April 27 is Take Our Daughters to Work Day in Britain. Started at first in the United States and brought to Britain in 1994, Take Our Daughters to Work Day has become a special day for girls between 11 and 15. On that day thousands of girls take a day off school and go together with one of their parents to their work places. The purpose of this day is to broaden girls’ horizons and raise their self-confidence.
For many years people have thought that boys can do better than girls in society. But actually, “girls can be whatever they want to be just like boys, whether it is a pilot, a nurse or a chief executive,” says the chairman of Our Sons and Daughters Charitable Trust, an organization which supported the activity of the Day. “Now the girls have a close look at what their parents are doing and this may help them to be more self-confident when they are faced with a choice of work.”
Schools and many companies support the activity too. Palmers Green High School for Girls, in north London, has made the Day a necessary part of career education.
Zarina Bart, 15, from Palmers Green, went with her mother to her lawyer’s office on this year’s Take Our Daughters to Work Day. She found it interesting to see her mother at work. “It’s really strange seeing Mum at work — running around, getting serious and telling people what to do.” She has always liked this idea of going into law and thinks it likely that she will follow in her mother’s footsteps. Having a chance to see how her mother works has given her more self-confidence.
Experts believe that girls with higher self-confidence aim higher and are more likely to be successful in life. Parents have the most important effect on the confidence of teenage girls. If parents believe in their daughters and show examples both at work as well as at home for them, this will give a lot of help to girls. Take Our Daughters to Work Day is surely a step in the right direction.What is the topic of this passage?
| A．Raising daughters’ self-confidence. |
| B．Take Our Daughters to Work Day. |
| C．Equally between boys and girls. |
| D．Following mothers’ footsteps. |
It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that ________.
| A．women pilots are popular in Britain |
| B．girls are sure about their future jobs |
| C．people have wrongly believed that girls can do as well as boys |
| D．for many years boys have had a relatively wider choice of work |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Take Our Daughters to Work Day is British in origin. |
| B．Palmers Green favors Take Our Daughters to Work Day. |
| C．On the Day children are taken to their parent’s work places. |
| D．Parents in Britain show good examples both at work and at home. |
After her experience on Take Our Daughters to Work Day, Zarina felt ________.
| A．confident about finding a job in the future |
| B．strange to watch her mother working in the office |
| C．sure about what to choose as her future career |
| D．interested in doing the same job as her mother |
The author’s attitude towards the Day is ________.
| A．favorable | B．unclear | C．critical | D．neutral |
The insanely popular song ‘Gangnam Style’ from South Korean recording artist PSY has just become the most watched video on YouTube ever, garnering more than 808 million views on the popular media site.
The distinction was previously held by another pop heavyweight, Justin Bieber, whose song ‘Baby’ had a little more than 804 million views at press time. PSY made the announcement on his Twitter page earlier today.
Since its release, the song has defeated such other popular videos as Jennifer Lopez’s ‘On the Floor,’ Eminem's ‘Love the Way You Lie’ and LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem.’ And in September, 'Gangnam Style' also became the most liked video on YouTube, now with nearly 5.4 million thumbs up.
At the time of the announcement, the Guinness Book of World Records released a statement saying: “In years past it was unthinkable that something would be viewed a hundred million times, and now Gangnam Style has achieved more than twice this figure in just three months on YouTube. PSY, your certificate is waiting here at our office, come pick it up any time!”
Despite its massive popularity, the video shows no signs of slowing down, and it even has a shot at becoming the first video to get more than one billion views.
If it maintains its current rate of around six million new views per day, ‘Gangnam Style’ would be in line to break that record by the end of the year.
The YouTube honors are just the latest in a long list that shows just how popular the song has become. Since it was released in July, the song has seen a meteoric rise through the music industry.
It has found its way to the tops of music charts in more than 30 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Canada, while providing material for thousands of parody（恶搞）videos.
It became a staple (主要部份) in the 2012 presidential elections with the now famous ‘Mitt Romney Style’ video and was even used by the North Korean government in propaganda films promoting their supreme leader.
Meanwhile, such influential figures as President Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt have all made mention of the hit song.This passage mainly talks about a world famous________.
| A．music | B．music video |
| C．video website | D．Korean pop singer |
Which of the following about “Gangnam Style” is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．“Gangnam Style” has defeated Justin Bieber’s “Baby” on You Tube’s views. |
| B．“Gangnam Style” has been the favorite to at least 5.4 million people. |
| C．“Gangnam Style” has been the first to get more than 1 billion views. |
| D．“Gangnam Style” has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. |
What can we infer from this passage?
| A．PSY will become one of the greatest musicians due to the popularity of “Gangnam Style”. |
| B．Obama won the presidential election partly because of the ‘Mitt Romney Style’ video. |
| C．Despite its massive popularity, the fever of “Gangnam Style” has decreased. |
| D．The influence of “Gangnam Style” has spread far and wide. |
The age at which kids first fall victim to bullying (欺侮）could influence how strongly they are affected，suggests a new study. And，surprisingly，it is not the youngest kids who are hurt the most in the long term.
