1 . A sleepover (过夜) program, which is designed to make kids believe that their favorite toys enjoy reading, can help encourage children to pick up more books, a new study suggests.
Toys sleepover programs are designed to get children interested in books. Children take their toys to a library for the night. At this point, workers and volunteers take photos of the toys which explore the library and read books. The next day, the children collect their toys and the photos of what the toys did during the night. They are given the books their toys chose to read.
It was found that before the sleepover the children did not spend time looking at the books in their play area at preschool. Immediately after the sleepover, the number of children who read to the toys was higher than the number who did not, but after three days the effect decreased gradually.
The researchers also tested a method for sustaining the effect. They reminded the children of the sleepover a month later, by hiding the toys and showing them the photos again the next day. This simple method brought an increase in the number of children reading to their toys.
The study proves for the first time that children who take part in sleepover programs read picture books to their toys more. “We wanted to know if there really was an effect, and if so, how long it lasts. Surprisingly, not only did the children show interest in the books, but they also began to read to their toys. This means that a new behavior pattern appeared that the children hadn’t had before. We did not expect anything like this,” said one of the researchers.
Reading is important for the development of children’s language skills and imagination. When parents read to their children, it is a passive way of reading for the child. However, when children read to their toys, it is a more active, self-directed way of reading, helping them develop into more active readers, researchers said.
1. What is the purpose of the sleepover program?| A．To develop children’s language skills. |
| B．To help children to sleep well. |
| C．To encourage children to read more. |
| D．To guide children to form a good sleeping habit. |
| A．Go around the library with their toys. |
| B．Sleep with their toys. |
| C．Read together with their toys. |
| D．Take their toys to the library. |
| A．keeping | B．testing | C．surveying | D．showing |
| A．Children showed no interest in the books. |
| B．The effect of the sleepover program could last long. |
| C．Children began to read to their toys on their own. |
| D．Whether the sleepover program had an effect remained unknown. |
2 . There is more that comes with older age than greying hair and wrinkled skin When humans reach their later years, they favour more established friends and their social circle is reduced.
Now, for what appears to be the first time, scientists have seen the same behaviour in another species. Twenty years of observations of chimpanzees (猩猩) reveal that older males choose to hang out with their long-term friends at the expense of other relationships.
The researchers studied 78, 000 hours of observations made between 1996 and 2016 that followed the social interactions of 21 male chimpanzees between the ages of 15 and 58 years old. They classified the chimps’ relationships depending on the amount of time they sat with others and groomed (梳毛) them. They then rated the various pairings as mutual (相互的) friendships, where both chimps seemed to enjoy the relationship; one-sided friendships, where one chimp was more keen to be friends than the other; and non-friendships, where neither chimp showed interest in the other.
When the scientists looked at the patterns of friendships, they found that the older chimps had more mutual friendships and fewer one-sided friendships than younger chimps. Another feature seen in older humans was also spotted in the chimps. As the males got older, their levels of aggression (挑衅) tailed off, meaning they started fewer fights and tended to intimidate others in their group less often.
The observations have left the researchers puzzled. According to an idea in psychology known as socioemotional selectivity theory, or SST, older humans prefer more positive relationships because they are aware time is running out. But many animal experts argue that chimpanzees lack the human sense of mortality (死亡), suggesting something else is driving the behaviour.
Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, said in humans, the decline in social circles with age is due to declining social motivation to get out and meet people combined by lack of opportunity. In chimpanzees, as older males compete less for mates, they may focus on close, reciprocal (互惠的) relationships with trusted partners, she said.
1. What do older male chimpanzees favour?| A．Old friendships. | B．New bonds. |
| C．Greying hair. | D．Wrinkled skin. |
| A．By turning to other scientists. |
| B．By introducing a new concept. |
| C．By forming relationships with them. |
| D．By analyzing two decades’ observations. |
| A．Threaten. | B．Motivate. | C．Defend. | D．Accompany. |
| A．Awareness of time. | B．Less competition for mates. |
| C．Low motivation for socialization. | D．Lack of the human sense of mortality. |
3 . We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays. There are different customs for each festival.
Tan Xiaodong, 15, Hong Kong, China
“It’ll soon be the Chinese New Year. Before it, we’ll clean the house and decorate (装饰) it for good luck. Every shop is going to close for a few days and we’ll go out a lot to celebrate on the streets. We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center. I love this festival.”
Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia
“Australia Day is on 26th January and it’s an important holiday here. We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days. My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over. Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there’s lots of music and dancing. What fun!”
Amy, 14, New York, the USA
“The first Thanksgiving was celebrated hundreds of years ago when Europeans who came to America thanked God for his help. It’s still a very important day for family members to be together. This year we’re going to visit my grandparents and we’ll eat a delicious meal of turkey. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year.”
1. How many festivals are mentioned in the passage?| A．Two. | B．Three. |
| C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．do a lot of shopping | B．eat turkey |
| C．go to beach parties | D．see lion and dragon dances |
| A．have a picnic in the countryside |
| B．go to a swimming pool |
| C．have a party at school |
| D．clean the house and dance |
| A．A country. | B．A festival. |
| C．A kind of food. | D．A kind of drink. |
| A．Amy is from Sydney, Australia |
| B．different festivals have different customs |
| C．many people go out for a picnic with friends before the Chinese New Year |
| D．Thanksgiving Day is on 26th January in the USA |
4 . A loud sound woke Dan at 8:15 in the morning. Looking out of his bedroom window, he spied a tree in smoke about 500 yards away. A car was stuck around the tree’s base, its engine on fire.
