1 . One evening, 13-year-old Briar agreed to look after his four younger sisters while his parents were out. The parents were
The first thought coming to Briar’s mind was to rescue his little sisters. The family had
Briar remained calm and focused on the
Firefighters arrived on the
| A．courageous | B．ignorant | C．confident | D．obvious |
| A．presence | B．absence | C．assistance | D．silence |
| A．previously | B．rarely | C．extremely | D．eventually |
| A．excited | B．ashamed | C．prepared | D．determined |
| A．went | B．lived | C．got | D．spread |
| A．efficient | B．fluent | C．urgent | D．patient |
| A．took hold of | B．put emphasis on | C．showed mercy to | D．caught up with |
| A．safety | B．failure | C．awareness | D．sight |
| A．problem | B．difficulty | C．danger | D．store |
| A．except | B．besides | C．since | D．despite |
| A．actually | B．desperately | C．entirely | D．definitely |
| A．price | B．point | C．age | D．depth |
| A．faster | B．lower | C．larger | D．weaker |
| A．scene | B．position | C．time | D．way |
| A．frightened | B．respectful | C．amused | D．grateful |
2 . Have you heard of the term “tweenager”? It’s a slang(俚语)word used in the UK to describe children between about ten and twelve years old. They are between being a junior and a teenager, you see. Why do the press and media refer to kids in this way?
Well, more and more companies now create products and services for tweenagers. They seem to tell us that tweenagers must have more money, freedom and influence upon their parents than they’ve ever had before.
Most children in the UK today get more pocket money than kids did a decade ago. Despite problems happening fairly often and regularly in the economy, parents generally have more money to give than before, since they are having fewer children on average than in the past. In addition, a higher divorce(离婚)rate in the UK makes parents try to compensate(补偿)by buying presents for their children. It’s a bad habit for both parents and children to get into, but parents are under constant pressure from commercial marketing and the requests of their children.
You may wonder how tweenagers have more freedom than previous generations. Well, UK children today are very media-and computer-literate. They have access to much more information about life and the world. They may have experienced a lot in life as well. With such sophistication(老于世故)at such a young age, it’s no wonder tweenagers are able to influence their parents.
Now UK tweenagers are also very fashion-conscious and concerned about their images. In a world of television programs that promise immediate success and fame at a young age, some people think it’s extremely important to look fashionable.
So what does tweenage fashion look like? It’s lots of brightly colored materials, particularly pink, and usually plain, not patterned. There are plenty of bows, necklaces and bracelets, too.
But can it really be healthy for us to encourage kids to be like adults at a young age? Are we stealing childhoods in return for a bit of profit? Well, the UK government is certainly concerned, and for that reason has strict laws preventing companies from clearly and openly marketing their products and services at children.
1. What is the use of the first paragraph?| A．To explain a concept and bring up the topic. |
| B．To tell the difference between a junior and a teenager. |
| C．To show why people in the UK prefer to use the slang. |
| D．To state how the slang came into being and make a summary. |
| A．He doesn’t give a certain answer. | B．He doesn’t agree with it. |
| C．He doubts about it. | D．He supports it. |
| A．They have learned more about life and the world. |
| B．They can receive more advanced school education. |
| C．Their parents have less time to take good care of them, |
| D．Their parents are under constant pressure from their work. |
| A．They are afraid of being laughed at by others. |
| B．They have less freedom than previous generations. |
| C．They wish to become successful and famous quickly. |
| D．The media often encourage kids to be like adults at a young age. |
3 . Conflict (冲突) between teenagers and parents happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes conflict happens between teenagers and parents just because conflict happens between human beings anyway. Humans have different needs, different feelings, different opinions about what they want, and the relationship with people can be really difficult. However, teenagers can cause further conflict because of the hormonal (生理的) changes that are happening and the stage of life that they're in.
Teenagers and parents have different understanding about rules and at times they find it difficult to look into the future. So parents and teenagers will often experience conflict about many things, do chores, homework, whether teenagers speak respectfully or not and about what they're allowed to do.
