A woman whose sports car was stolen with her dog in it put up notices all over the area that made it clear getting back her pet was more important than her car．
“Whoever did this can keep my car. Please let Benjerman come home,” the notice said．
It is not known whether the thief showed any pity, but almost 30 hours after the 1 pm theft Friday, Kimberly Atkins of Dover and Benjerman, a 12-year-old black retriever (猎犬), were reunited after police located them in Barrington.
“He’s hungry, he’s dirty, but he’s very happy to be home,” Atkins said．
The car was found at about 5 pm Saturday off Route 125 in a swampy (沼泽地) area frequented by off-the-road cars and dirt bikes. However, the police couldn’t control Benjerman, and they had to call Atkins to come and get him.
Atkins said the thief cared for Benjerman a little by providing him with some dry cat food. She believed Benjerman ended up drinking some muddy water in the area. She said they have been together for nearly 11 years after she took him back from a society shelter in Dallas, Texas.
Before Benjelman was found, Atkins and several friends put up notices all over the city and in Somersworth. They also contacted animal shelters，throughout southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The notice stated there was a reward, and also that the dog needed medication. Any caller could remain anonymous (匿名的).
Atkins had parked the car outside a hardware store with the keys inside and gone in to rent a carpet cleaner. “It was l0 minutes and I came out and my car was gone along with Benjerman in broad daylight,” Atkins said. The car thief threw Atkins’ wallet and other personal items out of the car before escaping from the scene.What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A car with a dog was stolen |
| B．Lucky dog was returned to his owner |
| C．Stealing cars: a most important social problem |
| D．Woman wants dog back more than stolen car |
Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened?
a. Notices were put up saying there was a reward．
b. Atkins saw Benjerman again．
c. Police found Atkins’ car．
d. Atkins took Benjerman back from a society shelter．
e. Atkins hired a carpet cleaner in a hardware store．
| A．d, e, a, b, c | B．d, e, a, c, b | C．e, a, d, b, c | D．e, a, c, d, b |
We can infer from the passage _________.
| A．the dog was treated extremely badly by the thief |
| B．car stolen accidents happen frequently nowadays |
| C．the dog was found because of the reward |
| D．the thief stole the car easily |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Benjerman was sent back immediately after Atkins put up the notices. |
| B．Atkins and her friends made a great effort to look for Benierman. |
| C．The thief gave the dog back but kept the sports car. |
| D．The dog was back at 1 pm on a Friday. |
Our brains work in complex and strange ways. There are some people who can calculate the day of the week for any given date in 40,000 years, but who cannot add two plus two. Others can perform complex classical piano pieces after hearing them once, but they cannot read or write.
Dr. J. Langdon Down first described this condition in 1887. He called these people idiot savants. An idiot savant is a person who has significant mental injury, such as in autism (自闭症) or retardation. At the same time, the person also exhibits some extraordinary skills, which are unusual for most people. The skills of the savant may vary from being exceptionally gifted in music or in mathematics, or having a photographic memory.
One of the first descriptions of a human who could calculate quickly was written in 1789 by Dr. Benjamin Rush, an American doctor. His patient, Thomas Fuller, was brought to Virginia as a slave in 1724. It took Thomas only 90 seconds to work out that a man who has lived 70 years, 17 days, and 12 hours has lived 2,210,500,800 seconds. Despite this ability, he died in 1790 without ever learning to read or write.
Another idiot savant slave became famous as a pianist in the 1860s. Blind Tom had a vocabulary of only 100 words, but he played 5,000 musical pieces beautifully.
In the excellent movie Rain Man, made in 1988 and available on video cassette, Dustin Hoffman plays an idiot savant who amazes his brother played by Tom Cruise, with his ability to perform complex calculations very rapidly.
Today we more clearly recognize that the idiot savant is special because of brain impairment. Yet not all brain injury leads to savant skills. Some studies have shown that people who have purposeful interruption of the left side of the brain can develop idiot savant skills. However few people wish to participate in such experiments. There are many excellent reasons for not undergoing unnecessary experimentation on one’s brain. The term idiot savant is outdated and inappropriate. Virtually all savants have a high degree of intelligence and are thus not idiots.What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．Idiot savants have areas of outstanding abilities. |
| B．Human Beings have complicated thinking process. |
| C．The brains of the idiot savants are partly impaired. |
| D．The reasons why people have wonderful skills vary. |
Which of the following can be done by Rain Man?
