Somali pirates(海盗) robbed three Thai fishing ships with 77 sailors on board nearly l，200 Miles off the Somali coast，the farthest-off-shore attack to date，an officer said Tuesday.
Pirates have gone farther south and east in answer to increased patrols(巡逻)by warships off the Somali shore. The robbing of the three ships Sunday was about 600 miles outside the normal operation area for the international force，said a spokesman．
The spokesman said the attack so far out at sea was a clear sign that the international patrols against pirates were having a “marked effect on pirate activity in the area”.
“Once they start attacking that far out，you’re not even really talking about the Somali basin or areas of water that have any connection with Somalia,” said an officer，Roger Middleton. “Once you’re that far out，it's just the Indian Ocean，and it means you’re looking at trade going from the Gulf to Asia，from Asia to South Africa.”
"This is the farthest robbing to date. They are now operating near the Maldives and India,” said another officer.
The three ships--the MV Prantalay 11，12，and l 4—had 77 members on board in total．All of them are Thai, the spokesman said. Before the Sunday robbing，pirates held l l ships and 228 sailors.
Pirates have increased attacks over the past year in hopes。f catching more dollar payments. Because of increased patrols and defenses on board ships，the success rate(率)has gone down，though the number of successful attacks has stayed the same year over year. The pirate attack reported in the text happened .
| A．far out in the Indian Ocean |
| B．in the normal patrol area |
| C．near the Somali, coast |
| D．in the south of Africa |
According to the text, which can best describe the situation of the pirate problems?
| A．More goods on board are lost. |
| B．Pirate attacks happen in a larger area now. |
| C．The number of attacks has stayed the same these years. |
| D．Pirate attacks are as serious as before along the Somali coast. |
Which is true about the warship patrols according to the text?
| A．The patrols are of little effect. |
| B．The patrols are more difficult. |
| C．More patrols are quite necessary even in Asia. |
| D．The patrols only drive the pirates to other areas. |
. How many sailors were held by the pirates up to the time of the report?
| A．228. | B．77. | C．383. | D．305. |
It’s puzzling, isn’t it? No matter where you try to tickle（使人发痒）yourself, even on the soles（脚底） of your feet or under your arms, you just can’t.
To understand why, you need to know more about how your brain works. One of its main tasks is to try to make good guesses about what’s going to happen next. While you’re busy getting on with your life, walking downstairs or eating your breakfast, parts of your brain are always trying to predict the future.
Remember when you first learned how to ride a bicycle? At first, it took a lot of concentration to keep the handlebars steady and push the pedals（踏板）. But after a while, cycling became easy. Now you’re not aware of the movements you make to keep the bike going. From experience, your brain knows exactly what to expect so your body rides the bike automatically. Your brain is predicting all the movements you need to make.
You only have to think consciously about cycling if something changes---like if there’s a strong wind or you get a flat tyre. When something unexpected happens like this, your brain is forced to change its predictions about what will happen next. If it does its job well, you’ll adjust to the strong wind, leaning your body so you don’t fall.
Why is it so important for our brains to predict what will happen next? It helps us make fewer mistakes and can even save our lives. For example, when a chief fireman sees a fire, he immediately makes decisions about how best to position his men. His past experiences help him foresee what might happen and choose the best plan for fighting the fire. His brain can instantly predict how different plans would work out, and he can rule out any bad or dangerous plans without putting his men at risk in real life.
So how does all this answer your question about tickling? Because your brain is always predicting your own actions, and how your body will feel as a result, you cannot tickle yourself. Other people can tickle you because they can surprise you. You can’t predict what their tickling actions will be.What is the best title for this passage?
| A．How Does the Brain work? |
| B．Why Can’t I Tickle Myself? |
| C．The importance of Prediction |
| D．The Importance of Our Brains |
Our brains cannot predict what will happen when we______.
| A．walk down the stairs |
| B．eat our breakfast |
| C．suddenly lose our balance and fall |
| D．ride a bike |
The phrase “rule out” in Paragraph 4 means______.
| A．decide that something is not suitable | B．think about |
| C．act according to the rules | D．expect |
The passage is probably taken from______.
| A．a scientific report for experts |
| B．a textbook for medical students |
| C．a book for children |
| D．a research paper for doctors |
When you are invited to attend a party in the West, the first important thing you need to know is that you should arrive late.
It is a great embarrassment to arrive at a party early or even on time. Therefore, unless you are the host of the party, you never want to be the first person present at a party. Why? Because others may think that you have no life or nothing better to do than wait for a party to start. Many people try to project（展现）an image（形象）of always being busy, which, whether true or not, has something to do with success. So, by arriving late, you are implying: “I live a full life and it's really exciting.”
