A little stream（小溪） ran down from a high mountain through many villages and forests．Then it reached a desert．"I went through so many difficulties．I should have no problem crossing the desert，"she thought．As she started，she found herself slowly vanishing（消失）into the sand．After many tries，she still failed．"Maybe I can't reach the ocean，"she said sadly to herself．
At this time，a deep voice said，"If wind can cross the desert，so can a river．"It was the voice of the desert．But the little stream answered，"That's because the wind can fly，but I can not．""That's because you can't give up what you are．Let yourself evaporate（蒸发）into the wind and it can take you across me，"said the desert．"Give up what I am now？No!No!"The little stream could not accept this idea．"The wind can carry the vapor（蒸汽）across the desert and let it leave as rain．The rain will form a river again，"said the desert．"And whether you're a river or vapor，your nature never changes．"After hearing this，the little stream went into the open arms of the wind．It carried her to the next stage of her life．
The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream．If you want to go through difficulties in your life to head for success，you should also change the way you are．Answer the following questions according to what you read．
81．Did the little stream want to reach the ocean or the desert at last？
82．Was the little stream able to cross the desert at first？
83．Who gave the advice to the little stream？
84．What did the little Stream do after hearing the desert's words？
85．What can you realize from the experience of the little stream in this passage？ ．
Do you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? Normally the women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent（聪明的） than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain is made up of “grey matter” and “white matter”. While men have more of the white matter, the amount（数量）of “thinking” brain is almost the same in both men and women.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls may learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of different information at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes（性别）. As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的）tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿）are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children when they are very young. A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would ask for help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 1?
| A．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain. |
| B．Men’s brain is 10% less than women’s. |
| C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter. |
| D．Men and women have the same amount of white matter. |
What can you infer from Paragraphs 2 and 3?
| A．Men have weaker spatial abilities. |
| B．Women do not need to tell directions. |
| C．Women prefer doing many things at a time. |
| D．Women do many jobs at a time better than men. |
What can you learn from Paragraph 4?
| A．Our children needed more spatial skills. |
| B．Women may have more feelings than men. |
| C．Young boys may be stronger than young girls. |
| D．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills. |
The passage is mainly about _______.
| A．ways of being more intelligent |
| B．differences between men and women |
| C．studies on brains between two sexes |
| D．studies on white matter and grey matter |
The rising costs of health care have become a problem for many countries in the world. To deal with this problem, it is reported that a big part of the government’s health budge（预算）has been used for health education and disease prevention instead of treatment. Actually, many kinds of diseases are preventable in many ways and preventing a disease is usually much cheaper than treating it. For example, people could avoid catching a cold if they dressed warmly when the weather starts getting cold. But many people get sick because they fail to do so, and have to spend money seeing a doctor.
Daily habits like eating more healthy food would have kept millions of families from becoming bankrupt（破产）if the patients had taken ways for early prevention. For example, keeping a balanced diet（均衡饮食）, such as not consuming too much animal fat and trying to have enough vegetables and fruits, seems to be quite important.
One very effective and costless way of prevention is regular（定期的）exercise, which is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise, such as running, walking, and playing sports is a good way to make people feel better.
In addition, health education plays a key role in improving people’s health. By giving people more information about health, countries could help people understand the importance of disease prevention and ways to achieve it. For example, knowing one’s family medical history is an effective way to help keep healthy. Information about health problems among close relatives will make them aware of what they should do to prevent certain diseases through lifestyle changes, which will work before it is too late.
However, paying more attention to disease prevention does not mean medical treatment is unimportant. After all, prevention and treatment are just two different means toward the same effect. In conclusion, we could save money on health care and treat patients more successfully if our country spends more money on health prevention and education. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “consuming” in Paragraph 2?
| A．Avoiding. | B．Producing. | C．Eating. | D．Cooking. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Health or Illness? | B．Exercise or Illness? |
| C．Prevention or Education? | D．Prevention or Treatment? |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．more health education should be given |
| B．dressing warmly can prevent diseases |
| C．a balanced diet is cheaper than regular exercise |
| D．the government’s health budget should be increased |
Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket - anything with a round ball, I was useless,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year he met John Ridgway and started to work as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of adventure（冒险） in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, he decided that this would be his future.
