Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.
In Western countries, people usually celebrate New Year at midnight on January 1st. People may go to parties, dress in formal clothes -- like tuxedos (小礼服) and evening gowns, and drink champagne at midnight. During the first minutes of the New Year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead. But some cultures prefer to celebrate the New Year by waking up early to watch the sun rise. They welcome the New Year with the first light of the sunrise.
It is also a common Western custom to make a New Year’s promise, called a resolution. New Year’s resolutions usually include promises to try something new or change a bad habit in the new year.
Many cultures also do special things to get rid of bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh (again). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.
Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck is to eat grapes on New Year’s Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas (豇豆) for good luck -- but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them!Which culture celebrates New Year in the morning?
| A．The United States. | B．Spain. |
| C．France. | D．The passage doesn’t say. |
What is a resolution?
| A．Something you burn. | B．Something you eat. |
| C．Something you say. | D．Something you wear. |
What is the topic of the fourth paragraph?
| A．Bringing good luck. | B．Keeping away bad l uck. |
| C．Planning for the next year. | D．Remembering the past. |
Which is probably true about eating black-eyed peas on New Year?
| A．Black-eyed peas taste bad. |
| B．One pea brings one day of luck. |
| C．The peas are very difficult to cook. |
| D．It is bad luck to eat a lot of black-eyed peas. |
It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shift(轮班)work — being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap(小睡). When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much at weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medications(药物治疗)may be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed.
| A．persuade workers to have a good sleep. |
| B．advise night workers to keep healthy |
| C．encourage workers to do day work |
| D．help night workers to sleep well |
| A．A suitable amount of alcohol to help sleep. |
| B．A regular life on weekdays and weekends. |
| C．A dark room without phones to sleep in. |
| D．A break for sleeping anytime during the day. |
| A．If he suffers from a sleep disorder for the first time. |
| B．If a good sleep environment is greatly needed for him. |
| C．If he fails to get quality sleep through his own efforts. |
| D．If he has the problem of falling asleep in the daytime. |
| A．night workers need a long time to fall asleep |
| B．constant breaks at work help to improve performance |
| C．it is difficult to create a good sleep environment |
| D．night work requires people to adjust their body clocks |
When a storm is coming, most people leave the area as quickly as possible and head for safety. But there are a few people who will get into their cars and go straight to the center of the storm. These people are willing to risk being killed by floods or 100-kilometer-an-hour winds for the excitement of watching the storm close up.
“Storm chasing ” is becoming an increasingly popular hobby , especially in the Midwest of the United States, where there are frequent storms between March and July. A storm chaser begins the day by checking the Internet for the latest weather reports, and then drives up to 1,000 kilometers to where the storm will be and waits for it to develop.
Although anyone can do it , storm chasing is extremely dangerous. The power of a big storm can throw a cow into the air or destroy a whole house in seconds. Storm chasers are also often hurt in accidents caused by driving in a heavy rain. If you are a beginner, it is much safer to join a group for storm-chasing vacations during the storm season.
Even then, storm chasing is not all adventure and excitement. “Storm chasing is 95% driving,” says Daniel Lynch, who spends most of his summer storm-chasing. “Sometimes you can sit around for hours waiting for something to happen, and all you get is blue sky and a few light showers.”
However, for storm chasers, it is all worth it. “When you get close to a storm, it is the most exciting sight you will ever see in your life,” says Jasper Morley. “Every storm is an example of the power of nature, It is the greatest show on earth.”
| A．head straight for the center of the storm |
| B．get into the car for safety |
| C．wait patiently for the storm to develop |
| D．collect information about a coming storm |
| A．not to drive in a heavy rain |
| B．to do it in an organized way |
| C．not to get too close to a storm |
| D．to spend more time on it in summer |
| A．storm chasing costs a lot of money |
| B．storm chasing is worth hours of waiting |
| C．efforts in storm chasing are well paid |
| D．a storm presents the greatest show on earth |
| A．Sometimes storm chasers get nothing but disappointment |
| B．Many storm chasers get killed in the storms. |
| C．Storm chasing is becoming popular around the world. |
| D．Storm chasing is only fit for young people. |
MOOCs, an acronym（缩写）for “massive open online courses,” mark an important, possibly revolutionary, development in education．These courses are online, free of charge, and open to anyone in the world who has a laptop and an Internet connection．Moreover, they are mainly offered by elite universities like Standford, Berkeley, Harvard and Columbia．
The courses, like normal college courses, are sequenced（按顺序排好）by difficulty, enabling students to progress from beginners to the advanced．The courses cover not only a broad range of technical subjects such as math and computer science, but also courses in the social sciences and the humanities （人文学科）．
Though MOOCs are not offered for credit and degree, many students enroll in the courses for real skills or knowledge which they can put to some practical use．Some students even form online study groups, or in-person groups with students who live nearby．
The format seems superior to the traditional school class．The average quality of the lecturer is much higher, because students do not have to stick with a mediocre（平庸的） lecturer．
Besides, students can scroll back or forward—in short, they can go at their own learning speed, which they cannot do in a live lecture．And, of great importance, they do not have to travel anywhere to attend an online lecture．One can obtain a first-class American college education wherever he or she lives and however little money he or she has．
There is a problem of asking questions of the lecturer in a class of ten thousand students, but some MOOCs have solved it by allowing students to post questions online for a vote, and only the most popular questions are put to the lecturer．
In a knowledge era, lifelong learning is not confined to a traditional classroom．Of course, students enrolling in MOOCs cannot be compared with those who are in traditional universities, but we need to rethink what a “students” is．
Students in MOOCs are very clever, have work experience, and in many cases, have already developed a set of core competences．Moreover, they also offer unique international perspectives that would be the envy of any school classroom．Which of the following statements is NOT true about MOOCs?
