Are you looking for some new and exciting places to take your kids (孩子) to? Try some of these places
★Visit art museums. They offer a variety of activities to excite your kids' interest. Many offer workshops for making hand-made pieces, traveling exhibits, book signings by children's favorite writer, and even musical performances and other arts.
★Head to a natural history museum. This is where kids can discover the past from dinosaur(恐龙) models to rock collections and pictures of stars in the sky. Also, ask what kind of workshops and educational programs are prepared for kids and any special events that are coming up.
★Go to a Youtheater. Look for one in your area offering plays for child and family visitors. Pre-show play shops are conducted by area artists and educators where kids can discover the secret about performing arts. Puppet(木偶)making and stage make-up are just a couple of the special offerings you might find.
★Try hands-on﹙动手﹚ science. Visit one of the many hands-on science museums around the country. These science play-lands are great fun for kids and grown-ups alike. They'll keep your child mentally and physically active the whole day through while pushing buttons, experimenting, and building. When everyone is tired, enjoy a fun family science show, commonly found in these museums

  1. 1.

    If a child is interested in the universe, he probably will visit        

    1. A.
      a Youtheater
    2. B.
      an art museum
    3. C.
      a natural history museum
    4. D.
      a hands-on science museum
  2. 2.

    What can kids do at a Youtheater?

    1. A.
      Look at rock collections
    2. B.
      See dinosaur models
    3. C.
      Watch puppet(木偶) making
    4. D.
      Give performances
  3. 3.

    Where does this text probably come from?

    1. A.
      A science textbook
    2. B.
      A tourist map
    3. C.
      A museum guide
    4. D.
      A news report

Feeling blue about world? “Cheer up.” Says science writer Matt Ridley．”The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature．”
Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he’s carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good．And this is what he’s set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book．The Rational Optimist．He views mankind as grand enterprise that on the whole, has done little but progress for 100,000 years．He backs his finding with hard facts gathered through years of research．
Here’s how he explains his views．
1) Shopping fuels invention
It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone．Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, better ears, and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us．This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be．
2）Brilliant advances
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper．Take one example．In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work．In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for．In 1950 it was eight seconds．Today it’s half second．
3）Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change
Mitigating（减轻）climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself．A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel（化石燃料）electricity is forbidden by well - meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change．If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose - bleed by putting a tourniquet（止血带）around our necks．

  1. 1.

    What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

    1. A.
      Weakness of human nature．
    2. B.
      Concern about climate change．
    3. C.
      Importance of practical thinking．
    4. D.
      Optimism about human progress．
  2. 2.

    How does Ridley look at shopping?

    1. A.
      It encourages the creation of things．
    2. B.
      It results in shortage of goods．
    3. C.
      It demands more fossil fuels．
    4. D.
      It causes a poverty problem．
  3. 3.

    The candle and lamp example is used to show that______．

    1. A.
      oil lamps give off more light than candles
    2. B.
      shortening working time brings about a happier life．
    3. C.
      advanced technology helps to produce better candles．
    4. D.
      increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods．

A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy”at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
“You are employed,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the application to fill in, as well as date when you may start.”
The man replied，“But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail.”
“I’ m sorry，” said the HR manager.“If you don’t have an e-mail，that means , you do not exist. And who doesn’t exist cannot have the job.”
The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do with only ten dollars in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10 kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he managed to double his capital. He repeated the operation three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he could survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier, and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers(销售商) in the US.
He started to plan his family’s future and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker（经纪人）and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, “I don’t have an e-mail.”
The broker answered curiously,“You don’t have an e-mail, and yet have managed to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?" The man thought for a while and replied,“Yes，I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”

  1. 1.

    The underlined word “tripled” can be replaced by             

    1. A.
      became large
    2. B.
      became 3 times
    3. C.
      increased quickly
    4. D.
      decreased quickly
  2. 2.

    According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE?

    1. A.
      The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world
    2. B.
      The man didn’t give up though he failed the interview
    3. C.
      He started his career by selling tomatoes in the Supermarket
    4. D.
      Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft
  3. 3.

    The man can be described as               

    1. A.
      helpful and considerate
    2. B.
      positive and generous
    3. C.
      smart and hardworking
    4. D.
      stubborn and unselfish
  4. 4.

    Which proverb can best describe the story?

