A

While reading a story on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy is ruining their life plans, I couldn't help but think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children who grow up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment –my husband and I probably won't be able to buy a house until we're in our forties, and we two are burdened by student loans. But why should it be different? Being young people in America, shouldn't they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?

Consider some of these views shared in the story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won't be able to have children for at least a decade because they can't afford to buy a house yet.

I read that, and I thought what planet she is living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury(奢华), not a fertility requirement.

A 26-year-old man in the story is disappointed that he can't afford to get a Ph. D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.

Yes, it's sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people's expectations grow up when their wealth appears to be increasing. Their parents probably see their home values rise along with their investments. "So we have people who have grown up in an environment where people have great expectations of what living well means," says Kobliner.

This recession(经济衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems much better for our mental health to focus on being grateful—for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day—than on longing for some kind of luxurious life.

1.In the passage, the writer mainly talked about _____.

A. young people’s high expectations result in their disappointment

B. the 20-somethings' high expectations and ambitions

C. the poor living conditions of the 20-somethings

D. the necessity of receiving high education

2.In the writer’s opinion, what is the reason for young people’s dissatisfaction?

A. The declining economy.

B. Their high expectations.

C. Poor living conditions.

D. Their constant failure.

3.What are some young people complaining about?

A. They are complaining their aims are hard to achieve.

B. They are complaining their parents can’t give them a good education.

C. They are complaining they can’t afford to travel abroad.

D. They are complaining poor economic condition is ruining their life.

4.How can we describe the writer?

A. Lost and disappointed. B. Passive and stressed.

C. Determined and helpful. D. Positive and grateful.

5.The passage is developed mainly by ________.

A.facts and descriptions

B.comparison and persuasion

C.examples and explanation

D.figures and conclusion

NEMS

NEWRI Environmental Master of Science

NEWRI: Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute

Be a leader in environmental science and engineering

through the NEMS programme

NEWRI Environmental Master of Science (NEMS) is a primary graduate education and research programme conducted by Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU’s) NEWRI, with summer attachment at Stanford University. It aims to train engineers and scientists to meet the increasing environmental challenges for Asia and the wider region.

NEWRI-Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute

NEWRI is enabling Singapore to be a global center of environmental science and technology in providing technological solutions to the world. It is committed to environmental and water technologies through its ecosystem of education, research and developmental activities.

NEWRI is trying its best to pull together NTU’s water and environment-related centers and institutes, gathering one another’s strengths for the benefit of industry and society.

Master of Science Applications

● Applications open now and close on 30 May 2013

for Singapore applicants.

● Graduates having relevant engineering or science

background, including final-year students, are

invited to apply.

● Applicants are required to have a certificate of GRE.

Further information and application materials are available at the Website:

http:// www. Cee.ntu.edu.sg/Graduate/NEMS

Highlights of Programme:

★ Students spend a full summer term at Stanford taking regular courses and continue with the rest of their academic programme at NTU.

★ It is a 12-month full-time course in environmental science & engineering.

★Students under NEMS will have opportunities to do research projects under NEWRI as well as to continue for the Doctor’s degree.

★ Graduating students receive the NTU degree and a certificate from Stanford for their summer attachment.

Scholarship for tuition grants and living expenses at both Stanford and NTU are available

Enquiry contact: Ms Christian Soh

Tel:(65) 6861 0507 Fax:(65) 68614606

Email: nems@ntu.edu.sg

Information on other graduate programmes available at:

www.ntu.edu.sg/cee/program/postgrad.asp

1.If one wants to apply for the NEMS programme, it is essential for him to __________.

A. make contact with Ms Soh

B. have passed the GRE test

C. possess a university diploma

D. major in engineering or science

2.Students admitted to the NEMS Programme __________.

A. are required to obtain a Doctor’s degree

B. will first have regular courses at Stanford

C. needn’t be released from their regular jobs

D. can receive degrees of both NTU and Stanford

3.What’s the main purpose of the NEMS programme?

A. To offer scholarship for tuition grants and living expenses.

B. To strengthen the cooperation between NTU and Stanford.

C. To introduce Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute.

D. To train experts on environmental science and engineering.

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. 30 May 2012 is the deadline for NEMS application.

B. Applicants for NEMS should have relevant work experience.

C. Other centers and institutes for environmental and water technologies also exist in NTU

D. Singapore is the global center of environmental science and technology.

After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first train that came along.

After a few minutes I asked in English of course a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.

In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.

All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.

This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into bad luck.

1.The author decided to take the subway because ________.

A. he lived near the city center

B. the network covered most of the stops

C. he believed in his ability to deal with the trip

D. he had a good impression of its cleanliness

2.Having been shown the room card, the young man_________.

A. understood the author well

B. still remained puzzled

C. answered the author directly

D. pointed at the subway map

3. Which of the following can’t be used to describe the young man?

A. helpful B. rude

C. warmhearted D. caring

4.The author’s purpose of writing this passage is mainly to ________.

A. prove the importance of being careful

B. appreciate the kindness of the young man

C. complain some cultural misunderstanding

D. describe one of his adventurous experiences

One day, Amy is digging in the ground for a potato when along comes Tom. Seeing that there is no one in sight, Tom starts to scream. Tom’s angry mother rushes over and drives Amy away. Once his mum has gone, Tom helps himself to Amy’s potato.

