Puerto Rico may be part of the USA but its music and dance is a mixture of both Spanish and African rhythms. The country, as a result, is a mixture of very new and very old. It exhibits the open American way of yet retains the more formal Spanish influences. This is reflected in the architecture, not just the contrast between the colonial and the modern in urban areas but also in the countryside, where older buildings sit side by side with concrete schools and buildings.
However, if you do not wander beyond the tourist areas on the coast, you will not experience the real Puerto Rico. Old volcanic mountains, long inactive, occupy a large part of the interior（内陆）, with the highest peak, Cerro de Punta, at 1,338m in the Cordillera Central. North of the Cordillera is the karst （岩溶）country where the limestone（石灰石）has been acted upon by water to produce a series of small steep hills and deep holes. The mountains are surrounded by a coastal plain with the Atlantic shore beaches cooled all the year round by trade winds.
The population is 3.8 million, of which about 1.5 million live in San Juan, although about another two million Puerto Ricans live in the USA Average life expectancy is 73.8 years and GDP per capita is US $12,212, the highest in Latin America, although not up to the level of mainland USA. Most Puerto Ricans do not speak English and less than 30% speak it fluently. Second generation Puerto Ricans who were born in New York but who have returned to the island, are called Nuyoricans. The people are very friendly and hospitable but there is crime, liked to drugs and unemployment.What are the disadvantages of Puerto Rico?
| A．Too many Puerto Ricans live in the USA |
| B．Few people in Puerto Rico can speak English |
| C．Puerto Rico’s GDP is lower than that of the USA |
| D．Social problem connected with drugs and lack of jobs. |
We can learn from the passage that Puerto Rico _________.
| A．is a state of the United States | B．used to be ruled by Spain |
| C．is an agricultural country | D．is gently affected by Africa |
Nuyorican is a person who _______.
| A．has been living in New York |
| B．is living in New York |
| C．was born in New York but has returned to Puerto Rico |
| D．has got the citizenship of America |
What does the underlined word “retains” mean?
| A．loses | B．keeps | C．enjoys | D．returns |
Work your brain!
Between 2 and 3 pounds of wonder，it controls everything we say，do or think，who we are and what we care about. The way we walk or laugh or figure out things. What we like and the talents we possess. How we see and talk and run and jump and process our food.
The brain uses 20 percent of our body's oxygen and 20 percent of its blood. Somewhere within its protein，fat, 100,000 miles of blood vessels and 100 billion nerve cells，it helps us remember where we put our gym shoes. Change our temperature so we don't die because of the heat or cold. Speed us up or slow us down. Help us choose between orange juice or orangeflavored drinks.
Its intricacies(复杂性)are stunning，far beyond anything most of us can imagine. To keep this work of art as polished(有光泽的) as possible we need to eat right，exercise and keep mentally stimulated(刺激)．
Good nutrition helps brain cells communicate with each other. Exercise stimulates a hormone(荷尔蒙)in our brain that improves memory. Mental stimulation keeps you sharp even as you age.
“It's very important that we tell people to be physically active and mentally active，” said neurologist Malcolm Stewart.
“People cannot stop aging，but you're able to reduce the damage；you're able to keep the function up.”
Following are Dr.Stewart's advice for improving brain health：
| Nutrition |
Avoid fast food. Follow the old adage(格言，谚语)：For breakfast，eat like a king；for lunch，like a queen；for supper，like a beggar. |
| Exercise |
Do a combination of stretching aerobic and musclestrengthening every day. |
| Mental games |
Try to have a sense of hope about the future. Do puzzles. Listen to music. Reach out to others to make their lives better. |
The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to ______.
| A．inform us how the brain works |
| B．give us advice on how to keep the brain healthy |
| C．tell us that the brain plays an important role in our lives |
| D．show how special the brain is to us |
The word “stunning” in Paragraph 5 means ______.
| A．interesting | B．strange | C．significant | D．amazing |
According to the text，more exercise ______.
| A．keeps our mind sharp |
| B．helps improve our memory |
| C．gives our brain a rest |
| D．is good for brain cells communicating with each other |
In order to keep brain healthy，we should avoid ______.
| A．eating a good lunch | B．doing puzzles |
| C．eating a large supper | D．taking aerobic exercise |
Geniuses amaze us，impress us and make us all a little jealous. How do they differ from the average person？Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer. Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.
When Marc Yu was only two years old，he began to play the piano. After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven. Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight. He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears. He seems to be specially designed for music. In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies （神童） to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.
Geniuses didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh. His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain. After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and picture. So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art. Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine. Suffers of brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease. Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.
Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no sign of extraordinary intelligence. Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately. As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards. Make Me a Genius examines what is takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.
If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be done. Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky. Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain. In paragraph 2, Marc Yu’s story tells us_________________.
| A．a child prodigy can work easier than others. |
| B．a child prodigy is trained by family. |
| C．a child prodigy has an unbelievable listening skill. |
| D．a child prodigy always practise his skills. |
In paragraph 3, the sentence “Geniuses didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh.” means that ______________.
| A．Tommy McHugh could not be called a genius. |
| B．Tommy McHugh became a genius when he was young. |
| C．Tommy McHugh was a robot but not a real human being. |
| D．Tommy McHugh became a genius after a sudden accident. |
The writer provides different examples to _____________.
| A．show how people can be geniuses. | B．show becoming a genius is easy. |
| C．show geniuses are common. | D．show people know how to explain geniuses. |
The passage may come from_________.
| A．a report | B．a novel | C．a TV program | D．a newspaper |
As a boy, Charles Robert Darwin collected anything that caught his interest: insects, coins and interesting stones. He was not very clever, but Darwin was good at doing the things that interested him.
