2 . Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic medicine many of us dream it could be.

In a new study, researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being, but only up to a point.

People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.

Part of finding the “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have. The researchers conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3½ to seven free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV). Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day, but only if they used it unproductively. In other words, how people use their free time matters.

Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you. If watching two hours of Real Housewives in your free time increases your happiness, you should do that. And even more traditionally productive or purposeful activities can be easy and fun. Engaging in a bit of low-key cardio, like walking, can help burn stress. Free-time activities like reading, cooking or gaming are also known to put people in a state of flow.

In cases when people do find themselves with huge amounts of free time, such as retirement or having left a job,” Sharif said, “our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”

1. According to the study, how many hours of free time brings the best feelings?

A．3 to 7 hours.

B．5 hours or more.

C．Up to 2 hours.

D．2 or 3 hours.

2. Which of the following may the author agree with?

A．The busier, the happier.

B．The more free time, the better.

C．Purposeful activities increase happiness.

D．Retirement makes people depressed and unhappy.

3. Which of the following can put people in a state of flow?

A．Getting stuck in silence.	B．Having a poor-quality sleep.
C．Struggling with a dull book.	D．Enjoying classic music.

4. What’s Sharif’s advice for retirees?

A．To make a new schedule.	B．To do more housework.
C．To watch more TV.	D．To find a new job.

5. Which section of a newspaper can we find this passage?

A．Stories.

B．Life.

C．Science.

D．Sports.

3 . A common claim states that a sheet of paper cannot be folded in half more than seven times. But is this true?

In 2002, Britney Gallivan, then a junior in high school in Pomona, California, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most times to fold a sheet of paper in half.

The prompt that led Gallivan to accomplish these feats was an extra-credit challenge in math class to fold anything in half 12 times. Her teacher asked the students to fold something thicker: a piece of paper.

Gallivan said “it was very frustrating, as I had many unsuccessful attempts at trying to fold different papers in half. I began to question if folding paper in half more than eight times could be impossible.” However, Gallivan recalled. “I knew I needed to understand what was limiting the folding progression.”

The equations that Gallivan came up with calculated how many times a sheet of paper could be folded. She found that in order to fold many times, a long thin sheet is needed — the more a sheet is folded, the thicker the resulting stack becomes, and once the stack becomes thicker than it is long, there is nothing left to fold. She ultimately set her record with a sheet of tissue paper she found online that was 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) — more than three-quarters of a mile, or over a kilometer — long, Guinness World Records noted.

“Working on the problem took a tremendous amount of time and effort,” Gallivan said. “As frustrating as it was at times, I learned an immense amount from the experience, which has been valuable to me throughout my life in more capacities than one would expect.”     

Since Gallivan set her record, others have made claims of folding a sheet of paper more than 12 times. Still, “I anticipate that my current record will be surpassed,” Gallivan said.

1. Which was commonly considered the most times that paper can be folded in half?

A．7.

B．8.

C．9.

D．12.

2. It is impossible to fold a paper in half more times when _____.

A．the stack is as thick as its length	B．the paper is neither long nor thin
C．the stack is thicker than its length	D．the paper is longer than its thickness

3. What can we learn about Gallivan’s attempts?

A．It’s risky.

B．It’s fruitless.

C．It’s meaningless.

D．It’s energy-consuming.

4. What does Gallivan think of her experience?

A．Worthwhile.

B．Unsuccessful.

C．Miserable.

D．Regretful.

5. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Gallivan’s record is impossible to break.

B．Folding paper in half is merely a math problem.

C．Folding things in half may not be limited to 12.

D．Folding paper 12 times is a required credit in maths class.

5 . For centuries, the power of Chinese emperors rose and fell with their control of the Grand Canal. Today, this waterway is shorter than it once was, but it is still the longest man-made river in the world. Importantly, the Grand Canal continues to provide a significant cultural and economic link for modern China.

The   original   canal   system   began around the year 605. China’s Emperor Yang realized that he needed a better way to move food quickly to his army from China’s southern rice-growing region to the country’s north. So about one million people-mostly farmers-worked on the construction of the first section of the Grand Canal, which took six years.

Over the next 500 years, the canal’s importance grew. However, by 1127 , parts had begun to deteriorate. In 1279, Kublai Khan began to repair and build new parts of the canal, which created a more direct north-south route to and from Beijing. Future rulers continued to expand and improve the waterway, and it eventually became an important national lifeline.

In addition to moving rice around China, the Grand Canal was an important cultural connection. Soldiers, businessmen,and artists transported ideas, regional foods, and cultural practices from one part of China to another. According to ancient stories, this is how Beijing acquired two of its best-known trademarks. Peking duck,a dish from Shandong Province, and the Peking opera, from Anhui and Hubei regions,were both brought north by the canal.

For more than a thousand years, goods have been transported along the Grand Canal.Even today, the country’s watery highway plays an important economic role in China. Boats continue to carry tons of goods. In addition, local governments-eager to in-crease tourism and real estate (房地产) development-are beautifying areas along the canal.

In 2005, a group of citizens proposed that the historic Grand Canal be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was officially granted (批准) in 2014. The hope now is that the Grand Canal-one of the world’s great engineering achievements -will continue to link north and south China for centuries to come.

1. Why was the Grand Canal originally built?

A．To enable more people to visit distant parts of China.

B．To allow the army to move quickly from the north to the south.

C．To promote the cultural and traditional connection of south China.

D．To transport food from the southern regions of China to the north.

