All bookings made before 12 September will receive free travel insurance for
the entire family! ** Insurance is issued by Live Life Insurance Group.
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for departures from 5 to 11 September
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** Terms and conditions apply.
One of the benefits mentioned in, the advertisement is .
| A．a free flight to any destination in the world |
| B．30% off any book purchased at Ruby Bookstore |
| C．a discount on any course at Tanya Language School |
| D．a free bowl of dessert at any restaurant at the airport |
Which of the following bookings may receive the most benefits?
| A． Booking date Departure date September 13 September 18 |
| B． Booking date Departure date August 15 September 4 |
| C． Booking date Departure date September 2 September 12 |
| D． Booking date Departure date August 16 September 8 |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the advertisement?
| A．Club members enjoy free travel insurance for any flight. |
| B．You need to pay $50 to sign up a child under the age of 12 for the club. |
| C．The advertisement is intended for students of all ages. |
| D．Any child must be accompanied by at least one paying adult. |
Where is the passage probably taken from _____________?
| A．A magazine. | B．A newspaper. |
| C．A report. | D．A website. |
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's tummy.
The pregnancy progresses normally for Karen. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital.
The little girl gets worse. The doctor tells the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby — now they plan a funeral.
Michael, keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. However, Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. “If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive.” She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into ICU. The head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now! " The mother, the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”
Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm and steady.
"You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away "
The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr.
Keep on singing, Michael. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse as well as Karen.
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next, day — the very next day — the little girl is well enough to go home!
NEVER GIVE UP THE ONE WE LOVE!How did Michal’s feel when he knew that he was going to have a sister?
| A．indifferent. | B．worried. |
| C．expectant. | D．disappointed. |
The doctor recommended the family ___________.
| A．get ready for the worst result. |
| B．wait for the hope in the near future. |
| C．prepare much more money for the infant. |
| D．prepare for another chance in other hospitals. |
Which word can best replace the underlined word in Paragraph 4?
| A．pointed. | B．yelled. |
| C．whispered. | D．ignored. |
What happened when Michael sang to his little sister?
| A．The little baby responded to his song and woke up immediately. |
| B．The baby heard the song and burst into tears. |
| C．The baby’s physical signs disappeared eventually. |
| D．The baby recovered from the dangerous state of coma gradually. |
How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question，as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.
There are now more than a thousand genetic(基因的)tests，for everything from baldness to breast cancer，and the list is growing．Question is do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance，Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson，one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’(老年痴呆症)．
“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease，that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious，through which you see the rest of your 1ife as you wait for that disease to hit you．It could really mess you up．”Said Dr．Robert Green，a Harvard geneticist.
“Every ache and pain，”Smith suggested，could be understood as“the beginning of the e nd．”“That’s right．If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer's disease，then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot，you think the disease has started．”
Dr．Green has been thinking about this issue for years．He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s．It was thought that people who got bad news would，for lack of a better medical term，freak out．But Green and his team found that there was “no significant difference”between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives．In fact，most people think they can handle it．People who ask for the information usually can handle the information，good or bad，said Green．The first paragraph is meant to _________________．
| A．ask some questions | B．introduce the topic |
| C．satisfy readers，curiosity | D．describe an academic fact |
Which of the following is true of James Watson?
| A．He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests. |
| B．He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease． |
| C．He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease. |
| D．He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease． |
According to Paragraphs 3 and 4，if a person is at a higher genetic risk，it is ____________.
| A．advisable not to let him know |
| B．impossible to hide his disease |
| C．better to inform him immediately |
| D．necessary to remove his anxiety |
The underlined part“freak out”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _____________.
| A．break down | B．drop out |
| C．leave off | D．turn away |
The study led by Dr．Green indicates that people ________________.
| A．prefer to hear good news |
| B．tend to find out the truth |
| C．can accept some bad news |
| D．have the right to be informed |
Researchers have developed new software using smart phones’GPS and imaging abilities that determine the exact location of distant objects as well as monitor the speed and direction of moving objects．The software could eventually allow smart phone-armed soldiers to target the location of their enemies．On the home front，the software could be used by everyone，including golfers judging distance to the green and biologists documenting the location of a rare animal without disturbing it．
“The great advantage of a Smartphone is that it provides so many tools in a single，readily available，relatively inexpensive package，”said Qia Wang，a doctoral student who led the development of the software．“For example，on the battlefield，a soldier needs a rangefinder，compass，GPS and other tools to get information before calling in an air strike．With our software，the soldier can have all those instruments in one device that can be purchased off the shelf．When that soldier returns from War，she can use the same Software to protect her family by clocking a speeder near her children’s school and catching the criminal on video．”
Wang and his colleagues developed their software to locate and track：
Targets of known size—when the size of the target is known．a single image is enough to pinpoint the target’s location．
Targets of unknown size—If the exact size of a target is unknown，the software uses two images to triangulate the location of the target·
Moving targets—By taking a short video of a moving target，the smartphone software can calculate how fast the target is moving and in what direction it is going.
