高中英语阅读理解

If your preschoolers turn up their noses at carrots or celery, a small reward like a sticker for taking even a taste may help get them to eat previously disliked foods, a UK study said.
Though it might seem obvious that a reward could encourage young children to eat their vegetables, the idea is actually controversial, researchers wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. That’s because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked, said Jane Wardle, a researcher at University College London who worked on the study. Verbal praise, such as “Brilliant! You’re a great vegetable taster,” did not work as well.
The study found t hat when parents gave their small children a sticker each time they took a “tiny taste” of a disliked vegetable, it gradually changed their attitudes. The children were also willing to eat more of the vegetables-either carrots, celery, cucumber, red pepper, cabbage or sugar snap peas-in laboratory taste tests, the study said.
Researchers randomly assigned（分派）173 families to one of these groups. In one, parents used stickers to reward their children each time they took a tiny sample of a disliked vegetable. A second group of parents used verbal praise. The third group, where parents used no special vegetable-promoting methods, served as a “control”.
Parents in the reward groups offered their children a taste of the “target” vegetable every day of 12 days, Soon after, children in the sticker group were giving higher ratings to the vegetables-and were willing to eat more in the research lab, going from an average of 5 grams at the start to about 10 grams after the 12-day experience. The turnaround also seemed to last, with preschoolers in the sticker group still willing to eat more of the once disliked vegetable three months later.
Why didn’t the verbal praise work? Wardle said the parents’ words may have seemed “insincere” to their children.
The purpose of writing the passage is       .

A．to introduce a practical method of making children eat vegetables

B．to show the procedure of an experiment on children’s diet

C．to explain why children hate to eat vegetables

D．to present a proper way of vernal praise to parents

The underlined word “backfire” in Paragraph 2 probably means “           ”.

A．shoot from behind the back

B．make a lire in the hackyard

C．produce an unexpected result

D．achieve what was planned

According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．Most children are born to dislike carrots or celery.

B．It remains a question whether rewarding is a good way to get children to eat vegetables.

C．Oral praise wokrs quite well in encouraging children to eat vegetables.

D．Children in the sticker group will never lose interest in eating vegetables.

How did the researchers get their conclusion from the experiment?

A．By comparison.	B．By asking questions.
C．By giving examples,	D．By discussion.

What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Children like rewards, not verbal praise.

B．Parents should praise their children in a sincere tone.

C．Children are difficult to inspire.

D．Parents should give up verbal praise.

A California man who was feeling sick almost died recently from a shocking cause.
26-year-old Luis Ortiz went to a hospital because of a headache and nausea(恶心，作呕). When doctors examined him, they were shocked to find a tapeworm larva(绦虫幼虫) in his brain. The story gets stranger. The larva was still alive.
The creature had caused a cyst(囊肿) to form inside his head. The cyst was restricting the flow of liquids to different areas of his brain. The situation was so serious that doctors said they had to perform an emergency operation to remove the larva.
A doctor who operated on Ortiz told him he had only 30 minutes to live. When the doctor pulled the worm out of his head, it was still moving.
Luis Ortiz was a student at California State University in Sacramento. He began experiencing headaches in late August. But Ortiz said he did not think the headaches were serious.
In September, he visited a friend and his parents in another city. That is when the pain got worse. His mother saw Ortiz throwing up and took him to a hospital emergency room.
The doctors saved Ortiz's life. However, the surgery also affected him. Ortiz had to drop out of school and move back home. For now, he is not permitted to work or drive a vehicle.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. has about 1,000 reported cases of tapeworms each year. The CDC adds that tapeworms are more common in developing countries with poor public health systems.
The best way to avoid a tapeworm infection (感染)is to wash fruits and vegetables. Also, make sure meat is cooked thoroughly. The CDC suggests cooking all meats to an internal temperature of at least 63 degrees Celsius.
What caused Luis Ortiz to feel sick and headaches?

A．Dirty food eaten in August.

B．Travelling for a long way,

C．A living creature in his brain.

D．Uncooked meat eaten by him.

If the doctors didn’t have an emergency operation on him , Luis Ortiz was likely to ________    _ .

A．die of cancer

B．live for only half an hour

C．finish studying in school

D．pass the driving tests

How should people avoid infecting tapeworms?

