“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.
But have all these developments really improve the quality of our lives?
Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy（时髦的）, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”
Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.
Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.
1．The passage is mainly about________.
A．problem with technology
B．improvements of our life with technology
C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life
D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology
2．The writer quoted（引用） what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to___________.
A．share a truth about life
B．tell us what life was like long time ago
C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen
D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same
3．Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because________.
A．they liked to live simple lives
B．they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions
C．they were troubled by modern inventions
D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them
4．What do you think the underlined word “available” in the first suggestion offered by the writer mean?
A．Busy on line. B．Free C．Be able to. D．Be found by others.
For as long as I can remember, I have been very bad at arguing with people. As soon as someone disagrees with me, I get angry because I feel attacked, like the other person is out to show that I am wrong. And for some reason, I hate being wrong! So my immediate reaction is to get very defensive, I raise my voice, and I end up saying something I later regret. Needless to say, the whole thing ends with me beating myself up, and the other person feeling alienated (疏远) from me. This bothers me especially because my mother does the exact same thing and I hate it!
I have noticed this tendency in me for a long time now, but I have never been able to stop. I did some anger management work with a therapist (治疗专家) a while ago, but because I moved and turned to an advisor at school who cannot see me regularly, I have not been able to continue this important work. They tell you to stop and count to 10, control your breathing, calm yourself down before you talk. But that's the whole problem, I could never think of stopping myself until it was too late! The hurtful things had already come out of my mouth, and I was stuck picking up the pieces.
Right now the problem is urgent because my relationship with a wonderful boyfriend is in danger because of my insecurity and hatred of being wrong. He is closing himself off to me because I have hurt him, and no doubt I am no longer attractive as a woman with no confidence in herself and a bad temper. How do I stop ruining my relationships and hating myself? How do I stop hating being wrong?
67. In what situation will the writer get angry easily?
A. When she has argument with people.
B. When people disagree with her.
C. When she is attacked.
D. When she does something wrong.
68. What does the underlined part in the first paragraph mean?
A. My mother disagrees with me.
B. My mother alienates herself from me.
C. My mother has the same problem with me.
D. My mother does the same wrong to me.
69. In the second paragraph, what does the underlined word "tendency" refer to?
A. Being bad at arguing with people.
B. Hating being wrong.
C. Being lost to others.
D. Hating my mother.
70. We can infer from the third paragraph that
A. the writer feels helpless with her problem
B. the writer finds it hard to count from one to ten
C. the writer has received effective advice about her problem
D. the writer is under the treatment of a therapist
71. What did the writer imply in the last paragraph?
A. She is closing herself off to her boyfriend.
B. She is much hurt by her boyfriend.
C. Her boyfriend has broken up with her.
D. She has to solve her problem in no time.
ISC (HS) Reference No. S006864 New South Wales
Student Date of Birth: 19/08/1988 Department of Education and Training
International Students Centre
Hong Xue827-839 George Street PO Box 707
60 Waratah Street Broadway NSW 21007
Croydon Park NSW 2133 Phone: (612) 9217 4801 1300 302 456
Fax: (612) 9212 6721
http://www.tafensw.edu.au/international/
WARNING LETTER
Dear Hong Xue,
As you are aware, your student visa regulations set out a number of conditions applying to your visa. It has come to our attention that you are failing to meet the following conditions: You must maintain accommodation, support and general welfare arrangements that have been approved by your education provider if you:
●have not turned 18; and
●are not staying in Australia with:
--a parent
--a custodian(监护人); or
--a relative who has been nominated(指定)by your parent or a custodian, is aged at least 21 and is of good character.
Note: You must not change those arrangements without the written approval of your education provider.
You must obey the following rules:
1. During term time you must:
a) remain in your homestay during the school term;
b) come home every night; and
c) inform your guardian at all times of your whereabouts.
2. On weekends you must:
a) have your guardian's permission to stay with friends; and
b) inform your guardian of the name, address and phone numbers of people you are visiting.
3. You must return your guardian's telephone calls.
This will be your only warning. If you continue to breach(违反)your student visa regulations we will report you to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. Such action may lead to the cancellation(取消)of your student visa. Please contact me on (612) 9217 4801 or fax (612) 9212 6721 if you have questions about your enrolment.
Yours sincerely
Tracey Carlon
Student Advisor
International Students Centre
NSW Department of Education and Training
64. What's the purpose of writing this letter?
A. To remind the recipient (收信人) of the conditions for applying for a student visa.
B. To warn the recipient not to do anything against his student visa regulations again.
C. To tell the recipient how to contact his student advisor.
D. To inform the recipient of the student visa regulations.
65. What can be learned about the recipient from this letter?
A. He is under 18 and studies in Australia with his parents.
B. He is required to come home every night according to the rules.
C. He can stay with his friends on weekends if permitted.
D. His student Visa has been cancelled.
66. To which address should the recipient reply if he feels like answering the letter?
A. Hong Xue at 60 Waratah Street, Croydon Park NSW 2133.
B. Tracey Carlon at the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.
C. Hong Xue at NSW Department of Education and Training.
D. Tracey Carlon at 827-839 George Street, PO Box 707, Broadway NSW 21007.
The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness. People believe that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold, and it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World Was prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
At the Common Cold Research Unit England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be dipped with cold water, and them stood about dripping wet in wind. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
In the cold we have nothing to do with catching colds. Why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and painkillers such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms(症状).
