When Dekalb Walcott III was just 8 years old, his father, a Chicago fire chief, let him tag along on a call. Dekalb says a lot of kids idolized basketball player Michael Jordan when he was growing up in Chicago in the 1990s. Not him.
"I wanted to be like Dekalb Walcott Jr.," he says of his father.
So when his dad asked if he wanted to go on that call with him when he was 8, Dekalb was excited. "I'm jumping up and down, saying, "Mom, can I go? Can I go?' "
The experience changed Dekalb's life, he tells his dad on a visit to StoryCorps. "My eyes got big from the moment the alarm went off." the younger Dekalb says. " This is the life that I want to live someday. "
Now 27, the younger Dekalb is living that life. He became a firefighter at 21 and went to work alongside his dad at the Chicago Fire Department. Before his father retired, the pair even went out on a call together — father supervising（监督） son.
"You know, it's everything for me to watch you grow," his father says. But he also recalls worrying about one particular fire that his son faced.
"I received a phone call that night. And they said, 'Well, your son was at this fire.' I said, 'OK, which way is this conversation going to go?' " Dekalb Walcott Jr. recalls.
"And they said, 'But he's OK. And he put it out all by himself. Everybody here was proud of him.'
"And the word went around, 'Who was out there managing that fire? Oh, that's Walcott! That's Walcott up there!' So, you know, moments like that, it's heaven on Earth for a dad."
Dekalb Walcott Jr. retired in 2009. The younger Dekalb says he's proud of being a second-generation firefighter. "You know, it makes me look forward to fatherhood as well, because I'm definitely looking forward to passing that torch down to my son." The underlined phrase tag along in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．put out fire |
| B．watch basketball |
| C．follow his father |
| D．ask his mother’s permission |
Dekalb Walcott III determined to become a firefighter at the age of _________
| A．8 | B．21 | C．27 | D．35 |
What did Dekalb Walcott Jr want to do before he was told that the fire was put out?
| A．Go on with the conversation |
| B．Put it out all by himself |
| C．Supervise his son |
| D．Go to the fire scene |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Dekalb Walcott Jr is proud to be a second-generation firefighter. |
| B．Dekalb Walcott III wants his son to become a firefighter too. |
| C．Dekalb Walcott Jr wants to pass the torch to Dekalb Walcott III. |
| D．Dekalb Walcott III is proud that his son has become an excellent firefighter. |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．Passing The Torch: A Firefighter Dad's Legacy |
| B．Putting Out Fire: A Challenging Job for Father and son |
| C．Dekalb Walcott III: A Second-generation Firefighter |
| D．Dekalb Walcott Jr.: A Chicago Fire Chief |
The poorer mental function seen among alcoholics，many of whom also regularly smoke cigarettes，may be partly due to the long term effects of nicotine(尼古丁)，new research suggests.
“People who are also smokers are at a much higher risk，” Dr.Jennifer M.Glass of the University of Michigan's Addiction Research Center said. In her study，“Cigarette smoking has a bad effect on IQ and thinking，” she said.
This finding may seem counterintuitive(违反直觉的)，since many smokers show that they feel quicker and focused after smoking. Indeed，research shows that improved mental functioning is one of the immediate effects of nicotine exposure. Chronic(慢性的)smoking，however，is known to have the opposite effect. Studies show that up to 87 percent of alcoholics smoke cigarettes.
Yet，few studies have looked into cigarette smoking as a factor that might explain the cognitive(认知的)lack reported among alcoholics. To search for that association，Glass and her colleagues examined brain function among 172 men from the same area，including 103 men who abused alcohol. The team found that men with higher scores on the lifetime alcohol problems scale(LAPS)and those who reported a higher number of pack years of smoking both had lower IQ scores.
Upon further research，the researchers found that smoking also appeared to be independently associated with weaker word and space reasoning.
Thus，though smoking did not account for all of the decreased mental functioning observed among the alcohol abusers，it did seem to account for some of the effects，the report indicates. What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Cigarette smoking contributes to decreased IQ and thinking. |
| B．Alcohol abuse is to blame for the poorer mental function. |
| C．Most of the alcoholics are also heavy smokers. |
| D．Non-smokers mostly have higher IQ scores. |
The underline sentence “Chronic smoking, however, is known to have opposite effect” in paragraph 3 suggests:
| A．Chronic smoking can improve mental functioning. |
| B．Chronic smoking has an immediate influence on mental functioning. |
| C．Chronic smoking has side effect on mental functioning improvement. |
| D．Chronic smokers feel quicker and focused after smoking. |
From the passage we can learn that .
| A．cigarette smoking is not related to reasoning |
| B．nicotine exposure can improve mental functioning temporarily |
| C．the long term effects of nicotine cause alcoholics |
| D．men with lower scores on the LAPS have lower IQ scores |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．many alcoholics suffer a great deal from smoking |
| B．giving up smoking is significantly challenging for the alcoholics |
| C．alcoholics who do not smoke much have higher IQ scores |
| D．other factors can cause the poorer mental functioning besides smoking |
The purpose of this passage is .
