Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.
If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.
1 The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .
A. most people in the world speak Chinese
B. there are thousands of languages in the world today
C. man has much knowledge about languages
D. some people know several languages
2 According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .
A. will soon die out completely B. were once a relative of English
C. are no longer spoken D. come from the same family
3 According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.
A. Chinese B. English C. Spanish D. German
4 According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.
A. German B. English C. Spanish D. Chinese
5The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .
A. a special language spoken by Chinese
B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area
C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese
D. the form of a language used in one part of the country
“The U．S.Food and Drug Administration(FDA)is considering to put stricter limits over tanning salons(晒黑廊)and wants to ban anyone younger than 18 years of age from using a tanning bed，”an advisory panel(专家团)announced last week.
The panel is calling for tighter controls on the industry such as requiring teenagers to get the approval from their parents before using tanning beds or limiting the use of artificial tanning to a certain age.“Given the absence of any demonstrated benefits，I think it is an obligation for us to ban artificial tanning for those under 18，”said panelist Dr.Michael Olding.
Along with a possible ban for teenagers，the panel also recommended that visible warning labels should be placed either on the tanning machines or in the salons in order to caution tanners of the possible dangers.In addition，the committee decided that stricter regulations and classifications were critical to make the machines safer.At this time the machines are categorized as FDA Class 1 devices，the ones that are least likely to cause harm.In case the FDA decided to change their classification from Class 1 to Class 2，as advised by the panel，the FDA could limit the levels of radiation the machines emit.Class 2 devices include Xray machines and powered wheelchairs.
Getting a tan，whether from a tanning bed or the sun，increases the risk of developing skin cancer.Last year，the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)declared tanning beds as “carcinogenic(致癌的)to humans”．It was discovered that young individuals in their teens and 20s who use tanning beds on a regular basis have a 75 per cent higher risk of suffering from melanoma(黑素瘤)，the deadliest form of skin cancer.According to the American Cancer Society，melanoma accounted for nearly 69,000 cases of skin cancer in 2009 and will account for most (about 8,650)of the 11,590 mortality cases due to skin cancer each year.According to the passage，what measures will U．S.FDA most probably take?
| A．Banning tanning salons. |
| B．Posing heavier tax over tanning salons. |
| C．Having tighter controls over tanning salons. |
| D．Limiting the number of tanning salons in every state. |
Which of the following suggestions for making tanning salons safer is NOT mentioned?
| A．Visible caution. |
| B．Setting age limit. |
| C．Professional personnel. |
| D．Parental approval for teenagers. |
What does the writer want to express in the last paragraph?
| A．Tanning in one's youth may mean death. |
| B．Tanning in the sun is safer than on the tanning bed. |
| C．People should get tanned without getting melanoma. |
| D．Getting tanned is only a good idea for those above thirty years old. |
What will most probably happen，if the advisory panel's suggestions are adopted and put into practice?
| A．Fewer people will suffer from skin cancer. |
| B．Tanning salons will have more customers. |
| C．Getting a tan in a tanning salon will cost less. |
| D．Parents will be more anxious about their tanning children. |
The hottest“green”toy in Germany isn't made of organic or recycled materials.This one has a solar panel and only runs if kids remember to insert bright red “energy stones”that power the space station.Germany，a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives，is also at the forefront of creating environmentfriendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use，raising awareness through play.A number of hightech green toys are on display at this year's Nuremberg toy fair，which runs through Sunday.
Among them，there are hydroelectricpowered(水电动力的)toy cars，and doll houses with wind turbines and rainwater catchers.The bright green “Future Planet”space station features an inner atrium(中庭)with a fan that is powered by a functioning solar cell.Its aim is to get kids to use their imagination about how energy will be created in the future.
