According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)，the U．K．has about 7．7 million families with dependent children，of which 3．7 million have just one child，compared to 3 million with two and 1．1 million with three children or more．The number of families today with just one dependent child is now 47 percent and will likely rise to more than 50 percent in a decade．As the ONS confirms，“It appears that families are getting smaller．”
One obvious reason for this could be that women are putting off having children until they have established careers when they are bound to be less fertile．But it could just as well be a matter of choice．Parents must consider the rising cost of living，combined with economic uncertainty and an increasingly difficult job market．And this trend may continue growing as having an only child becomes more normal，which seems to be the mood on the mothers’ online forum Mumsnet，where one member announced that she “just wanted to start a positive thread about how fab it is to have an only child”．
She had received 231 replies，overwhelmingly in the same upbeat spirit．Parents of only children insist there are plenty of benefits．Nicola Kelly，a writer and lecturer who grew up as an only child and is now a married mother of one，says her 15 year old son seems more grown up in many ways than his contemporaries．
Not all products of single child families are as keen to repeat the experience．In a moving recent account journalist Janice Turner wrote about her own keenness to “squeeze out two sons just 22 months apart”as a reaction to her only child upbringing．
She was placed on a pedestal by her doting parents，whom she punished with a “brattish，wilful” rejection of everything they stood for．Desperate for a close friend she was repeatedly shattered by rejection and refers to her childhood as being “misery”．
Writer and clinician Dr．Dorothy Rowe，a member of the British Psychological Society，says that we all interpret events in our own individual way and there are some children who no matter what their circumstances feel slighted，while other children see the advantages of their situation．
However，the one part of life that is unlikely to get any easier for only children is when they grow up and find themselves looking after their own parents as they become older．
The passage is written with the purpose of ________．
| A．illustrating the strength and weakness of having an only child |
| B．analyzing the reasons why having an only child becomes popular |
| C．presenting us with different opinions about having an only child |
| D．guiding people to look at the same issue from different perspectives |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 mean？
| A．Nearly half of families intend to have just one child． |
| B．All people don’t stand for the idea of having an only child． |
| C．Some people fail to recognize the advantage of having an only child． |
| D．People brought up in an only child family resist downsizing the family． |
From what Dr．Dorothy Rowe said，we know that ________．
| A．journalist Janice Turner experienced a miserable childhood |
| B．she has a positive attitude towards Janice Turner’s reaction |
| C．it’s necessary for us to look at the event from our own angle |
| D．some are unable to make an objective assessment of their conditions |
What can be inferred from the passage？
| A．It’s normal to see the imperfection in character in only children． |
| B．Mumsnet is an online forum which promotes having an only child． |
| C．Economic development plays a determining role in the family size． |
| D．Only children will have difficulty in attending to their parents． |
A new study has claimed that men really are more intelligent than women . The study concluded that men’s IQs are almost four points higher than women’s.
British-born researcher John Philippe Rushton says the finding could explain why so few women make it to the top in the workplace.
The Oxford University reached his conclusion after Scrutinizing the results of university ability tests taken by 100,000 students aged 17 and 18 of both sexes.
A focus on the factors such as the ability to quickly grasp a complex concept , verbal reasoning skills(语言推理能力) and creativity—some of the key factors of intelligence ---showed the male teenagers had IQs that were an average of 3.63 points higher. The average person has an IQ around 100 . The findings , which held true for all classes and levels of education , overturn 100-year opinion that men and women average the same in general mental ability. They also conflict（冲突） with evidence that girls do better in school exams than boys.
But Professor Rushton argues that the faster maturing（成熟） of girls leads to them outshining boys in the classroom .
46. The report is mainly about________.
A. a study that shows men are clever than women B. the “glass ceiling “phenomenon
C. Professor Ruston’s theory on IQ D. the difference between male and female
47. The underlined word “Scrutinizing” in the fourth paragraph probably means__________.
A. making up B. carrying out C. examining carefully D. looking at
48. The tests were taken by _________.
A. boy students aged 17 and 18. B. 100,000 boy and girl students aged 17 and 18[
C. girl students aged 17 and 18D. 100,000 girl students
49. We can infer that the average woman has an IQ of _________.
A. a little less than 100 B. 100 C. more than 100 D. 96.37
50. Which of the following opinions does Professor Rushton NOT accept?
A. Men’s IQs are almost four points higher than women’s
B. Few women make it to the top in the workplace.
C. Men and women average the same in general mental ability .
D. The faster maturing of girls leads to them outshining boys in the classroom.
阅读（共两节，满分40分）
阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A , B , C , 和 D中，选出最佳选项。
Tony Bennett, the American singer recenlty touring Britain, can’t remember how many times he has sung his standard hit “I left My Heart in San Fransisco”. He sang it again to his audience at the London Palladium last night.
“I never get tired of singing it.” He said. “I like ti too much . It’s a great city and it’s a good song.”
Bennet is to record a TV special with American singer Lens Home while he is here. And a new LP recorded by him in London for Philips titled Listen Easy”will be published in June.”I like it here.” He added quietly over whiskey. “I would like to live here so many months of the year.”
He already keeps a large flat in Grosenor Square, where he is staying with his actress wife Sandie Grant and their three-year-old daughter Joanna. It has a studio where he likes to paint. Tony plans to have his first exhibition later in the year and he has already sold one picture for $4000. At the end of the year Tony is to star in a musical film , which has been specially written for him called “Two Bits”, an informal expresson for 50 cents. It’s about an Italian immigrant who goes to America ,but he becomes a failure.