    1. A.
      Misfortune may be an actual blessing
    2. B.
      Where there is a will, there is a way
    3. C.
      Accidents will happen
    4. D.
      No pains, no gains

Traditional fairytales are being abandoned by parents because they are too horrible for their young children, a study found.
Research revealed one in five parents dislike old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel and are in favor of more modern books. One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the horrible details of Little Red Riding Hood. And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids as the themes of the story are about kidnapping and crimes. Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it forgives stealing.
The survey of 2,000 adults was conducted to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six episodes based on traditional fairytales. The survey found a quarter of parents questioned wouldn’t consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions from their children.
Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: “Bedtime stories are supposed to calm down children and send them off to sleep soundly. But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children.”
“As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five-year-old child with an over active imagination could take things too seriously. Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story.”
The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares.
However, half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids’ books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr. Men books

  1. 1.

    Why don’t some parents want to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids?

    1. A.
      Rumplestiltskin forgives stealing
    2. B.
      Rumplestiltskin is too difficult
    3. C.
      Rumplestiltskin is too long
    4. D.
      Rumplestiltskin may have bad influence on Children
  2. 2.

    We can learn from paragraph 3 that Grimm is ______.

    1. A.
      a fairytales book
    2. B.
      a movie for children
    3. C.
      a play loved by children
    4. D.
      a drama based on traditional fairytales
  3. 3.

    Which of the following may Steve Hornsey agree to?

    1. A.
      There is a moral to a classic fairytale
    2. B.
      Fairytales are dark
    3. C.
      Adults take fairytales too seriously
    4. D.
      Fairytales are not good for children's sleep
  4. 4.

    What’s the author’s attitude towards traditional fairytales?

    1. A.
      Optimistic
    2. B.
      Not mentioned
    3. C.
      Casual
    4. D.
      Disapproving

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was born in Budapest on September 16, 1893. In 1911 he entered his uncle’s laboratory where he studied until the outbreak of World War One, when he joined the army. He served on the Italian and Russian fronts, and he was permitted to leave the army in 1917 after being wounded in action. He completed his studies in Budapest before he went to Hamburg for a two-year course in physical chemistry. In 1920 he became an assistant at a university in Leiden, the Netherlands and from 1922 to 1926 he worked with H. J. Hamburger at the Physiology Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands.
In 1926, Szent-Gyorgyi was ready to end his own life after an embarrassing problem in his career. The scientist, thirty-two, had written a paper and handed it to his boss for approval to publish. His boss threw it in the dustbin. Concluding his life was a failure, the young researcher quit. Unable to support his wife and child, he sent them home to her parents. His final wish was to attend one last scientific meeting, to be among scientists, to have one last good time. So he went to the 1926 International Physiological Society Congress in Sweden.
Sitting in the audience, lost in self-pity, Szent-Gyorgyi listened to the president of the society, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, refer to the fine work of a researcher: Szent-Gyorgyi! After the speech, collecting his courage, he introduced himself to Hopkins. The great man invited the young scientist to Cambridge to do further work.
Szent-Gyorgyi’s life changed. He discovered the oxidation-preventing (防氧化的) action of vitamin C. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He accounted for his success by saying that discovery is seeing what everyone else has seen but thinking what nobody else has thought

  1. 1.

    Which of the following is the correct order of the events relevant to Szent-Gyorgyi?
    a. finished his studies in Budapest
    b. served during World War One
    c. worked with Hopkins
    d. studied in Hamburg

    1. A.
      b, c, a, d
    2. B.
      b, a, d, c
    3. C.
      a, c, d, b
    4. D.
      a, b, d, c
  2. 2.

    Why did Szent-Gyorgyi want to end his own life in 1926?

    1. A.
      His pride was hurt by his boss
    2. B.
      He was not satisfied with his paper
    3. C.
      He couldn’t support his family
    4. D.
      His boss stopped him attending a conference
  3. 3.

    The passage is organized in the pattern of______.

    1. A.
      cause and effect
    2. B.
      comparison and contrast
    3. C.
      time and events
    4. D.
      definition and classification

While many modern forms of communication like phone calls, e-mail, and letters, are extremely convenient. In my opinion, nothing beats speaking to another person face to face.
The first and most obvious advantage that a face communication has over a letter and e-mail is that there is the ability to interactively(相互作用地)converse. If the sender of a letter or an email does not write clearly, then much time must be spent to clear up the misunderstanding. In a face-to-face conversation, misunderstandings are easily dealt with because of the interactive nature of it.
I would still argue that the face-to-face conversation is better because you can see the other person. Not all communication is verbal(口头的); the meaning of much of what we say depends on our body language and the tone of voice. Joking and irony are particularly difficult to express and enjoy without seeing the expression on someone’s face, or watching the movements of their body.
Finally, if the goal of communication is to maintain or deepen the relationship(关系)with someone, the face-to-face communication offers the choice of communication by touch even if we could communicate by the video. Trust and respect between business partners can be established with a firm handshake. No amount of body language can convey the excitement of a high five between friends, and no number of words can communicate the comforting embrace of a loved one. Touch is the first basic method of our human relationships, before spoken language, and it is only available when people communicate face to face

  1. 1.

    Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    1. A.
      How to communicate more effectively(有效率地)
    2. B.
      The importance of using body language in communication
    3. C.
      Face-to-face communication, the best way of communicating
    4. D.
      Comparison(比较)of different communication forms
  2. 2.

    Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

    1. A.
      A letter or e-mail is always written unclearly
    2. B.
      Business partners can show trust through a firm handshake
    3. C.
      During a conversation, body language is also important
    4. D.
      The face-to-face conversation is a way of communication
  3. 3.

    Which of the following can communicate the feeling a loved one perfectly?

    1. A.
      letter
    2. B.
      e-mail
    3. C.
      phone
    4. D.
      face to face communication
  4. 4.

    The author’s attitude towards forms of communication is

    1. A.
      Modern forms of communication like phone calls and e-mail are extremely convenient
    2. B.
      Traditional ways of communication are out of date and should fall into disuse
    3. C.
      Face-to-face communication can only be used among strangers
    4. D.
      Face-to-face communication has advantages over the other ways of communication

Do you enjoy watching beautiful sunsets and seeing wildlife in some of the best parts of Wisconsin? Do you like being around people who share the same respect and love for natural resources? If you say“yes”, then a fisheries biologist is a great career choice for you.
As you can probably guess, education is very important. A Bachelor of Science degree in fisheries or biology is strongly recommended(推荐). Many biologists have a Master’s degree. But it’s not only good education that prepares you for a career as a fisheries biologist—field experience is also important. Volunteer work, internships(实习) and short-term fish technician positions are good ways to gain valuable training that can give you an edge in the competitive job market.
In addition to good education and field experience, a fisheries biologist needs other skills. You’ll spend a lot of time working with the public, so it’s important to feel comfortable talking to a variety of people. Good communication, listening, and presentation(陈述) skills are a must.
A common misconception among many people is that fisheries biologists get to fish all the time. Most biologists wish that were true. But as a fisheries biologist, you are especially busy during the fishing season, which leaves little time for you to actually go fishing. It’s sad, but true.
Each day brings something different in the life of a fisheries biologist. In the spring and fall, you spend a lot of time on the water shocking fish in order to sample the population, studying fish, and talking with people. The winter is spent analyzing(分析) fish data and communication with the public.
So if you find fish interesting and fun to learn about, and like working both outside and inside, consider a career as a fisheries biologist. You’ll never be bored!

  1. 1.

    We can infer this passage was written to       

    1. A.
      advise us to respect and protect wildlife
    2. B.
      encourage us to spend more time working outside
    3. C.
      explain why education is important for our career
    4. D.
      introduce a good career to those who are interested in wildlife
  2. 2.

    What are Paragraphs 2 and 3 mainly about?

    1. A.
      Education needed to find a good job
    2. B.
      Requirements for becoming a fisheries biologist
    3. C.
      The benefits of being a fisheries biologist
    4. D.
      Some good ways to gain valuable training
  3. 3.

    The underlined word“misconception”in Paragraph 4 probably means“       ”。

    1. A.
      question
    2. B.
      misunderstanding
    3. C.
      dream
    4. D.
      explanation
  4. 4.

    It can be inferred from the passage that       

    1. A.
      fisheries biologists like working in winter most
    2. B.
      fisheries biologists can easily get bored of their work
    3. C.
      fisheries biologists get to fish all the time all year round
    4. D.
      fisheries biologists spend a lot of time working outside in spring and fall

Ten years ago I used to be very fit (健康的). I rode a bike to work and I got a lot of exercise at weekends. I used to play tennis a lot and go for long walks. In those days I didn’t earn very much. I had a job in an office. It wasn’t a very good job but I had a lot of time to do the things I enjoyed doing.
Then, about eight years ago, I got a much better job. The pay was better, but the hours were a lot longer. I bought a car and drove to work every day. I began to take people out to lunch. And I began to put on weight, too. I stopped playing tennis and going for long walks at weekends because I just didn’t have any time for things like that any more.
There’s a lot of stress (压力) in my job. Perhaps that’s why I started drinking more than I used to. For example, I used to have only half a glass of whisky when I got home, but then I started filling my glass to the top, and instead of having one glass, I would have several. I started smoking a lot, too. I never used to smoke at all.
Two months ago I had a heart attack. At first I just couldn’t believe it. Luckily it wasn’t very serious. The doctor advised me to stop smoking and to eat less. He also advised me to work less and get more exercise. But I just haven’t any time! My job takes everything out of me!
Sometimes I wonder if I should get another job. Perhaps I could do something like I used to do. But if I do that, I won’t earn as much. I have a family to support. I have to think of them, too. I just don’t know what I should do. What do you think?

