It seems hard to watch someone yawn（打哈欠） and not to yawn ourselves. Even reading about yawning can make you do it. Now, a new study has found why yawning has such a powerful force.
Yawning when others yawn, the study suggests, is a sign of pity and a form of social connection. Kids don’t develop this deeply rooted behavior until around age four, the study found. Kids with autism (自闭症) are less likely to catch yawns. In the most serious cases, they never do. Yawning might help doctors to see whether the children are developing rightly. The work could also lead to a better understanding of the ways that people communicate and connect.
"Emotional infection seems to be a born thing that connects us together," said Molly Helt, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Connecticut. "Yawning may be part of that." Inspiration for her study came when she tried to get her own autistic son to clear his ears on an airplane. She repeatedly yawned at him, hoping he would yawn back. He never did.
"The fact that autistic kids don’t do it might mean they’re really missing out on that emotional connection with people around them," she said. "The biggest thing people try to figure out after birth is how we become humans and understand that humans have minds that are different from others’," she added. "Autistic people never seem to understand that."
Like infectious （有感染力的）laughter and crying, scientists have found that yawning is a shared experience that promotes social connection. Helt said it could fight stress after a period of being nervous and spread a feeling of calm through a group.What does the new study suggest, according to the first two paragraphs?
| A．Yawning is a form of communication. |
| B．It is easy to stop yawning when you see others yawn. |
| C．Children follow others in yawning just after they are born. |
| D．Yawning has some mysterious force which is related to God. |
According to Molly Helt, _________.
| A．humans differ from animals because they communicate with others |
| B．yawning is a kind of emotional connection among humans |
| C．emotions are infectious, but yawning is not |
| D．yawning helps clear ears on planes |
Which of the following is NOT true about yawning?
| A．It is natural to yawn back if people around you yawn. |
| B．Some kids are too young to yawn after others. |
| C．Yawning can be used to test children’s development. |
| D．Kids with autism yawn easily when others yawn. |
The author implies in the last paragraph that ________.
| A．yawning is different from infectious laughter and crying in theory |
| B．it is bad manners to yawn on some social occasions |
| C．the more you yawn, the happier you will be |
| D．yawning can make people feel relaxed |
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, “Hi, girl! My name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can give you a hug?”
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may! “and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age ?”I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!”
“No seriously “I said. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” “she told me.
Over the course of the year, Rose because a campus icon（偶像）and she easily made friends wherever she went .She loved to dress up and she reveled（陶醉）in the attention bestowed（赠给）upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.
“We do not stop playing because we are old“; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success/You have to laugh and find humor everyday. Your’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die!” she said.
“The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.” Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Song of Rose”. She challenged each of us study the lyrics(歌词)and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.Rose made herself known to the author in a _______ manner.
| A．serious | B．cold | C．crazy | D．humorous |
From the information provided in the passage, we know________.
| A．Rose finished the college degree within a year |
| B．Rose did realize her dream of meeting a rich husband and getting married through college education |
| C．Rose enjoyed her campus life very much |
| D．Rose grew so old that she stopped playing |
Rose delivered the speech________.
| A．at the graduation |
| B．which she prepared carefully |
| C．ended with ”The Song of Rose” |
| D．to challenge all the other speakers |
According to her speech,________.
| A．whenever you have a dream, you succeed |
| B．All people don’t grow up while growing older |
| C．Rose usually regretted having done something |
| D．a nine-year-old is as old as a 87-year-old if he doesn’t do anything |
The best title for the passage can be________.
| A．Growing Older or Growing Up | B．It’s Never too Old to learn |
| C．Humour Does Count | D．Challenge Yourself |
In Western countries people have been using the installment （按揭）plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments .In the U.S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.
