After a week-long vacation, U.S. President Barack Obama will focus on proposals to strengthen the still-recovering American economy. The agenda includes the reform of the nation’s health care system.
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as some call it, expands federal health care programs for the needy and encourages Americans of all income groups to purchase private health care insurance.
“If you do not have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business. You can comparison--shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets. You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that’s right for you. And if you are in the up to half of all Americans who have been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you," Obama said.
Health-care spending accounts for one-seventh of U.S. economic activity, and is projected to increase to one-fifth in coming years. The cost has a direct bearing on America’s economic and financial well--being. Drawn up in 2010, the Affordable Care Act aims to control costs and expand access to health care. The effort is a big failure, according to Republican law makers like Tim Griffin and Todd Young.
“Republicans will continue to do everything we can to protect all Americans from the president's top-down, one-size-fits-all, Washington-knows-best approach to health care that is driving up costs and hurting our economy," said Griffin. “The sooner we can delay, oppose and cancel the president's health-care law, the sooner we can get people back to work and focus on expanding opportunity for everyone.”
The president accuses Republicans of putting partisanship(党派偏见) ahead of Americans’ health-care needs. “A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they will somehow be sticking it to me. But they would just be sticking it to you. Your health insurance is not something to play politics with. Our economy is not something to play politics with," he said.
As a matter of fact，the success or failure of Obamacare could shape the president’s legacy long after he leaves office.It is implied in Obama’s words in Paragraph 3 that .
| A．health care insurance will be of great benefit to Americans |
| B．health care insurance will help recover American economy |
| C．insurance companies don’t expect him to carry out the law |
| D．insurance companies will cover Americans in all aspects |
According to Tim Griffin，Obama’s health-care law .
| A．will be strongly opposed to by the Republicans |
| B．will cause fewer economic problems in America |
| C．will be canceled sooner or later by the government |
| D．will never work without the help of the Republicans. |
What does Obama accuse Republicans of according to the passage?
| A．They don’t know what Americans are in need of. |
| B．They tend to put their own benefit ahead of Americans’. |
| C．They know nothing about health insurance and economy. |
| D．They like to play politics with economy and health insurance |
What is the author’s tone in this passage?
| A．Subjective | B．Critical | C．Unconcerned | D．Objective |
| Parents Are Invited To a Lecture On Raising a Self-Disciplined Child Help Your Child Become More Responsible, Confident, and Lively  Presented by Dr Robert Brooks Robert Brooks, Ph.D., one of the two authors of Raising a Self-Disciplined Child, is a nationally famous speaker and author. This book presents parents with “ a positive approach to discipline that helps children to develop self-discipline, respect, responsibility and liveliness rather than anger.” Dr Brooks of Harvard Medical School uses real-life stories to discuss such topics as self-respect and family relationships. Copies of Raising a Self-Disciplined Child, Raising Lively Children, and other books by Dr Brooks will be available for sale and signing following the talk. Wednesday, January 12 @ 7 PM Allison Williams Activity Center Trinity School 4301 Northside Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30327 Call Ms Ginny Perkinson at 404-231-8113 for questions |
Who is this lecture intended for?
| A．Children | B．Robert Brooks | C．Ginny Perkinson | D．Parents |
This lecture is mainly about how to _____.
| A．tell stories | B．sell a book | C．raise children | D．become a writer |
People can _____ if they have questions about the lecture.
| A．visit Dr Goldstein | B．call 4301-30327 |
| C．call 404-231-8113 | D．visit Mr Williams |
Raising a Self-Disciplined Child is the name of a ______.
| A．book | B．company | C．school | D．newspaper |
The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them. It claims to provide visitors with an “education” through games and other amusement.
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. “Call me Haiz”, he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: To identify the advertiser. To know what the advertiser is really saying. And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it is a big business. The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2010.
The FTC says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.What is the best title of the text?
| A．The guide of Admongo |
| B．An education website for children |
| C．A popular online video game |
| D．A website aimed at children |
Why did the government start the website?
| A．To attract the biggest market of buyers. |
| B．To sell the products of its company. |
| C．To help children know about advertising. |
| D．To advertise the video game for children. |
The underlined word “identify” can be replaced by _________.
| A．recognize | B．inform | C．persuade | D．forbid |
What can players do in the website game?
| A．Choose hair styles for their character. |
| B．Travel to a supermarket. |
| C．Eat in a fast-food restaurant. |
| D．Play video games during the trip. |
Children are important for advertising because they are _________.
| A．important for the society | B．the most potential buyers |
| C．easily influenced by ads | D．easily affected by poor products |
Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission.
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behavior. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk ‘dog’, and dogs can learn how to talk ‘cat’.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn how to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected. Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.
