1 . Raised in a motherless home，my father was extremely tightfisted towards us children. His attitude didn’t soften as I grew into adulthood and went to college. I had to ride the bus whenever I came home. Though the bus stopped about two miles from home，Dad never met me，even in severe weather. If I grumbled，he’d say in his loudest father-voice，“That’s what your legs are for！”
The walk didn’t bother me as much as the fear of walking alone along the highway and country roads. I also felt less than valued that my father didn’t seem concerned about my safety. But that feeling was canceled one spring evening.
It had been a particularly difficult week at college after long hours in labs. I longed for home. When the bus reached the stop，I stepped off and dragged my suitcase to begin the long journey home.
A row of hedge(树篱)edged the driveway that climbed the hill to our house. Once I had turned off the highway to start the last lap of my journey，I always had a sense of relief to see the hedge because it meant that I was almost home. On that particular evening，the hedge had just come into view when I saw something gray moving along the top of the hedge，moving toward the house. Upon closer observation，I realized it was the top of my father’s head. Then I knew，each time I’d come home，he had stood behind the hedge，watching，until he knew I had arrived safely. I swallowed hard against the tears. He did care，after all.
On later visits，that spot of gray became my watchtower. I could hardly wait until I was close enough to watch for its secret movement above the greenery. Upon reaching home，I would find my father sitting innocently in his chair.“ So！My son，it’s you！”he’d say，his face lengthening into pretended surprise.
I replied，“Yes，Dad，it’s me.I’m home.”
1. What does the underlined word“grumbled” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Agreed willingly. | B．Explained clearly. |
| C．Spoke unhappily. | D．Accepted happily. |
| A．the tiredness after long hours in labs |
| B．the feeling of being less than valued |
| C．the fear of seeing something moving |
| D．the loneliness of riding the bus home |
| A．he was concerned about his son’s safety |
| B．he wanted to help his son build up courage |
| C．he didn’t want to meet his son at the doorway |
| D．he didn’t think his son was old enough to walk alone |
| A．Riding Bus Alone. | B．My College Life. |
| C．Terrible Journey Home. | D．My Father’s Secret. |
2 . The spread of Western eating habits around the world is bad for human nealth and the environment.These findings come from a new report in the journal Nature.
David Tillman, a professor of ecology at the University of Minnesota, America, examined information from 100 countries to identify what people ate and how diet affected health. He noted a movement beginning in the 1960s. He found that as nations mdustriaHzed(工业化),population increased and earnings rose, more people began to adopt what has been called the Western diet.
The Western diet is high in sugar, fat, oil and meat. By eating these foods, people began to get fatter and sicker. David Tillman says overweight people are at greater risk for non-infectious diseases like diabetes (糖尿病）and heart disease.
Unfortunately, when people become industrialized, if they adopt this Western diet, they are going to have these health problems, especially in developing countries in Asia, China is an example where the number of diabetes cases has been jumping from less than one percent to 10 percent of the population as they began to industrialize over a 20，year period, And that is happening all across the world, in Mexico in Nigeria and so on.
And, a diet bad for human beings, is also bad for the environment As the world's population grows, more forests and tropical (热带的）areas will become farmland for crops or grasslands for cattle. We are likely to have more greenhouse gas in the future from agriculture than that coming out of all froms of transportation right now.
Mr．Tillman calls the link between diet，the environment and human health，"a dilemma"，a problem offering a difficult choice. He says one possibte setttemenf is leaving the behind.
1. According to the passage, more greenhouse gas might be given off in the future from .| A．transportation | B．developing countries |
| C．agriculture | D．developed countries |
| A．diet, the environment and human health are closely connected |
| B．the Western diet is the only choice as the nation industrializes |
| C．people in tropical areas are more likely to have heart disease |
| D．traditional diets are more balanced than the Western diet |
| A．industrialization contributes to the spread of the Western diet |
| B．overweight people are at higher risk of infectious diseases |
| C．the examined information comes from developing countries |
| D．Nigeria has the largest number of diabetes cases |
| A．call on us to protect the environment |
| B．warn us of the danger of the Western diet |
| C．remind us of the importance of health |
| D．advise us to have a balanced diet |
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的ABCD四个选项，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In the 1450s Johannes Gutenberg, a Gennan printer, developed a new printing press(印刷机)。Then single letters could be ______ in lines to create a page of text. The letters were made of metal.Each one could be ______ to different parts of the press,depending on which words were_______ on a certain page. This was one of the most important _______ in the history of pringting.
