To be sure, only children experienced some things differently from those with sisters and brothers.
Many feel more pressure to succeed. They also tend to look only to their parents as role models in the
absence of brothers and sisters.
     In India, 10-year-old Saviraj Sankpal founded a support group for the tiny minority of only children.
Among other things, the group does volunteer work to counter (反对) the myth that they are not
responsible. "People think we're treated too kindly and ruined," says Sankpal, a computer engineering
students. "But I'd like to remind them how lonely it can get."
     Most only children, however, say they wish for sisters or brothers only when it comes to caring for
aging, unhealthy parents. Britain's David Emerson, co-author of the book The Only Child, says that such
a person bears terrible burden in having to make all the decisions alone. Emerson knows from
experience: After his father died, he chose to move his elder mother from their family home, where she
was vulnerable (易受攻击的)to house breakers, to a new one with more security. "The move was quite
hard on her, and she might feel that I pushed her into it," he says. "After all, I am left with that
responsibility."
     In the future, more and more only children will likely face similar choices. With working mothers
increasing, many families are finding they simply don't have the time, money or energy to have more than
one child. As only children become common, perhaps the world will realize that the charge made against
them is unjust.

1. it can be inferred from the passage that the author's attitude towards only children is _______.

A. objective    
B. subjective      
C. ironic      
D. Humorous

2. It can be inferred from the passage that only children's parents should______.

A. do volunteer work to help their only children
B. let their only children make all the decisions alone
C. set good examples for their only children
D. found a support group for their only children

 3. Emerson decided to move his elderly mother to a new house because he _______.

A. is the only who cares about her    
B. doesn't want to leave her alone
C. wants to share the responsibility with her  
D. is worried about her safety

4. It is quite usual now for a working mother to__________.

A. spend all her time and money on her only child
B. be responsible for bringing up her only child
C. have and bring up only one child   
D. devote all her energy to her job

 5. The main idea of the passage is that______.

A. only children have to face many challenges
B. only children are ruined and irresponsible
C. most only children want to share their responsibility with their parents
D. most only children have no brothers and sisters

     In the summer of 1978 an English farmer was driving his tractor through a field of wheat when he
discovered that some of his wheat was lying flat on the ground. The fattened (压平的) wheat formed
a circle about six meters across. Around this circle were four smaller circles of flattened wheat. The
five circles were in a formation like five dots. During the following years, farmers in England found the
strange circles in their fields more and more often.
     The circles are called "crop circles" because they appear in the fields of grain - usually wheat or corn.
The grain in the circles lies flat on the ground but never broken; it continues to grow, and farmers can
later harvest it. Farmers always discover the crop circles in the morning, so the circles probably form
at night. They appear only in the months from May to September.
     At first, people thought that the circles were a hoax. Probably young people were making them as
a joke, or farmers were making them to attract tourists. To prove that the circles were a hoax, people
tried to make circles exactly like the ones that farmer had found. They couldn't do it. They couldn't
enter a field of grain without leaving tracks(痕迹), and they couldn't flatten the grain without breaking it.
     Many people believe that beings from outer space are making the circle to communicate with us
from far away and that the crop circles are messages from them.
     Scientists who have studied the crop circles suggested several possibilities. Some scientists say
that a downward rush of wind leads to the formation of the circles - the same downward rush of air
that sometimes causes an airplane to crash. Other scientists say that forces within the earth cause the
circles to appear. There is one problem with all these scientific explanations: crop circles often appear
in formations, like the five-dot formation. It is hard to believe that any natural force could form those.

1. In the summer of 1978, an English farmer discovered in his field that __________.

A. some of his wheat had been damaged        
B. his grain was growing up in circles.
C. his grain was moved into several circles    
D. some of his wheat had fallen onto the ground.

2. According to the text, the underlined part "hoax" (in the 3rd paragraph) probably means __________.

A. an attempt made to fool people            
B. a special way to plant crops
C. a research on the force of winds            
D. an experiment for the protection of crops.

