A strong imagination does children a lot of good. The following are 5 benefits of encouraging children’s imagination. As children play different roles, they explore relationships between family members, friends and co-workers and learn more about them. For example, playing a doctor, they imagine how doctors care for their patients; playing house, they learn more about how parents feel about their children.
Build self-confidence. Young children have very little control over their lives. Imagining oneself as a builder of tall buildings or a superhero defending the planet is giving power to a child.
Help intellectual（智力的）growth. Children who can see a king’s castle in a mound（堆）of sand are learning to think in an abstract（抽象的）way. This skill is important in school.
Kids who play with their friends do a lot of talking. This helps increase their vocabulary, improve sentence structure and communication skills.
Work out fears. When children role-play about the big, bad monster under the bed, they gain a sense of control over him and he doesn’t seem so big or so bad.
| A．Develop social skills. |
| B．Practice language skills. |
| C．Be willing to share. |
| D．It helps them develop confidence in their abilities. |
E. Imagination can help children help each other.
F. Using the imagination is the beginning of abstract thought.
G. Playing roles can help children work out their fears and worries.
The American newspaper has been around for about three hundred years. In 1721, the printer James Franklin, Benjamin’s older brother, started the New England Courant, and that was what we might recognize today as a real newspaper. He filled his paper with stories of adventure, articles on art, on famous people, and on all sorts of political subjects.
Three centuries after the appearance of Franklin’s Courant, few believe that newspapers in their present printed from will remain alive for long. Newspaper companies are losing advertisers(广告商)，readers, market value, and in some cases, their sense of purpose at a speed that would not have been imaginable just several years ago. The chief editor(主编) of the Times said recently, “At places where they gather, editors ask one another, ‘How are you?’, as if they have just come out of the hospital or a lost law case.” An article about the newspaper appeared on the website of the Guandian, under the headline “NOT DEAD YET.”
Perhaps not, but the rise of the Internet, which has made the daily newspaper look slow and out of step with the world, has brought about a real sense of death. Some American newspapers have lost 42% of their market value in the past three years. The New York Times Company has seen its stock(股票) drop by 54% since the end of 2004, with much of the loss coming in the past year. A manager at Deutsche Bank suggested that stock-holders sell off their Times stock. The Washington Post Company has prevented the trouble only by changing part of its business to education; its testing and test-preparation service now brings in at least half the company’s income.What can we learn about the New England Courant?
| A．It is mainly about the stock market. |
| B．It marks the beginning of the American newspaper. |
| C．It remains a successful newspaper in America. |
| D．It carries articles by political leaders. |
What can we infer about the newspaper editors?
| A．They often accept readers’ suggestions. |
| B．They care a lot about each other’s health. |
| C．They stop doing business with advertisers. |
| D．They face great difficulties in their business. |
Which of the following found a new way for its development?
| A．The Washington Post. |
| B．The Guardian. |
| C．The New York Times. |
| D．New England Courant. |
How does the author seem to feel about the future of newspapers?
| A．Satisfied. |
| B．Hopeful. |
| C．Worried. |
| D．Surprised. |
GUATEMALA CITY（Reuters）---- A fish that lives in mangrove swamps（红树沼泽）across the Americas can live out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted（适应）to land millions of years ago, a new study shows.
The Mangrove Rivulus, a type of small killifish, lives in small pools of water in a certain type of empty nut or even old beer cans in the mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil. When their living place dries up, they live on the land in logs（圆木）, said Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard Endangered Lands Program in Florida .
The fish, whose scientific name is Rivulus marmoratus, can grow as large as three inches. They group together in logs and breathe air through their skin until they can find water again.
The new scientific discovery came after a trip to Belize.
“We kicked over a log and the fish just came crowding out,” Taylor told Reuters in neighboring Guatemala by telephone. He said he will make his study on the fish known to the public in an American magazine early next year.
In lab tests, Taylor said he found the fish can live up to 66 days out of water without eating.
Some other fish can live out of water for a short period of time. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can stay on land for hours at a time, while lungfish found in Australia, Africa and South America can live out of water, but only in an inactive state. But no other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and remain active, according to Patricia Wright, a biologist at Canada’s University of Guelph.
Further studies of the fish may tell how animals changed over time.
“These animals live in conditions similar to those that existed millions of years ago, when animals began making the transition（过渡）form water onto land, ” Wright said.The Mangrove Rivulus is a type of fish that ________.
| A．likes eating nuts |
| B．prefers living in dry places |
| C．is the longest living fish on earth |
| D．can stay alive for two months out of water |
Who will write up a report on mangrove Rivulus?
| A．Patricia Wright. |
| B．Researchers in Guatemala. |
| C．Scientists from Belize. |
| D．Scott Taylor. |
According to the text, lungfish can __________.
| A．breathe through its skin |
| B．move freely on dry land |
| C．remain alive out of water |
| D．be as active on land as in water |
What can we say about the discovery of Mangrove Rivulus?
| A．It was made quite by accident. |
| B．It was based on a lab test of sea life. |
| C．It was supported by an American magazine. |
| D．It was helped by Patricia Wright. |
Having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, getting married saves an hour of housework a week. “It’s a well-known pattern,” said lead researcher Frank Stafford at University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. “Men usually work more outside the home, while women take on more of the housework.”
He points out that differences among households (家庭) exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. “And the situation gets worse for women when they have children.” Stafford said.
