My 18-month-old son, Adam, called from the front door. “Look, Mama! Doggie!” I dropped what I was doing and stuck my head out of the door. Brandy, our next-door neighbor’s 11-year-old dog, was over again. “Go away!” I shouted.
Brandy’s owner had died about a month earlier. The woman’s family had emptied the house and stuck a “For Sale” sign in the front yard, but the family had left old Brandy behind. For weeks, she’d been wandering around the neighborhood.
It wasn’t that I disliked dogs or anything like that. I just didn’t think about them very much. I never had a dog growing up and had never thought to get one.
Brandy went away and I stayed outside with Adam. Then the phone rang. I went inside to take the call. When I came back, Adam was gone. I searched the yard, front and back, then the basketball court and public pool. No trace of him. I was so nervous that I ran home and called the police, then my husband.
Police searched the neighborhood. Suddenly I heard anothersound: a dog barking. “It’s coming from the woods,” one of my neighbors said. We followed the barking to a wooded cliff（悬崖）. There we found my son, and he was just inches away from the edges of the cliff, fast asleep. Brandy was beside him, leaning（斜靠着）against him to keep him away from the edge（边缘）. When I picked Adam up, Brandy sank down on her side, breathing quickly. She must have been holding Adam there for hours!
I thanked the police and brought Adam and Brandy back to our house. She hesitated a moment on our doorstep, no doubt remembering the time I’d driven her away.
“Come on, girl,” I said. “This is your home now. ” Brandy stepped in, and once she saw she was really welcome, she relaxed and lay down on the floor just inside the door. She’d done a great thing, and I wondered if she knew it. She’d certainly touched me in a way that no animal ever had. What a pity a dog like Brandy had been left behind!What is the correct order for the events in the story about Brandy?
a. She was left behind by her owner’s family.
b. She stepped into the woman’s house.
c. She appeared at the woman’s front door.
d. She stayed beside the woman’s son for hours.
| A．d, c, b, a | B．a, c, b, d |
| C．c, d, b, a | D．a, c, d, b |
What did the woman do when she first saw Brandy?
| A．She gave her some food. | B．She took her home. |
| C．She drove her away. | D．She said thank you to her. |
How were they able to be aware that the woman’s son was near the cliff?
| A．By searching the neighborhood. |
| B．By hearing a dog barking. |
| C．By following a dog’s footsteps. |
| D．By hearing her son’s crying. |
What’s the woman’s attitude towards Brandy at the end of the story?
| A．Gratitude. | B．Dislike. |
| C．Sympathy. | D．Indifference. |
Your brain isn’t a muscle, but you can treat it like one
Many people focus on physical fitness, but few know that brain fitness is also something you can work on. In fact, you can exercise your brain as often as you do to your arms or legs-and the results can be positive and empowering.
To improve your brain, you can’t simply repeat the same exercises over and over. Just as lifting a two-pound weight will stop challenging you, so will repetitive exercises such as crosswords or Sudoku. Once you master easy exercises, you must move on to harder ones in order to push your brain-like your muscles-to a new level.
The science behind brain training
Scientists once believed that your mental abilities were fixed in adulthood. Since studies have shown just the opposite, millions of people around the world have adopted the new practice of brain training. The most popular of these brain training products is made by the San Francisco-based Lumosity. Lumosity’s scientists with an experienced team of game designers have developed a fun，effective online brain training program that measures, tracks, and adapts to your progress, so you’ll always be challenged.
Promising studies on the effects of brain training
In a 2013 Stanford study, a treatment group of 21 breast cancer survivors used 12 weeks of Lumosity training to work on processing speed, mental flexibility, and working memory tasks. On average, those who trained improved on tests of these abilities, compared to a group that did not train with Lumosity.
There is even some evidence suggesting that Lumosity may be beneficial to normal, healthy adults. In a 2011 study by Lumosity and San Francisco State University researchers. 13 people who trained over 5 weeks improved working memory scores by 10％and attention scores by 20％.
Brain training is designed to meet real-life needs
The design of brain train ing is targeted at real-life benefits instead of improving game scores. Better attention, for example, can mean greater focus in the classroom or at an important business meeting. With improved processing speed, you might react and adapt faster to the demands of a busy life. And a better memory could mean stronger, longer relationships with the people closest to you.We can learn from the passage that _________.
| A．brain training speeds up the recovery of breast cancer |
| B．your brain is like a muscle because it gives you power |
| C．people’s mental abilities can’t develop after they grow up |
| D．Lumosity can measure, track and suit your level as you improve |
Which skill may brain training not improve?
| A．Better attention. |
| B．Better writing skills. |
| C．A better memory. |
| D．Higher processing speed. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．People should care more about physical health instead of mental health. |
| B．Brain training has been proved effective through scientific researches. |
| C．A bad memory is the only reason for weak relationships with people. |
| D．Playing online games is the best way of brain training. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Brain Training Makes a Difference |
| B．Train Your Brain like a Muscle |
| C．Lumosity, Your Best Choice |
| D．How to Train Your Brain |
Are you single or married? Are you a cat or a dog owner? Do you exercise, or are you a “couch potato” (a person who sits on the sofa all day watching TV, eating and basically doing nothing)? These questions and many others are about your lifestyle.
