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Many smokers aren't finding the cost of cigarettes a laughing matter. The federal tax(联邦税) on a pack jumped Wednesday -- April Fools' Day -- from 39 cents to $1.01. The tax increase is so big, it's being called "historic."Higher federal taxes apply to(适用于) other tobacco products, so even those smokers who have taken to rolling their own to save money can't escape them. The tax is expected to cause about 1 million smokers to quit.
New York leads the pack, so to speak, with a combined $3.76. Any smokers planning to visit New York City should bring cigarettes from home. A pack there now costs more than $9.
Some tobacco companies raised their prices several weeks ago. For example, the price of a pack of Marlboros jumped 71 cents. Where the price settles depends on the company. Some may absorb part of the tax and others will make smokers carry the entire weight and more.
However, some people think the tax unfair. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only one in five Americans smokes, and over half of all smokers are low income, and one of four is officially classified as poor.
What do you think? Is the tax unfair? We think cancer sticks should have been taxed into disappearance years ago, combined with a very strong public and private effort to help smokers quit.
Which of the following statements is wrong according to the passage?

A.Cigarettes as well as other tobacco products are affected by the tax increase.
B.More and more smokers have to stop smoking as a result of tax increase on tobacco.
C.Cigarettes in New York must be very expensive.
D.smokers will carry all the tax increase on tobacco.

The author’s attitude toward the tax increase is ________.

A.showing agreement with the tax
B.showing disagreement with the tax
C.could not be seen
D.keeping his own ideas

Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A.The Federal Tax
B.New Cigarette Tax Is No April Fools’ joke
C.Stop Smoking Immediately!
D.Unfair Tax on Tobacco
科目 英语   题型 阅读理解   难度 中等
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Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major cause of climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmospheric CO2 is also affecting the ocean chemistry and potentially harming sea life.
Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been researching the water in the Pacific Ocean for almost two decades.
"We've been going to the same spot in the Pacific Ocean, and we try and characterize long-term change in the open ocean environment. And one of the key things that we measure is CO2 levels. And we've been able to record this increasing quantity of atmospheric CO2 into the ocean."
Scientists expected that as atmospheric CO2 increased, more and more of the carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the ocean, affecting the chemical balance of the sea water, with a potentially harmful impact on shellfish and coral in particular.
"As carbon dioxide dissolves(溶解) in the water, or seawater in this case, it forms a weak acid, carbonic acid," Dore explains. "And therefore, as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere goes up and that exchanges with the surface seawater, it drives the pH down, and makes it more acidic."
The seawater Dore and his colleagues have analyzed confirms what the theory predicts.
The effect was particular striking at about 250 meters down, and again at 500 meters. Dore and his colleagues came up with two possible explanations. It could be that surface water picked up CO2 and then moved to those depths. Or there could be a biological explanation.
"It's important to realize that the oceans are really becoming acidic. And it can have negative impacts on a whole variety of sea life from fish to coral. It's potentially catastrophic."
1.What can be the best title of the passage?
A.Sea Life Facing Danger B.Climate Change Affecting Seawater
C.Oceans Becoming More Acidic D.Scientist Researching Seawater
2.Which of the following shows the process of the impact of atmospheric CO2 on sea life?
a.Sea life is endangered.
b.CO2 goes into the surface water.
c.The ocean chemistry is affected.
d.CO2decreases the PH and makes the seawater more acidic.
e.CO2 levels in the atmosphere go up.
A. a → b → c → d → e
B. e → b --→ c → d → a
C. a → e -→ b → c → d
D. e → d -→ c → b → a
3.Scientist Robert Dore came to the conclusion based on .
A.his research and analysis
B.a major cause of climate change
C.some former theory
D.the expectation of other scientists
4.What does the passage want to tell us most?
A.It takes time to make a scientific study.
B.Atmospheric CO2 is doing harm to sea life.
C.Robert Dore is a committed and serious scientist.
D.Measures should be taken to prevent the potential catastrophe.


第二部分.阅读理解(共25小题。第一节每小题2分,第二节每小题1分满分45分)
第一节阅读下面五篇短文,从每题后所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案。
People with less education suffer fewer stressful days, according to a report in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
However, the study also found that when less-educated people did suffer stress it was more severe and had a stronger effect on their health.
From this, researchers have concluded that the day-to-day factors that cause stress are regular. Where you are in society determines the kinds of problems that you have each day, and how well you will cope with them.
The research team interviewed a national sample of 1, 031 adults daily for eight days about their stress level and health. People without a high school diploma reported stress on 30 percent of the study days, people with a high school degree reported stress 38 percent of the time, and people with college degrees reported stress 44 percent of the time.
“Less advantaged people are less healthy on a daily basis and are more likely to have downward turns in their health.” leading researcher, Dr. Joseph Grzywacz of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said in a prepared statement. “The downward turns in health were connected with daily stressors (紧张刺激物), and the effect of daily stressors on their health is much more damaging for the less advantaged. ”
“If something happens every day, maybe it’s not seen as a stressor.” Grzywacz says. “Maybe it is just life.”
1.Stress level is closely related to ___.
A. family size B. work experience
C. body weight D. social position
2.Which group reported the biggest number of stressful days?
A. People without any education.B. People without high school degrees.
C. People with high school degrees.D. People with college degrees.
3.The less advantaged people are, the greater .
A. the effect of stress on their health isB. the degree of their health concern is
C. the level of their education is D. the effect of education on their health is
4.Less-educated people report fewer days of stress possibly because .
A. they don’t want to tell truthB. they don’t want to face the truth
C. stress is too common a factor in their life D. their stress is much greater

