A few months ago as I wandered through my parents’ house，the same house I grew up in，I had a sudden，scary realization．When my parents bought the house，in 1982，they were only two years older than I am now．I tried to imagine myself in two years, ready to settle down and buy the house I’d still be living in almost 30 years later．
It seemed ridiculous．On a practical level，there’s no way I could afford to buy a house anytime soon．More importantly，I wouldn’t want to．I’m not sure where I’ll be living in two years，or what kind of job I’ll have．And I don’t think I’ll be ready to settle down and stay in one place．
So this is probably the generation gap that divides my friends and me from our parents．When our parents were our age，they’d got their education，chosen a career，and were starting to settle into responsible adult lives．
My friends and I--“Generation Y”--still aren’t sure what we want to do with our lives．Whatever we end up doing，we want to make sure we’re happy doing it．We’d rather take risks first，try out different jobs，and move from one city to another until we find our favorite place．We’d rather spend our money on travel than put it in a savings account．
This casual attitude toward responsibility has caused some critics to call my generation “arrogant”(自大的), “impatient”, and “overprotected”．Some of these complaints have a point．As children, we were encouraged to succeed in school，but also to have fun．We grew up in a world full of technological innovation: cell phones，the Internet，instant messaging，and video games．
Our parents looked to rise vertically(垂直的)--starting at the bottom of the ladder and slowly making their way to the top, on the same track, often for the same company. That doesn’t apply to my generation.
Because of that, it may take us longer than our parents to arrive at responsible, stable adulthood. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our desire to find satisfaction, we will work harder, strive for ways to keep life interesting, and gain a broader set of experiences and knowledge than our parents’ generation did.When the author walked through her parents’ house，she _______.
| A．had no idea what she wanted from life |
| B．realized I should buy a house |
| C．started to think about her own life |
| D．wondered why her parents had settled down early |
What is the main “generation gap” between the author and her friends and their parents according to the article?
| A．Their attitude toward responsibility． |
| B．Their ways of making their way to the top． |
| C．Their ways of gaining experience． |
| D．Their attitude towards high technology． |
Which of the following might the author agree with?
| A．It’s better to take adult responsibility earlier． |
| B． It’s all right to try more before settling down． |
| C．It involves too much effort to rise vertically． |
| D．It’s ridiculous to call her generation “arrogant”. |
What is the main theme of the article?
| A．The sudden realization of growing up. |
| B．Criticisms of the young generation. |
| C．A comparison between lifestyles of generations. |
| D．The factors that have changed the young generation. |
When doctors urge overweight kids to pick up more activities，reading probably isn’t what they have in mind. Yet a new study by fatness researchers at Duke University finds that the simple act of reading—depending on the choice of material—can cause weight loss in teenage girls.
The study’s experimental group included 31 fat girls aged 9 to 13，who took part in the Healthy Lifestyles Program at Duke Children’s Hospital. The girls read a novel called Lake Rescue，whose protagonist (主人公) is an overweight teenager who struggles with low selfesteem，feelings of loneliness and teasing because of her size. A group of 33 girls read a different book called Charlotte in Paris，which did not have an overweight character，and another group of 17 girls read neither book.
At the end of the sixmonth experiment，all the girls who read books had lost weight，but the girls who read Lake Rescue lost more. They lowered their body mass index (BMI) by 0.71，compared with 0.33 in the Charlotte group，an average 0.05 increase among the nonreaders.
The idea behind the study，says Dr Sarah Armstrong，director of Healthy Lifestyles，was to find a way to encourage the girls without adopting the restrictive and often authoritative voice of so many other nutrition and diet programs. Lake Rescue was the perfect instrument，says Armstrong；it presents a likable character to whom the girls could relate and whom they could learn from. As the book progresses，its protagonist learns to make healthier lifestyle choices and finds an adviser to help keep her on track. Armstrong says，“She learns that she can become healthier，and the ‘I can do it’ feeling resonates (产生共鸣) with the teenage girls.”What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．There are different ways to help overweight kids lose weight. |
| B．Lifestyle is important for kids. |
| C．Lake Rescue is the perfect weightlosing instrument. |
| D．Reading can help kids lose weight. |
How many girls took part in the experiment?
| A．31. | B．33. | C．64. | D．81. |
What does the underlined word “She” in the last paragraph refer to?
| A．Armstrong. | B．The protagonist in Lake Rescue. |
| C．A character in Charlotte in Paris. | D．A girl in the first group. |
According to the passage we can know that ________.
| A．overweight girls are living unhappily |
| B．reading is the best way to lose weight |
| C．different reading materials play different roles in losing weight |
| D．people will become fat if they don’t read |
In which part of a newspaper can we read the above passage?
