I am a writer.I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke(唤起)an emotion，a visual image，a complex idea，or a simple truth.Language_is_the_tool_of_my_trade.And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California，I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks.Like others，I have described it to people as “broken” English.But I feel embarrassed to say that.It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than“broken”，as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed，as if it lacked a certain wholeness.I've heard other terms used，“limited English”， for example.But they seem just as bad，as if everything is limited，including people's perceptions(认识)of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact，because when I was growing up, my mother's “limited” English limited my perception of her.I was ashamed of her English.I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.That is，because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me：the fact that people in department stores，at banks，and at restaurants did not take her seriously，did not give her good service，pretended not to understand her，or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985.And for reasons I won't get into today，I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with：the English she used with me，which for lack of a better term might be described as“broken”：and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese，her internal(内在的)language，and for that I sought to preserve the essence，but neither an English nor a Chinese structure.I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show：her intention，her feelings，the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.By saying“Language is the tool of my trade”，the author means that ________.
| A．she uses English in foreign trade |
| B．she is fascinated by languages |
| C．she works as a translator |
| D．she is a writer by profession |
The author used to think of her mother's English as ________.
| A．impolite | B．amusing | C．imperfect | D．practical |
The author gradually realizes her mother's English is ________.
| A．well structured | B．in the old style |
| C．easy to translate | D．rich in meaning |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The change of the author's attitude to her mother's English. |
| B．The limitation of the author's perception of her mother. |
| C．The author's misunderstanding of “limited” English. |
| D．The author's experiences of using broken English. |
Winter is a very special time in Northern Norway. Winter also means skiing, and Narvik can offer some of the best skiing in Norway. The view and light change frequently and no two days are the same. For many people, the northern lights are an unforgettable sight, and in Narvik the sky is especially clear and great for watching at night.
The tourist season lasts from February to April, although May can be fascinating too, often with fantastic dry snow and an unbelievable light lasting well into the evening.
Ski hire
It is possible for adults and children to hire skiing equipment such as snowboards. All equipment is prepared for us. If you would like to book your equipment, please email Narvikfjellet.
Cross-country skiing
There are 12 kilometers of cross country ski run in Narvik. You need to bring your own skis as there is no cross-country hire. However, equipment can be bought at local sports shops in and around Narvik.
Off-piste skiing（非场地滑雪）
In order to explore Narvik’s off-piste opportunities you need to know the dangers when choosing routes. It is suggested that you bring necessary equipment such as a shovel（雪铲）and a GPS locator. Ask Narvikfjellet for an experienced guide. With a guide you can explore Narvik’s special off-piste areas in a safe manner.
Sometimes it is nice to do something different and not everybody enjoys skiing. Then you can go horse-riding, or visit the local museums.
Price examples for the 2012--2013 season
| Time |
Children(8-15years) |
Adults |
| 1 day |
NOK 230 |
NOK 325 |
| 3 days |
NOK 590 |
NOK 835 |
| 5 days |
NOK 815 |
NOK 1,170 |
| 7 days |
NOK 970 |
NOK 1,375 |
| Children 0-7 years can enjoy the service for free |
In Northern Norway, the tourist season may last ______.
| A．one month | B．two months |
| C．three months | D．four months |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．You can book skiing equipment through the Internet. |
| B．You are provided with skiing equipment for free. |
| C．Narvik is located in the south of Norway. |
| D．Narvik is open to adults and children over eight. |
If Mr. and Mrs. Smith stay in Narvik with their six-year-old daughter for three days in 2012,they should pay ______.
| A．NOK 1,160 | B．NOK 1,425 |
| C．NOK 1,670 | D．NOK 2,260 |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need.
We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place. The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard. Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place.
Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example. But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us.
We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary material are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of super markets |
| D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text, recycling ______.
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
| C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
| D．Other products are better packaged than food. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| B．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable waste. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
We know that sugary sodas aren’t good for our bodies. Now it turns out that they may not be good for our minds, either. A new study of more than 260,000 people has found a link between sweetened soft-drinks and depression, and diet sodas may be making matters worse.
Americans drink far more sodas than people in other countries— as much as 170 liters per person per year. But the impact of this study isn’t limited to the United States. “Sweetened drinks, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical consequences. And they may have important mental-health consequences as well,” study author Dr Honglei Chen said in a statement.
The study studied 263,925 people between the ages of 50 and 71. Researchers followed their consumption of drinks like soda, tea coffee, and other soft drinks from 1995 to 1996 and then. 10 years later, asked them if they had been diagnosed with depression since the year 2000. More than 11,3000 of them had.
