In 2010, 700 million people huddled together in front of their television sets to watch the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain. Even more are expected to tune in to this year's contest, which kicks off on June 12th with a match between Brazil and Croatia in Sao Paulo. Brazil are the runaway favourites to win the tournament, with bookmakers offering odds of less than three to one on the home team winning the championship．Many experts agree that the country will benefit from a strong home advantage, as local crowds roar on the Seleqao．How much does playing on home turf fealty affect a team's performance?
Sports scientists have come up with all sorts of theories to explain why playing at home helps. In 2007 a study investigated the influence of crowd noise on referees in the English football Premier League. It showed that some were more likely to flash yellow cards and award penalties against touring players than the hosts, because they relied on the split-second rise in the home crowd's roar as a reminder to determine if a tackle deserved punishment. In the most recent season of the Spanish football Riga, two-thirds of all penalty kicks were awarded to the home team.
In the latest English football season, the top 20 clubs enjoyed a home success rate of 50%, while their victory rate on the road was 32%. In 12 of the past 19 World Cups the host nation has made it to the semi-finals and six times it has gone on to win. The effect can be seen in other sports too． A Before the start of the London Olympics in 2012, UK Sport, a government agency, studied the results of more than 100 big tournaments across 14 Olympic sports. B As it turned out, Britain bettered its 2008 performance by winning 18 more medals（10 of them gold), an improvement of 38% . C At the Beijing games, China won 59% more medals than it had done at the 2004 Athens games. D Russia topped the medal table in Sochi：in the previous winter Olympics it had come sixth．
Given these numbers, it is not surprising that teams have poured money into maximizing their home advantage. For example, Brazil has spent a considerable fortune on, if somewhat leisurely, a programme of stadium construction and renovation. In all its home advantage is worth the equivalent of a 0.6-goal headstart in every match, according to Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. Like most others, Goldman predicts that Brazil will triumph this year. Other countries' fans will have to hope for a miracle-and perhaps bid to stage the Cup on their own home turf next time.What does "some" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Crowd noises. | B．Referees. |
| C．Touring players. | D．Host players. |
Put the following sentence in the most appropriate place marked A, B, C, or D It predicted that the London home advantage would boost Britain's medal haul by as much as 25％．
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Fans may raise their noise levels to cheer their teams up. |
| B．Brazil will win because of its strong ability. |
| C．It is a waste of time and effort for countries to hold sports games. |
| D．The visiting teams have a good chance of winning. |
People who speak or perform before the public sometimes may suffer from “Stage Fright. ” Stage fright makes a person nervous. In the worst case(情况) it can make one's mind go back and forget what one ought to say, or to act. Actors, musicians, dancers, lawyers, even radio show hosts(节目主持人) have suffered from stage fright at one time or another.
Diana Nichols is an expert in helping people free from stage fright at a medical centre in New York City. She helps actors learn to control themselves. Miss Nichols says some people have always been afraid to perform before the audience. Others, she says, develop stage fright after a fearful experience.
She offers them ways to control the fear. One way is to smile before going onto the stage. Taking two deep breaths also helps. Deep breathing helps you get control of your body.
Miss Nichols persuades her patients to tell themselves that their speech or performance does not have to the perfect. It's all right to make a mistake. She tells them they should not be too cautious while they are performing. It is important that they should continue to perform while she is helping them. After each performance, they discuss what happened and find out what advice helped and what did not. As they perform more and more, they will fear less and less as much as 50%. Miss Nichols says the aim is only to reduce stage fright, not to eliminate it completely. This is because a little stage fright makes a person more cautious, and improves the performance.One who is suffering stage fright may _______.
| A．forget one's part before the audience |
| B．smile all the time on the stage |
| C．make a speech faster than ever |
| D．be cautious to improve his performance |
The underlined word “eliminate” in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．keep | B．reduce |
| C．change | D．get rid of |
The wrong way to overcome stage fright is ______.
| A．to smile before going to the stage. |
| B．to take two deep breaths to calm oneself |
| C．to pay less attention to one's mistakes in performance |
| D．to perform less and to watch more |
It was one of those terribly hot days in Baltimore. Needless to say, it was too hot to do anything outside. But it was also scorching in our apartment. This was 1962, and I would not live in a place with an air conditioner for another ten years. So my brother and I decided to leave the apartment to find someplace indoors. He suggested we could see a movie. It was a brilliant plan.
Movie theaters were one of the few places you could sit all day and—most important —sit in air conditioning. In those days, you could buy one ticket and sit through two movies. Then, the theater would show the same two movies again. If you wanted to, you could sit through them twice. Most people did not do that, but the manager at our theater. Mr. Bellow did not mind if you did.
That particular day, my brother and I sat through both movies twice, trying to escape the heat. We bought three bags of popcorn and three sodas each. Then, we sat and watched The Music Man followed by The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. We’d already seen the second movie once before. It had been at the theater since January, because Mr. Bellow loved anything with John Wayne in it.
We left the theater around 8, just before the evening shows began. But we returned the next day and saw the same two movies again, twice more. And we did it the next day too. Finally, on the fourth day, the heat wave broke.
