One afternoon last week, I saw three tearful children from my son’s school being comforted by teachers. That morning, my 11-year-old had stomach pains, retching(干呕)into a bowl. Talking to other mothers later, I heard about other children with stomachache or difficulty sleeping the night before.

What caused so much pain? Sports day. Sports day might be necessary at a highly-competitive independent school, but not at a village primary school. For the children who can fly like the wind, sports day causes no problem. For those who are overweight or just not good at sport, it is a nightmare(噩梦). Even for those who enjoy running but fall halfway down the track in front of the entire school and their parents, it can prove a disaster.

Why do we put our children through this annual suffering? Some may say competition is character building; or it’s taking part, not winning, that’s important; or that it is a tradition of school life. I just felt great pity for those children in tears or in pain.

Team games at the end of sports day produced some close races, wild enthusiasm, lots of shouting—and were fun to watch. More importantly, the children who were not so fast or quick at passing the ball were hidden a little from everyone’s eyes. Some of them also had the thrill of being on the winning side.

I wish that sports day could be abandoned and replaced with some other less-competitive event. Perhaps an afternoon of team games, with a few races for those who want them, would be less stressful for the children and a lot more fun to watch.

1.What can we learn about the author’s son from Paragraph 1?

A. He talked with some mothers.

B. He comforted his classmates.

C. He had difficulty in sleeping.

D. He suffered from stomachache.

2.Sports day is still an annual event in this school probably because .

A. this is an independent school

B. it is a tradition of the school

C. it helps children lose weight

D. children enjoy watching sports

3.What does the author think about team games?

A. They should include more stressful races.

B. They are acceptable to different children.

C. They should be abandoned at primary schools.

D. They are less fun for those who love running.

4.What is the author’s attitude towards sports day?

A. Critical. B. Neutral. C. Positive. D. Ambiguous.

With around 100 students scheduled to be in that 9 am Monday morning lecture, it is no surprise that almost 20 people actually make it to the class and only 10 of them are still awake after the first 15 minutes; it is not even a surprise that most of them are still in their pyjamas(睡衣). Obviously, students are terrible at adjusting their sleep cycles to their daily schedule.

All human beings possess a body clock. Along with other alerting(警报)systems, this governs the sleep/wake cycle and is therefore one of the main processes which govern sleep behaviour. Typically, the preferred sleep/wake cycle is delayed in adolescents, which leads to many students not feeling sleepy until much later in the evenings. This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the“night owl”schedule of sleep.

This is opposed to the“early bird”schedule, and is a kind of disorder where the individual tends to stay up much past midnight. Such a person has great difficulty in waking up in the mornings. Research suggests that night owls feel most alert and function best in the evenings and at night. Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people can be classified as“night owls”and only 10 percent can be classified as“early birds”—the other 70 percent are in the middle. Although this is clearly not true for all students, for the ones who are true night owls this gives them an excellent excuse for missing their lectures which unfortunately fall before midday.

1. What does the author stress in Paragraph 1?

A. Many students are absent from class.

B. Students are very tired on Monday mornings.

C. Students do not adjust their sleep patterns well.

D. Students are not well prepared for class on Mondays.

2.Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 2?

A. Most students prefer to get up late in the morning.

B. Students don’t sleep well because of alerting systems.

C. One’s body clock governs the sleep/wake cycle independently.

D. Adolescents’delayed sleep/wake cycle isn’t the preferred pattern.

3.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “classified”?

A. Criticised. B. Grouped. C. Organised. D. Named.

4.What does the text mainly talk about?

A. Functions of the body clock.

B. The “night owl” phenomenon.

C. Human beings’ sleep behaviour.

D. The school schedule of “early birds”.

Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.

Given that I teach students who are trained to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.

“Surgery(外科手术), ”one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows. You can get at least 5 cm taller! ”

At that point, I was shocked. I am short. I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦)just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall!

It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.

No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost is. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.

1.Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to .

A. marry a better man/woman

B. become a model

C. get an advantage over others in job-hunting

D. attract more admirers

2.According to the passage, the author believes that .

A. everyone should pursue perfection, whatever the cost is

B. it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs

C. media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery

D. it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career

3.What does the author think of his height?

A. He hates to be called a short man.

B. He tries to increase his height through surgery.

C. He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact.

D. He just accepts it as it is.

根据短文内容, 从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Doctors Say Most Heart Disease Is Preventable

Heart disease is the number one killer, worldwide, of men and women over the age of 60. But people of all ages die of heart attacks each year. And while death rates have declined in the U. S. and many western European countries, they are on the rise in the developing world. 1.

No one would have guessed that Barbara Teng would have a heart attack. She was not overweight. She did not smoke or exercise. “In 2004, the week after I turned 49, when I was on a business trip in Chicago, I had a major heart attack, ”she said. 2. She now exercises daily, and monitors her heart health.

Dr. Patrice Nickens, who is with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, thinks that heart disease is 82 percent preventable. “3. ”she said, “Men are also facing the same problem, and the key to staying healthy is knowing your numbers. ”

“Your weight, your blood cholesterol, blood sugar and your blood pressure are important numbers that can help you take action and reduce your risk, ”she said.

4.

“And the steps to take are simple: don’t smoke, maintain a healthy weight, exercise, know your numbers and talk to your physician and control these risks, ”she said.

African-Americans are at higher-than-average risk of heart disease and stroke; people don’t even know they have it, which increases the risk. Medstar Washington Hospital Center is trying to reach this population. 5. For example, helping the people monitor their blood pressure. If people realize they are at risk of heart disease, they’ll make lifestyle changes: lose weight, exercise, eat the right foods and keep in touch with a doctor.

A. A healthy lifestyle can prevent heart disease.

B. So we must cure heart disease.

C. It is the leading cause of death for women.

D. With the right training, they can play an important role in community health.

E. And that changed her life.

F. Lack of exercise causes heart attacks.

G. Yet most heart disease is preventable.

阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

A little girl lived in a simple and poor house on a hill. Usually she ________ play in the small garden. She could see over the garden fence and across the valley a wonderful house with shining golden windows high on another hill. ________ she loved her parents and her family, she desired to live in such a house and ________all day about how wonderful and exciting ________must feel to live there.

At the age when she gained some________ skill and sensibility(识别力), she ________ her mother for a bike ride ________the garden. Her mother finally allowed her to go, ________her keeping close to the house and not________ too far. The day was beautiful. The little girl knew________ where she was heading! ________ the hill and across the valley, she rode to the________ of the golden house.

________she got off her bike and put it against the gate post, she focused on the path________ to the house and then on the house itself. She was very disappointed when she ________ that all the windows were ________ and rather dirty.

So ________and heart-broken, she didn’t go any further. She ________, and all of a sudden she saw an amazing ________ . There on the other side of the valley was a little house and its windows were golden. Looking at her little home, she ________ that she had been living in her golden house filled with love and care. Everything she dreamed was right there in front of her nose!

1.A. might B. should C. would D. must

2.A. Unless B. Although C. Since D. But

3.A. dreamed B. worried C. asked D. shouted

4.A. this B. that C. it D. which

5.A. different B. scientific C. musical D. basic

6.A. begged B. blamed C. invited D. paid

7.A. inside B. outside C. through D. along

8.A. insisting on B. relying on C. arguing about D.wondering about

9.A. traveling B. running C. riding D. walking

10.A. madly B. rapidly C. exactly D. possibly

11.A. Over B. Down C. Around D. Beside

12.A. windows B. steps C. center D. gate

13.A. Until B. As C. While D. Because

14.A. getting B. introducing C. leading D. moving

15.A. felt B. learned C. concluded D. found

16.A. transparent B. bright C. plain D. wide

17.A. anxious B. angry C. serious D. sad

18.A. turned around B. cheered up C. settled down D. dropped in

19.A. hill B. valley C. background D. sight

20.A. imagined B. decided C. realized D. guessed

Tayka Hotel De Sal

Where: Tahua, Bolivia

How much: About $95 a night

Why it’s cool: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt—including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses (床垫) and blankets).The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake that’s the world’s biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.

Green Magic Nature Resort

Where: Vythiri, India

How much: About $240 a night

Why it’s cool: Ridding a pulley(滑轮)-operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window—there is no glass!—you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy. Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast—the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn “elevator”.

Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Where: Cottonwood, Idaho

How much: $92 a night

Why it’s cool: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps of the loft in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant outside.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Where: Ayvali, Turkey

How much: Between $130 and $475 a night.

Why it’s cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65℉in summer.(Don’t worry—there is heat in winter.)

1.What is the similarity of the four hotels?

A. Being expensive. B. Being beautiful.

C. Being natural. D. Being unique.

2.What does the underlined part “Sweet Willy” refer to?

A. The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.

B. The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.

C. The name of the hotel.

D. The name of the hotel owner.

3.Which of the hotel makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?

A. Tayka Hotel De Sal B. Green Magic Nature Resort

C. Dog Bark Park Inn B&B D. Gamirasu Cave Hotel

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