Be careful what you say around your dog．It might understand more than you think．
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany．The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child．Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee．
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects．Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back．In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right．As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words．
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew．The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before．
The correct object was chosen in seven out of ten tests, suggesting that the dog had worked
out the answer by process of elimination（排除法）．A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive．
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog．For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed （品种）known for its mental abilities．In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months．
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say．Even if they do, they can't talk back．Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then．You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
1. From paragraph 2 we know that __________．
| A．animals are as clever as human beings |
| B．chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills |
| C．dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees |
| D．dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children |
| A．Rico is smart enough to get all commands right |
| B．Rico can recognize different things including toys |
| C．Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics |
| D．Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them |
| A．Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training． |
| B．The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities． |
| C．The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects． |
| D．Rico is born to understand its owner's commands． |
| A．To train your dog． | B．To talk to your dog． |
| C．To be careful with your dog． | D．To be friendly to your dog． |
2 . Suppose you want to buy some new clothes or a new TV. Or maybe you need some work done on your car. How can you find the best price without shopping all over town？Ads can help you. Ads can show you lots of prices. And you don’t have to go anywhere to see them. Just open a newspaper or magazine，and you’ll find plenty of ads. The following is an ad about TV sets for sale. Please read it and answer the questions below.
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．You can buy any kind on July 14th. |
| B．The service time is 9-9 every day except Monday. |
| C．The larger the screen is, the higher the price will be. |
| D．The lowest price is more than 300. |
| A．The date of the American National Day (July 4th). |
| B．The postcode of the area where the store is. |
| C．The phone number of the store. |
| D．The names of the TV sets. |
3 . “Congratulations, Mr. Jones, it’s a girl.”
Fatherhood is going to have a different meaning and bring forth a different response from every man who hears these words. Some feel proud when they receive the news, while others worry, wondering whether they will be good fathers. Although there are some men who like children and may have had considerable experience with them, others do not particularly care for children and spend little time with them. Many fathers and mothers have been planning and looking forward to children for some time. For other couples, pregnancy was an accident that both husband and wife have accepted willingly or unwillingly.
Whatever the reaction to the birth of a child, it is clear that the change from the role of husband to that of father is a difficult task. Yet, unfortunately, few attempts have been made to educate fathers in this resocialization process. Although many books have been written about American mothers, only recently has literature referred to the role of a father.
It is argued by some writers that the transition (转化) to the father’s role, although difficult, is not nearly as great as the transition the wife must make to the mother’s role. The mother’s role seems to require a complete transformation in daily life and highly innovative (革新性的) adaptation, on the other hand, the father’s role is less demanding and immediate. However, even though we mentioned the fact that growing numbers of women are working outside the home, the father is still thought by many as the breadwinner in the family.
1. According to the author, being a father ______.| A．brings a feeling of excitement to some men |
| B．makes some men feel proud and others worried. |
| C．has a different meaning for those who have daughters |
| D．means nothing but more responsibilities |
| A．criticizes (批评) fathers for not taking enough responsibilities in bringing up their children |
| B．excuses the American writers for ignoring the difficulties of being a father |
| C．supports the idea that the chief (主要的) role of a father is to earn money for the family |
| D．complains about the lack of social program to help husbands get used to the role of a father |
| A．change her life style in a highly innovative way |
| B．stay at home to take care of the baby |
| C．make a complete change in her everyday life to deal with the new situation |
| D．help her husband in his resocialization process |
| A．have an easier job to do | B．have to make more difficult adaptation |
| C．have to shoulder more responsibilities | D．can usually do a better job |
4 . My wife and I spent two weeks in London last year. We went there in the autumn. We think it is the best season to visit England. The weather is usually good and there aren’t too many tourists in October.
We stayed in a small hotel in the West End. It was convenient as we did most of our sightseeing on foot. Taxis were too expensive, we couldn’t understand the bus routes, and my wife didn’t like traveling under the ground. She said it made her feel sick.
We went to look at the places which all tourists visit. We saw Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery. We went shopping in Oxford Street and spent too much money. What we liked most, though, was going to the theatre. We didn’t have the chance to see such wonderful plays at home. A lot of people say English food is bad. We didn’t think so. It is true that most of the restaurants are French or Italian or Chinese, but we had some very good meals.
In fact, we enjoyed our holiday so much that we have already booked again for this year. We are going to take our umbrellas, though. I’m sure we’ll need them sometimes.
