I wasn’t surprised when I read that actress Helen Hunt recently stated that she would never allow her young daughter to become a child star. Ms Hunt is the daughter of a Hollywood technical director, and grew up in Hollywood. Now in her late 40s, she started acting and modeling when she was eight and has probably seen a lot over those years in show business.
She has had a successful career. She earned four Golden Globes and four Emmys. She also attained the top honor of her profession when she won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in the 1992 movie, As Good As It Gets. Given those accolades, Ms Hunt is successful. There is no doubt that her early experiences as a child star prepared her for what has been an outstanding adult career. Given those achievements, why would this star declare she’ll never allow her daughter, now at the age of six, to follow in her footsteps?
Everyone familiar with the entertainment scene is aware of the reasons for her attitude. Recent tabloid (小报) news headlines featuring the troubles of former child stars, among them Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the late Gary Coleman, may answer the question. Although Ms Hunt managed to become a successful grown-up star, she apparently believes she’s an exception.
What Ms Hunt may be suggesting is that many very young stars go through unnatural childhoods on movie and TV sets. While they’re earning big incomes, they’re so pampered (纵容) by directors and praised by fans; they may get false impressions that their lives will always be that way. Then, within a few years, when faced with reality, they’re hurt and confused. After all the overwhelming affection, they find they can’t deal with the problems. That’s often when drugs and alcohol take over their lives.
Helen Hunt has some other reasons why she doesn’t want her daughter to be in the entertainment business. Many child stars can never make a successful transition to meaningful adulthood. However, as with many Hollywood movies, I believe there are both good and bad scenes about how it can be played out in real life.According to the passage, Ms Hunt _________.
| A．started acting and modeling when she was a little girl |
| B．has been acting for about 30 years |
| C．is the daughter of a famous actor |
| D．started singing when she was eight |
The underlined word “accolades” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_________”.
| A．difficulties | B．awards |
| C．salaries | D．opinions |
The author thinks Helen Hunt’s success is mainly due to _________.
| A．her hard work |
| B．the help of a technicaldirector |
| C．her experiences as a child star |
| D．her talent and good luck |
Helen Hunt wouldn’t allow her daughter to become a child star because she thinks _________.
| A．child stars often take drugs and alcohol |
| B．being a child star may ruin her future |
| C．child stars aren’t able to solve their problems |
| D．it is difficult to succeed as a child actor |
From the passage we can conclude that _________.
| A．few child stars will succeed in the future |
| B．there is no way to save the entertainment business |
| C．the author has a different opinion about child stars |
| D．meaningful adulthood only belongs to non-child stars |
Flight cancellations(取消) and loss of luggage can ruin even the best-planned holiday. The key to a stress-free trip is having a backup plan.
Fly non-stop. The worst problems involve connections, so it is important to take non-stop flights whenever possible. If you do have to make a connection, try to route through a southern city, where snowstorms and de-icing delays will be less likely. Always allow at least two to three hours for flight connections.
Check the weather. Check the weather in your connecting city, not just the arrival and departure city. If your departure flight is cancelled because of weather, you can go home or back to your hotel. Airlines promise to get you on the next available flight, not the next flight. That could be several days later on a sold-out holiday weekend.
Go early. The earlier in the day you fly, the better your chance of getting rebooked the same day after a missed connection. It will also put you ahead of stranded(滞留的) passengers who arrive later.
Rebook immediately. As soon as your flight is delayed or cancelled, get on the phone and rebook your flight instead of waiting at the ticket counter. If your rebooking is delayed, call or ask your travel agent to find a seat on another carrier, and then ask your original carrier to endorse your ticket to the new airline. Airlines are not required to do this but often do. Learn more at www. dot. gov/ airconsumer/ fly-rights.
Ship bags. A few days before your flight, ship suitcases or holiday gifts to your destination by a documented express service. It’s preferable to losing bags because of re-routed flights and sometimes cheaper than paying airline overweight bag fees.
