Teens Enjoy Reading
According to a survey on reading conducted by the U.S. National Education Association (NEA), young Americans say reading is important—more important than computers and science. Over 50% of the twelve to eighteen years old children interviewed said they enjoy reading a lot. Seventy-nine percent find it stimulating and interesting, and 87% think it is relaxing. Most of those surveyed (68%) disagree with the opinion that reading is boring, or old-fashioned.
Teens Read Variety of Material
Over half the teenagers interviewed said they read more than ten books a year. The results also showed that middle school students read more books than high school students. Most teens (66%) like to read fiction, such as novels and stories. Only 26% were interested in non-fiction, such as biographies and history books. Sixty-four percent of students liked reading ‘stories about people of my own age’ as their favorite topic. Mysteries and detective stories came second on the list at 53%. Just under 50% said they were interested in reading about their own culture and heritage.
Other Interests
Of the teenagers who took part in the survey, 49% said that libraries are where they get most of their books. However, many complained that their school libraries do not have enough up-to-date, interesting books and magazines. Even though many teenagers in the U.S. enjoy reading, they still have other interests. When asked which activity would be the most difficult to give up for a week, 48% said listening to music. TV would be difficult to give up for 25% of those surveyed.
____
Another survey which is published by www. SmartGirl.com studied the differences between teenage boys’ and girls’ reading habits. According to the report, more girls than boys read for fun. Many more girls (77%) than boys (6%) read fashion and beauty magazines. More boys (47%) than girls (7%) read magazines about video games, but an equal number of each like to read adventure stories and newspapers. Girls also read more material about celebrities and social issues such as crime, drugs, or poverty. Boys, on the other hand, read more about sports.Most teens enjoy reading______.
| A．history books | B．novels and stories |
| C．about their own culture | D．about science |
The teens think that ________ is the most difficult to give up.
| A．reading books | B．watching TV |
| C．reading magazines | D．listening to music |
The proper headline(标题) for Paragraph 4 is ______.
| A．Teens’ Reading Habit | B．Another Survey about Teens |
| C．Boys’ and Girls’ Interests | D．Boys’ and Girls’ Habits Differ |
How do students spend their spare time after finishing their homework? Watch TV, play computer games, or go outside to relax? Here’s a good example.
Tim and Kerry Meek are both teachers. They live in the UK with their two daughters: eleven-year-old Amy and nine-year-old Ella. Recently, the Meek family has become the focus of the whole country after they completed 100 different outdoor activities in one year.
The Meek couple didn’t want their children to spend all their free time in front of the TV and become “couch potatoes”. So about one year ago, the Meeks decided that watching TV and playing computer games were not permitted . Instead, they set 100 tasks for the two girls to do outside. Although Mr. and Mrs. Meek are not outdoor activity fans, they took part in all the activities to encourage their daughters. It turns out that the two sisters really had a good time joining activities.
Every holiday and weekend, whether it’s sunny, rainy or snowy, the Meeks’ would set off to try the activities on their list, including hiking, sailing, climbing , skiing, and so on. The two little girls not only had a wonderful time, but also learned a lot of skills from the activities. They were even able to stand up in front of their school to give a talk for charity. “Our friends spend a lot of their free time doing things which are harmful to their health. Luckily, we’ve had the chance to experience something different.” Amy and Ella also helped their parents to draw up a new list of challenges for the next 12 months.请用中文出现的词语将下列句子补充完整，使句子意思连贯。
As a student, you should do more outdoor exercises in order not to__________________.Why did the Meeks become the focus of the UK?
_______________________________________________________________________________When did the Meeks go out to do the activities?
_______________________________________________________________________________请将稳中划线句子翻译成汉语。
_______________________________________________________________________________Please tell us what you have learned from this passage with two sentences in your own words.
_______________________________________________________________________________
New changes have taken place in Paris in recent years. Paris used to be among Europe’s busiest cities. Traffic jams could be seen all the time. But now there is a new 2.5 kilometre-long car-free area inside the city. The Louvre(卢浮宫) attracts world tourists. People visit there not just for the art works, but also enjoy the roof of the building which is like a flying carpet. The world’s most beautiful city is now even more beautiful.
Lijiang River National Park, China.
Lijiang River is in Guilin. It is well-known for its clear water, limestone(石灰岩洞) and green hills. The hills have beautiful names depending on different shapes, such as “Elephant Trunk”. These attract many Chinese poets and artists. The best way to enjoy Lijing River is to take an 83 km boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo in summer.
Zurich, Switzerland
What do you think Zurich is famous for? Great banks? Yes. People can find many Swiss banks and foreign banks here. But the city is of great interest to many people for another reason. Zurich hosts Europe’s largest street party each year. Its Street Parade has overtaken London’s Notting Hill Carival. What’s hot in the city in 2014? In August, Zurich will host the European Athletic Championships. This gives tourists a chance to see the world’s top athletes making new records.
