1 . What’s not to love about a bike? It’s a good way of exercising for almost everyone in the family to enjoy and low-cost transportation that does no harm to the environment.
If you don’t have a bike, you can easily get a very nice one from Craigslist, Ebay, or the local paper. You can also rent one from a local bike shop or bike-sharing sites like Spinlister. But if you have a little money to spend or special needs, you can go so far as to get a bamboo comfort cycle or solar-charged battery to get you up the hills without breaking a sweat. The electric bikes make bicycling accessible to more people than ever.
When the weather isn’t too hot, it might be a good idea to take the bicycle for a ride as often as you can. Inactivity-related diseases are the number one killer in the United States. But by adding just 30 minutes of exercise to our day by bicycle, we can save an average of $544 per person per year in health costs.
Increasingly, cities are adding more and more bike lanes, and there are now bike paths in most suburban areas as well. If you live somewhere where you can go to work by bicycle, on top of the health savings, you will save tons of money on gas, parking and car repairing. And as an added benefit, bicyclists also save time during rush hour when they can actually out-pace cars in city areas according to at least one study.
Traveling by bikes also allows you to see the world in a different way. Biking is slower, and you can wave“hello”to a neighbor or halt whenever you want to look around at new things and explore. These days, slowing down and getting relaxed may be the most important benefits of all.
1. What does the author want to tell us in Paragraph 2?| A．It is better to rent a bike than buy one. |
| B．There are wide cycling choices in modern society. |
| C．Some advanced bikes do little help to exercise. |
| D．The electric bikes are the best choice for old people. |
| A．Riding bikes is beneficial to people’s health. |
| B．Traveling by bikes can help people save lots of money. |
| C．Some governments improve cycling conditions in cities. |
| D．People should ride bikes for at least 30 minutes every day. |
| A．Stop. | B．Return. | C．Change. | D．Continue. |
| A．①—② ③④⑤ | B．①—② ③—④ ⑤ |
| C．①—②③④—⑤ | D．①—②—③④⑤ |
2 . From my earlier memory of Mother, it seemed quite natural to think of her as different, nor of everyday things as Father was. In those days he was a young-looking man. He did not hesitate to make friends with children as soon as they were able to talk to him and laugh at his stories. Mother was older than he was. She must have been a woman of nearly forty, but she seemed even older. She changed little for a long time, showing no indication of growing old at all until, towards the end of her life, she suddenly became an old lady.
I was always inquisitive about Mother’s age. She never had birthdays like other people, nor did anyone else in our family. No candles were ever lit or cakes made or presents given in our house. To my friends in the street who talked delightfully about their birthday parties, I would repeat my mother’s words that such celebrations were only foolish.
“Nothing but deception,” she would say. “As though life can be marked by birthdays. It’s deeds, not years, that matter.”
Although I often repeated her words and even prided myself on not having birthdays, I once could not help asking Mother when she was born.
“I was born. I’m alive as you can see, so what more do you want to know?” she replied, so sharply that I never asked her about her age again.
In so many other ways Mother was different. Whereas all the rest of the women I knew in the neighboring houses took pride in their housewifely abilities, their new furniture, the neat appearance of their homes, Mother regarded all those things as of little importance. Our house always looked as if we had just moved in or were about to move out.
1. How did Father impress the author?| A．He liked writing stories. | B．He talked a lot. |
| C．He was a very young man. | D．He was popular with children. |
| A．looked quite young | B．looked like an old lady |
| C．looked younger than she was | D．looked like a 40-year-old woman |
| A．Certain | B．Curious. |
| C．Cautious. | D．Confident. |
| A．She was lazy. | B．She was strict. |
| C．She was proud. | D．She was special. |
3 . Why do you go to the library? For books, yes—but you like books because they tell stories. You hope to get lost in a story or be transported into someone else’s life. At one type of library you can do just that—even though there’s not a single book.
At a Human Library, instead of books, you can “borrow” people. People with unique life stories volunteer to be the “books.” For a certain amount of time, you can ask them questions and listen to their stories, which are as fascinating as any you can find in a book. (If you attend, be sure to review the habits that make you a good listener.) Many of the stories have to do with some kind of depressing topic. You can speak with a refugee, a soldier suffering from PTSD（创伤后遗症）, a homeless person and a woman living with HIV. The Human Library encourages people
to take time to truly get to know and learn from someone they might otherwise make a snap judgement about. According to its website, the Human Library is “a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.”
The Human Library Organization came to be in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2000.Romni Abergel and his colleagues hosted a four—day event during a major Northern European festival. After the success of this event, Abergel founded the Human Library Organization, hoping to raise awareness among youth about depression, which has been growing ever since.
Though there are a few permanent human libraries, most aren’t places at all, but events. Though many do take place at physical libraries, you don’t need a library card—anyone can come and be part of the experience. There have been human library events all over the globe, in universities and in pubs, from Chicago to Tunis to Edinburgh to San Antonio. Check out the organization’s Facebook page to see when the Human Library might be arriving near you.
1. What shall we do before going to the Human Library?| A．Bring a book. | B．Get a library card. |
| C．Make an appointment. | D．Go over some listening habits. |
| A．True | B．Quick. |
| C．Wrong. | D．Obvious. |
| A．He expected to answer different questions. |
| B．He successfully held an event in Northern Europe. |
| C．He wanted young people to pay attention to depression. |
| D．He had set up the Human Libraries all over the world. |
| A．“Borrow” People Instead of Books | B．Human Library Organization |
| C．Human Library Is Near You | D．A Library in Denmark |
“I thought it would be useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age” Joseph Stocke, the managing director of a company, says of his 2-year old son. “I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future,” After only six months of being cared by 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says.
Li Drake, a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband, had another reason for looking for an au pair from China. She didn’t want her children to miss out on their roots.” Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接触) the language and culture.” she says.
“Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom,” says Suzanne Flynn, a professor in language education of Children. “But parents must understand that just one year with au pair is unlikely to produce wonders. Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12.”
The popularity if au pairs from China has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children who want their children to learn Chinese. It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years.
1. What does the term “au pair” in the text mean?
| A．A mother raising her children on her own |
| B．A child learning a foreign language at home |
| C．A professor in language education of children |
| D．A young foreign woman taking care of children. |
| A．to live in China some day | B．to speak the language at home |
| C．to catch up with other children | D．to learn about the Chinese culture |
| A．Learning Chinese is becoming popular In America |
| B．Educated woman do better in looking after children |
| C．Chinese au pairs need to improve their English Skills. |
| D．Children can learn a foreign language well in six months. |
