1 . Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes. Many people feel that the United States has the worst taxes in the world.

Taxes are money that people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal (联邦的), state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.

Salaried people who earn more than four to five thousand dollars per year must pay a certain part of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies for different people. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a two-level income tax, that is, 15 or 28 percent. $17,850 is the cutoff. The tax rate is 15 percent below 17,850 and 28 percent above.

The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, or any of the other forty-eight states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which people buy in the state. Some states use income tax and sales tax to raise their revenues (税收).

The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (residents who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is collected on vehicles such as cars and trucks in a city. The cities use this money for education, police, public works, etc.

Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often say that the government misuses their tax dollars. They all believe that taxes are too high in this country.

1. In the United States, taxes are collected to provide revenues for ______.

A．the federal government	B．the state government
C．the city government	D．the three levels of government

2. How much money does an American earning $40,000 per year pay to the federal government as income tax according to the passage?

A．28% of his income	B．15% of his income
C．$17,850	D．$5,000

3. What happens to buyers when a sales tax is collected?

A．They have to pay more than what the item costs.

B．They can pay less than what the item costs.

C．They have to pay exactly what the item costs.

D．They will all give up buying the item.

4. What tax does an American have to pay to the city government if he owns a car?

A．Property Tax.	B．Excise Tax.
C．Income Tax.	D．Sales Tax.

5. After reading the passage, we might feel that Americans seem to be______.

A．satisfied with their taxes	B．proud of their taxes
C．unhappy about their taxes	D．very angry at their taxes

2 . 阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

In 2002, an Australian man went to his friend’s 21st birthday party. He got drunk, fell off some steps and cut his lip. He took a picture of his injuries and shared it with his friends online. “And sorry about the focus,” he wrote, “it was a selfie(自拍).” That was the first recorded use of the word “selfie”, according to some experts at Oxford Dictionaries.

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 self­portraits and the resulting shares on social media. In recent years, the act of taking a picture of oneself with a mobile phone, placing the subject center­stage, has won great popularity with everyone from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ to US with former President Barack Obama joining in.

But the rise of selfie photography in some of the world’s most beautiful, dangerous places has also inspired a lot of risk­taking behavior, such as hanging from a tall building, standing in front of a rushing train and crossing a busy street. People who get addicted will never stop taking selfies, completely ignoring where they are. In fact, there have been several reports about people losing their lives while taking selfies. Several governments have now begun treating selfie as a serious threat to safety, warning visitors to pay attention to the dangers when taking selfies.

“Walt Disney World is also banning selfie­sticks from its theme parks because selfie­sticks have become a growing safety concern for our guests,” Disney World spokeswoman Kim Prunty said. Under the new policy, guests will be checked for the equipment during the routine bag check that happens near the parks’ entrances.

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3 . How many phone numbers can you remember by heart? It’s probably fewer than you would like. Actually, you’re not alone. Out of more than 1,000 Americans who were surveyed, more than half said that they couldn’t recall the phone numbers of their friends and neighbors. And 44% said that they couldn’t remember their relatives’ phone numbers. In their eyes, there is no point in filling their heads with phone numbers if they’re all stored in smart phones that are with them almost all the time.

In fact, most people are suffering from a sort of digital amnesia (健忘症). More than 90% of those surveyed agreed that they used the Internet as an online extension of their brains. Rote memorization (死记硬背) was once an important part of modern education, but we just need a click or slide now. That’s making us worse at remembering things.

Researchers found that when people expected to have access to information online, they were less likely to remember actual facts, but more likely to remember how to find them. As a result, we are already becoming one with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems that remember less by knowing information than by knowing where the information can be found.

However, some believe it isn’t necessarily a bad thing — maybe it gives them more chances to think through things. We certainly have access to more knowledge now than ever, even if it isn’t all stored in our brains.

Even so, I still believe that there are more risks to this new world of memory beyond losing our ability to recall some information such as who the 15th President was. That kind of information may always be a click away, but the important things are personal ones, like the way your parents smiled at your wedding. It’s harder to recall or find online. If you’re relying on yourself to keep track of those memories, they will be much more meaningful.

1. It can be learned from the text that             .

A．over 90% people are suffering from digital amnesia

B．people can gain knowledge more easily than before

C．rote memorization no longer exists in modern life

D．people find it hard to remember how to find information

2. What’s the author’s attitude towards people’s memories now?

A．Worried.

B．Optimistic.

C．Disappointed.

D．Confident.

3. Paragraph 1 is mainly used to              .

A．serve as the background	B．introduce the topic
C．explain a new research	D．attract readers’ attention

4. What’s the main cause of people’s suffering from digital amnesia?

A．Dealing with too many things.	B．Seldom thinking about questions.
C．Relying on the Internet too much.	D．The changes of their memories.

5 . An Olympic Village is a place that houses Olympic competitors. It is a place where they prepare for what might be the most important moment in their life. But we want to know more about this mysterious (神秘的) place: What really happens in the village?

