Have you got any wonderful plans for your coming winter vacation? Here are some wonderful films for you to kill time.
| Away We Go With a baby on his way, a young couple, Burt and Verona, look at their lives and are puzzled about what they really want. So they hit the road and seek a place to call home. On their journey, they visit a handful of characters and learned a lot. It’s about taking the scenic route in life, preparing for the hope and excitement and fear of new beginnings, while never forgetting to look out of the window. |
Orphan Either, a bright and well-behaved child, however, is not as innocent as she appears. Soon after being taken home, the peace of her adoptive family is completely changed You want a good horror film about a child from hell? Then you got one! Do not, in any cases, take children to see it. |
| 500 Days of Summer Tom is in love with Summer from the moment he sees her. Can he accept that she simply likes him for now, not for forever? The movie is about Tom wrestling with that reality. Tom remembers his love, Summer, as a series of joys and bafflements. But Summer is just herself and he cannot have her. Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why. |
2012 The director Roland Emmerich successfully dresses a corny story with an old Mayan prediction, which is believed by many to happen in the coming 2012 and as a result, attracts millions of people into the cinema. It’s just an entertaining Hollywood blockbuster （大片）with plenty of jokes, instead of a description of what the end of the world is really like. Don’t take it too seriously! |
This passage aims to .
| A．make comments on films for a cinema |
| B．introduce films for a film corporation |
| C．recommend several films for fun |
| D．advertise several films for a website |
If you bring your seven-year-old sister to the cinema, which of the following film should you avoid?
| A．Away We Go. | B．Orphan |
| C．500 Days of Summer. | D．2012 |
Among all the characters mentioned in the passage, who directed films in Hollywood?
| A．Roland Emmerich. | B．Tom and Summer. |
| C．Burt and Verona. | D．Esther. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Orphan is a comedy about Esther adopted by a kind family. |
| B．500 Days of Summer is a romance with a happy ending. |
| C．Away We Go shows beautiful scenery on the young couple’s journey. |
| D．The ancient Mayan prediction is going to happen in 2012. |
Our spiritual intelligence quotient（精神智商）,or SQ, helps us understand ourselves, and live fuller, happier lives.
Though we're all born with SQ, most of us don't even realize that we have it. Fortunately, you don't have to sign up for classes to learn how to improve your SQ. Here are some simple steps that can lead you to this new level of understanding.
Sit Quietly. The process of developing spiritual intelligence begins with solitude（独处）and silence. To tune in to your spirit, you have to turn down the volume（强度）in your busy, noisy, complicated life and force yourself to do nothing at all. Start small by creating islands for silence in your day. In the car, instead of listening to the music, use the time to think. At work, shut the door to your office between meetings, take a few breaths and let them out very, very slowly. Enjoy the stillness in your home after the kids are finally in bed.
Step Outside. For many people, nature sets their spirit free. Go outside to watch a beautiful sunset. If you are walking with the dog, take the time to admire flowers in bloom; follow the flight of a bird and watch clouds float overhead.
Ask Questions of Yourself. Ask open-ended questions, such as "What am I feeling? What are my choices? Where am I heading?"
But don't expect an answer to arrive through some supernatural forms of e-mail. “Rarely do I get an immediate answer to my question,” says Reverend Joan Carter, a Presbyterian minister in Sausalito, California. “But later that day I suddenly find myself thinking about a problem in a perspective I never considered before.”
Trust Your Spirit. While most of us rely on gut（本能的）feeling to realize danger, spiritual intelligence pushes us, not away from, but towards some action that will lead to a greater good..The passage is mainly about______.
| A．what your SQ is and in what way it can benefit our life |
| B．what your SQ is and in what way it can be improved |
| C．the relationship between your SQ and your life |
| D．advantages and disadvantages of SQ |
The underlined phrase "to tune in to your spirit" in the third paragraph probably means to_________
| A．get your spirit relaxed | B．keep up your spirit |
| C．keep seated quietly | D．change your spirit |
From the passage, we can know that the most important thing to improve your SQ is______
| A．a peaceful mind | B．deep thought |
| C．spare time and hobbies | D．good spirits |
It was the end of my first day as a waitress in a busy New York restaurant. My cap had gone away, and my feet hurt. The loaded plates I carried seemed to be heavier and heavier. Tired and discouraged, I didn’t seem able to do anything right. As I made out a check for a family with several children who had changed their ice-cream order a dozen times, I was ready to stop. Then the father smiled at me as he handed me my tip. “Well done,” he said, “you’ve looked after us really well.” Suddenly my tiredness disappeared. I smiled back, and later, when the manager asked me how I’d liked my first day, I said, “Fine!” Those few words of praise had changed everything. Praise is like sunlight to human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. And yet, most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold criticism（批评）, but are unwilling to give our fellows the warm sunshine of praise. Perhaps that is why one word of praise can bring such pleasure.
