Sports are the base of my life, next to my mother who raised me when my dad left us. I have been into sports since I was six years old. I have known many coaches and heard hundreds of their tips, but they usually focused on drills to develop my skills and reach the next level of play.
When I was in Senior Two, I met the new school basketball coach, Brian Pawloski. I thought I was certain to be selected for the school team since I had been in it the year before. I showed up to the tryouts and put out about 90% effort since I thought I’d make it with no problem. That was a big mistake.
Brian Pawloski is the hardest-working coach I have ever met. He didn’t expect 100% effort, he expected 200% effort. One example: he once made us do 40 suicide drills for the 40 lay-ups (投篮) we missed in a game. Some think this is crazy, but it isn’t. After this conditioning practice, as we were getting a cup of cold water to drink, I said, “coach, that was the best practice I ever had.” I was completely sincere. This man was and is the person who influenced me most at my high school. He expects us to be excellent not just on the court but in the classroom. If I am not working on basketball, I am reading a book that he thinks will help us better understand life’s challenges, including Wooden, Coach, and The Screwtape Letters.
In the first two years I slacked off, not putting forth my full potential. Now, unlike the coaches of my youth, this man was interested in how he did off the court. He always made sure I kept up with my studies and was able to be trusted. I can honestly say that on other coach has given me so much advice on how to succeed in basketball, but more importantly, in life. My school is lucky to have such a great person to teach, coach and influence their students. I will always remember my high-school basketball days as one of the hardest times I have ever worked in my life not only in basketball but in my growth as an individual.Different from other coaches, Coach Brian ________.
| A．concentrated on skill training |
| B．trained the team to the edge of death |
| C．expected the team to do well in their studies |
| D．asked the team to do more reading than training |
The underlined phrase “slacked off” in the last paragraph probably means ________.
| A．paid no attention |
| B．showed no interest |
| C．had less passion |
| D．made less effort |
In the author’s eye, Coach Brian is ________.
| A．strict and helpful |
| B．hardworking and honest |
| C．skilled and cruel |
| D．professional and serious |
Moods, say the experts, are feelings that are likely to become fixed, having effects on one's outlook (way of looking at things) for hours, days or even weeks. That's great if your mood is a pleasant one, but a problem if you are sad, anxious, angry, or simply lonely.
Perhaps the best way to deal with such moods is to talk them out; sometimes, though, there is no one to listen. Modern pharmacology (药理学) offers a lot of tranquilizers (镇静剂) and anti-anxiety drugs. What many people don't realize, however, is that scientists have discovered the effectiveness of several non-drug methods to make you free from an unwanted mood. These can be just as useful as drugs, and have the added benefit of being nonpoisonous. So next time you feel out of sorts, don't head for the drug store―try the following method.
Of all the mood-changing self-help techniques, aerobic exercise (有氧运动) seem to be the best cure for a bad mood. ―If you could keep the exercise, you'd be in high spirits, says Kathryn Lance, author of Running for Health and Beauty.
Researchers have explained biochemical and various other changes that make exercise a better mood-raiser than drugs. Physical work such as housework, however, does little. The key is aerobic exercise – running, cycling, walking, swimming, or other repetitive and sustained activities that increase the heart rate and circulation(循环), and improve the body's use of oxygen. Do them for at least 20 minutes a time, three to five times a week.What is the main subject of the passage?
| A．How to beat a bad mood. |
| B．How to talk bad moods out. |
| C．How to do physical exercises. |
| D．How to do aerobic exercise. |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
| A．when one is in a bad mood, he or she may not work very well |
| B．the best way to overcome a bad mood is to talk to oneself |
| C．some drugs are more effective than physical exercises |
| D．taking drugs is at risk of being poisonous |
The phrase "feel out of sorts", as is used in the second paragraph, could be best replaced by ___.
| A．put things in order | B．are in a bad mood |
| C．search for tranquilizers | D．want a mood-raiser |
Which of the following best describes the organization of this passage?
| A．An exercise and its importance are explained |
| B．A problem is examined and solutions are given |
| C．Two different views of a problem are presented |
| D．Recent developments in medicine are described |
Our lifestyles today are very busy. We have family, school, sports, entertainment and social activities to fit into a time that seems never enough. We need to be healthy to meet the demands of daily life. But what does it mean to have a healthy lifestyle?