Participants who drank more than four servings of sodas per day were 30 percent more likely to develop depression than participants who did not drink sodas at all. People who stuck with fruit punch(鸡尾酒), had a 38 percent higher risk than people who didn’t drink sweetened drinks. And all that extra sugar isn’t the actual problem. Researchers say that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be to blame.
The study found a link but could not surely determine whether sodas and other sweet soft drinks cause depression. Still, the results “are consistent with a small but growing body of evidence suggesting that artificially sweetened beverages may be linked to poor health outcomes.”
But there’s a bright side for those who can’t live without their daily sodas. Adults who drank coffee had a 10 percent lower risk of depression compared to people who didn’t drink any coffee, according to the study. “Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk,” said Chen.What has the new study of more than 260,000 people found?
| A．Sugary sodas aren’t good for the physical health of old people. |
| B．Americans have a special tooth for sweet foods. |
| C．Sweetened soft-drinks may increase the risk of depression. |
| D．Sweetened soft-drinks have important physical consequences. |
What do we know about the process of the study?
| A．About twenty-six thousand people participated in it. |
| B．The oldest participants were below 80 when the study was over. |
| C．Most of the participants had depression when the study was over. |
| D．The study lasted more than ten years from the beginning to the end. |
It is implied in the passage that ______.
| A．more research is needed to confirm the new findings |
| B．the new findings aren’t consistent with any previous findings |
| C．cutting one’s sodas intake will surely reduce one’s depression |
| D．the new findings won’t have an impact on people’s drinking habits |
What should you drink in order to reduce the risk of depression?
| A．Sodas. | B．Unsweetened coffee. |
| C．Sugary coffee. | D．Fruit punch. |
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's tummy.
The pregnancy progresses normally for Karen. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital.
The little girl gets worse. The doctor tells the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby — now they plan a funeral.
Michael, keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. However, Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not.“If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive.” She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into ICU. The head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now! " The mother, the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”
Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm and steady.
"You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away "
The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr.
Keep on singing, Michael. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse as well as Karen.
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next, day — the very next day — the little girl is well enough to go home!
NEVER GIVE UP THE ONE WE LOVE!How did Michal’s feel when he knew that he was going to have a sister?
| A．indifferent. | B．worried. |
| C．expectant. | D．disappointed. |
The doctor recommended the family ___________.
| A．get ready for the worst result. |
| B．wait for the hope in the near future. |
| C．prepare much more money for the infant. |
| D．prepare for another chance in other hospitals. |
Which word can best replace the underlined word in Paragraph 4?
| A．pointed. | B．yelled. |
| C．whispered. | D．ignored. |
What happened when Michael sang to his little sister?
| A．The little baby responded to his song and woke up immediately. |
| B．The baby heard the song and burst into tears. |
| C．The baby’s physical signs disappeared eventually. |
| D．The baby recovered from the dangerous state of coma gradually. |
How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question，as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.
There are now more than a thousand genetic(基因的)tests，for everything from baldness to breast cancer，and the list is growing．Question is do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance，Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson，one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’(老年痴呆症)．
“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease，that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious，through which you see the rest of your 1ife as you wait for that disease to hit you．It could really mess you up．”Said Dr．Robert Green，a Harvard geneticist.
“Every ache and pain，”Smith suggested，could be understood as“the beginning of the e nd．”“That’s right．If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer's disease，then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot，you think the disease has started．”
Dr．Green has been thinking about this issue for years．He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s．It was thought that people who got bad news would，for lack of a better medical term，freak out．But Green and his team found that there was “no significant difference”between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives．In fact，most people think they can handle it．People who ask for the information usually can handle the information，good or bad，said Green．The first paragraph is meant to _________________．
| A．ask some questions | B．introduce the topic |
| C．satisfy readers，curiosity | D．describe an academic fact |
Which of the following is true of James Watson?
| A．He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests. |
| B．He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease． |
| C．He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease. |
| D．He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease． |
According to Paragraphs 3 and 4，if a person is at a higher genetic risk，it is ____________.
| A．advisable not to let him know |
| B．impossible to hide his disease |
| C．better to inform him immediately |
| D．necessary to remove his anxiety |
The underlined part“freak out”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _____________.
| A．break down | B．drop out |
| C．leave off | D．turn away |
The study led by Dr．Green indicates that people ________________.
| A．prefer to hear good news |
| B．tend to find out the truth |
| C．can accept some bad news |
| D．have the right to be informed |