His father was a doctor, so Darwin was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, and was planned to follow a medical career. But Charles found the lectures boring. Then his father sent him to Cambridge University to study to be a priest. While at C
ambridge, Darwin’s interest 
in zoology and geography grew. Later he got a letter from Robert Fitzroy who was planning to make a voyage around the world on a ship, the Beagle. He wanted a naturalist to join the ship, and Darwin was recommended(推荐). That voyage was the start of Darwin’s great life.
As the Beagle sailed around the world, Darwin began to wonder how life had developed on earth. He began to observe everything. After he was home, he set to work, getting his collection in order. His first great work The Zoo
logy of the Beagle was well received, but
he was slow to make p
ublic his ideas on the origin of life.
Later Darwin and Wallace, another naturalist who had the same opinions as Darwin, produced a paper together. Darwin’s great book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (《物种起源》) appeared. It attracted a storm. People thought that Darwin was saying they were descended from monkeys. What a shameful idea! Although most scientists agreed that Darwin was right, the Church was still so strong that Darwin never received any honors for his work.
Afterwards, he published another great work, The Descent of Man. His health grew worse, but he still worked. “When I have to give up observation, I shall die,” he said. He was still working on 17, April, 1882. He was dead two days later.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Charles Darwin’s ideas |
| B．Charles Darwin’s works |
| C．Father of modern biology: Charles Darwin |
D．The  greatest scientist: Charles Darwin |
Darwin’s father sent him to Edinburgh to _____.
| A．make him like natural history |
| B．make him become a doctor |
| C．let him change his hobbies |
| D．have him give up his collection |
According to the passage, Charles Darwin’s whole life was changed by _____.
A．his study at Cambr idge University |
| B．his collection of coins |
| C．the naturalists at Cambridge |
| D．the voyage of the Beagle |
The underlined part “they were descended from monkeys” probably means “_____”.
| A．they gave monkeys life |
| B．they were different from monkeys |
C．they were developed from monkeys |
| D．they had to live with monkeys |
In the United States, 30 percent of the adult (成年人) population has a “weight problem”. To many people, the case is clear: we eat too much. But scientific evidence（证据）does little to support the idea. Going back to the America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today. Yet they ate m
ore food. In those days, people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less, and didn’t watch TV.
Several modern studies, moreover, have shown that fat people do not eat more on average (平均) than thinner people. In fact, some investigations (调查), such as a 1990 study of 3,545 London office workers, show that fatter people eat less than slimmer people.
Studies show that slim people are more active than fat people. A study by a research group of Stanford University School of Medicine found the following interesting facts:
The more the men ran, the more fat they lost.
The more they ran, the more they ate.
Thus, those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost 
the greatest amount of body fat.What kind of physical problem do many adult Americans have?
| A．They are too thin. | B．They work too hard. |
| C．They are too fat. | D．They lose too much fat. |
Which of the following words can take the place of the word “slim” in this passage?
| A．poor | B．thin | C．healthy | D．rich |
Compared with the adult American population today, the Americans of 1910 ___
___.
| A．ate more food and had more activities | B．ate less food but had more activities |
| C．ate less food and had less physical activities | D．had more weight problems |
What have modern medical and scientific researches reported to us?
A．Fat people eat less food and ar e less active. |
B．Fat people eat more food than slim people but are les s active. |
| C．Fat people eat more food than slim people but are more active. |
| D．Thin people run less, but have greater increase in food intake. |
Welcome to Franklin 
Hotel. To make you stay as enjoyable as possible. We hope you will use our facilities（设施）to the full.
Dining Room：Breakfast is served in the dining room from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Also the room staff（服务员）may bring breakfast to your room at any time after 7 a.m. If this happens, please fill out a card and hang outside your door when you go to bed. Lunch is from 12 to 2:30 p.m. Dinner from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Room service：This operates 24 hours a day; phone the reception desk, and your massage will be passed on the staff.
Telephones: To make a phone call. Dial（拨）“0”for reception and ask to be connected. We apologized for delays if the lines are very busy. These are also public telephones near the Reception Desk. Tell Reception if early calls are needed.
Shop: The hotel shop is open for presents, gifts and goods from 9 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m.
Laundry: we have a laundry in the building, and will wash, iron and return your clothes within 24 hours, ask the room staff to collect them.
Bar（酒吧）：The hotel bar is open from 12 to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Banking: The reception staff will cas
h cheques and exchange any foreign money for you.You would see this notice.
| A．in a hotel bar | B．in a hotel dining room |
| C．in a bedroom of a large international hotel | D．at the entrance of a small family hotel |
You have arrived at the hotel at 2.a.m. and want a quick meal, what should you do?
A．Go to the hotel shop |
B．Go to the hotel bar |
| C．Hang a message outside your door | D．Phone Reception |
The word “laundry” in the above passage means“”.
| A．tailor’s shop | B．operating room | C．clothes shop | D．wash house |
The text tell
s us that.
| A．the hotel offers at least seven kinds of services |
| B．it’s not convenient (方便) to stay up in the hotel |
| C．you’ll have trouble without the money of the country the hotel belongs to |
| D．you can shop at any time inside the hotel |