Do you spirits soar (猛增) on a sunny day? Do you relax at the sound of flowing water?
Some scientists suggest that these contacts with nature are good for your health. In one study, hospital patients with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and less need for pain medications. Another study indicated that prisoners with a view of the outdoors had fewer doctor visits.
“Why the desire for nature? Maybe we’re programmed to need it, since our ancestors’ survival was so dependent on their connection with nature,” suggests biologist E.O.Wilson.
Want to find out if contact with nature improves your outlook on life? Try a few of these ideas.
Hang out a bird feeder and watch the birds that visit it.
Sit down in the backyard or a nearby park. Close your eyes. What do you hear? Birds singing? The wind in the trees? Crickets(蟋蟀) chirping?
Find an anthill. Sit down and watch the ants work.
Take a walk right after a rainstorm. What looks different? Smells different?
Go barefoot on a sandy beach.
Open the curtains and the window, if the weather allows it.
On a windy day, watch the trees.
Go to a creek, river or park fountain. Listen to the sound of water in motion.
Camp out in the backyard or at a nearby state park. Use a tent or sleep on the ground.
Find a wide-open space to study the stars. Learn about the different constellations(星座).
Raise a garden. Or plant some seeds in a flowerpot.
Go hiking with your family. Talk about all of the colors you see in nature.
Take a camera and capture your nature experience.From Paragraph 2 we can learn that ___ .
| A．prisoners don’t like to go to the doctor when ill |
| B．trees can be used as pain medications |
| C．prisoners should often get out of prison to some into contact with nature |
| D．contacts with nature are very helpful for hospital patients |
According to E. O. Wilson, we desire nature probably because ___ .
| A．it can help us feel relaxed |
| B．we have inherited from our ancestors who were dependent on nature |
| C．people have lived with nature for thousands of years |
| D．contacts with nature can improve a person’s outlook on life |
The author gives us many ideas in order to let us ___.
| A．find out if contacts with nature improve our outlook on life |
| B．hear birds sing and watch ants work |
| C．talk about the colors we see in nature |
| D．capture our experience in nature |
From the passage, we can learn that ___。
| A．studying the constellations is important to everyone |
| B．you can know all the colors only by going hiking |
| C．nature is quite important to us |
| D．walking in a rain storm can be very helpful |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Go Hiking With Your Family |
| B．Let Nature Nurture You |
| C．Visit Your Doctor Less |
| D．Watch the Tree More Often |
Do you want to improve the way you study? Do you feel nervous before a test?
Many students say that a lack of concentration (注意力) is their biggest problem. It seriously affects their ability to study, so do their test results.
If so, use these tips to help you.
Study Techniques
（1）You should always study in the same place. You shouldn’t sit in a position that you use for another purpose. For example, when you sit on a sofa to study, your brain will think it is time to relax. Don’t watch TV while you are studying. Experts warn that your concentration may be reduced by 50 percent if you attempt to study in this way. Always try to have a white wall in front of you, so there is nothing to distract (make less concentrated) you. Before sitting down to study, gather together all the equipment you need. Apart from your textbooks, pens, pencils and knives, make sure you have a dictionary. If your study desk or table is needed when you are not studying, store all your equipment in a box beside it.
（2）Your eyes will become tired if you try to read a text which is on a flat surface. Position your book at an angle of 30 degrees.
（3）Be realistic and don’t try to complete too much in one study period. Finish one thing before beginning another. If you need a break, get up and walk around for a few minutes, but try not to telephone a friend or have something to eat.
Test-taking Skills
All your hard work will be for nothing if you are too nervous to take your test. Getting plenty of rest is very important. This means do not study all night before your test! It is a better idea to have a long-term study plan. Try to make a timetable for your study which lasts for a few months.
（2）Exercise is a great way to reduce pressure. Doing some form of exercise every day will also improve your concentration. Eat healthy food too.
