When I was 12, all I wanted was a signet (图章) ring. They were the "in" thing and it seemed every girl except me had one. On my 13th birthday, my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials (姓名首字母) carved into it. I was in heaven.
What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn't being "replaced". We'd been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything—so most of the “new" stuff (东西) we got was really just to replace what we'd lost. But not my ring. My ring was new.
Then, only one month later, I lost it. I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning. I was sad and searched everywhere for it. But it seemed to have disappeared. Eventually, I gave up and stopped looking for it. And two years later, we sold the house and moved away.
Years passed, and a couple of moves later, I was visiting my parents' when Mum told me that she had something for me. It wasn't my birthday, nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other gift-giving occasion. Mum noticed my questioning look. “You’ll recognize this one," she said, smiling.
Then she handed me a small ring box. I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside. The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations, which included replacing the carpets. When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom, they found the ring. As it had my initials carved into it, they realized who owned the ring. They'd had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother. And it still fits me.The underlined word "in" in the first paragraph probably means "_____".
| A．practical | B．available | C．fashionable | D．renewable |
When she got the ring back, the writer was about _____.
| A．13 years old | B．15 years old |
| C．26 years old | D．28 years old |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer's family moved several times. |
| B．The writer never stopped looking for her ring. |
| C．The writer lost her ring in the morning when she took it off. |
| D．The writer's ring was cleaned up by the new house owner. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．My New Ring | B．Lost and Replaced |
| C．Lost and Found | D．An Expensive Ring |
Children have their own rules in playing games. They seldom need a referee(裁判) and rarely trouble to keep scores. They don’t care much about who wins or loses, and it doesn’t seem to worry them if the game is not finished. Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be directly compared. They also enjoy games that move in stages, in which each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side shall start, is almost a game in itself.
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s games exciting, and they often feel puzzled（迷惑的）at why their kids play such simple games again and again. However, it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons. He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person, and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid. He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn. He can be confident, too, in particular games, that it is his place to give orders, to pretend to be dead, to throw a ball actually at someone, or to kiss someone he has caught.
It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control. Everyone knows the rules, and more importantly, everyone plays according to the rules. Those rules may be childish, but they make sure that every child has a chance to win. What is true about children when they play games?
| A．They can stop playing any time they like. |
| B．They can test their personal abilities. |
| C．They want to pick a better team. |
| D．They don’t need rules. |
To become a leader in a game the child has to ________.
| A．play well |
| B．wait for his turn |
| C．be confident in himself |
| D．be popular among his playmates |
Why does a child like playing games?
| A．Because he can be someone other than himself. |
| B．Because he can become popular among friends. |
| C．Because he finds he is always lucky in games. |
| D．Because he likes the place where he plays a game. |
The writer believes that _____.
| A．children should make better rules for their games. |
| B．children should invite grown-ups to play with them. |
| C．children’s games can do them a lot of good. |
| D．children play games without reasons. |
As motorways become more and more blocked up with traffic, a new generation on flying cars will be needed to ferry people along skyways. That is the conclusion of engineers from the US space agency and aeronautical firms, who envision future commuters traveling by “skycar”.
These could look much like the concept skycar shown in the picture, designed by Boeing research and development. However, such vehicles could be some 25 years from appearing on the market. Efforts to build flying vehicles in the past have not been very successful. Such vehicles would not only be expensive and require the skills of a trained pilot to fly, but there are significant engineering challenges involved in developing them. “When you try to combine them you get the worst of both worlds: a very heavy, slow, expensive vehicle that’s hard to use,” said Mark Moore, head of the personal air vehicle(PAV) division of the vehicle systems program at Nasa’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, US. But Boeing is also considering how to police the airways and prevent total pandemonium(吵杂狂乱的喧闹)－if thousands of flying cars enter the skies.
“The neat, gee-whiz part is thinking about what the vehicle itself would look like,” said Dick Paul, a vice president with Phantom Works, Boeing’s research and development arm. “But we’re trying to think through all the consequences of what it would take to deploy(散开) a fleet of these.”
