In the seventh grade, Brittany Blythe dreamed of being a cheerleader. Her school's coaches were less than enthusiastic. "They said, ‘I don't know how you'll be able to do it,”，she recalls. “‘You won't be able to do it. ’”
But Brittany, now a junior at Strath Haven High School near Philadelphia, persisted. And when the junior team cheerleaders won a competition last year, she was right there, dancing and cheering with the rest of the team.
Not bad for someone whose legs were amputated(切断）below the knee when she was two years old.
Brittany, 18, was born without shin bones (胫骨)—"just blood and muscle tissue，" as she puts it. When she tried to walk, her legs twisted. After the operation, she adapted quickly. “From that day, I basically jumped up and wanted to do everything，”she says. Prosthetic legs (假肢）allowed her to move
around upright, but too slowly to keep up with her friends. Brittany's solution： take the legs off and walk on her knees—something she still does when safety and comfort permit.
She's rarely been discouraged. Other children teased her through the years, especially in junior high school, but she says the challenge only made her stronger. Now she's trying to convince her coaches to let her remove the prostheses and be a flyer, the cheerleader who's thrown in the air and caught by her teammates.
Brittany doesn't think her problems are any more difficult than the next person's. “My disability was the first thing I had to get through, and that's going to prepare me for the future，” she says. “It's all just a test ： If someone throws you a ball, what are you going to do?” What was the coaches' first attitude towards Brittany's dream?
| A．Supportive. |
| B．Enthusiastic. |
| C．Optimistic. |
| D．Doubtful. |
What was Brittany's reaction after the operation?
| A．She abandoned herself to self-pity. |
| B．She refused to use the prostheses. |
| C．She accepted the result and tried to get used to it. |
| D．She became a flyer. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Brittany __________
| A．doesn't think she is better than others |
| B．is not well prepared for the future |
| C．takes a positive attitude towards life |
| D．likes the challenge of learning new things |
What's the best title for the text?
| A．A new leg, a new life |
| B．A new cheerleader, a new record |
| C．Passing the test |
| D．Seeking advantages |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Can you believe everything that you read? It seems as if every day, some new articles come out about a new discovery about this or that. For example, water is bad for you, or good for you. The answer depends on which scientific study has just come out. People cannot decide which food items are healthy, how pyramids were constructed, and why dinosaurs disappeared. When we look for answers we sometimes can believe persuasive researches and scientists. But how trustworthy are they really? Here are two examples of scientific hoaxes.
As far back as 1726, Johann Beringer was fooled by his fellow scientists into thinking he had made an amazing discovery. The fossils of spiders, lizards, and even birds with the name of God written on them in Hebrew were unlike anything that had been found before. He wrote several papers on them and was famous for those only to have it revealed that they were planted by jealous colleagues to ruin his reputation.
When an early human being was discovered in 1912, scientists at this time were wild with excitement over the meaning it had for the theory of evolution. There were hundreds of papers about this Piltdown man over the next fifty years until it was finally discovered to be a complex hoax. The skull (头骨) of a man had been mixed with the jawbone of an orangutan (猩猩) to make the ape (猿) man.
The next time you read the exciting new findings of a study of the best scientist, do not automatically assume that it is true. Even qualified people can get it wrong. While we certainly should not ignore scientific research, we do need to take it with a grain of salt. Just because it is accepted as the truth today does not mean it will still be trustworthy tomorrow.What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Everything in the newspaper is doubtful. |
| B．People are encouraged to suspect everything. |
| C．Not everything you read is believable. |
| D．Sometimes scientists may make mistakes. |
What does the underlined word “ hoaxes” mean?
| A．Truths. | B．Tricks. |
| C．Researches. | D．Result. |
From the second paragraph we can know______.
| A．Johann Beringer was envied by his colleagues. |
| B．Johann Beringer lived in the seventeenth century. |
| C．Johann Beringer found the Piltdown man. |
| D．Johann Beringer found he was fooled by others in time. |
According to the passage ,the discovery of Piltdown man______.
| A．was significant to the theory of evolution. |
| B．proved orangutan developed from man. |
| C．didn’t prove false until 50 years later. |
| D．proved that scientists were very careless. |
From the last paragraph we can infer the author thinks_____.
| A．scientists are unreliable. |
| B．everyone can make a mistake. |
| C．we should ignore scientific research. |
| D．we should treat scientific research reasonably. |
D
Children whose mothers were exposed to higher levels of phthalates(酞酸盐), common chemicals in consumer products, in late pregnancy tend to score lower than other kids on intelligence tests at age seven, according to a new study.
Some soaps, nail polish, hairspray, shower curtains, raincoats, car interiors and dryer sheets contain phthalates, which are used as so-called plasticizers, or softening agents.
At present, the Food and Drug Administration does not have evidence that phthalates as used in cosmetics pose a safety risk, but six types of phthalates are currently banned from children’s toys.