A．By washing fruits and vegetable.

B．By boiling plates and bowls before meals.

C．By cooking meats to at least 63 °C outside,

D．By improving the development of economy.

What did the writer think of the cause of Luis Ortiz’s disease?

A．Quite frightening.	B．Very dangerous.
C．Rather puzzling.	D．Extremely surprising.

Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there's a whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas;
     1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?
There are isolating（使孤立）jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.
2) How do you handle change?
Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.
3) Do you enjoy working with computers？
I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.
4) What type of work environment do you enjoy？
This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.
5) How do you like to get paid?
Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.
Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better.
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Isolating jobs usually drive people mad.

B．Interactive jobs make people shy easily.

C．Extreme people tend to work with others.

D．Almost everyone has a tendency in jobs.

What does the underlined sentence in paragraph one mean?

A．Before you select your job, you should assess your skills and match them with your position

B．There are more important things than assessing skills and match them with the position when you select job.

C．Nothing is important than assessing skills and match them with the position when you select job.

D．You should ignore your skills when you select job.

What is the missing word about a job search in the following chart?

A．Design.

B．Changes.

C．Cooperation.

D．Hobbies.

What is the best title for this passage?

A．Lifestyles and Job Pay	B．Jobs and Environment
C．Job Skills and Abilities	D．Personalities and Jobs

Some children are natural-born bosses. They have a strong need to make decisions，manage their environment，and lead rather than follow. Stephen Jackson，a Year One student，“operates under the theory of what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine，” says his mother. “The other day I bought two new Star Wars light sabers (剑). Later，I saw Stephen with the two new ones while his brother was using the beat-up ones.”
“Examine the extended family，and you'll probably find a bossy grandparent，aunt，uncle or cousin in every generation. It's an inheritable trait，” says Russell Barkley，a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Other children who may not be particularly bossy can gradually gain dominance (支配地位) when they sense their parents are weak，hesitant，or in disagreement with each other.
Whether it's inborn nature or developed character at work，too much control in the hands of the young isn't healthy for children or the family. Fear is at the root of a lot of bossy behavior，says family psychologist John Taylor. Children，he says in his book From Defiance to Cooperation，“have secret feelings of weakness” and “a desire to feel safe.” It's the parents' role to provide that protection.
When a “boss child” doesn't learn limits at home，the stage is set for a host of troubles outside the family. The overly willful and unbending child may have trouble obeying teachers or coaches，for example，or trouble keeping friends. It can be pretty lonely as the top dog if no one likes your bossy ways.
“I see more and more parents giving up their power，” says Barkley，who has studied bossy behavior for more than 30 years. “They bend too far because they don't want to be as strict as their own parents were. But they also feel less confident about their parenting skills. Their kids，in turn，feel more anxious.”
Bossy children like Stephen Jackson_________.

A．make good decisions	B．show self-centeredness
C．lack care from others	D．have little sense of fear

The underlined phrase “inheritable trait” in Paragraph 2 means ___________.

A．inborn nature	B．developed character
C．accepted theory	D．particular environment

The study on bossy behavior implies that parents_________.

A．should give more power to their children

B．should be strict with their children

C．should not be so anxious about their children

D．should not set limits for their children

What is the passage mainly about？

A．How bossy behavior can be controlled.

B．How we can get along with bossy children.

C．What leads to children's bossy behavior.

D．What effect bossy behavior brings about.

Florence Nightingale was born in a rich family. When she was young she took lessons in music and drawing, and read great books. She also traveled a great deal with her mother and father. 
As a child she felt that visiting sick people was both a duty and a pleasure. She enjoyed helping them. 
At last mind was made up. “I’m going to be a nurse,” she decided. 
“Nursing isn’t the right work for a lady,” her father told her. 
“Then I will make it so,” she smiled. And she went to learn nursing in Germany and France. When she returned to England, Florence started a nursing home for home. During the Crimean War in 1854 she went with a group of thirty eight nurses to the front hospitals. What they saw there was terrible. Dirt and death were everywhere to be seen — and smelled. The officer there did not want any woman to tell him how to run a hospital, either. But the brave nurse went to work. 
Florence used her own money and some from friends to buy clothes, beds, medicine and food for the men. Her only pay was in smiles from the lips of dying soldiers. But they were more than enough for this kind woman. 
After she returned to England, she was honored for her services by Queen Victoria. But Florence said that her work had just begun. She raised money to build the Nightingale Home for Nurses in London. She also wrote a book on public health, which was printed in several countries. 
Florence Nightingale died at the age of ninety, still trying to serve others through her work as a nurse. Indeed, it is because of her that we honor nurses today. 
When she was a child, Florence ____ .

