In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”. Small talk means the little things we talk about at start of a conversation. In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather: “Nice day, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safer topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching: “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”
Greetings and small talk are important parts of conversation in any language. The way people greet each other and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.Small talk __________ .
| A．is a kind of conversation with short words |
| B．is a greeting when people meet each other |
| C．is to let people disagree about something |
| D．is something we talk about to start with a conversation |
Why do people need small talk?
| A．To choose a topic for conversation. |
| B．To agree about the weather. |
| C．To let meeting people become easier and more comfortable. |
| D．To learn a language. |
The passage suggests that when we learn a language ,__________．
| A．we should grasp the importance of the language |
| B．we should know the culture of the language |
| C．we should only master the grammar and vocabulary |
| D．we should learn about the transport system of the country |
Can you imagine being savagely attacked by a dog? What if the attack was so severe that your nose, lips and chin were completely destroyed? How would you feel about yourself? Would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror? And how do you think other people would treat you?
Isabelle Dinoire is someone who can answer all of these questions honestly and openly.
Last November Isabelle was attacked and mauled by her own dog. The attack was so severe that her lower face was damaged; it seemed, almost beyond repair. She was rushed to hospital and became the first person ever to have a face transplant.
With such severe injuries doctors offered Isabelle little hope that they would be able to repair the damage to her face using conventional surgery.
Shortly after being admitted, she came to the attention of Dr Bernard Devauchelle who, unlike other surgeons, believed there was an alternative: "We found ourselves saying, yes, it's clear this woman needs a transplant," he said.
Two days after the operation she saw her face in the mirror for the first time. She said "I was scared to look at myself, but when I did it was already marvelous and I couldn't believe it. I thought it would be blue and swollen but it was already beautiful."
Now, less than a year after her 15 hour operation, she’s trying to rebuild her life and there is no doubt how she feels about her new face: "I have been saved. Lots of people write saying that I need to go on, that it's wonderful. It's a miracle somehow."
Although there were ethical questions raised about their decision to carry out the procedure, the doctors who operated on Isabelle are quick to defend their decision.
One of them said "Was it possible for her to live without a face? It's easy to say we shouldn't have done the operation, but her life has changed, she goes shopping, goes on holiday, she lives again." What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．The first face transplant | B．A successful face operation |
| C．The most severe damaged face | D．The breakthrough of surgery |
The writer uses the five questions at the beginning of the passage to ___________________.
| A．tell the story about Isabelle Dinoire | B．show a severe face damage event |
| C．draw the readers’ attention to the topic | D．invite the readers to answer them |
It can be concluded from Isabelle Dinoire’s remarks that___________________.
| A．she was too shocked to see herself in the mirror |
| B．she was satisfied with the result of the operation |
| C．she thought her damaged face couldn’t be repaired |
| D．she looked more beautiful than before |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．It seemed that it was impossible to recover Isabelle’s face using face transplant |
| B．After operation Isabelle thought she looked beautiful and rebuilt her life again |
| C．Some doctors had no better idea to repair the damage to Isabelle’s face |
| D．It was Dr Bernard Devauchelle who came up with the idea of face transplant |
Like a scene out of a reality show or a Disney movie, Southgate, Mich., teenager Ashley Qualls' moment has arrived.
She may not have an MBA, a high-school diploma, or even a driver’s license yet, but Asheley Qualls already has an influential website (www. Whateverlife.Com). The 17-year-old girl hass been building her online business for two years.
In December 2004, Qualls borrowed $8 from her mother to buy the Whateverlife.com. domain name (域名). She intended to use the website as a way to share her design for My Space pages woth her friends.
But in the incontrollable, fast-moving world of cyberspace, others began noticing Qualls’ site even though she never has spent a penny on advertising.
When it comes to web traffic, Whateverlife.com .currently ranks No. 825 out of 20.3 million websites, drawing 2.4 million visitors worldwide during the last 30 days. Qualls said that on average, 72% of her site's audience made a return visit.
Whateverlife.com earned a million dollars in revenue last year and is on track to do the same this year.
"I'm stubborn and I'm independent," she said from her office in the basement of her house. "I like the feeling that it's my company, and I want to have the say-so （主张）in everything."
But don’t mistake Qualls for another smart but spoiled teenager. She is growing up fast but owns talent for life and business that elude many girls of her age.
The task of running a million-dollar company isn’t without its sacrifices( 牺牲) and challenges for a teenager. Qualls dropped out of Lincoln Park High School after her sophomore year to work fulltime on Whateverlife.com, a decision that she said shocked her family, friends and teachers . She now is studying to get her degree in graphic design.Many people noticed Qualls’ site because_____________________.
| A．it was set up by a 17-year-old girl |
| B．Qualls shares her design with her friends |
| C．Qualls has been building her online business |
| D．the world cyberspace develops fast and uncontrollable |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?
| A．Qualls’ Website Whateverlife .com. No. 825 in 20.3 million websites. |
| B．About 2.4 million visitors worldwide visit her website every month. |
| C．Most of her audience have visited her website at least twice. |
| D．Qualls has the right to decide everything in her company. |
The underlined word “elude” in the 8th paragraph means_______________.
| A．avoid | B．embarrass | C．exceed | D．encourage |
BEIJING, Jan. 11(Xinhuanet)-- Sleeping a little bit longer a day might help fight against obesity（肥胖）, a recent study shows. The research-- published in the Archives of Internal Medicine along with an editorial by Turek and Northwestern colleague Joseph Bass commenting on it and related research-- after comparing people of normal weight- a body mass index of less than 25- with those who were overweight or obese , found that sleeping for an extra 20 minutes each night could offer a pain-free way to lose weight.
