1 . Optimism (乐观) doesn’t mean paying no attention to things that cause stress. But when bad things happen, optimistic people are less likely to be unhappy about themselves and more likely to see the bad things as something that lasts a short time.
A new research has found a direct connection between optimism and healthier diet and exercise behaviors, as well as better heart health, a stronger immune system (免疫系统), better lung function, and lower death risk. “Optimistic people, regardless of sex, often have goals and the confidence to reach them,” Lee said. “Those goals could include healthy habits that contribute to a longer life.”
Studies find only about 25% of our optimism is controlled by our genes (基因), and the rest is up to us. It turns out we can actually train our brain to be more positive. Researchers studied the brains of monks (僧侣) and found surprising results: Tens of thousands of hours of meditation(冥思) had changed the function (机能) of their brains, which support positive qualities. And that may be key in producing the effect on the body.
There are simple mental exercises to develop an optimistic attitude. One of the most effective ways to increase optimism is called the “Best Possible Self” method. That is to imagine ourselves in a future in which we have achieved all our life goals. And keeping a diary in which we list the positive experiences we had can also help shape our attitude. Taking a few minutes each day to write down what makes us thankful can improve our view on life, too.
1. What is the meaning of Lee’s words?| A．Goals can lead to confidence. |
| B．Better lung function lowers death risk. |
| C．Optimism is connected with length of life. |
| D．Sex should be taken into consideration when studying optimism. |
| A．To lengthen their life. |
| B．To improve their brains’ function. |
| C．To prove optimism can be learned. |
| D．To show genes’ connection with optimism. |
| A．How to be a positive person. | B．How to make people thankful. |
| C．What to write about in a diary. | D．What to do to achieve the goals. |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A novel. | D．A diary. |
2 . This is the story of three plastic bottles, empty and abandoned. Their journeys are about to diverge, more or less influencing the fate of our planet.
Bottle One, like hundreds of millions of tons of other plastic bottles, ends up in a landfill. This huge dump expands each day as more trash comes in and continues to take up space. As plastics sit there being pressed among layers of their junk, rainwater flows through the waste and absorbs the chemicals it contains, and some of those are highly poisonous. Together they create harmful matter called leachate (沥滤液）, which can move into groundwater, soil and streams, poisoning ecosystems and harming wildlife. It can take Bottle One 1,000 years to rot away.
Bottle Two's journey is strange. He floats on water that reaches a stream, a stream that flows into a river, and a river that reaches the ocean. After months lost at sea, he's slowly drawn where trash accumulates, a place known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Here the ocean's currents have trapped millions of pieces of plastic waste. There the water becomes a cloudy plastic soup. Some animals, like seabirds, get stuck in the mess. They, and others, mistake the brightly colored plastic things for food. Plastic makes them feel full when they're not, so they starve to death and pass the poisons from the plastic up the food chain. For example, it's eaten by fish, and the fish are eaten by us.
But Bottle Three is spared the cruel suffering of his brothers. A truck brings him to a plant where he and his companions are squeezed flat and pressed into a block. The blocks are cut and torn into tiny pieces, which are washed and melted, so they become the raw materials that can be used again. As if by magic, Bottle Three is now ready to be reborn as something completely new.
For this bit of plastic with such humble origins, suddenly the sky is the limit.
1. The underlined word “diverge” in paragraph 1 probably means| A．develop |
| B．disappear |
| C．conclude |
| D．vary |
| A．He will expand when pressed among layers of their junk. |
| B．He might poison or even endanger different forms of life. |
| C．He can be easily recognized by seabirds and taken for dangerous food source. |
| D．He will go through chemical changes and be recycled into new materials soon. |
| A．In a science magazine. |
| B．In a tour brochure. |
| C．In a product description. |
| D．In a geography textbook. |
| A．Fates of Plastic Bottles |
| B．The Significance of Recycling |
| C．The Shame of Wasting |
| D．High-Tech of Dealing with Waste |
3 . Student travel promises to be an enjoyable trip. Not only can students visit several places, they also can learn so much on every trip. For first-time travelers, here are some historical destinations for students to travel.
Athens
It was the center of knowledge, government and system in the ancient world, and every student would be amazed at how this ancient city grew and evolved. Students can visit Acropolis, Agora, Library of Hadrian, Kerameikos, Olympieion & Southeast Athens. Pnyx, Roman Agora & Tower of the Winds, Arch of Hadrian, City Eleusinian and other ancient sites in this, ancient city of Athens.
Egypt
Egypt features 3,000 years old city on the banks of River Nile. Moving your way south from Cairo, the nation’s capital, you can stop at Giza where the famous Great Pyramid stands. It was built by Pharaoh Khufu in 2550 BC. Further south, Saqqara is home to the Step Pyramid of Djoser built in 2630 BC. In Dahshur, the Bent and the Red Pyramids are located. And down south at Maidum, the Maidum Pyramid can be found.
Rome
See ancient Rome still shine with evidences of Raman structure and architectures built more than 2,000 years ago Rome presents the living timeline from the Roman Empire to the shift of the Middle Ages, to the dawn of the Romantic period and Enlightenment (启蒙运动). Rome preserves its temples, churches, arts, and priceless paintings and murals.
Peru
As the center of the Inca civilization, Peru is a great destination for students travel for discovery of South American history. The 500-year old Inca traces could be relived in the Inca Trail that is both exciting and educational. Walk to the Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman, Machu Picchu, and Pisac to have a visit.