| A．to warn us of the bad effects of smoking on IQ and thinking |
| B．to tell us why people are addicted to smoking |
| C．to give us some advice on how to improve IQ and reasoning |
| D．to compare the bad effects of alcohol and cigarette |
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The manager expects to meet and talk successful applicant in Paris in June and July.What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To introduce a language school in Japan. |
| B．To hire language teachers to work in Japan |
| C．To describe working conditions in Japan. |
| D．To make clear the requirements for Japanese teachers |
we know from the text that who are going to Japan will__________.
| A．only teacher English in Osaka |
| B．receive a degree from a university |
| C．have free accommodation |
| D．get trained for the job |
Before going to Japan , you need _________
| A．to see the manager of NOVA France |
| B．to take some computer courses |
| C．to find a place to live |
| D．to write a letter to Japan |
If you want to work in Japan you should __________
| A．have some working experience |
| B．know how to use computer |
| C．present good teaching plans |
| D．speak several language |
Who owns the large American companies that produce cars, washing machines, and television sets? They are owned by a large group of people called stockholders.
A company must have money to build factories and to buy machinery. To get this money, it sells shares of stock（股份）. Each share of stock is a share in the ownership of the company. The person who buys a share of stock becomes a part owner of the company. He is called a stockholder. A company can have thousands of stockholders. Sometimes a very large company is owned by millions of stockholders.
Few persons can afford to buy a whole company, but the average individual can become part owner of a business. He can save his dollars and buy a share of stock in a large company. A person does not have to be wealthy to be a stockholder.
When a company makes money, each stockholder may receive a dividend(股息) check, which is his share of the profits（利润）. Parts of a company’s profits are not paid out to the stockholders. This money is used by the company so it can grow larger. If the company does well, its shares of stock become more valuable.
More than 20 million people own shares of stock in America’s companies. By owning stock, they are helping America’s businesses grow. They are also putting their money to work to earn more money. The story makes you think that _____.
| A．a farmer is not allowed to buy the shares of stock |
| B．if a company does well, its shares of stock have no value |
| C．a person may own a part of the company that makes TV sets |
| D．the only people who can buy stocks are those who are wealthy |
A dividend is the stockholder’s share of the _____.
| A．company’s profits |
| B．company’s savings |
| C．company’s income |
| D．products made by the company |
Why do companies keep part of their profits?
| A．They want to buy the shares of stock, too. |
| B．They cannot find all the names of their stockholders. |
| C．They use the money to help the company grow larger. |
| D．They think they have sent their stockholders enough money. |
A Brooklyn man who was quarreling with his girlfriend yesterday threw a dog off the balcony（阳台） of her 23rd-story apartment in TriBeCa, killing it, the police said.
The man, John Jefferson, 43, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, has been charged（指控） with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and animal cruelty, the police said. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center yesterday for psychiatric evaluation（精神病鉴定）, they said.
The incident began shortly before 11 a.m., the police said, when Mr. Jefferson went to visit his girlfriend, Eugenia Miller, 41, at her apartment on 80 North Moore Street. She had filed a police report on Friday accusing（控告）Mr. Jefferson of stealing from her, but yesterday she allowed him in and they began arguing, the police said.
Mr. Jefferson threatened Ms. Miller with a knife, and she called 911, the police said. When officers arrived at her door, she ran into the hallway and Mr. Jefferson stayed in the apartment, they said. Mr. Jefferson began throwing Ms. Miller’s things off the balcony, first the television, the air-conditioner and clothes, then her dog, Ribsy, the police and witnesses said.
The dog had lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade and was well liked by children. “He was like a person and he would hang out with us guys or go visit kids at the basketball court,” said neighbors. The man was taken to hospital because _____.
| A．he killed a pet dog |
| B．he was badly injured |
| C．his girlfriend asked to do so |
| D．he needed a psychiatric evaluation |
John Jefferson was accused of the following except _____.
| A．his arguing with his girlfriend |
| B．criminal possession of a weapon |
| C．animal cruelty |
| D．robbery |
From the passage we know that _____.
| A．the dog was badly hurt and sent to hospital |
| B．the dog was popular in the neighborhood |
| C．the dog was able to play basketball |
| D．the dog never went out |
Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.
Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources.I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sian Beilock: “what we think happens is when students put it down on paper , they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it’s not as had as they might think it was before and, in essence(本质上), it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they’re actually taking a test.”
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.
Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these testing situations.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?
| A．Test anxiety can improve students’ performance to some degree. |
| B．Students’ attention and memory resources run out when worried. |
| C．Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried |
| D．Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test. |
Which of the following if TRUE?
| A．In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better. |
| B．In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse. |
| C．Some college students are highly anxious test-takers while others are not in the tests. |
| D．The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test. |
What does the underlined phrase “popping up” mean?
| A．Giving out | B．Fading away | C．Becoming clearly | D．Appearing suddenly |
what is most probably Sian Beilock?
| A．A psychology professor. | B．A philosophy researcher. |
| C．A politics professor | D．A tutor |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．It is a common practice for students being worried before a test. |
| B．Being worried before tests does harm to students’ performance. |
| C．Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears. |
| D．It is important for students to overcome test anxiety. |