Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.
After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”
Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ”
“Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking. ”Why did Tommy’s parents send him to a catholic school?
| A．Because he could eat well there. |
| B．Because he could learn more about nuns. |
| C．Because his parents wanted him to do better in his math. |
| D．Because his parents didn’t want him to learn math any more. |
Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son _______.
| A．was still the same as usual |
| B．ate so much at dinner |
| C．kissed her hello after school |
| D．worked hard but said little |
“Hitting the books” means “_______” in Chinese.
| A．用功 | B．捶书 | C．发泄 | D．振作 |
The last sentence in the passage shows that _______.
| A．Tommy felt sorry for the man |
| B．Tommy was afraid of being nailed |
| C．Tommy didn’t like the plus sign |
| D．Tommy liked playing jokes on others |
From the passage, we can infer (推断) that _______.
| A．teachers should be strict with their students |
| B．mistaking (误解) might do good sometimes |
| C．a catholic school is much better than other ones |
| D．nuns are good at helping children with their math |
Our culture is the system we use to build our identity. All living creatures are part of a culture. Even animals have a culture! So what is culture? It’s the way we behave in a group. It begins with each individual family. Within our families we do things to build relationships with each other. This can include routines for doing things. It also includes traditions. Traditions are activities that are repeated on a regular basis.
Culture is not limited to individual family groups. The real strength of culture is in larger community （社会）groups. These larger groups are called societies. Every society makes rules for itself. It decides how people should act in different situations. Some of these rules are written down. Some are just things that are automatically expected of all members of that society. Often, cultures can be identified（识别）by what the people believe. Cultures are also known by what they choose to include in their art. Sometimes a society forms around people who speak the same language. Cultures may also be known for their customs, including the foods they make and the things they do.
Our cultures help us understand who we are and what we believe. There are very strong emotions（情感）connecting us to our own society. Two different cultures may disagree on something, especially if they both feel strongly about it. When that happens, war is a common result. People are learning better ways to communicate with each other. The more we learn, the more we appreciate the differences in cultures.Which of the following is not true?
| A．Every society has its own culture. |
| B．Every one with an identity card has his own culture. |
| C．Animals have their cultures. |
| D．Culture and traditions are connected. |
Which of the following has nothing to do with culture according to the passage?
| A．A religion that a certain people practice |
| B．Greetings sent to people we love during spring festival |
| C．Face-changing in Sichuan Opera |
| D．Someone’s personal habit of staying up very late |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Modern societies have written down all the rules for behavior. |
| B．Plants themselves have no culture. |
| C．Disagreement between two societies always leads to war. |
| D．Strong emotions that connect us to our society should be got rid of. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．cultural exchanges may help reduce the risk of war |
| B．all disagreements are caused by strong feelings |
| C．differences in culture always cause disagreements |
| D．people haven’t tried different ways to communicate |
It’s puzzling, isn’t it? No matter where you try to tickle（使人发痒）yourself, even on the soles（脚底） of your feet or under your arms, you just can’t.
To understand why, you need to know more about how your brain works. One of its main tasks is to try to make good guesses about what’s going to happen next. While you’re busy getting on with your life, walking downstairs or eating your breakfast, parts of your brain are always trying to predict the future.
Remember when you first learned how to ride a bicycle? At first, it took a lot of concentration to keep the handlebars steady and push the pedals（踏板）. But after a while, cycling became easy. Now you’re not aware of the movements you make to keep the bike going. From experience, your brain knows exactly what to expect so your body rides the bike automatically. Your brain is predicting all the movements you need to make.
You only have to think consciously about cycling if something changes---like if there’s a strong wind or you get a flat tyre. When something unexpected happens like this, your brain is forced to change its predictions about what will happen next. If it does its job well, you’ll adjust to the strong wind, leaning your body so you don’t fall.
Why is it so important for our brains to predict what will happen next? It helps us make fewer mistakes and can even save our lives. For example, when a chief fireman sees a fire, he immediately makes decisions about how best to position his men. His past experiences help him foresee what might happen and choose the best plan for fighting the fire. His brain can instantly predict how different plans would work out, and he can rule out any bad or dangerous plans without putting his men at risk in real life.
So how does all this answer your question about tickling? Because your brain is always predicting your own actions, and how your body will feel as a result, you cannot tickle yourself. Other people can tickle you because they can surprise you. You can’t predict what their tickling actions will be.What is the best title for this passage?
| A．How Does the Brain work? |
| B．Why Can’t I Tickle Myself? |
| C．The importance of Prediction |
| D．The Importance of Our Brains |
Our brains cannot predict what will happen when we______.
| A．walk down the stairs |
| B．eat our breakfast |
| C．suddenly lose our balance and fall |
| D．ride a bike |
The phrase “rule out” in Paragraph 4 means______.
| A．decide that something is not suitable | B．think about |
| C．act according to the rules | D．expect |
The passage is probably taken from______.
| A．a scientific report for experts |
| B．a textbook for medical students |
| C．a book for children |
| D．a research paper for doctors |
When you are invited to attend a party in the West, the first important thing you need to know is that you should arrive late.
