Happiness is U-shaped, for we are happier at the start and end of our lives but hit a slump when we are middle-aged, British and US researchers say.
Economists from the University of Warwick, central England, and from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, looked at data on the mental health of two million people from 80 countries.
In Britain, the probability of depression for men and women peaks at around 44 years of age, Warwick University said in a press release.
In the United States, though, ________________________between men and women. Among women, unhappiness peaked at around the age of 40, whereas among men, it was about 50.
But the U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression occurs regardless of marital status（婚姻状况）, changes in job or income.
The study appears in Social Science & Medicine, published by the Dutch publishing house Elsevier.
"It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children.” said co-author Andrew Oswald.
One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their ambitions at middle age. The researchers said.
Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more.
But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.
"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people emerge from this low period.”
1. Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?
There are chances that the middle-aged people will realize their ideal is likely to be unattainable.
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with a proper sentence．（within 10 words）
__________________________________________________________________________
3. How do you understand the sentence that “Happiness is U-shaped”? （within 20 words）
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Is mid-life depression a common Phenomenon in the world? How do you know? （within 15 words）
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese
__________________________________________________________________________
Modern life is a lot less to the advantage of friendships and neighborliness than it used to be. The average American moves every five years. People drive straight into their garages, hire lawn services, hang out in their backyards instead of their front porches（前走廊）. These days, neighbors don't even know each other's names.
Good neighbors and good friends are a lot like electricity or running water: We don't know how much we depend on them until we don't have them. In fact, the authors of a recent book, Refrigerator Rights, claim that refrigerators are signs of close relationships--after all, you wouldn't snatch a drumstick（鸡腿）from the refrigerator of a stranger.
The surprising thing is that all it takes to strengthen your relationship with friends and neighbors is respect for their feelings, concern for their property, and a helping hand when it's needed. Here's how to develop your relationships with two types of vitally important people in your life.
_________________. A true friend doesn't flee when changes occur. The sign of a good friend is one who stays true through it all--marriage, parenthood, new jobs, new homes, the losses. Just because situations change doesn't mean the person has to.
Friendships fade away if there isn't an balance between the give and the take. So make sure you aren't being a burden to your friends. Be sensitive to how much your friend can and can't offer you--be it time, energy, or help -- and don't step over the line. Meanwhile, friendships that drain（耗尽）you will not last. If a friendship is out of balance in this way, you'll need to talk the situation through.
1. Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?
A true friend will stay the same even when the situations change.
_______________________________________________________________
2. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with a proper sentence.（Within 10 words）
_______________________________________________________________
3. What advice is given in the last paragraph?（Within 10 words）
_______________________________________________________________
4. What do you think the author will go on talking about if the passage continues? （Within 10 words）
_______________________________________________________________
5. Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese．
_______________________________________________________________
短文改错 (共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)
英语课上，老师要求同桌同学相互修改作文。假设以下短文为你同桌所写，请你对其进行修改。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（/\），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last Sunday I saw a worst storm in years. It came sudden and went on for over three hours. After lunch, I went into my room to have a rest. The air was hotter, and all is quiet. Then a strong wind started to blow into my room. Pieces of paper on my desk flew high into the air and some flew out the open window. As I ran out to catch them, big drop of rain began to fall. When I came back into house, it was raining harder and harder. I tried very hard to close the window. Then I heard a loudly crashing(碰撞的)sound from the back of the house. When I ran out of my room to find out what had happened: a big tree had fallen down and broke the top of the backroom.
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文后第53至第57小题的空格里填上适当的单词或短语，并将答案转写到答题卡上。
注意：每空不超过3个单词。
Thanksgiving Day
Many people believe Thanksgiving is a Western holiday, but in fact, it is only an American holiday held every fourth Thursday of November although Canada holds their own unique Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October.
The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. Some of the family will have to travel by air and others will make long motor trips with the children. Sons and daughters away at college use their four-day holiday to go home, and employees take extra days from their work so as to be able to make the trip for the annual reunion. The Thanks-giving dinner menu today is somewhat the same as it was on Thanksgiving Day in 1863. On the dinner table, people will find apples, oranges, chestnuts and grapes. There will be pudding (布丁), mince（肉末）pie, other varieties of food and squash（鲜果汁）. The rest and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.
In true Thanksgiving spirit the family circle is often enlarged to include friends known to be alone, foreign visitors, or servicemen away from home. Orphans, the aged and the homeless also have the traditional turkey dinner, provided either by some charitable (慈善的) individual or a church group.
Thanksgiving Day
| The dates |
In the USA |
Every fourth Thursday of November |
| 53. ________ |
Every second Monday of October |
|
| 54. _______ |
The big family dinner |
Planned months ahead |
| All family members |
Expected to get home for 55. ________ |
|
| The dinner menu |
Roast turkey and pumpkin pie, apples, oranges, chestnuts, grapes, other varieties of food and etc |
|
| The Enlarged spirit |
People invited to Thanksgiving Dinner |
Friends known to be alone, 56. ________, or servicemen away from home |
| People provided with 57. ________ |
Orphans, the aged and the homeless |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
We are all called upon to make a speech at some point in life, but most of us don’t do a very good job. 71 .
