1 . Dwayne sat staring at the peeling(剥落了的) paint on the walls of the small, messy room he shared with his two younger brothers. Through the apartment walls he could hear the crying of the neighbor’s newborn child competing with the music from the cars below. Dwayne sat and stared at the blank paper in front of him, considering how he would write a composition about his life.
Mama wouldn’t be home for another half an hour, so Dwayne went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for his family. With Mama’s low income, there wasn’t much to choose from.
“I’m hungry,” said eight-year-old Raymond. “What do you have cooking?”
Holding his brother around the waist, Dwayne responded, “I’ve got my famous bean and rice casserole(砂锅菜). Want to help?”
“I want to help. too!” cried Jesse.
Shortly after 7: 00 pm, Mama got home. She saw her three sons laughing as they worked together setting the mismatched plates and forks. In the middle of the table she eyed an old baby food jar with a flowering weed that was pulled from the front yard.
“Mmm-mm! Is that your famous bean and rice casserole?” Mama asked..
“Mama, you’re home!” the two younger boys said as they raced to hug her.
After the dinner, Mama stood behind Dwayne as he sat at the kitchen table, adding the last sentence to his composition. “Son, what are you writing?”
“Mama, it’s my composition,” came his reply.
“And what is that composition about?”
“It’s about our life,” said Dwayne.
Dwayne’s mother looked around at the house. She thought about all the things she wished she could provide for her family.
“Dwayne, I’m sorry you don’t have a lot in your life,” his mama said.
“I have you and Raymond and Jesse. I live in a house full of love. I wouldn’t trade what we have for all the money in the world.”
Pulling her son close, she whispered. “Neither would I, Dwayne. Neither would I.”
1. The description of the apartment in the first paragraph is to show________.| A．there were three children in the family |
| B．Dwayne’s neighbours were unfriendly |
| C．Dwayne’s family were living a poor life |
| D．Dwayne had nothing to say in his composition |
| A．Selfish. | B．Caring. | C．Humorous. | D．Confident. |
| A．She had no time to help with his homework. |
| B．She wasn’t in time to prepare dinner for the kids. |
| C．She thought his composition needed improving. |
| D．She felt sorry for not being able to give him a better life. |
| A．It’s no use apologizing. |
| B．It’s never too late to learn. |
| C．Learn to appreciate what we have. |
| D．God helps those who help themselves. |
2 . Plane wings are traditionally strong and thick but a team of researchers led by NASA has created a flexible wing that morphs (变形) as it flies. The new wing is constructed from thousands of units that fit together and function in a similar way to a bird’s wing, says NASA research engineer, Nick Cramer.
“Something like an eagle will lock its joints in while it’s cruising, and then it adjusts its wings to a more suitable shape for its cruising, and then when it wants to do a more aggressive move it’ll unlock its shoulder. That’s a similar response to what we’re doing here,” he said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is constructed from body parts that are so large, so they require outsize molds (模具) to create them. The same applies to the Airbus A380. “The cost of infrastructure (基础设施) that the business needs to invest to build these planes is pretty extraordinary,” said Kenneth Cheung, a NASA research scientist. “So what we’re doing with these projects is trying to reduce all of that, so that you could have the same sort of performance in terms of the materials but be able to manufacture it without setting up all of the infrastructure that’s currently required.”
The new wings are created by putting fiber reinforced polyetherimide into a 3D mold to create each part, which locks together in a process that could eventually be carried out by assembly robots. The new structure can also be easily packed down to allow transport, which also makes it potentially the ideal package for another purpose — to send into space.
While the idea of cheaper, more flexible planes could be appealing to the commercial aviation industry, there are major obstacles to overcome. That demands time, research and money. “If you want to revolutionize the traditional manufacturing process of the aerospace industry, you have to have a really good reason,” Cramer said. “So your performance gain has to be significant enough to justify that. It’s not about whether it’s practicable; it’s about whether it’s financially marketable.”
