In a cold winter, a couple had to move out from the luxury villa because of bankruptcy. The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife. So she thought, “he doesn't love me anymore, he just cares his business...not me”.
One day, she began to take a bath, he stopped her at the door, "Let me take it first, OK?" "Why not let me shower first," she asked. "I was tired, sweetie, you take it later, OK?" She was totally depressed.
On a morose day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer, a few words blurred her eyes...it was his diary:
Today, I was quite sad, she asked me why I was always taking the bath first, and I said to her, I was exhausted. She was unhappy, in her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but how can I do? I wasn’t as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, there was only a shower in such a freezing winter. But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warm, so every time I rushed to the bathroom first. I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, at least1℃, 2℃or 3℃
Now I can't give her comfortable life, bring her the luxury restaurant, buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1℃love.Why was the husband always taking the bath first?
| A．Because he was tired from work. |
| B．Because he wanted to get the bathroom warmer. |
| C．Because he didn’t love her anymore. |
| D．Because he treated his wife not as well as usual. |
What does the underlined word “bankruptcy” in the first paragraph probably mean?
| A．crash | B．failure | C．moving | D．diseases |
The best title of the passage may be ______.
A trouble B. Husband and wife
C. A romantic love story D.1 ℃love
New research suggests that speaking more than one language may delay different kinds of dementia(痴呆), that is the loss of mental ability. In fact, researchers say, speaking two languages appears to be more important than the level of education in defending against dementias.
A study in India examined the effect of knowing more than one language in delaying the first signs of several dementias. Researchers studied nearly 650 people whose average age was 66. 240 of those studied suffered from Alzheimer's, the most common form of mental decline(下降). 391 of the subjects spoke two or more languages. Researchers found the dementias began about four-and-a-half years later in those who spoke two languages compared to those who spoke only one language. The level of education had no effect on the age at the first sign of dementia.
Thomas Bak, from the Center of Cognitive Aging at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who helped to organize the study, suggests that individuals who speak more than one language train their brains by moving back and forth between different words and expressions. He also believes this effort improves what scientists called executive(执行的) functioning, which often weakens in people with dementias. He states that researchers found there was no extra gain in speaking more than two languages.
Mr Bak says it does not appear important whether you learn another language at a young age or later in life. It's not something that “you missed the boat when you do not do it as a baby.” It is something that is still quite useful and powerful when you do it as an adult. The finding of the study is that________.
| A．learning more than one language can cure dementias |
| B．speaking two languages may delay kinds of dementias |
| C．the level of education matters in defending against dementias |
| D．people who suffer from dementias will lose mental ability |
The underlined word “subjects” refers to________.
| A．people who were studied in the study |
| B．notices that were put on about the study |
| C．questions that were asked in the study |
| D．methods that were used in the study |
According to Mr Bak, ________.
| A．the more languages one speaks, the less chance of getting dementias |
| B．people’s executive functioning often strengthens with age |
| C．when you learn one more language makes no difference |
| D．it is much easier to learn one more language at a young age |
This passage may probably be seen in________.
| A．a research plan | B．a health magazine |
| C．a book review | D．a business magazine |
When did you last go outside for sports? Some students might need a while to remember. But for students in Yangzhou University it is easy to remember as they need to run in the morning at least three times a week during their two terms. The university even uses fingerprint punch-in clocks(指纹签到机) to manage students’ records. However, some students still try to skip(不参加) morning running. To them, sports are just not important enough.
Now colleges are seeing a change in the student lifestyle from outdoor enthusiasts to indoor couch potatoes and Internet addicts. The Internet and various on-campus services, from food delivery to laundry, are leading to a student culture of staying in dormitories. A student can have every need met without leaving the dormitory.
In the past two years Zhang Yi, 20, a junior majoring in law at Yangzhou University, has never been outside for sports except during physical education class. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with sleeping late in the morning and wanting to stay in the dormitory in my spare time. I have more fun doing things on my computer than playing on the sports ground in wet clothes.” said Zhang.
“With social networking sites, online games and micro-blogging added to already tight schedules, sports are often the last thing to be considered.” said Cheng Jie, 21, a senior majoring in civil engineering at the Southeast University in Nanjing.
