After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, so mostly I just lied a lot to appear to be skilled at dealing with people. At least I never needed the map.

One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she gossiped about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't staring at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an over interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught and held my attention.

I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all extremely, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine, or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful -- maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy.

What does the underlined word “diplomatic” mean?

       A. smooth                    B. clever                      C. honest                      D. delight

From the passage, we can infer that _______________.

       A. “I” was really liking the new place.

       B. “I” was not interested in what the girl said.

       C. “I” had a bad memory, so it’s hard to remember names.

       D. “I” was good at making friends.

According to the last two paragraphs, why did “they” catch “my” attention?

       A. Because “they” weren’t talking.

       B. Because “they” sat in the corner.

       C. Because “they” didn’t eat the food.

D. Because “they” looked incredibly beautiful.

According to the passage, which statement is NOT true?

       A. The girl walked with “me” was a little short.

       B. “I” saw the five students for the first time.

       C. Those students sitting in the corner had finished their food.

       D. “I” probably wanted to know more about those five students.

Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones. They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. Some are shy “in real life” but are confident to communicate with others online; others find support from people of their own age on relationship issues, or problems at home.
Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can introduce problems, such as arguments. Going online is great fun, but there are also a few people who use the Internet for offensive (冒犯性的) or illegal aims. Children must be made aware of both the good things and the dangers.
To keep children safe your management must cover the family computer. Just as you decide which TV pro-grams are suitable, you need to do the same for the websites and chat rooms your children visit. Remind your children that online friends are still strangers. Re-minding them of the risks will keep them alert (警惕).
Computer studies are part of schoolwork now, so it’s likely that your children may know more than you do. We get left behind when it comes to the latest gad-gets and the interactive areas of websites, like chat rooms and message boards, which are especially strange. The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. Chatters love to use abbreviations (缩写) such as: atb — all the best, bbfn — bye bye for now, cul8er — see you later, gr8 — great, Idk — I don’t know, imbl — it must be love, kit — keep in touch, paw — parents are watching, lol — laugh out loud, xlnt — excellent!
【小题1】The passage is meant for ______.

SINGAPORE - Singapore on Thursday stuck to its I8-year ban on the import and sale of chewing gum (口香糖), which has become an international symbol of the city-state's image as a strict society.                                     

    "The government stands by its decision to ban chewing gum. Chewing gum has not been a significant problem since that ban took effect, there have been concerns that lifting the ban on chewing gum could result in chewing gum litter and weaken ongoing efforts to control littering." Maliki Osman, parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of National Development, told parliament.

    Osman said as the reason for the imposition (强迫接受) of the ban is still suitable,  "the government's position is that the ban shall remain." He was responding to a question in parliament from Denise Phua, a fellow member of the ruling People's Action Party who argued that the ban had been used to criticize its tough governance laws.

    "I think this ban ... now needs a re-thinking. Surely Singapore will not consider banning sweets because of sweet wrapper litter or ice-cream stick litter," she said.

    Singapore, known worldwide for its high-quality clean image, banned the import and sale of chewing gum in 1992 in a bid to cope with the problem of people sticking the gum on chairs, tables, lifts and other public areas.

    One of the key reasons for the ban had been the disturbance of services on Singapore's subway train system because of chewing gum being stuck on the doors and causing delays. Singapore partially lifted the ban in 2004 by allowing the sale of chewing gum used for health reasons, such as dental health gum, after the conclusion of a US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

Australian tourist Hazel Lane, 48, said keeping the ban on chewing gum was sure Singaporeans wouldn't want to spoil their "ridiculous" and she told AFP that she's own environment and their own image. Angel Wong, 34, a tourist from Hong Kong, however, welcomed the news. She said,  "I come from a country that doesn't have the ban and there's always chewing gum all over the floor, To me the ban doesn't change my image of Singapore so it’s a good thing because it keeps the environment clean."

