Which gender is the most talkative? No matter what you answer, you are partially right.
A recent Gallup Poll showed that both men and women believe that women possess the gift of talking and some even believe women are biologically built for conversation, but all of that is challenged in a research published in the November issue of Personality and Social Psychology Review.
In a recent research by Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres, they collected all of the available evidence from decades of scientific study and systematically combined the findings into an overall picture of the differences between men and women regarding talkativeness.
They found a small but reliable tendency(趋势) for men to be more talkative than women in certain cases, such as when they were conversing with their wives or with strangers. Women talked more to their children and to their college classmates.
The type of speech was also explored in the research. The researchers discovered that, with strangers, women were generally more talkative when it came to using speech to ensure her connection to the listener, while men’s speech focused more on an attempt to influence the listener. With close friends and family, however, there was very little difference between genders in the amount of speech.
60.This passage mainly talks about a research conducted by _______ .
A. Gallup Poll B. Personality and Social Psychology Review
C. Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres D. the author
61.Which of the following statements describes the main idea of the passage?
A. Women are born more talkative than men.
B. Men are born more talkative than women.
C. Women and men are talkative in different cases.
D. Women are no more talkative than men.
62.The underlined word gender means _______.
A. people B. nationality C. culture D. sex
63.Talking with strangers, ________.
A. women are more talkative than with people they know
B. men are more talkative than with their wives
C. women prefer to listen more rather than speak more
D. men speak a lot to have their opinions accepted
Thanks a Million, Dad
I was born disabled．A difficult birth, feet first, my head stuck．By my first birthday, I couldn't stand or walk．
When I was three, the doctor told dad I had cerebral palsy （脑瘫）．A loss of oxygen to my brain had destroyed brain signals to the right side of my body．
But no son of my dad' s was going to be disabled．Every morning before breakfast and every evening before bed, my dad placed me on the bedroom floor to exercise my right leg．The muscles were shrunk and twisted together．Back and forth up and down, my dad pushed and pulled the muscles into shape．
But my dad' s exercise of passion didn't stop there．For my 13th birthday, he threw me a special party．When everybody was gone, he brought me to open a large box, it was a-set of boxing gloves．We put them on．My dad kept on beating me mercilessly．Each time I tried to get up, leather kissed my nose, eyes and jaw．I "begged him to stop．He said he beat me to get me ready for the tough world．
That same year, I was the only kid in my neighbourhood that wasn't picked for Little League．Two weeks later．Dad started the Shedd Park Minor League, and every kid played．Dad coached us and made me a pitcher （棒球投手）．
The power of my dad' s love guaranteed I walked and more．In high school, I became a football star．
In 1997, a brain surgeon in San Jose told me I didn’t t have cerebral palsy after all．He explained how and where the doctor' s forceps （镊子） at birth had damaged my brain．
My dad never knew the whole truth since he passed away years ago．But all that counts is the bottom line．After all his madness, on this Father' s Day, like every Father' s Day, I' m no longer disabled．What caused the author' s disability?
| A．A failed operation． | B．The doctor's forceps． |
| C．An accident in a game． | D．Shrunken and twisted muscles． |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．The author has a talent for boxing． |
| B．The author achieved a lot thanks to his father' s love． |
| C．The author became a baseball star with the help of his father． |
| D．The author doesn't think his father should be so strict with him． |
Paragraph 3 suggests that the author' s father____．
| A．wouldn't give up hope easily |
| B．believed his son was a normal child |
| C．blamed the doctors for his son' s disability |
| D．couldn't accept the truth that his son was disabled |
The author wrote the passage to ____．
| A．remember his father |
| B．encourage disabled children |
| C．show the difficulty the disabled face |
| D．give advice to the parents of disabled children |
Obama Still Smokes in Secret
US President Barack Obama has just made life more difficult for cigarette makers．He has just signed a law that will set tough new rules for the tobacco industry．The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the making and marketing of tobacco products．
At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said that he was among the nearly 90% of smokers who took up the habit before their 18 th birthday．
Obama, who has publicly struggled to give up smoking, said he still hadn’t completely kicked the habit．Every now and then he still smokes in secret．
“As a former smoker I struggle with it all the time．Do I still smoke sometimes? Yes．Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No．” Obama said at a news conference．
“I don' t do it in front of my lads．I don 't do it in front of my family．I would say that I am 95% cured, but there are times when I mess up, " he said．
"Once you go down this path, it' s something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the law is so important．The new law is not about me, it' s about the next generation of kids coming up．What we don ' t want is kids going down that path," he said．
Nearly 20% of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases．The new law makes life difficult for．
| A．Obama | B．tobacco industry |
| C．White House | D．US Food and Drug Administration |
What do we know about Obama?
