1 . A New Jersey couple and a homeless man have been accused of making up a feel﹣good story that raised more than ＄400,000 through GoFundMe.
The couple, Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico, and the man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., face a charge of second-degree theft, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said Thursday.
The couple said they met Bobbitt when he gave his last ＄20 to McClure, who was stranded on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, so she could put gas in her car，then started the GoFundMe campaign as a way to thank him.
The paying-it-forward story that drove this fundraiser might seem too good to be true, Coffina said at a press conference.
Unfortunately, it was. The entire campaign was based on a lie.
After fees, the money of the campaign netted about ＄367, 000, all deposited into McClure's accounts, Coffina said. Bobbitt received ＄75,000, and within months McClure and D'Amico had wasted their share on buying a car, high-end handbags and trips, Coffina said. They also used it at casinos(赌场), he said.
Coffina stressed that while Bobbitt, a veteran (老兵), deserves thanks for his service to the country and sympathy for his situation; he was fully involved in the crime, using media to help "promote the dishonest campaign".
According to Coffina, McClure and D'Amico first met Bobbitt at an off-ramp（驶出匝道）near a casino they regularly went, at least a month before the GoFundMe campaign went live.
They went back to the spot a month later, Coffina said. D'Amico took a picture of McClure and Bobbitt that became the face of the GoFundMe campaign that they started hours later, Coffina said.
1. What's the actual purpose of the GoFundMe campaign started by the couple?| A．To express their appreciation for Bobbitt's help. |
| B．To help Bobbitt pay off his heavy debt. |
| C．To raise money for their own benefit. |
| D．To make people believe in Bobbitt's generosity. |
| A．Impossible to finish. |
| B．Unable to move. |
| C．Without any choice. |
| D．Out of service. |
| A．About ＄292, 000. |
| B．About ＄367, 000. |
| C．About ＄325, 000. |
| D．About ＄400, 000. |
| A．Pretending to be a veteran. |
| B．Robbing the couple of ＄75, 000. |
| C．Failing to serve his country. |
| D．Helping invent the story. |
2 . “If you don't behave, I'll call the police”is a lie that parents might use to get their young children to behave. A new psychological(心理学的) study led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore suggests that it is connected with harmful effects when the children become adults.
The research team asked 379 Singaporean young adults whether their parents lied to them when they were children, how much they lie to their parents as adults, and how well they respond adulthood challenges.
The first questionnaire asked these young adults to recall if their parents told them lies about eating, leaving or staying, spending money and so on. Some examples of such lies are “If you don't come with me now, I will leave you here by yourself”and“I don’t bring money with me today, we can come back another day”.The second questionnaire included questions that could show how often they lie to their parents as adults. Lastly, these young adults filled in two other questionnaires that asked them about their psychological problems and tendency (趋势)to behave selfishly and impulsively(冲动地).
Adults who reported being lied to more as children were more likely to report lying to their parents in their adulthood. They also said they faced greater difficulty in meeting psychological and social challenges.
Lead author Setoh Peipei from NTU Singapore's School of Social Sciences said, “Parenting by lying can seem to save time, especially when the real reasons behind why parents want children to do something are difficult to explain. When parents tell children that‘honesty is the best policy’，but display dishonesty by lying, such behavior can send negative messages to their children. Parents' dishonesty may finally erode trust and encourage dishonesty in children”
“Our research suggests that parenting by lying is a practice that has negative influence on children when they grow up. Parents should be aware of these possible risks and consider other ways to replace lying, such as knowing children's feelings, giving information so children know what to expect, offering choices and solving problems together, to encourage children to have good behavior, ”said lead author Setoh Peipei.
But the study has its limitations. Some limitations of the study include depending on what young adults report about their parents' lying. “Future research can explore using many informants(提供信息的人), such as parents, to report on the same thing”suggested Setoh.
1. What did the research team do during the study?| A．They turned to 379 Singaporean children |
| B．They looked for questionnaires on the Internet. |
| C．They collected answers to some sets of questions |
| D．They asked the young adults parents for information |
| A．build | B．enhance | C．destroy | D．recover |
| A．Parents can sometimes tell harmless lies to their kids |
| B．Parents had better explain to their kids why they’ve lied |
| C．Parents who like lying are more likely to behave selfishly |
| D．Parents should use positive ways instead of lying during parenting |
| A．Parents 'lying to children can influence them negatively |
| B．Parents lie to children to save themselves some trouble. |
| C．Children's behavior can be affected by their parents |
| D．Children may lie more if their parents often lie. |
3 . Throw out the bottles and boxes of drugs in your house. A new theory suggests that medicine could be bad for your health. This new theory argues that healing (the process of becoming healthy and strong again) is at our fingertips: we can be healthy by doing Reiki on a regular basis.
