Gossip moves so quickly that few people have time to cover their ears, even if they want to.
“I hate it when others gossip about me,” said Mandy Miraglia, 16, a high school student from California, “but to be honest, gossip about my friends makes me feel I am trusted and belong to the group.” Miraglia is not the only person feeling like that.
Gossip has long been looked down on as little more than nonsense and bad manners. But recent research has shown that gossip has many positive effects on your social life.
“There has been a trend among people to dislike gossip,” said David Sloan Wilson, Professor from the State University of New York in Binghamton, US, “but gossip appears to be a very important form of behavior in a group of friends, defining their group membership.”
For 18 months, Kevin Kniffin, from the University of Wisconsin, US, researched the behavior of 50 people. He found that gossip levels peaked when a sports team included a slacker, someone who regularly missed practices or showed up late. Other members of the team would soon start to joke about the slacker’s shortcomings behind his back, because they thought they were bad for the whole team.
Gossip about the mistakes of senior members helps newcomers rebuild their confidence after a failure.
It also helps relieve social and professional anxiety. Long-term studies show that people around the world devote from a fifth to two-thirds or more of their daily conversation to gossip, and men appear to be just as eager for gossip as women.
It is hard to judge gossip, but it is more powerful than you think. The author would probably agree that______________.
| A．gossip is bad manners |
| B．gossip has many good effects |
| C．gossip is somewhat like nonsense |
| D．gossip is more powerful than advice |
What does the underlined word “slacker” mean according to the context?
| A．Someone who values the team benefit much. |
| B．Someone who does not do what they should well. |
| C．Someone who is active in sports. |
| D．Someone who shows no much interest in sports. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Gossip is a useful way of building group membership. |
| B．Gossip can possibly make someone confident. |
| C．Generally, women are fonder of gossip than men. |
| D．Actually, everyone gossips to some degree in their daily conversation. |
Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting creatures,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative meaning.
So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop
new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the more creative we become.
But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
“The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide’, just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider’．” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”
“All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware,” she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down 
half of that ability, preserving only those ways of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.
The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system — that anyone can do anything,” explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will…and Ms. Markova’s business partner. “That’s a lie that we have preserved, and it fosters (促进，培养) commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.” This is where developing new habits comes in.
64．Brain researchers have discovered that____________.
A．the forming of new habits can be guided
B．the development of habits can be predicted
C．the regulation of old habits can be transformed
D．the track of new habits can be created unconsciously
65．The underlined word “ruts” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning t____________
A．zones B．connections C．situations D．tracks
66．Which of the following statements most probably agrees with Dawna Markova’s view?
A．Decision makes no sense in choices.
B．Curiosity makes creative minds active.
C．Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.
D．Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.
67．The purpose of the author writing this article is to persuade us____________
A．to give up our traditional habits deliberately
B．to create and develop new habits consciously
C．to resist the application of standardized testing
D．to believe that old habits conflict with new habits
At present, in many American cities especially, many teachers in the public schools say they are underpaid. They point to jobs such as secretary or truck driver, which often pay more to start than that of a teacher. In many other fields, such as law, medicine, computer science, a beginning worker may make more than a teacher who has taught for several years.
Teaching has never been a profession that attracted people interested in high salaries. It is by history a profession that has provided rewards in addition to money—the satisfaction of sharing knowledge, of influencing others, of guiding young people. But in the past several years, there are more difficulties in teaching, for many, than there are rewards.
Unruly students, especially in big cities, large classes and a lack of support from the public in terms of money and understanding have led many public school teachers to leave the profession.
As a result, many of the best students, who would have chosen teaching as their life career in the past, are going into other fields.
Another reason for this change in teacher candidates is the changing status of women in the United States. Until the late 1960s and 1970s, one of the most popular choices for women was teaching. But as other professions, such as law and medicine opened up to women, women stopped pouring into teacher training programs. Thus, a major pool of excellent candidates for the teaching profession dwindled.
Bit by bit government officials and others realized that the status of the teacher had suffered. They talked about change. But the change in a vast society like the United States is not easy. People’s attitudes have formed over many years, and sometimes change takes many years.
60．The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 1 refers to “____________”.
A．money B．job C．secretary D．truck driver
61．What is the present situation of the teaching?
A．Teachers work harder and get underpaid.
B．Teachers have no opportunities to work in other fields.
C．Teaching can attract best students to work as a teacher.
D．Teaching can provide rewards as well as high salaries.
62．Many public school teachers turn to other professions because____________.