| A．He no longer smokes． |
| B．He still smokes as usual． |
| C．He began to smoke at eighteen． |
| D．He is trying hard to give up smoking． |
According to the passage, Obama is most concerned about ．
| A．children | B．officials | C．his family | D．businessmen |
Just as the world’s most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming． Countless recent reports from the world’s leading scientific bodies have said the same thing． For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that: “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity．”
The idea that humans could change the planet’s climate may be counter-intuitive（与直觉不符的）, but the basic science is well understood． Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released（释放）into the atmosphere． As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanke
t．
Of course, the planet’s climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors（因素） such as changes in solar or volcanic（火山的）activity, or cycles relating the Earth’s going around the sun． According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes．
Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question． As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change: “If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”
The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths –one with human influence and one without． That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty． In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ．
| A．solar activity | B．volcanic activity |
| C．the Earth’s going around the sun | D．human activity |
The text is developed by ．
| A．giving typical examples | B．foll owing the order of space |
| C．analysing a theory and arguing it | D．comparing and finding differences |
The underline word “identical” means ．
| A．totally different | B．exactly the same |
| C．extremely important | D．relatively independent |
Finding the right school for 
your child is a process． You will want to read about the school, talk to any friends who are involved in the school and, most important of all, visit the school．
The first step in finding out about Indian Creek is to request an information packet． We will be happy to send you a packet containing a brochure（小册子）, the fee structure and an application． The packet should answer most of your general questions about the school．
In order to get a true sense of Indian Creek School, you should come for an Admission Tour, which includes a personal meeting focusing on your child, a tour of the building and the classrooms, and a discussion of the curriculum（课程）．
This visit is no less important if the child for whom you are seeking admission is a teenager than if he or she is a three-year-old one． Every school has a different “school climate．” If you visit two or three schools, you will notice that each “feels” different． You know your child best and you will quickly develop a sense of whether a school is the right match or not．
●The initial point of entry for Indian Creek Students is at the pre-kindergarten level for three year olds．
●Children must be three years old by August 31st．
●We also have major points of entry from grade six to grade nine． At each of these levels, we open new sections and accept students in addition to those moving up from our own lower grades．
●There are scattered（零散的） openings available throughout the program due to attrition（学生流失）． Once an opening occurs, students spend a day at ICS, part of which includes admission testing．You can NOT get to know about ICS by ．
| A．getting an information packet | B．taking an admission tour |
| C．asking friends involved in ICS | D．taking an admission test |
During the Admission Tour, you can ．
| A．having a meeting with the children |
| B．decide on the design of the classrooms |
| C．talk with the school about the courses |
| D．choose the weather suitable for study． |
Which of the following is NOT accepted for ICS when there is no attrition?
| A．A boy who will be 3 years old by July． |
| B．A fifth grader originally studying in ICS． |
| C．An eighth grader from another school． |
| D．A fourth grader from another school． |
The text is intended for ．
| A．teachers | B．parents |
| C．kindergarteners | D．school kids |
Shopping in the United States changes a lot．About ninety years ago most people shopped in small stores that were owned by one person or a family．Women went from the bakery to the butcher’s to the grocer and on to the fruit and vegetable seller in order to get their food for the week．Then, about sixty years ago, supermarkets were born．In a supermarket, people could get all the different kinds of food they needed without going to different stores．
The next big change in shopping in the United States was the shopping mall．A shopping mall is a group of stores u
nder one roof．Because malls allowed people to shop without worrying about the weather, they soon became very popular．The mall became a place for people to socialize in addition to shopping．If you walk through a mall, you will see older people sitting, chatting and drinking coffee．Malls are places for teenagers to hang out．Many teens will often just “go to the mall” and spend time with their friends．
The recent change in American shopping was the superstore．Large chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Office Depot and Toys“R”Us have been built all across the United States．Because they are so large, they can buy goods at a great discount and sell them much cheaper than smaller stores．Sometimes, when they are built near small towns, many of the small town stores have to close．They just cannot compete with their giant neighbors．
And now, online shopping is becoming more and more popular all over the States．People are too busy to go to the physical stores, so they go shopping over the Internet．Online shopping has lots of advantages．For instance, online stores are usually available 24 hours a day．Searching or browsing online shops can be faster than browsing the physical stores．While, online shopping also has its disadvantages．People are at higher risk of being cheated on the part of the merchant than in a physical store．And privacy of personal information may be let out．Which of the following shows the right order of shopping development in the United States?
①small stores②superstores③shopping malls
④shopping online⑤supermarkets
| A．①②③④⑤ | B．①⑤②③④ |
| C．②③④①⑤ | D．①⑤③②④ |
Which is the place for people to spend time with others according to the passage?
| A．Small stores． | B．Shopping malls． |
| C．Supermarkets． | D．Superstores． |
Why can the superstores sell products at
much lower prices?
| A．Because they can buy goods at a reduction in price． |
| B．Because they are across the United States． |
| C．Because they sell all kinds of products people need． |
| D．Because they are built near small towns． |
What’s the disadvantage of online shopping according to the passage?
| A．Wasting time． |
| B．Fixed prices． |
| C．Leaking personal information． |
| D．No chance to do physical activities． |