Through history, children have played with toys and they help to prepare children for adult life. But the toys are changing all the time. As science and technology have changed the way adults live, the toys children play with have changed as well. Developments in science and technology have had a big effect on the toys that children play with. Today trains and mobile phones are popular toys for young children, but there were no toys of this kind before real trains and mobile phones were invented. The materials that toys are made of have also changed. Today lots of toys are made of plastic. Plastic is a modern, man-made material that did not exist (存在) in the past. On the other hand, some other toys that you have might not be all that different from the ones children played with 1,000 years ago. Scientists have found some bone dice (骰子)in Aberdeen. In medieval (中世纪的)times dice were used for playing games as much as they are today.
A recent survey found that half of all the children aged from 4 to 6 have played video games, a quarter of them regularly. The increasing use of electronic toys troubles Dr Singer, a professor at Yale. “One thing we know is that kids in early years need to be in touch with the real world,” he said, “No matter how brilliant they are, they’re not going to learn to walk, to move or to talk to others unless their hands or feet have a direct role in such activities.”
Some toy experts argue that the best toys are the ones that increase a child’s creativity and imagination. Traditional toys can be used for different kinds of purposes and be used in group settings, individually(单独地), and one-to-one. They are also used differently depending on the child’s age and skill level. And these toys made of natural materials are valuable for children because they teach children what the world is made of.In how many ways do toys change according to the first paragraph?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D． Four. |
From the article, we can know that .
| A．only children like to play with toys |
| B．toys have nothing to do with children’s future life |
| C．the development of toys is related to science and technology |
| D．plastic is the best material for making toys |
According to Dr Singer, .
| A．the electronic toys are good for children if they play often enough |
| B．the electronic toys prevent children keeping in touch with the real world |
| C．children should be stopped from being hurt by the danger coming from the outside world |
| D．children should play with electronic toys instead of the traditional ones |
Weighed down（压得喘不过气来） by study? Pushed to the limit by the fast pace of life? Frightened by the possible war? Well, you’re not alone. Men and women in France are seeking relief using the world’s best medicine─laughter.
In the past year, more than 25 laughter clubs have been set up across the country. People of all ages release their stress with an hour of group laughs. “People telephoned me and said they have forgotten what it is to laugh. They want to find a place where they can escape all their problems for a while. So they come,” said 40-year-old Jocelyn Le Moan. She usually takes a class of around 60 people through a series of laughter techniques.
Her pupils range from teenagers to 70 years old, but most are middle-aged white collars seeking 60 minutes of relaxation at the end of a busy day.
Le Moan takes them through the “Lion Laugh” and the “Laugh Contest”, where participants “speak” to each other in different ways. And instead of talking, they break into fits of laughter. At the end there are 15 minutes of “meditation”（沉思）,when they lie on their backs and let the laughs burst out of their mouths.
“I love it. It’s an experience that has changed my life. Through it I rediscovered the child’s laugh inside me,” said Romain Jourffroy, 24.
Like Jourffroy, many laughter club members find themselves changed into children again, and why not? The average preschooler laughs up to 400 times a day. The average adult only a sad seven to fifteen.
The physical benefits of laughter are already well-recognized. Doctors say the act of laughing releases good chemicals into the blood-stream, while the quick breathing that accompanies it helps massage（按摩）the digestive organs and strengthens the heart.
“A full hour is like having your insides go jogging! One finishes out of breath, but feels revitalized (产生新活力). And on top of that, you’ve had a laugh,” said doctor Alexisd Estaing.
And many participants in Paris also emphasize the psychological benefits. They believe that laughter is a way of making oneself feel more confident.
“Maybe it is because we are surrounded by so many troubles that we feel the need to keep laughing,” said Anne Maurigiano, a 29-year-old filmmaker.
51. From the passage, we can conclude the following but __________.
A. Jocelyn Le Moan is a teacher of the club.
B. the members are mostly middle-aged white collars.
C. people always need some way to relax in life.
D. laugh freely and everything goes well.
52. The writer suggested that you should __________.
A. have a good laugh after a busy day
B. talk to each other about what troubles you
C. learn series of laughter techniques
D. take the world’s best medicine
53. Which of the following is NOT included among the benefits of laughing ?
A. It can make people rediscover their children’s laugh.
B. It can release good chemical into blood-stream.
C. It can make you feel self-confident.
D. It can cure the illness of people.
54. What does the phrase “on the top of that ” mean?
A. besides B. on the top of tiredness
C. above all D. on the top of your energy
The Festival of Cultures (August 11 – 14)
City Park
The Festival of Cultures is an annual event to celebrate the wide range of cultures found in our great state. People representing 40 cultural groups will share their traditions and customs. Here are just a few of the festival’s many activities.
Crafts (手工): See the fine art of basket weaving from Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Watch the delicate art of making paper umbrellas from Thailand and the decorative craft of paperl picado, or paper cutting, from Mexico. All craft demonstrations provide a firsthand view of how things are made. You will appreciate the process involved in making these products.
Music and Dance: Experience musical instruments that you have never heard before. Listening to the music of a sho from Japan, a bull-roarer from Australia, a sitar from India, and a chakay from Tailand. You will also be entertained by folk dances from around the world, such as the troika from Russia and the mayim from Israel. From 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. on August 14, special folk-dancing classes for children will be offered. Children ranging in age from 6 – 8 can learn the kinderpolka from Germany. Children ranging in age from 9 – 12 can learn the raspa from Mexico.
