What if I took that big jump on my bike?What’s the worst thing that could happen if I go out at midnight?Should try smoking?The teen years can play out like a choose-your-own-adventure novel.
Teenagers must act on an endless parade of choices.Some choices.including smoking.Come with serious consequences.As a result, adolescents often find themselves trapped between their impulsive tendencies（-Just try it!)and their newfound ability to make well-informed and logical choices（-Wait, maybe that’s not such a good idea!）.
So what makes the teenager’s brain so complex? What drives adolescents-more than any other age group-to sometimes make rash or questionable decisions?
If you have ever thought that the choices teenagers make are all about exploring and pushing limits, you are on to something. Experts Experts believe that this tendency marks a necessary period in teen development.The process helps prepare teenagers to confront the world on their own. It is something all humans have evolved to experience-yes, teens everywhere go through this exploratory period.Nor is it unique to people:Even laboratory mice experience a similar stage during their development.
For example，laboratory experiments show that young mice stay close by their mothers for safety. As mice grow．their behavior does too．“When they reach puberty，they’re like，‘I’m gonna start checking out how this environment looks without my mom，…explains Beatriz Luna,of the University of Pittsburgh．
As a developmental cognitive neuroscientist，Luna studies those changes that occur in the brain as children develop into adults．She and other researchers are showing how the teen experience can lead to powerful advantages later in life．Take mice again：Young mice that explore most tend to live longest——that is，unless a cat eats them，Luna adds．What is the best title for the text?
| A．Teenagers make endless choices |
| B．The teenage brain drives them to be different |
| C．How the teenage brain develops |
| D．Researches about the teenagers |
What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．It means “you are wrong”. |
| B．It means“you lose your way”． |
| C．It means“you get the point”． |
| D．It means“you are off the point”. |
According to the text,the teenager who explores most wiIl
| A．make no mistakes in his life． |
| B．have advantages over others. |
| C．loSe his confidence even his life. |
| D．experience no failure and live Iongest. |
What does the writer want to tell us by taking mice for example？
| A．young mice try to look for safety. |
| B．Young mice like to stay with their mothers. |
| C．Mice also experience a period to explore the world. |
| D．Mice experience different stages. |
What may the text discuss in the next part?
| A．How call a teenager make right choices |
| B．Why the parents shouldn’t allow teenagers to smoke |
| C．What has been discovered in the lab experiment． |
| D．What really goes on in the teenage brain. |
As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) trend (趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.
“We needed furniture(家具) for our living room.” Says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to afford it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $ 420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.We can learn from the text that many newly married people _______.
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture. |
| C．take DIY courses run by the government. |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _____
| A．run a DIY shop | B．make or repair things |
| C．save time and money | D．improve the quality of life. |
When the writer says Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ____
| A．makes shoes in his home | B．does extra work at night |
| C．does his own car and home repairs | D．keeps house and looks after his children |
It’s school time again! You’re probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer is over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and even a new school. Luckily, these “new” worries only stick around for a little while. Let’s find out more about going to a new school.
Most teachers kick off the new school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the stuff you’ll be doing that year. Some teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class, too. When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules and school rules so you’ll know what’s allowed and what’s not. Please pay close attention
You might already know a lot of people in your classes on the first day, but it’s a great day to make a new friend, so try to say hello to kids you know and new ones that you don’t. Make the first move and you’ll be glad you did, and so will your new friend!
Seeing friends you haven’t seen in a while can make the first day a good one. You can make the day feel special by wearing clothes that you really like. Maybe you got a great T-shirt on one of your vacations, or a pair of sneakers（运动鞋）. It also can make you feel good to be prepared and have all the things you need, such as pencils, folders, and whatever else you’ll be needing. But make sure that you pack them the night before in case you don’t have time in the morning.The underlined phrase “kick off” in the second paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．start | B．study | C．find | D．teach |
The last paragraphs mainly tell us about ________.
| A．what to know about a new school |
| B．how to prepare for a new school |
| C．what to do on your first day of school |
| D．how to spend your first day of school |
According to the passage you usually do everything on the first day of school except ______.
| A．introduce yourself | B．learn about the school rules |
| C．make new friends | D．go over your new lessons |
If you happen to see an old friend on the first day of school, from the passage we know that you will feel ________.
| A．nervous | B．lucky | C．happy | D．excited |
You Mi, a lovely and confident 17-year-old student, is the first Chinese high school student to appear on the cover of the popular young adults’ fashion magazine Seventeen.
“You is IN,” said Wang Lihua，Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen. “She is active and mature (成熟) because of her knowledge on everything from academic studies，to books on art，to movies. We find she’s the very style we’re looking for to represent young people’s attitudes.”
You also impressed Wang with her fluent English when they first met last year. As the hostess of an English broadcasting program at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University（人大附中）， You is always praised for speaking English almost like a native speaker. “I’ve built up my English by watching thousands of English DVDs since I was 10,” she explained.