We’ve all experienced similar annoying tricks when we were young—the brother who stole your ball and then got you into trouble by telling your parents you had hit him. But Amy and Tom are not humans. They’re African baboons(狒狒). __1.___

Tom’s scream and his mother’s attack on Amy could have been a matter of chance, but Tom was later seen playing the same tricks on others. __2.__

Studying behavior like this is complicated but scientists discovered apes(猿) clearly showed that they intended to cheat and knew when they themselves had been cheated. _3.___ An ape was annoying him, so he tricked her into going away by pretending he had seen something interesting. When she found nothing, she “walked back, hit me over the head with her hand and ignored me for the rest of the day.”

Another way to decide whether an animal’s behavior is deliberate is to look for actions that are not normal for that animal. A zoo worker describes how an ape dealt with an enemy. “He slowly stole up behind the other ape, walking on tiptoe. When he got close to his enemy, he pushed him violently in the back, then ran indoors.” Wild apes do not normally walk on tiptoe. ___4.___ But looking at the many cases of deliberate trickery in apes, it is impossible to explain them all as simple copying.

It seems that trickery does play an important part in ape societies. _5.___ Studying the intelligence of our closest relative could be the way to understand the development of human intelligence.

A. An amusing example of this comes from a psychologist working in Tanzania.

B. And playing tricks is as much a part of monkey behavior as it is of human behavior.

C. So the psychologists asked his colleagues if they had noticed this kind of trickery.

D. Of course it’s possible that it could have learnt from humans that such behavior works, without understanding why.

E. This use of a third individual to achieve a goal is only one of the many tricks commonly

used by baboons.

F. The ability of animals to cheat may be a better measure of their intelligence than their use

of tools.

G. In most cases the animal probably doesn’t know it is cheating.

A painting by Chinese artist Qi Baishi set a record for modern art and calligraphy (书法) on the mainland when it sold for 425.5 million yuan at an auction (拍卖) on May 22. The sale was a milestone (里程碑) in the auction of modern and contemporary artworks.

The price meant its value had risen more than 2,000 per cent in six years. The work , Eagle standing on pine tree with four-character coupleti(对联), measures about 2.6 metres by 1 metre . It was the second highest price paid for an artwork on the mainland . A Song dynasty work by Huang Tingjian was sold for 436.8 million yuan in 2010. Qi’s painting was finished in 1946 when Qi was 86, and was his largest work . With a starting price of 88 million yuan, it attracted nearly 50 bids(出价)in half an hour. Shanghai businessman Liu Yiqian said that the work had belonged to him and had cost less than 20 million yuan in 2005. The auction company said the work was brought back to the mainland after being bought from a private owner in San Francisco six years ago.

China ranked first in global art sales last year, ahead of the United States and Britain . Four Chinese artists were among the top 10 in worldwide sales: Qi Baishi , Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong and Fu Baoshi. Qi’s works ranked second in sales to Pablo Picasso’s last year . Qi was born into a peasant family in Hunan in 1864. He taught himself to paint and focused on nature including plants, insects, birds and fish. He is mostly well-known for his paintings of shrimps. In 1953, he was elected president of the Association of Chinese Artists. He died in Beijing in 1957.

1.What’s the best title of the text ?

A. Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Discovered .

B. Qi Baishi’ s Painting Was Brought Back .

C. Qi Baishi’s Painting Sets an Auction Record .

D. The Value of Qi Baishi’s Paintings Is on the Increase .

2. Whose artwork sold for the highest price on the mainland ?

A. Qi Baishi’s . B. Huang Tingjian’s

C. Xu Beihong’s . D. Zhang Daqian’s .

3.The auction price of Qi’s painting was _____ million yuan higher than the starting price in the auction .

A. 337.5 . B. 348.8 . C. 50 . D. 11.3 .

4.Which of the following is TRUE ?

A. Qi finished the painting when he was young .

B. The painting was once stolen by an American .

C. The owner of this painting Liu Yiqian gained a lot of money .

D. Pablo Picasso’s works ranked second in sales to Qi’s last year .

5. The text is most probably taken from a _____.

A. computer book B. library guide

C. technology magazine D. newspaper report

A Notice of Delnor Hospital (the “Hospital”)

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED ( 透露 )

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact:

The ASIFlex Privacy Office

PO BOX 6044

Columnbia MO 65205- 0858

We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting your medical information. We create a record of the care and services you receive at the Hospital. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply (遵从)with certain legal requirements.

This notice explains the ways in which we may use and disclose medical information about you. We also describe your rights and certain obligation( 义务 ) we have regarding the use and disclosure of medical information.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose your medical information. Not every use or disclosure in every category is listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment. We may use your medical information to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose your medical information to doctors, nurses and technicians. In addition, the doctor may need to tell the dietician if you have diabetes so that we may arrange appropriate meals. Different departments within the Hospital also may share your medical information.

For Payment. We may use and disclose your medical information so that the treatment and services you receive at the Hospital may be billed and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. We also may tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your medical information for the Hospital operations purposes. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the Hospital and to make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. We also may combine your medical information with those of many Hospital patients to determine whether additional services should be offered, what services are no longer needed and whether certain new treatments are effective.

1.From the notice, we can learn _______may read your medical information.

A. doctors B. nurses

C. dietician D. all above

2.Which of the following isn’t mentioned in the notice?

A. The patient will be told how soon he can recover after an operation

B. The Hospital creates a record of the care and services.

C. The patient can be told his health plan about a treatment

D. The Hospital can arrange appropriate meals for patients.

3.What can be inferred from the notice?

A. Patients couldn’t be informed of his medical information

B. All persons in the Hospital know patients’ information

C. Patients in the Hospital could receive proper care and treatment

D. The Hospital could never combine your medical information with those of many Hospital patients.

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