A．loved to travel very much

B．knew what her duty in life was

C．loved to help the sick people

D．was most interested in music and drawing

What made Florence make up her mind to become a nurse？

A．Her father’s support.

B．Her desire to help the sick.

C．Her education in Germany and France.

D．Her knowledge from reading great books.

During the Crimean War in 1854, Florence served in the front hospital where ____ . 

A．she earned a little money

B．work was very difficult

C．few soldiers died because of her work

D．she didn’t have enough food or clothes

The passage can best be described as ____ .

A．the life story of a famous woman

B．a description of the nursing work

C．an example of successful education

D．the history of nursing in England

Arthur Miller （1915-2005）is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20^th century. Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, attracted like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early l930s.
Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as symbol of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sympathy: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
Why did Arthur Miller’s father move to the USA?

A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.

B．He was attracted by the “Great American Dream”.

C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist.

D．His family business failed.

The play Death of a Salesman _______________.

A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world

B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company

C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller

D．focuses on the skills in doing business

What can we learn about Willy Loman?

A．He treats his employer badly.

B．He runs the Wagner Company.

C．He is a victim of the American system.

D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.

After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman __________.

A．achieved huge success

B．won the first Tony Award

C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen

D．was severely attacked by dramatists

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan sees an epidemic (流行病) sweeping across America’s farmland. It has little to do with the usual challenges, such as flood, rising fuel prices and crop-eating insects. The country’s farmers are getting older, and there are fewer people standing in line to take their place. National agricultural census (普查) figures show that the fastest-growing group of farmers is the part over 65. Merrigan is afraid the average age will be even higher when the 2012 statistics are completed.
Merrigan, a former college professor, is making stops at universities across the country in hopes of encouraging more students to think about careers in agriculture. Aside from trying to stop the graying of America’s farmers, her work is made tougher by a recent blog posting that put agriculture at No. 1 on a list of “useless” college degrees. Top federal agriculture officials are talking about the posting, and it has the attention of agricultural organizations across the country.
“There couldn’t be anything that’s more incorrect,” Merrigan said. “We know that there aren’t enough qualified graduates to fill the jobs that are out there in American agriculture.”
In addition, a growing world population that some experts predict will require 70% more food production by 2050, she said.
“I truly believe we’re at a golden age of agriculture. Global demand is at an all-time record high, and global supplies are at all-time record lows,” said Matt Rush, director of the Texas Farm Bureau. “Production costs are going to be valuable enough that younger people are going to have the opportunity to be involved in agriculture. “
The Department of Agriculture has programs aimed at developing more farmers and at increasing interest in locally grown food. The National Young Farmers’ Coalition has also been pushing for state and federal policy changes to make it easier for new farmers.
Ryan Best, president of Future Farmers of America, has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the country and visiting with high school students about careers in agriculture. The 21-year-old Best hopes his message --that this is a new time in agriculture-- will motivate the next generation to turn around the statistics. “Never before have we had the innovations (创新) in technology which have led to agriculture in this country being the most efficient it has ever been,” he said. “There’s really a place for everybody to fit in. “
What is the new challenge to American agriculture?

A．Fewer and older farmers.	B．Higher fuel prices.
C．More natural disasters.	D．Lower agricultural output.

Why is Merrigan visiting universities across the country?

A．To draw federal agriculture officials’ attention.

B．To select qualified agriculture graduates.

C．To clarify a recent blog posting.

D．To talk more students into farming careers.

According to Matt Rush, American agriculture will provide opportunities for younger people because ________.

A．the government will cover production costs

B．global food supplies will be even lower

C．investment in agriculture will be profitable

D．America will increase its food export

What do the underlined words “to turn around the statistics” in the last paragraph mean?

