1 . There is always something that happens in the world that everyone fears will happen to their town, city or country: natural disasters. The scariest part of it is that no one will ever see it coming. Though technology helps us prepare, but it never actually tells the people when it’s going to hit. It is always estimated but the result is never 100% accurate.
However, that is not the point of this article. Two different natural disasters in two different parts of the world have happened in the past few weeks. One was a major flood that has hit Louisiana in the United States. The other was an earthquake that hit Amatrice, Italy. However, there is a major difference in the news coverage of the two tragedies.
As for the flooding in Louisiana, it is reported that this disaster is the worst to hit the United States since Super-storm Sandy and it’ll cost at least $30 million. In only the first couple of weeks, 13 people had died. However, like me, many people did not hear about this tragic event. I did not learn about it until about three weeks after it happened.
In Italy, however, it covered all media instantly. The earthquake in Italy happened on Tuesday morning. That same day, I was on Twitter and that was all that was over the news feed. Every other post was about the earthquake. Some would have the opinion that Amatrice, Italy was one of the most beautiful towns in that country. I got in deep sorrow because there were more people killed in this quake than the flooding. So far, they have a total of 73 dead and over one hundred missing.
I understand that technically the earthquake in Italy was worse than the floods in Louisiana. However, I believe that if a natural disaster happens, they all should be equally covered and taken equally seriously. We are one world united and should be there for all of the people who are in need of help. We may not be able to accurately predict disasters but, we can surely lend a hand out for the needy.
1. What really concerns the author about the two natural disasters?| A．The death and the injured. |
| B．The media report. |
| C．The government’s responsibility. |
| D．Their economic loss. |
| A．He didn’t care about the flood. |
| B．He felt nervous about the news. |
| C．The media didn’t cover it in time. |
| D．The flood frightened the author a lot. |
| A．Italy isn’t good at predicting the natural disasters. |
| B．All natural disasters should be covered equally. |
| C．The world should be united into one instantly. |
| D．America should help Italy predict natural disasters. |
| A．By making a comparison. |
| B．By following the time order. |
| C．By listing some examples. |
| D．By analyzing the causes. |
Happy people know life can be hard and tend to live through hard times. They take responsibility for how they got themselves into a mess, and focus on getting themselves out of it as soon as possible. Unhappy people see themselves as victims of life and stay stuck in the“look what happened to me” attitude instead of finding a way through and out to the other side.
Most happy people believe in the good in people instead of thinking everyone is out to get them. Generally open and friendly towards people they meet, happy people foster (培养) a sense of community around themselves and meet new people with all open heart. Unhappy people are distrustful of most people they meet and don’t think strangers can be trusted. Unfortunately, this behavior slowly closes all chances of meeting new friends.
Unhappy people believe someone else’s good fortune steals from their own. They believe there’s not enough goodness to go around and always compare others’against theirs. This leads to jealousy (嫉妒). Happy people know that others’good luck and circumstance are just signs of what they also can achieve if they try hard enough. They believe in unlimited possibilities and don’t get stuck in thinking one person’s good fortune limits their possible outcome in life.
There’s only so much space between the two ears. Unhappy people fill that space with constant worry and fear. Happy people experience fear and worry too, but make an important difference between feeling it and living with it. When fear or worry crosses a happy person’s mind, they’ll ask themselves if there’s an action they can take to prevent their fear or worry from happening and they take it. If not, they realize they’re spinning in fear and they lay it down.
1. Paragraph 2 mainly shows that unhappy people tend to _______________.
| A．focus on what they really want |
| B．get worried about what will happen |
| C．stay focused on the past misfortunes |
| D．find a way to live through hard times |
| A．like making some new friends |
| B．hate seeing others with good fortune |
| C．are more likely to be cheated by strangers |
| D．believe they can get good luck by working hard |
| A．They don’t think life is hard. |
| B．They hardly ever fear anything. |
| C．They try to get out of their fear or worries. |
| D．They don’t believe in every people they meet. |
| A．By making comparisons. |
| B．By giving examples. |
| C．By showing detailed data. |
| D．By proving some theories. |
3 . I have two kids, a boy and a girl. I don’t worry about my girl; I’m sure she’ll be well trained in mixed martial arts. I worry about my son. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be feminine (女性化的). Sorry to say that, but let’s face it. No dad wants his son to go feminine.
