1 . We recognize our friends’ faces. And we’re not alone. Many social animals can identify individuals of their own species by features of their faces. That's important, because they need to be able to change their behavior depending on who they meet. And a recent research has shown that some species of monkeys, birds, and domesticated (家养的) animals can even tell different faces apart by looking at photographs alone.
Ethologist Léa Lansade of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment did an experiment to find out how well horses can recognize individual people in photographs.
She and her team first taught the horses how to “choose” between two side-by-side pictures by touching their noses to a computer screen. The horses were then shown photos of their present keeper alongside faces of unfamiliar humans. They had never seen photos of any of the people before. The horses correctly identified their current keeper and ignored (忽视) the stranger’s face about 75%of the time. In fact, even though the horses didn't get it right every single time, they were at least as correct in picking out their earlier keeper as they were at identifying their present one.
The results suggest that not only can horses differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar human faces, they also naturally understand that photographs are two dimensional representations (二维呈现) of real life, without any other intimations such as smell or sound. And they’re even better at this than our oldest animal parter, the domestic dog.
In addition, horses seem to have a strong long-term memory for human faces, like their long lifespan and history of domestication. In future experiments, the researchers would like to test whether looking at photos of people that they have had bad experiences with in the past might cause horses to act anxious or even avoidance. So maybe think twice before doing anything that might give a horse a long face.
1. Why did researchers show the horses both the keeper’s photos and the strangers’?| A．To find out what horses would do in the experiment. |
| B．To see why horses could recognize the keeper in the pictures. |
| C．To test whether horses could recognize the strangers in pictures. |
| D．To study to what degree horses can make out different people in pictures. |
| A．Clues. | B．Differences. |
| C．Photographs. | D．Senses. |
| A．Whether horses can live longer than other animals. |
| B．Whether horses can remember human's faces for a long time. |
| C．Whether horses can show their emotions at the sight of photos. |
| D．Whether horses are better at recognizing photos than other animals. |
| A．To talk about animals’ species. |
| B．To explain animals’ facial features. |
| C．To show animals’ behaviour for adaptation. |
| D．To introduce animals’ ability to identifying faces. |
2 . Physical education, or gym class, isnˈt required for all high school students. In some schools, it isnˈt offered for some different reasons. But should high school students have physical education? The answer is certainly "yes".
Today many people donˈt do sports. But as is known to all, doing sports is very important for an adult. Teaching teens the importance of a healthy lifestyle and making fitness plans now can help teens put exercise in the first place as an adult.
High school isnˈt that easy. Many students are under a lot of stress. Stress can be harmful to a studentˈs studies and life. Doing sports can help them deal with stress better, helping them live a happier life at school.
Inactivity increases teensˈ risk of developing many diseases. An active lifestyle offers a good way of protection from these health problems. As much as 75 per cent of health care spending goes towards treating medical conditions that can be hindered by lifestyle changes, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
According to the Presidentˈs Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), students who performed five hours of physical activity each week improved their academic (学业的) performance. Students from programmes with no physical activity, who used the extra time for classroom study, did not perform better on tests than those who gave up some study time in support of physical education.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what does physical education in high school mean?| A．Helping teens learn to make good plans. |
| B．Removing the stress faced by teens at school. |
| C．Making teens pay attention to exercise later. |
| D．Getting teens to encourage adults to exercise. |
| A．Measured. | B．Prevented. |
| C．Shown. | D．Caused. |
| A．means making students choose between sports and studies |
| B．helps students make good use of all their time |
| C．means students adjust to their studies better |
| D．helps students do better in their studies |
| A．How high school students can live a better life. |
| B．How schools can help students love doing sports. |
| C．Why some schools consider physical education important. |
| D．Why high school students should receive physical education. |
3 . Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world—Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey—rats will soon be the new best friends of humans.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!
The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history people will be happy to see a rat in a building.
1. In the world earthquake capitals, rats will become man’s best friends because________．| A．they can fully take the place of man’s rescue jobs to save more people |
| B．they can find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| C．they can serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| D．they can get into small spaces that the dogs may fail to get into |
| A．they left the room at an agreed signal |
| B．the policeman raised his hand to signal the driver to stop |
| C．he seemed to signal important changes in the US government policy |
| D．a signal failure resulted in the car accident |
| A．they are more fantastic than other animals |
| B．they are less expensive to train than dogs |
| C．they don’t need electricity |
| D．they are small and can get into small spaces |
| A．rats have already taken the place of dogs in searching for people |
| B．the “rat project” has already been completed |
| C．people are very happy to see a rat in a building |
| D．people now still use dogs and robots in performing rescues |
4 . Johnny Cash was born in 1932 in the southern state of Arkansas. His parents were poor cotton farmers. As a school boy, he began writing songs and he performed on radio programs. After high school, he joined the United States Air Force and served as a radio operator in Germany.
