1 . You often find somebody who works around you complaining all the time, don’t you?     1     About 70% of Americans say being around non-stop complainers sometimes has a bad influence on them. Luckily, here are 4 tips to help form positive patterns.

1. Self-awareness

When a negative thought pops into your mind, immediately correct it. Instead of telling yourself “That’s a nice shirt, but I can’t afford it,” change the message to “That will look great with my black pants when I can afford it.”     2     Of course, everyone complains sometimes. But the less frequently you complain, the better you will feel.

2. Distance yourself

    3     Excuse yourself and go somewhere quiet, somewhere outdoors in the fresh air. Think of something pleasant before returning. You have to take this seriously because negative people can and will pull you into the quicksand (难以摆脱的困境).

3. Don’t try to change complainers

If you find yourself trapped in a group of complainers in a meeting or at a social event, simply choose silence. Let their words bounce off you while you think of something else. Attempting to stop the complaining can make you a target.     4     If someone says, “I hate Mondays, weekends are too short,” try to think, “I’m glad I rested up over the weekend, so I’m ready to make some improvement on that big project.”

4.     5    

When someone is shouting at you angrily, throw the responsibility back at them by asking, “So what do you intend to do about it?” In most cases, complainers don’t really want a solution. They just want to speak them out. If you make them aware that they themselves have to find the solutions, they will leave you alone and find someone else to complain to. If so, you will be happy.

A．Find solutions

B．Change responsibility

C．You have got a lot of company.

D．By doing this, it will lead to positive behaviors.

E．But you can redirect the discussion in your own mind.

F．Whenever possible, escape from negative conversations.

G．You will never know what they are going to talk about.

2 . People typically wash their hands seven times a day in the United States, but they do it at a far higher temperature than is necessary to kill germs, a new study says. The energy waste is equivalent to the fuel use of a small country.

Amanda R. Carrico, a research assistant professor at the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment in Tennessee, told National Geographic that hand washing is often “a case where people act in ways that they think are in their best interest, but they in fact have inaccurate beliefs or outdated perceptions.”

Carrico said, “It’s certainly true that heat kills bacteria, but if you were going to use hot water to kill them it would have to be a way too hot for you to tolerate.”

Carrico said that after a review of the scientific literature, her team found “no evidence that using hot water that a person could stand would have any benefit in killing bacteria.” Even water as cold as 40°F (4.4°C) appeared to reduce bacteria as well as hotter water, if hands were scrubbed, rinsed(冲洗)and dried properly.

Using hot water to wash hands is therefore unnecessary, as well as wasteful, Carrico said, particularly when it comes to the environment. According to her research, people use warm or hot water 64 percent of the time when they wash their hands. Using that number, Carrico’s team calculated a significant impact on the planet.

“Although the choice of water temperature during a single hand wash may appear unimportant, when multiplied by the nearly 800 billion hand washes performed by Americans each year, this practice results in more than 6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually,” she said.

The researchers published their results in the July 2013 issue of International Journal of Consumer Studies. They recommended washing with water that is at a “comfortable” temperature, which they noted may be warmer in cold months and cooler in hot ones.

1. What’s the meaning of what Carrico told National Geographic in the second paragraph?

A．People are more concerned about their health and begin to wash their hands.

B．It’s important for people to wash their hands to keep healthy.

C．Generally, people’s hand washing behaviors and perceptions are not correct.

D．People like washing their hands very much.

2. The figures in the passage are used to show that __________.

A．using hot water to wash hands has a bad influence on our planet.

B．air pollution has become more and more serious.

C．using hot water to wash hands is a waste of energy.

D．people should pay more attention to the environment around us.

3. This passage is organized in the pattern of __________.

A．fact and opinion	B．cause and effect
C．definition and classification	D．time and events

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．It’s necessary and useful for people to wash their hands frequently every day.

B．We can wash our hands with water that is at a “comfortable” temperature.

C．Using cold water to wash hands is necessary and much healthier.

