1 . In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from home. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便车)．

I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.

Twenty­five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favor I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.

After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”

I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.

1. The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because ________.

A．her work delayed her trip to her home

B．she missed the only train back home

C．she was going home for her holidays

D．the town was far away from her home

2. Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?

A．He helped the girl find a ride.

B．He gave the girl a ride back home.

C．He bought sandwiches for the girl.

D．He watched the girl for three hours.

3. The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that ________.

A．she realized he was Gordon

B．she had known him for decades

C．she was going to the nearby town

D．she wanted to repay the favor she once got

4. What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?

A．Those who give rides will be repaid.

B．Good manners bring about happiness.

C．Giving sometimes produces nice results.

D．People should offer free rides to others.

2 . Social media and the mobile web have given rise to a strange phenomenon called the selfie(自拍). It refers to a picture of yourself, usually shared on any social networking website.

    1    Some selfies are extreme close-ups(特写镜头), and others show part of an arm held straight outward. A few of them even feature the subject standing in front of a bathroom mirror.

Everyone takes selfies, but the younger crowd seems to be especially involved in the trend. Young people are relatively heavier digital users. They are interested in staying connected to their friends.       2    .

There are also kinds of psychological (心理上的)actors driving people to take a selife and upload it to a social networking site.     3    . A quick and easy way to attract other’s attention is to get “likes” and comments from friends. Secondly, it’s human nature to show off your own great achievements. When you feel good about yourself or look good, it’s far too easy to take out your phone and document it all through one or several selfies.     4    That’s right. Sometimes people are bored at work, bored at school, bored at home and even bored on the toilet. Last but not least, social media is about being social. If that means uploading as many selfies as possible, then so it be. It’s fun, and it’s a cool way to sort of document your own life.

Finally, there are things to be mindful of when you’re posting. It’s easy to think you’re sharing a photo with a few people.     5    So don’t post anything online, selife especially.

A．There are lots of selfie styles.

B．The rise of selfies has become universal.

C．Social media, to some extent, is the driving force of their selife activity.

D．The desire to take, post and get “likes” on selfies goes back to a biological behavior.

E．But the whole world of social media is public and every individual can get access to it.

F．There are also people who will take selfies because they have nothing else better to do

G．The leading factor is that people want to get attention from as many people as possible.

3 . Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon? Many people feel this way after lunch. They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness. Or，in summer，they may think it is the heat. However，the real reason lies inside their bodies. At that time—about eight hours after you wake up—your body temperature goes down. This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy. Scientists have tested sleep habits in experiments where there was no night or day. The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern. They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.

In many parts of the world，people take naps (小睡) in the middle of the day. This is especially true in warmer climates，where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon. Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate. A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general. In countries where naps are traditional，people often suffer less from problems such as heart disease. Many working people，unfortunately，have no time to take naps. Though doctors may advise taking naps，employers don't follow it! If you do have the chance，however，here are a few tips about making the most of your nap. Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up. A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward. This can also happen if you sleep for too long. If you do not have enough time，try a short nap — even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful.

1. Why do you sometimes feel sleepy in the early afternoon?

A．Because you eat too much for lunch.

B．Because it's hot in summer.

C．Because your body temperature goes down at that time.

D．Because you didn't have a good sleep last night.

2. What can we learn about “naps” according to the last paragraph?

A．All the people in warmer climates take naps in the middle of the day.

B．Doctors need to take naps while employers don't.

C．If you take naps every day，you'll never suffer from heart disease.

D．Taking naps regularly is beneficial to people's health.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．If you get up at 6：30 am，you'd better take a nap at about 2：30 pm.

B．Taking a nap whenever you want will do good to your health.

C．You will feel less sleepy if you sleep for a long time.

D．You'll feel sleepy at regular intervals.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Just for a Rest	B．All for a Nap
C．A Special Sleep Pattern	D．Taking Naps in Warmer Climates

4 . A
        Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket--- anything with a round ball, I was useless,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
        It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.
        The following year he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgways school of adventure in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, the decided that this would be his future.
        In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled up and over rocky rice.
        Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.
        Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis.
1. What change happened to Saunders after he was 15 years old?