A．To re-analyze the result of the national census.

B．To increase agricultural production.

C．To bring down the average age of farmers.

D．To invest more in agriculture.

Dog Translation Products Coming to U. S.
A Japanese toy maker declares that they have developed a gadget that translates dog barks into human language and plans to begin selling the gadget——under the name of Bowlingual——in U. S. pet stores and gift shops this summer.
Tokyo-based Takara Co. Ltd. says about 300, 000 of the dog translator gadgets have been sold since it was on sale in Japan late last year. It is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August. The United States is home to about 67 million dogs, more than six times the number in Japan.
"We know that the Americans love their dogs so much, so we don't think they will mind spending $ 120 on this product," the Takara marketing manager said during an interview at a recent pet products conference in Atlanta.
Regarded as one of the coolest inventions of 2002 by Time magazine, Bowlingual is made up of a 3 - inch long wireless microphone that is fastened to a dog collar and sends out sounds to a small console (控制台) that is connected to a database (数据库). The console divides each bark into six emotional types——happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, threat and desire——and shows common phrases, such as "You're ticking me off," that fit the dog's emotional state.
Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget in cooperation with famous sound experts and animal behaviorists.
One thing that does appear certain is that the markets for animal translation products will likely remain a dog's world since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats. "They are too unpredictable (反复无常) , " the marketing manager said.
This passage mainly tells us that Bowlingual ___________.

A．was invented in Japan	B．has developed quickly
C．will be sold in America	D．sells well for its price

The underlined word "they" in the last paragraph refers to ___________.

A．markets

B．products

C．plans

D．cats

When was this passage most probably published?

A．In the winter of 2002.	B．In the spring of 2003.
C．In the summer of 2002.	D．In the autumn of 2003.

From the passage, we can see that Takara Co. Ltd. is ___________ the sale of its new product.

A．proud of	B．satisfied with
C．confident of	D．worried about

Thousands of hungry birds left the countryside of Britain in the bitter winter to find food and warmth in urban gardens. The move included species such as the redwing and the fieldfare, almost unknown outside rural areas
The hard situation of farmland birds has been revealed in the latest survey of bird populations from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds released today.
The redwing has an obvious stripe over the eye and a red flash on the flanks (侧翼), while the fieldfare has a grey head, a peach under­belly, and a distinctive dark band on the tail.
Graham Madge, the society's spokesman, says, “For many urban birdwatchers the sight of these striking species is a real treat. Many people have never imagined there being such an amazing chance.”
“Frozen ground prevented them from getting food in the countryside and they have been saved from starvation in towns，” he added.
He says the unusual sight this year somewhat tempered the frustration felt at the suffering of small garden birds such as robins and wrens. These birds are sensitive to cold and must eat almost continuously to stay alive. Data from people who took part in the society's Big Garden Birdwatch recorded sightings in 280，000 gardens during the last weekend of January, with the goldcrest down 75 percent, the long­tailed tit down 27 percent, and the coal tit down 20 percent. The study highlighted the need for food to be left out for birds during winter.
The redwing and the fieldfare are relatively unknown outside the eastern part of the country. The research shows, however, that they moved to the other side of the country where the climate is generally mild in winter and that many for the first time have reached Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. The number of redwing sightings was up 185 percent, those of the fieldfare 73, and of the yellowhammer 68.
Another surprise garden “guest” this year was the blackcap. This robin­sized, silver­grey bird was rare in Britain 50 years ago, but increasing numbers now arrive each year from Germany and Austria.
How did the urban birdwatchers probably feel when seeing the hungry birds?

A．Excited.	B．Worried.
C．Annoyed.	D．Motivated.

Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “tempered”？

A．Prevented.	B．Relieved.
C．Explained.	D．Increased.

According to the passage, Cornwall is perhaps ________.

A．a village in eastern Britain

B．a city in western Britain

C．a village in western Britain

D．a city in eastern Britain

What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The tough living conditions of some British birds.

B．The various species of Britain's garden birds.

C．The changes of some bird's population in Britain.

D．Unusual bird visitors in Britain's urban gardens.

