“Mum, can I invite my classmate Brett over to stay tomorrow night, please? It’s Friday, and we don’t have any ___ .Can I, please?” Mum was sitting at the kitchen table. Dad was ___ next to her, resting his head on his arms. Mum could ___ that James wanted so badly to have his friend over.
“I’m so sorry, James,” she said.
“I’m never allowed to have friends come to the house? Why, Mum?” James asked sadly, almost in __ .
“I know it’s __ for you,” Mum said softly. “But I’m just worried other people might think we’re a little… strange. And then they would make fun of you.”
“No, they wouldn’t, Mum,” James protested. “We’re not _ at all. We’re just ordinary people.”
Mum sighed heavily. “ To tell you the truth, James, my neck has been so painful that it’s given me a heavy __ . And your poor father –he doesn’t feel _ . He really needs a rest.”
“I can help, Mum!” James said. “__ I can make you and Dad feel better, can Brett come over? Please?”
“Well…”Mum began.
“Great ! Thanks ,Mum!” James almost shouted. “ Just sit there, don’t move.” He rushed over to the kitchen drawer and _ what he needed two spanners（扳手）. “ Hang on, Mum,” he said. “ This won’t take a second.” After some _ , James was finished. With a smile of ___ on his face he said, “ There! How does that feel?” “ Oh, James,” Mum said. “ That’s a much better! How did you do it?”
“Easy,” James said _ .” Dad had tightened your neck bolts (螺栓) too much! I just_ them slightly ! I learned that in robotic science at school.”
“What about you father? Can you __ _ him?” asked Mum.
“I’ll try,” James replied. He ___ up Dad’s hair at the back of his neck. and plugged the electric wire into Dad’s head. Then he turned the __ _on. Dad opened his eyes and _ immediately . “ He just let his ___ run too low, that’s all,” James said, “Shall I tell Brett to come over straight after school tomorrow?”
“I guess so,” replied Mum. “ Your friends will just have to ___ that we are a very unusual family. Thanks, son !”
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When people want to know about the weather，they usually go to their radios, TVs, newspapers, or to the Internet. However，you can also find many weather signs among wildlife, because of their highly developed senses. Drops in air pressure (压力) produce an effect on small animals in many ways. Mice and deer are good weather indicators.People who spend a lot of time outdoors have observed that, before a storm, field mice come out of their holes and run around.Deer leave high ground and come down from the mountains.
Birds are especially good weather indicators because they also show the effect of a pressure drop in many ways.For example, some birds become irritable(急躁的) and quarrelsome and will fight over a piece of bread.Other birds chirp (叽叽喳喳) and sing just before a storm.It seems that they know they won't get another chance for an hour or two.Birds also seek safe places before a storm. You will sometimes see birds settling in trees or gathering together on a wire close to a building. Prestorm low pressure makes the air so thin that birds have difficulty flying.
It is unusual to see many birds flying overhead in the summertime，rather than during the periods in the spring or autumn. Watch for other weather signs if you see this.If they fly in the wrong direction, they may be flying ahead of a storm.
By paying closer attention to some important signs in nature，we can become better prepared for any kind of weather.There will be a storm if birds________.
| A．make more noise than usual |
| B．fly in different directions |
| C．come down from tall trees |
| D．share a piece of bread |
How can birds sense the coming of a storm?
| A．By feeling a drop in air temperature. |
| B．By noticing the change of wind directions. |
| C．By feeling a drop in air pressure. |
| D．By noticing the movements of other animals. |
The BEST title for the text would be________.
| A．Signs of a Storm | B．Drops in Air Pressure |
| C．Animals' Sharp Senses | D．Nature's Weather Signs |
Watching television makes it easier for toddlers (学步的孩子) to kick and scream, according to a US study.Children under two should not watch any TV.The longer they sit in front of TV，the worse their behavior becomes.
Just having the TV on in the background, even if the child wasn't watching it，was also connected to troublemaking behavior although the relationship wasn't as strong, said the researchers.
“Parents should be smart about TV use，”researcher Jennifer Manganello from the University at Albany, New York, said.
“They should limit the time that children use TV, pay attention to the content of TV programs，and consider how TV is used throughout the home.”
The study looked at 3,128 women from 20 US cities who had a child between 2005 and 2008.
While there was some diversity(差异) of education among the women，onethird hadn't graduated from high school.
Twothirds of the mothers said their threeyearold children watched more than two hours of TV a day，and the average viewing time for children was around three hours.On average，the TV was on for about five additional hours on a common day.
