E
For a while, my neighborhood was taken over by an army of joggers. They were there all the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. "Come on!" My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. "You'll feel great."
Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army, I'm not alone in my opinion.
First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet will be a real pounding ruining down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn't kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.
Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn't my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, "I love being out there with just my thoughts." Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn't just the first week: it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn't fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
I don't jog any more, and I don't think I ever will. I'm walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I'm getting exercise, and I'm enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I've found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.
72. From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer's neighborhood ____.
A. jogging became very popular B. people jogged only during the daytime
C. Alex organized an army of joggers D. jogging provided a chance to get together
73. What was the writer's attitude towards jogging in the beginning?
A. He felt it was worth a try. B. He was very fond of it.
C. He was strongly against it. D. He thought it must be painful.
74. Why did the writer give up jogging two months later?
A. He disliked doing exercise outside. B. He found it neither healthy nor interesting.
C. He was afraid of having a heart attack. D. He was worried about being left alone.
75. From the writer's experience, we can conclude that ____.
A. not everyone enjoys jogging
B. he is the only person who hates jogging
C. nothing other than jogging can help people keep fit
D. jogging makes people feel greater than any other sport
Hey, Mr.and Ms.Unluckiness and Unhappiness! Terrorism, the war, the economic crisis and unemployment are at your door.Are you afraid of them? Well, don’t be! America is a happy land.The Smiley Face icon proves this in towns all over the country.
The tallest structure—the steel water tower—is often painted bright yellow, in a circle containing a pair of black dots for eyes and an upturned(朝上的)line for a mouth: the unforgettable smile.Most towns decorated their spheroid (or cylindrical) water storage tanks in the 1970s, when Smiley was still conceptually fresh.As a "safe" counterculture symbol, with absolutely no bite, the Smile Face water tower was a low cost way to radiate sunny greetings to travelers and locals.Calumet City, Illinois claims to have been the first, when 8-year old resident Kim Fornero sent a letter to the city council in late 1972 suggesting a smile face would be more fun to look at than a plain old water tower.
In the 1980s, with the paint on the water tower fading, residents of Calumet City decided to make the face their own.They repainted the tower, and a Happy Cook Restaurant and Smiley Face Inn appeared on the highway outside the town, ready to make you smile! Local businessmen printed the Smiley icon on their business cards, and displayed Smiley Face souvenirs in shop windows.
By the late 1990s, the survival of the Smiley Face water tower was assured.It didn’t matter why the face had been painted there—it was now a part of history.In May 2009, the town again celebrated its Smiley Face water tower as a symbol of hope for a better tomorrow.
60.The author mainly wants to tell readers that the symbol asks them to_________
A.greet people politely B.deal with their problems
C.enjoy themselves D.forget the past
61.The underlined word “icon ” in the first paragraph probably means________.
A.beautiful picture B.building C.image D.valuable painting
62.Why did Calumet residents accept the tower happily?
A.It set a good example to them.
B.It made them work harder.
C.They wanted to think it for supplying water.
D.They wanted to make the Smiley Face their own.
63.From the text we learn that the Smiley Face water tower________
A.was based on a painter’s inspiration
B.is a symbol of the prosperity of the town
C.is meant to give people hope for a better future
D.was created in 1972 by the city council, just for fun
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The meaning of the word “volunteer” may be a little different in different countries, but it
usually means “one who offers his or her services”.Volunteers don’t expect any kind of pay.
Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new idea of what being a volunteer means.She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa’s homes in Calcutta.The following is her story.
“I watched a video about her.I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human being that, after I graduated from a high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work.So with two friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks.”
“I was asked to work in a home for sick people.I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch.I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer the up.I felt it was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them.To be honest, I don’t think I was helping very much.It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world.”
56.Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?
A.She liked to work with Mother Teresa.
B.She had already had some experience.
C.She was asked to do so by Teresa.
D.She wanted to follow Mother Teresa’s example.
57.Tracy started her work as a volunteer _______.
A.after she met Mother Teresa
B.after she finished high school
C.when she was touring Calcutta
D.when she was working in a hospital
58.What is Tracy’s “new idea” of being a volunteer?
A.Going abroad to help the sick.
B.Working in Mother Teresa’s home.
C.Doing simple things to help the poor.
D.Improving oneself through helping others.
59.What is the best title for the passage?
A.How to Be a Volunteer B.Voluntary Life in India
C.A Different Meaning of Volunteer D.Inspiration from Mother Teresa
Fear can be a wonderful feeling in our lives, protecting us from dangerous situations and keeping us safe. But fear can also limit our lives significantly. While it may not be conscious, fear may make us think we are unacceptable or that what we have to offer isn’t valuable. Fear may make us feel that we are not safe being ourselves.
To avoid feeling fear, we may limit our lives greatly, living in tiny boxes. Living this way gives us the illusion(假象) of safety but leaves us with an unfulfilling life of no passion. If we shine a light on many of our fears, we see they have a very limited view of what is “safe” and how to “protect” us. Many of our fears are concerned only with protecting us from humiliation(羞辱) and failure. While these fears are doing their jobs incredibly well, they are doing so with faulty and outdated programming. Many fears we have as adults are trying to protect us as they protected us when we were children. Indeed, many of our current, automatic reactions to fear were actually formed when we were children.
