Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn't matter where you live--in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village--the chances are that you' ll be disturbed by jet planes, radios, oil - powered engines, etc. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they' re working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration(专心) suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn't change too much(music, for example) may even help people to concentrate.According to this passage, the noise pollution .
| A．has become the worst in the countryside | B．has become better in big cities |
| C．has spread from cities to villages | D．has been controlled in modern cities |
Some people have their hearing harmed .
| A．while listening to pop music | B．in complete silence |
| C．when speaking loudly | D．while watching TV |
Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating on something is .
| A．all kinds of noise | B．changes in the level of noise |
| C．background noise | D．popular music |
He lived his whole life as a poor man. His art and talent were recognized by almost no one. He suffered from a mental illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later. But in his death, he achieved world fame. Today, Dutch artist Van Gogh is recognized as one of the leading artists of all time.
Now, 150 years after his birth on March 30, 1853, Zundert, the town of his birth, has made 2003“The Van Gogh Year”in his honour. And the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the biggest collection of his masterpieces, is marking the anniversary with exhibitions through the year. The museum draws around 1.3 million visitors every year. Some people enjoy the art and then learn about his life. Others are first interested in his life, which then helps them understand his art.
Van Gogh was the son of a minister. He left school when he was just 15. By the age of 27, he had already tried many jobs including an art gallery salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art.
Van Gogh is famed for his ability to put his own emotions(情感)into his paintings and show his feelings about a scene. His style is marked by short, broad brush strokes(绘画笔法). “Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use colour more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly，”he wrote in a letter to his brother in 1888.
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. He relied heavily on support from his brother, an art dealer who lived in Paris. But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His Portrait of Dr Gachet sold for US $ 89.5 million in 1990. It is the powerful and the brilliant colours in them are attractive to people，”said a Van Goah's fan.All through his life Van Gogh________.
| A．depended on his brother |
| B．worked hard on his dream |
| C．was not recognized by people |
| D．expressed himself in paintings |
Van Gogh killed himself because of________.
| A．the poor life |
| B．his illness |
| C．his pain from the left ear |
| D．the refusal by artists of his time |
One of the characteristics of Van Gogh's paintings is________.
| A．the likeness between his paintings and the reality |
| B．the short time for him to complete a painting |
| C．the various styles mixed together |
| D．the special strokes he made |
The selling of his paintings is considered to be the most successful because________.
| A．more and more people like his paintings |
| B．people can understand him through his paintings |
| C．1.3 million people visit his paintings museum every year |
| D．Zundert has made 2003“The Van Gogh Year”in his honour |
B
(2010·江苏卷)Usually，when your teacher asks a question，there is only one correct answer.But there is one question that has millions of correct answers.That question is “What's your name？”Everyone gives a different answer，but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people's names？Where do they come from？What do they mean?
People's first names，or given names，are chosen by their parents.Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used.Some parents choose the name of a wellknown person.A boy could be named George Washington Smith；a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things.Clara means“bright”；Beatrice means“one who gives happiness”；Donald means“world ruler”；Leonard means“as brave as a lion.”
The earliest last names，or surnames，were taken from place names.A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near a brook(小溪)；someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long，paved road.The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people's occupations.The most common occupational name is Smith，which means a person who makes things with fron or other metals.In the past，smiths were very important workers in every town and village.Some other occupational names are：Cartera person who owned or drove a cart；Pottera person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village.The Carpenter's greatgreatgreatgrandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin，or their size，or their special abilities.When there were two men who were named John in the same village，the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray.Or the John who was very tall could call himself John Tallman.John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father's name. Englishspeaking people added s or son.The Johnsons are descendants of John；the Roberts family's ancestor was Robert.Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O'Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?
| A．Places where people lived. |
| B．People's characters. |
| C．Talents that people possessed. |
| D．People's occupations. |
According to the passage，the ancestors of the Potter family most probably________.
| A．owned or drove a cart |
| B．made things with metals |
| C．made kitchen tools or containers |
| D．built houses and furniture |
Suppose an English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their newborn son to become a world leader，the baby might be named________.
| A．Beatrice Smith |
| B．Leonard Carter |
| C．George Longstreet |
| D．Donald Greenwood |
The underlined word“descendants”in the last paragraph means a person's________.
| A．later generations |
| B．friends and relatives |
| C．colleagues and partners |
| D．later sponsors |
A
“Go for it！”
The expression“Go for it！” is a way of encouraging someone to try something. “Go for it！”means you should
not worry about failure or be too careful. You should take a chance, be brave, and act firmly. “Go for it！”gets name from football. Not football as it is played in most countries such as England, Egypt or Japan, but the kind of football played in the United States and Canada.
One of most exciting times in football comes when a team has failed, after three attempts, to move the ball forward ten yards. The team must make a critical decision.
The conservative(保守)choice is to kick the ball and accept temporary defeat in order to gain a good position for your team the next time it gets the ball. The more exciting choice, however, is to try a fourth and final time to gain the remaining yards needed.
People present are certain to shout their advice. Some will shout：“Kick the ball！”But others will encourage the team to take a chance.“Go for it！”they will scream.
