-wired” to write

4. What can be concluded from the passage?

A．A fueling ambition plays a leading role in one’s success

B．A responsible adviser is more important than the knowledge of writing.

C．As to the growth of a genius, I.Q. doesn’t matter, but just his/her effort.

D．What really matters is what you do rather than who you are.

4 . Camping wild is a wonderful way to experience the natural world and, at its best, it makes little environmental influence. But with increasing numbers of people wanting to escape into the wilderness, it is becoming more and more important to camp unobtrusively(不引人注目地) and leave no mark.

Wild camping is not permitted in many places, particularly in crowded lowland Britain. Wherever you are, find out about organizations responsible for managing wild spaces, and contact them to find out their policy on camping and shelter building. For example, it is fine to camp wild in remote parts of Scotland, but in England you must ask the landowner’s permission, except in national parks.

Camping is about having relaxation, sleeping outdoors, experiencing bad weather, and making do without modern conveniences. A busy, fully-equipped campsite(野营地) seems to go against this, so seek out smaller, more remote places with easy access to open spaces and perhaps beaches. Better still, find a campsite with no road access: walking in makes a real adventure.

Finding the right spot to camp is the first step to guaranteeing a good night’s sleep. Choose a campsite with privacy and minimum influence on others and the environment. Try to use an area where people have obviously camped before rather than creating a new spot. When camping in woodland, avoid standing dead trees, which may fall on a windy night. Avoid animal runs and caves, and possible homes of biting insects. Make sure you have most protection on the windward side. If you make a fire, do so downwind of your shelter. Always consider what influence you might have on the natural world. Avoid damaging plants. A good campsite is found, not made—changing it should be unnecessary.

1. You needn’t ask for permission when camping in ________.

A．national parks in England	B．most parts of Scotland
C．crowded lowland Britain	D．most parts of England

2. The author thinks that a good campsite is one ________.

A．with easy access	B．used previously
C．with modern conveniences	D．far away from beaches

3. The last paragraph mainly deals with ________.

A．protecting animals	B．building a campfire
C．camping in woodland	D．finding a campsite with privacy

4. The passage is mainly about ________.

A．the protection of campsites	B．the importance of wild camping
C．the human influence on campsites	D．the dos and don’ts of wild camping

5 . How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feelings

Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical（经验的，实证的） basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.

Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room's ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.

In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant's ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.

Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.

Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim（暗淡的） light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.

So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. "We have a very limited number of studies, so we're almost looking at the problem through a straw（吸管）," architect David Allison says. "How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That's what we're all struggling with."

1. What does Joan Meyers-Levy focus on in her research?

A．Light.

B．Ceilings.

C．Windows.

D．Furniture.

2. The passage tells us that ________.

A．the shape of furniture may affect people's feelings

B．lower ceilings may help improve students' creativity

C．children in a dim classroom may improve their grades

D．students in rooms with unblocked views may feel relaxed

3. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that ________.

A．the problem is not approached step by step

B．the researches so far have faults in themselves

C．the problem is too difficult for researchers to detect

D．research in this area is not enough to make generalized patterns

4. Which of the following shows the organization of the passage?
CP: Central Point       P: Point     SP: Sub-point（次要点）     C: Conclusion

A．

B．

C．

D．

6 . PhoneSoap: Charge and Clean Your Phone

You may charge your phone every day, but do you clean your phone as much? Whatever your hands touch, your phones touch. It has been discovered that some phones have 18 times more bacteria and viruses than any surface in a public restroom. So it probably won’t surprise you that a 2011 University of London study found that one in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them—specifically, the bacteria called E. coli.

The research on bacteria and viruses led to the invention of PhoneSoap. It is not actually liquid like dishwasher soap. It is a phone charger that uses the electromagnetic radiation used in hospitals to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, cleaning your phone while it charges.

“There are really certain types of bacteria and viruses that we should not be in touch with, and they are really on our phones,” says Wes Barnes, the PhoneSoap co-founder. It all started while his cousin and co-founder, Dan LaPorte, was in his cancer research lab at college. “He realized he got the idea of getting rid of bacteria and viruses on the phones,” said Barnes. “In the lab they used UV-C light for destroying them. He realized this would be the fastest, most powerful way to kill any bacteria and viruses living on electronic machines.”

