The Ancient Town of Fenghuang, one of China’s most well-known ancient towns, was under water as heavy rain hit the center of the country, with tens of thousands of people leaving from the area. Heavy rain and floods(洪水) lasted for the past few days. Waters in the nearby Tuojiang River rose by almost one meter above warning level(警戒线), causing heavy rainstorms. More than 120,000 local people and tourists have been helped to leave there because of the terrible disaster. And more than 4,000 shops in the town have been shut. Several bridges on the Tuojiang River have been damaged or destroyed. Water has flowed(流) into many bars, restaurants and hotels in its ancient town, and electricity in the ancient town has been cut off. About 128,000 people have been affected by the floods. Though the heavy rains have stopped, but the popular tourist spot remains closed for local people’s safety.
A shoe shop owner named Kuang said the flood was the worst the town had experienced. “The floods came so quickly that I didn’t have time to move the shoes,” he said sadly.
“The flood has led to Fenghuang old town becoming a water town.” said a post on a discussion page on the topic set up on Sina Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter.
“We could only live in an old factory now where many homeless people have to stay together. The crowded space is full of sadness.” Tang said.
At least 14 people were killed in flooding in Hunan Province and the neighboring province of Jiangxi and region of Guangxi last month, Xinhua reported.Why did many people try to leave the Ancient Town of Fenghuang?
| A．Because of the heavy snow. |
| B．Because of the serious flood. |
| C．Because of the homeless people. |
| D．Because of the crowded space. |
What does the underlined word “disaster” mean?
| A．大雪 | B．灾难 | C．河流 | D．地震 |
How many people were affected by the flood?
| A．120,000. | B．About 128,000. |
| C．More than 4,0000. | D．14. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The flood was not serious at all. |
| B．Fenghuang the ancient town is a water town in Hunan Province. |
| C．This flood which hit Fenghuang is the worst the town has experienced. |
| D．No one died in this flood. |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．The Famous Ancient Town of Fenghuang |
| B．Floods Hit the Ancient Town of Fenghuang |
| C．Fenghuang Is a Wonderland |
| D．Help the Homeless People |
Just when scientists think they have discovered and recorded every species of insect that crawls the earth they find something new. Earlier this month, Peter Jager, the head of Frankfurt’s Senckenberg Research Institute reported the discovery of a unique eyeless spider.
The creature that has a leg span (跨度) of six centimeters and a body size of just twelve millimeters was found in a cave inside the tiny nation of Laos, in Southeast Asia. It was identified as a member of the Huntsman spider, a large family that consists of 1100 species. However, the other members of the family all have eyes. The spider is the first one that has no eyes. They believe that the kind of spider has adapted to the fact that they do not really need the eyes to such a degree that they have dispensed with them altogether.
But they are not the only creature to have done that. Over the years, scientists have discovered completely blind cave fish, and even a freshwater crab, which happens to live in the same cave as this eyeless spider!
Surrounded by Burma and China on the northwest, Vietnam on the east, Cambodia on the south and Thailand on the west, the landlocked nation of Laos is filled with a large number of new and exotic (新奇的) species. In the last few years researchers have discovered the Saola—never-before-seen antelope-like creature, a small deer species called muntjacs, a tiny stripped rabbit and a rock rat that was thought to have been extinct 11 millions years ago. In addition to that it is also home to over one hundred species of large mammals ranging from tigers to macaques and over 165 species of amphibians (两栖动物) and reptiles like the terrible King cobra and the noisy Tokay gecko, a permanent resident inside most Laos households.
64. Which of the following is the best title of passage?
| A．Laos full of a large number of exotic species |
| B．Laos popular with plenty of strange species |
| C．Every species of insect discovered and recorded by scientists |
| D．World’s first eyeless spider discovery in Southeast Asia. |
65. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us about the unique eyeless spider?
| A．The eyesight, identification and family members. |
| B．The size, identification and the reason for being eyeless |
| C．The body, species and living environment |
| D．The size, identification and the species |
66. The underlined part “dispensed with” (in 2nd Para) means _________.
| A．got rid of | B．put up with | C．carried away | D．taken no notice of |
Worried about how many calories you will get in that piece of pizza, chocolate cake or bag of chips? A new iphone application Mealsnap may help. Users just need to take a picture of the meal with the phone, and it will give a calorie read-out almost immediately.
Mealsnap was developed by DailyBurn, a health social network that focuses on helping its users lead healthier lifestyles. It has created several other health and diet-related iphone applications. The applications gives users a quick reply. To do that, it matches the taken picture to a databank containing the calorie information of nearly 500,000 kinds of food. Users then get the range of calories for the meal that is photographed.
We started with something simple — an apple. A couple of minutes later the application replied that it was an apple and between 64 and 96 calories. More impressive was the reply we received after sending a photo of mixed salad bowl. Mealsnap replied that the bowl contained “yellow rice with corn, boiled eggs and beans” and that the food was between 532 and 798 calories.
Mr. Smith, director of DailyBurn, said that usual calorie counting needed a long time, but that the application made it easier to know the calories in food. That’s why it is so popular among those who are trying hard to lose weight.
In addition, Mealsnap can serve as a food diary. No need to write down what they’ve eaten, the photos will be stored. Then users can keep a visual log (记录). Mr. Smith said: “It’s like a food journal, but easier. All you do is to take the picture. The simple act of recording something can cause a psychological change that can help people on their health journey. Knowing the calorie range makes me think more about what I’m eating.
