1 . A newly published study shows that chess players perform objectively worse and — make more suboptimal (次最优的) moves when there is more fine particulate matter (颗粒物) in the air.
“We find that when individuals are exposed to higher levels of air pollution, they make more mistakes, and they make larger mistakes,” says Juan Palacios, a co-author of a newly published paper detailing the study’s findings.
Scholars have produced many studies exploring the effects of air pollution on cognition. The current study adds to that literature by analyzing the subject in a particularly controlled setting. The scholars used three web-connected sensors inside the tournament venue to measure carbon dioxide, PM2.5 concentrations, and temperature, all of which, can, be affected by external conditions, even in an indoor setting.
To evaluate the matter of performance of players, meanwhile, the scholars used software programs that assess each move made in each chess match, identify optimal decisions, and flag significant errors. During the tournaments, the researchers examined and ruled out alternate potential explanations for the dip in player performance, such as increased noise. They also found that carbon dioxide and temperature changes did not correspond to performance changes. Ultimately, the analysis confirms that the findings are driven by the direct exposure to air particles.
The researchers also found that when air pollution was worse, the chess, players performed even more poorly when under time constraints. The tourmament rules required that 40 moves had to be made within 110 minutes; for moves 31-40 in all, the matches, an air pollution, increase of 10 micro-grams per cubic meter led to an increased probability of error of 3.2 percent, with the magnitude of those errors increasing by 17.3 percent. And while the focus of this particular study is tightly focused on chess players, the findings have strong implications for high-skilled office workers.
1. What does the study find about air pollution?| A．It becomes more and more serious in the gym. |
| B．It can help evaluate chess players’ performance. |
| C．It may affect more people with mental processes. |
| D．It can’t be affected by indoor surroundings. |
| A．To measure carbon dioxide and temperature. |
| B．To assess the performance of players. |
| C．To help players make great moves. |
| D．To distinguish players’ errors in time. |
| A．Limit. | B．Freedom. | C．Consumption. | D．Measurement. |
| A．Various reasons for chess players’ mistakes. |
| B．A new research on chess players’ performance. |
| C．Scholars’ concern about chess players’ health. |
| D．The influence of air pollution on chess players. |
2 . While English is getting more important in our schools, Chinese has become popular among foreign kids. But Chinese can be more difficult to learn. At least 16-year-old Piao Chenglong thinks so. “English is easier for me. Chinese characters (汉字) have too many strokes (笔画),” said Piao. “But I want to learn it. I want to study at Beijing University when I grow up.” Piao is from Korea. He came to China in 2008.
In Korea, there are more than 300, 000 Chinese learners like Piao. Some Korean students begin to learn to write the language on their first day at school. To help students learn Chinese, Korea holds speaking competitions for high school students every year.
Chinese isn’t just popular in Korea. People from all the world want to learn it. The Ministry of Education of China says that nearly 130 million people from 85 countries are learning Chinese. This number will be increasing to 800 million in the coming years.
In America, Chinese is the second most popular foreign language after Spanish. Some American middle schools have Chinese classes. Students learn to make jiaozi and tie Chinese knots (中国结). Some even try to write and draw in the Chinese way!
People want to learn Chinese because China is becoming such an important country. Foreign countries want to understand China better to help them with business. The Chinese government is also helping the world learn Chinese. It has sent more than 200 Chinese teachers to more than 60 countries in the world. Many more Confucius Institutes (孔子学院) will be set up in the world. These institutes will teach Chinese to foreign students.
1. Which of the following is the topic sentence for the text?| A．Chinese has become popular among foreign kids. |
| B．Chinese can be more difficult to learn. |
| C．In America, Chinese is the second most popular foreign language after Spanish. |
| D．Students learn to make jiaozi and tie Chinese knots. |
| A．China. | B．America. | C．Korea. | D．Spain. |
| A．making jiaozi |
| B．writing and drawing in the Chinese way |
| C．tying Chinese knots |
| D．singing Chinese songs |
| A．Because Chinese is getting more important in their schools. |
| B．Because Chinese characters have too many strokes. |
| C．Because the number of people learning Chinese will be 800 million. |
| D．Because China is becoming more and more important in the world. |
3 . Three teachers were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They tried to save their students from a gunman who they recognized as the son of a kindergarten teacher there. The three heroes who were murdered were Dawn Hochsprung, 47, school psychologist, March Sherlach, 56, and 27-year-old Victoria Soto, a young first grade teacher.
When the gunman Lanza began firing at the school in suburban (郊区的) Newtown, Connecticut, several other teachers were in a meeting with Mrs Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach. Some teachers dived under tables, but Mrs Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach never hesitated. They ran into the hallway to pull their students into their office. They bravely faced the danger and were murdered by the gunman.
