When a dirty and untidy orange cat showed up in the prison yard，I was one of the first to go out there and pet it．I hadn’t touched a cat or a dog in over 20 years．I spent at least 20 minutes，knelt down behind the kitchen as the cat rolled around，relaxed．What he was expressing outwardly, I was feeling inwardly．It was an amazing bit of grace to feel him under my hand and note that I was reaching a life or another creature with something as simple as my care．
Over the next few days，there were other prisoners responding to the cat．Every yard period，a group of prisoners gathered there．They stood around talking and taking turns petting the cat．These were guys you wouldn’t usually find talking to each other．Several times I saw an officer in the group，not chasing people away, but just watching and seeming to enjoy along with the prisoners．Bowls of milk and water appeared along with bread, wisely placed under the edge of the dustbin to keep the birds from getting it．
The cat was obviously homeless and in pretty bad shape．People said that the cat came to the right place．He's getting treated like a king．This was true．but as I watched I was also thinking about what the cat was doing for us．There was a lot of talk about what's wrong with prisons in America．We need more programs．We need more psychologists or treatment of various kinds．Some may even talk about making prisons more kind．But I think what we really need is a chance to practise our own kindness．Not receive it，but give it．After more than two decades here，I know kindness is not a value that's encouraged．It's often seen as a weakness．
Instead，the culture encourages keeping your head down，minding your own business，and never letting yourself be weak．
The cat did my heart good to see the effect he had on me and the men here．By simply saying，”I need some help here”，he did something important for us．He needed us．And we needed to be needed．I believe we all do．Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The cat was dirty because it was kept in prison． |
| B．The officer in the prison enjoyed petting the cat． |
| C．The prisoners prepared food for both the cat and birds． |
| D．The author realized the importance of practising kindness． |
We can infer from the third paragraph that______．
| A．showing love to others can make prisoners strong |
| B．the American prison culture will be improved |
| C．the author is not content with the prison culture |
| D．caring for others is encouraged in American prisons |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Caring Makes Us Human． | B．Prison Culture is Important． |
| C．Animals Need Care． | D．Everyone Needs to be Cared for． |
In Paragraph 2，the author mentioned that “Several times I saw an officer in the group，not chasing people away, but just watching and seeming to enjoy along with the prisoners．” to______ ．
| A．show us the officer and prisoners get along well with each other |
| B．show us the American prison culture does need improvement |
| C．show us the officer and prisoners all like cat |
| D．show us the American prison culture is great |
Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri(MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.
“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density(密度)”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope(放射性同位素) battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries.”
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro / nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe.
“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.”
His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor(半导体). Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.
“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure(晶体结构) of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”
Together with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery. In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair.Which of the following is true of Jae Kwon?
| A．He teaches chemistry at MU. |
| B．He developed a chemical battery. |
| C．He is working on a nuclear energy source. |
| D．He made a breakthrough in computer engineering. |
Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________.
| A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied. |
| B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used. |
| C．to describe a nuclear-powered system. |
| D．to introduce various energy sources. |
Liquid semiconductor is used to _________.
| A．get rid of the radioactive waste |
| B．test the power of nuclear batteries. |
| C．decrease the size of nuclear batteries |
| D．reduce the damage to lattice structure. |
According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______.
| A．uses a solid semiconductor |
| B．will soon replace the present ones. |
| C．could be extremely thin |
| D．has passed the final test. |
The text is most probably a ________.
| A．science news report | B．book review |
| C．newspaper ad | D．science fiction story |
PART FOURWRITING (45%)
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase “over-consumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. |
| B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Making more products than necessary. |
| D．Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of super markets |
| D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text, recycling ______.
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
| C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
| D．Other products are better packaged than food. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| B．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable waste. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions（认识）of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is ,because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal（内在的） language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts. By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.
| A．she uses English in foreign trade |
| B．she is fascinated by languages |
| C．she works as a translator |
| D．she is a writer by profession |
The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.
| A．impolite | B．amusing |
| C．imperfect | D．practical |
Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
| A．Americans do not understand broken English. |
| B．The author’s mother was not respected sometimes. |
| C．The author’ mother had positive influence on her. |
| D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts. |
The author gradually realizes her mother’s English is _____.
| A．well structured | B．in the old style |
| C．easy to translate | D．rich in meaning |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English. |
| B．The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother. |
| C．The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English. |
| D．The author’s experiences of using broken English. |
Riding a London subway, a person from China will notice one major difference; in London, people do not look at each other. In fact, eye contact is avoided at all time. That's not rudeness— people are just too busy to bother looking.