In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition （探险）towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite（冻伤）, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his sled up and over the rocky mountains.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change. What changed Saunders according to Paragraph 2?
| A．A friend’s words. | B．A mountain bike. |
| C．His 18th birthday gift. | D．His first marathon. |
What did Saunders do in 2001?
| A．He decided to build up his body. |
| B．He met John Ridgway in Scotland. |
| C．He worked as an instructor at school. |
| D．He took an adventure to the North Pole. |
What does the story mainly tell us about Saunders?
| A．He is a success in sports. | B．He is the youngest British skier. |
| C．He is Ridgway’s best student. | D．He is a good instructor at school. |
| Stuck on a desert island（被困荒岛）？ |
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| http://www.TalkingPoints.com/ Started on 23rd April by Steve |
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| Post 1 Steve USA |
Hi, everyone. What would you miss most if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, I’d probably miss the rain. What about you? |
| Post 2 Tomas Germany |
Good question. Steve, I think I’d miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I’d miss the food most. |
| Post 3 Miko Japan |
It would have to be music. I couldn’t live without my music. I wouldn’t miss going to school at all! |
| Past 4 Jayne UK |
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned their family? I’d be lost without my husband and two kids. They’re the most important for me. |
| Post 5 Jaime Mexico |
Hi, I would miss the Internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I’d also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes. |
Who would miss his or her family most?
| A．Steve. | B．Tomas. | C．Jayne | D．Jaime. |
Miko would feel bad if there was no ______.
| A．rain | B．food | C．family | D．music |
How many of them mentioned that they would miss food?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
People cannot reach an agreement on the use of science and technology. For example, will radiation from electronic equipment destroy the environment? Should medical scientists change gene structures to prevent genetic disease or to create “more perfect” human beings? While people are arguing about these and others, technology continues to influence our everyday lives—the home, health and education, entertainment and communication, and so on.
Some people carry on active social lives with computers —their own or the ones in public places like cafes, social centers, libraries, and so on. Communicating with others in chat rooms, computer users can get to know people they might never meet in traditional ways. With live online video connections, two people with cameras in their computers can see and talk to each other from separate places.
With modern telephone technology, most people stopped writing lettters—especially personal letters and notes. But now, writing to communicate has returned in electronic form, or e-mail, which is a way of sending messages from one computer to another. For some computer users, the wish to communicate intelligently or creatively with others makes them want to write better.
Computer technology has also made it possible to run a house electronically. From turning lights on and off to starting the coffee and cooking the hot meal, computers are taking care of people at home. Many modern machines have computer chips that allow their owners to program them. For instance, you can “instruct” a microwave oven how to cook a dish. Most entertainment equipment operates with computer technology too. Computers can even start cars automatically so that on cold winter mornings you can get into a warmed-up vehicle and drive off.
Although much of the technology in our everyday lives has good effects, there are some uses that raise questions. For example, are interactive media ( i.e., a combination of television, telephone, and computer) going to control minds, cause people to forget about family life and personal relationships? What effects will the genentic engineering of food have on people’s health? High-tech medical treatments can make a person live a much longer life, but can they improve the health and happiness of human beings? Only time will tell, but, in the meantime, science and technology will continue to move forward. What does the underlined word “ chips” mean?
| A．thin pieces of potatoes | B．small holes | C．small pieces of wood | D．central parts |
We can know from the passage that _________.
| A．technology never stops changing our everyday lives |
| B．with computers each of us can live a comfortable life |
| C．people can do more activities with computers |
| D．the more you use computers, the better you might write |
What can we infer from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
| A．The longer you live, the happier you are. |
| B．High-tech medical treatments can’t improve our health and happiness. |
| C．High-tech medical treatments can’t help us with everything. |
| D．The writer questioned high-tech medical treatments somehow. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Science and New Technology | B．Computers Change Our Lives |
| C．Everyday Uses of Technology | D．Only Time Will Tell |
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