2 . Recent research shows that listening to music improves our health in surprising ways. If we take a music lesson or two, that musical training can help raise our IQs and even keep us sharp in old age.     1    

Music Reduces Pain

As Bob Marely once put it: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Research at Drexel University found that music reduced pain more than standard treatments in cancer patients. Other research showed that music can ease pain in patients.     2    

Music Keeps Your Brain Healthy in Old Age

A study with healthy older adults found that those with ten or more years of musical experience scored higher on cognitive (认知的) tests than musicians with one to nine years of musical study.     3     “Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create the connections in the brain that could make up for cognitive decreases as we get older,” said lead researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy.

    4    

A study showed that students who listened to relaxing classical music for 45 minutes before turning in slept much better than students who listened to an audiobook or did nothing different from their normal routine. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try listening to a little Mozart before bedtime.

Music Raises IQ and Academic Performance

    5     In one study, 6-year-olds who took keyboard or singing lessons in small groups for 36 weeks had large increases in IQ and standardized educational test results than children who took either drama lessons or no lessons. To help children achieve academic excellence, encourage them to take music lessons.

A．Music Relaxes People

B．Music Helps You Sleep Better

C．The non-musicians scored the lowest.

D．Here are some amazing benefits of music.

E．Therefore, standard treatments are strongly advised by doctors.

F．But the selection needed to be either classical pieces or their choices.

G．Research shows that learning music predicts higher scores in children.

3 . 课文基本知识运用

Image waking up one morning    1     the option of staying in bed and     2     a button to send a robot to do all the work for you. How cool that would be! It may seem like building    3    in the air, but given the rate at     4     artificial intelligence, or AI, is being developed, in the future such dreams may actually come    5    .

4 . On the 25th of December, my mother expected her children to be present, exchanging gifts and eating turkey. But as an artist and daughter, my heart seemed to be more in my work as an artist. As for my mother and my family, I thought we would have more time to spend Christmas together. I was going to do my own thing.

I made plans for my winter adventure in New Hampshire. The MacDowell Colony (麦道尔艺术村) was everything I could have wished for. About 20 to 30 artists were present, and it was as captivating as I had imagined. Snowy New England, sledding (滑雪橇) and whisky! It felt like my life had become an unexpected independent film.

By Christmas Eve, I had been at the colony more than a week. The fresh feelings were wearing off, but I would never admit it. Everyone around me was having too much fun—drinks and deep conversations by the fireplace. It seemed so amazing! What was wrong with me? This was the holiday I’d always dreamed of. No plastic reindeer. Not a Christmas sweater anywhere in sight. People here didn’t even say “Christmas”, but they said “holiday”. Then why was I so down?

Finally, I called home. My dad answered. He told me that my mother was out shopping with my brothers. I found there was a fire in my heart. They were having a fine Christmas without me? Didn’t they miss me? How could they?

Despite a serious snowstorm, a large package with my mother’s beautiful handwriting showed up near my door at the artist colony on Christmas morning. I seized it as if I had been five years old. Inside was my favorite cake.

As I sliced (切) the cake, everyone gathered around —young and old. My mother had sent a real homemade gift. It was a minor Christmas miracle that one cake managed to feed so many. We ate it from paper towels with our hands, satisfying a hunger we didn’t know we had and reminding us of our dear families, who must be missing us too.

1. Why was the author unwilling to spend Christmas at home?

A．She met some trouble at work.

B．She wanted to focus on her career.

C．She had disagreements with her mother.

D．She was tired of staying at a familiar place.

2. What does the underlined word “captivating” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Attractive.

B．Tough.

C．Strange.

D．Simple.

3. What can we learn about the artist colony from Paragraph 3?

A．It attracted many sports lovers.

B．It was suitable for holiday parties.

C．It lacked the Christmas atmosphere.

D．It gave the author some artistic ideas.

4. What did the author mainly intend to express in the last two paragraphs?

A．She learned to be open to others.