_______, most books had been created by copying out text by hand. The____of a single book would take many hours or even days. With the Gutenberg press, ______ could be printted in several seconds, and many copies of books could be created in a few hours.
Gutenberg's printing press was not so much an i_______, however, as an improvement of developing technologies. The Chinese were the first to use wooden blocks(木刻版)，as early as the 8th century. Then great _____was made around 1040. The movable type was invented by Bi Sheng in China. European _______the printing methods centuries later. Another contribution to Cutenberg`s system also come from the East,______.The Chinese invented paper using ______materials,including old clothes. The kind of the inexpensive paper was introduced into Europe in 1000 or so. This kind of paper was ____for the new European printing presses,______it took in the only ink required for the metal type.
Printing soon became an important ____in a rapidly growing world. By 1500,nearly 35,000 books were in print worldwide. But the printing press did not ______a lot for a long time. In the 19th century , however, iron _______wood in the press`s framework. And paper became______in continuous rolls rather than more expensive single pieces. Steam engines _____the speed at which the press ran. In the late 1900s,the introduction of better presses greatly _____the time it took to turn ideas into books.1.
| A．used | B．put | C．read | D．written |
| A．shown | B．turned | C．moved | D．added |
| A．needed | B．lost | C．collected | D．found |
| A．challenged | B．studies | C．discoveries | D．developments |
| A．Recently | B．Immediately | C．Previously | D．Finally |
| A．discussion | B．production | C．instruction | D．preparation |
| A．pages | B．ideas | C．models | D．characters |
| A．attraction | B．expressin | C．competition | D．invention |
| A．accident | B．research | C．progress | D．situation |
| A．believed | B．followed | C．tested | D．required |
| A．paper | B．wood | C．letters | D．metal |
| A．fine | B．thin | C．heavy | D．cheap |
| A．useless | B．special | C．good | D．impossible |
| A．as | B．although | C．until | D．unless |
| A．fashion | B．industry | C．trick | D．belief |
| A．apply | B．help | C．work | D．change |
| A．replaced | B．controlled | C．became | D．protected |
| A．necessary | B．available | C．normal | D．valuable |
| A．reached | B．limited | C．increased | D．kept |
| A．made | B．allowed | C．wasted | D．reduced |
4 . Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical (经验的，实证的) basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.
Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room’s ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.
In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant’s ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.
Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.
Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim (暗淡的) light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.
So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. “We have a very limited number of studies, so we’re almost looking at the problem through a straw (吸管),” architect David Allison says. “How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That’s what we’re all struggling with.”
1. What does Joan Meyers-Levy focus on in her research?| A．Light. | B．Ceilings. |
| C．Windows. | D．Furniture. |
| A．the shape of furniture may affect people’s feelings |
| B．lower ceilings may help improve students’ creativity |
| C．children in a dim classroom may improve their gradesD students in rooms with unblocked views may feel relaxed |
| A．the problem is not approached step by step |
| B．the researches so far have faults in themselves |
| C．the problem is too difficult for researchers to detectD research in this area is not enough to make generalized patterns |
Before I knew it ,the
Then, an old man came to me and said, “Excuse me, dear, my wife and I loved
At first his
Since then, I have learned from many mistakes such as the one I just
| A．manager | B．assistant | C．cook | D．waitress |
| A．promised | B．invited | C．allowed | D．advised |
| A．well | B．quickly | C．safely | D．wrong |
| A．left | B．given | C．brought | D．shown |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Otherwise | D．Finally |
| A．kitchen | B．street | C．restaurant | D．table |
| A．minding | B．changing | C．taking | D．saving |
| A．angry | B．calm | C．sad | D．happy |
| A．fixed | B．trained | C．loaded | D．waited |
| A．slower | B．lighter | C．quieter | D．easier |
| A．believe | B．agree | C．regret | D．pretend |
| A．letting | B．making | C．watching | D．having |
| A．useful | B．familiar | C．unusual | D．interesting |
| A．rest | B．order | C．eat | D．leave |
| A．bag | B．walker | C．tray | D．coat |
| A．idea | B．praise | C．message | D．need |
| A．cold | B．full of joy | C．pale | D．on fire |
| A．lie | B．hide | C．defend | D．stay |
| A．repeated | B．discovered | C．corrected | D．described |
| A．careful | B．patient | C．honest | D．practical |
6 . Grandma celebrated her fifty-third birthday just weeks before grandpa died of cancer in 1965. Although his passing was very difficult for her, I think their shared struggle to make his life longer taught grandma that good health was not to be taken for granted, and she made up her mind to live her rest of her own life as fully and as long as she could. One day, when she announced to attend lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Portland, Oregon, where she lived, we rolled-our eyes in embarrassment and helplessly wished she would just stay home and bake cookies as normal grandmothers did. Many years filled with countless dance lessons passed before we learned to appreciate the wonder of having a dancing grandma.
