The Spanish poet Juan Ram said, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” Turning the paper sideways is like looking at situations from different angles.
Henry L. Mencken said it first: “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong.” And how often I am determined to keep pounding on that simple and neat solution until I make it work, or else I finally give up altogether. But success will surprisingly come when I decide to look at the thing from a wholly different perspective (视角).
Several all night convenience stores in New York City had a problem with teenagers hanging out in their parking lots late into the night. Not that they didn’t like kids; but customers complained (抱怨) that they were afraid to approach them in the dark and push through them to enter the store. Neighbors complained that they couldn’t sleep with the noise.
Managers tried various methods to solve the problem. They asked the kids to move away from the doors so customers didn’t have to push through them. They asked them to throw their cigarette butts and trash (垃圾) in outdoor dustbins and not litter the parking lot. Each solution was simple, neat and completely ineffective. It seemed that any of them should have worked. But none of them did.
Finally, one man came up with an unusual idea. Finding that asking the teens to change their behavior didn’t work, he tried something different. He just piped easy-listening music into the parking lot especially suited for mature listeners.
No more loitering (闲逛).What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?
| A．To give advice. | B．To make us laugh. |
| C．To analyze a problem. | D．To tell us an interesting story. |
The managers failed to solve the problem because _____.
| A．the kids didn’t like them |
| B．their solutions were too complex |
| C．they were not polite enough to the kids |
| D．they asked the kids to change their behavior |
Why did the kids leave the parking lots?
| A．They didn’t like the music. |
| B．They got bored of playing there. |
| C．They came to know it was unsafe. |
| D．They were moved by the manager. |
By telling the story, the author intends to tell us _____.
| A．kids today are tough to deal with |
| B．a simple solution is usually better |
| C．it’s better to calm down teenagers |
| D．we should look at a problem in different perspectives |
Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think．They may let you surf the Internet，listen to music and snap photos wherever you are．．．but they also turn you into a workaholic，it seems．A study suggests that，by giving you access to emails at all times．the all-singing．all-dancing mobile phone adds as much as two hours to your working day．
Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles．The study by technology retailer Pixmania，reveals the average UK working day is between nine and ten hours，but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails，or making work calls．Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails．Some workers confess they are on call almost 24 hours a day，with nine out of ten saying they take work emails and calls outside their normal working hours．Nearly two-thirds say they often check work emails just before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up，while over a third have replied to one in the middle of the night．
Ghadi Hobeika，marketing director of Pixmania，said：“The ability to access literally millions of apps，keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smartphones valuable for many people．However，there are drawbacks．Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day，seven days a week，and smartphones mean that people literally cannot get away from work．The more constantly in contact we become。The more is expected of us in a work capacity．”The text is probably taken from___________．
| A．a scientific report |
| B．a financial report |
| C．a newspaper |
| D．a literary journal |
The underlined word “drawbacks” in the last paragraph probably means_________．
| A．advantages | B．faults | C．mistakes | D．features |
Ghadi may agree that___________．
| A．employees are supposed to be on call 24 hours a day |
| B．the ability to access many apps made smartphones worthless |
| C．smartphones might turn a person into a workaholic |
| D．people literally cannot get away from work without smartphones |
What is the main idea of this passage？
| A．Smartphones are lengthening working hours |
| B．Smartphones are becoming valuable for many people |
| C．Britons work art additional 460 hours a year on average |
| D．Smartphones are more beneficial to our life than we think |
阅读理解（共5小题）
A month after Hurricane Katrina，I returned home in New Orleans．There lay my house，reduced to waist-high rains，smelly and dirty．Before the trip，I’d had my car fixed．When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill．she noticed my Louisiana license plate．“You from New Orleans? ”she asked．I said l was，
“No charge．”She said，and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet．The next day I went for a haircut，and the same thing happened．
As my wife was studying in Florid，we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage（抵押贷款）on our ruined house．We looked at many places，but none was satisfactory．We’d begun to accept that we’d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while，when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kennedy in California．He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for State，an online magazine and wanted to give us (“no conditions attached”)a new house across the lake from New Orleans．It sounded too good to be true，but I replied，thanking him for his exceptional generosity，that we had no plans to go back．Then a poet of the University of Florida offered to let his house to me while he went to England on his one-year-paid leave．The rent was rather reasonable．Imentioned the poet’s offer to James Kennedy，and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months．
Throughout this painful experience，the kindness of strangers backs my faith in humanity．It’s almost worth losing you worldly possessions to be reminded that people really want to be kind when given a channel．Which one shows the right time order？
①James Kennedy sent us a check
②A poet offered his house to us
③Our home was reduced to ruins
④The garage employee charged us nothing
⑤We came back to New Orleans
| A．④③⑤①② | B．③④⑤②① |
| C．④③⑤②① | D．③④⑤①② |
What do you know about James Kennedy?
| A．He was a friend of the writer |
| B．He offered the writer a house in California |
| C．He worked for an online magazine |
| D．He was concerned about the writer’s sufferings |
It can be inferred from the passage that________．
| A．The mortgage on the ruined house didn’t need to be paid off |
| B．The house rents in New Orleans were reasonable after the hurricane |
| C．The writer rebuilt his faith in humanity by losing his worldly possessions |
| D．The writer made it through the painful period with people's kindness |
How is the passage developed?