Past proposals to solve this problem have included artificial intelligence systems to prevent collisions between air traffic. Nasa is working on flying vehicles with the initial goal of transforming small plane travel. Small planes are generally costly, loud, and require months of training and lots of money to operate, making flying to work impractical for most people. But within five years, Nasa researchers hope to develop technology for a small plane that can fly out of regional airports, costs less than $100,000(£55,725), is as quiet as a motorcycle and as simple to operate as a car.
Although it would not have any road-driving capabilities, it would bring this form of travel within the grasp of a wider section of people. The new technology would automate many of the pilot’s functions. This Small Aircraft Transportation System(Sats) would divert pressure away from the “hub-and-spoke(中心辐射型)” model of air travel. Hub-and-spoke refers to the typically US model of passengers being processed through large “hub” airports and then on to secondary flights to “spoke” airports near their final destinations.The best title for this text would be_______ .
| A．Developing Skycars |
| B．The Traffic Jams in the Sky |
| C．How to Guide Flying Cars in the Sky |
| D．What Flying Cars Will Look Like |
The underlined word “envision” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “ “.
| A．imagine | B．expect | C．think | D．announce |
When engineers develop the skycars, they have to deal with the following difficulties except____ .
| A．how to fly out of regional airports |
| B．how to prevent the disorder of the airways |
| C．how to reduce expenses and the vehicle’s weight |
| D．how to fly the skycars to enter skies |
Now Nasa researchers’ aim is to .
| A．make big flying cars |
| B．work out the plan---how to transform small plane travel |
| C．develop a new kind of small plane different from the traditional one |
| D．build a new kind of small plane with road-driving abilities |
Although Zhang Bichen, a 25-year-old songstress with a powerful yet delicate voice, took the crown of this year’s The Voice of China, runner-up Parhat Halik, 32, seems to have impressed more of the audience with his husky(沙哑的), natural and, most of all, distinguished sound.
Despite his unmistakable voice, Parhat Halik’s music is also special. Generally, it’s rock — but influenced and mixed by different styles within the genre. Read on and find out where Halik’s music gets its inspiration.
Blues rock
Representative artists: Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, John Maye
Blues rock combines improvisation (即兴创作) with rock ’n’ roll style. It began to develop in the mid-1960s in Britain and the US, when rock bands such as the Rolling Stones experimented with music from older African-American blues musicians. It borrows the idea of instrumental combo（小型乐队）from blues but is played at a faster tempo and louder volume, distinguishing it from the blues. The sound is created with the electric guitar, piano, bass and drums.
As the root for several contemporary rock styles, such as heavy metal and hard rock, blues rock had a rebirth in the early 2000s, with artists including John Mayer and The Black Keys.
Folk rock
Representative artists: Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds
As the name indicates, folk rock is a genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. Also developed in the mid-1960s, folk rock was pioneered by the US band The Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan-penned material with rock instruments, in a style heavily influenced by The Beatles and other British bands.
The genre was most popular among teenagers and college students at the time, because it includes both rock ’n’ roll’s free spirit and the more serious, culturally authentic and socially aware sounds of folk music.
Soft rock
Representative artists: Bryan Adams, Eagles, Elton John, James Blunt
Compared to hard rock’s loud and aggressive nature, soft rock, or light rock, uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer and less threatening sound. Derived from folk rock, it uses acoustic instruments（原声乐器）and puts more emphasis on melody and harmony.
Although the genre gets quite a bad name among hardcore rock fans, who see it as “wimpy”(软弱无力), it doesn’t mean soft rock is without merit (优点). Soft rock songs often deal with themes like romantic relationships and everyday life in a thoughtful and complex way hard rock simply couldn’t.Which of the artists playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan-penned material with rock instruments first?
| A．The Beatles. | B．The Byrds |
| C．Eagles. | D．Guns N’ Roses. |
We can learn from the passage that ______________.
| A．the Rolling Stones ignored African-American musicians’ work |
| B．soft rock focus more on melody and culture awareness |
| C．blues rock gained a second birth in the 2000s |
| D．all the three rock styles developed in America |
What is hardcore rock fans’ attitude towards soft rock?
| A．They quite admire it. |
| B．They can hardly tolerate it. |
| C．They are indifferent to it. |
| D．They misunderstand it. |
What’s the main purpose of the text?
| A．To help readers become rock ’n’ roll artists |
| B．To inform the readers of the result of The Voice of China |
| C．To introduce some common rock music to the readers |
| D．To offer the readers some suggestions of composing rock music |
The power of humor and laugher is numerous. They entertain us and make us feel good. But, above all, we have discovered that humor and laughter are the best medicine. They relieve pain, reduce stress and anxiety, and are anti-aging and longevity facilitators.