The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyers pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping, It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is ,however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.Which of the following is true about the installment plan?
| A．British families just use the installment plan to buy furniture. |
| B．More than 10 precent American families buy things on installment. |
| C．Americans spend more on installment buying than British people do. |
| D．The payment of installment buying is easier than buying by cash. |
Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because_________.
| A．the buyer has to pay extra money as interest |
| B．the delivery of the goods charges extra money |
| C．the buyer has to pay a down payment |
| D．The service offered by installment plan charged extra money |
What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?
| A．He might lose his job |
| B．He will stop owning the item he has bought |
| C．He will have to sell what he has bought |
| D．He will go into debt |
The advantages of installment buying might include all the followings EXCEPT that _________.
| A．purchasing power is strengthened |
| B．Employment might be increased |
| C．People develop a good habit of saving money |
| D．Young couples are able to furnish their homes |
In some countries, the government controls the installment plan to_________.
| A．increase employment |
| B．avoid depressions |
| C．ensure that businesses make good profits |
| D．ensure that people can pay for what they buy |
Green invaders are taking over America. Not invaders from space, but plants! You might not think of plants as dangerous, but in this case they are threatening nature’s delicate food chain.
The invaders are plants brought here from other countries to make gardens and yards look pretty. Ever since people started to arrive on America’s shores, they have carried along trees, flowers, and vegetables from other places. Now there are so many of those plants, they are crowding out the native plants that have lived here since before human settlers arrived.
And that’s a problem, says Dr. Doug Tallamy. He’s insect expert at the University of Delaware. He explains that almost all the plant-eating insects in the United States are specialized, which means they eat only certain plants. Monarch butterfly caterpillars(幼虫),for example, dine on milkweed. If people cut down milkweed and replace it with another plant, the butterflies will not have the food source that they need to survive.
But the trouble doesn’t stop there. When insects can’t get the right plants to eat and they die off, then the birds don’t have enough bugs for their meals. Tallamy points out that almost all migrating birds depend on insets to feed their young.
“We cannot let the plants and animals around us disappear.” says Tallamy, “The way to preserve them is to give them food to eat. But when we plant non-native plants, we are clobbering the food chain, because then we don’t have the insects the birds need to live.”
Fewer of the right plants mean fewer bugs, and fewer bugs mean fewer birds. And that’s bad for the Earth, because we need a variety of living things to keep the planet healthy and beautiful.
The good news is, garden centers sell native plants. “Just Google ‘native plants’ and your location, and you can find out which plants really belong where you live,” says TallamyHow did green invades arrive at America?
| A．They fell down from space. |
| B．They floated to the America’s shores. |
| C．They were brought in from foreign countries |
| D．They has lived here since human settlers arrived |
According to Dr.Tallamy, which of the followings about the insects in the US is NOT true?
| A．Almost all the plant-eating insects in a place eat certain plants. |
| B．Monarch butterfly caterpillars can’t survive without milkweed. |
| C．If insects can’t eat the right plants, they will find another one. |
| D．The insects’ death will greatly affect the migrating birds’ survival |
The underlined word “clobber” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _________.
| A．protect | B．damage | C．create | D．collect |
We can know whether a plant is native by _________.
| A．Googling on the Internet | B．asking Dr. Doug Tallamy |
| C．looking up in books | D．searching in garden |
What is the best title of the pass age?
| A．Green invaders——local living things |
| B．Green invaders——dangerous food chain |
| C．Green invaders——environmental protectors |
| D．Green invades——threat to local nature |
A new chapter in space exploration has been opened up after NASA confirmed that their mission to bomb the Moon had found “significant quantities” of frozen water. Scientists said the “exciting” findings had gone “beyond expectations” as fully formed ice was found in a crater on the planet. The water was found in one mile high dust that was kicked up by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite(LCOSS) last month when it crashed into the Cabeus crater near the Moon's south pole.
“Indeed，yes，we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit，we found a significant amount，”said Anthony Colaprete，project scientist and principal investigator for the ￡49 million space mission.
“This is a great day for science and exploration，” said Doug Cooke，associate administrator of NASA. “The remarkable results have gone beyond our expectations. It is incredibly exciting.”
The identification of water-ice is important for purely scientific reasons，but also because a supply of water on the Moon would be a vital resource for future human exploration. The findings，which completely contradict previous beliefs that the Moon was a dry place，justify the controversial mission. Over the last decade，scientists have found some hints of underground ice on the Moon's poles，mainly in the form of compounds of hydrogen but this is the best evidence yet.
