Nine out of 10 people have run up unsecured debt and many fear they will never be able to pay back what they owe, a survey has claimed.
Around 89% of people aged between l|8 and 35 said they owed money on a credit card, loan or overdraft, the research showed．
A third of people admitted they did not think- they would ever be debt-free, 54% of whom said they would always need to borrow money in order to fund the lifestyle they wanted．
One in five of these people also claimed they were not worried about the possibility of their debts being passed on to their next of kin if they died before they were repaid．
Just over half who owed money said they did not feel in control of their debt, with 8% admitting they had needed to ask for help with repayments from a friend or family member．Eight out of 10 people also told the research for discount website MyVoucherCodes．co．uk that they thought it was too easy to borrow money through their bank or on credit cards．
Farhad Farhadi, MyVoucherCodes．co．uk’s personal finance expert, said: "The majority of British adults owe money m some way, shape or form, but to see that almost a third think they’ll never be free c ^ from debt is quite alarming．
"When borrowing money from any source, how you are going to repay it should always be in the back of your mind．
"A lot of people don’t-really think about ’die consequences of borrowing money and it can be easy to get complacent, but keeping it all under control should be a priority from the off．Only borrow what you really think you can afford to pay back．"The best title for this passage is_________．
| A．I’ll die in debt, say one in three | B．Desperate British |
| C．The beginning of the end | D．Borrowing money from any source |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Most British adults are in debt in some v/ay． |
| B．It is hard for the British to borrow money through their bank． |
| C．Lots of people do not take repaying money seriously． |
| D．This passage is a warning for the British． |
What does the underlined phrase mean?
| A．end with | B．from the start |
| C．ever since | D．fore ever |
What does Farhad mean by saying "the majority of British adults owe money in some way, shape or form"?
| A．It is natural to owe money m Britain so there in no need to worry． |
| B．It is natural to owe money in Britain as long as you are in control． |
| C．It does not matter to owe money in Britain if you are rich enough． |
| D．It seems that the British enjoy owing money in some way． |
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。
Want to explore new cultures, meet new people and do something worthwhile at the same time? You can do all the three with Global Development Association (GDA).Whatever stage of life you're at, wherever you go and whatever project you do in GDA, you'll create positive changes in a poor and remote community (社区).
We work with volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. Most of our volunteers are aged 17-24. Now we need volunteer managers aged 25-75.They are extremely important in the safe and effective running of our programmes. We have such roles as project managers, mountain leaders, and communication officers.
Depending on which role you choose, you could help to increase a community's access to safe drinking water, or help to protect valuable local cultures. You might also design an adventure challenge to train young volunteers.
Not only will you help our young volunteers to develop personally, you'll also learn new skills and increase your cultural awareness. You may have chances to meet new people who'll become your lifelong friends.
This summer we have both 4-week and 7-week programmes:
|
Country |
Schedule |
|
|
4-week programmes |
7-week programmes |
|
|
Algeria |
5 Jul.- 1Aug. |
20Jun. -7Aug. |
|
Egypt |
24 Jul-20 Aug. |
19Jun.-6 Aug. |
|
Kenya |
20 Jul.-16Aug. |
18 Jun.-5 Aug. |
|
South Africa |
2Aug.-29 Aug. |
15 Jun.-2Aug. |
GDA ensures that volunteers work with community members and local project partners where our help is needed. All our projects aim to promote the development of poor and remote communities.
There is no other chance like a GDA programme. Join us as a volunteer manager to develop your own skills while bringing benefits to the communities.
Find out more about joining a GDA programme:
Website: www.glodeve.org
Email: humanresources@glodeve.org
（1）What is the main responsibility of volunteer managers?
| A． |
To seek local partners |
| B． |
To take in young volunteers |
| C． |
To carry out programmes |
| D． |
To foster cultural awareness |
（2）The programme beginning in August will operate in ________.
| A． |
Egypt |
| B． |
Algeria |
| C． |
Kenya |
| D． |
South Afria |
（3）The shared goal of GDA's projects to ________.
| A． |
explore new cultures |
| B． |
protect the environment |
| C． |
gain corporate benefit |
| D． |
help communities in need |
请认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
The Cost of Thinking
Despite their many differences, all human beings share several defining characteristics, such as large brains and the ability to walk upright on two legs.
The first unique human characteristic is that humans have extraordinarily large brains compared with other animals. It seems obvious that evolution should select for larger brains. Mammals (哺乳动物) weighing sixty kilograms have an average brain size of 200 cm 2. Modern man has a brain averaging 1200-1400 cm 2. We are so fond of our high intelligence that we assume that when it comes to brain power, more must be better. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
The fact is that a huge brain is a huge drain-consumption of energy-on the body. I's not easy to carry around, especially when boxed inside a massive skull (倾骨). It's even harder to provides energy. In modern man, the brain accounts for about 2-3%of total body weight but it consumes 25% of the body's energy when the body is at rest. By comparison, the brains of apes (类人猿) require only 8%of rest-time energy. Early humans pad for their large brains in two ways. Firstly, they spent more time in search food. Secondly, their muscles grew smaller and weaker. It's hardly an obvious conclusion that this is a good way to survive. A chimpanzee (黑猩猩) can't win an argument with a modern man, but it can tear the man apart like a rag doll.
