1 . You can choose happiness regardless of your circumstances. You can choose to be happy no matter what challenges life brings you. Let the following simple strategies guide you back to your natural happy state.
Make lemonade when life gives you lemons.
Besides happiness, trouble will also be part of life. It’s how you choose to react to your situations that make the difference. If you look at something hard enough, you’ll see the positive side of it.
Do what you love doing.
Do you have a lifelong dream or desire? If so, start working towards it. Taking baby steps towards a goal will help you feel like you’re accomplishing something. You’ll find drive and determination to reach that goal when it’s something you love doing.
Use one of your talents.
One reason why so many people are unhappy is that they’re not doing what they’re called to do with their God-given talents. Each of us has a purpose in life. You have natural talents to help you achieve your purpose, so use your talents effectively.
Call a friend who you know is positive and cheerful.
Talk about your feelings and listen to their advice. Usually, people allow themselves to go deeper and deeper into self-depression. The truth is that you don’t have to be sad. You can decide to be happy. You just have to make up your mind to do so.
Gratitude is the quickest cure for sadness.
When you focus on what’s wrong with your life, you forget to look at what’s right and good. Take a step back and reflect on your life. Do you have children or family to be thankful for? Yes, they may not be the person we’d like them to be, but imagine life without them. Now, be thankful that you have them in your life.
Let your feelings out on paper.
Often you’ll find that just getting your feelings down on paper will allow you to work through them, helping you feel better about yourself and your beautiful life!
1. The first paragraph is used to _______.| A．expect readers to ignore themselves |
| B．start a discussion among readers |
| C．introduce the topic to readers |
| D．carry out a challenge among readers |
| A．trouble is part of life |
| B．lemonade is very delicious |
| C．life is full of sweetness and bitterness |
| D．lemons can only be used to make lemonade |
| A．diverse | B．natural |
| C．excellent | D．learned |
| A．Be grateful. | B．Do many activities. |
| C．Call a cheerful friend. | D．Use one of your talents. |
| A．excited | B．depressed |
| C．bad-tempered | D．kind-hearted |
2 . Fallingwater is a house built over a waterfall in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect, designed the house in 1935. It instantly became famous, and today it is a National Historic Landmark.
Guided House Tour
This tour features all the major rooms of the house and lasts about one hour. Photography is not permitted during this tour. The Guided House Tour allows children six-year-old and older to enjoy the house with their parents.
Adults — $$ 20.00 with advance purchase
— $$ 23.00 when purchased on site
Youth (ages 6〜12) — $$ 14.00 with advance purchase
— $$ 17.00 when purchased on site
Daily from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, except Wednesday.
In-Depth Tour
The tour is best if you desire a greater understanding of what Wright was seeking to create with his masterwork. The number of visitors on each tour is limited and photography is permitted for personal use only. Children nine years and older may accompany adults on this tour.
$ 65.00 per person (Available by advance ticket purchase only)
Daily from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sunset Tour
As afternoon turns to evening, the changing light allows you to see Fallingwater from an entirely new perspective. The number of visitors is limited and photography is permitted for personal use only. Children under nine-years-old are not permitted on this tour.
$ 110.00 per person (Available by advance ticket purchase only)
May, June, & September — Saturdays at 4:30 pm
July & August — Fridays and Saturdays at 4:45 pm
Brunch Tour
The guests join their guide for brunch before they leave. Children nine years and older may accompany adults on this tour. Please allow three hours total for this experience.
$ 115.00 per person (Available by advance ticket purchase only)
May through September — Saturdays & Sundays at 9:00 am
1. Today ______ is a National Historic Landmark.| A．Frank Lloyd Wright | B．a house in Southeastern Pennsylvania |
| C．Fallingwater | D．a famous architect |
| A．$ 48 | B．$54 |
| C．$ 63 | D．$ 51 |
| A．Guided House Tour. | B．In-Depth Tour. |
| C．Brunch Tour. | D．Sunset Tour. |
| A．The number of visitors is not limited. | B．It is not accessible in August. |
| C．It is only open for teenagers. | D．The ticket isn’t available on site. |
| A．They encourage advance tickets | B．They offer brunch free of charge |
| C．They forbid visitors taking photos | D．They have the same price of tickets |
3 . People in most western countries celebrate Valentine's Day (情人节) on February 14th. It is a special time to send greeting cards called valentines to their sweethearts, friends, parents and other family members.
Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, became one the first American manufacturers (生产者) of valentines in 1847. She saw several British valentines and decided to make her own. She used ribbons, lace, flowers and painted leaves on her cards. Today valentines are sold in many stores all over the world and may have messages of love or be very humorous. People also send flowers, candy and gifts to the people they want to remember on Valentine’s Day.