Busy doing what, you ask? Well, they're certainly not using the time for a moment of quiet reflection（沉思）.Nor are they reading a book. New techology has replaced quiet habits. Today the only acceptable form of book on the London Underground is an e-book.
Apple must earn a fortune from London commuters（乘车上下班的人）. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, over 40,000-yes, that's 40,000-"apps"(programs downloaded for the iPhone)have been designed.
Commuters love them because they are the perfect time-filler. One "app"，called iShoot, is a game that features tanks. Another one, Tube Exits, tells passengers where to sit on the train to be closest to the exit of their destination（目的地）. ISteam clouds the iPhone screen when you breathe into the microphone. You can then write in the "steam" on your phone screen.
For those without an iPhone, another Apple product, the iPod, may be the distraction（消遣）of choice. It's not just teenagers who "plug in" to their music-iPods are a popular 
way to pass the time for all ages.
And if games, e-books and music aren't enough to keep you occupied. Then perhaps you would prefer a film? The development of palm（掌上）DVD technology means many commuters watch their favorite TV show or film on the way to work. Wi
th all this distraction, it's amazing that people still remember to get off the train.People in London do not make eye contact on the subway because they are busy.
| A．going to work |
| B．reading books |
| C．thinking private thoughts |
| D．playing games, reading e-books, listening to music or watching films |
In Paragraph 4, the underlined word “them” refers to “”.
| A．habits | B．“apps” | C．iPhones | D．films |
Those who like war games can downloadto their iPhones.
| A．iShoot | B．Tube Exits | C．iSteam | D．i Pod |
The underlined word "occupied" in the last paragraph probably means.
| A．delighted | B．busy | C．amused | D．controlled |
The article tells us that.
| A．London commuters are unfriendly to strangers |
| B．Apple has earned a lot of money from selling 40,000 apps |
| C．technology is changing the way London commuters spend their traveling time |
| D．with all the new time-fillers, London commuters often forget to get off the train. |
On October 19, 1959, the first Special English program was broadcast on the Voice of America. It was an experiment. The goal was to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose native language is not English. Experts said the goal was admirable, but the method would not work. They were proved wrong. The Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA. And they still are.
Forty years later, Special English continues to communicate with people who are not fluent in English. But during the years its role has expanded. It also helps people learn American English. An
d it provides listeners, even those who are native English speakers, with information they cannot find elsewhere.
Today, Special English broadcasts around the world seven days a week, five times a day. Each half-hour broadcast begins with ten minutes of the latest news followed by 20 minutes of feature programming. There is a different short feature every weekday about science, development, agriculture and environment, and on the weekend, about news events and American idioms.
Three elements make Special English unique. It has a limited vocabulary of 1500 words. Most are simple words that describe objects, actions or emotions. Some are more difficult. They are used for reporting world events and describing discoveries in medicine and science. Special English is written in short, simple sentences that contain only one idea. No idioms are used. And Special English is spoken at a slower pace, about two-thirds the speed of Standard English. This helps people learning English hear each word clearly. It also helps people who are English speakers understand complex subjects.
Through the years, Special English has become a very popular tool for teaching English, even though it was not designed as teaching program. It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way. Individuals record the programs and play them over and over to practice their listening skills. In countries around the world, English teachers assign Special English to their students. They praise it for improving their students' ability to understand American English and for the content of the programs. Universities and private companies in many countries produce packages of Special English materials for student use.At the beginning, Special English program was.
| A．well received |
| B．rejected by native people |
| C．doubted by some professionals |
| D．intended for teaching English |
What kind of English is spoken on Special English?
| A．British English. |
| B．American English. |
| C．Both British and American English. |
| D．Not certain. |
Which of the following are the elements that make Special English unique?
a．limited vocabulary
b．short simple sentences
b．good communication method
d．slow speed
e．interesting feature programming
| A．a, b, c | B．a, c, d | C．a, b, d | D．b, d, e |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Special English has been founded for less than 50 years. |
| B．Native English speakers don’t have a great affection for Special English. |
| C．Special English usually starts with 20 minutes of the latest news. |
| D．People can learn some idioms from Special English. |
From the last paragraph we can infer that.
| A．listening to Special English can be a student’s homework |
| B．listening to Special English can improve the content of the program |
| C．some student record the Special English material for sale |
| D．learning English from VOA is a traditional way for English learner. |