Like the post-90s generation in China, today’s teenagers in the UK have a problem with how they’re represented. Most of them feel unfairly represented by the media and their lives are negatively (负面地) influenced, says a recent survey.
The survey was carried out by the UK Demos, in which more than 1000 14-17-year-old teens from England and Northern Ireland took part.
The survey report shows that four-fifths of teens (81%) felt there was a false image of young people in the media and wider society. Most of them (85%) said that it is hurting both their self-esteem(自尊) and chance of getting a job.
By researching six UK newspapers over the past 10 years, Demos found that words most commonly connected with “teenagers” and “young people” were “binge-drinking”, “yobs” and “crime”.
“The young people out there are doing good things for the community, but there are always bad things on the news. But we’re not all like that, it’s only a few,” said Becky Brunskill, 18, member of Youth Parliament for Liverpool.
The survey also found that 80% of UK teenagers believed they cared more about social issues than the older generation. This was a view shared by their teachers, 66% of whom agreed in a separate Demos survey of 500 teachers.
The UK youth are also eager to make a difference. But rather than traditional politics, 87% of the teens believed social media was a good way to change society.
Jonathan Birdwell, author of the Demos report, said “They could be the most active citizens we have seen in a generation.”What problems are current UK teenagers troubled with according to Demos?
| A．Their bad school image. |
| B．The media’s negative image of them. |
| C．Their false social relationships. |
| D．The difficulty of getting jobs. |
How many people think that the false image is hurting their self-esteem?
| A．800 | B．810 | C．850 | D．1000 |
We can guess the underlined words “binge-drinking” and “yobs” are about .
| A．something bad | B．something good |
| C．students | D．adults |
What can we tell from the passage?
| A．Few young British people are doing good things for the community. |
| B．British teenagers care more about their parents than social issues. |
| C．Young Britons are inactive in trying to prove themselves. |
| D．Young Britons believe social media is a good way to change society. |
Do you love holidays but hate the increase weight that follow? You are not alone.
Holidays are happy days with pleasure and delicious foods. Many people, however, are worried about the weight that comes along with these delicious foods.
With proper planning, though, it is possible to control your weight. The idea is to enjoy the holidays but not to eat too much. You don’t have to turn away from the foods that you enjoy. The following suggestions may be of some help to you.
Don’t miss meals. Before you leave home for a feast (宴会),have a small, low-fat snack. This may help to keep you from getting too excited before delicious foods.
Begin with clear soup and fruit or vegetables.
A large glass of water before you eat may help you feel full.
Use a small plate; a large plate will encourage you to have more than enough.
Better not have high-fat foods. Dishes that look oily or creamy have much fat in them.
Choose lean meat. Fill your plate with salad and green vegetables.
If you have a sweet tooth, try mints(薄荷)and fruits. They don’t have fat content as cream and chocolate.
Don’t let exercise take a break during the holidays. A 20 minute walk after a meal can help burn off excess calories.Holidays are happy days with pleasure but they may ______.
| A．bring weight problems |
| B．bring you much trouble in your life |
| C．make you worried about your foods |
| D．make you hate delicious foods |
In order to really enjoy your holidays without putting on weight, you d ‘better ______.
| A．drink much water and have vegetables only |
| B．not eat too much food in high fat |
| C．not accept invitations to feasts |
| D．turn away from delicious foods |
According to the passage, ____ is a necessary part to stop you from putting on weight.
| A．vegetables | B．water |
| C．calorie of energy | D．physical exercise |
Many people can’t help putting on weight after the holidays because they _____.
| A．can’t control themselves |
| B．go to too many feasts |
| C．enjoy delicious foods |
| D．can’t help turning away from the foods |
Excess calories can be found in your body in the form of _________.
| A．energy | B．fat |
| C．food | D．something invisible |
At a day care center in Texas, children were playing outside. One of the children was Jessica McClure. She was only 18months old. Her mother, worked at the day care center , was watching the children . Suddenly Jessica fell and disappeared. Jessica’s mother screamed and ran to her.
A well was in the yard of the center. The well was only eight inches across and a rock always covered it. But children had moved the rock. When Jessica fell, she fell right into the well.
Jessica’s mother reached inside the well, but she couldn’t feel Jessica. She ran to a phone and dialed 911 for help. Men from the fire department arrived. They discovered that Jessica was about 20 feet down in the well. For the next hour the men talked and planned Jessica’s rescue.
“We can’t go down into the well, ” they said. “It is too narrow. So, we’re going to drill a tunnel across to Jessica. When we reach her, we’ll bring her through the tunnel and up through our hole.”
The men began to drill the hole at 11a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 1987. The men had a difficult job; they were drilling through solid rock. During her days in the well, Jessica sometimes called her mother, sometimes she slept, sometimes she cried and sometimes she sang.
All over the world, people waited for news of Jessica. Everyone worried about her.
At 8 p.m. on Friday, October 16, men reached Jessica and brought her up from the well. Then paramedics rushed her to the hospital. Jessica was dirty, hungry, thirsty and tired. Her feet and forehead were badly injured. But she was alive.
