Life is speeding up (加速). Everyone is getting unwell.
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person who lived in Rome in AD (公元) 53 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting , amazing and can even change our lives.
But have all these developments really improved the quality (品质) of our lives?
Picture this: you’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel?
Inventions have sped up our lives so much that we often live feeling stressed (有压力的) and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they live simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents , with their daughter and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes.” The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer . Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy (时髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things”.The writer uses the quote (引用) at the beginning of the story to _________.
| A．tell us a truth about our life |
| B．tell us what life was like long time ago |
| C．point our what causes such a thing to happen |
| D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same |
In the passage the writer describes a picture to show that new inventions ________.
| A．have speeded up our lives |
| B．have improve the quality of our lives |
| C．may make people feel very happy |
| D．may bring people some trouble |
The family chose to spend some time in a 1940s house because _______.
| A．they loved to live simple lives |
| B．they wanted to know how people lived without modern inventions |
| C．they were troubled by modern inventions |
| D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them |
According to the passage, which is NOT right?
| A．People who live far away from noisy cities often seem to be happier. |
| B．An unknown Roman was sure that the quality of life would get better. |
| C．The family had some changes when they lived in a 1940s house. |
| D．With the improvement of our lives, we often feel stressed and tired |
The passage is mainly about_______.
| A．problems with technology |
| B．improvement of our lives with technology |
| C．changes happening to technology |
| D．the importance of technology |
任务型阅读阅读下面的短文，根据短文内容完成表格中所缺信息，在答题卷上相应的横线上填写答案，每空限填一个单词。(本大题共5分，每小题1分)
Every day, it is easy to see advertisements in English all around us. Look at your own bags and clothes, and at the bags and clothes of your classmates. How many different advertisements can you see which use English words?
Often bags and clothes show the name of the company that made them. This is a popular form. Sometimes designers use a special picture or symbol called a logo. Logos appear(出现) on many different products(产品). They are popular because when you see a logo, it is hard to forget that product or company.
It is common to see advertisements on TV and hear them on the radio. Most advertisements are very short. Sometimes the advertisers use a short sentence which is easy for people to remember. Nike, for example, has a simple English sentence all around the world: “Just do it.” Advertisements often use funny situations as well. It is simple to remember it.
All advertisements are designed to make people buy a product. An advertisement for a soft drink, for example, might show a group of young people who are having fun. The young people are al1 drinking the soft drink. Advertisers are saying to you, “Why don’t you buy this drink and be like these people? You can be young and modern.”
You might think that advertisements are not after you, but the next time you buy a soft drink，ask yourself this question: Why am I buying this special product?
Title: Advertisement
| You can see advertisements |
|
| On bags and clothes |
● Logos appear on products. ● It is hard to forget a logo. |
| On TV and the radio |
● Advertisements use short sentences to make people remember them ● Funny situations are often |
| The |
● Make people buy a product. ● Advertisements are always |
I hid the long black bag in the garage (车库) two days ago. Tonight, in the dark, I would finally take it away. If everything went OK, it would be done by morning. But I had to be sure no one, not even my wife, saw me.
It was more difficult to get away from the party than I expected. I said that the children were tired and needed to get to bed. It was partly true. But the main reason for leaving was that I wanted to complete my plan.
First I had to get the kids to sleep. That was never easy at any time and tonight it was even more difficult. The eldest one wanted to know why we left the party early. I told him 10:30 pm was not early. As usual, I read them a bed time story, but I had to stop myself reading too quickly or they would learn my secret.
Silence finally came, and feeling like a thief (小偷) in the night, I went out of the house and into the garage. Taking one end, I pulled the bag out from its hiding place and took it into the garden. I was worried that my neighbours might see me and call the police.
It was already eleven o’clock. By the light of the moon I started working, trying to make as little noise as possible. And that was not easy with a saw (锯子) and a hammer (锤子).
After much hard work, I finally completed my work. I looked down at my watch. It was exactly 4:00 am. Then I went inside to have a shower and get a few hours of sleep. It wouldn’t be long now before the kids would rush into my room and wake me up to tell me about the new tree-house Father Christmas brought them this year. Why did the man feel nervous?
| A．He left the party too late. |
| B．He was afraid of the darkness. |
| C．He didn’t know where the black bag was. |
| D．He worried that others would know his secret. |
The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 refers to_______.
| A．thieves | B．parents | C．children | D．neighbours |
In what order did the man do the following?
a. Read the kids a story.
b. Had a shower.
c. Worked in the moonlight.
d. Pulled the bag from the garage.
e. Went to a party.
| A．e-d-a-b-c | B．e-a-d-c-b |
| C．a-b-e-d-c | D．a-e-d-c-b |
How would the children feel when they saw the man’s work?
| A．Interested. | B．Excited. | C．Tired. | D．Angry. |
Weekday mornings are very busy for US middle school students. When your school doesn’t have a bus, and you live too far away to walk, you need a carpool (拼车). A carpool is a group of people sharing the responsibility (责任) of driving to school in the morning. There are usually four or five kids in a carpool and their parents take turns to drive the kids in their cars.
