To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment. Regardless of what happened yesterday or last year, and what may or may not happen tomorrow, the present moment is where you are — always!

We allow past problems and future concerns to control our present moments, so much that we end up anxious, frustrated, depressed, and hopeless. We often convince ourselves future will be better than today. John Lennon once said, "Life is what's happening while we're busy making other plans. "When we're busy making other plans", our children are busy growing up, the people we love are moving away and dying, our bodies are getting out of shape, and our dreams are slipping away. In short, we miss out on life.

Many people live as if life were a dress rehearsal for some later date. It isn't. In fact, no one has a guarantee that he or she will be here tomorrow. Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. When our attention is in the present moment, we push fear from our minds. Fear is the concern over events that might happen in the future—we won't have enough money, our children will get into trouble, we will get old and die, whatever.

To struggle against fear, the best strategy is to learn to bring your attention back to the present. Mark Twain said, "I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened. " I don't think I can say it any better. Practice keeping your attention on the here and now and your efforts will pay off.

67. The purpose of this passage is to tell readers ______.

A. people who are busy making plans are living actively

B. how to help others overcome fear

C. we ought to learn to live in the present moment

D. someone who only enjoys the present time usually wastes his time blindly

68. It implies（暗示） from the passage that ______.

A. many people know how to fight against fear

B. it isn't necessary to fear for future

C. you can gain more happiness by putting off your pleasure

D. some people make plans for their children to improve their lives

69. "Many people live as if life were a dress rehearsal" suggests that ______.

A. they always wish to be an actor or an actress

B. they believe that their present life is well prepared for their future

C. they are always busy making plans for future

D. They all have a guarantee that they will be alive tomorrow

70. Why are some people depressed and anxious day and night?

A. Because they fear they cannot pass their tests.

B. Because past problems and future concerns control their present moment.

C. Because the people they love want to leave them alone.

D. Because they make some mistakes in the past.

Going to school from 8 a．m．until 5 p. m．may sound terrible，but Sydney Shaw，a seventh grader at the Alain Locke Charter Academy on Chicago's West Side，has come to like it—as well as the extra 20 or so days that she's in class every year．“I'm sure every kid at this school says bad things about the schedule sometimes，”says Sydney，who was at school on Columbus Day．when most Chicago schools had a holiday．“But we all know it's for our benefit．”

Finding ways to give kids more classroom time，through longer hours，a longer school year，or both，is getting more attention．“If you want to look at schools where the achievement gap is narrowing．they're saying they couldn't do it without the added time，”says Jennifer Davis．“Even when you get good teachers into schools，you also need more time．”

According to studies．low-income students fall back more than two months in their reading skills over summer vacations．“It's over the summer months that poor kids fall behind，”says Karl Alexander，a sociologist．“If you have parents who themselves didn't succeed at school and aren't highly educated，kids aren't going to get those skills at home．”

Schools are asked to take a full year to plan how to best use the extra time—a process involving teachers，principals，students and parents．They are given outside support to help them base their plans on the best available analyses of student needs．It's still early，but officials are already seeing stronger test scores and a narrowing achievement gap．

But some critics are worried．“We risk producing something that's very expensive and time-consuming．and that will give educators a lot of trouble，”says Frederick Hess．“Before we spend all that extra money，I'd much rather see if we can figure out how to get 50 percent more instructional time out of the current school day．”

66．From the first paragraph，we learn that       ．

A．the longer schedule is harmful to kid's health

B．all Chicago students had a holiday on Columbus Day

C．Sydney Shaw supports the added time

D．few kids are bored with the lack of holidays

67．Low-income students fall behind in summer because       ．

A．no good teachers are willing to teach them

B．they can't get help from their parents

C．their parents are unwilling to hire private teachers

D．they themselves have no desire to learn

68．They are in favor of adding school hours except       ．

A．Sydney Shaw              B．Jennifer Davis

C．Frederick Hess              D．Karl Alexander

69．Some people are worried about adding school hours mainly because       ．

A．it will have a bad effect on the kids’futures

B．the current school day has been too busy

C．no one supports the idea

D．it will be costly and time-consuming

70．The text is mainly about       ．

A．whether a longer school day will help narrow the achievement gap

B．how students have benefited from additional school hours

C．why the achievement gap among students needs to be narrowed

D．what causes the achievement gap among students

    Turns out we aren’t good at walking and talking at the same time, according to a study of pedestrians （行人） on their cell phones．

