Everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older, but men's minds decline more than women's, according to the results of a worldwide survey.
Certain differences seem to be inherent in male and female brains: Men are better at maintaining and dealing with mental images (useful in mathematical reasoning<推论；说服> and spatial <空间的>skills), while women tend to excel (擅长) at recalling information from their brain's files (helpful with language skills and remembering the locations of objects).
Many studies have looked for a connection between sex and the amount of mental decline (衰退) people experience as they age, but the results have been mixed.
Some studies found more age-related decline in men than in women, while others saw the opposite or even no relationship at all between sex and mental decline. Those results could be improper because the studies involved older people, and women live longer than men: The men tested are the survivors, "so they're the ones that may not have shown such cognitive（认知的；认识的） decline," said study team leader Elizabeth of the University of Warwick in England.
People surveyed completed four tasks that tested sex-related cognitive skills: matching an object to its rotated（旋转的） form, matching lines shown from the same angle, typing as many words in a particular category (范畴) as possible in the given time, e.g. "object usually colored gray", and recalling the location of objects in a line drawing. The first two were tasks at which men usually excel; the latter are typically dominated(占有主导地位的) by women.
Within each age group studied, men and women performed better in their separate categories on average. And though performance declined with age for both genders（性别）, women showed obviously less decline than men overall（全部地）. The underlined word in the second paragraph means_________.
| A．natural | B．great | C．obvious | D．absolute |
According to the passage, which of the following can Not be typed into the same category?
| A．cloud | B．sheep | C．trees | D．goose |
Which of the following statements is true according the article?
| A．Men do better than women when it comes to learning English. |
| B．Women stand out at remembering people’s names. |
| C．Men excel at typing as many words in a particular category as possible in the given time. |
| D．Women excel at dealing mathematic problems. |
One important factor that affects the correctness of the results is that _________.
| A．the old men tested may not have shown such cognitive decline | |
| B．people surveyed are all old | |
| C．people taking part in this test came from all over the world | D．women live longer than men |
The author aims to tell us that __________.
| A．women’s minds perform better than men’s |
| B．men’s minds decline more with age |
| C．everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older |
| D．a survey on human’s mind decline was done recently |
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, “I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage,” she offered. “Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
“I’ll start,” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband’s eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings.
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. “Now, you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists,” she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change anything about you.” The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us?Why were there tears in the husband’s eyes when the wife read his annoyances?
| A．Because he had no courage to face his shortcomings. |
| B．Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife’s eyes. |
| C．Because he was sorry that he didn’t find any annoyance about his wife. |
| D．Because he didn’t think he deserved to have such a perfect wife. |
After hearing the husband’s words, the wife felt _________. .
| A．moved and ashamed | B．sad and disappointed |
| C．satisfied and proud | D．surprised and confused |
The story is intended to tell us that ___________. .
| A．disappointment cannot be avoided in our life |
| B．young couples should be more tolerant (宽容的) to each other |
| C．we should turn a blind eye to other people’s blame |
| D．we should try to look for and see the wonderful things around us |
Stop Spam!
When I first got an e-mail account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisements and other correspondence that do not interest me at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need specific laws that make spamming (发送垃圾邮件) a crime.
If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to send hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual (个人的) e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?
This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam e-mails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passes on to the consumer.
For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate (立法) against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.What does the underlined word “correspondence” in the Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．messages | B．ideas | C．connections | D．programs |
According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?
| A．Companies rely on e-mail for communications. |
| B．More people in the world communicate by e-mails. |
| C．Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail. |
| D．More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam. |
According to Paragraph 3, who is the final victim of spam?
| A．The business | B．The advertiser. |
| C．The employee | D．The consumer. |
What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To inform. | B．To educate. | C．To persuade. | D．To instruct. |
| BORDER CROSSINGS While there are no restrictions on the amount of money that you can bring across the border, you must report to both the US and Canadian border services amounts equal to or greater than $10.000. PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS（免税）ON PURCHASES AMERICANS RETURNING TO THE US Less than 48 hours: $ 200 US 48 hours or more: $ 800 US duty-free personal exemption. next $ 1.000 US at 3% Including up to 100 cigars and 100 cigarettes. CANADIANS RETURNING TO CANADA Less than 24 hours: $ 50 CAN 48 hours or more: $ 400 CAN Including up to 100 cigars and 200 cigarettes. 7 days or more: $ 750 CAN Including up to 100 cigars and 200 cigarettes. DOCUMENTATION NEEDED FOR BORDER CROSSING LAND OR SEA TO THE US(INCLUDING FERRIES) A valid passport or passport card, or a NEXUS card. (A NEXUS card is a Trusted Traveler Program that provides quick travel for pre-approved, low risk travelers through special lanes.) A recent Washington State, New York or BC driver’s license. Note: Children 15 years of age and younger require only a birth certificate or copy.(Certified copies are not required but are advised.) AIR TRAVEL TO THE US A valid passport, an Air NEXUS card, or a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document. |
If a Canadian who is on a 7-day trip to New York buys $ 800 CAN worth of goods, how much should he pay tax on when returning home?