After Jessica’s rescue, one of the rescuers made a metal cover for the well which wrote, “To Jessica, with love from all of us.”Which of the following shows the right order of what happened to Jessica?
a. People talked and planned Jessica’s rescue.
b. Jessica’s feet and forehead were badly injured.
c. Jessica fell into a well in the yard.
d. People began to drill a hole and a tunnel.
e. Someone moved the rock on the well.
f. she was bought up from the well.
g. Jessica sometimes called or slept or cried or sang.
h. Her mother reached inside the well
| A．e, c, b, g, a, d, h, f |
| B．c, b, a, d, g, f, h, e |
| C．c, e, g, a, d, h, f, b |
| D．e, c, h, a, g, d, f, b |
Jessica stayed in the well at least ____.
| A．45 hours | B．46 hours | C．57 hours | D．58 hours |
The best title of the passage is ______.
| A．An Unluckily Girl | B．An Unpleasant Experience |
| C．Everybody’s Baby | D．Mother’s Fault |
New findings show that musical training affects（影响）the structure and function of different brain areas, how those areas communicate during the creation of music, and how the brain interprets and combines sensory(感官) information. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. These views suggest potential new roles for musical training including training plasticity（可塑性）in the brain, offering an alternative tool in education, and treating a range of learning disabilities.
Today’s new findings show that long-term high level musical training has a broader effect. Researchers found that musicians have a better ability to combine sensory information from hearing, touch, and sight. The age at which musical training begins influenced brain structure and its function. Beginning training before the age of seven has the greatest effect.
Even older adults who took music lessons as children but haven’t actively played an instrument in decades have a faster brain response(反应) to a speech sound than those who never played an instrument, according to a study appearing November 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The finding suggests early musical training has a lasting, positive effect on how the brain deals with sound.
“Playing a musical instrument is a multi-sensory and motive experience that creates emotions and movements—from finger tapping to dancing — and engages pleasure and reward systems in the brain. It has the potential to affect brain function and structure when done over a long period of time,” said Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, press conference speaker, also an expert on music.
“As today’s findings show, musical training brings about new processes within the brain, at different stages of life, and with a range of effects on creativity, cognition(认知), and learning,” he added. From the first paragraph, we can see musical training can .
| A．affect one’s communication with others |
| B．help musicians create better music |
| C．provide new treatment of mental diseases |
| D．offer an alternative tool in education |
Why does the author mention “Even older adults … a speech sound.” in Para. 3?
| A．To suggest how new roles for musical training work. |
| B．To prove early musical training affects the function of the brain. |
| C．To explain how the brain interprets sensory information. |
| D．To show how the brain areas communicate in music training. |
Which of the following best describes the function of early musical training?
| A．Difficult but interesting. | B．Painful but effective. |
| C．Lasting and positive. | D．Important and necessary. |
According to the passage, we learn that .
| A．musical training causes new processes within the brain |
| B．Gottfried Schlaug thinks it hard to learn music |
| C．playing a musical instrument is a single -sensory experience |
| D．people having music lessons as children respond slowly |
The best title of the passage should be .
| A．Older People and Musical Training |
| B．Musical Training Affects Brain Structure and Its Function |
| C．Long-term High Level Musical Training |
| D．Brain Interprets and Combines Sensory Information |
When I was a kid, I was close to my dad, but as I grew older, my dad and I grew further apart. We always had totally different opinions. He thought that college was a waste of time, but for me it was important to finish college. He wanted me to work my way to the top as he had done in his field, but I wanted a different life. There was a time when we did not talk with each other.
A few months ago, I heard that my 84-year-old dad was in poor health. When he called and asked whether I could move from Colorado back to Tennessee to help him, I knew he was seriously ill. I am his only child and so it was time to meet my father’s requirement.
Two weeks after moving back, we bought a boat and started fishing again. Fishing was one of the few things that we did while I was young and that we both enjoyed. It is strange but true that as we are fishing we are able to put things that have kept us apart for so many years behind us. We are able to talk about things that we have never talked about before. Fishing has been healing the old wounds that have kept us apart
It is not important how many fish we catch. It is about enjoying the relationship that we have not had for years. I’m 62 and he is 84. When we are on the lake fishing, it is like two kids enjoying life. It is far better to find a way to put the unhappy past behind. I am so lucky to spend the happy time with my father in his last years. Now my heart is filled with love. A smile always graces my lips.The author and his father became further apart because______________.
| A．they had different views on things |
| B．they lived very far from each other |
| C．they only communicated by phone |
| D．they seldom went to see each other |
What made the author come back to Tennessee?
| A．Because his father invited him to go fishing. |
| B．Because he decided to live in a different city. |
| C．Because his father is ill and needs caring. |
| D．Because he regretted being rude to his father. |
For the author, fishing with his old father ___________ .
| A．helps cure his father’s disease |
| B．is a good way to get close to nature |
| C．makes him realize the importance of exercise |
| D．offers a chance for them to communicate |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The writer’s car is always breaking down. |
| B．Father intended me to be a fisherman. |
| C．I was unwilling to come back. |
| D．Father used to think it was useless to attend college. |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Forgiving Is Difficult | B．Fishing Brings Us Together |
| C．Memories of Old Days | D．My Beloved Father |
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human conditions is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful(有压力的) conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support — money aid, material resources, and needed services — that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.Interpersonal relationships are important because they can _______.
| A．make people live more easily |
| B．smooth away daily problems |
| C．deal with life changes |
| D．cure types of illnesses |
The researches show that people's physical and mental health _______.
| A．lies in the social medical care systems which support them |
| B．has much to do with the amount of support they get from others |
| C．depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles |
| D．is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “cushions” ?
| A．takes place of | B．makes up of |
| C．lessens the effect of | D．gets rid of |
Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of _______.
| A．instrumental support | B．informational support |
| C．social companionship | D．the strengthening of self-respect |
What is the subject discussed in the text?
| A．Interpersonal relationships. |
| B．Kinds of social support. |
| C．Ways to deal with stress. |
| D．Effects of stressful conditions. |