| Book 1 Elixir written by Eric Walters Twelve-year-old Roth becomes a friend of Dr．Banting and his assistant, Mr．Best, who are in search of a cure for diabetes （糖尿病）．She finds herself torn between her sympathy for the animals being experimented on and her friendship with Banting and Best． |
| Book 2 George Washingtion Carver written by Elizabeth Macleod Meet the “Peanut（花生）Specialist”, George Washington Carver, the inventor and professor who made over 325 products out of peanuts．Through his agricultural research, he also greatly improved the lives of countless black farmers in the southern United States．See also Macleod’s Albert Einstein: A Life of Genius. |
| Book 3 The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations written by Alootook Ipellie & David MacDonald Explore more than 40 ideas necessary to Inuit survival．From ideas familiar to us today to inventive concepts that shaped their lives, celebrate the creativity of a remarkably intelligent people．Also see other books: The Chinese Thought of It by Tingxing Ye and A Native American Thought of It by Rocky Landon and David MacDonald． |
| Book 4 Made in Canada:101 Amazing Achievements written by Bev Spencer What things do we use daily that have a Canadian connection? Here are 101 common things that were invented in Canada or by a Canadian, including the Blackberry, alkaline（碱性）batteries and the Blue Box recycling program． |
| Book 5 Newton and the Time Machine written by Michael McGowan Ten-year-old boy Newton has invented a time machine to see dinosaurs up close．But it disappears on a test run with his two huge friends, King Herbert and Queen Certrude, in it! Can he save them before time runs out? |
Which of the following best describes Roth’s feeling in Book 1?
| A．Painful. | B．Curious. | C．Frightened. | D．Disappointed. |
In Book 5, King Herbert and Queen Gertrude are_______.
| A．the names of the time machine |
| B．Newton’s human friends |
| C．two dinosaurs |
| D．the inventors of the time machine |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Alkaline batteries were invented by Dr. Banting. |
| B．Book 3 introduces 40 inventive concepts. |
| C．Animals are mentioned in Book 1 and Book 5. |
| D．George Washington Carver was a black farmer in the US. |
If you could leave a farewell (告别) video for your loved ones that they’d see only if you died, would you do it? I think I would.
I read about an app (应用程序) that helps people create a video to be published on a social-networking site only after death. Of course you don’t need an app since it’s easy to make your own video with smartphones, laptops and computers. But how many people do you know who would actually go ahead and leave “If I die” footage (镜头)?
My father died unexpectedly on Christmas Eve three years ago and I’ve since longed for one more time to talk to him and hear his voice. Imagine if he had left such a video. I would see him again, hear his laughter and benefit from his parting words and advice.
I don’t think people, unless they have a terminal illness, go through life thinking they’d better leave a video in case of an untimely death. But it is an opportunity to say all the things you want to say before it’s too late.
Still, some say that such a video robs loved ones of their own memories of you. Any special images they have would be superimposed (叠加) by the video image you’ve created. Others think it’s scaring and might be tempting fate.
I expect my video would consist of reminders to my children: Be safe; be mindful of your surroundings; exercise good judgment; speak up; it never hurts to ask; don’t waste time and “call when you get there”. And in addition, I would repeat what I always tell them: I need to know where you are, every-step-of-the-way. That would make them laugh.
Readers, would you find comfort in knowing you’ve said your farewells and left something concrete for your loved ones? What messages would you leave for family and friends?
The writer mentions the app to show .
| A．the app is out of date now |
| B．smartphones are better tools to make videos |
| C．it is not convenient to make a video with the app |
| D．how he was inspired to get the idea of creating a video before death |
Some people against such a video argue that the image in the video .
| A．will be different from that of the real person |
| B．cannot convey the real intention of the dead |
| C．will replace our loved ones’ own memories of us |
| D．will stop the loved ones from missing the dead |
The purpose of mentioning his father’s unexpected death is to .
| A．show his deep love for his father |
| B．show the importance of keeping healthy |
| C．show thanks for the benefits he got from his father |
| D．show that it is necessary to leave a farewell video |
The underlined word “untimely” in Paragraph 4 probably means .
| A．happening at a suitable moment |
| B．happening too soon or sooner than expected |
| C．continuing to happen or exist without stopping |
| D．having a value that is not limited to a particular period |
DEAR AMY: We recently had to put our cat down. It came out of the blue. We had no idea that he had health problems, and we woke up early one morning to the cat crying out painfully. We immediately rushed him to the vet’s where the vet said that at best treatment might lengthen his life by two to three months. We did not want to see him suffer, so we chose to kill the cat in a painless way.