He returned to the United States in 1954 and formed a band with two friends and performed at local events. They began recording for Sun Records in Memphis. One of the songs Cash wrote became the first country music hit record for the company. It was “Cry, Cry, Cry.”
Johnny Cash performed all across the United States and Canada. By 1958, Johnny Cash was a successful recording artist, songwriter and singer. He was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
Johnny Cash won many awards, including eleven Grammy Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors. He was elected to both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He died on September 12, 2003, in Nashville at the age of seventy-one.
Fans say that Johnny Cash's music was important because it told simple stories about life and death. They say he cared about social issues and continued to express support for those who are poor and without political power. One of the last songs he recorded was one made popular by the rock and roll group Nine Inch Nails. It is called “Hurt.”
1. Johnny Cash returned to the United States after ________.| A．he finished high school | B．he formed a band |
| C．he served in US Air Force in Germany | D．his song Cry, Cry, Cry became famous |
| A．Johnny Cash performed his famous song Cry, Cry, Cry at the Grand Ole Opry |
| B．Johnny Cash didn't care about social problems |
| C．Johnny Cash's music was only loved by his fans |
| D．the Grand Ole Opry is a place where famous singers hold their concerts. |
| A．Beat | B．Failure | C．Strike | D．Success |
| A．he won many awards in his lifetime |
| B．he often performed in the Grand Ole Opry |
| C．his songs expressed support for the poor people with no political power |
| D．his songs were sung by the rock and roll group Nine Inch Nails |
5 . Hard work really does pay off. Scientists find that perseverance (毅力) leads to better grades and higher achievements in school.
“Being passionate (热诚的) is not enough to ensure academic success,” said researchers, who thought of “courage” as a key to success. This is also regarded as effort in reaching long-term goals, and determination to continue one’s efforts in spite of hardships.
Researchers thought that the finding could help create new training to help children develop the skill and help ensure their future success.
Researchers from the Academy of Finland studied more than 2,000 students from Helsinki. They were followed through their academic career from 12 to 16, from the sixth grade until the ninth grade in local school years. Researchers found that the factor that best predicted courage was related to goals, with previous academic achievements playing no role in developing the skill.
Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro, who led the study, said, “Courage means a young person is really interested in his or her studies and does not give up easily. A key element of courage is high perseverance when facing difficulties and hardships. The important finding is that these factors are the key to success and well-being. Our study shows the power of courage.”
Professor Salmela-Aro also thought it was important to develop new practices and qualities to improve courage in teenagers. She added, “Young people should see everyday school work as part of their life in a broader context and establish achievable goals for themselves. Schools must also serve as a place where it is safe to fail and learn to deal with setbacks. One must not be discouraged by setbacks, but gain(得到) strength and new energy from them!”
1. What can we learn about the research?| A．It takes at least three years. |
| B．It helps students make progress. |
| C．It makes many discoveries. |
| D．It follows 2,000 students abroad. |
| A．Focus on former grades. |
| B．Achieve their goals. |
| C．Try all their best. |
| D．Forget sadness. |
| A．Strengths. | B．Difficulties. |
| C．Weaknesses. | D．Efforts. |
| A．Hard work will lead to success |
| B．Failure is the mother of success |
| C．Schools should train students’ courage |
| D．Perseverance is the key to success |
6 . "Smile!" I shouted, holding a yellow sign up on a busy street in Seattle. We were three thousand miles away from home on a Random Acts of Kindness and Volunteerism Road Trip. We had two aims. One was to try out our new "Smile!" signs and see how much kindness and joy we could spread in Pike Place Market. The other was to raise $80 by doing street performances, enough for gas to Portland and a small hotel room.
We weren't sure how people would react (回应) to our signs. I nervously raised up our signs and shouted, "Hi, there!" to a young couple. They looked over and felt confused. Then they read our signs and broke into a smile. Before long, some tourists wanted to take a photo with us and some strangers stopped to ask us about our signs.
In fact, we paid so close attention to our "Smile!" project that we forgot the other aim. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, and we had no money for our trip to Portland. We sat down to watch a blind musician play the guitar while thinking about what to do. He was packing up when a passing crowd kicked down his change bowl. He stumbled (绊倒) into the crowd. We rushed to help him, but another man moved more quickly to help him.
Once the musician had his money safely returned, we ran over to meet the strange helper and said, "We just wanted to praise you for your good deed." He smiled, looking at our signs. "Your trip reminds me of something similar I once did when I was young," he said. "Look! I'd like to donate (捐赠)." We told him, "No, thanks! We are fine. We've collected plenty of money." We lied. "Please let me donate. It will make me feel like I'm a part of this adventure," he insisted. And then the stranger opened his wallet and pulled out four $20 bills. The money was exactly what we had intended to raise that day. We were astonished. It seemed as if he had known somehow.