3. Which of the following may prove that the crop circles are not made by man?

A. The farmer couldn't step out of the field.    
B. The farmers couldn't make the circles round.
C. The farmers couldn't leave without footprints.
D. The farmers couldn't keep the wheat straight up.

4. A proper title for this passage is ___________.

A. An Unsolved Mystery
B. Strange Flying Objects
C. The Power of Natural Forces
D. The discovery of Strange Circles

1. In what situation will the passage be useful? (please answer within 10 words)
  _______________________________________________________________________

2. Please fill in the blank with proper words and phrases. (please answer within 10 words)
  ________________________________________________________________________

3. Translate the underlined sentence in the passage into Chinese.
  ______________________________________________________________________

4. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
  It is what the word means not which word it is that should be the criterion of the correct answer.
  __________________________________________________________________________

     Scientists have developed a new cancer drug. So far, they have tested it only in laboratory
animals. The drug is designed to enter and kill cancer cells, but not healthy cells.First, the drug
enters the cancer cells and stops their supply of blood. Then it releases poison to destroy the
cancer cells.
     Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) in Cambridge carried
out the study. The results appeared in Nature magazine. A school report called the drug an
"anticancer smart bomb".
     Ram Sasisekharan is a professor at MIT. He says that his team had to solve three problems.
They had to find a way to destroy the blood vessels, then to prevent the growth of new ones.
But they also needed the blood vessels to supply chemicals to _________.
     So, the researchers designed a two-part "nanocell". The cell is measured in nanometers(毫微米),
or one thousand millionth of a meter.
     The scientists say thay that it was small enough to pass through the blood vessels of the cancer,
but it was too big to enter normal blood vessels. The surface of the nanocells also helped them to
avoid natural defenses.
     The scientists designed the cell as a balloon inside a balloon. They filled the outer part with a
drug that caused the blood vessels to die. That cut off the blood supply and put the nanocells inside
the cancer. Then, the nanocells slowly released drugs to kill the cancer cells.
     The team says that the treatment killed the cancer and avoided healthy cells better than other
treatments. Untreated mice with cancer survived for twenty days. The scientists say that mice with
the best current treatments lived for thirty days. In this study, they say that eighty percent of the mice
treated with the nanocells lived more than sixty-five days.
     The scientists say that more studies are needed before the new drug can be tested in humans.

1. What's the best title of the passage? (please answer within 10 words.)
  ________________________________________________________________________

2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
   Scientists haven't tested the drug on humans, and only in lab.
   ____________________________________________________________________________

3. Please fill in the blank in the fourth paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentences. ( please answer within 10 words.)
   ___________________________________________________________________________

4. Do you think cancer can be cured in the future? Why? (please answer within 30 words.)
 ________________________________________________________________________

5. Please translate the underlined sentence in the eighth paragraph into Chinese
________________________________________________________________________

     Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways.   1. _____   Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test.
Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.
     You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing
research for a report.  2._____   whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is
a selective process.  3._____ 
     The following methods may work best for you.
     Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.
     Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.
     Write your notes in your own words.
     4.____  
     Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.
     As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand (速记). When you do, be sure that you
understand your symbols and that you use them all the time.   5._____  

A. Use words, not complete sentences.
B. There are three practical note-taking methods.
C. You must write your notes on separate paper.
D. Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.
E. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.
F. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.
G. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

     There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving
subway trains. and some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on,
water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by
"feedback"(反馈). Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do
next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us. So
robots are like human beings in two ways. They work and they have feedback.
     In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes.
They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are
very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be
shown how the job is done. A person moves the robot's "arms" and "hands" through each part of the job.
     The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes
and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which
control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such job as handling
radioactive materials.

1. In this passage the author tells us that ________.

A. robots are very popular              
B. there are various kinds of robots
C. we see robots only at certain times    
D. robots can be easily controlled

2. What does the author seem to inform you about robots?

A. They should be greatly improved.            
B. They will probably take over in the future.
C. They are very helpful and useful to humans.  
D. They are machines that break down a lot.

