Every year, I tell my sons what I'd like for Mother's Day: a letter. Something written from the heart and offered freely rather than bought from a store and wrapped neatly. I don't always get my wish, nor do I always take the time to write to my own mother.
This year, my boys will be in two different states on Mother's Day. My mom and dad will be away together, and I'11 be driving home from a writer's workshop in Massachusetts. Thinking of the fact that many friends have already lost their mothers and that a few have lost children, I am deeply grateful that what separates us, for now at least, is merely distance. It won't always be so, and there is no way to prepare for that fact other than to appreciate the moment that is. My sons know that they can please me on Sunday with a phone call or an e-mail, and that is enough as I love their words. The very best gift they can possibly give me is their own happiness, the very fact of their busy. full and well-lived lives.
Still, knowing that my years of staying with my sons are over, I do Feel doleful. The truth is, I miss being the center of the universe to two little boys. And this holiday can be a bit painful.
I wonder if my own mother ever felt nostalgic ('VTIH WJ) for the passing of my childhood. I wonder if she realizes that she is still at the center of my universe and always has been. I don't often pause to think about it. but of course she is the one who has been right there, at my side from the moment I drew my very first breath. How to ever fully appreciate the woman whose presence and 1ove and example have shaped me into the adult I am? How to describe even a small part of the sharing. sacrificing. and support she has given me over the years?The author mainly wants to tell us through the first paragraph that _____.
| A．she hopes to get her son's letters very much |
| B．her sons don't often write to her on Mother's Day |
| C．Mother's Day is the very date that she longs for most |
| D．she is very sorry not to write to her mother often |
The author is deeply grateful for the present life because ____.
| A．her sons don't live far away from her home |
| B．her parents and children are still alive |
| C．her parents are coming to her house to spend Mother's Day |
| D．her sons can please her on Sunday with a phone call |
According to the author ______
| A．young people nowadays tend to ignore their parents |
| B．parents should not give their children too much freedom |
| C．children's happiness and success are the biggest comfort to parents |
| D．parents are not the center of their children's universe when children grow up |
What does the underlined word "doleful" in paragraph 3 mean?
| A．sad | B．excited | C．guilty | D．proud |
What will the author probably tell about after the last paragraph?
| A．She'll tell the reader about her mother's present situation. |
| B．She'll recall how her mother educated and cared for her. |
| C．She'll describe the reunion of her family on Mother's Day. |
| D．She'll tell the reader about her mother's achievements in her career. |
D
A wallet that looks like a piece of newspaper, an atlas, or an express parcel receipt? Or a business card that looks like a notepad? No kidding.
Bai Minghui, a Beijing-based designer, creates his artwork using Tyvek, a synthetic paper material which is difficult to tear, waterproof and, more importantly, totally recyclable.
Born to a worker family in 1983 in Tangshan, Hebei Province, Bai worked as a graphic designer at a financial magazine in Beijing after graduating from Minzu University of China.
In the spring of 2008, Bai visited an exhibition about Tyvek in Beijing's 798 art zone, and then worked with the material, trying to bring his designs to life. The first thing that came into his mind was the paper wallet, a must-try handicraft assignment（手工作业）that most Chinese students do in elementary school.
"A paper wallet is definitely more useful than a paper crane or frog," Bai told Beijing Review, smiling. "At first, many people have no idea what it is, because it looks like a piece of newspaper or an express parcel receipt, and feels like real paper. But it's hard to tear.
"The completed, folded wallet is seamless, which creates so much fun for a designer. To be honest, I didn't think about profits at all," he said.
After months of research and development on printing and designing, the first generation of his paper wallet made a stunning debut（上市） in May 2008. The second generation, which offers a greater range of pattern options, was put on the market at the beginning of 2009.
"You can have graffiti（涂鸦） or write down phone numbers on it, or paint whatever you like. I would like people to be able to use it easily," he said. "I don't want to do things without creative ideas. Now my focus is on how to create better design rather than the wallet itself."
68. In which order did Bai do the following things?
a. create the paper wallet b. study in Minzu University
c. work as a graphic designer d. visit an exhibition about Tyvek in Beijing
A. cbad B. bcda C. cbda D. bcad
69. Which of the following words can best describe the designer?
A. diligent B. creative C. friendly D. honest
70. Tyvek, a synthetic paper material, has the following characters EXCEPT ____.
A. recyclable B. waterproof C. foldable D. profitable
71. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Most of the Chinese students have tried to make some kind of paper work.
