When Taylor Swift first came to the attention of the public，she was a 17yearold newcomer who loved singing to her guitar.She seemed far more enthusiastic than skillful.
Four years later，Swift became a multiaward winner.This month，she was crowned “Woman of the Year” by Billboard magazine，the youngest singersongwriter ever to receive the honor.“Aged only 21，Taylor has already made a maior impact on music and has been an unbelievable role model for hopeful artists and young women everywhere，” said Bill Werde，Billboard’s director.
Werde’s_words_do_not_come_from_nowhere. Unlike many pop singers，especially those who do not write their own material，Swift has the power of turning her ideas into lyrics that will set people thinking.“Hidden beneath Taylor Swift’s notagirl，notyetawoman sweetness is a very skillful songwriting technique，” wrote Leah Greenblatt in an American magazine.
Songwriting，as Swift explains，is to cope with issues.“I tend to write about things that really impact me most.” There certainly seems to be something true and honest running through every one of the 14 songs on her album，Speak Now，about “the lessons and confusion and heartbreak and all the different things that go along with being 18,19 and 20.”
“For the audience too young to have experienced real passion or heartbreak，Swift’s songs are like a potential road map，promising things will work out OK，” commented Dorian ynskey in a British newspaper.
Now Swift is getting ready to go further and has so far written about 10 songs for her 2012 album，which is about feelings of growing up and becoming an adult.“They’re sad，if I’m being honest.”“They’re about my heartbreaks and my moving on.But more importantly，they are about achieving contentment.You’re not always going to be perfectly happy as you grow up.”What does the writer mean by saying “Werde’s words do not come from nowhere”？
| A．Swift stands out as a singer and songwriter. |
| B．Only Swift writes her own songs. |
| C．Swift begins to take interest in singing. |
| D．Swift decides to deal with problems in her new album. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Swift has the ability to write songs with deeper meanings. |
| B．Swift is both enthusiastic and skillful now. |
| C．Swift became a multiaward winner when she began to sing on the stage. |
| D．Swift’s album Speak Now has 14 songs. |
Taylor Swift’s 2012 album mainly records________.
| A．dream and reality | B．heartbreak and despair |
| C．pain and growth | D．problems and society |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Swift comes to people’s attention |
| B．Swift rises to fame |
| C．Swift wins many awards |
| D．Swift experiences real passion |
In meditation(冥想)，people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath . As they breathe in and out , they attend to their feelings . As thoughts go through their minds. they let them go. Breathe . Let go . Breathe . Let go
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. Three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a market change in how the brain allocates(分配) attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli( 刺激), like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice. everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain, It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.
In an experiment , 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day . A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period . Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers , their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number . Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number . as if letting it go , which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number , This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levision , who meditated for three months as part of the study . ”I am a much better listener, ” he said. “ I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying. ”
48. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to
A. feelingsB. minds C. peopleD. thoughts
49. Meditations manage their daily tasks better because they
A. are given less pressure B. allocate their attention better
C. have more stimuli for life D. practice them more frequently
50. In the experiment, volunteers doing meditation for longer hours
A. were more likely to catch both of the members
B. were used to memorizing numbers in groups
C. usually ignored the first number observed
D. paid more attention to numbers than to letters
51. The study proves that
A. meditation improves one’s health B. brain activity can be recorded
C. human attention can be trained D. mediators have a good sense of hearing
The Book of Life
So far, scientists have named about 1.8 million living species（物种）, and that’s just a small number of what probably exists on Earth. With so many plants, animals, and other living things coveting the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of grass is growing by the roadside or what kind of bird just flew by.
A soon-to-be-started Web site might help. An international team of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia （百科全书）of Life（EoL）. The project aims to list every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide.
To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases （数据库） that already exist. And eventually, in special sections of the site, non-scientists with specialized knowledge will come to help. Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input what birds they’ve seen and where. To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it.
As the EoL develops, you might find it useful for school projects. The site will feature （以……为特色）special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods. Another convenient feature of the EoL is that you’ll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interests, age, and knowledge.
It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describe and analyze species. The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new tool will speed up that Process.
60. The Web-based EoL aims to__________ .
A. find out what covers the earth B. list all living things on Earth
C. work out the number of birds D. save the existing plants
61. One characteristic of the EoL is that__________ .
A. it is run by school students B. it focuses on different types of grass
C. it provides different levels of information D. it allows non-scientists to review its data
62. In the last paragraph, "that process" means__________ .
A. analyzing species B. creating a new tool C. collecting data D. describing species
Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.
Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda（大熊猫）eats only one particular type of bamboo（竹子）. Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly（蝴蝶）will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet（多样化饮食）. The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.
Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life. 60. We can infer from the text that humans and animals _________.
A. depend on one sense in choosing food B. are not satisfied with their food
C. choose food in similar ways D. eat entirely different food
61. Which of the following eats only one type of food?
A. The white butterfly. B. The small bird. C. The bear. D. The fox.
62. Certain animals change their choice of food when ___________.
A. the season changes B. the food color changes
C. they move to different places D. they are attracted by different smells
63. We can learn from the last paragraph that __________.
A. food is chosen for a good reason B. French and British food is good
C. some people have few choices of food D. some people care little about healthy diet
There are warm tropical regions all over the globe, but only the Indians of the South American rain forests have formed the habit of sleeping in the open air. Long before they made painful acquaintance (相识) with Europeans, they had invented something that was unique on earth: the hammock.
Nobody really knows who first had the bright idea of making sleeping in the air the symbol of untroubled rest. The Indians see the hammock as a “gift of heaven (上天)”, something given to them a very long time ago.
In it the Indians pass away hot noon hours, napping or chatting. Swinging it to and fro (来回摆动) creates a cooling breath of air and keeps away insects. They work and play in hammocks, are born and die there.
Hung like a suspension bridge between heaven and earth, a hammock is dry while the soil is damp and is safe from most wild animals.
Hammocks have the advantage over beds in that they are easy to transport and take up very little space when they have been rolled up(卷起) . Indians never go on a journey without their hammocks, not even to their plantations.
76.The word hammock in this passage means _______.
A. a suspension cage which can be swung to and fro in the air
B. a seat hanging by two ropes from the branch of a tree
C. a suspension bridge in the South American rain forests.
D. a net hung between two supports and used as a bed.
77. When was the hammock invented and by whom?
A. The Indians had invented the hammock long before they came to South America.
B. The Indians had invented the hammock long before the Europeans came to South America.
C. The Europeans invented the hammock after they made acquaintance with the Indians.
D. The Europeans had invented the hammock before they went to South America.
78. Indians swing the hammock to_______.
A. pray to heaven for a gift B. keep away flies, mosquitoes and other insects
C. keep away wild animals D. all asleep quickly
79. According to the passage, hammocks _______.
A. cannot be rolled up B. are difficult to transport
C. are never brought to the plantations D. can be kept dry while the ground is wet
80. The passage is about _______.
A. the Indian way of living B. tropical regions
C. Indians' gift for the Europeans D. a portable bed
The tea gardens in Sri Lanka are actually large estates(种植园). The best tea usually comes from plants grown on high grounds, the cool hilltops with rows and rows of tea plants. The plants are about one metre apart. The plant is often pruned so that it remains only 60 to 90 centimetres high. Pruning is important because it encourages the growth of tender shoots, or young leaves. It is from these shoots that the best tea is got.
Practically all the tea pickers are women. The estates prefer to employ women pickers because they are more careful. Their thin fingers can easily remove the twin leaves and new shoots from the plant, which are the parts used for processing(加工) tea. The pickers carry large baskets into which they throw their pickings. A skilled worker can harvest between 9 to 14 kilogrammes of tea leaves a day. Usually new shoots can be picked from the plants about every ten or fifteen days.
Processing tea shoots into the familiar dry tea leaves requires great care and skill .There are various methods of processing depending on the type of tea required .For black tea ,the young green leaves are first spread out o shelves to dry. This process removes much of its water and the leaves become soft. After this ,the leaves are passed through heavy rollers .This operation will press the leaves for juices which give the tea both its colour and taste .Then the leaves are spread out on floors and left to ferment （发酵）under wet conditions. Fermentation develops the rich taste of black tea .The fermented leaves are then dried with a hot-air blower until they become rolled-up black leaves .The final step is to sort and grade them before the black tea is ready for sale to countries all over the world.
68.In the first paragraph ,the word “pruning” means .
A.regular cutting of the plants B.frequent watering
C.regular use of chemicals D.growing the plants high in the mountain
69.One of the reasons why women are employed to do the picking is that .
A.they work harder than men do in the picking
B.they can throw their pickings more easily into the baskets
C.their fingers fit them better for the job.
D.they can more easily find the twin leaves.
70.How many processing steps are mentioned in the last paragraph?
A.Three. B.Four. C.Five. D.Six.
71.What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To introduce various methods of tea processing.
B.To persuade readers to buy tea from Sri Lanka.
C.To tell a story that had happened in the tea gardens.
D.To inform readers of tea growing ,picking and processing.