Before we think about rule boundaries (界线) for teenagers, we need to make sure that we have a really good relationship base. There's no point saying “From now on, you have to listen to me”: if you don't have a positive relationship with your teenager. We need to go back and make sure there is some degree of shared respect, and some degree of positive communication and enjoyment being together. you do that first, it means that rule boundaries are a lot easier to set up.
Often we're dealing with conflict on the fly. This is not the right time to be dealing with it. We really want parents and teenagers to sit down and think about the kinds of things that may happen in the house before the problems come. The more detailed your rule boundaries are for teenagers, the more likely it is that they are going to follow them. So this means we don't have rule boundaries like “Have the bathroom cleaned”. It needs to be “The floors mopped, nothing on the countertop and the mirrors cleaned by ten o'clock every Saturday”: Rule boundaries need to be written down, and set out ahead of time so the teenager knows exactly what's expected.
1. What's important to set up a rule boundary easily for teenagers?| A．Being strict from the start. | B．Developing a good relationship with them first. |
| C．Saying"No" to their requirements. | D．Avoiding close talks with them. |
| A．Doing some housework. | B．Having a good reading habit. |
| C．Cleaning the bathroom. | D．Finishing your homework by five. |
| A．In a hurry. | B．On the plane. | C．By oneself. | D．Another day. |
| A．Growing Pains | B．Teenage Problems |
| C．Parent-Child Conflict and Solutions | D．Knowing the Conflict |
4 . Research shows that isolation（隔绝）is bad for us and associated with certain diseases including depression, high blood pressure and heart disease. Yet teenagers seek isolation by using the device of our times—a screen, screens of all kinds. However, in whatever form, screens are addictive（上瘾的）,and addictive from an early age. Research has shown that given the chance, six-month-old babies prefer screens to real human faces.
Hand in hand with this addiction to screens, we are seeing an explosion （增长）of teenage mental health problems. Social media claims to be inclusive（包容的）, keeping you connected. But it’s not. It isolates you from real people. Screens have even been described as being poisonous（有害的）for teenagers.
Psychologist Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University, believes today’s teenagers are “on the edge” of a major mental health problem. The problem is, she claims, children born between 1995 and 2012 have grown up with a smart phone in their hands, and it has “changed every aspect” of their lives. The number of teenagers who actually see their friends frequently has dropped by more than 40% since 2000. In 2015, only 56% of 17-year-old went on a date, down from 85%. Modern teenagers are slower to learn to drive, or earn money and spend more time at home. They’re “on their phone, in their room, alone and often depressed（压抑的）”, she says.
Some critics（评论家）, however, say we should encourage our children to spend more time online. Robert Hannigan, former director of GCHQ, said in August that Britain is badly short of engineers and computer scientists, and urged children to develop cyber skill to compete in the digital economy.
I’m not the first to say that social media is inferior to real human contact, and harms mental health. Studies show teens who spend three hours a day online are 35% more likely to suicide（自杀）.The suicide rate among girls aged 12 to 14 has more than doubled in a decade.
1. Why does Jean Twenge call on teens to surf online less?| A．Social media keeps them connected. |
| B．Social media leads to mental problems. |
| C．Social media does great harm to their eyesight |
| D．Social media has changed every aspect of their lives. |
| A．We should allow teens to isolate themselves from real social contact |
| B．We should call on teens to do anything that doesn’t involve a screen |
| C．Children should be encouraged to contact people face to face instead of online. |
| D．Children should be encouraged to spend more time on the Internet. |
| A．Social media is worse than real human contact. |
| B．Social media is as effective as real human contact. |
| C．Social media is more useful than real human contact. |
| D．Social media is similar to real human contact. |
| A．Teenagers seeking isolation using screens |
| B．Social media causing teenagers health problems |
| C．Teenagers’ heavy addiction to social media |
| D．Different opinions on teenagers surfing online |
5 . In today’s world of fast-paced games and short videos, people are spending less and less time on things. For example, research has shown that the average visitor spends just 15 seconds on a website before moving on to other things. But the Internet is a huge and busy place, with millions of sites to choose from. You might expect people to slow down a bit more when they’re in museums full of great works of art. But you’d be wrong.
