Andreea,18,from Romania, sent a photograph of the view from her window and included a brief apology, “Sorry, this picture is plain and boring. No one would like it.”
At home in New Jersey, US, Coreen Burke,16, clicked on the same image on the internet. She saw a village with its rooftops and walls painted in reds and yellows, a distant chimney(烟囱) giving off smoke. “Isn’t this amazingly different from my country?” She thought to herself.
Burke, a teenager with a skill for computers, saw beauty in that photo. She posted it to her blog, Outside My Window, which features a daily snapshot(快照) of someone’s window view around the world.
The concept is simple: We can all relate to the act of staring through a piece of glass, onto the scene on the other side. “Maybe if we understood the way people from all over the world live,” she explained, “we would all get along better than we have been lately.”
With a click of a mouse, you can see Frederic’s window in the south of France, looking out on sailboats anchored (抛锚) in a peaceful harbor. Or Virginia’s view in Canada, a winter scene with trees laced in white.
Like most high school students, Burke has traveled the world. But she says someday she hopes to collect stamps in her passport, starting with Greece and India. Her recent break was devoted to launching the site with a blogger account and recruiting(招募) contributors from deviant ART, an online art community. She posted the first window view from Switzerland, a sunset photographed by an 18-year-old. Then others came flowing in by email, up to seven a day, from as far as Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
Contributors are marked on maps pinned on her bedroom wall: a blue dot indicates their country and a pink dot shows their city, if they provide it. The most responses have come from Europe – Estonia, Poland, Italy, Germany and Sweden, to name a few. She is crossing her fingers, thinking that she’ll receive a photo from Africa or Antarctica, which are unrepresented so far.
While she’s become a cyber crusader(网络革新者) for appreciating the beauty outside our own windows, get this: She has no windows in her bedroom. She has a nice skylight（天窗）, though.
66. What does Burke think of the picture she received from Andreea?
A. Boring B. Charming C. Strange D. Plain
67. Outside My Window is a blog intended to show_______.
A. the view from Burke’s window
B. pictures of rural New Jersey
C. photos of window views taken by people all over the world
D. beautiful scenes of famous places of interest
68. We can conclude from the article that Burke _______.
A. believes we should reach out to people of different cultures
B. has traveled around the world and taken many pictures
C. is a member of an online art community
D. has made a lot of money by selling beautiful pictures
69. Which of the following is not true?
A. Burke is likely to receive a photo from Africa or Antarctica.
B. Burke is a junior middle school student.
C. Burke has photos from many countries in the world, including Kazakhstan.
D. Burke wants a photo of window view from Africa or Antarctica.
70．What is the best title of this passage?
A. World Windows
B. Beautiful Pictures
C. Pictures on the Internet
D. Windows in Bedrooms
During the seasons of fine weather, kids can play outside, happy and active. But when winter comes around, it is wet, windy and cold. Since they can’t go outside to play, kids get restless and miserable.
Fun activities for kids are pretty much necessary at that time of year, and they need to be kept entertained. One way to do this is to have an indoor treasure hunt, where children can look for clues and then get to the treasure. Treasure doesn’t even need to be much, because just the activity is fun enough.
Art activities are always fun, and if you start off with some paper in different colors they can draws shapes on the back, cut them out and stick them on the white paper to make all sorts of things. Cardboard boxes, stuck together and then painted, can be made into buildings or robots. You can keep all boxes in a bag in the loft. Then you have something you can draw on when the weather is bad and the children need to play indoors.
Dressing up is another fun indoor activity. Why not read a book to them and then ask them to act it for you? That can keep them busy and develop their imagination. When you encourage children to use their imagination, you are giving them confidence in themselves, in their own creative abilities; by suggesting they put on a play you are encouraging them to work together and develop teamwork skills.
The best way to help your kids have fun when it is rainy outside is to let them come up with some ideas. When you feel that they are old enough, let them write their ideas on a piece of paper and you can pick an idea that you find practical. That way, every day can be fun!Kids are most likely to be unhappy in winter because .
| A．it is very cold and windy |
| B．they lead a miserable life |
| C．they like spring very much |
| D．they can’t enjoy themselves outside |
The indoor treasure hunt is an activity in which kids .
| A．would like to get much treasure |
| B．are eager to find something |
| C．are forced to stay indoors |
| D．try to help each other. |
Dressing up can help kids to develop their .
| A．confidence, creation and teamwork skills |
| B．creation, interest and determination |
| C．teamwork skills, hobby and creation |
| D．imagination, hobby and bravery |
One of the greatest sources of unhappiness, in my experience, is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are．
When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different. We cry out for something better. That may be human nature，or perhaps it’s something ingrained(根深蒂固的) in our culture. The root of the unhappiness isn’t necessarily that we want things to be different．However, it’s that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place. We’ve judged it as bad，rather than saying, “It's not bad or good, and it just is it．”
In one of my books, I said, “You should expect people to mess up and expect things to go differently than you planned”. Some readers said it's too sorrowful to expect things to go wrong．However, it’s only negative if you see it as negative and judge it as bad. Instead，you could accept it as the way the world works and try to understand why that is．
This can be applied to whatever you do：how other people act at work，how politics works and how depressing the news media can be．Accept these things as they are，and try to understand why they’re that way. _It_ will save you a lot of sadness，because you’ll no longer say, “Oh, I wish bad things didn’t happen!’’
