Except for a few times, Americans are not big present-givers. There’s no exchange of presents among business people, and if one American tries to give another a present, it may look like that he wants to bribe (贿赂) him. Americans have learned that in some other countries people like to give presents to others, but among ourselves we don’t see the need for presents.
Even friends may never exchange presents. When I go to foreign countries, I try to bring back little things for close friends, but nobody would feel unhappy if I didn’t. I don’t often remember a friend’ s birthday, and few people outside of my family remember mine. If someone gave me presents too often, I’d get unpleasant. But a present from a foreigner — that kind from his or her homeland — won’t go wrong, except to government employees (政府职员) who can’t be given presents.
You usually open a present at once and in front of the person who gives it except Christmas and birthday presents. You should only say, ‘It’s so nice. Thanks…’when you get Christmas or birthday presents.
You may want to bring a bottle of wine (葡萄酒) or flowers to a dinner party, but you’re never asked to. Nobody will mind if you bring wine, but your friend may not use it that evening.
At Christmas we often give presents to our family and sometimes our friends. We also give presents to people who have been helpful during the year like doormen, babysitters, housecleaners , newspaper senders — anyone who has often helped us.What do the underlined words ‘close friends’ mean in the passage?
| A．The friends who are very kind. |
| B．The friends who live close to each other. |
| C．The friends who were once classmates. |
| D．The friends who you like most. |
What kind of presents don’t Americans usually open in front of the givers?
| A．The small presents |
| B．Christmas or birthday presents. |
| C．The expensive presents. |
| D．The presents for dinner party. |
Why do Americans also give presents to housecleaners at Christmas?
| A．To pay them. |
| B．To help them. |
| C．To thank them. |
| D．To make them work harder. |
Which of the following do you think is right?
| A．American business people don’t want presents because they are rich enough. |
| B．The writer of this passage must be an American. |
| C．Everyone must give presents to one’s family and friends at Christmas. |
| D．Government employees can get little presents from a foreigner. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Present-giving in the United States. |
| B．Customs (习俗) in the United States. |
| C．American people and present-giving. |
| D．When and how to give presents. |
Anger is a kind of feeling. Many things can make you angry. When your teacher gives you too much homework, when your team loses an important game, when a friend borrows your favorite thing and then breaks it, you may get really angry.
Usually, your body will tell you when you are angry. For example, you breathe faster, your face turns red, and you may want to break something or hit(打) someone, but sometimes, you hide(隐藏) your anger. For example, you may hide it in your heart. The problem is that if you do this, you may get a headache or your stomach may hurt.
In fact, it’s not good to hide your anger, and it’s normal for you to get angry sometimes. But anger must be let out in the right way, without hurting others or yourself.
When you get angry, you can talk about it with other people. It’s helpful to talk about your anger with an adult, such as parents, a teacher, etc. When you talk about anger, those bad feelings can start to go away. Here are some other things you can do when you start to feel angry: talk to a good friend; count from 1 to 100; give someone a hug(拥抱); go for a bike ride; think about good things, etc.
Remember that how you act when you are angry can make everything better or worse. Don’t let your anger control you.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。You may not get angry when ____.
| A．there is too much homework on this weekend |
| B．your favorite basketball team wins the game |
| C．a friend breaks your favorite thing |
| D．your parents don’t let you watch TV |
____ shows that you’re not angry.
| A．Taking a faster breath |
| B．Getting a headache |
| C．Getting a stomachache |
| D．Wanting to protect someone |
According to the passage, you can do everything when you get angry except(除了) ____.
| A．go for a bike ride |
| B．think about good things |
| C．talk to a good friend |
| D．say bad things to the people around you |
The underlined word “control” in the last paragraph means ____ in Chinese.
| A．控制 | B．连接 | C．帮助 | D．失去 |
This passage is mainly about ____.
| A．anger | B．excitement | C．happiness | D．sadness |
Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted（预测）in reaction to climate change, which could have long damaging effects on food chains and ecosystems.
Global warming is having a great effect on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world, changing some living patterns, scientists say.
Increased carbon dioxide（CO2）in the air from burning coal and oil can have an effect on how plants produce oxygen, while higher temperatures and changeable rainfall patterns can change their patterns of growth.
