Gift Idea

The other day I was shopping for Grandma when I realized I had no gift ideas at all．It was not a birthday gift or anything like that．It was simply sort of a hello gift．That is how we do things in my family．We don't really give gifts for special occasions．Instead, we occasionally just give presents to each other to tell other people that we are thinking about them．

That was why I wanted a gift for Grandma．But it was like my imagination had dried up． I have gone through all of the gift ideas in previous years, fruits, wines, cheeses, little handmade crafts, and anything else that you can give to a grandmother．I had even given her gift watches, and CDs．What else was there?

I have always found gift ideas for men a little bit easier than for women, because for men, you can always get the usual things, such as video games, power tools and things like that．With a woman's gift idea, however, you have to know more about her．You cannot just get someone a book or a CD．You have to know all about her taste in movies, music, and literature．

My grandmother likes to read a lot, but what she likes is always pretty popular．I didn't want to get her a book that she might not like, but I was running out of time．I needed a gift idea for this weekend and went to visit her．After all, I hadn't seen her for a long time．I wanted to give her a gift so she would not feel ignored．

Finally, I came up with the perfect gift idea．I made a collection of all the stories I had written in the past year．It wasn't a typical gift idea like a bunch of flowers, but it really worked in the situation．You see, I am a writer and my grandma has always been my fan．

Anyway, I had been learning about bookbinding recently, and had pretty much mastered the art．I figured that I would add a little bit of handmade artwork to the stories, bind it altogether, and give it to her．It took hours to complete, but it was well worth the effort．She absolutely loved it．

1.The writer chose a gift for Grandma to _____．

A．celebrate a special family occasion

B．please her during a weekend visit

C．congratulate her on her birthday

D．beg her pardon for ignoring her

2.What gift did the writer finally decide to give his grandma?

A．Gift watches．

B．A bunch of flowers．

C．Artwork made by hand．

D．Stories written by himself．

3.How does the writer feel about giving gifts to women?

A．Interesting． B．Challenging．

C．Time-wasting． D．Popular．

4.We can learn from the passage that ______．

A．the writer is a successful novelist

B．most people are particular about gifts

C．the writer's grandma has a good taste in art

D．the writer's family will give gifts on regular days

Dogs already guide blind and disabled people and now they are to be trained to help people with dementia．The idea developed by some university students will now be put into practice by Scotland Medical Center．The research is meaningful, for there are 670, 000 people in Britain who have dementia and by 2021 this is expected to rise to one million．

Dementia can make people confuse night and day or forget basic things such as washing or drinking enough water．The dogs would be trained to help to guide them through the day．

Joyce Gray from Scotland Medical Center said, "People in the early stages of dementia are still able to live a relatively normal life, and dogs help them to maintain routine．M For example, people with memory loss will tend to forget to take medicine, "but if a dog presents them with a bag with pills in it, there's a greater chance of them taking it．"

Ms．Gray also said dogs were perfectly suited to remind their owners to eat．"Dogs have an ability to say 'it's my feeding time^, so there would be a note in the cupboard next to the dog's food reminding the dog's owner to eat too．"

The dog would also encourage the owner to take them out for walks．"It gives a reason for the owner to go out into the community," Ms．Gray said, "We did a test with an elderly person walking down the high street on his own．Then we gave him a dog on a lead and he did the exact same walk．That time people would come up to him, chatting or smiling and making eye contact．We hope we'd see this with people with dementia too．"

There is one more advantage of using the pets as companions．Since conversation can be increasingly confusing for people with dementia, dogs can give them a sense of silent support and companionship．Ms．Gray said, "We have found that people may forget familiar faces but not pets．People light up when they see animals．There is a speechless bond between the dog and its owner．w

1.What's the common symptom of dementia?

A．Going hungry． B．Feeling lonely．

C．Forgetting things． D．Waking up at night．

2.According to Ms．Gray, after feeding the pet, the owner may ______．

A．do some washing B．take his medicine

C．have something to eat D．go out to walk the dog

3.For people with dementia, pets can ______．

A．give them wordless help

B．contribute to their recovery

C．help them to recognize people's faces

D．ensure them to gain support from other people

4.What's the best title for the passage?

