Like lots of other girls and boys，when Lisa Cao was a kid，she used to watch the Olympics. “I always wanted to be good at sport and I found athletic potential in my body”， the New York City citizen tells her friends. But there was no sport available so she took up piano lessons. Then，at the age of 15，she decided to drop the lessons and put her athletic potential to the test with running. At age 18，Lisa Cao ran her first-ever marathon in New York City. And now，the 27-year-old has 54 marathons (26. miles) and ultramarathons (100miles) under her belt.
What does it take to be an ultramarathoner? A lot of devotion，even when difficulties occur sometimes. “Making time for running is really hard when life is so busy，” she says. “There’s a big work-life balance that I have to keep. I have to wake up earlier on the weekends. And oh，the potential for excuses! With NYC’s wild winters as of late，it’s easy to blame the weather，roll over in bed and put off a solid run. I have a fix for this，though，” she says. “Cute clothes. With the horrible weather， I bought cute clothes as motivation to run and actually wear them. ”
While she’s training during low season in the winter，Lisa Cao tries to run a “base” of 20 to 30 miles per week to stay prepared. During high season in the spring and summer，she’ll run around 30 to 40 miles，but she also gets a lot of quality miles from her races.
When did Lisa Cao run her first marathon?
| A．At the age of 27. |
| B．When she was 15 years old. |
| C．Three years after she began running. |
| D．Nine years after she dropped her piano lessons. |
What made Lisa Cao have the desire of joining in sports?
| A．Being different from other kids of her age. |
| B．Wanting to join in the Olympics. |
| C．Having no interest in piano lessons. |
| D．Having athletic potential. |
Why does Lisa Cao buy beautiful clothes in terrible weather?
| A．To have a better sleep. |
| B．To motivate herself to keep running. |
| C．To protect herself from any harm. |
| D．To save time for further training. |
Where is the text probably taken from?
| A．A sport website |
| B．A science book. |
| C．A college poster |
| D．A football magazine. |
A study of more than five million books, both fiction and non-fiction, has found a marked decline in the use of emotional words over time. The researchers form the University of Bristol used Google Ngram Viewer, a facility for finding the frequency of terms in scanned books, to search for more than 600 particular words identified as representing anger, dislike, fear, joy, sadness and surprise.
They found that almost all of the categories showed a drop in these “mood words” over time. Only in the category of fear was there an increase in usage.
“It is a steady and continuous decrease,” said Dr Alberto Acerbi. He assumed that the result might be explained by a change in the position occupied by literature, in a crowded media landscape. “One thing could be that in parallel to books the 20th century saw the start of other media. Maybe these media — movies, radio, drama, had more emotional content than books.”
Although both joy and sadness followed the general downwards trend, the research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that they also exhibited another interesting behaviour：the ratio (比率) between the two varied greatly, apparently mirroring historical events.
During the Roaring Twenties the joy-to-sadness ratio reached a peak that would not occur again until before the recent financial crash. But the ratio plunged at the height of the Second World War. Nevertheless, the researchers held a reserved opinion about their claim that their result reflected wider social trends. In the paper, they even argue that the reverse could be true.
“It has been suggested, for example, that it was the suppression (压抑) of desire in ordinary Elizabethan English life that increased demand for writing ‘filled with romance and sex’… perhaps,” they conclude, “songs and books may not reflect the real population any more than catwalk models reflect the average body.”
The word "decline" (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to_________.
| A．increase | B．rise | C．decrease | D．change |
A study of more than five million books indicated a decrease in “mood words” over time except_______.
| A．in the use of the words of historical events |
| B．in the category of fear |
| C．in the category of literature |
| D．in the category of joy |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．A study of emotional words. |
| B．A study about vocabulary in literature. |
| C．Reasons for the use of emotional words decreases in literature. |
| D．A study on increase in the category of fear. |
“Don't worry if you have problems!” It is easy to say until you are in the midst of a really big one. The only people who don't have troubles are gathered in little neighborhoods. Most communities have at least one. We call them cemeteries. If you're breathing, you have difficulties. It's the way of life. And believe it or not, most of your problems may actually be good for you! Let me explain.
Maybe you have heard the Great Barrier Reef, stretching some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Tour guides regularly take visitors to view the reef.
On one tour, a traveler asked the guide an interesting question. "I notice that the lagoon (泻湖) side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant and colorful," the traveler observed. Why is this?
The guide gave an interesting answer, "The coral around the lagoon side is in still water, with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. The coral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves and storms. It has to fight for its survival every day. As it is challenged and tested, it changes and adapts. It grows healthy. It grows strong. And it reproduces."
