In Western countries people have been using the installment （按揭）plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments .In the U.S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.

The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyers pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.

Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping, It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is ,however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.

1.Which of the following is true about the installment plan?

A.British families just use the installment plan to buy furniture.

B.More than 10 precent American families buy things on installment.

C.Americans spend more on installment buying than British people do.

D.The payment of installment buying is easier than buying by cash.

2.Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because_________.

A.the buyer has to pay extra money as interest

B.the delivery of the goods charges extra money

C.the buyer has to pay a down payment

D.The service offered by installment plan charged extra money

3.What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?

A.He might lose his job

B. He will stop owning the item he has bought

C. He will have to sell what he has bought

D. He will go into debt

4.The advantages of installment buying might include all the followings EXCEPT that _________.

A.purchasing power is strengthened

B.Employment might be increased

C.People develop a good habit of saving money

D.Young couples are able to furnish their homes

5.In some countries, the government controls the installment plan to_________.

A.increase employment

B. avoid depressions

C.ensure that businesses make good profits

D. ensure that people can pay for what they buy

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi, girl! My name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may! “and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age ?”I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!”

“No seriously “I said. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” “she told me.

Over the course of the year, Rose because a campus icon（偶像）and she easily made friends wherever she went .She loved to dress up and she reveled（陶醉）in the attention bestowed（赠给）upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.

“We do not stop playing because we are old“; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success/You have to laugh and find humor everyday. Your’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die!” she said.

“The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.” Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Song of Rose”. She challenged each of us study the lyrics(歌词)and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

1.Rose made herself known to the author in a _______ manner.

A. serious B. cold C. crazy D. humorous

2.From the information provided in the passage, we know________.

A.Rose finished the college degree within a year

B.Rose did realize her dream of meeting a rich husband and getting married through college education

C.Rose enjoyed her campus life very much

D.Rose grew so old that she stopped playing

3.Rose delivered the speech________.

A.at the graduation

B. which she prepared carefully

C. ended with ”The Song of Rose”

D. to challenge all the other speakers

4.According to her speech,________.

A.whenever you have a dream, you succeed

B.All people don’t grow up while growing older

C.Rose usually regretted having done something

D.a nine-year-old is as old as a 87-year-old if he doesn’t do anything

5.The best title for the passage can be________.

A.Growing Older or Growing Up B. It’s Never too Old to learn

C. Humour Does Count D. Challenge Yourself

Being sociable looks like a good way to add years to your life. Relationships with family, friends, neighbours, even pets, will all do the trick, but the biggest longevity(长寿)boost seems to come from marriage or an equivalent relationship. The effect was first noted in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote that widows and widowers（鳏夫）were at a much higher risk of dying than their married peers. Studies since then suggest that marriage could add as much as seven years to a man’s life and two to a woman’s. The effect holds for all causes of death, whether illness, accident or self-harm.

Even if the odds are stacked against you(the conditions are not favourable),marriage can more than compensate. Linda Waite of the University of Chicago has found that a married older man with heart disease can expect to live nearly four years longer than an unmarried man with a healthy heart. Likewise, a married man who smokes more than a pack a day is likely to live as long as a divorced man who doesn’t smoke. There’s a flip side, however, as partners are more likely to become ill or die in the couple of years following their spouses; death, and caring for a spouse with mental disorder can leave you with some of the same severe problems. Even so, the odds favour marriage. In a 30-year study of more than 10,000 people, Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School describes how all kinds of social networks have similar effects.

So how does it work? The effects are complex, affected by socio-economic factors, health-service provision, emotional support and other more physiological mechanisms(机制).For example, social contact can boost development of the brain and immune system, leading to better health and less chance of depression later in life. People in supportive relationships may handle stress better. Then there are the psychological benefits of a supportive partner.

A life partner, children and good friends are all recommended if you aim to live to 100.The best social network is still being mapped out, but Christakis says:” People are interconnected, so their health is interconnected.”

1.William Farr’s study and other studies show that________.

A.social life provides an effective cure for illness

B.Being sociable helps improve one’s quality of life

C.Women benefit more than men from marriage

D.Marriage contributes a great deal to longevity

2.Linda Waite’s studies support the idea that________.

A.older men should quit smoking to stay healthy

B.Marriage can help make up for ill health

C.The married are happier than the unmarried

D.Unmarried people are likely to suffer in later life

3.It can be inferred from the context that the “flip side”(Line5,Para2)refers to________.

A.the disadvantages of being married

B.The emotional problems arising from marriage

C.The responsibility of taking care of one’s family

D.The consequence of a broken marriage

4.What does the author say about social networks?

A.They have effects similar to those of a marriage.

B.They help develop people’s community spirit.

C.They provide timely support for those in need.

D.They help relieve people of their life’s burden

5.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A.It’s important that we develop a social network when young.

B.To stay healthy, one should have a proper social network.

C.Getting a divorce means risking a reduced life span.