At the rate we’re moving in a couple of years you won’t be able to tell the difference between boys and girls. Sound extreme? Think about this. In every movie where advanced time-traveling beings come to our planet there’s one constant: You can’t tell the male aliens from the female aliens!
But that’s the future. Kids today are soft and fat. People ask why. Is it junk food? No. Junk food has been around for fifty years. Is it video games? No. Video games have been around for thirty years. None of the kids playing them back in the day were terribly obese. We’re all scratching our heads trying to figure out what we’ve introduced to society to ruin our kids. But it’s not anything we’ve added that has ruined our kids. It’s stuff we’ve gotten rid of.
Take the gym rope for example. Remember that thing that stretched from the floor to the ceiling in your gym class that you could never climb? Most of the kids couldn’t make it to the top. But that wasn’t the point; the point was you had to try while some middle-aged guy who couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs shouted at you. We should have put our son on that rope, and given him a head start, but we didn’t want to shame the boy, so we took it down.
Taking down the rope would be a good idea if there were no ropes in life. But they’re everywhere. You just can’t see them. They’re in every goal unrealized and expectation not met. The point everyone missed about the rope is you weren’t supposed to make it to the top. It was there to create a fire that burned in the oversized belly of every kid.
1. What is the example of aliens used to show?| A．Girls are growing like boys. | B．Boys are going feminine. |
| C．There are really time-traveling beings. | D．Alien movies are popular with children. |
| A．Junk food. | B．Video games. |
| C．Stuff introduced to society. | D．Things removed from society. |
| A．They have too much dignity. | B．They are overprotected. |
| C．They are less independent. | D．They are thought too highly of. |
| A．Goals. | B．Expectations. |
| C．Competition. | D．Assistance. |
Example Youth Exchanges：
Youth Exchange 1
Location：Ireland
Other nationalities：Ireland，Spain，Italy，Hungary
Theme：Focuses on the topic of community reconstruction and community activities—exploring how local issues facing our communities are connected to global issues．The group will also learn about the eco-village as an example of a community and take part in team-building activities.
Youth Exchange 2
Location：France
Other nationalities：Bulgaria，Italy，France
Theme：Organic gardening & continual living．This project will take place in a natural park，where the group will take part in gardening activities and games／workshops about continuous development．
Youth Exchange 3
Location：Macedonia
Other nationalities：Serbia，Turkey，Ireland
Theme：Foster social inclusion and motivate personal development of young people through sports and outdoor activities．Promote outdoor activities as a tool to help inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities．
Youth Exchange 4
Location：Italy
Other nationalities：Italy，Bulgaria，Greece
Theme：A sociaI-environmental project that intends to promote social inclusion and continuable development，regarded as a process of civil rights and active citizenship. Over 10 days, the group will participate in activities to raise awareness about the effect of our behavior on the environment．
1. What do you focus on when travelling in France?
| A．Gardening work. |
| B．Civil rights. |
| C．Developing social inclusion. |
| D．Rebuilding communities. |
| A．Youth Exchange 1 | B．Youth Exchange 2 |
| C．Youth Exchange 3 | D．Youth Exchange 4 |
| A．Spain． | B．Italy. | C．Ireland. | D．France. |
When I started school here，it had already been a week since the school opened．At this school，freshmen usually go on a trip for about three days at the beginning of school. Unfortunately I missed that wonderful trip,which would have been the best time to get to know my classmates．I was really sad．I wished I’d known about it earlier.
Despite the disappointment，however，I gradually adapted to my new life and school．
There is a space in the basement of the teaching building where students chat and meet each other．As we do not always have the same classrooms and classmates，the school wants us to get to know each other there．Students usually come to school early，sit in that space and have fun．Around the space，there are many lockers for students to leave their books in，so that students do not have to carry a heavy schoolbag everywhere．
It really surprises me that we have almost no textbooks.We only have textbooks for World History and Algebra and they are big and heavy，like bricks．For other classes，we only need binders(活页夹)with paper in them．Without textbooks，students learn things freely and actively．For example，my humanities teacher just teaches us what is in her mind at the time．We never know what we will learn．
Another difference between American schools and Chinese schools is that American schools care about students’ morality more than their academic studies．For example，if you do not finish your homework，you will just be asked to do it later，but if you cheat or lie，you will get a warning or even be kicked out．
I think that most students here are good at schoolwork as well，but compared to Chinese students，they can make learning a more joyful experience．I think we should take the good points from our two different kinds of education to perfect our approach to studying．
1. What was the writer sad for?
| A．He was late for schoo1． |
| B．He missed the trip at the beginning of schoo1． |
| C．He didn’t know anyone． |
| D．American students looked down upon him． |
| A．To attend class． | B．To share a classroom． |
| C．To have fun． | D．To meet teachers． |
| A．you are likely to be kicked out if you cheat |
| B．you’11 be punished if you do not finish your homework |
| C．students are better at school work than Chinese students |
| D．students care much about the grades they get |
6 . Economists have studied how markets work for a long time. Generally, they work well. But markets do not always perform as expected. Jean Tirole of France won the Nobel Prize in Economics for studying why markets are imperfect, or inefficient, and what governments can do to regulate them.
The Nobel Prize committee announced the $1.1 million prize in Stockholm to Jean Tirole. It called Mr. Tirole “one of the most influential economists of our time”. The organization said he had done important research in a number of areas. But it said, “most of all he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with only a few powerful firms.”
Mr. Tirole works at the Toulouse School of Economics in Toulouse, France. He is 61 years old. For about 30 years, Mr. Tirole has researched periods when markets failed, that is, when they did not provide good results in price and competition. He looked at how a small number of large companies, or even a single company, can strongly influence industries. Banking and telecommunications were among the industries he studied.
The Nobel committee said that unregulated markets often produce socially undesirable results. They can result in higher prices or companies that use their market position to block others. The committee said it chose Mr. Timle because he thought about how best to regulate markets. For example, Tore Ellingsen, Chairman of the committee that awards the economics prize, says Mr. Tirole showed the need to develop better rules for the banking industry. This became urgent after the world financial crisis of 2008-2009.
The economics Drize is called the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alflred Nobel. Alfred Nobel did not establish the prize. It was first presented in 1969.
1. The passage tells us that Jean Tirole______________.| A．has studied the economics in Sweden |
| B．is the first to win the Nobel Prize in Economics |
| C．is highly praised by Chairman of the committee |
| D．has made regulations for large companies |
| A．Jean Tirole's research made the markets imperfect or inefficient |
| B．banking and telecommunications are strongly influential industries |
| C．the world financial crisis of 2008-2009 regulated the markets |
| D．Alfred Nobel was unwilling to establish economics prize |
| A．harmful | B．unbelievable |
| C．beneficial | D．convincing |
| A．The 1ife of Jean Tirole. |
| B．The research of Jean Tirole. |
| C．The history of Nobel Prize in Economics. |
| D．Jean Tirole Wins Nobel Economics Prize. |
7 . Suppose you become a leader in an organization. It’s very likely that you’ll want to have volunteers to help with the organization’s activities. To do so, it should help to understand why people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the work.
Let’s begin with the question of why people volunteer. Researchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involved. For example, people volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishness, to expand their range of experiences, and to strengthen social relationships. If volunteer positions do not meet these needs, people may not wish to participate. To select volunteers, you may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attract.
People also volunteer because they are required to do so. To increase levels of community service, some schools have launched compulsory volunteer programs. Unfortunately, these programs can shift people’s wish of participation from an internal factor (e.g. “I volunteer because it’s important to me”) to an external factor (e.g. “I volunteer because I’m required to do so”). When that happens, people become less likely to volunteer in the future. People must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a must.
Once people begin to volunteer, what leads them to remain in their positions over time? To answer this question, researchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over time. For instance, one study followed 238 volunteers in Florida over a year. One of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positions. Although this result may not surprise you, it leads to important practical advice. The researchers note that attention should be given to “training methods that would prepare volunteers for troublesome situations or provide them with strategies for coping with the problem they do experience”.
Another study of 302 volunteers at hospitals in Chicago focused on individual differences in the degree to which people view “volunteer” as an important social role. It was assumed that those people for whom the role of volunteer was most part of their personal identity would also be most likely to continue volunteer work. Participants indicated the degree to which the social role mattered by responding to statements such as “Volunteering in Hospital is an important part of who I am.” Consistent with the researchers’ expectations, they found a positive correlation(正相关) between the strength of role identity and the length of time people continued to volunteer. These results, once again, lead to concrete advice: “Once an individual begins volunteering, continued efforts might focus on developing a volunteer role identity....Items like T-shirts that allow volunteers to be recognized publicly for their contributions can help strengthen role identity”.