Know your rights. Airlines are not required to compensate passengers for delayed or cancelled flights, but it never hurts to ask for goodwill vouchers(折扣) for meals, taxis or a room.When making a flight connection, it’s common that you’ll___________.
| A．stop in the south |
| B．choose a good city without snowstorm |
| C．be trapped in the storm |
| D．wait for two or three hours |
The suggested way for you to rebook your flight is___________.
| A．through the phone |
| B．by waiting at the ticket counter |
| C．by changing another airline |
| D．by surfing the Internet |
According to the passage, we can infer____________.
| A．it will take long to rebook the tickets |
| B．your luggage is easy to be lost |
| C．you will pay more for your overweight luggage |
| D．with the same ticket you can take the next flight |
The underlined word “compensate” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “___________”.
| A．pay | B．ask | C．host | D．treat |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．The Worst Problem in the Trip. |
| B．The Preparation Before the Flight Trip. |
| C．How to Book the Plane Ticket. |
| D．How to Plan the Holiday. |
When I was two years old, something happened which I have never forgotten. It was early spring, and there was a light mist over the trees and fields. The other young fellows and I were feeding at the lower end of the field when we heard the distant cry of dogs.
The oldest among us lifted his head to listen. “There are the hounds(猎犬)”, he said, and immediately raced off. The rest of us followed him to the top of the field where we could see several fields beyond.
Soon the dogs were all racing down the field next to ours, making a loud “yoyoyoyo” sound. After then came men on horses, some in green coats. Suddenly, the dogs became silent and ran around with their noses to the ground.
“They’ve lost the smell of the hare.” said the old horse. “Perhaps it will escape.” But the dogs began their “yoyoyoyo” again and came at full speed towards our field. Just then a hare, wild with fear, ran towards the trees. The dogs jumped over the stream and ran across the field, followed by the huntsmen. Six or eight jumped their horses over the stream, close behind the dogs. Before the hare could get away, the dogs were upon her with wild cries. We heard a terrible scream, and that was the end of the hare. One of the men picked her up and held her by the leg. She was covered in blood, but all the huntsmen seemed pleased.
I was so greatly surprised that at first I did not see what was happening by the stream but when I did look, I saw a sad sight. Two fine horses were down, one in the stream struggling to stand up and the other on the grass with one of his legs broken. One rider, who seemed unhurt, was climbing out of the water, but the other lay quite still. “His neck is broken,” said my mother. “I can’t understand why men are so fond of this sport. They often hurt themselves and ruin good horses, all for one hare that they could get more easily in other ways. But we are only horses, and don’t know why men do these things.”
They carried the dead rider to our master’s house, and then came back to the black horse on the grass. The animal was in great pain and one of his legs was broken. Someone ran to our master’s house and came back to the horse with a gun. Soon after there was a loud bang and a terrible cry, and the black horse did not move any more.Whatdoes“I”inthepassagereferto?
| A．A scared hare. | B．Ayounghorse. |
| C．Afierce dog. | D．A bravehunter. |
Whichwordcanbeusedtodescribemytruefeelingatthesceneofthehunting?
| A．Sad. | B．Pleased. | C．Angry. | D．Delighted. |
Themenhuntedthehareatthecostofthelivesof____________.
| A．oneriderandonehorse |
| B．tworidersandtwohorses |
| C．sixoreighthuntsmenandadog |
| D．theoldesthorseandahuntsman |
Thebesttitleforthepassagewouldbe____________.
| A．WhataPoorHare |
| B．MyTerrible ChildhoodMemory |
| C．A Black Horse |
| D．SceneryintheField |
The writer probably holds the view that ____________.
| A．hunting is a nice outdoor activity |
| B．it is dangerous to hunt wild animals |
| C．hunting dogs are good helpers to huntsmen |
| D．human beings should treat animals well |
One summer I was driving from my hometown of Tahoe City, California, to New Orleans. In the middle of the desert, I came upon a young man standing by the roadside. He had his thumb out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him. There was a time in the country when you’d be considered a stupid person if you passed by somebody in need. Now you are a fool for helping. With gangs, drug addicts, murderers, thieves everywhere, “I don’t want to get involved” has become a national motto.
Several states later I was still thinking about the hitch-hiker(免费搭车的人). Leaving him standing in the desert did not bother me so much. What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision. I never even lifted my foot off the accelerator(加速器).
