You may not pay much attention to your daily lift ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, the US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He is known as the “Lift Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette(礼仪) is sort of odd(奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They (Lifts) are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, lift users unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want—it's your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally(对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person, it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple—look down, or look at their phones.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don't have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people, we have about an arm's length of distance between us. And that's not possible in most lifts.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed(解释) as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,”she said.The main purpose of the article is to ________.
A.remind us to enjoy ourselves in the lift |
B.tell us some unwritten rules of lift etiquette |
C.share an interesting but awkward lift ride |
D.analyze what makes people feel awkward in a lift |
According to Gray, when people enter a lift, they usually ________.
A.turn around and greet one another |
B.look around or examine their phones |
C.make eye contact with those in the lift |
D.try to keep a distance from other people |
Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in a lift? (The point in the chart refers to one person)
Eleven-year-old Evan Green doesn’t want to save just one tree-he wants to save a whole rainforest!
In the Redwood City, Calif., a boy started a group called the Red Dragon Conservation Team four years ago to do just that. So far, the team’s members have raised $4,500. That’s enough to purchase and protect more than 16 acres of rainforest in Costa Rica through the Center for Ecosystem survival.
Every year, thousands of square miles of rainforest are destroyed worldwide. Logging(伐木)and farming are mostly likely to blame, scientists say. The loss is terrible news for animals and people. Even though rainforests cover less than 2 percent of the earth, they are home to half the world’s plants and animals. Rainforests also provide water and help control the earth’s climate.
Evan’s work to save the rainforests recently earned him a Barron prize for Young Heroes. The prizes are given to children or teenagers who have made a positive difference in the world. Evan’s goal is “to save enough rainforests to last forever”. He won’t have to do it alone. His actions have already inspired other kids to chip in. One girl asked for donations instead of presents on her birthday. She raised $850. Other kids are starting their own conservation teams.
Evan says everyone can help the planet-even by taking small steps such as recycling. He and his family try to make a difference every day. “We recycle, we try to limit our garbage… we’ve been walking a little more, and we buy local food,” Evan said.
48. How much does it cost to buy and protect an acre of rainforest in Costa Rica?
A. About $4,500.B. About $850.C. About $280.D. About $1,000.
49. The underlined phrase “chip in” in Paragraph 4 probably means “________”.
A. look atB. contribute money
C. ask for birthday presentsD. donate gifts
50. What Evan said in the last paragraph suggests that _________.
A. we can all do something to protect the earth
B. actions speak louder than words
C. we should learn to recycle from now on
51. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Evan Green-a famous teenager B. The Red Dragon Conservation Team
C. Rainforests are being destroyed D. Boy gathers support for rainforests
第三部分阅读理解(共两节,有16小题,满分32分)
第一节:阅读下面短文并做每篇后面的题目。从A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。(本节有11小题;每小题2分,共22分)
A quarrel at home may result in you falling ill. Don’t laugh, it’s true. Family matters including living habits and even the way we speak have a big effect on our health, doctors say.
Wang Xiaoyu, a Senior 2 girl from Xichang, Sichuan Province, fainted (晕倒) in class when she heard her classmates quarrel at the top of their voices. Quarrels between her parents also put the girl into a coma. It is because she is suffering from depression (抑郁症), caused by bad relations at home, doctors explained.
“We don’t get sick or stay well by ourselves,” says Dr Robert Ferrer from the US. Ferrer shows that family forces may explain up to a quarter of health problems, in his recent research.
The genes you get from your family may cause illness. If one of your parents has a heart attack, your risk of being affected may double. But effects on health are not only written in our DNA.
Unrelated people who live under the same roof also get similar problems. Diet, lifestyle and environment affect our health, too.
Ferrer’s research also found that if teenagers feel they are ignored or unimportant at home they are more likely to get sick.
We may never fully understand all the effects that families have on our health. But just as individual (个别的) problems can have effects on others, a small improvement can have big benefits, Ferrer said.
