Simona lives in Bucharest, Romania. She is nine years old and HIV positive(阳性). When Simona’s mother found out about her illness five years ago, her first reaction was to tell everyone, looking for support.
“That’s when I found out who really was my friend, and who wasn’t, ”she said. “Quite a few people stopped visiting me and asked their children not to play with Simona any more. Because of this, quarrels began in my family with each trouble brought about by her diagnosis. My husband became more and more unfriendly toward me and toward Simona. He didn’t understand how important it was for Simona to receive regular examinations by a doctor or why she needed proper treatment for her sickness.”
When her mother tried to enroll(登记) Simona in a school, the teacher warned her that when other parents found out about her illness she would be shunned by the other children.
Simona’s mother looked for help and found a social worker from the Community Resource Center. The social worker helped her enroll Simona in another school and provided emotional, financial, and material support for the family. Simona’s parents were able to ease the tension(紧张)in the family. Her mother also now attends parenting classes and support groups at the Center.
The Community Resource Center provides not only many needed resources, but also a place where women can gain skills and self-confidence. It provides children with a place where they are accepted. At the Center parents and children find a place where they can grow and find the support they need to stay together and care for each other.Many people prevented their children playing with Simona because___________.
| A．she had no true friends | B．she was a naughty girl |
| C．she suffered from HIV | D．she had a strange character |
Simona’s father thought that Simona____________.
| A．shouldn’t bring so much trouble to them |
| B．should receive examinations regularly by a doctor |
| C．shouldn’t see the doctor for her sickness |
| D．should be treated properly for her sickness |
Which of the following is NOT true according to this passage?
| A．Simona has been suffering from HIV for five years. |
| B．Few people visited Simona’s mother because of Simona’s illness. |
| C．Simona’s mother received help from a social worker. |
| D．Simona was accepted immediately by the first school. |
From the last paragraph we can draw a conclusion（结论） that____________.
| A．all the children at the Center are strong and healthy |
| B．Simona’s mother learned little knowledge at the Center |
| C．children at the Center are very friendly to each other |
| D．women at the Center learn to accept each other |
If you are looking for a creative solution to a piece of work or a school assignment，don’t lock yourself up in a quiet room.
A new study suggests that moderate background noise is a better spur(动力) to creative thinking than the sound of silence，Time magazine reported.
A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research says that the perfect working environment should buzz(嗡嗡作响)with a little noise.
Researchers found that test subjects were at their most creative when background noise was measured at 70 decibels，the level one might find in a busy coffee shop.
A nearly silent environment(50 decibels)was too quiet. Turning up the volume to 85 decibels (a jackhammer tearing up the pavement outside your building) was counterproductive-the noise became a distraction.
The researchers asked 65 students at the University of British Columbia，Canada，to perform various creative tasks while noises recorded at a roadside restaurant were played in the background.
In one experiment，scientists asked participants to brainstorm ideas for a new type of mattress(气垫). Test subjects had the most successful discussions when the noise in the background was noticeable but not too loud.
While a quiet environment may make it easier to read a book. the authors of the study say that moderate background noise creates just enough of a distraction to force people to think more imaginatively, without breaking their focus so completely that they can’t think at all.
Should we all head for Starbucks to get creative? Not necessarily.
Researchers found limited work time surrounded by the low-level noise of a coffeehouse is what really stimulates creativity.
Equally, working in a care environment isn’t good for everybody. The productivity boost was most obvious among those who were naturally creative to begin with.The recommended level of background noise is__________.
| A．50 decibels | B．65 decibels |
| C．70 decibels | D．85 decibels |
Why is moderate background noise good for creativity?
| A．It relaxes people and stops them from getting bored. |
| B．It can help people to focus on a subject. |
| C．It can absorb sudden noises that cause distraction. |
| D．It pushes people to use their imagination but doesn’t reach a level that disturbs them. |
According to the last three paragraphs，___________.
| A．the low—level noise of a coffeehouse may be too loud for some people to work with |
| B．if a person is not a creative type, then background noise may not be of so much help to them |
| C．a person’s own creative ability is as important as the environment they are in |
| D．working in a coffeehouse is effective for most people |
Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?
| A．Negative. | B．Objective. |
| C．Enthusiastic. | D．Doubtful. |
This is not a typical summer camp. Michelle Pawlaw and eight other teenage girls are participating in the three—day camp offered by the Arlington County Fire Department located just outside Washington. Firefighter Clare Burley is in charge of the program，who said the purpose is to try to get young women interested in considering the fire service as a career.
