题目内容
In the face of ________ failure, it is the most important to keep up ________ good state of mind.
A. /; a B. a; / C. the; / D. /; the
A
Coupons to spend
“How did you spend your coupons?”
On their first day back to school, many students in Hangzhou greeted each other this way.
The coupons referred to the 100 yuan coupons each student received form the city government before the Spring Festival holidays. Over 260,000 primary school and middle school students were given coupons. They could use them in local stores and supermarkets, or to see movies and buy books.
The same coupons have also been given to low income families in Hangzhou. Other cities, including Chengdu and Nanjing, also gave coupons to their citizens. More cities are expected to follow their lead.
Why are local governments doing this?
These programmes are all part of a broader effort in China to increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis.
The crisis has seriously affected China’s exports and investments (投资). Many factories in southern cities have been closed down. Some companies are laying off workers or reducing their pay. The stock market and real estate market have been falling.
In a time of financial crisis, people usually respond by saving money. They are uncertain about the future and are afraid that more difficult times may be ahead. Now many people are choosing not to spend money carelessly. Major chain stores have seen a sharp slowdown in sales, analysts say.
But spending keeps an economy healthy. If people don’t spend, there will be too many products in the market. Then shops will stop buying products from factories. When factories receive no orders, they close down. The workers there accordingly lose their jobs. Also, if people don’t spend, the service industry suffers. The total result is that the whole economy breaks down.
Issuing coupons is a practical and effective way to increase domestic demand in the current situation, said Jiang Zengwei, vice-minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce. Hangzhou reported a rise in customers in local markets during Spring Festival holiday.
However, issuing coupons is only a temporary measure. To increase consumers’ confidence, the government needs to establish a sound secure social system in the long term. When people don’t have to worry about education, health care and their pension, they will be more willing to spend instead of saving.
【小题1】Why are local governments issuing coupons?
| A．To increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis. |
| B．To enable students to use them in local stores and supermarkets, or to see movies and buy books independently. |
| C．To help those low income families in the global financial crisis. |
| D．To show the government’s ability to solve economic problems |
| A．China’s exports and investments have been seriously affected. |
| B．People begin to spend money without a second thought. |
| C．Workers are faced with losing jobs and the reduction of the salaries. |
| D．The active stock market and real estate market have gone. |
| A．Issuing coupons is a practical and effective way to increase domestic demand in a long term. |
| B．The total result of saving money is that the whole economy breaks down. |
| C．The government may carry out new policies to encourage citizens to be willing to spend in the near future. |
| D．After issuing the coupons, the local markets have seen a rise in customers during Spring Festival holiday. |
| A．Spend now, save later. |
| B．Spend money like there’s no tomorrow; come on! |
| C．Spend money like it’s going out of style; let’s do it! |
| D．Big spender, wise spender. |
Joey is loyal, encouraging and self-sacrificing, always putting others’ interests ahead of his own. He is a hard worker, who also loves to run and play. In short, he’s an ideal friend and a heroic character.
Here is the thing: Joey is a horse, who appears as the main character in Steven Spielberg’s new film War Horse.
It is based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel, which also caused the same-titled Tony Awards winning play.
The film follows the saga of Joey, a racehorse that’s trained for farm work under the loving care of Albert (Jeremy Irvine )after Albert’s drunk father Ted(Peter Mullan ) overpays for the animal at auction(拍卖会).
Then the World War I tears Albert and Joey apart. Joey is sold into the war effort for the British and starts his episodic adventures in Europe.
Splendidly staged, the battle plots in the film are visually astounding and impressive.
And with Spielberg’s unique, top-notch direction and storytelling skills, War Horse cannot escape its episodic nature, calling to mind another Spielberg film about the horrors of war and its effects upon soldiers and civilians—Saving Private Ryan.
While that film shocked with horrific scenes of bleeding, it relied on a company of easily-described characters and a focused storyline to present heroic themes.
Like Saving Private Ryan, War Horse clings to a series of characters, not only Albert, but also British officers, French civilians and German soldiers, who display courage in the face of danger. Everyone who comes in contact with Joey is either already in touch with their inner angel or is quickly moved to become more humane.
Although none of this covers the fact that we’ve seen this stuff elsewhere before, the lovely sentiment will steal your heart.
And the emotional signature of Spielberg can be felt as he establishes the relationship between the boy and the horse and the mood of the piece – there will be tears.
Therefore, calling this beautiful, dramatically incomplete film “ Saving Private Joey”, is entirely justifiable.
【小题1】In common with “ Saving Private Ryan”, the film War Horse _________ .
| A．is full of terrifying scenes of bleeding and killing |
| B．received the title of Tony Awards Winning Play |
| C．covers a lot of characters |
| D．tells the story happening in the Second World War |
| A．War Horse is based on the same-titled novel by Steven Spielberg. |
| B．Joey is a heroic character because he saved many people’s lives. |
| C．Albert sold Joey into the war effort for Europe. |
| D．Joey came to Albert’s care after Ted paid a lot of money for it. |
| A．astonishing | B．confusing | C．satisfying | D．disappointing |
| A．Joey ─ a heroic race horse | B．Albert and Joey |
| C．Saving Private Joey | D．Spielberg’s Joey |
Even facts “forgotten” by people during a busy day may be retrieved if this is followed by a good night’s sleep.
Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to remember simple words．Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could recall much more.
Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain could “rescue” lost memories during the night.
When the brain is first asked to remember something that memory is laid down in an “unstable” state, meaning that it is possible that it could be lost．At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into a “stable”, more permanent state．However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for a “stable” memory to be made “unstable” again．This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away again in the face of new experiences.
The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to understand．Initially, the written version of the word from the audio version only．Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to tail off as the day ended.
However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night’s sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had “ forgotten” the previous evening.
Dr Daniel, one of the study authors, said: “Sleep consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent interference or decay．Sleep also appears to “recover” or restore memories.” He said: “If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively recover what has been lost.”
Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal, said: “Memory research is undergoing a transformation---no longer is memory thought to be a hard-writing of the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and restorage.”
Sleep helps some memories “mature” and also prunes out unimportant memories.
【小题1】What does the first paragraph implies?
| A．A busy day makes people forget things easily. |
| B．People need a good night’s sleep after a busy day. |
| C．A good night’s sleep helps memories. |
| D．A good night’s sleep helps people forget a busy day. |
| A．created through a speech synthesizer |
| B．hard to understand |
| C．available at the beginning |
| D．designed to test people’s ability of understanding |
| A．is a hard-writing of the brain |
| B．is not a process of storage |
| C．is not a process of restorage |
| D．will be mature with the help of sleep |
| A．When people first remember something, the memory is in an “unstable state”. |
| B．The brain will change those important unstable memories into stable. |
| C．Once the memory become stable, it will never become unstable again. |
| D．Sleep can protect memories from being harmed. |
rying and was eventually elected to Congress and then the presidency.There is an English saying:“1._________.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. 2. _________.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. 3.__________. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated(忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. 4._________.
5.__________. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing , making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.
| A．Laughter can prolong one’s life. |
| B．As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. |
| C．The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress and pain. |
| D．It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach and even the feet. |
F. Laughter is the best medicine.
G.They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.