Do you like chocolate? Maybe most people do. A box of it can be a great gift. Buy one for a friend and give it as a surprise. See how happy that person gets.

Say you just got a box of chocolate. Which piece do you pick first? A man has studied people’s choices. He says they tell something about the person. Did you choose a round piece? You are a person who likes to party. Did you choose an oval shape? You are a person who likes to make things. Picking a square shape shows something else. The person is honest and truthful. You can depend on him or her.

What kind of chocolate do you pick? Maybe you like milk chocolate. This shows you have warm feelings about the past. Dark chocolate means something else. A person who chooses it looks toward the future. What about white chocolate? Would you choose it? If so, you may find it hard to make up your mind. Some people like chocolate with nuts. These are people who like to help others.

Do you believe these ideas? Can candy tell all these things? It doesn’t really matter. There is one sure thing about eaters of chocolate. They eat it because they like it.

1.This passage mainly tells us ______.

A.why people like chocolate

B.almost everyone likes chocolate

C.about different kinds of chocolate

D.different choices may show different characters

2.Picking a round shape of chocolate shows that a person ______.

A.likes singing, dancing and drinking

B.likes to do something for others

C.is good at making things

D.can be depended on

3.From this passage we can see that a helpful man may choose chocolate ______.

A.in oval shape B.in square shape

C.with nuts D.with coffee

4.The last paragraph suggests that the writer ______.

A.believes all the information about chocolate

B.does not believe the information about candy

C.is trying to get you to believe false information

D.doesn’t think it important whether you believe the ideas

Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers. But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.

Mothers have long known that their home workload was just as heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as £172,000 a year.

The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income £30,000 more than the Prime Minister earns.

By analyzing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week, 40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18, it found that, on most days, mums started their routine work at 7 am and finished at around 11 pm.

To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at £48,98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”, with psychologist(心理学家) a close second.

It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 per cent making emotional(情感的) demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.

Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.

The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional, physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing(投入) in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.

1.How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister?

A. £30,000. B. £142,000.

C. £172,000. C. £202,000.

2.The biggest challenge for most mothers is from .

A. emotional demand

B. low pay for work

C. heavy workload

D. lack of training

3.What is stressed in the last paragraph?

A. mothers’ importance shows in family all year long.

B. The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile.

C. Mothers’ devotion to children can hardly be calculated.

D. Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return.

4.What can we conclude from the study?

A. Mothers’ working hours should be largely reduced.

B. Mothers should balance their time for work and rest.

C. Mothers’ labour is of a higher value than it is realized.

D. Mothers should be freed from housework for social life.

If English means endless new words,difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation,you are wrong.Haven't you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

According to a new study by a British university,learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power.Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter.This is the area of the brain which processes information.It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.

The study also found the effect is greater,the younger people learn a second language.

A team led by Dr Andrea Mechelli,from University College London,took a group of Britons who only spoke English.They were compared with a group of "early bilinguals" who had learnt a second language before the age of five,as well as a number of later learners.

Scans showed that grey matter density (密度) in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language.But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language,the smaller the difference.

"Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language," said the scientists.

It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.

Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales,has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills."Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的),"he said."You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas."

The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and 34.Reading,writing,and comprehension were all tested.The results showed that the younger they started to learn,the better."Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world," explained the scientists.

1.The main subject talked about in this passage is ______.

A. science on learning a second language

B. man’s ability of learning a second language

C. 1anguage can help brain power

D. 1anguage learning and maths study

2.In the second paragraph,the writer mentions “exercise” in order to ______.

A. say language is also a kind of physical labor

B. prove that one needs more practice when he (she) is learning a language

C. to show the importance of using the language when you learn the language

D. make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well

3.The underlined word “bilingual'’ probably means ______.

A. a researcher on language learning

B. a person who is good at learning foreign languages

C. a person who can speak two languages

D. an active language learner

The two teachers were sitting in the teacher’s room.For a moment there was .Then one of them, Miss Smith said “I’m afraid I’d have to him.”

“Now, Alice,” said her friend Mrs.Jackson, “is he such a terrible student?”

“That’s just the ,” the other woman replieD. “Tom is my best student.The problem is that he’s now so lazy that he never gets done.He hasn’t handed me of his homework for three weeks and I’d be surprised he did now.”

before had Mrs.Jackson seen Miss Smith look so unhappy.“Have you with him about it?” she askeD.

“Why should I? He knows he has to prepare his lessons and do his homework.I that clear the first day for class.When the course started , he did so that I considered asking the to give him a scholarship (奖学金).But now he even in class! I’ve never seen such a in a student.”

“You should have a with him.Give him a chance to tell his side of story.”

Miss Smith spoke to Tom and all about it.He was studying all day and most of the night in a factory to pay for his education.Of course he was tired in the and sometimes could hardly keep .Miss Smith soon arranged for him to have a and he was able to give up his and concentrate (集中精力) on his studies .

1.A. distance B. silence C. pleasure D. delight

2.A. fail B. teach C. beat D. tell

3.A. lesson B. thing C. trouble D. boy

4.A. homework B. housework C. cleaning D. washing

5.A. some B. plenty C. any D. lots

6.A. even B. if C. though D. when

7.A. Long B. Until C. Ever D. Never

8.A. quarreled B. talked C. dealt D. discussed

9.A. said B. thought C. required D. made

10.A. quickly B. often C. much D. well

11.A. school B. class C. others D. parents

12.A. talks B. sleeps C. laughs D. walks

13.A. matter B. change C. habit D. way

14.A. lesson B. look C. talk D. meeting

15.A. studied B. got C. learned D. understood

16.A. sleeping B. working C. spending D. staying

17.A. morning B. afternoon C. evening D. night

18.A. silent B. clean C. warm D. awake

19.A. scholarship B. room C. teacher D. position

20.A. education B. sleep C. job D. pay

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