In 2010, 700 million people huddled together in front of their television sets to watch the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain. Even more are expected to tune in to this year's contest, which kicks off on June 12th with a match between Brazil and Croatia in Sao Paulo. Brazil are the runaway favourites to win the tournament, with bookmakers offering odds of less than three to one on the home team winning the championship．Many experts agree that the country will benefit from a strong home advantage, as local crowds roar on the Seleqao．How much does playing on home turf fealty affect a team's performance?
Sports scientists have come up with all sorts of theories to explain why playing at home helps. In 2007 a study investigated the influence of crowd noise on referees in the English football Premier League. It showed that some were more likely to flash yellow cards and award penalties against touring players than the hosts, because they relied on the split-second rise in the home crowd's roar as a reminder to determine if a tackle deserved punishment. In the most recent season of the Spanish football Riga, two-thirds of all penalty kicks were awarded to the home team.
In the latest English football season, the top 20 clubs enjoyed a home success rate of 50%, while their victory rate on the road was 32%. In 12 of the past 19 World Cups the host nation has made it to the semi-finals and six times it has gone on to win. The effect can be seen in other sports too． A Before the start of the London Olympics in 2012, UK Sport, a government agency, studied the results of more than 100 big tournaments across 14 Olympic sports. B As it turned out, Britain bettered its 2008 performance by winning 18 more medals（10 of them gold), an improvement of 38% . C At the Beijing games, China won 59% more medals than it had done at the 2004 Athens games. D Russia topped the medal table in Sochi：in the previous winter Olympics it had come sixth．
Given these numbers, it is not surprising that teams have poured money into maximizing their home advantage. For example, Brazil has spent a considerable fortune on, if somewhat leisurely, a programme of stadium construction and renovation. In all its home advantage is worth the equivalent of a 0.6-goal headstart in every match, according to Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. Like most others, Goldman predicts that Brazil will triumph this year. Other countries' fans will have to hope for a miracle-and perhaps bid to stage the Cup on their own home turf next time.What does "some" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Crowd noises. | B．Referees. |
| C．Touring players. | D．Host players. |
Put the following sentence in the most appropriate place marked A, B, C, or D It predicted that the London home advantage would boost Britain's medal haul by as much as 25％．
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Fans may raise their noise levels to cheer their teams up. |
| B．Brazil will win because of its strong ability. |
| C．It is a waste of time and effort for countries to hold sports games. |
| D．The visiting teams have a good chance of winning. |
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’re a Chinese, you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump(树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’s not about going to a temple to burn some incense(香) hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups; those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper,” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”, in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners, my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence? After reading about Professor Wiseman’s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’s point?
| A．Make the best of a bad job. |
| B．Rome was not built in a day. |
| C．All is not gold that glitters. |
| D．A good heart conquers ill fortune. |
What do you know about Oprah Winfrey?
| A．She became famous through her family background. |
| B．She is a British talk show host. |
| C．She became successful by her own effort. |
| D．She was very lucky and seldom suffered setbacks in her life. |
The writer quoted the Chinese tale of a farmer in order to show __________.
| A．man can conquer nature |
| B．luck is in your own hand |
| C．bad luck can turn into good |
| D．you should not sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you |
Recently there was a major discovery in the scientific research—the mapping of all DNA in a human gene（基因）is complete. Couple of years ago, this seems an impossible task for scientist to accomplish. All this progress in science leads us to believe that the day, when the human being will be cloned, is not far away. Human cloning has always been a topic of argument，in terms of morality or religion.
Taking a look at why cloning might be beneficial, among many cases, it is arguable that parents who are known to be at risk of passing a genetic limitation to a child could make use of cloning. If the clone was free of genetic limitations. Then the other clone would be as well. The latter could foe inserted in the woman and allowed to ripen to term. Moreover，cloning would enable women, who can’t get pregnant, to have children of their own.
Cloning humans would also mean that organs could be cloned, so it would be a source of perfect transfer organs. This, surely would be greatly beneficial to millions of unfortunate people around the world that are expected to lose their lives due to failure of single(or more) organ(s）.It is also arguable that a ban on cloning may be unlawful and would rob people of the right to reproduce and limit the freedom of scientists.
Arguments against cloning are also on a perfectly practical side. Primarily, I believe that cloning would step in the normal “cycle”of life. There would be a large number of same genes., which reduce the chances of improvement，and, in turn, development-the fundamental reason how living things naturally adapt to the ever-changing environment. Life processes failing to do so might result in untimely disappearance. Furthermore, cloning would make the uniqueness that each one of us possesses disappea. Thus, leading to creation of genetically engineered groups of people for specific purposes and, chances are, that those individuals would be regarded as “objects” rather than people in the society.Scientists haven’t 100 percent. guaranteed that the first cloned will be normal. Thus this could result in introduction of additional limitations in the human “gene-pool”.
Regarding such arguable topics in “black or white” approach seems very innocent to me personally. We should rather try to look at all “shades: of it. I believe that cloning is only legal if its purpose is for cloning organs, not humans. Then we could regard this as for “saving life” instead of “creating life”. I believe cloning humans is morally and socially unacceptable.Which of the following is true according to the passage？
| A．Genetic limitation will be beneficial for some women |
| B．A large number of genes will prevent us from developing |
| C．Prohibition of cloning might limit the freedom of scientists |
| D．First cloned humans might be normal according to scientists |
What’s the author’s opinion on cloning?
| A．Cloning should be entirely banned |
| B．Cloning should be used in creating life |
| C．Cloning will take away the right to reproduce |
| D．Cloning is acceptable if it is used for cloning organs |
Where can you read this article?
| A．In a story book. | B．In a magazine. | C．In a science fiction | D．In a brochure |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage
He’s out there somewhere, an instant icon in the records of American conflict, the final big-game hunter. But a puzzle, too, his identity would be kept a secret for now, and maybe forever.
