B
The trend in everyday conversation is to use grandiose（夸大的）words. “Outstanding” is new “good,” “amazing” is the new “OK”, and “huge” is the new “big.”
I was in a restaurant in Washington D.C. last weekend and every question I asked was answered with exaggeration.
Me: How is the salmon?
Sever: Fantastic!
Me: Does it come with rice?
Sever: Absolutely!
Would a “good” and a “yes” have been enough? Of course!
My father is an average-sized man. He hasn’t gained weight or height for the past 30 years. Therefore, his size remains the same. However, in the same amount of time, his T-shirt size has gone from small to medium to large to extra large.
The reason for the exaggerated word is clear: we are bored with our lives. We want the next –next thing now. Immediately!
And we also want others to think that we still care, that we can still be delighted, that we know that everything is just great. Even when deep inside we know it can’t be. Everything can’t be great.
I’m not a scientist, so many methods of proof leave little to be desired, or a lot to be desired, or an immensity（无限）.
Listen to the voices around you. Listen to your own voices. There is nothing on the radio that is good or bad , weather is either beautiful or horrible.
Listen, the next time when someone asks you something and you agree, because when you could simply say “yes”, instead you will say “absolutely ” or “without doubt” or “Oh, yeah, unquestionably—absolutely without doubt.”
Have people forgotten what it is like to be OK? Simply OK with what they have and who they are? If everything is outstanding, if everything is the most amazing thing ever, is anything ever amazing at all?
45．By telling his experience in the restaurant, the author intends to_______.
A．show his interest in exaggerated words
B．prove that exaggerated words are widely used
C．blame the restaurant for using exaggerated words
D．tell us the food in the restaurant is extremely good
46．What do we know about the author’s father?
A．He has gained height and is now a tall man.
B．He likes following the fashin in clothing.
C．His weight is getting greater and greater.
D．The size of his T-shirt is described in exaggerated words.
47．So many people like using exaggerated words because________.
A．they are not satisfied with being normal
B．they don’t want to be looked down upon by others
C．they want to be different from others
D．they are brave in telling their true feelings
48．According to the passage, if you approve of something, you’d better say “ ______ ”.
A．fantastic B．perfect C．OK D．Absolutely
Ride With The Leader
CitySights NY has become the recognized leader in NYC’s sightseeing.
We operate the first top-deck-seating-only buses. Look for friendly ticket agents throughout the city. We very much appreciate your choosing us and wish you a wonderful visit.
Downtown Tour
Empire State Building. Chinatown.
World Trade Center Site. Wall Street.
United Nations. Rockefeller Center.
Departure Times: 7:45am—6:00pm, daily.
Departure Locations: 8th Ave. between 49th &50th Sts.,
Broadway between 47th &48th Sts., 7th Ave. &42th St.
◆Uptown Tour
Lincoln Center. Central Park.
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museum of Natural History.
Museum of Modern Art and more.
Departure Times: 9:00—5:00pm, daily.
Departure Locations: 8th Ave. between 42th &43th Sts., 8th Ave. & 52th St.
◆Night Tour
Enjoy and photograph the magnificent Manhattan skyline.
Enjoy view of Times Square, SoHo, Little Italy, Brooklyn
Bridge and more.
Departure Times: 6:30—8:00pm, 7 days a week.
Departure Locations: Broadway between 47th &48th Sts,, 7th Ave. & 42th St.
◆Shopping Day Trip
Enjoy the excitement of finding the world’s finest designer
labels for less at Woodbury Common Premium Outlet.
Visitors enjoy a distinctive shopping experience while
saving 25% to 65% every day.
Departure Location: Pot Authority Bus Terminal.
Departure Times : 8:30am, 9:30am, 10:00am, daily.
Returning:4:10pm, 5:20pm, 6:15pm, daily.
◆Escorted Day Trips
Professional tour guides accompany throughout.
All Day Trips about 13 hours. Reservations Required.
Walk the Boston Freedom Trail
Walk the Freedom Trail, which is 2.5 miles long with 16 historic sites. Decide the length of
walk you wish to take. Visit Boston Harbor. See the downtown financial district and cross the
Charles River to visit the squares of Cambridge, Harvard & MIT universities.
Philadelphia & Amish Country
See the Liberty Bell and Constitution Square. Continue to Lancaster Country, home of the
Amish people. Learn how Amish live without modern technology, electricity, running water or
phones.
Departure Time: 7:00am.
Departure Location: 125 Park Ave. between 42th & 41th Sts.On which tour can you visit the United Nations?
| A．Downtown Tour. | B．Shopping Day Trip. |
| C．Uptown Tour. | D．Night Tour. |
Which of the following is the cheapest for adults?
| A．Escorted Day Trips. | B．Uptown Tour. |
| C．Shopping DayTrip. | D．Night Tour. |
What can you see on the Uptown Tour?
| A．Different museums. | B．Skyline of Manhattan. |
| C．World’s top designers. | D．People living in old ways. |
What do you have to do if you want to join the Escorted Day Trips?
| A．Book before the trip. | B．Start out at 9:30am. |
| C．Take the bus at 7th Ave.& 42nd St | D．Walk the Freedom Trail all day long. |
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。
Health researchers have noticed that some groups of people are more consistently healthy than others, and wondered… Is it race? Income? Where you live? In the United States, these disagreements in health outcomes have been the focus of intense research for the past several decades.
Harvard University health policy researcher Ellen Meara says scholars have found some clues as to why some groups of people have more or less disease than others. She says one important factor in people’s health is the amount of education they have.
In her most recent paper, Meara looked at data from the United states census. These counts of people occur every 10 years. Meara and her colleagues examined data from several decades.
“We looked at life expectancy(预测寿命) at age 25,” Meara says.