Researchers followed 328 New York women in low-income communities from pregnancy until the child was seven years old. When the children were seven, they completed an intelligence test measuring four areas of mental functioning. The mothers’ levels of two of the phthalates - DnBP and DiBP - during pregnancy were associated with childhood intelligence: As phthalate levels went up, child IQ tended to go down.
“With observational studies, there is always the chance that the results may be in part explained by an unmeasured factor that we haven’t yet considered,” said Stephanie Engel, associate professor of epidemiology（流行病）from the University of North Carolina.
“I would characterize this study as thorough and high quality, and the results concerning,” said Engel, who was not involved in the work. “But there needs to be more research in this area before firm conclusions can be drawn.”
“Nevertheless, It is clear that there needs to be a serious discussion in the scientific and policy communities about whether the evidence is strong enough yet to warrant widespread policy changes, not just on the basis of this study, but also including a range of childhood health outcomes that have already been reported in the literature,” Engel said.
“Although there are no regulations on phthalate exposure during pregnancy, it would be wise for expectant mothers to avoid microwaving food in plastic, avoid scented products, and as much as possible store foods in glass instead of plastic,” she said.According to the passage, the new study is about ___________________________.
| A．the interaction between a pregnant woman and her unborn baby |
| B．how phthalates taken in by a pregnant woman affect her baby |
| C．why children’s IQ is different at the age of seven |
| D．the usage of common chemical in consumer products |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Researchers chose 328 pregnant women at random to do the research |
| B．The FDA doesn’t think phthalates have any risks |
| C．There are two types of phthalates that may affect childhood intelligence |
| D．The researchers are very confident about their conclusions |
What can you learn from the last but one paragraph?
| A．The evidence is not strong enough to change the policy |
| B．The policy should be stricter |
| C．A serious discussion is needed based on this study |
| D．All studies about childhood health should be involved |
This passage has probably been taken from _________.
| A．a children’s book | B．a science report |
| C．a nutrition guidebook | D．a health notice board |
C
My mom has eyes in the back of her head. She also taught me from an early age to be suspicious of strange men, especially when they give you presents. One day, a “nice man” bearing flowers managed to steal 20 euros from her purse, while she was holding it in her hands. “He said he was collecting for a church charity so I pulled out a euro,” she explains, “He said ‘no, no, that’s too much’ and offered to look in my purse to find a smaller coin. He must have slid out that 20 euro note at the same time. I did not even notice until an hour later. I felt so stupid.”
According to neuroscientists, the key requirement for a successful pickpocket is not having nifty (熟练的) fingers, it’s having a working knowledge of the loopholes (漏洞) in our brain. The most important of these loopholes is the fact that our brains are not set up to multi-task. Most of the time that is a good thing — it allows us to filter (过滤) out all but the most important features of the world around us. But a good trickster can use it to against you. This kind of trick involves capturing all of somebody’s attention with other movements. Street pickpockets often use this effect to their advantage by manufacturing a situation that can not help but overload your attention system. Other strategies are more psychological. Pickpockets tend to hang out a “beware of pickpockets” sign, because the first thing people do when they read it is check they still have their valuables, helpfully giving away where they are. And in my mom’s case, the thief’s best trick was not coming across like a pickpocket. “He was a very nice guy and very confident. Not someone that would cause you to suspect,” she says. Apollo Robbins, a stage pickpocket, said smart move, like moving your hand in an arc motion rather than a straight line, is another popular strategy employed by tricksters.
At last, it should be pointed out that most thefts are opportunistic. The skill level of most thieves is far less than you think. But they are opportunistic enough to keep up with new technology.What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．People’s brains are not designed to multi-task. |
| B．People’s brains can filter out all but the most important features. |
| C．Somebody’s attention can be distracted by a certain trick. |
| D．Somebody’s overload attention system. |
How did the pickpockets manage to cheat the mother ?
| A．He had such smart motion that she didn’t notice that. |
| B．He looked so reliable that she didn’t suspect him. |
| C．He made her focus her attention on what he said instead of being cheated . |
| D．All the above. |
In the author’s opinion, _________.
| A．people’s brains have many loopholes |
| B．thieves are more skillful than opportunistic |
| C．signs reminding people of pickpockets can play a negative role in protecting valuables |
| D．his mom’s losing money is nothing but a by-accident experience |
What will the author probably talk about next?
| A．Mom’s another suffering |
| B．Pickpockets concerning new technology |
| C．Pickpockets’ tricks |
| D．Apollo Robbins’ stage pickpockets |
B
Today, the bicycle is the primary method of transportation for the human race. About 1.6 billion bicycles are in use around the world --- in big cities, along remote country lanes, and in the smallest villages ---and hundreds of millions of bikes are produced every year to meet the continuing demand for cheap wheeled transport.