D.We should share our social networks with each other.

首先，请阅读下列的应用文：

A. Chapter One. …you probably have an image in your mind of what the “perfect’ or “ideal” body looks like. Try not to press yourself to look that way. Each person is born with genes that control the shape of his/her body. Everyone is different. It’s important to be comfortable with the body you have.

B. Chapter Two. …You use energy for everything you do. That energy comes from the food you eat. Too much food or too little exercise causes your body to store the extra energy in fat cells. But, if you exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet, you’ll feel healthier and stronger not to mention look great.

C. Chapter Three. … Your body runs best on foods high in carbohydrates（碳水化合物） and low in fat and sugar. Eating a healthy diet will provide your body with everything it needs to run smoothly. Your body breaks down proteins into amino acids(氨基酸), so you don’t need to take in the amino acids separately.

D. Chapter Four. …Exercise does more than just burn calories. For instance, regular exercise makes your muscles strong and flexible, and increases the amount of muscle you have. It also makes your heart stronger and lowers your blood pressure; …

E. Chapter Five. …Always warm up and stretch for 5-10 minutes before you do strength or endurance exercises. Afterwards, take 10 minutes to cool down. Your heart should beat normally when you stop. Exercising with a group may help you to exercise regularly.

F. Chapter Six. …Supplementation of a mixture of essential amino acids will increase protein synthesis (蛋白质综合体). While supplementing with either carbohydrate or amino acids(氨基酸) may limit muscle damage and stimulate (激励) protein synthesis, there is increasing evidence that the combination can have an addictive effect.

以下是与上述章节相关的读者，请匹配读者和他/她需要了解的相关信息的所在章节。

1. Charity He always breathes heavily and his heart beats irregularly when he finishes his exercise. He wonders whether there is something wrong with his body or whether he is not suited for physical exercises.

2.Wander She likes eating meat a lot every day as she thinks that meat can provide people with energy. Besides, she does sports on weekends. However, she is not energetic enough to face the pressure.

3.Helly She has tried many ways of keeping fit, but she still gets fat because of stress from work. She doesn’t look well.

4.Tammy He is a Grade One college student majoring in gymnastics. He must write a passage about what a healthy body is.

5.Pandy He is a coach, working in a gym. He will start a new course next month on how to lose weight. For the first few lessons, he is going to talk about why people have to exercise.

中国民工学校状况越来越受到人们的关注，假设你是李华，你和你的同学共同对你所在的城市的民工学校进行了调查。了解情况之后你写信给英语周报，呼吁全社会关注民工学校，帮助民工子弟。

[写作内容]：

[写作要求]

1、只能使用5个句子表达所有写作内容，信的开头与结尾已经给出，不计入句子个数。

2、文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。

[参考词汇]：民工学校：migrant school

Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school , I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas．I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas．

I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car．I stopped and wondered what I should do．A car pulled up behind me．It was the couple. They said they would take me．We chatted and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card．I wrote them a thank-you note．Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them．Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful．

Years later, I drove to a meeting in the morning．In late afternoon I found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery was dead．Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership was right next door．I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom．

"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble．They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it．They would accept no payment, so later, I wrote them a note to say thanks．I received a letter back from one of the salesmen．No one had ever written him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said．

"Thank you" - two powerful words．They're easy to say and mean so much．

[写作内容]

(1) 以约30个词概括短文的要点；

(2) 然后以120个词就“向别人道谢的重要性”这个主题发表你的看法, 并包括如下要点：

a) 叙述你向别人道谢的一次真实或虚构的经历；

b) 你是如何认识到向别人道谢的重要性的；

c) 向别人道谢对你和对方都带了什么影响。

[写作要求] 可以使用实例或其它论述方法支持你的论点, 也可以参照阅读材料的内容, 但不得直接引用原文中的句子

【评分标准】概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。

It is generally agreed that a good student must be able to concentrate for a reasonable time on a written text, yet most students are given very little help to practice this skill. Almost all classroom reading is into minutes of reading and therefore it is no wonder that a number of students have in this field.

If you have a problem with ,you must first examine the conditions in which you work. Lighting can be a problem: too many readers put up with lighting conditions. If this is a problem, and you don’t have a reading lamp, try a strong bulb(灯泡), read near a window in day time and always avoid reading in your own shadow. the light should come from overhead or over your shoulder. Reflective surfaces should be avoided. You should also excessive contrast (过度对比) caused by using a reading lamp as the only of light as this will cause great tiredness and probably eye injury.

A second reason for poor concentration is the of motivation, that is, an absence of any sense of purpose. If this is the cause, you will almost be bored by the text. Be sure that you keep your in mind during your reading so that you know you should also adopt some specific techniques—such as making notes from your reading—to aid your concentration.

If you play the role of a receiver of information, simply concentrating on absorbing everything you read, you will that your mind is overloaded, confused by the material. Then you should take a more active approach. Enter into a with the text, pausing to reflect on what you read, and what you find. That’ll be good for reading and comprehension.