After accounting for factors(因素) such as living in a violent neighborhood，scientists also found watching TV was strongly connected to behavior such as hitting others，having angry moods，being disobedient(不服从的)，and screaming a lot.
The researchers thought that children may see violence on TV，and spend less time on positive development tasks such as reading or playing.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no TV at all for children at two and younger，and two hours a day or less for older kids.What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Children should choose positive programs. |
| B．Watching TV can make children violent. |
| C．Children should keep away from TV. |
| D．Parents should watch less TV. |
What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
| A．Children can watch good programs. |
| B．Children will be affected as long as the TV is on. |
| C．It's OK that the TV is on if children don't watch it. |
| D．Children's troublemaking behavior is mainly caused by watching TV. |
What can be learned about the study between 2005 and 2008 from the passage?
| A．The women studied have different jobs. |
| B．The TV was on for about three hours. |
| C．Most women allowed their children to watch TV. |
| D．Most women studied hadn't graduated from high school. |
Children who spend much time watching TV will ________.
| A．become easily angry |
| B．be influenced by others |
| C．be popular with others |
| D．know more about the neighborhood |
Heroes of Our Time
A good heart
Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa among great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship (奖学金)to study medicine—but Coach (教练) John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea.Dikembe became a star in the NBA，and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth，or the duty to share his fortune with others.He built a new hospital in his old hometown in the Congo. A friend has said of this goodhearted man：“Mutombo believes that God has given him this chance to do great things.”
Success and kindness
After her daughter was born, Julie AignerClark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipments, and began filming children's videos (录像) in her own house. The Baby Einstein Company was born，and in just five years her business grew to more than $ 20 million in sales.And she is using her success to help others—producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.Julie says of her new programs, “I believe it's the most important thing that I have ever done.I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.”
Bravery and courage
A few weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls when he saw a man fall into the path of a train.With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails(铁轨)，and held him as the train passed right above their heads.He insists he's not a hero. He says，“We have got to show each other some love.”What was Mutombo praised for?
A．Being a star in the NBA.
B．Being a student of medicine.
C．His work in the church.
D．His willingness to help the needy.Mutombo believes that building the new hospital is ________.
| A．helpful to his personal development |
| B．something he should do for his homeland |
| C．a chance for his friends to share his money |
| D．a way of showing his respect to the NBA |
What did the Baby Einstein Company do at its beginning?
| A．Produce safety equipments for children. |
| B．Make videos to help protect children. |
| C．Sell children's music and artwork. |
| D．Look for missing and exploited children. |
Why was Wesley/Autrey praised as a hero?
| A．He helped a man get across the rails. |
| B．He stopped a man from destroying the rails. |
| C．He protected two little girls from getting hurt. |
| D．He saved a person without considering his own safety. |
Every fall, like clockwork, Linda Krentz of Beaverton, Oregon, felt her brain go on strike. “I just couldn’t get going in the morning,” she says. “I’d get depressed and gain 10 pounds every winter and lose them again in the spring.” Then she read about seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression that occurs in fall and winter, and she saw the light-literally. Every morning now she turns on a specially constructed light box for half an hour and sits in front of it to trick her brain into thinking it’s still enjoying those long summer days. It seems to work.
Krentz is not alone. Scientists estimate that 10 million Americans suffer from seasonal depression and 25 million more develop milder versions. But there’s never been definitive proof that treatment with very bright lights makes a difference. After all, it’s hard to do a double-blind test when the subjects can see for themselves whether or not the light is on. That’s why nobody has ever separated the real effects of light therapy from placebo(安慰剂) effects.
Until now. In three separate studies published last month, researchers report not only that light therapy works better than a placebo but that treatment is usually more effective in the early morning than in the evening. In two of the groups, the placebo problem was resolved by telling patients they were comparing light boxes to a new anti-depressant device that emits negatively charged ions. The third used the timing of light therapy as the control.
Why does light therapy work? No one really knows. “Our research suggests it has something to do with shifting the body’s internal clock,” says psychiatrist Dr. Lewey. The body is programmed to start the day with sunrise, he explains, and this gets later as the days get shorter. But why such subtle shifts make some people depressed and not others is a mystery.
That hasn’t stopped thousands of winter depressives from trying to heal themselves. Light boxes for that purpose are available without a doctor’s prescription. That bothers psychologist Michael Terman of Columbia University. He is worried that the boxes may be tried by patients who suffer from mental illness that can’t be treated with light. Terman has developed a questionnaire to help determine whether expert care is needed.
