Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language. That is, they believe that children learn more easily and efficiently than adults. Thus, at some point in our lives, maybe around age 12 or 13, we lose the ability to learn languages well. Is this idea a fact or myth(悬念)？
Is it true that children learn a foreign language more efficiently than adults? On the contrary, research studies suggest that the opposite may be true. One report, on 2,000 Danish children studying Swedish, concluded that the teenagers learned more, in less time, than the younger children. Another report, on Americans learning Russian, showed a direct improvement of ability over the age range tested; that is, the ability to learn increased as the age increased, from childhood to adulthood.
There are several possible explanations for these findings. For one thing, adults know more about the world and therefore are able to understand meanings more easily than children. Moreover, adults can use logical(逻辑的) thinking to help themselves see patterns in the language. Finally, adults have more self-discipline (self-control) than children.
All in all, it seems that the common idea that children are better language learners than adults may not be a fact, but a myth.The main idea of the passage is that .
| A．teenagers are more difficult to teach |
| B．Danish teenagers can learn Swedish faster than younger children |
| C．adults are more logical than children |
| D．the ability to learn languages increases with age |
If most people’s idea of learning languages is true, people may lose ability to learn languages well .
| A．at an early age | B．when they reach their twenties |
| C．at an old age | D．after they become young men |
According to the passage, teenagers can learn a foreign language __________ than younger children.
| A．harder | B．more efficiently | C．more slowly | D．more carefully |
The reason why adults understand meanings more easily than children is that .
| A．adults have more self-discipline |
| B．adults like to play more than children |
| C．adults have more knowledge than children |
| D．adults accept new things more easily than children |
The explanation for older student’s better achievement not mentioned in the above passage is that .
| A．adults know more about the world. | B．adults can use logical thinking |
| C．adults have more self-discipline. | D．adults can read better. |
Energy is very important in modern life. People use energy to run machines, heat and cool their homes, cook, give light, and transport people and products from place to place. Most energy comes from fossil fuels—petroleum, coal, and natural gas. However, burning fuels causes pollution. Also, if we don’t find new kinds of energy, we will use up all the fossil fuels in the twenty-first century. Scientists are working hard to find other kinds of energy for the future. What might these sources of energy be?
Energy from the wind
All over the world, people use the power of the wind. It turns windmills and moves sailboats. It is a clean source of energy, and there is lots of it. Unfortunately, if the wind does not blow, there is no wind energy.
Energy from water
When water moves from a high place to a lower place, it makes energy. This energy is used to create electricity. In Brittany, France, for example, waterpower produces enough energy to light a town of 40,000people. Waterpower gives energy without pollution. However, people have to build dams to use this energy. Dams cost a lot of money, so water energy is expensive.
Energy from the earth
There is heat in rocks under the earth. Scientists use this heat to make geothermal energy. San Francisco gets half of the energy it needs from geothermal power. This kind of energy is cheap, but it is possible only in a few places in the world.
Energy from the sun
Solar panels on the roofs of houses can turn energy from the sun into electricity. These panels can create enough energy to heat an entire house. Solar power is clean and there is a lot of it in sunny places. But when the weather is bad, there is no sunlight for energy.What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Advantage of the energy from nature. |
| B．The future of the energy. |
| C．Scientists have been working hard to research other kinds of energy. |
| D．energy is the most important power in the word. |
From the first
paragraph we know ______.
| A．energy can do everything for people |
| B．all the energy causes pollution |
| C．the new kinds of energy are badly needed |
| D．scientists have found other kinds of energy for the future |
What is the writer’s opinion about the energy?
| A．Try to use water energy more though it costs a lot. |
| B．Each natural energy has its own advantages and disadvantages. |
| C．Solar power is environmental. |
| D．Wind power is the cheapest but we can’t get. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．In order to protect our environment, we should try other kinds of energy. |
| B．All scientists in the world will unite to find energy. |
C．People in modern life use energy every day. |
| D．Energy changes people’s lives. |
A new study says that birds living in big cities sing shorter, faster songs that are higher-pitched (高音调的) than those sung by their brothers in the forests. The researchers think that the birds adjust their songs to allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city, especially the low traffic noise.
To study how urban birds song, Hans Slabbekoorn and Ardie den Bore, biologists at the University of Leiden in Netherlands, travelled around Europe and recorded bird songs in ten major cities and in nearby forests. The species they focused on, the great tit (大山雀), is widespread across Eurasia and one of the few types of birds that thrives in big cities.
Singing is crucial (重要的) for males, which use their songs to attract mates and mark out their territory. The changing songs could play a role in eventually causing the city birds and the forest dwellers to evolve into separate species.
The findings could also help explain why usually only a few bird species thrive in cities. By contrast, many more bird species tend to be found in forests and other undeveloped habitats.