I am having a rough time! I cry when I am alone. I cry when I see pet commercials on television. I put away everything that reminds me of the cat. But the last sight of seeing the cat in pain plays over and over in my head. My kids seem alright with what has happened, but why am I struggling?
It has only been one week since his passing, so I hope things will get better. Do you have any suggestions?
Yours,
Sad
DEAR SAD: There is no loss quite like the loss of a pet; these animals keep us company through important life passages and are beloved witnesses to our human lives.
I understand your instinct to put away all of your cat’s things, but it may help you now to memorialize your pet by using these things. Each family member can write down favorite things about him or memories of him; read their memories aloud and put the papers inside his bowl. The idea is to replace those painful last memories with much more lively memories taking place over the most of the animal’s life.
Time will then do its job, which is to affect your feelings. And then, when you’re ready, I hope you will adopt another animal and give it the opportunity to share your life.
Yours,
Amy
Which of the following made the author’s family choose to kill the cat in a painless way?
| A．The cat had changed its color. |
| B．The vet himself had no way to save its life. |
| C．The family wouldn’t see it suffer in its later life. |
| D．The cat suffered so much that it could die at any time. |
The author cried when seeing pet commercials on television because .
| A．she was alone at home |
| B．she thought of her lovely cat |
| C．she didn’t like to see the things of the cat |
| D．her children showed no feeling over the cat’s death |
What does the underlined phrase mean in Paragraph 1?
| A．In the color of blue. | B．Very sadly. |
| C．All of a sudden. | D．With much pain. |
What do we know from the last paragraph of Amy’s letter?
| A．The longer it is, the less you will feel sad about your pet. |
| B．It is important to find a new pet as soon as possible. |
| C．As time goes on, you will feel more sorrow about your pet. |
| D．One can’t live a happy life without a pet around him. |
“Chances are we have all experienced shyness in our lives, and shyness has been associated with negative outcomes—characteristics like difficulty maintaining eye contact, and feelings of humiliation(丢脸) are known to be part of a shy person’s characters. It’s these traits that tend to affect some shy individuals’ ability to connect,” says C. Barr Taylor, a professor of psychology at Stanford University.
“But while shyness can often be seen as a bad thing, there are ways to use the personality trait to your advantage,” Taylor says. Below are some common shy habits and how you can learn to make them benefit you:
Shy people usually reflect inwardly (在内心) a lot. But according to Taylor,all that thinking may not always be a bad thing and it should be viewed as a way you can think actively as you go into a situation. So, for shy people who feel worried about facing a particular challenge or event, Taylor advises slowly approaching the fearful situation if you start to feel anxious. By facing what you are not feeling secure about, Taylor says, you will feel less anxious. “Our brains are amazing—they can become well adapted,” he says. “If you put yourself in a fearful situation, you will get a sense that you are going to do it.” What’s more, shy individuals care deeply about what others think of them, and if it is addressed healthily, they can use it to their advantage to form social connections.
Shy people are observant and often pick up on parts of their conversation or surroundings that others may not. “Just because you are shy, that does not mean you are not used to social situations,” Taylor says. “It can actually become a source of strength as you are the observer in the room.” In a study out of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, researchers found an association between college-age adults who were shy and the ability to better identify expressions of sadness and fear compared with those who weren’t shy. In addition, a shy person has a born drive to absorb a conversation, so they can be great at conversation.
In the opinion of C. Barr Taylor, we should .
A.think positively of shyness
B.try to get rid of shyness
C.attempt to be a little shy
D.often help those shy people
The passage mentions the study by Southern Illinois University just to show that .
| A．shy people use rich facial expressions |
| B．shy people are good at observing others |
| C．shyness can be used to reduce anxiety |
| D．shyness can be used in social connections |
We can know from the passage that shy people .
| A．are good at getting used to a new environment |
| B．often attach much importance to others’ opinions |
| C．hate to think a lot before taking an action |
| D．are good at overcoming their feeling of insecurity |
An eight-year-old Arthur Gonzaga from Minas Gerais, Brazil has taken the Internet by a storm, as first reported by TheHuffingtonPost, with his online YouTube series videos “Arthur Gourmand”. And while it would not be a far stretch of the imagination to assume an 8-year-old’s cooking show would be filled with dishes like pizza and burgers, Arthur’s show actually features recipes like fruit salad a la créme de passion fruit and filet mignon (菲力牛排).