1. What's the main purpose of the road trip?| A．To spread kindness and joy. |
| B．To invite more people to join in the trip. |
| C．To raise money for a trip to Portland. |
| D．To encourage people to take happy photos. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Worried. | C．Interested. | D．Moved. |
| A．Because he felt pity for the author. |
| B．Because he wanted to join in the project. |
| C．Because he hoped to help the homeless. |
| D．Because he felt sorry for his impoliteness. |
| A．Tired. | B．Satisfied. | C．Frightened. | D．Surprised. |
7 . Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.
1. The underlined word “cure” in Paragraph 1 probably means ______.| A．a kind of vitamin | B．a medical treatment | C．a kind of germ | D．a kind of rice |
| A．spend his holiday |
| B．find ways to grow better crops |
| C．help the Javanese with their illness |
| D．do some research about the island |
| A．To eat them. |
| B．To give the Javanese a surprise. |
| C．To carry out his experiments. |
| D．To make money by selling them. |
| A．beri-beri was caused by chickens |
| B．the Javanese didn’t like vitamins |
| C．the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ |
| D．Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful |
8 . With around 100 students scheduled to be in that 9:00 am Monday morning lecture, it is no surprise that almost 20 people actually make it to the class and only 10 of them are still awake after the first 15 minutes; it is not even a surprise that most of them are still in their pajama’s(睡衣). Obviously, students are terrible at adjusting their sleep cycles to their daily schedule.
All human beings possess a body clock. Along with other alerting systems, this governs the sleep/wake cycle and is therefore one of the main processes which govern sleep behaviour. Typically, the preferred sleep/wake cycle is delayed in adolescents, which leads to many students not feeling sleepy until much later in the evenings. This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the “night owl” schedule of sleep.
This is opposed to the “early bird” schedule, and is a kind of disorder where the individual tends to stay up much past midnight. Such a person has great difficulty in waking up in the mornings. Research suggests that night owls feel most alert and function best in the evenings and at night. Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people can be classified as “night owls” and only 10 percent can be classified as “early birds” ------ the other 70 percent are in the middle. Although this is clearly not true for all students, for the ones who are true night owls, this gives them an excellent excuse for missing their lectures which unfortunately fall before midday.
1. What does the author stress in Paragraph 1?| A．Many students are absent from class. |
| B．Students are very tired on Monday mornings. |
| C．Students do not adjust their sleep patterns well. |
| D．Students are not well prepared for class on Mondays. |
| A．Most students prefer to get up late in the morning. |
| B．Students don’t sleep well because of alerting systems. |
| C．One’s body clock governs the sleep/wake cycle independently. |
| D．Adolescents’ delayed sleep/wake cycle isn’t the preferred pattern. |
| A．Criticized | B．Grouped | C．Organized | D．Named |
| A．Functions of the body clock. |
| B．The “night owl” phenomenon. |
| C．Human beings’ sleep behaviour. |
| D．The school schedule of “early birds”. |
9 . 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. |
10 . Tom goes everywhere with Catherine Green, a 54-year-old secretary(秘书). He moves around her office at work and goes shopping with her. "Most people don't seem to mind Tom," says Catherine, who thinks he is wonderful. "He's my fourth child," she says. She may think of him and treat him that way as her son, buying his food, paying his health bills and his taxes(税), but in fact Tom is a dog.
Catherine and Tom live in Sweden, a country where everyone is expected to lead an orderly life according to rules laid down by the government, which also provides a high level of care for its people. This level of care costs money.
People in Sweden pay taxes on everything, so it's surprised to find that owning a dog means yet more taxes. Some people are paying as much as 500 Swedish kronor in taxes a year for the right to keep their dog, money that is spent by the government on dog hospitals and sometimes medical treatment for a dog that falls ill. However, most such treatment is expensive, so owners often decide to offer health and even life premium for their dog.
In Sweden dog owners must pay for any damage their dog does. A Swedish Kennel Club official explains what this means: if your dog runs out on the road and gets hit by a passing car you, as the owner, have to pay for any damage done to the car, even if your dog has been killed in the accident.
1. The money paid as dog taxes is used to .| A．pay for damage done by dogs |
| B．provide medical care for dogs |
| C．keep a high level of care for the people |
| D．buy insurance for dog owners |
| A．payment(付款) for entertainment | B．payment for food |
| C．payment for risks | D．protection fee |
| A．The owner of the dog. | B．The owner of the car. |
| C．The insurance company. | D．The government. |
| A．many car accidents are caused by dogs |
| B．keeping dogs means asking for trouble |
| C．people care much about dogs. |
| D．dogs are welcome in public places |