1. The ban on the import and sale of chewing gum was started in 1992 ______.

     A. when people began to buy the gum everywhere

     B. to bid to stop people sticking the gum in the public

     C. because the gum delayed the subway

     D. when the country was in a bid to show its city-state's clean image

2. What can we learn about the ban according to Maliki Osman?

     A. The government will keep it ongoing forever.

     B. It will lead to littering the chewing gum everywhere.

     C. More and more concerns about the ban will make chewing gum out of control

     D. Banning chewing gum is still one of the important jobs of the government now.

3. According to what Denise Phua said in paragraph 4, we can know that she ______.

     A. would say yes to the ban

     B. would think more about the ban again

     C. would like the government to take the ban on second thought

     D. argued that the ban should be cancelled

4. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

     A. whether the ban needs changing or not has become a problem to be discussed

     B. Singapore's subway train system was delayed by chewing gum

     C. chewing gum will soon be banned in many countries

     D. only the ban has led to the friendly environment in Singapore

5. What's the main idea of the last paragraph?

     A. There is such a ban in China and Australia.

     B. Different people have their own ideas about the ban.

     C. The ban is either welcomed by China or by Australia.

     D. The ban does good to keep the environment clean.

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。

       注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。

       A newly-established line of research suggests that relationships can keep us healthier. And a new study finds those social connections may also help us live longer.

       This new study combined a large number of previous studies and concluded that a lack of social interactions ranks right up with smoking, obesity（肥胖）, and alcoholism as a risk factor for death.

       Researchers from Brigham Young University analyzed 148 studies with a total of some 300,000 participants, tracking their social relationships and whether they survived to the end of their particular study, which averaged about seven years.

       "Those who scored higher on those measures of social relationships were 50 percent more likely to be alive at that follow-up than people who scored low on those measures," said Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, one of the authors of the study.

       She pointed out several ways relationships can affect our health. They can help us cope with stress. They can help us maintain healthy habits like eating well, exercising or seeing a doctor. And there's increasing research that shows a direct but poorly-understood link between relationships and physiological(生理的) processes in the body.

       "So for instance, our relationships have been linked to lower blood pressure, better immune（免疫的） functioning, and even inflammatory（发炎的） processes that are implicated in a number of diseases," said Holt-Lunstad. "And so our relationships can influence our health in a variety of ways that are all very important."

       Even though Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues looked at almost 150 different scientific studies, most of them didn't assess the quality of the relationships.

       "And certainly relationship quality matters, and not all relationships are entirely positive," she conceded. "And so it's possible that the effects that we have reported may be a conservative estimate, and that the odds of survival associated with high-quality relationships may actually be larger."

       Speaking via Skype, Julianne Holt-Lunstad said her research suggests that policy makers need to consider relationships as a health issue. So just as no-smoking zones have expanded over the years, she suggests that city planners, for example, should consider whether their decisions might promote or hinder the development of personal relationships.

Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones. They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. Some are shy “in real life” but are confident to communicate with others online; others find support from people of their own age on relationship issues, or problems at home.

    Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can introduce problems, such as bullying or arguments. Going online is great fun, but there are also a few people who use the Internet for offensive (冒犯性的) or illegal aims. Children must be made aware of both the good things and the dangers.

    To keep children safe your management must cover the family computer. Just as you decide which TV pro-grams are suitable, you need to do the same for the websites and chat rooms your children visit. Remind your children that online friends are still strangers. Re-minding them of the risks will keep them alert (警惕).

    Computer studies are part of schoolwork now, so it’s likely that your children may know more than you do. We get left behind when it comes to the latest gad-gets and the interactive areas of websites, like chat rooms and message boards, which are especially strange. The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. Chatters love to use abbreviations (缩写) such as: atb — all the best, bbfn — bye bye for now, cul8er — see you later, gr8 — great, Idk — I don’t know, imbl — it must be love, kit — keep in touch, paw — parents are watching, lol — laugh out loud, xlnt — excellent!

    It seems like another language, and it is!

1.The passage is meant for ______.

A. children         B. parents   C. teachers     D. net bar owners

2.Which of the following will the author probably agree with?

A. The Internet is not good for children.

B. The chat language is strange to adults.

C. Children shouldn’t chat so much online.

D. The Internet is a good place for children.

3.The purpose of writing this passage is to advise ______.

A. people not to use the net language in real life

B. children not to meet online friends freely

C. teachers to have students study on computers

D. parents to protect their children from online dangers

4.In order to keep children safe online, you’d better ______.

A. choose suitable websites and chat rooms for them

B. teach them to use correct net words

C. surf the Internet together with them

D. forbid them to use the Internet

5.If you stand beside him when your son is chatting about something secret online, he may use ______.

A. bbfn       B. lol      C. paw          D. cul8er