Storytelling: Listen for hours as professional storytellers charm you with interesting tales. Fables, folktales, and ballads from various countries will be told. By popular demand, Gwendolyn Washington, a famous African American storyteller, is back.
Food: Enjoy irresistible foods from other countries, such as gyros from Greece, seafood paella from Spain,
crepes from France, and tandoori chicken from India. These tasty dishes will be difficult to pass up.
| Tickets August 11 - 13 |
| Adults $3 Ages 13 – 18 $2 Ages 6 – 12 $ 1 Ages 6 and underFree |
|
The plane journey from Papa Westray to Westray in the Orkney Islands takes just 96 seconds, covering a distance of little over a mile. Six teenagers are to take the Loganair service to Westray Junior High after the local ferry (渡轮) service stopped. They are all aged 13-14 and will be flown to and from school until the end of the year when the ferry is scheduled to return.
Papa Westray had a population of just 70 and no secondary school. Westray, home to more than 600 residents, has around 70 pupils at the Junior High and nine full-time teachers. The school provides education to Standard Grade level but pupils choosing to study for their Highers must travel to the Orkney capital Kirkwall.
The students will fly to Westray each Tuesday and stay with host families for two nights before catching a return flight on Thursday. Loganair operating the eight-seater service has changed its schedule to ensure the children get to school on time. The company says the flight, with an average flight time of 96 seconds, is the shortest in the world.
Jonathan Hinkles, the commercial director, said, “While it is a popular tourist route for many visitors to Scotland, it’s also an important lifeline to those residents who live, work or do business in the Orkneys and it will make all the difference to ensuring those children who live on Papa Westray can continue their schooling throughout winter.” Willie McEwen, acting head teacher at Westray Junior High, said, “we are delighted that Loganair has come forward with this solution. Our children will enjoy the flying especially as, at this time of the year, it can be quite dangerous on the boat. ”
83. Which of the following is TURE according to the passage?
The six students can get to school in less than a minute sometimes.
Westray has a small population though big in size.
The plane can hold ten people at most each time.
The six students take the flight to school every day.
84. What can we learn about Papa Westray from the passage?
A. It is very poor. B. It is located in Scotland.
C. It doesn’t have any school. D. It will have no ferry in the future.
85. How does Willie McEwen seem to feel about the flying?
A. Surprised. B. Worried. C. Satisfied. D. Disappointed.
86. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Children get lift to school on 96-second flight.
B. Six teenagers having trouble going to school.
C. The lucky students in Papa Westray.
D. The shortest flight in Papa Westray.
BERLIN---A German woman, fearful that a burglar (夜贼) was trying to break into her second -storey apartment, called police after she heard someone climbing up to her balcony shortly after midnight, police said Thursday.
Police discovered the “burglar” was a man carrying flowers and a bottle of wine who turned out to be the woman’s boyfriend. But then arrested him on an outstanding reason.
“He was trying to surprise her with the flowers and a bottle of wine but it all went wrong,” said Korbach police spokesman Volker Koenig. He said the man jumped down from the balcony and tried to escape but was quickly caught by police.
“He gave the police who were taking him to jail the bottle of wine as a gesture of thanks for the friendly treatment after the arrest. ” Koenig said．
LONDON---A smoker who died after battling emphysema (肺气肿) has had his dying wish granted with the placement of a “SMOKING KILLED ME” sign on his hearse (灵车) and his grave.
Albert Whittamore blamed his youthful smoking habit for the lung disease. He said before he died in February that he wanted the sign to serve as a warning to young people about the dangers of tobacco smoking.
The sign was designed to look like the health warning on a packet of cigarettes. The printed notice at his grave will be left in place for a week. The hearse carrying his body through the town of Dover 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of London and several of the printed signs shown in the windows.
79. The man climbing up to the girl’s balcony _______
A. was actually a wanted thief B. was put into prison in the end
C. thanked the police for setting him free D. was treated badly by the police
80. The best title for the first news item might be “_______.”
A. A burglar’s love B. A burglar boyfriend
C. Flowers and wine D. Price for being romantic
81. The public paid more attention to the smoker because _______.
A. he died after smoking for many years
B. he had the sign put on his hearse and his grave
C. he died of a lung disease without any treatment
D. he wanted the sign left on his grave for one day
82. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The sign will be printed on the packet of cigarettes.
B. The signs were also shown in the windows of the hearse.
C. The smoker wanted to tell people how bad it was to smoke.
D. The smoker regretted forming the habit of smoking.
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose you place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don't worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn't really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King's famous speech---“I have a Dream”, you may notice that he stumbles (结巴) over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don't remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making.
People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker's ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker's attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don't worry about being perfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.
75. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will _______.
A. be smarter than you B. notice your mistakes
C. do better than you D. know what you are talking about
76. You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because _______.
A. you fix your attention on the content
B. you don’t fully understand the speech
C. you don’t know what the speaker plans to say
D. you find the way of speech-making more important
77. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. giving a speech is like giving a performance
B. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
C. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be.
78. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker B. How to Make a Perfect Speech
C. Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech D. Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech