1 . Comments on the July Issue of Reader’s Digest

Jennie Gardner, Bath

I couldn’t agree more with Lee Child, that books are really important. Yes, you can get lost in them but you can also find yourself and new worlds and possibilities in them. Books help us to forget and remember. They remind us both of what’s really important and what’s not.

And, as Lee says, they let us hold the whole world in our hands, We can feel the weight of this word, we can mark our favourite spots, add in our own thoughts and see our progress through the pages as the story leads us back home, allowing us to re-find ourselves along the way.

Jayne Wile, North Wales

Brian Blessed’s I Remember was most enjoyable. I love Brian, a popular actor of stage and screen. It was interesting to learn more about his life. I noted how he enjoyed being involved in the Space Program, doing 600 hours training in Moscow and I have to agree with his thought：”We need to get out to Mars because the Earth has got to rest.” Mars has always been a source of inspiration for explorers and scientists.

Melanie Lodge, West Yorkshire

I was thrilled to read author Lee Childs If I Ruled The World. I was most impressed that he wanted to make teachers the most respected and highest paid professionals.

I work as a teaching assistant in a primary school and have done so since my youngest daughter began school 12 years ago. Until then I had no idea just how much planning was involved in each lesson and how much patience was required in a class of 30 children! I also agree with Lee that there’s nothing more rewarding than finishing a good book.

1. What is Jennie Gardner’s comment mainly about?

A．Books make us get lost.	B．Books mean a lot in life.
C．Books help us progress.	D．Books bring us possibilities.

2. What do we know about Jayne Wile?

A．He once got trained in Moscow.

B．He joined in the Space Program.

C．He thinks it necessary to explore Mars.

D．He’s a popular actor of stage and screen.

3. What can be inferred from Melanie Lodge’s comment?

A．She better knows how to teach.

B．She thinks teachers are overpaid.

C．She finds teaching more rewarding.

D．She used to work in a primary school.

4. Which of them have a similar opinion according to the passage?

A．Brian Blessed and Lee Child.

B．Jayne Wile and Jennie Gardner.

C．Melanie Lodge and Jayne Wile.

D．Jennie Gardner and Melanie Lodge.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What does the speaker ask the audience (听众) to do?

A．Sit down quickly.

B．Show their tickets.

C．Hand in their phones.

2. What is allowed inside the theater?

A．Taking photos.

B．Bringing outside food.

C．Buying things from its cafe.

3. How long is the break?

A．Five minutes.

B．Ten minutes.

C．Fifteen minutes.

4. How will the audience know when the break is over?

A．A bell will ring.

B．It will end at three o'clock.

C．People in red jackets will tell them.

3 . 假定你是李华，你的美国笔友Jason对CCTV播出的一档节目“经典咏流传”(Everlasting Classics )非常感兴趣，写信向你询问该节目的有关情况，请你根据下列提示，用英语给他写一封回信，内容包括：
1. 节目的宗旨：欣赏古诗之类，……；
2. 节目的内容：将古诗词与音乐相结合、近百位歌手受邀演唱；
3. 节目的反响：……。
注意：1. 词数100 东右(开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数)；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Jason,

I am very glad to hear from you.

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Best wishes.

Yours,

Li Hua

4 . 阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
Why are newspapers and TV broadcasts filled with disaster, corruption and incompetence? It may be because we’re drawn to depressing stories without realizing, according to psychologists.
When you read the news, sometimes it can feel like the only things reported are terrible, depressing events. Why do the media concentrate on the bad things in life, rather than the good? In fact, many people often say that they would prefer good news.
The researchers present their experiment as solid evidence of a so called “negativity bias(偏见)”, psychologists’ term for our collective hunger to hear, and remember bad news.
It isn’t just delight in other people’s misfortune, the theory goes, but that we’ve evolved to react quickly to potential threats. Bad news could be a signal that we need to change what we’re doing to avoid danger.
As you’d expect from this theory, there’s some evidence that people respond quicker to negative words. In lab experiments, flash the word “cancer”, “bomb” or “war” up at someone and they can hit a button in response quicker than if that word is “baby”, “smile” or “fun”. We are also able to recognize negative words faster than positive words, and even tell that a word is going to be unpleasant before we can tell exactly what the word is going to be.
There’s another interpretation (解释)that researchers put on their evidence: we pay attention to bad news, because on the whole, we think the world is more hopeful than it actually is. When it comes to our own lives, most of us believe we’re better than average, and that, like the cliches, we expect things to be all right in the end. This pleasant view of the world makes bad news all the more surprising and arresting. It is only against a light background that the dark spots are highlighted.
So our attraction to bad news may be more complex than just journalistic prejudice or a hunger springing from the darkness within.
1. What is “negativity bias” according to psychologists?

A．It is one’s delight in others’ misfortune.

B．It is one’s habit of reacting quickly to potential threats.

C．It is a signal with which we can avoid danger.

D．People are born to hear and remember bad news.

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Journalists only feel like reporting depressing bad news.

B．It is true that there are no good stories to be reported.

C．People unconsciously pay more attention to bad news.

D．People like to hear pleasant words rather than bad words.

3. What will be read first by most readers according to the theory?

A．Movie star arrested for taking drugs.

B．Movie star went on a campaign for ASL disease.

C．Movie star accepts Ice Bucket Challenge

D．Movie star awarded the third Oscar in three years.

4. What causes people to focus more on bad news than on good news?

A．The world is believed to be more hopeful than it actually is.

B．It is expected things will be all right in the end.

C．The world is believed to be full of darkness.

D．It is believed that we are better than others.