Text messaging, or simply “texting”, which allows people to send and receive messages on mobile phones, becomes very popular today.
The advantages of texting are obvious. Texting helps to save money. If you have a few words to greet your families and friends on their birthdays or on some important festivals, sending messages can be cheaper than phone calling. Texting helps to save time. Even if you want to send a message to 100 people, you can do it one second. Texting helps you to “talk” to someone when he is too busy to answer the phone. Texting can also help you to “talk” to someone secretly if you don’t want others to hear what you are talking on the phone. These advantages are so amazing that many people are crazy about it. They hold mobile phones in hands all day long, send dozens of messages each day, and even text while driving or walking.
However, texting has its disadvantages. Junk（垃圾）messages may come into your mobile phone box now and then. When your phone box gets too full, you can’t receive any more messages. You may therefore miss some important information.
What’s more, if you don’t do texting properly, for example texting while driving or walking, it can be dangerous. It can cause injuries and even death. It is reported that about 6,000 people are killed and half a million were injured for this reason each year. In Fort Lee, a small town in New Jersey, USA, three people died because they walked into traffic while texting in 2011. Two researchers at Stony Brook University, New York found that texters are 60% more probably to have an accident than others. When people are texting, they don’t notice other people or things around them. To reduce traffic accidents, no drivers of the USA are now allowed to text while driving. About 32 countries have passed laws forbidding the use of mobile phones while driving.
Texting is a wonderful way of communication. However, only when we use it properly, can we fully enjoy the fun it brings.
How many advantages of texting are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
When your phone box gets full because of junk messages, what will happen?
| A．Your phone will break down. |
| B．Your phone can’t get through. |
| C．Your phone can’t get messages any more. |
| D．You lose contact with others. |
What did the researchers at Stony Brook University find?
| A．Texting can cause accidents more easily. |
| B．Texting while walking can cause death. |
| C．Calling while driving is easier to have accidents. |
| D．Many people were killed and injured. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. Drivers are allowed to text in the USA.
B. Text while walking is dangerous.
C. Junk texting cannot prevent you receiving messages.
D. The advantages of texting are not obvious.This passage is written to tell us that _______.
| A．we should do less texting |
| B．texting has many advantages |
| C．texting has many disadvantages |
| D．we should do texting properly |
My l4-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat at the same time in a second-hand clothing store. It stood out among big and old coats. It had beautiful tailoring and an unbelievable price: $28. I looked at my son and we both said nothing, but John’s eyes shone. Dark, woolen topcoats were popular with teenage boys, but they could cost several hundred dollars new. This coat was even better. John tried it on and turned from side to side, eyeing himself in the mirror. The fit was perfect.
John wore the coat to school the next day and came home with a big grin. “Did the kids like your coat?” I asked. “They loved it.” he said.
Over the next few weeks, John changed. He was polite, less argumentative, more thoughtful, and on the whole much happier. “Good dinner, mom.” he would say every evening. Without a word of objection he would carry in wood for the stove. One day when I suggested that he might start on his homework before dinner, John, who always put things off, said: “You’re right. I guess I will.” When I mentioned this incident to one of his teachers, she joked that the coat must have changed him.
John and I both know we should never mistake a person’s clothes for the real person within them. But there is something to be said for wearing a standard of excellence for the world to see, for practicing standards of excellence in thought, speech, and behavior, and for matching what is on the inside to what is on the outside.What does the author try to express in the first paragraph?
| A．The coat looked like a magical coat. |
| B．They were good at shopping. |
| C．The coat was a real bargain. |
| D．They had the same taste in clothes. |
What does the underlined word “grin” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．A wide smile. | B．A worried look. |
| C．A low spirit. | D．A joking voice. |
After John wore the new coat, the author found he _______.
a. was happier and better-behaved
b. received more praise from his teachers
c. was willing to follow suggestions
d. made rapid progress in study
e. would say sweet words to please her
| A．a, b, c | B．a, c, e |
| C．b, d, e | D．c, d, e |
What message does the author intend to deliver in the article?
| A．We should not judge people by their appearance. |
| B．Life is full of possibilities when we are young. |
| C．It’s beneficial to try different things in our lives. |
| D．What we wear could help shape who we are inside. |
Teenagers are often a difficult group. With all those hormones（荷尔蒙） flooding their bodies, they can be moody, unpredictable, and tend to make uncertain choices. But however confusing their teenage years are, kids can still be generally happy, depending on their lifestyle choices. According to a new research by British scientists, teens who don’t smoke, drink only moderately or not at all, and who don’t eat much junk food are likely to be happier than other teens.
The study looked at 40,000 British families and came up with some interesting findings. For example, kids who never drank alcohol were up to six times more likely to report higher levels of happiness than kids who drank. And teens who smoked were five times less likely to rate high on happiness charts compared to kids who don’t smoke. Same goes for diet and physical activity. The more fruits and vegetables kids eat, and the more hours they spend playing sports, the happier they are.
