You’ve probably seen it before－two elderly people walking hand in hand down the street and looking very much like each other. They look so much alike that they could be brother and sister.
Do you believe that people who live together for many years would look alike? It’s strange. but scientists say it’s true.
How scientists proved it? In a study, scientists found young couples only showed similarity by chance. However, elder couples were very likely to look like each other. The similarity could be very subtle(微妙) and could be found in wrinkles(皱纹) or furrows, etc. Besides, some couples look far more alike than other couples.
The scientists thought of several possible reasons:
1. Diet. “We are what we eat.” As couples usually share the same diet, will they probably look alike? For example, if both partners eat a high fat diet, their faces will tend to look fat. However, the scientists ruled this out(排除) using another small study.
2. Environment. Will elderly couples show similarity because they live together in the same area for a long time? The environmental factors(因素) such as sunshine and wind affect the skin in similar ways. The scientists ruled this possibility out as well.
3. Empathy(移情作用). This is the theory(理论) the scientists believe in. Couples grow to look similar because they are empathizing with each other. They copy each other’s facial expressions. For example, if one partner often smiles in a certain way, the other is likely to copy it. In this way, their faces share similar wrinkles and furrows. The old couples look ________ than the young couples.
| A．much more alike | B．more different |
| C．less alike | D．1ess different |
Scientists think that the old couples look alike in their ________.
| A．ages | B．education |
| C．appearance | D．abilities |
How many reasons did the scientist think of about it?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Four. | D．Three |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Your diet can affect your appearance. |
| B．You will look slim if you eat a high fat diet. |
| C．Old couples look similar because they are empathizing with each other. |
| D．Old couples usually share similar wrinkles and furrows. |
Which is the theory the scientists believe in?
| A．Empathy. | B．Diet. |
| C．Environment. | D．Wrinkles. |
About ten men in every hundred suffer from colour blindness in some way. Women are luckier. Only about one in two hundred is affected in this matter. So some people say it is safer to be driven by women.
There are different forms of colour blindness. In some cases a man may not be able to see deep red. He may think that red, orange and yellow are all shades（色调）of green. Sometimes a person cannot tell the difference between blue and green. In rare cases an unlucky man may see everything in shades of green—a strange world indeed.
Colour blindness in humans is a strange thing to explain. In our eyes there are millions of very small things called “cones”. These help us to see in a bright light and to tell differences between colours. There are also millions of “rods”, but these are used for seeing when it is nearly dark. They show us shapes but no colour.
Some insects have favourite colours. Mosquitoes（蚊子）like blue but do not like yellow. A red light will not attract insects, but a blue lamp will. In a similar way humans also have favourite colours. Yet we are lucky. With the aid of the cones in our eyes we can see many beautiful colours by day, and with the aid of the rods we can see shapes at night. One day we may even learn more about the invisible（看不见得）colours around us.With the help of the cones, we can .
| A．see in a weak light |
| B．tell different shapes |
| C．kill mosquitoes |
| D．tell orange from yellow |
Why do some people say it is safer to be driven by women?
| A．Women are more careful. |
| B．There are fewer colour-blind women. |
| C．All of them see everything in shades of green. |
| D．None of them has trouble in recognizing colours. |
This passage is mainly about .
| A．colour and its surprising effects |
| B．danger caused by colour blindness |
| C．colour blindness |
| D．the invisible colours around us |
There was once a man who couldn’t sleep well because he was afraid that there was a stranger under his bed．He thought that as soon as he went to sleep，the stranger would come out from under the bed and rob him．He was worried that the stranger might even kill him!
Every night，after he got into bed，the man had to get up again and looked under the bed．There was never anyone there，but as soon as he got back into bed，he had to get up and looked under the bed again．This went on for hours until at last he fell asleep from exhaustion．
The time came for the man to get married．He didn’t tell his wife about his fears but she soon found out because he kept her awake all night．
“You must go to a doctor．”she told him．“He will cure you of this silly fear．”
The man did as his wife told him．He told the doctor his problem，and the doctor said，“I can cure you，but it will take about two years．You must come and see me twice a week．The fee for each visit will be $ 75．”
The next day the man called the doctor and said．“I won’t need to visit you again．I’m cured．”
The doctor was surprised．“How?”he asked．“Who cured you?”
“My wife cured me，”the man said．“When I told her how much you were going to charge me，she cut the legs off the bed．”The man thought _________was under the bed at night．
| A．a monster | B．a person |
| C．his wife | D．money |
When did the man start having his sleeping problem?
| A．After he got married． |
| B．After he saw the doctor． |
| C．Before he married his wife． |
| D．After he got a new bed． |
What does the underlined word“exhaustion”mean in this story?
| A．Bad air． | B．Medicine． |
| C．Having strong fear． | D．Feeling completely tired． |
How much would the doctor charge the man every week?
| A．$75． | B．$175． | C．$150． | D．$300． |
What cured the man?
| A．Talking to the stranger． |
| B．Having no space under the bed． |
| C．Medicine from the doctor． |
| D．Sleeping with the light on at night． |
Mary didn’t understand such sentences as “She is blue today”, “You are yellow”, “He has a green thumb(拇指）”, “He has told a white lie” and so on. And she went to the teacher Mrs. James for help.
