1 . When it comes to the benefit of volunteering, a lot of people think it’s all about the warm feeling after helping someone.     1     As is known, charity work requires a wide variety of people to do a wide variety of things for everything to work. It means that there are some surprising benefits for volunteers. For example, volunteering:

Teaches you new skills.

From helping making websites to teaching immigrant kids your native language, or to arranging events for charity, volunteering can really be almost anything. It means that when you get involved charity work, a lot of the time you will face challenges.     2    

Can teach you what truly matters.

It’s a great way to find new perspectives (角度) on life. When you’ve been at it for a while, you just might find yourself re-evaluating your advantages.     3     One of my friends went from wanting to be a lawyer to discovering a true passion for teaching.

    4    

Maybe it is not surprising, but what might surprise you is how genuine these friends are. Some of my long-term friends are people I’ve met through volunteering. I’m not that kind of guy that makes friends purely for connections, but sometimes it’s very convenient to have a broad network.

Summed up in one line: volunteering helps you grow.     5     You meet a wide variety of people who don’t have a lot in common with. You learn to get along with people involved in many different walks in life. You learn to know what you are to do. So if you’ve ever considered volunteering, what are you waiting for?

A．You might even decide on a completely new path to take in life.

B．Helps you make new friends.

C．As it turns out, that’s far from the only benefit.

D．Volunteering helps you look outside yourself and your problems.

E．Through overcoming the challenges, you learn completely new skills.

F．Not only as a person, but it helps you develop your skill as well.

G．Can help improve social skills.

2 . A sense of humor is something highly valued. A person who has a great sense of humor is often considered to be happy and socially confident. However, humor is a double-edged sword.Sometimes it can damage self-respect and annoy others.

People who use bonding humor tell jokes and generally lighten the mood. They’re thought to be good at reducing the tension in uncomfortable situations. They often make fun of their common experiences, and sometimes they may even laugh off their own misfortunes. The basic message they deliver is: We’re all alike, we find the same things funny, and we’re all in this together.

Put-down humor, on the other hand, is an aggressive type of humor used to criticize others through teasing. When it’s aimed against politicians, as it often is, it’s extremely funny and mostly harmless. But in the real world, it may have a harmful effect. An example of such humor is telling friends an embarrassing story about another friend. When challenged about their teasing, the put-down jokers might claim that they are “just kidding,” thus allowing themselves to avoid responsibility. This type of humor, though considered by some people to be socially acceptable, may hurt the feelings of the one being teased and thus have a bad effect on personal relationships.

Finally, in hate-me humor, the joker is the target of the joke for the amusement of others. This type of humor was used by comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley—both of whom suffered for their success in show business. A small amount of such humor is charming, but routinely offering oneself up to be embarrassed destroys one’s self-esteem, and fosters depression and anxiety.

So it seems that being funny isn’t necessarily an indicator of good social skills and well-being. In certain cases, it may actually have a negative effect on interpersonal relationships.

1. What does the underlined sentence mean? ―Humor is a double-edged sword.

A．Humor is a tool to do two things.

B．Humor has its own advantages and disadvantages.

C．Humor is like a sword with two edges.

D．Humor is double as meaningful as a sword.

2. In bonding humor, people create a relaxing atmosphere by _______.

A．teasing experiences of their friends

B．showing their personal relationships

C．joking about experiences they share

D．laughing at other’s misfortunes

3. Which of the following is among the common targets of put-down humor?

A．Comedians.

B．Jokers.

C．Actors.

D．Politicians

4. In the passage, the author mainly conveys ______.

A．humor has its bright side and dark side

B．humor can be classified into three kinds

C．humor deserves to be studied

D．humor is highly valued

3 . It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.

This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the “handathon” contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car.

It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world. And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else—someone who wants to go home and get some sleep.

Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills.

Maybe the popularity of the handathon is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Competitors in the Longview handathon certainly don’t seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by “getting lots of sleep”. Others say they will “eat healthy food” or “pray for success”. The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something in the end.

Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry (敌对) between competitors. They help each other out and keep each other’s spirits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement.

1. What does the word “handathon” probably mean?

A．A sport involving walking a long distance.

B．A sport involving moving hands fast.

C．A sport involving keeping hands in place for long.

D．A sport involving holding up hands steadily for long.

2. What might make handathon seem to be the strangest sport?

A．It seems to be a very easy sport but in fact very difficult.

B．At first sight people think it obviously very difficult.

C．It is very interesting and an easy to all kinds of people.

D．It requires people to have strength instead of attention.

3. Why is handathon popular?

A．Specially trained athletes can enter the competition.

B．Competitors don’t need to make any preparations.

C．Anyone who is interested can be specially trained for it.

D．Ordinary people can have the chance to play and win something.

4. Which of the following is against the rule for handathon?

A．Standing still.

B．Changing the place of hands.

C．Placing hands in one place.

D．Taking a four-minute break.

4 . Nowadays, the Internet is usually one of the first places a lonely heart turns to as the following story shows.

A 63-year-old retired woman in Zhengzhou, made headlines two days after she posted an advertisement on her Wechat(微信) page, in which she said she wanted to find a young female companion for a trip to Sanya, China’s Southern Hainan island, a local newspaper Dahe Daily reported. In the advertisement, the Chinese dama (Chinese term for middle-aged and elderly women) surnamed(a person’s last name) Li said she is in good health, and she was particularly looking forward to a sea trip this winter.

"I have a daughter who works in Canada, and I don't want to disturb her. My husband rarely has time to travel with me. But I’m afraid of traveling alone, so I am looking for a sweet, happy young woman, aged between 19 and 25 to travel with me. Hope she could chat with me, take photos with me."

At the end of the advertisement, Dama Li showed her sincerity by saying she would be responsible for all the costs of the trip, including accommodation(膳宿) and air tickets, plus an iPhone 7 as a gift. Dama Li told Dahe Daily that she did not expect her advertisement to receive so much attention. "My phone keeps buzzing all the time."However, some people question the truth of Li's advertisement. They say it might be organized by travel agencies aiming to promote(促进，推销) Sanya tourism, or even served as a promotional advertisement for real estate（房地产） on the island. Li denied those doubts and said all she wants is just to find a sweet "daughter".

But Li's advertisement for a daughter has also received as many online mockeries(嘲笑) as positive feedback.

1. Which girl may meet Dama Li’s requirements?

A．A girl aged 20 who wants to travel very much but has little money.

B．A girl student aged 18 who is very interested in an iPhone 7.

C．An airsick girl aged 21 who wants to take a train trip to travel.

D．A girl aged 22 who wants to travel alone to Sanya.

2. Dama Li wants to find a girl to go with her on a trip because __________

A．her own daughter has to stay home to work

B．her husband only cares about his work

C．it is easy for a lonely person to find a companion through the Internet

D．she doesn’t want to travel alone but no other family members are free

3. What’s the writer’s tone in writing about this event?

A．Objective.

B．Subjective.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

5 . 阅读理解
阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

After a terrible electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, the whole world became completely dark and quiet for Robert Edwards for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live.
One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was struck by the lightning. Witnesses thought he was dead but he woke up some 20 minutes later lying face down in muddy water at the base of the tree. He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a plough and a wall. When Mrs. Edwards came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.
The news of Robert regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread, and many doctors came to examine him. Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from the lightning. However, none of them could give a convincing answer as to why this should have happened. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since Robert lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was by another sudden shock.
1. The reason for Robert’s attempts to kill himself was that             .

A．a terrible traffic accident happened to him

B．he had to live in a dark and silent world

C．he was struck by the lightning once more

D．nobody in the world cared about him

2. What was Robert doing when he was struck by the lightning?

A．Sheltering from the rain under a tree.

B．Driving a car.

C．Taking a walk with a stick.

D．Lying on the ground.