The idea to record Arthur’s cooking adventures on YouTube was rooted in the young chef’s leukemia diagnosis (白血病诊断) in August 2013.Treatment and recovery for the cancer left the young boy in the hospital for the second half of the year and Aruthur was even forced to spend Christmas Eve in the emergency room of So Paulo’s A.C. Camargo Cancer Center. That’s when his family—father Renato Gonzaga and stepmother Priscila Inserra—decided that Arthur should create something positive that would distract him from his health.
The videos, which are filmed in the kitchen of a friend of the family, are in Portuguese. They show Arthur walking the viewers through a step-by-step process of the entire recipe—from preparation to cooking. Occasionally, viewers can see Arthur’s father serving as his son’s sous chef, passing ingredients and following his lead.
Fluent in Portuguese or not, viewers can immediately notice Arthur’s optimistic and friendly personality. It is perhaps these qualities that have given the young rising Internet star almost 5,000 likes on his Facebook Fan Page. There are currently three videos on YouTube and according to his most recent Facebook post, the young boy will be taking suggestions for his next video.
Fortunately, according to what Inserra told TheHuffingtonPost, Arthur is responding well to his treatments and is on his path to recovery. “The secret of life is to let it take you, to have fun and to know how to turn lemons into lemonade (柠檬水),” wrote her family, fittingly, on their most recent Facebook post. Hats off to Arthur, who truly serves as a shining example of how to turn lemons into lemonade.
Arthur Gourmand is a name of .
| A．the boy | B．the boy’s illness |
| C．a newspaper | D．the boy’s cooking show |
Arthur performs his cooking show .
| A．on the stage | B．in his friend’s kitchen |
| C．in his own kitchen | D．in the emergency room |
The underlined phrase “sous chef” probably means .
| A．a assistant of a chef | B．a adviser of a chef |
| C．a companion of a chef | D．a friend of a chef |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Arthur has finished all his videos. |
| B．Arthur doesn’t speak Portuguese fluently. |
| C．Arthur had to spend the New Year’s Eve in the hospital. |
| D．Arthur sets a good example to those with serious illness. |
China has been drinking tea since the time of Shennong, 5,000 years ago. Britain’s relationship with tea is much shorter, but tea enjoys the pride as the UK’s national drink. According to the UK Tea Council, British people drink an average of three cups a day or a national total of 165 million cups every day.
With figures like these, it is no surprise that time spent taking tea affects the working day in Britain. A recent survey found that 24 minutes a day are lost to making, buying and drinking tea and coffee. That is, £400 a year is lost in working hours per employee, or 190 days over a lifetime. So, should employers be worried about this lost working time, or does the tea break make up in other ways?
One argument is that caffeine improves mental state: a drink of tea or coffee can make you active and focus on work.
Professor Rogers of the University of Bristol disagrees. After years of studying caffeine he sees nothing can prove that. “Workers would perform equally well if not drinking it at all,” he says. “But if they’re often drinking it and then go without, they’ll feel tired and won’t work well.”
Psychologist Cooper instead emphasizes the role tea breaks play in office life, and in building social relationships. “We need to make people more active and see other people. The tea break is one way of doing this,” says Cooper.
And Professor Rogers also points out the comfort effect of a hot drink: “We warm our hands on them on a cold day; they’re comforting and play a big role in our everyday life. Whatever the caffeine’s doing, I’d say these 24 minutes aren’t wasted.”
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Tea Breaks cannot make people more active at work. |
| B．British people drink more tea than people in other countries. |
| C．Tea break plays an important role in people’s life in Britain. |
| D．A lot of time has been wasted drinking tea in the working day. |
We learn from a recent survey that in Britain _______.
| A．£400 is lost in working hours for each person |
| B．tea breaks take up 24 minutes in a working day |
| C．people spends 190 days drinking tea and coffee each year |
| D．people drink 165 million cups in working hours every day |
What’s Psychologist Coopers’ attitude towards tea break?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Negative. | D．Positive. |
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