You must have a favorite line or pet phrase you repeat often in your conversations. Studies say that pet phrases can reflect our changing society and reveal information about a person’s personality. Here are some of the most popular pet phrases among young people.
脑残---nuts
I love the word and use it whenever I think a person is stupid, or a behavior is crazy. I learned the term from one of my classmates. Once, we saw two high school girls wearing miniskirts on a very cold winter day and my classmate called the two girls “nuts”. I don’t think the word reflects my personality. I use it because it sounds cool.
Diao Yujie, 22, computer science major at Nanjing University.
汗---stunning
I use this word very often. Once, my classmates and I were discussing how amusing QQ is. One guy suddenly burst out, “I have MSN too”. This comment had no relation with the topic we were discussing. I used this word and everybody laughed. I think it is a fantastic word that can change awkwardness to amusement.
Mu Li, 20, journalism major at Beijing Normal University.
晕死---I’m giddy!
I use this word a lot---more often than my classmates. It has became a symbol of me, as my friends sometimes refer to me as the guy who often says the word. I am a person who wants to be different and this word gives me that feeling.
Chen Zhou, 21, Nanjing University.
雷---stunning
I only use this word with my friends. My parents don’t understand it. The word, which is only used among people of my age, is intimate. I think it stands for being young and energetic. And I want to be young forever, so I like the word.
Chen Jianjun, 23, senior at Nanjing University.If a man wearing suit and a tie is climbing a mountain, what can we say to him according to the passage?
| A．nuts | B．I’m giddy. | C．汗---stunning | D．雷---stunning |
What’s the meaning of “pet phrase” in the first paragraph?
| A．习惯用语 | B．宠物语言 | C．口头禅 | D．座右铭 |
What’s young people’s attitude to pet phrase?
| A．indifferent | B．crazy | C．reasonable | D．against |
Pet phrase can ________ according to studies.
| A．reflect our changing society |
| B．reveal information about a person’s personality |
| C．make young people popular |
| D．both A and B |
As many as 4 out of every 1,000 infants born today have permanent hearing loss．When parents learn that their child has hearing loss, they are faced with many difficult decisions．These decisions can include choosing therapies and schools, as well as finding financial help for hearing aids or cochlear implants (人工耳蜗)．
Help Me Hear Foundation is a public charity that gives the gift of hearing to deaf children from families existing on very low incomes around the world．The foundation offers life-changing services for impoverished families, and provides real help for children with hearing impairment who may otherwise be left behind in schools or society due to their lack of hearing．
Help Me Hear Foundation believes that a child’s first years of development are critical．Being able to hear is vital to human, and Help Me Hear Foundation seeks to provide a positive lasting impression on society through its programs．Help Me Hear Foundation has many goals, including relieving the burden on communities with hearing-impaired infants and children, and strengthening the social structure of families and neighborhoods．
Recipients of Help Me Hear Foundation’s benefits receive state-of-the-art hearing devices that otherwise would cost thousands of dollars per child over the course of their lifetime．The Foundation raises money through donations for hearing aids and cochlear implants, which saves recipients and their families on average over $50,000 on related expenses．
The Foundation tries to be a transparent charity, and wants to be a catalyst for allowing deaf and hearing-impaired children to develop in a typical fashion alongside their peers．
Needy families can obtain information on specific services, and find out about deafness education by visiting the Help Me Hear Foundation’s website．The website offers helpful information on how hearing aids work, and how hearing aids ease many of the learning and language challenges that hearing-impaired children deal with on a daily basis．Help Me Hear Foundation was probably set up to _____．
| A．build schools for deaf children |
| B．research deaf children’s behavior |
| C．protect deaf children from being ignored |
| D．offer real help to poor deaf children |
We learn from the text that _____．
| A．the local government is in charge of the foundation |
| B．the work of the foundation depends on donations |
| C．even blind children can turn to the foundation |
| D．poor deaf African children cannot get help from the foundation |
Visit the foundation’s website, and you will learn about _____．
| A．the function of hearing aids |
| B．the specific services the foundation needs |
| C．the challenges that children face every day |
| D．the prices of a variety of hearing aids |
For whom is the text most probably written?