Television has turned 88 years old on September 7, 2015, and it has never looked better. In its youth, television was a piece of furniture with a tiny, round screen showing unclear pictures of low-budget programs. In spite of its shortcomings, it became popular. Between 1950 and 1963, the number of American families with a television jumped from 9% to 92% of the population.
As the audience got larger, the technology got better. Television sets became more reliable through the 1960s. The reception (接收效果) improved. The picture improved. The major networks started broadcasting programs in color.
Even greater improvements were coming according to Sanford Brown, who wrote an article for the Post in 1967. Surprisingly, just about every prediction he made in the article became a reality. For example: All sets in the not-distant future will be color instruments. He also predicted that TV sets would become smaller, simpler, more reliable and less expensive and may forever put the TV repairman out of work. Smaller sets do not, of course, mean smaller screens. TV engineers expect screens to get much bigger. However, today’s 3-D TV is even farther away, if it’s coming at all. There is some doubt whether the public would be eager to pay for it, in view of people’s cold reception given to 3-D movies.
But the technology with the greatest potential, according to Brown, was cable television (有线电视), which was still in its early stages then. As he predicted, the future of cable television was highly interactive (互动的). It wasn’t cable television that gave Americans their electronic connection to the world, however. It was the Internet. He even foresaw the future office: using picture phones, big-screen televisions for conferences, and computers providing information at the touch of a button.
Brown ever said, “The future of television is no longer a question of what we can invent. It’s a question of what we want.”
What can we infer about television sets in the 1960s?

A．They were very popular with Americans.

B．The reception showed no improvement.

C．They showed black-and-white pictures.

D．They were out of order now and then.

Which of the followings did Sanford Brown fail to predict?

A．Television’s good quality.

B．The invention of 3-D TV.

C．The future office’s model.

D．The potential of cable TV.

What is the text mainly about?

A．The shortcomings of television.

B．The bright future of television.

C．The development of television.

D．The invention of television.

If you have a bad habit of losing things, a new device that can be connected to any item that you might lose may be the way to solve your problem. The Tile, a small square linked up to your iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth, lets you see how close you are to the missing item, within a 50-to 150-foot range . If the item goes out of your phone’s 150-foot range, it can still be detected (发现) on other smartphones with the same app.
When you log into the app on your phone, it shows you, with green bars that increase or decrease, how far away you are from the Tile. You can also program it to make a sound when you get close to the Tile. And you can link up your phone with up to ten Tiles. And if your lost item — a dog, for example, or a stolen bike — goes out of your own phone’s 150-foot Bluetooth range, you can set it as a “lost item”. If any of the phones with the Tile app comes within the range of your lost item, a message will be sent to your own phone, reminding you of its position. The Tile app also has the function to remember where it last saw your Tile, so that you can easily find where you left it.
Since the Tiles use Bluetooth rather than GPS, they never run out of battery or need to be charged, and they last for one year before needing to be replaced. The app, which will come into the market this winter, works with iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPad Mini, iPad 3rd and 4th generation, and iPod 5th generation.
The Tile app can help you            .

A．find your missing items

B．use your phone more wisely

C．save your phone’s battery power

D．connect something to your phone

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The Tile needs to be charged after a year of use.

B．One smart phone can only be linked up to one Tile.

C．The Tile cannot work when linked up to a phone without Bluetooth.

D．A missing item can’t be found if it goes out of the needed range.

What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?

A．What the Tile app is.

B．How the Tile app works.

C．The advantages of the Tile app.

D．Why the Tile app was invented.

Where does this passage probably come from?

A．A science fiction novel.	B．An advertisement.
C．A personal diary.	D．A news report.

Typhoons (台风) in the northern part of the world have girls’ names.Sometimes they have very beautiful names.Rose is a pretty name but there was nothing pretty about Typhoon Rose.It was the worst typhoon to hit Hong Kong in ten years.
It began to rain in the morning of Monday, August 16th, 1971.At ten o’clock in the morning, Typhoon Rose was still 130 miles away but already the wind was blowing people’s umbrella away.The wind became stronger and stronger.The typhoon shelters (避风港) were soon full of boats.Ships that were too big to go inside the shelters put down more anchors (锚).Some very big ships went out to sea.It is safer for a big ship to be at sea in a typhoon because it cannot be blown onto rocks.Kai Tak Airport closed.No planes were able to take off or land.At 9:00 in the evening, all the lights went out.
No one slept well that night.It is difficult to sleep in such bad weather.
In Typhoon Rose, more than one hundred people died.229 people were hurt and 66 of these had to go to hospital.1500 lost their homes.The people of Hong Kong will not quickly forget Typhoon Rose!
What’s true according to the passage?