When the gunman broke into the classroom of Grade One, Miss Soto sacrificed herself to save her students — throwing her body in front of the young children.
A tale of heroism came from an eight-year-old student who said a teacher pulled him from the hallway as bullets rang out. “I saw some of the bullets going down the hall that I was right next to and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom,” the boy told CBS News. His relieved mother agreed, saying that the teacher saved her son’s life.
The New York Times reports that twenty-eight people died in the shooting rampage (暴行), including twenty young children between the ages of five and ten. The gunman, Adam Lanza, took his own life finally.
1. When the shooting rampage began, Mrs Hochsprung ________.| A．was giving a class in the classroom | B．was standing in the hallway |
| C．was writing a report in her office | D．was having a meeting |
| A．by fighting with the gunman |
| B．by pulling her students into her office |
| C．by stopping bullets with her body |
| D．by keeping the gunman outside the classroom |
| A．twenty people died in the shooting rampage |
| B．the gunman killed himself in the end |
| C．the gunman was finally shot by the police |
| D．most of the dead were adults |
| A．A newspaper | B．an advertisement |
| C．a science book | D．a tour magazine |
4 . If you are thinking of putting your child in a private high school instead of a public one, you should do some research. You will find that most private schools offer some advantages.
One of the most important details of a good high school is small class size. Many public schools might have 30 or even 35 students in each class. However, many private schools limit the size to about 15 to 20 kids per class. This is a good thing because it allows each teacher to offer every student more attention.
Another thing to mention is the interesting classes. For example, while the typical (典型的) high school might only offer Spanish and French as foreign languages, private schools often have several other languages to choose from. This is especially important if your child is actually interested in studying a particular language that is not usually offered. Of course, many colleges also consider the various (各种各样的) classes as a good thing, since they can teach students more different subjects than usual.
Some colleges actually work closely with schools to make sure students are prepared well to get an advanced education. This means that teachers are careful to teach skills that can be used in college. Also, college teachers may be on-hand to talk to students and give them advice. If you think your child could use some help of this kind, which would likely help prepare him or her for college, you should look into schools offering these things.
A simple visit to the website or campus (校园) of a local private high school could give you the answers you are looking for. If you think your child would benefit from and appreciate these advantages, you should start researching. You are sure to find at least one that offers these benefits.
1. By writing this text, the author is probably encouraging parents to________.| A．pay attention to their children’s study |
| B．appreciate the advantages of public schools |
| C．help their children choose right colleges |
| D．send their children to private high schools |
| A．teacher’s role | B．different kinds of classes |
| C．learning foreign languages | D．proper study methods |
| A．live close to colleges | B．have interest in sports |
| C．have wide knowledge | D．come from public high schools |
5 . My 12-year-old daughter, Lauren, came home from school yesterday, proudly waving her grade book to me. She had been awarded A-1 in most subjects such as mathematics, language arts and science—a great achievement! Then she sadly pointed out that her perfect score was damaged by a B-1 in French and a C-1 in Physical Education.
I asked her what the scores meant. She said that the letter showed the achievement(成绩) and the number showed the effort. That moment I realized that the grades were misleading. I reached out my hands and gave her a big hug and told her in my mind she had a perfect score. It didn’t matter that her grade in French was a “B”—the “l” showed that she had tried her best. That is something to make any parent proud.
Everybody is different. Everybody has different potential(潜能). Not all of us will become linguists(语言学家) or sports stars. But without 100％effort no potential can be achieved. If I see a salesperson fail at sales, the first thing I want to examine is the effort being put in. If there is a problem with effort, the salesperson has no future. But if I see a salesperson isn’t successful with l00％effort, he or she is worth my effort in helping. Maybe a bit of training or some advice from a more successful person will help. I know that 100％effort, focus in the right direction, will always bring a result whether that is an “A” or a “C”. As long as you make 100％effort, you are great.
1. The author’s daughter was weak in _______.| A．maths. | B．science. | C．chemistry. | D．physical education. |
| A．High grades make parents proud. |
| B．Grades are important to children. |
| C．People hold a wrong idea of grades. |
| D．High grades show great achievements. |
| A．will give him training. |
| B．is willing to offer help. |
| C．will find an easy way for him. |
| D．may think he has no future. |
| A．trying his or her best. |
| B．achieving good grades. |
| C．having different potential. |
| D．giving other people useful advice. |
6 . Wang Ling, a middle school girl, felt angry with her parents after getting a boy’s phone call. “A classmate called me to discuss homework. We talked for just a few minutes before my parents got mad,” said the girl. “They asked whether I liked the boy. I’m sad I didn’t, but they wouldn’t believe me.”