A．He became good at most sports.

B．He began to build up his body.

C．He joined a sports team

D．He made friends with a runner.

2. The underlined word “exploits” (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to ______.

A．journeys	B．researches
C．adventures	D．operations. W

3. What does the story mainly tell us abut Saunders?

A．He is a success in sports.

B．He is the best British skier.

C．He is Ridgway’s best student.

D．He is a good instructor at school.

5 . Conflict is on the menu tonight at the café La Chope. This evening, as on every Thursday night, psychologist Maud Lehanne is leading two of France’s favorite pastimes, coffee drinking and the “talking cure”. Here they are learning to get in touch with their true feelings. It isn’t always easy. They customers—some thirty Parisians who pay just under $2 (plus drinks) per session-care quick to intellectualize (高谈阔论), slow to open up and connect. “You are forbidden to say ‘one feels,’ or ‘people think’,” Lehane told them. “Say ‘I think,’ ‘Think me’.”
A café society where no intellectualizing is allowed? It couldn’t seem more un-French. But Lehanne’s psychology café is about more than knowing oneself: It’s trying to help the city’s troubled neighborhood cafes. Over the years, Parisian cafes have fallen victim to changes in the French lifestyle-longer working hours, a fast food boom and a younger generation’s desire to spend more time at home. Dozens of new theme cafes appear to change the situation. Cafes focused around psychology, history, and engineering are catching on, filling tables well into the evening.
The city’s psychology cafes, which offer great comfort, are among the most popular places. Middle-aged homemakers, retirees, and the unemployed come to such cafes to talk about lover, anger, and dreams with a psychologist. And they come to Lehance’s group just to learn to say what they feel. There’s a strong need in Paris for communication, says Maurice Frisch, a cafe La Chope regular who works as religious instructor in a nearby church. “People have few real friends. And they need to open up” Lehanne says she’d like to see psychology cafes all over France. “If people had normal lives, these cafes wouldn’t exist”, she says, “If life weren’t a battle, people wouln’t need a special place just to speak.” But then, it wouldn’t be France.
1. What are people encouraged to do at the cafe La Chope?

A．Learn a new subject

B．Keep in touch with friends.

C．Show off their knowledge.

D．Express their true feelings.

2. How are cafes affected by French lifestyle changes?

A．They are less frequently visited.

B．They stay open for longer hours.

C．They have bigger night crowds.

D．They start to serve fast food.

3. What are theme cafes expected to do?

A．Create more jobs.

B．Supply better drinks.

C．Save the cafe business.

D．Serve the neighborhood.

4. Why are psychology cafes becoming popular in Paris?

A．They bring people true friendship.

B．They give people spiritual support.

C．They help people realize their dreams.

D．They offer a platform for business links.

6 . Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was one of the most popular of modern artists. The Pompidou Centre in Paris is showing its respect and admiration for the artist and his powerful personality with an exhibition bringing together over 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings and more. Among the works and masterworks on exhibition the visitor will find the best pieces, most importantly The Persistence of Memory. There is also L’Enigme sans Fin from 1938, works on paper, objects, and projects for stage and screen and selected parts from television programmes reflecting the artist’s showman qualities.

The visitor will enter the World of Dali through an egg and is met with the beginning, the world of birth. The exhibition follows a path of time and subject with the visitor exiting through the brain.

The exhibition shows how Dali draws the viewer between two infinities   (无限). “From the infinity small to the infinity large, contraction and expansion coming in and out of focus: amazing Flemish accuracy and the showy Baroque of old painting that he used in his museum-theatre in Figueras,” explains the Pompidou Centre.

The fine selection of the major works was done in close collaboration (合作) with the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, and with contributions from other institutions like the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.

1. Which of the following best describe Dali according to Paragraph 1?

A．Optimistic.	B．Productive.
C．Generous.	D．Traditional.

