A troubled young man in Connecticut laid his hands on the kinds of guns that no civilian should ever have and shot 20 children and 6 adults . It was a tragedy that “ broke the hearts of America ” , as President Barack Obama said . The obvious way to prevent the next such massacre is gun control . And , yes , we need it now . Voters need to be loud , politicians need to be brave , and the gun lobby needs to be defeated . Perhaps Barack Obama , no longer up for election , will no longer be chicken .
But American violence doesn’t just come from the weapons we buy and the gun shows we frequent . It’s much deeper than that . This is also the country that supplies three-quarters of the world’s arms trade . These are weapon sales authorized by our government and by a Democratic President . International weapon sales by America between 2010 and 2011 tripled . The same Democratic President continues a policy of targeted ( often poorly ) assassinations in Pakistan .
This country also supplies most of the world’s violent entertainment . America leads the world in massacres in life , and in film too . The most popular movie this week , “ SKyfall , ” is a load of fun ; but every emotional climax involves a shooting , sometimes with small guns sometimes with large ones . Firearms have long been identified with manliness in popular culture . Ever more they are identified with womanliness , too . The most popular culture . Every more they are identified with womanliness , too . The most popular video game this week is “ Halo 4 ; ” the most popular novel is Tom Clancy’s “ Treat Vector ; ” the second and s\third best-selling works of nonfiction are “ Killing Kennedy ” and “ Killing Lincoln , ” respectively . Every author , and every creator , should have the right to make what they want . Still , every civilian has a right to choose what to see and what to buy .
Violence is sometimes essential to art , and often to foreign policy , too . But the cruel killing in Newtown , the worst single event in this country in eleven years and three months , should lead to a moment of deep reflection . It’s time to talk about guns ; but it’s also time to talk about a lot more .What does the underlined word “ massacre ” in paragraph 1 probably mean ?
| A．Awful accident | B．Serious condition |
| C．Mass killing | D．Great destruction |
The author lists some examples of violent entertainment EXCEPT __________ .
| A．movies | B．books |
| C．songs | D．games |
Which of the following would the author probably agree with ?
| A．Gun control is the only solution to violence in America . |
| B．Arms trade can benefit our society if limited to a certain degree . |
| C．Readers should be given the right to choose what they want . |
| D．Violence in art should share the blame for the killing in America . |
The best title for the passage would probably be __________ .
| A．The Roots of Violent Movies |
| B．America’s Culture of Violence |
| C．Bloody Killing Shocked America |
| D．Divide on Gun Control in America |
Room for Rent by East Jefferson Hospital in Metairie
Room for rent for $ 500．00 per month and $500．00 damage deposit, You will have use of the refrigerator （I have two:） and the washer and dryer and the kitchen and the in-ground swimming pool．There is a one-year rental agreement but can be changed to a month-to-month after six months with a 30-day notice．There is parking in front of the house which is on a slot dead end street,．You can contact by phone at 5044551499 0r you can email me at marrt/n286@aol com．My name is Jerry．
LOW'PRICE : 2 bedrooms for rent $499 with furniture9 swimming pool
Any student attending university during the spring 2014 who wants to live on campus in a safe, gated community at a discounted rate: please respond．2 bedrooms/ 2 bathrooms / 1 living room．If a student is ir．retested in renting both rooms, the rate will be $479 per room, instead of- $499 （water all included）．The original amount for the rent is $599, and with our discounted rate （less $100．00 a month） it is an affordable way to engage in on-campus life．Located near the swimming pool, public barbecue pit and laundry room．Ruminates are great, very friendly and trustworthy,
Phone: 5049948139 Email: jguol@uno.edu Located:2000 Lakeshore Drive, UNO campus
Roommate Wanted
I live in an apartment with 2 bedrooms and l bathroom: on Lake Pontcbartrain surrounded by breath-taking scenery．The rent is $17000 per month and electric runs around $12．0．I am 27 years old and my husband is currently sending in Afghanistan．I am looking for a roommate to share rent and electric: woodlot $．550 per month．If interested, contact me at 9856074708．Text or call．My name is Ashley．
Roommate Wanted in Slidell
Roommate wanted for a 5-bedroom house in great location. Backroom is famished or unfurnished．All utilities (公用设施）indeed WiFi cable w／d（无线区域网）and full use of house．Must like I'm Julie．pets, Outside smokers are OK．9857189738．If someone wants to live in the room by EAST Jefferson Hospital, he .
