Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it’s other people—society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿), their passions a quotation.”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives, failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix (一剂毒品). We worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But, just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom—the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way—make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values---not values imposed（强加）from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life.What Oscar Wilde says implies that _____________.
| A．we have thoughts similar to those of others |
| B．most people have a variety of thoughts |
| C．most people’s thoughts are controlled by others |
| D．other people’s thoughts are more important |
What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph ?
| A．We may lose ourselves to please others. |
| B．Changing opinions may cost us our freedom. |
| C．We need to pay for what we want to get. |
| D．The price of taking drugs is freedom. |
In order to live a happy, effective and purposeful life, we should _________.
| A．care about others’ opinions and change opinions all the time |
| B．guide ourselves by means of values from the outside |
| C．persuade others to accept our opinions |
| D．stick to our own values |
It can be concluded from the passage that __________.
| A．we shouldn’t care what others think | B．it’s better to do what we like |
| C．we shouldn't change our own opinions | D．it’s important to accept others’ opinions |
Three-dimensional printers are fast becoming everyday devices in the United States. Three-D printers are used to make everything from automobile parts to bone replacements for human patients. American research scientists are now working on creating replacements for living tissue.
Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have been working on creating and manufacturing living tissue since 2003．This process is called biofabrication (生物制造) . It requires special printing equipment and a special kind of ink.
Traditional printers require ink to produce an image or design on a piece of paper. For their three-D printer, the South Carolina researchers prepare complex nutritious solutions they call bio-inks. Bio-inks are made of proteins and glucose (葡萄糖) , which normally provides energy for most cells of the body. The researchers also add living cells taken from the animal that will receive the new, printed tissue. The bio-inks are then added to a device that researchers call the Palmetto bio-printer.
Sarah Grace Dennis is one of the researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. She says new technology, like the Palmetto bio-printer, is a great help to the biofabrication process.
The bio-inks are placed in three dispensers (分配器) , containers, inside the printer. Lasers control both the position of the printing surface and the places where the bio-ink is released.
Michael Yost is a leader of the research team. He says the printing process is fully automated— machine-operated. He says that the Palmetto bio-printer makes it possible to create complex tissue types.
The researchers say bio-printing is still experimental. But they hope in a few years they may be able to print tissue to replace damaged human organs.
But there are still some problems which need to be solved. Some scientists worry about how to get blood to the replacement tissue. The flow of blood is important to keep the printed tissue alive.
Michael Yost hopes that more people will believe in the benefits of biofabrication.
“Tissue biofabrication is a reality, and it is a reality now, and if you come here and you get to see it. You will get to see it. You can’t touch it, but you will see it and think this is real. And this is really human.”What can we know about the bio-inks?
| A．They are the necessities of bio-printing. |
| B．They only contain proteins and glucose. |
| C．They can be placed in the traditional printers. |
| D．They are available in our local drugstores. |
Which of the following is one of the concerns with biofabrication?
| A．Researchers can’t find enough living cells of animals to make the bio-inks. |
| B．The price of the bio-printer is too high and most people can’t afford it. |
| C．Scientists have some difficulty in getting the blood to the replacement tissue. |
| D．People are worried about the safety of the biofabrication process. |
According to Michael Yost, we can infer that .
| A．the Palmetto bio-printer can workwithout power |
| B．the Palmetto bio-printer has been used to treat the patients |
| C．the Palmetto bio-printer can only be found in the United States |
| D．the Palmetto bio-printer will have a bright future in medical use |
The passage mainly tells us about .
| A．the three-D printer and its working principles |
| B．the bio-inks and their use in bio-printing |
| C．the spread use of the bio-printer in the USA |
| D．the growing demand for biofabrication |
Your kids learn a lot from their friends—things you can’t teach them, no matter how much you
want to.
Probably the most important thing kids learn is how to have peer relationships. As a parent, you can’t do this, because you and your child aren’t equals.
For example, when you’re sitting on your family room floor and your very young child asks you to pass him the blocks, you probably hand them right over. If your child is sitting with a peer and asks the same thing, though, he might not get what he wants.
To succeed, your child will need to learn strategies for getting what he wants. For example, he might simply yank (猛拉) the toy out of his friend’s hand. If he does that, he may learn that it’s not the best way of getting what he wants because it leads to fighting and time-outs. The successful child will learn that he needs to negotiate a trade, to wait patiently, or to find something else equally fun to play with.
Friends also provide emotional support, something that is part of the foundation of healthy adulthood. You can’t be with your child on the elementary school playground or at the high school dance. Your child’s friends will be the ones to stick up for her, to include her in games, and later, to tell her she looks great even if her lousy prom (糟糕的舞会) date wanders off instead of dancing with her.
Friends also help your children learn. Friends solve problems together, imitate each other, and
pass on knowledge .
Some experts believe that the single biggest predictor of your child’s success later in life is her ability to make friends. In fact, they claim it’s even more important than IQ and grades.
This doesn’t mean that the kids who are most popular in school do the best later on in life. What matters is not the number of friends a child has but rather the quality of the relationships.
This is good news for those of us who hate to think that popularity really is the Holy Grail of childhood and adolescence. While it’s true that popularity has many advantages, and that many popular kids really are nice people—and not just the best dressed or best looking—it’s better to have a few good friends than to have the admiration of the masses.By giving the example in Paragraph 3, the author wants to show that .
| A．kids can learn how to deal with the relationships when they stay with their peers |
| B．parents should spend more spare time playing with their kids |
| C．kids should learn how to be polite when they ask their parents for help |
| D．parents can teach their kids how to be good members in the modern society in their daily life |
What does the underlined phrase“stick up for” in the fifth paragraph mean?
| A．envy | B．oppose |
| C．support | D．ignore |
In the author’s opinion, is more important than being popular for kids.
| A．getting high grades |
| B．having some real friends |
| C．developing a good habit |
| D．knowing how to dress themselves up |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．How to Bridge the Generation Gap |
| B．What It Takes to Be a Good Friend |
| C．Why Friends Are Important |
| D．How to Be Popular in School |
Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. These two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses.
