1 . We have two daughters Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests’ coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.
I said, “What are you doing, my dear?”
She turned to me with a sad expression and said, “Mommy, why don’t people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I’m not pretty? Is that why they don’t say nice things about me as much?”
I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.
Now, whenever I visit a friend’s home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.
1. The underlined expression “make a big ‘to do’ over” (Paragraph 4) means __________.

A．show much concern about	B．have a special effect on
C．list jobs to be done for	D．do good things for

2. The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her __________.

A．beautiful hair	B．pretty clothes
C．lovely smile	D．young age

3. Kristen felt sad and cried because __________.

A．the guest gave her more coats to carry

B．she didn’t look as pretty as Kelly

C．the guests praised her sister more than her

D．her mother didn’t introduce her to the guests

4. We can conclude from the passage that __________.

A．parents should pay more attention to the elder children

B．the younger children are usually more easily hurt

C．people usually like the younger children more

D．adults should treat children equally

2 . Robots make me nervous-especially the ones which seem to think for themselves．I was embarrassed to admit this till I heard that Bill Gates，the founder of Microsoft，felt the same way．Gates said in an interview with the website Reddit：“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence．First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super   intelligent．That should be positive if we manage well．A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern．”
Well，maybe I don’t have to worry about my laptop and kitchen appliances yet．After I   use them I can always pull the plug．But in the future，machines might find a way to prevent   us from switching them off．There’s a scary thought!
Professor Stephen Hawking warned a few months ago about the possibility that artificial intelligence could evolve and end up beyond human control．He suggested that machines could“ spell the end of the human race”．
Maybe the problem with computers too clever for us is not that they are evil or rebellious．What could put us in danger is that they might be too efficient．That’s what philosopher Nick Bostrom from the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University believes．He says that machines are indifferent to humans and in pursuit of their own goals，the destruction of people might be just collateral(附带的)damage．A machine would not take pity on you．
I’m glad my machines at home are“dumb”．All my vacuum cleaner wants to take over is the carpet in my living room．Let’s hope they don’t create an appliance which wants to take over the world!
1. We can conclude from Gates’statements that ___________．

A．he is embarrassed that he is afraid of robots

B．he doesn’t think machines are intelligent

C．machines should be fully employed

D．machines’super intelligence should be a concern

2. The underlined word“spell”in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____________．

A．record

B．cause

C．explain

D．develop

3. Why are computers dangerous according to Nick Bostrom?

A．They are too evil and rebellious．

B．They are indifferent to humans．

C．They show pity on humans.

D．They are too clever and efficient．

4. What can be inferred about the author?

A．He doesn’t agree with Bill Gates．

B．He is not content with the present kitchen appliances．

C．He is scared about the super intelligence of machines．

D．He expects that machines will take place of humans．

3 . More women are graduating from colleges than men.The situation is causing some people to worry about the future.The trend could cause social problems，according to a report on July 8 by the Washington Post.
Women received about 57 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded this year from colleges and universities in the United States.The figure of 57 percent has been the highest since World War Ⅱ ended in 1945.During the war，many men were in the military.
The gap between men and women is greater among African Americans and Hispanics.Two African­American women receive a degree for every African­American man.Only 40 percent of Hispanics who get a degree are males.
The USA Department of Education estimates 698,000 females received bachelor’s degree this year.The number of male graduates was 529,000.The trend toward more female graduates began in the mid­1980s.Nobody seems to know why.However，many theories exist.
Researchers say the trend could lead to social problems.They also say this may indicate two things.It may reflect the increasing success of women.But it also may show the educational problems affecting men.
High school graduation rates are slightly lower for men than for women.Males also make up the vast majority of students in special education classes.
The Business Roundtable is studying the trend.The group is an organization of chief executives of some of the nation’s largest corporations.Susan Traiman is the director of the group’s education policy.Traiman said the nation couldn’t afford to let half its population fail to develop skills needed for the future.
1. Some people worry about the future because ________.

A．there are many social problems in America

B．more and more men don’t like the life in college

C．more African­American women receive a degree

D．fewer and fewer men receive a degree than women in America

2. Which one of the following statements is right according to this passage?

A．There must be something wrong with the education system.

B．40% of the Hispanics get a degree in America.

C．Nobody knows the reason why more women get a degree than men.

D．More than half of the men received bachelor’s degrees this year.

3. The underlined word “estimates” in the fourth paragraph means ________.

A．guesses

B．explains

C．introduces

D．discovers

4. What Susan Traiman said means that ________.

A．the nation should prevent the women from receiving further education

B．the nation would be too poor to develop its education

C．the nation didn’t have enough money for women’s further education

D．the nation should encourage men to develop skills for the future

5. What is the main subject discussed in the text?

A．Women are more successful in America than men.

B．More women than men are graduating from college.