He is the unknown shooter. The nameless, faceless triggerman who put a bullet in the head of the world’s most notorious（臭名昭著的）terrorist, Bin Laden.
He’s likely between the ages of 26 and 33, says Marcinko, founder of the “SEALs Team 6” that many believe led the attack on Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He’ll be old enough to have had time to hurdle the extra training tests required to join the counter-terrorism unit, yet young enough to stand the body-punishing harshness of the job. The shooter’s a man, it’s safe to say, because there are no women in the SEALs. And there’s a good chance he’s white, though the SEALs have stepped up efforts to increase the number of minorities in their ranks, Marcinko and Smith say.
He was probably a high school or college athlete, Smith says, a physical specimen who combines strength, speed and wisdom. “They call themselves ‘tactical athletes,’” says Smith, who works with many future SEALs in his Heroes of Tomorrow training program in Severna Park. “It’s getting very scientific.”
Marcinko puts it in more conventional terms: “He’ll be ripped,” says the author of the best-selling autobiography “Rogue Warrior.” “He’s got a lot of upper-body strength. Long arms. Thin waist. Flat stomach.”
On this point, Greitens departs a bit. “You can’t make a lot of physical assumptions,” says the author of “The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL.” There are SEALs who are 5 feet 4 and SEALs who are 6 feet 5, Greitens says. In his training group, he adds, there were college football boys who couldn’t hack it; those who survived were most often men in good shape, but they also had a willingness to show their concerns in favor of the mission.
The shooter’s probably not the crew-cut（平头）, neatly shaven ideal we’ve come to expect from American fighting forces. “He’s bearded, rough-looking, like a street naughty boy,” Marcinko supposes. “You don’t want to stick out.” Marcinko calls it “modified grooming standards.”
His hands will be calloused（长老茧）, Smith says, or just rough enough,” as Marcinko puts it. And “he’s got frag in him somewhere,” Marcinko says, using the battlefield shorthand for “fragments” of bullets or explosive devices. This will not have been the shooter’s first adventure. Marcinko estimates that he might have made a dozen or more deployments（部署）, tours when he was likely to have dealt with quite a number of dangerous situations, getting ready any time for explosive devices or bullets.Which of the following is most likely to be the title of the passage?
| A．Who shot Bin Laden? | B．What do the SEALS do? |
| C．How can boys be SEALS? | D．What SEALS are like? |
We can say for sure according to the passage that ___________.
| A．the shooter will eventually be revealed in the Press |
| B．the writer is a person who is curious about the shooter |
| C．the writer is a detective who tries to arrest the shooter |
| D．the shooter is a strong man with a pair of rough hands |
Which of the following are the names of writers mentioned in the passage?
①. Marcinko ②. Greitens ③. Smith ④. Abbottabad
| A．①④ | B．③④ | C．②③ | D．①② |
Here’s this week’s list of four open jobs throughout the local area. Whether you’re unemployed and need a job or you are just sick of the one you have, Roswell Patch wants to help. We know new jobs can be hard to come by these days, which is why we’ll try to post a selection of jobs we’ve found in the area on the site each week. Happy hunting!
Part-time Spanish Instructor-World Language Institute, Inc. – Roswell.
World Language Institute, Inc. in Roswell is currently hiring a part-time, native-speaking Spanish instructor. Applicants must be able to pass a background check and drive a 15-passenger bus to pick up students from several schools, from 2 p. m. – 6 p. m. Monday-Friday. The position pays $ 10 per hour. More information about the job is available online.
Experienced Servers – Chill’s – Alpharetta
Chili’s in Alpharetta is seeking experienced servers to add to its team. Qualifications will include being clean and neat and having great attitude and customer service skills. The pay is $ 2.13, plus tips. Stop by the store to fill out an application. More information about this position is available online.
Registered Nurese-North Fulton Regional Hospital-Roswell
North Fulton Regional Hospital is looking for a RN/Registered Nurse to fill a 12-hour night shift. Applicants must be registered and previous hospital experience is preferred. More information about the position is available online.
Software Engineer-ControlScan-Alpharetta
ControlScan in Alpharetta is hiring a software engineer. Applicants should have five or more years of relevant experience, as well as advanced knowledge of computer technology. Pay is commensurate（相称）with experience. More information about the position can be found online.Where can we most probably rend the passage?
| A．In a newspaper. | B．On a website. | C．In a magazine. | D．In a textbook. |
What does the underlined word "sick" mean?
| A．Ill. | B．Absent. | C．Bored. | D．Unfamiliar |
World Language Institute, Inc. is looking for____.
A. a school bus driver. B. a full-time teacher
C. a Spanish teacher D a Spanish managerWho will mainly work at night?
| A．Jane, hired by North Fulton Regional Hospital. |
| B．John, hired by World Language Institute. Inc. |
| C．Robert, hired by ControlScan. |
| D．Sally, hired by Chili’s. |
There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.
In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.
An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.
In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste（阶级） may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To outline contrasting types of economic systems. |
| B．To explain the science of economics. |
| C．To argue for the superiority of one economic system. |
| D．To compare barter and money-exchange markets. |
In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.
| A．valuable | B．concrete | C．absolute | D．reliable |
According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.
| A．rapid speed of transactions | B．misunderstandings |
| C．inflation | D．difficulties for the traders |
According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?
| A．Individual households. | B．Small businesses. |
| C．Major corporations. | D．The government. |
Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion（标准）for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?
| A．Family background | B．Age |
| C．Religious beliefs. | D．Custom |