B．She enjoyed bringing kindness to strangers.

C．Her mother was good at taking care of her family.

D．Her mother’s cake cured the artists of their homesickness.

5 . For late 19th-century North Americans and Europeans, a display of tableware (餐具)could reveal much about someone’s social position, as the wealthy took great care to get different kinds of forks for everything. Before the 18th century, people of all classes usually ate with a knife and a spoon.

The fork’s path to the table was hard-won and slow. In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, forks were used for slicing food into pieces or lifting meat from a pot or fire.

Following a reduction in size, the fork appeared to have entered dining areas in the courts of the Middle East and Byzantine Empire by the eighth and ninth centuries, and became common among wealthy families there by the tenth century. Early in the 11th century, it appeared in various pieces of European art. In the late 11th century, St.Peter Damian from Ostia wrote about a Byzantine princess who used forks and regarded her dying of a disease as punishment for such “luxury”.

The fork’s slow conquest of Europe was carried out from Italy. Motivated by the same concerns for hygiene(卫生)，forks were bought by wealthy Britons，inspired by Queen Victoria, who regarded fork use as a sign of good manners.

The fork’s introduction to North America dates back to 1633, when John Winthrop, a founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was gifted a set of forks. The Industrial Revolution strengthened the fork’s presence on dining room tables as production of flatware became less expensive. Writing in 1896 inSocial Eriquere，Maud C. Cooke declared the fork had finally conquered the knife in America and “any attempt to give the knife importance at table is looked upon as an offense(冒犯)against good taste.”

1. What can we learn about forks from paragraph1?

A．They were used improperly in the 18th century.

B．They had many different types in the 19th century.

C．They were popular in Europe before the 18th century.

D．They led to North American’s rise in social position.

2. What was a function of forks in ancient Egypt?

A．To eat food.	B．To decorate tables.
C．To cut food.	D．To create works of art.

3. Who was against the use of forks?

A．St.Peter Damian.	B．Thomas Coryate.
C．Queen Victoria	D．Maud C.Cooke.

4. What marked the beginning of the fork’s introduction to North America?

A．The appearance of flatware

B．The start of the Industrial Revolution.

C．John Winthrop receiving forks as presents.

D．Maud C.Cooke writing Social Etiquette.

6 . Raising teenagers can be both difficult and rewarding(有回报的). They are becoming young adults. Almost all teenagers will have some behavioral outbursts(爆发) with their families during this period of life.     1     Here are some ideas that may create positive(积极的) experiences for teens and parents.

Have meals together. Mealtime is when we check in with each other.     2     Eating meals together offers a way for parents and kids to share what is on their minds. It brings families closer by creating trust and understanding to help guide children through the challenges of the teen years.

    3     As teens develop their own sense of independence, it gets harder to find time to talk. Talk in the car together, when doing dishes together, or any time you have a chance. Remember that no matter how big their problems seem, what most teens want is love and support. Help them connect with their families and communities. During these years, help teens learn that their words and actions mater.     4     Others may find connection through spiritual communities or from having more responsibilities at home. Connecting with families and communities also helps keep teens safe from riskier activity.

Find time to have fun together! What do you both enjoy? Playing chess? Going to the ballet? Volunteering in your community? Take time to have fun and enjoy each other’s company. No one wants the attention of people they love to be focused only on what not to do. This is true for teenagers, too.     5    

A．Talk with your teen.

B．Never try to control your child.

C．Parents have a role in keeping their teens safe.

D．Relaxing together helps them feel loved and valued.

E．This can be hard to do with busy schedules, but it is important.

F．Some teens learn this by playing in music bands or team sports.

G．But strong relationships can help teens and their parents through hard times.

8 . 根据短文内容，在每个空格处填写一个适当的词，使文章意思完整且符合逻辑。(每空一词)

use   find   them   idea   an   have   on   when   real   but

I am fully convinced that you must have heard about Chinese paper-cutting, haven’t you? Paper-cutting is     1     important art form in China. Paper-cuts were used for many purposes, and everything can become the theme of paper-cuts, from people to the things that can be     2     in everyday life such as birds, flowers and animals.