| A．Poor parents who have deaf children． |
| B．Doctors who want to improve skills． |
| C．Students who cannot see the blackboard clearly． |
| D．Teachers who have deaf children in their class． |
The author writes the text mainly to _____．
| A．tell how to avoid permanent hearing loss |
| B．explain how hard a life deaf children live |
| C．introduce Help Me Hear Foundation |
| D．advise people to give money to Help Me Hear Foundation |
Homestay UK/Great Britain
Here you will find a selection of homestay hosts and host families in the UK．If you want to learn more about the British host family of your choice, please click on information at www．Homestaybooking．Com．You will then see a personal introduction of the UK homestay host．If you don’t want to search yourself, just register for free and receive our matching recommendations．
Chika and Tara from London, the United Kingdom
Information about the homestay host
Chika is 28 years old．She is away from home most of the time．Tara is 18 years old．She is at home every day．They both speak English．
Chika and Tara’s guests can stay for at least 5 nights and up to a maximum of 365 nights．Chika and Tara have no children living at home．It is a non-smoking residence(住宅)．No pets live in this household．
Information about the homestay accommodation
The accommodation is in London．The name of the neighborhood is Greenwich．The distance to the city center is 1．6km．The next access point to public transport is at 15 m distance．
Three guests can stay in Tara and Chika’s house at the same time．The following accommodation is generally available:
Single room with shared use of the family bathroom
*Size: 12．0 ㎡
*Facilities: desk, Internet access, mirror, hairdryer and wardrobe(衣橱)
*Price per night per person: ￡20．00 per night(one single)
Twin room with shared use of the family bathroom
*Size: 15．0 ㎡
*Facilities: TV, desk, Internet access, mirror, hairdryer and wordrobe
*Price per night per person:
￡20．00 per night(one guest)
￡17．00 per night(two guests)
The room charge includes the following services: Internet access, regular room cleaning, breakfast, free use of the washing machine．
Additional available service at an extra charge: Pick-up service(￡60．00 one-way); Lunch(￡6．00 per person per day); Dinner(￡6．00 per person per night)
Vegetarian(素食的) meals are available．Chika and Tara’s house would be a good choice for _______．
| A．a pet lover |
| B．a heavy smoker |
| C．a person who eats no meat |
| D．one who needs a one-night stay |
What do we know about Chika and Tara’s house?
| A．It lies in the center of the city． |
| B．It is not far away from Greenwich． |
| C．Public transport is convenient there． |
| D．The distance from the house to London is 1．6 km． |
If Mary chooses a twin room and pick-up service(two-way), how much should she pay per day?
| A．￡140． | B．￡137． | C．￡80． | D．￡77 |
When Armida Armato’s daughter, Alexia, came home from school one day last year keen to go on a school trip to Ecuador, she wasn’t too sure how to feel. She was happy that her daughter could experience something she never did as a teen but was fearful of letting her travel to such a remote part of the world.
Alexia was 16 at the time, a student at Westwood High School. The school sponsored a humanitarian trip for 26 students and two teachers to spend 18 days living in a mountain village to build a one-room school. Even though Armato trusted her daughter, the other students and the teachers, she was worried about the side effects from the travel vaccines, possible accidents, and medical care.
Now that Alexia was home, Armato said she saw her daughter’s new maturity, greater confidence and independence. “This is the best thing I ever did,” Alexia said. “The experience was so eye-opening and life-changing. You’re with people who are not as lucky as you are. They live in very poor conditions but they’re so happy and outgoing. You say, ‘My God. I’m taking everything for granted back home.’”
She said they built a one-room school from scratch with no mechanical cement mixers. They used their hands, shovels and basic tools. She and another student lived with a local family in a small village about eight hours outside the capital, Quito. Despite the initial strangeness and knowing only basic Spanish, she said they grew very close and felt like a family.
Every year, groups of students at Montreal High School like Alexia pack their bags and fly off with classmates and teachers to developing countries where they volunteer for a variety of projects.
“Armato’s worries are very common among parents,” says Bill Nevin, a teacher at St. George’s High School. He organizes a humanitarian rip to India to the Sheela Bal Bhavan orphanage and says the three biggest fears families have are health, security and contact.When hearing the news that her daughter would go on a school trip to Ecuador, Armato was _______.
| A．proud and happy |
| B．supportive but concerned |
| C．fearful and nervous |
| D．excited but puzzled |
The underlined phrase “from scratch” in Paragraph 4 probably means “______”.
