1 . Usually, when you listen to music you will expect it to be enjoyable. Music is everywhere these days. It can make an experience much more pleasurable, unless we are watching a horror movie. Then, we expect something different, or something that is also horrible!
Mark Korven writes music for movies and TV. He provided the music for a successful horror movie called The Witch .Its director, Robert Eggers, asked Mark not to use any electronic music for this movie. He wanted to create a more real sound. Following this experience, Mark began to think about how a more natural sound could be made for future horror movies. He got in touch with his good friend, Tony Duggan-Smith, a musician and maker of musical instruments. Tony camp up with something great.
Tony created a special instrument that he calls The Apprehension Engine. It looks a little like a mechanic or engineer's workshop table. The handmade instrument was inspired by something called the Soundtrack Box, invented by the Oslo-based new- music technologist Koka Nikoladze. Every section of the instrument is there to create a sound or noise that can scare you.
Mark has said that his purpose when writing music for the The Apprehension Engine is to help produce sounds that are disturbing. He showed his skills recently by giving a hugely successful performance one dark evening in Brooklyn, New York on Friday 13", of course! In the shadow of candles, members of people jumped out of their skin.(吓得魂不附体)
So, is The Apprehension Engine a musical instrument, a machine, or an engine? If you believe that the purpose of music is to excite the listener, you can probably call it a musical instrument-it’s just that the sounds the instrument makes do not necessarily make you feel happy or relaxed.
1. What did Robert Eggers require Mark Korven to do?| A．To invent a new instrument. | B．To avoid using electronic music. |
| C．To work with others to make music. | D．To make pleasant music for his movie. |
| A．It is the idea of a director. | B．It was first played in Brooklyn. |
| C．It looks more like a machine. | D．It is made up of different instruments. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Surprising. |
| C．Worrying. | D．Relaxing. |
| A．The advantage of music. | B．A special musical instrument. |
| C．How to mix different music. | D．How to create music for horror movies. |
2 . Americans are drinking less milk today than they did 40 years ago. In fact, Americans are drinking about 40 percent less than they did in 1975. This decrease has led the United States dairy (乳品) industry to explore new ways to get people to drink milk. One method it is testing: helping to set up coffee bars in U.S. high schools.
Schools prepare coffee drinks in different ways, but milk is always the main ingredient in lattes (拿铁). That is why Midwest Dairy is providing financial help for a coffee bar at a fourth high school in the Fort Zumwalt, Missouri area during the upcoming school year. In exchange, the group will get data on how much milk is used for the lattes, as well as other information about food products with dairy.
Dairy groups have provided money to high schools in many states. At a high school in North Dakota, for example, a $5,000 grant from a dairy group helped pay for a coffee machine. The device makes lattes with about 0.23 liters of milk each. The drinks used around 2,000 liters of milk this past school year.
Not all high school coffee bars get money from dairy groups. Even then, the money may only cover a small amount of the costs. But school food operators say lattes give American teenagers another reason to stay on school grounds.
But not everyone thinks teens should drink coffee, or that they need milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics is against children consuming products with caffeine.
While dairy is a good way to get calcium and vitamin D, it is not the only way to get such nutrients, says Doctor Natalie Muth. She is a child care specialist and representative for the American Academy of Pediatrics. As for lattes, Muth said there are ways to persuade students to get the nutrients of milk without promoting caffeine use.
1. Why is the United States dairy industry willing to help set up coffee bars in American high schools?| A．To promote milk consumption. | B．To keep students healthy. |
| C．To test a new mixed drink. | D．To compare coffee with milk. |
| A．Loan. | B．Aid. |
| C．Equipment. | D．Scholarship. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Ambiguous. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Understanding. |
| A．Coffee Leads Americans to Drink More Milk |
| B．Why Do Americans Less Like Milk? |
| C．Coffee Is Welcomed by U.S. Students |
| D．Should Coffee Bars Be in Schools? |
3 . Australia and New Zealand’s health organizations have given their advice on when to use sunscreen (防晒霜), suggesting Australians apply it every day to avoid bad health effects.
A Sunscreen Summit took place in the Australian State of Queensland. During the summit, representatives from some of Australia’s leading research, medical and public health organizations examined the evidence on sunscreen use the determined that in most parts of the country it is beneficial to apply sunscreen every day.
