2 . A high level of methane (甲烷) gas on Mars was found by NASA's Mars exploration vehicle. The discovery is exciting because the presence of methane gas could support the case for life on Mars:

NASA's Curiosity vehicle recently recorded the largest level of methane ever measured during its seven-year Mars mission.

Methane has no color or smell. A special instrument on Curiosity's Mars Science Laboratory recorded the increased gas level. Besides methane, the instrument can record levels of water and carbon dioxide.

Nearly all the methane gas found in earth's atmosphere is produced by biological activity. It usually comes from animal and plant life. But it can also be formed by geological processes, such as interactions between rocks and water.

It was not the first time Curiosity has found methane gas in the Martian atmosphere.. About a year ago, NASA announced that Curiosity had discovered sharp seasonal increases in the gas. This time, NASA said the measured methane gas level was clearly larger than any others observed in the past. NASA officials even temporarily stopped Curiosity's other activities to investigate further.

However, Curiosity's team carried out a follow-up methane experiment that showed a sharp drop in levels of the gas. The rise and fall of the methane gas levels left NASA scientists with more questions than answers. The scientists are continuing to study possible causes for the sudden increase.

Curiosity does not have instruments that can exactly identify whether the source of the methane is biological or geological. One leading theory is that methane is being released from underground areas created by possible life forms that disappeared long ago. Even though Mars has no active volcanoes, scientists believe it is also possible that methane is being produced by reactions involving carbon materials and water.

1. Why is the discovery of methane gas on Mars exciting?

A．It was first found on Mars.	B．It's evidence of life existence.
C．It can be used in further studies.	D．It proves the existence of water.

2. What can we learn about the methane gas on Mars?

A．It is colorless and smelly.

B．It is mainly created by rocks and water.

C．It is as important as water and carbon dioxide.

D．It is produced by biological or geological, activity.

3. What brought more puzzles to NASA's scientists?

A．Discovering methane gas several times on Mars.

B．The failure of the follow-up methane experiment.

C．Having no exact instruments to identify methane gas.

D．Sharp changes in the amount of methane gas on Mars.

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

A．Explorations on Mars	B．Methane Level on Mars
C．Methane Mystery on Mars	D．The Sources of Methane on Mars

3 . Many of us mistakenly believe that it's wrong to think we have any good qualities. We may spend a lot of time blaming ourselves for our negative qualities, thinking that self criticism is the key to improving our performance. However, a constant focus on our supposed shortcomings can stop our efforts to make friends with other people. How can we believe that others could like us if we believe our inner being is flawed (有缺陷)?

If someone seems to dislike you, the reason for that dislike might have little or nothing to do with you. The person who doesn't like you might be fearful, or shallow, or busy or shy. Perhaps you and that person are simply a mismatch for each other at this particular time.

Don't take yourself out of the game by deciding that your flaws are bigger than your good qualities. In fact, some of the very qualities you consider to be flaws may be irresistible to someone else. For all the factors that might cause one person to reject you, there are at least as many factors that will work in your favor with someone else.

You might be thirty pounds over your ideal weight, but you may have a wonderful laugh and a real enthusiasm for life. There are many people who don't mind your extra pounds. You may drive a shabby car, but you might be a great dancer and a loyal friend. There are people out there looking for loyalty, or fun, or sweetness, or wisdom, and the package it comes in is not important. If you are worried that you are not beautiful enough to attract friends, keep in mind that not everyone is looking for physical beauty in their friends. You can decide to feel inferior (自卑) because you don't have much money and you don't drive a nice car. You can believe that this is the reason that you don't have many friends in your life. On the other hand, if you are very wealthy you may be suspicious that everyone is after your money and that nobody really likes you as a person.

The point is that you can focus on just about anything and believe it's the reason you do not have friends and cannot make any.

1. According to the author        plays an important role in making friends.

A．admitting your shortcomings	B．self criticism
C．modesty	D．confidence

2. If you are not liked by a person,       .

A．you should find the reason in yourself

B．you'd better talk with the person face to face

C．you may not be the one to be blamed

D．you and that person misunderstand each other

3. We can learn from the third paragraph that       .

A．your good qualities may turn out to be your flaws

B．your weakness may also be your strengths in some way

C．your negative qualities cause a person to reject you

D．you’ll have few friends if your flaws are bigger than your good qualities

4. Which of the following is true according to the author?

A．It is important to lose weight.

B．It is easier for a wealthy person to make friends.

