For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of their time alone. They're called latchkey children, They're children who look after themselves while their parents work outside. Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of the kids bed chains around their necks with keys attached. 1 was often telling them to put them inside their shirts. There were so many keys that it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly , she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the effect working parents had on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by the children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to are reported to be scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall under a bed, in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it at high volume.
It ‘s hard to get numbers on latchkey children and most patents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.
| A．are growing in numbers |
| B．suffer problems from being left alone |
| C．watch too much TV during the day |
| D．are also found in middle schools |
| A．tiredness | B．freedom |
| C．loneliness | D．fear |
| A．We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. |
| B．A lot of kids had chains around their necks. |
| C．I was often telling them to put their keys inside their shirts. |
| D．She learned the chains around their necks were house keys. |
| A．night suit | B．night habit |
| C．terrible dreams at night | D．staying up at night |
| A．latchkey children enjoy being left alone |
| B．latchkey children try to hide their feeling |
| C．latchkey children often watch TV with their parents |
| D．it's difficult to find out how many latchkey children there |
There is an English saying that "Laughter is the best medicine. "Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter can really improve people's health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works on several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effects of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated (, 忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which diminishes both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients' condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.According to the passage, which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．Laughter is good for health. |
| B．Laughter can make you become old quickly. |
| C．Laughter helps to reduce pain. |
| D．Laughter, just like physical exercise, is good for our body. |
The underlined word "diminishes" in the third paragraph means" __________ "
| A．delays | B．prevents |
| C．increases | D．reduces |
Why do some doctors hold laughter clinics?
| A．Because they want to earn more money. |
| B．Because they think they will help the patients recover from illnesses. |
| C．Because they want to improve their patients' condition. |
| D．Because they want their patients to practice how to laugh. |
According to the author, we should __________.
| A．laugh as much as possible |
| B．watch more funny films |
| C．smile all the time |
| D．spend more time in laughter clinics |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Both laughter and physical exercise are good for health |
| B．Laughter clinics help patients improve their condition |
| C．Laughter can reduce the effects of pain |
| D．Laughter is the best medicine |
Harvard researchers have created a tough, low-cost, biodegradable (可生物降解的) material inspired by insects' hard outer shells. The material's inventors say it has a number of possible uses and someday could provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. The material, made from shrimp (奸) shells and proteins produced from silk, is called "shrilk. "It is thin, clear, flexible and strong.
A major benefit of the material is its biodegradability. Plastic's toughness and flexibility represented a revolution in materials science during the 1950s and ’ 60s. Decades later, however, plastic's very durability (耐用性) is raising questions about how appropriate it is for one-time products such as plastic bags, or short-lived consumer goods, used in the home for a few years and then cast into a landfill where they will degrade for centuries. What is the point of making something that lasts 1, 000 years?
Shrilk not only will degrade in a landfill, but its basic components are used as fertilizer (肥料), and so will enrich the soil.
Shrilk has great potential, the inventors said. Materials from which it is made are plentiful in nature, found in everything ranging from shrimp shells, insect bodies to living plants. That makes shrilk low cost, and its mass production possible should it be used for products demanding a lot of material.
Work on shrilk is continuing in the lab. The inventors said the material becomes flexible when wet, so they're exploring ways to use it in wet environments. They're also developing simpler production processes, which could be used for non-medical products, like for computer cases and other products inside the home. They're even exploring combining it with other materials, like carbon fibers, to give it new properties.Paragraph 1 of the passage is mainly about shrilk's __________.
| A．remarkable design | B．interesting name |
| C．major features | D．basic elements |
What has become a concern about plastic?
| A．Using it properly. |
| B．Producing it cheaply. |
| C．Developing its properties quickly. |
| D．Evaluating its contributions fairly. |
According to the inventors, shrilk has great potential partly because __________.
| A．it can help plastic degrade |
| B．it can be found in living things |
| C．its mass production has been realized |
| D．its raw materials are abundant in nature |
What are the inventors doing in the lab?
| A．Replacing carbon fibers with shrilk. |
| B．Testing shrilk's use in wet conditions. |
| C．Making shrilk out of used household goods. |
| D．Improving shrilk's flexibility for medical purposes. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Recent Progress in Environmental Protection |
| B．Benefits of Insects in Scientific Research |
| C．The Harm of One-time Products |
| D．A Possible Alternative to Plastic |
Recently, a scientist did some experiments. He left a group of 4-year-olds in a room with a bell and a candy. If they rang the bell, he would come back and they could eat the candy. If, however, they didn't ring the bell and waited for him to come back on his own, they could then have two candies.
In videos of the experiment, he can see the children kicking, hiding their eyes—trying to exercise self-control so they can wait and get two candies. The results are different. Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute. Others lasted 15 minutes.
The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores. They got into better colleges and had better adult success. The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to have received worse teacher and parental evaluations (评价) 10 years later and were more likely to have drug problems at age 32.
