Why People Get Tattoos
Jack lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger repeatedly stabbed (刺) him with sharp needles, causing blood to pour steadily out of his leg. Jack was getting a tattoo. His friend Tony had recently gotten a tattoo, and Jack was so impressed by it that he decidedto get one too. Peer pressure, media influence, and personal expression are some of the common reasons for wearing tattoos today.
The desire to be accepted by one’s friends or peers can have a great influence on what a person does. Sometimes, wearing a tattoo can be a sign that you belong to a certain group. Gangs often use special clothes and tattoos to identify their particular group. Some of these groups wear only brand–name clothes. Others wear tattoos. When a person’s friends are all doing something, that person is more likely to do the same thing.
The media is another big influence behind the popularity of tattoos in North America. A wide variety of media images (人物，图像) show tattoos－people appearing in commercials selling expensive cars, famous sports heroes with tattoos in magazines, fashion models wearing designer clothes that show their bodies tattooed with detailed and colorful patterns. These media images link tattoos to ideas of wealth, success, and status. As a result, many people decide to get a tattoo for its fashion and status value.
Many people decide to wear tattoos in order to express their artistic nature, their beliefs, or their feelings－in other words, to show their individuality (个性). A musician in a rock band may get a tattoo of a guitar on the arm. Some environmentalists may tattoo pictures of endangered animals on their shoulders. A tattoo can be a public sign to show what is important in a person's life.
As you can see, there are many reasons why young North Americans get tattoos. A tattoo can be part of a group's uniform, a sign of fashion or an expression of individuality. The decision to get a tattoo is most often a result of the influence of friends or media or the desire to express oneself. For Jack, it was a mixture of all three.
45. Jack has got tattoos in order to ______.
A. show his great bravery B. gain a special experience
C. make himself more healthy D. be different from others
46. According to the passage, media images are linked to ______.
A. traditional lifestyle B. social position C. cultural background D. public interest
47. We can infer from the passage that ______.
A. some people get tattoos out of pressure
B. tattoo is related to religious belief
C. getting tattoos costs a lot of money
D. most people with tattoos are artists
48. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
 |
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub – point (次要点) C: Conclusion
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory , Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” 
chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．Leading the following paragraphs. |
| B．Showing the main idea of the passage. |
| C．Introducing the background of the passage. |
| D．Giving a summary of the passage. |
Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
| A．is weaker than | B．is stronger than | C．is better than | D．is worse than |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving. |
| B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical. |
| C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical. |
| D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other. |
Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
| A．Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places. |
| B．Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants. |
| C．Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory. |
| D．Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own |
What is mainly discussed in the passage?
| A．How to decide whether an ant is dead or not. |
| B．Why ants have special chemicals on their bodies. |
| C．reasons for the removable behavior of ants. |
| D．How ants manage to keep their nests clean. |
A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
“You are employed,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the application to fill in, as well as date when you may start. ”
The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail. ”
“I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e-mail, that means you do not exist. And who doesn’t exist cannot have the job. ”
The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do, with only ten dollars in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his capital. He repeated the operation three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he can survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier, and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the US.
He started to plan his family’s future and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, “I don’t have an e-mail. ”
The broker answered curiously, “You don’t have an e-mail, and yet have succeeded to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”Why can’t the man have the job at Microsoft?
| A．Because he was lazy. | B．Because he didn’t pass the test. |
| C．Because he didn’t have an e-mail. | D．Because he didn’t have a computer. |
The underlined word “triple” can be replaced by ______.
| A．become large | B．become 3 times |
| C．increase quickly | D．decrease quickly |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world. |
| B．The man didn’t give up though he failed the interview. |
| C．He started his career by selling tomatoes in the supermarket. |
| D．Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft. |
The man can be described as _______.
| A．helpful and considerate | B．positive and generous |
| C．smart and hardworking | D．stubborn and unselfish |
Which proverb can best describe the story?