     Nearly one-third of pedestrians （29．8% ） were distracted （分散注意力） by their mobile  devices while crossing the street, say researchers of a study published online in the journal Injury Prevention．

     Just as drivers who text, talk on cell phones, or adjust MP3 players increase their risk of losing control of their vehicles, pedestrians distracted by their conversations or their devices also put themselves at higher risk of getting into an accident．

    During the summer of 2012, scientists in Seattle, Wash． , studied 1,102 pedestrians at 20 crossroads seeing the city * s highest number of pedestrian injuries over the past few years．

    They watched how pedestrians crossed the street @ whether they looked both ways or obeyed the crossroad signal @ and also recorded how long it took pedestrians to do so． Distractions included listening to music with headphones, using a cell phone or earpiece to talk on a cell phone, text messaging, and talking with another person．

    Overall, researchers found the most common distraction among pedestrians was listening to music （11．2%）, followed by text messaging （7．3%）, and using a handheld phone（6．2%）． But the most absorbing distraction was texting． Compared to pedestrians who were not distracted, those who were texting took 1．87 seconds longer to cross and were four times more likely to not look where they were going, disobey traffic lights, or cross outside of the crosswalk． While the study did not track injuries related to these trends, previous studies have linked such activities to a higher risk of being injured while crossing the street．

    Combined with the rise in the use of mobile devices, especially smart phones, the results raise concerns that multi-tasking while walking may be a rising concern for pedestrians． And that danger may only climb, as the number of wireless devices has already exceeded the population of the United States． Last year, roughly 1,152 people wound up in the emergency room to treat injuries caused by using a cell phone or electronic device, the Consumer Product Safety Commission told the Associated Press in July． Those numbers may be underestimated, however, because patients may not always admit that they were using their phones along with other activities such as walking or driving when they were hurt．

67．The scientists did their study at the 20 crossroads in order to _____．

    A． attract more attention                    B． see more injuries

    C． record more samples                    D． find more pedestrians

68．According to the research, while crossing the street the most dangerous activity for apedestrian is _____．

    A． talking on a phone                       B． texting messages

    C． listening to music                        D． disobeying traffic lights

69．The underlined word "exceeded" is closest in meaning to "____"．

    A． gone beyond                           B． greatly influenced

    C． accelerated the increase of                 D． drawn the attention of

70．Which might be the best title of the passage?

    A． Walk and don't Talk                                   B． Prevention of Distraction

    C． Look both ways while crossing the street    D． Cell phones lead to injuries

TV LISTINGS FOR WLS-TV IN CHICAGO

Sept. 5, 2011

* TVPG: Programs for children with parents' guidance

66. According to the text, Save My Planet is mainly about______.

67. Which of the following content can't children watch alone?

68. Which of the following programs may help you deal with money problems?

69.If you are interested in the topic of keeping healthy, you can watch TV at______.

70. If you want to know Andy's idea about cleaning, you should watch at______.

It is easy for many people to catch a cold in the springtime or fall. It makes us wonder if scientists can send a man to the moon, why can’t they find a cure for the common cold? The answer is easy. There are actually hundreds of kinds of cold viruses out there. You never know which one you will get, so there isn’t a cure for each one.
When a virus attacks your body, your body works hard to get rid of it. Blood rushes to your nose and cause a block in it. You feel terrible because you can’t breathe well, but your body is actually eating the virus. Your temperature goes up and you get a fever, but the heat of your body is killing the virus. You also have a runny nose to stop the virus from getting into your cells. You may feel very uncomfortable, but actually your wonderful body is doing everything it can to kill the cold.
Different people do different things to deal with colds. In the United States and some other countries, for example, people might eat chicken soup to make themselves feel better. Some people take hot baths and drink warm liquids. Other people take medicine to stop various symptoms (症状) of colds.
There is one interesting thing to note —some scientists say taking medicines when you have a cold is actually bad for you. The virus stays in you longer because your body doesn’t have a way to fight it and kill it. Bodies can do an amazing job on their own. There is a joke, however, on taking medicine when you have a cold. It goes like this:
It takes about one week to get over a cold if you don’t take medicine, but it takes only seven days to get over a cold if you take medicine.