I suppose grandma’s primary motivation for wanting to learn to dance was social. She had been a shy girl, always very tall and heavy, and had married into grandpa’s quiet lifestyle before developing any elegance or confidence in her personal appearance. Dancing, on the other hand, filled her life with flash lights，wonderful parties, beautiful dresses, handsome young dance instructors, and the challenge of learning. Although the weekly dance lessons did not change her ample, two-hundred-pound figure, grandma surprised everyone with energetic performances on the dance floor, which soon gave her as much elegance and confidence as any Miss American competitor.
Having taken weekly dance lessons for years, my grandma learned various dances easily and was soon participating in dancing matches all over the Northwest. When I was fourteen, grandma proudly invited me to watch her compete in one of these matches to be held in the grand ballroom of the Red Lion Inn. My attitude was still unenthusiastic at that point, but to make her happy, my mother and I attended the match. As if to prove me wrong, grandma made a wonderful showing in every event she entered. I thought she was truly the queen of the ball during the dance, and my thoughts were shared by the judges a short time later when she was awarded a gold cup for her outstanding performance.
1. What did grandma learn from grandpa’s death?| A．Good health was not there for everyone. |
| B．She should take dance lessons. |
| C．She had to struggle to live a better life. |
| D．She should wear beautiful dresses. |
| A．took dance lessons | B．did some exercises at home |
| C．took care of grandchildren at home | D．did some housework at home |
| A．happy | B．proud |
| C．excited | D．uninterested |
(2015 • 江西调研）Call all poets! Time For Kids (TFK) has a challenge for you: write a funny, rhyming poem. It must be an original poem that does not copy another poet’s work. Enter it in the Time for Kids Poetry Contest! As fewer and fewer children are interested in writing poetry of their own, Time For Kids decides to organize and sponsor such a contest to change the situation.
Contest Rules
1. How to enter This contest begins at 12:01 am on March 6, 2015 and ends at 11:59 pm on July 24, 2015. To enter, mail the following information to 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10020: (a) an original and previously unpublished poem that is humorous and has a rhyme scheme; (b) entrant’s first name only and a parent’s mail address. Limit one entry per person. When entering, entrant promises that the entry is original, and has not been published in any medium and has not won an award.
2. Judging All entries will be judged by poet Kenn Nesbitt, based on the following criteria: creativity and originality (50%), use of language and rhyme (25%) and appropriateness to the theme of the contest (25%). The length of the entry will not be taken into consideration.
3. Prizes Our judge will select four semi-finalists (半决赛选手) from which one grand prize winner and three finalists will be chosen. The one grand prize winner will receive an online class visit from Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt and a signed copy of his newest book of poetry, The Armpit of Doom: Funny Poems for Kids, approximately value at $ 275. The three finalists will each get a signed copy of Nesbitt’s newest book of poetry, The Armpit of Doom: Funny Poems for Kids, and both their poems and that of the grand prize winner will be published at timeforkids.com.
4. Eligibility (参赛资格) Open to legal citizens of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are primary school students and are 8 to 13 years old at time of entry.
5. Winner’s list For names of the winner and finalists, visit timeforkids.com (after August 1, 2015, available for a period of 10 days).
1. The purpose of the contest is to .| A．encourage children to learn from other poets |
| B．help children realize the dream of poetry writing |
| C．encourage children’s interest in poetry writing |
| D．encourage children to read more original poems |
| A．Being creative and original. |
| B．Using a proper number of words. |
| C．Using proper language and rhyme. |
| D．Being appropriate to the contest theme. |
| A．They will get a great deal of money. |
| B．Their poems can be read at timeforkids.com. |
| C．They will receive an online class visit from Nesbitt. |
| D．Their poems will appear in Nesbitt’s newest book of poetry. |
| A．poems can be sent to the organizers by e-mail |
| B．all children have the right to take part in the contest |
| C．the number of one entrant’s poems to enter the contest is not limited |
| D．the result of the contest will be unknown before August, 2015 |
8 . Revolutionary TV Ears
TV Ears has helped thousands of people with various degrees of hearing loss hear the television clearly without turning up the volume (音量) and now it’s better and more affordable than ever! With TV Ears wireless technology, you set your own headset volume, while other TV listeners hear the television at a volume level that’s comfortable for them. You can even listen through the headset only and put the TV on mute (静音) if the situation calls for a quiet environment —maybe the baby is sleeping. Or perhaps you are the only one who is interested in listening to the ballgame.