| A．Misfortune may be an actual blessing. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．Accidents will happen. |
| D．No pains , no gains. |
Almost every child is scared of something, from monsters in the cupboard to dogs in the park. But the fact that such fears are common and normal doesn’t mean they can be taken lightly. Kids experience fears and phobias(恐惧症) much more strongly than adults. And the influence of the fear can be physical as well as psychological (心理的). It can build up so they almost seem scared of everything--a kind of childhood anxiety. Dr. Creswell says: “Your child may always seem to expect the worst to happen and lack confidence in his or her ability to deal with any challenge.” So don’t make the same old mistake of treating them as if they’re silly for being a“scaredy cat”. Handling the fears is essential.
Children can be born nervous and, if you have such a baby, you’ll tend to prevent them from getting worried. So if they fear dogs, you’ll keep them away from dogs, but in fact that can just confirm to the child that dogs are scary. What is worse, keeping your child away from what they fear can turn that feeling into a phobia. Instead, you should encourage them to get in touch with the thing they fear, in a safe and supportive environment. Dr. Andy Field, a researcher of childhood fears, says: “You shouldn’t force, for example, a dog anxious child to go up to a dog. But you can approach it yourself, show them there is nothing to be afraid of, stroke( 抚摸) it, and talk about the dog being friendly. Once your child dares to stroke a dog-one that’s good with children, of course---then you should encourage them to carry on until they feel calmer, and reward them for‘being brave’.”Children’s fears are usually taken lightly because.
| A．they will not develop into phobias |
| B．their influence is psychological |
| C．they exist widely in the world |
| D．they will disappear gradually |
If we fail to help children to overcome fears, they will.
| A．make the same old mistake |
| B．overcome them by themselves |
| C．experience the worst of things |
| D．grow up lacking self-confidence |
According to Dr. Andy Field, if a child is afraid of a cat, parents should.
| A．tell the child not to be afraid of it |
| B．show the child how to approach it |
| C．keep the child away from it |
| D．ask the child to stroke it |
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!
When the Great Depression (大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was ______.
| A．caring | B．moving | C．encouraging | D．interesting |
According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?
| A．Doctors. | B．Nurses. | C．Friends. | D．Mom. |
What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
| A．His terrible experience in the hotel. |
| B．His previous business success of various levels. |
| C．His mom’s support. |
| D．His wife’s suggestion. |
Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?
| A．Modest, helpful, and hard-working. |
| B．Loving, supportive and strong-willed. |
| C．Careful, helpful and beautiful. |
| D．Strict, sensitive and supportive. |
Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?
| A．Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family. |
| B．Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work. |
| C．Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and higher education. |
| D．Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities. |
The Book of Life
So far, scientists have named about 1.8 million living species(物种), and that’s just a small number of what probably exists on Earth. With so many plants, animals, and other living things coveting the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of grass is growing by the roadside or what kind of bird just flew by.
A soon-to-be-started Web site might help. An international team of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia(百科全书) of Life ( EoL). The project aims to list every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide.
To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases (数据库) that already exist. And eventually, in special sections of the site, non-scientists with specialized knowledge will come to help. Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input what birds they’ve seen and where. To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it.
As the EoL develops, you might find it useful for school projects. The site will feature (以……为特色) special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods. Another convenient feature of the EoL is that you’ll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interests, age, and knowledge.
It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describe and analyze species. The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new tool will speed up that process.The Web-based EoL aims to__________ .
| A．find out what covers the earth |
| B．list all living things on Earth |
| C．work out the number of birds |
| D．save the existing plants |
One characteristic of the EoL is that__________ .
| A．it is run by school students |
| B．it focuses on different types of grass |
| C．it provides different levels of information |
| D．it allows non-scientists to review its data |
In the last paragraph, "that process" means__________ .
| A．analyzing species | B．creating a new tool |
| C．collecting data | D．describing species |