45. Which of the following can best explain why Wang Xiaoyu fainted in class?
A. Because her classmates often quarreled in class.
B. Because her parents used to quarrel.
C. Because of her depression caused by bad family relations.
D. Because her classmates shouted loudly at her.
46. According to Dr Ferrer, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. We get sick or stay well by ourselves.
B. Only the genes we get from our family have a big effect on our health.
C. Our health has nothing to do with diet, lifestyle and environment.
D. Teenagers who are ignored at home get sick more easily than those who are not.
47. The best title for this passage is ________.
A. Family relations. B. The reasons why we get sick.
C. Happy family makes you healthy.D. A research about teenagers’ health.
EVENTS
Long March exhibit
The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the Long March. On show are more than 220 photos and 40 items that explain with pictures how the communist Red Army drew back from its besieged(被围困的) bases in Jiangxi Province and fought its way to northern Shanxi Province in the mid-1930s. Explanations are all in Chinese. The show will end on November 20.
Time: 10:00 am-4:00 pm
Address: 1286 Hongqiao Road
Admission: 8 yuan for Chinese /15 yuan for foreigners
Thai elephants
Eight elephants from Thailand are entertaining visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, balancing on a beam, dancing and blowing a mouthorgan. People are encouraged to have a tug-of-war(拔河比赛)with the animals or lie on the ground and have the elephants walk over them. The elephants give three shows a day at 9:30 am, 3:30 pm and 8:00 pm and there is an additional show at l:30 pm at weekends. The show will end on November 15.
Address: 189 Daduhe Road
Admission: 30-40 yuan
Dancing dolphins
Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, swaying their bodies to music, kissing people and doing math by tapping their tails have made the dolphinarium in Peace Park an attraction for children. Seals and sealions also perform.
Hours: 10:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 7:30 pm
Admission: 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children.
51. The passage is from_____________.
A. newspaper B. story book C. history book D. geography magazine
52. If you go to visit the Long March exhibit with an Australian, how much will you payaltogether for the admission?
A. 16 yuan. B. 23 yuan. C. 30 yuan.D. 20 yuan.
53. At the exhibition, you will see ______.
A. many articles written by famous writers
B. many things left by the Red Army
C. books on the Long March
D. many photos and pictures about the Long March
54. Which of the following is NOT done by the Thai elephants?
A. Riding bicycles. B. Blowing a mouth-organ.
C. Doing math. D. Having a tug-of-war with people.
55. The dolphinarium in Peace Park is a hall where you can see ______.
A. not only dolphins but also seals and sea lions perform B. only dolphins perform
C. only seals and sea lions perform D. only seals perform
If you dream of going someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather, a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up. The planet, named OCLE-TR-56b, has temperatures of more than 3,000 °F. “This is the hottest planet we know about,” says Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, a scientist who led the discovery team. “It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets(细沫).”
The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists before. It is in the Milky Way but it is not in our solar system. The new planet moves around a star much like our sun, however. Scientists discovered the planet by using a new planet-searching method, called “transit technique”. They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star, causing the star’s light to dim. Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away. “We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like Earth,” says Sasselov.
48. We can infer from the passage that____.
A. there is iron on the new planet
B. we could go to the new planet in winter
C. the star could block our view of the new planet
D. scientists are studying the weather on the new planet
49. The “transit technique” can_____.
A.help dim the light of a star B. help scientists with a searchlight
C .help discover a bee on a planetD .help find a planet moving before its star
50. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. New Planet-searching Technique B. New Distant Discovery
C. Space Searching D.Dream Planet
If you fly non-stop across Canada from Newfoundland in the east to British Columbia in the west, you can arrive before you set out, that is, by the time shown on clocks in British Columbia. Canada is such a big country that people in British Columbia may be having their breakfast while those in Newfoundland are perhaps already beginning their lunch. So the country is divided into five time zones, each an hour behind in time from the west zones to the east. For example, when it is 12 noon Atlantic Time in Newfoundland and the Madritime Provinces, it is 11a.m. Eastern time in most of Quebec and Ontario. Winnipeg, Manitoba, lies in the middle of the Central Time Zone, here it is 10 a.m. In most of the Prairies and the eastern half the mountains it is 9 a.m. Mountain Time while the west coast region has Pacific Time and it is 8 a.m.
45. The underlined word “non-stop” in the first sentence may mean ____.
A.to stop everywhere B.no stopping in Canada
C.without stopping before the final stopD.to stop in Newfoundland
46. Which of the following is not the name of a place in Canada?
A. British Columbia. B. Newfoundland.C. Quebec. D. Atlantic Time.
47. According to the passage, the place named Quebec is to the ___ of the place named Winnipeg.
A. east B. west C. south D. north