The United States is one of the richest countries in the world. Most people live in urban areas, and the large stretch of land left unused is full of scenic beauty. On the one hand it is proud of its urban areas, and on the other hand, it has the rich wealth of forests, mountains, plains and much more.
On the east coast of the country there are cities like New York, the leading city in business. Washington, D.C. is the capital of the country, where you will get an opportunity to see the White House. The city will simply impress you, with many museums showing the culture, lifestyle, art and architecture of the country. Another place worth visiting is Miami, one of the most popular international tourist destinations. It is also well known for its Latin culture, wonderful urban nightlife and beaches.
Moving to the west coast, you will come across the most amazing places in which to relax. Los Angeles is the place where you can see life in all its many forms; this city is world-famous for its Hollywood film industry. It also has beaches that can offer breathtaking surfing experiences.
Moving on to the Pacific Coast Highway, we get to see the beauty of San Francisco. Clean beaches and mountains topped (盖住) by clouds are worth seeing. Travelers can enjoy day trips to beaches, deserts a
nd wine-producing regions. Chicago lies on the shore of the Great Lakes and is believed to be the fastest growing city in the world, with its high standard of living and rich lifestyles. The city is a center for many theaters and is world-famous for its strong tradition of music jazz and the blues. According to the first paragraph, we know that ______.
| A．most American people live in the countryside |
| B．a lot of land has not been used in the US |
| C．the US has the largest forest in the world |
| D．the US has a larger area of urban land than wild land |
Which city in the US is famous for its Latin culture?
| A．New York. | B．San Francisco. |
| C．Los Angeles. | D．Miami. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The article refers to four cities on the east coast. |
| B．You can go to Los Angeles to experience surfing. |
| C．You cannot enjoy the blues in Chicago. |
| D．San Francisco is a center for many theaters. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．One of the reasons why the US is rich. |
| B．The customs and culture of the US. |
| C．A brief introduction to some American cities. |
| D．The beautiful landscapes of the US. |
She’s not afraid of anything. Snakes? No problem. Walking alone in the dark? Easy. We’re not talking about a superhero here -- SM is a 44-year-old mother. And she’s fearless because she happens to be missing part of her brain: the amygdala(扁桃腺).
Shaped like a pair of almonds sitting in the middle of your brain, the amygdala helps control fear and anxiety. A rare condition called Urbach-Wiethe disease left SM without her amygdala, and seems to have completely erased her sense of fear.
To try to understand how the amygdala works, a team of researchers made their efforts to scare SM. They showed her horror movies and took her to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House in Kentucky. She pushed out one of the monsters(巨物) and laughed. SM said she didn’t like snakes, but at a pet store full of poisonous creatures, she kept asking to touch them. When asked to rate her feelings, SM reported feeling surprised or disgusted, but never fearful.
“She tends to approach everything she should be avoiding,” says Justin Feinstein of the University of Iowa. This means the amygdala could control deeper urges to approach or avoid danger. Other scientists have a different opinion, though. “I don’t believe you can make a general statement about what the amygdala does by a single case study,” Elizabeth Phelps said. In 2002, Phelps published a study on a similar patient with amygdala damage who still showed fear.
It may sound like fun to be totally fearless, but we get scared for a good reason. “The nature of fear is survival and the amygdala helps us stay alive by avoiding situations, people, or objects that put our life in danger,” Feinstein said. SM was once followed in a park after dark by a man with a knife, and she simply walked away. “It is quite remarkable that she is still alive,” said Feinstein. SM dares to walk alone in the dark mainly because ____________.
| A．she is a superhero |
| B．she has experienced such conditions a lot |
| C．she is a mental patient |
| D．she has no sense of fear |
Researchers tried their best to frighten SM in order to find ___________.
| A．The function of a particular organ |
| B．SM’s reaction of fear and anxiety |
| C．The process of removing amygdale |
| D．A special way to get along with monsters |
What do we know from the research on SM?
| A．It was easy for her to avoid danger. |
| B．SM never felt fearful but disgusted. |
| C．SM was frightened by nothing except monsters. |
| D．SM got along well with the snakes. |
What is Elizabeth Phelps’ attitude toward the function of the amygdala based on the research on SM?
| A．Indifferent | B．Supportive | C．Disapproving | D．Interested |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．People can remove their amygdala to be fearless. |
| B．SM will be admired because of her bravery. |
| C．No one can survive if their amygdala is removed. |
| D．The sense of fear is crucial to humans. |
You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed (理解) as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.The main purpose of the article is to _____.
| A．remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator |
| B．tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette |
| C．share an interesting but awkward elevator ride |
| D．analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator |
According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually _____.
| A．turn around and greet one another |
| B．look around or examine their phone |
| C．make eye contact with those in the elevator |
| D．try to keep a distance from other people |
Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?
