I may not be the wisest person on this planet. but I will tell you a little secret to happiness: Help other,, and live life. It is that simple. Just help a friend study for a test, or volunteer at a nursing home . I learned this after a long, hard search.
I was feeling really down because my long4ime friend had died. Then I started a six-week volunteering at a nursing home all day every Saturday. My routine was to serve the meal and clean up. After that, I would wait for the head nurse to tell me what to do.
One day I was told to go to Room 117 to make sure the patient was all righL. In the room I found a boy of eight sitting in his bed watching a movie. I was shocked to see a child in this seemingly forgotten nursing home for the old. He was so small and weak that you had to look closely to find him. He motioned for me to sit down. I grabbed his medical chart from which later I found out he had a terminal illness.
We started to talk, and I found out that his family rarely visited, and all he did ever7 day was watch TV. I wanted to cry for him, and for my lost friend. As we talked, he had a smile on his face, and I asked him why.
"The entire two hours I've been here you've never lost that smile. With this horrible disease, how do you still manage to stay happy?"
He thought for a moment, and then said that too many people are dead even before they die.
They walk around feeling that God has cursed (诅咒) them and that they have nothing to live for.
The boy said that he would not be like that. He wakes every morning thankful to see another sunrise. He keeps his window open so that he can smell the flowers and feel the heat of the sun. He also said that he has hope.
"Too many people haven't seen much of that around here," he said," Life is full of hope and we need to live life before it is gone. "
I don’t know what happened to him. I assume he passed away, but his lesson lives on. I now wake up and live each day to the fullest. The key to life is not money or fame, but the lessons we learn from it.The nursing home in the passage is mainly for _
| A．the elderly | B．the homeless |
| C．the disabled | D．the abandoned |
The boy stayed happy mainly due to .
| A．wonderful TV programs |
| B．his positive attitude |
| C．good medical condition |
| D．others' encouragement |
The writer participated in the volunteering job in order to .
| A．find out the secret |
| B．search for help |
| C．enrich experiences |
| D．get out of sadness |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Lesson in Hope |
| B．The Life of a Sick Boy |
| C．A Voluntary Job |
| D．The Meaning of Life |
B
“Will I be able to work until I’m 70?” Those were my first words when I learned in 2014, at the age of 50, that I had Parkinson’s disease. I had not planned for that question to pop out of my mouth, but it did. Perhaps I was worried about my money. The size of my retirement account makes early retirement seem impossible. But mainly I think I asked that question because work, for better or worse, has become central to my identity. The idea that my career as a historian would end soon felt truly disturbing.
As professors, we often complain about our jobs: we teach too much, we are paid too little, and the library needs more books. But I can’t imagine a better career. We teach young people, and we find the time to read and write about topics we love. We receive a degree of respect. Even my doctor calls me “Professor”.
And, most importantly, we have relative job security. When I received my diagnosis, my question about keeping my job was not ridiculous. In a market-based social system, the threat of job loss is terrifying. Imagine the pressure faced by a Parkinson’s sufferer with no job security. It could be disastrous for someone who needs manual dexterity at work, such as a construction worker.
In contrast, I am lucky: I have tenure(终身职位), which gives me a feeling of security that even popular entertainers may lack. Tenure does not guarantee me a job as long as I can perform y duties.
Will I be able to work until I’m 70? I think so. I know that my family and I will face new challenges, but I don’t expect a decline in my job performance. My students may find my appearance a bit odd, but if they do, then that will be a “teachable moment”.What did the author worry about first when he learned he was ill?
| A．He didn’t have enough money for an operation. |
| B．The disease would ruin his career. |
| C．He wouldn’t live until the age of 70. |
| D．He would be forced to retire early. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Professors always complain about their jobs. |
| B．Professors have no time to do anything else but teach. |
| C．The author doesn’t know what he would do if he were not a professor. |
| D．The author thinks he is respected by others because of his work. |
The underlined phrase in the third paragraph, “manual dexterity” probably means _____________.
| A．the ability to use one’s hands |
| B．the ability to see clearly |
| C．the ability to use one’s mind |
| D．the ability to solve problems |
The best title for this passage is _________________________.
| A．Losing My Career to Illness |
| B．The Threat of Job Loss |
| C．Keep Away from Disease |
| D．The Pressure of Parkinson’s |
A
In the " Mystery Spot" in California, you will be able to experience what it's like to live in a gravity-free world, without ever leaving the earth.
