| A. public B. inadequate C. lowered D. released E. disappointment F. casting G. possibility H. objective I. desperately J. balance K. compared |
Why Aren’t Women Happier?
Why aren’t women happier these days?
That’s the question raised by a thought-provoking study, The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,
The research, by University of Pennsylvania economists Stevenson and Wolfers, and made
One theory for the decline in happiness is that expectations for workplace and general advancement were raised too high by the women’s movement and women might feel
The researchers acknowledge that’s a
“If the women’s movement raised women’s expectations faster than society was able to meet them,” the paper says, “they would be more likely to experience
Readers, why do you think women are unhappier than in the past? Do you think that if expectations for “having it all” were
| A. suffering B. intensive C. demanding D. adopting E. inactive F. adapting G. available H. guarantee I. distinctive J. discouraging K. distinct |
Health and diet
In recent cars, many Asian countries have noticed a worrying new problem: obesity, which is also very serious in China. More than a third of Chinese adults are overweight. Even more worrying is the level of obesity among Chinese children. It is estimated that the number of children in China
There are many reasons for this situation. The simplest explanation is that food is now
Increasing obesity is worrying for many reasons. The condition can lead to serious health problems, including increased risk of heart disease and even diabetes. Dealing with their health problems seems really costly and
The government in China is taking action to deal with obesity, however. In many primary and middle schools, young students are receiving low calorie lunches with more vegetables and less meat and fat. Also, parents are
It is not
3 . Age has its privileges (特权) in America, and one of the most important of them is the senior citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age — in some cases as low as 55 — is automatically entitled to a dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life. Eligibility (资格) is determined not by one’s need but by the date on one’s birth certificate. Practically unheard of a generation ago, the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses — as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent (有支付能力的). Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly” and “needy” are synonymous. Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them aren’t.
It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant (刺激物) in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.
Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involve a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Supported by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job — thereby reducing employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers.
Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become an economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don’t need them. It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people can’t take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against — discrimination by age.
1. We learn from the first paragraph that ______.| A．offering senior citizens discounts has become routine commercial practice |
| B．senior citizen discounts have enabled many old people to live a comfortable life |
| C．giving senior citizens discounts has boosted the market for the elderly |
| D．senior citizens have to show their birth certificates to get a discount |
| A．tax | B．expense | C．profits | D．expansion |
| A．Businesses, having made a lot of profits, should do something for society in return. |
| B．Old people are entitled to special treatment for the contribution they made to society. |
| C．The elderly, being financially underprivileged, need humane help from society. |
| D．Senior citizen discounts can make up for the inadequacy of the Social Security system. |
| A．Senior citizens should fight hard against age discrimination. |
| B．The elderly are selfish and taking senior discounts for granted. |
| C．Priority should be given to the economic needs of senior citizens. |
| D．Senior citizen discounts may well be it type of age discrimination. |
4 . Why do young adult children become independent much later than they did in 1970, when the average age of independent living was 21? Why is the mental health of today’s kids not so good as that of children in the 1960s and before?
The answer lies in two words: parental involvement (参与). Those two words best show the difference between “old” child raising and new, post-1960s parenting. Back then, parents were not to be highly involved with their kids. They were there in case of crisis (危机), but they stood a safe distance from their kids and allowed them to experience the benefits of the trial-and-error process (试错过程). They gave their children long ropes and made them lie in the beds they made and stew in their own juices. That was how children learned to be responsible and determined.
Today’s parents, however, help their kids with almost everything. They organize their children’s games, social lives and after-school activities. They help their kids with homework, help them study for tests, help them solve the disagreement with classmates, and get involved.
Researchers studied 30 years’ data of parent involvement in children’s growth. They found that parental help with homework lowers a child’s school achievement. Parents who manage a child’s social life prevent the children developing good social skills. Parents who manage a child’s after-school activities grow kids who don’t know how to fill their own free time. Parents who get involved in their kids’ disagreements with classmates grow kids who don’t know how to avoid trouble.
These kids have anxieties and fears of all sorts and don’t want to leave home. And their parents, when the time comes, don’t know how to stop being parents.
1. Why did the writer use the questions at the beginning?| A．To blame the young adult children. |
| B．To acquire answers to the questions. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the text. |
| D．To make a proposal for today’s parents. |
| A．By experiencing the crisis all alone. |
| B．By rising to the challenges independently. |
| C．By lying in bed and stewing in their juices. |
| D．By parents being highly involved with them. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Unfavorable. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Concerned. |
| A．The Lost Parents. | B．Be Independent. |
| C．Relationship on the rocks. | D．Let Kids Grow Wings. |
5 . There's a loud bang, and then it starts: A battery of an electric car is on fire in the test tunnel. A video of the test impressively shows the energy stored in such batteries: meter-long flames flee in disorder and produce enormous amounts of thick, black smoke. The visibility in the previously brightly lit tunnel section quickly approaches zero. After a few minutes, ashes have spread throughout the room.
"In our experiment we were considering in particular private and public operators of small and large underground or multi-storey car parks," says project leader Lars Derek Mellert,"all these existing underground structures are being used to an increasing extent by electric cars. And the operators ask themselves: “
“
| A．The pollutants emitted by a burning vehicle have always been dangerous |
| B．What on earth causes Lithium batteries to catch fire |
| C．Even the fire brigades do not have to learn anything new on the basis of the tests |
| D．The acid can possibly result in death, while its effects may delay after exposure |
| E．But in the three tests in the tunnel the concentrations remained far below critical levels |
| F．What will happen if such a car catches fire |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Having taught English in an senior high school for 26 years, my teacher has developed the habit of trying to make his students to get good marks in exams. But some textbooks who include dozens of mistakes will have a seriously bad influence in students. Since he's found out over 30 real mistakes in your last 3 textbooks nothing, I firm believe that he can still find out other mistakes in your next textbook for free. Wishing us to use good textbooks than before, he's willing to proofread（校对）it before it was printed. Frankly spoken, my honest and responsible teacher has no intention of looking down upon you textbooks.
