The search for beauty spans centuries and continents. Paintings of Egyptians dating back over 4,000 years show both men and women painting their nails and wearing makeup. In 18th-century France, wealthy noblemen wore large wigs (假发）of long, white hair to make themselves attractive. Today, people continue to devote a lot of time and money to their appearance.
There is at least one good reason for the desire to be attractive：beauty is power. Studies suggest that good-looking people make more money, get called on more often in class, and are regarded as friendlier.
But what exactly is beauty? It's difficult to describe it clearly, and yet we know it when we see it. And our awareness of it may start at a very early age. In one set of studies, six-month-old babies were shown a series of photographs. The faces on the pictures had been rated for attractiveness by a group of college students. In the studies, the babies spent more time looking at the attractive faces than the unattractive ones.
The idea that even babies can judge appearance makes perfect sense to many researchers. In studies by psychologists, men consistently showed a preference for women with larger eyes, fuller lips, and a smaller nose and chin while women prefer men with large shoulders and a narrow waist. According to scientists, the mind unconsciously tells men and women that these traits —the full lips, clear skin , strong shoulders —equal health and genetic well-being.
Not everyone thinks the same way, however. “Our hardwiredness can be changed by all sorts of expectations —mostly cultural,” says C. Loring Brace, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. What is considered attractive in one culture might not be in another. Look at most Western fashion magazines: the women on the pages are thin, but is this "perfect" body type for women worldwide? Scientists' answer is no; what is considered beautiful is subjective and varies around the world. They found native peoples in southeast Peru preferred shapes regarded overweight in Western cultures.
For better or worse, beauty plays a role in our lives. But it is extremely difficult to describe exactly what makes one person attractive to another. Although there do seem to be certain physical traits considered universally appealing, it is also true that beauty does not always keep to a single, uniform standard. Beauty really is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder.People's ideas about beauty __________.
| A．have existed since ancient times |
| B．can be easily described |
| C．have little influence on a person's success |
| D．are based upon strict criteria |
In Paragraph 3, the babies in the study __________.
| A．were rated for their appearance |
| B．were entered in a beauty contest |
| C．were shown photos of a group of college students |
| D．were able to tell attractive faces from unattractive ones |
The underlined word “traits” in Paragraph 4 probably means __________.
| A．qualities | B．measurements |
| C．judgments | D．standards |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
| A．the ideas of beauty vary as people grow up |
| B．the search for beauty is rooted in lack of confidence |
| C．the standards for beauty are based on scientific researches |
| D．the understanding of beauty depends on cultural backgrounds |
What can probably be the best title for this passage?
| A．The History of Beauty |
| B．The Standards for Beauty |
| C．The Mystery of Beauty |
| D．The Attitudes toward Beauty |
Soaring divorce rates around the globe are taking a toll on the environment, American researchers suggested in a study released on a Monday.
Michigan State University researcher Jianguo “Jack” Liu and his assistant Eunice Yu said the increasing number of divorces leads to more households with fewer people and greater consumption of water and energy. They said housing units require space, construction materials and fuel to heat and cool, regardless of the number of inhabitants.
For example, in the United States in 2005, divorced households consumed an extra 73 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water. An additional 38 million extra rooms required heating and lighting that same year due to divorced households.
That costs $6.9 billion in extra utility costs per year, Liu said, plus an added $ 3.6 billion for water, in addition to other costs such as land use.
“A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household,” Liu said. He said that in cohabitating(同居) household, people will watch the same television, share the air conditioning and heat and use the same refrigerator. All things use energy at a regularly stable rate, regardless of the number of users.
Liu said he was not condemning divorce, “Some people really need to get divorced.” He said cohabitation—whether by a family or friends—was simply a more environmentally friendly option. Additonally, the researchers noted that trends other than divorce are also changing family living structures, such as the end of multiple generations of a family sharing a home and people remaining single longer.
“People’s first reaction to this research is surprise, and then it seems simple.” Liu said in a press release. “But a lot of things become simple after research is done. Our challenges were to connect the dots and quantify(量化) their relationships. People have been talking about how to protect the environment and fight against climate change, but divorce is a factor that people don’t notice and it needs to be considered”.
He said the increasing energy demands caused by divorce should be considered by governments when they are creating environmental policies.
The research was published in this week’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.This passage is mainly meant to _______ .
| A．inform the readers of the increasing rates of divorce in America |
| B．emphasize the importance of protecting the environment |
| C．appeal to married people to maintain their marriage longer |
| D．tell people the impact divorce has on the environment |
According to the passage, what’s the attitude of Mr. Liu towards divorce?
| A．Critical . | B．Indifferent. | C．Objective. | D．Negative. |
We are told that ______ .
| A．divorced households will use fewer resources than married households |
| B．married households are more willing to protect the environment |
| C．divorced households contribute more to rapid economic development |
| D．divorce is rarely considered when people think about protecting the environment. |
The underlined phrase “taking a toll on” in Paragraph 1 probably means _____ .
| A．taking efforts to improve | B．having a bad effect on |
| C．preventing the pollution of | D．benefiting from |
How is the passage organized?
| A．Main idea →Comparison → Supporting details |
| B．Comparison→Argument→Explanation |
| C．Main idea→Supporting details→Conclusion |
| D．Example → Explanation → Conclusion |
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the sad eyes of a little boy.
“Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty- nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” 
"Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller.
Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.
"How much?" asked the little boy.
"No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. It's National Friendship Week. How many baby pups did the farmer have for sale?
| A．3 | B．4 | C．5 | D．6 |
Why did the farmer agree to sell the boy one of the puppies?
| A．The boy had the money to buy one. |
| B．There were few people wanting to buy a dog. |
| C．The farmer felt sorry for the boy. |
| D．The farmer wanted to get rid of the dogs quickly. |
Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the underlined word “ hobbling”?
| A．strolling. | B．crawling. | C．limping. | D．running. |
Why did the boy finally choose the “ hobbling” pup?
| A．He feared the farmer would kill it. |
| B．He thought no one else would buy that pup. |
| C．He believed it was the cutest of the pups. |
| D．He could identify with this pup. |
What would be the most suitable title for this passage?
| A．Man’s Best Friend | B．Puppy For Sale. |
| C．Perfect Match. | D．Love at First Sight. |
Everyone has got two personalities-the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don't show your secret personality when you're awake because you can control your behavior, but when you're asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you're a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don't like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You're quite shy and you aren't very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive（不外露） person. You worry a lot and you're always easily upset. You're very stubborn（顽固）, but you aren't very ambitious. You usually live for today not tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up， you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you're often defensive. You're shy and you don't normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You're easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You're usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don't often get depressed. You always say what you think even if it annoys people.According to the writer, you naturally show your secret and real personality _______.
| A．only in a normal night |
| B．only when you go to sleep |
| C．only when you refuse to show yourself to the world. |
| D．only when you change sleeping position |
Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person’s personality?
| A．He or she is always open with others. |
| B．He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others. |
| C．He or she is always easily upset. |
| D．He or she tends to believe in others. |
Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach.
| A．He or she is careful not to offend others. |
| B．He or she doesn’t want to stick to his or her opinion. |
| C．He or she always wants to get ahead. |
| D．He or she likes to have a good time. |
Maybe you don’t want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up. Why?
| A．He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you. |
| B．He or she is rarely ready to help you. |
| C．He or she prefers staying at home to going out. |
| D．He or she wouldn’t like to get help from you. |
It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because ________.
| A．He or she always shows sympathy for people. |
| B．He or she is confident, but not stubborn. |
| C．He or she has more strengths than weaknesses. |
| D．He or she often considers annoying people. |
Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables (音节), they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionar
y. The writer thinks that .
| A．choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English |
| B．dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English |
| C．it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly |
| D．using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing |
According to the passage, which of the following is wrong?
| A．Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English. |
| B．Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries. |
| C．Small two-language dictionaries have serious defects (缺陷). |
| D．Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries. |
When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?
| A．At the beginning of the reading |
B．At the end of the readi ng |
| C．During the first reading |
| D．After the first reading |
This passage mainly tells us .
| A．students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries |
| B．what were the defects of small two-language dictionaries |
| C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries |
| D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it |
Which is not mentioned in this passage?
| A．How to make good use of a dictionary. |
B．When to use a dic tionary. |
| C．How to improve spoken English. |
| D．How to practise reading fast. |
When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend on new clothes． Think about the kind of clothes you really need． Then look for those clothes you really need． Then look for those clothes on sale．
There are labels(标签) ins
ide all new clothes． The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes． The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water． A sweater l
abel may tell you to wash in cold water． The label on a coat may say “dry clean only”, for washing may ruin this coat． If you do as the directions (说明)on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time．
Many clothes today must be dry cleaned． Dry cleaning is expensive． When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned． You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed．
You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made． Well-made clothes last longer． They look good even after they have been washed many times． Clothes that cost more money are not necessarily(不一定) better made． They do not always fit better． Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes．If you want to save money, you had better buy clothes that __ ．
| A．don’t fit you | B．don’t last long |
| C．need to be dry cleaned | D．can be washed |
The labels inside the clothes tell you______．
| A．how to keep them looking their best | B．how to save money |
| C．whether they fit you or not | D．where to get them dry cleaned |
The first thing for you to do before you buy clothes is __ ．
A．to look for well-made clothes |
| B．to see how much money you can spend on it |
| C．to know how to wash them |
| D．to read the labels inside them |
We learn from the passage that cheaper clothes __ ．
| A．are always worse made | B．must be dry cleaned |
| C．can not be washed | D．can sometimes fit you b etter |
The best title for the passage should be __ ．
| A．Buy Less Expensive Clothes |
| B．Taking Enough Money When Shopping |
| C．Being a Clever Clothes Shopper |
| D．Choosing the Labels inside New Clothes |
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