“Up until now, public health organizations have recommended applying sunscreen ahead of planned outdoor activities but haven’t recommended applying it every day as part of a morning routine (惯例),” professor Rachel Neale from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute said. “In recent years, it has become clear that the DNA damage causes skin cancer and melanoma (黑色素瘤), which is caused by repeated small exposure to sunlight over a period of time,” Neale said. “In Australia, we get a lot of sun exposure from everyday activities such as walking to the bus stop or train station,” Neale said.
A study showed that one in two Australians believed it was unhealthy and potentially dangerous to use sunscreen every day. However, Terry Slevin from the Public Health Association of Australia says it is wrong. “There is consistent and compelling evidence that sunscreens are safe,” Slevin said. “Importantly, medical trials have found that people who use sunscreen daily have the same levels of vitamin D as those who don’t,” Slevin added.
Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, which is made worse by the country’s close to Antarctica where there is a hole in the ozone layer (臭氧层), letting in higher numbers of UV rays.
1. What made Australian health organizations advise Australians to use sunscreen?| A．The makers of sunscreen. |
| B．Australian government. |
| C．The Sunscreen Summit. |
| D．New Zealand’s researchers. |
| A．Using sunscreen as a morning routine. |
| B．Using sunscreen before outdoor activities. |
| C．Reducing the use of sunscreen. |
| D．Reducing outdoor activities. |
| A．Sunscreen will never take effect. |
| B．Sunscreen is bad for people’s health. |
| C．People using sunscreen have the same levels of vitamin. |
| D．D. People using sunscreen won’t have skin cancer. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Disappointing. |
| C．Boring. | D．Convincing. |
4 . One in five women and one in eight men are becoming more tired and less productive, according to a new Australian study on mobile phone use.
Led by the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, researchers surveyed 709 mobile phone users across the country aged 18 to 83 and asked them a series of questions based on a similar study 13 years ago. Identifying a phenomenon "technoference (科技干扰)", researchers discovered a significant increase in people blaming their devices for losing sleep, becoming less productive and even getting more aches and pains".
According to the study's lead author Dr Oscar, the issue is so bad that 24 percent of women and 15 percent of men are now considered to be " problematic mobile phone users". "When we talk about technoference, we're referring to the everyday intrusions (侵入)and interruptions that people experience due to mobile phones and their usage," he said. "Our survey found technoference had increased among men and women. For example, self-reports relating to the loss of sleep and productivity showed that these negative outcomes had significantly increased during the last 13 years. This finding suggests that mobile phones are potentially increasingly affecting aspects of daytime functioning due to lack of sleep. "
Compared to a 2005 study, "technoference" issues for 18 to 24-year-old experienced a surprising 40. 9 percent rise, while those aged 25 to 29 also recorded a dramatic increase of 23. 5 percent.
Oscar said that with the number of smartphone users around the world expected to surpass 2. 5 billion before the end of this year, the problem of "technoference" could get even worse. "The speed and depth of smartphone take-up makes our population particularly vulnerable to some of the negative consequences of high mobile phone use." he said. "Rapid technological innovations have led to dramatic changes in today's mobile phone technology, which can improve the quality of life for phone users but also result in some negative outcomes. "
1. How are people affected by technoference according to the text?| A．It makes people addicted to communicating online. |
| B．It pushes people to work at a fast pace. |
| C．It causes people to sleep less at night. |
| D．It brings negative outcomes to people of all ages. |
| A．Young women. | B．Young man |
| C．Children. | D．Seniors. |
| A．Widely spread. | B．Easily hurt. |
| C．Deeply devoted | D．Absolutely accustomed. |
| A．The increasing side effects of smartphones. |
| B．Ways to solve technoference problem. |
| C．Smartphones and people's happiness. |
| D．The popularity of smartphones. |
5 . Not all bad emotions (情感) are necessarily bad. In fact, they can direct your behaviour in useful ways. If you’re stuck in traffic, anger with the situation might motivate you to find an alternative route (线路), which will then relieve your stress. But anger is less useful if you’re in the same situation, but stuck on a motorway with no option to alter directions.
Emotions have physiological effects, such as raising the level of cortisol in your bloodstream, which can affect your health. Indeed, a new study, published in Psychology and Aging, shows that high levels of anger are associated with poor health in older people.
The Canadian study did the study on 226 adults aged 59-93. They took blood samples to assess levels of chronic (慢性的) low-grade inflammation (炎症) and asked the participants to report any age-related chronic illnesses they might have. The participants also completed a short questionnaire about the level of anger or sadness they experienced in three typical days over a one-week period.
For the analysis, the researchers considered whether age could affect the results. They found that higher levels of anger were associated with inflammation and ill health in the oldest participants (aged 80 and above), but not the youngest ones (59-79 years). Sadness was not associated with inflammation or ill health in either age group.
The study is cross-sectional, meaning that it assessed a group of people at a single point in time. To get a fuller understanding of the relationship between bad emotions and health, we need studies that follow participants for a period of time — so-called prospective observation studies. Future studies should also take into account other factors that might relate, such as other emotions, stress and personality.
Although this new research shows a link between emotion and health in older age, we do not know whether anger causes inflammation and illness or whether health problems make people angrier.
1. What does the underlined word “alter” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Change. | B．Control. |
| C．Measure. | D．Operate. |
| A．To analyze their levels of health. |
| B．To fill in the form of questionnaires. |
| C．To know the levels of some inflammation. |
| D．To compare the change of anger in three days. |
| A．Anger is the greatest danger to health. |
| B．The influence of anger on illness is unclear. |
| C．People in poor health are easy to get angry. |
| D．Evidence is needed to prove the effect of health. |
| A．Adjusting Our Emotions Is Necessary |
| B．Bad Emotions Affect People’s Feelings |
| C．New Conclusions Make People Amazed |
| D．Anger Is Linked to Illness in Old Age |
6 . Some of the greatest problems we face today are the destruction (破坏)of our environment.Brown clouds, polluted water, endangered wild animals..., these problems seem so huge.
So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don’t have to drive.
But does it do any good? When I am the only one in line at the market with cloth bags, am I doing any good? Does my walking to stores make any real difference to the world?
I recently learned something about flamingos(火烈鸟)which like to get together in groups of a thousand or more Every year when the time comes for migration (迁徙), a few of them first take off from the lake. But none of the others seem to notice, so the small group returns. However, the next day they try again. This time a few more fly along with them, but most of them still pay no attention, so they return again. They try for several times. Every time a few more birds join in but ,since the thousands of others still take no notice, the great migration plan is once more stopped.
Then one day something changes. The same small group of birds once again starts flying and a small number more join in just as before, then more. Finally, they all take flight and the migration really begins. What a spectacular sight it must be--thousands of flamingos taking off into the sky at once!
A few can make a difference. Even if you’re the one to take the first step, and continue trying,others will someday take notice and together we will solve even our greatest problems.
1. Where would you most probably read this passage?| A．A guidebook. | B．A movie poster. |
| C．An animal magazine. | D．A personal blog |
| A．There are only cloth bags in stores. |
| B．All the people use cloth bags in stores. |
| C．He thinks plastic bags are more expensive. |
| D．He wants to do some good to the environment. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Fantastic. |
| C．Terrible | D．Surprising |
| A．To show that the writer loves to see the migration of flamingos. |
| B．To tell readers to continue trying and it can make a difference. |
| C．To introduce a special kind of flamingo to readers. |
| D．To show that there' re many problems in the world. |
7 . Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1. Which of the following is an example of the “extra minute” rule?| A．Start the car the moment everyone is seated. |
| B．Leave the room for a minute with the iron working. |
| C．Wait for an extra minute so that the steak tastes better. |
| D．Move an object out of the way before it trips someone. |
| A．keep her appointment with the eye doctor |
| B．meet her father who was already an old man |
| C．join in the holiday celebration of the company |
| D．finish her work before the deadline approached |
| A．abandoned | B．lacked |
| C．avoided | D．taken |
| A．To Keep Emotional Well-being | B．To Prevent “If Only” Moments |
| C．To Follow the Most Useful Rule | D．To Achieve the Peace of Mind |
8 . When you’re sitting in class or behind your desk waiting for the clock to strike a time when you can go home, it is natural that your mind should wander (走神) a bit. It is common for your mind to wander to a vacation and even travel around the world. What if there is a way that you can travel around the world without having to pay any money?
A person that managed to make it around the world without spending much was Shantanu Starick. How did he trade off his service? Starick realized that as a photographer he had a service that people would usually be willing to pay money for, but he would instead offer his photography service to anyone who could provide him with food, shelter (住处) and transportation. Starick has been traveling for a surprising 30 months and has visited countries ranging from the United States to Ecuador.
In English-speaking countries, trading off services and communicating aren’t difficult for Starick. However, in farther areas where there isn’t an English- speaking person in sight it can be quite difficult. More than anything, the locals appreciate (欣赏) the effort behind trying to speak their language, even if you don’t exactly sound like a native speaker.