In the nineteen eighties, people began using this expression in many kinds of situations to encourage someone to act bravely.
There is no guarantee(保证)that the action you“Go for it！” they will succeed.
But that is the chance you take when you decide to go for it. You put your fears behind. You choose courage over safety. You hold your breath and go for it.The expression“Go for it！” comes from________.
| A．English football |
| B．Egyptian football |
| C．Japanese football |
| D．American football |
According to the passage, when we decide to go for it, we only consider________.
| A．safety |
| B．action |
| C．result |
| D．situation |
In which of the following situations should we use the expression nowadays?
| A．We decide to avoid trouble or danger for the future. |
| B．We try to improve our English for better education. |
| C．We need to make a quick decision at the last moment. |
| D．We have to make a choice between success and failure. |
阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。
E
When several different people look at the same person, it is not unusual for each of them to see different things：when you alone observe one behaviour or one person at two different times, you may see different things. The following are some of the factors that lead to these varying perceptions(感知)．
Each person's perceptions of others are formed by his or her own cultural conditioning, education, and personal experience.
1. Sometimes perceptions differ because of what we choose to observe and how we deal with what we've observed. It is not necessarily true that a person's perceptions is based on observations of a particular person. You observations may be totally controlled by what others have told you about this person; or you may focus primarily on the situation or role relationship. Most people do not use the same yardstick(标准)to measure their parents, their friends and strangers.
2．Sometimes we see only what we want to see that may be observe(对应面)to others because of our own needs, desires, or temporary(临时的)emotional states. This is a process known as selective perception. Selective perception is obviously more difficult when contradictory(矛盾的)information is particularly obvious, but it can be done. We can ignore the stimulus——“He's basically a good boy, so what I saw was not shoplifting.”We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information—“All kids get into mischief. Taking a book from the bookstore isn't such a big deal.”We can change the meaning of the contradictory information—“It wasn't shoplifting because he was going to pay for it later.”Observations of the same person by two people at the same time may differ because________.
| A．their yardsticks are not the same |
| B．either of them may be slow to catch information |
| C．the time for observation is not long enough |
| D．each of them uses different languages to express his or her impressions |
The underlined word “ignore” in paragraph 4 means to________.
| A．understand something |
| B．try to do something |
| C．pay no attention to something |
| D．know something better |
The worst thing in selective perception is that________.
| A．perceived information runs against your desire |
| B．facts can be totally ignored and distorted(扭曲) |
| C．importance of contradictory information can be overrated(估计过高) |
| D．the same information may not be dealt with in the same way |
阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。
D
Dr Wiseman started “the laugh lab” project in September 2001. It is the largest study of humour. Participants(参加者)are invited to log onto the laugh lab website, give a few personal details, tell their favourite jokes and judge the jokes told by other people.
The project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world's funniest joke. But there is also a serious purpose. The researchers want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny. And they want to find out the differences between the male and female sense of humour. The idea is that if we want to understand each other, we have to find out what makes us laugh.
This is a subject that has long interested psychologists(心理学家)and philosophers(哲学家). Most of the time, people are not completely honest. We do things that society expects us to and say things that help us get what we want. But laughing cannot be controlled. When we laugh, we tell the truth about ourselves.
By December 2001 over 10,000 jokes had been submitted. This gave the scientists enough evidence(证据)to make early conclusions. It seems that men and women do have different senses of humor, for instance.
“Our findings show the major differences in the ways in which males and females use humour，”said Dr Wiseman. “Males use humour to appear superior(优越)to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play.”
Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humour. The British enjoy what is usually called “toilet humor”. But the French like their jokes short and sharp：“You're a high priced lawyer. Will you answer to questions for $ 500？”“Yes. What's the second question？”
The Germans are famous for not having a sense of humor. But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality. Perhaps that provides the point. Is this joke funny? I don't know, but let's say yes, just to be safe.
Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by computer. But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing. Perhaps this is relief. Computers already seem like they can do everything. At least they should leave the funny stuff to us.Scientists started “the laugh lab” project________.
| A．to find the funniest joke in European countries. |
| B．to know what funny people are from different nations and cultures |
| C．to find out the differences between the male and female sense of humor |
| D．to get more personal details about participants |
We can infer from the passage that________.
| A．most of the people all over the world are completely honest |
| B．psychologists and philosophers take interest in “the laugh lab” project |
| C．ordinary people are not interested in “the laugh lab” project at all |
| D．people tell the truth about themselves only when they laugh |
What is the main idea of the 4th and 5th paragraph?
| A．Man and woman have different senses of humour. |
| B．Male and female have similar senses of humour. |
| C．About 10,000 jokes have been submitted from September 2001 to December 2001. |
| D．Scientists have collected enough evidence to make conclusions. |
The writer gave the examples of the British, the French and the Germans________.
| A．to show the French people have a better sense of humour |
| B．to prove the British people have a sense of“toilet humour” |
| C．to show people from different nations have different senses of humour |
| D．to prove that the Germans have no sense of humour |
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