Bullying can have long-lasting effects，but particularly when it begins in adolescence，the researchers say. People subjected to either verbal ( 口头 上的）or physical bullying are known to be at greater risk of developing depression，anxiety disorders or to behave violently. But not everyone reacts in this way.
Children bullied for the first time before they hit adolescence seem to get over it， but those who are bullied for the first time later on in adolescence seem to become more aggressive or are more likely to turn to drink as a means of coping. These are the conclusions of psychologist Matthew Newman and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin，US.
The team gave questionnaires to nearly 1，500 college students regarding their experience of physical and psychological bullying before adolescence—before high school—and in late adolescence—at high school. They assessed mood and mental state，judging by signs of anxiety or depression，such as sleeplessness. The group was also questioned about how they would react to certain challenges，such as humiliation.
People who were bullied all revealed slightly higher levels of stress. But while those bullied earlier in life seemed to respond normally to provocation (杉匕畔)，people bullied for the
first time late in adolescence are more withdrawn and sensitive to violence.
There are also sex differences between those bullied for the first time during adolescence， with females more likely to react aggressively when provoked and males are much more likely to turn to alcohol to escape bad situations.
The best solution in all cases was strong social support，whether from friends，family or school. Those with no one to share their problems with suffered the most.
So perhaps it is best not to shelter children completely from bullying early on，suggests Newman. “They may get stressed，but unhealthy coping really jumps out when they are bullied for the first time later on. ”
What determines the degree of bullying’s effect on people according to the study?
| A．The reason why they are bullied. |
| B．The place where they are first bullied. |
| C．The age at which they are first bullied. |
| D．The person who first bullies them. |
What may happen to those first bullied later on in adolescence according to Newman and his colleagues?
| A．Some are likely to be more aggressive. |
| B．They seem to easily get over the effect of bullying. |
| C．Most of them will respond to bullying normally. |
| D．Most of them are afraid of sharing their problems. |
What does the underlined word "humiliation"in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Carrying out an important plan. |
| B．Being made to feel ashamed. |
| C．Trying hard to survive an accident. |
| D．Feeling hopeless in an emergency. |
The sex differences between people bullied for the first time during adolescence are reflected in .
| A．the support they get from the society |
| B．the effect bullying has on them |
| C．the way they react to provocation |
| D．the type of bullying they receive |
For many years，machines have been doing work that people once did，including some dit- ficutt jobs. Search and rescue operations in dangerous environments are often seen as the first areas that will employ high technology robots. But there is another area where they may soon take jobs traditionally held by human beings： the restaurant industry.
Teams from around the world competed in early June at the DARPA Robotic Challenge Finals in California. A team from South Korea and its robot，called DRC-Hubo，won the first place in the competition. The second and third place winners were from the United States. The robots were required to drive a vehicle，climb up steps and do mechanical work. Such activities are easy for humans to perform，but more difficult for machines. Not all of the competitor were successful. The failures showed how difficult it is to design effective walking
machines.
Akihiro Suzuki works at Yaskawa Electric，a company that develops robots. He says robots cannot do everything a human can，but they are able to work without becoming tired. He says robots cannot taste food，change heating levels or seasonings to get the best flavor (风味）.But he says if a food can be easily prepared，a robot can repeat the same movement to reproduce the same meal.
One Japanese woman who saw the robots working wanted to bring them home. Masayo Mori says she would like to have a husband who could work like a robot. Suzumo Machinery showed its sushi (寿司）maker robot. It performs the often difficult work of wrapping the popular Japanese food. Hiroshi Monden is an official with the company. He says people all over the world now eat sushi，but there are not enough skilled workers to prepare it. He says his machine can help anyone make sushi.