Another unique human characteristic is that we walk upright. Standing up, it's easier to find food or enemies. In addition, their arms that are unnecessary for moving around are freed for other purposes, like throwing stones or signaling. As a result, humans can perform very complex tasks with their hands.
Yet walking upright has its disadvantage. The bone structure of our ancestors developed for millions of years to support a creature that walked on all fours and has a relatively small head. Adjusting to an upright position was quite a challenge, especially when the bones had to support an extra-large skull. Humankind paid for its broad vision and skillful hands backaches and painful necks.
We assume that a large brain makes huge advantages. It seems obvious that these have made humankind the most powerful animal on earth. But humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they remained weak and marginal creature. Thus humans who lived a million years ago, despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, lived in constant fear of meat-eating animals.
|
The Cost of Thinking |
|
|
Introduction |
•Large brains for their bodies and the ability to walk upright are two ________ of human beings. |
|
The ________ of large human brains |
•The larger brains may not be better because of the cost. •The big brains make it harder for the body to move around and consume more energy. •The animal brain requires less ________when the body is at rest. •Large human brains consume more food, and weaken muscles. |
|
The ________ of walking upright |
•Walking upright makes it easy to find food or ________against enemies. •Freed hands can serve some ________ purpose and perform complex tasks. |
|
•Walking upright challenges the human bone structure, and ________ the size of brains. •Walking upright results in ________ sufferings. |
|
|
Conclusion |
•With a large brain, human beings ________ other beings in terms of intelligence. •Weak and marginal, human beings remained ________ of meat-eating animals. |
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
The 65-year-old Steve Goodwin was found suffering from early Alzheimer's (阿尔楚海默症). He was losing his memory.
A software engineer by profession, Steve was a keen lover of the piano, and the only musician in his family. Music was his true passion, though he had never performed outside the family.
Melissa, his daughter, felt it more than worthwhile to save his music, to which she fell asleep catch night when she was young. She thought about hiring a professional pianist to work with her father.
Naomi, Melissa's best friend and a talented pianist, got to know about this and showed willingness to help.
"Why do this?" Steve wondered.
"Because she cares." Melissa said.
Steve nodded, tears in eye.
Naomi drove to the Goodwin home. She told Steve she'd love to hear him play. Steve moved to the piano and sat at the bench, hands trembling as he gently placed his fingers on the keys.
Naomi put a small recorder near the piano, Starts and stops and mistakes. Long pauses, heart sinking. But Steve pressed on, playing for the first time in his life for a stranger.
"It was beautiful." Naomi said after listening to the recording. "The music was worth saving."
Her responsibility, her privilege, would be to rescue it. The music was sill in Steve Goodwin. It was bidden in rooms with doors about to be locked.
Naomi and Steve met every other week and spent hours together. He'd move his fingers clumsily on the piano, and then she'd take his place. He struggled to explain what he heard in his head. He stood by the piano, eyes closed, listening for the first time to his own work being played by someone else.
Steve and Naomi spoke in musical code lines, beats, intervals, moving from the root to end a song in a new key. Steve heard it. All of it. He just couldn't play it.
Working with Naomi did wonders for Steve. It had excited within him the belief he could write one last song. One day, Naomi received an email. Attached was a recording, a recording of loss and love, of the fight. Steve called it "Melancholy Flower".
Naomi heard multiple stops and starts, Steve struggling, searching while his wife Joni called him "honey" and encouraged him. The task was so hard, and Steve, angry and upset, said he was quitting. Joni praised him, telling her husband this could be his signature piece.
Naomi managed to figure out 16 of Steve's favorite, and most personal songs. With Naomi's help, the Goodwin family found a sound engineer to record Naomi playing Steve's songs. Joni thought that would be the end. But it wasn't.
In the months leading up to the 2016 Oregon Repertory Singers Christmas concert, Naomi told the director she had a special one in mind: "Melancholy Flower"
She told the director about her project with Steve. The director agreed to add it to the playing list. But Naomi would have to ask Steve's permission. He considered it an honor.
After the concert, Naomi told the family that Steve's music was beautiful and professional. It needed to be shared in public.
The family rented a former church in downtown Portland and scheduled a concert. By the day of the show, more than 300 people had said they would attend.
By then, Steve was having a hard time remembering the names of some of his friends. He knew the path his life was now taking. He told his family he was at peace.
Steve arrived and sat in the front row, surrounded by his family. The house lights faded. Naomi took the stage. Her fingers. His heart.
