The United States is a sports-loving nation. Sports in America take various forms: organized competitive struggles, athletic games, hunting and fishing. Most sports are seasonal, so that what is happening in sports depends upon the time of year.
Baseball is the most popular sport in the US. It is played throughout the spring and summer, and professional baseball teams play well into the fall.
Football is the most popular sport in the fall. The game originated as a college sport more than 75 years ago. It’s not the same as European football or soccer. In American football there are 11 players as well on each team, and they are dressed in padded uniforms and helmets because the game is rough and injuries are likely to occur. It is still played by almost every college and university in the country.
Basketball is the winner sport in American schools and colleges. Like football, basketball originated in the US, many Americans prefer it to football because it is played indoors throughout the winter and because it is a faster game. And the famous NBA games are considered the best of this game.
Other sports attracting a great many people include wrestling, boxing and horse racing. Although horse-racing fans call themselves sportsmen, the exactness of the term is questionable, as only the jockeys who ride the horses in the races can be considered athletes. The so-called sportsmen are the spectators, who do not come primarily to see the horses race, but to bet upon the outcome of each race. Gambling is the attraction of horse racing.Baseball is so popular in America that some professional teams play it until ___________.
| A．spring | B．summer | C．fall | D．winter |
When playing football, American players are dressed in a special uniforms ___________.
| A．to avoid unexpected injuries |
| B．to play it like European football |
| C．to make the game rough enough |
| D．to look like professional players |
Many Americans prefer basketball to football because______.
| A．NBA games are very popular |
| B．it is originated in the US |
| C．it is much faster than football |
| D．it is played indoors throughout winter |
Horse-racing fans can’t be exactly considered as sportsmen because they ________.
| A．mainly stand and watch the races |
| B．don’t ride horse in the races |
| C．are only interested in the results |
| D．don’t care who wins in the races |
The underlined word “jockeys” in the last paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the person who bets upon the the race |
| B．the person who cares about horse-racing |
| C．the rider who enjoys watching the race |
| D．the rider who competes in horse-racing |
One day a student was walking with his teacher in the countryside．As they went along，they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path．They were a pool farmer’s，who was working in the nearby field．
The student turned to the teacher saying：“We will hide his shoes，and hide ourselves behind those trees，and wait to see what he will do”
“My young friend．”answered the teacher,“we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe，and then we will hide ourselves and watch?”The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work，and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.
After putting on his coat，he put his foot into one of his shoes，and felt something hard．Then he bent (弯腰) down to feel what it was，and found the coin. Surprised，he looked at the coin，turned it around and looked at it again．He then looked around，but no person was seen．He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin．
He couldn’t control his feelings and fell to his knees，looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife，sick and helpless，and his children without bread．He said the help would save them from dying.
The student stood there deeply moved，and his eyes filled with tears．“Now,”said the teacher, “Are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”When the student saw the shoes，he wanted to_______
| A．steal them | B．play a joke on the owner |
| C．find their owner | D．give the owner some money |
According to the passage，the teacher is______．
| A．quiet and honest | B．kind and friendly |
| C．patient and clever | D．strict and careful |
When the farmer saw the second coin, he______
| A．was surprised and decided to find the owner |
| B．was worried and looked up at the sky |
| C．was very excited and grateful |
| D．spoke of his difficulties and asked for more help |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．True happiness comes from helping others． |
| B．All good things come to an end |
| C．Where there is a will，there is away |
| D．It is never too late to learn |
Let’s read the descriptions of the following scenes of shopping. A man enters a store to buy milk. He walks out of the store with milk. That is all— milk. At the same time, a woman enters the same grocery store also to buy milk. She buys it. But, she also buys chicken and lemons to make dinner that night. Then she remembers to buy food for her son to eat at school. She also gets a bottle of wine for drinks with friends and a birthday card for her husband's niece. Then she gets coffee for breakfast, ice cream for dessert and remembers stamps to mail the bills. And don't forget soap for the bathroom.
And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store. Generally speaking，men do one thing at a time. Women do many. Doing many things at one time is often called “multi-tasking”, a very popular word these days.
Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along—men and women think differently.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from 8 to 22 years old. They found that male brains have more connections on one side of the brain, or hemisphere. In the female brain, they found more activities and connections between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason”. The right hemisphere is known as the “creative” side.
Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-wrote the report. She says when women are asked to do something difficult, they might use different parts of the brain. Men, she adds, generally use just one side of the brain.
As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. There is a strong connection between the “understanding” and the “action” parts of their brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain, like the part connected with reason and the part connected with sensitivity when solving a problem. Women take a less direct path to find a solution.
Dr. Verma warns that the study should not lead anyone to expect some behaviors from women and others from men.By describing the scene of shopping, the writer wants to ____ .
| A．criticize women's wasted living expenses |
| B．illustrate men and women's different brains |
| C．think highly of women's considerate behavior |
| D．reveal men and women's preference of living expenses |
When asked to deal with a problem, _____ .
| A．men tend to take action straight |
| B．women tend to take action straight |
| C．women tend to use a single part of the brain |
| D．men tend to use connected parts of the brain |
Dr. Verma's warning indicates that _____ .
| A．women and men can hardly cooperate well |
| B．women and men can hardly complete multitasks |
| C．women and men can hardly learn from each other |
| D．neither women nor men can always perform the same behavior |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Reason or Sensitivity |
| B．Multi-tasking or Single-tasking |
| C．“Reason” Brain or “Creative” Brain |
| D．Costly Shopping or Economical Shopping |
Here are the comments on CRI (China Radio International) given by people from different countries on the Internet.
| People |
Comments |
| Yingtian Hu Guangzhou, China |
This is the first time that I participate in CRI. And I like it very much. I hope its website will become the most excellent one with the foreign languages. And I choose the important news which I think has a great influence on our society and our lives. In the end, I hope that more and more persons join in CRI and make it perfect! |
| SujanParajuli, Select city, Nepal |
I am both a regular listener of CRI and visitor of its wonderful Website. First of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to CRI for its great efforts to keep the listeners up-to-date during the year 2008. We, the listeners, are greatly grateful to CRI for its praise-worthy efforts to quench the thirst of its dear listeners. During the Year 2008, I found all of your programs quite interesting, informative and educational. Once again, thanks a lot for offering lots of information, news, entertainment and many items which have indeed broaden the horizons of our knowledge and understanding as well. |
| Ibrahim Rustamov, Tajikistan |
With CRI, I was impressed by China’s rapid development in all spheres. But I felt so sorry to get to know about the snowstorms in China and Wenchuan earthquake. CRI and CCTV play a great role in introducing China to the world! Kudos! My friends and I wish CRI all the best! |
| Mike Thatcher, London |
My family and I are all keen on Chinese Culture, especially the beautiful Chinese folk music. Various interesting programs by CRI just open a window for us foreigners, through which we can know more about China and have a better understanding of the Chinese culture. Best wishes to CRI! Best wishes to China! |
Which of the following benefits of CRI is NOT mentioned above?
| A．CRI helps to keep its listeners up-to-date. |
| B．CRI helps its listeners to better understand China. |
| C．CRI helps its listeners to practice and improve foreign languages. |
| D．CRI helps its listeners broaden their knowledge with its rich contents. |
The underlined phrase “quench the thirst” refers to _____.
| A．satisfy one’s need | B．supply drinks |
| C．take care of | D．keep in touch with |
What can be concluded from the four comments?
| A．CRI has a great influence on our society and lives. |
| B．Wonderful though CRI is, there are still many weaknesses. |
| C．CRI plays an important role in introducing the world to China. |
| D．CRI has made great efforts to make itself better and gained popularity. |
Paparazzi, or “paps”, are photographers who take pictures of famous people when they are not at the center of public attention. Paps are different from professional photographers or journalists because they never take ordinary photos.
The goal for paparazzi is to get pictures that no one else will get and then sell the pictures to the buyer who offers the most money — normally a small newspaper, magazine or website.