Supporters of medical treatment argue that medicine should be trusted since it is effective and scientifically proven. They say that there is no need for spiritual methods such as Reiki, Yoga, TaiChi. These waste our time, something that is quite precious in our material world. There is medicine that can kill our pain and x-rays that show us our broken bones. We must admit that these methods are very effective in the examples that they provide. However, there are some "everyday complaints" such as back pains, headaches, which are treated currently with medicine. When you have a headache, you take an Aspirin; when you cannot sleep, you take Xanax without thinking of the side effects of these. When you use these pills for a long period, you become dependent on them; you cannot sleep without them. We pay huge amounts of money but never get better. How about a safer and more economical way of healing? When doing Reiki to yourself, you do not need anything except your energy so it is very economical. Also, there are no side effects and it is scientifically explained.
They also claim that serious illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and cancer cannot be treated without drugs. They think so because these patients spend the rest of their lives in the hospital taking medicine. How can Reiki make these people healthy again? It is very unfortunate that these patients have to live in the hospital losing their hair and weight because of the side effects of the medicine they take. Actually, instead of drugs which are expensive and have many side effects, you can use your energy to overcome the hardships of life, find an emotional balance, leave the stress of everyday life and let go of the everyday worries.
Some people may still hold that in our material world, everything depends on time. How would it be possible to find time to do Reiki? In fact, Reiki does not require more than 15 minutes of our time. It is less time consuming than medicine if we think of all the time we spend taking medicine for some complaints and taking some more for the side effects as well.
1. The author's attitude towards Reiki is ______.| A．disinterested | B．serious |
| C．positive | D．grateful |
| A．negative | B．wonderful |
| C．huge | D．extreme |
| A．Reiki will soon become the most popular exercise around the world. |
| B．Reiki is an effective treatment but not scientifically explained. |
| C．Reiki can make people less dependent on drugs. |
| D．Reiki is a kind of cheap drug but works well. |
| A．A New Way of Treating Illness |
| B．Health and Healing at Your Fingers |
| C．The Advantages and Disadvantages of Reiki |
| D．The Advantages and Disadvantages of Medicine |
4 . British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day, at a cost of ￡80m a year.
Supermarket Sainsbury’s found that one in three people throw away bananas if there is a single bruise(擦伤) or mark on the skin. More than one in ten customers also admit to throw away the fruit if there is any green on the skin.
The supermarket is making efforts to reduce food waste. It’s pushing British shoppers to make bread and desserts out of bruised and blackened bananas.
Starting from this week, Sainsbury’s will launch hundreds of “banana rescue” stations to encourage shoppers to give bruised bananas a chance. The stations will provide tips and ideas on how to bake with bananas or use them in drinks.
The move is part of the supermarket’s ￡10m “Waste less, save more initiative”, and the stations are already set up in 500 stores nationwide.
The supermarket’s head of sustainability, Paul Crewe, said Sainsbury’s wants to encourage customers to use the fruit in different ways.
“We are determined to help shoppers reduce the number of bananas going to waste at home too,” he said.
“61% of Britons admit they never use the bruised bananas in baking, so we want to encourage customers to use their fruit in different ways. There is no need to throw away the bruised ones anymore.” he added.
1. About _______ of customers throw away bananas if there is a single bruise or mark on the skin.| A．10% | B．25% | C．33% | D．66% |
| A．下水 | B．设立 | C．发射 | D．销售 |
| A．give tips on how to bake with bananas. |
| B．give tips on how to make drinks with bananas. |
| C．encourage customers to use bananas in different ways. |
| D．launch “banana rescue” stations all over America. |
| A．Banana Rescue | B．Bananas In Britain |
| C．How To Cook Bananas | D．The New Way To Store Bananas |
5 . For more than twenty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone in outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages on spaceships traveling through space, on the chance that someone may be receptive to such messages.
Scientists are using powerful radio telescope to listen to signals from about 1,000 stars, all within 100 light years of earth. In addition, they will scan (扫视) the entire sky to “listen” for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight channels at one time. Scientists are looking for any signal that stands out from the background noise.
Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, scientists find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for the evolution (进化) of life. Based on the inhabitable (that can be lived in) planets in our galaxy, most scientists agree that chances are likely that one or more of these planets support some life.
However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent life exists on other planets. Some believe that twenty years of searching without any intelligible messages shows that no one is out there. They say that the evolution of intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.
Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family in only about five billion years old, our galaxy is about 20 billions years old. In that time, some scientists think it is likely that civilizations are much more advanced than ours. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.
1. According to the passage, how many planets in our galaxy might be inhabitable?| A．15 billion. | B．10 billion. |
| C．5 billion. | D．200 billion |
| A．why scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets |
| B．how scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets |
| C．where scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets |
| D．when scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets |
| A．find | B．follow |
| C．form | D．check |
| A．Scientists are tying different ways to find signs of life on other planets. |
| B．Most scientists believe that there is intelligent life on other planets. |
| C．The earth is one of the oldest planets in our galaxy. |
| D．Scientists don’t believe that there might be life on other planets. |