1. Why does Cramer mention the eagle in Paragraph 2?| A．To praise its great hunting skills. |
| B．To explain why it adjusts itself while flying. |
| C．To give an example of how the new plane wing works. |
| D．To make a comparison between eagles and other birds. |
| A．The cost of making new wings. |
| B．The performance of traditional planes. |
| C．The performance of the new plane wings. |
| D．The cost of building infrastructure for traditional planes. |
| A．It may speed up planes. |
| B．It may be used in space. |
| C．It may reduce planes’ fuel consumption. |
| D．It may be applied in infrastructure construction. |
| A．It is financially marketable. |
| B．It performs badly during the tests. |
| C．It is more expensive than traditional plane wings. |
| D．It has a long way to go before being applied in planes. |
| A．A new flexible plane wing |
| B．How plane wings work |
| C．A great change in planes |
| D．Why planes cost a lot |
3 . During a visit to the United Arab Emirates, I was invited to speak to college students to learn more about how the country is preparing the next generation for the future. I met with students who were required to present their final projects in a three-minute presentation to members of the ruling family. Now, that is pressure. But learning the art of public speaking is no longer an option to succeed in the 21st century; it is fundamental.
Educators who I have met across the Middle East, Europe and Asia say that they are elevating the art of public speaking to a core requirement along with math and science. Chris Anderson, the curator (负责人) of TED, encourages schools in the United States to make “presentation literacy” a requirement in elementary schools. There is a wrinkle, however. According to an article in The Atlantic, some American middle-school and high-school students are advocating for the elimination (取消) of mandatory (强制的) in-class, presentations.
Their anxiety is real. Psychology professor Matthew Lieberman writes in book, “Our brains crave the positive evaluation of others almost to an embarrassing degree.” That’s why most of us get anxious about public speaking. Anxiety can turn into full-blown panic attacks or create lifelong fears.
As an author whose books are used in public speaking classes around the world, I will explain why public speaking skills are more important than ever. Persuasion — one person convincing another to change their mind — is now responsible for 25 percent of Americas total income, according to Deirdre McCloskey at the University of Illinois. The percentage will rise to 40 percent soon, she assured me. It is a terrible idea to reduce public speaking opportunities in class at a time when students need the skills it can give them to succeed. Today anyone who is better at presenting their ideas can see a sudden, massive increase in wealth that is unprecedented in human history.
In the age of ideas, public speaking is one of the greatest skills that students need in order to learn, grow, and inspire the rest of us to dream bigger. If students enjoy the process of building the necessary skill set, they will learn to love public speaking.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．Public speaking is essential in preparing for the future. |
| B．Students don’t have to choose the course of public speaking. |
| C．The ruling family plays a key role in judging the presentation. |
| D．College students are under pressure in preparing the introduction. |
| A．Simple case. | B．New idea. |
| C．Small problem. | D．Strong belief. |
| A．we long for the positive judgment terribly |
| B．good public speaking skills can promote our confidence |
| C．we feel embarrassed when expecting positive evaluation |
| D．public speaking can make us feel scared rather than anxious |
| A．It can help persuade others to change their mind. |
| B．Good speakers can see huge rise in their income. |
| C．It will offer students skills to make a great success. |
| D．It encourages students to live a wealthy life in the future. |
| A．It scares students to make a speech publicly. |
| B．Presentations is a steppingstone for student’s future. |
| C．We can improve speaking skills in many effective ways. |
| D．Confidence in presentation increases if one is well prepared. |
4 . There are so many different methods claiming to predict marathon performance. But these are not always very accurate because predicting marathon performance is difficult. However, in our new study, we found it's possible to calculate a critical speed that we can use to predict a runner's marathon time with a good degree of accuracy.
Many things determine how fast you can run a marathon, your physical quality plays a huge role in your performance. For example, excellent marathon runners tend to be slim with long limbs. Fast marathon runners also tend to have a higher maximum rate of oxygen use (vo2 max) and can operate at a high percentage of this maximum for a long time without developing tiredness. The right shoes can make running more economical in terms of how much energy you use. And of course, choosing a flat course with ideal weather conditions can help too.