3. The author says that in industry ________.

A. robots break down a lot            
B. robots can do many jobs
C. robots only get in the way          
D. robots sometimes cause troubles

4. The fact that a robot never gets bored doing the same job means that _______.

A. it is very much like human beings      
B. it can do boring jobs for people
C. it will never bore people              
D. it will work much better than human beings

5. The robots used for scientific research _______.

A. are not very clever            
B. are very cheap
C. are very big                    
D. are very costly

     Too much TV-watching can harm children's ability to learn and even reduce their chances of
getting a college degree, new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television
on children．
    One of the studies looked at nearly 400 northern California third-graders．Those with TVs in
their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children
without bedroom TVs．
    A second study, looking at nearly 1000 grown-ups in New Zealand,found lower education
levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood．But the results don't
prove that TV is the cause and don't rule out(排除) that already poorly motivated(有动机的)
youngsters may watch lots of TV.
    Their study measured the TV habits of 26-year-olds between ages 5 and 15. Those with
college degrees had watched an average of less than two hours of TV per weeknight during
childhood, compared with an average of more than 2.5 hours for those who had no education
beyond high schools．  
    In the California study, children with TVs in their rooms but no computer at home scored the
lowest, while those with no bedroom TV but who had home computers scored the highest．
    While this study does not prove that bedroom TV sets caused the lower scores,it adds to
accumulating(增加) findings that children shouldn't have TVs in their bedrooms．

1. According to the California study, the low-scoring group might________.

A. have watched a lot of TV            
B. not be interested in math
C. be unable to go to college            
D. have had computers in their bedrooms

2. What is the researchers' understanding of the New Zealand study results?

A. Poorly motivated 26-year-olds watch more TV.
B. Habits of TV watching reduce learning interest．
C. TV watching leads to lower education levels of the 15-year-olds．
D. The connection between TV and education levels is difficult to explain．

3. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. More time should be spent on computers．
B. Children should be forbidden from watching TV.
C. TV sets shouldn't be allowed in children's bedrooms．
D. Further studies on high-achieving students should be done．

     Memory is the ability to keep track of things that have happened in the past. Memory really is
learning. One needs memory to ride a bicycle. A dog needs to remember if it is to come when called.
     Memory is said to be stored in the brain as a "memory trace(记忆痕)." What makes up this trace
is not known. Some scientists believe that certain chemical substances may carry certain memories.
For example, one substance, when given to rats, causes them to fear the dark.
     Other research into memory has to do with how the brain works. Psychologists use three means
to find out how a person remembers. For example, give a person a grocery list. Let the person
memorize the list, then put it away. The most natural way to find out how much a person remembers
of the grocery list is to ask what he or she remembers. This is called the method of recall. Another
method is called recognition. Give the person another grocery list. Ask him or her to choose items on
the first list from the items that are on only the second list. Often a person will be able to recognize
things that he or she cannot recall. A third method of finding how much a person remembers is called
relearning. Here the person is asked to read over the first list. The person will probably learn the list
the second time faster than he did the first time. The difference in the time it takes to relearn the list is
thought of as a measure of how much a person has remembered.
     One way of remembering something is to repeat it many times. Interest is very important. Boring
lists of facts are much more difficult to remember than something that we understand and are interested
in. Motivation, or wanting to do something, is also important. Motivation is linked with reward. For
example, a hungry animal quickly learns how to do something if that action gets the animal food. In
humans, wanting to learn is often motivation. The praise of a teacher or the knowledge that an answer
is correct is rewarding.

1. We can learn from the 2nd paragraph that ___________.

A. bad memories may cause rats to fear the dark        
B. it is hard to tell what a memory trace consists of
C. chemical substances carry certain memories        
D. memory is stored in the brain as a substance

2. The way to pick out the items on the first list from the second is known as ________ .        

A. recognition        
B. recall              
C. memorization      
D. relearning

3. What is considered as a measure of how much one has remembered?          

A. The length of the list.                      
B. The type of list items.
C. The time difference of relearning.            
D. The time difference of brain working.