Children in America decorate their classrooms with paper hearts and cupids (丘比特的画), and many hold classroom parties to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their classmates and teachers. Older students may have dances at their schools on Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day in Europe is celebrated in many ways. Children in England sing special songs and receive gifts, candy and money. People may bake special bread with plums (葡萄干) in them. In Denmark, people send pressed white flowers called snowdrops to their friends.
However you decide to celebrate on Valentine’s Day, take some time to tell your friends and family that you love them.
1. What is the main idea of this writing?| A．Valentine’s Day is celebrated on Feb.14th. |
| B．How valentines are made. |
| C．Valentine’s Day is a special holiday for friends and family. |
| D．Why Valentine’s Day is a special time. |
| A．In Oregon. | B．In Massachusetts. |
| C．In Michigan. | D．In Florida. |
| A．Have dances at school. |
| B．Receive gifts of fruit, candy and money. |
| C．Hold classroom parties. |
| D．Send pressed snowdrops to their friends. |
| A．School children celebrate Valentine’s Day in many ways. |
| B．People in Denmark send flowers called snowdrops to their friends. |
| C．All valentines are funny or humorous. |
| D．Valentine’s Day is not only celebrated by sweethearts. |
4 . Most people aren’t good at creative problem solving for two reasons: (1) They are not trained in how to be creative. (2) They don’t understand group strength well enough to harness（驾驭）their power to maximize group creativity.
A key element of creativity is applying existing knowledge to a new problem. The more people getting involved in solving it, the more knowledge there is to work on it. Unfortunately, research shows that the traditional brainstorming methods fail to achieve that goal. When groups get together to exchange ideas, they actually come up with fewer ideas overall than if they each had worked alone.
To fix this problem, you should consider the two stages of group problem-solving: divergence（分散）and convergence（集中）. Divergence happens when the group considers as many different potential solutions as possible. Convergence happens when the various proposed solutions are evaluated and reduced to a smaller set of candidate solutions to the current problem.
The essential principle of group creativity is that individuals working alone diverge, whereas group members working together converge. In groups, once a member states a potential solution, that makes others think about the problem similarly. That is why groups working together diverge less than individuals working alone.
Therefore, be aware of when to diverge and when to converge. For example, early in the problem-solving process, have group members work alone to write down statements describing the problem. Then get them back to discuss their descriptions. The group discussion will lead everyone to accept one or a small number of these statements to work on—this is healthy convergence.
When starting to generate solutions, you again want divergence. Have people work alone to start. Then collect people’s initial ideas and send them around to others and allow the divergence to continue as everyone individually builds on the ideas of other members.
Finally, let the group discuss the resulting ideas. This discussion will gradually lead the group to converge on a small number of candidate solutions.
This simple method works effectively, because it respects what individuals and groups do best.
1. Research shows that the traditional brainstorming methods ______.| A．actually limit group creativity |
| B．greatly encourage group creativity |
| C．enable people to form more ideas together |
| D．prevent people’s involvement in the problems |
| A．think the other way round |
| B．follow his way of thinking |
| C．be more confident in their own ideas |
| D．be less willing to share their own ideas |
| A．Discuss the problem. | B．Simplify the problem. |
| C．Put down group statements together. | D．Write down their individual descriptions. |
| A．By adding in collected evidence. | B．By reorganizing his own words. |
| C．By drawing on others’ ideas. | D．By making his statement briefer. |
| A．To advocate a way to make group thinking more effective. |
| B．To demonstrate the difficulty in organizing group thinking. |
| C．To highlight the differences between divergence and convergence. |
| D．To show the advantage of group thinking over individual thinking. |
5 . The killdeer, a small bird known for its high-pitched ( 声调高的) call, could lead to the cancellation of one of Canada’ biggest music festivals.
The first hint of trouble for Ottawa’s Bluesfest, an outdoor festival that draws around 300,000 people each year, came last week after workers at the site found one of the birds.
It had laid four eggs nearby, effectively claiming the main stage area as its nesting ground. “This is one of the most challenging problems we’ve been presented with, but we feel we can work through this,” said Mark Monahan, executive director of the festival.
“Anything that changes the schedule has a major effect, so we’re taking it very seriously.” The discovery meant that government officials rushed to protect the nest and the eggs, hiring a security guard to watch over them 24 hours a day. Environmentalists were also brought in.
“We don’t know when the eggs might hatch,” said Monahan. What is known is that the young killdeer will likely leave the nest soon after they are hatched, leading many to hope that the eggs hatch in the next day or so.
The festival is now seeking permission from Environment Canada to relocate the nest some 50 meters away or take it to a wildlife center.
Moving the nest would also ensure the bird and its young would be protected during the festival’s 11-day run, said Monahan. It’s highly likely that the festival’s thousands of attendees would cause huge problems for the bird and its eggs.
Monahan was confident that the festival would go on as planned, however.
