.Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn't matter where you live--in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village--the chances are that you' 11 be disturbed by jet planes, transistor radios, oil - powered engines, etc. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they' re working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration(专心) suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn't change too much(music, for example) may even help people to concentrate.
56. According to this passage, the noise pollution __
A. has become the worst in the countryside B. has become better in big cities
C. has spread from cities to villages D. has been controlled in modern cities
57. What does background music refer to?
A. Music played while people are working.
B. Music played in the backyard.
C. Noise that continues while you' re listening to other noises.
D. Music used to help people to concentrate.
58. Some people have their hearing harmed __
A. while listening to pop music 
B. in complete silence
C. when speaking loudly D. while watching TV
59. Which of the following isn't included among the things causing noise?
A. trucks B. motorcycles C. electric engines D. jet planes
60. Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating on something is
A. all kinds of noise B. great changes in the level of noise
C. background noise D. popular music
People playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario, a new research suggests. In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn’t get any smarter．
Researchers recruited（招募） participants from views of the BBC’s science show Bang Goes the Theory．More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills, for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week．What’s the purpose of online brain games according to the designers?
| A．To take part in the study. |
| B．To draw public attention to computer. |
| C．To provide free service to teenagers. |
| D．To improve players’ IQ. |
How many people were inveolved in the study made by the researchers?
| A．About 60. | B．Only 2700. | C．8600 or so. | D．Around 11,300. |
．What’s the result of the study about online games?
| A．Those who didn’t play online games felt disappointed. |
| B．Those who played online games proved smarter. |
| C．Online games don’t improve the players’ skills at all. |
| D．Online games will be more popular than before. |
The best title for the passage may probably be.
A． Don’t Play Games Any More |
B．New Study of IQ |
| C．Brain Games Don’t Raise IQ | D．Brain Games and Super Mario |
阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
第一节：（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30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。
When she flew into Athens on an unseasonably cold day in September, she quickly realized that she hadn’t brought enough warm clothes. Walking through the streets of the Greek capital, she happened to see a nice coat in a shop window and went in to ask about the price. The coat was too expensive, but as Christine was about to leave the shop, the woman asked her where she was from. When Christine answered Australia, the woman agreed to reduce the price because she knew a nice girl from Australia called Elena. Christine then noticed a photo of a young man standing next to a motorbike. Her eyes opened wide with astonishment. It was Nicos! Indeed the young man was Nicos, and the woman in the shop was Maria. She had come to Athens from Santorini to look after the shop for a friend.
Sadly, the story has a tragic ending. Nicos had been killed in a motorcycle accident.
“I wanted to tell Elena,” said Maria. “But I didn’t know how. Now that I have met you, I know that it’s time to tell her.”Elena went to Greece in order to visit.
| A．her parents | B．Christine | C．Nicos. | D．her grandparents |
Why did Nicos stop writing to Elena?
| A．He had moved away. |
| B．His mother forbade him to do so. |
| C．He h ad died in an accident. |
| D．They had lost touch with each other. |
What can be inferred from the fact that Christine and Maria had a talk in the shop?
| A．They two had planned the talk before. | B．They met each other accidentally. |
| C．They were business partners. | D．They recognized each other. |
I love science and science fiction. Like many science fiction fans, I am fascinated by the possibility of time travel. However, one must combine romance with reasoning and look into the chances of time travel critically.
First of all, we must remember the whole universe is in motion. If we want to go back to yesterday, our "time machine" has to move back in time and space. If someone claimed he was at home when he suddenly travelled 200 years back in time, he either had an illusion or made the story up. Two hundred years ago, Earth was in a different place in space, so how can you travel back 200 years without moving in space? Don't get me wrong. I am not knocking the genius of science fiction writers. H.G. Wells's "The Time Machine" is a great work of fiction, but that’s all. I have read many other time travelling science fiction stories since reading H.G. Wells, but none address this problem of displacement.
My own argument for the im
p
ossibility of time travel is that physical states of the past no longer exist and those of the future are not here yet. To be able to move back and forth in time requires everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen everywhere in the whole universe at every single moment in time－past, present, and future－to be stored as a "reality" somewhere－like the save game file of a computer game that contains every single byte of information of the game at the point it was saved, but you would need an almost extremely large file and almost extremely many of them－so it can be re-entered and communicated with, and not just light signals for viewing. To me, I don’t buy it.Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．How to make time travel possible? |
| B．Why am I fascinated by time travel? |
| C．Why do I think time travel is not possible? |
| D．How to explain the possibility of time travel? |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “illusion”?
| A．success | B．dream | C．switch | D．support |
According to the author, which of the following is RIGHT?