Makers and retailers believe such toys will play an increasingly important role in their future—and that of our kids.“Energy is the question of the future and we are definitely thinking about this as we move ahead，”said Judith Schweinitz，a spokeswoman for Playmobil，maker of the solar panelfitted space station.“It is increasingly being brought into our play concept.”Green toys—which range from those made of sustainable materials to ones like the space station that just raise environmental awareness—make up only a sliver of the $ 84 billion international toy market，but their share is growing，studies indicate.Environmental research firm Earthsense，based in Syracuse，New York，predicts that green toys will account for about $ 1 billion，or 5 percent of U．S.toy sales in the next five years.Parents are smart and they want information about what's in the product.That's what's really driving the market.The hottest “green”toy in Germany is ________.
| A．made of rubbish |
| B．made of organic or recycled materials |
| C．equipped with a solar panel |
| D．driven by an advanced motor |
The purpose of making the green toys is to ________.
| A．raise kids' awareness about energy and environment |
| B．improve kids' imagination |
| C．give kids the knowledge of technology |
| D．improve the safety of toys |
We can infer from the last paragraph that the green toys ________.
| A．can help save little energy |
| B．are not accepted by parents |
| C．will sell well in the future |
| D．have not been produced |
Which of the following BEST describes the opinion of Earthsense about green
toys?
| A．Doubtful. |
| B．Optimistic. |
| C．Disappointed. |
| D．Proud. |
Americans gave nearly $300 billion away last year. Do you know the reason? Beyond the noble goals of helping others, it is that giving will make them happier.
It is a fact that givers are happier people than non-givers. According to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, a survey of 30,000 American households, people who give money to charity are 43% more likely than non-givers to say they are “very happy” about their lives. Similarly, volunteers are 42% more likely to be very happy then non-volunteers.
The happiness difference between givers and non-givers is not due to differences in their personal characteristics, such as income or religion. Imagine two people who are identical in terms of income and faith, as well as age, education, politics, sex, and family circumstances, but one donates money and volunteers, while the other does not. The giver will be, on average, over 40 percentage points more likely to be very happy than the non-givers.
A number of studies have researched exactly why charity leads to happiness. The surprising conclusion is that giving affects our brain chemistry. For example, people who give often report feelings of euphoria, which psychologists have referred to as the “Helper’s High”. They believe that charitable activity produces a very mild version of the sensations people get from drugs like morphine and heroin.
Of course, not only does giving increase our happiness, but also our happiness increases the possibility that we will give. Everyone prefers to give more when they are happy. Researchers have investigated this by conducting experiments in which people are asked about their happiness before and after they participate in a charitable activity, such as volunteering to help children or serving meals to the poor. The result is clear that giving has a strong, positive causal impact on our happiness, so does happiness on givingAccording to Paragraph 2. We can learn that .
| A．only those people who gave money to charity will be happy |
| B．more givers say they feel having happy lives than non-givers |
| C．those who donate money are happier than those who volunteer |
| D．42% of the volunteers say they are as happy as the non-volunteers |
What causes the happiness difference?
| A．Income. | B．Faith. |
| C．Education. | D．Donation. |
The underlined word “euphoria” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to .
| A．relaxation | B．uncertainty |
| C．nervousness | D．pleasure |
If a person feels happy, he may .
| A．ask for more donations |
| B．stop charitable activity |
| C．be likely to give more |
| D．cook food for the poor |
Which of the following is the main theme of this passage?
| A．Giving brings happiness. |
| B．Americans love donating. |
| C．The happiness difference. |
| D．Feelings of volunteers. |
Finding a friend doesn’t seem like a difficult job. However, bad friends are easier to find than good friends these days. If you’re sitting there and wondering if you have a bad friend, let me define it for you.
A bad friend is someone whose jealousies and insecurities outweigh their love for someone. They night want to be a good friend but they’re too messed up in their own head to ever actually do it. They wonder if their friends are going out without them or if they’re being forgotten and left behind. People who are violently insecure don’t have what it takes to be the quality of a friend.
Bad friends are narcissistic(自恋的).They look for any opportunity to bring the conversation back to them. Worse, they might not even be aware that they’re doing it. In their mind, they might think they are the best friend ever, which is truly frightening.
Bad friends are quick-change. They’re by your side when you’re fun and you have something to give them but as soon as you’re going through a difficult time, they will become indifferent quickly. They won’t bring you cold medicine. They won’t give you a ride to the doctor, everything they do is self-serving.
If you find a friend who has these same characteristics, send them to your bad friend list immediately. Your friends are supposed to be the solution to your problems, not the source.