So, you have to give a speech ─ and you are terrified. You get nervous, you forget what you want to say, you stumble (结结巴巴) over words, you talk too long, and you bore your audience. Later you think, “Thank Goodness, it’s over. I’m just not good at public speaking. I hope I never have to do that again.”
Cheer up! 72 . Here are some simple steps to take the pain out of speech making. Ask yourself the purpose of your speech. What is the occasion? Why are you speaking? Then, gather as many facts as you can on your subject. Spend plenty of your time doing your research. Then spend plenty of your time organizing your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many example as possible, and use pictures, charts, and graphs if they help you make your points more clearly. 73 . Don’t talk over their heads, and don't talk down to them. Treat your audience with respect. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Just remember: Be prepared. Know your subject, your audience, and the occasion. Be brief, 74 . And be yourself. Let your personality come through so that you make person-to-person contact with your audience.
If you follow these simple steps, you will see that you don’t have to be afraid of public speaking. In fact, you may find the experience so enjoyable that you volunteer to make more speeches! You’re not convinced yet? 75 .
| A．It doesn’t have to be that bad. |
| B．Take several deep breaths before your speech. |
| C．This article gives some advice on how to give a good speech. |
| D．Say what you have to say and then stop. |
E．Don’t say what you aren’t familiar with.
F．Never forget your audience.
G．Give it a try and see what happens.
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写相应位置上。
The most influential book in my life
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is the most influential book in my life. It __1__ (fill) with courage, struggle and faith throughout. Helen Keller was once in deep despair in her __2__ (child), but finally she decided to overcome her physical defects and live happily. Furthermore, she showed great patience, ___3___ (do) well in her long and hard learning period.
I have learned, above all, three lessons from her story. First, she taught me that often the road to success is to face hardships ___4____ (brave). Maybe you are born under an ill star yet you can stand a better chance ___5___ others. It is therefore important that you screw up your courage ____6____courage is needed. Second, the impairment of part of her senses did not prevent ___7___ from learning. On the contrary, she ___8___ (make) continual efforts to go deeper into the realm of knowledge her fortitude had thus helped her overcome many handicaps. ___9___, she advised that we should make the most of our sense-organs as if we ___10___ (lose) them soon because this way we would observe the world more carefully than ever before.
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文后的第76至85小题的空格上填上适当的单词或短语。每空不超过3个单词。
The Gobi is one of the world’s great deserts. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded(边界限制) by the Altai mountains and the grasslands of Mongolia on the north and by the Tibetan Plateau(青藏高原) to the southwest.
The word Gobi means “desert” in Mongolian. The Gobi is most famous in history as part of the great Mongol empire, and as the area of several important cities along the Silk Road.
The Gobi measures over 1,600 km southwest to northeast and 800 km from north to south. The desert is widest in the west. It covers 1.3 million square kilometers in area, making it one the largest deserts in the world. Much of the Gobi is not sandy but is covered with rock. The desert holds so many animals, such as Gobi bear, the wild camel and the black-tailed gazelle(羚羊), and is sometimes visited by wolves. The Kerulen River is the Gobi’s largest stream. It flows into small salt lakes or disappears into the sand. Nearly all the soil here has been removed by the north-westerly winds. The sand and wind storms are common. The Gobi has cold winters and short, hot summers. The Gobi is crossed by a high way, which links Ulaanbaata with Jining, China.
76
| 77 |
one of the world’s great deserts, the Gobi, 78 by the Altai mountains and on the north and by the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, lies in the northwest of China. |
| 79 |
the word of its name came from Mongolian. It acted 80 an important part in the history of great Mongol empire, which was famous for the Silk Road. |
| size |
the west of the desert is widest. It covers1.3 million square kilometers, 81 over 1,600 km southwest to northeast and 800 km from north to south. |
| animals |
many animals live on the desert, such as Gobi bear, 82 and the black-tailed gazelle, and is sometimes visited by wolves. |
| 83 |
the Gobi 84 rock mostly, and the soil has been moved by the north-westerly wind. The largest stream is Kerulen River, which flows into 85 at last. The sandstorm, cold winters and short, hot summers are very common. |
阅读下面短文，简要回答问题。
Baloney is a kind of sausage that many Americans eat often. The word also has another meaning in English. It is used to describe something—usually something someone says—that is false or wrong or foolish.
Baloney sausage comes from the name of the Italian city, Bologna. The city is famous for its sausage, a mixture of smoked, spiced meat from cows and pigs. But, boloney sausage does not taste the same as beef or pork alone.
Some language experts think this different taste is responsible for the birth of the expression baloney. Baloney is an idea or statement that is nothing like the truth...in the same way that baloney sausage tastes nothing like the meat that is used to make it.