Discovered in 1939, the area where Mystery Spot is located was originally marked for a summer cabin. But when people tried to chart the plot, their instruments started going out of control. Investigators that were sent to look into the strange phenomenon reported feeling light-headed as though some invisible force was trying to knock them off balance. The decision to build the summer cabin was abandoned. Instead, the owners decided to build a structure that they called the Mystery Spot and open it to the public so that everyone could experience /t.
Over the years, thousands of tourists have flooded to the 150-square-foot area to see short people appear the same height as tall ones and experience leaning at impossihle angles without falling over.
So what causes these slrange things to happen? Some believe that it is because the area is an electromagnetic(电磁的) hotspot, while others are convinced that there are some unknown geological forces at work to contradict the law of gravity.
Rational scientists have thrown cold water on all these theories. In 1981, Ray Hyman, a psychology professor, conducted a study on this and other similar mystery spots that have been " discovered" in various parts of the country. His conclusion? It's because of the way the structures have been constructed.
Though they appear to be normal structures, they are like funhouses, filled with floors that are not level, corners that are not squared and walls that are not vertical.
Some experts believe that mystery spots such as the one in Santa Cruz are a product of the Great Depression, when the only industry that was growing in America was entertainment.
What can we do in the " Mystery Spot" in California?
| A．To experience what it is like to have no gravity. ' |
| B．To make preparations to leave the earth for space. |
| C．To communicate with astronauts in space. |
| D．To look for answers to many mysteries. |
What does the underlined word "it" refer to in Para. 2 ?
| A．Charting a place with advanced instruments. |
| B．Being made light-hearted and happy by some force. |
| C．What it's like to have no gravity in a place. |
| D．Seeing short people grow tall. |
What's the explanation of some rational scientists to the strange phenomenon?
| A．The Mystery Spot islocated in an electromagnetic hotspot. |
| B．There are some unknown geological forces underground. |
| C．The Mystery Spot is a normal structure like funhouses. |
| D．The Mystery Spot was built in a special way, |
After the Mystery Spot was built, it _________.
| A．has become a spot where hot movies are made |
| B．has become a tourist attraction |
| C．has been a place where short people always go |
| D．has become a scientific research center |
第四部分任务型阅读(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
Man has been studying the influence of nature and nurture on human development. Nature refers to the biological factors in a human. Essentially, it’s the genetic makeup of an individual. These are the genes that we were born with and that cannot be altered with conditioning. Traits such as hair color and type, eye color and height form a part of what is called “nature”. Disorders and diseases that are inherited (遗传) genetically also form a part of this view. On the other hand, nurture refers to the environmental factors and influences, along with an individual’s personal experiences. This includes the childhood experiences, relationships with friends, families, neighbors and colleagues, events, and so on.
Which one plays a more important role in an individual’s development, nature or nurture? Actually, they interact together in our developmental process and we can’t ignore the existence of one in favor of the other. Our genetic makeup gives us our physical characteristics. Along with it, certain underlying traits are also heritable. For example, behavioral traits like what language we speak, how we interact with others, and how we respond to certain situations are all molded by “nurture”—this is obvious because the environment we’re brought up in shapes these factors over time. But it’s also noted that some of these traits are partially heritable. For instance, aggressive behavior is something partially received from genes. But if the person grew up in an aggressive family environment, or had friends who displayed aggressive behavior, then he / she will eventually become very aggressive.
In the case of intelligence, there are studies which show environmental factors have a bigger hand in molding childhood IQ. But by adulthood, this correlation (关联) is almost absent. They reveal that by adulthood, the difference in IQ among adoptive siblings (兄弟姐妹) may make them seem like strangers, despite the shared environment they grew up in. In natural siblings on the other hand, there is a correlation of about 0.6. In the twin studies, it is showed that identical twin has a higher correlation (about 0.86). This seems to suggest that nature plays a bigger role in shaping intelligence.
