A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children's safety on the roads．
Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed．Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school．
The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School．The children live just within the three-mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not agree to provide free transport to the school．But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster．
Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part．Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than ￡20 a term．
They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington．The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children．The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new plan．What is the aim of the plan?
| A．To prevent the students' road accidents． |
| B．To relieve the traffic pressure． |
| C．To save time for the parents and students． |
| D．To help the parents save money． |
How can the local government arrange the new bus service at a low cost?
| A．By letting the bus run in the morning only． |
| B．By limiting the number of the students． |
| C．By obtaining the support from the headmaster． |
| D．By linking the new bus service with the existing one． |
The new bus service will be paid for by ______．
| A．the parents |
| B．the local government |
| C．the bus company |
| D．the local government and the parents |
Which of the following is possible if the plan is carried out?
| A．The bus company will make much more money． |
| B．The children can choose whatever school they like． |
| C．The parents can get rid of their worries． |
| D．The students in Impington school can have free bus rides． |
This passage is most probably ______．
| A．a personal letter | B．an advertisement |
| C．a headmaster's report | D．a newspaper article |
阅读理解 (共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
On the snowy Tibet plateau, traditional elements have been mingled with modern life -- youths dressed in the latest fashion dancing "Guozhuang," office-ladies playing conventional Tibetan music while driving to work and Tibetan girls wearing superb folk costume displaying their nice figures.
"I used to go shopping or bar-hopping with my friends after work. But now I don't think it is advisable to continue following that living style," said Pasang, a young Tibetan girl who practices Yoga everyday at a fitness club in the eastern suburbs of Lhasa city.
Today, the conception to live in a healthy way has become more popular in Tibet's general public.
When the night falls, crowds of aged citizens dancing "Guozhuang," a traditional Tibetan group dance, to vigorous folk music can be seen in many residential communities. Among them, Pasang's mother Tseden Wangmo, 63, is undoubtedly one of the enthusiasts in such an outdoor team activity: "I like dancing Guozhuang very much, for it can make my body strong, bring me good mood and carry forward Tibetan ethnic culture as well."
Different from their elder generations, a swarm of teenagers play skateboard or roller-skating shuttle among groups of strollers on the squares in front of the Potala Palace and Norbulingka, the Dalai Lama's permanent residence.
The stylish dress, colored hairs, an earring on a single ear or an obscure tattoo -- all these signals have highlighted Tibet's younger generation's personality and their view on fashion.
Lhakpa Tashi, 16, will become a high-school student in the second half year. This adolescent is a typical fan at various kinds of modern novelties, such as surfing the net, online shopping and foreign Rap music.Which activity is not mentioned in the passage?.
| A．shopping | B．dancing “Guozhuang” |
| C．playing skateboard | D．singing |
Which of the following phrase has the same meaning as the underlined phrase “mingled with”?
| A．along with | B．mixed with | C．together with | D．connected with |
After reading the whole passage, do you think which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．Young people in Tibet like going shopping or bar-hopping after work |
| B．Aged citizens like dancing “Guozhuang” to folk music at night in Tibet |
| C．Teenagers are keen on playing skateboard and roller-skating shuttle in Tibet |
| D．Young people in Tibet are interested in the factional dress |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A successful combination of traditional and modern Tibet
B. People in Tibet today are trying to break away from the tradition
C. Young people in Tibet today are trying to break away from the tradition
D. Young people in Tibet today are having a more colorful life than the old According to your understanding, what is the author’s attitude towards the changes in Tibet?
| A．Positive. |
| B．Negative |
| C．The passage does not tell us |
| D．The author does not care about the changes at all |
Bad moods can actually be good for you, with an Australian study finding that being sad makes people less gullible (轻信), improves their ability to judge others and also boosts memory.
The study, authored by psychology professor Joseph Forgas at the University of New South Wales, showed that people in a negative mood were more critical of, and paid more attention to, their surroundings than happier people, who were more likely to believe anything they were 
told.
"Although positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger (引发) more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world," Forgas wrote.
"Our research suggests that sadness ... promotes information processing strategies best suited to dealing with more demanding situations."
For the study, Forgas and his team conducted several experiments that started with inducing happy or sad moods in their subjects through watching films and recalling positive or negative events.
In one of the experiments, happy and sad participants were asked to judge the truth of urban myths and rumors and found that people in a negative mood were less likely to believe these statements.
People in a bad mood were also less likely to make snap decisions based on racial or religious prejudices, and they were less likely to make mistakes when asked to recall an event that they witnessed.
The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodati
ve and ultimately more successful communication style."
"Positive mood is not universally desirable: people in negative mood are less prone to judgmental errors, are more resistant to eyewitness distortions（扭曲）and are better at producing high-quality, effective persuasive messages," Forgas wrote.