4. A good way to train an animal to do something quickly is to ________.        

A. make the action easy                      
B. praise it in words
C. reward it with food                        
D. weaken its motivation

     Scientists at Harvard University and Bates College find female chimpanzees (黑猩猩) appear to
treat sticks as dolls, carrying them around until they have children of their own. Young males engage
in such behavior much less frequently.
     The new work by Sonya M. Kahlenberg and Richard W. Wrangham, described this week in the
journal Current Biology, provides the first evidence of a wild nonhuman species playing with dolls, as
well as the first known sex difference in a wild animal's choice of playthings.
    The two researchers say their work adds to a growing body of evidence that human children are
probably born with their own ideas of how they want to behave, rather than simply mirroring other
girls who play with dolls and boys who play with trucks. Doll play among humans could have its
origins in object-carrying by earlier apes (猿类), they say, suggesting that toy selection is probably
not due entirely to socialization.
     "In humans, there are obvious sex differences in children's toy play, and these are remarkably
similar across cultures," says Kahlenberg. "While socialization by elders and peers has been the
primary explanation, our work suggests that biology may also have an important role to play in activity
preferences."
    In 14 years of data on chimpanzee behavior at the Kibale National Park in Uganda, Kahlenberg
and Wrangham counted more than 100 examples of stickcarrying. Some young chimpanzees carried
sticks into the nest to sleep with them and on one occasion built a separate nest for the stick. "We
have seen juveniles occasionally carrying sticks for many years, and because they sometimes treated
them rather like dolls, we wanted to know if in general this behavior tended to represent something
like playing with dolls," says Wrangham, a Professor at Harvard. "If the doll hypothesis (假设)
was right, we thought that females should carry sticks more than males do, and that the chimpanzees
should stop carrying sticks when they had their first child. We have now watched enough young
chimpanzees to prove both points."

1. What does a female chimpanzee do with sticks?

A. She gives them to her child to play with.  
B. She treats them as dolls.
C. She makes useful tools from them.  
D. She treats them as weapons.

2. What causes the different toy selection of chimpanzees, according to the passage?

A. Sex difference.     
B. Socialization.
C. Environment.   
D. Cultural difference.

3. We can infer from the fourth paragraph that ________.

A. socialization has nothing to do with human's choice of playthings
B. sex difference is the only factor in human's choice of playthings
C. the biology factor may also influence toy choice
D. people choose different toys in different cultures

4. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A. both humans and chimpanzees choose their playthings due to sex difference
B. different factors cause humans and chimpanzees to choose different playthings
C. only female chimpanzees have playthings
D. chimpanzees usually choose playthings for their children

     Doctors say anger can be an extremely damaging, unless you learn how to deal with it. They warn
that anger can lead to heart disease, stomach problems, headaches, emotional problems and possibly
cancer.Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel from time to time, some people express anger openly
in a calm reasonable way. Others burst with anger, and scream and yell. But other people keep their
anger inside. They can not or will not express it. This is called ______________.
     For years many doctors thought that repressing anger was more dangerous to a person's health than
expressing it. They said that when a person is angry, the brain release the same hormones(荷尔蒙). They
speed the heart rate, raise blood pressure, or sugar into the blood, etc. in general the person feels excited
and ready to act.
     Some doctors say that both repressing and expressing anger can be dangerous. They believe that those who express anger violently may be likely to develop heart disease, and they believe that those who keep
 their anger inside may face a greater danger of high blood pressure.
     Doctors say the solution is learning how to deal with anger. They say the first step is to admit that you
are angry and to recognize the real cause of the anger, then decide if the cause is serious enough to get
angry about. If it is, they say, "Do not express your anger while angry. Wait until your anger has cooled
down and you are able to express yourself calmly and reasonably."
     Doctors say that a good way to deal with anger is to find humor in the situation that has made you
angry. They said that laughter is much healthier than anger.