I believe your twenties are a time when you need positive and helpful friends. In such a time, friendships aren’t easy to maintain like they once were in school. Now we actually have to put work into it, we have to make a conscious effort to keep the friendship going. You need to ask yourself, “Is this person worth it? Do they treat me like a fool or what?” if your have doubts, try to make them clear by considering the past experiences. Toxic(有毒的) friendships do nothing but drag you down. My point is that you have to take care of yourself and stop getting in touch with your bad friends. Only surround yourself with people who bring out the best qualities in you. It may sound cruel but it’s true,.The author believes that we can easily find a .
| A．close friend | B．poor friend |
| C．good friend | D．bad friend |
Bad friends give the author the following impressions EXCEPT being .
| A．outgoing | B．insecure |
| C．narcissistic | D．self-centred |
We can infer from the passage that a bad friend will when you have trouble.
| A．feel worried as you do | B．try hard to help you out |
| C．do nothing but leave you | D．pay more attention to you |
In the last paragraph, you are advised .
| A．not to treat your friends like fools |
| B．not to keep a terrible friendship |
| C．not to be a bad friend of others |
| D．not to doubt but ask yourself |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To tell us finding a friend is not an easy job for everyone. |
| B．To help us know about bad friends and get rid of them. |
| C．To encourage us to make more friends in school. |
| D．To advise us not to treat our close friends badly. |
The deadliest Ebola(埃博拉病毒) outbreak in recorded history is happening right now. The outbreak is unprecedented(空前的) both in the number of people who have gotten sick and in the geographic scope. And so far it’s been a long battle that doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Ebola is both rare and very deadly. Since the first outbreak in 1976, Ebola viruses have infected thousands of people and killed roughly killed 60 percent of them. Symptoms can come on quickly and kill fast.
The current outbreak started in Guinea sometime in late 2013 or early 2014. It has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, including some capital cities. And one infected patient traveled on a plane to Nigeria, where he spread the disease to several others and then died. Cases have also popped up in various other countries throughout the world, including in Dallas and New York City in the United States.
The Ebola virus has now hit many countries, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and the United States. The virus, which starts off with flu-like symptoms and sometimes ends with bleeding, has infected about 6,500 people and killed more than 3,000 since this winter, according to the World Health Organization on September 30, 2014.
There are some social and political factors contributing to the current disaster. Because this is the first major Ebola outbreak in West Africa, many of the region’s health workers didn’t have experience or training in how to protect themselves or care for patients with this disease.
Journalist David Quammen put it well in a recent New York Times article, “Ebola is more dangerous to humans than perhaps any known virus on Earth, except rabies(狂犬病) and HIV. And it does its damage much faster than either.”
Hopefully, researchers are working to find drugs, including a recent $50 million push at the National Institutes of Health. And scientists are working on vaccines(疫苗), including looking into ones that might be able to help wild chimpanzees, which are also susceptible to the disease. The first human Ebola vaccine trial is scheduled to start in the spring of 2015.According to the passage, which of the following about Ebola is true?
| A．The Ebola outbreak now is the biggest one in history. |
| B．Ebola breaks out quickly but it is under control now. |
| C．Ebola is deadly and common so it kills a lot of people. |
| D．Ebola killed about 60 thousand people quickly in 1976. |
The Ebola virus was brought to Nigeria by .
| A．a flying bird | B．an infected passenger |
| C．hot African weather | D．a health organization |
The symptoms of Ebola at the beginning are more like those of .
| A．flu | B．rabies |
| C．HIV/AIDS | D．internal bleeding |
The last paragraph mainly tells us that .
| A．it will be a huge waste when researchers spend lots of money finding a cure |
| B．the vaccines can be effective to wild chimpanzees but not to the humans |
| C．there will be an optimistic future in which we can defeat the disease |
| D．we can use the vaccine to cure the patients completely in 2015’s spring |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Ebola ---- The African Local Disaster |
| B．Ebola ---- The Newly-Found Disease |
| C．Ebola ---- A More Effective Vaccine |
| D．Ebola ---- The Deadly Virus Outbreak |
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