（1）Why did Melissa want to save her father's music?
| A． |
His music could stop his disease from worsening. |
| B． |
She wanted to please her dying old father. |
| C． |
His music deserved to be preserved in the family. |
| D． |
She wanted to make her father a professional. |
（2）After hearing Steve's playing, Naomi ________.
| A． |
refused to make a comment on it |
| B． |
was deeply impressed by his music |
| C． |
decided to free Steve from suffering |
| D． |
regretted offering help to her friend |
（3）How can the process of Steve's recording be described?
| A． |
It was slow but productive. |
| B． |
It was beneficial to his health. |
| C． |
It was tiresome for Naomi. |
| D． |
It was vital for Naomi's career. |
（4）Before Steve finished "Melancholy Flower," his wife Joni ________.
| A． |
thought the music talent of Steve was exhausted |
| B． |
didn't expect the damage the disease brought about |
| C． |
didn't fully realize the value of her husband's music |
| D． |
brought her husband's music career to perfection |
（5）How did Steve feel at the concert held in downtown Portland?
| A． |
He felt concerned about his illness. |
| B． |
He sensed a responsibility for music. |
| C． |
He regained his faith in music. |
| D． |
He got into a state of quiet. |
（6）What can be a suitable title for the passage?
| A． |
The Kindness of Friends |
| B． |
The Power of Music |
| C． |
The Making of a Musician |
| D． |
The Value of Determination |
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Who cares if people think wrongly that the Internet has had more important influences than the washing machine? Why does it matter that people are more impressed by the most recent changes?
It would not matter if these misjudgments were just a matter of people's opinions. However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce resources.
The fascination with the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the Internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so "yesterday" that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in "post-industrial society" has led those countries to neglect their manufacturing sector (制造业) with negative consequences for their economies.
Even more worryingly, the fascination with the Internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the "digital divide" between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and Internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people's lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up Internet centres in rural villages, I am not saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative uses of their money.
In yet another example, a fascination with the new has led people to believe that the recent changes in the technologies of communications and transportation are so revolutionary that now we live in a "borderless world". As a result, in the last twenty years or so, many people have come to believe that whatever change is happening today is the result of great technological progress, going against which will be like trying to turn the clock back. Believing in such a world, many governments have put an end to some of the very necessary regulations on cross-border flows of capital, labour and goods, with poor results.
Understanding technological trends is very important for correctly designing economic policies, both at the national and the international levels, and for making the right career choices at the individual level. However, our fascination with the latest, and our under valuation of what has already become common, can, and has, led us in all sorts of wrong directions.
（1）Misjudgments on the influences of new technology can lead to ________.
| A． |
a lack of confidence in technology |
| B． |
a slow progress in technology |
| C． |
a conflict of public opinions |
| D． |
a waste of limited resources |
（2）The example in Paragraph 4 suggests that donators should ________.
| A． |
take people's essential needs into account |
| B． |
make their programmes attractive to people |
| C． |
ensure that each child gets financial support |
| D． |
provide more affordable internet facilities |
（3）What has led many governments to remove necessary regulations?
| A． |
Neglecting the impacts of technological advances. |
| B． |
Believing that the world has become borderless. |
| C． |
Ignoring the power of economic development. |
| D． |
Over-emphasizing the role of international communication. |
（4）What can we learn from the passage?
| A． |
People should be encouraged to make more donations. |
| B． |
Traditional technology still has a place nowadays. |
| C． |
Making right career choices is crucial to personal success. |
| D． |
Economic policies should follow technological trends. |
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
In the 1960s, while studying the volcanic history of Yellowstone National Park, Bob Christiansen became puzzled about something that, oddly, had not troubled anyone before: he couldn't find the park's volcano. It had been known for a long time that Yellowstone was volcanic in nature-that's what accounted for all its hot springs and other steamy features. But Christiansen couldn't find the Yellowstone volcano anywhere.
Most of us, when we talk about volcanoes, think of the classic cone (圆锥体) shapes of a Fuji or Kilimanjaro, which are created when erupting magma (岩浆) piles up. These can form remarkably quickly. In 1943, a Mexican farmer was surprised to see smoke rising from a small part of his land. In one week he was the confused owner of a cone five hundred feet high. Within two years it had topped out at almost fourteen hundred feet and was more than half a mile across. Altogether there are some ten thousand of these volcanoes on Earth, all but a few hundred of them extinct. There is, however, a second les known type of volcano that doesn't involve mountain building. These are volcanoes so explosive that they burst open in a single big crack, leaving behind a vast hole, the caldera. Yellowstone obviously was of this second type, but Christiansen couldn't find the caldera anywhere.
Just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone. A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice blow-up for one of the visitors' centers. As soon as Christiansen saw the photos, he realized why he had failed to spot the caldera; almost the whole park-2.2 million acres-was caldera. The explosion had left a hole more than forty miles across-much too huge to be seen from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with a violence far beyond the scale of anything known to humans.
（1）What puzzled Christiansen when he was studying Yellowstone?
| A． |
Its complicated geographical features. |
| B． |
Its ever-lasting influence on tourism. |
| C． |
The mysterious history of the park. |
| D． |
The exact location of the volcano. |
（2）What does the second-paragraph mainly talk about?
| A． |
The shapes of volcanoes. |
| B． |
The impacts of volcanoes. |
| C． |
The activities of volcanoes. |
| D． |
The heights of volcanoes. |
（3）What does the underlined word "blow-up" in the last paragraph most probably mean?
| A． |
Hot-air balloon. |
| B． |
Digital camera. |
| C． |
Big photograph. |
| D． |
Bird's view. |