| A．must pay $1,000,00 first |
| B．can't cook or wash in the room |
| C．has to park his car far away |
| D．must contact the owner by telephone only |
A young girl desiring a good view around her rented house should call .
| A．5044551499 | B．5049948130 |
| C．985607470t9 | D．9857189738 |
We can know that .
| A．the house in UNO campus has a swimming pool |
| B．the rent is $ 998 if a student rents two rooms in UNO campus |
| C．the person will enjoy free electric if she lives with Ashley |
| D．one who likes surfing the Internet should rent the room in Slidell |
While every dog owner knows their dogs can read their moods perfectly, scientists have always been a piffle doubtful．Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria; we finally have some convincing evidence．
For their study, biologist Corson Miller and his team exposés eleven selected dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy．Half the dogs were rewired for touching the screen when shove a happy face, while the other half gilt their treat for selecting those that appeared angry．
Interestingly, the dogs were not provided with the entire face．Some dogs were show Ti only upper halves while the others observed lower halves．That's because the scientists believe humans show their eruptions on their equities face．
After some training ill．e how to recognize small differences like the wrinkles between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions, the dogs were mostly able to identify the correct expression not only on a familiar face but on a strange face, the researchers concluded the dogs were smart-enough to read human emotions．
They also found those being trained to read angry expressions took a longer time to learn．They guess it may be because dogs find angry faces disgusting, causing them to withdraw quickly．However, once the smart dogs realized they were getting rewired, the trepidation seem end to disappear．In fact, the dogs had such a good time playing the computer "game" That scientists had a hard time keeping them away from the touch screens after the study was completed．
The researchers also noticed only dogs with a male owner had a harder time understanding the expressions correctly．Since the touches careen models were all females, this confirmed what has been observed in previous studies-dogs are more efficient at reading facial expressions of people that are the serene gender as their owner．How did the scientists conduct the experiment?
| A．By leaving dogs to women who are either happy or angry． |
| B．By mixing the selected dogs together． |
| C．By rewarding only half of the dogs touching the screen． |
| D．By showing digital pictures of women's happy or angry faces． |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The dogs were not all provided with the entire face, |
| B．According to their size, the dogs were given either upper or lower halves． |
| C．The dogs could read even small changes that accountancy facial expressions after some training． |
| D．The dogs couldn't read strangers facial emotions． |
The underlined word "trepidation" in Paragraph 5 probably means .
| A．horror | B．curiosity |
| C．excitement | D．doubt |
How might the results change if the dogs with female owners are shown pictures of male faces?
| A．They could only tell commotions on partial faces rather than on entire face's． |
| B．They found it hard to tell the moods on the faces of a different gender． |
| C．They found it easy to tell the emotions on the entire -face． |
| D．They would be scared away at the sight of the pictures． |
Most artists have a favorite material they like to work with．For 28-year-old Kristen Alice, it happens to be garbage．The eco-friendly designer uses her incredible talent to transform garbage like empty drink bottles and candy wrappers into charming dresses that sell for thousands of dollars．
Kristen says the idea came to her after she saw how much vaster she and her three college roommates generated on a daily basis．The Fine Arts student began to dream about transforming the deserted bags and packages into beautiful garments．
Her first dress’ made from plastic bags and rolled magazines was strange, fun and even charming．However, she only made it to test her creativity．
The young designer did not consider starting a commercial venture（企业）until she spent a week working at Couture Fashion Week in New York City．There she observed the excitement generated by new and vintage（复古的）looks and decided to see if her unusual idea would result in as much enthusiasm．She began by creating a line of 12 garbage-inspired dresses．They were a huge success．
Today her company that has offices in Palm Beach, Florida and New York City, produces a wide variety of dresses ranging from cocktail dresses to ball gowns （礼服）．Kristen, of course, doesn't search garbage cans for her material anymore．Instead, she seeks it from companies that have produced more than they need and are planning to throw away the extras．
However, if you think the garbage-inspired dresses come cheap, think again．The price for ready-made creations retails（零售）from $500 to $1,500．Though that may appear expensive, the designer says she has no shortage of customers．In fact she now even has garbage-inspired clothing for men that includes jackets, ties, trousers and even board shorts! While most of the clothes are strong enough to resist multiple wears, whether they can be cleaned is a little unclear:What made Kristen think of using trash as her favorite material?