7 . Kids take risks.
According to Laurence Hammerstein, professor of psychology at Temple University, there’s not much parents can do to stop that.
Trying to get kids not to take risks, he says. “is an uphill battle against evolution, and we’re not going to
To start with, it’s never too early for parents to encourage kids to think about
Middle school kids are approaching adolescence, when body chemistry makes them more likely to
The risks high school kids are likely to take might seem
| A．Problem-solving | B．Science-learning | C．Risk-taking | D．Brain-washing |
| A．win | B．afford | C．take | D．start |
| A．extremely | B．naturally | C．amazingly | D．disappointingly |
| A．instructions | B．requests | C．explanations | D．conversations |
| A．wishes | B．solutions | C．results | D．measures |
| A．answer | B．discover | C．ask | D．discuss |
| A．engage in | B．suffer from | C．turn down | D．show up |
| A．tell | B．wonder | C．express | D．admit |
| A．cause | B．forbid | C．encourage | D．order |
| A．go wrong | B．take place | C．work well | D．prove itself |
| A．courageous | B．unpleasant | C．endangered | D．incomprehensible |
| A．visible | B．practical | C．hidden | D．available |
| A．select | B．avoid | C．affect | D．arouse |
| A．in fact | B．in total | C．in theory | D．in detail |
| A．Otherwise | B．Similarly | C．Therefore | D．However |
Zhang Guimei, devoted to education in China’s southwestern borders for 40 years, is
Zhang was born in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province in 1957. She came to Yunnan province at 17,
In 2007, Zhang went to Beijing as a deputy for the 17th CPC National Congress. Her speech “I Have a Dream”
On June 29, Zhang
9 . Freedom and Responsibility
Freedom’s challenge in the Digital Age is a serious topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are all wondering what we are going to do with it.
Some 2,500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were both tyrannies, one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses.
In Greece, in Athens, a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses. And Athenians willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would be very painful unless one chose to live alone in the desert. The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he could do what he wanted. A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the welfare of Athens, not because it was forced on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his safety. The essential belief of the first free government in the world was liberty for all men who could control themselves and would take responsibility for the state.
But discovering freedom is not like discovering computers. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do not prize it, and work for it, it will go. Constant watch is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place without being noticed though it was of the extreme importance, a spiritual change which affected the whole state. It had been the Athenian’s pride and joy to give to their city. That they could get material benefits from her never entered their minds. There had to be a complete change of attitude before they could look at the city as an employer who paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them. What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them; and with this as the primary object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibinreat wealth in which all citizens had a right to share.
Athens reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the common good, they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. It is to be had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility; she reached the end of freedom and was never to have it again.
But, “the excellent becomes the permanent”, Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was not lost forever for the world. A great American, James Madison, referred to “ The capacity (能力) of mankind for self-government." No doubt he had nor an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest background of his mind, but once man has a great and good idea, it is never completely lost. The Digital Age cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man’s thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action only sure that it will do so sometime.
1. What does the underlined word “tyrannies” in Paragraph2 refer to?| A．Countries where their people need help. |
| B．Governments ruled with absolute power. |
| C．Splendid empires where people enjoy freedom. |
| D．Powerful states with higher civilization. |
| A．regard their life as their own business |
| B．seek gains as their primary object |
| C．treat others with kindness and pity |
| D．behave within the laws and value systems |
| A．The Athenians refused to take their responsibility. |
| B．The Athenians no longer took pride in the city. |
| C．The Athenians benefited spiritually from the government. |
| D．The Athenians looked on the government as a business. |
| A．The author is hopeful about freedom. |
| B．The author is cautious about self-government. |
| C．The author is skeptical of Greek civilization. |
| D．The author is proud of man’s capacity. |
10 . In America, when the eighth graders leave the middle school, they are often worried about moving to the high school. It is a hard time for them, but it can be an exciting one as well. To make it easier, students need to get familiar with their school.
Even though they’ve done this already in the middle school, it’s still important to find where their classrooms are. Most schools take students to the high school for a visit at the end of their eighth-grade year. And, most schools also have a freshman speech for parents and students before the first year begins. Sometimes the main office will give away a map of the school. This can help students and parents to find different places in the school.
One way to know your high school more and make new friends is to join a club or play a sport. Schools often offer chances to join different clubs and sports. Fall activities begin in August before the first day of school. If you are not interested in sports, there are clubs for any interest, such as drama, dance, chess, photography, community service, etc. These clubs allow students from different grades. By joining an activity, students can find new friendships, not to mention improving their chances in future college applications (申请). The school office will have a list of activities offered at the school and information on how to join them.
What’s more, to have a great start to a high school year, students can write down some of their worries, and ask for help from teachers and school workers.
1. According to the text, most students feel ________ when entering the high school.| A．excited | B．nervous | C．lonely | D．disappointed |
| A．Before the eighth-grade year starts. |
| B．Right after the high school year starts. |
| C．At the beginning of the new term in the high school. |
| D．At the end of their eighth-grade year |
| A．There are fewer students from higher grades in the school clubs. |
| B．The school clubs in high school only welcome sports fans. |
| C．Summer activities begin before school starts. |
| D．The school office can help new students join school clubs. |
| A．To tell the new students how to learn in high school |
| B．To introduce new schools. |
| C．To give the teachers some advice. |
| D．To give advice to new high school students. |