People in the United States feel that they can choose their lifestyles and even shape their own identities. The great variety of lifestyles leads to constant national discussion of choices that people make. This freedom of choice is fun and exciting, but it also creates stress and uncertainty. In newspapers, lifestyle issues are discussed in the features or style section. In The Chicago Tribune this section is called “Tempo”. People turn to this section for lively discussion on lifestyle choices they face with regard to their personal identities, their families, and their social lives.
Many American people believe that they can make their lives happy and satisfying despite their problems. If they lack confidence or tend to feel anxious, shy, angry, or depressed, they believe that they can change themselves. Self-help books, magazines, and feature articles are filled with advice from experts about steps to take to become a happier or more satisfied person and to improve one’s self-respect. Part of this research for self-improvement is a belief that even one’s own appearance can be controlled. This is why there are so many articles in the newspaper about looking young, wearing the latest fashions, and becoming physically fit.
Lifestyle choices also involve moral and social issues. How should children be raised? How should people behave on a date? How should elderly people be treated? How can people stay happily married? All these kinds of issues are constantly discussed and are constantly changing. Not only are experts such as psychologists consulted, but stars from the political and entertainment worlds are held up as lifestyle leaders as well. In the newspaper, feature articles called profiles（简介）discuss in detail the personal lives or public work of movie stars, authors, artists, and excellent individuals who are not stars. The lifestyle choices these people make contribute to the public discussion of all the issues that people think about.
A well-known advertising slogan is “Just do it.” In the culture of the United States, people believe that they can take action and become the kind of people they want to be and live the way they want to live.The section “Tempo” in The Chicago Tribune mainly discusses _________.
| A．lifestyle choices |
| B．current affairs |
| C．experts’ opinions on life |
| D．how to improve one’s self-respect |
According to the author, Americans are pretty sure that they can _________.
| A．live a happy life in spite of their problems |
| B．solve all the problems in their life |
| C．improve their life by following the elders’ advice |
| D．control their own appearance |
According to the passage, people’s opinions on moral or social issues can be influenced by _________.
| A．their bosses |
| B．family members |
| C．friends and colleagues |
| D．experts and famous people |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Changes in the lifestyle |
| B．Choosing the Way We Live |
| C．Lifestyles in the United States |
| D．Make Our Lives Happy |
When Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it was a revolution in communication. For the first time, people could talk to each other over great distances almost as clearly as if they were in the same room. Nowadays, though, we increasingly use Bell’s invention for taking photographs, surfing the internet, or watching videos, rather than talking. Over the last two decades a new means of spoken communication has appeared: the mobile phone.
The first real mobile telephone call was made in 1973 by Dr Martin Cooper, the scientist who invented the modern mobile handset (手机). Within a decade, mobile phones became available to the public. The streets of modern cities began to feature sharp-suited characters shouting into giant plastic bricks. In Britain the mobile phone quickly became the same with the “yuppie”, the new type of young urban professionals who carried the expensive handsets as status symbols. Around this time many of us said that we would never own a mobile phone.
But in the mid-90s, something happened. Cheaper handsets and cheaper calling rates meant that, almost overnight, it seemed that everyone had a mobile phone. And the giant plastic bricks of the 80s had changed into smooth little objects that fitted nicely into pockets and bags.
Moreover, people’s timekeeping changed. Younger readers will be amazed to know that, not long ago, people made spoken arrangements to meet at a certain place at a certain time. But later Meeting time became inexact under the new order of communication: the Short Message Service （SMS） or text message. Going to be late? Send a text message! It takes much less effort than arriving on time, and it’s much less awkward than explaining your lateness face to face and the text message has changed the way we write in English. Traditional rules of grammar and spelling are much less important when you’re sitting on the bus, hurriedly typing “Will B 15mm late - C U @ the bar. Sorry! -).”
Alexander Graham Bell would be amazed if he could see how far the science of telephony has progressed in less than 150 years. If he were around today, he might say “That’s gr8! But I’m v busy rite now. Will call U 2nite.”What does the underlined part in Para.2 refer to?
| A．Houses of modern cities. | B．Sharp-suited characters. |
| C．New type of professionals. | D．Mobile phones. |
According to Paragraph 4, why did Meeting time become inexact?
| A．People were more likely to be late for their meeting. |
| B．SMS made it easier to inform each other. |
| C．Young people don’t like unchanging things. |
| D．Traditional customs were dying out. |
If you want to meet your friend at the school gate this evening, which of the following message can you send him?
| A．Call U@ SKUg8 2nite. | B．IM2BZ2CU 2nite. |
| C．W84U@ SKUg8 2nite. | D．CU@ the bar g8 2nite. |
What does the passage mainly tell us about?
