1 . In the subway station, I notice a black teenage boy waiting for the train, sitting on a railing(栏杆) just in front of a moving escalator(扶梯). It’s a hot evening; there is no air in the station. This black kid is just sitting there, settled on the railing, and I’m just standing there about 10 feet away looking for the faraway lights of the oncoming train. Then suddenly a white police officer is asking the kid for identification. The kid turns a little annoyed and asks what he’s been bothering about. The officer doesn’t explain. The kid pulls out some I.D. and hands it to the officer who looks at it and then barks out a demand for something with an address on it, a driver’s license.
Unwillingly, the kid pulls out a second piece of identification. The officer looks at it and tells the kid to come with him. Nothing I have seen or heard explains the officer’s strict approach or why the kid is being led away.
I get up to the officer and politely ask what this guy did and where he is taking him. He looks at me like I’m armed and crazy and tells me that it’s none of my business and to stay out of this.
“Could I please take down your badge(警徽) number, sir, as I’d like to report all this,” I say.
“Take down my badge number and then you show me a piece of identification. What are you, some lawyer?”
I copy down his badge number and then show him my driver’s license, asking, “Could you please tell me what this is all for?”
Looking at me over and again asking if I’m a lawyer, he tells me he’s taking the kid in for blocking the escalator and me in for “obstructing a police action.” Another black man hearing all this asks what’s going on and the officer gets very nervous. So I decide to go with him to his office. Then the officer gives his version of what happened and I politely interrupt to explain that the kid was in no way blocking the escalator traffic and that I was in no way “obstructing a police action”, not adding that I thought the way the officer handling the situation was racist and unnecessarily strict.
After this experience in the police station, I’m still wondering whether a well-dressed white man will be faced with a sharp command for identification for sitting on an escalator railing waiting for a train? If a bystander does want to get involved and inquire about an apparently unfair arrest, is a policeman’s only response a second arrest? Will our police officers always be seen by black kids as evils? Is my charge with racism too strong?
1. What is the black teenager doing at the train station?| A．He is blocking the escalator. |
| B．He is escaping the police. |
| C．He is waiting for the train. |
| D．He is damaging the escalator. |
| A．He is a racist. |
| B．He is not afraid to get involved. |
| C．He is black. |
| D．He has a sense of justice. |
| A．The black boy doesn’t obey the police officer. |
| B．Subway stations are good places to hang about. |
| C．The white policeman thinks ill of the black teenager. |
| D．Situations like this in the passage will never change. |
| A．blame. | B．forbid. | C．prevent. | D．defend. |
2 . How often do you exercise? A new study finds that most kids aged 12 to 15 aren't getting enough physical activity. The results are based on about 800 kids. As part of the study, the young teens tracked and reported on their own activity levels, and took physical exams.
The US fitness guidelines recommend an hour or more of physical activity every day. According to the study, only 1in 4 kids in the US get enough physical activity.
“It's certainly very worrying to see that our kids are engaging in such a limited amount of physical activity each day,” said Dr. Stephen Pont. He is an expert on children's health.
Few kids in the survey met the guidelines for physical activity that raises the heart rate and makes them breathe harder. Overall, about 25% said they got an hour of that kind of violent exercise every day. Kids also reported on which activities they did most often outside of the school gym class--basketball for boys and running for girls.
The study found that obese（肥胖的） teens were less active than normal-weight girls and boys. Overweight girls were slightly less active than normal-weight girls, but levels were similar among overweight and normal-weight boys. The study also said that the overall obesity rate for children aged 2 to 19 is 17%, or about 12.5 million kids.
“There's always room for improvement,” said health expert Tala Fakhouri, who was the lead author of the study. She also said the results provide useful information to help with fitness campaigns such as Lets Move, which was launched by Michelle Obama in 2010. To inspire kids to eat right and get in shape, Michelle visited schools and held exercise events. She also called on schools to offer regular gym classes.
The study also suggests kids who get physical education at school may get better grades.