1. The couple chose a small hotel in the West End to stay in because _________.| A．taxis were too expensive | B．they could go sightseeing on foot |
| C．the underground made the wife feel sick. | D．all the above |
| A．booking in the hotel | B．finding the bus routes |
| C．going sightseeing on foot | D．having meals |
| A．were satisfied with | B．disliked |
| C．were a bit unhappy about | D．regretted |
| A．They thought English food was bad. | B．They will visit London again. |
| C．They visited London last October. | D．They didn’t take their umbrella last year. |
5 . Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy. Well, almost everything. The problem is that the people in Jean's family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. In fact, Jean is quite lonely.
So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ. She likes being anonymous(匿名), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often.
Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common(共同的) interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: He was a tall, good-looking young man with a big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other. When Jean's father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer. But when she knocked on David's door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!
1. Jean spends a lot of her time on QQ because she is _______.| A．rich | B．famous |
| C．young | D．lonely |
| A．made her quite happy on QQ | B．was from San Francisco |
| C．sent her a picture of himself | D．was tall and good-looking |
| A．“David” | B．Both“David” and Jean. |
| C．Jean. | D．Neither“David”nor Jean. |
| A．Don't believe those you get to know on QQ so easily. |
| B．People don't use their real names on QQ so often. |
| C．Don't go to meet those you get to know on QQ. |
| D．People should tell their real names to others on QQ. |
6 . There was a man playing the piano in a bar. He was a good piano player and always performed in this bar. People came in just to hear him play. But one night, a customer told him that he didn't want to hear him just play the piano any more. He wanted him to sing a song.
The man said, "I don't sing." But the customer was persistent(执着的). He told the bar manager, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want that man to sing!" The manager shouted across the room, "If you want to get paid, sing a song. Our customers are asking you to sing!" So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the first time. And everyone was surprised by his song Mona Lisa. He got lots of applause that night. He had such a talent for singing, but he just had been sitting on his talent for the past years! If without such a chance, he may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. However, now he has become one of the best-known singers in America.
You, too, have skills and abilities. Maybe your "talent" is not as great as the singer above, but it may be better than you think! And with effort, most skills can be improved. So, in your life, you should be brave enough to try doing different things and find out what talents you really have!
1. Why did the man start to sing?| A．Because he wanted to make more money. |
| B．Because the bar manager said he liked his song. |
| C．Because the manager asked him to sing at the request of a customer. |
| D．Because he wanted to show everyone that he had a talent for singing. |
| A．The man didn't get paid at last. |
| B．The customers were unsatisfied with the song. |
| C．The man became a singer later. |
| D．The manager had to lay the man off. |
| A．Some people really have no skills or abilities. |
| B．Sometimes through effort we can know our talents. |
| C．None of us is as great as the singer. |
| D．No skills can be improved even if you try your best. |
7 . Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of 50. In fact, they say by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were when they were 18 years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85. The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 24 and 25. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply（突然地） after people reached their fifties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar feeling patterns as they grow older.
However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their feelings. They so spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be connected to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being（幸福） related to age.
1. According to the survey of the Gallup Organization people are most likely to become happier.| A．when they are between the ages of 18 and 85 |
| B．when they come to their old age |
| C．when they are in their twenties |
| D．when they are 18 years old |
| A．20 | B．25 | C．35 | D．40 |
| A．have a positive attitude towards their life |
| B．know how to spend money wisely |
| C．dream about good things every day |
| D．control their behaviors better |
| A．Those who are worried about getting old |
| B．Those who are single and unemployed |
| C．Those who feel unhappy all the time |
| D．Those who suffer from mental stress |
| A．Women Are Easier to Be Happy in Life |
| B．The Young Are Happier Than the Old |
| C．Getting Older Means Getting Happier |
| D．The Younger, the Happier |
8 . In the future, when robots can be used both in homes and in other areas, they could improve the living standards of people. Many people burn their energy on their daytoday tasks like cooking, cleaning after work, etc. When robots can complete such jobs, people can spend more time with their family and friends. Experts say that many major problems in the modern world are caused by miscommunication. When people have more time, they can talk freely to solve such issues and eventually create a happy society.
Robots can be used on certain jobs to avoid accidents caused by careless behavior of some people. When robots are used on such work, it does not risk any human life due to accidents at the workplace. Human resources can be efficiently used by performing tasks which demand human skills like critical thinking and problem solving. Robots can be used on lowend jobs like moving heavy things and heavy weight lifting.
While some people talk about how robots can be useful to humans, others voice their concerns. When robots become cheaper to produce, employers may prefer to use more robots than humans. As the technology constantly improves the abilities of robots, it could weaken the value of humans. Many people may rely on robots heavily. Some may even develop the habit of using robots on tasks that they can easily do. This could create a lazy society.