But we cannot rule out nurture entirely. For example, nutrition plays an important role in shaping intelligence. If a child isn’t put on a proper diet from the beginning, then his / her neural (神经的) connections get disrupted, which leaves him / her mentally challenged. If a child often feels stressed and is exposed to poisonous things, his / her intellectual growth will also be affected. A person may have natural talents, but if he / she wasn’t brought up in the right surroundings, his / her potential may never be realized. On the contrary, even someone with lower genetic inheritance of intellect may be nurtured in a rich educational environment and may be able to develop their original potentials.
| Nature vs. nurture: which decides your behavior? |
|
| Concept of nature |
● Nature refers to a person’s inherent genes that always remain ● One’s |
| Concept of nurture |
● Nurture refers to the environment one is brought up in. ● Childhood experiences, interpersonal relationships and events all are |
| Effects of nature and nurture |
● Nature and nurture are both important for a person’s ● Though some behavioral traits are inherited genetically, they can be changed by the environment the person grows up in. ● For example, aggressive behavior, partially inherited, will become more |
| Effects of nature on intelligence |
● According to studies, the effects of nature on intelligence ● However, this doesn’t mean that nature has no effects on intelligence; instead, it plays a bigger part in the |
| Effects of nurture on intelligence |
● An ● Stress and ● Sometimes whether one’s potentials can be realized is partly |
D
For 23 years, Barbara Bentree had been making Los Angeles her home, thriving on the bustle of city life.
She said, “As a singer who studied music education in college, I moved to California in my early 20s with stars in my eyes.” She found work — teaching in private schools, and in her spare time she performed in one-woman shows, sang for various studio recordings and even appeared as a singer in several episodes of TV shows, including Ally McBeal, Days of Our Lives and Wings. Through teaching, she began to make connections with people in the production world and was soon being referred to work with children in the entertainment industry.
“I was young and single and really excited about being in a big city,” Bentree said about those early years in Los Angeles. “To participate in movies and television was very, very exciting.”
Eventually, Bentree was recruited to work on The Mickey Mouse Club TV show as a music producer, helping to train Mouseketeers, including famous alumnae Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. She worked in various production and music director roles for big networks like Disney, and eventually met and fell in love with her husband, John Rangel, a pianist and composer, who moved to Los Angeles from Florida in the early 1990s to be closer to her. They married two years ago, after decades together.
The couple lived along the city’s striking coastline, in beachfront areas such as Pacific Palisades and Malibu. “They were wonderful and beautiful,” Bentree said, “but very expensive.” To keep up with the cost of their rented apartment, Bentree worked on several projects that were lucrative but not artistically satisfying.
At one point she looked at her life and realized she was spending 10 hours a week in the car, commuting (通勤) back and forth to work on a particular project.
“It was a little crazy, and there was a lot of running around,” Bentree said. “When I turned 50, I started to have the feeling that Los Angeles is not the place for me to grow old. The things that were important to me when I was young — all that excitement, the sense of accomplishment and ambition — have changed,” she continued. “Now, what I find interesting is time, and being close to nature and my community. I am less interested in feeling like I’m living in the center of the universe.”
Around 2004, the couple decided not to renew the lease on their apartment. Towards the end of the year, Bentree visited a friend who had a guest house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and after two weeks, she told her husband she knew she was not going back to Los Angeles. In 2005, she made the move to Santa Fe permanently. It took a bit longer for Rangel to come round to the idea, commuting back and forth to Los Angeles weekly via two-hour-long plane rides for the first year, but eventually, he settled in as well.
As it happened, leaving the center of the entertainment world was the spark the couple needed to really get in touch with their own creativity.
The couple bought a home together there, which, according to Bentree, cost her probably twice as much as in Los Angeles, and began saving on major expenses, including car insurance and taxes. The lower cost of living also allowed Bentree to fundamentally restructure her days. Now she generally teaches two days a week and spends the remaining five working on creative pursuits, including a screenplay, a book of poetry and children’s books. “There is something comforting about being a medium or small fish in a relatively small pond as opposed to a microscopic fish in a huge pond,” she said.
Perhaps the biggest change for Bentree has been the connection to nature she feels day in and day out in her new home. Nature, according to her, is her “healing place”, her “inspiration place” and her “church”. Though the landscape around Los Angeles is lovely, in her current home she can be up in the mountains, walking through a forest by a stream, within five minutes. She recently released a new nature-inspired CD, Green, which explores various environmental issues, and is donating 100 percent of the profits to support the related causes.
“I used to say I was a ‘jazz artist’ but now I say I’m a ‘jazz activist’,” Bentree said. “I’m using music to promote my political causes and points of view.”
At no point, however, has Bentree regretted waiting so long to leave Los Angeles and her past life. Her wants and needs have changed gradually over time.
