Did you know it takes 21 days to form a good habit? Research shows that when you “stick to something” for three weeks you are more likely to reach your goals. This is important for language learners or anyone who wants to make a change.
People who try something new often “fall off the wagon”. Whether it is a plan to lose weight or a decision to learn something, life often gets in the way. Those who make up their minds to learn English are more likely to succeed if they have a short-term goal at the beginning.
How to make learning English a habit:
Set a specific goal
Example: Break up the four main skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and plan to do one hour of practice in each area at the same time every day.
Find a learning partner
Choose a friend to keep you moving towards your goal. Your friend doesn’t need to be a language learner. He can be someone who wants to start exercising. He can be someone who wants to write a novel. It is best if you both have a goal.
Write out how your life will change when you reach your goal
If I improve my English, I will be able to get a better job.
If I take the TOEFL test, I will be able to get into university.
If I improve my pronunciation, my customers will understand me.
Keep track of your progress
Keep track of your effort in a notebook or online list. Share your progress list with your partner.
When you reach 21 days, reward yourself! Go out for a dinner or a movie or buy yourself a treat. It will be easier to stay on your program now that you are in the habit. If you ever fall off again, put yourself back on the 21-day challenge.
65. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Life sometimes makes people give up their plans or decisions.
B. An English learner should find a language learner as a partner.
C. A long-term goal is of importance in forming a good habit.
D. It is necessary to spend an hour on each language skill every day.
66. Why does the author advise an English learner to reward himself when he reaches 21 days?
A. Because he should share his progress with his partner.
B. Because he has had a good knowledge of English.
C. Because he would put himself on another 21-day challenge.
D. Because he has formed a good habit of learning English.
67. The best title of the passage would be “________”.
A. Taking 21 days to form a good habit
B. A research on learning English
C. Make learning English a habit
D. Setting a goal in life
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table.I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation.At one point the woman asked: “So, how have you been?” And the boy, who could not have been more than seven or eight years old, replied, “Frankly, I’ve been a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing.As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school.
The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years.Children don’t seem childlike anymore.Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different.Childhood as it once was no longer exists, why?
Human development is based not only on innate(天生) biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge.Movement from one social rote(生搬硬套) to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status.Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation(揭示) machine has been brought in 98 percent of American homes.It is called television.Television passes information to all viewers alike, indiscriminately (不加区分地).Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access.Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbol that must be memorized and practices.Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.
1.Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world______________.
A.through contact with society
B.naturally and by biological instinct (本能)
C.gradually and under guidance
D.through exposure to social information
2.The phenomenon that today’s children seem adult like is due to ____________.
A.the widespread influence of television
B.the poor arrangement of teaching content
C.the fast pace of human intellectual development
D.the constantly rising standard of living
3.Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?
A.It enables children to gain more social information.
B.It develops children’s interest in reading and writing.
C.It helps children to memorize and practice more.
D.It can control what children are to learn.
4.What does the author think of the change in today’s children?
A.He feels amused by their premature (早熟) behavior.
B.He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note.
C.He considers it a positive development.
D.He seems to be upset about it.
Michael Jackson, the American pop legend, died of a cardiac arrest(心脏骤停) in a Los Angeles hospital last night, just weeks before he hoped to resurrect(复活) his four-decade long career with a series of sold-out shows in London.The pop superstar was taken to the University of California at Los Angeles medical centre last night, and doctors tried resuscitation(使苏醒,使复活) in the ambulance.He did not regain consciousness and was reported dead about three hours later.
"My brother, the legendary King of Pop, passed away on Thursday 25 June at 2.26pm," his brother Jermaine said, "We believe he suffered a cardiac arrest at his home, however the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy(验尸) are known.The personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resuscitated him."
A spokesman for the UCLA medical centre said, "When he arrived at hospital at approximately 1.14pm, a team of doctors attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than one hour, they were unsuccessful." Police said they were investigating, which is standard procedure in such cases.
Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long decline from his peak in the 1980s when he was music's greatest all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV.His 1982 album Thriller, which included the blockbuster hits Beat It, Billie Jean and Thriller is still the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50m copies sold worldwide.
The world famous entertainer had planned a series of 50 concerts in London from 12 July.Although in the last two decades his reputation was destroyed by charges of child molestation(骚扰) and his fantastic public behavior, all tickets were sold within hours, proving the King of Pop had enduring appeal.
1.Where did Michael Jackson die?
A.At home in Los Angeles. B.In a Los Angeles hospital.
C.On the stage in London. D.In an ambulance to hospital.
2.What caused Michael Jackson to die according to Jermaine?
A.Heart disease.
B.It’s unknown before the results of the autopsy.
C.Working too hard.
D.His personal physician’s improper treatment.
3.Why were the police involved in investigating the death of Michael Jackson?
A.Because they believed he was murdered.
B.Because it was standard procedure in such cases.
C.Because Michael Jackson died suddenly.
D.Because his brother was suspicious of the truth of his death.
4.It can be inferred that Michael Jackson was ___________.
A.a King of Pop with good reputation.