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. | C．Health. | D．Advertisement. |
The expression “keeping up with the Joneses” was first used in 1913 by a young American Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself: he began earning $125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. Young Momand was very proud of his riches. He got married and moved with his wife to Long Island, outside New York City.
But just moving there was not enough. For when Momand and his wife saw that their neighbors belonged to a country club they too joined a club. And when he saw that rich people were expected to ride horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave grand parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. Momand and his wife could not do that.
The race ended for them when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an inexpensive New York City apartment.
Momand later said that his experience had been a cruel awakening for him. However, he was able to see the funny side of it. He looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with their neighbors.
He decided that this would make good stories for many papers across the country. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses”, because “Jones” is a very common American name. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with the people around you. Momand’s stories appeared in different newspapers for over 28 years.
People never seem to tire of keeping up with the Joneses. That is one reason why they read the “right” books, go to the “right” universities and eat in the “right” restaurants. But no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.The writer of this passage means to tell us ___________.
| A．what Arthur Momand did to keep up with his neighbors |
| B．how the expression “keep up with the Joneses” came into being |
| C．what we should do to keep up with our neighbors |
| D．how we can live differently from others |
The reason Momand moved to Long Island is that ___________.
| A．he wanted to live in a rich neighborhood |
| B．there was a country club for him to join |
| C．it was outside the city and good for horseback riding |
| D．his wife came from that area |
By saying “It was like a race”(in Para 3), the writer means ____________.
| A．it was just a suitable place for the horse race |
| B．Momand and his wife kept themselves busy |
| C．Momand’s neighbors also gave parties one after another |
| D．Momand tried to compete with their neighbors in his way of life |
The funny side Momand saw in his experience was _________.
| A．he moved back to a cheap place |
| B．he was not alone in keeping up with his neighbors |
| C．he made a mistake in following other people’s examples |
| D．he cared too much about what others thought of him |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Momand earned a lot of money when he got married |
| B．Momand was always very interested in riding horses |
| C．Momand found there was something wrong with his way of life |
| D．Momand wrote stories for newspapers about himself and his neighbors |
Philip was a nine-year-old boy in a Sunday school class of 8-year-old girls and boys. Sometimes the third graders didn’t welcome Philip into their group and usually tricked him. This was not because he was older, but because he was “different”. You see, Philip suffered from a condition called Downs’s Syndrome. This made him “different”, with its facial characteristics, slow responses and mental problems.
One Sunday after Easter, the Sunday school teacher gathered some plastic eggs that pulled apart in the middle. The teacher gave one to each child. On that beautiful spring day, the children were to go out and discover for themselves some symbol of “new life” and place it inside the plastic eggs.
After the children returned to the classroom, the teacher opened their eggs one by one, asking each child to explain that symbol of “new life”. The first opened egg contained a flower. Everyone cheered. In another was a butterfly…. When the teacher opened the last egg, it was empty. “That’s stupid,” said someone. The teacher felt a pull at his shirt. It was Philip. Looking up, Philip said, “It’s mine. I did it. It’s empty. I have new life, because the tomb is empty.” Not a sound was heard in class at all. From that day on, Philip became a real part of the group. They welcomed him, and whatever made him different was never mentioned again.
