Looking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were all brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon left their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic.
Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim(模糊的) memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a clear memory of the dogs, the farm animals, the local birds, and above all, the insects.
I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world and my enthusiasm had led me into varied investigations（调查研究）. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious（清醒的） mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle, because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some might honor with the title of scientific research.
But curiosity, keen（敏锐的） eyes, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist: one of the excellent and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist, up to a certain point, can be made. A naturalist is born. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.The first paragraph tells us the author ______.
| A．was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood |
| B．lost his hearing when he was a child |
| C．didn’t like his brothers and sisters |
| D．was born into a naturalist’s family |
The author can’t remember his relatives clearly because _______.
| A．he didn’t live very long with them |
| B．the family was extremely large |
| C．he was too young when he lived with them |
| D．he was fully occupied with observing nature |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author was _______.
| A．a scientist as well as a naturalist | B．a naturalist but not a scientist |
| C．no more than a born naturalist | D．first of all a scientist |
The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he _______.
| A．has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic |
| B．lacks some of the qualities required of a scientist |
| C．just reads about other people’s observations and discoveries |
| D．comes up with solutions in a most natural way |
All 20 children who died in a shooting at a school in Connecticut were aged between six and seven,according to an official list of the dead.
The state's chief medical examiner said the gunman used a rifle as his main weapon, and all the victims appeared to have been shot several times.
The gunman, named in media reports as Adam Lanza, killed his mother before driving to the school and opening fire.
Six adults, all women, were also killed before the gunman shot himself dead.
The head teacher at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Dawn Hochsprung, is listed among the dead, along with adults Rachel DaVino, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Russo, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto.
Eight boys and 12 girls were killed - all but four of them were aged six.
The youngest, Noah Pozner, celebrated his birthday only last month.
A woman who worked at the school was the only person to be shot and survive.
Scores of people have left flowers at a memorial outside the school, and on Saturday evening hundreds attended a candlelight vigil（守夜）.
President Barack Obama is to visit Newtown on Sunday to meet families and speak at an interfaith vigil at the town's high school.
After the attack, he urged "meaningful action" against gun crime in the US.
"As a country we have been through this too many times," he said in an emotional White House address.How many people of the school got shot during this heartbreaking event?
| A．26. | B．27. | C．20. | D．12 |
Among the student victims, how many are just six years old?
| A．12 | B．20. | C．4. | D．16 |
Very few victims survived the shooting probably because _____.
| A．they were all too young |
| B．they failed to call the police in time |
| C．they each were shot several times |
| D．they were not taken to hospital soon enough |
What did the gunman do after the massive killing?
| A．He shot his mother dead. |
| B．He was caught by the head teacher. |
| C．He killed himself with his gun. |
| D．He got out to attend a candlelight vigil |
From President Barack Obama’s words we can expect that ______.
| A．the control of the use of guns will be tighter in U.S.A |
| B．more gun crimes will be inspired by this attack |
| C．more people will own guns to protect themselves |
| D．fewer people will send their kids to the school |
Originally, both the British and the American spoke with a rhotic accent. Rhotic essentially means an accent where the letter “r” is pronounced strongly after a vowel (元音). Rhotic accents are strong in both the US and Scotland, but seem to have disappeared from British English and its derivatives, such as Australian English and New Zealand English.
The major American accent –– the typical accent of the mid-western US –– is rhotic, and British English is, as a rule, non-rhotic. Specifically, US speakers pronounce every “r”, wherever they appear in a word. Most British speakers (and you will note that there are some British Isle accents that are strongly rhotic, like US) do not pronounce every “r”. Americans stress the “r” at the end of words such as “teacher” or “neighbour”, but in many non-rhotic British accents it is more of a “schwa” (an unstressed sound) so it comes out as, “teacha” (unstressed) or “neighba”.