  1. 1.

    Compared with ten years ago, what is worse for the author now?

    1. A.
      His job
    2. B.
      His pay
    3. C.
      His means of transport
    4. D.
      His health
  2. 2.

    According to the passage, when the author got the better job, which of the following is NOT true?

    1. A.
      He got higher pay
    2. B.
      His working hours weren’t long
    3. C.
      He found it very stressful
    4. D.
      He had little free time at weekends
  3. 3.

    After the author had a heart attack, the doctor advised him _____

    1. A.
      not to work any longer
    2. B.
      to take a long vacation abroad
    3. C.
      to stop smoking and take exercise
    4. D.
      not to eat out any more

By the mid-nineteenth century, the “icebox” had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families of their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursors of modern refrigerator, had been invented.
Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.
But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium(奖金) price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool

  1. 1.

    What does the passage mainly discuss?

    1. A.
      The influence of ice on the diet
    2. B.
      The development of refrigeration
    3. C.
      The transportation of goods to market
    4. D.
      Sources of ice in the nineteenth century
  2. 2.

    According to the passage, when did the word “icebox” become part of the language of the United States?

    1. A.
      in 1803
    2. B.
      sometime bore 1850
    3. C.
      during the civil war
    4. D.
      near the end of the nineteenth century
  3. 3.

    The phrase “forward-looking” in line 3 is closest in meaning to______.

    1. A.
      progressive
    2. B.
      popular
    3. C.
      thrifty
    4. D.
      well-established
  4. 4.

    The author mentions “fish” in the passage because ______.

    1. A.
      many fish dealers also sold ice
    2. B.
      fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars
    3. C.
      fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice
    4. D.
      fish was not part of the ordinary person’s diet before the invention of the icebox

If your cellphone suddenly stops working, don’t blame the service provider．The malfunction（故障） might well have been caused by something bigger -- a solar storm．Experts expect that Earth will see more solar activity in the near future．The malfunction of electronic devices will just one of the effects．
Sunspots（太阳黑子） serve as an indicator of the sun’s activity．For the past two years, sunspots have mostly been missing．Their absence, the most prolonged in nearly 100 years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise．
When the number of sunspots drops at the end of each 11-year cycle, solar storms die down and all become much calmer. This “solar minimum” doesn’t last long. Within a year, sunspots and solar storms begin to build toward a new crescendo, the next solar maximum.
What’s special about this latest cycle is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. They should return in 2010. Scientists have predicted that the next solar cycle could be the most active on record: more sunspots and more solar storms. However, sunspots are mostly missing now.
Since the earth is in close contact with the sun, strong solar activities can bring trouble to our life. People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Air travel and radio communications can be affected by strong solar activities. A big solar storm could cause 20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.
What the sun will do next is beyond our ability to predict. Most astronomers think that the solar cycle will go on but at low level. However, there is also evidence that the sun is losing its ability to produce sunspots. By 2015, they could be gone altogether

  1. 1.

    The sun watcher feel surprised at______.

    1. A.
      the longest sunspots’ absence
    2. B.
      the largest sunspot number
    3. C.
      the malfunction of electronic devices
    4. D.
      the serious damage by sunspots
  2. 2.

    What does the underlined word “crescendo” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?

    1. A.
      small number
    2. B.
      high level
    3. C.
      usual cycle
    4. D.
      fresh start
  3. 3.

    We can infer that in the past two years______.

    1. A.
      solar activities have brought much trouble to our life
    2. B.
      the number of sunspots has increased to a large extent
    3. C.
      the solar minimum took the place of the solar maximum
    4. D.
      our cellphones have seldom been interrupted by the solar storm
  4. 4.

    Which statement does the text lead you to believe?

    1. A.
      Solar activities do no harm to our daily life
    2. B.
      Hurricane Katrina is also a type of solar storms
    3. C.
      It’s difficult to predict sunspots
    4. D.
      From now on there’ re no sunspots
  5. 5.

    What is the passage mainly about?

    1. A.
      The earth is in close contact with the sun
    2. B.
      Sunspots can cause trouble to our life
    3. C.
      Introduction of sunspots
    4. D.
      Introduction of the solar storm．
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