Jumping across cities
Forget about expensive gyms; the new sport in cities is free-running. Since it started in a Paris suburb around 1995, free-running has attracted lots of fans in cities around the world. Instead of walking normally, free-runners jump over or around anything―cars, buildings, trees, or streetlights―in their way.
One of the sport’s inventors told our reporter how free-running started.
It was boring where we lived. There was nothing for us to do after school. We had done playground games like football and basketball when we were kids but we wanted something new and exciting. We started learning how to jump and run between buildings―and we loved it. Walking is a waste of time. Free-runners have to use their imaginations. Everything―a tree, a streetlight―is part of our outdoor gym. We’re like children because we have never stopped playing in the street.
The sport’s website has lots of rules, for example, don’t break people’s windows, don’t jump on flowerbeds and don’t be rude to people who want you to stop. Safety is also very important. You must start with the easy moves―you have to do thousands of small practice jumps before you try anything difficult. If you made only one mistake, you might hurt yourself badly.
A local person said, “It’s good that young people have something to do. But when they jump off buildings like cats, they sometimes frighten other people.”
Don’t try this at home: the basics of free-running
Blind Jump: a jump where you can’t see the landing spot.
Tic-tac: run and put your foot on a small step, go forward and jump over the next thing.
Basic Jump: run and jump, land on two feet while bending your knees. To finish roll into head-over-heels.
Cat Jump: run towards a wall, put both hands on the top of the wall and jump through your arms.
Free-running started __________.
| A．about twenty years ago | B．with the help of schools |
| C．in big cities of America | D．among famous sportsmen |
Free-runners shouldn’t ____________.
| A．use their imaginations | B．start with the easy moves |
| C．jump on flowerbeds | D．run between buildings |
According to the passage, free-running is a（n）__________sport.
| A．ancient | B．expensive |
| C．safe | D．exciting |
The purpose of this passage is to ___________.
| A．explain the importance of outdoor activities |
| B．introduce some information about free-running |
| C．warn children not to join in dangerous sports |
| D．advise people to do more exercise at home first |
When you are talking to somebody at a party, do you focus entirely on the person you are speaking with or does your attention keep jumping around the room to all the other people there? General1y, if the person is someone you really want to talk to, you will focus on him. Most other people will only get about half of your attention.
You may think that this is OK, because if you don’t really want to talk to him, then what does it matter if you don’t give him your full attention? Consider two things. First, you may just not realize the importance of that conversation. If you are at a networking meeting and you hope to meet the CEO of Company X, but you end up talking to someone who has a low-level job at a different company, then you may let your attention wander (走神) as you speak to him. But maybe you don’t realize that this person has already met the CEO and could introduce you. Do you think he will do that if he feels you don’t really care about speaking to him? This doesn’t mean you need to spend the whole time talking to him. Five or ten minutes of real attentive (专心的) conversation can be worth 30 minutes to an hour of partial attention.
Second, whether you want to speak to someone is based on the situation. You can love your wife, but if she tries to talk to you while you are watching something you like on TV, where is your attention going? Make your own decision, but if you want her to feel valued, give her your 100% attention. The nice thing is that in many cases you can give her your attention for a few minutes and then return to what you were doing. You miss very little, she feels valued, and all is good.The author’s opinion is made believable mainly by ________.
| A．giving examples | B．using figures | C．asking questions | D．description |
The second paragraph mainly tells you that ________.
| A．you should focus on whoever you are talking to |
| B．you should be interested in everyone at a party |
| C．you can refuse to talk to someone you don’t like at a party |
| D．you should be patient with everyone at a party |
A person who has a low-level job probably ________.
| A．would like to talk to you | B．is the one you’re looking for |
| C．wants to make friends with you | D．is well worth focusing on |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Always be friendly to others at a party. |
| B．Improve your communication skills by focusing on others. |
| C．It is important for you to be active at a party. |
| D．You should respect your wife at any time. |
There is an English saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter had similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes. The group that tolerated (忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny programme. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.Doctors have proved the following EXCEPT that .
| A．smiling does good to health | B．laughter can be tolerated |
| C．there is a way to reduce pain | D．laughter can work the muscles in the feet |
The main idea of the passage is that .
| A．laughter and physical exercise have similar effects on the human body |
| B．smile can produce the same effects as laughter |
| C．pain can be reduced by laughter |
| D．laughter is the best medicine |
The students who tolerated the pain for the longest time.
| A．listened to different radio programmes | B．could produce a kind of chemical |
| C．don’t have stress or pain | D．listened to a funny programme |
The underlined word “diminish” in the second paragraph is similar to “’’.
| A．test | B．stop | C．reduce | D．increase |
（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
注意：请将答案转写到答题卡上，写在本试卷上无效。
If you’re finding it tough to land a job, try expanding your job-hunting plan to include the following tactics：
Set your target. While you should always keep your options open to compromise, you should also be sure to target exactly what you want in a job. ____71____
Schedule plentiful interviews. Use every possible method to get interviews—answering advertisements，using search firms, contacting companies directly, surfing the Web, and networking. ____72____
Follow up.____73____ Then, some weeks later, send another brief letter to explain that you still have not found the perfect position and that you will be available to interview again if the original position you applied for—or any other position—is open. Do this with every position you interview for, and you may just catch a break.