“Most of the people we’re working with are looking for a positive solution,” Monahan said. “There is no one saying that the festival can’t go on.”
As news of the dilemma spread, it left residents divided. Some supported the bird, saying that moving the nest might result in the eggs being abandoned.
Others expressed annoyance that protecting the eggs of the small bird, which is widespread across North America, was risking an annual festival that contributes millions of dollars to the local economy.
The killdeer’s tendency to build its nest in open fields or flat areas has caused issues in other areas of the US: earlier this year, construction on a health center in Wisconsin was temporarily stopped after a killdeer and its four eggs were discovered.
1. What can we learn about Bluesfest?| A．It is the first music festival in Canada. |
| B．It is an important event for music lovers. |
| C．It is a music festival held every two years. |
| D．It is a challenging outdoor activity in Ottawa. |
| A．Pressure from the government. |
| B．Disagreements with the public. |
| C．The need to protect the bird’s eggs. |
| D．The lack of experience in hosting the event. |
| A．Move the nest to another place. |
| B．Ask government officials for help. |
| C．Seek advice from environmentalists. |
| D．Hire security guards to protect the eggs. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. |
| C．Unsure. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．a difficult situation |
| B．an extreme situation |
| C．a dangerous situation |
| D．an encouraging situation |
6 . Have you ever heard someone say, “you totally look like you’re a Jessica” or something similar? People seem to think that they know what kind of person a “Jessica” or a “Michael” looks like. Why is this?
According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, humans tend to associate people’s names with their appearance, and can even guess someone’s name based on how they look.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, collected thousands of photos of people’s faces. They labeled each photo with four names. Then, they asked volunteers to guess which of the four names was correct.
The volunteers were able to guess the right name 38 percent of the time. It seems that certain characteristics of faces give them clues about someone’s name, Reader’s Digest reported.
However, this only worked when the volunteers looked at names from their own culture. In addition, the volunteers were not as good at guessing the real names of people who used nicknames more often than their real names. This may show that a person’s appearance is affected by their name only if they use it often.
This kind of face-name matching happens “because of a process of self-fulfilling prophecy (自我实现预言), as we become what other people expect us to become.” Ruth Mayo from the university told science news website EurekAlert.
Earlier studies have shown that gender and race stereotypes (刻板印象) can affect a person’s appearance. The researchers believe there are also similar stereotypes about names. For example, people tend to think that men named Bob should have rounder faces because the word itself looks round. People may think that women named Rose are beautiful. They expect them to be “delicate” and “feminine(女性的)”, just like the flower they are named for.
1. What was the purpose of the study?| A．To find out today’s most popular English names. |
| B．To learn how names influence personality. |
| C．To find out whether names relate to their looks. |
| D．To show how men’s names are different from women’s. |
| A．Volunteers found it easier to guess nicknames correctly. |
| B．Names may have different associations in different cultures. |
| C．Volunteers could guess the characteristics of those people. |
| D．The people in the photos and volunteers were from the same country. |
| A．They tend to become what others expect them to become. |
| B．They want to please everyone around them. |
| C．They don’t want to be different from others. |
| D．They like to copy famous people who share the same name. |
| A．Earlier studies about stereotypes are limited. |
| B．Stereotypes about names can bring good results. |
| C．Stereotypes about names can affect people’s looks. |
| D．It’s not always bad to be influenced by the expectations of others. |
7 . Parrots have been known to imitate words, but have you ever thought how they communicate? The sounds they make may sound meaningless to us, but new research has found that wild parrots are actually given names by their parents.
According to a study led by Karl Berg of Cornell University in the US, baby birds are given a unique sound of their own, which stays with them for their entire lives.
In the study, the team placed hidden cameras in the nests of 17 different wild parrots. After studying their sounds, the team identified slight differences in the calls parents used to communicate with each chick. And even before the baby birds had learned to communicate properly, the baby birds seemed to recognize and imitate their calls.
Sounds very similar to humans, doesn’t it?
The study also proved that these signature calls are acquired socially not genetically. To do this, scientists switched the eggs in nine of the 17 nests, so that half of the parrots were raising baby birds that weren’t theirs. Using the recordings, the scientists concluded the baby birds all used names similar to those the parents (whether biological or nonbiological) called them for the first weeks of their lives.
Lucie McNeil, from National Geographic, said, “this would be the first [proven] example of a non-human species teaching acoustical (声学的) communication.”
Lead scientist for the study, Karl Berg told National Public Radio of the US, “Most people say, ‘Well, all those calls are just noise,’ but I think they’re having conversations.”
Fox News also asked Berg what else the parrots might be saying? He replied, “The theory is that these birds are deciding where the food is, ‘Do we want to go 3 km North-Northwest?’ “Do we want to go to that field?’ They are sort of arguing or discussing.”