1. What is the result of the new study?| A．It is important to take physical exams |
| B．Most US kids don’t get enough exercise |
| C．Kids should get physical activity every day |
| D．800 kids don’t get enough physical activity. |
| A．To help kids to keep fit. |
| B．To hold exercise events. |
| C．To offer regular gym classes. |
| D．To provide useful information. |
| A．do better in their studies |
| B．try their best to get in shape |
| C．be more willing to help others |
| D．be less active than fat children |
| A．visited | B．stopped |
| C．started | D．improved |
3 . More than four decades ago British scientist Robert Edwards first witnessed the miracle of human life growing inside a test tube at his Cambridge lab.Since that ground-breaking moment,more than four million babies have been born through IVF(体外受精）and in 2010 his great contribution to science was finally recognized as he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
The prize for Dr Edwards,who was given a Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Award in 2008, includes af900,000 cheque.The Nobel Assembly described IVF as a"milestone in modern medicine".
With the help of fellow scientist Patrick Steptoe,the Manchester-born physiologist developed IVF-leading to the birth of the world's first test tube baby.Dr.Steptoe died 10 years later but their work has transformed fertility(生育能力）treatment and given hope to millions of couples.
It was a scientific breakthrough that transformed the lives of millions of couples.They said,"His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility,a disease which makes human unable to have a baby.This condition has been afflicting a large percentage of mankind including more than 10%of all couples worldwide."
Louise Brown,the world's first test tube baby made international headlines when she was born in Oldham,Gtr Manchester,in 1978 to parents Lesley and John who had been fruitlessly trying for a baby since 1969.Each year,more than 30,000 women in Britain now undergo IVF and 11,000 babies are born as a result of the treatment.
But his work attracted widespread criticism from some scientists and the Catholic Church who said it was"immoral". Martin Johnson,professor of reproductive sciences at the University of Cambridge,said the award was"long overdue".He said,"We couldn't understand why the Nobel has come so late but he is delighted-this is the cherry on the cake for him".
Professor Edwards was too ill to give interviews but a statement released by his family said he was"thrilled and delighted".
1. What is Robert Edwards' s contribution to science?| A．Curing a disease which stops human having a baby. |
| B．Seeing the wonder of the first tube baby growing. |
| C．Enabling millions of couples to live a better life. |
| D．Helping couples with infertility to have babies. |
| A．Troubling. |
| B．Developing. |
| C．Improving. |
| D．Confusing. |
| A．some people envied Professor Edwards for his award |
| B．different opinions were voiced on Professor Edwards 'finding |
| C．Professor Edwards deserved the prize for his morality |
| D．the prize was late because the finding was first considered useless |
| A．Life Stories of Robert Edwards |
| B．Preparations for Having a Baby |
| C．Nobel Prize for IVF Expert Edwards |
| D．Treatment of Infertility in a Lab |
4 . Would a faster reading speed mean that we could learn more? Some people claim that it’s possible. In July last year, the six-time speed reading champion Anne Jones sat down to read Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. Just 25 minutes and 31 seconds later, she finished it — which equals a reading rate of around 3,700 words per minute. Jones runs training courses teaching speed reading, recall and concentration techniques and there are numerous speed reading apps that have appeared on the market over the past few years. But do they actually work?
First, we need to understand how we read. The human eye movement system is central to our reading ability. Read over that sentence again, and think about how your eyes scan across the words. They don’t move smoothly over them. Instead, they make a series of short, sharp jumps, skipping over a few characters before briefly landing on a word. The movements are known as saccades (扫视) and the pauses are called fixations.
Reading isn’t just about seeing the words — you need to comprehend them to build up a picture about what the text means. People are able to get through a block of text faster, but at the cost of accuracy and understanding. In other words, if you use a speed reading app, then you’ll probably get the gist (主旨) of a piece of text, but you’ll struggle to recall details about what you’ve just read.
So, does speed reading work? Well, yes and no. It really depends on what you’re reading and why you need to read it. As yet, there isn’t a trick that enables you to read a piece of text both quickly and accurately — there’s always going to be a trade-off.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Speed reading is bad at times. |
| B．Speed reading is a waste of time. |
| C．Speed reading can work sometimes. |
| D．Speed reading is always enjoyable. |
| A．Reading apps ensure we read much faster. |
| B．Fast reading makes us learn more knowledge. |
| C．Reading is no more than seeing the text words. |
| D．Reading ability is related to the eye movement system. |
| A．Balance. | B．Change. | C．Business. | D．Bargain. |
| A．The advantages of faster or slower reading. |
| B．The reasons why to do faster or slower reading. |
| C．The cases where to do faster and slower reading. |
| D．The methods for making use of faster or slower reading. |
5 . Throughout history，people have been interested in knowing how languages first began，but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages，the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English，Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand，some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present-day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 years ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from that of 500 years ago. With time going by, some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago，English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.