D．Hot water can’t kill germs.

3 . Recently, the TV show “Where are we going, Dad?” produced by Hunan Satellite Television is a big hit /across nation. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the “how to be a good father”. As the   Daddy and cute kids triggered（触发）a lot of people’s emotional resonance（共鸣）. Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children.
The TV shows like “Children are hard to support!”, “Where are we going, Dad?”, “hot mom” and “cute kids” are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents’ confusion in children’s education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.
In the real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV shows that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34.We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children’s education is also very low.
It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that “Where are we going, Dad?” shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go.
1. To raise a child in modern society, parents should ________.

A．break down the barrier between children and teachers

B．balance well between family and career

C．play computer games with their children

D．keep their children at home to avoid socializing

2. What does the underlined word “participation” probably mean?

A．taking responsibility	B．understanding
C．taking part	D．keeping company

3. What attitude towards modern family education does the author express in the second paragraph?

A．Optimistic.	B．Indifferent.
C．Proud.	D．Worried.

4. Which one is the best title of the passage?

A．New problems in Modern Children’s Education

B．Modern Education is Important

C．Confusion Behind “Where are we going, dad?”

D．Nanny Daddy and Cute Kids

4 . 阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
An old woman had lost her eyesight completely, so she went to a ____ to help her see again and made a bargain with him: if he could cure her, he would be paid well. But if he couldn’t, she would not pay him anything.
The doctor had a(an) ____ ointment(药膏). When it was put on the eyes for a period of time, it restored the eyesight of anyone who was sightless.
The doctor began to ____ his patient daily. But knowing that she couldn’t see, he started ____ the valuables in her house. When there was nothing left, he decided to cure her and ____ his payment.
When the woman recovered her eyesight, she saw that her valuables had gone and ____ the doctor was the thief. So, saying that she was ____ cured, she refused to pay him. The doctor was ____ and he insisted on his fees. But the old woman refused and the two went to the ____
The judge asked the old woman ____ she refused to pay the doctor. She said, “I did ____ to give him the money if I recovered my eyesight. However, if I remained blind, I was to give him ____ Now he ____ that he has cured me, but I am ____ blind.”
Everyone there looked at her ____ . “ How can you say that? Everyone can see that your eyesight has been restored,” said the judge ____ .
The old woman replied, “ I ____ can’t see. Before I ____ my eyesight, I had seen many valuable things in my house. But now, I am not able to see a thing of ____ in it.”
The judge ____ that she was indeed blind and let her go.1.

A．friend

B．doctor

C．teacher

D．professor

2.

A．special

B．expensive

C．regular

D．poor

3.

A．visit

B．call

C．expect

D．question

4.

A．cleaning

B．counting

C．stealing

D．appreciating

5.

A．depended on

B．cared about

C．gave up

D．asked for

6.

A．explained

B．hoped

C．guessed

D．forgave

7.

A．nearly

B．once

C．not

D．well

8.

A．ashamed

B．surprised

C．touched

D．encouraged

9.

A．playground

B．street

C．house

D．court

10.

A．why

B．whether

C．how

D．when

11.

A．pretend

B．promise

C．refuse

D．manage

12.

A．everything

B．something

C．nothing

D．anything

13.

A．wishes

B．admits

C．realizes

D．declares

14.

A．quite

B．ever

C．even

D．still

15.

A．in surprise

B．in peace

C．as usual

D．on purpose

16.

A．friendly

B．seriously

C．proudly

D．carefully

17.

A．slowly

B．finally

C．really

D．almost

18.

A．lost

B．failed

C．had

D．hurt

19.

A．price

B．meaning

C．use

D．value

20.