But Jin Yinghua, a professor at Beijing Sports University, said that sports are not only for keeping fit, but also an irreplaceable(不能替代的) “education” for students. Sports are not only a way for students to train their body, but also an important way to learn responsibility, teamwork and devotion.The first paragraph mainly tells us ________.
| A．the fingerprint punch-in clocks are widely used |
| B．some college students have poor memories |
| C．students cannot skip morning running any more |
| D．the problem of students skipping sports is serious |
According to Cheng Jie, college students ________.
| A．love sports more than anything else |
| B．prefer Internet games to sports |
| C．enjoy sleeping late in the morning |
| D．are too busy with study to do any sports |
Professor Jin thinks that _______________.
| A．sports play an important role in students’ over-round development |
| B．the most important goal for students to do sports is to keep healthy |
| C．universities should take tough measures in student management |
| D．the spirit of responsibility can be developed in more than one way |
The best title of the passage would be________.
| A．Morning running at colleges | B．A new college life |
| C．Sports losing attraction | D．P.E. class at colleges |
Have you heard about Post Office Cats in Britain? They are mouse hunters. The post office has actually employed cats since 1868. They are not employed to sort or deliver mail, of course, but to protect the mail and keep the population of mice under control. They make sure your morning post arrives free from damages caused by rats and mice.
London post offices were the first to try out the experiment. Within a few months the population of mice had shrunk sharply. Other post offices all over the country were soon using cats in the war against rats and mice as well. Within ten years the pay of the cats was improved from one and a half old pence a day to six or nine pence a day. Now the average rate of pay is about a few pounds a month.
Some of the hard-working cats have become quite famous. In 1980, a cat named Lucky stopped an attempted robbery in a Worcestershire post office on her own. As the two burglars made their way in through the window, Lucky started an attack and they fled empty-handed. Another excellent cat was Jerry, of Earls Court post office in London. He served the building for 16 years and was on duty for 24 hours every day. He drove all the mice away.
However, there are fewer cats employed by the post office than at any time in the past. With the faster movement of the mail and better surroundings, post office cats are not always needed. But many post offices still employ them and they become great friends with the postmen. According to the post office, there is no plan for their services to be discontinued in the foreseeable future. Cats were introduced to British post offices to ________.
| A．help sort and deliver mails and papers |
| B．guard the building against thieves |
| C．keep mails and papers undamaged |
| D．search for certain dangers in mails |
The underlined word “shrunk” in the second paragraph probably means “________”.
| A．decreased | B．increased | C．narrowed | D．expanded |
The cat named Lucky became famous because________.
| A．She served the post office for 16 years around the clock. |
| B．She alone drove two burglars away from the post office. |
| C．She protected mails from being bitten by mice. |
| D．She was employed to sort and deliver mail. |
We may learn from the last paragraph that________.
| A．the duty of the cats has been replaced by machines |
| B．all the post offices are now completely mice free |
| C．cats are now considered of little use in post offices |
| D．cats will still be seen in service for quite a long time |
Getting kids to share their toys is a never-ending battle, and forcing them to do so never seems to help. New research suggests that allowing children to make a choice to sacrifice their own toys in order to share with someone else makes them share more in the future. The new findings are published inPsychological Science.
These experiments were conducted by psychological scientists, Nadia Chernyak and Tamar Kushnir of Cornell University. They found that sharing things with others when they are given a difficult choice leads children to think of themselves as people who like to share. It also makes them more likely to act in a pro-social （亲社会的）manner in the future.
Previous research has explained why rewarding children for sharing can backfire. Children come to think of themselves as people who don't like to share since they had to be rewarded for doing so. Because they don't view themselves as "sharers", they are less likely to share in the future.
Chernyak and Kushnir were interested in finding out whether freely chosen sacrifice might have the opposite effect on kids' willingness to share. To test this, the researchers introduced five-year-old children to Doggie, a sad puppet. Some of the children were given a difficult choice: Share a precious sticker（贴纸） with Doggie, or keep it for themselves. Other children were given an easy choice between sharing and putting the sticker away, while children in a third group were required by the researcher to share.
