Alan took an early interest in gardening---first on his grandfather’s Yorkshire allotment in Ilkley, and then in his parents’ back garden. Small polythene（聚乙烯）greenhouses appeared in the back garden, and cacti（仙人掌）were bought from church markets.
Alan left school at fifteen with one `O’ level in Art and took a job as an apprentice（学徒）gardener in Ilkley Parks Department nursery, studying for his City and Guilds in Horticulture（园艺）in the evening.
He went on to horticultural college at Oaklands in Hertfordshire where he studied for one year full-time, being awarded the National Certificate in Horticultural. This was followed by three years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, resulting in the award of the Kew Diploma.
After two years as supervisor of staff training at Kew, Alan entered journalism where he became first a gardening books editor, and then Deputy Editor of Amateur Gardening magazine. He appeared regularly on BBC Radio and Television in programs such as Nationwide , Breakfast Time, Open Air, Pebble Mill, Songs of Praise, Titchmarsh’s Travels, and the Chelsea Flower Show. He presented the 100th edition of The Word for Channel 4, and hosted the quiz show Ask the Family.
Gardeners’ World and the hugely popular Ground Force, second only to Easterners in the BBC1 ratings, are broadcast as far as Australia, New Zealand and North America. After leaving both programs, Alan worked on two other series for the BBC to be transmitted in 2003 and 2004, one of them a landmark series on the natural history of Britain. Alan writes for the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Radio Times and BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, and has more than thirty gardening books to his credit. His four novels, as well as a book about his own life, have been best sellers.
Alan, 53, gardens organically, and lives with his wife, two daughters and a medley of animals.
【小题1】We know that Alan ______in his school days.

A chemical important of brain development may play a role in explaining why some people are genetically (由基因决定地) likely to suffer from anxiety and could lead to new treatments, U．S. researchers said.

They said highly anxious rats which were kept had very low levels of a brain chemical called fibroblast growth factor 2 or FGF2, compared with rats that were more relaxed. But when they improved the anxious rats' living conditions—giving them new toys to explore and a bigger cage to live in—levels of this brain chemical increased and they became less anxious.

“The levels of this brain chemical increased in response to the experiences that the rats were exposed to. It also decreased their anxiety.”Javier Perez of the University o f Michigan said in a telephone interview. “It made them behave the same way as the rats that were relaxed，”he said.

In a former study of people who were severely depressed before they died, the team found the gene that makes FGF2 was producing very low levels of the growth factor, which is known primarily for organizing the brain during development and repairing it after injury.

Perez thinks the brain chemical may be a marker for genetic vulnerability (脆弱性) to anxiety and depression. But it can also respond to changes in the environment in a positive way, possibly by preserving new brain cells.

While both the calm and anxious rats produced the same number of new brain cells, these cells were less likely to survive in the high－anxiety rats, the team found. Giving the rats better living conditions or injecting them with FGF2 helped improve cell survival.

“This discovery may pave the way for new, more specific treatments for anxiety that will not be based on sedation(药物镇静), but will instead fight the real cause of the disease，” Dr. Pier Vincenzo Piazza from France said in a statement.

6. We know from the passage that with the levels of FGF2 decreasing, the rats will ________.

A. die of anxiety soon          B. suffer from a headache

C. become more relaxed        D. become more anxious

7. What's the better way to increase the levels of FGF2?

A. Introducing more companions to the anxious rats.

B. Improving the living conditions of the anxious rats.

C. Injecting the anxious rats with some special medicine.

D. Giving the anxious rats more time to relax.

8. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.

A. the team                 B. the gene

C. the growth factor          D. the brain

9. What's the main influence of the new discovery?

A. Doctors won't use any medicine to cure anxiety.

B. Doctors may treat anxiety more efficiently.

C. Doctors will find the real cause of anxiety.

D. Doctors may find new medicine for anxiety.

10. Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?

A. Anxious rats and relaxed rats

B. Anxiety—a serious mental disease

C. Scientific research into the brain is important

D. Brain chemical may play key role in anxiety

About 90 percent of Chinese believe the polarization(分化) between the rich and poor is “serious” in China, according to a survey conducted by China Youth Daily. And more than 80 percent of the respondents(对象) surveyed said something must be done to narrow the expanding gap between the rich and poor, while 14.1 percent said it was necessary.

The polarization has aroused wide concern among the public in recent years. The State Development and Reform Commission(国家发改委) said the Gini Coefficient had reached 0.47 for China, up from o.29 two decades ago. Usually, a country with a number above 0.4 is warned to pay attention to the income inequality problem.

To find out the people’s view, the survey covered 10,250 respondents, between the ages of 20 and 30 with a college education and a monthly salary between 1,000 and 3,000 yuan. Surprisingly, most disagreed with the view of experts who claim the urban-rural difference is causing the widening gap. More than 70 percent of the respondents believed that “ the group of special interests” is the prime reason for the polarization, followed by “people in power” 68 percent, and “bosses” 50 percent.

Another unexpected finding is that almost all agreed that a good educational background and knowledge were not the decisive factors in gaining wealth. About 95 percent said rich people are not necessarily those who are able to speak English or have a college education.

Today in China, rich people , accounting for 10 percent of the population, control 45 percent of the total social fortune, and poor people, also 10 percent of the population, only control 1.5 percent, according to an investigation published by the National Bureau of Statistics last June.

1. It can be inferred that the Gini Coefficient ( in paragraph 2) would probably be _____.

   A. the unit used in advanced mathematics

   B. the degree of a country’s development

   C. the level of the citizen’s living standard

   D. a measure of income inequality

2. Experts hold the view that the main reason for the polarization is _____.

   A. the urban-rural difference             B. the group of special interests

   C. the people in power                  D. the bosses

3.Which of the following can show the correct proportion(比例) of the social fortune among population?

4.What’s the best title of the passage?

   A. Close the Gap between the Rich and Poor

   B. Surveys conducted by China Youth Daily

   C. Higher education, Higher pay

   D. Rich-Poor Divide Serious, Study Finds

The audience starts to scream and young people all over Britain turn on their TVs. Yes, it’s Top of the Pops!
Top of the Pops is an amazing 34 years old. Pop stars from all over the world appear on this successful TV programme. After 1,800 shows, it’s still the most popular pop music show in Britain. So what’s the secret?
“We get lots of bands to perform live in the studio,” says producer Chris Cowey. “That just doesn’t happen on other shows.”
Chris starts planning the programme over a week before it goes out. His first job is to decide which bands to have on the show. When the chart of the top twenty songs is produced on Sunday, Chris can start to book the bands.
Monday starts with Chris meeting his sound, lighting and camera workers. They listen to each song and plan the show.
Tuesday is paperwork day. There are bookings to make sure of letters to answer and lots of phone calls to make. The show is on Thursday. Bands arrive at the studio from 10 o’clock in the morning and start practising. Tonight’s presenter, Jo Whiley, practices too.
First the bands go to make up. Judy and Issy are the make-up artists. “We see the stars with no make-up on, looking terrible,” says Issy. Then the bands go to the costume department where Marianne dresses the stars.
Back in the studio things are happening. The audience are practicing their dance moves! It takes over two hours to record the whole programme, then Chris edits it all night long. The final version is exactly 29 minutes long.
31. What make(s) Top of the Pops still the most popular in Britain?
A. The live performances in the studio.
B. The jobs carefully done by the workers of the TV station.
C. The great fame of the bands.
D. The large numbers of pop fans in Britain.
32. When the bands receive the invitations to the performance, _________.
A. they must decide on the songs
B. they don’t have to decide what songs they will perform
C. the songs that will be performed haven’t been decided on
D. they have no idea what songs they will perform
33．The underlined word “costume”（in Paragraph 7） probably means        .
A. makeup        B. stage         C. studio       D. clothes
【小题1】How is a music programme made at the TV station?

【小题2】Which is the proper title for the passage?

根据对话情景和内容，从对话后所给的选项中选出能填入每一空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。选项中有两个为多余选项。
―Good afternoon. ____【小题1】_____ 
― Hello. My mobile phone isn’t working. Could you repair it please?
―_______【小题2】________
―It worked well yesterday, but I simply couldn’t turn it on this morning.
―. _____【小题3】______
― Here you are.
―Well, I think we’ll be able to fix it. You can pick it up this Friday.
― Oh,no. That’s too long.______【小题4】________I need it as soon as possible.
―Let me see. How about Wednesday afternoon?
― _____【小题5】____ What time?
― At five o’clock.
― OK. Thank you.