A bicycle is often far more ________ than a car in busy cities.


  1. A.
    convenient
  2. B.
    content
  3. C.
    valuable
  4. D.
    attractive

They’ve ________ us ￡ 150000 for the house. Shall we take it?


  1. A.
    provided
  2. B.
    supplied
  3. C.
    shown
  4. D.
    offered

Babies born in summer are more likely to become short-sighted in late life, a study has shown.
As many as a quarter of all cases of short-sightedness are caused by too great an exposure to sunlight in the first weeks of life, say eye experts.
They are advising all parents to put sunglasses on their babies during the first weeks.
Scientists had already established that over-exposure to sunlight caused shortsightedness in animals.
Researchers who compared the months in which babies were born with whether they needed glasses later on say the principle also applies to humans.
A study of almost 300,000 young adults-the largest of its kind-showed that those born in June and July had a 25 per cent greater chance of becoming severely short-sighted than those born in December or January.
Research leader Professor Michael Belkin, of Tel Aviv University, said it was because prolonged illumination(光照) causes the eyeball to lengthen-causing short-sightedness.
Hence the more light a newborn is exposed to, the more the eyeball lengthens and the worse the short-sightedness will be.
The mechanism which lengthens the eyeball is associated with levels of melatonin(褪黑激素), a pigment (色素) which protects the skin against harmful rays of the sun.
In young babies not enough melatonin is released as protection, meaning they are more vulnerable to sunburn and changes to eyeball shape.
Sight expert Professor Daniel O’Leary, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said “At the moment we don’t know the precise cause of why light exposure affects sight, but the evidence seems to prove that it is one of the reasons for people becoming shortsighted.”

  1. 1.

    Babies born in summer are more likely to be shortsighted ____________.

    1. A.
      because the summer sun is too strong for babies
    2. B.
      because babies born in summer have lengthened eyeballs
    3. C.
      if they are exposed to much sunlight in the first weeks after they are born
    4. D.
      if parents don’t know a proper way to protect their babies’ eyes
  2. 2.

    Melatonin is a kind of material to ___________.

    1. A.
      prevent the eyes from becoming near-sighted
    2. B.
      protect the skin from harmful sun rays
    3. C.
      make our body strong
    4. D.
      protect babies’ eyes from summer sun
  3. 3.

    From what Professor Daniel O’Leary says we can conclude that ___________.

    1. A.
      there is no evidence that shortsightedness is related to exposure to sunlight
    2. B.
      whether light exposure affects sight still needs to be further proved
    3. C.
      he believes that light exposure can cause shortsightedness
    4. D.
      he tries to give the cause of why light exposure affects sight
  4. 4.

    The underlined word “vulnerable” in the passage probably means __________.

    1. A.
      easy to be harmed                        
    2. B.
      resistant
    3. C.
      protective                              
    4. D.
      changeable

I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into, take part in, and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品)．As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction(小说) reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime

  1. 1.

    What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 mostly probably mean?

    1. A.
      even
    2. B.
      almost
    3. C.
      tiredly
    4. D.
      gradually
  2. 2.

    What can be inferred about the author as a child?

    1. A.
      He never watched TV
    2. B.
      He read what he had to
    3. C.
      He found reading unbelievable
    4. D.
      He considered reading part of his life
  3. 3.

    The underlined word "voice" in the second paragraph most probably means “________________ ”

    1. A.
      an idea
    2. B.
      a sound quality
    3. C.
      a way of writing
    4. D.
      a world to write about
  4. 4.

    What effect does reading have on the author?

    1. A.
      It helps him to realize his dream
    2. B.
      It opens up a wider world for him
    3. C.
      It makes his college life more interesting
    4. D.
      It increases his interest in worldwide travel
  5. 5.

    Which of the following can be the best title of this text?

    1. A.
      Why do I read?
    2. B.
      How do I read?
    3. C.
      What do I read?
    4. D.
      When do I read?