The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to _____.
| A．judge | B．ignore | C．put up with | D．make the best of |
According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of _____.
| A．someone’s odd behaviors |
| B．the lack of space |
| C．their unfamiliarity with one another |
| D．their eye contact with one another |
Until a few months ago, he was a butler(管家) in one of the more expensive residential buildings in Manhattan. But now, Nepal-born Indra Tamang is the owner of two multi-million dollar apartments in the same building.
The former owner - his former employer, Ruth Ford - died last year and left the apartments to Mr Tamang in her will.
Mr Tamang is happy but quickly points out that his good fortune did not come easily. "I am happy and have been touched by the generosity of the Ford family," he says. "I never expected that I will be given the ownership of these apartments. But I have been working for the family for the last 36 years, devotedly, with honesty and dedication(奉献). So my hard work has been rewarded."
Mr Tamang was 21 when he was brought from Nepal by Charles Ford, a writer and a photographer. Mr Ford died in 2002; his sister, actress Ruth Ford, then took charge and told Mr Tamang that he was like a brother to her after Charles's death.
Mrs Ford died aged 98. During the last five years of her life, she lost her eyesight and also developed speech problems. Mr Tamang looked after her most of the time and took care of her medicines and food.
He also worked with Charles Ford on various photography projects, which he now wants to keep as the photographer's legacy(遗产). He hopes to organize exhibitions of Mr Ford's photographs and edit a book of his works.
Mr Tamang plans to sell the bigger, three-bedroom apartment to pay the taxes he owes to the government on his legacy. He says: "The rules of the building might be a problem, as they require a minimum monthly income to qualify to live as owner of apartments. I have my small house here but I am happy with it,"
Mr Tamang has learnt his lesson from the life of his employers and plans to use his money with great caution. "I think one should save money for old age. That's when you need it the most to get care," he says.Mr Tamang treated the legacy as __________.
| A．a reward | B．a punishment | C．business | D．a gift |
What DIDN’T Mr Tamang do in the Ford family?
| A．Show Mr Ford's works in the exhibition. |
| B．Look after Ruth Ford when she was ill. |
| C．Work on kinds of photography projects |
| D．Experience deaths of Charles Ford and Ruth Ford |
Mr Tamang wants to sell one apartment to _______.
| A．buy the small house |
| B．pay the government the tax of the apartments |
| C．edit a book of Charles Ford's photographs |
| D．move into the expensive apartments as soon as possible |
What lesson does Mr Tamang learn from the Ford family?
| A．To find a good butler. |
| B．To spend money thoughtfully. |
| C．To save money for children. |
| D．To get good care when people get old. |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Charles Ford gave the apartments to Mr Tamang. |
| B．Charles Ford couldn't see or speak before his death. |
| C．Mr Tamang treated Ruth Ford much better than her brother. |
| D．Mr Tamang will still live in his small house in the near future. |
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 |
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 technicaldirector |
| 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 |
Below is a discussion on a website.
| http://www.TalkingPoints.com/ |
|
| Stuck on a desert island? |
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| Started on 23rd April by Steve Posts 1 – 7 of 42 |
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| Post 1 Steve USA |
Hi, everyone. What would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, it would be the changing seasons in New England. I guess this will sound stupid but I’d probably miss the rain, too. I wouldn’t miss getting up at six every day to go to work, though! What about you? |
| Post 2 Tomas Germany |
Good question. Steve, I think I’d miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I’d miss the food most. What would I miss least? My mobile phone---I’d like to be completely quiet --- at least for a little while |
| Post 3 Paola Italy |
I would miss the company of people because I know I’d like to have someone to share experiences with. I’d go mad on my own. And I sure wouldn’t miss junk mail(垃圾邮件) --- I hate coming home every evening and a pile of junk mail in my post box. |
| Post 4 Miko Japan |
Hi, I would miss Manga cartoon, the Internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I’d also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes… |
| Post 5 Roger UK |
I would miss my daily newspaper and listening to the news on TV and radio. I’d feel very cut off if I didn’t know what was happening in the world. What I’d miss least would be traffic jams in the city, particularly my journey to work. |
| Past 6 Jayne |
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned their family? I’d be lost without my husband and two kids. They’re the most important for me. And I can’t get started in the morning without a cup of black coffee. I wouldn’t miss doing the housework! |
| Post 7 Jaime Mexico |
It would have to be music. I couldn’t live without my music. I wouldn’t miss going to school at all or doing homework! |
Who would miss his or her family most?
| A．Jaime | B．Jayne | C．Miko | D．Paola. |
Which of the following people would feel most uncomfortable without the news media?
| A．Steve. | B．Jaime | C．Roger. | D．Tomas |
How many of them mentioned that they would miss food or drink?
| A．One | B．Two | C．Three | D．Four |