Therefore, an 8 o'clock party usually doesn't really start until maybe 9 o'clock, as everyone wants to be thought of as a busy and important person with lots of things to do. In other words, a party is one of those rare occasions（极少数场合）in which your punctuality can actually hurt you. It's quite a strange thing, isn't it? Anyhow, remember to be late!The passage is most likely to have been taken from a book about______.
| A．life in the West | B．health and medicine |
| C．politics in the West | D．behavioral science |
What is the reason that people want to be late for parties?
| A．They are not the host of the party. |
| B．They are too busy to arrive on time. |
| C．They want others to think they are busy. |
| D．They don’t want to wait for a party to start. |
What does the word "punctuality" in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Being polite | B．Being late |
| C．Being smart | D．Being on time |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．Sometimes people pretend to be what they want to be. |
| B．Lateness is not a problem when you are attending a meeting. |
| C．You need to be late on every occasion. |
| D．Going to a party can be a waste of time. |
Absence
If a student is absent, parents are asked to contact the school and report that absence. Simply ring the school and you will be directed to the absence phone system. You should then give the name of the student and their tutor teacher.
Attendance
School hours are 08:35 to 15:00. If a student is late, they must sign in at the Student Office.
School times are as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
08:35 - 09:35 Period 1
09:35 - 10:35 Period 2
10:35 - 10:50 Tutor Time
10:50 - 11:10 Interval
11:10 - 12:05 Period 3
12:05 - 13:00 Period 4
13:00 - 13.45 Lunch
13:45 - 14:05 School-wide reading
14:05 - 15:00 Period 5
Wednesday Only
09:00 - 09:55 Period 1
09:55 - 10:50 Period 2
Rest of the times are the same as for the other days.
Cellphones
The current cell phone policy is that, although permitted at school, they must not be used or turned on during class time.If a student is absent, ______ should call the school and report the absence.
the student’s parentsB. the student himself
C. the student’s tutor D. the student’s teacherThe school doesn’t have Tutor Time ______.
| A．on Monday and Friday | B．on Tuesday |
| C．on Thursday | D．on Wednesday |
Students can use their cell phones at ______ every day.
| A．09:00 | B．10:00 |
| C．11:00 | D．12:00 |
Which of the following is true?
| A．When you report an absence, you speak directly to the Student Office. |
| B．You are not late if you go to your classroom at 8 o’clock on Thursday. |
| C．You must ring the school if you are late. |
| D．Wednesday afternoon is free. |
Old-Fashioned Play-For Pay
Kids! Come to have a ball! Or 60,000 of them! There’s a new type of business franchise（特许经销权）that is appearing in shopping malls and neighborhood across America offering pay-per-use indoor playgrounds, which feature toys, games, guided fun and a workout that doesn’t break the family bank.
As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and dirty, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe guided activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop kids’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around $ 5 an hour. “Playgrounds are dirty, not guided,” says Dick Guggenheimer, owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N. Y., part of Kansas City-based chain, “We are indoors; we are padded; parents can feel their child is safe”.
In order to satisfy the need of two-earner families, the new franchise stays open in the evenings, long after traditional public playgrounds have grown dark and unusable. However, these new playgrounds are not meant to be day-care centers. Parents are expected to go stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special guided programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner. If there is a problem, Mom and Dad are called.
The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-earner families and two-hour commutes（两小时上下班往返）, play with their kids. That, at least, is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates.What is this article mainly talking about?
| A．Children can play without parent’s care. |
| B．The fast development of Discovery Zone. |
| C．A new type of business franchise of kids. |
| D．The disadvantages of outdoor playgrounds. |
According to the article, which of the following is TRUE to the new playground?
| A．The cost is high for a family. |
| B．It doesn't allow parents to leave their kids. |
| C．It stays open in the evening just as traditional playgrounds. |
| D．It's a place where parents can play together with their kids. |
What does the writer mean by saying "old-fashioned"?
| A．The so-called new playground is out of date. |
| B．The new playground is actually enjoyed by parents. |
| C．The new playground is also enjoyed by old people. |
| D．The new playground offers a fashion which is popular in the past. |
The writer’s attitude toward the new playground is_______________.
| A．agreeable | B．negative |
| C．doubtful | D．unknown |
Life is difficult.
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it. Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working our problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.The writer uses just one short sentence in the first paragraph probably to _________.
| A．make a suggestion | B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh | D．get readers’ attention |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to __________ .
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．make them suffer |
| C．make their life easier |
| D．help them understand life is difficult |
“Those things that hurt, instruct.” from Benjamin Franklin suggests that ________ .
| A．we do not learn from experience |
| B．we do not learn when we are in pain |
| C．pain teaches us important lessons |
| D．pain cannot be forgotten |
From the passage, it can be inferred that __________.
| A．not everybody has the same problems |
| B．we become stronger by facing and solving the problems in life |
| C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
| D．people like to complain about their problems |