Yet the bicycle is hardly a new vision of how humans move around. Historians speculate(猜测) about Leonardo da Vinci’s 1940s drawings and a 1580s stained glass window in England that appear to describe a two-wheeler. The first widely recognized two-wheeler in actual use, however, was the pedal-less Celerifere, a toy of the French upper class in the 1970s. The more famous Draisienne followed that toy in 1816, still without pedals. The front wheel could be steered, and this two-wheeler was eventually mass-produced in Europe, particularly in England. Ernest Michaux added cranks(曲轴) to the two-wheeler in 1855, which started a revolution in human transportation --- the Velocipede.
By 1870, complicated metal Velocipede were in production in Europe and the United States. Over time, they gave way to the “Ordinary” or high-wheeler. The Ordinary was the beginning of the heyday(全盛期) of bicycling. It was speedy and capable of long trips on poor roads, so it was soon in widespread use. At that time a skilled person might earn 25 cents an hour in wages, but a good Ordinary sold for $75 to $125, making it more expensive than building a house. Nevertheless, they sold at a furious pace.
Ordinaries had a big problem, however. When the front wheel came up against any obstacle that it could not roll over, the bike simply threw the rider headfirst onto the ground. Called a “header”, this characteristic problem inspired the “safety bicycle” in the 1980s. With two wheels of equal size, plus a roller chain(齿轮) transmission, the safety bicycle was with a slight adaptation, they attracted thousands of women to cycling. Many historians point to the safety bicycle as the beginning of women’s rights.
In England, in 1909, the Raleigh bicycle, equipped with a 3-speed hub, started to be produced. In the 1930s, British-built “lightweight” bicycles, suitable for the packed earth of country roads, were being imported into the United States. The early 1980s saw the creation of the “Freestyle” or trick bicycle. And in the late 1990s, the road bike and the mountain bike proved to be the dominant machines of the decade.
Today, the bicycle continues to be the most energy and cost-efficient transportation device in the world.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．The places suited to the use of bicycles. |
| B．The way bicycles are used in the world. |
| C．The importance and popularity of bicycles. |
| D．The number of bikes produced every year. |
We can learn from the second paragraph that____________.
| A．the Celerifere was actually the first bicycle in history. |
| B．the Draisienne had two pedals and its wheels could be steered. |
| C．Ernest Michaux created the Velocipede in 1885. |
| D．the bicycle idea might have come from one of da Vinci’s drawings. |
What does the underlined word “furious” in the third paragraph mean?
| A．Rapid | B．Gentle | C．Steady | D．Smooth |
How has the author developed the text?
| A．In order of space | B．In order of time |
| C．In order of importance | D．In order of frequency |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。
A
There are no signs of little green men on Mars. But new discoveries offer a bit more hope that some form of life existed there in the past --- and perhaps is still there in the present. Methane gas(甲烷) and water have been found on the Red Plane. The presence of both suggests at least the possibility of life.
According to a new report in the journal, Science, the Mars rover, Curiosity, has detected spikes of methane in the Martian atmosphere. This gas is also found in the Earth’s atmosphere, and comes from animal and plant life, as well as from the environment itself. If there’s methane in Mar’s atmosphere, where is it coming from? Scientists aren’t sure. But it marks a big change. In September 2013, Curiosity found almost no traces of methane in the Martian air. Just weeks later, however, the rover picked up a whiff of(一点点) the gas.
The scientists don’t know whether the methane spikes are caused by some form of biological matter or by the geology of the planet. Christopher Chyba, a professor of astrophysics and international affairs at Princeton, says it’s best not to be too hopeful about biology on the Red Planet. “Hopes for biology on Mars have had a way of disappearing once Martian chemistry has been better understood,” he says. “But figuring out what’s responsible for the methane is clearly a key astrobiological objective --- whatever the answer turns out to be.”
The discovery of water on Mars is nothing new. For decades, scientists have had evidence that it flowed across the surface of the planet billions of years ago. But according to another new report in Science, while the surface water on Mars seems to be long gone, there’s a lot more of it left than most of people realize.
This report is also based on findings from Curiosity. Paul Mahaffy, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, led the study. He says there is enough water on Mars “to cover the surface to a depth of about 165 feet.”
It is not easy to reach this water. Most of it is locked up in ice at the planet’s poles.Why do scientists think there might be life on Mars?
| A．Because the Mars rover has detected water on the planet. |
| B．Because there is evidence that little green men exist on the planet. |
| C．Because the Mars rover has found some plants on the planet. |
| D．Because both methane and water have been found on the planet. |
What is the attitude of professor Christopher Chyba towards life on Mars?
| A．Optimistic | B．Negative |
| C．Neutral | D．Indifferent |
The water on Mars _______________.
| A．still flows on its surface |
| B．covers the whole planet |
| C．is locked up in ice at the planet’s poles |
| D．only existed on it billions of years ago |
In which column of a website can we read this text?
| A．Culture | B．Entertainment |
| C．Science | D．Education |