Overall, times are changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied themselves with 26 weekly hours of sweeping-and-dusting work, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are taking on more housework, more than doubling their housework hours from six in 1976 to 13 in 2005.
Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework, about 12 weekly hours, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most – about 21 hours a week.
Men showed a somewhat different pattern, with older men picking up the broom more often than younger men. Single men worked the hardest around the house, more than that of all other age groups of married men.
Having children increases housework even further. With more than three, for example, wives took on more of the extra work, clocking about 28 hours a week compared with husbands’10 hours.According to the “well-known pattern” in Paragraph 1, a married man ________.
| A．takes on heavier work | B．does more housework |
| C．is the main breadwinner | D．is the master of the house |
How many hours of housework did men do every week in the 1970s?
| A．About 28 | B．About 26 |
| C．About 13 | D．About 6 |
What kind of man is doing most housework according to the text?
| A．An unmarried man. | B．An older married man. |
| C．A younger married man. | D．A married man with children. |
What can we conclude from Stafford’s research?
| A．Marriage gives men more freedom. |
| B．Marriage has effects on job choices. |
| C．Housework sharing changes over time. |
| D．Having children means doubled housework. |
I know what you’re thinking: pizza（比萨饼）？ For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a.m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast (不吃早饭), and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saying” calories (卡路里)，still others just don’t like breakfast food.学科But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight .“Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R.D. , who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.学科Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers – it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow.” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it … you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects. The word “leftovers” in paragraph I probably means ______.
| A．food remaining after a meal | B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables | D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to _______.
| A．eat something for breakfast | B．be careful about what you cat |
| C．heat up food before eating it | D．cat calorie-controlled food |
The text is written mainly for those _______.
| A．who go to work early | B．who want to lose weight |
| C．who stay up late | D．who eat before sleep |
信
息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。
首先，请阅读以下有关音乐会的信息。
| A．Raymond’s Solo Concert: Raymond, the talented singer who shifts freely between musical, folk songs and hip hop, is to give a solo concert this weekend. The event will be part of the Asian tour promoting his new album. His concert has very high ticket prices, but his fans have bought tickets worth one million yuan in just four days. Place: Grand Theatre Time: 8:30 – 10:30 pm, January 6 Price: 380 – 2,000 yuan Tel: 7322-3411 |
| B．Prince of the Piano: Clayderman has established a truly international career as a best selling recording artist and concert performer. He has recorded over 1,000 melodies and created a "New Romantic" style through a repertoire which combines his 'trademark' originals with classics and pop standards. In fact, despite his natural shyness and reserve, he is completely in his element on stage; a Richard Clayderman concert is a real 'Spectacular'. Place: The Great Hall of the People Time: 8:00 – 10:00 pm, January 7 Price: 180 – 1680 yuan Tel: 7310-5266 |
| C．Live Music: Audiences in the city will be able to make a date with one of the most famous German Orchestras on the evening of Jan. 27 at Century Center. Conducted by Florian Stubenvoll, the orchestra will perform 11 classics including Beethoven's "Fledermaus Ouverture," Mozart's "Symphony No. 40," and four pieces by Johann Strauss. Place: Century Theatre Time: 8:00 – 10:30 pm, January 10 Price: 120 – 680 yuan Tel: 7988-7311 |
| D．Jazz Night: Enjoy real American jazz from Herbie Brown, the famous trumpet player. He’s coming with his new 7–piece band, Herbie’s Heroes. Herbie is known to play well into the early hours, so don’t expect to get much sleep. This is Herbie’s third visit to China. The first two have been sold out, so get your tickets quickly. |
Place: The Jazz Club
Time: 10:00 pm till late! January 7, 9, 11
Price: 100 – 200 yuan,
Tel: 7599-7862
E. Scottish Dancing: Want to get your body some exercise while enjoying live music? Take your partner here and get ready to dance till you drop. Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn. There will be instructors demonstrating the dances. The live band is also excellent.
Place: Jack Stein’s
Time: 7:30 – 10:00 pm, January 5 – 7
Price: 70 yuan including one drink
Tel: 7832-1788
F. Beijing Rocks: “The Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans special performance. Eight Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience can even decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.
Time: January 8, 9
Place: Worker’s Stadium
Time: 8:00 – 11:30 pm, January 4
Tel: 7633-0640
Price: 90 – 680 yuan
请阅读以下观众的信息，然后匹配与其适合的音乐会。
56. Mike and his girlfriend are both university students. The coming Sunday (January 6) is his girlfriend’s birthday. As both of them are music fans, Mike would like to take his girlfriend to enjoy some live music and learn something new.
57. Joey and his friends always enjoy their weekend by attending late night activities. However, he hasn’t joined them for a long time because he has been working for a couple of weeks. This weekend he wants to have some fun and excitement with his friends, who are interested in western music.
58. Alice is a college student who studies music, and playing the piano is her favorite. Her parents approve of her attending concerts and pay for the tickets. As a result, she doesn’t care much about how much the ticket might cost.
59. Tracy is interested in a variety of music. Like most of the other university students, she has a part-time job. She would like to amuse herself by attending concerts. Since she does not earn much, she can only afford a ticket that costs no more than 100 yuan.
60. Sally enjoys listening to foreign music in her spare time. She would like to attend concerts performed by foreign bands or orchestras whenever it’s possible. But according to the school rules, she has to return to her dormitory before 11:00 pm.
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