A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly(老年人) and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must tak
e life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions（养老金）. Furthermore, some in-situation should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options（选择）have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The problems faced by the old in society. |
| B．Why we should take responsibility for the old. |
| C．How we can improve the lives of the old. |
| D．Where the old can go to get their pensions. |
According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?
| A．Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire. |
| B．Increase savings levels of people during their working years. |
| C．Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old. |
| D．Make available pensions for those who have retired. |
The underlined word “viable” most probably means “__________”.
| A．impossible | B．practical | C．useful | D．successful |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money. |
| B．Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age. |
| C．Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people. |
| D．There is no single solution to the problems of the old. |
What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?
| A．To point out the need for government support for old people. |
| B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people. |
| C．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem. |
| D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life. |
You may have seen a talking parrot on a TV show, in a movie, or even in someone’s home. The parrot has learned to copy sounds that people make. Birds are not the only animals that can copy the noises they hear. Dolphins, bats, and some apes also copy sounds. Now we can add elephants to this list of copycats.
Dr. Joyce Poole is a zoologist. She studies the sounds of elephants. While she was in Kenya, she would hear strange noises made by Mlaika after sunset. Mlaika was a 10-year-old African elephant.
Mlaika lived near a highway. Dr. Poole says, “I could not tell the difference between Mlaika’s call and the distant truck noise.” She and other scientists studied Mlaika’s sounds. It turned out that Mlaika was copying the sounds of the trucks driving by. Why would Mlaika copy trucks that she heard going by on the highway? Animals that are able to copy sounds may enjoy practicing new sounds. When they are kept outside of their natural environment, they may copy unusual sounds. That may be why an elephant would copy the sound of a truck.
“Mlaika was not the only copycat elephant,” Dr. Poole says. Calimero is a 23-year-old male African elephant. He spent 18 years with two female Asian elephants. Asian elephants make chirping sounds (sounds made by birds) to talk with one another. African elephants usually do not make chirping sounds. But Calimero now does. He is copying his Asian elephant friends. Dr. Poole says that elephants need to form bonds with their family and friends. She says, “They make sounds to communicate with each other. When they are separated, they use sounds to keep in contact.”
Parrots, dolphins, humans, and elephants show that being a copycat is one way that animals and people make new friends and keep old ones.According to the passage, what does Mlaika copy?
| A．The sound of people. | B．The sound of trucks. |
| C．The sound of Calimero. | D．The sound of birds. |
Why is Calimero mentioned in the passage?
| A．To clarify the meaning of copycat elephants. |
| B．To show the cleverness of African elephants. |
| C．To add another example of copycat elephants. |
| D．To introduce a special life skill of Asian elephants. |
From paragraph 4, we can know________.
| A．how long it takes for an elephant to learn a new sound |
| B．why the African elephant can make chirping sounds |
| C．why the Asian elephants make noises after sunset |
| D．how Asian and African elephants are alike |
According to the passage, why do some animals like to be copycats?
| A．To keep in touch with nature. |
| B．To please people and other animals. |
| C．To make new friends and keep old ones. |
| D．To avoid the danger from the outside world. |
It’s not easy being a teenager---nor is it easy being the parent of a teenager．You can make your child feel angry, hurt or misunderstood by what you say without realizing it yourself．It is important to give your child the space he needs to grow while gently letting him know that you’ll still be there for him when he needs you．
Expect a lot from your child, just not everything．Except for health and safety problems，such as drug use or careless driving, consider everything else open to discussion．If your child is unwilling to discuss something, don’t insist he tell you what’s on his mind．The more you insist，the more likely that he’ll calm up．Instead, let him attempt to solve things by himself．At the same time, remind him that you’re always there for him should he seek advice or help．Show respect for your teenager’s privacy（隐私）．Never read his mail or listen to personal conversations．
Teach your teenager that the family phone is for the whole family．If your child talks on the family’s telephone for too long, tell him he can talk for l5 minutes, but then he must stay off the phone for at least all equal period of time．This not only frees up the line so that other family members can make and receive calls, but teaches your teenager moderation（节制）．Or if you are open to the idea, allow your teenager his own phone that he pays for with his own pocket money or a part-time job．The main purpose of the text is to tell parents_________．
| A．how to get along with a teenager |
| B．how to help a teenager grow up |
| C．how to understand a teenager |
| D．how to respect a teenager |
What does the phrase "calm up" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．refuse to talk | B．show respect |
| C．become excited | D．seek help |
The last paragraph is about how to teach a teenager______．
| A．to share the phone with friends |
| B．to pay for his own telephone |
| C．to use the phone in a sensible way |
| D．to answer the phone quickly |
What should parents do in raising a teenager according to the text?