1.A. forced B. driven C. admitted D. broken

2.A. problems B. abilities C. advantages D. mistakes

3.A. instruction B. communication C. concentration D. appreciation

4.A. good B. poor C. strong D. bright

5.A. Ideally B. Optionally C. Deliberately D. Cheerfully

6.A. promote B. ensure C. avoid D. increase

7.A. source B. grade C. aspect D. system

8.A. supply B. concern C. awareness D. lack

9.A. abnormal B. clear C. careful D. humorous

10.A. carefully B. strangely C. certainly D. naturally

11.A. objectives B. requirements C. memories D. considerations

12.A. sensitive B. relative C. conservative D. passive

13.A. forget B. doubt C. find D. believe

14.A. quarrel B. dialogue C. battle D. connection

15.A. refusing B. demanding C. receiving D. questioning

I seldom thought I had a passion. I would sit before the TV all day, thinking 1. nothing but the next shadow. It was not long ago that I first learned how important having a passion is to life.

One day I went with Mum to drop my sister off at the gym. Then, 2. Mum stopped at a red light, someone on the roadside caught my eyes. It was a man 3. (dress) in rags, homeless. That didn’t interest me, for I 4. (see) many like him before.

But he man wasn’t sitting down with a sad 5. (express). He had a radio in his hand and was dancing 6. (merry) to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious thing 7. he had.

“Mum, why does that man have a radio even though he’s homeless?” I asked.

“He bought 8.,” she replied.

“But if he’s homeless, why doesn’t he use the money to buy food or clothes? He wasted it on something he doesn’t need.”

“Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren’t 9. only important things. We need happiness, too.”

“I see.” The man must care too much about music, so he bought a radio instead of food and clothes. I realized that happiness is the key to life. 10. it, there’s nothing to look forward to. A passion gives a person the happiness they need to keep going!

One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds dashing and dancing in the exciting atmosphere above the earth. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.

Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the controlling string and the clumsy tail kept them in tow(牵引), facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!” They flew beautifully even as they fought the forced restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. “Free at last,” it seemed to say. “Free to fly with the wind.”

Yet freedom from control simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic gentle wind. It flew ungracefully to the ground and landed in a twisted mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. “Free at last”. Free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to settle down lifeless against the first roadblock.

How much like kites we sometimes are. There always exist misfortunes and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Prohibition is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us pulled at the rules so hard that we never fly fast to reach the heights we might have obtained. If we keep all the commandment(戒律), we will never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the prohibitions are actually the steady force that helps us climb and achieve.

1.In the passage the writer watched _______.

A. many young people enjoying the sunny day

B. many birds dashing and dancing in the sky

C. many young people flying multicolored kites

D. the strong winds blowing against the sky

2.What enables a kite fly gracefully in the sky according to the story?

A. The kite itself and strange shapes.

B. A long string and blowing wind.

C. A windy spring day and blue sky.

D. The size and a long string.

3.What didn’t happen to the freed kite?

A. It kept flying freely in the air.

B. It lay powerless in the dirt.

C. It was trapped in a dead bush.

D. It was blown helplessly around.

4.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A. To give up tips on how to fly kites effectively.

B. To warn us that freedom is actually powerless.

C. To explain that restrictions are really unnecessary.

D. To teach us a lesson that rules are important in life.

5.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. Fly with Restrictions

B. Where to Fly

C. Why to Fly Kites

D. Fly to Freedom

Our most commonly held code for success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this code is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, and productive at work. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigid research in psychology and neuroscience(神经学), management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS to fix this broken code. Using stories and case studies from his work with CEOs of Fortune 500 in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive ability at work.

Based on seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential.

A must-read for everyone trying to stand out in a world of increasing workloads and stress, The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to acquire the benefits of a happier and more positive mode of thinking to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives.

1.Which of the following is the traditional code for success?

A. Hard word→success→happiness.

B. Success→happiness→hard word.

C. Happiness→hard word→success.

D. Hard work→ happiness→success.

2.What do we know about the new discovery in paragraph 1?

A. Conventional code for success is totally useless.

B. The more we are successful, the happier we are.

C. Positive psychology is really backward.

D. Happiness contributes greatly to success.

3.Why did the writer write the book The Happiness Advantages?

A. To reprogram one’s brain to be healthier.

B. To make people more positive and competitive.

C. To study stories and cases of CEOs.

D. To make a lecture at Harvard University.

4.The underlined phrase “capitalize on” in paragraph 3 is closes in meaning to ____

A. provide fund for

B. make full use of

C. write big letters for

D. stand out in

5.What is the purpose of the writer in writing the passage?

A. To help people stand out in the world.

B. To arouse people’s sense of happiness.

C. To help people decrease the work stress.

D. To strongly recommend the book.