60. Besides the experiments in England, the writer offered more examples to support his argument.
A、3 B、4 C、5 D、6
61. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
A、The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.
B、Colds are not caused by cold.
C、People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.
D、A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one.
62. Arctic explorers may catch colds when .
A、they are working in the inolated arctic regions
B、they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
C、they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions
D、they are coming into touch again with the outside world
63. Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit .
A、suffered a lot B、never caught colds
C、often caught colds D、became very strong
Many people often say there is more stress (压力) in today's society than in years past. In fact, these people are comparing our lives with that of the cave man, who didn't have to worry about the stock market or the atomic bomb. They forget that the cave man worried about being eaten by a bear while he was asleep, or about dying of hunger--things that few people worry much about today.
Actually stress is a normal state of affairs, and it's important that people understand what they are talking about when they speak about stress. Whenever anyone experiences something unpleasant, for lack of a better word they say they are under stress. Yet there is such a thing as pleasant stress--as in the case of the Olympic winner at the moment of his glory, or a conductor as his orchestra(乐队) performs particularly well. They are just sending out excitement, and they are giving off all the stress hormones(荷尔蒙)exactly the same as if they were in low spirits or had just heard of a death in the family. We call the pleasant or healthy kind "eustress” and the unpleasant or unhealthy kind "distress".
Then how can people deal with stress? The secret is not to avoid it but to "do your own thing". It implies doing what you like to do and what you are made to do at your own speed. For most people, it is really a matter of learning how to live and how to behave in various situations, to decide: “Do I really want to take my father's business or be a musician?” If you really want to be a musician, then be one.
56. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A. Modern people experiences more stress than the cave man.
B. The cave man experienced more stress than modern people.
C. People don't suffer more stress today; it's just that they think they do.
D. Modern people have the same worries as the cave man did.
57. In which of the following situations will you feel "eustress"?
A. Your favorite football team has lost an important game.
B. You have failed an important examination.
C. You are informed of an accident of your best friend.
D. You have won the first prize in an English competition.
58. The purpose of writing the passage is to let us know
A. stress does not necessarily refer to unpleasant experience
B. distress is what people call the pleasant kind of stress
C. an Olympic winner feels the same stress as one who loses a family member
D. people will feel eustress and distress at the same time
59. According to the passage, how can people deal with stress?
A. Do things that you really want to do.
B. Do whatever you're expected to do.
C. Try to do things successfully.
D. Refuse to do whatever you're told to.
BBC News (May 11, 2008) —Edinburgh Zoo plans to bring a pair of giant pandas from China to Scotland. Representatives from Edinburgh Zoo have recently returned from China. They signed a letter of intent (意向书) there, making a promise to bring giant pandas to the Zoo.
It has been suggested that the pair of giant pandas should be on loan (暂借) to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) for 10 years. The pair of giant pandas would give birth to babies during that time. Edinburgh Zoo would be the eighth zoo in the Western world to care for the species if the project goes ahead.
Zoo chiefs said that looking after the endangered animals could benefit conservation. David Windmill, chief of RZSS, said, "Working with giant pandas means so much more to us than introducing a new species to our collection. It is an opportunity to work on a global level with other conservationists to gain a better understanding of the giant pandas, the threats they face, and what we can do to ensure their survival."
At present, there are only around 1,500 giant pandas in the wild. RZSS has been working on the project for almost a year, hoping to have giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo by 2009, the year of the society’s centenary (一百周年纪念日). Mr. Windmill said that the project has received strong support from the UK and Scottish Governments. He also said that this must continue if the Zoo is to reach an agreement with the Chinese. As part of the agreement with the Chinese Government, Edinburgh Zoo will work together with Chinese scientists on research projects benefiting conservation in the wild.
RZSS will also provide money to support giant panda conservation projects in the wild. Giant pandas live in mountainous regions in central China and almost mainly feed on bamboo, which makes up 99% of what they eat. What do we know from the first two paragraphs?
| A．China will give a pair of giant pandas to Edinburgh Zoo. |
| B．Representatives from Edinburgh Zoo have been to China. |
| C．The Scottish Government has signed a letter of intent with China. |
| D．Edinburgh Zoo is the first Western zoo to have giant pandas. |
According to the text, RZSS may be ___________.
| A．a company that deals with international business |
| B．an organization that researches endangered animals |
| C．a government department in charge of Western issues |
| D．an activity having something to do with animals |
We can know from the text that _____________.
| A．David Windmill is Edinburgh Zoo’s chief |
| B．the number of giant pandas in the wild is still unknown |
| C．RZSS will celebrate its centenary in 2009 |
| D．RZSS knows the threats the giant pandas face well |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Edinburgh Zoo expects giant pandas from China. |
| B．Edinburgh Zoo does research into giant pandas. |
C．Scotland supports giant panda  conservation. |
| D．Giant pandas live happily in central China. |