“I loved every part of living in Los Angeles for the first 10 years. The next five years were great, too. It was really only during the last few years that I started to consider leaving,” she said. “Now, I’m in a new chapter. It was scary to make that big change, but life is an adventure.”
What can we conclude from Paragraph 2?
| A．Bentree disliked teaching in the schools. |
| B．Bentree did a lot to pursue her dreams. |
| C．Bentree found it hard to live in the new city. |
| D．Bentree intended to contact famous people. |
When Bentree met her husband for the first time, .
| A．she was the director of The Mickey Mouse Club |
| B．he had lived in Los Angeles for so many years |
| C．she was seeking a job in the music industry |
| D．he worked somewhere far away from Los Angeles |
What does the underlined word “lucrative” in Paragraph 5 mean?
| A．Profitable. | B．Voluntary. |
| C．Terrible. | D．Legal. |
Which of the following is typical of Bentree’s life in Los Angeles?
| A．Living a comfortable life full of free time and artistic creativity. |
| B．Most of the time being on the way to hunt for a new teaching job. |
| C．Leading a very costly life lacking in artistical satisfaction. |
| D．Always being ready to move from one apartment to another. |
By the underlined part, Bentree means .
| A．a small pond is the equal of a big one as far as comfort is concerned |
| B．she actually prefers living in a relatively big city as an ordinary person |
| C．a relatively small pond is a good place for a fish to live comfortably |
| D．she prefers to live in a relatively small city rather than in a big one |
How does Bentree feel about living in the new home?
| A．She feels busy and exhausted. |
| B．It is colorful and meaningful. |
| C．She feels relaxed but lonely. |
| D．It is hopeful but stressful. |
C
A fly with an extremely unusual ability to hear is the model for what may be the future of new and improved hearing aids. The insect behaves like a parasite—an organism that lives on or in another organism called a host. This exceptional fly places larvae—young flies onto a cricket (蟋蟀) host. The larvae dig into the cricket and eat the insect from the inside out.
The tiny yellow fly lives in Central America and the Southern United States. It finds its host by listening out for the cricket’s high chirping voice. The fly can easily find a cricket from as far away as 91 meters.
Neal Hall is a sound engineer who worked on the new hearing aid model. According to him, the fly’s behavior is very strange. Mr. Hall and his team at the University of Texas made a copy of the fly’s hearing structure. “They discovered that the fly has a clever mechanism and instead of using two independent ears like a human does, the fly’s ears are actually coupled,” said Hall.
The fly’s ears are two millimeters apart. That distance is so small that sound reaches one ear just four millionths of a second before arriving at the other. Experts held that it should be impossible for the fly to identify where a sound is coming from. In fact, however, inside this fly’s each ear is a 1.5-millimeter-long structure similar to a see-saw — a piece of children’s playing equipment. Like the see-saw, the fly’s ear structure goes up and down from a central point. Pressure waves against the structure increase the time it takes for sound to travel and permit the fly to find its host.
Mr. Hall and his team used the chemical element silicon to copy the fly’s ear structure. They also used the special electric materials that enabled them to measure its movements at the same time. Hall said that the hearing aid device could be used in two ways. One way would be to help the military on the battlefield, where sensors could find where shots are coming from. The other would be to remove unwanted noise from a person’s surroundings.
“It is a feature that is incredibly useful for hearing aids, for example, here and now, if you turn up the gain of a hearing aid or turn the volume up to hear someone across from you, it also amplifies (放大) everything else in the room,” said Hall.
Hall said that the next test in marketing the hearing aid device was to make it usable. He said the device must be handled carefully because it is so small. He noted that the fly does not have this concern.
Neal Hall is trying to .
| A．model his new hearing aid on a kind of fly |
| B．help crickets to prevent themselves from parasites |
| C．kill the insects in a host with a new machine |
| D．make powerful killers with the help of a kind of fly |
What is the key message of Paragraph 4?
| A．The distance between the fly’s two ears. |
| B．The special structure of the fly’s ears. |
| C．The comparison between the fly’s ears and see-saws. |
| D．Pressure waves against the structure of the fly’s ears. |
With the help of the new hearing aid, people would be able to .
| A．find out where the flies come from |
| B．fall asleep when they want to |
| C．protect the peaceful environment better |
| D．choose to hear what they want to |
What is the author’s attitude towards Neal Hall and his team mentioned in the passage?
| A．Objective. | B．Tolerant. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Pessimistic. |
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