Old age may not sound exciting.But recent findings offer good news for older pepole and for people worried about getting older.

Researches found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty.In fact,they say by the age of eighty—five,people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States.The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008.At that time,the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty—five.The searches asked questions about emotions like happiness,sadness and worry.They also asked about mental or emotional stress.

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study.His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults  between the ages of twenty—two and twenty—five.The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies.The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.

The study also showed that men and women had similar emotional patterns as they grew older.Hower,women at all ages reported more sadness,stress and worry than men.Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older.One theory is that,as people grow older,they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotion .They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children,being unemployed or being single.But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well—being related to age.

1. How did the researchers find older people happier?

A.They did a series of experiments.

B.They made a written survey about the old people.

C.They interviewed people of different ages face to face.

D.They telephoned people between the ages of 18 and 85.

2.When do people feel happier according to the passage?

A.In their twenties         B.In their fifties 

C.After their seventies      D.When they were born

3.Which one is NOT related to the happiness of old people?

A.Less stress            B .Away from working

C.Controlling of emotions  D.More thankfulness

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A.No Worrying about Getting Older 

B.Older Men are Happier than Older Women

C.The Factors Affecting the Happiness of Old people

D.For Lots of people,Getting Older Means Getting Happy

John and Bobby joined a wholesale company together just after graduation from college the same year. Both worked very hard. After several years, however, the boss promoted Bobby to the position of manager but John remained an ordinary employee. John could not take it any more, tendered his resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not know how to delegate and did not value hard-working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him.

The boss knew that John worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for your criticism, but I have a request. I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave. Perhaps you will change your decision and take back your resignation.”

John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find out anyone selling watermelon in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found out a man selling watermelon. The boss asked how much per kg. John shook his head and went back to the market to ask and returned to inform the boss $1.2 per kg.

Boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelon in the market. Bobby went, returned and said, “Boss, only one person selling watermelon. $1.2 per kg, $10 for 10kg, he has inventory (清单) of 340 melons. On the table 58 melons, bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality.”

John was very impressed and realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided not to resign but to learn from Bobby.

Chances exist in the daily details. For the same matter, a more successful person sees more and farther so that he can find out an opportunity and catch it to realize his aim. If a person sees one year ahead, while another sees only tomorrow. Then the difference between a year and a day is 365 times!

1.Why did John decide to hand in his resignation to the boss?

A.  Because he couldn’t stand being an ordinary employee.

B.  Because Bobby would take John’s former position.

C.  Because the boss was not flattered by his hard work.

D.  Because Bobby instead of him was promoted.

2. What did the boss ask John to do?

A. To go to market and find out whether there is someone selling watermelons.

B. To make a complete marketing research on the various prices of watermelons.

C. To search for much information about the effective ways to sell watermelons.

D. To make a comparison on the prices of different types of watermelons.

3. What sort of following information about watermelons was NOT brought by Bobby?

A. The price.                       B. The quality.

C. The quantity.                    D. The weight.

4. From the difference of John and Bobby, we may infer that a more successful person is more _____.

A.  alert, sensitive and passionate

B.  observant, thoughtful and exploratory

C.  considerate, modest and satisfied

confident, noble and tolerant

Everyday, 340 million people speak it. One billion people are learning it and it is said that by 2050, half of the world’s population will be using it. What are we talking about? That global language—English.

The English language started in Britain in the 5th century. It is a mixed language. It was built up when German. Scandinavian and French invaders settled in England and created a common language for communication.

Today it is the official language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland as well as many islands in the Caribbean . Many other countries and regions use it for politics and business, for example, India. Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong.

But global advertising and pop music mean that in most countries, you will see or hear some English. Thanks to McDonalds, we all know about "burgers". "fries" and "milkshakes". Songs by Madonna, Britney Spears and Celine Dion are in English. We can sing along, even if we do not understand what we are singing!

English is a messy (杂乱的) language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular culture, for example, computer-related words such as "blogging", "download" and "chatroom". Also included are words that teenagers use. Who does not know "cool", "OK" and “hello” ?

Other languages also influence English. Many English words come from French. Words like "cafe" and expressions like "c'est la vie" (that is life) are all part of the English language. On the other hand, the French language includes English words like "le weekend" and "le camping". German words are also part of English. Words like "kindergarten" come from the German language.

Recently, British people have become interested in "yoga". But the word comes from an ancient Hindu language in India.

1.The English language has a history of  ______.

2.The underlined expression “thanks to ” can be replaced by ______.

3.Which of the following statements is true about the language of English ?

4. Many countries and regions use it for politics and business except______.

Two graduates from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found themselves about to graduate, yet with loans to pay off. The pair decided to begin a strange, year-long project to battle their debt.

The men, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, set up the site BuyMyFace.co.uk. last October as a way to get rid of the $80,000 they shared as student loans. The idea behind the project was to earn money by selling their faces as advertising space every day for a year. Each day, they advertise a different business on their site by painting the brand's logo or name on their faces and including a link to the company’s site. After they paint their faces and publish them on the site, Harper and Moyse go out to highly populated areas such as music festivals and theme parks to maximize their faces’ exposure.

At this time, Harper and Moyse have advertised their faces for over four months without skipping a day and they're more than halfway to their goal. Though they first started charging a minimum of about USD $1.60 per company, the prices have risen as their popularity increased. For advertising space during the remainder of April, they range between USD $250 and $750. 

Terri L. Rittenburg, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming, said she had heard of people tattooing (纹身) logos on themselves before, but this idea is much better. According to her, at first the idea would be new and novel and attract attention, but she is unsure how long it would last.

At least for now, companies that have bought Harper and Moyse’s faces have written positive comments on the pair’s website. “We had a three percent increase in website traffic on the very day and for two days more afterwards,” said an alcoholic beverage company.

1.Which of the following was most possibly taken from the website BuyMyFace.co.uk.?

A.               B.                 C.                  D.

2. Harper and Moyse go to highly populated areas to _____.

    A. have fun B. make friends C. show their faces  D. find new customers

3.We can infer from the article that the two men _____.

    A. must have earned more than $40,000  

B. aren’t getting on well with their project

    C. may close their site next month     

D. always work hard except on holidays

Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States. The Gallup(民意调查) Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.

The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.

Arthur Stone at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.

Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.

The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.

What can be the best title of the text?

       A. Happiness Varies with Ages

       B. Experience More, Worry Less

       C. The Older, the Wiser

       D. Being Young, Being Happy

We can learn from the research that _________.

A. only when people get older will they feel happier

B. stress levels among the youngest are the highest

C. older people tend to be grateful

D. older people usually have no worries

According to the research, when people get older, _________.

       A. they miss the old days

     B. they are physically weak

C. they have better self-control

       D. they are more emotional

What would the author probably talk about next?

       A. What influences happiness.

       B. How to live better.

       C. How to keep happier.

      D. Why women are less happier.

The author is intended to _________.

   A. advise how to reduce stress

   B. introduce a scientific finding

   C. describe how to do research

   D. talk about human emotions