Later on, all the children were introduced to Ellie, another sad puppet. They were given the option of how many stickers to share (up to three). The kids who earlier made the difficult choice to help Doggie shared more stickers with Ellie. The children who were initially faced with an easy choice or who were required to give their sticker to Doggie, on the other hand, shared fewer stickers with Ellie. Therefore, children did not benefit from simply giving something up, but rather from willingly choosing to give something up of value.
“You might imagine that making difficult, costly choices is demanding for young children or even that once children share, they don’t feel the need to do so again,” Chernyak says. “But this wasn't the case: once children made a difficult decision to give up something for someone else, they were more generous, not less, later on.” Chernyak concludes. _______ helps children to share more in the future.
| A．Rewarding children for sharing |
| B．Forcing children to share |
| C．Allowing children to share precious things willingly |
| D．Allowing children to share what they don’t need |
The underlined word “backfire” means _______.
| A．have an opposite effect | B．serve as a push |
| C．cause anger | D．avoid taking things back |
Those who were required to share give fewer stickers to Ellie because _______.
| A．they regret what they did | B．it’s not their own choice |
| C．Ellie is not as sad as Doggie | D．they like to share with a real person |
We can conclude from the passage that _______.
| A．parents will never find a way to get children to share toys |
| B．a gift should be given to make up for children’s sacrifice |
| C．children pretend to be generous when they are being observed |
| D．making difficult choices may influence sharing behavior |
Online grocery shopping was counted as the next great innovation to make our lives easier. In China more than 3,000 websites offer the service, but none have turned a profit.
Xiang Nian has had a hard day at the office but at least she can skip the trip to the grocery store. A text message on her phone lets her know the order she placed earlier in the day has been delivered to a locker outside her apartment.
"It’s really convenient for an office worker like me. My fresh products are waiting for me when I get home and can start cooking. No need to go to the supermarket any more," Xiang says.
One of the largest online supermarkets in Wuhan is Just-easy Fresh Produce. Over the past 3 years, the company has developed its online retail grocery business by guaranteeing fresh produce and an innovative delivery system. They've installed thousands of lockers in communitieshttp:// / around downtown Wuhan.
"We get an average of 8,000 orders per day. That's the most in China, I'm proud of it. We have placed over 20 thousand lockers in more than half of the communities in Wuhan and we plan to expand to all of them. Many e-commerce giants, like Taobao, are talking about cooperation with us," Jie Xiaofeng, manager of Wuhan Just-easy Agricultural Science & Technology Co., says.
While Just-easy may have thousands of customers, a staff of almost 300 and 40 delivery trucks, it's still operating in the red.
"There are over 3,000 companies selling fresh products online in China. But none is making a profit. It will take them at least 3 years before they make a profit. The major challenge is the cost of delivery. But they do have many advantages. The price of their goods is lower than the supermarkets," professor He Dehua at Huazhong Agricultural University, says.
A number of China's e-commerce giants are making moves into online grocery sales, with Taobao opening an online platform it calls "Cainiao". And traditional retailers(零售店) including Wal-Mart and Carrefour are also looking to start selling their produce online.
Many big B2C e-commerce players usually take fresh farm produce as the last category to add to their offerings. But now more and more large businesses have set their eyes on the industry. They want to prove the fresh food market is definitely suited to online sales. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The online grocery shopping is making our life easier. |
| B．Just-easy Fresh Produce is a pioneer of the online retail grocery business. |
| C．Conventional retailers are facing challenges. |
| D．None of the online grocery supermarkets has made a profit. |
The underlined part “it's still operating in the red” probably means _______.
| A．the present situation of the company makes them angry |
| B．the company is not making a profit |
| C．the company is very popular with customers |
| D．the staff of the company are aggressive |
What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?
| A．The fresh food market is definitely suited to online sales. |
| B．Fresh farm produce is the last category that people will buy online. |
| C．Online grocery sales have drawn the attention of e-commerce giants. |
| D．Traditional retailers choose to sell their produce on Cainiao. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards online grocery shopping?
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Indifferent. | C．Objective. | D．Supportive. |