People believe that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb，you’re wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms(体育馆). Here，people are learning on special climbing walls. The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.

　　How do people climb the wall? To climb，you need special shoes and a harness(保护带)around your chest to hold you. There are ropes(绳索)tied to your harness. The ropes hold you in place so that you don’t fall. A beginner’s wall is usually about 15 feet high，and you climb straight up. There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to. Sometimes it’s easy to see the new piece of metal. Sometimes, it’s not. The most difficult part is to control your fear. It’s normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it’s difficult not to feel fear. But when you move away from the wall，the harness and the ropes hold you，and you begin to feel safe. You move slowly until you reach the top.

　　Climbing attracts people because it’s good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body，especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb，both your mind and your body can become stronger.

1. What can we infer from the passage?

A．People are fairly interested in climbing nowadays.

B．It is impossible to build up one’s body by climbing.

C．People can only learn the skill of climbing outdoors.

D．It is always easy to see holding places in climbing.

2. The most difficult thing to do in wall climbing is .

A．to tie ropes to your harness               B．to control your fear

C．to move away from the wall                D．to climb straight up

3. The word “workout” underlined in the last paragraph most probably means .

A．settlement         B．exercise           C．excitement        D．tiredness

4. Why does the author write this passage?

A．To tell people where to find gyms.

B．To prove the basic need for climbing.

C．To encourage people to climb mountains.

D．To introduce the sport of wall climbing.

People believe that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb，you’re wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms(体育馆). Here，people are learning on special climbing walls. The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.
　　How do people climb the wall? To climb，you need special shoes and a harness(保护带)around your chest to hold you. There are ropes(绳索)tied to your harness. The ropes hold you in place so that you don’t fall. A beginner’s wall is usually about 15 feet high，and you climb straight up. There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to. Sometimes it’s easy to see the new piece of metal. Sometimes, it’s not. The most difficult part is to control your fear. It’s normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it’s difficult not to feel fear. But when you move away from the wall，the harness and the ropes hold you，and you begin to feel safe. You move slowly until you reach the top.
　　Climbing attracts people because it’s good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body，especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb，both your mind and your body can become stronger.
【小题1】 What can we infer from the passage?

What is your favorite English letter?  Many of you may say Q. Why?  Because

so many of you chat with your friends on QQ. What do you like about QQ?  What do you talk about?  The CCTV reporter,  Miss Wang,  interviews three kids. Let’s listen to what they say.

When do you chat on QQ?  What do you talk about?

　Lin Yuhan,  Xi’an:  On weekends. We talk about homework and chat with each other.

　　Tang Xuting,  Shanghai:  At weekends and when I don’t have much homework. We exchange test answers and chat.

Yang Yuhang,  Dalian:  Our class goes online together at 4: 00～6: 00pm on weekends. We complain about homework,  chat and talk about computer games.

　　What do you put on your QQ blog(博客)？

　　Lin: I put good articles I have found online on my blog. I also write articles myself. They are about funny things that have happened in my class.

　Tang: I put pictures on my blog. Not my own photos,  but pictures from my favorite Japanese cartoons(动画片)like Tennis Prince Conan.

　　Yang: I put DV films on my blog. I shoot(拍摄)them during sports meetings and school parties. The most popular one is about a dancing teacher,   he is so funny that everyone watches it.

　　 How do you like QQ?

　Lin: It’s a good space for us to make a record of our lives of both good times and sad times.

　　Tang: My friends and I may not have time to chat at school. But we can do it on QQ. It’s very helpful to our friendships.

　　Yang: If you chat with friends on the telephone,  your parents sometimes listen to your conversation. There’s no such problem with QQ. You can relax and talk freely.

1.What does Yang Yuhang talk about on QQ on weekends?

①homework　　　  ②chat

③test answers　　　④computer games

2.What does Lin Yuhan put on her QQ blog?

3.Which one is TRUE according to this article?

Last year, a report by a committee of education experts said that a lot of American students cannot write well. The report noted the concerns of business leaders and teachers. The experts said that more students should have to pass a writing test before they can finish high school. They pointed out that major college entrance tests are changing now to include a writing part.

