After a week-long vacation, U.S. President Barack Obama will focus on proposals to strengthen the still-recovering American economy. The agenda includes the reform of the nation’s health care system.
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as some call it, expands federal health care programs for the needy and encourages Americans of all income groups to purchase private health care insurance.
“If you do not have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business. You can comparison--shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets. You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that’s right for you. And if you are in the up to half of all Americans who have been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you," Obama said.
Health-care spending accounts for one-seventh of U.S. economic activity, and is projected to increase to one-fifth in coming years. The cost has a direct bearing on America’s economic and financial well--being. Drawn up in 2010, the Affordable Care Act aims to control costs and expand access to health care. The effort is a big failure, according to Republican law makers like Tim Griffin and Todd Young.
“Republicans will continue to do everything we can to protect all Americans from the president's top-down, one-size-fits-all, Washington-knows-best approach to health care that is driving up costs and hurting our economy," said Griffin. “The sooner we can delay, oppose and cancel the president's health-care law, the sooner we can get people back to work and focus on expanding opportunity for everyone.”
The president accuses Republicans of putting partisanship(党派偏见) ahead of Americans’ health-care needs. “A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they will somehow be sticking it to me. But they would just be sticking it to you. Your health insurance is not something to play politics with. Our economy is not something to play politics with," he said.
As a matter of fact，the success or failure of Obamacare could shape the president’s legacy long after he leaves office.It is implied in Obama’s words in Paragraph 3 that .
| A．health care insurance will be of great benefit to Americans |
| B．health care insurance will help recover American economy |
| C．insurance companies don’t expect him to carry out the law |
| D．insurance companies will cover Americans in all aspects |
According to Tim Griffin，Obama’s health-care law .
| A．will be strongly opposed to by the Republicans |
| B．will cause fewer economic problems in America |
| C．will be cancelled sooner or later by the government |
| D．will never work without the help of the Republicans. |
What does Obama accuse Republicans of according to the passage?
| A．They don’t know what Americans are in need of. |
| B．They tend to put their own benefit ahead of Americans’. |
| C．They know nothing about health insurance and economy. |
| D．They like to play politics with economy and health insurance |
What is the author’s tone in this passage?
| A．Subjective | B．Critical | C．Unconcerned | D．Objective |
D
Festival Activities Program
TIME AND PLACE
October 24 ~ 30
Oct．24 ~ 30: 9:00 a．m ~ 4:00p．m
Oct．25 ~ 29: 12:00 p．m ~ 9:00p．m
at Kerry Center Hotel
Classroom area
（1）English Taster Lesson（2）Food health-keeping method presentation
Computer area
（3）E-photography and Techno-Music（4）Education Software Demonstration
Internet Training area
SINA and Capital On-line will provide Internet Training for the public．The focus（焦点） will be on browsing the Internet; how to find useful information on the web; and how to design an elementary web page．
Foyer Activity area
（5）The students from Beijing TV University for the aged will provide a calligraphy （handwriting） demonstration．
（6）Children activities
69．A 70-year-old teacher wants to see how to use writing brush well, he should go to．
A．Classroom area
B．Computer area
C．Internet Training area
D．Foyer Activity area
70．The programs will last for．
A．a week B．a month C．five days D．two days
71．The word “browsing” in the passage probabl
y means．
A．seeing everywhere
B．going here and there
C．staring everywhere
D．reading here and there in books, etc．
Ⅳ．阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
A
At one time or another most farmers have problems with mice．This is especially true for grain farmers．Mice eat a lot of grain．They also carry diseases（疾病）, which people can get from eating or touching grain the mice have made dirty．Farmers can use special grain storage building or they can kill the mice．However, both methods can be costly．Farmers must buy materials to build the special grain storage buildings or chemical poisons to kill the mice．
Here is a way to kill mice without spending a lot of money．It is a simple but effective king of mouse trap．The method is first used by some farmers in the west African country of Mali．An agricultural expert in Mali reported about the Mali mouse trap in a magazine．The expert reported that his gardener caught 150 mice in just one night．The gardener used four traps．The trap is easy to make．First, remove the top from a 20 liter metal or plastic container（容器）．Put it 
n a hole in the ground．The top edge of the container should be the level with the surface of the 
ground．Fill the container with water to within eight centimeters of the top．Add tiny pieces of grain wastes．They should float on the water．Also put some wastes on the ground near the trap．During the night, mice will come out to eat the grain wastes．They will fall into the container and drown．Replace the food in the trap every night．
56．According to the passage, used the mouse trap first．
A．an agricultural expert in the west Africa
B．farmers in the United States
C．an American gardener
D．farmers in Mali
57．What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．A simple and effective method used by farmers to kill mice．
B．Methods used by farmers to kill mice．
C．Farmers have problems with mice．
D．How to kill mice．
58．is not needed in making the mouse trap．
A．Water B．A container C．chemical poison D．Food
59．Which of the following can’t protect grain from being eaten by mice?
A．A special grain storage building． B．Chemical poisons．
C．A mouse trap． D．A hole in the ground．
D
The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana(大麻). That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to ten points off the user’s IQ.
This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavorably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labeled(贴标签于，指……为，分类) the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as “infomania”.
The noticeable drop in IQ is believed to be the result of the constant distraction of “always on” technology when employees should be concentrating on what they are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their minds remain fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to technology instead of focusing on the tasks in hand.