Several studies have shown that the amount of time for people to spend looking at a piece of art is ten seconds. Many people may spend more time, but not much more — the average is about 28 seconds. At the Tate Modern Museum in London, it’s even worse. People there spend an average of just eight seconds on each artwork. And in that short period of time, the visitors are also managing to do another important thing — take selfies !
In recent years museums have been working to change this behavior. Today, over 170 museums around the world are celebrating “Slow Art Day”. They are asking their visitors to spend at least 5-10 minutes looking at just one work of art. Slow Art supporters believe that when visitors spend more time looking at and studying the work of art, they admire it more. Studying a work of art for more time can also help people get a better understanding of the artist’s ideas and what the artist went through to create the work.
Most of the museums taking part in Slow Art Day are choosing just a few works for their visitors to see. Some of the museums are offering chances for visitors to talk about the artworks and share their ideas.
1. Generally speaking, people spend ______ on each piece of art in a museum.| A．8 seconds | B．10 seconds | C．15 seconds | D．28 seconds |
| A．Admiring each artwork thoroughly. | B．Taking selfies in museums busily. |
| C．Celebrating “Slow Art Day” widely. | D．Looking at each artwork hurriedly. |
| A．To attract more people to visit the museums |
| B．To stop visitors from taking selfies inside |
| C．To make people spend more time on each artwork |
| D．To give visitors an opportunity to relax themselves |
| A．Museums on the Rocks: Please Advise! |
| B．Museums: Slow down to Admire more! |
| C．Slow Art Day: a Fruit of Museums! |
| D．Museums: an Escape from the Fast-paced Life! |
6 . Joey, who was six at the time, had the day off from school. His father, Joe Welch, a 50-year-old photographer, planned to spend the day boating in the huge river. Joe had never before been into the muddy waters, which were famous for crocodiles (鳄鱼). He had researched what to do if they encountered one-just in case.
Joe turned to scan the boat, less than 20 feet from the water’s edge and then he was busy making some sandwiches at a wildlife refuge. Seconds later, he heard a splash and a scream. Joey had slipped at the edge of the water. When Joe rushed there, he saw his son’s right arm in the jaws of a crocodile which was at least eight feet long and close to 200 pounds. Time seemed to stop as Joe ran toward his son. The river was almost three feet deep. As Joey struggled and screamed, Joe began pulling him back toward the bank. A young man ran over, screaming at Joe to pull his son out of the water. But Joe feared what would happen to Joey’s arm if he pulled too hard. While Joe knocked on the beast’s head, the young man kicked its stomach. After the stranger’s three or four kicks, the crocodile released Joey and escaped back into the water. Joe picked up his son and found that he’d suffered only a few cuts and scrapes. Joe thanked the stranger and sped home. A nearby hospital determined that Joey was OK.
Joe has tried to find out who helped save his son, but he has learned only that the man was a boxer from Spain. He had been in the country visiting his family. “ He’ s like an angel,” Joe says.
1. What was his father doing when Joey slipped into the water?| A．He was boating in the river. | B．He was searching for a boat. |
| C．He was taking some photos. | D．He was preparing food. |
| A．He screamed to a stranger for help. | B．He pulled his son back toward the bank. |
| C．He knocked on the crocodile’s head. | D．He kicked the crocodile’s stomach. |
| A．The crocodile was caught. | B．Joey was slightly injured. |
| C．The stranger drove them home. | D．Joey lost his arm unfortunately. |
| A．His name. | B．His address. | C．His career. | D．His age. |
7 . It was the day before Thanksgiving and Kaleb Benham was wandering around outside his home in Noring California. His 90-pound pit bull, Buddy, was playing around nearby, doing what dogs do: getting into trouble. And this time, Buddy was getting into a whole lot of trouble.
