After my brother died in an accident, my mother was in deep sadness. I was only a four-year-old girl at the time, but I still understood the sudden shift in my mom’s attitude towards safety. Suddenly everything around us was potentially dangerous. Overnight, the world had gone from a playground to a dangerous zone. I grew up with a lot of limits and rules. I couldn’t walk home from school by myself, even though everyone I knew already did. I couldn’t go to summer camp because what if something happened to me?
As I got older, the list of things of fear got longer. My whole life was divided into “things you should avoid”, and “things you needed to do in order to have a good, long life.” I became a natural worrier. I worry about things like getting cancer, losing my wallet, car accidents, earthquakes, and losing my job — disasters big and small, real and imagined.
The funny part is that you’d never know it by looking at my life. In fact, I’ve developed a rule for myself: If it scares me, then I have to do it at least once. I’ve done lots of things that my mom would have worried about: I’ve ridden a motorcycle; I’ve traveled —a lot. I’ve performed stand-up comedy, and I’m planning my second wedding.
There’s something else I don’t usually talk about, but it’s a cornerstone in my belief: When I was 14, my mother died suddenly in a car accident. At my mom’s funeral I remember making a choice. I could either live out the rest of my life trying to be “safe” or I could be brave enough to live out a fulfilling, exciting and, yes, sometimes dangerous life.
I worry that I may have betrayed(背叛) my mother by writing her in this light, but she has been a driving force in my life and, in the end I think she would have been proud of me. Courage isn’t a natural character of human beings. I believe that using courage is like developing a muscle. The more often I do things that scare me or that make me uncomfortable, the more I realize that I can do a lot more than I originally thought I could do.
Even though I inherited (继承) my mother’s cautious nature. I’ve also come to believe that fear can be a good thing, if we face it. Believing that has made my world a less scary place.
【小题1】In the writer’s childhood, the limits and rules were used to ______.

After a year of preparing herself, Laura Dekker has been given permission to sail around the world. “I was so happy that I almost jumped into the river,” Laura said, after learning of the court’s verdict(判决).
The 14-year-old was born on a ship in the South Pacific, and currently lives with her father on a boat. When child protection agencies heard about her plan to sail alone, they took the case to court and prevented her from making such a dangerous voyage.
Since the decision, though, Laura had been preparing with her father to convince the court that she was ready. Later on, she received the books and other materials she would need for school while she was at sea. She added safety equipment to a new, big ship. And she took her first aid course to learn several survival skills, like how to put out fires on the boat, take care of her own injuries and deal with lack of sleep. She also planned a safer course --- adding alternate routes(备用路径) to avoid pirate attacks, and planning a course that would have her on dry land as she moved from port to port across the globe.
Even with all of the added preparations, the trip still has its risks. In early June, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland, an American, had to abandon(放弃) her attempt to become the youngest sailor to travel around the world. Her ship’s mast(桅杆) broke due to rough waters in the Indian Ocean, and she was rescued by a French fishing ship.
Laura plans to take longer than Abby for her voyage, and is using a larger and more stable boat. If she finished successfully in less than two years, she will take the title from current record-holder Jessica Watson, of Australia, who was 16 when she completed the journey.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE of Laura?

A．how Laura convinced the court

B．why Laura needed to study at sea

C．how Laura prepared for the voyage

D．where Laura could avoid pirate attacks

A deadly strain of avian flu may have passed between people for the first time, experts believe.The avian influenza A (H7N9) virus is thought to have been transmitted between father and daughter in eastern China, according to research published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

    The findings provide the strongest evidence yet of H7N9 transmission between humans since its discover in February, but its ability to transmit itself was deemed "limited and non-sustainable" by the Chinese researchers behind the study.At the end of June 133 cases had been reported, including 43 deaths. Most infections have been among people visiting markets, selling live birds or among those who had contact with live poultry（家禽） in the seven to 10 days before becoming ill.

The latest study examined the case of a 60-year-old father who regularly visited a live poultry market and became ill five to six days after his last visit in March. He was admitted to hospital with fever, cough and shortness of breath. Despite intensive care treatment he died of multiple organ failure on 4 May. His 32-year-old daughter, who was previously healthy, looked after him at his bedside before he was admitted to intensive care. She had no known exposure to live poultry before falling ill with a very high temperature, cough and fever. The daughter developed symptoms six days after her last contact with her father and was admitted to hospital where she died of multiple organ failure on 24 April.

Follow-up investigations(调查) uncovered almost genetically identical virus strains from each patient, suggesting transmission from father to daughter. Another 43 people were also tested who had had close contact with the father, daughter or both.

Dr Peter Horby, senior clinical research fellow at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi, Vietnam, said of the study: "The most likely source of infection for the daughter was her father, during the period that she cared for him while he was ill. "He said “limited person to person transmission had been reported for other strains like H5N1 , H7N7, and the pig origin flu virus H3N2. Those strains had been around for more than a decade but have not progressed any further down the path towards a world-wide virus.” “Limited human-to-human transmission of H7N9 virus is therefore not surprising, but strengthening to monitor it was still needed,” Dr Horby added.

1.What’s the main idea of the passage ?

A. The findings about H7N9 transmission only between father and daughter .

B. H7N9 transmission may be spreading between people .

C. 133 cases of H7N9 transmission have been reported .

D. Both the father and daughter died of multiple organ failure.

2.The reason why the daughter died of multiple organ failure was that _____.

A. she fell ill with a very high temperature, cough and fever.

B. she was exposed to live poultry before falling ill.

C. she had close contact with the father while caring for her sick father .

D. she sold live birds in five to six days before falling ill .

3.Which of the following is Wrong about H7N9 transmission?

A. It was limited and non-sustainable

B. It was person to person transmission

C. It wasn’t progressed any further down the path towards a world-wide virus.

D. It happened between father and daughter .

4.The underlined word s “was deemed” in paragraph 2 probably means _______

A. was decreased     B. was regarded as

C. was thought of      D. was developed

5.What type of writing is the article likely to be ?

A. A news report. B. Popular science.

C.A medical report  D.A medical findings

Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventure -- those who have climbed the highest mountains, explored unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans. Now, however, there are people who seek an immediate excitement from a risky activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds.

I would consider bungee jumping to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place （perhaps a bridge or a hot-air balloon）200 meters above the ground with an elastic(有弹性的) rope tied to your ankles. You fall at up to l50 kilometers an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is estimated that two million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other activities which most people would say are as risky as bungee jumping include jumping from tall buildings and diving into the sea from the top of high cliffs.

Why do people take part in such activities as these？Some psychologists suggest that it is because life in modern societies has become safe and boring. Not very long ago, people's lives were constantly under threat. They had to go out and hunt for food, diseases could not easily be cured，and life was a continuous battle for survival.

Nowadays, according to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in comparatively safe environment; they buy food in shops; and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to seek danger in activities such as bungee jumping.

1. More and more people today_________.

   A. are close to death in sports

   B. are climbing the highest mountains

   C. are trying activities such as bungee jumping

   D. are looking for adventures such as exploring unknown places.

2. In bungee jumping, you _________.

   A. jump as high as you can .            

B. slide down a rope to the ground

C. fall towards the ground without a rope    

D. attach yourself to a rope and fall to the ground

3.People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because _________.

   A. they lack excitement                B. they have a lot of free time  

   C. they no longer need to hunt for food    D. they can go to hospital if they are injured.

4. Which of the following is the best title for this text?

   A. The Need for Excitement             B. The Boredom of Modern Life

   C. Dangerous Sports: What and Why      D. Is Bungee Jumping Really Dangerous

    With all the wars, fighting and sadness in the world today, it's not only necessary, but also essential to have a good sense of humor just to help us get through each and every day of our lives．Putting a smile on someone's face when you know they are feeling down in the dumps （ 处于沮丧中）, as the saying goes, makes me feel good and warms my heart．

    How would you feel if you could not joke around with your wife, husband, child, co-worker neighbor, close friend, or even just someone that you are standing in line with at your comer store? I am always saying things that make others smile or laugh, even if I don't know the person I'm joking around with．My Grandma always found humor in everything she did, even if it was the hardest job anyone could imagine．This not only relieves stress in any situation, but also is common courtesy （礼貌） to speak to others that are around you．

    I know of a few people that don’t have a funny bone in their bodies, as they say．Everyone around them could be rolling on the floor after hearing a great joke and they would sit there without the slightest smile on their face．They don't get the joke that makes others laugh．I am busting a gut while they just sit there, looking at me as if I were from outer space．How can people not get a really funny joke?

    Laughing is essential to keep your stress levels under control．Without humor we would find ourselves with a lot of psychological problems, or on a lot of medications to keep us from going crazy．There is too much sadness in this present world．It drives people crazy．We all need to find a way to bypass the sadness and bring a little light into our lives．So, I believe our best medicine is to get together and tell some jokes and have some fun laughing together．

1.According to the author, humor is useful in the aspect that ____________．

    A．it makes people more confident

    B．it can pick up people' s spirits

    C．it can help get rid of the cruelty in the world

    D．it can help people get on well with others

2.The author answers the question in the second paragraph with ___________．

    A．facts and descriptions           B．evidence and argument

    C．examples and conclusion          D．stories and persuasion

3.The phrase “busting a gut" in the third paragraph can be replaced by __________．

    A．explaining carefully             B．speaking loud

    C．keeping silent                   D．laughing hard

4.In writing the passage, the author mainly intends to __________．

    A．talk about his own understanding of humor

    B．encourage people to be humorous in daily life

    C．introduce a practical way to get through daily life

    D．convince people of the power of being optimistic about life

5.What is the author' s attitude towards the present world?

    A．Positive．                       B．Critical．

    C．Satisfied．                      D．Indifferent．