“Predicting species’ reaction to climate change is a major challenge in ecology,” said the researches of several U.S. universities. They said plants had been the key object of study because their reaction to climate change could have an effect on food chains and ecosystem services.
The study, published on the Nature website, uses the findings from plant life cycle studies and experiments across four continents and 1,634 species. It found that some experiments had underestimated（低估）the speed of flowering by 8.5 times and leafing by 4 times.
“Across all species, the experiments under-predicted the speed of the advance — for both leafing and flowering — that results from temperature increases,” the study said.
The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict how plants will react to climate change, it said.
Plants are necessary for life on the Earth. They are the base of the food chain, using photosynthesis（光合作用）to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water. They let out oxygen which is needed by nearly every organism on the planet.
Scientists believe the world’s average temperature has risen by about 0.8℃since 1900, and nearly 0.2℃ every ten years since 1979.
So far, efforts to cut emissions（排放）of planet-warming greenhouse gases are not seen as enough to prevent the Earth heating up beyond 2℃ this century — a point scientists say will bring the danger of a changeable climate in which weather extremes are common, leading to drought, floods, crop failures and rising sea levels.What is the key information the author wants to give in Paragraph 1?
| A．Plants’ reaction to weather could have damaging effects on ecosystem. |
| B．The increasing speed of flowering is beyond scientists’ expectation. |
| C．Climate change leads to the change of food production patterns. |
| D．Food chains have been seriously damaged because of weather. |
We can learn from the study published on the Nature website that ______.
| A．plants’ flowering is 8.5 times faster than leafing |
| B．there are 1,634 plant species on the four continents |
| C．scientists should improve the design of the experiments |
| D．the experiments failed to predict how plants react to climate change |
Scientists pay special attention to the study of plants because _______.
| A．they can prove the climate change clearly |
| B．they are very important in the food chains |
| C．they play a leading role in reducing global warming |
| D．they are growing and flowering much faster than before |
What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs about the world’s temperature?
| A．It has risen nearly 0.2℃ since 1979. |
| B．Its change will lead to weather extremes. |
| C．It is 0.8℃ higher in 1979 than that of 1990. |
| D．It needs to be controlled within 2℃ in this century. |
Wang Jiaming from Beijing Chenjinglun High School says he is a lucky boy. He’s happy that he’s sitting the senior high school entrance exam (中考) in 2014 instead of 2016.
On Oct 22, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (北京市教委) announced that, from 2016, the English scores in the senior high school entrance exam will be reduced from 120 to 100. Of the 100 points, the listening ability scores will increase to 50. Meanwhile, the points for Chinese will increase from 120 to 150.
“The change won’t affect me. I feel so lucky because English is my strongest subject,” said Wang.
Why such a change? It places the importance on Chinese in our study, and reduces students’ stress, said Li Yi, spokesman of the commission.
“The change will also push us to pay attention to the practical usage (运用) of English,” said Li. “Students will be encouraged to learn to understand English menus and read English news on mobile phones.”
There isn’t news that other cities will have the same change. But several places are making changes to English tests in the college entrance exams. For example, Shandong is considering taking out the listening part of the English exam in its college entrance exams.
But, “being tested for less points doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly,” Bai Ping wrote in China Daily.
English has long been the world’s most commonly used language. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji once said: “In a globalizing economy (全球经济), if you cannot communicate with foreigners, how can one be part of the world economy?”
Wang Jiaming said he understood the change.
“Chinese, not English, is our mother tongue (母语),” he said. “But still, I think English is both interesting and useful.”In the Beijing senior high school entrance exam of 2016, _____.
| A．the English scores will be cut down to 100 |
| B．the English listening ability scores will be lowered |
| C．the points for Chinese will be reduced by 30 points |
| D．the points for chemistry will increase by 20 points |
The underlined phrase “can be taken lightly” in this sentence “being tested for less points doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly,” is closest in meaning to “_____________”.
| A．can be taken out |
| B．can be paid less attention to |
| C．can be taken a close look at |
| D．can take the place of Chinese |
What is the main purpose of the change?
| A．To encourage students to learn how to order meals in English. |
| B．To make students learn to read English news on mobile phones. |
| C．To ask students to prepare for the college entrance exam. |
| D．To make students pay more attention to learning Chinese. |
What does Bai Ping think of the reforms (改革)?
| A．They make students spend less time on English. |
| B．They make it harder to get a high score. |
| C．Studying English is still important for the students. |
| D．English is both interesting and useful. |
This is Yoga! (瑜伽) Experience this for yourself.
How do you feel when you leave a yoga class? Do you feel relaxed, full of energy, prepared and ready to face anything and everything? Do you feel better than when you walked in? If you have answered “No”’ to these questions then you are NOT doing yoga.
After walking out of the class, do you feel that you have been pushed through, that theclass was hard，that you have less energy at the end of the class, that you have not got any energy, or that you are still tight and full of stress? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you are NOT doing yoga.
Are you forced (被迫) into positions(姿势) beyond what you can? Do you know why you are doing the actions in the “yoga” class you attend?
Satyananda Yoga Center teaches YOGA. We know and understand yoga and YOU. We teach yoga with this knowledge and understanding.
You are not forced into positions not suitable for you, or too early for you. You will leave Satyananda Yoga Center yoga classes feeing relaxed, free from stress, energized, and ready for whatever life brings to you.
With regular attendance and practice, the quality of your life improves with betterhealth, and stress-free mind.Your family and friends will notice the difference. You will feel the difference forbetter. This is because you are doing yoga.
Yoga for Everyone!
Yoga is a science. You are the scientist, and you are the one in the science of yoga.
New Saturday morning class from September — 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Asian American Cultural Center, 11713 Jollyville Road, Austin, Texas.
To sign up, call:2669862, or email: keepfitwithyoga@yahoo.comAt which time can people learn yoga according to this passage?
| A．At 10:00 on Sunday in September. |
| B．At 22:00 on the first Saturday in October. |
| C．At 9:00 on Saturday in September. |
| D．On everey Saturday afternoon in September. |
The passage suggests but doesn’t tell directly (直接地) that ______________.
| A．only Satyananda Yoga Center teaches yoga |
| B．there’s no better place to learn yoga than Satyananda Yoga Center |
| C．some yoga centers are not teaching yoga in the right way |
| D．you have to be a scientist before you take up yoga |
Which is NOT true if people follow the right ways to do yoga?
| A．In the class you will practise some positions. |
| B．You will feel very different after practising once. |
| C．You will feel new and fresh after practising yoga. |
| D．You will feel great if you keep on practising it for a few months. |
A small boy at summer camp received a bag of cookies in the mail from his mother. He ate a few, and then put the rest under his bed. The next day, after lunch, he went to his tent to get a cookie. The box was gone.
That afternoon a camp leader saw another boy sitting behind a tree. He was eating the stolen cookies! “That young man,” he said to himself, “must be taught not to steal.”
He returned to the group and found the boy whose cookies had been stolen. “Billy,” he said, “I know who stole your cookies. Will you help me teach him a lesson?”
“Well, yes. But aren’t you going to punish him?” asked the puzzled boy.
“No, that would only make him hate you,” the leader explained. “I want you to call your mother. Ask her to send you another box of cookies.”
The boy did as the leader asked. A few days later, he received another box of cookies in the mail.
“Now,” said the leader, “the boy who stole your cookies is down by the lake. Go down there. Share your cookies with him.”
“But he’s the thief!” protested (抗议) the boy.
“I know. But try it – see what happens.”
Half an hour later, the camp leader saw the two come up the hill, hand in hand. The boy who had stolen the cookies was trying to get the other to accept his jackknife (大折刀). He wanted to pay for the stolen cookies. The other boy was just refusing the gift from his new friend. He said that a few old cookies weren’t that important anyway.When might the cookies be stolen?
| A．At noon that day. | B．The next noon. |
| C．The next afternoon. | D．A few days later. |
Which of the following is NOT the camp leader’s intention (意图)?
| A．To teach the boy not to steal. |
| B．To punish the boy for stealing. |
| C．To teach Billy to forgive others. |
| D．To teach Billy to share with others. |
After the incident, the boy who stole the cookies might ______.
| A．steal again |
| B．hate Billy |
| C．make friends with Billy |
| D．give Billy a bag of cookies |
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