The free-of-charge，overnight camp is designed to let the girls experience what firefighters do to protect the community. That includes some rigorous activities such as moving a fire victim. “I dindn’t think I could pull that 170 pound body with a friend, but I was actually able to do it.” she said.
They take classes and learn how to climb the ladder on a fire truck, operate emergency tools and rescue an injured person. They also do their share of cleaning the firehouse and the equipment.
“Every week without fail on a Saturday，the job is to wash all the equipment. And we wanted the girls to see this is what we do. This is a typical day in a firehouse，”she said.
Firefighting is still a male-dominated service，but Burley says with 22 women on its force of 320 the Arlington County Fire Department is above the national average of 4.5 percent. She joined the department seven years ago.
“We do everything that the guys do to the same standard. We are tested to the same standard. We are expected to operate at the same standard，”she said.
Most of the girls say they had never thought about becoming a firefighter. but the camp was a great learning experience. ”I think it is definitely not a job that only men can do. Women can do it just as well as men can，”said Michelle Pawlaw.What’s the purpose of the summer camp?
| A．To tell the girls how to put firefighting knowledge into practice. |
| B．To teach the girls what to do when caught in fire. |
| C．To provide the girls with a typical summer camp. |
| D．To attract more girls to take firefighting as a career. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 5？
| A．Arlington County Fire Department is in the lead in employing women firefighters. |
| B．Arlington County Fire Department is the first to employ women firefighters. |
| C．More and more women are ready to join the fire department. |
| D．No women ever want to perform the firefighting service. |
What can we infer from Michelle’s words in the last paragraph?
| A．She has determined to join the firefighters in the future. |
| B．She will persuade her fellow students to join in the camp. |
| C．She realizes that women can also be good firefighters. |
| D．She decides that she’ll join in the camp again later. |
What can we learn about the summer camp according to the passage?
| A．American fire departments often hold such events. |
| B．It is sponsored by Arlington County Fire Department. |
| C．The girls spent their night in the summer camp，which lasted 3 days. |
| D．It is very popular among American girl students. |
A few years ago，my friend Al won the lottery. It changed his life. He did not have a rich family. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead，my friend was always hard up for cash. He did not have much money. And the money he did earn was chicken feed — very little.
Sometimes Al even had to accept handouts，gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me wrong. My friend was not a deadbeat. He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed. He simply pinched pennies. He was always very careful with the money he spent. In fact，he was often a cheapskate. He did not like to spend money. The worst times were when he was flat broke and had no money at all.
One day，Al scraped together a few dollars for a lottery ticket. He thought he would never strike it rich or gain lots of money unexpectedly. But his combination of numbers was chosen and he won the lottery. He hit the jackpot. He won a great deal of money.
Al was so excited. The first thing he did was buy a costly new ear. He splurged on the one thing that he normally would not buy. Then he started spending money on unnecessary things. He started to waste it. It was like he had money to burn. He had more money than he needed and it was burning a hole in his pocket so he spent it quickly.
When we got together for a meal at a restaurant，Al paid every time. He would always foot the bill，and pick up the tab. He told me the money made him feel like a million dollars. He was very happy.
But，Al spent too much money. Soon my friend was down and out again. He had no money left. He was back to being strapped for cash. He had spent his bottom dollar, his very last amount. He did not even build up a nest egg. He had not saved any of the money.
I admit I do feel sorry for my friend. He had enough money to live like a king. Instead，he is back to living on a shoestring—a very low budget. Some might say he is penny wise and pound foolish. He is wise about small things，but not about important things.The underlined word “pinched” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to “___________”.
| A．took | B．carried |
| C．squeezed | D．spent |
How did Al feel at first after he bought a lottery ticket?
| A．He expected to win the lottery. |
| B．He was excited to wait for the money. |
| C．He didn’t think he could win the lottery. |
| D．He regretted spending money for a lottery ticket. |
Why did A1 live a poor life again after he won the lottery?
| A．Because he lost a lot of money he had won. |
| B．Because he spent much money freely on unnecessary things. |
| C．Because his friend borrowed much money from him. |
| D．Because he gave away a lot of money to others. |
What can we learn from the story of Al?
| A．Keep on and you will succeed one day. |
| B．Do not pick up the sesame seeds but overlook the watermelons. |
| C．It is no use crying over spilt milk. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
By the time I reached junior high，I was sure I wanted to be a nurse. If you didn’t study Latin，you couldn’t be a nurse，so I enrolled. Many Latin words were familiar to me. The hard part turned out to be the usage and creating sentences with the words that seemed so easy to pronounce. Several weeks into the course my teacher came to me，saying，“I think you should withdraw from this course. It seems to be too hard for you. ”
That was the day I learned I wasn’t smart enough to become a nurse. With shame. I handed in my Latin textbook.
After high school，the years raced by. I married and had children. Then one day my husband John came home. “Carol. Max died this afternoon. ”I looked at my husband with disbelief.
John was touched by this tragedy. Finally one evening he said，“Carol，Jackie has never worked and now she’s alone with four children. I've been thinking — if anything happens to me. I want you to be able to take care of yourself and the children. Why don’t you think about what you’d like to do and get the training you’ll need to do it?”
I signed up for the entrance exam for nursing programs. One day I received a letter from the schoo1. I wanted so badly to open it，but with my lack of confidence，I laid it on the kitchen counter saying，” I'm not in the mood for a rejection letter today. ”
Finally I forced myself to open it. “Dear Carol，”I read. ”We are pleased to inform you that you successfully passed the entrance exam.”
An insensitive teacher once stole my dream. If you have a dream, exhaust every effort to reach it. I’ve worked thirty years now as a nurse and I’ve never been more certain that this is what I was meant to be.Why did John advise Carol to find a job?
| A．To support the family |
| B．To be able to live independently |
| C．To live a more colorful life |
| D．To provide more money for her kids |
From the text, we know what the teacher said____________.
| A．saved Carol from wasting her time |
| B．helped Carol find her true interest |
| C．destroyed Carol’s dream to be a nurse |
| D．encouraged Carol to be careful in learning |
After receiving the letter from the schoo1, Caro1____________.
| A．couldn’t wait to open it |
| B．had no mood to read it then |
| C．didn’t take it seriously at all |
| D．was uncertain about the result |
What may be the best title for the text？
| A．Too stupid to be a nurse |
| B．A dream too high to achieve |
| C．Never too late to 1earn |
| D．A chance too important to miss |
A dog’s tail can tell you a lot more than you might think. Is it wagging (摇) to the left or is it wagging to the right?
“The direction of tail wagging does in fact matter，”said Giorgio Vallortigara，a professor at the University of Trento in Italy. Professor Vallortigara finds that the way the tail is wagging can tell you a lot about a dog’s state of mind—whether you’re a human or another dog.
What’s the difference between a left wag and a right wag？Professor Vallortigara and his colleagues have studied 43 dogs of various breeds — German Shepherds，Beagles，Boxers，Border Collies and some mutts. They find that if a dog wags its tail to the left. it’s feeling anxious or nervous. The reason could be an unfamiliar or dangerous situation，an unfamiliar person，or an unfamiliar and possibly threatening dog. But if the tail is wagging to the right，it means the dog is feeling relaxed and approachable.
“The tail is a very important signal，”said Thomas Reimchen，a biologist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. ”There is a lot of visual information that dogs use when communicating with each other. ”
How did the scientists figure all this information out? They had the dogs in their study watch videotapes of other dogs. When the dog on the tape wagged its tail to the right，they say the other dogs remained calm and cool. But when the dog on the tape wagged its tail to the left，the other dogs got anxious.
The researchers are still not exactly sure if the direction of tail wagging is something the dog does consciously. They suspect that it might be something the dog does without even thinking about it — kind of like when you get goose bumps if something scares or startles you. They plan to do more research to get more information about what dogs are thinking and feeling while they’re wagging. As Reimchen said，“I'm not going to be surprised if we find all sorts of really interesting processes that nobody has ever seen before. ”Professor Vallortigara’s study focused on the relationship between_________.
| A．a dog’s state of mind and its owner's feeling |
| B．a dog’s state of mind and the direction of its tail wagging |
| C．a dog’s sense of direction and its state of mind |
| D．a dog’s intention of tail wagging and its feeling |
According to the study，dogs which wag their tails to the left may feel_________.
| A．calm | B．happy | C．angry | D．nervous |
It is implied in Thomas Reimchen’s words in Paragraph 4 that___________.
| A．dogs’ tails play all important role in their growth |
| B．dogs show their feelings only by wagging their tails |
| C．dogs get to know others by watching tail wagging |
| D．dogs can understand each other by repeating tail wagging |
How does the passage mainly develop?
| A．By asking and analyzing questions |
| B．By making comparisons |
| C．By following the order of time |
| D．By providing examples |