Zhoukoudian is a small village situated about 50 kilometers to the southwest of Beijing. In the 1920s, archaeologists discovered some prehistoric human bones there which changed people’s view of China’s history. They came from an unknown species of man and were the first evidence of human life in China thousands of years ago. The remains were three teeth!
In 1929, a complete skull was also discovered. Eventually, archaeologist found almost 200 items, including six skulls and more than 150 teeth. These discoveries proved the existence of a human species who lived in the area between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago. Four sites where Beijing Man and his relatives lived were discovered on the northern face of Longgushan. They lived in the caves in the area.
However, the life span of Beijing Man was short. About 70% of the peole probably died before the age of 14. Fewer than 5% lived to the age of 50. Ashes were found alongside the fossils which showed they had used fire for cooking food and also for light, warmth, and protection against wild animals. This is the earliest evidence of the use of fire anywhere in the world. They also made tools of bones and stones. Unfortunately, when Japan invaded（侵略） China in 1937, excavations（挖掘） at the Beijing Man Site stopped and most of the fossils disappeared, including a Beijing Man skull. After the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, the work started again.
Zhoukoudian was listed as a World Heritage Site in December 1987. It has not only given us important information about prehistoric Asian societies, but also provided amazing evidence about the process of evolution. Today, parts of the caves have been badly affected by rain. Some areas are almost completely covered in weeds, causing serious damage. Pollution from the nearby factories has also contributed to the problem. This is a very serious matter and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is trying to raise public awareness of it.
46. Archaeologists _________________.
A. thought that Zhoukoudian was a beartiful village
B. thought that the findings in Zhoukoudian wouldn’t change the history of China
C. discovered some prehistoric human bounes in Zhoukoudian
D. thought that the findings in Zhoukoudian are the first evidence of human life in Asia
47. Beijing Man used fire to do all of the following things EXCEPT _______________.
A. light in the dark B. keep warm
C. make tools D. scare wild animals away
48. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. The digging was delayed by the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.
B. These ancient Chinese were the first people to use fire in daily life.
C. Some valuable things excavated from the site are still missing.
D. The digging of Zhoukoudian is famous and is well-funded（得到很好的资助）.
49. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. The digging of Zhoukoudian is still under way.
B. Zhoukoudian plays an important part in the study of prehistoric societies.
C. Zhoukoudian is a World Heritage Site.
D. Zhoukoudian is in great need of protection.
50. From the passage, we can infer that ______________.
A,. the work of excavating the Beijing Man Site has not proceeded（进行） smoothly
B. Beijing Man had a short life
C. Beijing Man lived in the caves of Longgushan
D. arvhaeologists found six complete skulls and more than 150 teeth in 1929.
One way to sell stuff is to make things that people want to buy. Another way is to offer “free trials” and then hit customers with bills. This brings us to PDC Education Ltd, run by Rebecca Jordan and Kirsty Weir of Leeds, whose website teaching-resources-uk.com offers teaching plans for teachers.
Rosemarie Brady, finance manager of Rutlish School in Merton, southwest London, tells us that one teacher called Amanda Seyfried downloaded the “free” resources. “Unfortunately in very small print, they state that unless the free trial is cancelled, then you will be charged,” she says.
A year has gone by and now they’ve been sent a second bill for 500 pounds, just because they forgot to cancel the “free trial”.
Merton Council—and it’s not the only one—has sent a warning to all its schools saying: “ Only in the very (easily missed) small print of the terms and conditions is it explained that, after the 14-day trial, schools will be automatically signed for a two-year contact with the company.”
“This will only be stopped if the teacher who requested the trial writes directly to PDC to cancel before the 14 days have expired(期满). The fee can be as much as hundreds of pounds, with the threat of debt recovery if they are not paid.”
Among the online complaints is this one from a teacher. “How disappointed I am that they will not even consider seriously re-negotiating the invoice(清单).”
Rebecca Jordan of PDC Education said, “ The whole purpose behind the free trial is that we have confidence in our business. This free trial period gives teachers the chance to see what is on offer without having to commit to a payment.”
Only a “very small number” of teachers have complained when they receive an invoice, she added. “ Their only complaint is that they have not checked what they are signing up to but that is not our fault, the position is totally clear. The prices and the trial terms are clear to see on the online sign up page.”
It’s true the terms and conditions are on their website. But perhaps it’s unhelpful that they run to almost 3000 words.We know from the passage that____________.
| A．Merton Council suggests that PDC Education Ltd should be closed down |
| B．the website teaching-resources-uk.com uses tricks to cheat people out of money |
| C．the users complained that they had not been informed of writing to PDC earlier |
| D．the education website promises to enlarge their warning print and cut down the term |
Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards PDC?
| A．Critical | B．Reserved | C．Doubtful | D．Positive |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．An education website | B．A lesson in “free” trials |
| C．A mysterious invoice | D．Traps on the web |
It seems that many college graduates are unsure of what to do with their lives, so they jump back into the college scene by default(违约). But graduate school is costly, time consuming and requires a lot of in-depth study, and also parents will lay down more money and banks will supply more student loans.
However, there are some students who should be pursuing graduate degrees. Teachers, lawyers, doctors, professors and ministers are a few examples of those who will benefit from class work past a bachelor’s degree. Their professions call for additional courses and more specialization and therefore higher education is a must. Still, all students in general should not adopt the idea that graduate school is necessary for individuals who want to make more money. Working hard right after college can lead to promotions in the future. It seems that it does more good to network or internship（实习）with professionals while pursing a bachelor’s degree than it does to complete a master’s and distant oneself from the world of work.