Does anyone stop any more? I wondered. I recalled Blanche DuBois’s family line: “I have always depended on the kindness of the strangers”. Could anyone rely on the kindness of the strangers these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey from coast to coast without any money, relying only on the good will of his fellow Americans. What kind of Americans would he find? Who would feed him, shelter him, and carry him down the road?
The idea interested me.
So I decided to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny. It would be a cashless journey through the land of the almighty dollar. I would only accept offers of rides, food and a place to rest my head. My final destination would be Cape Fear in North Carolina, a symbol of all the fears I’d have to conquer during the trip.
I rose early on September 6, 1994, and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge with a 50-pound pack on my back and a sign displaying my destination to passing vehicles: “America”.
For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4,223 miles across 14 states. As I traveled, folks were always warning me about someplace else. In Montana they told me to watch out for the cowboys in Wyoming; in Nebraska they said people would not be as nice as in Iowa. Yet I was amazed by people’s readiness to help a stranger, even when it seemed against their own best interests. Why did the author drive past the young man in the desert without stopping?
| A．Because he failed to notice this man. |
| B．Because he was driving too fast. |
| C．Because he was afraid of being cheated. |
| D．Because he thought the young man didn’t need help. |
What was it that made the author upset?
| A．Making the decision of not offering help so easily. |
| B．Leaving the young man alone in the desert. |
| C．Being considered a fool. |
| D．Keeping thinking about the young man. |
What is the structure of the text?
| A．①—②③④—⑤—⑥⑦ |
| B．①②—③④—⑤⑥⑦ |
| C．①②—③④⑤⑥—⑦ |
| D．①②③—④—⑤⑥⑦ |
The author decided to travel without a penny in order to ___________.
| A．find out how long he could survive without help |
| B．figure out how strangers thought of his plan |
| C．go through the great difficulty in surviving unexpected environment |
| D．find out whether strangers would offer help to him |
The following part might probably___________.
| A．describe how the author fooled the strangers |
| B．describe how strangers went out their way to help the author |
| C．explain why people refused to help strangers |
| D．explain how the author overcame his difficulties on the way |
When scientists accidentally killed what turned out to be the world’s oldest living creature, it was bad enough. Now, their mistake has been worsened after further research found it was even older – at 507 years.
The ocean quahog, a type of deep-sea clam, was dredged (捕捞) alive from the bottom of the North Atlantic near Iceland in 2006 by researchers. They then put it in a fridge-freezer, as is normal practice, unaware of its age. It was only when it was taken to a laboratory that scientists from Bangor University studied it and concluded it was 400 years old.
The discovery made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. However, by this time, it was too late for Ming the Mollusc(软体动物), named after the Chinese dynasty when its life began. Unfortunately researchers who calculated Ming’s age killed it instantly by opening its shell.
The researchers opened the ancient clam up to judge its age by counting growth rings inside. But the rings were so close together that scientists ended up having to count the rings on the outside to be accurate, leading CBS journalists to point out that if scientists had just started there, Ming could have lived on. Now, after examining the quahog more closely, using more advanced methods, the researchers have found the animal was actually 100 years older than they first thought.
Dr Paul Butler, from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now.” The mollusc was born in 1499 – just seven years after Columbus discovered America and before Henry VIII had even married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in 1509.
A quahog’s shell grows by a layer every year, in the summer when the water is warmer and food is plentiful. It means that when its shell is cut in half, scientists can count the lines in a similar way that trees can be dated by rings in their trunks.
Jan Heinemeier, associate professor at the University of Denmark, who helped date Ming, told Science Nordic: “The fact that we got our hands on a 507-year-old animal is incredibly fascinating, but the really exciting thing is of course everything we can learn from studying the mollusk.”At first, the scientists found that _____________.
| A．The ocean quahog got a deadly disease |
| B．The growth rings inside were so close together |
| C．it was accurate to count the growth rings outside |
| D．The ocean quahog was 400 years old |
Why did the scientists open the ancient clam up?
| A．To count the growth rings outside of the clam. |
| B．To study how old the clam was. |
| C．To see the structure of it. |
| D．To give an immediate operation on it. |
The sixth paragraph is mainly about_____________.
| A．How to calculate the age of a tree |
| B．Why a quahog’s shell grows by a layer each year |
| C．How to calculate the age of a quahog |
| D．Why a quahog likes it when the water is warmer |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The researchers have got the right age of the ocean quahog. |
| B．The mollusc was born after Columbus discovered America. |
| C．The ocean quahog was named after the Chinese dynasty. |
| D．A quahog’s shell grows by a layer every season. |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A magazine of marine life. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A biography. | D．A science fiction. |
Hacking our senses to boost learning power
Some schools are pumping music, noises and pleasant smells into the classroom to see if it improves exam results. Could it work? Why do songs stick in our heads? What does your school smell like? Is it noisy or peaceful?