A．the government doesn’t financially support them
B．they have to work longer hours than a lawyer
C．their students refuse to listen to them
D．they are not fairly treated
63．The author believes that change in teachers’ status in the United States____________
A．is not great B．is impossible
C．influences people’s attitude D．needs time
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题3分，共60分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle is a palatial park on the central California coast and a National Historic Landmark．It was designed by architect Julia Morgan for William Randolph Hearst from 1919 until 1947．In 1957 , the Hearst Corporation donated the fortune to the state of California．Since that time it has been maintained as a state historic park where the estate and its considerable collection of art and antiques are open for public tours．Despite its location far from any urban center, the site attracts roughly one million visitors per year．
Guided Tours
There are several tours which highlight various parts of the castle and gardens．
●Tour One is recommended for first time visitors．It now includes the movie, Hearst Castle Building the Dream．
●Tour Two gives visitors a closer look at the main house's upper floors, Mr.Hearst's private suite, the libraries, and the kitchen．
●Tour Three looks at the Castle's North Wing, guest rooms and guest house Casa Del Monte．
●Tour Four features the impressive gardens and grounds, t
he largest guesthouse, the wine basement, and the Hidden Terrace．
●The evening tour is a special tour that allows visitors to experience the Castle at night as one of the Hearst's own visitors might have．
Ticket Prices
Hearst 
Castle accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover．Free day use parking is available for automobiles, motorcycles, tour buses and recreational vehicles．
| TOURS |
ADULT |
Ages 6 – 17 |
| Experience Tour |
$24 |
$12 |
| Tours 2, 3 or 4 |
$24 |
$12 |
| Evening tour |
$30 |
$15 |
* Children under 6 are free when accompanied by a paying adult．
Reservation Information
While tickets may be purchased at the Visitor Center upon arrival, tour reservations are strongly recommended and may be reserved online now or by calling 1 - 800 - 444 - 4445, see below for times．
| Reservation Call Center Hours |
||
| Dates |
Monday-Friday |
Saturday-Sunday |
| March-September |
8AM to 6PM |
8AM to 6PM |
| October-February |
9AM to 5PM |
9AM to 3PM |
Visit www．hearstcastle．org for more information．
56．Who does the Hearst Castle belong to at present?
A．William Randolph Hearst． B．Julia Morgan．
C．The state of California． D．The Hearst Corporation．
57．If you are quite interested in wine, which tou
r will you choose?
A．Tour 
One． B．Tour Two． C．Tour Three． D．Tour Four．
58．If a young couple take Tour One with their 5-year-old son, how much will they pay for the tickets?
A．36． B．60． C．48． D．75．
59．Which of the following is the available time to book tickets by phone?
A．At 8 AM on Monday in February． B．At 9 AM on Sunday in March．
C．At 7 PM on Friday in September． D．At 6 PM on Saturday in October．
It is one of the greatest mysteries of nature. In case you haven’t noticed, all living things follow very definite, individual rhythms, all as regular as a clock, but what makes them regular?
Though many scientists maintain that these rhythms are the result of some outside force like gravity or radiation or both, the results of most scientific researches agree with other scientists who believe that each living thing has its own built-in biological “time clock.”
Take the mystery of migration for example. Scientists can’t really explain why many species of birds migrate in the autumn even though the temperature is still summery. The birds just seem to snub the comfortable weather that they are having. When a certain time comes, they travel south by the thousand. In spring time, they migrate northwards even though there probably is snow still covering the ground when they finally arrive. Something said “go,” and they did.
Animals that hibernate (冬眠) are obeying individual time clocks, too. When their clock indicates the time to take a winter’s nap, they do, and nothing can stop them. At a certain time in the spring, they wake up and come out regardless of the weather outside.
Plants appear to have yearly rhythms, such as the sprouting of seeds, and they also have daily rhythms. Notice sometimes that plants raise their leaves in daylight and lower them at night.
If you live along the California coast, you can easily observe a demonstration of this mysterious clock functioning regularly. There, from February to September, the highest tides occur exactly every fourteen and four-fifths days, and during these high tides, but at no other time, small silvery fish called grunions surf-ride a wave to the beach. There the female deposits her eggs in the sand and the male fertilizes them; then both hitch a wave-ride back to the sea. Exactly fourteen and four-fifths days later, never before or after, the tiny eggs hatch, and the high tide carries the new babies out to sea.
72. According to the passage, the mysterious rhythms result from ______.
A. the influence of gravity on living species
B. the effect of radiation on living species
C. the influence of a mysterious outer force on living species
D. the internal mechanism inside the living species
73. The underlined word “snub” in the third paragraph probably means ______.
A. fight B. ignore C. symbolize D. criticize
74. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A. Hibernating animals are obeying an internal time clock.
B. The positioning of the leaves of some plants is due to the daily rhythms.
C. The internal clock functioning is demonstrated in the reproducing habits of grunions.
D. The yearly hibernation is more because of the weather influence than the biological functioning.
75. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. the rhythms of life
B. the reasons of mysterious hibernation
C. strange behaviors of species
D. the timing for different events in the world of species
Welcome to the British Museum, the grandest and the most spectacular of human history. The admission is free and we open every day from 10:00 to 15:30. You can explore 10 departments including:
The Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The collection of the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americasincludes around 350,000 objects. The scope of the collection is contemporary, and historical.It includes most of Africa, the Pacific and Australia,as well as the Americas. All of the collections were got during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and date from this time.
The Department of Asia
The Department of Asia covers the material and visual cultures of Asia – a vast geographical area of Japan, Korea, China, Central Asia, Afghanistan, South Asia and South-East Asia. The collection dates from about 4000 BC, to the present day. It representsthe cultures and ways oflife of local people and other minority groups.
The Department of Greek and Roman Empires
The Department of Greek and Roman Empires features antiquities (古董). It has one of the most comprehensive collections of antiquities from the Classical world, with over 100,000 objects. These mostly range in date from the beginning of the Greek Bronze Age (about 3200BC) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD.
69. The scope of the Department of Africa, Oceania and Americas doesn’t include______.
A. Africa B. Australia C. the South America D. Britain
70. The earliest collection is from ______.
A. The Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
B. The Department of Asia
C. The Department of Greek and Roman Empires
D. All of the above
71. The Department of Asia represents ______.
A. the geographic features of Asia
B. the relationships between Asian countries
C. the life styles and cultural traditions of some peoples
D. the cultural fights between some native groups