Even so, it’s important not to judge ourselves for feeling these types of fears. If we judge ourselves, we will bury our fears or disguise them. By denying our fears, however, we also deny our energy, creativity and passion.
So what do we do with fear? We recognize the fear for what it is--- a feeling we’ve experienced many times in the past and a feeling we will experience many times in the future. We become very familiar with our own particular brand of fears and how we allow them to control our lives. It is especially beneficial for each of us to become aware of the particular behavior patterns we’ve adopted when we feel fear, so we can look at our reactions with a sense of humor and compassion. Then, if we wish, we can choose a different response, which can be a scary yet very exciting experience.
71. According to the first paragraph, fear sometimes .
A. protects us when we’ve made mistakes B. makes sure our feelings are not hurt
C. brings great change to our everyday life D. makes us lose confidence in ourselves
72. It can be inferred from the passage that the author .
A. thinks it difficult to control our fear B. believes fears protect us negatively
C. thinks it’s good to criticize ourselves D. values the advantages of feeling fear
73. According to the author, the ways we react to fear .
A. vary from person to person B. have been formed since childhood
C. develop during our growth D. will not change until we get old
74.The last paragraph mainly tells us .
A. what is the essence of fears B. usual reactions we have when feeling fear
C. how to deal with fears reasonably D. the importance of humor and compassion
75.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Is fear managing your life? B. Be calm when feeling fear
C. What do you fear most? D. Passion, chance and fear
After years of hearing drivers complain about scratches (划痕) on their cars, Japan's Nissan Motor Company has officially announced the next big thing--a paint that not only resists scratches and scrapes, but actually repairs itself within a few days.
The new material, developed by Nippon Paint Company, contains an elastic rubbery-like resin (弹性树脂) that is able to heal minor (较小的) marks caused by car wash equipment, parking lot encounters, road debris (石头碎片) or even on-purpose destruction.
The automaker admits its results vary depending on the temperature and the depth of the damage, but adds this is the only paint like it in the world, and tests prove it works.
Minor scratches, the most common type, are said to slowly fade over about a week. And once they're gone, there is no trace (痕迹) that they were ever there.
The special paint is said to last for at least three years after it is first applied, but there is no word yet on whether more can be added after that period.
Nissan claims car washes are the worst offenders for this type of damage, accounting for at least 80 percent of all incidents.
But the complete auto-healing won't come without scratching your wallet. The vehicle maker notes the special paint adds about $ 100 US to the price of a car.
It plans to use its new chemical mixture only on its X-Trail SUVs in Japan for now, as it looks for a more widespread presentation. And while plans to offer the feature overseas haven't been made yet, if it's a hit there, you can be almost sure market forces will drive it to these shores, as well.
67. From the article, we can find that_______.
A. the paint has already been used on cars by now
B. the paint beats other products of its kind in its lengthy effect
C. car damage is mainly caused by scratches and scrapes
D. marketing this paint in Europe is not under way
68. The paint used on cars can_________.
A. last 3 years before it is re-applied again
B. fade only in a few days
C. help to protect cars from minor paint damage
D. reduce car scrape incidents to 20 percent
69. What does the underlined part refer to?A. Certain models of Nissan. B. Name for one kind of paint.
C. Somewhere in Japan. D. A word standing for a car-dealer store.
70. What can be inferred from the article?
A. The paint was developed by Nissan Motor Company.
B. The paint might work better in summer than in winter.
C. The mark on the car could disappear as soon as the paint is applied.
D. The paint is very popular in Japan.
China news, Beijing, Feb. 9 – Housing price in China has always aroused heated discussions among property developers and ordinary Chinese. To many property developers and local government officials, housing price in China is still low compared with many developed countries. However, the average housing price in the United States is only 8,000 yuan per square meter, while in China, it is even higher than in the United States. This shows that there are some bubbles(泡沫) in Chinese real estate (房地产) market, the International Finance News reported.
Although the average price of residential houses in the United States, after converted to Renminbi, is about 8,000 yuan per square meter, the houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. If US property developers sell their houses according to the building area, then the housing price will be even lower than 8,000 yuan per square meter. In most big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, houses are sold at a price even higher than those in the US.
The high housing sales price in large cities in China proves that Chinese real estate market does have some bubbles. Moreover, Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. How can the Chinese afford to buy a house which is even more expensive than that sold in US?
At the beginning of 2007, Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. Now in order to reduce the high housing prices, the government can regulate (控制) the real estate market by raising tax on property industry and controlling the release of loans to property developers. At the same time, the government should allow people to build more houses through various fund-raising channels, such as funds collected from buyers or raised by working units. By applying these multiple means, it is expected that the high housing prices can be lowered.
63.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A.Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities.
B.American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinesepeople.
C.The houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses.
D.There are more people who need houses in China than those in the United States.
64.What is the main idea of this passage?
A.The Chinese government should do something to control the housing price.
B.There are some bubbles in Chinese real estate market.
C.The average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States.
D.The Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public.
65.How many measures are mentioned in the last paragraph in order to reduce the high housing prices?
A.Four B.Three C.Five D.Two
66. It can be inferred from the passage that ______
A. Housing price in China has lowered since 2007.
B. There will be no bubbles in Chinese real estate after the government raises tax on property industry.
C. Ordinary Chinese are looking forward to seeing that the high housing prices will be lowered.
D. More ordinary Chinese will buy a house in America instead of in China.