I have a friend named John Roberts who owns a horse ranch （牧马场）in San Ysidro.The last time I was there he shared a story with me. “It is a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer. When he was a senior，he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.”
That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch， showing the location of all the buildings，the stables and the track.
“The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, ‘See me after class.’”
“The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive an F？’”
“The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added， ‘If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’”
“The boy went home and asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look, son， you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’”
“Finally，after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.‘”
John continued, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “If I had changed my paper at that time, maybe we would not have the chance to be here talking about the dreams .”What was the boy’s goal described in his seven-page paper?
| A．to own a horse ranch | B．to be a senior trainer |
| C．to build many buildings | D．to buy many horses. |
The teacher give the young boy an F because____________.
| A．he thought he didn’t have money. |
| B．he thought he came from an itinerant family. |
| C．he thought he didn’t have land. |
| D．he thought it was an unrealistic dream for a young boy. |
John’s father respond to his son’s puzzlement by__________.
| A．By criticizing his decision. |
| B．By helping him make the decision. |
| C．By encouraging him to make decision himself. |
| D．By praising him brave. |
What can we learn from the article?
| A．Make decision by yourself. |
| B．Never give up dreams easily. |
| C．Praise makes a difference. |
| D．Success needs other’s help. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Keep My Deam |
| B．My Horse Rnch |
| C．Father’s Lve |
| D．My Goal |
LONDON — Life for Cathy Hagner and her three children is set to permanent(永久的) fast-forward.
Their full school day and her job as a lawyer's assistant are busy enough. But Hanger also has to take the two boys to soccer or hockey or basketball while dropping off her daughter at piano lessons or Girl Scout Club.
Often, the exhausted family doesn't get home until 7 pm. There is just time for a quick supper before homework. In today's world, middle-class American and British parents treat their children as if they are competitors racing for some finishing line.
Parents take their children from activity to activity in order to make their future bright. It seems that raising a genius has become a more important goal than raising a happy and well-balanced child.
“Doctors across the country are reporting a growing number of children suffering from stomachaches and headaches due to exhaustion and stress,” says child expert William Doherty of the University of Minnesota.
Teachers are dealing with exhausted kids in the classroom. It's a very serious problem. Many children attend after-school clubs by necessity. But competitive pressures also create an explosion of activities. They include sports, language, music and math classes for children as young as four.
“There is a new parenting trend(趋势) under way which says that you have to tap all your child’s potential(潜能) at a young age; otherwise you will let him down,” says Terry Apter, a Cambridge-based child and adolescent psychiatrist(青少年精神病专家).
“It isn't entirely new: there have always been pushy parents. But what was previously(以前) seen as strange behaviour is now well accepted.” From the second paragraph of this passage we can find that _______.
| A．Hagner wastes much time helping her children's lessons |
| B．Hagner doesn't spend much time on her full-time job |
| C．Hagner is interested in sports and music |
| D．Hagner busies herself by following a trend |
British parents, as the writer described in this passage, _______.
| A．treat their children as sports players |
| B．pay no attention to their children's lessons |
| C．bring up their children in a simple way |
| D．give their children little time to develop freely |
The writer's opinion about after-school clubs is that ________.
| A．activities in the country are too competitive |
| B．children should attend four clubs at a time |
| C．some clubs result in competitive pressures |
| D．clubs should have more subjects for school children |
The last paragraph tells us that in Britain _______.
| A．parents used to take their children to every club |
| B．parents used to be wise on how to raise children |
| C．parents have all benefited from children’s clubs |
| D．parents have come to know the standard of education |
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human conditions is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful(有压力的) conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting(转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support — money aid, material resources, and needed services — that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems. Interpersonal relationships are important because they can _______.
| A．make people live more easily | B．smooth away daily problems |
| C．deal with life changes | D．cure types of illnesses |
The researches show that people's physical and mental health _______.
| A．lies in the social medical care systems which support them |
| B．has much to do with the amount of support they get from others |
| C．depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles |
| D．is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “cushions” ?
| A．takes place of | B．makes up of | C．lessens the effect of | D．gets rid of |
Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of _______.
| A．instrumental support | B．informational support |
| C．social companionship | D．the strengthening of self-respect |
What is the subject discussed in the text?
| A．Interpersonal relationships. | B．Kinds of social support. |
| C．Ways to deal with stress. | D．Effects of stressful conditions. |
Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks—we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics(遗传学). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area where people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. Georgia. People in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do. Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance _______.
| A．has little to do with culture | B．has much to do with culture |
| C．is ever changing | D．is different from place to place |
According to the passage, the final mouth shape is formed _______.
| A．before birth | B．as soon as one’s teeth are newly set |
| C．sometime after new teeth are set | D．around 15 years old |
Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the United States a person is from by _______.
| A．how much he or she laughs | B．how he or she raises his or her eyebrows |
| C．what he or she likes best | D．the way he or she talks |
This passage might have been taken out of a book dealing with ________.
| A．physics | B．chemistry | C．biology | D．none of the above |
Some spiders hunt on the ground, others build webs to trap their food, but the grass water spider catches its prey by running along the surface of the water.
This special water spider lives on the grassy banks of streams where mosquitoes, damsel flies and other insects come to feed and breed.
Although it is one of the largest spiders in New Zealand, it has an unusual ability. It doesn’t disturb the water as it waits for its meal, and there is barely a ripple(波纹) when it skims(掠过) across the surface at lightning speed to catch its prey.
Grass water spiders deal swiftly with larger insects like damsel flies by pulling their heads under the water and holding them there until they drown.
After a meal, the grass water spider spends up to half an hour grooming(修饰) itself. It wipes its eight eyes, brushes its antennae(触角), and takes special care to clean the hairs on its body.
It is the hairs that trap tiny bubbles(泡沫) of air so that the spider can run down a blade(叶片) of grass and stay underwater for up to an hour when it is frightened. The hairs also keep the spider dry, even underwater.
It is only when the female spider is caring for the young that she does not hunt on the water. After mating, she produces a large egg sac(囊), which she carries around for five weeks. Once the eggs start to hatch, she attaches the sac to some blades of grass or a thistle. She then tears the sac open and releases the tiny spiders into the nursery web. How does the grass water spider kill its prey?
| A．in a web | B．by drowning | C．by poisoning | D．with its antennae |
the writer describes the special spider as “special” because _______.
| A．it walks on water | B．it has eight eyes |
| C．of its hairy appearance | D．of the way it produces its young |
The passage tells us that the spider ______.
| A．feeds grass and thistles to its young. | B．lives on blades of grass under the water |
| C．lives in the grass on the banks of streams | D．eats a meal once every five weeks |
The purpose of the passage is to _______.
| A．convince readers that spiders are dangerous |
| B．indicate that the grass water spider is endangered |
| C．list all of the spiders that can be found in New Zealand |
| D．describe the characteristics of the grass water spider |
Space travel is definitely bad for astronauts’ bones, reducing their bone density(密度) after only a month of weightlessness, according to French research published on Friday.
Laurence Vico and his fellow workers at St Etienne University called for more research into the effects of microgravity, after their study of 15 astronauts from the Russian MIR station showed bone loss continued throughout space flights.
“Bone loss was especially striking in four astronauts, ” the scientists reported in the Lancet Medical Journal.
They measured the bone mineral density (BMD) of bones in the forearm(前臂) and lower leg of the astronauts who had spent one to six months in space.
The BMD loss was significant in the tibia(胫骨) of the lower leg, a weight-bearing bone, but barely changed in the radius(桡骨) of the forearm. “Our results indicate the need to investigate not only different bones, but also different areas of the same bone since not all sites of the skeleton (骨架) are similarly affected by space conditions, ” they added.
Without gravity the body isn’t bearing any weight so there is no need for calcium (钙) which makes bones strong, and it becomes empty into the bloodstream.
The research team suggested in future scientists should try to determine if the loss of bone density was only on weight-bearing bones on longer flights, also the possible recovery after returning to Earth. French scientists did their research on Russian astronauts, because _______.
| A．they only cared for the Russian astronauts |
| B．they were not interested in their own astronauts |
| C．the Russian government invited them to do their research |
| D．the Russian astronauts worked in space for a long time |
Scientists have found that _______.
| A．the BMD loss may cause serious illness to astronauts |
| B．the BMD loss may cause some change in astronauts’ bodies |
| C．astronauts shouldn’t care about the BMD loss |
| D．astronauts should take some calcium before space travel |
What cause the BMD loss to astronauts, according to this passage?
| A．The food they eat in space. | B．The drinks they take in space. |
| C．The temperature in space. | D．The gravity in space. |
In the third paragraph, the word “striking” means ______.
| A．unusual | B．simple | C．weak | D．slow |
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