In Paragraph 1，the author tells us .
| A．robots just do difficult jobs |
| B．robots are sometimes dangerous |
| C．robots are widely used in our life |
| D．robots are gradually replacing humans |
Why did some teams fail at the DARPA Robotic Challenge Finals?
| A．Their robots cannot be applied at home. |
| B．Preparing food is really difficult for robots. |
| C．Their robots can just repeat the same movement. |
| D．They failed to design effective walking robots. |
We can infer from the last paragraph that .
| A．Japanese men are lazy |
| B．robots are popular in Japan |
| C．Japan has advanced high technology |
| D．robots usually take the job of making sushi in Japan |
In which column can we probably see the text?
| A．Education. | B．Culture. | C．Health. | D．Science. |
| Dobson Ranch Housing Association 1000 Sidewinder Road Mesa，AZ 85202 October 15 Mr and Mrs Fred Deacon 1442 Saddleback Road Mesa，AX 85205 Dear Mr and Mrs Fred Deacon， I am writing this letter to congratulate you on your new purchase of a house in the Dobson Ranch area. We feel that this is one of the best neighborhoods of high quality in the city of Mesa，and we are happy to be able to call you neighbors. For your information，there are a few things we would like to tell you. One is that there are certain duties that go with living in Dobson Ranch. In order to keep property (房地产） values at the highest possible levels，we insist that everyone who lives in Dobson Ranch take care of their property. This means that the grass needs to be cut regularly，branches of the trees and bushes should be cut off，and there should be no unattractive additions to houses， nor should houses be painted in colors like red or blue. If you want to make any additions to your house，you need our permission first. The people of Dobson Ranch also have monthly meetings to discuss various issues of concern in our community. You are welcome to attend. We typically hold meetings on the first Saturday of every month at 7 ： 00 PM at the Dobson Ranch Community Center. You will receive a notice via e-mail a few days before every meeting as a reminder. We hope that you will join us as much as you see fit. Again，welcome to the neighborhood，and I look forward to meeting you soon. Sincerely Juan Sanchez President Dobson Ranch Housing Association October 20 Dear Mr Sanchez, Thank you very much for your letter welcoming us to the neighborhood. My wife and I appreciate your concern, and we also appreciate you letting us know about the various rules that apply to this neighborhood. Please do not worry about us. No matter where we live，we always try to be neighbors taking care to do our work properly. We too are well aware of property values. To be honest，we are actually pleased that there are regulations that must be obeyed. In the past，we have had neighbors who have not taken care of their homes and yards； at least we know that we will not have to worry about that here. As for the meetings， thank you for your kind invitation，but I’m afraid that you probably won’t see us too often. My work takes me out of town，so when I，m not traveling，I prefer to stay home. Similarly，my wife works long hours at the hospital and prefers to spend her days off relaxing at home. However，if we have the time，we will try to make it to a meeting. Again，thank you for welcoming us. Sincerely Fred Deacon |
Why do people who live in Dobson Ranch need to take care of their homes?
| A．To ensure that no one complains about how the area looks. |
| B．To make the neighborhood look as good as possible. |
| C．To keep the property worth as much as possible . |
| D．To be good neighbors. |
What does Fred Deacon think about the rules at Dobson Ranch?
| A．He agrees to them. |
| B．He thinks they require too much. |
| C．He would like to discuss them later. |
| D．He feels that they are not severe enough. |
For the invitation to the monthly meetings，Fred Deacon responds that .
| A．he will attend regularly |
| B．he will attend with his wife |
| C．his wife will attend alone |
| D．neither he nor his wife will attend very often |
Alexandra Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester，Connecticut on January 18， 1996，the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday，Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma，a type of childhood cancer.
On her first birthday， the doctors informed Alex’s parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later，Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents’ request to kick. This was the first indication that she would turn out to be a courageous and confident child with big dreams and big accomplishments.
By her second birthday，Alex was able to stand up with leg braces (支架）.She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be overcoming the difficulties， until the shocking discovery within the next year that her tumors (肿瘤)had started growing again. In the year 2000，the day after her fourth birthday，Alex received a stem cell transplant (干细胞移植）and informed her mother，“When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand. ” She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to “help other kids，like they helped me.，，True to her word， she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $ 2，000 for “her hospital,
People from all over the world，moved by her story，held their own lemonade stands and donated the earnings to Alex and her cause. In August of 2004，Alex passed away at the age of 8，knowing that，with the help of others，she had raised more than $ 1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex’s family—including brothers Patrick，Eddie，and Joey—and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring cause through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (基金会）.
It can be learned from the text that Alex .
| A．couldn’t walk until she was four |
| B．was the only daughter of the Scotts |
| C．held her first lemonade stand in 2001 |
| D．was born with cancer |
Why was Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation founded?
| A．To promote her lemonade. |
| B．To set up a children’s hospital. |
| C．To attract public attention to her disease. |
| D．To collect money to help children with cancer. |
What did the public do to support Alex and her cause?
| A．They helped her sell lemonade. |
| B．They provided free stands for her. |
| C．They donated money to her foundation. |
| D．They donated stem cells for her operation. |
Which of the following can best describe Alex?
| A．Stubborn. | B．Determined. | C．Innocent. | D．Energetic. |
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