B. Many Chinese are fond of painting different things on their wallets.
C. Most of the wallets that people use nowadays can be recycled.
D. Most of the designers based in Beijing have tried Tyvek to create their own work of art.
E
If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s （老年痴呆）．Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder, and it's well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive（认知的） advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age．
Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly make up for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures．
“The lifelong benefits of higher education for memory in later life are quite impressive, but we do not clearly understand how and why these effects last so long,” said lead author Margie Lachman, a psychologist．She suggested that higher education may encourage lifelong interest in cognitive efforts, while those with less education may not engage as frequently in mental exercises that help keep the memory agile （敏捷地）．
But education early in adulthood does not appear to be the only route to maintain your memory．The study found that intellectual activities undertaken regularly made a difference．“Among individuals with low education, those who are engaged in reading, writing, attending lectures, doing word games or puzzles once a week or more had memory scores similar to people with more education,” said Lachman．
The study, called Midlife in the United States, assessed 3,343 men and women between the ages of 32 and 84 with a mean age of 56 years．Almost 40 percent of the participants had at least a 4-year college degree．The researchers evaluated how the participants performed in two cognitive areas, verbal memory and executive function --- brain processes involved in planning, abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility．Participants were given a battery of tests, including tests of verbal fluency, word recall, and backward counting．
As expected, those with higher education said they engaged in cognitive activities more often and also did better on the memory tests, but some with lower education also did well, explained Lachman．
“The findings are promising because they suggest there may be ways to level the playing field for those with lower educational achievement, and protect those at greatest risk for memory declines,” said Lachman．“Although we can not rule out the possibility that those who have better memories are the ones who take on more activities, the evidence is consistent with cognitive plasticity （可塑性）, and suggests some degree of personal control over cognitive functioning in adulthood by adopting an intellectually active lifestyle．”
57．What is the text mainly about?
A．Higher education has a better cognitive advantage．
B．Better memories result from college degree．
C．Cognitive activity does a mind good．
D．Poor education has more risk of memory declines．
58．According to the result of Margie Lachman’s study, we can conclude that ________．
A．education is responsible for the lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder
B．education early in adulthood can be the only route to maintain your memory
C．those with higher education did better on the memory tests than those with lower education
D．an intellectually active lifestyle does help to maintain your memory
59．What do we know about the study called Midlife?
A．Participants each were given a battery to test their memory．
B．The average age of the participants are 56 years old．
C．Participants had to perform in one of the two cognitive areas．
D．One in four of the participants had a 4-year college degree．
60．Why are the findings of the Lachman’s study promising?
A．The lower educated may have the same opportunities to keep up memory．
B．We may have ways to cure the people who have memory declines．
C．Adopting a different lifestyle can control over cognitive functioning．
D．We can find out the possibility to have better memories．
D
“Pay has little to do with motivation in the workplace”．That’s the argument put forward by best-selling author Daniel Pink in his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us．“Pay for performance is supposed to be a folk tale,” he says．
Daniel argues that, if employees receive a basic level of payment, three other factors matter more than money: a sense of independence, of mastery over one’s labor, and of serving a purpose larger than oneself．For example, in 2008 at the offices of Best Buy’s Richfield, salaried workers there were allowed to organize their own work day, putting in only as many hours as they felt necessary to get their jobs done．Productivity increased by 35% according to The Harvard Business Review．
But the managers at Goldman Sachs aren’t exactly making some efforts to adjust．Like others on Wall Street, the banking giant argues that fat bonuses （extra rewards） are essential to make its numbers．“That’s exactly the attitude that leads to the recent financial crisis in the United States,” responds Daniel, “as managers always focus on short-term rewards that encourage cheating, shortcuts, and dishonest behavior．”
Moreover, the 45-year-old author and former Al Gore speechwriter refers to social-science experiments and experiences at such workplaces as Google and 3M．In one 2005 experiment he describes, economists working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston tested the power of incentives （激励） by offering cash rewards to those who did well in games that included reciting a series of numbers and throwing tennis balls at a target．The researchers’ finding: Over and over, higher incentives led to worse performance --- and those given the highest incentives did the poorest job．