“How many additional years can you expect to live if you arrive at age 25 and your education has stopped at high school, or sooner? Versus how many years, can you expect to live if you’ve reached aged 25 and you’ve gone on to at least some college…”
Meara says they found that in 1990, a 25-year-old who only had some secondary school could expect to live for a total of 75 years. In 2000, a 25-year-old with some secondary education could also expect to live to the age of 75.
In contrast, for a better educated 25-year-old, they could expect to live to the age of 80 in 1990. Someone with a similar education level in the year 2000, could expect to live to be more than 81 years, 81.6 years to be exact.
Meara says, not only do better-educated people live longer to begin with, but in the past ten years, more educated people have made gains in the length of their lives. Meanwhile, the life expectancy hasn’t changed for less educated people.
Some of these gains can be explained. Meara says researchers know that people who are more educated are more likely to quit smoking cigarettes, or not start at all, compared to people with less education.
“I think it’s a reminder not to be satisfactory,” Meara says. “Just because a population overall appears to be getting healthier, it doesn’t always mean that those advantages and successes that many people have enjoyed really extend into all parts of the population. And I think that’s something to really pay attention to regardless of whether you live in the US or elsewhere.”
Meara points out that education can often determine income---people with more education frequently make more money. This makes them aware of health care, and purchase other resources and services that can keep them healthier. But the data on income do NOT show that people who make more money are automatically healthier.
Meara says education is key. People need to be educated in order to take advantage of opportunities for better health.
| Title |
The Amount of |
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| The less educated people |
The |
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| Comparisons |
In 1990 |
They could live for 75 years |
They could live to the age of 80 |
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| In 2000 |
Their life expectancy was the same as in 1990. |
They could live to the age of 81.6 |
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| In the past ten years |
Their life expectancy remained |
They’ve made gains in the length of their lives, partly due to their |
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| People are getting healthier, but it doesn’t mean that the advantages and successes extend into all parts of the |
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| Education |
People with more education make more money |
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| Getting more money helps to increase their |
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| Education is the key to better health. |
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BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident．
Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress．
The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a．m-more than three hours after it happened．“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine．
The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group．
At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p．m．Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later．
He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years．The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each．The company has not released the names of the miners．
The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect （remove） the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that．“ We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said．
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known．High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said．According to the passage, we can infer that ________．
| A．all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive |
| B．communication with the trapped miners was cut off |
| C．the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time |
| D．the rescue started as soon as the accident happened |
If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about _______ per hour．
| A．1,000 feet | B．2,400 feet | C．1,200feet | D．4,800feet |
Where can the passage be seen?
| A．In a magazine． | B．In a newspaper． |
| C．In a science book．． | D．On an advertisement． |
Which of the following shows the position where the miners were trapped?
For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which were hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as $145 a performance, opera goers also had a certain appearance in people's mind: rich, well-dressed and old.
But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.
Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to make the opera closer to common people. Because young people don't or won't come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such unusual places as parks, libraries and public schools.
The Houston Grand Opera's choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas” shortened versions(剧本) of child-friendly operas. This summer's production is Hansel ＆ Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists' Training Program.Which is the main idea of this passage？
| A． Opera is famous for its long history. |
| B． Opera is only performed for rich people. |
| C． Opera companies are trying to keep opera alive. |
| D． Young people are not interested in opera. |
The underlined phrase in the second paragraph means ______.
| A． breaking up the old rules | B． changing the dresses |
| C． making the audience at ease | D．advertising themselves |
Opera companies prefer to perform short versions because ______ .
| A． they can be performed in public libraries |
| B． short versions are easy to perform |
| C． it is hard to find long versions |
| D． they can make more people come to opera |
The San Francisco Opera employs students in order to ______.
| A． celebrate its 75th anniversary | B． reduce the cost |
| C． attract young people | D． make Cinderella popular |
Where have all the boys gone？You may be able to find them in the gym, at work or hanging out, but there’s one important place where boys are underrepresented, and the problem seems to be getting worse. These days, at high school graduation ceremonies, there are a lot more girls than boys.
In fact, every year, 10 percent more girls graduate from high school than boys. “I think that there’s a tendency to focus on boys as problems at this point, rather than recognize that boys have problems,” says Joanne Max, PhD. Experts say the problems start in grade school, where there’s often an emphasis on sports instead of reading, for example. “I think that with boys there’s some idea that it’s not masculine(男子汉的)to read,” says Rob Jenkins, an English professor.
There’s also a shortage of male teachers as role models. “I think boys need role models, so if you’re a boy and you don’t have a dad in your home and then you have one male teacher and it’s your athletic coach then I don’t think you have a message that education is very important,” says Carol Carter, another expert. In addition, classrooms often have too little activity and too much passive listening, which is not conducive(有益的)to boys’ learning.
Experts say parents can fight back in many ways. Read to your sons early and often; show by your actions that you value their education. Ask them about their schoolwork, offer help, drop by their classroom and finally, appeal to their competitive spirit: challenge them to do better and help them understand that their future depends on it.The underlined part “one important place” in Paragraph 1 refers to “______”.
| A．classrooms | B．factories |
| C．high school graduation ceremonies | D．gyms |
According to the passage，boys have the problem that they think ______.
| A．reading is more important than sports |
| B．it is shameful for boys to read |
| C．boys should not work as a teacher |
| D．boys lack the gift for reading |
Carol Carter’s words implied that ______.
| A．parents play an important role in education |
| B．athletic coaches contribute a lot to education |
| C．lack of male teachers affects boys’ attitudes to school work |
| D．classrooms lack enough activities that are suitable for boys |
According to experts，parents should do the following except ______.
| A．often read to their sons when they are young |
| B．keep an eye on their sons’ studies at school |
| C．encourage their sons to compete with others |
| D．prevent their sons from taking part in sports |