Philip’s family knew he wouldn’t live a long life, for there were too many things wrong with him.The underlined word “condition” in the 1st paragraph probably means __________.
| A．grade | B．status | C．health | D．disease |
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that _______.
| A．the 8-year-olds were sometimes cruel. |
| B．The 8-year-olds were friendly to Philip. |
| C．Philip was really different in school. |
| D．Philip was older and more sensitive. |
The teacher gave each child one plastic egg to let them ______.
| A．play around on that beautiful spring day. |
| B．put some symbol of “new life” into it. |
| C．try to pull it apart in the middle. |
| D．go out and discover themselves. |
After Philip explained his new life, _________.
| A．the class thought he was clever. | B．The class fell silent. |
| C．He began to study in the class. | D．He felt dying. |
We learn from the passage that _________.
| A．the teacher used to have classes outdoors |
| B．Philip was healthy as a whole. |
| C．The Philip’s new life wish was empty |
| D．Philip was accepted by his classmates in the end |
In the competition of Olympic weightlifting，the athletes try to lift the maximum (最大的) weight they can. There are special conditions they have to meet in order to compete：body weight，height and strength.
The Olympic weightlifting mainly tests the limit of explosive strength (爆发力)．There are not many lifters who really like Olympic weightlifting and the explanation is very simple：they are short of explosive strength.
The weights used for Olympic weightlifting are added in kilograms. The order by which the athletes enter the competition is not general，but it is set depending on the event. Usually the athlete with the lowest weight begins. If he/she is not successful，he/she can try later. There is a maximum of three lifts allowed for every competition.
For many years Olympic weightlifting was only for men. However，now women also take part in Olympic weightlifting. It was at the beginning of the 21st century that women’s competitions entered an organized professional environment. For women，Olympic weightlifting is more difficult because of their different body structure. However，strength training techniques (技术) are widely and successfully used by women，too.
Lots of the athletes who’ve ended up in Olympic weightlifting competitions have started with strength training only to improve their muscle condition and their body power. However，the demarcation line (界线) is not still very clear between power training and Olympic weightlifting. This is how so many lifters have got into Olympic weightlifting competition，even if their purpose was different at the beginning.In the competition of Olympic weightlifting，athletes need to be all of the following EXCEPT________.
| A．the right age | B．the right height |
| C．the right weight | D．the right strength |
How many more times can a lifter try if he/she fails for the first time?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
According to the fourth paragraph，________.
| A．men often do better than women in weightlifting |
| B．women need to use different training techniques from men |
| C．men can learn the training techniques better than women |
| D．women used not to be allowed to compete in Olympic weightlifting |
According to the passage，many athletes began to practice weightlifting because they wanted to________.
| A．take part in the Olympics |
| B．get a reward in the competition |
| C．strengthen their body power |
| D．test the limit of explosive strength |
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston，America. In his life he built a successful printing and publishing business in Philadelphia；he conducted scientific studies of electricity and made several important discoveries；he was a diplomat (外交官) and statesman；he helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university and America’s first city hospital；he also organized the country’s first subscription library (收费图书馆)．
Franklin was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. Ben had poor eyesight and needed glasses to read. He got tired of always taking them off and putting them back on，so he decided to figure out a way to make his glasses let him see both near and far. He had two pairs of glasses cut in half and put half of them together. Today，we call them bifocals (双光眼镜)．Another invention of his，an iron stove，allowed people to warm their homes.
He loved to learn about new things. He also thought it was important to make life better with the things that he invented. Electricity was one of the things he experimented with when he retired from his business. Ben discovered that lightning (闪电) and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod was an important invention that we still use today to protect buildings and ships from lightning damage.
Franklin preferred to have his inventions used freely for the comfort and convenience of everyone. Thomas Jefferson，the third president of America，called Benjamin Franklin “the greatest man of the age and country in which he lived”．To Benjamin Franklin there was no greater purpose in life than to “live usefully”．Benjamin Franklin was NOT a________.
| A．diplomat | B．scientist |
| C．businessman | D．president |
The underlined word “unequaled” in Paragraph 2 means________.
| A．better than any other | B．worse than any other |
| C．the same as others | D．confident as others |
Which of the following is NOT Benjamin’s invention?
| A．Bifocals. | B．The iron stove. |
| C．Printing. | D．The lightning rod. |
What was Benjamin Franklin’s purpose in life?
| A．To live comfortably every day. |
| B．To be useful to others. |
| C．To be a famous person in the world. |
| D．To earn a lot by inventing things. |