I feel very excited at the thought that in another week I shall be with you again on holiday. I have enjoyed my stay in England very much indeed. Mr Brown and classmates are nice to me, but, as they say in England, “There’s no place like home.” and I think you feel this above all at Christmas time.
I am leaving here early on Thursday, the 23rd, and I shall arrive in Basle on Friday morning, so I shall be home somewhere about lunchtime. Can you meet me at the station, as I shall have a lot of luggage?
In some of my earlier letters I have told you all about the other students here. Well, I want to ask my Polish friend Jan to come and spend Christmas with us. Will that be all right? His father and mother died last year, he can go home for Christmas, and he has no friend in England except the Browns. He is a nice boy. I know you all like him, and I feel sure he will enjoy Christmas with us. It is very short notice, but you are always pleased, I know, if we bring our friends home. however, I have not yet invited him, as I thought it was better to ask you first. Please let me know as soon as possible if it will be all right.The writer was very excited at the thought that ________.
A.she would be back home with her new friend |
B.she would be with her parents in another week |
C.her parents wanted to see her very much |
D.she would go on staying in England |
She wanted some one to meet her because ________.
A.she was told to do so | B.she would be tired out after the trip |
C.she would carry a pile of things | D.she didn’t know where the station was |
The underlined sentence “There’s no place like home” means ________.
A.There is not a place that the writer likes |
B.There is no place that the writer can live in |
C.The writer’s home is not in London in fact |
D.East and west, home is best |
These paragraphs are taken out of a ________.
A.magazine | B.letter | C.book | D.newspaper |
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
56. According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
A. diseases and aging B. accidents and war
C. accidents and agingD. heart diseases and war
57.In the author's opinon, today's most important advance in technology lies in _____.
A. medicineB. the internetC. brain cellsD. human organs
58. Humans may live longer in the future because ______.
A. heart disease will be far away from us B. human brains can decide the final death
C. the basic materials of cells will last forever D. human organs can be repaired by new medicine
59. We can learn from the passage that _____.
A. human life will not last more than 120 years in the future
B. human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now
C. much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life
D. we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells.
When we think of leadership, we often think of strength and power. But what are these really, and how do they operate?
Leadership today is not about forcing others to do things, If this is even possible. it is short-term , and tends to backfire. If you order someone to do something against their will. they may do it because they feel they must , but the anger they feel will do more harm in the long-term , They will also experience fear.
Fear causes the thinking brain to shut down, making the person unable to function at his or her best . If they associate you with this emotion of fear. They will become less functional around you , and you will have succeeded in not only shooting yourself in the foot . but possibly making a very good employee or partner unable to perform effectively . Fear has no place in leadership.
The way we influence people in a lasting way is by our own character, and our understanding and use of emotion. We can order someone to do something , which may be part of the work day; or we can employ them at the emotional level , so they became fully devoted to the projects and provide some of their own motivation(积极性)。Today’s work place is all about relationships as a human being as well as a worker. Everyone produces just a bit more for someone they like. Leaders understand the way things work. They know the pay check is not the single most motivating factor (因素) in the work life of most people.
The true strength of leadership is an inner strength that comes from the confidence of emotional intelligence---knowing your own emotions, and how to handle them, and those of others . Developing your emotional intelligence is the single best thing you can do if you want to develop your relationships with people around you, which is the key to the leadership skills .
52. An employee may have a feeling of fear in the work place when___.
A. he is forced to do things B. be cannot work at his best
C. . he feels his brain shut down D. he thinks of his work as too heavy
53. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. People tend to associate leadership with fear
B. Working conditions affect people’s physical health
C. Good relationship is the key to business success
D. Smart people are more functional in the work place.
54. To positively influence employees a leader should first of all __
A. provide better suggestions B. develop his own personality
C. five his employees a pay raise D. hide his own emotion of fear
55.Good leadership is mainly seen in a leader’s ability to___
A . provide a variety of project for employees B. help raise employee’s living standards
C. give employees specific instructions D. deal wisely with employees’ emotions
In meditation(冥想),people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath . As they breathe in and out , they attend to their feelings . As thoughts go through their minds. they let them go. Breathe . Let go . Breathe . Let go
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. Three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a market change in how the brain allocates(分配) attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli( 刺激), like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice. everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain, It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.
In an experiment , 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day . A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period . Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers , their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number . Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number . as if letting it go , which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number , This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levision , who meditated for three months as part of the study . ”I am a much better listener, ” he said. “ I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying. ”
48. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to
A. feelingsB. minds C. peopleD. thoughts
49. Meditations manage their daily tasks better because they
A. are given less pressure B. allocate their attention better
C. have more stimuli for life D. practice them more frequently
50. In the experiment, volunteers doing meditation for longer hours
A. were more likely to catch both of the members
B. were used to memorizing numbers in groups
C. usually ignored the first number observed
D. paid more attention to numbers than to letters
51. The study proves that
A. meditation improves one’s health B. brain activity can be recorded
C. human attention can be trained D. mediators have a good sense of hearing
The Book of Life
So far, scientists have named about 1.8 million living species(物种), and that’s just a small number of what probably exists on Earth. With so many plants, animals, and other living things coveting the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of grass is growing by the roadside or what kind of bird just flew by.
A soon-to-be-started Web site might help. An international team of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia (百科全书)of Life(EoL). The project aims to list every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide.
To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases (数据库) that already exist. And eventually, in special sections of the site, non-scientists with specialized knowledge will come to help. Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input what birds they’ve seen and where. To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it.
As the EoL develops, you might find it useful for school projects. The site will feature (以……为特色)special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods. Another convenient feature of the EoL is that you’ll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interests, age, and knowledge.
It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describe and analyze species. The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new tool will speed up that Process.
60. The Web-based EoL aims to__________ .
A. find out what covers the earth B. list all living things on Earth
C. work out the number of birds D. save the existing plants
61. One characteristic of the EoL is that__________ .
A. it is run by school students B. it focuses on different types of grass
C. it provides different levels of information D. it allows non-scientists to review its data
62. In the last paragraph, "that process" means__________ .
A. analyzing species B. creating a new tool C. collecting data D. describing species
Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.
Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda(大熊猫)eats only one particular type of bamboo(竹子). Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly(蝴蝶)will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet(多样化饮食). The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.
Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life. 60. We can infer from the text that humans and animals _________.
A. depend on one sense in choosing food B. are not satisfied with their food
C. choose food in similar ways D. eat entirely different food
61. Which of the following eats only one type of food?
A. The white butterfly. B. The small bird. C. The bear. D. The fox.
62. Certain animals change their choice of food when ___________.
A. the season changes B. the food color changes
C. they move to different places D. they are attracted by different smells
63. We can learn from the last paragraph that __________.
A. food is chosen for a good reason B. French and British food is good
C. some people have few choices of food D. some people care little about healthy diet