A．Guide Dogs for the Mind

B．Pets, Faithful Companions

C．Mental Support for the Disabled

D．Dementia, a Curable Disease

Interactive Home-security Systems

Tarik Celebi, who lives in San Francisco suburb, takes his home-security system with him to work, to dinner, just about anywhere．By his cell phone, he "arms" his home-security alarm from his car before he leaves for work．During his workday, he gets e-mail alerts every time his front door opens, even though he's miles away．If the door opens at an unusual time -say midday when no one should be coming or going - he can order a 30-second video clip（片段） from the camera that watches the door．If it's just his mother-in-law getting a package delivery, no worries．

Celebi is one of the first users of the latest interactive home-security systems．In addition to sounding alarms when the house is broken into and notifying homeowners or police, as traditional systems do, the interactive systems give users new ways to remotely control their systems and their home environment．Different from traditional home-security alarms, which homeowners typically have to press buttons on a keypad to turn on before they leave their homes, the interactive systems enable consumers to arm and disarm systems from smart phones, iPads and PCs, no matter where they are．

Most traditional systems are set up to sound an alarm if doors or windows are opened． The interactive systems give homeowners more options．For example, users can elect when they want to be notified．They might want an e-mail or a text every time a door is opened, or only during the hours of 3 to 4 p．m．, when kids come home from school．Like Celebi, they can add cameras and get video clips when doors open．That could be helpful in making sure kids aren't bringing friends home when they're not supposed to．

Nationwide, about 20% of homes have．traditional home-security systems．About half stop using them because they tire of the trouble．Being able to arm systems even while dashing to the subway or while at work will increase their usage of the new interactive systems．Although the new functions add costs to home security, the interactive-systems are believed to push home-security systems' usage rates closer to 30%, which would be a big movement for an industry that's been largely stuck at 20% for the past decade．"We all know it's going to get bigger, though we don't know how long it's going to take," Eric Taylor, an officer from San Francisco Security Department says．

1.What may Celebi first do if his front door opens at a wrong time when he is away?

A．Inform the police． B．Call his mother-in-law．

C．Arm the security alarm． D．Observe through video．

2.The interactive systems enable the user to ______．

A．improve his home environment remotely

B．lock his house's door while he is miles away

C．operate the home-security systems at any place

D．sound the alarm and inform the police at the same time

3.What's the advantage of the interactive systems over the traditional ones?

A．They are cheaper．

B．They are easier to set up．

C．They can give quicker reaction．

D．They have more ways to inform the users．

4.What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The importance of security industry．

B．The functions of the interactive alarms．

C．The popularity of home-security systems．

D．The market potential of the interactive systems．

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。

Brain Drain

Imagine you are sitting in your living room and out of surprise you get a call from a friend．He tells you that he's gotten the student visa and is going to study abroad for higher education．His parents may feel it a privilege that their son is guaranteed to have a bright future and unbelievable job opportunities．1. While many people believe that immigration is a personal choice that must be understood and respected, others have realized a serious problem-brain drain．Brain drain refers to the flow of highly skilled and educated people, such as doctors, engineers, scientists from less developed countries to developed countries． Brain drain has become a common social problem．2. These reasons are "Push" factors （因素） and "Pull" factors．The push factors include low wages and lack of satisfactory working and living conditions, and so on．The pull factors, however, include higher pay and better working conditions, better job opportunities, as well as better research equipment．

As we can see, many educated people are heading for richer countries, seeking higher wages and better working conditions．3. It reduces the number of creative people who can contribute to the development of their country．Meanwhile, with more successful businessmen taking their money abroad, their countries are missing an opportunity of wealth creation．4. Besides these economic effects, the brain drain has also social negative effects, such as the loss of improvement in research and technique．

Therefore, measures must be taken in less developed countries to avoid brain drain． 5. Social developments like health services and education opportunities also need improving．Otherwise, less developed countries will face an uncertain future．

A．Even you may start to admire his plans．

B．This also reduces government tax income．

C．Why should their motivations be seriously considered?

D．This of course has serious negative effects on their own countries．

E．There should be more job opportunities for highly educated people．

F．So it is important to find out the proper reasons behind the brain drain．

G．Most of the measures taken so far have not reduced the effects of brain drain．

你的美国笔友 Chris 帮你买到了史蒂夫乔布斯的纪念邮票并随信寄来，请你根据以下提示给 他回信。

1.非常喜欢，表示感谢；

2.回赠三张马年邮票；

3.中国邮票展暑期在北京举办，邀请他参加。

Dear Chris，

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours Joe

假设你是红星中学高二（1）班的学生李华，下面四幅图描述了你和父母去西安自助旅游的 经过，请根据图片的先后顺序，给校刊“英语园地”投稿。词数不少于 60。 

Our English teacher often gets us _____ some famous films in the class.

A. watch B. watching C. to watch D. watched

---- What are you going to do this weekend?

---- I don’t know. I go to Beihai Park.

A. mustB. wouldC. shouldD. might

The Voice of China has set up a stage____ some people can realize their dreams.

A. which B. where C. that D. when

The teacher is very much ____ letting students use i-phones in the class.

A. against B. to C. over D. about