One evening, Brownie’s family noticed that Brownie hadn’t returned home. They went looking for him with no success and by the next week he was still missing.
Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie’s house alone. Barking, whining (哀叫) and generally pestering (纠缠) Brownie’s human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.
Continuously,Ted, Brownie’s owner, was disturbed by the angry, determined little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then rushing toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, “Follow me! It’s urgent!”
Eventually, Ted followed Spotty to a deserted spot half a mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leghold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he’d taken Spotty’s earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.
Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie’s human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week!
Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in the hope of keeping his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from hunger and other dangers, and keep his spirits up.
Brownie’s leg was treated by a veterinarian (兽医) and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses.Why did Ted pay little attention to Spotty at the very beginning?
| A．Because Ted was tired of listening to Spotty barking. |
| B．Because Ted only cared about Brownie’s safety. |
| C．Because Ted was not free at that moment. |
| D．Because Ted knew where Brownie was. |
When Ted was led by Spotty to Brownie, he .
| A．was curious to find out what had happened |
| B．highly appreciated Spotty’s help |
| C．was worried about Brownie’s health |
| D．regretted not following Spotty earlier |
Not only did Spotty help Ted find Brownie but also .
| A．he went to see his friend and played with him secretly |
| B．he sent messages to some other persons in his community to save his friend |
| C．he managed to lead a veterinarian to treat his friend |
| D．he sent food to his friend, accompanied him and inspired him to cheer up |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Barking dogs seldom bite. |
| B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．Love me, love my dog. |
| D．Every dog has its day. |
Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease as people get older. Yet research seems to show that some training can improve such skills. A recently published study also appears to attest that the good effects of training can last for many years after that training has ended.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills would last in older people who were trained to keep them. The people were part of the ten-year research project. They were taught methods meant to improve their memory, thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.
More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE — short for Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Most were studied when they were more than 70 years old.
The volunteers took one of several short training classes meant to help them keep their mental abilities. One class trained participants in skills including how to remember word lists. Another group trained in reasoning. A third group received help with speed-of-processing — speed of receiving and understanding information. A fourth group — the control group did not get any training.
Earlier results had established that the training helped the participants for up to five years. Now, leading study writer George Rebok says, the research showed most of the training remained effective a full ten years later.
Professor Rebok and his team found that the people trained in reasoning and speed-of- processing did better on tests than the control group.
“We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training, and in fact, that's exactly what we found.,,
The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long. Still, the old people in any of the three classes generally reported less difficulty in performing daily activities than the control group.The total training time for the older people was between 10 and 15 hours. Which statement is false according to the text?
| A．This kind of training can only have effects on people for a few years. |
| B．The people were trained during a period of ten years. |
| C．Most of the people who were studied were more than 70 years old. |
| D．The first group were trained how to remember word lists. |
How would the old in the second group perform after receiving the trauung?
| A．Remember more words. |
| B．Understand information more quickly. |
| C．Act as poorly as before. |
| D．Perform daily activities better. |
What does the underlined word "attest" in the first paragraph mean7
A-Affect. B. Deny.
C. Prove. D. Improve. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Some Kinds of Mental Skills Naturally Decrease. |
| B．Mental Training Helped Elderly Stay Sharp for Years. |
| C．Four Groups of Old People Were Trained Mentally. |
| D．A Ten-year Research Affects Elderly. |
British singer Sarah Brightman began training for a 2015 flight to the International Space Station where she hopes to become the first professional musician to sing from space, the company arranging the trip said on Tuesday.
Brightman, a famed soprano (女高音) who starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber' s "Phantom of the Opera" , will pay about $ 52 million for a 10-day stay aboard the orbital outpost, Tom Shelley, president of privately owned Space Adventures, said.
Brightman, who will become the eighth privately funded space tourist, is scheduled to fly in September 2015. Her training to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule began last fall.
Brightman has planned to be the first professional musician to sing from space. But she faces competition from Lady Gaga, who, according to media reports late last year, intends to be the first when she performs one song in space in early 2015 on a Virgin Galactic flight. Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, plans to offer suborbital(亚轨道的) space flights.
Brightman said in 2012 that she would travel to the space station, but her plans haven't been confirmed until now. So far. Space Adventures has arranged for nine private missions to the space station, a $ 100 billion research laboratory that flies about 260 miles above the earth. Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi made two trips.
Brightman will be the first private citizen to visit the station since Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibarte paid about $ 35 million for an 11-day stay in September 2009.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has an option to fly on the next available Soyuz seat after Brightman, which most likely will be in 2017, Shelley told Reuters. What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To praise Brightman. |
| B．To persuade the readers that Brightman is more famous than Lady Gaga. |
| C．To instruct the readers how to begin a space flight. |
| D．To give some information about Brightman. |
When did Brightman start training for her space travel?
| A．Last winter. | B．Last autumn. |
| C．Next spring. | D．Next summer. |
The underlined word "she" in Paragraph 4 refers to ____.
| A．Brightman | B．Lady Gaga |
| C．Andrew Lloyd Webber | D．Tom Shelley |
The fifth paragraph is mainly carried out ____.
| A．in time order | B．in space order |
| C．by giving examples | D．by comparison |
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