Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens' stories opened his readers' eyes to the most important themes of his age．Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens' legacy （遗产） was far greater than just "great literature"．
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer's birthday．To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world．Let's take a look at two of them．
A while Christmas
Dickens is described as "the man who invented Christmas" -not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive （喜庆的） season today．
In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt．The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day - unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone, but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off．
Many people believe that Dickens' popular depictions（描绘） of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come．In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas,but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes"．
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote, "Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas．"
"Dickensian" poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian （the period during British Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901） London．
He helped popularize the term "red tape" to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy （官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society．
"Dickensian" has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty．In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas, of Britain, she did not use words like "terrible" or "horrific", but rather described it as "life mirroring the times of Dickens"．What is the main idea of the article?
| A．Charles Dickens' impact on the world． |
| B．An introduction to Charles Dickens' classic novels． |
| C．Charles Dickens' amazing characters． |
| D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world． |
Why is Dickens called "the man who invented Christmas"?
| A．Because he created the religious festival. |
| B．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations． |
| C．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas． |
| D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas． |
According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to __.
| A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task |
| B．a situation in which poor members of society are hurt |
| C．conflict between people in power and weaker people |
| D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Dickens is still popular today in Britain． |
| B．everyone takes at least three days off at Christmas． |
| C．Dickens invented Christmas |
| D．Dickens gave the modern world six things． |
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Pushing children too hard is a really big social problem that seems to be getting worse．Now we have 6-month-olds in music classes and swimming classes．Parents fear that if other children are attending these classes，they will be holding their own children back if they do not enroll，too．
The other extreme，simply taking a laissez-faire approach and letting children do—or refuse to do—whatever they want，is not the answer either，of course．
Dr Taylor emphasizes that parents need to push their children based on what is best for the children，not what is best for themselves．If children understand that an activity is in their best interests，then they will accept it, he finds．
Dr Taylor and other family experts remain pessimistic about the possibilities for widespread social change．“The force of our popular culture，driven by money and superficial（表面上的） values，cannot be resisted，” he says．But change can take place at a“micro-level,” in families and schools．
When changes do occur，the rewards can benefit everyone in the family．One mother supporting this new approach toward parenting mentions the advantages her family experienced after her children cut back on activities．“The biggest thing is that since we have done this，we are rested,” she says．“Not only are our kids rested，because they're not in a ton of stuff, but my husband and I are rested，because we're not driving them everywhere．We weren’t living in the moment when we were always busy．We were living by the schedule．The return on our investment of spending time together has been enormous．”
49．One of the reasons why parents push children so hard is that they________．
A．believe in early development in children
B．are too busy to take care of their children
C．don't want their children to lag behind
D．want to repeat what their parents did to them
50．The phrase“a laissez-faire approach”（in Line 1，Paragraph 2）most probably refers to______．
A．denying them what they need
B．controlling children in a flexible way
C．developing a keen interest in children
D．letting children do whatever they want
51．The best way to encourage children to work hard is___________．
A．to make them believe it’s in their best interests
B．to consider the matter from parents' standpoint
C．to emphasize the importance of hard work from time to time
D．to make it interesting and enjoyable to them
52．The new approach toward parenting mentioned in the passage most likely refers to _______．
A．relieving children’s hard work and unnecessary activity
B．resisting the superficial values of pop culture
C．reducing more activity off their school schedule
D．spending more time with their children
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45. The advertisements are to________.
A. start a business. B. look for English teachers.
C. provide the latest jobs. D. help people find a suitable job.
46. From the first advertisement, we can learn that ______.
A. English Teacher agency charges teachers for this service.
B. you must go online to offer your basic information first.
C. you may call to get more information about the job.
D. once you join English Teacher agency, you will get a job.
47. Which of the following is TRUE of the private English tutor in Advertisement 3?
A. Be an English language expert from UK.
B. Speak American English.
C. Have rich teaching experience.
D. Spoken English as well as Chinese is quite good.
48. If you didn't pass the interview for Teacher / Librarian, the probable reason should be that __
A. you like working with children. B. you have a strong team spirit.
C. you lack teaching experience. D. you are poor in Chinese.
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第二部分阅读理解（共两节；满分45分）
第一节阅读短文（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
从每题所给的四个选项（A、Ｂ、Ｃ和Ｄ）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was a cold grey day in late November. The weather had changed overnight, when a backing wind brought a pale sky and a muzzling rain with it, and although it was now only a little after two o’clock in the afternoon the gray of a winter evening seemed to have closed upon the hills, surrounding them in mist. It would be dark by four. The leather seats felt damp to the hands, and there must have been a small crack in the roof, because now and again little drips of rain fell softly through, polluting the leather and leaving a dark – blue stain like a spot of ink. The wind came in, at times shaking the coach as it traveled round the bend of the road, and in the exposed places on the high ground it blew with such force that the whole body of the coach trembled and swayed, rocking between the high wheels like a drunken man.