“In many ways it’s very close to my life the way the story has been written,” said Bennett. “My father, an Italian ,was ill and died when I was nine.He always wanted me to sing, but he never lived long enough to be a part of my success.
41. The underlined phrase “standard hit” most nearly means______
A. Bennett’s favourite song but is’s not very popular. B. a song that is always popular
C. a song which makes hm standard D. a song which is like a heavy blow to his audience
42. What does tony Bennett want to do?
A. Buy a house and live in England. B. Stay with his wife and daughter in England.
C. Live part of each year in England D. Leave American and setle in England
43. What’s Tonny’s hobby?
A. Singing B. Drinking C. Playing D. Painting
44. What can we learn about Tony’s father from this passage?
A. He liked his son’s singing.
B. He was born in Italy and died when Tonny Bennett was a small boy
C. He was a part of Bennett’s achievement
D. He was glad that his son became famous.
45. What kind of man is Tonny Bennett
A. hardworking and humours B. family-centered and hardworking
C. enthusiastic and kindly D. ambitious and trustworthy
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook by yourself? Have you been doing Internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can' t you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults prefer to catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs．
Just over 2000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain's largest health charity．The results were very astonishing．
About one in six people surveyed（调查） said if their remote control was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up．
More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus．Worryingly, of the 654 respondents with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them．
This led the report to conclude that it's no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classified as obese （肥胖） before they start school．
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said; "People need to get fitter, not only for themselves but also for their families, friends and evidently their pets．If we don't start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most basics of tasks．"
And Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, was ashamed as the most lazy city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%．
The results cause serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year．
68．From the passage we can learn that _____．
A．Birmingham is second to Glasgow in laziness
B．half of the parents don't care enough for children
C．one in six people in the UK don't take exercise
D．British people are more lazy than those in other countries
69．The report suggests that some pre-school children in the UK are obese because .
A．they have a big appetite
B．they have a sweet tooth
C．their parents often work too hard
D．their parents seldom play with them
70．According to the passage, overweight might ______．
A．contribute to heart disease B．result from some heart attack
C．be common in developed areas D．not be controlled in a short time
How to Make the Most of Your Time
Time management is important in our daily life. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to accomplish all you need to do. Here are some tips that might be of some help to you .
1. Set up a plan. Go for a week at a time, and prioritize the most important ones. Include things you want to accomplish. Focus mostly on the things that are important to you.
2. Control your stress. No matter what kind of pressure mounts on you, try to keep cool. Stressing out can lead to an early breakdown, which is definitely counter-productive (事与愿违) when you have a list of things to do. It's easier to take a 10-minute break and cool off than work all week with built up stress.
3. Shut your door. When working under a schedule, perform your important tasks with your door shut to get them done. This will ensure a better quality time to get what needs to be done done.
4. Focus on one thing at a time. Forget trying to multi-task! You will lose concentration, and it will take you longer to accomplish what you set out to do.
5. Just say "no." If you are constantly interrupted, and you really don't have the time to help out, just say "no." You're only one person, and you can't save the world by yourself!
6. Stop wasting time on the phone. While talking on the phone, keep your conversations short, and to the point and you'll waste much less time.
7. Be realistic. You can only do what you can do. Don't set out to accomplish the impossible. Do your best, but keep realistic expectations of yourself.
8. Relax. The most important thing is remember to take time to relax, and regroup. You need a break every now and then to keep working efficiently. Even if it's a 10-minute walk, get away from your list and get refreshed.
As families today get busier and busier, it's important to your own mental health to keep things on track. Don't delay; get your life in order now.
64. What does the underlined word “prioritize” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. choose something by thinking carefully
B. recognize the difference between things
C. put many things in order of importance
D. get rid of something that is unwanted
65. We should avoid stressing out because ____________.
A. it may cause us to fail to work normally
B. it may limit the speed to get things done
C. we don’t have enough energy to keep working
D. we are supposed to have a break while working
66. Which statement would the author agree to?
A. Try multi-tasks, and we can get more done.
B. It is impolite to refuse to help others at work.
C. Having breaks regularly may delay our tasks.
D. It is wise to be aware of what we can achieve.
67. By writing the text, the author would like to ___________.
A. ask readers to share their time management skills
B. offer some advice on how to make full use of time
C. invite readers to discuss how to improve life quality
D. persuade readers to spend less time on daily routine
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech．At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned．Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why ? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser．When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened．
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that don’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech – “ I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumble（结巴）his words twice during the speech．Most likely, however, you don’t remember．Why? Because you were fixing your attention on its message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition．But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly．Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human．
As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being imperfect．Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely．
60. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ___________．
A．be smarter than you
B．notice your mistakes
C．do better than you
D．know what you are talking about
61. You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ___________．
A．your attention is on the content
B．you don’t fully understand the speech
C．you don’t know what the speaker plans to say
D．you find the way of speech-making more important
62. It can be inferred from the passage that ___________．
A．giving a speech is like giving a performance
B．one to two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
C．the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
D．the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be
63. What would be the best title of the passage?
A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker
B. How to Make a Perfect Speech
C. Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech
D. Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech