How to Fight Winter Blue

Winter’s short days are more than cold. For many people, winter depression, the most common type of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is as much a part of the season as hats and scarves.

Winter serious SAD sufferers may need medical treatment. Those feeling a little blue can help themselves by sticking to a healthy lifestyle.

Here are some tips:

Pace yourself. Don’t expect to do everything you normally can. Set a realistic schedule. Don’t listen to negative thinking, like blaming yourself or expecting to fail.

Get involved in activities that make you feel good or feel like you’ve achieved something. For example, play table tennis or badminton.

If you are feeling depressed, you may feel like staying away from friends. Yet this is a time when friends’ support can be helpful. Call them regularly. Remember, the more we put off calling or visiting a friend, the harder it is to rebuild a friendship.

Think clearly about what’s wrong or right. Instead of giving in to vague feelings of sadness, look at your problems objectively. Break down problems into specific issues that you can work on.

Regular exercise helps to prevent and ease depression.

Eat well. Studies show that a healthy diet can help to maintain (keep) a healthy body and mind. The vitamins, minerals and micro—nutrients found in balanced diet may help our bodies to produce feel-good hormones(荷尔蒙). Foods containing chemicals to help produce feel-good hormones include bananas, turkey, nuts and seeds. Eat at least five pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.

P.S.  Symptoms(症状) of SAD:

No interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy.

Increased need for sleep.

A change in eating habits, especially an appetite for sweet or starchy(含淀粉的) foods.

Weight gain

A heavy feeling in the arms or legs

A drop in energy level

Difficulty in concentrating

Overly emotional

Avoidance of friends and social situations

Frequent feelings of guilt

Long-term feelings of hopelessness, and physical problems, such as headaches

1.The writer of the passage agrees that             .

2.We may infer that       , according to the passage.

3.．When we pace ourselves, we                     .

4.The underlined expression “ease depression” in the passage probably means “        ”

5.The passage includes the following except             .

Part B: Vocabulary 9%

F. negative       G. failures         H. defined          I. mark          J. reliable  

We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It is really extraordinary that after all years, educationists have still failed to devise something more 41 than examinations. For all the 42 that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact 43. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability.

As anxiety-makers, examinations are 44 to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the 45 of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t 46: the exam goes on. No one can bring out the 47 in him when he is in terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of fierce competition where success and failure are clearly 48 and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of “dropouts”: young people who are written off as 49 before they have started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?

Manners nowadays in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existence, it’s nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to elbow an elderly woman aside in the dash for the last remaining seat on the tube or bus, much less stand up and offer his seat to her.

This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued by young men, who say that, since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with courtesy 礼貌、谦让) and that those who go out to work should take their turn in the rat race like anyone else. Women have never claimed to be physically as strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, that young men should stand up for younger women, the fact remains that courtesy should be shown to the old, the sick and the burdened. Are we really so lost to all ideals of unselfishness that we can sit there indifferently reading the paper or a book, saying to ourselves “First come, first severed”, while a grey-haired woman, a mother with a young child stands? Yet this is all too often seen.?

Older people, tired and quick-tempered from a day's work, are not angels, either-far from it. Many a brisk argument or an insulting quarrel breaks out as the weary queues push and shove each other to get on buses and tubes. One cannot commend this, of course, but on does feel there is just a little more excuse.?

If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all, however, it seems imperative（迫切的）, not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite. Shop assistant's won't bother to assist, taxi drivers growl at each other as they dash dangerously round corners, bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or off the bus, and so on and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration（恶化）.?

What is the writer's opinion concerning courteous manners towards women??

A. Since women have claimed equality, they no longer need to be treated differently from men.?

B. It is generally considered old-fashioned for young men to give up their seats to young women.?

C. "Lady First" should be universally practiced.?

D. Special consideration ought to be shown to them.?

According to the passage communication between human beings would not be smoother unless ________.

A．people were more considerate towards each other?

B. people were not so tired and quick-tempered?

C. women were treated with more courtesy?

D. public transport could be improved.?

The author probably does NOT agree that in big cities _______.

       A. Life will be even worse if no change is made

       B. transport conditions are rather poor

       C. it’s not uncommon to see people quarrel in public places

       D. it’s unreasonable to require the tired people to be polite

The main purpose of the author is to ________.

       A. call on people in big cities to pay more attention to politeness

       B. blame the schoolboys’ rude behavior towards elderly women on the tube or bus

       C. criticize the fast pace of city life

       D. tell young men to give their seats to elderly people

How could you describe the tone of this passage?           

A. acceptable                                     B. opponent

C. negative                                        D. encouraging

完形填空(共20小题；每小题l.5分，共30分)

    阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

    The Man Who Achieved Everything He Could

Once upon a time, there lived a man who wanted to achieve everything he was capable of achieving. He was obsessed with this desire --- he ate, slept, and walked with one and only dream: to die, having accomplished every single thing he was able to accomplish.

There were so many things he could do. He felt like the whole world could be his, 36   he set his mind to it.

He knew that his  37  had no limits. He knew that he could accumulate  38  that would dwarf (使相形见绌) that of ancient kings; he knew that he could  39  books that would shake the minds of generations; he knew that he could  40  things that would forever change the lives of millions of people. He lived, constantly feeling the power within --- and that power knew no bounds.

There was only one problem: having such a potential, but only one  41, he had to make a choice. He had to decide where to  42  all of his ability. Making that decision was extremely hard, for any  43  meant cutting off some future achievements. In the meantime, he went to school, graduated, found a job, married, and  44  children. And he spent every minute of his spare time trying to decide  45  he should bring his potential into full play.

Time went by, and he grew  46. Some roads he used to dream about became closed to him. But there was still so much he could accomplish.

One day, a sudden chest pain made him come home early. He dragged his feet to the bathroom. There, feeling  47, he looked in the mirror. A worn-out, gray-haired man stared back at him. He looked  48  into these eyes and, all of a sudden, 49  one simple truth. The next moment, the pain came again, and his heart stopped  50  forever.

The truth that came upon him was rather simple: People only flatter themselves (自以为是，自鸣得意) by thinking that they could have  51  this or that if not for such-and-such circumstances. Yet this is nothing but  52  . You simply lack something that is  53 for achieving that goal you’ve never reached — a talent, a skill, willpower,  54 something else. In fact,  55  you don’t achieve is something you’re not capable of achieving.

1. A. before            B. since                C. if               D. though

2. A. wisdom        B. potential            C. world            D. freedom

3.A. courage        B. interest             C. knowledge        D. power

4. A. write             B. read                 C. buy              D. edit

5. A. invent            B. acquire          C. adopt            D. destroy

6. A. step          B. life                 C. chance           D. condition

7.A. promote        B. accumulate       C. increase             D. apply

8. A. choice        B. mistake          C. failure          D. effort

9.A. assisted       B. loved            C. raised           D. punished

10. A. why          B. where            C. when             D. whether

11. A. greedier         B. wiser            C. older                D. cruder

12. A. sleepy           B. weak                 C. satisfied            D. comfortable

13. A. carelessly       B. secretly             C. angrily          D. closely

14. A. realized         B. remembered       C. reminded             D. created

15. A. fueling      B. starting             C. beating          D. moving

16. A. learned      B. achieved         C. undertaken       D. doubted

17.A. reality           B. history          C. imagination      D. record

18. A. unimportant      B. necessary        C. unbelievable         D. ordinary

19.A. and           B. even                 C. or               D. as

20. A. what             B. which            C. that                 D. how

Each high school has its own policy. One good example is that some high schools require all students to wear uniforms, while others do not. I have been to both types of schools, and if I have to decide which one is better, I will pick the former.

Perhaps every student has this experience: once you are in your school uniforms, you will care more about your own behavior. Uniforms give you an identity that always reminds that you belong to a group. What you do will not only represent yourself, but also the group you belong to, as well as the people with you. In other words, you carry the responsibility to maintain the honor of the group. When you are in your own clothes, it doesn’t matter for you to behave badly in public, but when in your uniform, it does. For high school students, who are not adults yet, this is a good way to shape their behavior.

Moreover, uniforms create an atmosphere of equality. While permitted to wear their won clothes, students may pay much attention to what they wear, in order to show how rich their families are. While in uniforms, all students, rich or poor, look the same, and will be treated equally.

Besides, free from the desires to gain what is new in the shopping mall, wearing uniforms helps students to concentrate on their study.

For all the reasons above, I believe that it is a better choice for high school students to wear uniforms.  They can wear them after school or on weekends.

According to the author, high schools that require students to wear uniforms______.

A. are more attractive to students

B.    are more strict with students

C.    carry out a better policy

D.    admit more excellent students.

How many reasons does the author give to support his or her ideas?

A. two              B. three                C. four                   D. five

According to Paragraph 2, wearing uniforms helps students_______.

  A. focus on their study

  B. become responsible

   C. build up their confidence

   D. find the group they belong to

What would be the best title for the passage?

   A. A wise choice, to wear school uniform

   B. An honor, to wear your school uniform

   C.A difficult choice, in school uniform or not?

   D.A difficult choice, which school should we pick?