2 . We've all been there：those times you need to argue your point of view to someone who you know disagrees with you. You immediately go to your keyboard and start to type out that 280-character Twitter，the Facebook reply，or a paragraphs-long email. Surely the reason，logic and strong power of your written words will persuade whoever disagrees with you to see your point of view. But new research suggests a different idea.

That research was conducted by Juliana Schroeder，assistant professor of University of California，Berkeley，and her colleagues. In Schroeder's study of almost 300 people，participants were asked to watch，listen，and read arguments about subjects they agreed or disagreed with. They were asked to judge the character of the communicator and the quality of the argument. Schroeder's team found that the participants who watched or listened to the communicator were less dismissive（抵触的）of their claims than when they read that communicator's same argument.

The idea for her study came from a newspaper article about a politician. “One of us read a speech that was printed in a newspaper from a politician with whom he strongly disagreed. The next week，he heard the exact same speech playing on a radio station. He was shocked by how different his reaction was toward the politician when he read the speech compared to when he heard it. When he read the statement，the politician seemed idiotic，but when he heard it spoken，the politician actually sounded reasonable.

So in the workplace，speaking to someone in person often involves nothing more than walking a few doors down to their office. And that's exactly what you should do if you need to convince that boss or colleague of why your blueprint for the company or project is the right one. Only as a last way should you try to communicate with someone who you disagree with over social media. Twitter's limited text allowance and social media users' short attention make arguing your point a difficult battle.

1. What's the result of the research？

A．Written words are more logical and reasonable.

B．People prefer to communicate with keyboard.

C．Spoken，not written，communication works better.

D．When reading an argument，the participants were less dismissive than hearing it.

2. Why is the politician mentioned？

A．To explain what inspired Schroeder to conduct the research.

B．To summarize the previous paragraphs.

C．To introduce the reaction of the politician to the study.

D．To introduce the politician's speech.

3. What does the underlined word “idiotic” mean？

A．Silly.

B．Practical.

C．Familiar.

D．Special.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph？

A．To persuade your boss，you need to walk to his office and leave a message.

B．Communicating with others over social media is encouraged.

C．Arguing over social media is more convenient than speaking in person.

D．It's difficult to fully explain your points due to social media's limitation.

5 . When we see a person in trouble our immediate reaction is to lend a hand. But what if we se an animal in trouble, does the same rule apply?

This question was raised after a group of penguins were saved from an icy gully (峡谷) in Antarctica. It was filmed for the BBC wildlife series Dynasties. After seeing that a group of penguins had fallen into a gully and been trapped with their young the film crew were so concerned about their safety that they built a slope (斜坡) so that a few of the penguins could save themselves.

The case has taken the international media by storm. Viewers watching this film let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. I understand not taking action directly involved, but a helping hand isn't bothering, right?" viewer Kathryn Shaw said on her Facebook.

However, others think human interference (干涉) is unnatural. "You can't have sunshine throughout your life. To have done anything else would only make matters worse," said the show's creator David Attenborough, according to The Times.

In this case, however, Mike Gunton, the executive producer of the series, said that this was a one-off situation. "There were no animals going to suffer by interfering. You weren't touching the animals and it was just felt by doing this. They had the chance not to have to keep slipping down the slope," he told the BBC.

Such cases are familiar to Paul Nicklen, wildlife photographer for National Geographic. He told Metro, "If it's ever a predator (捕食者) situation，no matter how gut-wrenching，you stay out of the way. Even when you're watching a male polar bear eat a baby bear."

"There's no rule book in those situations. You can only respond to the facts that are right there in front of you," Will Lawson, the show's director, told Daily Mail.

1. What has caused to a heated media discussion?

A．People's various comments on penguins.

B．The ways of helping the trapped penguins .

C．Some penguins' sufferings in a gully.

D．Ways of filming the series Dynasties.

2. How did the film crew feel when seeing the trapped penguins?

A．Anxious.	B．Sad.
C．Annoyed.	D．Thrilled.

3. Which human activity is considered proper in Paul Nicklen's opinion?

A．Shooting an eagle catching a snake.

B．Preventing a polar bear eating a baby bear.

C．Watching a lion attacking a deer.

D．Distracting a crocodile biting an antelope.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Necessity of Lending a Hand to Animals in Trouble.

B．Suggestions on How to Save Animals in Trouble.

C．Effects of Human Interference on Animals in Trouble.

D．Opinions on Whether to Help Animals in Trouble.

6 . As long as there have been exams, students have found ways to cheat. Today the correct answers are just a few taps away on a smart phone. So countries have come up with new ways to stop the funny business. Some use metal detectors, surveillance (监控) cameras, and mobile phone jammers (干扰器).    1    

Cheating in high school leaving exams got so bad in Mauritania and Algeria that this year the authorities turned off the Internet for the entire country. Algeria did so for at least an hour during tests (which last about a week).    2    Other countries, such as Iraq, Uzbekistan and Ethiopia, have for years been shutting down the Internet during exam time.