Mary: Mrs. James, there is a colour in each of the sentences. What do they mean?
Mrs. James: In everyday English, Mary, blue sometimes means sad, yellow afraid. A person with a green thumb grows plants well and a white lie is not a bad one.”
Mary: I’m afraid I don’t understand them all. Would you give me an example for “a white lie”?
Mrs. James: Certainly. Now I just give you some cakes. In fact you don’t like it, but you don’t want to let me know it. Instead you say, “No, thanks. I’m not hungry.” That’s a white lie.
Mary: It sounds very interesting. Thanks very much.
Mrs. James: You are welcome. Colours are meaningful. I think you will meet more sentences like these in the future. Please come to me if you have any questions.Blue sometimes means sad in _______________ English.
| A．good | B．everyday | C．usual | D．poor |
I don’t have a green thumb, so all my plants ________________.
| A．die off | B．grow well |
| C．look nice | D．are good |
David is yellow and he is ___________ to climb the tall tree!
| A．happy | B．clever | C．brave | D．afraid |
He didn’t like me to know __________ of the accident. He told me a white lie at last.
| A．the reason | B．the true story |
| C．the meaning | D．the answer |
He is ___________today. He is told that his father is seriously ill.
| A．blue | B．yellow | C．green | D．white |
For most kids, homework is just part of their daily lives, but have you ever imagined that one day you won't need to do any homework at all? Such a thing has just happened in a school in the UK.
Nottingham East Academy, a school in the UK, has established a non-homework policy (政策) recently. The school plans to give an extra lesson and provide more activities for students to do at school. So the students no longer need to do homework after class. When the school announced this policy ， students ， parents and teachers were all shocked.
The school ， Nottingham East Academy ， is the country's largest school. It has a total of 3，570 students. Barry Day, the president of the school, thinks that homework is unnecessary and can easily cause argument both at home and at school. He once told the local newspaper ，" People give homework for children to do simply because they think it should be given. Actually, homework doesn't help with education at all."
Letting kids leave their homework at school is becoming popular in the UK. Several other schools are welcoming the policy and are taking similar measures (措施).Tiffin Boy's school has started giving students less homework. Students now spend less time on homework. The time has dropped from two or three hours to just forty minutes a night. Nottingham East Academy is asking students to read for pleasure with their parents at home instead.The underlined word" established" in the second paragraph probable means .
| A．制定 | B．抱怨 | C．发表 | D．取消 |
How much time does it take students to finish their homework at Tiffin Boy's school now?
| A．None. | B．Two hours. |
| C．Three hours. | D．Forty minutes. |
According to the passage, which statement is WRONG?
| A．Nottingham East Academy is larger than any other school in the UK. |
| B．In the UK, no school has announced a non-homework policy so far. |
| C．Letting kids do their homework at school is popular in the UK. |
| D．Reading after school is good for students. |
Barry Day thinks homework unnecessary because .
| A．most people don't think homework should be given |
| B．he doesn't think homework is helpful to education |
| C．homework taken students too much time |
| D．some schools welcome the policy |
The best title for the passage is .
| A．Homework Is Necessary | B．Reading after School |
| C．Non-Homework Policy | D．Amazing Advertisement |
When I was 19 years old, I was at a dance club. It was a very cold night. As my friend and I were walking to my car, a man walked up to us. Behind him was a woman pushing a *stroller with a child inside. The child had a jacket on but it wasn’t *zipped. The man began to tell us that he wanted to borrow some money for the night to get his wife and kid into a hotel …out of the cold. He had a job but no place to live and was waiting for his first *paycheck. He said he could get our address and send the money back to us.
My friend reached into his pocket to give this man a $20 bill. As the man was holding his hand out to take the money. I put my hand on my friend’s hand and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I told him about how my mother works in Seattle and every day people ask her for money. She said they make more money than she does, simply by *begging for money. These people were scamming those with soft hearts. And if they were truly worried about their child, they would have at least zipped his jacket or covered him with his *blanket.
My friend said “Michelle，I know there are people that take advantage of (占便宜)others. I also know there are people that are one paycheck away from being homeless. If I give money to 10 people and only one of them really needs it and uses it for the right thing, it is *worth it.”
I am now 37 years old. But I do remember that the experience changed the way I look at different situations.
| A．find a hotel for his wife and child |
| B．buy food for his wife and child |
| C．let his child join in the dance club |
| D．pay some bills |
| A．挽救 | B．帮助 | C．欺骗 | D．理解 |
| A．thought that someone might really need help. |
| B．had enough money to give away to others |
| C．didn’t think that the man tell a lie (谎言)to him |
| D．had pity for the kid in the cold weather |
| A．Some poor people often tell stories to win pity. |
| B．Never believe what a stranger says to you. |
| C．Look with pity instead of only thinking someone might be telling a lie. |
| D．The homeless need love rather than money. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号