A．reported

B．agreed

C．worried

D．doubted

5 . Some colors people see late at night could cause signs of the condition mental health experts call clinical depression(临床抑郁症). That was the finding of a study that builds on earlier study findings. They show that individuals who live or work in low levels of light overnight can develop clinical depression.
Doctors use the word clinical depression to describe severe form of depression. Signs may include loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, low energy levels and thoughts of death or suicide.
In the new study, American investigators designed an experiment that exposed hamsters（仓鼠）to different colors. The researchers chose hamsters because they are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are active at night. The animals were separated into four groups. One group of hamsters was kept in the dark during their night-time period. Another group was placed in front of a blue light, a third group slept in front of a white light, while a fourth was put in front of a red light. After four weeks, the researchers noted how much sugary water the hamsters drank. They found that the most depressed animals drank the least amount of water.
Randy Nelson, at Ohio State University, says animals that slept in blue and white light appeared to be the most depressed. “What we saw is that these animals didn’t show any sleep interruptions at all but they did mess up biological clock (生物钟) genes and they did show depressive sign but if they were in the dim red light, they did not.” He says there’s a lot of blue in white light. This explains why the blue light and white light hamsters appear to be more depressed than the hamsters seeing red light or darkness.
1. From the text we know that ________ made the hamster feel depressed.

A．the amount of the water

B．the colour of the light

C．the loss of pleasure

D．the level of energy

2. What was the purpose of the experiment on hamsters?

A．To show how well they slept.

B．To see how much sugary water they drank.

C．To explain why they liked dark colours.

D．To find out what caused the depression on them.

3. The author explains the clinical depression by _________.

A．reporting an experiment process

B．presenting research data

C．setting down general rules

D．giving his own experience

4. Where can we probably find the text?

A．In a science magazine.

B．In a physics textbook

C．In a tourist guidebook.

D．In an official announcement.

6 . “Selfie” (自拍) joins ranks of dictionary words.
In 2002, an Australian man went to his friend’s 21st birthday party. He got drunk, tripped on some steps and cut his lip. He took a picture of his injuries and shared it with his friends on an online forum. “And sorry about the focus,” he wrote, “it was a selfie.” That was the first recorded use of the word “selfie”, according to linguistic experts at Oxford Dictionaries.
On Nov 19, Oxford Dictionaries declared “selfie” Word of the Year for 2013, in honor of the term having taken over the world thanks to millions of smart phone self-portraits and the resulting shares on social media.
So what does the choice of the word say about our culture? Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing in Salon magazine, says the word reminds us that contemporary culture is defined by our narcissism(自恋).Megan Jackson from a local newspaper points out a selfie may only focus on appearance.
Selfies invite judgment based on appearance alone. What kind of cultural influence does this have on women? Erin Gloria Ryan on Jezebel says selfies teach young woman to obsess over their appearance and judge themselves on the basis of beauty rather than accomplishments. “They’re a reflection of the warped way we teach girls to see themselves as decorative,” said Ryan.
In Slate magazine, Rachel Simmons has the opposite view. She argues that selfies are an example of young women promoting themselves and taking control of their own self-presentation. Think of each one, she says, as “a tiny pulse of girl pride —a shout-out to the self”.
1. Which of the following is true about the first use of “selfie”?

A．The Australian man created it to celebrate his friend’s 21st birthday.

B．The Australian man created by chance when he got drunk and shared his photo online.

C．The Oxford Dictionary used it to thank the creation of smart phone.

D．The social media were so advanced that they made the word transmitted.

2. The underlined word “tripped” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.

A．traveled	B．stepped lightly
C．fell down	D．made mistakes

3. Who holds a positive opinion towards selfie in the life of women?

A．Mary Elizabeth.	B．Megan Jackson.
C．Erin Gloria Ryan.	D．Rachel Simmons.

4. The text is mainly concerned with ________.

A．the introduction of the word “selfie”

B．the choice of the word “selfie”

C．the history of the word “selfie”

D．the characteristics of the word “selfie”

7 . Tayka Hotel De Sal

Where: Tahua, Bolivia

How much: About $95 a night

Why it’s cool: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt—including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses (床垫) and blankets).The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake that’s the world’s biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.