A．Typhoons all over the world have girls’ names.

B．Typhoons with pretty names are usually beautiful.

C．Typhoon Rose only hit Hong Kong.

D．For ten years, people in Hong Kong haven’t seen a worse typhoon than Typhoon Rose.

What’s the possible result of Typhoon Rose?

A．Lots of big shops were blown onto rocks.

B．More than two hundred people lost their lives and many more lost their homes.

C．People didn’t sleep well in such bad weather.

D．People turned off the lights at 9:00 in the evening.

The people of Hong Kong will not quickly forget Typhoon Rose because ____________.

A．it caused the terrible losses(损失)

B．they didn’t sleep well that night

C．Typhoon Rose wasn’t as pretty as its name

D．they couldn’t find their ships after the typhoon

Some big ships didn’t go inside the shelters because _______.

A．they had more anchors

B．it is safer outside

C．they were out at sea and they weren’t fast enough to reach the shelters when Typhoon Rose came

D．it was too expensive for big ships to go inside the shelters

This passage is mainly about ______.

A．the names of typhoons

B．typhoons in Hong King

C．Typhoon Rose

D．the typhoons

This summer, Monika Lutz’s life took an unusual turn. Instead of heading off to college, the high school graduate packed her bags for a Bengali jungle. Lutz, like a growing number of other young Americans, is taking a year off. Gap(间隔) years  are quite common in Britain and Australia, but they are just beginning to catch on in the U.S. Lutz, who grew up in Boulder, Colo., has put together a 14-month schedule that includes helping deliver solar power to some communities in India and interning (实习) for a fashion designer in Shanghai---experiences that are worlds away from the lecture halls and university dormitories that await other students. “I could not be happier,” she says.
Why are students attracted to the gap-year concept? According to new survey data from Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, education-policy experts and co-authors of The Gap-Year Advantage, the most common reason for this is to avoid burnout. “I felt like I was focused on college as a means to an end,” says Kelsi Morgan, an incoming Middlebury College freshman who spent last year interning for a judge in Tulsa, Okla., and teaching English at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The hope is that after a year out of the classroom, students will enter college more energized, focused and mature. That can be an advantage for colleges too. Robert Clagett, dean of admissions at Middlebury, did some research a few years ago and found that a single gap semester was the strongest predictor of academic success at his school.
Most experts recommend securing a spot in college before taking a gap year and warn against using the time off to lengthen your resume. “Most admissions folks can see right through that,” says Jim Jump, the academic dean of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va. But for students like Lutz, who, after getting rejected from five Ivies, decided to take time off, a gap year can help focus interests. Lutz now plans to apply mostly to non-Ivies that have strong marketing programs. “This experience has really opened my eyes to the opportunities the world has to offer,” she says.
But at least one education expert doesn’t want schools spreading the gap-year message. In a study that followed 11,000 members of the high school class of 1992 for eight years after graduation, Stefanie DeLuca, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, found that, all things being equal, those who delayed college by a year were 64% less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than those who didn’t. DeLuca did not say whether these students voluntarily started college late, but at the very least, her work indicates that taking a gap year doesn’t guarantee success. “I’m not going to say that time off does not have benefits,” says DeLuca. “But I think we should not be so enthusiastic.”
The students take gap years mainly because ______.

A．they want to be more unusual

B．they want to refresh themselves

C．some experts advise them to do so

D．their parents think it good for them

According to Lutz, the gap year has made her more ______.

A．energetic	B．relaxed
C．practical	D．enthusiastic

Stefanie DeLuca probably agrees that ______.

A．students should think twice before taking gap years

B．taking gap years enables students to achieve success

C．schools should encourage their students to take gap years

D．taking gap years increases students’ chances of getting a good job

What’s the author’s attitude towards gap years?

A．Sceptical.	B．Positive.
C．Disapproving.	D．Objective.

