Father’s Garden
My father was always a good(酷爱的) gardener. One of my earliest memories is standing without shoes in the freshly tilled(翻耕的) soil, my hands blackened from digging in the ground.
As a child, I loved following Dad around in the garden. I remember Dad pushing the tiller(耕作机) ahead in perfectly straight lines. Dad loved growing all sorts of things: yellow and green onions, watermelons almost as big as me, rows of yellow corn, and our favorite--- red tomatoes.
As I grew into a teenager, I didn’t get so excited about gardening with Dad. Instead of magical land of possibility, it had turned into some kind of prison. As Dad grew older, his love for gardening never disappeared. After all the kids were grown and had started families of their own, Dad turned to gardening like never before. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he still took care of his garden.
But then, the cancer, bit by bit, invaded his body. I had to do the things he used to do. What really convinced me that Dad was dying was the state of his garden that year. The rows and rows of multicolored vegetables were gone. Too tired to weed them, he simply let them be. He only planted tomatoes.
For the first few years after he died, I couldn’t even bear to look at anyone’s garden without having strong memories pour over me like cold water from a bucket. Three years ago, I decided to plant my own garden and started out with just a few tomatoes. That morning, after breaking up a fair amount of soil, something caught the corner of my eye and I had to smile. It was my eight-year-old son Nathan, happily playing in the freshly tilled soil.Why did the author like the garden when he was a child?
| A．He wanted to be a garden-crazy like his father. |
| B．He loved being in the garden with his father. |
| C．The garden was full of his favorite food. |
| D．The garden was just freshly tilled. |
When all the kids started their own families, the author’s father _____.
| A．stopped his gardening. |
| B．turned to other hobbies. |
| C．devoted more to gardening. |
| D．focused on planting tomatoes. |
What happened to the garden when the author’s father was seriously ill?
| A．There was a great harvest. |
| B．The garden was almost deserted. |
| C．No plant grew in the garden at all. |
| D．The author’s son took charge of the garden. |
Why did the author start his garden with tomatoes?
| A．He wanted to honor his father. |
| B．His son liked the fields of tomatoes. |
| C．He only knew how to grow tomatoes. |
| D．He thought tomatoes were easy to manage. |
It’s 2009. You feel sick, so you go to the doctor. She checks your fever, looks at your throat, and asks what you’ve been thinking about lately. When you leave，she gives you some medicine, but also a list of thinking skills that you are supposed to practice daily. She says that the way you think is causing some of your illness.
Doctors and other scientists who study the human mind and try to explain why people behave in the way that do, called psychologists, are starting to believe it. You know that your brain is connected to every part of your body through your nervous system(神经系统). Now scientists have proved that how you think and feel can have an influence on the health of your body.
Stress(压力，紧张) is caused whenever there is a problem or a change in your life. Of course, everybody has stress more or less; nobody’s life is perfect. In fact, stress is necessary. Without stress, we would never learn anything or grow or change. We would probably be bored to death. But too much stress can hurt you. It can weaken your body’s protection so that you are more likely to catch diseases. It can even make you more likely to have an accident.
When you feel stress, your brain sends a message to your body to produce a chemical called adrenaline(肾上腺素). Adrenaline speeds up your breathing and your heartbeat. Today you have a different kind of stress. Problems like endless homework or troubles with your family are the kind of things you can’t fight or run away from, so you don’t use up all that adrenaline. It just stays bottled up inside you, and that’s what can do something bad to you.
What can you do about stress? First, you can try to find ways to change things so you aren’t under so much stress. You can set up a plan to finish homework or go to a doctor or a psychologist to try to work things out with your family or your friends. But sometimes you can’t change a stressful situation. Sometimes you don’t even want to. A big change might be a good change, but it will still be stressful.
The link(关联) between your body and brain works in two ways. Your body can help your mind deal with stress. If you are under stress, you need to take especially good care of your body. It’s important to get enough sleep and eat nutritious meals. Some people take a vitamin-mineral pill every day. Another thing that you can do is daily exercise. If you go walking or do aerobic(需氧的) dancing or work out at the gym, you give your body a chance to burn up some of that adrenaline. Of course, a person who isn’t used to much physical activity should start slowly. Anyone with a continuing physical problem should check with a doctor before staring any exercise programs.
1. A psychologist is a person who may help you with your ______.
A. illness and abilities B. thoughts and behaviour
C. mind and nervous system D. physical activity and daily exercise
2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. You shouldn’t go to the gym if you are under stress.
B. One can do his homework to burn up adrenaline.
C. Diseases and accidents are caused by stress.
D. Everyone needs stress to improve himself.
3. From the last sentence of Paragraph 5 we can infer that ________.
A. it’s difficult to change a stressful situation
B. it’s not stressful when a good change takes place
C. a big change will cause another stressful situation
D. a stressful situation can’t be changed without any effort
4. What is probably the best title for this passage?
A. The body-Brain Link B. The Causes of Stress
C. The Advice on Health D. The Nervous System
A famous study was done in a school by a professor from a university．At the start of the school year，the teachers were given the names of five children．They were told that these five were the most excellent students in the class．But the fact was that these students were only average，and they were not the best students at all．Well，guess what? At the end of the year，all the five average students scored among the highest in the class．
What made these average students change so much to become top students? The only difference was the change in their teachers’ attitude．Because the teachers believed that these five kids were the top students，they expected more from them．And so these five average students began to believe and expect more from themselves．So they worked harder to do as well as they could．
Do you know? If you expect the best from people，they’ll usually want to give you their best．A great leader said，“Treat a person just how he appears to be on the outside，and you’ll make him even worse．But treat a person like he’s already a success，and you’ll help make him the best he can be．”
Like the true story of 7-year-old Johnny，his teacher got so angry with him that one day she said，“Johnny，you’re the naughtiest(最顽皮的) boy in this class．I’m sure you’ll never change．”The next year Johnny had a new teacher．And on the first day of class，she met with Johnny after school and said，“Johnny，I’ve heard a lot about you! But do you know that I don’t believe a word of it．”And every day after that，this new teacher treated Johnny as if he was one of the smartest students even when Johnny did naughty things．Later on，Johnny became a school leader．Because that’s the power of our belief and attitude toward children．
1．The professor started his research by ________．
A．telling the five students to work harder than ever before
B．teaching the five children himself
C．telling the teacher the five students were the best in the class
D．asking the five children to find a new teacher
2．The five average students became top students mainly because of ________．
A．the professor’s study B．the change in the professor’s attitude
C．the teachers’ hard work D．the change in the teachers’ attitude
3．Why did the writer tell us the story of 7-year-old Johnny?
