Barack Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs—what do they have in common? They are, of course, all Americans. And according to a survey by social networking site badoo. com, they all best illustrate(举例说明) the word “cool”.
But just what does it mean to say someone is “cool”? Most would answer that it is something to do with being independent-minded and not following the crowd.
Yale University art professor Robert Farris Thompson says that the term “cool” goes back to 15th century West African philosophy(哲学). “Cool” relates to ideas of grace(优雅) under pressure.
“In Africa, ” he writes, “coolness is a positive quality which combines calmness, silence, and life. ”
The modern idea of “cool” developed largely in the US in the period after World War Ⅱ. “Post-war ‘cool’ was in part an expression of war-weariness (厌战情绪) . . . it went against the strict social rules of the time, ” write sociologists Dick Pountain and David Robins in Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude.
But it was the American actor James Dean who became the symbol for “cool” in the hugely successful 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause. Dean plays a tough guy who disobeys his parents and the authorities(权威). He always gets the girl, smokes cigarettes, wears a leather jacket and beats up bullies(欺凌弱小者). In the movie, Dean showed what “cool” would mean to American young people for the next 60 years.
Today the focus of “cool” has changed to athletics (体育运动) stars. Often in movies about schools, students gain popularity on the athletics field more than in the classroom. This can be seen quite clearly in movies like Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die.
But many teenagers also think being smart is cool. Chess and other thinking games have been becoming more popular in schools.
“Call it the Harry Potterization of America —a time when being smart is the new cool, ” writes journalist Joe Sunnen.Barack Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs are mentioned in the first paragraph to ________.
| A．introduce the topic |
| B．draw our attention |
| C．tell us what they have in common |
| D．tell us what is “cool” |
If you were considered “cool” in Africa in the 15th century, you ________.
| A．thought and acted differently from the majority |
| B．had a calm and quiet attitude towards life |
| C．didn’t observe rules and authorities |
| D．had all kinds of “bad” manners |
The heroes in Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die are likely to be those who ________.
| A．do very well in their studies |
| B．are very skilled at sports |
| C．are good at chess and other thinking games. |
| D．have supernatural powers like Harry Potter |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article？
| A．It is generally considered “cool” to be independent-minded and not to follow the crowd. |
| B．“Cool” was used as early as the 15th century. |
| C．Disobeying one’s parents and the authorities is considered “cool” among American young people nowadays. |
| D．Getting the first place in an exam can also be considered “cool”. |
What does the article mainly talk about?
| A．The origin of the word “cool”. |
| B．The kinds of people who are “cool”. |
| C．The changing meaning of the word “cool”. |
| D．How to be a “ cool” person. |
The technology is great. Without it we wouldn’t have been able to put a man on the moon, explore the ocean’s depths or eat microwave sausages. Computers have revolutionized our lives and they have the power to educate and pass on knowledge. But sometimes this power can create more problems than it solves.
Every doctor has had to try their best to calm down patients who’ve come into their surgery waving an Internet print-out, convinced that they have some rare incurable disease, say, throat cancer. The truth is usually far more ordinary, though: they don’t have throat cancer, and it’s just that their throats are swollen. Being a graduate of the Internet “school” of medicine does not guarantee accurate self-health-checks.
One day Mrs. Almond came to my hospital after feeling faint at work. While I took her blood sample and tried to find out what was wrong, she said calmly, “I know what’s wrong; I’ve got throat cancer. I know there’s nothing you doctors can do about it and I’ve just got to wait until the day comes.”
As a matter of routine I ordered a chest X-ray. I looked at it and the blood results an hour later. Something wasn’t right. “Did your local doctor do an X-ray?” I asked. “Oh, I haven’t been to the doctor for years,” she replied. “I read about it on a website and the symptoms fitted, so I knew that’s what I had.”
However, some of her symptoms, like the severe cough and weight loss, didn’t fit with it—but she’d just ignored this.
I looked at the X-ray again, and more tests confirmed it wasn’t the cancer but tuberculosis (肺结核)—something that most certainly did need treating, and could be deadly. She was lucky we caught it when we did.
Mrs. Almond went pale when I explained she would have to be on treatment for the next six months to ensure that she was fully recovered. It was certainly a lesson for her. “I’m so embarrassed,” she said, shaking her head, as I explained that all the people she had come into close contact with would have to be found out and tested. She listed up to about 20, and then I went to my office to type up my notes. Unexpectedly, the computer was not working, so I had to wait until someone from the IT department came to fix it. Typical. Maybe I should have a microwave sausage while I waited?Mrs. Almond talked about her illness calmly because ______.
| A．she had purchased medicine online |
| B．she thought she knew it well |
| C．she graduated from a medical school |
| D．she had been treated by local doctors |
It was lucky for Mrs. Almond ______.
| A．to have contacted many friends |
| B．to have recovered in a short time |
| C．to have her disease identified in time |
| D．to have her assumption confirmed |
Mrs. Almond said “I’m so embarrassed” (Para. 7) because ______.
| A．she had caused unnecessary trouble |
| B．she had to refuse the doctor’s advice |
| C．she had distrusted her close friends |
| D．she had to tell the truth to the doctor |
By mentioning the breakdown of the computer, the author probably wants to prove _____.
| A．it’s a must to take a break at work |
| B．it’s unwise to simply rely on technology |
| C．it’s vital to believe in IT professionals |
| D．it’s a danger to work long hours on computers |
It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, “a brilliantly （精彩地）written book”. However, he then went on to talk about Mr. Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In the World Book Day’s “Report on Guilty Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out), I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984. I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven’t read him, but haven’t lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in–depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I’ll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).How did the author find his friend a book liar?
| A．By judging his manner of speaking. |
| B．By looking into his background. |
| C．By discussing the book itself. |
| D．By mentioning a famous name. |
Which of the following is a “guilty secret” according to the World Book Day report?
| A．Charles Dickens is very low on the top-ten list. |
| B．42% of people pretended to have read 1984. |
| C．The author admitted having read 9 books. |
| D．Dreams From My Father is hardly read. |
By lying about reading, a person hopes to .
| A．control the conversation | B．make more friends |
| C．learn about the book | D．appear knowledgeable |
What is the author’s attitude to 58% of readers?
| A．Favorable. | B．Uncaring |
| C．Friendly | D．Doubtful |
They baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert （警觉）. Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze（凝视） starts to lose its focus — until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?
Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise （同样地） when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby’s.
| A．sense of sight | B．sense of touch |
| C．sense of hearing | D．sense of smell |
Babies are sensitive to the change in______.
| A．the size of cards | B．the colour of pictures |
| C．the number of objects | D．the shape of patterns |
Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?
| A．To reduce the difficulty of the experiment. |
| B．To carry their experiment further. |
| C．To see how babies recognize sounds |
| D．To keep the babies’ interest. |
Where does this text probably come from?
| A．Science fiction. | B．Children’s literature. |
| C．A science report. | D．An advertisement. |
Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family’s last vacation. It was my six-year-old son’s winter break form school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York，So I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport, to "earn" more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big-time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made living looking for the best deals and exposing （揭露） the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money’s worth. I’m also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.Why did Delta give the author's family credits?
| A．Their flight had been delayed. |
| B．Their flight had been cancelled. |
| C．They had early bookings |
| D．They took a later flight |
What can we learn about the author?
| A．She rarely misses a good deal. |
| B．She seldom makes a compromise. |
| C．She is very strict with her children |
| D．She is interested in cheap products. |
What does the author do?
| A．She's a teacher. | B．She's a media person |
| C．She's a housewife. | D．She's a businesswoman. |
What does the author want to tell us?
| A．How to expose bad tricks. | B．How to reserve airline seats. |
| C．How to make a business deal. | D．How to spend money wisely |
Women were friends, I once would have said, when they totally love and support and trust each other, and bear to each other the secrets of their souls, and run—no questions asked—to help each other, and tell harsh truths to each other(No, you can’t wear that dress unless you lose ten pounds first.) when these truths must be told.
In other words, I once would have said that a friend is a friend all the way, but now I believe that’s narrow point of view. Friendships serve many different functions，meet different needs and range from those as all-the-way as the friendship of the soul sisters mentioned above to that of the most casual playmates.
Convenience friends are women with whom we’d have no particular reason to be friends: a next-door neighbor or the mother of one of our children’s closest friends. They’ll lend us their cups for a party. They’ll drive our kids to school when we’re sick. They’ll take us to pick up our car when we need a lift .As we will for them. But we don’t , with convenience friends, ever come too close or tell too much; we maintain our public face and emotional distance.
Special-interest friends aren’t intimate（亲密）,and they needn’t involve kids or cats. Their value lies in some interest jointly shared .And so we may have an office friend or a tennis friend.
“I’ve got one woman friend,” says Joyce,” who likes, as I do, to take music courses, which makes it nice for me and her. I’d say that what we’re doing is doing together, not being together.”
Crossroads friends are important for what was for the friendship we shared at a crucial（关键的）,now past, time of life. A time, perhaps, when we roomed in college together or went together through pregnancy, birth and that scary first year of new motherhood.
Crossroads friends develop powerful links, links strong enough to endure with not much more contact than once-a-year letters at Christmas. And out of respect for those crossroads years, for those dramas and dreams we once shared, we will always be friends.
Crossroads friends seem to maintain a special kind of intimacy ----dormant（休眠的） but always ready to be revived（复活） ---and though we may rarely meet ,whenever we do connect, it’s personal and strong. Another kind of intimacy exists in the cross-generational friendships, the friends that form across generation in what one woman calls her daughter-mother and her mother-daughter relationships.
There are good friends, pretty good friends and very good friends, and these friendships are defined by their level of intimacy. We might tell a good friend, for example, that yesterday we had a fight with our husband. And we might tell a pretty good friend that this fight with our husband made us so mad that we slept on the couch. And we might tell a very good friend that the reason we got so mad in that fight that we slept on the couch had something to do with a girl who works in his office. But it’s only to our very best friends that we’re willing to tell all, to tell what’s going on with that girl in his office.The underlined word “harsh”(in Para.1)probably means “------“
| A．protective | B．impossible |
| C．unpleasant | D．unbelievable |
What can we know about convenience friends?
| A．People may share their sorrow and pain with their convenience friends. |
| B．People may borrow a large sum of money from their convenience friends. |
| C．People may ask their convenience friends to pick up their children for them. |
| D．People would like to seek comfort and convenience from their convenience friends. |
What is the similarity between crossroads friends and cross-generational friends?
| A．They often write to each other but never meet. |
| B．They become friends at a crucial time of their life. |
| C．They both enjoy a special kind of intimacy with each other. |
| D．The relationship usually exists between mothers and daughters. |
The friendships in the passage are classified（分类） according to _________.
| A．different stages of one’s life |
| B．the purpose of making friends |
| C．how people make friends with others |
| D．how close the relationship is |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The value of friendship |
| B．How to make lasting friendships |
| C．Ways to avoid destroying your friendship |
| D．Friends, good friends and such good friends |