（3）When you arrive in the examination room, find your seat and sit down. Breathe slowly and deeply. Check the time on the clock during the test, but not too often. Above all, take no notice of everyone else and give the test paper your undivided attention.
40. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. You should study in a different place every day, so you don’t get bored.
B. Your concentration will improve if you study and watch TV at the same time.
C. Check the time during the exam at a certain time.
D. Staying up all night and studying is tiring, but you will learn a lot using this method.
41. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?
A. Your study desk or tableB. Your textbook.
C. Your dictionary D. The equipment you need.
42. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. You shouldn’t look at everyone else during the test.
B. You will have enough energy to deal with your study and exams by eating healthy diet.
C. You’ll concentrate more if there is nothing to distract you.
D. If you feel tired during study, you can walk around for a few minutes.
第二部分：阅读理解（共两节；满分35 分）
第一节：（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下面四篇短文，从每小题后的A，B，C，D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
WASHINGTON -Tofu（豆腐）and Soyaburgers (豆饼) may be coming to American school lunch menus. What will the kids say? “Terrible,” said Greg Dudzinski, 17, of Ripon High School in Wisconsin, as he toured the US capital.
“The regular hamburgers are bad enough, so soyaburgers would be a lot worse, offered Zach Richey, 13, of Scottsboro Junior High in Alabama, another tourist. But the United States government – hoping to reduce the amount of fat that children are eating –has approved the use of soy as a meat substitute in meals for schools and day-care centers.Not all kids dislike the change. Mariel Spano, 17, of sandy Greek High School in New York, also visiting the capital, said she likes soyaburgers：“There is less fat, and they are better for you… They taste the same, and they are just as good.”
The government tried to make soy a meat substitute nearly 20 years ago, but later dropped the idea．At the time, the plan was intended as a cost-cutting move. US Agriculture Department officials say that their purpose now is only to make meals healthier.Schools are likely to increase the amount of soy that is mixed with hamburgers and other foods already on their menus, and they will also be looking for food companies to develop new soy products that children will like. “I can’t see putting tofu on a student’s plate and having a good acceptance. I can see taking a product that is familiar to the students and adding a large amount of soy to it and having it to be acceptable,” said Jill Benza, director of food services for the Mesa, Arizona schools.
36．What is the newspaper report mainly about?
A．The difficulty in using soy products for US schools.
B．Various opinions on soy products for US schools.
C．The plan that is made by the US government for school lunch.
D．Healthy foods for students in US schools.
37．Where did the interviews most probably take place?
A．In food companies. B．In schools.
C．In Washington. D．In some other states.
38．We may learn from the text that _________________________.
A．soyaburgers taste better than hamburgers.
B．hamburgers are healthier than soyaburgers.
C．soyaburgers cost less than hamburgers.
D．hamburgers cost less than soyaburgers.
39． What Jill Benza said shows that ___________________________.
A．students have not yet been used to soy products.
B．it is hardly possible to make soy products popular.
C．he does not like the change in meals for students.
D．schools are unwilling to change the lunch menus.
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people. I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten. However, while some seem to be lost in die desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only die winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.
65．What does this passage mainly talk about?
A．Competition helps to set up self-respect.
B．Opinions about competition are different among people.
C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition.
66．Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A．It pus
hes society forward.
B．It builds up a sense of duty.
C．It improves personal abilities.
D．It encourages individual efforts.
67．The underlined phrase “the most vocal” means_______.
A．those who try their best to win.
B．those who value competition most highly.
C．those who are against competition most strongly.
D．those who rely on others most for success
68．what is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”
A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.
B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skill.
D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
III．阅读理解：（共20 小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
第一节：（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中选出最佳选项。
Female Chinese space pioneers?