1. What are the four destinations famous for?| A．Various arts. | B．Traditional custom. |
| C．Important location. | D．Ancient civilization. |
| A．Cairo. | B．Dahshur. |
| C．Giza. | D．Saqqara. |
| A．A student diary. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A research paper. | D．A sports magazine. |
4 . Indian scientists have designed a new device that they hope will solve one of the biggest problems with the use of solar energy. They call the device a solar tree. Solar trees have metal “branches” extending from a tall pole at different levels. Each branch holds a solar panel( 太阳能电池板). These panels have large metal boards that collect energy from the sun and turn it into electricity.
Daljit Singh Bedi is the main scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India. The CSIR laboratories are where the solar tree was designed. Bedi says the shape of the solar trees makes it possible to fit more solar panels in a space than traditional systems do. This means less land would be needed to produce solar energy. “It takes about four square meters of space to produce energy which may need 400 square meters of space,” he says.
Scientists believe the energy a solar tree collects will be enough to power five homes. The solar tree will make it easier to provide solar energy for homes in cities. The trees will also take less space from farmers in rural areas. Bedi says solar trees will collect more energy than normal solar panels on the tops of buildings.
India has promised to reduce its greenhouse gas production. The country’s promise depends heavily on increasing solar energy. The cost of solar panels has gone down in recent years. This has increased the possibility of applying solar trees in India.
Amit Kumar is the senior director of the Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi. He says it is still not clear how useful these new developments in solar power technology are. “Only when we put those trees on a large scale(规模) will w e be able to get that answer,”he says.
1. We may probably read this passage in .| A．Culture View’s | B．Nature and Science |
| C．Story Books | D．Travelling Guide Book |
| A．Its price is low er than the traditional one. | B．Its solar panels are of high quality. |
| C．It takes less land and collects more energy. | D．It produces much less greenhouse gas. |
| A．tops of buildings | B．trees along the street |
| C．electricity poles | D．the ground in the yard |
| A．It’s extremely useful and valuable. | B．It may not have a bright future. |
| C．It’s difficult to put into practice. | D．It needs testing on a large scale. |
5 . Festivals in India are the special occasions when the country holds many celebrations. Socially, the whole nation becomes active in celebrations. This is the main reason why festivals in India are celebrated by the whole society. On such occasions, families will get together, exchange gifts and greetings, and take part in a lot of celebrations and even special fairs. All these are done to keep the festive spirit alive in modern times.
What is special about these celebrations in India is that people celebrate their common culture in their communities. There is a wide variety of festivals in India because of the presence(存在)of many different religions, beliefs, ideas and cultures. It is even said that some places in the country celebrate festivals 365 days a year. They are mainly religious festivals, cultural festivals and tourist festivals that are organized to keep the traditions, values and heritage of the region.
Religious festivals are celebrated as part of the Indian belief system. They are organized to honor spiritual personalities and events related to the journey of a religion. Cultural festivals in India are organized to provide a platform for different forms of music, dance and other art. To keep their artistic traditions alive and even make them become more popular in the future, many cities in India are active in cultural events. The rich cultural heritage of India attracts the Western world during the celebration of important festivals such as Onam, Holi and Durga Puja. Tourist festivals in the country are organized to celebrate the heritage of the land for tourism purposes. These celebrations every year bring good results and attract a large number of tourists, both within the country and abroad.
These festivals in India focus on enriching people’s "Indian" experience in the most real way. For this purpose, foreigners are very interested in attending the festivals, which are organized to show the rich and colorful side of the country.
1. In India，the whole nation often celebrates festivals actively to .| A．have much fun on special occasions | B．exchange special gifts and greetings |
| C．keep the traditions of their festivals | D．meet all their family members and relatives |
| A．Because the Indians like singing and dancing. |
| B．Because the Indians want to attract more tourists. |
| C．Because there are a great number of old attractions. |
| D．Because there are many different religions, ideas and cultures. |
| A．performing different art forms |
| B．visiting the famous old buildings |
| C．having a journey of honoring spiritual personalities |
| D．getting together and attending fairs |
| A．Travel. | B．Culture. |
| C．Economy. | D．Technology. |
6 . Poteet Strawberry Festival
Poteet, Texas, USA
April 11—April 13
Description:
The Poteet Strawberry Festival is one of the oldest, most popular events in the state and is recognized as the largest agricultural festival in Texas as well as one of the most exciting, dynamic festivals in the Greater Southwest. The 100-acre site, which is located on Hwy. 16, 20 minutes south of San Antonio, offers free parking, clean public restrooms, handicapped accessibility, complete RV facilities, and tent covered activities during the fun, filled Festival Weekend.
The Poteet Strawberry Festival includes fourteen areas of continuous, family entertainment featuring concerts with nationally known Country Western and Tejano stars, dancers, gunslingers, clowns, puppets, regional bands, various contests, and rodeo performances. These activities are included in the price of a $10.00 admission ticket. Children aged 12 and under are admitted free of charge as well as active, reserve and retired military with proper ID.
Performers:
Craig Morgan, Pam Tillis, Rick Trevino
Location:
Poteet, Texas
Directions:
30 miles south of San Antonio on Hwy. 16
Times:
The Festival Grounds will open at 6:00 pm Fri. and at 10:00 am both Sat. & Sun.
Admission:
Adult $10.00
Children 12 & under / active, reserve, and retired military personnel with proper ID are admitted FREE
Website: http://www.strawberryfestival.com
Telephone: 830-276-3323
Email: nitaharvey@sbcglobal.net
1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．The position of Poteet Strawberry Festival. |
| B．The open time of Poteet Strawberry Festival. |
| C．The price of parking cars. |
| D．The price of taking a train there. |
| A．10 dollars. | B．5 dollars. |
| C．30 dollars. | D．20 dollars. |
| A．the news report in a newspaper |
| B．the advertisement in a newspaper |
| C．the entertainment section of a magazine |
| D．the program of a radio |