You can do it too!
Honestly, with a bit of confidence, drive and a skill you can trade, you’ll be able to do exactly the same as Starick.
Start thinking about what you can do to get around the world without paying money. With our social networks and the connectivity our world has, you can easily connect with and market yourself to people across the world without any effort.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To describe students in class. |
| C．To give an example for the text. |
| D．To show people’s state of mind. |
| A．Join. | B．Exchange. |
| C．Stop. | D．Improve. |
| A．The skills. |
| B．The confidence to succeed. |
| C．The bravery to travel. |
| D．The effort to speak the local language. |
| A．His job is only traveling around the world. |
| B．He is too poor to afford the travels. |
| C．He has a skill to travel without paying much money. |
| D．He doesn’t hear of other languages except English. |
9 . Roger was a thief, but he wasn’t very clever. When he was in school, he stole apples or oranges from other children. Sometimes he stole pencils or books from other children. But he always got caught.
The teacher spoke to Roger’s parents and they tried to stop him from stealing things, but Roger wouldn’t stop. He kept stealing.
When he was older, he began to steal from stores, but he was still stupid. Once, he went into a store wearing the clothes he had stolen the day before. They still had the price tags (标签) on them, and the store manager called the police. They warmed him that he would go to jail if he didn’t stop stealing.
Then Roger decided to rob a bank. He planned everything. He got some gloves so that he would not leave fingerprints, and a mask so that no one would recognize him.
“But what if they recognize my voice?” he thought.
He decided to write his message on a piece of paper so that he wouldn’t need to speak. He found an old envelope and wrote “give me all the money” on the back of it. He got a toy gun and went to the bank. He put on his mask and his gloves and showed the note to the bank clerk. The clerk gave him all the money, and Roger ran out of the bank and went home.
Ten minutes later he heard a knock on the door. It was the police. They had come to arrest him for robbing the bank.
“How did you find me so quickly?” asked Roger.
“It was easy,” said the police. “Your address was on the envelope!”
1. How old was Roger when he started stealing things?| A．10 | B．40 |
| C．70 | D．22 |
| A．understand | B．make |
| C．watch | D．know |
| A．His friend worked in the bank. | B．The clerk knew his voice. |
| C．They knew his address. | D．They found his picture. |
| A．got some gloves so that he would not leave fingerprints |
| B．got a mask so that no one would recognize him |
| C．wrote his message on a piece of paper so that he wouldn’t need to speak |
| D．above A, B and C |
10 . In 1975, George Carlin appeared on a popular TV show, Saturday Night Live, with his famous words about blue food. ＂Why is there no blue food? I can’t find blue food — I can’t find the flavor of blue! I mean yellow is lemon; orange is orange and red is cherry. Where is the blue food?＂
Well, Carlin pretty much has it right — there is not no blue food, but there’s certainly not a lot of it. Fresh-picked blueberries are blue, though they become purple when they are turned into jam. The blue in blueberries — like the purple in grapes and red in tomatoes — is found in nature. But it isn’t a hot color for food. People don’t seem to prefer blue food. Some diet programs even suggest that those determined to lose weight should make their food blue.
Eating, in part, begins with our eyes. Chares Spence — an experimental psychologist from Oxford University — points out that color can change our taste experience. Commonly, we consider red-colored foods up to 20% sweeter than they actually are; and green foods as being more sour. Spence suggests: human expectations may be influenced by our long history of watching — green fruits can become sweet as they grow up and turn red..
But what about blue? Except blueberries, much of the blue food we see these days is dyed blue artificially. Food producers argue that artificial color doesn’t do much damage to health. A lot of research shows that some physical problems of kids are related to food dyes — while other studies show no effects at all. Blue birthday cake or even blue-dyed chicken can be served on the dinner table. So what?
1. George Carlin’s words are placed at the beginning of the passage to ______________.| A．show the author’s opinion | B．tell a famous person |
| C．lead in the topic | D．introduce a TV show |
| A．The blue in blueberries is found unnatural. |
| B．Blueberries are always blue, whether fresh or not. |
| C．Blue is not a very popular color for foods. |
| D．People often feel cold when they eat blueberries. |
| A．our taste experience can be influenced by color |
| B．red-colored foods are 20% sweeter than green foods |
| C．people prefer red-colored foods to green foods |
| D．before eating, people watch food for a long time |
| A．is eaten up | B．has grown up | C．is harmful to | D．is changed in color |
