1 . Some people say they “never forget a face.” But what does that saying mean? Is there really no limit to the number of faces a person can remember? A new study from a group of researchers at the University of York in England has found that, on average, people can remember as many as 5,000 faces. They published their findings on facial recognition this month in the Proceedings of The Royal Society B, Biological Sciences.

Rob Jenkins works in the psychology department at the University of York. He said the researchers’ study centered on “the number of faces people actually know”. The study suggests our facial recognition abilities help us to deal with the many different faces we see on the screens, as well as those we know, like family and friends.

For the human study, people spent one hour writing down as many faces from their personal lives as possible. Some examples may include people they went to school with, people they work with and family members. Then, they wrote down famous faces they know, such as actors, politicians and other public people.

The results showed that the participants knew between 1,000 and 10,000 faces. Jenkins said one explanation may be that some people have a natural ability for remembering faces. “There are differences in how much attention people pay to faces and how well they process the information,” he said. Jenkins also said it could be because of different social environments. Some people may have grown up in more populated places. So, they may have had more social contact throughout their lives.

The people in the study included 25 men and women students from two universities. They were between 18 and 61 years old. Researchers think age may be an interesting area for further research. Jenkins said it is possible that we gather more faces throughout our lifetime. But, he added, there also may be an age at which we start to find it harder to remember all of those faces.

1. What was the new study mainly about?

A．How long people can remember faces.

B．When people will forget faces.

C．Why people can deal with different faces.

D．How many faces people can know.

2. On average, how many faces can a man remember according to the study?

A．About 5,000.	B．No more than 1,000.
C．Fewer than 25.	D．Around 10,000.

3. What do we know about the participants in the study?

A．They are good at recognizing faces.

B．They remember more famous people.

C．They have different social backgrounds.

D．They try their best to avoid social contact.

4. What can we learn about the last paragraph?

A．We are sure to gather more faces as we age.

B．The future research may focus more on age.

C．The participants in the study are in their youth.

D．It may be harder to remember faces of different ages.

5. What did Jenkins think would affect people’s ability to remember faces?

A．Attention.

B．Personal lives.

C．Age.

D．Sex.

2 . A man was exploring some caves by the seashore. In one cave he _________ a bag of hardened clay balls. It seemed that someone had _________ some clay and baked the balls in the sun. They didn’t look like _________ things, but they interested him, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.

As he walked along the beach he _________ the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought _________ about it until he dropped one of the balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone. _________, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars’ worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had _________, and then it struck him: Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have had tens of thousands, with the 50 or 60 clay balls with their _________ treasures which were now in the ocean. He just _________ the chance.

Sometimes it’s like that with __________. When we look at a person, we usually only see “the outside clay shell”. It isn’t always beautiful or shining, so we __________ the person; we see him as less important than someone more beautiful or more __________. But we haven’t taken the time to look for the __________ inside that person. If we spend the time getting to know that person, the clay will __________ and the brilliant jewel will shine. We are __________ made, not only with our physical bodies, but also with our spiritual selves, which are sometimes hidden from others by the “earthen shell”.

1.

A．searched

B．lost

C．made

D．found

2.

A．rolled

B．pressed

C．dug

D．cut

3.

A．dangerous

B．valuable

C．annoying

D．ordinary

4.

A．pushed

B．put

C．threw

D．pulled

5.

A．little

B．long

C．hard

D．well

6.

A．Moved

B．Satisfied

C．Worried

D．Excited

7.

A．given

B．taken

C．left

D．dropped

8.

A．hidden

B．obvious

C．well-known

D．questionable

9.

A．forgot

B．missed

C．abandoned

D．faced

10.

A．money

B．life

C．people

D．friends

11.

A．pity

B．blame

C．ignore

D．hate

12.

A．warm-hearted

B．honest

C．famous

D．stylish

13.

A．clay

B．treasure

C．ball

D．shell

14.

A．come off

B．break away

C．run out

D．dry up

15.

A．normally

B．gradually

C．wonderfully

D．expensively

3 . 假如你是李华，打算暑假去美国参加夏令营（a summer camp），请你给负责人Mr Smith发一封电子邮件询问有关事宜。
要点如下：
1. 简单介绍自己的情况；
2. 询问活动详情；
3. 提出相关建议；
注意：1. 词数：100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mr Smith,

I am Li Hua, a Senior 2 student from China.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

5 . Parents. teachers, and anyone who regularly deals with teenagers know how difficult the adolescent(青春期的) years can be. Adolescents have always been known to do wild-even dangerous-things. This was thought to be due to the foolishness of youth. Now a study on the development of the brain has led to a new theory of why teens act the way they do.