The brain also finds it hard to deal with keeping lots of tasks in motion at once, reducing its overall effectiveness. While modern technology can have huge benefits, excessive(过度的) use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to his or her social life.
Eighty volunteers took part in clinical (临床的)trials on IQ damage and 1,100 adults were interviewed.
More than six in ten people polled admitted that they were addicted to checking their e-mails and text messages so that they examined work-related ones even when at home or on holiday. Half said that they always responded immediately to an e-mail and one in five would interrupt a meeting to do so.
Furthermore, Informania is having a negative effect on work colleagues, increasing stress and disagreeing feelings. Nine out of ten polled thought that colleagues who answered e-mails or messages during a face-to-face meeting were extremely rude. Yet one in three Britons believed that it was not only acceptable, but actually diligent and efficient to do so.
67. What does the underlined part mean?
A. A person’s IQ drops ten points if he or she always checks electronic messages.
B. The person who has a higher IQ enjoys checking electronic messages.
C. The person who has a lower IQ enjoys checking electronic messages.
D. A person’s IQ is ten points higher if he or she always checks electronic messages.
68. What happens to people with infomania?
A. People with infomania can only concentrate on their tasks in hand.
B. People with infomania are addicted to smoking marijuana.
C. People with infomania can’t respond to technology immediately.
D. People with infomania can’t concentrate on their tasks in hand.
69. From the passage, we can learn that.
A. about 550 interviewees responded to an e-mail immediately
B. about 670 interviewees responded to an e-mail immediately
C. about 40 taking part in clinical trials on IQ were addicted to checking e-mail
D. about 16 taking part in clinical trials on IQ refused to answer e-mails immediately
70. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. The regular use of text messages and e-mails can be compared to smoking marijuana.
B. Modern technology can damage a person’s mind.
C. The regular use of text messages and e-mails can harm your IQ.
D. Electronic messages can have effects on the user’s life.
C
If you’re in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I suggest, I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go.
In the 1986 movie Nothing in Common, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max’s hopelessness about being out of work. I was looking for some ways that would allow Max to show his feelings.
Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Out of fear I decided to direct by suggestion, and I sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene.
“So Max is sad, right?” I said.
Gleason nodded.
“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with his name on them－the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”
Gleason nodded.
“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”
He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t I throw them overboard?”
I stood up and turned toward the crew. “Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let’s shoot it.”
After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile, “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?”
You and your team can discover the answers to problems tighter. When there are no prizes or gold stars for those who get the solution first, you’ll all benefit when everything turns out right.
63. The writer tells us that, to succeed in the project you are in charge of, you should _______.
A. make everyone work for you
B. get everyone willing to help you
C. let people know you have the final say
D. keep giving orders to everyone
64. From the passage we can know _________.
A. Jackie Gleason is the director of the film Nothing in Common
B. Jackie Gleason is very angry when he is fired from his job
C. Max, a character in the film, is in very low spirits when he loses his job
D. Jackie Gleason writes the play of the film Nothing in Common
65. The underlined part “The Great One” (in Paragraph 3) refers to __________.
A. Gleason B. the director himself C. Max D. Max’s boss
66. Why did Gleason call the director over and smile at him?
A. Gleason thought his wonderful idea was accepted by the director.
B. Gleason succeeded in hitting upon a wonderful idea.
C. Gleason was confident about his work the next day.
D. Gleason appreciated the director’s way of directing films.
B
Your Genes, Your Future
How would you feel if someone gave you an envelope with a description of every one of your genes? Supposing this information could tell you what illnesses you were likely to get, or even what illness you might die of, would you open the envelope?
It's a difficult question to answer. But the fact is that scientists have already begun to discover how certain genes influence us. And in the next decade, they will learn a lot more.
We have known for a long time that many of our physical characteristics are inherited（继承）. For example, our eye colour and certain diseases are decided by our genes. As long as you have a good diet, scientists can predict your height by looking at your parents' heights. And we now know that the need to wear glasses has a genetic cause. Our eating habits also appear to be decided by our genes!
With other characteristics, things are not so clear. Certainly, scientists have now shown that some traits（特性，特质） are strongly influenced by our genes. Do you prefer getting up early or late? To a great extent, it's your genes that decide. Do you enjoy dangerous sports such as car racing? There is a gene that influences how much excitement we need.
But with most psychological characteristics, scientists are learning that both our genes and our environment affect us. This is true of things such as how violent we are, and how well we get on with other people. So, even though scientists may soon be able to describe our genes in detail, it does not mean they will be able to predict our future with any real success.
Nevertheless, the fact is that scientists will be able to "read" our genes in the near future. This will create new problems. To give a few examples, insurance companies may not want to insure people whose genes predict certain illnesses. Employers may not want to employ people who have a gene for violence. One thing is already clear -- with these new developments, life is going to become even more complicated!
60. Which characteristics is mostly likely to be inherited?
A. Eye color. B. Interest. C. Future. D. Ability.
61. What kind of problem will these new developments create?
A. You may die of a certain illness described in the envelope.
B. There will be an increased number of violent people.
C. People may take part in dangerous sports such as car racing.
D. Insurance companies may refuse to insure people with a gene for certain disease.
62. Why won’t scientists be able to tell us a lot about our future?
A. Because we’re affected not only by our genes but also by our environment.
B. Because scientists will not be able to read our genes in the near future.
C. Because life in the future will be more complicated.
D. Because scientists can’t describe our genes in detail.