If a student graduates with a four-year degree and immediately enters the work force , he will most likely start an entry-level pay. In a couple of years this employee will gain seniority and experience, therefore increasing their chance for pay rise. He will learn the information at his job-site that he did not learn in school. His bachelor’s degree loan can be immediately chipped away ,and his maturity level can increase as real work related responsibilities set in. But, if the student pursues a master’s degree, he may be able to demand more pay initially when he finally goes job hunting, but years of serious money making as well as work experience will already be lost.
Students should not shy from the workforce just because uncertainty follows graduation. Those who pursue a graduate degree just because they do not want to leave school and because they view the “real world” as scary should think again. Using graduate studies as a hiding place from the full-time job is a waste of time.College graduates who go to work can _____ than those who pursue graduate degrees.
| A．make more money in the future | B．acquire more experience |
| C．get a better job | D．become more responsible |
The underlined words “chipped away” can most possibly be replaced by_______.
| A．given out | B．set down | C．thrown away | D．paid off |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．College graduates shouldn’t pursue graduate degrees |
| B．College graduates should think twice |
| C．How can college graduates make more money? |
| D．Students use graduate school to avoid reality |
Are we too quick to blame and slow to praise? It seems that while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow unwilling to give others the warm sunshine of praise.
It’s strange how mean we are about praising. Perhaps it’s because few of us know how to accept praise gracefully . Instead , we are embarrassed and ignore the words we are really so glad to hear. Because of this defensive reaction, direct praise is surprisingly difficult to give.
Do you ever go into a house and say, “ What a tidy room!” Hardly anybody does. That’s why housework is considered such a boring job. Shakespeare said, “ Our praises are our wages.” Since so often praise is the only wage a housewife receives, surely she is worthy of praise.
Mothers know naturally that for children an ounce of praise is worth a pound of scolding. Still, we are unaware of children’s small achievements and we seldom apply the rule. One day I was criticizing my children for quarrelling. “Can you never play peacefully?” I shouted. Susanna looked at me confused. “ Of course I can,” she said. “But you don’t notice us when we do.”
Teachers agree about the value of praise. “ I believe that a student knows when he has handed in something above his usual standard,” writes a teacher, “ and that he is hungry for a belief comment in the margin to show him that the teacher is aware of it, too.”
Behavioral scientists have done countless experiments to prove that people have a tendency to repeat an act which has been immediately followed by a pleasant result. In one such experiment, a number of schoolchildren were divided into three groups and given arithmetic tests daily for five days. One group was constantly praised for its previous performance; another group was criticized; the third was ignored. Not surprisingly, those who were praised improved dramatically. Those who were criticized improved ,too, but not so much. And the scores of the children who were ignored hardly improved at all. Interestingly, the brightest children were helped just as much by criticism as by praise, but the less able children, who reacted badly to criticism, needed praise the most.
To give praise costs the giver nothing but a moment’s thought and a moment’s effort—perhaps a quick phone call to pass on good comments , or write an appreciative letter. It is such a small investment—and yet consider the results it may produce. We will not only bring joy into other people’s lives, but also, very often, added happiness into our room.” I can live for two months on a good compliment.” said Mark Twain.
Title : Profits of Praise
| Theme |
Compared with_____ |
| Reasons for unwillingness to give praise |
We feel embarrassed and ignore the words pleasant to our ears____ We have ____ |
| Importance of praise in some cases |
A housewife ___ A mother is supposed to be aware of their children’s small achievements and ___ A student waits ____ |
| Findings of experiments on profits of praise |
Everybody___ Those who receive constant praise have made dramatic improvement. Unlike brilliant children, less able children ___ |
| ________ |
It pays to make a moment’s ___ |
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.
The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses(病毒) passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains—taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms(症状).The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．3 |
Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
| A．The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time. |
| B．Colds are not caused by cold. |
| C．People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors. |
| D．A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already had one. |
Arctic explorers may catch colds when ________.
| A．they are working in the isolated Arctic regions |
| B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather |
| C．they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions |
| D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world |
The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．the fallacy about the common cold |
| B．the experiments on the common cold |
| C．the reason and the way people catch colds |
| D．the continued spread of common colds |
"Indeed," George Washington wrote in his diary in 1785, "some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home." But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen hade been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lightning-bug(萤火虫). But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Although fan became the usual term, sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseball bugs, and the like.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, "to install (安装) an alarm". Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others' conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant "to cheat", and since the 1940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a flaw in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as "little problems and difficulties" that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison "had been up the two previous nights discovering 'a bug' in his invented record player."We learn from Paragraph 1 that __________________.
| A．Americans had difficulty in learning to use the word bug |
| B．George Washington was the first person to call an insect a bug |
| C．the word bug was still popularly used in English in the nineteenth century |
| D．both Englishman and Americans used the word bug in the eighteenth century |
What does the word "flaw" in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．Fault. | B．Finding. | C．Origin. | D．Explanation. |
The passage is mainly concerned with__________________.
| A．the misunderstanding of the word bug |
| B．the development of the word bug |
| C．the public views of the word bug |
| D．the special characteristics of the word bug |
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