The unmistakable sound that no one wants to hear alone in the woods caught Benham’s attention. It was the deep, strange roar of a black bear. Benham wheeled around to see the beast, which Benham figured weighed around 350 pounds, some 100 feet away. In an instant, the bear fastened on to Buddy’s head and started dragging him away.
Benham, a thin, fit 24-year-old, took off after them. “Honestly,” he told CBS13, “the only thing I could think of was ‘save my baby’.” Sprinting, he lowered his shoulder and plowed into the bear. But it only tightened its grip on Buddy. Benham grabbed the bear by the throat. Nothing. He tried getting its mouth open, but the jaw was locked tight. Benham resorted to street fighting—punching the bear over and over around its snout and eye. It worked. The bear dropped the dog and ran off into the woods.
Buddy was in bad shape. His face was bloodied and ripped up. His ears were dangling. He had a bite mark clear through his lip and one that barely missed an eye.
“My first thought was that I was going to lose him,” Benham said. He scooped up Buddy, put him into his car, and sped off to a nearby veterinarian. Buddy’s surgery took nearly four hours. Benham watched the procedure through a window. “I just stood there,” he said, watching as Buddy’s ears were stapled back on and skin flaps were stitched, and tubes were inserted into his head to drain fluid.
This was the second time Benham had rescued Buddy, says CBS13. The first was from a shelter a few years ago. “If it was your kid, what would you do?” he asked. Nodding toward Buddy, he added, “That’s my kid.”
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．A demanding surgery. | B．A regular routine. |
| C．A fearless pet dog. | D．A daring rescue. |
| A．To show the difficulty of the rescue. |
| B．To indicate the obesity of the bear. |
| C．To prove the excitement of Benham. |
| D．To describe the fear in Buddy’s heart. |
| A．Benham bumped into the beast with dropped shoulder. |
| B．Benham forced open the beast’s mouth with locked jaw. |
| C．Benham crushed the beast’s mouth and nose repeatedly. |
| D．Benham finally conquered the beast by grabbing its throat. |
| A．Complicated. | B．Close. |
| C．Romantic. | D．Healthy. |
8 . It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but a good sense. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. A typical example is the driver who waves to a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship (公路驾车技能). Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.
1. Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?| A．Traffic Jams. | B．Good Manners. |
| C．Road Politeness. | D．Modem Drivers. |
| A．Traffic jams. | B．The behaviour of the drivers. |
| C．The great speed of modern life. | D．Terrible road conditions. |
| A．Encourage children to cross the road whenever they want to. |
| B．Beat back when forced to face rude driving. |
| C．Be able to recognise politeness when he sees it. |
| D．Join in a traffic stream quickly however other people feel. |
| A．master the roadmanship |
| B．neglect politeness when they see it |
| C．give a friendly nod in answer to an act of politeness |
| D．encourage old ladies to cross the road whenever and wherever they want to |
9 . School uniforms are becoming more and more popular across the U.S.A. That’s no surprise, because they offer many benefits. They immediately end the powerful social sorting and labeling (标记) that come from clothing. If all students are dressed in the same way, they will not pay too much attention to their clothing, and some of them will not be laughed at for wearing the “wrong” clothes.
Some people are against the strict rule of school uniforms, but they do not realize that students already accept a kind of rule — wanting to look just like their friends. The difference is that the clothing students choose for themselves creates social barriers; school uniforms tear those barriers down.
As in other places, uniforms remind the wearers of their purposes and duties. For example, when a man or woman puts on a police uniform, he or she becomes, for a time, the symbol of law and order. The uniform means to the wearer his or her special duties and sends the same message to everyone the wearer meets. People with different jobs wear uniforms of one kind or another. For students, the school uniform reminds them that their task for the six or seven hours they are in school is to get an education.
