“Up until about five years ago, students at this school could have worn anything they wanted on Halloween,” said Rosemarie Nielson, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Theresa School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx where there is a prohibition on toy weapons.
“When you consider all the horrific things that have happened in recent years, including 9/11, I can’t blame any school for wanting to stay away from anything that might promote violence,” Ms. Nielson said.
Mary Ellen Manniello, whose daughter, Courtney, 9, is a fourth grader at St. Gabriel School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, said she unde
rstood why officials had banned weapons with costumes. “They’re learning more about
guns from issues in the street than educational issues.”
This year, the school has gone one step further and is prohibiting all costumes at its Halloween festivities. Ms. Manniello said it had become “a chaotic scene,” with parents helping their children change into their costumes at school.
Some parents said the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes went too far and denied children a chance to express themselves.
“Halloween has always been the one day when it was acceptable for our children to be dressed like somebody they are not, like a cowboy or a pirate or a person from outer space, and now we’re taking that away from them,” said Laura Santoro, a nurse from New Milford, Conn., whose 7-year-old son, Johnny, is a second grader at Northville Elementary School there.
Ms. Santoro said that her son would dress as Capt. Jack Sparrow, the character played by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, at the school’s Halloween party, but that he would not be allowed to take a sword — part of a policy that caught her by surprise last Halloween.
“I sent my son to school last year dressed as a special force Power Ranger, and he was told that he couldn’t take along his red laser blaster, which really surprised me, because the laser is red and made of plastic and lights up, and it could never, ever be mistaken for a real gun,” Ms. Santoro said. “I mean, come on, the whole thing is getting really sad.”What do you think is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To introduce to the public the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes. |
| B．To state parents’ attitudes towards the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes. |
| C．To tell the public that children should bring any weapons for Halloween costumes. |
| D．To analyse the fact that the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes goes too far. |
According to the passage, some parents understand the no-weapon policy for Halloween costumes because ____________.
| A．schools should take a cautious approach to Halloween to prevent violence. |
| B．children are buying real guns in the street and there is always violence now. |
| C．those parents like to help their children change into their costumes at school. |
| D．children are learning more about guns from educational issues. |
Which of the following is probably right according to the passage?
| A．Children could bring any weapons into school five or six years ago. |
| B．The parents surveyed are those whose children are in elementary schools. |
| C．Guns are necessary on Halloween for children to express themselves. |
| D．Jack Sparrow is an actor who at one time acted as a pirate in a movie. |
What do the underlined words “laser blaster” in the last paragraph refer to?
| A．A kind of costume. | B．A real gun. |
| C．A toy weapon. | D．A kind of plastic. |
Both warm-blooded and cold-blooded desert animals have ways to escape the desert heat. Warm- blooded desert animals, such as rats and mice, rest during the day, often staying in cool underground burrows. At night they search for food. Animals that are out during the day, such as cold-blooded lizards and snakes, are active only for short periods. As their body temperature rises, these reptiles（爬行动物） move into the shade in order to cool down. In the early evening, when the sun grows weaker, the reptiles become more active and begin their search for food again.
Getting enough water to survive is a major problem for all desert animals. Some desert animals, like desert birds, manage to find water holes. Other desert animals, such as the kangaroo rat and the related jerboa, get water only from the food that they eat. Because these animals eat mainly dry seeds, they must survive on a tiny amount of water.
Most deserts have only a small number of frogs and toads because these animals must be near water to survive. Yet even these creatures have adapted(适应) to desert conditions. When small amounts of water collect in temporary streams, the desert-living frogs and toads become active. After a rainfall, they lay their eggs. The eggs grow into tadpoles in a few days and into adults in just four weeks. When the puddles(水坑) dry up, the adult frogs or toads dig into the ground. Their metabolism(新陈代谢) slows, and they stay beneath the ground until the next rain, which may be as good as a year away. Until then, their bodily activities continue at a reduced rate.
The camel — often called the ship of the desert — is one of the most successful desert animals. Camels can go for long periods without water, but eventually they must drink. When water becomes available to them after a long drought, they may drink 95 liters of water or more. When water is not available, what helps camels survive the desert heat is the fat stored in their humps(驼峰). A camel’s hump contains about 12 kilograms of fat. Fat is rich in hydrogen. As the fat is digested, hydrogen from the fat combines with oxygen in the air that the camel breathes. The result is H2O, or water. Each kilogram of fat that a camel digests produces about a liter of water. Desert animals are usually more active at night because _____.
| A．it is cooler at night |
| B．it is easier to find water |
| C．they like the dark |
| D．they are less likely to be attacked at night |
Which of the following desert animals can get water only from the food?