| A．having great help |
| B．using high technology |
| C．ending up in failure |
| D．starting from the beginning |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Volunteering helps students grow and develop. |
| B．School trips make parents worried about their children. |
| C．Ecuador is the most attractive travel destination in the world. |
| D．Brave Alexia dreams to work in Ecuador one day. |
E
Energy independence． It has a nice ring to it． Doesn't it？ If you think so， you're not alone，because energy independence has been the dream of American president for decades， and never more so than in the past few years， when the most recent oil price shock has been partly responsible for kicking off the great recession（经济衰退）．
"Energy independence"and its rhetorical（修辞的） companion"energy security"are， however，slippery concepts that are rarely though through． What is it we want independence from， exactly？
Most people would probably say that they want to be independent from imported oil．But there are reasons that we buy all that old from elsewhere．
The first reason is that we need it to keep our economy running． Yes， there is a trickle（涓涓细流）of biofuel（生物燃料）available， and more may become available， but most biofuels cause economic waste and environmental destruction．
Second， Americans have basically decided that they don't really want to produce all their own oil． They value the environmental quality they preserve over their oil imports from abroad． Vast areas of the United States are off-limits to oil exploration and production in the name of environmental protection． To what extent are Americans really willing to endure the environmental impacts of domestic energy production in order to cut back imports？
Third， there are benefits to trade． It allows for economic efficiency， and when we buy things from places that have lower production costs than we do， we benefit． And although you don't read about this much， the United States is also a large exporter of oil products， selling about 2 million barrels of petroleum products per day to about 90 countries．
There is no question that the United States imports a great deal of energy and， in fact， relies on that steady flow to maintain ite economy． When that flow is interrupted， we feel the pain in short supplies and higher prices． At the same time， we derive massive economic benefits when we buy the most affordable energy on the world market and when we engage in energy trade around the world．From the passage， we know that biofuels ．
| A．keep America's economy running healthily |
| B．prove to be a good alternative to petroleum |
| C．do not provide a sustainable energy supply |
| D．cause serious damage to the environment |
Why does America rely heavily on oil imports？
| A．Its own oil production falls short of demand． |
| B．Its own oil reserves are quickly running out． |
| C．It wants to keep Its own environment undamaged． |
| D．It wants to expand its storage of crude oil． |
What can we conclude from the last paragraph？
| A．America doesn't have enough oil supplies． |
| B．People can benefit more from importing oil． |
| C．Energy independence is significant for Americans． |
| D．Short of energy may cause economic depression． |
What is the author's purpose in writing the passage？
| A．To justify America's dependence on oil imports． |
| B．To stress the importance of energy conservation． |
| C．To arouse Americans' awareness of the energy crisis． |
| D．To explain the increase of international oil trade． |
D
Older couples in a bad marriage -- particularly female spouses -- have a higher risk for heart
disease than those in a good marriage， finds the first nationally representative study of its kind．The findings suggest the need for marriage counseling（咨询） and programs aimed at promoting marital quality and well-being for couples into their 70s and 80s， said lead investigator Hui Liu， a Michigan State University sociologist．
"Marriage counseling is focused largely on younger couples，" said Liu． "But these results show that marital quality is just as important at older ages， even when the couple has been married 40 0r 50 years． "
The study， funded by the National Institute of Aging， an arm of the National Institutes of Health，is published online in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior．
Liu analyzed five years of data from about 1，200 married men and women who participated the National Social Life， Health and Aging Project． Respondents were aged 57-85 at the beginning of the study．
The project included survey questions about marital quality， lab tests and self-reported measures of cardiovascular health such as heart attacks， strokes， hypertension and high levels of C-reactive protein in the blood．
Liu set out to learn how marital quality is related to risk of heart disease over time， and whether this relationship varies by gender and/or age． Among her findings： Negative martial quality（eg．spouse criticizes， spouse is demanding） has a bigger effect on heart health than positive marital quality．In other words， a bad marriage is more harmful to your heart health than a good marriage．The effect of marital quality on cardiovascular risk becomes much stronger at older ages．Meanwhile，marital quality has a bigger effect on women's heart health than it does on men's， possibly because women tend to internalize（使藏在心底） negative feelings and thus are more likely to feel depressed and develop cardiovascular problems． Heart disease leads to a decline in marital quality for women， but not for men． It's common that wives are more likely to provide support and care to sick husbands， while husbands are less likely to take care of sick wives．"In this way， a wife's poor health may affect how she assesses her marital quality， but a husband's poor health doesn't hurt his
view of marriage，"Liu said．The study suggests that ．
| A．elderly couples are less likely to be affected by marital quality |
| B．the effect of marital quality on male and female is the same |
| C．bad martial quality affects heart health more greatly |
| D．marital quality has a positive effect on health |
We can infer from the the last paragraph that Liu agrees that ．
| A．marital quality has nothing to do with cardiovascular health |
| B．gender or age may affect one's marriage quality |
| C．marriage counseling is unnecessary for young couples |
| D．husbands will not take care of their sick wives |
Why does marital quality have a bigger effect on women？
| A．Because women are weak physically． |
| B．Because women have to take care of their sick husband． |
| C．Because women tend to keep their negative feelings to themselves． |
| D．Because women expect too much oftheir marriage． |
According to the passage， who is most likefy to have a heart disease？
| A．Marie， 40 years old，just got divorced． |
| B．Bill， 66 years old， lives with his wife and grandchildren． |
| C．Justin， 28 years old， got married recently． |
| D．Sophia， 59 years old， often quarrels with her husband． |