In each country students are under high pressure to do well in the tests, which often determine whether they can continue their education at a good university.    3    But high marks are rare. In Algeria only around half of students passed the exams in recent years. In Mauritania the rate is much lower.

    4    Darrell West of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, estimates that in 2015-2016 Internet shutdowns ordered by governments cost countries at least $2.4bn.     5    

A．Turning off the Internet is expensive.

B．Teachers try to help — in their own way.

C．Others have taken a more severe measure.

D．A splendid grade may mean a scholarship abroad.

E．Mauritania cut access from morning until evening on exam days.

F．For that kind of money, countries could even improve their schools.

G．With so many students cheating electronically, governments are taking extreme steps.

7 . The health problems about cloned animals , particularly those who appear healthy but have hidden illnesses or problems that appear unexpectedly later in life, have the potential to cause real risks to the safety of the food products from those animals. Ian Wilmut, a lead scientist involved in the creation of Dolly, the first cloned animal, has warned that even small imbalances in a clone’s hormone, protein, or fat levels could bring its milk or meat into danger.

As part of its risk assessment on animal cloning, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring (后代)are as safe to eat as products from conventional animals. The FDA further announced that it would not require food products from cloned animals or their offspring to be labeled as such.

Consumer watchdog groups pointed out that the FDA’s analysis was based on limited data supplied mainly from the cloning companies themselves. In addition, while food safety is an obvious concern of consumers, it is not the only issue that makes people uncomfortable with animal cloning. For example, surveys indicate that 63 percent of consumers would not buy food from cloned animals even if it were labeled as “safe”. Concerns about the morality of cloning, as well as concerns for animal welfare, lead a big majority of people to oppose cloning animals for food. However, these issues were not considered by the FDA. Without labels to identify cloned foods, consumers who oppose animal cloning would be forced to make purchases against their principles without knowing. Consumers have a right to know how their food is produced so they can make informed decisions about what they buy and what they feed their families.

1. What is Ian Wilmut’s attitude towards food products from cloned animals?

A．Approving.	B．Cautious.
C．Uncertain.	D．Indifferent.

2. What does the underlined word “such” in Paragraph 2 refer to ?

A．Safe.	B．Expensive
C．Unsafe	D．Conventional.

3. We can learn from the last paragraph that _____.

A．consumers didn’t believe what the FDA said

B．the FDA took consumers’ concerns seriously

C．consumers were well-informed about the safety of food

D．the FDA forced consumers to buy things they didn’t want

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Concerns for animal welfare.

B．The problems with animal cloning.

C．Why people are uncomfortable with animal cloning.

D．Concerns about the food products from cloned animals.

8 . If you need glasses to read this, you are among the majority of Chinese students. That’s because most students in China are short-sighted which means they can only see things close up and distant things will be blurry. Four-fifths of high school students wear glasses and now more and more children in primary school need glasses, too.

This epidemic of poor eyesight has two very simple causes: too much time spent indoors studying and too little time spent outdoors playing. Reading and writing for hours and hours, sometimes in poorly lighted rooms, causes eyesight to weaken. But students have to do this because there is so much pressure on them to succeed in school. And because they spend so much time indoors at school and at home, they have less time to spend outdoors enjoying the sun.

The sun, as a consequence, is important in developing good eyesight. Exposure to daylight releases a chemical in the eyes that prevents, or at least delays, short-sightedness. According to a study by Ian Morgan of Australian National University, Australian children and Chinese children have the same level of eyesight before they start school, but once they enter primary school, Chinese children only spend about an hour a day outside, while Australian children spend three to four hours each day in the sunshine. The result is that while about 40 percent of Chinese primary school students need glasses, only three percent of Australian children do.

Wearing glasses may not seem like a big deal. For some, wearing glasses can even be an opportunity to make a fashion statement. But poor eyesight at a young age can have serious long term consequences. As you get older, your eyesight can worsen and lead to things like macular degeneration(黄斑变性), a condition of the eyes for which there is no cure and which can eventually lead to blindness.

With all that in mind, don’t you think it’s time to give your eyes a break? Try spending a little less time inside and go for a walk in the park, instead. It’s the healthy thing to do and your eyes will thank you for it.

1. What does the underlined word “blurry” mean?

A．unpopular.	B．unpleasant.
C．unclear.	D．unconscious.

2. How should the students protect their eyesight according to the passage?

A．They should study less and less.	B．They should stay longer outdoors.
C．They should wear sun-glasses.	D．They should have a longer rest in bed.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that _____ is to blame for the poor eyesight of Chinese children.

A．the ever-worsening bad weather	B．the ever-increasing burden of study
C．the ever-decreasing sunny days	D．the ever-decreasing period of study time

4. What is the purpose of this article?

A．To explain why Chinese students are poor-sighted.

B．To admire Australian children’s good eyesight.

C．To criticizethe present education system.

D．To call on people to protect Chinese children’s eyesight