Adelaide, Australia
Many people may know Sydney or Melbourne. They are big cities in Australia. But Adelaide wins people’s hearts with great festivals and tasty food. Adelaide Fringe Festival is the largest art festival in Australia. Every February and March, people celebrate with outdoor art works, dance performances and live music. Adelaide has many kinds of foreign foods. British fish and chips, Italian pizza and German pork can be found in most restaurants.Tourists enjoy the art works as well as _______of the Louvre.
| A．the busy street | B．the shape of its roof |
| C．the car-free area | D．the flying carpet |
Many Chinese poets and artists are attracted by________ in Guilin.
| A．elephant trunks | B．warm weather |
| C．the highway to Yangshuo | D．the green hills and limestone caves |
Compared with London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the Street Parade in Zurich is _______.
| A．even worse | B．exactly the same | C．much better | D．less popular |
When and where will the 2014European Athletics Championships be held?
| A．In August, Paris | B．In February, Europe |
| C．In March, Adelaide | D．In August, Zurich |
Betty is studying art at college. She’s travelling to some place to enjoy art work and taste foreign foods. She could go to_____
| A．Adelaide | B．Lijiang River National Park |
| C．Zurich and Paris | D．the Louvre |
Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and 1200 other things. About every two weeks he created something new.
Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly self-educated. He started experimenting at a young age.
When he was 12 years old, he got his first job. He became a newsboy on a train. He did experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They fired him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued to spend much of his time in experimenting his first patent(专利权) in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity.
Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways. It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work. He always worked 16 out of every 24hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat.
Thomas Edison died at the age of 84. He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of life all over the world.How often did Edison make a new invention?
| A．About every fourteen days | B．About every seven days |
| C．About once a week | D．About twice a week |
The underlined word “fired” in the passage means “__________”
| A．Gave somebody a job | B．Set fire to somebody |
| C．Let somebody down | D．Forced somebody to leave his job |
Edison considered his deafness as______.
| A．something bad | B．a gift from god | C．a kind of ability | D．a disadvantage |
which of the following sentence is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Edison had only 8 hours rest each day after his deafness |
| B．Edison got his education mostly by self-teaching |
| C．Edison had his first job in 1869 |
| D．Edison’s inventions greatly improved the quality of people’s life |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The function of the electric light | B．Edison and his experiments |
| C．The importance of inventions | D．The whole life of Edison. |
On the first day of school our teacher introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned around to find a little old lady with a warm smile. She said, “Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old.”
“Why are you in university at such a YOUNG age?” I asked. She replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids, and then retire and travel.”
I knew she was joking. I was curious(好奇) what might have encouraged her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a university education and now I’m getting one!” she told me. We became friends. Every day we would talk nonstop after class. I always enjoyed listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom(智慧) and experience with me. And Rose easily made friends wherever she went.
At the end of the term we invited Rose to make a little speech. She cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. I’ve learned a few secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.”
“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change...” When the author and Rose first met, they began their conversation in a ________ manner.
| A．polite | B．impolite | C．serious | D．humorous |
Rose went to the university in order to _______.
| A．meet a rich husband | B．make new friends |
| C．get a better job | D．get a university education |
The author considered Rose as a “time machine” because ________.
| A．she always came to class on time |
| B．she made friends easily at university |
| C．she enjoyed a long life and had lots of wisdom and experience |
| D．she knew the difference between growing older and growing up |
The word“That”in Paragraph 7 refers to(指)________.
| A．growing older | B．growing up | C．staying young | D．being happy |
From this passage we know Rose believed ________
| A．“Easier said than done.” | B．“Well begun is half done.” |
| C．“It is never too late to learn.” | D．“Reading makes a full man.” |
Better think twice before choosing a password for e-mail, online bank or shopping. Simple passwords are easy to be stolen.
A password is like a key to your home. If someone steals it, he’ll get chances to steal something else. We use passwords everywhere in our life. We are so used to passwords that we don’t pay any attention to them until we lose or forget one.
A study of 28,000 passwords recently stolen from a popular website showed that people often do the easy thing. It found that 16 percent took a first name as a password. Another 14 percent used the easiest keyboard combinations such as “12345678” or QWERTY. Five percent of the stolen passwords were names of television shows or stars popular with young people. Three percent of the passwords expressed feelings like “I don’t care,” “Whatever,” “I love you,” or their opposite, “I hate you.”
Robert Graham, who did the study, advises people to choose a password that is longer than eight characters with one capital letter(大写字母) and one symbol.
Of course, safe passwords don’t mean those hard to remember. Forgetting your password is sometimes a big headache for you. Maybe, the perfect password is easy for you and hard for others. The underlined word “password” in Paragraph 1 means __________.
| A．标志 | B．护照 | C．密码 | D．口诀 |
About 40% passwords are easily stolen because the users are ______.
| A．busy | B．lazy | C．stupid | D．careful |
Which of the following passwords is considered the safest?
| A．ZXCVBN. | B．password56. | C．wy64#0Mv. | D．I hate you. |