| A．Alexander Graham’s invention. |
| B．SMS as a new way of communication. |
| C．The development of the mobile phone. |
| D．New functions of the mobile telephone. |
Having taken a room at the hotel at which he had been instructed to stay, Smallwood went out; it was a lovely day, early in August, and the sun shone in an unclouded sky. He had not been to Lucerne since he was a boy, but remembered a covered bridge, though not clearly, a great stone lion and a church in which he had sat, bored yet impressed while they played an organ (风琴); and now wandering along a shady quay (码头) he tried not so much to find his way about a half-forgotten scene as to reform in his mind some recollection of the shy and eager boy, so impatient for life, who so long ago had wandered there. But it seemed to him that the most lively of his memories was not of himself, but of the crowd; he seemed to remember the sun and the heat and the people; the train was crowded and so was the hotel, the lake steamers were packed and on the quays and in the streets you found your way among the holiday-makers. They were fat and old and ugly and strange.
Now, in wartime, Lucerne was as deserted as it must have been before the world discovered that Switzerland was the play-ground of Europe. Most of the hotels were closed, the streets were empty, the boats for hire rocked (摇晃) lazily at the water’s edge and there was none to take them, and in the avenue by the lake the only persons to be seen were serious Swiss taking their dogs for their daily walk. Smallwood felt happy and, sitting down on a bench that faced the water, surrendered (听任) himself to the feelings. The blue water, snowy mountains, and their beauty hit you in the face. So long, at all event, as the fine weather lasted he was prepared to enjoy himself. He didn’t see why he should not at least try to combine pleasure to himself with advantage to his country.We can infer that Smallwood went to Lucerne _________.
| A．to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the area |
| B．to do something as told |
| C．to visit his friend there |
| D．to get in touch with the shy and eager boy |
He felt that the city _________.
| A．was more crowded than it used to be |
| B．had changed out of all recognition |
| C．had been ruined by becoming an attraction |
| D．was quieter than he remembered it |
He was prepared to enjoy himself as long as _________.
| A．he was serving his country |
| B．he was making a profit |
| C．the pleasant weather continued like this |
| D．he could stay in Lucerne |
After reading the passage, we can draw a conclusion that _________.
| A．Smallwood’s former visit to Lucerne was made in peacetime |
| B．Smallwood was pleased by the sound this time |
| C．Smallwood was very nervous when he got to Lucerne |
| D．A war would soon break out in Lucerne |
| My Left Foot (1989) Imagine being a prisoner of your own body, unable to make any movements except to move your left foot. The main character in My Left Foot, based on the real story of cerebral palsy (大脑性麻痹) sufferer Christy Brown, can hardly move his mouth to speak, but by controlling his left foot, he’s able to express himself as an artist and poet. For his moving performance of Brown, Daniel Lewis won his first Academy Award for best actor. |
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| Shine (1996) Do you have a talent you’re afraid to share with the world? David Helfgott seemed meant from childhood to be “one of the truly great pianists,” but the pressures of performing (and pleasing his father) resulted in a complete breakdown. Ten years in a mental institution didn’t weaken Helfgott’s musical gift. When he was rediscovered, he was playing concertos in a bar. Shine received seven Oscar nominations (提名), and Geoffrey Rush won best actor for his performance of Helfgott. |
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| Life Is Beautiful (1997) Nothing’s more powerful than the love between a parent and a child. In this heartbreaking Italian film, a father (Roberto Benigni) makes an unbelievable sacrifice for his 4-year-old son: trapped in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, the Jewish man convinces his boy that they are playing a complex game. He manages to spare him the horror of the terrible war, and even in his final moments of life, keeps his son smiling and hopeful. Benigni won the best actor Oscar. |
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| Stand and Deliver (1988) Few people can inspire us more than a good teacher. Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos got Oscar nomination for best actor) is a great one. Employed at a high school where kids are expected to fail, Escalante challenges his math students to struggle for better things, like getting good grades in the AP exam. Despite the difficulties in their lives, the classmates achieve their goals, thanks to Mr. Escalante’s support. The real Jaime Escalante, the Best Teacher in America, says that Stand and Deliver is “ 90% truth, 10% drama.” |
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The underlined part in the passage means _________.
| A．The main character in My Left Foot is a prisoner |
| B．The main character in My Left Foot is a disabled person |
| C．The main character in My Left Foot is trapped by others |
| D．The main character in My Left Foot can’t control his whole body |
If you want to watch a movie about wars, which may be one of your choices?
| A．My Left Foot. | B．Life Is Beautiful. |
| C．Shine. | D．Stand and Deliver. |
Jaime Escalante has a talent for _________.
| A．teaching | B．drawing and writing |
| C．making stories | D．playing the piano |
What do the four movies have in common?
| A．They are all based on real stories. |
| B．The main characters all won Academy Award for Best Actor. |
| C．They are all inspiring stories that make a difference. |
| D．The main characters are all sick to some degree but succeed. |