Recently, scientists discovered that though our brains are almost at their full size by age 6. they are far from fully developed. Only during adolescence do our brains truly “grow up.” During this time, they go through great changes, like a computer system being upgraded. This “upgrade“ was once thought to be finished by a t age 12. Now, scientists have concluded that our brains continue to change until age 25. Such changes make us better at balancing our impulses (冲动) with the need to follow rules. However, a still-developing brain does this awkwardly. The result, scientists claim, is the unexpected behavior seen in teenagers.

The studies confirm that teens are more likely to take risks and behave in extreme ways. Fortunately, the news isn’t all negative. As brain scientists point out, the teen brain inspires such behavior in order to help teenagers prepare for adult life.

One way the brain does this is by changing the way teens measure risk and reward (回报). Researchers found that when teens think about rewards, their brains give off the chemicals that create pleasure. Researchers believe this makes the rewards outweigh the risks, and makes teens feel the excitement of new experiences.

Unfortunately, this hunt for rewards can sometimes lead teens to make bad decisions. However, it also means that teens are more likely to try new things or to be independent. The findings suggest that in the long run, the impulses of the teen brains are what help teens leave their parents’ care and live their own lives successfully.

1. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To describe an experiment on the brains of teenagers.

B．To explain how teenagers’ brains affect their behavior.

C．To introduce a new discovery on teenagers’ intelligence.

D．To suggest that teenagers think differently from their parents.

2. What can we learn about our brains in paragraph 2?

A．They are at full size by age 6

B．They begin to upgrade at age 12.

C．They are fully developed at age 18.

D．They finish developing at age 25.

3. What does the author mean by ”the news isn’t all negative“ in paragraph 3?

A．The negative side of the research is not understood.

B．The way the teen brain works has some advantages.

C．The latest news of the research should be provided.

D．The impulses of a teenage brain should be controlled.

4. What happens to their brains when teenagers think about rewards?

A．Changing into the adult pattern

B．Starting to weigh risk and reward

C．Creating connections with success

D．Giving off chemicals that create pleasure.

5. Which is the best heading for the last paragraph?

A．An independent brain.	B．A successful life
C．The role of parents in life	D．The rewards of findings

7 . During the singing contest, Mary c_________(竞争) with Helen for first prize. (根据中英文提示单词拼写)

9 . During the recent school holidays I was walking past a playground on my way to a meeting. The thing that_______me was not the number of children enjoying the fresh air on a pleasant Queensland winter day, but the number of older people_______those children.

Sure, there were a few younger mums and dads, but there were_______more “old folk” who I doubt were all grandparents. It is great that they are able to_______quality time with their grandchildren. After all, we often hear people saying that their reason for retiring is that they can devote more time to their families. However, I_______how many grandparents are spending their retirement (退休) years taking on the role of full- or part-time_______of their grandchildren.   

Retirement is a valuable time. We are generally living much longer than our own grandparents did, but as we_______, we become more limited in our ability to pursue (追求) our own favourite. However, what if your plans for pursuing some of these lifetime dreams are _______，out of a sense of responsibility for your family?

So how can you keep a_______ balance between helping out your family and pursuing your dreams altogether? I'm not sure where the answer lies, but having an open and honest________   with your family should be at the top of the list. You need to nip sense of________ in the bud (对……一开始即加以阻止) — and sooner________later.

By all means, help your family whenever you can. Everyone will________from it, and your grandchildren will get the rewards from staying with their________. Do it because you want to, not because you feel you have to. In addition, spare time for ________ to pursue your dreams and ensure that nobody puts your retirement on hold.

1.

A．conquered

B．attracted

C．beat

D．influenced

2.

A．waiting for

B．looking to

C．attending to

D．standing for

3.

A．clearly

B．hardly

C．formally

D．suddenly

4.

A．meet

B．devote

C．spend

D．save

5.

A．realize

B．believe

C．doubt

D．wonder

6.

A．sense

B．pride

C．care

D．advantage

7.

A．grow

B．age

C．improve

D．explore

8.

A．put out

B．put away

C．put off

D．put in

9.

A．hard

B．fine

C．strange

D．rare

10.

A．organization

B．conversation

C．discussion

D．relationship

11.

A．pleasure

B．protection

C．duty

D．safety

12.

A．rather than

B．other than

C．more than

D．less than

13.

A．suffer

B．recover

C．learn

D．benefit

14.

A．parents

B．peers

C．elders

D．teachers

15.

A．herself

B．themselves

C．yourselves

D．myself