There is no law against paparazzi taking pictures in public places. However, there are laws that protect certain individuals. For example, child protection laws stop improper pictures of anyone under 16 from being published.
There is also no law that stops paparazzi from following celebrities and taking their pictures either. However, if paps are secretly following them and taking pictures of their faces, they could get into trouble.
Most paparazzi hang out on streets and hot spots for celebrities, waiting for the opportunity to take a picture of a star. Many stay on the streets until the early hours of the morning when celebrities are leaving nightclubs and looking a little worse for wear. However, some have other ways to make sure they get pictures. Many paps are in contact with “informers” who know the locations of celebrities at any given time. They then pass the information on to paparazzi. An informer could be anyone — from a restaurant waiter to a salesman.
Most of the time, paparazzi get a bad reputation for following celebrities. But sometimes stars or their managers will contact paps themselves and tell them exactly where and when they will go. What a love-hate relationship between paparazzi and celebrities!Which of the following things paparazzi might do would be against the law?
| A．Getting unsuitable pictures of a 10-year-old actress published. |
| B．Taking pictures of famous people in public places. |
| C．Following a famous woman singer secretly and taking her pictures. |
| D．Hanging out at the places where celebrities often appear. |
In order to earn big money a pap has to ________.
| A．get the only first-hand pictures |
| B．sell the pictures to a big newspaper |
| C．make friends with famous people |
| D．know the locations of celebrities |
The fifth paragraph mainly tells us ________.
| A．how paparazzi get the pictures |
| B．how dangerous paparazzi’s job is |
| C．how paparazzi contact informers |
| D．how much paparazzi pay for the pictures |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Paparazzi always take pictures when famous people are tired. |
| B．Stars hate paparazzi and don’t want to be followed. |
| C．Paparazzi and famous people rely on each other sometimes. |
| D．Informers might get paparazzi into trouble. |
Shree Bose is one of the most impressive kids graduating from Fort Worth Country Day High School this year. Bose has a large circle of friends, and there’s one who you may have heard of: President Obama. He has twice publicly recognized her achievements in cancer research and spoken with her in the Oval Office.
If that isn’t enough, Bose recently gave a TED Talk about her work with the cancer drug Cisplatin, which also won her first prize at the Google Science Fair and recognition as one of Glamour magazine’s Young Amazing Women of the Year.
After watching her grandfather struggle with liver cancer, Bose was determined to help out in any way she could. As a high school student，though, her scientific choices were limited. She reached out to various hospitals and research centers, but doctors turned down her requests because they felt she was too inexperienced medically.
Only the North Texas Science Health Center respected her determination and chose to guide her. The results were amazing.
Bose chose to study a protein and its reaction with the cancer drug Cisplatin. She noticed that when she prevented this protein from growing, Cisplatin was allowed to begin destroying cancer cells once again.
“My project not only contributes to the understanding of the relationship between the protein and Cisplatin, but also suggests a newer, more effective treatment for patients who resist Cisplatin,” Bose said.
Bose’s achievements aren’t limited to the lab, though. She was also captain of her swim team and editor-in-chief of her school paper.
Bose is currently getting practical experience at the National Institute of Health and she’ll be attending Harvard in the fall. She plans to study molecular biology and go to medical school. Eventually, she would like to be a doctor.President Obama has spoken with Bose because she ______.
| A．gave a TED Talk recently |
| B．contributed to the cancer research |
| C．has a large circle of friends |
| D．is captain of her swim team |
According to Bose’s research, ______ helps make Cisplatin work better.
| A．stopping the protein from growing |
| B．destroying cancer cells timely |
| C．using the drug more frequently |
| D．making the protein react with the drug |
From the passage, we know that _____.
| A．Bose’s research was supported from the start. |
| B．Bose will study in the National Institute of Health. |
| C．Bose plans to become a doctor in the future. |
| D．Bose’s grandfather asked her to do cancer research. |
The passage is mainly about _____.
| A．a research on cancer drugs |
| B．a new effective cancer treatment |
| C．a doctor who has a promising future |
| D．a girl who did research on cancer treatment |