60. The purpose of DailyBurn is to _______.
| A．help people have a healthy life |
| B．make iphone more popular |
| C．help people find ways to lose weight |
| D．persuade people to buy iphone products |
61. We can know from the passage that Mealsnap is ________.
| A．a camera | B．a phone | C．a calculator | D．an application |
62. What can be learned from the third paragraph?
| A．Mealsnap can also tell what the food is. |
| B．Mealsnap is only useful for simple things. |
| C．The result of Mealsnap isn’t always right. |
| D．Mealsnap needs a long time to show the calorie range. |
63. Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Mealsnap iphones work as a health signal |
| B．Mealsnap iphones offer you a health signal |
| C．Mealsnap iphones — the best-selling phones |
| D．Mealsnap iphones count your calories |
I never thought I would have a life-changing experience at Wal-Mart.
Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn’t moving as quickly as I wanted, and I glanced toward the cashier. There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he’s an old guy!
For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How’s it going?” But he did something different—he actually listened to people. Then he would respond to what they had said and engage them in brief conversation.
I thought it was odd (古怪的). I have grown accustomed to people asking me how I was doing simply out of robotic conversational habit. After a while, you don’t give any thought to the question and just say something back. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live,” and someone would reply, “Have a great day!”
But that wasn’t the end. He gave them the change, walked around the counter, and extended his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked the customers in the eyes. “I sure want to thank you for shopping here today,” he told them. “You have a great day. Bye-bye.”
The looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. There were smiles and some sheepish grins (咧嘴一笑). All had been touched by his simple gesture—and in a place they never expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.
Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name, Marty.
56. The checkout line the writer was standing in moved slower than expected because ________.
| A．the cashier couldn’t work as fast as others |
| B．there were some big purchases |
| C．the cashier did more than scanning the items |
| D．the writer was not patient enough |
57．According to the writer, when common people ask you “How’s it going?”________.
| A．they don’t really care what you may answer |
| B．they are just practicing their conversation ability |
| C．they are asking about your private information |
| D．they don’t expect to hear any negative answers |
58．What was most customers reaction on Marty’s behaviors?
| A．They thought it priceless. | B．They were in some way moved. |
| C．They thought it awful and odd. | D．They felt somewhat annoyed.. |
59．What does the writer intend to express through the text?
| A．Our everyday life is always full of surprises. |
| B．Most customers enjoy being treated this way. |
| C．Being different is a good way of doing business. |
| D．A little positive action can make a big difference. |
[1] Scientist proves better busy than doing nothing, research has found. Keeping the mind occupied with tasks—no matter how meaningless—keeps off negativeemotions, the study found.
[2] However, the bad news is that humans seem born to be lazy in order to save energy, according to Professor Christopher Hsee, a behavioural scientist at Chicago University.
[3] In a study 98 students were asked to complete two surveys. After they had completed the first they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or at a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever choice they chose, they received a chocolate bar. Two-thirds (68 per cent) chose to take a shortcut. Those who had taken the walk reported feeling happier than those who had stayed put. Prof Hsee concluded __________________ helped keep people happy.
[4] He said the findings, reported in the journal Psychological Science, had policy guidance. "Governments may increase the happiness of idle（闲散的）citizens by having them build bridges that are actually useless", he suggested.
[5] At the individual level, he advised: "Get up and do something. Anything. Even if there really is no point to what you are doing, you will feel better for it." He added, "By the way, thinking deeply or busy with self-reflection counts as keeping busy, too. You do not need to be running around—you just need to be busy, either physically or mentally."What is the purpose of the text? (no more than 8 words)
____________________________________________________________________________Why did two-thirds (68 per cent) choose to take a shortcut? (no more than 8 words)
____________________________________________________________________________Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words. (no more than 2 words)
____________________________________________________________________________What does the word “it” in Paragraph 5 probably refer to? ( no more than 2 words)
____________________________________________________________________________What is the main idea of the last paragraph? (no more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
The education of thousands of children with reading and sight trouble is being held back because of a lack of awareness of their legal rights, say campaigners.
They are calling for greater efforts to increase awareness of the rights of such children to have text books in design other than standard (标准) print. The campaign is being supported by five times Olympic gold medalist, Sir Steve Redgrave, who has reading trouble.
Pupils have the right to receive text in another way, and parents can take action under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) if they feel their children are being treated in a different way through a lack of support. But new research suggests 89 per cent of print disabled pupils and their parents are unaware of software which changes standard print into other substitutes like combined text and audio files (音频) which can be read or listened to.
Sir Steve has teamed up with software company Dolphin Computer Access to raise awareness of software turning tools. He said: "I recognize that schools have competing priorities (优先权) for their resources (资源), but I would like to see a much greater effort on the part of the government and schools to raise awareness among parents that these additional solutions exist and that their children have a right to use them."
Mike Foster, Dolphin's local MP in Worcester, is backing the campaign. "There is clearly an issue to solve concerning software for special needs. I'll be asking ministers what steps can be taken to improve the situation", he said.What is the best title of this text?
| A．Awareness of legal rights among parents | B．Campaign started for disabled children |
| C．Problems of disabled children | D．Steve — Olympic gold medalist |
Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “backing” in Paragraph 5?
| A．holding back | B．objecting to | C．supporting | D．controlling |
Most print disabled pupils and their parents
________.
| A．don’t know anything about such software |
| B．must cooperate with the software company |
| C．prefer combined text and audio files more |
| D．must take action to receive text in another way |
Sir Steve Redgrave suggests that
________.
| A．government and schools raise awareness of disabled children’s legal rights |
| B．parents take greater efforts to ask the government and schools for help |
| C．parents should take action to raise awareness of software turning tools |
| D．software company work with him to make the products |
What Mike Foster said in Paragraph 5 means
________.
| A．the ministers should be responsible for improving the situation |
| B．the software for special needs has got well along |
| C．the problem about software for special needs is to be dealt with |
| D．how to use the software is a big problem |