But for You，watching isn’t enough. Last year，while in Senior 1， she met a talented (有才能的) boy who showed self-made DV movies at the English Corner in her school.
“I thought it was so cool and I knew that I should start making my own films，” she said. So she wrote a campus (校园) story, persuaded schoolmates to star in it and then began shooting a 30-minute DV movie，all in English. “I played one of the leading roles，actually I was everything in my film. I worked on it every day during the holidays,” she recalled. The movie finally became a big hit on campus，earning You a strong reputation（名气） as a DV movie director.
But this is not the only field she wants to master. Though a science student, You likes art, literature and fashion design very much.
“There are people who can be artists，there are people who edit books, and there are people who become film producers. But I just hope to mix all the things up!” she said. “There is an old saying I believe：Chances favor only the prepared mind.”You Mi was chosen to be a cover of Seventeen, mainly because she _____.
| A．is beautiful | B．she is lovely and full of confidence |
| C．is active and mature | D．has rich knowledge |
You Mi’s fluent English is based on _____.
| A．her chance to host an English broadcasting program |
| B．the influence of her parents |
| C．her deep interest in it |
| D．her making DV movie |
The author mentioned a talented boy to show _____.
| A．the great influence he had on You Mi |
| B．he was admired by his schoolmates |
| C．the young can do things as well as the adults do |
| D．DV movies are popular at school |
In the 30-minute DV movie，You Mi didn’t act as a（n） _____.
| A．director | B．musician | C．actress | D．film-maker |
We can learn from the passage that _____.
| A．You Mi hopes to be a mixed talent. |
| B．the success of a 30-minute DV movie surprised You Mi. |
| C．You Mi dreams of becoming a scientist. |
| D．You Mi doesn’t like to study during holidays. |
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition . Some value it highly , believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity . Others say that competition is bad ; that it sets one person against another ; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people .
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied (依赖)on how well they performed at tennis and other skills . For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit ( 追求)of success , the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten .
However ，while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed , others take an opposite attitude .In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players , they strongly blame competition . Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society . Teaching these young people . I often observe in them a desire to fail . They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success . By not trying , they always have an excuse : “I may have lost . but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try . “What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot . Such a loss would be a measure of their worth . Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves . Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others . Both are afraid of not being valued . Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition .What does this passage mainly talk about ?
| A．Competition helps to set up self-respect . |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development . |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition |
Why do some people favor competition according to the passage ?
| A．It pushes society forward . | B．It builds up a sense of duty . |
| C．It improves personal abilities . | D．It encourages individual efforts |
The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means.
| A．those who try their best to win |
| B．those who value competition most highly |
| C．those who are against competition most strongly |
| D．those who rely on others most for success |
Which point of view may the author agree to ?
| A．Every effort should be paid back . |
| B．Competition should be encouraged . |
| C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter . |
| D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition |
Everyone should visit a lighthouse at least once.
The most important reason for such a visit is to realize how our ancestors (祖先) battled nature with the basic tools they had . They had only basic ways of creating light , and yet they found a way of using this simple technology in isolated (孤零零的) places to save ships from hitting rocks .
Secondly , visiting lighthouses will help us to understand the lives of lighthouse keepers .By their very nature , lighthouses were built on some rocks or cliffs . Thus , the lighthouse keepers often lived lonely lives . To walk around their small home , and imagine the angry storm outside beating against the walls , is to take a step towards understanding the lives they had.
The reasons for a visit to a lighthouse are not all so backward-looking in time . It is true that lighthouses were built in out-of-the –way places . But on a pleasant sunny summer day. This very isolation has a natural beauty that many people will love to experience . Therefore, with the gentle waves touching all round the lighthouse . the visitor is likely to think it is a world preferable to the busy and noisy modern life.
Another reason for considering a visit is that the lighthouses themselves can be very attractive buildings . Mankind could often not be content just to put up a basic structure . but felt the need . even in such an isolated place , to build with an artistic touch . The result is a view for tired eyes to enjoy .
Finally , lighthouses have a romantic attraction , summed up by the image of the oil-skin coated keeper climbing his winding stairs to take care of the light to warn ships and save lives .What is the reason to look back into the past of a lighthouse ?
| A．To escape from the busy and noisy city . |
| B．To look for the tools used by our ancestors . |
| C．To experience the natural beauty of a lighthouse . |
| D．To learn about the living condition of lighthouse keepers . |
The underlined phrase “out-of-the-way” in Paragraph of means.
| A．far-away . | B．dangerous | C．ancient | D．secret |
Lighthouses were often built with an artistic touch.
| A．to attract visitors | B．to guide passing ships |
| C．to give a pleasant sight | D．to remember lighthouse keepers |
How many reasons are mentioned for a visit to a lighthouse ?
| A．Three . | B．Four . | C．Five . | D．Six . |