| A．By showing contrasting facts |
| B．By making classification |
| C．By giving examples |
| D．By analyzing causes and effects |
The World Health Organization says there has been a sharp increase in the number of over-weight children in developing countries．In African countries, the WHO says the number of over-weight or obese children is twice as high as it was 20 years ago．Around the world, about 43 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2013．
Overweight and obese children are more likely to become overweight and obese adults．The condition can generate serious health problems like heart diseases．
Francesco Branca is the director of the WHO Department of Nutrition for Health and Development．He says urban lifestyle makes people eat processed food more often, which has a high sugar, fat and salt content．He also says people are gaining weight because of their lack of activities．They travel in cars or other vehicles more than on foot．
The WHO experts say to lower obesity rates is especially complex in countries that also deal with high rates of infectious diseases．
The WHO has some basic solutions for individuals and countries．The organization says you should lower your intake of fat, sugar, salt and processed food and eat more fruits, vegetables and increase physical activity．The WHO says these actions are especially important for children．
And WHO expert Branca says mothers should breastfeed their babies for at least the first six months of life, if possible．More importantly, governments should consider providing vitamins for children and educational campaigns about problems linked to obesity would also help．In his view, government policies should deal with how food is marketed to children and food producers must balance quality and taste with the dangers of sugar, fat and salt．"Reducing the number of overweight children will not be easy．The goal is difficult to meet even in wealthy countries．" he adds．What is the main idea of Paragraph l?
| A．Overweight children in developing countries have increased greatly． |
| B．Children in developing countries generally weigh too much． |
| C．The number of overweight children in the world has doubled． |
| D．The World Health Organization has increased greatly． |
According to Branca, people are becoming overweight because of their changes in_______
| A．school education |
| B．transportation |
| C．physical condition |
| D．lifestyles |
The underlined word “generate” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______．
| A．cure |
| B．cause |
| C．worsen |
| D．prevent |
We can learn from the last paragraph that ______．
| A．babies breastfed aren’t likely to become overweight |
| B．food producers should be stopped from marketing, food to children |
| C．governments should play a necessary role in fighting obesity |
| D．the number of overweight children decreases easily in wealthy countries |
“Old wives tales” are beliefs passed down from one generation to another, For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things．Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time．
Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration．Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%．Garlic is good for you, too．It can kill the type of virus that causes colds．
Unfortunately, not all of Mom’ s advice passed the test of medical studies, For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating．But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so．Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes and no．Sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars．
Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales．After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated from thousands of years of experience in family health care．We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false．Which of the following is TRUE according to the test?
| A．Eating garlic is good for our eye |
| B．Carrots prevent people from catching colds． |
| C．Swimming after a meal is dangerous． |
| D．Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth． |
The author develops the third paragraph mainly________．
| A．by cause and effect |
| B．by order in space |
| C．by examples |
| D．by order in time |
The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means”_____”．
| A．to be suitable |
| B．to be valuable |
| C．to be admirable |
| D．to be believable |
What’s the author’s attitude towards “old wives’ tales” in the text?
| A．objective |
| B．subjective |
| C．dissatisfied |
| D．curious |
Editor Henry Slocum，
I read your May 10th article in the local newspaper Honesdale Times about electronic books，or e-books，with great interest．You made several good points about the disadvantages of e-books．You may have overlooked，however，some of the ways in which they are superior to traditional books．Yes，e-books are expensive，but they are also convenient．In addition，due to their environment-friendly nature, e-books have the potential to change our planet for the better．
E-books, for anyone who is unfamiliar with the term，are about the same size and shape as regular books．They have a large screen in the middle，however．This screen shows the reader a page of text that has been downloaded from a computer．Once the reader has finished reading the page on the e-book screen．he or she scrolls down to see a new page．The process continues until the entire book has been read．
As you pointed out．Mr．Slocum，it's great to lie on a warm，sandy beach with a book．You can do that just as easily with an e-book as you can with a traditional paper book．In fact，because e-books are so light, you can carry them anywhere．Say，for example，that you like to read on the bus．Which would you rather carry with you-a heavy 800-page novel，or an e-book that weighs only a few ounces?
Another important advantage is offered by e-books as well．They are more environmentfriendly than traditional books．At present，thousands of trees are cut down each year to meet the publishing industry’s demand for paper．Books that don’t sell are eventually returned to the Dublisher and destroyed．This terrible waste could be avoided if everyone used e-books，which require no paper．
Sincerely，
David Eng
What does Editor Henry Slocum think about e-books?
| A．Interesting |
| B．Environment-friendly |
| C．Convenient |
| D．Expensive． |
In David’s letter, he thinks that______
| A．E-books will come down in price |
| B．E-books do little harm to the environment |
| C．E-books come in various sizes and shapes |
| D．E-books are no better than traditional books |
The main purpose of the letter is to______
| A．provide evidence that e-books are a good idea |
| B．honor the person who invented e-books |
| C．scold publishers for wasting so much paper |
| D．explain how to read e-books |
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