If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China cannot understand speakers from other parts.
1. According to the passage, _____ has the most speakers.| A．Chinese | B．English | C．Spanish | D．German |
| A．a special language spoken by Chinese |
| B．the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area |
| C．the difference between the old and today’s language |
| D．the form of a language used in one part of the country |
| A．there are great differences between the dialects of Chinese |
| B．Chinese and many foreign languages are not of the same family |
| C．Chinese is a very old language |
| D．there are great differences between the old Chinese and the present-day Chinese |
6 . What do you think of your Chinese? If you think your Chinese is good enough, you can take part in the competition named Chinese Characters Dictation Competition（中国汉字听写大会）.
Today teenagers are using more and more smart phones. They spend too much time in shopping, chatting, playing games and so on. Many of them cannot stop using smart phones to help with their study. Overuse of smart phones will make students too lazy to think and write. Some of them even forget how to write Chinese characters by hand. Teachers and parents are very worried about it.
In order to draw people’s attention to the problems above, in 2013 CCTV held the first Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. About 200 students from 32 teams took part in it. They stood on the stage to write down Chinese characters by dictation. Lu Jialei, a 14-year-old girl from Zhejiang, got first place.
Since then, the competition has been popular among teenagers. Many people are interested in this kind of competition, too. They like to write down the characters while the competitors（参赛者）are writing them.
Can you be the next winner?
1. From Paragraph 2, we know that teenagers are using more and more _____．| A． cars | B．money | C．books | D．smart phones |
| A．eating too much | B．walking too much |
| C．using too much | D．singing too much |
| A．About 400. | B．About 300. | C．About 200. | D．About 100. |
| A．Lu Jialei, a girl from Zhejiang. | B．Lu Jialei, a girl from Guangxi. |
| C．Liao Yilin, a girl from Zhejiang. | D．Liao Yilin, a girl from Guangxi. |
7 . It’s important for children to take part in social activities during their summer holidays. “Kids should have a break during the summer. They’ve worked hard during the school year and this is their time to relax, but they should continue communicating with their friends and meeting new people,” said Dr. Jin Han. He’s a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Spending time with friends and meeting new people by doing fun and educational activities such as music, arts and sports programs in summer help with their development. “If children spend a lot of time alone on their electronic equipment, then they will fail to communicate with others,” Han said. “In today’s world, it’s very easy for kids to stay indoors all day and keep in touch with others, but that is not a good way to connect with others. Face-to-face communication is necessary and important. Parents should restrict the time their children spend on electronic equipment. For example, the time they spend on their phones cannot be more than one hour a day.”
It’s also important for children to spend quality time with their parents and sisters or brothers. “It’s not the length of time, but the quality of time that families spend together that is really valuable,” Han said. “This type of communication is not something that you can get from anywhere else. It doesn’t matter how old the child is, because family bonding (人与人之间的关系) experiences can happen at any time.”
Having children spend time with friends and families doesn’t have to spend money in the wallet, either. For example, going to the neighborhood swimming pool or having a picnic is a great way to spend quality time together.
1. What does Dr. Jin Han think about the summer holidays according to the first paragraph?| A．It is necessary for children to have a rest during summer holidays. |
| B．Children should relax as much as possible during summer holidays. |
| C．Making new friends in summer holidays is difficult for children. |
| D．Children should prepare for schoolwork in summer holidays. |
| A．Increase. | B．Control. | C．Spend. | D．Employ. |
| A．How long children spend with families matters. |
| B．What to do with families depends on the parents. |
| C．When to spend time with families makes a difference. |
| D．How to enjoy the time with families is of great importance. |
| A．The importance of friends and families. | B．The introduction of some social activities. |
| C．The suitable ways to spend summer holidays. | D．The necessity of face-to-face communication. |
8 . Once the temperatures rise to full-on summer highs, life becomes difficult for pet parents. Long walks, the lunchtime run and road trips, things you enjoy together quite safely for the rest of the year, can become dangerous because too much exercise in hot sun or leaving animals in a car, even in the shade, can cause heatstroke (中暑) which can be deadly.