Green Magic Nature Resort

Where: Vythiri, India

How much: About $240 a night

Why it’s cool: Riding a pulley(滑轮)-operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window—there is no glass!—you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy. Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast—the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn “elevator”.

Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Where: Cottonwood, Idaho

How much: $92 a night

Why it’s cool: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps of the loft in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant outside.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Where: Ayvali, Turkey

How much: Between $130 and $475 a night.

Why it’s cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65℉in summer.(Don’t worry—there is heat in winter.)

1. What is the similarity of the four hotels?

A．Being expensive.	B．Being beautiful.
C．Being natural.	D．Being unique.

2. What does the underlined part “Sweet Willy” refer to?

A．The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.

B．The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.

C．The name of the hotel.

D．The name of the hotel owner.

3. Which of the hotel makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?

A．Tayka Hotel De Sal

B．Green Magic Nature Resort

C．Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

D．Gamirasu Cave Hotel

8 . 请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was in my high school science class. I was doing a task in front of the classroom with my favorite shirt on.
A ____ came, “Nice shirt,” I smiled from ear to ear. Then another voice said, “That shirt belonged to my dad. Greg’s mother works for my family. We were going to ____ that shirt away, but gave it to her ____” I was speechless. I wanted to hide.
I ____ the shirt in the back of the closet and told my mum what had happened. She then dialed her ____, “I will no longer work for your family,” she told him. That night, Mom told my dad that she couldn’t clean anymore; she knew her life’s ____ was something greater.
The next morning she ____ with the personnel manager at the Board of Education. He told her that without a proper education she could not teach. So Mom decided to _________.
After the first year in college, she went back to the personnel manager. He said, “You are ____, aren’t you? I think I have a ____ for you as a teacher’s assistant. This opportunity deals with children who are mentally challenged with little or no chance of ____” Mom accepted the opportunity very ____
For almost five years, as a teacher’s assistant, she saw teacher after teacher give up on the children and quit, feeling ____ Then one day, the personnel manager and the principal _____________________________________ the children and how they communicate with you and admire your hard-working ____ over the last five years. We are all in agreement that you ____ be the teacher of this class.”
My mom spent more than 20 years there. ____ her career, she was voted Teacher of the Year. All of this came about because of the ____ comment made in the classroom that day. Mom showed me how to handle ____ situations and never give up.1.

A．noise

B．voice

C．sound

D．tune

2.

A．get

B．take

C．carry

D．throw

3.

A．otherwise

B．anyhow

C．instead

D．actually

4.

A．settled

B．pushed

C．stored

D．stuck

5.

A．teacher

B．employer

C．director

D．adviser

6.

A．purpose

B．encouragement

C．achievement

D．victory

7.

A．went

B．met

C．worked

D．stayed

8.

A．visit

B．continue

C．attend

D．prepare

9.

A．serious

B．fortunate

C．careful

D．responsible

10.

A．career

B．duty

C．position

D．part

11.

A．learning

B．judging

C．obeying

D．imagining

12.

A．patiently

B．eagerly

C．successfully

D．skillfully

13.

A．upset

B．frightened

C．guilty

D．ashamed

14.

A．looked up            B went up

B．took up

C．showed up

15.

A．believe

B．protect

C．treat

D．receive

16.

A．spirit

B．intention

C．action

D．attempt

17.

A．must

B．would

C．might

D．should

18.

A．At

B．During

C．On

D．With

19.

A．worthless

B．thoughtless

C．hopeless

D．helpless

20.

