1 . How Can I Fight Laziness?
Lazy people will never gain anything in life. However, laziness can be defeated once a few changes have been made in your mind.
Another way to fight laziness is to change your mind from passive to active. Some people treat their lives as if they were pushed from task to task. Others take a more positive approach, viewing each task as a challenge they must overcome alone.
Some people fight laziness removing the temptations that surround them. A television in the living room may provide entertainment, but watching too much TV often contributes to laziness.
Laziness can also be a lasting problem at home. Couples and children may all have different energy levels, but laziness can be spread if not deal with immediately.
| A．To fight family laziness, set an example. |
| B．Knowing how to fight laziness is important. |
| C．One way to fight laziness is to get enough sleep. |
| D．Finally, taking exercise regularly can help you fight laziness. |
| E．With strong determination, you will be able to achieve your goal. |
| F．Create a reward system for yourself, just as parents do for a child. |
| G．Laziness appears when you no longer feel in charge of your own mind. |
2 . Guide for Teenagers
The teenage years can be tough, and it’s normal to feel sad every now and then. But if these feelings don’t go away or become so intense that you can’t handle them, you may be suffering from depression.
Try not to isolate yourself
When you’re depressed, you may not feel like seeing anybody or doing anything. Just getting out of bed in the morning can be difficult, but isolating yourself only makes depression worse.
Keep your body healthy
Making healthy lifestyle choices can do wonders for your mood. Ever heard of a "runners high"? Physical activity can be as effective as medications for depression, so get involved in sports, ride your bike, or take a dance class. Any activity helps!
Avoid alcohol and drugs.
You maybe try drinking or use drugs in an effort to escape from your feelings and get a "mood boost," even if just for a short time. However, substance use can not only make depression worse, but can cause you to become more depressed.
Stress and worry can lead to depression. Talk to a teacher if exams or classes seem overwhelming. In addition, if you have a health concern you feel you can’t talk to your parents about, see a doctor. A health professional can help you approach your parents and guide you toward appropriate treatment. If you’re dealing with relationship, friendship, or family problems, talk to an adult you trust.
| A．Even a short walk can be beneficial. |
| B．Turn to your parents for help. |
| C．As you get out into the world, you may find yourself feeling better. |
| D．In short, drinking and taking drugs will make you feel worse--not better--in the long run. |
| E．The more exercise you do, the healthier you will be. |
| F．Help is available and you have more power than you think. |
| G．Ask for help if you are stressed. |
3 . Raised in a motherless home，my father was extremely tightfisted towards us children. His attitude didn’t soften as I grew into adulthood and went to college. I had to ride the bus whenever I came home. Though the bus stopped about two miles from home，Dad never met me，even in severe weather. If I grumbled，he’d say in his loudest father-voice，“That’s what your legs are for！”
The walk didn’t bother me as much as the fear of walking alone along the highway and country roads. I also felt less than valued that my father didn’t seem concerned about my safety. But that feeling was canceled one spring evening.
It had been a particularly difficult week at college after long hours in labs. I longed for home. When the bus reached the stop，I stepped off and dragged my suitcase to begin the long journey home.
A row of hedge(树篱)edged the driveway that climbed the hill to our house. Once I had turned off the highway to start the last lap of my journey，I always had a sense of relief to see the hedge because it meant that I was almost home. On that particular evening，the hedge had just come into view when I saw something gray moving along the top of the hedge，moving toward the house. Upon closer observation，I realized it was the top of my father’s head. Then I knew，each time I’d come home，he had stood behind the hedge，watching，until he knew I had arrived safely. I swallowed hard against the tears. He did care，after all.
On later visits，that spot of gray became my watchtower. I could hardly wait until I was close enough to watch for its secret movement above the greenery. Upon reaching home，I would find my father sitting innocently in his chair.“ So！My son，it’s you！”he’d say，his face lengthening into pretended surprise.
I replied，“Yes，Dad，it’s me.I’m home.”
1. What does the underlined word“grumbled” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Agreed willingly. | B．Explained clearly. |
| C．Spoke unhappily. | D．Accepted happily. |
| A．the tiredness after long hours in labs |
| B．the feeling of being less than valued |
| C．the fear of seeing something moving |
| D．the loneliness of riding the bus home |
| A．he was concerned about his son’s safety |
| B．he wanted to help his son build up courage |
| C．he didn’t want to meet his son at the doorway |
| D．he didn’t think his son was old enough to walk alone |
| A．Riding Bus Alone. | B．My College Life. |
| C．Terrible Journey Home. | D．My Father’s Secret. |
4 . The spread of Western eating habits around the world is bad for human nealth and the environment.These findings come from a new report in the journal Nature.
David Tillman, a professor of ecology at the University of Minnesota, America, examined information from 100 countries to identify what people ate and how diet affected health. He noted a movement beginning in the 1960s. He found that as nations mdustriaHzed(工业化),population increased and earnings rose, more people began to adopt what has been called the Western diet.
The Western diet is high in sugar, fat, oil and meat. By eating these foods, people began to get fatter and sicker. David Tillman says overweight people are at greater risk for non-infectious diseases like diabetes (糖尿病）and heart disease.
Unfortunately, when people become industrialized, if they adopt this Western diet, they are going to have these health problems, especially in developing countries in Asia, China is an example where the number of diabetes cases has been jumping from less than one percent to 10 percent of the population as they began to industrialize over a 20，year period, And that is happening all across the world, in Mexico in Nigeria and so on.
And, a diet bad for human beings, is also bad for the environment As the world's population grows, more forests and tropical (热带的）areas will become farmland for crops or grasslands for cattle. We are likely to have more greenhouse gas in the future from agriculture than that coming out of all froms of transportation right now.
Mr．Tillman calls the link between diet，the environment and human health，"a dilemma"，a problem offering a difficult choice. He says one possibte setttemenf is leaving the behind.
1. According to the passage, more greenhouse gas might be given off in the future from .| A．transportation | B．developing countries |
| C．agriculture | D．developed countries |
| A．diet, the environment and human health are closely connected |
| B．the Western diet is the only choice as the nation industrializes |
| C．people in tropical areas are more likely to have heart disease |
| D．traditional diets are more balanced than the Western diet |
| A．industrialization contributes to the spread of the Western diet |
| B．overweight people are at higher risk of infectious diseases |
| C．the examined information comes from developing countries |
| D．Nigeria has the largest number of diabetes cases |
| A．call on us to protect the environment |
| B．warn us of the danger of the Western diet |
| C．remind us of the importance of health |
| D．advise us to have a balanced diet |
5 . Do you know what a big dream is?
| A．Does a big dream show one’s future ? |
| B．They simply fail until they succeed. |
| C．How Big Dreams Die |
| D．It is the last and the most terrible barrier. |
| E．Family and Friends |
| F．Sometimes it is right, but more often it is wrong |
| G．And their big dream is to be a rock star or a famous artist. |
However urban life strikes you, cities worldwide have been growing every day。However urban life strikes you, cities worldwide have been growing ever more rapidly. Some of this growth has occurred in the developed world, but the most dramatic increase has been in the Third World. Almost all the world’s population growth over the next 30 years will take place in the cities of developing countries
By the year 2030, for the first time in history, 60 percent of the world’s people will be living in cities.
This is actually good news in some ways. “Cities are the fundamental building blocks of prosperity,” says Marc Weiss, chairman of the Prague Institute for Global Urban Development, “ both for the nation and for families.” Industrial and commercial activities in urban areas account for between 50 and 80 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in most countries of the world“ there’s the crazy notion that the way to deal with a city’s problems is to keep people out of them,”Weiss continued. “But the problems of the rural life are even more serious than those of the city.” For better or worse, urban-watchers are clear on one point: The quality of life for most people in the future will be determined by the quality of cities. Those cities will be bigger than ever. And yet, population numbers by themselves don’t determine a city’s prospects; after all, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Hamburg, Germany, have the same population. Nor is explosive growth necessarily the determining factor. “City problems,” one authority points out, “mostly have to do with weak, ineffective, and usually unrepresentative city governments.”
1. In the author’s opinion, _________.
| A．better city, better life |
| B．both urban and rural areas have a larger population |
| C．the larger population, the faster a city develops |
| D．both urban and rural areas have larger gross domestic products |
| A．The developing countries develop faster than the developed countries. |
| B．Cities contribute more to the GDP than the villagers. |
| C．Some problems are more easily solved in cities than in country. |
| D．It’s impossible to solve urban problems by getting people out of cities. |
| A．Public services are ineffective. |
| B．Cities are increasing too fast. |
| C．Population is not linked with development. |
| D．Government should be responsible for the problems in the cities. |
I realized that even though I had married a man who I adored, I really didn’t have a clear sense of how he handled money and how the two of us were going to combine our different approaches to handing money in our marriage. I was more organized and detailed, but he was more of a laid---hack type. I knew that getting on the same financial page was a key factor in creating a successful marriage and financial future.
I asked my husband if he would be willing to set up a time each week to talk about our finances and develop a plan for getting rid of our credit card debt. My husband said he would be willing to do this. Admittedly, he was skeptical(怀疑)------but willing.
We came to refer to our weekly meetings as our Financial Dates. We didn’t really have a clue as to what we were doing. All we knew was that we needed to give our finances serious attention. Some Dates were filled with tense conversations. Other Dates were filled with laughter, joy and creativity. However, we kept showing up for our Dates and we never gave up. What started out as a means for survival became a powerful connecting thread in our relationship. Something shifted within us.
Instead of our finances becoming a source of divisive（不和的）tension that pulled us apart, they became the glue（粘着剂）that held us together as we became a unified team.
I still recall the day that we excitedly crossed off our last credit card payment on the chart we had created. We had finally arrived. We were free. We had been given wings to fly.
Now, whenever I feel huge stress I ask myself, “ How am I contributing to what is happening right now?” This gives me the great power to take action. Even though my husband and I don’t have any guarantee against future challenges, I am left with something deep within that is unshakable and that can never be taken away----the memory of our past successes and the power to integrate（整合）these lessons in my day—to—day life.