Still, to this day I can sing half the songs in The Music Man and recite half of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart’s dialogue from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance! Those memories are some of the few I have of the heat wave of 1962. They’re really memories of the screen, not memories of my life.In which year did the author first live in a place with an air conditioner?
| A．1952 | B．1962 |
| C．1972 | D．1982 |
What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The heat |
| B．The theater. |
| C．The Music Man |
| D．The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance |
What do we know about Mr. Bellow?
| A．He loved children very much. |
| B．He was a fan of John Wayne. |
| C．He sold air conditioners. |
| D．He was a movie star. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The author turned out to be a great singer. |
| B．The author enjoyed the heat wave of 1962. |
| C．The author’s life has been changed by the two movies. |
| D．The author considers the experience at the theater unforgettable. |
Where Are They Now: Life after Olympic Gold
These celebrated Olympic champions from decades past wrote sports history, but what are they up to now? Here's the latest on some of the greatest．
Edwin Moses
How you know him: Gold Medals in 400 Meters Hurdles （1976 Montreal Games, 1984 Los Angeles Games）
Where he is today: Moses earned a degree in physics and later held a full-time job as an engineer．After retirement, he earned his master's degree in business．In 2000, Moses took on the role of executive chairman of Laureus．
Kerri Strug
How you know her: Gold Medal in Gymnastics （1996 Atlanta）, when she competed through the pain of the ankle damage to land the gold-winning vault．
Where she is today: Strug lives in Tucson, Arizona．She does public relations for USA Gymnastics, speaking regularly at events and attending the Games on behalf of sponsors．
Dick Fosbury
How you know him: Gold Medal in High Jump （1968 Mexico City Games）
Where he is today: Fosbury is an executive committee member of the World Olympians Association．But he hasn't left the tracks just yet - he coaches teenager athletes at Dick Fosbury Track Camps．
Greg Louganis
How you know him: Gold Medals in Diving （1984 Los Angeles Games, 1988 Seoul Games）
Where he is today: Louganis developed AIDS and retired in 1989．It wasn't until the mid-90s that he announced he was HTV-positive．Since then, Louganis has been an outspoken advocate for HTV awareness．
Dominique Dawes
How you know her: Gold Medal in Gymnastics （1996 Atlanta Games）
Where she is today: President Barack Obama appointed her and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees as co-chairs of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition．
Dawes is also the co-host for Yahoo! News Weekend Edition．Who won two gold medals?
| A．Edwin Moses and Greg Louganis． |
| B．Dominique Dawes and Edwin Moses． |
| C．Dick Fosbury and Kerri Strug． |
| D．Greg Louganis and Dick Fosbury． |
______ won the gold medal in Gymnastics in spite of injury．
| A．Edwin Moses | B．Dominique Dawes |
| C．Greg Louganis | D．Kerri Strug |
The gold medalist who is still training young sportsmen is ______．
| A．Greg Louganis | B．Dick Fosbury |
| C．Edwin Moses | D．Dominique Dawes |
Everybody in this world is different from one another. But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?
As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life.
Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money.
According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are the ant, the cricket and the snail.
◆ The ant— works first
Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don’t care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.
◆ The cricket— fun first
The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn’t think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.
◆ The snail— lives under pressure
The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford it. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.Our beliefs and values are affected by the following except ______.
| A．society | B．the family |
| C．the education | D．money |
People with the character of the snail would like to _______.
| A．enjoy life at the moment without thinking much about the future |
| B．put work before everything else. |
| C．live a luxury life at all costs |
| D．take the risk of investing a large sum of money |
Which of the following has the character that the author prefers?
| A．the ants | B．the cricket |
| C．the snail | D．none of the above |
This passage mainly talks about _______.
| A．spending nature of people |
| B．the reaction between man and insects |
| C．the insects in nature |
| D．the problems with dealing with money |
Jasmine Meyers had the last laugh when the ocean swallowed her SUV Monday morning and brought it up an hour later, damaged, on the beach. Meyers was staying in Campbell River’s Eagles Nest Motel（汽车旅馆）during the wild storm that attacked the east coast of Vancouver Island early this week.
“We woke up to my mom screaming ‘Your car! Your car! Your car’s about to go in the water,’”she said Wednesday.
She’d parked her car in the hotel’s parking lot that she described as a sort of a sea wall.
The storm that swept throughout coastal areas hit extra hard in the Campbell River area.
At about 8:30 am the bank below the parking lot gave way. Huge waves caught hold of the Toyota and took it into the water.
Her mother took pictures while the terrible waves pulled the car out to sea. Then Meyers and her family members could only watch helplessly as the car was struck and pushed around in front of the hotel.
“It floated around out there for about an hour.”
Then the ocean spit the car back up on the beach. Meyers said it sat there until Wednesday, when a tow truck finally recovered the destroyed car.
That’s the crazy part of the story. The fun part is what happened next.
“I went mad,” said Meyers. “I didn’t cry because I knew that I had insurance, but I went mad and I didn’t know what to do.”
Yeah, insurance: not just insurance, but replacement insurance.
“Replacement insurance only ever lasts for three years,”said Meyers. “Mine ends on Nov.22 I would have been crying if it had been 10 days later.”Who witnessed the disaster first according to the passage?
| A．Jasmine Meyers. |
| B．Jasmine Meyers’ husband |
| C．Jasmine Meyers’ mom |
| D．The hotel manager |
What can we learn about the motel from the passage?
| A．It has a large car park. |
| B．It is not far away from the coast. |
| C．It sells cars and insurance. |
| D．It can stand a storm. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Jasmine is very brave. |
| B．The car is very expensive |
| C．The mother enjoys taking pictures |
| D．The insurance company will pay for Jasmine’s loss |
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