| A．We can go back to the past by time travel. |
| B．People can travel to the future by moving in space. |
| C．“The Time Machine” is nothing more than a science fiction. |
| D．Everything that happened, is happening and will happen can be stored somewhere. |
In the author’s opinion, time travel might be possible if .
| A．people could combine romance with reasoning |
| B．people could stop the movement of the whole universe |
| C．people could use time machine under the instruction of H.G. Wells |
| D．people could “save” everything in the past, present and future in a certain space |
As we have seen, the focus of medical care in our society has been shifting from curing disease to preventing disease－especially in changing our many unhealthy behaviors, such as poor eating habits, smoking, and failure to exercise. The line of thought about this shift can be pursued further. Imagine a person who is about the right weight, but does not eat very nutritious foods, who feels OK but exercises only occasionally, who goes to work every day, but is not an outstanding worker, who drinks a few beers at home most nights but does not drive while drunk, and who has no chest pains or abnormal blood counts, but sleeps a lot and often feels tired. This person is not ill. He may not even be at risk for any particular disease
. But we can imagine that this person could be a lot healthier.
The field of medicine has not traditionally distinguished between someone who is just “not ill” and someone who is in excellent health and pays attention to the body’s special needs. Both types have simply been called “well”. In recent years, however, some health specialists have begun to apply the terms “well” and “wellness” only to those who are actively attempting to maintain and improve their health. People who are well are concerned with nutrition and exercise, and they make a point of monitoring their body’s condition. Most important, perhaps, people who are well take active responsibility for all matters related to their health. Even people who have a ph
ysical disease or handicap (缺陷) may be “well”, in this new sense, if they make an effort to maintain the best possible health they can in the face of their physical limitations. “Wellness” may perhaps best be viewed not as a state that people can achieve, but as an ideal that people can struggle for. People who are well are likely to be better able to resist disease and to fight disease when it strikes. And by focusing attention on healthy ways of living, the concept of wellness can have a beneficial influence on the ways in which people face the challenges of daily life.Today’s medical care is placing more stress on .
| A．monitoring patients’ body functions |
| B．removing people’s bad living habits |
| C．ensuring people’s psychological well-being |
| D．keeping people in a healthy physical condition |
Traditionally, a person is considered “well” if he or she .
| A．is free from any kind of disease |
| B．does not have any physical handicaps |
| C．attempts to maintain the best possible health |
| D．keeps a proper balance between work and leisure |
According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
| A．Wellness is now just an ideal in many people’s mind. |
| B．Someone who drinks a few beers at home most nights is not healthy. |
| C．The concept of wellness can help people face the challenges of daily life. |
| D．A man without any physical or mental problem may not be really healthy. |
According to the author, healthy people are those
who .
| A．do not have any symptoms of disease |
| B．have strong muscles as well as slim figures |
| C．try to keep healthy as possible, regardless of their limitations |
| D．can recover from illness even without seeking medical care |
Apple Inc co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, counted among the greatest American CEOs of his generation, died on Wednesday at the age of 56, after a-year-long and highly public battle with cancer. Jobs' death was announced by Apple in a statement late on Wednesday. The Apple.com homepage featured a black-and-white picture of him with the words "Steve Jobs, 1955-2011".
A message on the site read, "Apple has lost an imaginary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring leader."
"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."
"Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple." The Silicon Valley hero who gave the world the iPod and the iPhone had resigned as CEO of the world's largest technology corporation in August, handing the position to current chief executive Tim Cook.
Two years before the iPhone that forever transformed the way people around the world access and use the Internet, Jobs talked about how a sense of his death was a major driver behind that vision.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever got to help me make the big choices in life," Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005. "Because almost everything－all others' expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure－these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."According to the passage, which statement of Steve Jobs is RIGHT?
| A．Steve Jobs was the present CEO of Apple. |
| B．Steve Jobs was thought to have great talent. |
| C．Steve Jobs had no idea about his death before. |
| D．Steve Jobs fought against cancer for a year secretly. |
What can we learn about iPhone from the passage?
| A．People can use it to do anything they want. |
| B．It can teach people how to surf the Internet. |
| C．People can learn the spirit of Apple from it. |
| D．It can change the way people use the Internet. |
In Jobs's speech in Stanford, we can learn that .
| A．to make great achievements, you must lose everything |
| B．people should try to achieve everything regardless of death |
| C．people who will be dead soon must make big choices in life |
| D．in the face of death, nothing is truly important except to follow your dream |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Steve Jobs changed the world. |
| B．Steve Jobs died on Wednesday. |
| C．Who will be the next Steve Jobs? |
| D．Steve Jobs, the greatest American CEO. |