3. We can infer from the text that          .

A．there was no accurate explanation for Robert's recovery

B．many doctors came because Robert was badly injured

C．Robert’s wife sent for doctors immediately after the shock

D．a sudden Injury In the head led to Robert’s recovery

4. What’s the best title of the whole passage?

A．A Terrible Electrical Accident

B．Robert Edwards and His Wife

C．What a Sudden Shock

D．An Unforgettable Experience

6 . 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.

7 . Are we getting more stupid? According to Gerald Crabtree, a scientist at Stanford University in the US, we are. You may not want to hear this, but Crabtree believes that human intelligence reached its peak more than 2,000 years ago and ever since then has been going downhill. “If an average Greek from 1,000 BC were transported to modern times, he or she would be one of the brightest among us,” Crabtree told The Guardian.

At the heart of Crabtree’s thinking is a simple idea. In the past, intelligence was critical for survival when our ancestors had to avoid dangerous animals and hunt for food. The difference of being smart or stupid is often life or death. However, after the spread of agriculture, when our ancestors began to live in dense (稠密的) farming communities, the need to keep their intelligence in peak condition gradually reduced. This is not hard to understand. Most of the time, pressure is what keeps us going — you need the pressure from your teachers to finish your homework; the pressure of looking pretty prompts (促使) you to lose weight when summer comes. And the same is also true of our intelligence — if we think less, we become less smart.

These mutations (变) are harmful to our intelligence and they were all developed in the past 3,000 years. The other evidence that Crabtree holds is in our genes. He found that among the 2,000 to 5,000 genes that we have that determine human intelligence, there are two or more mutations in each of us. However, Crabtree’s theory has been criticized by some who say that early humans may have better hunting and surviving abilities, but people today have developed a more diverse intelligence. For example, spearing a tiger doesn’t necessarily require more brainpower than playing chess or writing a poem. Moreover, the power of modern education means a lot more people have the opportunity to learn nowadays. “You wouldn’t get Stephen Hawking 2,000 years ago. He just wouldn’t exist,” Thomas Hills of the University of Warwick, UK, told Live Science. “But now we have people of his intellectual capacity doing things and making insights (洞察力) that we would never have achieved in our environment of evolutionary adaptation.”

1. What is Crabtree’s recent finding according to the article?

A．The Greeks from 1,000 BC could have been the smartest in human history.

B．Our ancient ancestors had no better surviving abilities than we do nowadays.

C．Humans have been getting steadily more intelligent since the invention of farming.

D．Mutations in genes that decide human intelligence have affected the development of intelligence.

2. According to Crabtree, ancient humans _______.

A．had many more genes that determine human intelligence

B．were forced to be smart due to natural selection pressures

C．relied more on group intelligence than individual intelligence

D．developed a diverse intelligence to adapt to the hard realities

3. Some argue that Crabtree’s theory is false because they think _______.

A．people today are under much more pressure than early humans

B．it’s ridiculous to compare a hunter’s and a poet’s intelligence

C．modern education is far more advanced than ancient education

D．human intelligence nowadays is different from that of the distant past

4. What is Thomas Hills’ attitude toward Crabtree’s theory?

A．Supportive.	B．Unfavorable.
C．Worried.	D．Confused.

8 . Hollywood movies are regularly filled with sex and violence. They can be exciting films but sometimes all you want is a little 1ight-hearted entertainment.

Have you heard of Bollywood? All singing, all dancing and unrealistic, it is the perfect alternative to normal Hollywood movies. Bollywood is the Indian film industry, based in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay.     1     Yet Bollywood is the largest producer of films in the world. This year the Indian Filmgare Awards, Bollywood’s Oscars, turn 50 years old.

The typical Bollywood movie usually has the following ingredients(组成成分): a cup of romance, a tea-spoon of comedy, a dash of international sight-seeing, served with a huge slice of singing and dancing. There will also be one brave hero, one beautiful heroine and one bad guy.     2    .