| A．The word “MOOCs” is an acronym for “Massive open online campuses．” |
| B．Anyone who has a computer and an Internet connection can take MOOCs． |
| C．MOOCs are usually offered by first-class universities in the world．． |
| D．MOOCs may be a breakthrough in the development of education． |
Students enroll in MOOCs mainly for ________．
| A．credits | B．degrees | C．skills | D．study groups |
MOOCs seem to have an advantage over traditional school classes because________．
①the average quality of the lecturer is higher
②students can travel to many places when taking MOOCs
③students can learn at their own study pace
④there is a problem of asking questions in traditional classes
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．①③ | D．②④ |
Which word is the best to describe students enrolling in MOOCs?
| A．Mediocre | B．Creative |
| C．Practical | D．Competent |
Which of the following words does not have the same meaning as the underlined word “perspectives”in the last Paragraph?
| A．Vision | B．View | C．Outlook | D．Scenery |
At 4：53 pm．on January 12, United Nations aid worker Jens Kristensen was at his desk reading documents on the third floor of the Christopher Hotel, which served as UN headquarters in PortauPrince, when he felt a tremor（震颤）．Four seconds later, the earthquake hit．
“In a split second, I considered whether to run for the door or hide under my desk，” says Kristensen, 48．“The door was closed, and I thought that maybe it was too far and I would be caught under falling debris（杂物）, so I hid under the table．” A bookshelf topped onto his desk, protecting him from being crushed by rubble and trapping him in a tiny pocket．“I was confined as if in a small coffin，” he says．It was so dark, and it didn’t matter if his eyes were open or closed．He used the light from his mobile phone to see around him．He found, among other items, a jar of instant coffee．“I had no food or water, only the coffee to suck on if I needed it．”
At about 6：30 am．on January 17, an oil leak silenced the building’s generators, and Kristensen was able to hear muffled voices above where he was buried．“I thought, I was too tired to bang and shout．But then I realized, I had to take every chance．This could be one．” So he called out．Six hours later, Kristensen saw his rescuers’ faces．“It was so amazing．I felt I had received a second birthday，” he recalls．
Dehydration（脱水） and pains but with only a bruise and a scratch, Kristensen took three days to recover．The UN lost more than 90 people in Haiti．But Kristensen says that the outpouring of love helps heal the pain “The genuine happiness of people toward me here has been wonderful．You feel part of a larger family．”When the earthquake struck, Jens Kristensen decided to ________．
| A．read documents in the office |
| B．stay under the desk |
| C．run out of the room quickly |
| D．catch the falling debris |
What protected Jens Kristensen from being injured by falling bricks?
| A．The bookshelf． | B．The desk． |
| C．The door． | D．The pocket． |
When Jens Kristensen heard the voices, he came to know that ________．
| A．he couldn’t have the chance to survive the earthquake |
| B．his parents arrived here to save him at once |
| C．he was able to ask for help from rescuers |
| D．he was so tired and he couldn’t say anything at all |
According to the last paragraph we can know that Jens Kristensen felt ________．
| A．fortunate | B．grateful | C．popular | D．courageous |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The rescuer’s day |
| B．An aid worker’s life |
| C．A dangerous adventure |
| D．Kristensen’s experience in an earthquake |
Promised yourself to quit smoking in the new year, but just can't stop lighting up? You're not alone, with an Australian survey showing that only 3 percent of smokers who made such resolutions stuck with them．
An online poll of just over 1,000 people, conducted ahead of the launch of a video game designed to help smokers quit, showed one in four Australians made New Year's resolutions to quit —— but more than half went back on their word within a week．Some 15 percent lit up within hours of making the pledge, the survey showed,
The research revealed that seven out of ten smokers have tried to kick the habit at some point．
"Our research shows that the majority of smokers in Australia want to quit but are struggling to stick to their resolution．For most people, the desire to stop smoking is not enough, "Edward Fong, general manager of Ubisoft, the videogame manufacturer selling the anti— smoking software, said in a statement．
According to the survey, Australian smokers light up an average of 13．8 cigarettes every day or 5,037 cigarettes a year．There are currently 2．63 million smokers in Australia, which equates to 16 percent of the population over the age of 18, with women on average making more attempts to quit than men．The World Health Organization says smoking kills about 4 million people each year, causing a quarter of deaths related to heart disease．The organization estimates that by 2030, more than 8 million people will die from tobacco - related causes each year, mainly in developing countries．According to the passage, _______ succeeded in giving up smoking．
| A．most of the smokers | B．None of the smokers |
| C．a few of the smokers | D．a quarter of the smokers |
The research shows that ______．
| A．some 70% of smokers have quitted smoking |
| B．about 15% of smokers give up smoking only a few hours |
| C．the number of men smokers are more than that of women ones |
| D．all the smokers want to quit smoking |
What is the population over the age of 18 in Australia?
| A．2．63million． | B．4 million． |
| C．16．44 million． | D．8 million． |
The number of smokers dying from tobacco — related causes each year by 2030 is ．
| A．about one million | B．about two million |
| C．more than 4 million | D．more than 8 million |
Where do you suppose this passage is probably taken from?
| A．Health magazine． | B．Evening paper． |
| C．Office Report． | D．Science-Journal． |
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