Someone’s car smells like wet dogs. Some kids get to eat desserts (甜点) for breakfast and some parents shout so much that all you try to do is to stay quiet and go unnoticed. When your mom or dad drives the carpool, your classmates get a close-up look at how strange your parents can be. It might be your first sociological (社会学) study and your first time to work with others.
Teamwork is really important in the carpool because nobody wants to make everyone else late. It’s a great lesson in responsibility. Imagine (想象) sitting in the car outside of a classmate’s house, watching the clock and counting the seconds. Then you start to understand how your carpool friends might feel when you are still inside the house at 7:48. You really begin to learn all your real life lessons just moments before the start of school—in the carpool.What is a carpool?
| A．Parents take turns to drive their kids to school. |
| B．Parents drive kids to schools on their way to work. |
| C．Kids go to school in their parents’ cars. |
| D．Kids drive their own cars to school. |
What can students learn from a carpool?
| A．How to drive a car. | B．How to get along with others. |
| C．What to do with parents. | D．Real teamwork. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．If kids live far away from school, they are always late for school. |
| B．US children enjoy carpooling better than taking a school bus. |
| C．Kids can learn real life lessons in a carpool. |
| D．Kids often have enough time to study in a carpool. |
A reader wrote to say that she was feeling left out at break because her best friend wasn’t around. Here’s our advice to her—and to all kids who feel lonely sometimes.
It’s hard when a best friend isn’t around—maybe because she moved to a different school or a different class. You may feel lonely at break or lunchtime. You want to have new friends, but how do you make them? Maybe it seems that everybody else already has their friends. But remember, there’s always room for more friends.
Start by looking around your classroom—think about which kids you’d like to play with at break. Look for chances to say hi to them, smile, and be friendly. Offer to share something or express your appreciation(欣赏)to them. Invite someone to play with you or say “Do you want to sit here?” in the lunchroom. When you’re at break, walk over to kids you want to play with and say “Hi, can I play, too?” or just join in.
If you find it difficult to do this or if you’re feeling shy, ask your teacher to help you make new friends. Teachers are usually pretty good at matching up friends. The best way to make friends is to be a friend. Be kind, be friendly, share, say nice things, offer to help—and pretty soon, you’ll have one, or two, or even more new friends.
You might still miss that special best friend. But when you see each other, you can share something you didn’t have before she left: You can introduce her to your new friends! This text is written for ____________.
| A．teachers | B．parents |
| C．students | D．visitors |
The expression “feeling left out” means “ ____________” in Chinese.
| A．受冷落 | B．被调侃 | C．挨批评 | D．遭攻击 |
Some kids need help from teachers to make friends because ____________.
| A．they miss their old friends a lot |
| B．they have no time to stay with others |
| C．teachers know who wants a new friend |
| D．they are shy or not good at making friends |
C
(2012山东济南)
Li Ruyan，13，and his classmates in Shanghai did something special last summer．They worked in groups with traffic police at different crossroads in the city．Holding small red flags，the students helped keep order and stopped people from jaywalking(乱穿马路)．
As part of the school project，Li’s school has encouraged its students to do more community(社区)work．
After the half day of exhausting work Li told himself not to jaywalk anymore．
“I think through community work we get to help others and，more importantly，we grow a sense of responsibility(责任感)，”he said．
Community service is an important part of education for teenagers around the world．In the US and Canada，high school students need to finish 40 hours of community service before graduation．For those Americans who have finished 1，400 hours of community work，they can be awarded nearly $5，000(33，000 yuan)．
Chinese students today do more community work，too．For example，starting from 2010，Sichuan high school students have been asked to do 10 days of community work．It will become part of their school grade．
Qian Lijun，16，and her classmates in Suzhou，Jiangsu went to a local elder care home this winter．They put Spring Festival couplets(对联)on the walls and cheered up the people living there．
Li Xiaotian，15，of Anshan said he used to clear flyers(小广告)from telephone poles(电线杆)with his classmates．They brought tools，towels and buckets and worked for three hours under the summer sun．“It was tiring，but seeing the clean poles without ugly ads we really felt proud，”he said．What was the special thing Li Ruyan did last summer?
| A．He joined a special group of Class 13． |
| B．He became a policeman． |
| C．He helped the traffic police at a crossroads． |
| D．He stopped people from talking． |
From this passage we know that________．
| A．Li Ruyan’s school is in the middle of a big city |
| B．Li Ruyan and his classmates do some community work every day |
| C．Li Ruyan and his classmates often hold small flags when they cross the roads |
| D．Li Ruyan and his classmates think it is good for them to do some community work |
Community service________．
| A．has become a very important part of education only in China |
| B．is very important in school education in some foreign countries |
| C．is the only part of the school project for teenagers around the world |
| D．needs students to finish at least 1，000 hours of community work |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The students in Shanghai helped people to keep the traffic rules． |
| B．The students in Suzhou visited the old people’s home． |
| C．The students in Anshan cleaned the walls under the summer sun． |
| D．The students in Sichuan sent Spring Festival couplets to the old people． |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Community service helps students grow a sense of responsibility． |
| B．Through community work students get to help others and learn something． |
| C．Students are now encouraged to do more community work in many schools in China． |
| D．Students will be awarded much money for doing more community work in Canada and the US． |