1. Why did the author feel nervous when collecting the afternoon mails?
| A．She was not sure about her marriage. |
| B．She didn’t know how to handle money. |
| C．She could feel the pressure of the huge debt. |
| D．She was reminded of the quarrels in the family. |
| A．Relaxed | B．Doubtful | C．Cautious | D．Confident. |
| A．They showed the couple clear direction at first. |
| B．They left the couple nothing but deep sadness. |
| C．They were once interrupted but quickly continued. |
| D．They strengthened the couple’s relationship at last. |
| A．try to change the situation |
| B．focus on what contributes to it |
| C．get power from the memory |
| D．feel free to do what she likes |
8 . Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical (经验的，实证的) basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.
Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room’s ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.
In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant’s ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.
Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.
Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim (暗淡的) light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.
So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. “We have a very limited number of studies, so we’re almost looking at the problem through a straw (吸管),” architect David Allison says. “How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That’s what we’re all struggling with.”
1. What does Joan Meyers-Levy focus on in her research?| A．Light. | B．Ceilings. |
| C．Windows. | D．Furniture. |
| A．the shape of furniture may affect people’s feelings |
| B．lower ceilings may help improve students’ creativity |
| C．children in a dim classroom may improve their gradesD students in rooms with unblocked views may feel relaxed |
| A．the problem is not approached step by step |
| B．the researches so far have faults in themselves |
| C．the problem is too difficult for researchers to detectD research in this area is not enough to make generalized patterns |
9 . Grandma celebrated her fifty-third birthday just weeks before grandpa died of cancer in 1965. Although his passing was very difficult for her, I think their shared struggle to make his life longer taught grandma that good health was not to be taken for granted, and she made up her mind to live her rest of her own life as fully and as long as she could. One day, when she announced to attend lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Portland, Oregon, where she lived, we rolled-our eyes in embarrassment and helplessly wished she would just stay home and bake cookies as normal grandmothers did. Many years filled with countless dance lessons passed before we learned to appreciate the wonder of having a dancing grandma.
I suppose grandma’s primary motivation for wanting to learn to dance was social. She had been a shy girl, always very tall and heavy, and had married into grandpa’s quiet lifestyle before developing any elegance or confidence in her personal appearance. Dancing, on the other hand, filled her life with flash lights，wonderful parties, beautiful dresses, handsome young dance instructors, and the challenge of learning. Although the weekly dance lessons did not change her ample, two-hundred-pound figure, grandma surprised everyone with energetic performances on the dance floor, which soon gave her as much elegance and confidence as any Miss American competitor.
Having taken weekly dance lessons for years, my grandma learned various dances easily and was soon participating in dancing matches all over the Northwest. When I was fourteen, grandma proudly invited me to watch her compete in one of these matches to be held in the grand ballroom of the Red Lion Inn. My attitude was still unenthusiastic at that point, but to make her happy, my mother and I attended the match. As if to prove me wrong, grandma made a wonderful showing in every event she entered. I thought she was truly the queen of the ball during the dance, and my thoughts were shared by the judges a short time later when she was awarded a gold cup for her outstanding performance.
1. What did grandma learn from grandpa’s death?| A．Good health was not there for everyone. |
| B．She should take dance lessons. |
| C．She had to struggle to live a better life. |
| D．She should wear beautiful dresses. |
| A．took dance lessons | B．did some exercises at home |
| C．took care of grandchildren at home | D．did some housework at home |
| A．happy | B．proud |
| C．excited | D．uninterested |
10 . Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to adapt to my changing body, I also had to deal with my parents’ bitter divorce, a new family and the upsetting move from my country home to a crowded town.
When we moved, my beloved companion, a small brown pony had to be sold. I was heartbroken and terribly lonely. I couldn’t eat or sleep and cried all the time. Finally, realizing how much I missed my pony, my father bought me another horse, Cowboy.
Cowboy was without doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reasons.
I joined a riding club. When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged by appearance, we were quickly “shown the gate”. I knew nothing could turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the timed speed events. I chose the jumping race.
For the whole next month we practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home, totally exhausted.
All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. I sat at the gate and sweated all out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the court and finish in first place.
My turn finally came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped over it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.
No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds.
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the owner of my fate.
1. Why did the author like Cowboy so much in spite of its ugliness?| A．Because she loved horses more than anything else. |
| B．Because Cowboy was a strong and smart young horse. |
| C．Because Cowboy had a lot in common with her pony. |
| D．Because she was sad and lonely and needed a companion. |
| A．they didn’t expect Cowboy would win the event |
| B．they were unhappy that Becky was beaten in the event |
| C．they didn’t like cowboy, for it was too ugly |
| D．they never saw a horse running as fast as Cowboy |
| A．she ought to gather the courage to solve all the problems |
| B．it was time to forget her pony and treat Cowboy better |
| C．she needed to work harder to win more blue ribbons |
| D．she could be the god of her own fate if she tried hard enough |
| A．all of their hard training was totally in vain |
| B．a blue ribbon must be the second highest prize |
| C．Cowboy lost in the event of being judged by appearance |
| D．both Becky and the author won in the jumping event |