| A．The camel. |
| B．The kangaroo. |
| C．The frog. |
| D．The rat. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．All the desert animals rest during the day. |
| B．All the desert animals don’t rest during the day. |
| C．Cold-blooded desert animals are out most of the day. |
| D．None of the cold-blooded desert animals go out during the day. |
The title for this passage could probably be _____.
| A．Hot Deserts |
| B．Desert Animals |
| C．How Desert Animals Get Water |
| D．Ways To Escape the Desert Heat |
The underlined word “burrows” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _____.
| A．holes |
| B．caves |
| C．rooms |
| D．openings |
A guitarist was pleasantly surprised to hear from New York City police that his valuable guitar had been found. It disappeared almost a year ago when he got out of a taxi and forgot to take the guitar with him. Laurence Lennon, 44, said he was running late that day. He was talking to his manager on his cellphone when he rushed out of the taxi. He said that he gave the driver $60 and told him to keep the change. He walked through the front doors of the concert hall, still talking on the phone to his manager.
Upon discovering his loss, Lennon used his cellphone to call the police. The policewoman asked him for the name of the taxi company, the number of the taxi, and the name of the driver. He said that she must have been joking.
She told Lennon that he could apply for a missing item report online. Lennon asked for address. It was www.nypd.gov/toprotectandtoserve/haveaniceday. She told him that finding the guitar might take a couple of years for finding guitars was not as important as finding murderers and marijuana （大麻）smokers. Then she told him to have a nice day.
“This year has been depressing,” said Lennon. “I had to put off the recording of two new CDs. I’ve been using borrowed guitars. And I was losing hope of ever recovering my guitar.”
Lennon was reunited with his $100,000 guitar yesterday. The guitar had been discovered in the corner of a coffeehouse only two blocks from where Lennon had lost it. Lennon had offered a $10,000 reward for its return. He said he would give the reward to the coffeehouse owner, who had informed the police. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Careless guitarist surprised. |
| B．Valuable guitar found. |
| C．Coffeehouse owner rewarded. |
| D．Taxi driver still unknown. |
In the first paragraph, the author explained ________.
| A．how costly the guitar was |
| B．how important the concert was |
| C．why the guitarist was late |
| D．why the guitar was left behind |
By saying “she must have been joking” in Para 2, the guitarist probably means ________.
| A．it was impossible for him to answer her questions |
| B．there must have been something she felt funny |
| C．she didn’t believe at all that he had lost his guitar |
| D．she must have felt that his behavior was funny |
In the policewoman’s opinion, finding the lost guitar _________.
| A．was not important at all |
| B．wouldn’t be done online |
| C．could be a long time hunting |
| D．only depended on the driver |
I wasn’t surprised when I read that actress Helen Hunt recently stated that she would never allow her young daughter to become a child star. Ms. Hunt is the daughter of a Hollywood technical director, and grew up in Hollywood. Now in her late 40s, she started acting and modeling when she was eight and has probably seen a lot over those years in show business.
She has had a successful career. She earned four Golden Globes and four Emmys. She also attained the top honor of her profession when she won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in the 1992 movie, As Good As It Gets. Given those accolades, Ms. Hunt is successful. There is no doubt that her early experiences as a child star prepared her for what has been an outstanding adult career. Given those achievements, why would this star declare she’ll never allow her daughter, now at the age of six, to follow in her footsteps?
Everyone familiar with the entertainment scene is aware of the reasons for her attitude. Recent tabloid (小报) news headlines featuring the troubles of former child stars, among them Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the late Gary Coleman, may answer the question. Although Ms. Hunt managed to become a successful grown-up star, she apparently believes she’s an exception.
What Ms. Hunt may be suggesting is that many very young stars go through unnatural childhoods on movie and TV sets. While they’re earning big incomes, they’re so pampered (纵容) by directors and praised by fans; they may get false impressions that their lives will always be that way. Then, within a few years, when faced with reality, they’re hurt and confused. After all the overwhelming affection, they find they can’t deal with the problems. That’s often when drugs and alcohol take over their lives.
Helen Hunt has some other reasons why she doesn’t want her daughter to be in the entertainment business. Many child stars can never make a successful transition to meaningful adulthood. However, as with many Hollywood movies, I believe there are both good and bad scenes about how it can be played out in real life. According to the passage, Ms. Hunt _________.
| A．started acting and modeling when she was a little girl |
| B．has been acting for about 30 years |
| C．is the daughter of a famous actor |
| D．started singing when she was eight |
27. The underlined word “accolades” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_________”.
| A．difficulties |
| B．awards |
| C．salaries |
| D．opinions |
The author thinks Helen Hunt’s success is mainly due to _________.
| A．her hard work |
| B．the help of a technical director |
| C．her experiences as a child star |
| D．her talent and good luck |
Helen Hunt wouldn’t allow her daughter to become a child star because she thinks _________.
| A．child stars often take drugs and alcohol |
| B．being a child star may ruin her future |
| C．child stars aren’t able to solve their problems |
| D．it is difficult to succeed as a child actor |
From the passage we can conclude that _________.
| A．few child stars will succeed in the future |
| B．there is no way to save the entertainment business |
| C．the author has a different opinion about child stars |
| D．meaningful adulthood only belongs to non-child stars |
Communicating with Gestures
When travelling, you may think that if you don't know the language, you can communicate using gestures. However, very few gestures are universally understood and interpreted. What is perfectly acceptable in this country may be rude in other cultures.