| A．$ 800 CAN | B．$750 CAN | C．$ 400 CAN | D．$ 50 CAN |
For an American citizen on a 2-day tour of Canada, how much tax does he have to pay on $ 1.600 US worth of purchases when returning to the US?
| A．$ 24 US | B．$ 48 US | C．$52 US | D．$ 200 US |
What documentation should a couple with a 7-year-old child carry when they drive a car from Canada to America?
| A．A BC driver’s license, an Air NEXUS card, and a birth certificate. |
| B．An Air NEXUS card, a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document, and a birth certificate. |
| C．Two valid passport cards and a certified copy of a birth certificate. |
| D．A NEXUS card, a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document., and a certified copy of a birth certificate. |
Reading to dogs is an unusual way to help children improve their literacy skills. With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence, according to Intermountain Therapy Animals （ITA） in Salt Lake City. The group says it is the first program in the country to use dogs to help develop literacy in children, with the introduction of Reading Education Assistance Dogs（READ）.
The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea. “Literacy specialists admit that children who read below the level of their fellow pupils are often afraid of reading aloud in a group, often have lower self-respect, and regard reading as a headache,” said Lisa Myron, manager of the children’s department.
Last November, the two groups started “Dog Day Afternoon” in the children's department of the main library. About 25 children attended each of the four Saturday-afternoon classes, reading for half an hour. Those who attended three of the four classes received a “paw graphed” book at the last class.
The program was so successful that the library plans to repeat it in April, according to Dana Thumpowsky, public relations manager. What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．Children’s reading difficulties. |
| B．Advantages of raising dogs. |
| C．Service in public library. |
| D．A special reading program. |
Specialists use dogs to listen to children reading because they think ______________.
| A．dogs are young children's best friends |
| B．children can play with dogs while reading |
| C．dogs can provide encouragement for shy children |
| D．children and dogs understand each other |
By saying “The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea”, the writer means the library ____________.
A. uses dogs to attract children.
B. accepts the idea put forward by ITA.
C. has opened a children's department.
D. has decided to train some dogs. A “paw graphed” book is most probably_____________.
| A．a book used in Saturday classes |
| B．a book written by the children |
| C．a prize for the children |
| D．a gift from parents |
Here are some advertisements taken from a newspaper.
（1）
Dear Drew Carter,
Your first year on this earth has been a pleasure ride for all of us. We love you!
Dad and Mom
and many friends
（2）
Lawlis---Clarke
The Doctor Virgil and Marjorie Lawlis are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Diane Susan to Mr. Robert Brent Clarks, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Clarks of Herford, Texas.
A spring wedding is planned in House.
（3）
Isbell---Foss
Mr. and Mrs. Davis K. Isbell announce the marriage of their daughter Dang to Mr. Stanley Foss, son of Mrs. John Sipe of Ada, Minnessota.
The wedding will be early April at Abiding Love Lutheran Church.
（4）
Story－Kurio
Miss Stephanie Story and Mr. Todd Warren Kurio were married on February 5, at half past seven o'clock in the evening in Highland Park Prebytefian Church in Dallas, Texas. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Brue Story Jr. of Dallas. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Stanley Kurio of Austin. What would be the best title for the first advertisement?
| A．We Love You | B．Happy lst Birthday |
| C．One Year Old | D．Our One-Year-Old Son |
Lawlis and Clarke are going to get married___________.
| A．in a church | B．where Clarke’s parents live |
| C．against their parents' will | D．to Lawlis’ parents' joy |
Who are now married couple?
| A．Lawlis and Clarke | B．Dang Isbell and Foss |
| C．Story and Kurio | D．The text doesn't say. |
Who got or will get married in spring?
| A．Not only Lawlis and Clarke but also Isbell and Foss |
| B．Neither Lawlis and Clarke nor Isbell and Foss |
| C．Either Isbell and Foss or Story and Kurio |
| D．Neither Lawlis and Clarke nor Story and Kurio |