“Heatstroke is a condition where a dog’s temperature rises to the point where damage to internal organs (器官) can occur,” warns Dr. Cindy Bressler. “This is usually seen during the summer months or in warm climates, and is caused primarily because the dog cannot cool itself quickly enough.”
Because of their fur coats, dogs can’t cool via sweating through the skin like humans and they cool themselves by breathing heavily, quickly pulling cool air into the lungs and pushing hot air out. Overweight dogs are more likely to suffer heatstroke. Signs of heatstroke include breathing difficulty, vomiting (呕吐), high body temperatures and a bright red tongue.
“Dogs do not sweat like humans, and without this natural body cool-off response, they are more vulnerable than humans in high temperatures,” says Bressler. “To help prevent heatstroke, you should always have cool water available for your dog and never leave your dog alone in a car, especially in hot weather. Pets who are outdoors should always have access to a shaded area.”
If heatstroke occurs, Bressler advises cooling your pet with cool water, wet towels, fans and cold air.
“Do not cool them too quickly because that can be dangerous,” she adds. “Bring them to the doctor immediately.”
Cats also run the risk of overheating: “With cats,” says Bressler, “it’s important to include water in their diet as they do not seek out water like dogs do. Cats should always have access to fresh and clean water.”
1. Heatstroke is caused to dogs mainly because ___________.| A．dogs are not able to cool off via sweating |
| B．the temperatures are too high for dogs to bear |
| C．dogs can’t pull cool air into the lungs quickly |
| D．dogs can’t cool themselves by breathing heavily |
| A．It can be harmful to internal organs. |
| B．It can pull cool air into the lungs. |
| C．It only occurs during the summer months. |
| D．It happens to dogs more often than to cats. |
| A．Leave it alone in a car. | B．Have cool water available for it. |
| C．Bring it to the doctor frequently. | D．Cool it with cold air quickly. |
| A．changeable | B．comfortable | C．likely to survive | D．easily hurt |
9 . It was once thought that air pollution affected only the areas immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. Today, we know that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is actually worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the entire eastern half of the United States and led to health warnings even in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be affected by air pollution. Some scientists feel that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is creating “a greenhouse effect”, holding in heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be under water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particulate (废气排到空中而形成的微粒、颗粒) matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature—a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. At present we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen (though one recent government report prepared by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very likely). Perhaps, if we are very lucky, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now.
1. As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ________.| A．caused widespread damage in the countryside |
| B．affected the entire eastern half of the United States |
| C．had damaging effects on health |
| D．existed merely in urban and industrial areas |
| A．shares the same view with the scientists |
| B．is uncertain of its occurrence |
| C．rejects it as being ungrounded |
| D．thinks that it will destroy the world soon |
| A．slip into | B．make up for |
| C．set up | D．catch up with |
| A．lowering the world’s temperature merely a few degrees would lead many major farming areas to disaster |
| B．raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth |
| C．almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade |
| D．the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come |
10 . A holiday is any day when people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word came from Old English. At first, holidays honored some holy events or persons. People in Great Britain and other countries speak of holidays as Americans speak of vacations.
Every nation has its special holidays. China observes New Year’s Day (January 1), May Day and National Day as legal holidays, as it was on Oct.1,1949 that the People’s Republic of China was founded. The Chinese have long celebrated the Chinese lunar year. In the United States, congress has declared several days as legal holidays such as New Year’s Day (January 1), Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Washington’s birthday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and so on. Some holidays celebrate special events in the development of a country, such as Greece’s Independence Day, Italy’s Liberation Day and India’s Independence Day.
In the United States, banks and schools usually close on a legal holiday. When such a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is usually observed. Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and business do not close then. Those holidays include Valentine’s Day and Halloween.
1. From the passage we know that China’s National Day is ___________.| A．January 1 | B．May 1 | C．October 1 | D．December 25 |
| A．praises | B．spends | C．celebrates | D．cares |
| A．Chinese will no longer observe the Spring Festival |
| B．students don’t have to go to school on any holiday |
| C．Chinese and Americans share at least one holiday |
| D．Americans can easily draw money from banks on legal days. |
| A．China’s National Day | B．Valentine’s Day |
| C．Italy’s liberation Day | D．Independence Day |
