I used to think education was the most important thing in my life. Recently my attitude has begun to change, although I still hold that it is essential for everyone in the world today. As a top junior student in my college, I was asked to make a speech on how to learn English well. Standing in front of the audience and facing so many freshmen, I was trembling. I didn’ t remember any word that I had prepared. I ran out of the conference room without finishing my speech, leaving everyone puzzled. I cried that night in my room, feeling that I was a loser. Studying takes up so much of my time that I feel unable to really develop myself. I am just storing knowledge, yet I fail to communicate with others. I have received many awards in school, but they don’t necessarily reflect anything about me. I don’t know how to socialize. When I leave school I fear I will be of no use to society.
I realize that everyone has his own way of living. I want to change my lifestyle. Of course I will keep studying. Yet I plan to look for a part-time job, which might turn out to be a good chance to get to know society. I still believe that working my hardest makes me happy. I will still stay on in college. But I will not allow it to shelter me from the real world.The author believes the awards she has received ____.
| A．show that she is a top student |
| B．show how much time she has spent in learning |
| C．only mean that she knows how to learn, but she doesn’t know how to socialize |
| D．don’t necessarily reflect her real self |
The underlined word “essential” in Paragraph 1 probably means _______.
| A．impossible | B．unnecessary |
| C．most important | D．most useful |
The author feels fearful that she will be of no use to society mainly because _______.
| A．she does not know how to communicate with others |
| B．she is unable to develop herself |
| C．studying takes too much of her time |
| D．she feels that she is a failure. |
Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality (理性), but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any reasonable student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, many famous professors and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.
I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my job. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by communicating with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a wise choice. They told me I was wise and grown-up beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.
I headed off to the college and sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering "factories" where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical expert and excellent humanist all in one.
Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideas crashed into reality, as all noble ideas finally do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.
The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t mix as easily as I supposed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult. Why did the author choose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university?
| A．He intended to become an engineer and humanist. |
| B．He intended to be a reasonable student with noble ideals. |
| C．He wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality. |
| D．He wanted to communicate with liberal-arts students. |
According to the author, by communicating with people who study liberal arts, engineering students can ___________.
| A．become noble idealists |
| B．broaden their knowledge |
| C．find a better job in the future |
| D．balance engineering and liberal arts |
Which word below can replace the underlined word “reconcile”?
| A．confuse | B．compare | C．combine | D．compete |
The underlined sentence in 1st paragraph means ___________.
| A．he has failed to achieve his ideal aims |
| B．he is not a practical and rational student |
| C．his choice of attending to a small liberal-arts university is reasonable |
| D．his idea of combining engineering with liberal - arts is noble and wise |
The author suggests in this passage that ___________.
| A．liberal-arts students are supported to take engineering courses |
| B．technical experts with a wide vision are expected in the society |
| C．successful engineering students are more welcomed in the society |
| D．engineering universities with liberal-arts courses are needed |
Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams. Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart—we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity(默默无闻).
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too. Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school.
Mary is shy but loves to dance. Compared with other girls, she is invisible. However, her world changes completely when a famous teenager pop singer, Joey Parker, appears.
Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not—kind, handsome and desirable. Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball. They meet and fall in love with each other. But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams. Of course, there is a wicked(邪恶的) stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies. Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school. Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her.
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale. Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful. There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies.
“The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point,” writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson. “The focus is firmly on following your dream.”The first paragraph is mainly to ____________.
| A．build interest and lead us to Mary’s secret dream |
| B．remind us why Cinderella is popular all the years |
| C．inform us of the main topic of the whole passage |
| D．tell us how interesting the fairy tale Cinderella is |
In the movie, Mary Santiago is the main character who _____________.
| A．is brave in expressing her love |
| B．is attended badly by the stepmother |
| C．has a dream of meeting a prince |
| D．is embarrassed by the pop singer |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Joey is just like other boys in Mary’s class. |
| B．Mary’s mother influences her a lot in singing. |
| C．Not many people have a dream to be realized. |
| D．The MP3 player helps Joey in finding Mary. |
The passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．an introduction to a film |
| B．a review about a film |
| C．an essay about dreams |
| D．an advertisement of Cinderella |
According to the passage, Another Cinderella Story ________.
| A．follows Cinderella with nothing new |
| B．pays more attention to the looks of the actors |
| C．encourages young people to follow their dreams |
| D．focuses more on materialism than other films |
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today’s leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
| A．diseases and aging | B．accidents and war |
| C．accidents and aging | D．heart diseases and war |
In the author’s opinion, today’s most important advance in technology lies in _____.
| A．medicine | B．the internet | C．brain cells | D．human organs |
Humans may live longer in the future because ______.
| A．heart disease will be far away from us |
| B．human brains can decide the final death |
| C．the basic materials of cells will last forever |
| D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
We can learn from the passage that _____.
| A．human life will not last more than 120 years in the future |
| B．human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now |
| C．much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life |
| D．we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells. |
A baby can quickly damage a new mother’s well-laid plans for getting back to pre-pregnancy(孕前的) weight and shape.
The constant demands, together with the exhausting effects of interrupted sleep, can make it hard to find the time and energy to exercise or prepare healthy meals.
Here are some tips for common problems new moms face:
Problem: No time to cook proper meals. When you’re caring for a baby, cooking proper meals seems like a luxury. Instead you rely on convenience meals and processed foods.
Solution: Try to get more support. Friends, family members, and neighbors are often delighted to help, so don’t feel you have to do everything yourself. Use the extra time to prepare some healthy meals. Follow the basic rules of cutting down on fat and increasing fruit and vegetable intake.
Problem: Sugary or high-fat snacks（零食）. Tiredness can leave you feeling sleepy, run-down, and in need of an immediate help from sweets and high-fat snacks.
Solution: Turn snacking to your advantage. Eat high-fiber, low-fat, low-sugar snacks; these will fill you up without adding too many calories. For an energy boost, eat a banana, which is high in potassium -- a mineral essential for muscle and nerve function -- or try a handful of raisins, which are high in iron but low in fat.
Problem: No time or energy to exercise. A baby is a constant demand on your time, so you’re too tired or busy to exercise.
Solution: Increasing activity levels will help you obtain a net calorie loss, while toning exercises will tighten your muscles. Though you may feel too tired to do any exercise, it is worth persevering because in the long run your energy levels will increase. Involve your baby in your postnatal(产后) exercises; start by walking with the child in a carriage or sling. Swimming is another aerobic exercise that you can both enjoy by joining a mother and baby class. Many pools have childcare facilities, so you can swim a few laps on your own.
Problem: Lack of sleep. The new baby interrupts your sleep, depleting your energy and leaving you tense and exhausted.
Solution: Practice some relaxation techniques whenever you have a few free moments. Meditation, visualization, or yoga can help your body recover and give you more energy.
A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior , "said a middle-aged man.
"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That’s right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. "
Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..."
Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman’s lap interrupted, "I know his name. I call him Dad."One passenger suggested writing a letter to the company to ______ .
| A．make a demand for more buses |
| B．thank the conductor for his good service |
| C．criticize the conductor for his rude behavior |
| D．invite a newspaper reporter to write about the conductor |
What was the gentleman?
| A．A doctor. | B．A newspaper reporter. |
| C．Not known from the story . | D．The conductor’s friend from his company. |
The word "him" in the last paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the gentleman | B．the conductor |
| C．the middle-aged man | D．the three-year-old child |
It is clear from the story that the conductor _______.
| A．has changed his attitude towards his work |
| B．has now been kind and polite to all passengers |
| C．has not changed his rude behavior to passengers |
| D．has now been kind and polite to women with children |