“I grabbed buckets of water.” Dan told the reporter. Then he and his girlfriend ran to the crash site. The car was divided nearly in two, and the tree was where the driver’s seat ought to have been, as if planted there. There was 16-year-old Thompson, his terrified face pressed against the driver’s side window, in great pain. Dan tried putting out the fire with his buckets of water with no success. “When the flames got into the front seats, I realized I had to get him out of there.” he told WAGM-TV.
“I feel like I just did what had to be done.” said Dan. Regardless of his own safety, Dan opened the car’s back door and crawled in. Thompson was struggling to get free. Dan said, “That’s when I noticed how bad his legs were.” Using a pocket knife, he cut off Thompson’s seat belt. Dan pulled him out of the window of the vehicle, and then dragged him to safety before the entire car was engulfed in flames. Although Thompson suffered serious injuries in his legs, he looked great, smiling. Dan thought about that day often. “There was a voice deep down telling me to act at once.” He said.
1. What do we know from the text?| A．Dan put out the fire with water at once. |
| B．Dan saved Thompson from the car accident. |
| C．Thompson and his girlfriend were trapped in the car. |
| D．Thompson got free from the seat with a knife by himself. |
| A．Swallowed. | B．Exposed. |
| C．Affected. | D．Polluted. |
| A．Enthusiastic and talented. |
| B．Courageous and calm. |
| C．Cooperative and generous. |
| D．Ambitious and professional. |
5 . Forget losing weight or saving money—we suggest one simple task to add to your list of inspiring New Year's decisions: read a book. Trust us, and your brain will thank you. Not only does reading increase the amount of daily pleasure in your life, but it could also delay dementia (痴呆) and even help you live longer.
But still, picking the perfect novel isn't easy. Thankfully, Business Insider asked a Harvard professor to recommend the one book he thinks every student should read in 2019—and we suggest adding it to your list, too. (No time for all the books on your list? Here's a shortcut: Read the endings to some of the world's most famous books, instead.)
Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard, recommends The Internationalists by legal scholars Hathaway and Shapiro. The book makes a surprising statement that the Kellogg-Briand Paris Peace Pact (条约) of 1928, which declared war illegal, has caused a steady drop in war throughout history.
“But in their fascinating and evidence-rich book, they make a lifelike case,” Pinker said. “And like The Clash of Civilizations and The End of History, the book presents a sweeping vision (视野) of the international scene, making sense of many developments in the news and recent history.”
Other professors at Harvard recommended classics like Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, as well as Just Mercy by Stevenson, The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith, and Robot-Proof by Joseph Aoun.
So, go ahead and give (at least) one of these books a read in 2019! And while you're at it, you should add the following 20 books you really should have read by now to your list, too…
1. Which has the closest meaning to the underlined word “shortcut” in the 2nd paragraph?| A．A time-saving way to read books. |
| B．A lazy person's way to read books. |
| C．A quick way to know about endings of books. |
| D．A wise way to deal with too many books to read. |
| A．The Paris Peace Pact. | B．The Internationalists. |
| C．Hathaway and Shapiro. | D．A wide vision of the international scene. |
| A．More advice on reading books. |
| B．The names of the 20 books recommended. |
| C．The main contents of the 20 books recommended. |
| D．The brief introduction of the 20 books recommended. |
Sounds familiar? Yes, these features can be seen in the characters of Ode toJoy. Andy (Liu Tao), for instance, partly embodies the iron maiden role. She's super smart, rational and direct. She moves from the US to Shanghai and takes the position of CFO at a top Chinese company. Fan Shengmei (Jiang Xin) can be seen as the “mother” in the series. Despite the fact that she s in charge of her own family issues，she takes her friends under her wing and stands up for them. Qu Xiaoxiao (Wang ziwen), the sexy and beautiful girl born with silver spoon, perfectly illustrates what is bitter-sweet relationship between friends and lovers. With that being said. Ode to Joy doesn't lack creativity. It assigns the “child” role to two characters-the straightforward, naive Qiu Yingying (Yang Zi), and the good-tempered, hard-working Guan Ju'er (Qiao Xin).
But this category of TV series has its risks. Having five main characters means the drama isn’t story-driven but character-driven. “It’s not something you often see in Chinese TV dramas，” Yuan Zidan, Ode to Joy’s screenwriter, told Changjiang Daily. “But we want to challenge the norms.”
1. Which of the following is NOT the reason why the audiences like Ode to Joy?
| A．Many famous actors and actresses starred in Ode to Joy. |
| B．Female audiencc can find themselves in its characters. |
| C．The lives of the characters can be traced back to real life..D It describes the real hidden life of those who are struggling in big cities. |
| A．iron maiden | B．child |
| C．mother | D．sex object |
| A．illustrate | B．classify | C．indicate | D．recognize |
| A．Ode to Joy is the first TV series to show a group of women’s life in the city. |
| B．Ode to Joy is not a traditional Chinese drama because it is character-driven. |
| C．The characters in Ode to Joy are the same with those in Sex and City and Desperate Housewives. |
| D．Andy fully illustrates the iron maiden who is both masculine and career-oriented. |
One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”
“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will（遗嘱）,” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”
“Yes, I see. I’ll do that,” said the young man.
1. Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _______.
| A．study abroad | B．work abroad | C．pay off the debts | D．learn to paint pictures |
| A．Surprised. | B．Frightened | C．Satisfied. | D．Excited. |
| A．planned to have a happy life for a few days | B．decided to give up his work in the factory |
| C．was to give a dinner to his friends | D．had no idea what to do |
| A．tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it |
| B．read his uncle’s will |
| C．buy some pictures |
| D．tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money |