As an aging society, Japan sees it as a must to build robots that take care of elderly people at their homes, because without them, the nation’s health care system can’t cope. There will simply be too many elderly people to care for as the nation faces a decreasing birth rate, an aging population, and the loosening of family ties. However, many of Japan’s elderly people would prefer human helpers rather than robots. Above all, Japan needs its dreams of robots in the home to come true because its immigration policy is antiimmigration.
1. According to the first paragraph, when robots can be used in homes, ________.| A．people will spend more time on their work |
| B．there would be more misunderstandings between humans |
| C．people’s living standards will be improved |
| D．people may communicate more with robots than human beings |
| A．problem solving |
| B．communicating with others |
| C．critical thinking |
| D．working safely |
| A．people will be unwilling to work hard |
| B．human resources won’t be needed at the workplace |
| C．it will be harder to improve the abilities of robots |
| D．robots will be beyond our control |
| A．Japan will try to develop robots to be used in the home. |
| B．The robots are well received by elderly people in Japan. |
| C．The Japanese government encourages foreigners to move to Japan. |
| D．Most Japanese citizens are against robots in the home. |
9 . Learning English as a second language for non-native English speakers is not an easy task. One needs to spend a considerable(相当多的) time before you could speak or write it. There are only two ways to learn the English language or any other language.
The first way is very expensive. If you notice, a person moves to another country and stays there for a couple of years and then goes back to his home non-native speaking country, the person becomes accustomed to speaking English. This is the most effective way of learning to speak and write a language unfamiliar to you.
The learner learns the language because he / she is forced to do so and there is no other language being used. Not to mention that the learner should adapt to the environment. It is all started from listening. This is the process how language is acquired if you will stay long in a foreign country.
The second way is the traditional way of learning English as a second language at school. Obviously, this is cheaper than the first, but it needs a considerable time before you learn the language. Today, there are different language centres offering their services for people to learn the language in your own country. They have all the materials needed because, compared to the first, they’re affordable and reasonable.
Nowadays, learning English as a second language is a global trend. Since the English language is used in most of business transactions (交易) you may need it, too. Otherwise you will not go along with the future trends that will arise.
1. The most effective way of learning a second language is to ______.| A．learn it from native speakers |
| B．spend a lot of time |
| C．practice more |
| D．stay in a speaking country for several days |
| A．needs much time |
| B．is economical and practical |
| C．is simple and practical |
| D．is effective and reasonable |
| A．go to a middle school |
| B．study at a language centre |
| C．communicate with more people |
| D．have a foreign teacher |
| A．learning foreign languages is easy |
| B．there are more than five ways to learn foreign languages |
| C．family environment is very helpful for learning foreign languages |
| D．learning a foreign language is good for your future career |
10 . The best Restaurants for Dinner in Niagara Falls
Oban Inn
The Oban Inn has a storied history that has made it one of the most popular hotels and restaurants in the area. After a big fire over 20 years ago, the entire place was rebuilt with particular attention paid to the historic details.
Dinners have the choices of sitting in one of the three superb dining rooms including a fireside retiring room, a sun-room overlooking an English garden, or a more private historic room.
Cost: $23~$45 per person
Tel: 020 0813 5080
Wine on Third
With a lot of praise ranking Wine on Third as one of the best places to eat in the area, there is a reason to check out both sides. The restaurant is only about a five-minute walk from Niagara Falls State Park. Its pizzas are a local favorite and a great deal.
Cost: $20~$45 per person
Tel: 014 5382 3328
The Rainbow Room
Head chef Massimo Capra not only brings talent to his dishes, but also plenty of personality. The classically trained chef makes sure to keep things local. The food isn’t the only draw of course. With sweeping views of the Falls through the floor to ceiling windows, the Rainbow Room offers some of the best views in town.
Cost: $25~$35 per person
Tel: 014 5860 1465
Tide and Vine Oyster Company
You’d imagine that the seafood in Niagara Falls has to be out of this world, you’d be surprised to hear that tasty sea food is hard to come by. And it’s the only place that offers a raw bar in the sea.
Cost: $35~$55 per person
Tel: 090 0086 0087
1. What can we know about Oban Inn?| A．It was built 20 years ago. |
| B．It’s famous for its scenery. |
| C．It’s one of the most popular hotels and restaurants. |
| D．Its retiring room overlooks a garden. |
| A．020 0813 5080 | B．090 0086 0087 |
| C．014 5860 1465 | D．014 5382 3328 |
| A．People who prefer pizzas. |
| B．People who want a sun-room. |
| C．People who love the sea food. |
| D．People who enjoy the Falls. |