C．Men are more successful in America than women.

D．There are two kinds of social problems in America.

4 . The jobs of the future have not yet been invented.     1     By helping them develop classic skills that will serve them well no matter what the future holds.

1. Curiosity

Your children need to be deeply curious.     2     Ask kids, “What ingredients (配料) can we add to make these pancakes even better next time?” and then try them out. Did those ingredients make the pancakes better? What could we try next time?

2. Creativity

True creativity is the ability to take something existing and create something new from it.     3     There are a dozen different things you can do with them. Experimenting with materials to create something new can go a long way in helping them develop their creativity.

3. Interpersonal Skills

Understanding how others feel can be a challenge for kids. We know what’s going on inside our own head, but what about others? Being able to read people helps kids from misreading a situation and jumping to false conclusions.     4     “Why do you think she’s crying?” “Can you tell how that man is feeling by looking at his face? If someone were to do that to you, how would you feel?”

4. Self-expression

    5     There are many ways to express thoughts and ideas — music, acting, drawing, building, photography. You may find that your child is attracted by one more than another.

A．Encourage kids to cook with you.

B．And we can’t forget science education.

C．We can give kids chances to think about materials in new ways.

D．So how can we help our kids prepare for jobs that don’t yet exist?

E．Gardening is another great activity for helping kids develop this skill.

F．We can do this in real life or ask questions about characters in stories.

G．Being able to communicate ideas in a meaningful way is a valuable skill.

5 . 第二节   补全对话
Policeman：Now, Jimmy, did you get a good view of the accident?
Jimmy：Oh, yes. I was standing outside the bank building and I saw it quite clearly.
Policeman：Do you know what time it was?
Jimmy：Yes.     1     It was 2：45 exactly.
Policeman：Good.     2    
Jimmy：Well, quite slowly—about 10 miles an hour. It was coming up York Road.     3     But they were still red when he went over them.
Policeman：I see.     4    Was it also driving slowly?
Jimmy：It was coming along Union Street about 30 miles per hour. It was a blue Toyota.     5    
Policeman：Did you see what colour his traffic(交通) light was?
Jimmy：Yes, it changed to yellow just before he crossed it.
A. What about the car?
B. I checked my watch.
C. Didn't you see the car?
D. Now, how fast was the truck moving?
E. Was the car going beyond the speed limit?
F. I suppose the truck driver knew the lights were going to change.
G. The driver stopped his car when he saw the truck crossing the street.

6 . Bottled water has become the choice for people who are healthy and thirsty. Bottled water is all over the world. But some say the planet’s health, and people’s health may be suffering from it.
The idea that bottled water is safer for humans may not be true. The Natural Resources Defense Council of America said, “There is no promise that because water comes out of a bottle, it is cleaner or safer than water from the tap.” Another New York City-based action group added that some bottled water is “really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes more clean, sometimes not.”

It is not proven that bottled water is better than tap water. Nick Reeves from the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management said, “The high mineral content (含量) of some bottled water makes them not good for feeding babies and young children.” Also, most bottled water doesn’t have fluoride (氟化物), which can make teeth stronger. Kids are drinking more bottled water and less fluoridated tap water, and some say that’s behind the recent rise in bad teeth.
Storing is another problem. Placed near heat, the plastic bottles can produce bad chemicals (化学物质) into the water.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used worldwide to bottle water each year. The plastic can take between 400 and 1,000 years to break down.
In terms of energy use, plastic bottles are also not cheap. One report said that if water and soft drink bottlers had used 10 percent recycled materials in their plastic bottles, they would have saved about 72 million gallons of gas.
So, if you are worried about the effect of bottled water on the Earth, you can take the following steps.
● Drink from your tap. Unless your government warns against this, it should be fine.
● Get a container (容器). Carry your tap water in a steel or a lined drinking container, and clean it between uses.
● Keep it cool. Don’t drink from a bottle that has been sitting in the sun, don’t store it near chemicals, and don’t reuse plastic bottles.
● Choose glass containers over plastic if possible. When finished, recycle!
1. What is the main idea of the article?

A．Drinking tap water is the only choice for people.

B．Glass containers are better than plastic bottles.

C．Plastic bottles are harmful to the environment.

D．Bottled water may not be as good as we think.

2. What can we learn about plastic bottles from the article?

A．They break down in less than 300 years.	B．They can be used for many other things.
C．They are a risk to the environment.	D．They are cheap to make.

3. According to the article, we can know that bottled water is __________.

A．no problem for the environment	B．more expensive than tap water
C．always safer than tap water	D．better for babies

4. Which of the following about tap water is NOT mentioned in the article?

A．There are a lot of problems storing tap water.

B．Bottled water can be just tap water in a bottle.

C．It may be better for your teeth.

D．It may contain fluoride.