This main difference also differs across the country of origin. For example, the US has a clear difference in the accents between people of the north and south, not to mention less clear differences across the states. Similarly, British people have a different accent according to their locality. The “cockney (伦敦东区)” accent is greatly different to the middle and upper class accents.
Another common difference appears to be that Americans pronounce words such as “herbal” without the “h”. Syllables (音节) may be stressed differently, too. “Oregano” in the US tends to be pronounced “o–reg–a–no” while in British English it is more likely to be “o–reg–AH–no”.When a rhotic accent occurs, ______.
| A．the letter “r” is silent in any positions |
| B．the letter “r” is sounded after a vowel |
| C．the ending syllable of a word is stressed |
| D．the ending syllable of a word is unheard |
The underlined word “derivatives” in the first paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．neighbours | B．ancestors |
| C．symbols | D．branches |
In non-rhotic British accents, ______.
| A．“bother” sounds the same as “buther” |
| B．“cheaper” sounds the same as “chapter” |
| C．“worker” sounds the same as “worka” |
| D．“painting” sounds the same as “paintin” |
Even in the original country of the specific English language, accents differ ____.
| A．from area to area | B．from person to person |
| C．from word to word | D．from stress to stress |
American people trend to pronounce words like “herbal” with the “h” ______.
| A．stressed | B．silent | C．changed | D．loud |
For many people, the name Baskin-Robbins is connected to sweet memories of eating ice cream. Irvine Robbins, who helped create this famous company, died in May at the age of ninety. His career of making fun and exciting ice cream flavors (口味) changed the way Americans enjoy this food.
Irvine Robbins opened his first ice cream store in 1945 in California. At the time, there were no stores that sold only ice cream. His sister’s husband, Burton Baskin, also opened his own ice cream stores.
In 1948 they combined their six stores into one business. Baskin and Robbins realized that they were too busy to operate each store well. So, they decided to sell part of each operation to the manager of that store. This permitted the company to grow quickly.
By 1953, they renamed their company Baskin-Robbins. They advertised that they sold 31 kinds of ice cream to show the many choices buyers had. There was one flavor for every day of the month.
Robbins and Baskin sold “Lunar Cheesecake (月亮奶酪)” the day after astronauts landed on the moon in 1969. Other flavors included “ChaChaCha”, for cherry chocolate chip, and Robbins’ personal favorite “Jamoca Almond Fudge”. They said, “We sell fun, not just ice cream.”
By 1967, there were 500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States. The business partners sold their company that year. Today, there are more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world.It can most deeply remain in Americans’ good memories that Baskin-Robbins ___.
| A．launched joyful varieties of ice cream |
| B．purchased much more than ice cream |
| C．combined many stores into a company |
| D．advertised their varieties of ice cream |
Which is the correct order of the events?
| a. Lunar Cheesecake went on the market b. The company got its new name Baskin-Robbins c. Baskin-Robbins sold its company d. Six ice cream stores belonged together |
A. d-b-c-a B. a-b-c-d
C. d-b-a-c D. a-d-c-bAccording to the 5th paragraph, one particular of Baskin-Robbins is that ______.
| A．it struggled for a large size of the company |
| B．its brands actually depended on top quality |
| C．it attempted to develop more chain stores |
| D．its brands closely followed the hot events |
Baskin-Robbins enjoyed its good business essentially due to ______.
| A．the friendly manners | B．the creative ideas |
| C．the unusual efforts | D．the powerful ads |
By the story, the author seems to be suggesting readers: “______”
| A．Explore your new ways! | B．Double your efforts! |
| C．Depend on yourself! | D．Trust your partner! |
Just the mention of the TOEFL, GRE and GAMT exams brings a thought of long hours of dull paper work. But that idea is becoming increasingly out of date. As planned, computerized tests will begin next year which will bring a series of changes from test psychology to scoring techniques.