CHINA plans to recruit(招募) women astronauts thanks to the lobbying of the leading women’s organization. Gu Xiulian, president of the All-China Women’s Federation(ACWF) (全国妇联), said on Saturday that she put forward a proposal that women be trained for space missions after the manned space flight last October. And it was accepted by the central authorities, local media reported. But the plan to recruit female a
stronauts has yet to be worked out, according to sources close to the astronaut-training programme.
Beijing needs mental health care
MORE than 1,000 people committed suicide(自杀) in Beijing last year, and experts have been encouraging the capital to set up a mental health care system as soon as possible, local media reported last week. About 20 percent of the people of Beijing live in unhealthy conditions, with 3 percent of these suffering from affective disorder and 5 percent reporting symptoms of depression, according to the Beijing Mental Health Service Center.
No need to fear your licence plate
CAR licence plates in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, will not have the number “four” from this month on ---a move that has led to heated discussion among officials, schools and residents. The word for “four” sounds like “death” in Cantonese. The number has been cleared away from the computer data banks that generate the six-digit licence numbers for local cars. Some say that, for the first time, a public agency service has considered local customs and bans. Others worry it will encourage superstitious(迷信的) beliefs.
61．We can infer from the news that ____.
A．there are several female astronauts in China now
B．people in Guangdong province hate number “four”
C．the mental disorder concerns everybody all over the country
D．the city government of Beijing has promised to set up a mental health care system
62．The underlined sentence in the third news means that __ __.
A．there is no number “four” in the computers in Shenzhen
B．computer is used to print six-digit car licence numbers
C．local cars will be protected to use six-digit car licence numbers
D．number “four” will no longer appear in the six-digit car licence numbers
63．What is the message of the first news?
A．China only needs male astronauts.
B．Gu Xiulian wants to be the first space woman.
C．Society doesn’t discriminate(歧视) against women in China.
D．The astronaut-training programme hasn’t been planned.
64．Which word has the same meaning as the underlined word “symptoms”?
A．signals B．signs C．sorts D．shocks
People with bigger brains tend to score higher on standardized tests of intelligence, according to new study findings.
However, Dr. Michael A.McDaniel emphasized that these findings represent a general trend, and people with small heads should not automatically believe they are less intelligent. For instance, Albert Einstein’s brain was “ not particularly large,” McDaniel noted “ There’s some relationship between brain size and intelligence on average, but there’s plenty of room for exceptions,” he said.
Interest in the relationship between brain size and intelligence grew in the 1830s, when German anantomist(解剖学家)Frederick Tidemann wrote that he believed there was “ a natural connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man.” Since that statement, scientists have conducted numerous studies to determine if Tidemann’s idea was , in fact, correct. Most studies have investigated the link between head size and intelligence .More recently, however, researchers have published additional studies on intelligence and brain size, measure using MRI scans
.
For his study, McDaniel analyzed more than 20 studies that investigated the relationship between brain size and intelligence in a total of 1,530 people. The studies showed that on average, people with larger brain volume tended to be more intelligent. The relationship was stronger in women that men, and
adults than children ,McDaniel noted.
In an interview, McDaniel noted that he’s not sure why the relationship was stronger for adults and women. Previous research has shown that women, on average, tend to have smaller brains that men, but score just as well--- if not higher--- in tests of intelligence he said.
McDaniel insisted that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is not a “perfect” one. “One can certainly find lots of examples of smaller-brained people who are highly intelligent,” he said” But , on average, the relationship holds.”
73．What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．The success of using MRI scans for studies on man’s intelligence.
B．On average bigger brains mean higher IQ.
C．The importance of our brain volume.
D．Dr. Michael succeeded in his studies on man’s intelligence.
74．By mentioning Albert Einstein, the writer wanted to show ___.
A．what Albert Einstein achieved had nothing to do with his brain size
B．probably the studies on man’s intelligence are not worth believing
C．why hard working is more important than intelligence.
D．the results of thes
e studies are not true for everyone
75．The underlined word “investigated “ could be replaced by ____.
A．worked our B．guessed C．study D．imagined