C．Inner qualities are more important than physical appearance.

D．If you are not beautiful enough, try to improve your physical beauty.

4 . When we're in need, we always turn to our parents for help. But would you like them to hear the conversations you have with your friends on the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites have become extensions (延伸)of the school hallways, so would you add your parents as "friends" and allow them to view your online activities and conversations with friends？

In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were up to date with the latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day-to-day lives as they always had because they had no need to know more about technology. However, more and more parents are beginning to realize just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the motivation to educate themselves about social networking sites.

These days many people are attracted to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there's also a certain amount of control over privacy(隐私) that we don't get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is violated when we must accept a "friend" request from a parent or family member.

It's a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our online lives. On the one hand we don't want to "reject" their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to hide. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a sense of being watched and no longer feel free to comment or communicate the way you did before.

A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn't take it personally if their children overlook their requests. When a teenager overlooks a parent's friend request, it doesn't necessarily mean that he/she is hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of his/her life where he/she wants to be independent.

Perhaps talking with parents and explaining would help soften the blow if you do choose not to add them to your friend list.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Privacy online.	B．Parents' friend requests.
C．The generation gap.	D．Social networks.

2. What can we infer from paragraph 2?

A．Parents have realized the importance of social networks.

B．Parents feel secure about their privacy online.

C．Social networks successfully fill the generation gap.

D．Social networks offer a platform for parents to communicate.

3. What maybe the reason for teenagers to refuse a parent's friend request?

A．Their parents make negative comments on them.

B．They hide something from their parents.

C．They are unwilling to be watched by parents.

D．Their parents tend to fall behind in technology.

4. Who are the passage mainly written for?

A．Parents.	B．Teachers.
C．Researchers.	D．Teenagers.

5 . Every day on her walk to school, Khloe Thompson, a nine-year-old girl, kept noticing the same homeless people and couldn’t help but feel troubled. She kept asking her mom why or how they were there, and at the end of the conversation she always wondered, “What can I do to help?” Seeing these struggling individuals in her community, Khloe made a resolution to create her own charity devoted to improving the lives of local homeless people. After Khloe made the decision firmly, she quickly began to effect change in the homeless community, raising spirits while lending some much-needed assistance to those living on the street.

“No dream is too small or too big!” writes Khloe on her GoFundMe page, which was set up by Khloe and her mom Alisha and has raised $14,000 in the two months since it was established, exceeding its original $10,000 goal. “Any funds raised on this page will go toward our charity filing fees and any future volunteer projects. The more we raise, the more people we can help!”

The charity, called Khloe Kares, is a community service-oriented organization that plans different projects to give some assistance to those in need. Khloe’s first project was Kare Bags, which are intended to help the homeless. “I like to give them a nice sturdy bag that they can have forever,” says Khloe, “Sometimes they give me hugs and then they say thank you.”

“As a parent, you’re going to be concerned about her walking up to random strangers,” says Alisha, who accompanies Khloe when she hands out her Kare Bags. After seeing people’s positive reactions, she said “People really warm up to her quickly.”

As Khloe strives to help those near her, homelessness has become an increasingly pressing issue. For Khloe, Kare Bags are just the beginning. She is currently planning a toy drive for kids living in group homes, which will take place on July. She has collected about $1,000 worth of toys to give out, and additional voluntary gifts will go towards The Raise Foundation of Orange County, whose goal is to stop child abuse and neglect.

1. Khloe created her own charity to        .

A．collect money for children’s toys

B．help homeless people of the local area

C．protect more children from abuse and neglect

D．improve the living condition of the community

2. From the passage, we can know that GoFundMe page        .

A．is a community service-oriented organization

B．was set up by Khloe and some local volunteers

C．plans different projects to help those people in need

D．raises fund for filing fees and future volunteer projects

3. Which of the following words can best describe Khole?

A．Devoted and open-minded.

B．Humorous and strong-willed.

C．Determined and warm-hearted.

D．Knowledgeable and hard-working.

4. Which of the following can be the best title?

A．No Life is Easy

B．The Road to Success

C．The Power of Volunteers

D．Lend a Hand to Strangers

6 . More than a billion people around the world have smart phones, almost all of which come with some kind of navigation app such as Apple Maps or Amap. This raises the age-old question we meet with any technology: What abilities is our brain losing to these apps? But also, importantly: What abilities are we gaining?