Studies like this could eventually help researchers predict how urbanization (都市化) will affect birds, using thi
s knowledge could help urban planners design more pleasant city environments, study co-author Slabbe-koorn said. “You can make a city much more livable if you pay attention to where the noise goes and where the people go,” he said. “It wo
uld be easy to fit the birds into those models.” Then cities wouldn’t be strictly for the people, but also for the birds. Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．Birds Change Songs to Suit Country Life |
| B．Birds Change Sex to Suit Urban Life |
C．Birds Change Living Habits to Suit Urban Life |
| D．Birds Change Songs to Suit Urban Life |
Males usually sing their songs to ____.
| A．evolve into another species |
| B．attract mates and mark out their living area |
| C．attract city people’s attention and make them supply food |
| D．allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city |
The underlined word “thrives” in the
second paragraph
means “____”.
| A．dies | B．survives | C．suffers | D．travels |
What is NOT the effect that studies of birds’ songs have?
A. Predicting how course of the city’s expanding will affect birds.
B
. Helping the city planners design more pleasant city environments.
C. Making cities more livable for both the birds and people.
D. Driving the urban birds back to the forest.
Holiday News
Vacancies (空位) now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon. This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea. The food is simple but good. Children and pets are welcome.Reduced prices for low season.
The Snowdonia Center
The Snowdonia Center for young mountain climbers has a mountain 1068.The beginners’ costs are ￡57 for a week, including food and rooms. Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be
hired at a low cost.
You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises. This could be the beginning of a lifetime of mountain climbing adventure.
The World Sea Trip of a Lifetime
Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before. Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking waiting and traveling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another.
On board the ship, you will be well taken care of. Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home.
During the trip, you can rest on deck(甲板), enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play.
You will visit all the places most people only dream about – from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokyo and Hong Kong.
For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours. What can you do if you like to go on holidays with pets?
| A．Choose the holiday in Devon. | B．Go to the Snowdonia Centre |
| C．Join the World Sea Trip of 2008 | D．Visit Acapulco and Hawaii |
In what way is the Snowdonia Centre different from the other two holidays?
| A．It provides chances of family gatherings. |
B．It provide s customers with good food. |
| C．It offers a sport lesson. |
| D．It offers comfortable room. |
What is special about the World Sea Trip of 2008
?
| A．You can have free meals on deck every day. |
| B．You can sleep on a ship and tour many places. |
| C．You will have chances to watch and act in a play. |
| D．You have to do your own packing and unpacking. |
At the Snowdonia Centre, the beginners’ costs of ￡57 do not cover ______.
| A．food | B．rooms | C．body exercises | D．walking shoes |
Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country’s economy. It is important to think about the people and a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attracts the tourists. Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must have other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer.
On the other
hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Business can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads, and other support facilities (配套设施) needed
by tourist attractions. For example, a major international-class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the t
ime, the owners of the hotel lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, job and money are lost.Which of the following do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection?
| A．Planning is of great importance to tourism. |
| B．It is very necessary to develop tourism. |
| C．Why is proper planning needed to develop tourism. |
| D．How to develop successful tourism. |
Th
e underlined word “inhabitants” in Para.1 probably mean _____
| A．tourists | B．natives | C．foreigners | D．customers |
It is certain that ______
| A．tourism industry is the most important industry in a country. |
| B．tourism developing is do no good to the inhabitants. |
| C．the inhabitants must benefit a lot from the tourism industry if it is properly planned. |
| D．facilities building is a waste of money. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Too much tourism can cause a bad effect on other industries. |
| B．Too much tourism can cause heavy pressure on traffic. |
| C．Too much tourism can change the people’s value system in the destination country. |
| D．Too much tourism can sometimes annoy the local people. |
Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Interact forum(论坛)asking what“PK”meant．
“My family has been watching the‘Super Girl’singing competition TV programme．My little daughter asked me what’PK’meant，but I had no idea，”explained the puzzled father．
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online，it is impossible not to know this term．In such Internet games，“PK”is short for“Player Kill”，in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other．
In the case of the“Super Girl”singing competition．“PK”was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking．
Like this fathe
r，Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students’compositions using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand．A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language，but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn’t understand．
“My‘GG’came back this summer from college．He told me I’ve grown up to be a‘PLMM’．I loved to‘FB’with him together；he always took me to the‘KPM’，”went one composition．
“GG”means Ge Ge(Chinese pinyin for brother)．“PLMM”refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei(beautiful girl)．“FB”means Fu Bai(corruption)．“KPM”is short for KF．Pizza Hut and McDonald’s．
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language．
If you do not even know what a Kong Long(dinosaur，referring
to an ugly looking female)ora Qing wa
(frog，referring to an ugly looking male)is，you will possibly be regarded as a CaiNiao!By writing the article，the writer tries to ．
| A．explain some Internet language |
| B．suggest common Internet language |
| C．laugh at the Beijing father |
| D．draw our attention to Internet language |
What does the writer think about the term“PK”?
| A．Fathers can’t possibly know it． |
| B．The daughter should understand it． |
| C．Online game players may know it． |
| D．“Super Girl”shouldn’t have used it． |
The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons ．
| A．are used not only online |
| B．can be understood very well |
| C．are welcomed by all the people |
| D．cause trouble to our mother tongue |
The underlined word“jargons”means“ ”in Chinese．
| A．行话 | B．粗口 | C．歌词 | D．趋势 |
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