We asked swimmer Natalie Coughlin, a three-time Olympian and 12-time medalist. She says, “People think it’s a lot more attractive and interesting than it is. It isn’t. It’s like a huge college campus, including a bank, a salon, a post office, and a huge cafeteria — except that everyone is anxious (焦虑的), getting ready for their biggest event under unbelievably high pressure.”

But some other Olympians look differently at their campus. “It’s like the first day of college,” water polo player Tony Azevedo says. “You’re super excited. Everyone’s meeting people and trying to socialize with others.”

Coughlin says the best spot to be in the village is the cafeteria. Not only does it provide a place to talk with the rest of the athletes from your country, but it’s a great chance for people-watching. One of her favorite games was to tell what sport someone in front of her took based on their body type.

Living in the same village means athletes run into one another all the time. Coughlin shares this story: While in London in 2012, at one point applause (欢呼) broke out at the arrival of someone. Coughlin thought it was one of the British royals (王室成员), but it ended up being Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (the world’s greatest runner alive). Runner Allyson Felix — a winner of six gold Olympic medals — has also had her run-ins. In 2008, she came across the world-famous U. S. men’s basketball team, including Anthony, Bryant, Wade and other top players.

It’s “a pretty wild scene, the biggest melting pot — a place where large numbers of people, ideas, and cultures are mixed together — you’ve been in,” said swimmer Eric Shanteau. Felix agrees, saying, “You get to meet people from other countries that you wouldn’t even come into contact with. To me that’s the coolest thing.”

1. What does Coughlin say about the Olympic villagers?

A．They are very nervous.

B．They like to make friends.

C．They enjoy the village very much.

D．They spend most of their time relaxing.

2. What did Coughlin often do at the cafeteria in the Olympic Village?

A．She often spent time with basketball players.

B．She often tasted food from other countries.

C．She often listened to other athletes’ stories.

D．She often tried guessing a person’s sport.

3. What do both Coughlin and Felix tell us in Paragraph 5?

A．Why Olympians are so popular.

B．How they met superstars in the village.

C．Why the Olympic Village is mysterious.

D．How they communicated with other players.

4. What impresses Felix most in the Olympic Village?

A．Spending time with some old foreign friends.

B．The positive influence of the Olympic spirit.

C．Mixing with people from around the world.

D．The competitive atmosphere in the village.

6 . “Old wives’ tales” are beliefs passed down from one generation to another. For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.

Did your mother ever tell you to eat carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration.Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic (蒜) is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.

Unfortunately, not all of Mom’s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes and no. Sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.

Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales.After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated (积累) from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.

1. The author develops the third paragraph mainly ________.

A．by cause and effect	B．by order in space
C．by order in time	D．by examples

2. The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means “________”.

A．to be believable	B．to be valuable
C．to be admirable	D．to be suitable

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A．Eating garlic is good for our eyes.

B．Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth.

C．Swimming after a meal is dangerous.

D．Carrots prevent people from catching colds.

7 .    

Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways.When people cheat,it’s not fair to other people，like the kids who studied for the test or who the true winners of a game were.

Many people like the action of cheating.In their opinion,it makes difficult things seem easy,like getting all the right answers on the test.But it doesn't solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won't help on the next test—unless the person cheats again.

Some people lose respect for cheaters and think less of them.The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they shouldn't get that good grade.And,if they get caught cheating,they will be in trouble at school，and maybe at home,too.

Some kids cheat because they're busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time studying.Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating.Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating,cheating isn’t a good idea.

If you were sick or upset about something the night before the day and couldn’t study,it would be better to talk with the teacher about this.And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice,you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions together.Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.

1. What does the author think when kids cheat in class?

A．It is unfair to other people.

B．It does harm to their health.

C．Teachers should punish them.

D．Teachers shouldn't stop them at once.

2. Why do many people like to cheat?

A．Because they think the material in the test is very difficult.

B．Because they want to do better than the others.

C．Because cheating can make hard things seem very easy.

D．Because they have little time to study their lessons.

3. What does the fourth paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Some kids can’t pass the test without cheating.

B．Why kids cheat in the test.

C．Cheating isn’t a good idea.

D．Some kids don't spend the time studying.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Cheaters are often thought highly of.

B．People show no respect for those who cheat.

C．Parents whose kids cheat are often in trouble.

D．Kids cheat in the test because of swim practice.

9 . 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

2. What do the underlined words “this behavior” refer to?

A．Admiring each artwork thoroughly.	B．Taking selfies in museums busily.
C．Celebrating “Slow Art Day” widely.	D．Looking at each artwork hurriedly.

3. Why is “Slow Art Day” created?

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

4. Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

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!

10 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

“Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication,” says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”

In a 2021 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; he other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral(外围的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.”

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.

1. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?

A．Showing good manners.

B．Relating to other people.

C．Focusing on a topic.

D．Making business deals.

2. What does the coffee shop study suggest about small talk?

A．It improves family relationships.

B．It raises people’s confidence.

C．It matters as much as a formal talk.

D．It makes people feel good.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．Conversation Counts

B．Ways of Making Small Talk

C．Benefits of Small Talk

D．Uncomfortable Silence

4. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?

A．Addiction to smartphones.

B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C．Absence of communication between strangers.

D．Impatience with slow service.