D
Weather changes when the temperature and the amount of water in the atmosphere change. We can see and feel water coming from the atmosphere when we have rain. But the water must somehow get back to the atmosphere. Meteorologists call this the water cycle.
There are many stages in the water cycle. Rain falls when water vapor in clouds condenses(凝结). Drops of water form and fall to the ground. The water soaks into the ground and feeds streams and rivers. A lot of rain falls into the sea. The heat of the sun evaporates（蒸发） some of the water in the ground and in the rivers, lakes, and the sea. It changes the liquid water into water vapor. The vapor rises onto the air. Water vapor（汽） is normally invisible. On a very damp or humid day, however, you can sometimes see water vapor rising from a puddle(水坑) or pond in a mist above the water. Water vapor also gets into the air from living things. Trees and other plants take in water through their roots and give off water vapor from their leaves. People and land animals drink water and breathe out water vapor. In all these ways the water returns to the air. There it gathers to form clouds and condenses to form rain. The rain falls to earth, and the cycle starts again. It continues even if snow or hail(冰雹) fall instead because both eventually melt to form water. The amount of water vapor in the air depends on the temperature. The air is more moist(潮湿) in the tropics than in the cold polar regions.
68. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Water cycle. B. Water vapor. C. How rain forms. D. Water, vapor, rain.
69. How many ways of the water returning to the air are discussed in the text?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
70. Whether water vapor can be seen or not depends on _______.
A. how much water is evaporated B. how good your eyes are
C. in which way water is evaporated D. climate or weather
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them. Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year.
One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have a farm then,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some time getting used to, but it’s been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are much happier.
Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, however, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much, or you might not do it at all.”The passage tells us that .
| A．people seldom work long hours to make money |
| B．people hardly buy more things than necessary |
| C．people are sure everything they own is in the right place |
| D．people realize there is more to life than just making money |
When Daniel was a reporter, he ______.
| A．lived in central London | B．was well paid |
| C．missed his children | D．disliked his job |
Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ______.
| A．was easy to organize | B．was extremely expensive |
| C．has improved family life | D．has been a total success |
The underlined word “downshifting” in the 2nd paragraph refers to ______.
| A．repairing your car by yourself |
| B．spending money carefully |
| C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life |
| D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week |
Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “That’s not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he’s going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.
In class, with her baby son is Natasha．She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.What is the text mainly about?
| A．Parents who are a child’s first teachers. |
| B．A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure（安全的）life. |
| C．A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered. |
| D．A kind teacher who helps homeless young mothers. |
Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.
| A．provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter |
| B．help homeless young mothers become good parents |
| C．help mothers in New York be good parents |
| D．teach some parents how to love their children |
What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?
| A．She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged. |
| B．She has a mother of five and a grandmother. |
| C．She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers. |
| D．She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. |
According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?
| A．Canada |
| B．The United States of America |
| C．Britain |
| D．Mexico |
Once there was an 11-year-old boy who went fishing with his father in the middle of a New Hampshire lake. On the day before bass(巴斯鱼) season opened, they were fishing early in the evening, catching other fish with worms. Then the boy tied a small silver lure(鱼饵) and put it into the lake. Suddenly he felt that something very big pulling on the lure. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully brought the fish beside the bank. Finally he lifted the tired fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass.
The boy and his father looked at the big fish. The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 p.m.—two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. “You’ll have to put it back, son,” he said.
“Dad!” cried the boy. “There will be other fish,” said his father. “Not as big as this one,” cried the boy. He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were in sight in the moonlight. He looked again at his father.
Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he had caught the fish, the boy could tell from his father’s voice that the decision couldn’t be changed. He threw the huge bass into the black water. The big fish disappeared. The boy thought that he would never again see such a big fish.
That was 34 years ago. Today the boy is a successful architect in New York City. He often takes his own son and daughters to fish at the same place.
And he was right. He has never again caught such a large fish as the one he got that night long ago. But he does see that same fish ... again and again ... every time he has an ethical (道德的) decision to make. For, as his father had taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult. What happened when the big fish turned out to be a bass?
| A．The boy and his father didn’t know what to do with the big fish. |
| B．The father lit a match in order to check the time. |
| C．The boy threw the bass back into the water willingly. |
| D．They worried other fishermen might discover what they had done. |
From the text we know that the father _________.
| A．didn’t love his son |
| B．always disagreed with his son |
| C．disliked the huge fish |
| D．was firm and stubborn |
The successful architect went fishing with his children at the same place because _______.
| A．they might catch a big fish there |
| B．it was a most popular fishing spot |
| C．he was taught a moral lesson there |
| D．their children enjoyed fishing there |
What does the story imply (suggest）?
| A．It is easy to say something, but difficult to do. |
| B．An ethical decision is always easy to make. |
| C．It’s hard to tell right from wrong sometimes. |
| D．Fishing can help one to make right decisions. |
Decisions, decisions! Our lives are full of them, from the small ones to the life-changing. The right to choose is central to everyone. Yet sometimes we make bad decisions that leave us unhappy or full of regret. Can science help?
Most of us know little about the mental processes that lie behind our decisions. Luckily, what psychologists（心理学家）are finding may help us all make better choices. Here are some of their amazing discoveries to help you make up your mind.
Consider your emotions. You might think that emotions are the enemy of decision making, but in fact they're a part of it. Whenever you make up your mind, your brain’s emotional center is active. University of Southern California scientist, Antonio Damasio, has studied people with damage to only the emotional parts of their brains, and found that they were unable to make basic choices about what to wear or eat. Damasio thinks this may be because our brains store emotional memories of past choices, which we use to help the present decision making.
However, making choices under the influence of an emotion can greatly affect the result. Take anger, for example. A study by Nitika Garg of the University of Mississippi and other scientists found the angry shoppers were more likely to choose the first thing they were offered rather than considering other choices. It seems anger can lead us to make quick decisions without much thinking.
All emotions affect our thinking and motivation（动机）, so it may be best to avoid making important decisions under their influence. Yet strangely there’s one emotion that seems to help us make good choices. The American researchers found that sad people took time to consider the various choices on offer, and ended up making the best choices. In fact many studies show that people who feel unhappy have the most reasonable view of the world. According to the text, what may help us make better decisions?
| A．To think about happy times. |
| B．To make many decisions at a time. |
| C．To stop feeling regretful about the past. |
| D．To learn about the process of decision-making. |
Damasio’s study suggests that _________.
| A．emotions are the enemy of decision making |
| B．our brain has nothing to do with decision making |
| C．people with physical damage find it hard to make up their minds |
| D．our emotional memories of past choices can affect present decisions |
Why are angry shoppers more likely to choose the first thing they are offered?
| A．They often forget their past choices. |
| B．They make decisions without much thinking. |
| C．They tend to save time when shopping. |
| D．They are too angry to bargain. |
What do we learn from the text?
| A．Emotions are a part of decision making. |
| B．Sad people always make worst choices. |
| C．No emotion seems to help us make good choices. |
| D．Only sad feelings affect our thinking and motivation. |
You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger（匕首） of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker, or a relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person, but all this is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to（附着） you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible. The purpose of the first paragraph is to __________.
| A．make a comparison | B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
| A．By changing our ways of thinking |
| B．By telling us the nature of life |
| C．By influencing our emotion |
| D．By comparing their attitudes to life with ours |
Some negative people base their happiness on __________.
| A．other people’s respect for them |
| B．other people’s pity for them |
| C．building up a positive attitude |
| D．making other people unhappy |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us, we are advised to __________.
| A．show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| B．communicate with negative people as little as possible |
| C．change negative people’s attitudes to life |
| D．make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号