Watson entered Mr. Smith's office. The boss was a hard man. He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance.
"Watson," said Mr. Smith, "this past year your department hasn't earned money. We're going to drop that department. It's finished. I’m sorry, —but you'll have to go." "But, sir — if I just had a little more time. For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School."
"What's that!" said the boss. "Riverside! I didn't know you had a boy there. That's an expensive school for a man with your salary."
"I know, sir. But he likes it there so much! He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school. The boys call him Champ there."
The boss sat perfectly still for a long time — a faraway (恍惚的) look in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he said, "We've got to close your department, Watson. But you'll take over a new job in another department. It means longer hours—maybe more pay. Now get out. You're here for life."
Watson got out, with surprise on his face. Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk. It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School —written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain. The letter read:
I can’t say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were. I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple (跛脚的人). But don't worry about me, Dad. They've got a good chemistry department here. And there’s one boy here who is really great. He's a track star and boxing champ (冠军) and just tops in chemistry. The boys call him Champ. He made them stop throwing my books around. And he knocked a boy down who hit me. He is the best friend I ever had. Dad, when I grow up, 1 want to do something for Champ. Something big — that he won’ t even know about.
Your son,
HerbieMr. Smith wanted to fire Watson because _____.
| A．Watson would take over a new job in another department |
| B．Watson had his son study in Riverside School |
| C．Watson's son knocked a boy down who hit Herbie |
| D．Watson's department didn't earn money that year |
We can learn from the text that _____.
| A．Mr. Smith didn't know that Champ was Watson's son at first |
| B．Mr. Smith was told not to fire Watson by Herbie |
| C．Mr. Smith decided to give Watson another chance in no time |
| D．Mr. Smith wanted to realize Champ's dream |
According to the text, which words can best describe Mr. Smith?
| A．Selfish and greedy. |
| B．Sympathetic and grateful. |
| C．Hardworking and strict. |
| D．Easy-going and optimistic. |
The author wrote the text in order to _____.
| A．share a moving story with us |
| B．make our children enjoy life |
| C．provide us with tips on work |
| D．help us to deal with our boss |
If there is one person who has left a deep impression on me, it’s my teacher Mrs. Pathak who was my class teacher for three years. In my childhood, how I wished I had a mother or a sister like her. One moment she could be tough (严厉的) and strict, another moment caring and compassionate (富有同情心的).
She always encouraged us to tell the truth. For instance, if one had not done the homework, he need not lie. She allowed us to make mistakes, saying we couldn’t be perfect all the time, but we should try.
Another thing she taught me early on was punctuality. She set a good example with her own behaviour. She was always on time, so we students tried our best to be on time.
She surprised us with her sense of humour. Her classroom teaching was always humorous. After class, she talked to us and told us jokes.
We really felt free to ask questions and Mrs. Pathak would give the answers. If she did not know — there had been some occasions (场合) — she would say so. We all then tried to find out the answers. Whoever came up with the answer was appreciated and given the due credit (应有的称赞). Now I sometimes wonder whether Mrs. Pathak was pretending just to encourage us to explore and find answers by ourselves.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT suitable for describing Mrs. Pathak?
| A．Tough. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Compassionate. | D．Careful. |
The underlined word “so” in the last paragraph means that _____.
| A．the answers were not right |
| B．she didn’t know the answers |
| C．the answers were correct |
| D．she would give the answers |
In the author’s opinion, why didn’t Mrs. Pathak give the answers to the questions sometimes?
| A．Because she didn’t like answering the questions. |
| B．Because she didn’t know the answers to the questions. |
| C．Because she wanted the students to find them out by themselves. |
| D．Because she thought the students knew the answers already. |
Many teenagers(青少年) feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends．They believe that their family members don’t know them as well as their friends do．In large families, it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for some ideas．
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends．Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone．This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something．These things are difficult to tell their family members．
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them．Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends．Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who chooses your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
Your answers are welcome．Many teenagers think that ____ can understand them better．
| A．friends | B．brothers | C．sisters | D．parents |
When teenagers have something difficult to tell their parents, they usually____．
| A．stay alone at home |
| B．fight with their parents |
| C．discuss it with their friends |
| D．go to their brothers and sisters for help |
The sentence (句子) “Your answers are welcome．” means _______．
| A．You are welcome to discuss the questions with us |
| B．We’ve got no idea, so your answers are welcome |
| C．Your answers are always right |
| D．You can give us all the right answers |
Part of the purpose of this passage is to ___.
| A．give information for the parents to make their own judgment (判断) |
| B．give advice to children who want to choose their friends |
| C．help parents to find better friends for their children |
| D．get some information from many readers |
Let’s face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games.And it’s driving their parents nuts.
Sure, there are real dangers connected with all this screen time—everything from cyberbullying(网络欺凌) to couch-potato obesity.Not to mention driving while texting, and shortened attention spans(持续时间).
Douglas Gentile, who studies the effects of media on children, says texting, Facebook and video games are not naturally bad.Nor are they naturally better or worse than watching TV, although they do lead to different risks, such as cyberbullying.
But research has shown that the more time kids spend in front of screens—whether it’s TV or instant-messaging—the worse their school performances are.“That doesn’t mean it’s true for every kid, but it makes sense, that for every hour a kid is playing video games, it’s an hour that they’re not doing homework or reading or exploring or creating,” he said.If screen time is taking the place of doing their homework, that’s bad.But if their homework is done, well, so what?