1. Pointing at something using the index finger. It is impolite to point with the index finger in the Middle and Far East. Use an open hand or your thumb in Indonesia.
2. Making a "V" sign. This means "victory" in most parts of Europe when you make the sign with your palm facing away from you. But if you face your palm in, the gesture is very rude.
3. Smiling. This facial expression is universally understood. However, cultures can provide different reasons for smiling. The Japanese may smile when they are confused or angry while in other parts of Asia people smile when they are embarrassed. People in some cultures only smile to friends. It is important not to judge people for not smiling, or for smiling at what we would consider "inappropriate" times.
4. Waving one's hand with the palm facing outward to greet someone. In parts of Europe, waving the hand back and forth can mean "No". To wave "goodbye", raise the palm outward and wave the fingers together; but this is rude in Nigeria if the hand is too close to another person's face.
5. Forming a circle with one's fingers to mean "OK". Although this means "OK" in the U. S. and many other countries, there are some notable exceptions. In Brazil and Germany the gesture is obscene(猥亵的), while in Japan it means "money". In France, it has the additional meaning of "zero" or "worthless".According to the text, when we travel to other countries________.
| A．many gestures are universally recognized |
| B．the same gesture can have different meanings |
| C．a smile always suggests friendliness |
| D．we can still communicate without knowing the languages |
What does the word "inappropriate" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
| A．Unsuitable. |
| B．Impolite. |
| C．Uncomfortable. |
| D．Ordinary. |
When you talk to people from Brazil, you should remember not to ________.
| A．smile at them |
| B．make a "V"sign |
| C．point at objects around you |
| D．make the "OK" gesture |
The text is mainly to __________.
| A．show that gestures are universally accepted |
| B．warn readers of impolite gestures |
| C．show the different meanings of gestures in different countries |
| D．teach readers how to understand gestures in other countries |
Yawning is so contagious(具有传染性) that chimpanzees can “catch” it from cartoons, according to research.
Scientists from Emory University in Atlanta, US, have discovered that a cartoon of a yawning chimp will stimulate(刺激) real chimps to yawn. They describe in the Royal Society journal, Proceedings B, how this could assist in the future study of empathy(移情作用). The work could also help explain if and how computer games might cause children to imitate what they see on screen.
Previous studies have already shown contagious yawning in chimpanzees—stimulated by video-recorded footage of yawns.
“We wanted to expand on that, “explained Matthew Campbell, a researcher from Emory University’s Yerkes National Primate Research Center and lead author of the study. “We’re interested in using cartoon for presenting stimuli to animals, because we can control all the features of what we show them,” he continued.
Although Dr. Campbell doesn’t think the chips were “fooled” by the cartoons into thinking they were looking at real chimps, he explained that there was evidence that chimpanzees “process animated (动画的) faces the same way they process photographs of faces”.
He said: “It’s not a real chimpanzee, but it kind of looks like a chimpanzee, and they’re responding to that.”
He and his team, including Devyn Carter who designed the cartoons, showed the animals the yawning sequences.
“We also had the cartoons doing other movements with their mouths that the chimps often do,’’ he said. “The chimps showed a lot more yawning during the yawn video when the control videos were playing.”
He told BBC News that the only way he and his colleagues could explain the “very strong difference” they saw was that seeing the yawns was making the animals yawn. According to the passage, the scientists have found that________.
| A．yawning is a contagious facial expression among chimps |
| B．chimps will imitate a cartoon chimp who is yawning |
| C．chimps are able to understand cartoons very well |
| D．chimps like watching cartoons very much |
According to the passage we can learn that_______.
| A．yawning on both cartoon videos and pictures can make chimps yawn |
| B．Devyn Carte led the study about contagious yawning[ |
| C．children will also be stimulated to yawn by the videos of chimps |
| D．people can control all the features of animals through cartoon |
By studying the action of chimps, the scientists hope to ________.
| A．teach them more body language of human beings |
| B．learn how chimps use their brains to study |
| C．control the actions and behaviors of animals |
| D．create more charming cartoon characters |
The passage is mainly talking about________.
| A．a serious research about chimps’ body language |
| B．those contagious gestures of animals |
| C．why children imitate what they see on TV |
| D．a study about chimps’ ability of imitating |