In any event, you should choose a respectable manufacturer. Whatever product you use should emit only visible light, because ultraviolet light damages the eyes. If you are photosensitive, you may develop a rash. Otherwise, the main drawback is having to sit in front of the light for 30 to 60 minutes in the morning. That’s an inconvenience many winter depressives can live with.What is the probable cause of Krentz’s problem?
| A．An unexpected gain in body weight. |
| B．Unexplained impairment of her nervous system. |
| C．Weakening of her eyesight with the setting in of winter. |
| D．Poor adjustment of her body clock to seasonal changes. |
By saying that Linda Krentz saw the light” (Line 4, Para. 1), the author means that she _______.
| A．learned how to lose weight |
| B．realized what her problem was |
| C．came to see the importance of light |
| D．felt sleepy and blue |
What is the CURRENT view concerning the treatment of seasonal depression with bright lights?
| A．Its effect remains to be seen. |
| B．It serves as a kind of placebo. |
| C．It proves to be an effective therapy. |
| D．It hardly produces any effects. |
What is psychologist Michael Terman’s major concern?
| A．Winter depressives will be addicted to using light boxes. |
| B．No mental patients would bother to consult psychiatrists. |
| C．Inferior light boxes will emit harmful ultraviolet lights. |
| D．Light therapy could be beyond the tolerance of certain mental patients. |
When we worry about who might be spying on our private lives, we usually think about the Federal agents. But the private sector outdoes the government every time. It’s Linda Tripp, not the FBI, who is facing charges under Maryland’s laws against secret telephone taping. It’s our banks, not the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), that pass our private financial data to telemarketing firms.
Consumer activists are pressing Congress for better privacy laws without much result so far. The legislators lean toward letting business people track our financial habits virtually at will.
As an example of what’s going on, consider U.S. Bancorp, which was recently sued for deceptive practices by the state of Minnesota. According to the lawsuit, the bank supplied a telemarketer called Member Works with sensitive customer data such as names, phone numbers, bank-account and credit-card numbers, social security numbers, account balances and credit limits.
With these customer lists in hand, Member Works started dialing for dollars-selling dental plans, videogames, computer software and other products and services. Customers who accepted a “free trial offer” had 30 days to cancel. If the deadline passed, they were charged automatically through their bank or credit-card accounts. U.S. Bancorp collected a share of the revenues.
Customers were doubly deceived, the lawsuit claims. They didn’t know that the bank was giving account numbers to Member Works. And if customers asked, they were led to think the answer was no.
The state sued Member Works separately for deceptive selling. The company denies that it did anything wrong. For its part, U.S. Bancorp settled without admitting any mistakes. But it agreed to stop exposing its customers to nonfinancial products sold by outside firms. A few top banks decided to do the same. Many other banks will still do business with Member Works and similar firms.
And banks will still be mining data from your account in order to sell you financial products, including things of little value, such as credit insurance and credit-card protection plans.
You have almost no protection from businesses that use your personal accounts for profit. For example, no federal law shields “transaction and experience” information-mainly the details of your bank and credit-card accounts. Social Security numbers are for sale by private firms. They’ve generally agreed not to sell to the public. But to businesses, the numbers are an open book. Self-regulation doesn’t work. A firm might publish a privacy-protection policy, but who enforces it?
Take U.S. Bancorp again. Customers were told, in writing, that “all personal information you supply to us will be considered confidential.” Then it sold your data to Member Works. The bank even claims that it doesn’t “sell” your data at all. It merely “shares” it and reaps a profit. Now you know.Contrary to popular belief, the author finds that spying on people’s privacy ________.
| A．is practiced exclusively by the FBI |
| B．is more common in business circles |
| C．has been intensified with the help of the IRS |
| D．is mainly carried out by means of secret taping |
We know from the passage that ________.
| A．the state of Minnesota is considering drawing up laws to protect private information |
| B．most states are turning a blind eye to the deceptive practices of private businesses |
| C．legislators are acting to pass a law to provide better privacy protection |
| D．lawmakers tend to give a free hand to businesses to inquire into customers’ buying habits |
When the “free trial” deadline is over, you’ll be charged without notice for a product or service if ________.
| A．you happen to reveal your credit card number |
| B．you fail to cancel it within the specified period |
| C．you fail to apply for extension of the deadline |
| D．you find the product or service unsatisfactory |
Businesses do not regard information concerning personal bank accounts as private because ________.
| A．it is considered “transaction and experience” information is not protected by law |
| B．it has always been considered an open secret by the general public |
| C．its sale can be brought under control through self-regulation |
| D．its revelation will do no harm to consumers under the current protection policy |
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