To have a healthy lifestyle, we need to:
◆ eat different kinds of healthy food most of the time
◆ do exercise often
◆ have time to relax
◆ get enough sleep to give our bodies time to grow healthy and strong
Read about a normal day in the lives of two children.
Abbey gets up at 7:00 am, feeds the dog, and has cereal (谷物) and a glass of juice for breakfast. She walks to school with her friend, Julia. She has a bag of chips for a morning snack, drinks water, and has a chicken and lettuce sandwich with a banana for lunch. She likes to play soccer with her friends at lunch and morning break time. She walks home with Julia, has some crackers with cheese and juice for afternoon snack and plays with the dog for a while. She plays computer games for an hour or two before dinner, then has a shower and does her homework. She watches her favorite television show for an hour, then usually goes to bed at about 9:30 pm.
Carl gets up at 8:30 am and has two pieces of bread with jam and a glass of milk for breakfast. His mother drives him to school on her way to work. He eats cookies with juice for morning snack and a pot pie ordered from the school lunch room with juice for lunch. He likes to play card games with his friends at lunchtime and climb the fixed equipment at morning break time. He catches the bus home, has a cereal bar and a can of soda for afternoon snack, then watches some television. He has a shower before dinner, then plays the computer for an hour or two. He goes to bed at about 10:30 pm.
No matter which kind of lifestyle you agree on, just remember it's important to balance all aspects of life.About a healthy lifestyle, the writer doesn't talk about __________.
| A．diet | B．exercise | C．relaxation | D．medicine |
What can we learn from the article?
| A．Abbey plays soccer with her friends at school. |
| B．Abbey does her homework first after school. |
| C．Carl goes to school by bus every day. |
| D．Carl has only juice for breakfast. |
Where is the article probably from?
| A．A health magazine. | B．A clothing website. |
| C．A sports guidebook. | D．A travel advertisement. |
The Future Body Network
Are you tired of wires that spread all over your desk and make your tea pour onto your keyboard? If so, you may consider using devices（设备）that use technologies like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Neither of them sends information through wires. It sounds perfect, doesn't it? But this is not the end of the story.
Scientists are now trying to use the human body to do a similar job. They have come up with the idea of sending information over the small electric field on the surface of the skin. To do this, a transmitter（传送器）could be built into your pocket or a portable device like an MP3 player. This transmitter would then use your skin's electrical field to send information to a receiving device. Since this kind of transmission can only go as far as 20cm, the receiver would have to be close to some part of your body.
By using this body network, you wouldn't need a wire to link your MP3 player in your pocket to the headphones in your ears, or to send to your computer the pictures from a digital camera hanging around your neck. Moreover, you can exchange electronic cards or share music files with others by shaking hands, dancing cheek（脸颊）to cheek, or kissing each other.
Now, here comes a question. Why would anyone want to use their body as a network when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth already exist? The answer lies in the fact that with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, it is hard to limit the signals only to your own use. In a busy place, you can never know who might steal your information. However, body networking is safer. It is hard for other people to pick up signals sent over the surface of your skin since this body network only has a limit of 20cm from your body. Thus, no one else can easily pick up and interpret your signals.
Moreover, the most important use of body networking in the future may well be communication within the body rather than just on its surface. Imagine having a number of small devices implanted under your skin and using them to control your own nervous system. In other words, imagine that you have a powerful in-body computer. What do you think of this idea? Does it sound cool, like being a character in the movie RoboCop? Or would you prefer to be just an ordinary human being?
What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Technology is causing us to be lazy. |
| B．Technology is doing harm to our body. |
| C．Technology is advancing too quickly. |
| D．Technology is making our life easier. |
Which of the following is NOT the way to exchange information over the skin?
| A．Shaking hands. | B．Looking into one's eyes. |
| C．Kissing each other. | D．Dancing cheek to cheek. |
The body network is safer because _________.
| A．the information is only important to you |
| B．the information is stored inside your body |
| C．the information is sent out only 20cm from your body |
| D．the information is controlled by your nervous system |
The movie RoboCop is most likely about________.
| A．a man that is controlled by a computer |
| B．a computer that turns into a man |
| C．a robot that catches a thief |
| D．a thief that steals a robot |
During my elementary school years, I used to compare my mom with my best friend Tiffany's mom.