2. What is Dali’s The Persistence of Memory considered to be?

A．One of his masterworks.	B．A successful screen adaptation.
C．An artistic creation for the stage.	D．One of the beat TV programmes.

3. How are the exhibits arranged at the World of Dali?

A．By popularity.	B．By importance.
C．By size and shape.	D．By time and subject.

4. What does the word “contributions” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Artworks.	B．Projects.
C．Donations.	D．Documents.

7 . Food serves as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and play a significant role in a family or culture's celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between rural (农村的) and urban areas within one country.
Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion (时刻) or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing bread.
Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person who receives it.
Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.
Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.
1. According to the passage, sharing bread______.

A．indicates a lack of food

B．can help to develop unity

C．is a custom unique to rural areas

D．has its roots in birthday celebrations

2. What does the coin in vasilopita signify for its receiver in the New Year?

A．Trust.	B．Success.
C．Health.	D．Togetherness.

3. The author explains the role of food in celebrations by______.

A．using examples	B．making comparisons
C．analyzing causes	D．describing processes

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The custom of sharing food.

B．The specific meaning of food.

C．The role of food in ceremonies.

D．The importance of food in culture.

8 . As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.

In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.

In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory (交互记忆)”

According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn’t mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.

1. The passage begins with two questions to ________.

A．introduce the main topic	B．show the author’s attitude
C．describe how to use the Internet	D．explain how to store information

2. What can we learn about the first experiment?

A．Sparrow’s team typed the information into a computer.

B．The two groups remembered the information equally well.

C．The first group did not try to remember the formation.

D．The second group did not understand the information.

3. In transactive memory, people ________.

A．keep the information in mind

B．change the quantity of information

C．organize information like a computer

D．remember how to find the information

4. What is the effect of the Internet according to Sparrow's research?

A．We are using memory differently.

B．We are becoming more intelligent.

C．We have poorer memories than before.

D．We need a better way to access information.

9 . Choose Your One-Day-Tours!

Tour A - Bath &Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge -￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter. Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.

Tour B - Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary’s Church Tower and Anne Hathaway’s -￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter. Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England’s oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶）” from St Mary‘s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.

Tour C - Windsor Castle &Hampton Court: including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace -￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VILL’s favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle(entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫) where it is easy to get lost!

Tour D –Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great -￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.

1. Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?

A．Tour A	B．Tour B
C．Tour C	D．Tour D

2. Which of the following tours charges the lowest fee on 17 March?

A．Windsor Castle & Hampton Court	B．Oxford & Stratford
C．Bath & Stonehenge	D．Cambridge

3. Why is Hampton Court a major tourist attraction?

A．It used to be the home of royal families	B．It used to be a well-known maze
C．It is the oldest palace in Britain	D．It is a world-famous castle

10 . This Way to Dreamland Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers have a bad reputation for being unaware of what’s happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy.     1    They annoy us because they seem to be ignoring us and missing the important things.

But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history.     2    Can you imagine what kind of world we would have without such ideas and inventions? So how can you come up with brilliant daydreams and avoid falling over tree roots or otherwise looking like a fool? First, understand that some opportunities(机会) for daydreaming are better than others.   

Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slip into daydreams.     3    And if you want to improve your chances of having a creative idea while you’re daydreaming, try to do it while you are involved in another task—preferably something simple, like taking a shower or walking, or even making meaningless drawings.

It’s also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concentrate. “Mindfulness”, being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep.     4    Finally, you never know what wonderful idea might strike while your mind has moved slowly away.     5    Always remember that your best ideas might come when your head is actually in the clouds.

A．Having interesting things to think about also helps.

B．They stare off into space and wander by themselves.

C．Without wandering minds, we wouldn’t have relativity , Coke or Post-it notes.

D．At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses.

E．It involves slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive.

F．Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand.

G．Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep a notebook or voice recorder nearby when you’re in the daydream zone.