The study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal satisfaction are.Gentile said the influence of screen time on school work can be reduced by what he calls “protective factors”.Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued.“If you had all these protective factors, then that one little risk factor, who cares?”
One thing parents should worry about is the way electronic devices encourage multitasking（多任务处理).
“As adults, your response speeds up, you’re quicker to look over your shoulder and notice little noises or lights.However this is not what the kids need when they get to the classroom.Scanning to see when the next message comes may not be good for kids.The more distractions(分心的事物) you have, the worse your performance is.” Getting kids to turn off their phones, iPods in order to let them concentrate（集中) on homework is a fight worth having.What statement may Gentile agree to?
| A．Kids get bad marks when using Facebook. |
| B．TV or texting affects kids equally. |
| C．Kids prefer video games to books. |
| D．Watching TV is better than playing video games. |
By saying “one little risk factor”, Gentile referred to ________
| A．love for reading | B．valuing education |
| C．screen time | D．good teachers |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that________.
| A．kids can give quick answer to questions if texting |
| B．Multitasks aren’t really good for every kid |
| C．electric devices increase the attention of kids |
| D．kids perform well if doing many tasks together |
What might be the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．Are kids suffering cyber bullying on Facebook? |
| B．Are texting and Facebook worse for teens than TV? |
| C．Are kids willing to turn off their electric devices? |
| D．Are texting causing kids to lose interest in reading? |
TOURNAMENT OF ROSES ----5 Days Los Angeles
Day 1 Los Angeles.( Sun.Dec.30)
Welcome to Los Angeles! This evening mixes with your traveling friends at the welcome reception.
Day 2 Los Angeles.( Mon.Dec.31)
Head to Pasadena for the always colorful ROSE BOWL FAMILY FESTIVAL and watch the floats (彩车)decorated with tens of thousands of flowers.This afternoon, you can take the included visit to the GETTY MUSEUM.This evening, join your travelling friends at a special New Year’s Eve DINNER AND DANCE GALA (盛会), complete with hats, party favors and live music.You’ll toast the New Year a little early tonight to consider an early morning departure (离开) to the Rose Parade.
Day 3 Los Angeles.Tournament of Roses Parade ( Tue.Jan.1)
Happy New Year! Get ready for one of the world’s most popular parades, and you’ll see it live! Globus has booked the GRANDSTAND SEATS at the beginning of the parade route for a good view.See the wonderful colorful floats, marching bands from around the world, and the famous people.
Day 4 Los Angeles.( Wed.Jan.2)
This morning view the individual floats in the POST PARADE VIEWING AREA.For many this is the most exciting part of the entire event.Be sure to bring your camera and plenty of film! Another special dinner tonight—a special GLOBUS FAREWELL CELEBRATION DINNER.
Day 5 Los Angeles.( Thu.Jan.3)
The tour ends today, with tour guests departing on individual schedules.What activity can visitors enjoy on Dec.31?
| A．Tournament of Rose Parade. |
| B．A farewell celebration dinner. |
| C．Post parade viewing area. |
| D．A dinner and dance gala. |
The underlined word “Globus” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.
| A．the travel agency | B．the local government |
| C．Los Angeles | D．Roses Parade |
According to the passage, you should bring your camera on ________.
| A．Day 2. | B．Day 4 | C．Day 3 | D．Day 5 |
You can most probably read the passage in a ________.
| A．textbook | B．news report |
| C．travel guide | D．history magazine |
If you saw another kid ride her bike too fast around a corner and fall down, you might ride your bike more slowly on that turn.Yes, we humans are very sensitive to others’ mistakes.And the same is true for other animals.Animals mess up all the time.They might eat poisonous leaves, fall off a tree or let their prey(猎物) escape.By watching others fail, an animal can avoid making the same mistakes, thus improving its chance of survival.
Scientists believe that one part of the brain helps animals process information about others’ mistakes.Cells(细胞) in that part appear to become more active when a person sees someone else making a mistake.But researchers didn’t know whether individual cells in this part of the brain play different roles in discovering mistakes.
To investigate（调查） the brain’s response(反应) to mistakes in more detail, the researchers taught a game to two macaques, a type of monkey.One monkey could press a yellow or green button while the other watched.If the first monkey pressed the right button, the team gave both animals a treat.Every couple of rounds, the two monkeys switched roles.Meanwhile, the scientists watched individual cells in the animal’s brains.
When the first monkey messed up the game by pressing the wrong button, a group of cells in the second monkey’s brain fired.But if the second monkey also made the wrong choice during its turn, some of the cells in that group didn’t respond.Those unresponsive cells reacted specifically to mistakes made by others, not to the monkey’s own mistakes.
Scientists believe other parts of the brain also might help people process information about another’s mistakes.“You start to think about this other person and see things from his angle.” Ellen de Brujin, told Science News.She studies the brain at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.According to Paragraph 1, animals’ ability to learn from others’ mistakes______.
| A．helps them to survive better |
| B．used to be ignored by humans |
| C．is being lost because of humans |
| D．ensures that they will never fail |
From the game the scientists taught to two macaques, we can see ______.
| A．animals can avoid the same mistakes |
| B．which part of the brain is more active |
| C．how the brain processes information. |
| D．how the brain responds to mistakes |
In the experiment mentioned, those unresponsive cells are only sensitive to _____.
A.the same buttons
B.the monkey’s brain
C others’ mistakes
D.one’s own mistakes