The experiments are worth noting because people spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve education, how to become rich. But when the result is not good, they will come back to ask " how do we get people to get the sort of self-control that leads to success? " This is to enter the world of human nature.
So these experiments along with everyday experience, tell us that self-control is most important. Young people who can sit through sometimes boring classes to get a degree can work hard in order to learn a language well. They can avoid drugs and alcohol. For people without self-control skills, however, school is a series of failed ordeals (煎熬). No wonder they drop out and their later life is a group of foolish ideas, such as drug use, stealing and so on.The scientist did some experiments to __________.
| A．test children's self-control and later success |
| B．test children's intelligence of ringing the bell |
| C．find good ways of training children to learn |
| D．prove that children's education is important |
We can learn from the experiment that __________.
| A．all children tried to ring the bell for more candies |
| B．some children didn't get any candy in the end |
| C．the children have different self-control |
| D．the last one to ring the bell is the most successful |
How long did the scientist's experiments last according to the text?
| A．Just 15 minutes. | B．Within 10 years. |
| C．Less than 14 years. | D．More than 28 years. |
What will those without self-control do at school according to the text?
| A．Improving their education. |
| B．Suffering a lot from boring lessons. |
| C．Working hard to catch up with others. |
| D．Becoming very rich and successful. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Ways of self-control training |
| B．Experiments on children's ringing the bell |
| C．Higher score, better achievements |
| D．Self-control is the key to success |
People in the United States honour their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June.
Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honour mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation.
In 1909, Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honour fathers. She wanted to honour her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910, the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to established Father's Day as a national commemorative day, in 1972.
These days are set to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honour parents.It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days, families get together at home as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.According to the passage, which of the following about the second Sunday in May isn't true?
| A．It is a day to show love to mothers. |
| B．it is a day to wear carnations. |
| C．it is a day for many people to attend religious services. |
| D．it is a day for people to visit the cemetery. |
Choose the right time order of the following events.
a. The first Father's Day was observed.
b. Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance.
c. Father's Day became a day for national observance.
d. The idea of honoring fathers was bought up.
| A．d a b c | B．a b e d | C．b a c d | D．d a c b |
Who plays the most important role in Father's Day becoming a national commemorative day?
| A．Mrs. Dodd |
| B．Ann Jarvis |
| C．Margaret Chase Smith |
| D．Woodrow Wilson |
From the passage, we know in the U. S. __________.
| A．one should wear a red carnation if one's mother passed away |
| B．the purpose to have these two special days is to show love to parents |
| C．on Father's Day, people often stay at home to celebrate the special day |
| D．on Mother's Day, families often go out to have barbecues |
The author's purpose of writing this passage is to __________.
| A．call on people to love and respect their parents |
| B．show how important fathers and mothers are |
| C．tell the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day |
| D．introduce Mother's Day and Father's Day |
Tokyo is one of those places that you can love and hate at the same time.
In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast, but in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams (拥挤). Tokyo is not different from London, Paris and New York in that. It is different when one wants to walk.
At certain times of the day there are a lot of people on foot in London Oxford Street. But the streets near the Ginze in Tokyo always have a lot of people on foot; and sometimes it is really difficult to walk. People are very polite; there are just too many of them.
The worst time to be in the street is at 11: 30 at night. That is when the night-clubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35，000 night-clubs in Tokyo, and you do not often see one that is empty.
During the day, most people travel to and from work by train. Tokyo people buy six million train tickets every day. At most stations, trains arrive every two or three minutes, but at certain hours there do not seem to be enough trains. Although they are usually crowded, Japanese trains are very good. They always leave and arrive on time. On a London train you would see everybody reading a newspaper. In Tokyo trains everybody in a seat seems to be asleep, whether his journey is long or short.
In Tokyo, I stood outside the station for five minutes. Three fire-engines (消防车) race past on the way to one of the many fires that Tokyo has every day. Tokyo has so many surprises that none of them can really surprise me now.Tokyo is different from London in that __________.
| A．it has a larger population |
| B．there are more traffic jams |
| C．it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot |
| D．night clubs are sometimes empty |
Japanese trains __________.
| A．often leave and arrive on time |
| B．are often crowded |
| C．are the main means people use to travel to and from work |
| D．all of the above |
Where can you find everybody reading a newspaper?
| A．At most London train stations. |
| B．At most Tokyo train stations. |
| C．On a Tokyo train. |
| D．On a London train. |
Fires break out __________ in Tokyo according to the writer.
| A．quite frequently (频繁) |
| B．only several times a day |
| C．not very often |
| D．very __________ seldom |
Which of the following is NOT true about Tokyo?
| A．The streets become more crowded at 11 ： 30 at night. |
| B．There are more trains than cars. |
| C．Fire-engines are very busy in the city. |
| D．Tokyo people are friendly. |
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