1. People volunteer mainly out of __________.A．ac ademic requirements | B．social expectations |
| C．financial rewards | D．internal needs |
| A．Follow-up studies should last for one year. | B．Volunteers should get mentally prepared. |
| C．Strategy training is a must in research. | D．Volunteers are provided with concrete advice. |
| A．Individual differences in role identity. | B．Publicly identifiable volunteer T-shirts. |
| C．Role identity as a volunteer. | D．Practical advice from researchers. |
| A．How to Get People to Volunteer | B．How to Study Volunteer Behaviors |
| C．How to Keep Volunteers’ Interest | D．How to Organize Volunteer Activities |
8 . October sixteenth is World Food Day. This day is also the anniversary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(F. A. O.).The UN agency leads international efforts to defeat world hunger. It was created in 1945.
The F. A. O. says more than one hundred fifty countries are to hold special events to celebrate World Food Day. At F. A. O. headquarters in Rome, for example, runners will compete in a five-kilometer race through the city’s historical area. Events in other countries include discussions among experts, press conferences and musical programs.
The message of this year’s World Food Day is “investing in agriculture for food security”. The F. A. O. says, “During the early 1990s, the foreign aid for agriculture was nine thousand million dollars each year. But now, it has declined to less than five thousand million dollars a year.” Yet, the F. A. O. estimates that more than eight hundred and fifty million people around the world do not get enough food.
The UN agency notes that seventy percent of the world’s hungry lies in the farmers who grow small amount of food. Many also face problems of feeding themselves. The F. A. O. says agricultural aid could help small farmers make a profit from their crops. Farmers would also be able to feed their families throughout the year and re-invest in their farms. They could buy better seeds, equipment and chemical fertilizers to help their crops grow.
Muhammad Yunis. the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to improve the lives of poor people, as well as his Bangladesh microfinance organization, the Grameen Bank, has lent small amount of money to poor people who are unable to get traditional loans, especially women. Minister Yunis says that he plans to give his share of the one million three hundred thousand dollars Nobel award to good causes. He says he wants to establish an eye hospital and start a project to produce low-cost food for the poor.
1. To celebrate the World Food Day, how many kinds of activities are mentioned in the passage?| A．Two. | B．Three. |
| C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．The F. A. O. is established to invest in agriculture for food security. |
| B．The foreign aid for agriculture has reduced by nearly 50％in recent decades. |
| C．The Grameen Bank has provided large amount of loans for poor farmers. |
| D．Yunis will donate his entire Nobel award to help solve the hunger for the poor. |
| A．promote the production of crops | B．produce low-cost food |
| C．invest money in other fields | D．help to improve crop seeds |
| A．give an introduction of the F. A.O. |
| B．inform us of the situations of the world food |
| C．appeal for more investment on agriculture |
| D．show how to deal with the world’s hunger |
But have you ever notice the smell? Unless it is bad, the answer is likely to be no. But while a shop’s scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds, it is certainly there. And it is providing to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase.
A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance, via scent machines. A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for freshening air. One sports goods company once reported that when it first introduced scent into its stores, customers’ intension to purchase increased by 80 percent.
When it comes to the best shopping streets in Pairs, scent is just as important to a brand’s success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sales. That is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be.
Some years ago, the focus for brand name shopping was on a few people with sales assistants’ disproving attitude and don’t-touch-what-you-can’t-afford displays. Now the rise of electronic commerce (e-commerce) has opened up famous brands to a wider audience. But while e-shops can use sights and sounds, only bricks-and-mortar stores (实体店) can offer a full experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave. Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop, but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.
Now a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department, and coconut (椰子) scent in the swimsuit section. A department store has even opened a new lab, inviting customers on a journey into the store’s windows to smell books, pots and drawers, in search of their perfect scent.
1. According to the passage, what is an increasingly powerful tool in the success of some brand store?
| A．Friendly assistant. | B．Unique scents. |
| C．Soft background music. | D．Attractive window display. |
| A．show the advantages of brick-and-mortar stores |
| B．urge shop assistants to change their attitude |
| C．push stores to use sights and sounds |
| D．introduce the rise of e-commerce |
| A．a platform that exhibits goods |
| B．a spot where travelers like to stay |
| C．a place where customers love to go |
| D．a target that a store expects to meet |
| A．compare and evaluate | B．examine and assess |
| C．argue and discuss | D．inform and explain |
What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, red?
| 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 |