| A．He can play wonderful pieces of classical music. |
| B．He can guess out exactly the length of a man’s life. |
| C．He can memorize the contents of the pictures fast. |
| D．He can count matches dropped on the floor quickly. |
What can you infer from the passage?
| A．Idiot savants have real talents for art and math. |
| B．Dr. Down is the first person who found idiot savants. |
| C．Few people wish to risk becoming savants by brain operations. |
| D．Intentional left brain impairments will surely lead to idiot savants. |
Residence Inn Milford
Within 15 minutes from historic Yale University and New Haven, the Residence Inn Milford offers great facilities and first-class service for business or leisure travel. Our all-suites hotel near New Haven is 1 hour from Bradley International Airport and 10 minutes from a Metro North train station that can get you to NYC in under an hour and a half. At our Milford, CT hotel, enjoy spacious studio, suites that are 50 percent larger than traditional hotel rooms.
Our suites offer hot breakfast buffet and a nightly social hour (Monday – Wednesday), on-site exercise room and outdoor swimming pool.
Price: $ 119 per night Pet Policy: Pets allowed Check in time: 3 pm
Marriott Detroit Southfield
Newly renovated (翻新), the Marriott Detroit Southfield Hotel is one of Detroit’s most desirable hotel destinations. With excellent public areas, enhanced meeting spaces and carefully redesigned guest rooms, the Marriott Detroit Southfield Hotel meets the needs of business, leisure and group guests travelling to the Detroit area. This suburban Detroit hotel has a prime location that allows for easy access to the Detroit Zoo, Henry Ford Museum, Comerica Park, Ford Field and many of the other local activities in the area. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Price :$ 75 per nightCheck in time : 4 pm
Comfort Suites Kodak
100 percent smoke free and pet free hotel conveniently located at the main gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains off Interstate 40 at exit 407, close to all the fun and excitement in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Knoxville, including Dollywood, Dixie Stampede, Smokies Park, Sevierville Events Center, Tanger Outlet Mall, University of Tennessee and more. Guests enjoy waking up in our well-appointed guest suites featuring contemporary furnishings and LCD flat screen televisions, starting their day with our free breakfast, and relaxing in our indoor pool and exercise room.
Price: $55 per night Check in time: 3 pm
The Swinton Hotel
Located in the very heart of the centre of London, the Swinton Hotel is one of the leading Kings Cross hotels offering free breakfast. It allows easy access to all tourist attractions, shopping areas and transport connections; you have come to the right place if you are looking for brilliant Kings Cross Hotels. Whatever reason you are looking for cheap hotels in London and whether you are visiting on business, as a tourist or to enjoy the vast varieties of entertainment and nightlife, we will be more than happy to provide you with a safe and comfortable environment. The Swinton Hotel is situated in an ideal location for those travelling to or from London by rail.
Price :$45 per night Check in time: 3 pmWhat do we know about Marriott Detroit Southfield?
| A．It’s designed specially for businessmen. |
| B．It has well-developed traffic to other cities. |
| C．It is quite easy to get to local attractions. |
| D．It is the cheapest of the four hotels. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the four advertisements?
| A．Smoking is allowed in Comfort Suites Kodak. |
| B．The Swinton Hotel is located in south of London. |
| C．Marriott Detroit Southfield is built inside a park. |
| D．You may bring pets into Residence Inn Milford. |
What do the four hotels have in common?
| A．They are all near the airports. |
| B．They all offer guests breakfast. |
| C．People can enjoy free outdoor pools. |
| D．People should check in before 3 pm. |
If you want to go climbing, you may choose ____.
| A．Comfort Suites Kodak |
| B．Marriott Detroit Southfield |
| C．Residence Inn Milford |
| D．The Swinton Hotel |
You get anxious if there’s no wi-fi in the hotel or mobile phone signal up the mountain. You feel upset if your phone is getting low on power and you secretly worry things will go wrong at work if you’re not there. All these can be called “always on” stress caused by smart phone addiction.
For some people, smart phones have liberated them from the nine-to-five work. Flexible working has given them more autonomy in their working lives and enabled them to spend more time with their friends and families. For many others though, smart phones have become cruel mastersin their pockets, never allowing them to turn them off and relax.
Pittsburgh-based developer Kevin Holesh was worried about how much he was ignoring his family and friends in favor of his iPhone. So he developed an app — Moment — to monitor his usage. The app enables users to see how much time they’re spending on the device and set up warnings if the usage limits are broken. “Moment’s goal is to promote balance in your life,” his website explains. “Some time on your phone, some time off it enjoying your loving family and friends around you.”