Natural science author, Virginia Morell, wrote: “Very gradually, scientists are learning to decode the conversations of very different animals that live lives rich with plans, quarrels, and romance.”
You never know, if the science of animal translation keeps advancing, we might one day be watching a reality series about parrots.
1. What did the new research find about wild parrots?| A．They can talk by learning from people. |
| B．The sounds they make are meaningless. |
| C．They have names given by their parents. |
| D．They have a unique way of making sounds. |
| A．Different parrots are called differently by their parents. |
| B．Baby parrots can tell who their biological parents are. |
| C．Baby parrots can mimic their biological parents’ calls better. |
| D．Parrots are the most skilled animals in acoustical communication. |
| A．To see whether the parents could recognize their own babies. |
| B．To see whether the parrots made the same sounds all their lives. |
| C．To see whether the signature calls were acquired socially or genetically. |
| D．To see whether biological and nonbiological parents named babies differently. |
| A．imitate | B．understand |
| C．practice | D．create |
8 . Several years ago I started riding a bike. At first, I thought it was only a
When I signed my name, the
The ride began on a Sunday morning in the Georgia countryside,
As I topped the hill, the nice sunset
My focus
It rained all the second day. I
| A．free | B．short | C．hard | D．boring |
| A．trips | B．fights | C．swims | D．jumps |
| A．gives | B．borrows | C．counts | D．raises |
| A．dream | B．life | C．idea | D．advice |
| A．record | B．distance | C．job | D．fame |
| A．self-doubt | B．self-respect | C．self-control | D．self-love |
| A．hike | B．walk | C．bike | D．drive |
| A．but | B．so | C．and | D．or |
| A．adventure | B．experience | C．excitement | D．struggle |
| A．low | B．proud | C．brave | D．high |
| A．carry on | B．give up | C．break out | D．hold back |
| A．kept | B．protected | C．stopped | D．found |
| A．called | B．interviewed | C．saw | D．missed |
| A．approved | B．hoped | C．remembered | D．noticed |
| A．look back | B．pay back | C．cheer up | D．catch up |
| A．determined | B．forced | C．strange | D．shy |
| A．strengthened | B．changed | C．built | D．fixed |
| A．person | B．will | C．bicycle | D．cause |
| A．never | B．often | C．even | D．still |
| A．tired | B．comfortable | C．strong | D．injured |
9 . Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast(盛宴). The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies(殖民地) began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed(宣布) the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.
1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .| A．in spring | B．summer |
| C．in autumn | D．in winter |
| A．some people from England | B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale | D．Governor Bradford |
| A．in the U. S. A. | B．in Great Britain |
| C．in Canada | D．on some island off the Atlantic |
| A．Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
| B．Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
| C．Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |
| D．There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
| A．how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A. |
| B．how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated |
| C．that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday |
| D．how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places |
10 . It’s hair-raising news for criminals on the run. Scientists behind a new study have worked out how to identify individuals only based on the proteins in a single strand of their hair.
While the police already look at DNA from hair as part of investigations, the technique is far from ideal: DNA is easily degradable, meaning it can only be analyzed within a certain time period after the crime. But the new technique could even be used to solve historical or archaeological cases, making it far superior to DNA sequencing in many ways.
DNA degradation depends on several environmental factors including temperature, humidity and PH. It is also affected by the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms. In contrast, actual hairs can survive for a long time — sometimes centuries. After bones and teeth, hair is in fact one of the most resistant structures of the human body.
In order to understand how the protein can be used to identify individuals, it is important to understand mat proteins are coded by DNA. This means that a certain level of the genetic variation that we see in different people’s DNA passes into their proteins. In fact, genetic information in the DNA is translated into amino-acid chains that make up proteins.
The method not only allows for human identification but it can also reveal how old the sample is and what region it comes from, so that we can distinguish between current and ancient samples. But while the discovery is exciting, the technique is not quite polished enough to be used in the court room. The main task now will be to analyze hair samples from all over the world, which will make it a lot more reliable.
The new discovery will boost the significance of hair as evidence in courts, at a time when some forensic disciplines have been criticized in the US. It will also be of great use in archaeology.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．DNA evidence is far from ideal. | B．Criminals on the run get hair-raising news. |
| C．Scientists are planning a test of human hair. | D．Humans can be identified by proteins in hair. |
| A．Lost teeth. | B．The footprint. |
| C．Personal belongings. | D．Damaged DNA. |
| A．Serving as evidence in courts. | B．Possessing genetic information. |
| C．Inferring the height of a person. | D．Distinguishing the region of a person. |
| A．Test hair samples worldwide. | B．Legalize the hair evidence. |
| C．Apply protein-test to archaeology. | D．Map the structure of DNA. |
| A．Criminals. | B．Employers. | C．Hairdressers. | D．Archaeologists. |