Then he added, “That's the way it is with every living organism.”
That's how it is with people. Challenged and tested, we come alive! Like coral pounded by the sea, we grow. Physical demands can cause us to grow stronger. Mental and emotional stress can produce tough-mindedness and resiliency. Spiritual testing can produce strength of character and faithfulness. So, you have problems? No problem! Just tell yourself, "There I grow again!"
Remember: A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.Who has no problems according to the passage?
| A．The persons who are very famous. |
| B．The persons who have much money. |
| C．The persons who have been born. |
| D．The persons who are living in the cemeteries. |
In the writer's opinion, ________.
| A．problems bring us much trouble |
| B．problems have two sides, good or bad |
| C．we should try to stay away from any trouble |
| D．the fewer things we do, the less trouble we'll meet |
The reason why lagoon side of the reef has no life is _______.
| A．it hasn't got any sunlight |
| B．it has less energy than others |
| C．it never faces any challenge and tests |
| D．it has no work to do every day |
After reading this passage, we should ________.
| A．regard any problem as challenge |
| B．learn from the lagoon side |
| C．worry your problem |
| D．enter into cemeteries |
Do dogs understand us?
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before.
The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (品种)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can't talk back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!From paragraph 2 we know that _______ .
| A．animals are as clever as human beings |
| B．dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees |
| C．chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills |
| D．dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children |
Both experiments show that_______ .
| A．Rico is smart enough to get all commands right |
| B．Rico can recognize different things including toys |
| C．Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics |
| D．Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities. |
| B．Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training. |
| C．The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects. |
| D．Rico is born to understand its owner's commands. |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A．To train your dog. |
| B．To talk to your dog. |
| C．To be friendly to your dog. |
| D．To be careful with your dog. |
Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Exhibition of Shakespeare’s World
Welcome to the world-famous house where William Shakespeare was born in l564 and where he grew up. The property(房产)remained in the ownership of Shakespeare’s family until 1806 .The House has welcomed visitors traveling from all over the world ,for over 250 years.
◆Enter through the Visitors’ Centre and see the highly-praised exhibition Shakespeare's World，a lively and full introduction to the life and work of Shakespeare.
◆Stand in the rooms where Shakespeare grew up.
◆Discover examples of furniture and needlework from Shakespeare’s period.
◆Enjoy the traditional(传统的)English garden，planted with trees and flower mentioned in the poet’s works.
The Birthplace is within easy walking distance of all the car parks shown on the map；nearest is Windsor Street(3 minutes’ Walk).
The House may present difficulties but the Visitors’ Centre, its exhibition．and the garden are accessible (可进入的)to wheelchair users.
The Shakespeare Coffee House (opposite the Birthplace).How much is the admission for a family of two grown-ups and two children？
| A．￡9.80． | B．￡12.00． |
| C．￡14.20． | D．￡16.40． |
Where is the nearest parking place to Shakespeare’s Birthplace？
| A．Behind the exhibition hall． |
| B．Opposite the Visiturs’Centre． |
| C．At Windsor Street． |
| D．Near the Coffee House． |
A wheelchair user may need help to enter_________．
| A．the House | B．the garden |
| C．the Visitors’Centne | D．the exhibition hall |
An old friend from California called from the airport to tell me that he had arrived. I was not able to leave the office, but I had made plans for his arrival. After explaining where my new house was, I told him that I had left the key under the doormat (门垫). Since I knew it would be pretty late before I could get home, I suggested that he make himself at home and help himself to anything that was in the refrigerator.
Two hours later my friend phoned me from the house. At the moment, he said, he was listening to some of my records after having had a delicious meal. Now, he said, he was drinking a glass of orange juice. When I asked him if he had had any difficulty finding the house, he answered that the only problem was that he had not been able to find the key under the doormat, but luckily, the living room window by the apple tree had been left open and he had climbed in through the window. I listened to all this in great surprise. There is no apple tree outside my window, but there is one by the living room window of my next door neighbor's house!An old friend of mine called ______.
| A．to tell me to meet him at the airport |
| B．to tell me about his arrival |
| C．to ask me to leave the office |
| D．to ask me to make plans for his arrival |
My friend climbed into the room because ______ .
| A．there was an apple tree outside |
| B．the living room window was left open |
| C．he had difficulty opening the door |
| D．he hadn't found the key |
My friend telephoned me two hours later ______ .
| A．from my home | B．at the airport |
| C．in his office | D．from my neighbor's house |
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