PhoneSoap looks like a little metal suitcase. Your phone rests in to charge and get cleaned at the same time. Instead of plugging your phone into the wall, you’d plug it into the PhoneSoap charger box. The process only takes a few minutes but, Barnes says, “The idea is that you can leave it in there overnight if you want to keep charging. Reflective paint keeps the light completely around the phone so it cleans the phone fully.”

The co-founders spent 2013 finding the right companies and they started shipping the product in late November. By last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PhoneSoap was all grown-up. Both co-founders have left their previous jobs and are selling PhoneSoap nonstop. “We’re shipping almost more than we can handle each day,” Barnes says. “It’s been a great adventure.”

1. We can learn from the first paragraph that ___________.

A．phones can be very dirty

B．phones are where bacteria are born

C．most phones are attacked by bacteria

D．phones store more bacteria in a restroom

2. According to the passage, PhoneSoap ___________.

A．takes a whole night to kill bacteria

B．deals with bacteria with radiation

C．is a kind of liquid like dishwasher soap

D．has to be plugged into the wall to work

3. From what Barnes said in the last paragraph, we can infer that ___________.

A．PhoneSoap is in great demand now

B．PhoneSoap is really hard to handle

C．they can’t produce enough PhoneSoap

D．they’ll make improvements to PhoneSoap

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Methods of cleaning phones.

B．Tips on charging phones quickly.

C．Soap killing harmful bacteria on phones.

D．A phone charger keeping your phone clean.

7 . Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission.
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behaviour. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk ‘Dog’, and dogs can learn how to talk ‘Cat’.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn how to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected. Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.
The significance of the research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets ─ to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.
1. The underlined word “swimmingly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________.

A．early

B．sweetly

C．quickly

D．smoothly

2. Some cats and dogs may fight when ________.

A．they are cold to each other	B．they look away from each other
C．they misunderstood each other’s signals	D．they are introduced at an early age

3. What is found surprising about cats and dogs?

A．They eat and sleep each other.

B．They observe each other’s behaviors.

C．They learn to speak each other’s language.

D．They know something from each other’s voices.

4. It is suggested in Paragraph 4 that cats and dogs ________.

A．have common interests	B．are less different than was thought
C．have a common body language	D．are less intelligent than was expected

5. What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?

A．We should learn to live in harmony.

B．We should know more about animals.

C．We should live in peace with animals.

D．We should learn more body languages.

8 . 完形填空
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1--20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left _______. Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other _______?
I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s, _______ children from different races and religions played and studied _______ in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone’s ________from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu—we just _______ our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well _______ or otherwise.
We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d _______ the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to _______ the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his ________.
When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I ________ touch with him.
One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. I ________ my destination. The driver acknowledged my ________ but did not move off. Instead, he looked ________ at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname(绰号). I was astonished at being so _________addressed(称呼). Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two ________ we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true affection, something ________ to describe.
If we can allow our children to be ________ without prejudice, they’ll build friendships with people, regardless of race or religion, who will be ________ their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies build and ________ we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “we happy few, we band of brothers”.1.

A．interested

B．pleased

C．puzzled

D．excited

2.

A．parties

B．cities

C．villages

D．races

3.

A．why

B．which

C．how

D．when

4.

A．together

B．around

C．alone

D．apart

5.

A．drop

B．throw

C．move

D．roll

6.

A．refused

B．made

C．sought

D．accepted

7.

A．paid

B．meant

C．preserved

D．treated

8.

A．explore

B．search

C．discover

D．desert

9.

A．get through

B．deal with

C．come across

D．take away

10.

A．arrival

B．choice

C．effort

D．company

11.

A．lost

B．gained

C．developed

D．missed

12.

A．stated

B．ordered

C．decided

D．chose

13.

A．attempts

B．instructions

C．opinions

D．arrangements

14.

A．anxiously

B．carelessly

C．disappointedly

D．fixedly

15.

A．familiarly

B．strangely

C．fully

D．coldly

16.

A．departures

B．months

C．years

D．decades

17.

A．possible

B．funny

C．hard

D．clear

18.

A．them

B．themselves

C．us

D．ourselves

19.

A．from

B．by

C．with

D．against

20.