Now, of course this doesn’t mean that not smoking or drinking, and playing sports guarantees happiness. It could be that kids who have happy character tend to be more active and less addicted to drinking or smoking. And it could equally be the case that kids who are unhappy are more related to drinking and smoking and eating junk food.
Other studies have shown that exercise is a proven way to treat anxiety and depression. Future studies may support the idea that other healthful behaviors, including refraining(克制) from smoking, drinking, and eating too much junk, can avoid sadness and increase happiness, too.What can we learn from the text?
| A．Not smoking or drinking guarantees happiness. |
| B．Teens with flooding hormones can not be happy. |
| C．Playing sports can decrease teen’s unhappiness. |
| D．Unhappiness can certainly result in smoking and drinking. |
Which of the following might help teens quit anxiety?
| A．Smoking and drinking. | B．Taking exercise. |
| C．Eating junk food. | D．Going on a diet. |
Which can be the best title for the text?
| A．Ways to treat anxiety and depression. |
| B．Exercise and teenagers’ health. |
| C．Teenagers shouldn’t drink or smoke. |
| D．Teenagers’ lifestyle and their happiness. |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul's and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect, wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifty churches, among them was new St Paul's.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ______.
| A．many famous buildings were destroyed |
| B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C．some people lost their lives |
| D．the King's bakery was burned down |
Why did the writer cite (引用)Samuel Pepys’ words?
| A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
| B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
| D．To show that poor people suffered most. |
How was the fire put out according to the text?
| A．Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down. |
| B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed. |
| C．People managed to get enough water from the river. |
| D．The king and his soldiers came to help. |
Which of the following were reasons for the rapid spread (扩散)of the big fire?
(a) There was a strong wind.
(b) The streets were very narrow.
(c) Many houses were made of wood.
(d) There was not enough water in the city.
(e) People did not discover the fire earlier.
| A．(a) and (b) |
| B．(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) |
| C．(a), (b), (c) and (d) |
| D．(a), (b) and (c) |
Two students started quarreling at school. One student shouted dirty words at the other, and a fight began. What can be done to stop fights like this at school? In some schools, the disputants sit down with peer mediators(同龄调解者). Peer mediators are students with special training in this kind of problems.
Peer mediators help the disputants to talk in a friendly way. Here are some of the ways they use:
1) Put what you think clearly but don’t say anything to hurt the other. Begin with “I feel…” instead of “You always…”
2) Listen carefully to what the other person is saying. Don’t stop the other person’s words.
3) Keep looking at the other person’s eyes when he or she talks.
4) Try to see the other person’s side of the problem.
5) Never put anyone down. Saying things like “You are foolish” makes the talk difficult.
6) Try to find a result that makes both people happy.
Peer mediators never decide the result or the winner. They don’t decide who is right and who is wrong. Instead, they help the two students to find their own “win-win” result.The underlined word “disputants” refers to the students ________.
| A．who make peace | B．who give in | C．who are lazy | D．who quarrel |
When there is a fight at school ________.
| A．the peer mediators decide who the winner is |
| B．the peer mediators and the disputants talk together |
| C．the students who quarrel decide who the winner is |
| D．the two students sit down and listen to the peer mediators |
Peer mediators’ work is ________.
| A．to give lessons to disputants |
| B．to find out who starts a quarrel |
| C．to give students some special training |
| D．to help find a way to make both sides happy |
Which of the following ways is not used by Peer mediators in finding a “win-win” result?
| A．Listen carefully to what the other person is saying. |
| B．Try to see the other person’s side of the problem. |
| C．Never say things like “You are foolish” |
| D．Never keep looking at the other person’s eyes when he or she talks. |
In the past ten years, many scientists have studied the differences between men and women. And they all got the same answer: The sexes(性别) are different, because their brains are different. And this, the scientists say, makes men and women see the world in different ways.
Boys, for example, generally are better than girls at mathematical ideas. Boys also generally are better than girls at the kind of hand and eye movements necessary for ball sports. Girls, on the other hand generally start speaking earlier than boys. And they generally(通常) see better in the dark than boys and are better at learning foreign languages.
What makes men and women better at one thing or another? The answer is the brain. The brain has two sides connected by nerve(神经) tracks. The left side generally is used for mathematics, speech and writing. The right side is used for artistic creation(创造) and the expression for emotions(情感). In men and women, different areas in each side of the brain develop differently. In boys, for example, it’s the area used for mathematics. In girls, it is the area used for language skills. Another interesting difference is that the two sides of a man’s brain are connected by a smaller nerves than the two sides of a woman’s brain are.Which of the following is best to outline(概括) the article?
| A．Research on the brain. | B．Differences between men and women |
| C．People’s different brains. | D．Who Are Better, Boys or Girls |
________men and women think differently.
| A．Sex makes. | B．The different brains make |
| C．The different experiences make. | D．The influences of society make. |
According to the article, girls are generally better than boys at __ in your school.
| A．mathematics | B．physics | C．English | D．Chemistry |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The right side of brain in boys generally develops better than that in girls. |
| B．The left side of brain in girls generally develops better than that in boys. |
| C．Men are better than women in all things. |
| D．The area in girls’ brain used for language skills develops better. |