A Bite of China, featuring delicious Chinese food, has attracted countless viewers, and moved many to tears.
A Bite of China is a serious documentary providing a unique view of Chinese as well as the relations between people and food and between people and society from the view of food. The touching documentary reminds some people of their mother, and makes some realize that every grain comes from hard and laborious work. Some people see patriotism(爱国精神) in the documentary, and some consider it a great cultural export.
How did this documentary achieve a great influence beyond its subject matter in such a short time?
“It is not empty propaganda(宣传) about China’s splendid food culture. Instead, it shows the techniques used in making food and their production process as well as the lives of ordinary people, thus striking a chord(共鸣) with the audience,” an Internet user said. The success of the documentary should be owed to sincerity and reality. Nowadays, many works of art that have high investment, high technology, and magnificent scenes lack nothing but sincerity and reality.
A Bite of China shows that a commercial documentary promoting patriotism can be full of touching details, that the emotions of ordinary Chinese people should be exhibited even in publicizing(宣传) China overseas, and that even a completely commercial program can achieve both artistic and commercial success.
“We made this documentary with our respect and love for food,” said director Chen Xiaoqing. Being sincere is the most important thing for artists because they cannot move others unless they themselves are first moved, and cannot convince others unless they themselves are first convinced. Sincerity is the “secret” for making this documentary so popular, and every cultural creator should learn from its success.
According to the passage, A Bite of China is _______.

A．a book	B．a film
C．a newspaper	D．a TV program

What can you find in A Bite of China?

A．Relations between people and food.

B．Real lives of all Chinese people.

C．Patriotic stories of Chinese people.

D．processes of preparing food.

From the passage, it can be inferred that ________.

A．The documentary is so successful that no one can surpass (超越) it.

B．Different people can get different messages from the documentary.

C．The documentary should have shown China’s splendid food culture.

D．Many art works fail to reflect (反映) reality and high technology.

The main idea of the last paragraph is that ________.

A．Director’s respect and love for food.

B．The secret of the documentary’s success.

C．The influence of the documentary.

D．The popularity of the documentary.

Switching telephone providers used to be the only way homeowners could save money on telephone bills. Now thanks to new technology, comsumers have another choice-making phone calls over the internet. And this can be completely free if you call another person with an internet phone set-up.
The technology is called voice over internet protocol (协议), or VoIP. In 2005, consumer demand for VoIP dramatically grew. In the US, where popularity has grown faster than here in the UK, 8.4 million are predicted to subscribe this year. For the past couple years, VoIP pioneers such as Skype have accounted for the majority of internet phone subscribers.
VoIP is attractive to consumers because it’s cheaper than traditional phone services. With the basic equipment of PC, microphone and headset, and VoIP software and broadband internet for optimum (最适宜的) voice quality, consumers can save a fortune chatting for free to other internet phone owners and save money calling regular landlines (通讯电缆). But, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Many of these services suffer from uncontinuous lapses (失效) in quality. While some users may tolerate echoes or a dropped call, improved quality is needed to attract more customers.
Computing has examined the benefits of using a PC as a telephone with VoIP in how easy they were to set up, how effective they were and the range of their features.
Skype(www. skype.com) came top for its bother-free approach, easy set-up and exceptional voice clarity. Sipgate (www. sipgate. co. uk), MSN(www. messenger. msn. co. uk) and Yahoo! Messenger (uk. messenger. yahoo. com) provide an audio “wizard” that improves sound levels. Google Talk (www. google. com/ talk) was less helpful and Babble. net (www. babble. net) was let down by its poor help files. Yahoo! Messenger provides some of the best features, including the option of landline calls, webcam chats, instant messaging, voice-mail and conference calls.
Which one of the following if you call others?

A．VolP,voice over internet protocol

B．Switching telephone

C．New technology

D．letters

The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 implies that ______.

A．VoIP can save money but it has some disadvantages

B．whatever you buy is related to how much you pay

C．what you pay for will belong to you forever

D．what you buy is not always high in quality

Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?

A．Sipgate is less helpful.

B．Yahoo! Messenger offers some best features.

C．Skype is the best one in the new technology.

D．Google Talk provides very good audio “wizard”.