Make it your full-time job. You can’t find a job by looking sporadically(偶发地). ____74____ If you’re unemployed and looking, devote as much time as you would to a full-time job. If you have a job while you’re looking, figure out an organized schedule to maximize your searching time.
Network vertically. In the research stage of your job hunt, talk to people who are on a level above you in your desired industry. They’ll have some insights that people at your own level won’t have, and they will be in a good position to hire you or recommend you to be hired.
____75____ Looking for a job is one of the toughest things you will ever have to do. Maintain your confidence, stay persistent, and think positively, and eventually you will get a job that suits you.
| A．You have to make time for it. |
| B．Confidenceinyourselfisthefirststepontheroadtosuccess. |
| C．Even if a job is not perfect for you, every interview can be approached as a positive experience. |
| D．Even if someone does not hire you, write them a thank-you note for the interview. |
E. Agoodbeginningishalfdone.
F. Keep your spirits up.
G. A specific job hunt will be more efficient than an aimless one.
Agence Rrance-Presse--- French doctors this week carried out the world’s first operation on a human in zero gravity, using a specially adapted aircraft to create conditions in space.
During a three-hour flight from Bordeaux in southwest France, the team of surgeons and anesthetists (麻醉师) successfully removed a benign tumor (良性瘤) from the forearm of a 46-year-old volunteer. The experiment was part of a program backed by the European Space Agency to develop techniques for performing robotic surgery aboard the International Space Station or at a future Moon base.
“Now we know that a human being can be operated on in space without too many difficulties,” says the team leader Dr. Dominique Martin.
Under normal ground conditions, the operation would be performed under a local anesthetic. Without gravity, the surgeon’s work is harder and the patient’s body reacts differently. Blood doesn’t pump in the same way.
The custom-designed Airbus 300 aircraft performed a series of parabolic swoops (抛物线飞行), each creating between 20 seconds of weightlessness. The process was repeated 32 times.
Fixed inside a custom-made operating block, three surgeons and two anesthetists worked during these periods, with their instruments held in place with magnets around the patient’s bed. The next part of the program is to carry out a remote-controlled operation using a robot controlled from the ground by satellite. This experiment should take place within a year, Martin says.
Anesthetist Dr. Laurent de Coninek says that zero-gravity surgery offers huge promise for space exploration, although it would at first be limited to treating simple injuries. Today more than 400 people have already traveled into space. The chances of injuries occurring during missions will become even greater and to bring a wounded person back to the earth for treatment is both risky for them and expensive.
67. What would be the best title for the test?
A. A Special Operation for Doctors B. First Operation on the Moon
C. World’s First Operation in Zero Gravity D. An Important Experiment for Doctors
68. What’s the purpose of the operation?
A. To have an experiment on space operation. B. To cure the patient.
C. To do it at the request of the patient. D. To reduce the danger of operation on earth.
69. It is difficult for doctors to do operations in space because________________.
A. the patient’s illness will be more serious B. the patient has no feeling about pain
C. the patient’s body reacts differently D. the patient’s flood will stop flowing
70. The last paragraph mainly wants to tell readers________________.
A. there are many people injured in space B. it is necessary to do the experiment
C. it is risky to travel in space D. there is no need to bring patients in space to the earth
MEN VS. WOMEN
COMPARING NICKNAMES
If Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose.
If Mike, Charlie, Bob and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla (怪兽), Peanut-Head and Scrappy.
EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Charlie, Bob and John will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t want.
BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, comb, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn.
The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337... A man would not be able to identify most of these items.
ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren’t looking, men kick cats.
FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change and she does.
DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
A man will only dress up for weddings and funerals.
NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate (恶化) during the night.
OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely (含糊地) aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no sense in two people remembering the same thing.
63. This passage is_________________.
A. a story B. an advertisement C. a report D. a humor
64. The purpose of this passage is________________.
A. to inform the readers of some secrets between men and women
B. to remind the readers of the big differences between men and women
C. to amuse the readers using some interesting examples
D. to show that men perform better than women in our daily life
65. When the girls get their bill, they take out the pocket calculators_________________.
A. to make sure they won’t be cheated by the servant B. so that they can share the bill equally among them
C. because they want to know what time it is now D. if they forget to bring their mobile phones
66. What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. A man doesn’t know what to do before he gets married.
B. A man is worried about his future job after he gets married.
C. Anything unexpected will probably happen to a man after he gets married.
D. It’s not easy for a man to find a good job as a woman thinks.