Bollywood films are full of ideal things and free of daily worries.     3     The actors change clothes and locations within a single song. But the ạudience don't mind. To Indian movie lovers, especially the poor, such films are a gateway to heaven and the stars are their gods. The films take them to a magical world away from their everyday troubles. The films tell them the impossible is possible and that true 1ove conquers all.

    4     Behind the beautiful scenes, Bollywọod still emphasizes(重视) traditional family values. In most films, if two lovers want to break an arranged marriage, they can't just run away. They must win over their parents.

Bollywood is a decent(正派的) refreshing replacement for those over-stimulating(评价过高的) Hollywood films.     5     They will take you to a brighter, cheerier and more colorful world where it's still cool to dance around a tree and sing a love song.

A．Bollywood has gradually won its reputation(名声) on the world stage.

B．There is never any mention of politics, poverty or war.

C．Most Chinese school kids have probably never seen an Indian film.

D．Bollywood films are mostly comic romances with 1ight-hearted incidenta1(附带的) music.

E．Bọllywọọd pays great attention to traditional values.

F．The result is a fun-filled musical.

G．So if you're tired of all that Hollywood actions, check out the following Bollywoọd films.

9 . 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, red?     1    . Do you prefer grays and blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and you would rather follow than lead. You tend to be pessimist. At least, this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of color preference, as well as the effect that colors have on human beings.     2    . If you happen to love brown, you did so, as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.
    3    . A yellow room makes most people feel more cheerful and more relaxed than a dark green one; and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day.     4    . A black bridge over the Thames River, near London, used to be the scene of more suicides(自杀) than any other bridge in the area — until it was repainted green. The number of suicide attempts immediately fell sharply. Perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue.
    5    . It is an established fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or grey.

A．On the other hand, black is depressing.

B．They tell us, among other facts, that we do not choose our favorite color as grow up — we are born with our preference.

C．The rooms are painted in different colors as you like.

D．If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement.

E．Light and bright colors make people not only happier but more active.

F．Life is like a picture or a poem, full of different colors.

G．Colors do influence our moods—there is no doubt about it

10 . D
Parents who help their children with homework may actually be bringing down their school grades. Other forms of prenatal involvement, including volunteering at school and observing a child's class, also fail to help, according to the most recent study on the topic.
The findings challenge a key principle of modern parenting(养育子女) where schools except them to act as partners in their children's education. Previous generations concentrated on getting children to school on time, fed, dressed and ready to learn.
Kaith Robinson, the author of the study, said, "I really don't know if the public is ready for this but there are some ways parents can be involved in their kids' education that leads to declines in their academic performance. One of the things that was consistently negative was parents' help with homework." Robinson suggested that may be because parents themselves struggle to understand the task." They may either not remember the material their kids are studying now, or in some cases never learnt it themselves, but they're still offering advice."
Robinson assessed parental involvement performance and found one of the most damaging things a parent could do was to punish their children for poor marks. In general, about 20% of parental involvement was positive, about 45% negative and the rest statistically insignificant.
Common sense suggests it was a good thing for parents to get involved because "children with good academic success do have involved parents ", admitted Robinson. But he argued that this did not prove parental involvement was the root cause of that success." A big surprise was that Asian-American parents whose kids are doing so well in school hardly involved. They took a more reasonable approach, conveying to their children how success at school could improve their lives."
1. The underlined expression "parental involvement " in Paragraph 1 probably means       .

A．parents' expectation on children's health

B．parents' participation in children's education

C．parents' control over children's life

D．parents' plan for children's future

2. What is the major finding of Robinson's study ?

A．Modern parents raise children in a more scientific way.

B．Punishing kids for bad marks is mentally damaging.

C．Parental involvement is not so beneficial as expected.

D．Parents are not able to help with children’s homework.

3. The example of Asian-American parents implies that parents should       .

A．help children realize the importance of schooling

B．set a specific life goal for their children

C．spend more time improving their own lives

D．take a more active part in school management