Tiffany's mom always gave her lots of money to buy the most fashionable clothes and favorite food. Her mom allowed her to do anything she liked. I really admired Tiffany. My mom didn't give me much pocket money and she always told me that I should behave myself. I was annoyed with her.
Whenever I didn't get what I wanted, I would complain to my mom, Tiffany's mom would give her that! I wish she were my mom. Every time, my mom would calmly say "Poor Tiffany". I couldn't understand her. "She shouldn't be feeling sorry for Tiffany!" I thought. "She should be feeling sorry for me."
One day, I couldn't help saying to Mom, "Poor Tiffany? Lucky Tiffany! She gets everything she wants! Why do you feel sorry for her?" I burst into tears. My mom sat down next to me and said softly. "Yes, I do feel sorry for her. I have been teaching you a lesson that she will never be taught."
I looked up at her. "What are you talking about?"
Mom said with care, "One day she will really want something. Maybe she'll find out that she can't have it. Her mother won't always be around to give her money, and what's more, money can't buy everything."
She continued, "I have taught you valuable lessons by not giving you everything you want. You'll know how to look for bargains and save money, but she won't. You'll understand that you need to work hard to get the things that you want but she won't. When Tiffany is a grown woman, she'll wake up one day and she will be wishing that she had a mom like the one you've got. Life lessons are more important than modern clothes and delicious food."
It took some time, but I eventually understood my mom's words. Now I am a happy and successful woman.During the author's elementary school years, she __________.
| A．wished that her mom were as good as Tiffany's |
| B．went to school with Tiffany every day |
| C．usually compared her lesson with Tiffany's |
| D．sometimes gave lots of money to Tiffany |
Why did the author's mom always say "Poor Tiffany"?
| A．She felt sorry for Tiffany because Tiffany was poor. |
| B．She wanted to tell a lie to comfort the author. |
| C．She thought that Tiffany was spoiled by her mother. |
| D．She told the author this and wanted her to help Tiffany. |
What do we learn about the author's mother?
| A．She was strict and taught the author to be independent. |
| B．She cared for other people's children more than her own. |
| C．She thought that life lessons were as important as money. |
| D．She was so poor that she couldn't give the author much money. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The author was quite annoyed with her mother in the past. |
| B．The author's mother felt sorry for Tiffany. |
| C．Tiffany's mother took the author's mother's advice. |
| D．The author is thankful to her mother now. |
THERE is an old saying: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It means that you shouldn’t build your first impression of someone on his or her looks alone. But according to a new study, the famous sayingmight not be correct after all. A group of US scientists have found that the first impression we have of someone else is actually right most of the time.
In the study, scientists asked participants to look at a photograph of a person and make a quick judgment about him or her. A month later, the participant and the person in the photo were introduced, and scientists were shocked to find that their judgments oftenmatch those that they had made originally.
It’s true that simply looking at someone won’t provide you with as much information.But, according to scientists, when makinga first impression, people rely more on their instincts (直觉) than on logic (逻辑).“They focus on how that person makes them feel,” Paul Eastwick of the University of Texas told Live Science. “It is very hard to get a sense of this information when simply viewing a profile(简介).As soon as one sees another person, an impression is formed and what we see can sometimes dominate what we know.”
Of course, no one can be right about everything and your instincts can go wrong sometimes. But even if it is proven to be wrong, once people form an opinion about someone, they have a hard time getting over that opinion later on.
The findings help explain why people always tidy themselves up before meeting guests or doing job interviews.
“Their face constantlyremindsus of that firstimpression,” said Rule. People may learn more about another person over time once they get close to each other, but first impressions remain very important and seem difficult to forget.What did the US scientists of the University of Texas find out in their recent study?
| A．It’s unwise to judge a book by its cover. |
| B．It’s better to judge by logic than by instincts. |
| C．First impressions tend to last more often than not. |
| D．Profiles provide more information than you have imagined. |
The underlined word “dominate” is closest in meaning to .
| A．determine | B．change |
| C．cover | D．acquire |
We can conclude from the article that ______.
| A．first impressions never go wrong |
| B．it’s difficult to change a wrong first impression |
| C．it takes a long time to form a first impression |
| D．first impressions are easy to change after people know each other better |
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