TV Ears patented technology includes a revolutionary noise reduction ear tip, not used in any other commercially available headset. This tip reduces outside noise so that television dialogue is clear and understandable. Get the technology that has proven to help the most demanding customers. That’s why TV Ears has earned the trust and confidence of audiologists (听觉学家) nationwide as well as world-famous doctors.
Doctor Recommended TV Ears! “My wife and I have used TV Ears almost daily for the past two years and find them a great help in our enjoyment of television . As a retired ear doctor, I heartily recommend TV Ears to people with normal hearing as well as those with hearing loss.” — Robert Forbes, M. D, CA |
Customer Recommended TV Ears! “ Now my husband can have the volume as loud as he needs and I can have the TV at my hearing level. TV Ears is so comfortable that Jack forgets he has them on ! He can once again hear and understand the dialogue.” — Darlene & Jack B, CA |
Risk Free Trial!
TV Ears comes with a 30-day risk free trial.
Special Offer — Now ＄59.95.
If you’re not satisfied, return it.
Money-back guarantee!
Call now ! 800-123-7832
1. TV Ears helps you _____.| A．improve your sleeping quality |
| B．listen to TV without disturbing others |
| C．change TV channels without difficulty |
| D．become interested in ballgame programs |
| A．It can easily set TV on mute. | B．Its headset volume is adjustable. |
| C．It has a new noise reduction car tip. | D．It applies special wireless technology. |
| A．using recommendations | B．offering reasons for this invention |
| C．providing statistics. | D．showing the results of experiments. |
In the study, the robot, called AIBO, is placed for six weeks in the houses of some old people who live alone. Before placing AIBO in the home, researchers will collect baseline data for six weeks. These old people will keep a diary to note their feelings and activity before and after AIBO. Then, the researchers will review the data to determine if it has inspired any changes in the life of its owner.
“I talk to him all the time, and he responds to my voice,” says a seventy-year-old lady, “When I’m watching TV, he’ll stay in my arms until he wants down. He has a mind of his own.”
The AIBOs respond to certain orders. The researchers say they have some advantages over live dogs, especially for old people. Often the elderly are disabled and cannot care for an animal by walking it or playing with it. A robotic dog removes exercise and feeding concerns.
“At the beginning, it was believed that no one would relate to the robotic dog, because it was metal and not furry.” Beck says, “But it’s amazing how quickly we have given up that belief.”
“Hopefully, down the road, these robotic pets could become a more-valuable health helper. They will record their masters’ blood pressure, oxygen levels, or heart rhythms. AIBOs may even one day have games that can help stimulate older people’s minds.”
1. The purpose of Beck and Edwards’ study is to.
| A．understand human-animal relationship |
| B．make lonely old people’s life better |
| C．find the causes of old people’s loneliness |
| D．promote the animal-assisted research |
| A．note the activities of AIBOs | B．keep AIBOs at home for 12 weeks |
| C．record their feelings and activity | D．analyze the collected information |
| A．It is easier to keep at home. | B．It can help the disabled people. |
| C．It responds to all the human orders. | D．It can watch TV with its owner. |
| A．cure certain diseases | B．keep old people active |
| C．change people’s beliefs | D．look more like real dogs |
10 . People often say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and that's actually quite true.
Dress appropriately
Be aware of your body language
Words express very little of what you say．Body language can tell someone a lot about your mood and confidence level.
Respect the opinions of others
Not everyone will have the same opinion with you, and friendly disagreements can be a gateway to a great conversation．Respect other people's right to have their own opinion．Respect the opinions of others even if you disagree with them．
| A．Be a careful listener. |
| B．Show an interest in every person you meet. |
| C．Smile especially when first meeting someone. |
| D．Make sure you look nice whenever you meet someone new. |
| E．Meeting new people and starting conversations is often challenging. |
| F．Others will want to be with you and help you make a good impression. |
| G．Don't force others to believe what you believe or to see things only as you see them. |