| A．Not allow him to learn driving or take drugs． |
| B．Not talk about personal things with him． |
| C．Let him have his own telephone． |
| D．Give him advice only when necessary． |
| Eco reading We offer new, used and out-of-print books, supplied by over 3,000 people from 50 countries．We ship your order directly to you．We also take in used books from schools, libraries, students—anyone with old books—and resell them at low prices．If you order on the Internet, you will get 20% off the cost of your entire order． |
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If you buy books from Eco Reading, you can _______．
| A．get to know a lot of teenage students． |
| B．select textbooks in fifty languages |
| C．make small savings by ordering online． |
| D．spend little time finding what you want |
In what way is Fast Flower different from the other three shops?
| A．It provides safe and beautiful products． |
| B．It provides chances of replacing containers． |
| C．It offers gift packaging on holidays． |
| D．It offers a quick door-to-door service． |
Both Name Your Music and Down To Earth Fun try to _______．
| A．start a well-known business | B．meet the needs of kids |
| C．work to save the earth | D．help busy working moms |
The passage is most probably．
| A．an advertisement | B．a news report |
| C．a notice | D．a survey paper |
The only survivor of one of the two Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade classrooms where Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children tricked the gunman by playing dead, the girl’s pastor （牧师） said．
“She ran out of the school building covered from head to toe with blood and the first thing she said to her mom was, “Mommy, I’m OK but all my friends are dead” Pastor Jim Solomon told ABC News’ Lara Spencer this weekend．
“Somehow, at that moment, by God’s grace, she was able to act as she was already dead．” he said．
The girl, a 6-year-old whose name is not being announced for privacy （隐私） reasons, was the first student to appear from the lockdown （封锁） at Sandy Hook, Solomon said．He said the young girl described the shooter to her mom in a way that only a young child can．
“Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry and someone she felt was very mad,” Solomon said．“I think it’s impossible without the help of God．She has wisdom beyond her years, for sure’’．
Of the 20 children killed on Friday, eight were boys and l2 were girls．Six staff members, all female, were also killed．The gunman, whose mother was also killed by him before he went to the schoo1 classrooms, was found dead at the present spot．
“The mom told me — and I thought this was very insightful （有深刻见解的） — that she was suffering from what she felt was survivor’s guilt because so many of her friends no longer have their children but she has hers,” Solomon said how the girl’s mother and father are handling the trauma （伤害）．“I don’t know whether I would have the type of faith that they have if the same thing happened to me．”How did the girl manage to avoid being shot?
| A．She persuaded the shooter into not shooting her． |
| B．She hid herself under the desk． |
| C．She rushed out of the school building in time． |
| D．She pretended to be dead． |
The killing case which happened in Sandy Hook Elementary School．
| A．ended up with the shooter being killed |
| B．was a shooting by a group of people |
| C．was due to the gunman getting angry with the pupils |
| D．was not open to the public for the moment |
Which of the following is TRUE about the girl’s mom?
| A．She was disappointed with the pastor． |
| B．She felt very dissatisfied with other parents． |
| C．She felt terribly sorry for those who had lost their children． |
| D．She strongly complained the police． |
When there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PLOS One, people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces．Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry．The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling．
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments．
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking．
The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest．However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted．
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them．Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted．
The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices．They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces．
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them．The temptation to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist．”Which of the following can be a proper title for this passage?
| A．What kind of face do you trust? |
| B．Who did the experiments? |
| C．Why do you trust him or her? |
| D．Why did they do the experiments? |
According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?
| A．A sad face． | B．A smiling face． |
| C．A crying face． | D．An angry face． |
Which of the following about the experiment is TRUE?
| A．The trustworthy faces were given good information． |
| B．Researchers took photos of the 40 people’s faces in college． |
| C．Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces． |
| D．Participants liked to choose the faces with good information． |
What did the researchers learn from their experiment?
| A．People can’t refuse temptations． |
| B．People always do things with their instincts． |
| C．People don’t trust strangers with sad faces． |
| D．People often judge strangers by their faces． |