The study was published in the November/December edition of the Australian Science journal. _ The study suggests that when someone is in a bad mood, he ________ .
| A．is particular about everything | B．shows less concern about others |
| C．is willing to believe what he hears | D．cares more about his surroundings |
_Which of the following is connected with positive mood?
| A．New ideas. | B．Being stubborn. | C．Being careful. | D．Concentration. |
_ How did researcher put the subjects in good or bad moods?
| A．By watching sports programs. | B．By listening to happy or sad stories. |
| C．By dealing with demanding situations. | D．By thinking back on their past exp erience. |
_ Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
| A．Positive mood leads to better judgement. |
B．Sad people rem embered what they saw precisely. |
| C．Cheerful people were less likely to believe rumors. |
| D．People in bad mood tend to make quick decisions. |
_The author intends to convince(说服) us that __________ .
| A．Joseph Forgas made a great discovery | B．bad moods can actually be good for us |
| C．we should think positively and negatively | D．the Australian study is of practical value |
The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my hus
band of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cookbook and chose a menu(菜谱) which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time , I started on it as soon as Doug
left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozens would be better, so I doubled（加倍）everything. As Doug loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough (面团) covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work. I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Doug got home , we sat down to eat Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up
and went outside , saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in our rubbish bin. Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had cau
sed the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast (酵母)made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. It looked like some unknown being from outer space. I could see why Doug was so shaken. I had to admit what the “living thing” was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed(尴尬)by the whole thing -- Doug or me._The writer's purpose in writing this story is ___________
| A．to tell an interesting experience |
| B．to show the easiest way out of a difficulty |
| C．to describe the trouble facing a newly married woman |
| D．to explain the difficulty of learning to cook from books |
_ Why did the woman's attempt at making the bread turn out to be unsuccessful?
| A．The canned orange had gone bad. | B．She didn't use the right kind of flour. |
| C．The cookbook was hard to understand. | D．She d id not follow the directions closely. |
_ Why did the woman put the dough in the rubbish bin?
| A．She didn't see the use of keeping it | B．She meant to joke with her husband. |
| C．She didn't want her husband to see it . | D．She hoped it would soon dry in the sun. |
_ What made the dough in the rubbish bin look frightening?
| A．The rising and falling movement. | B．The strange-looking marks. |
| C．Its shape. | D．Its size. |
_When Doug went out the third time, the woman looked out of the window because she was ____.
| A．surprised at his being interested in the bin | B．afraid that he would discover her secret |
C．unhap py that he didn't enjoy the meal |
D．curious to know what disturbed him |
In 1883, an imaginative engineer named John Roebling decided to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with Long Island. However, bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was a pipe dream. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
But Roebling refused to listen to them. He thought about the bridge day and night and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. After much discussion and persuasion he convinced his son Washington, who was a promising engineer himself, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished. With great excitement, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but several months
after it began, a tragic accid
ent on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was so seriously injured that he was never able to walk, talk or even move again.
"We told them so", "Crazy men and their crazy dreams", "It's foolish to chase wild visions", the critics said and most thought the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
Washington's wife tried to inspire and pass on
her husband's enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay in his hospital room, an idea suddenly hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this finger and tapping it on his wife's arm, he slowly developed a code to communicate with her. Then he used this method to tell his wife what the engineers should do. It seemed crazy but the project was
under way again. For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed.
Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's spirit and hi
s determination not to be defeated by circumstances._ What did most people think about Roebling's idea to build the bridge?
| A．It would never become a reality. | B．Washington was not experienced enough. |
| C．It would take a lot of time. | D．Finding the money would be impossible. |
_The underlined word `daunted' (para. 6) is closest in meaning to '______'.
| A．unpleasant | B．scared | C．amazed | D．determined |
_ Which of the following shows the correct order of the events that happened in the story?
a. Roebling convinced his son.
b. Washington found a new way to communicate.
c. They hired the crew.
d. The bridge was completed.
e. Roebling wanted to build a bridge.
f. There was a tragic accident.
A．e, a, c, f, d, b |
B．e, a, f, b, c, d | C．e, f, a, b, c, d | D．e, a, c, f, b, d |
_ What can we learn about Washington's wife?
| A．She knew sign language very well. |
| B．She was devoted to her husband. |
| C．She developed a code to communicate with her husband. |
| D．She helped her husband design the plan. |
_ What does the story tell us?
| A．Success will come with the passing of time. |
B．Struggle s are exactly what we need in our lives. |
| C．Even the most distant dream can be realised with a never-say-die attitude. |
| D．The people who make a difference in our life should be remembered forever. |
Football is, I believe, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting for one side or the other.
To a stranger, one of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He will tell you who he expects will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times his age.
Most schools in England take football seriously-much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all very important and games are left for the children themselves. In England it is believed that education is not only a matter filling a boy’s mind with facts in the classroom: education also means the training of character; and one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games; where a boy or girl has to learn to work with others for his or her team, instead of working for oneself alone. The school therefore plans games and matches for its students. Football is a good team game. It is good both for the body and the mind. That’s why it is every school’s game in England.In passage 1, by “this” the author means ________.
| A．people often go to football games. |
| B．people, rich and poor, young and old, play football |
| C．football is the most popular game in England |
| D．people usually shout at each other in a football match |
In England, a boy’s opinion of a match is often ________.
| A．three or four times better than that of adults | B．more than that of adults |
| C．as good as that of adults | D．worth considering three or four times than adults |
In England, education means_______.
| A．filling a boy’s mind with stories | B．more than the teaching of knowledge |
| C．the teaching of knowledge only | D．training character by means of football games |
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