They are extremely necessary for helping us to find and maintain a balance between life and work. However, they are slipping away from us. We have become far too serious. The only ones who still enjoy humor, laughter, fun and play to the fullest are young children. Children tend to laugh an average of 200 times a day. For adults, however, it is a totally different story.
In the 1950s people laughed on average 18 times a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 times a day.
As a matter of fact, a recent study found that people laugh 6 more times in the presence of one person but 30 more times in a group of people. You can get a chuckle(咯咯笑) from jokes you get on the Internet, but it is not the same as belly jiggling laughter (a deep laugh) you get when you interact with others.
Socializing with friends and relatives was much looked forward to. However, this is no longer the case. In fact, the majority of people can hardly find time, nor do they have the inclination towards socializing outside home. They turn to electronic media such as television, computers, the Internet, videos, CDs, and audio equipment, which can provide them with instant self-entertainment at the push of a button.
The workplace does not fare(进展) much better. Due to the pressures to produce more in the same or fewer hours available and to compete, for example, in a manufacturing field with cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, humor and laughter in the workplace have gradually eroded（逐渐毁坏） away.
I have developed a real appreciation, perhaps closer to a strong desire for the power of humor and laughter. This encouraged me to write my first book titled “The Power of Humor” and subsequently my second book titled “Kids Say the Goggonest Things” based on the natural humor, laughter, play and fun that kids experience and they freely share with parents, grandparents and teachers.
From writing about humor and laughter, people start to ask me to speak up for them. To date, I have developed a number of humor-laughter topics that I use in my keynote presentations. You are invited to subscribe to my free monthly e-magazine “The Humormeister’s Forum” by clicking on the Free Humor E-zine navigation button on the website.According to the author, laughter is leaving us partly because ________.
| A．we fail to maintain balance between life and work |
| B．the pace of change in our lives is becoming faster |
| C．we adults treat everything in a serious way |
| D．we have more pain, stress and anxiety now |
The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that ________.
| A．people laugh more heartily when spending time with others |
| B．getting a deep laugh nowadays is difficult |
| C．we can entertain ourselves with the help of the Internet |
| D．researchers have made a new discovery about the effect of laughter |
The underlined word “inclination” in Paragraph 5 most probably means “________”.
| A．destination | B．approach | C．attitude | D．tendency |
Which of the following articles can we most probably find in “The Humormeister’s Forum”?
| A．The power of honesty. |
| B．Don’t be your own worst enemy. |
| C．Live life purposefully: The relationship within. |
| D．Funny Christmas stories to share with your loved ones. |
Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think. It may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and snap photos wherever you are... but it also turns you into a workaholic, it seems.
A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the all-singing, all-dancing mobilephone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles.
The study by technology retailer Pixmania reveals the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. More than 90 percent of office workers have email-enabled phones, with a third accessing them more than 20 times a day. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers confess they are on call almost 24 hours a day, with nine out of ten saying they make work emails and calls outside their normal working hours. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first emails in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11 pm and midnight.
Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said, “The ability to access literally millions of apps, keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are drawbacks. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people literally cannot get away from work. The more constantly in contact we become, the more is expected of us in a work capacity. “Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The average UK working time is between nine and twelve hours. |
| B．Nine-tenths spend over three hours checking work emails. |
| C．One-fourth check their first mail between 11 pm and midnight. |
| D．The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 8 am. |
The underlined word “accessing” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ““.
| A．calling | B．using | C．reaching | D．getting |
What can we conclude from the text?
| A．Every coin has two sides |
| B．It never rains but pours. |
| C．All that glitters is not gold.. |
| D．It’s no good crying over spilt milk. |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Workaholics like smartphones. |
| B．Employers don’t like smartphones. |
| C．Smartphones make our life easier. |
| D．Smartphones bring about extra work. |