Wang’s trouble is not strange at all because puppy love becomes a big headache for both parents and schools. They worry that puppy love will be bad for their study. Her school makes it a rule not to allow any talk or any physical contact between one boy and one girl alone.
Many students say they understand why parents and teachers are so nervous about puppy love. But some think they are going too far. “We have our own thoughts and we know what to do with it.” said Wang Ling.
Another girl, Jiang Ting, liked making friends with boys. “Boys and girls can learn from each other,” she said. “My mother asks me to study hard. However, she never stops me from making friends with boys.” Once Jiang Ting told her mother she might fall in love with a boy. Her mother let Jiang make her own decision. Soon Jiang found that she didn’t like him any more because the boy was not as good as what she had thought before. And she did worse and worse in her subjects because she spent much on it. At last she understood the worry from school and most parents about puppy love.
1. What’s the right meaning of the underlined word “physical contact” in the second paragraph?| A．物理联系 | B．相互接触 | C．身体接触 | D．独自相处 |
| A．Wang Ling told her mother she might fall in love with a boy. |
| B．Jiang’s mother doesn’t care about her at all. |
| C．Puppy love will be bad for student’s study. |
| D．Puppy love becomes a problem for all students. |
| A．Jiang doesn’t like making friends with students. |
| B．Jiang can’t make a decision for herself |
| C．Jiang worked hard and she did not bad in her subjects. |
| D．Jiang understood her parents’worry at last |
7 . Everybody says that youth is the best time for our lives. Being young means romance, love and new discoveries, but it is also the most difficult time, because you have to make some very important decisions, which will influence your future life.
Things are not easy nowadays even for adults, but for teenagers, Who have to find their own place in society, it’s even difficult. It is necessary not only to adapt to society, but also to be confident of your position in five, ten or even twenty year’s time.
For the future it is important to have a good job. In order to get a really good job, you have to be well educated.
Emotional problems for young people can be very important, too. The first teenager problem is that “nobody understands me”. Some parents often continue to treat their children as little children when they are starting to consider themselves to be adults.
There are also some global problems. Young people in all countries are facing these problems. Let’s start with smoking. According to studies, at the age of 16, almost 72% of all boys and 37% of all girls in Russia have already tried smoking. Smoking is not a natural need.It’s just that teens try it when they want to appear to be more like adults.
Drugs are also a serious problem. Students know the names of drugs well enough. 32% say they have tried drugs at least once, mainly because they were having fun, their friends influenced them to, they wanted to relax or they wanted to seem “cool”. That’s too bad.
So, you see, problems do happen and they can’ t be ignored. We should pay much attention to them.
1. The author doesn’t think that youth is ________.| A．the best time of our lives | B．the most difficult time of our lives |
| C．the time to make some important decisions | D．the time to get a job |
| A．they are seldom understood by others |
| B．they become confident of their position |
| C．they still seem little in some parents’ eyes |
| D．They still consider themselves to be children |
| A．理解 | B．理睬 | C．忽视 | D．发现 |
| A．They consider it to be a natural need. |
| B．Their friends advise them to do so. |
| C．They wish to be “cool”. |
| D．They want to relax themselves. |
8 . With the young unable to afford to leave home and the old at risk of isolation(孤独), more families are choosing to live together.
The doorway to peace and quiet, for Nick Bright at least, leads straight to his mother-in-law, she lives on the ground floor, while he lives upstairs with his wife and their two daughters.
Four years ago they all moved into a three-storey Victorian house in Bristol - one of a growing number of multigenerational families in the UK living together under the same roof. They share a front door and a washing machine, but Rita Whitehead has her own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room on the ground floor.
“We floated the idea to my mum of sharing at a house,” says Kathryn Whitehead. Rita cuts in: “We spoke more with Nick because I think it’s a big thing for Nick to live with his mother-in-law.”
And what does Nick think? “From my standpoint, it all seems to work very well. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think I would.”
It’s hard to tell exactly how many people agree with him, but research indicates that the numbers have been rising for some time. Official reports suggest that the number of households with three generations living together had risen from 325,000 in 2001to 419,000 in 2013.
Other varieties of multigenerational family are more common. Some people live with their elderly parents; many more adult children are returning to the family home, if they ever left. It is said that about 20% of 25-34-year-olds live with their parents, compared with 16% in 1991.The total number of all multigenerational households in Britain is thought to be about 1.8 million.
Stories like that are more common in parts of the world where multigenerational living is more firmly rooted. In India, particularly outside cities, young women are expected to move in with their husband’s family when they get married.
1. Who mainly uses the ground floor in the Victorian house in Bristol?| A．Nick. | B．Rita. | C．Kathryn | D．The daughters. |
| A．Positive. | B．Carefree. | C．Tolerant. | D．Unwilling. |
| A．Family traditions. | B．Financial reports. | C．Published statistics. | D．Public opinions. |
| A．Lifestyles in different countries. | B．Conflicts between generations. |
| C．A housing problem in Britain. | D．A rising trend of living in the UK. |
9 . In a study of young people in the UK aged 12-20, half of them said they had been bullied (欺凌) . People who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. They might lose interest in the activities they enjoy, avoid spending time with other people and not go to classes or school, which has a negative effect on their learning.
Bullying is not just physical, like hitting or kicking someone, or taking their things without permission. Bullying can also be With words- -saying or writing things that are not nice. Another type of bullying is social- choosing not to include someone, embarrassing someone or telling other people not to be friends with them. Bullying can happen at school, on public transport, when you're walking home, online .... In fact, it can happen anywhere.
Bullying usually involves more people than you think. There are the people who bully and those who are bullied. Sometimes other people help the bully or join in. Then there are the kids that support- -they don't bully anyone directly, but they support the bullying by being audience. They laugh or encourage the children who are bullying in other ways. This is why it's important for everyone to work together against bullying. Some children see what is happening and want to help, although they don't know how. Others may comfort and defend the person being bullied. To stop bullying we need everyone to be brave and take a stand.
Does your school do anything to prevent bullying? Why don't you create a student anti-bullying group? This group can do many things. Let the head teacher know how well the school is doing with fighting bullying and give them advice. Choose an anti-bullying slogan for your school, make posters and displays or take over the school's social media for a week to send out anti-bullying messages.
Bullying is a social problem and it needs a solution from society- in other words, everyone. Next time you see someone being cruel to someone else, take a stand! Don't laugh or ignore what's happening- -tell an adult as soon as possible and help everyone to realize that bullying is not OK.
1. What happens to the students when they were school bullied?| A．They have interest in the activities. | B．They are likely to talk with people. |
| C．They have to finish their learning. | D．They become upset and anxious. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Critical. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．Watch and laugh at it. | B．Realize and fight against it. |
| C．Comfort the victims. | D．Stand by to be audience. |
| A．School bullying and ways out. | B．An introduction to school bullying. |
| C．An anti-bullying slogan. | D．A student anti-bullying group. |
10 . Unlike China, where the majority of society belongs to the Han ethnic group, the United States is home to people from many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, creating great diversity within its lively society.
However, historical events that created this diversity also led to racial disputes and prejudice that have lasted until today. Around days like Martin Luther King Day, people in the US are especially sensitive to racist comments and behavior.
Recently, a Facebook message posted by a white student at my boarding school started a wave of anger among African American students and started heated conversations about minority groups at the school.
The students posted an article written by someone else who stated that Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general during the US Civil War, should be commemorated(纪念). As the Confederates broke from the Union in order to keep slavery in their states, they were usually seen as racists. The post received a flood of comments from both white and black students within minutes, and conversation about the topic spread across campus quickly.
A fishbowl conversation was organized the evening the article was posted, and students and faculty (学院) members talked about their feelings and opinions. During the discussion, students from minority groups, including African American, Jewish, Asian and Indian students, spoke up about how they felt about living in a society mainly made up of people who are different from them. It turned out that many people felt isolated because of their differences from other people.
The diversity of society can open up interesting opportunities, but the great differences between people can also create huge gaps and misunderstandings if they are not treated carefully. Thus, effective communication is essential.
After the fishbowl conversation, the atmosphere in the school seemed to be changing, at least from my point of view. Students seemed to be talking and acting more freely than before, and the expressions of judgement were seen less on their faces.
1. The main purpose of Paragraph 1 is to ______.| A．draw attention to the fact that racial problems still exist in America. |
| B．show that the United States has a wonderfully diverse culture. |
| C．explain how sensitive people in the US are to racist comments and behavior. |
| D．point out the differences between American culture and those of other countries. |
| A．The post was offensive to black students. |
| B．The post was aimed at African American students. |
| C．The author of he post was strongly in favor of slavery. |
| D．The author of the post held a negative attitude toward minority groups. |
| A．figure out whether the article should be posted or not. |
| B．educate students on how to express their opinions appropriately. |
| C．improve the lives of people who belongs to minority groups on campus. |
| D．get people to communicate how they felt and thought about the post. |
| A．We should learn to live with others’ differences. |
| B．We should always feel free to share our feelings. |
| C．Effective communication is very important in a diverse society. |
| D．If there is no difference, then there is no misunderstanding. |