Each paper-cut brings out the personal     3     of the writer. People express traditional culture or     4    own feelings with different styles of paper-cuts. For example,     5     someone marries, we put up some red paper-cuts     6     the wall, dressing table or other furniture to express our best wishes. It is easy to learn paper-cutting     7     very difficult to make it perfect. We need a long-time practice to learn how to     8     the scissors (剪刀) and how to paint. Moreover, we     9     need to learn some cutting skills.

From history until now, in many parts of China, paper-cutting skill     10     become necessary for women and a symbol of a clever mind.

9 . 请从选项中选出符合各段意思的小标题。

Five ways to make a great first impression (印象)! Researchers have discovered that, in general, it only takes seven seconds for a person to start making judgments about you when they first meet you. That’s why you should follow these useful tips on how to create a good first impression.

    1    

Before meeting someone, start thinking about the purpose of the meeting. Are you trying to impress them? For example, if you want to make new friends at a social event, you will want to appear friendly. And if you decide to run for class president at your school, you will need to appear confident.

    2    

Smiling is the most important thing you can do when meeting someone new. It shows that you’re friendly and makes people around you feel more comfortable. To have a winning smile, make sure your teeth are clean by brushing them every day.

    3    

Before you begin speaking, you will be judged on your body language. Therefore, it’s important to show trust in yourself by standing up tall and putting your shoulders back. Besides, if you uncross your arms, you will appear relaxed and friendly.

    4    

How you smell can influence people’s first impression of you. If you have a bad body smell, it will put people off. In short, aim to smell clean and avoid putting on a lot of scented products.

    5    

What you wear matters. While you should look clean and tidy, it’s also important to dress properly, whether you’re going to a birthday party or a sporting event. You should think about what your clothes say about you.

A．Smell good

B．Dress to impress

C．A smile goes a long way

D．Decide what image (形象) you want to present

E．Be careful about your body language

10 . Anger and sadness are important in life. New research shows that experiencing and accepting such feelings is good.

Positive (积极的) thoughts and feelings are, of course, good for our health. But unpleasant feelings are just as important as the enjoyable ones in helping us understand life’s ups and downs. Negative (消极的) feelings are important because they can tell us that we may have a health problem, or we need to pay attention to other important matters such as friendship.

Instead of avoiding negative feelings, we should accept them. Many people find it helpful to breathe slowly and deeply while learning to accept negative feelings or imagine the feelings as clouds to remind them that they will pass.

If the feelings are very strong, you may want to express how you feel in a diary or to other persons. You may want to tell the friend that her words hurt you or take steps to leave the job that makes you unhappy.

You should pay attention to your breathing and simply acknowledge (承认) any bad thoughts or feelings. This may make it easier to accept unpleasant thoughts.

It is impossible to avoid negative feelings fully, because to live is to experience losing and pain. Therefore, learning how to deal with those feelings is very important.

1. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A．What positive and negative thoughts and feelings are.

B．How positive and negative thoughts and feelings influence people.

C．What we can do to keep negative feelings away.

D．Both positive and negative thoughts and feelings are important.

2. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Clouds.	B．Negative feelings.
C．Positive thoughts.	D．Important matters.

3. What ways does the writer tell us to deal with negative feelings?
① Breath deeply.   ② Talk to others.   ③ Write a diary.   ④ Avoid the feelings.

A．①②③

B．②③④

C．①③④

D．①②④

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph of the passage?

A．We will experience more bad feelings than the good ones.

B．Some people will only experience losing and pain in their lives.

C．We can avoid bad feelings because we can choose to forget them.

D．Everyone will experience anger and sadness during his lifetime.

5. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Anger and Sadness	B．Ups and Downs
C．Positive and Negative Ideas	D．Activities in People’s Life