It’s strange how chary we are about praising. Perhaps it’s because few of us know how to accept it. It’s especially rewarding to give praise in areas in which effort generally goes unnoticed．An artist gets admired for a glorious picture，a cook for a perfect meal．But do you ever tell your laundry （洗衣房）manager how pleased you are when the shirts are done just right? In fact，to give praise costs the giver nothing but a moment’s thought and a moment’s effort．Which of the following can’t describe the writer’s situation before she got her tip?
| A．She was tired． | B．She was busy． |
| C．She was sorry． | D．She was confident． |
According to the passage，which of the following is least likely to be given praise?
| A．An artist． | B．A cook． |
| C．A waitress． | D．A laundry manager． |
The underlined word “chary” in Paragraph 2 means_________.
| A．careless | B．cautious |
| C．unwilling | D．greedy |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Why Do You Praise Others? |
| B．Why do You Criticize Others? |
| C．Be Generous to Give Others Praise! |
| D．Don’t Criticize Others! |
A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops(笔记本电脑)．
Students are increasingly using laptops for notetaking because of speed and legibility(清晰度)．But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.
Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes “mindlessly” by taking down word for word what the professors said.
In the first experiment，students were given either a laptop or pen and paper. They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual notetaking skills. Thirty minutes after the talk，they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.
The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand. However，the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts. Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.
The researchers' report said，“While more notes are beneficial，if the notes are taken mindlessly，as is more likely the case on a laptop，the benefit disappears.”
In another experiment aimed at testing longterm memory，students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture. This time，the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.
These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding，but that they also lead to superior revision in the future. More and more students favour laptops for notetaking because they can ________.
| A．write more notes | B．digest concepts better |
| C．get higher scores | D．understand lectures better |
While taking notes，laptop users tend to be ________.
| A．skilful | B．mindless |
| C．thoughtful | D．tireless |
The author of the passage aims to ________.
| A．examine the importance of longterm memory |
| B．stress the benefit of taking notes by hand |
| C．explain the process of taking notes |
| D．promote the use of laptops |
The passage is likely to appear in ________.
| A．a newspaper advertisement | B．a computer textbook |
| C．a science magazine | D．a finance report |
In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become “twins” with a sister city relationship.
The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.
Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.
Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town.
Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin town in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan country!
Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skills, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.Twin towns develop __________.
| A．between European countries and China |
| B．in the English-speaking countries only |
| C．in the same country |
| D．between different countries |
One of the advantages of town twinning is__________.
| A．to earn more money |
| B．to set up schools |
| C．to improve students’ language skills |
| D．to develop industry and agriculture |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Town Twinning |
| B．Friendly Town |
| C．Exchange Teachers and Students |
| D．Peace and Understanding |
Who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams(1860~1935)
Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She created shelters, education opportunities and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Noble Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson(1907~1964)
Rachel Carson was born in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania in America. The popular book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 made people realize the dangers and the harmful effects of pollution on humans and on the world’s lake and oceans.
Angela Merkel(1954~)
In 2005, German chose Angela Merkel as their first woman head of the country. She had been a scientist in the past. As Germany ’leader, she has had an effect on the whole world.
Sandra Day O’Connor(1930~)
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work because she was a woman. However, she became the first woman to join the US Supreme Court in 1981 after years of hard work.
Margaret Thatcher(1925~)
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. She served until 1990, which made her the first Britain leader to serve three terms in a row. Because of her high standards and strong will, people called her Britain’s Iron Lady.
Marie Curie(1867~1934)
Polish-born scientist Marie Curie discovered that some types of metal give off energy called radiation. Her research led to new medical treatments and arms. She received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and in Chemistry in 1911.Who once won the Nobel Prize?
| A．Jane Addams and Marie Curie. |
| B．Jane Addams and Margaret Thatcher. |
| C．Marie Curie and Angela Merkel. |
| D．Marie Curie and Rachel Carson. |
We can infer from the passage that Rachel Carson worked to ______.
| A．help the poor |
| B．spread geographic knowledge |
| C．protect the environment |
| D．protect the rights of women |
What do Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher have in common?
| A．Both of them were scientists before coming to power. |
| B．Both of them are the first woman head of their country. |
| C．Both of them are famous for being strict. |
| D．Both of them have worked for three terms. |
Who once failed to find a job?
| A．Jane Addams | B．Sandra Day O’Connor |
| C．Rachel Carson | D．Margaret Thatcher |