From this and other cases, Daniel draws a conclusion that monetary incentives remove the element of play and creativity, transforming “an interesting task into a dull one．” It’s even possible, he adds, for oversized rewards to have dangerous side effects, like those of a drug dependency in which an addicted requires ever larger amounts．He refers to scientific testing that shows the promise of cash rewards increase a chemical in the brain similar to that brought on by cocaine or nicotine．
Daniel, however, is also aware that his company examples --- no GE, no IBM, no Microsoft --- hardly represent the commanding heights of the economy．But he thinks his approach will catch on, even in the biggest companies．“Managers tend to be realistic, and in time they will respond,” he says．
53．In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink is promoting the idea that _____．
A．it is a money-driven society B．all workers are not driven by money
C．money plays a key role in management D．pay has nothing to do with workplaces
54．In Daniel’s point of view, many Wall Street managers are _______．
A．dishonest B．considerate C．short-sighted D．ridiculous
55．In paragraph 5, the example of drug-taking is given to show _______．
A．money is as addictive as cocaine or nicotine
B．big rewards bring about dangerous side effect
C．nicotine and money bring the same chemical
D．workers do not need the incentives of money at all
56．We can learn from the last paragraph that _______．
A．Daniel’s approach will be popular in a wider field
B．realistic managers will first consider Daniel’s approach
C．Daniel’s approach meets the demand of economic crisis
D．GE, IBM and Microsoft will join in Daniel’s approach next
C
A car that runs on coffee is unveiled（shown to the public for the first time）today but at between 25 and 50 times the cost of running a car on petrol, the invention won’t please any motor industry accountants．
Nicknamed the Car-puccino, it has been created using a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco bought for £400 and it was chosen because it looked like the time-traveling DeLorean in the movie Back To The Future．The car will be driven the 210 miles between Manchester and London powered only by roasted coffee granules （颗粒）．It has been built by a team from the BBC1 science programme Bang Goes The Theory and will go on display at the Big Bang science fair in Manchester to show how fuels other than traditional petrol can power vehicles．
The team calculates the Car-puccino will do three miles per kilo of ground coffee （咖啡粉） — about 56 cups of espressos （浓咖啡） per mile．The journey will use about 70 kilos of ground coffee which, at supermarket prices of between £13 and £26 a kilo depending on brand and quality, will cost between £910 and £1,820, or between 25 and 50 times the £36 cost of petrol for the journey．In total, the trip will cost 11,760 espressos, and the team will have to take ‘coffee breaks’ roughly every 30 to 45 miles to pour in more granules．They will also have to stop about every 60 miles to clean out the ‘coffee filters’ to rid them of the soot and tar which is also generated by the process．So despite a top speed of 60mph, the many stops mean the going will be slow, with the journey taking around ten hours．
Sadly, the inventors will still have to pay duty on their coffee fuel---even though tax collectors at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Custom haven’t yet worked out how much．
Nick Watson, producer of Bang Goes The Theory, said, “Coffee, like wood or coal, has some carbon content so you can use it as a fuel．The coffee needs to be very dry and in granules to allow the air to move through the pile of coffee as it burns．The brand doesn’t matter．” He said the same technology could be used to power a car on other unusual fuels, such as woodchips or nut shells, construction or agricultural waste．
49．Which is the right way to choose the coffee used as fuels to run the Car-puccino?
A．It should be very dry． B．The stronger, the better．
C．The smaller the granules are, the better． D．It should be of a certain brand．
50．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．All kinds of materials can be used as fuels．
B．The Car-puccino will be put into the market soon．
C．Nick Watson is the designer of the Car-puccino
D．Much remains to be improved for the Car-puccino．
51．The Car-puccino has its disadvantages EXCEPT that ________．
A．it makes a lot of noise
B．it runs at a very high cost
C．it has to stop to be refueled very often．
D．it’s not good enough for long-distance journey
52．How much ground coffee will be used to cover a distance of 126 miles in this car?
A．About 70 kilos B．About 42 kilos． C．About 32 kilos D．About 30 kilos
B
Below are some classified ads from the Internet
45．Which website should you visit if you want to buy some cigarettes as presents at a low price?
A．http://www．electroniccigar．org
B．http://www．iicdmichigan．org
C．http://www．productreviewjunction．com/Gifts & Flowers．htm
D．http://www．productreviewjunction．com/Books．htm
46．How many adverts are trying to be price competitive?
A．2 B．3 C．4 D．5
47．Where do the volunteers get training before taking on their voluntary work?
A．Brazil B．Ecuador C．Congo D．America
48．What number can you call if you are going to lose weight?
A．312-078-4860 B．240-564-3268 C．302-393-3126 D．252-747-7024
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