It is a great embarrassment to arrive at a party early or even on time. Therefore, unless you are the host of the party, you never want to be the first person present at a party. Why? Because others may think that you have no life or nothing better to do than wait for a party to start. Many people try to project（展现）an image（形象）of always being busy, which, whether true or not, has something to do with success. So, by arriving late, you are implying: “I live a full life and it's really exciting.”
Therefore, an 8 o'clock party usually doesn't really start until maybe 9 o'clock, as everyone wants to be thought of as a busy and important person with lots of things to do. In other words, a party is one of those rare occasions（极少数场合）in which your punctuality can actually hurt you. It's quite a strange thing, isn't it? Anyhow, remember to be late!The passage is most likely to have been taken from a book about______.
| A．life in the West | B．health and medicine |
| C．politics in the West | D．behavioral science |
What is the reason that people want to be late for parties?
| A．They are not the host of the party. |
| B．They are too busy to arrive on time. |
| C．They want others to think they are busy. |
| D．They don’t want to wait for a party to start. |
What does the word "punctuality" in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Being polite | B．Being late |
| C．Being smart | D．Being on time |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．Sometimes people pretend to be what they want to be. |
| B．Lateness is not a problem when you are attending a meeting. |
| C．You need to be late on every occasion. |
| D．Going to a party can be a waste of time. |
Absence
If a student is absent, parents are asked to contact the school and report that absence. Simply ring the school and you will be directed to the absence phone system. You should then give the name of the student and their tutor teacher.
Attendance
School hours are 08:35 to 15:00. If a student is late, they must sign in at the Student Office.
School times are as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
08:35 - 09:35 Period 1
09:35 - 10:35 Period 2
10:35 - 10:50 Tutor Time
10:50 - 11:10 Interval
11:10 - 12:05 Period 3
12:05 - 13:00 Period 4
13:00 - 13.45 Lunch
13:45 - 14:05 School-wide reading
14:05 - 15:00 Period 5
Wednesday Only
09:00 - 09:55 Period 1
09:55 - 10:50 Period 2
Rest of the times are the same as for the other days.
Cellphones
The current cell phone policy is that, although permitted at school, they must not be used or turned on during class time.If a student is absent, ______ should call the school and report the absence.
the student’s parentsB. the student himself
C. the student’s tutor D. the student’s teacherThe school doesn’t have Tutor Time ______.
| A．on Monday and Friday | B．on Tuesday |
| C．on Thursday | D．on Wednesday |
Students can use their cell phones at ______ every day.
| A．09:00 | B．10:00 |
| C．11:00 | D．12:00 |
Which of the following is true?
| A．When you report an absence, you speak directly to the Student Office. |
| B．You are not late if you go to your classroom at 8 o’clock on Thursday. |
| C．You must ring the school if you are late. |
| D．Wednesday afternoon is free. |
Old-Fashioned Play-For Pay
Kids! Come to have a ball! Or 60,000 of them! There’s a new type of business franchise（特许经销权）that is appearing in shopping malls and neighborhood across America offering pay-per-use indoor playgrounds, which feature toys, games, guided fun and a workout that doesn’t break the family bank.
As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and dirty, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe guided activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop kids’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around $ 5 an hour. “Playgrounds are dirty, not guided,” says Dick Guggenheimer, owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N. Y., part of Kansas City-based chain, “We are indoors; we are padded; parents can feel their child is safe”.
In order to satisfy the need of two-earner families, the new franchise stays open in the evenings, long after traditional public playgrounds have grown dark and unusable. However, these new playgrounds are not meant to be day-care centers. Parents are expected to go stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special guided programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner. If there is a problem, Mom and Dad are called.
The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-earner families and two-hour commutes（两小时上下班往返）, play with their kids. That, at least, is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates.What is this article mainly talking about?
| A．Children can play without parent’s care. |
| B．The fast development of Discovery Zone. |
| C．A new type of business franchise of kids. |
| D．The disadvantages of outdoor playgrounds. |
According to the article, which of the following is TRUE to the new playground?
| A．The cost is high for a family. |
| B．It doesn't allow parents to leave their kids. |
| C．It stays open in the evening just as traditional playgrounds. |
| D．It's a place where parents can play together with their kids. |
What does the writer mean by saying "old-fashioned"?
| A．The so-called new playground is out of date. |
| B．The new playground is actually enjoyed by parents. |
| C．The new playground is also enjoyed by old people. |
| D．The new playground offers a fashion which is popular in the past. |
The writer’s attitude toward the new playground is_______________.
| A．agreeable | B．negative |
| C．doubtful | D．unknown |