Dr. Christine Grant, an occupational psychologist at Coventry University, said, “The effects of this ‘always on’ culture are that your mind is never resting, and you’re not giving your body time to recover, so you’re always stressed. And the more tired and stressed we get, the more mistakes we make. Physical and mental health can suffer.”
And as the number of connected smart phones is increasing, so is the amount of data. This is leading to a sort of decisionparalysis (瘫痪) and is creating more stress in the workplace because people have to receive a broader range of data and communications which are often difficult to manage. “It actually makes it more difficult to make decisions and many do less because they’re controlled by it all and feel they can never escape the office,” said Dr. Christine Grant.What’s the first paragraph mainly about?
| A．The popularity of smart phones. |
| B．The progress of modern technology. |
| C．The signs of “always on” stress. |
| D．The cause of smart phone addiction. |
Kevin Holesh developed Moment to __________.
| A．research how people use their mobile phones |
| B．help people control their use of mobile phones |
| C．make people better use mobile phones |
| D．increase the fun of using mobile phones |
What’s Dr. Christine Grant’s attitude towards “always on” culture?
| A．Confused. | B．Positive. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Critical. |
According to the last paragraph, a greater amount of data means __________.
| A．we will become less productive |
| B．we can make a decision more quickly |
| C．we will be equipped with more knowledge |
| D．we can work more effectively |
阅读理解
When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He hardly watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water. So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he’d beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty five years ago. They were all tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now.
I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity(逆境) seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb’s trees in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with hardship. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be torn apart.With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs __________
| A．kept watering them every morning |
| B．paid little attention to them |
| C．talked to them to get their attention |
| D．beat them to make them grow deep roots |
The underlined word “robust” in para.3 probably means _________?
| A．strange | B．deep | C．strong | D．old |
Which of the following will be the author’s prayer on the days ahead?
| A．Have an easy life, without too much to worry about. |
| B．Meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future. |
| C．Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life. |
| D．Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Growing roots |
| B．Doctor Gibbs and his trees |
| C．Prayers for my sons |
| D．Watering trees |
Reading is a great way to improve your English. By reading, you are receiving valuable language input. As you’re reading, you’re taking in language naturally, and you’re seeing how it all fits together. This is crucial to your learning.
The key to effective reading is to read things that you want to read. There are millions of books, magazines and websites out there. You couldn’t possibly read them at all. So the important thing is to find things that you like reading. Then, you’ll be motivated to read. And then the reading won’t be difficult. It’ll be easy! And then you’ll learn. It’s simple.
Remember: read what you want to read—what you like reading and what motivates and inspires you. But where can you start? Well, you could read a book that you’ve already read in your own language first, then in English. Magazines are also great. Find one that covers a topic you’re interested in: business, clothing, cooking…you name it, they’ll have it. Why not join a forum(论坛)？Go to google Groups，which has discussion groups based on common interests. Just type in the topic that interests you and join the chat.
Finally, how you read is also important. The best thing is to read without using a dictionary. Let the words flow over you. Just skip the parts you don’t understand. If you make your reading feel too much like work, it’ll stop being fun. Of course, you could make a note of any new words and phrases that you like or see repeated frequently, but try not to break your concentration too much. Also, set yourself mini-objectives. For example, if you’re reading a novel, read 20 pages a day. Very soon, you have been exposed to thousands of useful phrases and words. Have fun reading! You’ll learn so much!The underlined word “crucial” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.
| A．easy | B．important | C．difficult | D．suitable |
The key to effective reading is________.
| A．to read millions of books |
| B．not to learn grammar rules |
| C．to be motivated to read |
| D．to read easy things |
You can start to read by________.
| A．reading the news in English first |
| B．reading a book that you’ve already read in English |
| C．going to Google Groups to practice spoken English |
| D．reading magazines containing topics you are interested in |
From the passage we can learn that________.
| A．when reading you needn’t look up every new word in the dictionary |
| B．the great thing about reading is that you can read without any effort |
| C．you should make notes of every new word and phrase while reading |
| D．to read is as much fun as to work |
The best title of the passage is “________”.
| A．How To Read English Novels |
| B．How To Learn English By Reading |
| C．How To Absorb Expressions And Phrases |
| D．How To Learn English Without Any Effort |