Some parents are unhappy about uniforms, saying that school uniforms will affect their children’s “creativity.” First, as noted above, the clothes students choose to wear do not necessarily express their individuality. They just copy their classmates. Second, students have the rest of the day to be as creative as they like. While they’re in school, their job is to master reading, writing, and maths; this should take up all the creativity they have. Mastery of those skills will be good for the students to build up their creativity in every way.
1. In Paragraph 1, the word “benefits” probably means ______.| A．tasks | B．messages | C．differences | D．advantages |
| A．prevent the wearers from being laughed at | B．help the wearers keep their duties in mind |
| C．are seen as a symbol of power | D．help to create social barriers |
| A．they believe that uniforms will make students less creative |
| B．they fail to realize that students have accepted the uniforms |
| C．they don’t agree that uniforms can remove social barriers |
| D．they think that school uniforms are too popular |
| A．it makes no difference whether to wear school uniforms or not |
| B．students’ individuality may not come from school education |
| C．students’ creativity is related to the clothes they choose |
| D．school uniforms help to create equality among students |
10 . Free Wi-Fi has become incredibly important to us: many stores and shopping malls offer it, restaurants use it to attract customers, and for libraries and coffee shops it is a must-have service.
Even when people are traveling, they scan for free Wi-Fi, which, according to research released by London’s Amba Hotel on Dec 4, has become the most important standard for selecting a hotel.
According to the survey, as many as 67 percent of travelers questioned said that free Wi-Fi would make them more likely to choose accommodation, above other things such as the hotel’s location and friendly staff. When rating a hotel that they’d already stayed in, six in ten travelers believed that unlimited Wi-Fi was the most important factor in their rating.
“Today, people treat their smartphones, tablets and laptop s like clothes when they are about to travel to some places. They will never forget to pack it into the suitcase,” said the Daily Mail. “We rely on free Wi-Fi heavily when traveling—especially when it comes to checking social media, searching for travel tips, and accessing websites.”
However, despite the opportunities that free Wi-Fi gives us, “our over-reliance on technology has come at a price, with travelers feeling unable to escape social media”, said Lonely Planet, the world’s largest travel guide brand.
Anita Isalska, Lonely Planet editor and tech addict, was forced to unplug when she was stuck in an isolated camp in Greenland recently. “Adjusting to this slower pace, it began to dawn on me: somewhere, somehow, social media had changed into a reflex(条件反射),” she wrote. “I had believed I was capturing moments, but in reality my busy thumbs were preventing me from enjoying travel’s most profound pleasures. How fully can you appreciate a huge glacier or grassland of wildflowers when your brain is subconsciously selecting the right photo filter(滤镜), or the perfect six seconds to film?”
In September, the brand released 10 predictions for the future of global travel. One of them was that true escapes will be highly valued in future, so remote hotels will start to make their lack of Internet into a feature. Would you like to have an unplugged holiday?
1. Why do travelers attach importance to free Wi-Fi when selecting a hotel?| A．They think hotels with free Wi-Fi are likely to provide better service. |
| B．They believe hotels with free Wi-Fi usually have better locations. |
| C．They hope to enjoy more profound pleasures while using free Wi-Fi. |
| D．They depend on free Wi-Fi to check social media and access websites. |
| A．Check social media. | B．Disconnect from digital devices. |
| C．Appreciate beautiful scenery. | D．Cancel a travelling plan. |
| A．Travelers should adapt to a slower pace when checking social media. |
| B．Travelers should take more photos and videos during their journeys. |
| C．Addiction to social media has negatively affected the quality of travel. |
| D．Beautiful scenery could be appreciated better if films are shot cautiously |
| A．To argue against people’s over-reliance on Wi-Fi. |
| B．To promote the growing importance of free Wi-Fi in daily lives. |
| C．To predict what global travel will be like in the future. |
| D．To protest against travelers’ standard when selecting a hotel. |