B.a King of Pop still playing on the stage before death.
C.indeed a bad man with fantastic public behavior.
D.a popular King of Pop in spite of ill fame.
Babies are born yogis.Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it.Then we aged, got injured, and began carrying stress in our shoulders and back.In short, we lost our balance.
Yoga(瑜伽) is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit.It brings us balance.I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999.I had plantar fascitis in both feet, and my doctor had warned me against all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis.I was desperate for exercise.Yoga became my salvation and even enhanced my other fitness activities.I practice yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga—you love it.
Yoga becomes part of your physical life.Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one pose to the other.I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight.“Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S.Guide to Yoga.“Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to regulate weight.Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be removed around the cells.” I do yoga poses throughout the day.After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms.When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses.When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.
Yoga becomes part of your mental life.Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses.This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety.I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, and in traffic jams.You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired.If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time “fighting” yourself, trying to force yourself into poses.In yoga, you “surrender” to the pose by letting go of the tension.
Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life.Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is not restricted to any religious group.Yoga teaches “right” living in how we deal with ourselves and others.As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness.Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.
1.What would be the best title for this passage?
A.What’s Yoga? B.How I Do Yoga Poses
C.The Benefits of Yoga D.The Varieties of Yoga
2.According to the third paragraph, yoga can help people __________.
A.grow taller B.lose weight
C.become flexible in thinking D.make more friends
3.People feel tired after yoga because __________.
A.they consume energy in practicing yoga
B.they respond well to yoga poses
C.they spend too much time on yoga
D.they force themselves into yoga poses
4.If this passage continues, what will the writer most probably write about in the next paragraph?
A. Yoga as a means to keep fit. B.Different yoga poses.
C.Popularity of yoga all over the world. D.Encouraging people to do yoga.
第三部分:阅读理解(第一节20小题,第二节5小题;每小题2分,满分50分)
第一节: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,并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies.These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help.However, it's far from enough.Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries.A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity.He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.
The laptop which Mr.Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops.One difference is that it is covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily.As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle so that children can wind the computer up to give it extra power when needed.
These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr.Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production.The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet.These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again.In the UK, and, probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year.The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them.In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time.We will reduce the waste we produce and help others.In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone', and that is always a good thing.
1.It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because _______.
A.it reduces waste and can help others
B.it prevents waste and can earn lots of money
C.it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries
D.it is good for the environment and very educative for phone users
2.The author gives the example of Mr.Negroponte's cheap computers _______.
A.to show what high tech can bring us.
B.to illustrate the kindness of people in the developed countries
C.to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries
D.to give an example of how to help developing countries
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE about Mr.Negroponte's cheap computers?
A.His computers don’t need any power to function well.
B.His computers are covered with rubber so that they are very cheap.
C.His computers will help children in developing countries to have better education.
D.His computers will help people in developing countries to find all the solutions.
4.Where does this passage probably come from?
A.A magazine B.A newspaper C.A lecture D.An advertisement
Every year more people recognize that it is wrong to kill wildlife for “sport”.Progress in this direction is slow because shooting is not a sport for watching,and only those few who take part realize the cruelty and destruction.
The number of gunners,however,grows rapidly.Children too young to develop proper judgments through independent thought are led a wrong way by their gunning parents.They are subjected to advertisements of gun producers who describe shooting as good for their health and gun carrying as a way of putting redder blood in the veins (血管).They are persuaded by gunner magazines with stories honoring the chase and the kill.In school they view motion pictures which are supposedly meant to teach them how to deal with arms safely but which are actually designed to stimulate(刺激) a desire to own a gun.Wildlife is disappearing because of shooting and because of the loss of wild land habitat(栖息地).Habitat loss will continue with our increasing population,but can we slow the loss of wildlife caused by shooting?There doesn’t seem to be any chance if the serious condition of our birds is not improved.
Wildlife belongs to everyone and not to the gunners alone.Although most people do not shoot,they seem to forgive shooting for sport because they know little or nothing about it.The only answer,then,is to bring the truth about sport shooting to the great majority of people.
Now,it is time to realize that animals have the same right to life as we do and that there is nothing fair or right about a person with a gun shooting the harmless and beautiful creatures.The gunners like to describe what they do as characterbuilding,but we know that to wound an animal and watch it go through the agony of dying can make nobody happy.If,as they would have you believe,guncarrying and killing improve human character,then perhaps we should encourage war.
1.According to the text,most people do not seem to be against hunting because_________.
A.they have little knowledge of it
B.it helps to build human character
C.it is too costly to stop killing wildlife
D.they want to keep wildlife under control
2.The underlined word “agony” in the last paragraph probably means_________.
A.form B.condition C.pain D.sadness
3.According to the text,the films children watch at school actually_________.
A.teach them how to deal with guns safely
B.praise hunting as characterbuilding
C.describe hunting as an exercise
D.encourage them to have guns of their own
4.It can be inferred from the text that the author seems to_________.
A.blame the majority of people
B.worry about the existence of wildlife
C.be in favor of war
D.be in support of character building