Does it mean you can never change things? Not at all. But change things not because you can’t accept things as they are, but because you enjoy the process of changing, learning and growing．
Can we make this world a better place? You can say that you’ll continue to try to do things to help others, to grow as a person, to make a difference in this world. That’s the correct path you choose to take，because you enjoy that path. Therefore, when you find yourself judging and wishing for difference, try a different approach: accept, and understand. It might lead to some interesting results．The author believes that we feel unhappy maybe because ___________.
| A．it is our natural emotion in the life |
| B．culture asks us to be different from others |
| C．everyone has their own opinions on things |
| D．we dislike something in the beginning |
In Paragraph 4，the underlined word "it" refers to ____________．
| A．acting well at work and in politics |
| B．feeling depressed for the news media |
| C．accepting and understanding what has happened |
| D．saying something negative when bad things come |
In the last paragraph，you are advised _____________．
| A．to help others and make a difference |
| B．to enjoy what you have to do in the work |
| C．to judge yourself and make a wish for you |
| D．to try a new way when making the world better |
What is the main theme of the passage?
| A．Expecting things to be different gives us hope． |
| B．Accepting can make our life happier and better． |
| C．Traditional culture becomes root of unhappiness． |
| D．Judging good or bad is important for our world． |
Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．attraction | B．advantage |
| C．adaption | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Neutral | B．Skeptical |
| C．Disapproving | D．Sympathetic |
Does everyone want a challenging job? In spite of all the attention focused by the media, academicians, and social scientists on human potential and the needs of individuals, there is no evidence to support that the vast majority of workers want challenging jobs. Some individuals prefer highly complex and challenging jobs; others develop in simple, routine work.
The individual-difference variable（变量）that seems to gain the greatest support for explaining who prefers a challenging job and who doesn’t is the strength of an individual’s needs for personal growth and self-direction at work. Individuals with these higher-order growth needs are more responsive for challenging work. What percentage of ordinary workers actually desire higher-order need satisfactions and will respond positively to challenging jobs? No current data is available, but a study from the 1970s estimated the figure at about 15%. Even after adjusting for changing work attitudes and the growth in white-collar jobs, it seems unlikely that the number today exceeds 40%.
The strongest voice advocating challenging jobs has not been workers—it’s been professors, social science researchers, and media people. Professors, researchers, and journalists undoubtedly made their career choices, to some degree, because they wanted jobs that gave them autonomy, recognition and challenge. That, of course, is their choice. But for them, to force their needs onto the workforce in general is presumptuous (冒失的).
Not every employee is looking for a challenging job. Many workers meet their higher-order need off the job. There are 168 hours in every individual’s week. Work rarely consumes more than 30% of this time. That leaves considerable opportunities, even for individuals with strong growth needs, to find higher-order need satisfaction outside the workplace. So don’t feel you have a responsibility to create challenging jobs for all your employees. For many people, work is something that will never excite or challenge them. And they don’t expect to find their growth opportunities at work. Work is merely something they have to do to pay their bills. They can find challenges outside of work on the golf course, fishing, at their local pub, with their friends in social clubs, with their family, and the like.What makes people choose challenging jobs?
| A．Positive responses. | B．Work attitudes. |
| C．Higher-order growth needs. | D．Personal self-direction. |
Who is the least likely to prefer a challenging job?
| A．College professors. | B．Construction workers. |
| C．Social researchers. | D．Media journalists. |
The passage is intended for _______.
| A．job-hunters | B．researchers |
| C．employers | D．graduates |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Not Everyone Wants a Challenging Job |
| B．Complex Jobs Offer Growth Opportunities |
| C．Employers Should Create Challenging Jobs |
| D．Challenging Jobs Give a Sense of Recognition |
Whether we should allow marine (海洋的) parks to stay open has been widely debated in our community recently. A variety of different arguments have been put forward about it.
Smith, a sociologist, argued that dolphin parks provide the only opportunity for much of the public to see marine mammals. As this argument goes, most Australians live in cities and never get to see these animals. Marine parks allow the average Australian to appreciate our marine wildlife. However, in fact, there are many places where they can be seen in the wild. Moreover, these places do not charge an overpriced entry fee — they are free.
Dr. Alison Lane, the director of the Cairns Marine Science Institute, insists that we need marine parks for scientific research. She argues that much of our knowledge of marine mammals comes from studies which were undertaken at marine parks. The knowledge which is obtained at marine parks can be useful for planning for the preservation of marine mammal species. However, Jones, a zoologist, explains that park research is only useful for understanding captive animals and is not useful for learning about animals in the wild. Their diets are different, they have significantly lower life lengths and they are more likely to have a disease. In addition, marine mammals in dolphin parks are trained and this means that their patterns of social behavior are changed.
The Marine Park Owners Association holds that marine parks attract a lot of foreign tourists. This position goes on to state that these tourists spend a lot of money, increasing our foreign exchange earnings and assisting our national balance of payments. However, foreign tourists would still come to Australia if the parks were closed down. Indeed, surveys of overseas tourists show that they come here for a variety of other reasons and not to visit places like Seaworld. Tourists come here to see our native wildlife in its natural environment and not to see it in cages and concrete pools. They can see animals in those conditions in their own countries.
In a word, perhaps an agreement cannot be reached now. However, a question does deserve our consideration: If we continue with our past crimes against these creatures, how will our future generations view us?Who support(s) the idea of closing marine parks?
| A．Most Australians. | B．Jones. |
| C．Smith. | D．Alison Lane. |
Which is NOT the reason to keep marine parks?
| A．For entertainment purpose. |
| B．For scientific research purpose. |
| C．For economic purpose. |
| D．For political purpose. |
The author tries to persuade readers to accept his argument mainly by________.
| A．pointing out the problems with keeping the marine parks |
| B．using evidence he has collected at the marine parks |
| C．discussing the advantages of animals' natural homes |
| D．questioning the way the animals are studied |
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