Insufficient sleep is linked with changes in hormone levels that may stimulate（刺激）appetite. A series of studies in recent months have shown that the less people sleep, the heavier they tend to be.
American researcher Robert Vorona from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk and colleagues have now examined the relationship between people's self-reported sleep time per 24 hours and their body mass index(BMI). They found that total sleep time and BMI were inversely correlated was total sleep time decreased, BMI increased, except in the severely obese group." Americans experience insufficient sleep and corpulent bodies. Clinicians are aware of the burden of obesity on patients," the study said. "Our findings suggest that major extensions of sleep time may not be necessary, as an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night seems to be associated with a lower body mass index," it added. "We warn that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between restricted sleep and obesity (but) investigations demonstrating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to establish such a relationship."
In November 2004, researchers from Columbia University in New York City, New York demonstrated a clear link between the risk of being obese and hours of nightly sleep, finding that people aged 32 to 59 who slept four hours or less per night were 73% more likely to be obese than people who slept between seven and nine hours per night.The research, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that____________.
sleeping for a shorter time a day might help fight agianst obesity
an extra 20 minutes’ sleep each night could offer a way to lose weight wothout pain
total sleep time and body mass index were inversely related
people aged 32 to 59 who slept four hours or less per night were 73% more likely to be obese than people who slept between seven and nine hours per nightHow many research results are presented in the text?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
What does the underlined word “obses” probably mean?
| A．thin | B．fat | C．energetic | D．painful |
According to the text , the author intends to tell us that _____________________.
| A．Sleeping a little bit longer a day might help fight against obesity |
| B．insufficient sleep is linked with changes in hormone lives |
| C．there exists a clear link between the risk of being obeses and hours of nightly sleep |
| D．the less people sleep , the heavier they tend to be |
A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone. By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight, with passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue.” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使……缓解)the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies, About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have restrictions on passengers, California is the strictest, with a novice(新手)driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20(without the presence of an adult over 25)for the first six months. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
| A．Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m. |
| B．A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car. |
| C．Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night. |
| D．A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight. |
According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to ________
| A．their frequent driving at night |
| B．their improper way of driving |
| C．their lack of driving experience |
| D．their driving with passengers |
According to Paragraph 3. which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive. |
| B．Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn. |
| C．Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons. |
| D．The licensing authorities are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents. |
A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that ________ .
| A．driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule |
| B．they should be prohibited from taking on passengers |
| C．they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m. |
| D．the licensing system should be improved |
Dear Editor,
Brockingham is run by people who are more interested in tourists than its residents. The problem is that the people running the government refuse to accept new ideas. By banning(禁止) all fast-food restaurants and discount stores, they take away all the places kids can afford to shop.
These people forget that when they were young, they could go to the South Street Soda Fountain and get an ice-cream soda for 25 cents. Today you can’t find an ice-cream soda anywhere in Brockingham for less than $2! Where can kids go for a snack?
There is not a single restaurant in Brockingham where a family of four can eat dinner for less than $100. Add a 15% tip and sales tax and you have spent nearly $125 to eat a meal you could prepare at home for about $12. Have you noticed that Brockingham families never dine in Brockingham?
Fast-food restaurants are also a good place for school kids to get an after-school job. Fast-food restaurants are busiest during the early supper hours when students are able to work, whereas the fancy food restaurants cater to late-night diners. Working in one of these establishments requires working shifts that are too late for most students.
The City Council claims that local merchants, rather than national chains, should benefit from the tourist business. I agree that it is important to support local businesses, but I think the fast-food restaurants would encourage more people to shop in Brockingham.
Another thing that disturbs me is that we must travel 25 miles to the nearest discount store. If I need a tire for my bike, I have a choice of buying one at Surf and Peddle Sport Shop for $15 or driving to Parkersburg Discount Center where I can buy the same kind of tire for $9. Again, I think the ban on all food chains and discount houses is counterproductive for our city.
Wes Woodrow
9th-Grade Student at Brockingham High SchoolWhy does Wes Woodrow write this letter to the editor?
Because the government bans all fast-food restaurants and discount stores in Brockingham.
Because the writer can’t find an ice-cream soda anywhere in Brockingham for less than $2.
Because a family of four can’t find a restaurant in Brockingham to eat dinner for less than $100.
Because the writer has to travel 25 miles to the nearest discount store. From the letter we can infer that _____.
the writer used to buy a lot of ice-cream soda
the students refuse to work in fancy food restaurants
the government’s ban benefits local merchants much
discount stores usually offer a discount of 40% The underlined word “counterproductive” in paragraph 6 of the letter probably means _____.
| A．cheap, not expensive | B．surprising, not expected |
| C．harmful, not helpful | D．doubtful, not sure |
One way the writer of this letter tries to convince the reader is by _____.
complaining that someone has to drive him to Parkersburg
getting an after-school job in fast-food restaurant himself
suggesting that many businessmen have the same opinion
giving specific examples of the high costs in Brockingham