The significance of the research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets — to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.The underlined word “swimmingly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “without _________”.
| A．a message | B．a problem | C．introduction | D．delay |
Some cats and dogs may fight when _________.
| A．they are cold to each other |
| B．they look away from each other |
| C．they misunderstood each other’s signals |
| D．they are introduced at an early age |
What is found surprising about cats and dogs?
| A．They eat and sleep each other. |
| B．They observe each other’s behaviors. |
| C．They learn to speak each other’s language. |
| D．They know something from each other’s voices. |
It is suggested in Paragraph 4 that cats and dogs _________.
| A．have common interests |
| B．are less different than was thought |
| C．have a common body language |
| D．are less intelligent than was expected |
What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?
| A．We should learn to live in harmony. |
| B．We should know more about animals. |
| C．We should live in peace with animals. |
| D．We should learn more body languages. |
Every Saturday or Sunday night my family and I go out and feed the homeless people in the city of Orlando. There are thousands of people across the United States without any food or shelter. My family and I have been doing this for several months.
We all get together in the kitchen and prepare the food. Some of the meals are sandwiches, cookies and a bottle of water. Sometimes my mom prepares a steaming hot delicious meal. We then bag them all up to feed 30 or more people.
I like to write special notes on the bags like “God loves you.” Before my family and I get into the car we ask God for protection in a family prayer. A lot of people misunderstand homeless people. Not all homeless people are drug addicts or bad people. Some are really nice. Some of them just had bad things that happened to them.
At first when my family and I went out on the street we had to earn their trust. A lot of people are unkind to them for no good reason. But now that they see us every week, they trust us. We even know some of their names. We all have to remember that these are people that have feelings. Some of them shake our hands for giving them food, and thank us. Some of them do really funny dances because they are happy.
We have become really close with this man named Tony and his wife. They have all of their personal belongings in shopping carts. After meeting with them several times he has told us a lot about his life. He graduated from Harvard University and has a PHD. He used to teach French and Spanish. He lost his job after the economic crisis began.
After we get done feeding the homeless, it makes me appreciate what I have at home. Sometimes it makes me sad, and makes my mom cry. I love feeding the homeless, and making a difference in someone’s life.The following statements are all right except _________.
| A．we feed the homeless every Saturday or Sunday night |
| B．I write some encouraging words on the food |
| C．we offer food for about 30 or more people every Saturday or Sunday night |
| D．my family and I have been feeding the poor for several months |
What do many people think of the homeless in America?
| A．They are homeless because of taking drugs. |
| B．They are bad people against the society. |
| C．They must have done something bad. |
| D．All of above. |
Why do the homeless believe in the author and his family?
| A．They don’t ask the homeless to do something bad. |
| B．They always bring more food every time. |
| C．They often give food to them at fixed time. |
| D．They never ask about the names of the homeless. |
What made Tony lose his job?
| A．The falling economy across the whole country. |
| B．He hasn’t got a suitable university degree. |
| C．He graduated from a common university. |
| D．He doesn’t like the teaching of the French language. |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph most probably refers to _________.
| A．the loss of the job of Tony |
| B．the poverty of the author’s family |
| C．the feeding of the homeless |
| D．the leaving from the homeless |
An experiment was carried out at British school into the performance of new pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a rating, ranging from “excellent prospect” to “unlikely to do well”. These were totally untrue ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. However, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils’ performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high connection between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to.
The Self-fulfilling Effect is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from an old Greek story. The story was also the basis of George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”, later turned into the musical “My Fair Lady”. In Shaw’s play, Professor Henry Higgins claims he can turn a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle into a duchess. But, as Eliza herself points out to Higgins’ friend Pickering, it isn’t what she learns or does that determines whether she will become a duchess, but how she’s treated.
The implication (含义) of the Pygmalion Effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect, which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”The underlined word in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “_________”.
| A．program | B．regulation | C．correction | D．classification |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．A new scientific experiment. |
| B．The Self-fulfilling Effect. |
| C．Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”. |
| D．An improved teaching method. |
The experiment was made in order to _________.
| A．try out a new teaching method |
| B．pick out the most excellent pupils |
| C．learn if expectations affect performance |
| D．give each pupil a proper rating |
What made Eliza change into a duchess according to Eliza herself?
| A．Strict training from Higgins. |
| B．Her own strong will and hard work. |
| C．The proper way she was regarded. |
| D．Warm encouragement from Pickering. |
According to the Pygmalion Effect, if you want a man to finish a hard task in a short time, you should say, “_________”.
| A．I’m sure you can make it | B．I will help you any time |
| C．It is as easy as pie | D．It doesn’t matter if you fail |