It might not seem important, but a growing body of research suggests that smells and sounds can have an impact on learning, performance and creativity. Indeed, some head teachers have recently taken to broadcasting noises and pumping smells into their schools to see whether it can boost grades. Is there anything in it? And if so, what are the implications for the way we work and study?
There is certainly some well-established research to suggest that some noises can have a harmful effect on learning. Numerous studies over the past 15 years have found that children attending schools under the flight paths of large airports fall behind in their exam results. Bridget Shield, a professor of acoustics (声学) at London South Bank University, and Julie Dockrell, from the Institute of Education, have been conducting studies on the effects of all sorts of noises, such as traffic and sirens (汽笛), as well as noise generated by the children themselves. When they recreated those particular sounds in an experimental setting while children completed various learning tasks, they found a significant negative effect on exam scores. “Everything points to a bad impact of the noise on children’s performance, in numeracy, in literacy, and in spelling,” says Shield. The noise seemed to have an especially harmful effect on children with special needs.
Whether background sounds are beneficial or not seems to depend on what kind of noise it is — and the volume. In a series of studies published last year, Ravi Mehta from the College of Business at Illinois and his colleagues tested people’s creativity while exposed to a soundtrack made up of background noises — such as coffee-shop chatter and construction-site drilling — at different volumes. They found that people were more creative when the background noises were played at a medium level than when volume was low. Loud background noise, however, damaged their creativity.
Many teachers all over the world already play music to students in class. Many are inspired by the belief that hearing music can boost IQ in later tasks, the so-called Mozart effect. While the evidence actually suggests it’s hard to say classical music boosts brainpower, researchers do think pleasant sounds before a task can sometimes lift your mood and help you perform well, says Perham, who has done his own studies on the phenomenon. The key appears to be that you enjoy what you’re hearing. “If you like the music or you like the sound — even listening to a Stephen King novel — then you do better. It doesn’t matter about the music,” he says.
So, it seems that schools that choose to prevent disturbing noises and create positive soundscapes could enhance the learning of their students, so long as they make careful choices. Yet this isn’t the only sense being used to affect learning. Special educational needs students at Sydenham high school in London are being encouraged to revise different subjects in the presence of different smells — grapefruit scents for maths, lavender for French and spearmint for history.The four questions in the first paragraph are meant to ________.
| A．create some sense of humour to please the readers |
| B．provide the most frequently asked questions in schools nowadays |
| C．hold the readers’ attention and arouse their curiosity to go on reading |
| D．declare the purpose of the article: to try to offer key to those questions |
What does the conclusion of the studies of noise conducted by Bridget Shield and Julie Dockrell suggest?
| A．Peaceful music plays an active role in students’ learning. |
| B．Not all noises have a negative impact on children’s performance. |
| C．We should create for school children a more peaceful environment. |
| D．Children with special needs might be exposed to some particular sounds. |
Ravi Mehta’s experiment indicates that ________.
| A．students’ creativity improves in a quiet environment |
| B．we may play some Mozart music while students are learning |
| C．a proper volume of background noises does improve creativity |
| D．noise of coffee-shop chatter is better than that of construction-site drilling |
Towards the positive impact of appropriate background sound and smell on students’ learning and creativity, the author’s attitude is ________.
| A．ambiguous | B．doubtful | C．negative | D．supportive |
Which of the following is most likely to follow up the research findings?
| A．Experts’ research into other senses that can improve students’ grades. |
| B．More successful examples of boosting learning power by using music. |
| C．Suggestions for pumping lots of pleasant smells into school campuses. |
| D．Debates on whether noises can really have positive effect on students’ performance. |