Sharon has been a serious runner for six years. She has completed three marathons and several shorter races. Each week she runs about 20 miles.
Her favorite shoes? A $25 pair of Champion shoes she bought at Target. “I like running in simple shoes,” she said, “The more you pay, the more trouble you get.” She is right. Money often buys higher-quality goods, but not when it comes to running shoes.
Over the last forty years, running has been popular as a leisure (闲暇的) sport. In 2009, 476,000 runners took part in a marathon. In 1976, the number was just 25,000. Sales of running shoes reached a record $ 2.36 billion in 2009, 60 percent more than ten years earlier.
But some of those dollars may not have been well spent. In 2007, Scottish researchers tested running shoes at three price levels, ranging from $80 to $150, and found that low-cost and mid-cost shoes within the same brand protected runners’ feet just as well as high-cost ones, sometimes even better.
“The common idea is that if you pay more, you will get better shoes,” said Abboud, director of the Institute of Motion Analysis and Research at the University of Dundee in Scotland, “Our research did not show that.” Professor Abboud and his colleagues have just completed a similar study, as not yet published, with nearly the same results.
If you want to run well and run safely, consider fit first and price last. “You want a shoe that helps you keep a balanced position,” said Mark Montgomery, manager of the JackRabbit Sports store in Union Square in New York, “A more expensive shoe is not always the solution.”
“The less you think about a shoe, the better,” said Ms Bakoul, a marathoner.
【小题1】According to Sharon, ________.

Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?

Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbooks (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times.

Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbooks, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.

1.It can be inferred from the passage that ____.

A．Fewer and fewer people will buy books.

B．A good dictionary should be kept in every home.

C．Books with hard covers sell better than paperbooks.

D．More people like TV programs about famous men.

2.What does the sentence “Television has not killed reading, however.” underlined in the second paragraph suggest?

A．People only need reading, though.

B．Reading is still necessary today.

C．Reading is more fun than television.

D．Watching television doesn’t help reading.

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A．TV programs are a chief provider of knowledge.

B．Cinemas are the best choice in getting information.

C．Reading is cheap way of learning and having fun.

D．Newspapers are an expensive way to enjoy oneself.

When you meet many different kinds of difficulties in your study, you’re supposed to    to face them rather than escape from them.

①look for a better way to improve your study

②feel that learning is so boring

③lose heart and lose yourself on other things you like

④ask your parents, teachers or friends to help you

⑤keep a calm heart and never give up

A. ①②④         B. ②③⑤         C. ①④⑤

根据句意及所给中文提示或英文解释，写出句中所缺单词，每空限填一词。
【小题1】Keep a        (微笑) all the time, you’ll have a happier life.
【小题2】The weather report says it will be           （有雨的）. Please take an umbrella with you.
【小题3】Drivers should          （停车）their cars in the right place, or they will be fined.
【小题4】Audrey Hepburn had put her           （努力） into ballet training before she entered the film industry.
【小题5】Daniel’s        （努力）is to be a famous director in the future.
【小题6】Zhang Sen was a brave young man. He _________(keep somebody safe from danger)a young lady from a river several months ago.
【小题7】Our teachers are          (treating every person equally) to everybody in our class. We all love them.

Are you the only child in the family? If so, you are the most important in your family. Parents are the closest people to you in the world. But most middle school students have a problem. They feel they're not as close to their parents as before.

Some students complain that their parents often say a lot to them, but never listen to them. Some say their parents ask them not to play computer games when other classmates are doing that. Others say when they’re making phone calls to friends, their parents like to ask if the children are speaking to a boy or a girl. These make them very unhappy. Some students even decide to leave home because they’re afraid to tell their parents when they have done something wrong. Then they usually think running away is the only choice. But they don’t know running away may bring them some more problems.

Problems are parts of life. Here are some suggestions for you to solve the problems.

·Find a good time to talk with your parents. Don’t be afraid to tell them your feelings.

·Get help from others like good friends or teachers.

·Keep a diary to help you understand more about yourself and your feelings.

·Show your parents you’re growing up. Then they’ll feel you’re not a small child.

If you follow the advice, you’ll have a happy life and never think of running away.

1.Who are the closest people to you if you are the only child in the family?

  ________________________

2.Do most students feel they are not as close to their parents as before?

  ________________________

3. What do some parents like to do while their children are making phone calls to friends?

  _________________________

4.What could you do to understand more about yourselves and your feelings?

  _________________________

5. How many suggestions does the writer give?

  _________________________