The discovery is expected to have major implications for the future of lunar exploration，and a ready supply of water could help set up lunar bases or launch missions to Mars. Mr Colaprete said that it should be possible to purify the water for drinking even though it appeared to be mixed with poisonous methanol(甲醇)．Which of the following is TRUE of the “bombing”？
| A．It damaged the Moon surface severely. |
| B．It would do harm to the space environment. |
| C．It confirmed the existence of water on the Moon. |
| D．It would help the research on Mars. |
The underlined word “NASA” in the first paragraph maybe referred to ________.
| A．a base in space |
| B．a new kind of bomb |
| C．a part of the Moon |
| D．a government department |
Why is the finding of water on the Moon so important?
| A．People on the earth use more and more water. |
| B．In the future lots of people will live on the Moon. |
| C．The water will be a supply for future human exploration in space. |
| D．Because the water is mixed with poisonous methanol. |
How is the whole text developed?
| A．Providing some facts. |
| B．Following the order of space. |
| C．Making comparisons. |
| D．Analyzing causes. |
Which of the following is the best title of the text?
| A．Water Found on the Moon after NASA “Bombing” |
| B．Unbelievable Space Research |
| C．Possible Base on the Moon |
| D．Mysterious Water Found on the Moon |
Several hundred strangers received “love letters” from a young man on the street. The letter was written and given out by Yang Yang，a student majoring in human resources at Chongqing University of Science and Technology，who hoped to show his disappointment with job hunting.
Yang's story has caught media attention perhaps because it is similar to those of millions of recent graduates seeking jobs and struggling for survival in the country's wealthiest cities. They have diplomas，rather than professional skills，and come to big cities in hopes of better lives，only to find low-paying jobs and poor living conditions.
They are China's “ant tribe(蚁族)”，a term coined by sociologist Lian Si from Peking University in his 2009 book Ant Tribe. “They're so similar to ants. They share small and narrow living areas. They're intelligent and hardworking，yet nameless and underpaid.” The term also speaks to their helplessness in a world governed by the law of the jungle－only the strongest survive.
A survey in Lian's another book published this year，Ant Tribe Ⅱ，found nearly 30 percent of “ants” are graduates of famous universities－almost three times last year's percentage. Most had degrees in popular majors. In addition,7.2 percent of “ants” have at least a master's degree compared to 1.6 percent in 2009.
An “ant's” average monthly salary is 1,904 yuan，with about 64 percent of them earning less than 2,000 yuan a month.
Another survey in the 2010 Annual Report on the Development of Chinese Talent found more than 1 million “ants” live in big cities.
“Most ants are from rural families or small towns，and their experiences in universities didn't arm them well enough to fight with competitors in big cities' employment markets，” Professor Zhang Ming at Renmin University of China said.
The “ant tribe's” embarrassing living situations have become a serious social problem，and the government should develop smaller cities to attract more graduates from big cities，Zhang believed.
However，“ants” expect more study and training opportunities in big cities，which keeps them positive despite their situations.Yang's story is introduced in order to ________.
| A．analyze graduates' difficulties in finding jobs |
| B．lead to the topic of the article－“ant tribe” |
| C．tell readers a story about those big cities |
| D．show a clever way of dealing with pressure |
The “ants” fail to find high-paying jobs mainly because ________.
| A．they have no diplomas from good universities |
| B．their majors do not meet the needs of society |
| C．those from rural areas are not treated equally |
| D．they do not have necessary professional skills |
“Ant tribe” members are similar to ants in the following aspects EXCEPT that ________.
| A．they live in narrow and small places in groups |
| B．they work hard but earn little for survival |
| C．they are in a world judged by the jungle law |
| D．they are pleased with being nameless and underpaid |
Professor Zhang thought “ants” problems could be solved by ________.
| A．creating more jobs for graduates in big cities |
| B．developing smaller cities to attract graduates |
| C．sending graduates to rural areas and small towns |
| D．training graduates to improve their ability |
By writing this article，the author mainly intends to show ________.
| A．despite better education，“ants” are still struggling |
| B．despite difficulties，“ants” have a promising future |
| C．better education，better job opportunities |
| D．Ant Tribe is a good book to help understand today's China |