Baloney is a word often used by politicians to describe the ideas of their opponents.
The expression has been used for years. Fifty years ago, a former governor of New York State, Alfred Smith, criticized some claims by President Franklin Roosevelt about the successes of the Roosevelt administration. Smith said, “No matter how thin you slice it, it is still baloney.”
A similar word has almost the same meaning as baloney. It even sounds almost the same. The word is blarney. It began in Ireland about 1600.
The lord of Blarney castle, near Cork, agreed to surrender the castle to British troops. But he kept making excuses for postponing the surrender. And, he made them sound like very good excuses, “this is just more of the same blarney.”
The Irish castle now is famous for its Blarney stone. Kissing the stone is thought to give a person special powers of speech. One who has kissed the Blarney stone, so the story goes, can speak words of praise so smoothly and sweetly that you believe them, even when you know they are false.
73.Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word “baloney”.
74.According to Americans, what does baloney refer to? (回答词数不超过8个)
75.What do you know about the lord of Blarney castle, near Cork? (回答词数不超过6个)
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the numbered blanks by using the information for the passage. Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.
A Low-Carbon Economy (LCE) refers to an economy which has a minimal emission of greenhouse gas (GHG), namely, carbon dioxide into the biosphere(生物圈). Recently, most of the scientists and the public hold the opinion that the climate is changing because there is such an accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere due to human activities. The over-concentration of these gases is producing global warming that affects long-term climate, with negative impacts on humanity in the foreseeable future. LCE, therefore, is proposed as a means to avoid catastrophic climate change.
All nations which are considered carbon intensive societies and societies which are heavily populated should become zero-carbon societies and economies. Several of these countries have promised to become 'low carbon' but not entirely zero carbon, and claim that emissions will be cut by 100% by balancing emissions rather than ceasing all emissions.
Nuclear power and the strategies of carbon capture and storage (CCS) have been proposed as the primary means to achieve a LCE while continuing to exploit non-renewable resources. Scientists are afraid, however, whether the spent-nuclear-fuel can be stored, and whether it is secure. Also they are not certain about the costs and time needed to successfully implement CCS worldwide and whether the stored emissions will leak into the biosphere or not. Alternatively, many have proposed renewable energy should be the main basis of a LCE, but, they have their associated problems of high-cost and inefficiency; this is changing, however, since investment and production have been growing significantly in recent times. Furthermore, it has been proposed that to make the transition to an LCE economically attractive we would have to attach a cost (per unit output) to GHGs through means such as emissions trading and/or a carbon tax.
A LCE is aimed to integrate all aspects of itself from its manufacturing, agriculture, transportation to power-generation around technologies that produce energy and materials with little GHG emission and thus around populations, buildings, machines and devices which use those energies and materials efficiently and dispose of or recycle its wastes so as to have a minimal output of GHGs.
Title: 71
I. 72 : an economy with a minimal output of GHG
II. 73 of the present economy:
● global warming
● long-term climate change
● 74 on humanity
III. 75 :
● to produce energy and materials with little GHG emission
● to use those energies and materials efficiently
● to have 76 of GHGs
IV. 77 to achieve a LCE:
●nuclear power
●the strategies of carbon capture and storage
● renewable energy
● 78
● a carbon tax
V. 79 :
● spent-nuclear-fuel storage / storage of spent-nuclear-fuel
● 80
● uncertainty about the costs and time needed
Directions: Complete the following passage by using ONE word that best fits the context.
An American soldier called his parents from San Francisco after a war. “Mom and Dad, I’m coming
home, but I’ve got a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring 48 me.”
“Sure,” they replied. “We’d love to meet him.”
“There’s something you should know,” the son continued. “He was hurt pretty 49 in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine 50 lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come and live with us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find 51 to live.”
“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”
“Son,” said the father, “Someone like him would be a terrible burden on us. Just come home and forget about this guy. He will find a way to live on his 52 .”
At that point, the son hung up the 53 .
A few days later, the parents received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, 54 the police believed was suicide. They went and recognized him, but 55 their horror, they also discovered something they didn’t expect: their son had only one arm and one leg.
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65．Which of the following is NOT included in a starter pack?
A．One hundred used stamps and hinges and album pages.
B．The Collectors Club Guide to Collecting and badge and stickers.
C．The latest Collectors Club magazine and membership card.
D．Royal Mail Stamp Calendar and Collectors Corner supplement.
66．This advertisement is written for people who want to_______.
A．make money through collecting stampsB．develop stamp collection as a hobby
C．get something free from the club D．find out where the club is located
67．From the advertisement we can learn_____.
A．Collectors Club is among the biggest clubs in this country
B．how much you must pay to become a member of the club
C．today is the last day for stamp collectors to join the club
D．members may receive a set of album pages every month
68．Where is this advertisement most probably found?
A．In a newspaper. B．On a web page.
C．In a magazine. D．On a TV program.
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