| A．Her poor living conditions at college． |
| B．The education from her parents not to waste anything useful． |
| C．Her roommates' advice of using garbage to replace ordinary material． |
| D．Her consciousness of environmental protection and trained eyes． |
Kristen decided to start a commercial venture because ．
| A．she just wanted to test her creativity． |
| B．she was inspired by the enthusiasm caused by new and vintage dresses． |
| C．she was driven by the huge profits brought by new fashion． |
| D．she found there were no unique-looking but affordable clothes in New York． |
The last two paragraphs are mainly about _ .
| A．the success of Kristen's career |
| B．the advantages and disadvantages of the garbage-inspired clothing |
| C．what clothing Kristen mainly designed |
| D．where Kristen got garbage for her clothing |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．New Use of Garbage |
| B．A New Trend of Fashion |
| C．A Talented and Ambitious Fashion Designer |
| D．Transforming Trash into Wonderful Garments |
Dear Miss Manners，
Friends of mine lost their home in a house fire．It was terrible．Another friend set up a "go fund me" type page for friends and funnily to donate and help the couple．Many friends, including me, helped with money, meals, lamprey and their dog while 'they were getting back on their feet．
Last week, they sent thank-you notes．My roommate received one addressed to her and I did not The notes were not in modularized; it was a printed one-size-fits-all message．My roommate realized I didn't receive a thank you, so she sent a private message to the couple just letting them know I had been left out．I didn't know she had done this until later．
The next day, I got a text message apologizing and saying that I had been left out because their friend who addressed the notes must have missed me!（Miss Manners, they didn't even address the notes themselves!）It was accompanied by a picture of the thank-you note, which was texted to me with- the message, "Here is a thank you just for you. "
I was a little annoyed．I helped them in their fume of need and didn't get a second thought．I have not responded to her text message．Is it fair of me to consider this friendship over? Should I tell her that I am upset, or should I accept that this rude thank you was better than nothing?For what purpose did Mary write the letter?
| A．To start a public donation for the unlucky couple． |
| B．To teach us how to see the true colors of friendship． |
| C．To tell us to loam a lesson from her story |
| D．To ask for advice on how to deal with her annoyance． |
From the letter we can infer that ．
| A．the couple lost their car in the fire so they had to go everywhere on foot． |
| B．so far Mary hasn't received a thank-you-note addressed to her． |
| C．Mary's roommate sent the couple a message to blame their carelessness． |
| D．the couple left Mary out by accident when they wrote the thank you notes． |
What does Mary think of the couple she helped?
| A．careless | B．considerate |
| C．unbelievable | D．unreliable |
The letter is most likely taken from .
| A．a diary | B．a brochure |
| C．a newspaper | D．a report |
If Confucius were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake，there would be a lot of candles．He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out．
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day，few people in the United States will give him a passing thought．It’s nothing personal．Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes．
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius．In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China．
In the past two decades，the Chinese study programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities．More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries．These schools teach both Chinese language and culture．The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art，history and philosophy．Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the old Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy．Students in the United States，at the same time，are racing to learn Chinese．So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States．Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers．
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well．
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West．
As for the old thinker，he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West，even if his birthday is．The first paragraph is mainly intended to_________．
| A．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| B．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
| C．show great respect for the old thinker |
| D．attract the readers’ interest in the subject |
The reason why few Americans remember Confucius on his birthday is probably that______．
| A．they don’t care about Confucius at all． |
| B．they consider their own national heroes more important． |
| C．he has bee a bridge between foreigners and China. |
| D．they don’t pay much attention to the birthdays of famous people． |
We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students________．
| A．were not interested in Chinese studies before |
| B．take an active part in Chinese petitions |
| C．have a great interest in studying Chinese |
| D．hope to make money in China |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Old Thinker with a Big Future |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language |
| C．Chinese Culture for Westerners |
| D．Forgotten Wisdom in America DDCA |