2. What is NOT true about the Grand Canal?

A．It took six years to complete its first section.

B．Even today, it is the longest man-made river in the world.

C．Around a million people worked on the first part of the canal.

D．It allowed Peking duck and the Peking opera to spread to southern China.

3. What does the uderlined word “deteriorate” probably mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Get worse.

B．Get destroyed.

C．Get shorter.

D．Get repaired.

4. What might be the best heading for Paragraph 4?

A．Renewed Importance.	B．Cultural Connections.
C．The Army’s Highway.	D．The Origins of the Peking Opera.

5. What happened to the Grand Canal in 2014?

A．Construction of the Canal began.

B．New parts of the Canal were built.

C．The Grand Canal became a World Heritage Site.

D．The Grand Canal was proposed as a UNESCO Heritage Site.

8 . How to deal with your homework

Write it down.     1     Always be sure to write down all the homework so you won’t forget anything.

Create a homework station. Find somewhere comfortable and quiet to do your homework.     2     It will take twice as long to get the homework done. Shut off your cell phone, log off (退出) your computer (unless you need it for your homework) and close the door.

Do homework as early as possible. Don’t leave homework to the last minute.     3     The earlier you start your homework, the sooner you will finish! Do all your homework as early as you can, so you don’t have a pile of ( 一 堆 ) homework the next day.

    4     Think about how long it will take you to complete homework for each subject. For example: English-ten minutes, science-ten minutes, math-forty minutes, history-twenty minutes.

Treat yourself. You can easily get tired by sitting through an hour or two of homework without stopping. Once you finish homework for a subject, take a small break (no more than 15 minutes). Either taking a walk or finding something to eat will do. But do not turn on the TV, or you’ll never go back to your study.     5    

A．Use your time wisely.

B．Start as soon as you get home.

C．Start with your hardest homework.

D．Do not burn the midnight oil, either.

E．Never do your homework in front of the TV.

F．After short breaks, return to finish the rest of your homework.

G．Keep a homework notebook where you record all your homework.

9 . Putting more green space around a school may help students develop some mental abilities, a study suggests. Researchers tested students repeatedly over the course of a year on attentiveness (专注力)and working memory, which is the ability to keep something in mind temporarily for performing a task. On the whole, students whose schools were surrounded by more green space improved more than pupils from schools with less green space.

The study tracked more than 2,000 students in 36 primary schools in Barcelona, Spain. The pupils were in the second to fourth grades when the study began. Green space may help mental development by reducing air pollution from vehicles, according to an article by the researchers that included pollution data from the schools. It may also help by reducing noise and encouraging physical activity, researchers said.

Policy makers should know that “more green around the school is better for cognitive development and that they should make sure that kids can see and play in green areas,” one author Mark Nieuwenhuijsen said. “Existing urban schools should think about replacing concrete or other hard surfaces with green space,” he suggested, “and even a few trees may help.”

The researchers used satellite images to group schools according to how much green space appeared on the school grounds and within about 55 yards of the school property. Their analysis showed that differences in socio-economic factors between schools did not account for the study outcome.

Sally Augustin, a psychologist, said the results made sense to her. She said the results fit with previous findings that views of nature help children and adults lower stress and perform mental tasks better.

1. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Green space makes schools more beautiful.

B．Schools are lack of green space for students.

C．Students’ mental abilities need to be improved.

D．Green space is good for students’ mental abilities.

2. What does the underlined word “tracked” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Moved.

B．Helped.

C．Followed.

D．Found.

3. What did Mark Nieuwenhuijsen suggest?

A．More trees should be planted for kids.

B．Noise should be cleared near the school.

C．Kids should be encouraged to play more sports.

D．Air pollution should be reduced from vehicles.

4. Why is Augustin mentioned in the text?

A．To show a different opinion.

B．To introduce another interesting study.

C．To present Augustin’s view about the study.

D．To make the findings of the study more convincing.

5. In which column of a website can we probably read the text?

A．Health.

B．Education.

C．Nature.

D．Technology.

10 . Be a Green Guest

When people take a vacation, they often take vacation from responsibility, too. Our behavior at hotels is one of the biggest problems. We have our linens(纺织品) washed daily for us, and are provided with an endless stream of hot water — what’s not to love about that? But all of this luxury equals serious consequences for the environment. More and more hotels are becoming eco-friendly. They offer programs and facilities that save water and energy. That’s a good start,     1    

•Just say “no” to hotel shampoos

In America alone, there are about 50,000 hotels. Hotel management normally leaves out two small bottles for each hotel room every day.     2     And what about all of that shampoo when you don’t finish the bottle? A better way is to bring your own shampoo from home.

•Turn off the lights.

    3     Do it at the hotel, too. Studies have shown that, in hotels, the majority of energy spent through lighting comes from the bathroom light being left on for more than one hour! After you’re done with your business, remember to hit the switch!

•     4    

Sure, it’s a luxury to have sheets and towels cleaned every day, but that’s all it is. Washing a set of bed sheets and a pair of bathroom towels requires about 12-16 gallons of water. See if there is a policy for requesting that your towels and linens get washed weekly.     5     In others, you may ask the front desk for a personal request.

A．You do it when you’re at home, right?

B．Don’t shower too many times in hotels.

C．Don’t have your linens washed every day.

D．but they can do more to reduce these energy waste.

E．The little plastic bottles may not even get recycled.

F．but there is a lot more you can do to cut down the amount.

G．In some hotels, it’s as simple as hanging towels back up on a hook.