　　Educators know that teaching students to write well is not easy. One problem is the amount of time needed to read through large amounts of work. So some companies have developed computer programs. These can grade student writing much more quickly than a person can. Writing tests can also cost less to carry out by computer than paper-and-pencil. These computer systems are known as e-readers. They use artificial (人工的) intelligence to think in a way like teachers. In the state of Indiana, computer grading of a statewide writing test began with a test of the system itself. For two years, both a computer and humans graded the student writing. Officials say there was almost no difference between the computer grades and those given by the human readers.

　　The entrance test commonly used by business schools, the GMAT, already uses e-readers. The GRE and TOEFL tests might start; officials are deciding. The GRE is the Graduate Record Examination. TOEFL is the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

　　Systems are also being used to grade writing in college classes. The computers read a few hundred examples of student writing already graded by humans. Then the systems compare new writings against those already examined.

　　How do teachers feel all about this? Many say machines can never do the job as well as people can. A computer can find spelling and grammar mistakes. But these teachers say it can never really understand what a writer is trying to say. Critics say a program cannot follow a thought or judge humor or understand a beautifully expressed idea.

　　But inventors of the programs say computer grading guarantees that each piece of writing is graded in the same way. They also say the systems are meant to judge knowledge more than creativity.

What do the teachers think of the computer system?

       A. They think highly of the computer systems.

       B. They think that computers cannot grade writing as well as people.

       C. They believe that computers can understand a writer’s idea well

       D. They are glad computers will spare their effort to correct students’ school work.

From the first paragraph we can conclude that _________.

       A. American students’ writing ability is being improved

       B. American students’ writing ability is not satisfactory

       C. business leaders and teachers are not worried about students’ writing

       D. all college entrance tests will include a writing part

Which of the following is NOT the advantage of e-readers?

       A. Saving much of teachers’ time.　    B. Saving a lot of money.

　    C. Being fair and objective.   D. Appreciating humor and beauty

The best title of this passage might be _________.

       A. Computer-graded Writing B. Human-graded Writing

       C. How to Improve Students’ Writing   D. Advantages of E-readers

　　Fear can be fun. Many young people queue up to ride very fast and scary roller coasters, screaming but enjoying themselves. Other people like to read “goose bumps (鸡皮疙瘩)” books or watch horror movies at night, scared to death but feeling excited. Why do people like being scared?

　　Fear is an ancient way of surviving. Being scared makes animals, including humans escape from danger and save themselves. It is because of fear that we have lived through millions of years of evolution. Those who lacked a strong fear response were more likely to be killed, leaving the more fearful and careful to pass their genes onto the next generation.

　　How do scientists explain why shaking over such scary things is fun? “Some kids will go to a scary movie and love it and laugh over it, others will feel anxious and hide their faces and some won’t even set foot in the cinema,” said Ned Kalin, a US scientist. “Which kind of person you are depends partly on experiences you’ve had and partly on your genes.”

　　What happens in the brain when something frightens you? Nerves that begin at the eyes and ears lead to a part of the brain called the amygdale. When you suddenly see a snake, for example, the amygdale makes you freeze, sweat, have a quickened heartbeat, or run very fast. However, seeing the snake also uses another part of the brain, the cortex. It analyzes the situation, and if it finds that the snake is only made of rubber it tells your heart and the rest of your body to calm down. Think of the amygdale as the engine and the cortex as the brake.

　　Back to the first question: Why do some people like to make themselves scared? “One reason is that we can play games with fear, find ways to reduce the scariness by looking away or thinking of something else,” Kalin said. “To believe we have control over a situation gives us a feeling of power.” “Scary movies or novels are good practice to prepare young people for the real thing. Thrills such as roller coaster rides also go to the brain’s pleasure centre.”

　　And there might be some evolutionary advantage to being able to adjust this system that is there to protect people.

　　72. How many questions are answered in the passage?

　　A. 2. 　　　B. 3. 　　　C. 4.　　　 D. 5.

　　73. Some people like to be scared because______.

　　A. they are afraid that the fear genes will be passed onto their children

　　B. it’s a good practice to get prepared for the real frightening situation

　　C. it can help them show their own personalities

　　D. they will feel powerful after getting rid of fear

　　74. Which of the following is true about the people who are not easily scared?

　　A. Their cortex is better at analyzing the situations.

　　B. They are more likely to suffer from potential danger.

　　C. They are born unaffected by anything horrible.

　　D. They lack a strong response towards threat.

　　75. What is the best title of the passage?

　　A. Ready to scream? 　　　　B. How to be scared?

　　C. Willing to shake?　　　　D. Why to be scared?