A．To show the importance of encouragement．
B．To show that the boy was clever enough．
C．To let us know the famous boy．
D．To let us know how good his new teacher was．
4．According to the story，we can learn that ________．
A．the research began at the end of the school year
B．the students scored highest only because they worked hard
C．if you expect the most from people，you’ll get the least
D．little Johnny liked his new teacher very much
5．What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．If you want to get more，you should have new teachers．
B．Attitude and belief can change a person．
C．A professor’s study can help you score highest．
D．Only teachers can make you a top student．
Alex knew colors and shapes．He learned about 150 English words．With his language ability he made himself known as perhaps the world’s most famous talking bird．
But Alex，a parrot，died two weeks ago when he was 31．Irene，a psychologist(心理学家) at Harvard University，studied and worked with the parrot for nearly 30 years．
In 1977，Irene，then an excellent student in chemistry at Harvard，bought Alex from a pet store．At that time，scientists were not quite sure whether birds could learn to communicate with humans．
But using the methods of teaching．Irene helped Alex to learn about 150 words，and to count small numbers，as well as colors and shapes．
In experiments，Irene would give Alex a small reward，like a grape．Alex learned to ask for the grape by watching what the trainer was doing to get it．The researchers then worked with the bird to help him with pronunciation．
Alex showed a surprising ability to learn．For example，when he was shown a blue paper circle．he could tell what color the paper was．what shape it was，and after touching it，what it was made of．
Like other parrots，he also picked up some words when staying in the lab，like“calm down”and“good morning”．He could also show his happiness and sadness．
Even before the week he died，Alex was working with Irene on difficult words．As she put him into his cage for the night that Thursday，Irene said that Alex looked at her and said，“You be good．See you tomorrow．I love you．”
He was found dead in his cage the next morning．
1．Alex is the name of ________．
A．an excellent student B．a clever bird
C．a trainer D．a psychologist
2．How did Irene get the parrot?
A．A friend gave it to her． B．She caught it in a forest．
C．She bought it from the market． D．The passage doesn’t mention it．
3．The underlined words“picked up”in the seventh paragraph mean ________．
A．捡到 B．挑选 C．举起 D．学到
4．The passage is probably taken from a ________．
A．history textbook B. novel C．newspaper D. dictionary
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，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。
1. If you’re interested in music, you can read “_______”.
A. National spots B. Sad movies
C. The planetsD. Weather service
2. You can learn something abut weather in _______.
A. Unit 1B. Unit 2 C. Unit 3D. Unit 4
3. Words about ______ are in Unit 5.
A. music stars B. weather conditions
C. sports toolsD. space news
The literal meaning of philosophy is “love of wisdom”．But this meaning does not tell us very much．Unlike the other disciplines, philosophy cannot be defined by what you study, because it si actually unlimited．Anything can be the subject matter of philosophy: are, history, law, language, literature, mathematics, and in fact, the other academic disciplines are directly related to philosophy．For this reason you get a Doctorate（博士学位）of Philosophy （Ph．D．） in biochemistry, or computer science, or psychology．
Two broad sub-fields of philosophy are logic and the history of philosophy．Logic is the science of argument and critical thinking．It provides sound methods for distinguishing good from bad reasonign．The history of philosophy involves the study of major philosophers and periods in the development of philosophy．
Of what use is philosophy? First it is useful in educational advancement．It is necessary for understanding other disciplines．Only philosophy questions the nature of the concepts used in a discipline, and its relation to other disciplines．And through the study of philosophy, one develops sound methods of research and analysis that can be applied to any field．
There are a number of general uses of philosophy．It strengthens one’s ability to solve problems, to communicate, to organize ideas and issues, to persuade, and to take what is the most important from a large quantity of data．These general uses are of great benefit in the career field, not necessarily for obtaining one’s first job after graduation, but for preparing for positions of responsibility, management and leadership later on．It is very short-sighted after all, to take a course of studies only for the purpose of getting one’s first job．The useful skills developed through the study of philosophy have significant long-term benefits in career advancement．No other discipline systematically follows the ideals of wisdom, leadership, and capacity to resolve human conflict．
41．According to paragraph 1, philosophy can best be described as the study of ．
A．social sciences B．natural sciences
C．both social and natural sciences D．the subject matter of politics
42．What does “discipline” mean in the first paragraph?
A．subject B．science C．literature D．occupation
43．With the study of philosophy, you can ．
A．become a great leader
B．succeed in everything
C．find a good job soon after graduation
D．make progress in your career development
44．According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Philosophy is an independent discipline．
B．Logic helps you to become a better thinker．
C．The study of philosophy brings you immediate benefits．
D．The meaning of philosophy is too limited to define．
45．From the passage, we can conclude ．
A．not all the subjects have to do with philosophy
B．a person will get a Ph． D．if he/she studies philosophy
C．philosophy can be helpful for the study of any other subjects
D．philosophy is the only solution to all the problems in the world