EI've been writing for most of my life. The book Writing Without Teachers introduced me to one difference and one practice that have greatly helped my writing processes. The difference is between the creative mind and the critical mind. While you need to use both of the creative mind and the critical (批判) mind to reach a finished result,they cannot work in parallel (平行,并行) no matter how much we might like to think so.
 Trying to criticize writing on the fly is possibly the single greatest trouble with writing that most of us meet. If you are listening to a 5th grade English teacher correcting your grammar while you are trying to capture a fleeting(稍纵即逝的)thought, the thought will die. If you catch the fleeting thought and simply share it with the world in raw form, no one is likely to understand. You must learn to create first and then criticize if you want to make writing the tool for thinking as it is.
 The practice that can help you overcome your learned bad habits of trying to edit as you write is what Elbow calls“free writing”. In free writing, the goal is to get words down on paper non-stop,usually for 15-20 minutes. No stopping, no going back, no criticizing. The aim is to get the words flowing. As the words begin to flow,the ideas will come from the shadows and let themselves be captured on your notepad or your screen.
 Now you have raw materials that you can begin to work with using the critical mind that you’ve persuaded to sit on the side and watch quietly. Most likely,you will believe that this will take more time than you actually have and you will end up staring blankly at the pages as the deadline draws near.
 Instead of staring at a blank start and filling it with words no matter how bad they could be,stop halfway through your available time and rework your raw writing into something closer to the finished product. Move back and forth until you run out of time and the final result will most likely be far better than your current practices.
1. When the author says the creative mind and the critical mind“cannot work in parallel”in the writing process,he means _______.
A. no one can be both creative and critical
B. they can’t be regarded as equally important
C. they are in constant conflict with each other
D. one cannot use them at the same time
2. What usually prevents people from writing on is _______.
A. putting their ideas in raw form B. attempting to edit as they’re writing
C. ignoring grammatical problems D. trying to capture their fleeting thoughts
3. What is the chief purpose of the first stage of writing?
A. To organize one’s thoughts logically. B. To choose an appropriate topic.
C. To get one’s ideas down quickly. D. To collect many more raw materials.
4. In what way does the critical mind help the writer in the writing process?
A. It refines(improves) his writing into a better shape.
B. It helps him to come up with new ideas.
C. It saves the writing time available to him.
D. It allows him to sit on the side and observe.

You’re in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
  “I can’t believe it—a Lorenzo Betrolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn’t it beautiful?And it’s a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome”.
  They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It’s nice and the price is right. You’ve never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So,you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
  Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool,the product seems cool,too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
  Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don’t pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation—consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don’t trust ads.
  So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice misleading, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative.“Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing”.
  However,one might ask what exactly is “real” about the young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater. Advertising executives (主管) would say it’s no less real than flu ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don’ t know a conversation you overhear is just a performance.
1. The two attractive young women were talking so that they could _______.
A. get the sweater at a lower price B. be heard by people around
C. be admired by other shoppers D. decide on buying the sweater
2. Lorenzo Bertolla is _______.
A. a very popular male singer B. an advertising agency
C. a clothing company in Rome D. the brand name of a sweater
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.
B. The MTV generation tends to be more easily influenced by ads.
C. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it’s too direct.
D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Two Attractive Shoppers B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters
C. Ways of Advertising D. Undercover Marketing

My House
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?
I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass—I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的, 粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small tree house, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before Father’s death.
This house is special—maybe only to me—but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight snack runs; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists; the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.
This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up.
1. Why did the author’s mother decide to move?
A. Because she hated the countryside.
B. Because Grandpa was on constant move.
C. Because Dad’s death made her lose her mind.
D. Because she thought a city flat more fit for them.
2. What impressed the author when she first moved into the house?
A. The tree house. B. The big trees. C. The cold floors. D. The green grass.
3. How did the author let us feel that the house was special to her?
A. By arguing whether the house was standard.
B. By explaining why the house suited their needs.
C. By describing the small things related to her house.
D. By comparing the differences between country and city life.
4. My mother moved a lot when she was growing up because of ________.
A. Grandpa being in the army. B.their family’s liking moving
C. the life’s need D. Mother’s work

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