Endurance (耐久力) running is essentially determined by the fastest speed you can sustain for a given distance. or how long you can run at a given speed. This suggests there is a critical speed which, in theory, we can sustain for quite a long time. It is quite possible that the critical speed is useful for predicting endurance performance.
By analyzing training data from 25,000 athletes, we found we could estimate their critical speeds and predict their marathon performance with 92% accuracy.
We also found that, on average, runners ran the marathon at speeds around 85% of their critical speeds. Faster athletes ran their marathons at close to 93% of their critical speeds, but slower runners did so at 79% of their critical speeds. This means that using training data to estimate your critical speed, certain fitness apps on your smart watch or phone may soon be able to predict your finish time at an even higher degree of accuracy, as well as providing real-time advice about how best to pace your race.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?| A．Differences between excellent runners and average runners |
| B．Conditions to consider before running a marathon |
| C．Characters of successful marathon runners. |
| D．Factors affecting runners' performance. |
| A．By listing key data | B．By telling personal stories |
| C．By quoting famous runners | D．By explaining causes and effects |
| A．Different marathon runners always run at different speeds. |
| B．Marathon runners will run better with the help of some apps. |
| C．Critical speeds for runners given by fitness apps are useful. |
| D．It'll be easy to predict runners' performance with some app |
| A．A standard critical speed for marathon runners. |
| B．The inspiration gained from a marathon. |
| C．A way to predict marathon runners' performance. |
| D．The value of hard and scientific training. |
5 . Research has shown that 85 percent of communication is nonverbal, so choosing what to wear to an interview is clearly an important part of your overall presentation. It won’t make up for weak answers, but it can communicate some positive things about your personality and what you might be like to work with.
· Blue：You can’t go wrong with darker shades of blue, especially navy. Choosing from this powerful color will project an image of someone who is in control. From the interviewer’s point of view, the color blue suggests calm, stability, trust, truth, confidence and security. These are all great messages to send without saying a word.
· Gray: After blue, gray is the second most popular color to wear for an interview. Like darker blue, it’s not a distracting color to the interviewer, which means they’ll be focused more on what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Gray means sophistication （老成）, so use it to your advantage.
· Black: This is a commanding color and represents authority. Black also suggests excitement, so use it carefully when putting together your interview outfit. You may want to use it as an accent （着重色） —like in a scarf or tie, for instance—rather than as the primary color.
· Red：This is an extremely powerful color. It’s so strong that you should only use it as an accent color. Reds are associated with energy, passion, desire, power and aggression. People think of intensity （紧张） and passion when they see the color red, so use it carefully or it could send the wrong message to the interviewer.
· White：White shirts and blouses are always appropriate. It sends the message of simplicity, cleanliness, precision and goodness.
1. What is the best title of the passage？| A．How to Prepare for Your Job Interview |
| B．A Research on Colours |
| C．Colorful Clothes Never Fail |
| D．What the Colors of Your Clothes Say about You |
| A．Because it will make up for your weak answers. |
| B．Because it suggests something about your personality. |
| C．Because it will make you feel better. |
| D．Because the interviewer judges a person by his appearance. |
①stability ②energy ③power ④confidence ⑤security
| A．①②④ | B．②③④ | C．①④⑤ | D．②③⑤ |
| A．gray | B．red | C．black | D．white |
| A．job interviewees should think twice before wearing red clothes |
| B．the colors can send all the messages you want to convey |
| C．you can wear white clothes if you want to appear active |
| D．gray is the most popular color to wear for an interview |
6 . Television is a central part of many people’s lives. There are very few places in the world where one cannot find a television set. Some sporting events, such as the Olympic Games or the football World Cup, can attract audiences of many millions. But is television a good or bad influence on young people in the modern world?