A．challenging

B．different

C．dangerous

D．strange

9 . Peter, a high school student, was pretty busy with school, and he was on the soccer team. High school was hard, because everyone wanted to have nice clothes, hang out, drive cars, and all these cost money. Peter’s father was the sort of guy that believed you had to earn whatever you got, so he wasn’t just about to hand over lots of money for Peter to use to have fun. So, he had to get a job.
During his freshman year summer vacation, his classmate got him a job working on a hay (干草) farm. He threw hay up into wagons as the tractor drove around fields, and then they stacked (剁起) it in the hot barn. It was a hot, low­paying job.
He once worked a few nights a week at a grocery store. He put things on the shelf. It was a lot of lifting and carrying, and his arms were strong from this and the previous job. It was dull and didn’t pay much.
He took some time off when soccer got serious, but the following summer he tried working at a lumber yard. It was hot outside, but he got a lot of exercise lifting and carrying things like boards and drywall. He also learned a lot about building supplies. It still didn’t pay well.
From there, he spent a year doing some tutoring for a friend of the family, but that was piecemeal. His first real job came the last year at school, when he fixed registers and worked on computers at a big box store. It was his favorite job yet, but it still didn’t pay well.
What Peter realized with all of these jobs was that he needed a better paying job! The only way to get that was to get trained or educated. He could go to school and get a 2­year degree in an office or technical position. His other choices were going to a 4­year college or joining the army. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet, but he knew he had to do something. Jobs were a lot of work, money was hard to earn, but he liked staying busy and being able to buy things. Peter wanted the most out of life, and that meant education.
1. How many jobs had Peter taken?

A．Three

B．Four.

C．Five.

D．Six.

2. All the jobs Peter had taken had one thing in common：________.

A．They didn’t pay well

B．They were dull and tiresome

C．They needed hard labour

D．They were done during his vacation

3. ________was the most important for Peter if he wanted a good job.

A．Confidence	B．Education
C．Opportunity	D．Wisdom

4. We can learn from the text that________.

A．Peter knew what to do for his future

B．Peter’s father didn’t care about him

C．it was very hard for Peter to make his choices

D．Peter was determined to do whatever he liked

10 . There is a lot of talk these days about how kids should be interested in science. Here’s an area of science for everyone, and these cool new books might inspire you to discover your inner scientist.
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled by Catherine Thimmesh, 58 pages, ages 9-12
Seeing a picture or a model of a dinosaur, do you wonder how anybody knows what they look like? After all, nobody has seen a living dinosaur. This book explains how scientists and artists work together to re-create dinosaurs. As scientific discoveries have been made, the models have changed. Scientific tests may one day expose what a dinosaur’s coloring was, but now artists have to use their imagination to determine how these huge creatures looked.
Beyond the Solar System by Mary Kay Carson, 128 pages, ages 10-13
This book takes readers back to the beginnings of space exploration—thousands of years ago, when people began star observation—and forward to today’s search for planets in distant parts of the Milky Way. Along with history lessons, readers get 21 activities, such as making a black hole and creating a model of Albert Einstein’s universe using a T-shirt. The activities are perfect for cold winter days.
Ultimate Bugopedia by Darlyne Murawski and Nancy Honovich, 272 pages, ages 7 and older
If you’re always on the lookout for butterflies, this book is for you. Hundreds of color photos of common and unusual insects fill this hardcover. There are fascinating stories related to the photos. For example, do you know an insect feeds on the tears of Asian cattle? There’s a question-and-answer section with an insect scientist and advice on how to help preserve endangered insects.
Journey Into the Invisible by Christine Schlitt, 80 pages, ages 9-12
If you use a magnifying（放大的）glass, you know a leaf looks quite different. This book explains what microscopes do and then shows what happens to things around the house when watched with this amazing scientific tool. The bacteria in your mouth, when magnified 20,000 times, look a bit like swimming pool noodles. Fascinating photos are paired with suggestions about how to learn about the world around you, just by looking a little closer.
1. Kids interested in pre-historical animals might read ______.

A．Ultimate Bugopedia

B．Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled

C．Journey Into the Invisible

D．Beyond the Solar System

2. Beyond the Solar System is mainly about ______.

A．space exploration	B．the Milky Way
C．history lessons	D．Albert Einstein’s universe

3. The main purpose of the passage is to ______.

A．compare features of different books

B．inspire people to become scientists

C．teach children some knowledge of science

D．recommend new science books to children