From computer - equipped rooms, examinees will answer the questions on a computer. If they are sure about their choices, they can pass to the next question by pressing the entry(条目) “next”. Then another question will be randomly(任意地)selected from a vast test item bank and appear on the screen. After answering all the questions, examinees can choose the entry “quit” if they are not satisfiedwith their performance, or “score” if they want to see the result. Scores will be calculated immediately and appear on the screen. By that point, student's marks are official--there is no going back.
Since they greatly shorten the painful waiting process-which used to be two or three months, computerized tests have won worldwide popularity. Besides, there will be no rushing to the registration offices( 登记处)for these exams. Computerized tests will be given every workday in an exam center with all three kinds of tests being held in the same room. All test takers need to do is to call the exam center and book their seats for a particular day.
In addition it will become technically possible to apply new testing procedures. In the past，each examinee had the same set of test items despite differences in their ability. Under a computerized system, however, if the computer judges an answer is right, a question of a relatively difficult nature will follow. But if an examinee continues to give wrong answers and is judged as un-qualified by the computer system, he will be automatically denied the chance to go further in the test. Computerized tests allow the examinee to know their scores.
| A．immediately on a central computer for scoring test papers |
| B．a few minutes after the exam with the help of a test center worker |
| C．on the next day after they have taken the exam |
| D．immediately after the exam by means of the same computer |
If an examinee is not satisfied with his performance .
| A．he can admit defeat and give it up |
| B．he can ask the computer to give some advice |
| C．he can ask another chance within a few days |
| D．he is allowed to do it once again |
Under a computerized system, all of the following would be possible except that.
| A．different exams can be taken in the same room |
| B．one doesn’t need to rush to the registration officer for taking an exam |
| C．it will be much easier to pass an examination |
| D．one can take an exam almost at any time of the year |
The word “denied” in the last sentence most probably means .
| A．refused | B．allowed | C．lost | D．passed |
The rise in smartphones（智能手机）among young people may be having a direct effect on how successful they become as adults.
Research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has discovered the average university student checks their phones 11 times per lesson, and more than 80 percent believe this tech addiction is interfering with(干扰) their learning.
A quarter of students across five U.S states also blamed poor grades in exams specifically on the fact they used mobile devices（设备） when they should have been concentrating and revising - and these grades could determine the jobs they end up going into.
Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting at the university, surveyed 777 students at six universities across five states about how they used digital devices in the classroom.
The students were from UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Nebraska, Morningside College in Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi.
Around two thirds said they used phones, tablets and laptops for “non-classroom purposes” up to ten times during a typical university day, while 15 percent admitted this figure was closer to 30 times.
Among the top reasons why students checked their devices so regularly were staying connected and fighting boredom, at 55 percent. Less than half said the devices were used for classwork.
Texting was the most popular distraction（注意力分散） technique at 86 percent, while 68 percent said they used their phones to check personal emails. Two thirds used social networks, 38 percent surfed the web and eight percent admitted to playing games when they should have been studying.
Despite eight out of ten students admitting their devices were distracting, fewer than five percent considered it to be a “very big” distraction.
“I don’t think students necessarily think it’s a big problem,” said McCoy said. “They think it’s part of their lives.”
“It’s become automatic behavior on the part of so many people - they do it without even thinking about it.”
He continued, “They’ve got their laptops open, but they’re not always taking notes. Some might have two screens open -- Facebook and their notes.”The majority of the students think that using smartphones _________ .
| A．helps to improve their grades. |
| B．contributed to their poor grades. |
| C．has a bad effect on their studies. |
| D．determines their jobs in the future. |
How many students surveyed used digital devices for “non-classroom purposes” about 30 times during a day?
| A．About 518 | B．About 116 | C．About 427 | D．Less than 388 |
_________ was the most popular form of distraction.
| A．Texting | B．playing games | C．surfing the web | D．Checking personal emails |
The text is most likely to be found in a section about _________ .
| A．successful people | B．political systems |
| C．science and technology | D．historical events |