Thomas Murray, president of the British Parents Against Television Society, believes that it has not improved young people’s lives. “Television damages family life,” he argues. “At mealtime, families no longer talk to each other. In the evenings, youngsters do not spend good quality time with family members. Instead, they watch television.” Murray says that this lack of communication leads to social problems.
Murray also believes that the content of television programmes provides young people with poor role models. “There is so much violence(暴力) on TV—guns, kung fu fighting, and so on. Young people think that all problems should be solved by aggression.”
It is not just young people’s mental health that worries Murray. “Teenagers don’t get enough exercise because they spend so many hours watching television. They also develop back problems from sitting down for so long, and eye strain from the effort of watching.”
Murray would like to see changes to television habits. “Programmes should be educational. Their contents should be nonviolent and healthy. There should be no programmes after ten o'clock in the evening. Parents should teach their children to enjoy their spare time by playing sports or games. And certainly, the television should be switched off during meal time.
Susan Taylor is a television producer. She believes that television is a good influence on young people. “Television brings the outside world to youngsters. It even brought us pictures from the moon! And look what happens after the Olympic Games or the World Cup matches have been shown on TV. People start to take more exercise. Also, there are a lot of programmes about healthy eating and keeping fit.”
However, Taylor agrees with Murray’s point of view concerning parents. “Of course parents have a role to play in educating their kids. They should turn the TV off during mealtime and they should talk with their children as often as possible.”
1. The article is mainly about ________.| A．that TV is a central part of many people’s lives |
| B．that Murray would like to see changes to television habits |
| C．whether TV is a good or bad influence on young people in the modern world |
| D．that parents should turn the TV off during mealtime and talk with their children |
| A．Teenagers will get backache for sitting down for a long time. |
| B．Murray only worries about young people’s mental health. |
| C．TV programmes are nonviolent and educational. |
| D．Teenagers don’t like doing exercise at all. |
| A．The lack of communication. |
| B．Young people watching too much TV. |
| C．So much violence on TV. |
| D．Not enough exercise. |
| A．eye sickness | B．blindness | C．eye tiredness | D．far-sightedness |
| A．Murray is president of the British Parents Against Television Society |
| B．Susan Taylor completely disagrees with Murray on TV |
| C．there are both good and bad programmes on TV |
| D．Susan Taylor is a television producer |
7 . One of my earliest memories was walking up to the smell of camp smoke and my mother’s hot chocolate. My parents were poor, and we lived in the countryside in Portland. Dad had two jobs and Mom was disabled, but that didn’t stop them from heading into the Cascade Mountains several times a year.
Our clothes were old and worn and our food was usually cheap and simple. However, we were always satisfied with our hot chocolate, which was made in a traditional way handed down from my grandmother to my mother.
There was no store to buy anything we needed. We just had powdered cocoa in our camp.
Mom would set the smoke-blackened coffee pot at the side of the fire and slowly warm the milk, adding chocolate and sugar, and stirring (搅拌) until the contents became thick and rich brown. The wonderful smell of chocolate filled the camp. More than once, I could remember people that we had just met hours before stepping into our camp to enjoy mother’s creation.
Once we were trapped in our tent (帐篷) for days because of a terrible rainstorm. Every morning I was woken up by the attractive smell of Mom’s hot chocolate.
Now, many years have passed, when we head for the mountains, I still use that worn coffee pot. And we always bring extra cups for the neighbours who will certainly turn up.
I have told my family a lot about Mom, and it seems that nothing brings back those warm memories better than sitting around the fire at night and tasting sweet hot chocolate.
1. Where did the author live when she was a child?| A．In a village. | B．In a big city. | C．In a hotel. | D．In a palace. |
| A．Kind. | B．Friendly. | C．Disabled. | D．Serious. |
| A．Her parents were poor. | B．Her mom had two jobs. |
| C．Her mom was a boss of Coffee House. | D．Her dad stopped them from camping. |
| A．Saved. | B．Absorbed. | C．Caught. | D．Suffered. |
| A．Camp Smoke | B．Mom’s Hot Chocolate |
| C．My Neighbours | D．Grandmother’s Creation |