The driver, muffled （裹住） in a greatcoat to his ears, bent almost double in his seat in a faint endeavor to gain shelter from his own shoulders. The few passengers pressed together for warmth, exclaiming all together when the coach sank into a heavier rut （车辙） than usual, and one old fellow, who had kept up a constant complaint ever since he had joined the coach at Truro, rose from his seat in anger; and, feeling with the window – frame, let the window down with a crash, bringing a shower of rain upon himself and his fellow – passengers. He thrust his head out and shouted up to the driver, scolding him in a angry voice for a rogue and a murderer; that they would all be dead before they reached Bodmin if he persisted in driving at dangerous speed; they had no breath left in their bodies as it was, and he would never travel by coach again.
41．What is the main image the author gives in this description?
A．In terrible weather, a coach was running fast in mud with complaining passengers on it.
B．On a cold and rainy day the coach broke and the driver was repairing it on the road.
C．On a cold night the driver and the passengers felt very cold and struggled in the rain.
D．The bad condition of the road resulted in the bad mood of the passengers.
42．Which of the following is correct according to the text?
A．The windows were tightly closed, so the cold air was kept outside the coach.
B．The spot of ink stained leather, so the seats felt damp to the hands.
C．Most probably the roof of the coach was broken.
D．There was a drunken man swaying constantly on the coach.
43．The expression “muffled in a greatcoat to… his own shoulders” implies .
A．the driver felt very cold and tried to change his seat
B．the driver felt comfortable by doing in that way
C．The driver felt very cold and tried to gain warmth
D．The driver tried to protect his ears and shoulders
44．We can learn from the text that .
A．the coach was running slowly due to the bad weather
B．an old passenger who got on the coach at Truro was angry about the windows
C．one of the passengers on the coach was a murderer
D．the few passengers let out exclamations as the coach moved violently
.
Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language. That is, they believe that children learn more easily and efficiently than adults. Thus, at some point in our lives, maybe around age 12 or 13, we lose the ability to learn languages well. Is this idea a fact or myth(悬念)？
Is it true that children learn a foreign language more efficiently than adults? On the contrary, research studies suggest that the opposite may be true. One report, on 2,000 Danish children studying Swedish, concluded that the teenagers learned more, in less time, than the younger children. Another report, on Americans learning Russian, showed a direct improvement of ability over the age range tested; that is, the ability to learn increased as the age increased, from childhood to adulthood.
There are several possible explanations for these findings. For one thing, adults know more about the world and therefore are able to understand meanings more easily than children. Moreover, adults can use logical(逻辑的) thinking to help themselves see patterns in the language. Finally, adults have more self-discipline (self-control) than children.
All in all, it seems that the common idea that children are better language learners than adults may not be a fact, but a myth.
71. The main idea of the passage is ____.
A. teenagers are more difficult to teach
B. Danish teenagers can learn Swedish faster than younger children
C. adults are more logical than children
D. the ability to learn languages increases with age
72. If most people’s idea of learning languages is true, people may lose ability to learn languages well ____.
A. at an early age B. when they reach their twenties
C. at an old age D. after they become young men
73. According to the passage, teenagers can learn a foreign language _____ than younger children.
A. harder B. more efficiently(有效率)
C. more slowly D. more carefully
74. The reason why adults understand meanings more easily than children is that ____.
A. adults have more self-discipline
B. adults like to play more than children
C. adults have more knowledge than children
D. adults accept new things more easily than children
75. Which of the following possible explanations for older student’s better achievement is NOT mentioned in the above passage?
A. Adults know more about the world.
B. Adults can use logical thinking
C. Adults have more self-discipline.
D. Adults can read better.
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Teenagers at one German school are learning how to achieve happiness alongside other traditional subjects such as math and languages.
The class sit in a circle with their eyes shut and they count from one to ten: someone starts, the next voice comes from the far right, a third from the other side.
The aim of the game is to listen for an opportunity to shout out the number without clashing (冲突) with another voice or leaving a pause. On the first try, most of the young Germans try to be first, while a few are too shy to join in, but by the fifth time round, they develop a rhythm. The message: give other people space but also confidently claim your own. This is a requirement for social well-being.
The Willy Hellpach School in Heidelberg is the first in the nation to develop a happiness course. It is intended for students preparing for university entrance exams.
“The course isn’t there to make you happy,” Ernst Fritz-Schubert, the school principal, warned pupils, “but rather to help you discover the ways to become happy.”
Cooking a meal together is one of the class exercises. Improving body language under the guidance of two professional actresses is another.
The course is taught for three periods a week. Despite the happy subject, the pupils themselves insist it is no laughing matter.
“In the first period, we had to each say something positive about another member of the class and about ourselves. No laughing at people,” said Fanny, 17.
Research by the school shows it is not the first to start happiness classes: they also exist at some US universities, mainly based on positive thinking, using findings from studies of depression.
68. This passage is written to .
A. introduce the happiness course in a German school
B. describe all the traditional courses in a German school
C. arouse the readers’ interest in happiness
D. help students struggle against being sad
69. According to the passage, the happiness course is__________.
A. created by the Willy Hellpach School
B. to make all the students happy all the time
C. required to be taken by the first year students
D. to help students discover the way to happiness
70. It can be inferred from the passage that__________.
A. the students’ self-respect can also improve happiness
B. the students just took the course as a laughing matter
C. the students can certainly become happy after the course
D. the students waste time learning something without value