Talking with people who are good at finding their way around or good at using paper maps, I often hear a lot of annoyance with digital maps. North/south direction gets messed up, and you can see only a small section at a time. I can really understand that it may be quite disturbing for the already skilled to be limited to a small phone screen.

But consider what digital navigation aids have meant for someone like me. Although being a frequent traveler, I'm so terrible at finding my way that I still use Apple Maps almost every day in the small town where I have lived for many years.

In many developed nations, street names and house numbers can be meaningful, and instructions such as go north for three blocks and──then west’’ make sense to those familiar with these rules. In Istanbul, however, where I grew up, none of those hold true. For one thing, the locals seldom use street names. Besides, the city is full of winding and ancient alleys(小巷) that cross with newer avenues at many angles. In such places, you’d better turn to the locals. In the countryside, however, there is often nobody outside to ask. In fact, along came Apple Maps, like a fairy grandmother whispering directions in my ear. Since then, I travel with a lot more confidence, and my world has opened up.

Which brings me back to my original question: While we often lose some skills after depending on new technology, this new equipment may also allow us to gain new abilities. Maybe when technology closes a door, we should also look for the doors it opens.

1. Why do people who are skilled at reading paper maps feel upset?

A．They are interested in reading paper maps,

B．They don’t know how to use navigation, apps.

C．They are limited to a single smart phone app.

D．They are confused by digital maps’ direction.

2. According to the text, which is the best way to find the destination in Istanbul?

A．Asking local people the way.

B．Following the navigation app.

C．Getting familiar with the city rules.

D．Looking for street names and house numbers.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards the navigation apps?

A．Cautious	B．Ambiguous
C．Favorable	D．Critical

4. What could be the best title of the passage?

A．Benefits of Navigation Apps

B．Disadvantages of Navigation Apps

C．My World Opens Up by New Technology

D．Have Navigation Apps Worsened Our Brain?

7 . We humans love to stare into our smart devices. We gaze for hours-about 10 hours and 39 minutes a day-at our computers, smartphones,tablets and televisions. Is all this staring bad for us? It might be mainly because as we stare at our devices we are exposing ourselves to blue light.

Blue light is a type of electromagnetic(电磁的) radiation with a very short wavelength that produces a high amount of energy. While it’s true that light can damage our eyes under certain circumstances, there’s no scientific evidence suggesting that blue light is harmful to our eyes. But many people still think it is, which is why blue-light-blocking glasses are so popular. So do the glasses work?

“Everyone is very concerned that blue light may be causing damage to the eye, but there’s no evidence that it may be causing serious damage,” Dr. Rahul Khurana, clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology,told Business Insider.

Blue light exposure is nothing new. In fact,the sun is the largest source of blue light. Moreover, blue light is also present in LED light. But if blue light isn’t harmful, then why are we constantly rubbing our eyes when we’re looking at our screens? The answer is eyestrain(眼疲劳): More than 60 percent of people experience eye problems associated with digital eyestrain. And blue light, it seems, isn’t the cause. Instead, our eyes are so strained because most of us blink less when we stare at our digital devices. So if eyestrain is the issue, blue-light-blocking glasses are probably of little use.

1. What do we know about blue light?

A．It is a kind of nuclear radiation.

B．It has the shortest wavelength.

C．It may come from electronic devices.

D．It consumes a great deal of energy.

2. What causes the popularity of blue-light-blocking glasses?

A．Evidence of their benefits to eyes.

B．Belief in blue light's harmful effect.

C．Widespread use of smart devices.

D．Scientific understanding of blue light.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A．Blue light exposure is hardly avoidable.

B．Eye problems are not easy to deal with.

C．Blue light may connect with tired eyes.

D．Rubbing eyes makes people strained.

4. According to the text, wearing blue-light-blocking glasses may be________.

A．tiring	B．harmful
C．useless	D．beneficial

8 . Have you ever heard of blogs (博客)? If you haven’t, you should have. It’s here, it’s growing and it’s having an influence on our life. Surf the Internet and you’ll find blogs everywhere. A blog, shortened from “weblog”, is a public Internet journal（日志） written by one person or a group of people. It is a website in which a person or a group can place news, personal thoughts, text, photos, video or audio files, or links upon that visitors can comment (评价). A blog lets you post on the Internet without having to know web design or be technical. You are given an environment to make dated entries on the topic of your choice which are “published”, so other people can read them.

Authoring（批准，授权）a blog, maintaining（维护） a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Blogging has revolutionized(革命化的) Internet publishing in the last several years because it gives everyone with Internet access the opportunity to become an online writer. Objects, such as “text and photos” in a blog can be called “blog posts”( 博客帖子), “posts”, or “entries”(词条). The person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”.

Now, somewhere around the world, a blog is created almost every 6 seconds. Because it’s great potential, Bill Gates views it as important as e-mail, BBS, and MSN. He’s trying to make blogs the important tools for future business communications.

1. A blog is            .

A．a comment	B．an Internet journal
C．a design	D．a link

2. A person can do the following things in a blog EXCEPT _______.

A．talk to others	B．give comments
C．read articles	D．enjoy photos

3. From the passage we know that                   .

A．Bill Gates will invent some tools for blogs

B．blogs will be an important business communication tool in the future

C．so far, only a few persons have created blogs

D．blogs will replace e-mail, BBS and MSN in the future

4. According to the passage, the reason why blogs are so popular is that they ____.

A．give everyone the chance to be an online writer

B．can be created by people without much knowledge of computer technology

C．enable a blogger to place news, personal thoughts, text and photos and give comments

D．all of the above

9 . Body language is the “silence language” of every culture. It is important to know the body language of every country, or we may be misunderstood.

In the United States, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction. The handshake must be firm. If the handshake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness. Friends may place a hand on the other’s arm or shoulder. Some people, usually women, greet a friend with a hug.

Space is important to Americans. When two people talk to each other, they usually stand about two or a half feet away and at an angle, so they are not facing each other directly. Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close. They will move back to have their space. If Americans touch another person by accident, they say “Pardon me” or “Excuse me”.

Americans like to look the other person in the eye when they are talking. If you don’t do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested. But when you stare at someone, it is not polite.

Learning a culture’s body language is sometimes confusing. If you don’t know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile.

1. Suppose you are meeting a customer from United States, how will you greet him?

A．Greet him with a hug	B．Stare at him
C．Place a hand on his arm	D．Shake his hand firmly

2. If you stand too close to Americans, they will ________.

A．face you directly	B．move back
C．Say “Pardon me”	D．stare at you

3. Which of the following statements is True according to the text?

A．Americans stand side by side when talking with friends.

B．Americans show their respect by shaking hands weakly.

C．Americans say “Excuse me” to each other when talking.

D．Americans like to look the other person in the eye when talking.

4. If you know nothing about a culture’s body language, you can ________.

A．listen carefully with no expression	B．hide your opinions
C．smile	D．stare at others

10 . An earthquake is one of the most common natural disasters． It may cause great damage． So it is wise to learn some simple safety tips to protect yourself or your family members．

Fragile items， like those made of glass should usually be placed on a lower surface， near the ground instead of placing them on cupboards higher up． Never place them near your bed， sofas and other furniture where you would be sitting or lying down． When there is a strong movement，these pieces will fall on the floor directly and not on you．

There is a strong chance of short circuits （短路） and fire breakouts during an earthquake． Make sure you turn off electrical connections and gas immediately when an earthquake happens．

During an earthquake， lie beneath an object that is not easily damaged． Do not go near objects that could directly fall on you． Never use the elevator to go down． Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside． Research has shown that most injuries happen when people inside buildings try to go out． Use the staircases at all times．

If you are outdoors， do not take shelter under a tree， streetlights， electric poles or tall buildings． If you are driving， stop your car and stay in a safe place． Do not park your car under a tree or any tall object．

If trapped in debris （瓦砾堆）， cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing． Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can find you． Use a whistle （哨子） if one is available． Never shout for help． Shouting can cause you to breathe in dangerous amounts of dust． Do not light a match because you may burn yourself． Do not move about or kick up dust．

1. The purpose of the passage is to tell readers ．

A．the damage caused by earthquakes

B．the rescue work after earthquakes

C．what to do about earthquakes

D．how to prevent earthquakes

2. The underlined word "Fragile" in Paragraph 2 probably means ．

A．easily broken

B．easily found

C．expensive

D．heavy

3. During the earthquake， people are advised to ．

A．go out the building at once

B．turn off power and gas immediately

C．take shelter under a tree

D．drive to a safe place

4. What should people NOT do when they are trapped in debris？

A．Cover their mouth with a handkerchief．

B．Tap on a pipe or wall for help．

C．Use a whistle for help．

D．Light a fire for help．

5. If you are driving， what should you do in the earthquake？

A．take shelter under a tree

B．stop your car and stay in a safe place

C．park your car under a tree

D．park your car under a tall object