“Currently，our software is limited by the physical abilities of smartphone hardware，but the devices are improving rapidly，”Wang said．“We expect that improvements in GPS accuracy，battery life and camera resolution will allow our software to make even more accurate observations．”．From Paragraph 1 we can know that the new software can_______.
| A．determine the speed of moving objects |
| B．1ocate objects in the distance exactly |
| C．defend soldiers against their enemies |
| D．help biologists protect rare animal |
．The example given by Qia Wang is meant to ________________.
| A．make an advertisement |
| B．describe the software briefly |
| C．show the benefits of the software |
| D．present the functions of smartphones |
．How does the software calculate the speed of a moving object?
| A．By taking a short video． | B．By locating its position. |
| C．By taking a single image． | D．By measuring real-life size. |
．What’s Qia Wang’s attitude towards the future of the software?
| A．Casual． | B．Optimistic． |
| C．Cautious． | D．Flexible |
．What is the best title of the text?
| A．Qia Wang，a Talented Doctoral Student |
| B．Use Smartphones to Their Full Potential |
| C．Targeting and Tracking With Smartphones |
| D．Smartphone-armed Soldiers on the Battlefield |
Many years ago，a French naturalist，the Count de Buffon，wrote some books about natural history．The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them．Some critics said，“Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist．”
Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World．It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant．
This troubled Thomas Jefferson．He too was a naturalist，as well as a farmer，inventor，historian，writer and politician．He had seen the natural wonders of Europe．To him，they were no more important than those of the New World．
In 1788，Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state，Virginia．While writing，he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of the Count de Buffon．At that moment．Jefferson created a new word—belittle．He said．“The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic．”
Noah Webster，the American word expert，liked this word．He put it in this English language dictionary in 1806，“Belittle—to make small，unimportant．”
Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it．In 1797，the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported．“He is an honorable man，”the paper wrote，“so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please．”
In 1872，a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word．He said，“Belittle has no chance of becoming English．And as more critical writers of America，like those of Britain，feel no need of it，the sooner it is forgotten，the better．”
This expert failed to kill the word．Today．belittle is used where the English language is spoken．Why did Thomas Jefferson disagree with the Count de Buffon?
| A．The Count said something silly about the Atlantic． |
| B．The Count wasn’t a true scientist in natural history． |
| C．The Count was a poet from a different country． |
| D．The Count belittled the natural wonders in America． |
We can infer that Jefferson created the word“belittle”out of his ___________．
| A．anger | B．excitement |
| C．kindness | D．responsibility |
From the text we can know that ______________．
| A．all critics thought little of the Count de Buffon |
| B．Europe has better wonders than the New World |
| C．the word“belittle”survived from disagreements |
| D．word experts can change the future of a new word |
Which of the following is true of the word“belittle”?
| A．It is gradually accepted by people． |
| B．It was invented by the Count de Buffon． |
| C．It was used to describe nature． |
| D．The Independent Chronicle made it popular． |
What is the main idea of the text?
| A．How the word“belittle”came into being． |
| B．The argument about natural wonders． |
| C．Every word has a long history behind． |
| D．Noah Webster supported Jefferson’s idea． |
As the new semester begins，millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper-or，more likely，how best to delay that paper．
Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer from it．They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space，eating snacks，surfing the Internet，watching videos and looking at their pretty peers sitting around them，who，most likely，are doing nothing either．
Paralyzed by their habit to procrastinate，they write micro blogs about their fears，asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue．But this does nothing to solve their problems．
According to a recent report by the BBC，95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are procrastinators，complicating their lives with their continual delaying of tasks．
Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior，but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong．Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure．Pelling says this is nonsense，as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time．
She says the behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel flustered and ashamed，inconveniences others，and annoys loved ones．
Fortunately，social seientists have made tireless efforts to understand this behavioral shortcoming and offer strategies to control it．Piers Steel，a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation，believes humankind is“designed”to procrastinate．Nevertheless，he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand．
The first one is obvious：Break the task down into small pieces and work your way through them methodically．
The second is clever：Give a trusted friend a sum of money and tell them that if you don’t complete the task you have undertaken by a specific time，they can keep it or donate it to a cause you hate.．What does the underlined word“Procrastination” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．A bad habit of putting work or tasks off． |
| B．A thief who steals time and money in college. |
| C．A college student who learns nothing． |
| D．A study way of doing nothing in the library. |
．Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
| A．College students can have their papers written if they delay them． |
| B．Many students don’t know what to do in the library． |
| C．Students can’t solve their procrastination by writing micro blogs． |
| D．20％of the procrastinators make their life complicated． |
．According to Rowan Pelling，we can learn that procrastinators ____________.
| A．can find reasonable excuses for their behavior |
| B．are able to work best under pressure |
| C．are more likely to avoid mistakes at work |
| D．may upset themselves and their loved ones more frequently |
．Which of the following may Piers Steel support?
| A．Human beings are not born to be procrastinators． |
| B．Complete your tasks or work step by step． |
| C．Give your trusted friend money and ask him to help you finish your tasks． |
| D．You can’t control procrastination but you can avoid it． |
．What’s the best title of the text?
| A．Who steals my time? |
| B．The solutions to procrastination |
| C．I’ll do it tomorrow，I swear! |
| D．Don’t do nothing! |
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