A．still

B．otherwise

C．then

D．instead

9 . Most of the 20th century has been a development on the Industrial Revolution taken to an extreme: people now own more products than ever before; there are enough unclear weapons to destroy the earth several times over; there is hardly any forest left and pollution has got to the point where we buy water. Within a few years I predict you will be able to buy air. (There once was a time when you didn't need to buy food or shelter either.)

Important developments in the last century are the breaking down of the class structures left over from the Industrial Revolution stage, bringing with it the empowerment of the “common man”： the working day is set by law to only 8 hours a day; everyone has the vote; the media has less obvious government control; people have landed on the moon, sent spacecrafts to Mars and so on. Families have also shrunk drastically (强烈地); the nuclear family came about, and especially in the last half of the 20th century, one­parent families are becoming more common. This shrinking in the size of the family shows the increased independence of people — once upon a time people had to live in large groups to survive.

As humans have “become the gods”， they have realized their individuality and independence and taken their control of the world to an extreme. In many countries the land is almost completely used in the production of food and as living space and they live in small cities which are entirely human constructed, made from materials which are also entirely human constructed (concrete bricks) with hardly any remains of nature. Weeds are poisoned because they are messy; even parks have trees grown in tidy lines; grass is mowed to keep it short and so on. I think the massive drug “problem” troubling people is a result of too much of this influence, humans needing to escape the stark world they have created by entering fantasy worlds.

Over the last 100 years, the 20th century consciousness has spread throughout the world; most of Asia has been thoroughly “Westernized”， and most of the Third World is being overrun by Western ways of doing things and living.

1. What's the author most concerned about?

A．The influence of pollution.

B．Strong effects of development.

C．Changed positions of humans as gods.

D．The process of the Industrial Revolution.

2. What is the author's attitude towards the changes of the 20th century?

A．Objective.	B．Tolerant.
C．Vague.	D．Negative.

3. What does the underlined word “stark” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Unfair.	B．Illegal.
C．Dull.	D．Violent.

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Men's individuality is over controlled.

B．People have damaged nature too much.

C．Men's independence is partially limited.

D．People show concern for nuclear families.

10 . Jame’s New Bicycle
James shook his money box again．Nothing! He carefully _________ the coins that lay on the bed．
＄24．52 was all that he had．The bicycle he wanted was at least ＄90! _________on earth was he going to get the _________ of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycle．It was _________ to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels．He thought about what he could do．There was no _________ asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to _________．
There was only one way to get money, and that was to _________ it．He would have to find a job．_________ who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr．Clay for advice who usually had _________ on most things．
“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr．Clay．“My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing．”
That was the __________ of James’s odd-job（零工）business．For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework．He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards and mended books．He lost count of the __________ of jobs that people found for him to do．He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books．He lost count of the ___________of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the __________ increased and he knew that he would soon have __________ for the bicycle he longed for．
The day __________ came when James counted his money and found ＄94．32．He __________ no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted．He rode __________ home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends．It had been hard __________ for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more __________ he had bought it with his own money．He had __________ what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even than the bicycle．1.

A．cleaned

B．covered

C．counted

D．checked

2.

A．How

B．Why

C．Who

D．What

3.

A．amount

B．part

C．sum

D．rest

4.

A．brave

B．hard

C．smart

D．unfair

5.

A．point

B．reason

C．result

D．right

6.

A．split

B．spend

C．spare

D．save

7.

A．borrow

B．earn

C．raise

D．collect

8.

A．Or

B．So

C．For

D．But

9.

A．decisions

B．experience

C．opinions

D．knowledge

10.

A．beginning

B．introduction

C．requirement

D．opening

11.

A．similarity

B．quality

C．suitability

D．variety

12.

A．brand

B．number

C．size

D．type

13.

A．effort

B．pressure

C．money

D．trouble

14.

A．all

B．enough

C．much

D．some

15.

A．finally

B．instantly

C．normally

D．regularly

16.

A．gave

B．left

C．took

D．wasted

17.

A．patiently

B．proudly

C．silently

D．tiredly

18.

A．applying

B．asking

C．looking

D．working

19.

A．since

B．if

C．than

D．though

20.

A．deserved

B．benefited

C．achieved

D．learned