It is well known that Einstein was the father of the famous Theory of Relativity. But do you know it owes a great deal to Marits, Einstein’s former wife?
In 1896, 17-year-old Einstein went to Zurich to study physics. There he met a girl from Hungary. They studied in the same class. The same interest brought the two together and the young man fell in love with Marits. In 1903, when Einstein was 24 years old, he married Marits, who was 4 years older than he.
After their marriage, Einstein devoted himself to the research of the great theory. To give her husband more help, Marits gave up her own work, and became a good wife and assistant. She tried her best to encourage him whenever possible and she was sure that her husband would succeed. They often discussed the theory while walking outside or sitting together in the room. They even discussed it in their letters when one of them was away from home.
In 1914, the Einstein moved to Berlin and settled there. At that time, Einstein’s theory proved to be correct and he had become famous all over the world. Marits was very proud of him and his success. But it was not long before the First World War broke out. Marits as well as her two sons, who were all on holidays in Switzerland, couldn’t come back to Berlin. The war not only stopped Einstein’s work but broke up the warm, happy family. In 1919, Einstein and Marits had to get divorced.
Einstein himself, however, later said that Marits was really an outstanding woman.

  1. 1.

    From the first paragraph, we can infer that the passage is mostly about __________.

    1. A.
      Einstein’s former wife
    2. B.
      Marits’s love for Einstein
    3. C.
      Einstein’s famous theory
    4. D.
      the life of Einstein and his former wife
  2. 2.

    Einstein fell in love with Marits mainly because they ________.

    1. A.
      were in the same school
    2. B.
      wanted to do research together
    3. C.
      had the same interest
    4. D.
      came from different countries
  3. 3.

    By the year of 1914, Einstein had _________________.

    1. A.
      become famous all over the world
    2. B.
      been proud of his success
    3. C.
      suffered from the 1st World War
    4. D.
      lost touch with Marits
  4. 4.

    Einstein and Marits got divorced because ________________.

    1. A.
      they no longer loved each other
    2. B.
      the 1st World War broke out
    3. C.
      Marits went away with the children
    4. D.
      Einstein had become famous

Parent fans, both dads and mums, are shaming British football with their bad behaviour. Hundreds of junior soccer matches had to be abandoned last season because parent fans were swearing or even fighting on the touchline. At schools and clubs across the UK, hundreds of more matches also had to be called off for the same reason.
Reports tell of abuse at referees（裁判）, players and coaches and fight breaking out on the touchline.
Enough is enough    Peter Wright, a keen referee of junior soccer, finally hung up his boots last season. He decided to walk away for good. He said “Every week I have had to take abuse and I’ve had enough of it.”
“Parents’ behaviour is reducing many school teachers, referees, coaches and volunteers to despair.”
The kids are suffering    Jim Peter, a referee, said, “We are getting desperate and the kids are suffering.” He described the way spectators（观众）behave as abysmal and getting worse year by year. The big question is why so many parents shame their children in this way. Aggressive Behavior Contracts may have to be introduced to stop the violence and abuse. If not, the game will suffer.
Sign up to good conduct    Last season players and parents were made to sign a new good behavior contract. “If a parent breaks the contract, I take his or her child off the pitch and get him or her to explain why I have done so to the child,” said Marc Nash, Wallsend’s assistant leader.
“The next step is to ban both the parent and the child, but happily, so far this has not been necessary.”

  1. 1.

    A number of junior soccer matches were abandoned last season because       .

    1. A.
      players abused spectators in the matches
    2. B.
      parent fans swore and fought outside the pitch
    3. C.
      school teachers persuaded the government to call them off
    4. D.
      referees and coaches fought on the touchline
  2. 2.

    Who’s an assistant leader in the passage?

    1. A.
      Marc Nash.
    2. B.
      Jim Peter.
    3. C.
      Peter Wright.
    4. D.
      Wallsend.
  3. 3.

    The underlined word “abysmal” in the passage means       .

    1. A.
      extremely bad
    2. B.
      weak
    3. C.
      disappointing
    4. D.
      impolite

Vicki Larrieux, a 22-year-old student from Portsmouth, says she is unable to keep a healthy diet because she is frightened of vegetables. She survives on a diet of meat, potatoes, cereals（谷类食品）and apples but refuses even a single slice of carrot on her plate. She suffers from sweating and panics at the slightest sight of a carrot or a pea.
“I have always had a fear of vegetables. Even as a child I used to freak out if some carrots or a few peas were on my plate.” She said. “But as it continued into adult life, I started to think it might not just be a dislike for vegetables but an actual phobia（恐惧症）. Every time I see vegetables, not just on my plate, but anywhere, I would get feelings of panic and my heart would beat faster.”
Miss Larrieux’s condition makes trips to the supermarket or eating out at a restaurant with her boyfriend a major problem. It is an unpleasant experience for her to go to the supermarket. Luckily, her boyfriend is very understanding and does his best to comfort her.
A spokesman for phobia charity Anxiety UK says that around 13 percent of British people suffer a phobia of some form, there are treatment available（有效的）including medication and self-help groups for all manner of phobias.

  1. 1.

    Larrieux eats the following as a daily diet EXCEPT______.

    1. A.
      meat       
    2. B.
      potatoes       
    3. C.
      peas      
    4. D.
      cereals
  2. 2.

    The underlined part “freak out” in Paragraph 2 means “_________”.

    1. A.
      feel scared      
    2. B.
      get interested
    3. C.
      feel relaxed     
    4. D.
      get sad
  3. 3.

    According to the passage, Larrieux’s fear for vegetables _____.

    1. A.
      was found out recently           
    2. B.
      is a kind of phobia
    3. C.
      makes her famous                  
    4. D.
      makes her hard to get along with
  4. 4.

    What do we know from the passage?

    1. A.
      Only a few people around the world suffer from phobias
    2. B.
      Larrieux is not confident about her future
    3. C.
      Larrieux’s boyfriend doesn’t like meat
    4. D.
      Phobia can be treated.

About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: “So, how have you been?” And the boy—who could not have been more than seven or eight years old—replied, “Frankly, I’ve been feeling a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were “depressed”, that is, in low sprits, until we were in high school.
Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don’t seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development is based not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation（揭示）machine has been installed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practiced. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.

  1. 1.

    According to the author, feeling depressed is________.

    1. A.
      a sure sign of a mental problem in a child
    2. B.
      a mental state present in all humans, including children
    3. C.
      something that cannot be avoided in children’s mental development
    4. D.
      something hardly to be expected in a young child
  2. 2.

    Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world________.

    1. A.
      through connection with society
    2. B.
      gradually and under guidance
    3. C.
      naturally without being taught
    4. D.
      through watching television
  3. 3.

    According to the author, that today’s children seem adultlike results from ________.

    1. A.
      the widespread influence of television
    2. B.
      the poor arrangement of teaching content
    3. C.
      the fast pace of human scientific development
    4. D.
      the rising standard of living
  4. 4.

    What does the author think of communication through print for children?

    1. A.
      It enables children to gain more social information.
    2. B.
      It develops children’s interest in reading and writing.
    3. C.
      It helps children to read and write well.
    4. D.
      It can control what children are to learn.
  5. 5.

    What does the author think of the change in today’s children?

    1. A.
      He feels their adultlike behavior is so funny
    2. B.
      He thinks the change worthy of note.
    3. C.
      He considers it a rapid development.
    4. D.
      He seems to be upset about it.

I once did a year of voluntary service in a residential home for people with learning disabilities. It was set in an English village deep in the countryside, quite different from my home in Sweden. One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from Tanzania, seemed a little unhappy, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home who had financial difficulties and maybe it was impossible for her to complete her university courses.
So this friend of mine had sent all her money to Tanzania to support her friend! This meant that she didn't have much food to eat and no money to go anywhere outside the village.
I was so touched and I felt I had to do something. So, during my next trip to one of the nearby towns I walked into a shop. I didn’t have much money left myself but I thought I'd buy her an extra box of chocolate we both liked and some rice. I started talking to the woman（also a volunteer）working in the shop and eventually told her about my friend.
The woman looked at me, amazed. “Does she eat pasta?” she asked. “Yes,” I replied. She immediately started loading a bag with pasta, cookies, and other things until the bag was full. “Give her this for me. It’s my treat!’’ I couldn’t believe it but accepted with happiness. As I left the shop to go home with my unexpected bag of food, I asked the woman her name. “Just Gloria,” she said.
Imagine my friend’s face when I arranged the gifts on my kitchen table and fetched her from her room to see! I had never seen her so happy! A few weeks later she found Gloria in the shop and thanked her in person.
These two extraordinary women really showed me what true kindness and compassion（同情）are, and the impression will stay with me for the rest of my life!

  1. 1.

    The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to    .

    1. A.
      the shop
    2. B.
      the writer's home
    3. C.
      the residential home
    4. D.
      a year of voluntary service
  2. 2.

    Why did the girl from Tanzania seem a little unhappy?

    1. A.
      Because she had to stop her voluntary work.
    2. B.
      Because she had no money to buy food or other things.
    3. C.
      Because she had spent all her money on food and clothes.
    4. D.
      Because her friend in Tanzania maybe had to quit school for lack of money.
  3. 3.

    Why did the writer help the girl from Tanzania?

    1. A.
      Because the writer was a volunteer.
    2. B.
      Because they lived in the same room.
    3. C.
      Because the writer was moved by her kind act.
    4. D.
      Because the writer didn’t wish she went hungry.
  4. 4.

    From the text, we know that    .

    1. A.
      the writer was from England
    2. B.
      the writer was a university student from Tanzania
    3. C.
      Gloria was from Sweden and was very kind to the writer
    4. D.
      the writer volunteered to help people with learning disabilities

For the last couple of weeks , I had been stuck in front of my computer working on a project that was very important to me . My every waking hour was consumed by the project and although I imagined that I would feel happy after completing parts of the project, I was confused to find that instead , I was feeling rather depressed . I tried a range of methods to help cheer myself up. I had a relaxing bath, cooked a delicious meal to enjoy with my family and even watched a lighthearted movie,but to no avail. It was only when I turned to meditation(沉思) for a solution that the answer came to me : turn to nature!
The very next day , I grabbed my camera and a bottle of water and set off to spend a few hours walking in a nature reserve , even though it was pouring with rain . Within a couple of minutes I felt alive again.To be honest . I felt like a young school girl again and had to stop myself from hopping along the path singing , “I’m singing in the rain.”a song I used to sing when I was a child . I think as adults we often try too hard to control our inner children and as a result we restrain(限制)our own spirits , which only leads to depression and stress.
Interestingly,it has been shown that people who spend 40 minutes walking  in a nature reserve have a drop in their blood pressure levels. But this does not happen when they spend a similar amount of time walking in a busy city centre .
If you feel a little low in spirit and know that you have spent too much time indoors , relax completely , remove your shoes and let your inner child come out and play

  1. 1.

    The author felt depressed because she         

    1. A.
      couldn’t consume her waking hour
    2. B.
      had not seen a film for a long time
    3. C.
      had not finished her work on time
    4. D.
      had worked on a hard job for too long
  2. 2.

    The author walked in a nature reserve in the rain in order to      

    1. A.
      take photos
    2. B.
      find a solution to the project
    3. C.
      hop along the path
    4. D.
      cheer herself up
  3. 3.

    The underlined part“to no avail” in Paragraph 1 probably means“          ”

    1. A.
      unsuccessful
    2. B.
      unrelated
    3. C.
      uninteresting
    4. D.
      unexpected
  4. 4.

    In the author’s opinion,     

    1. A.
      a bath can make people relaxed
    2. B.
      depression is usually caused by hard work
    3. C.
      walking in a busy city centre harms people’s health
    4. D.
      adults should express their inner feelings freely
  5. 5.

    The last paragraph mainly serves as a(n)      

    1. A.
      explanation
    2. B.
      suggestion
    3. C.
      introduction
    4. D.
      reminder
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