Children have their own rules in playing games．They seldom need a referee (裁判) and rarely take trouble to keep scores．They don’t care much about who wins or loses，and it doesn’t seem to worry them if the game is not finished．Yet，they like games that depend a lot on luck，so that their personal abilities cannot be directly compared．They also enjoy games that move in stages，in which each stage，the choosing of leaders，the picking-up of sides，or the determining of which side shall start，is almost a game in itself．
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s game exciting，and they often feel puzzled at why their kids play such simple game again and again．However，it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons．He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person，and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinary afraid．He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn．He can be confident，too，in particular games，that it is his place to give orders，to pretend to be dead，to throw a ball actually at someone，or to kiss someone he has caught．
It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control．Everyone knows the rules，and more importantly，everyone plays according to the rules．Those rules may be childish，but they make sure that every child has a chance to win．
What is true about children when they play games?
| A．They can stop playing any time they like． |
| B．They can test their personal abilities． |
| C．They want to pick a better team． |
| D．They don’t need rules． |
To become a leader in a game，the child has to _________．
| A．be a useful partner |
| B．wait for his turn |
| C．be confident in himself |
| D．be popular among his playmates |
Why does a child like playing games?
| A．Because he can be someone other than himself． |
| B．Because he can become popular among friends． |
| C．Because he finds he is always lucky in games． |
| D．Because he likes the place where he plays a game． |
Which is the best title for this passage?
| A．Rules in Children’s Games |
| B．Advantages of Playing Games for Children |
| C．Reasons for Children’s Games |
| D．How to Be a Popular Game Player |
How is it that siblings (兄弟姐妹) can turn out so differently? One answer is that in fact each sibling grows up in a different family. The firstborn is, for a while, an only child, and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later. The next child is, for a while, the youngest, until the situation is changed by a new arrival. The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too. One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years; another might be raised in a family crisis, with a disappointed mother or an angry father.
Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918. But more recently, researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others’ lives. Dr. Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings. The reason for this might be that the later children aren’t getting the same one-on-one time with parents. But that doesn’t mean that the younger children have problems with language development. Later-borns don’t enjoy that much talking time with parents, but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters, learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between “I” and “me”.
A Cambridge University study of 140 children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially. Love-hate relationships were common among the children. Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs.
One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings, particularly if they are close in age. Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third. Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters. A 2003 research paper studied adolescents from 185 families over two years, finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents. The underlined part “in a different family” (in Para. 1) means “_______”.
| A．in a different family environment |
| B．in a different family tradition |
| C．in different family crises |
| D．in different families |
In terms of language development, later-borns ________.
| A．get their parents’ individual guidance |
| B．learn a lot from their elder siblings |
| C．experience a lot of difficulties |
| D．pick up words more quickly |
What was found about fights among siblings?
| A．Siblings hated fighting and loved playing. |
| B．Siblings in some families fought frequently. |
| C．Sibling fights led to bad sibling relationships. |
| D．Siblings learned to get on together from fights. |
The word “feminine” (in Para. 4) means “_______”.
| A．having qualities of parents |
| B．having qualities of women |
| C．having defensive qualities |
| D．having extraordinary qualities |
When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can’t take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks(街区) to the rail station. We’d take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the tram, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn’t like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom’s friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light-rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate(不适当的) one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestnut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where’s the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I’m writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn’t try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me. Which was forbidden by Mom on Transportation Days?
| A．Having a car ride. |
| B．Taking the train twice. |
| C．Buying more than one toy. |
| D．Touring the historic district. |
According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
| A．Building confidence in herself. |
| B．Reducing her use of private cars. |
| C．Developing her sense of direction. |
| D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles. |
The underlined word “paralyzed” (in Para. 5) is closest in meaning to “_______”.
| A．displayed | B．Justified | C．Ignored | D．destroyecl |
Which means of transportation does the writer probably have a dislike of?
| A．Subway. | B．Airplane. | C．Tram. | D．Car. |
You’ve just come home, after living abroad for a few years. Since you’ve been away, has this country changed for the better—or for the worse?
If you’ve just arrived back in the UK after a fortnight’s holiday, small changes have probably surprised you—anything from a local greengrocer suddenly being replaced by a mobile-phone shop to someone in your street moving house.
So how have things changed to people coming back to Britain after seven, ten or even 15 years living abroad? What changes in society can they see that the rest of us have hardly noticed—or now take for granted? To find out, we asked some people who recently returned.
Debi: When we left, Cheltenham, my home town, was a town of white, middle-class families—all very conservative (保守的). The town is now home to many eastern Europeans and lots of Australians, who come here mainly to work in hotels and tourism. There are even several shops only for foreigners.
Having been an immigrant (移民) myself, I admire people who go overseas to find a job. Maybe if I lived in an inner city where unemployment was high, I’d think differently, but I believe foreign settlers have improved this country because they’re more open-minded and often work harder than the natives.
Christine: As we flew home over Britain, both of us remarked how green everything looked. But the differences between the place we’d left behind and the one we returned to were brought sharply into focus as soon as we landed.
To see policemen with guns in the airport for the first time was frightening—in Cyprus, they’re very relaxed—and I got pulled over by customs officers just for taking a woolen sweater with some metal-made buttons out of my case in the arrivals hall. Everyone seemed to be on guard. Even the airport car-hire firm wanted a credit card rather than cash because they said their vehicles had been used by bank robbers.
But anyway, this is still a green, beautiful country. I just wish more people would appreciate what they’ve got.After a short overseas holiday, people tend to _______.
| A．expect small changes |
| B．notice small changes |
| C．welcome small changes |
| D．exaggerate small changes |
How does Debi look at the foreign settlers?
| A．Cautiously. | B．Sceptically. |
| C．Positively. | D．Critically. |
When arriving at the airport in Britain, Christine was shocked by _______.
| A．the relaxed policemen | B．the messy arrivals hall |
| C．the bank robbers | D．the tight security |
Which might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Back in Britain. | B．Life in Britain. |
| C．Britain in Future. | D．Britain in Memory. |
Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their wandering hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain was the first domesticated crop that started that farming process.
The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians. Sumeria lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers including Southern Mesopotamia. It is said that the Sumerians discovered the fermentation (发酵) process by chance. No one knows today exactly how this occurred, but it could be that a piece of bread or grain became wet and a short time later, it began to ferment.
The Sumerians were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be the first civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a “divine drink” which certainly was a gift from the gods. The word beer comes from the Latin word bibere, meaning “to drink”, and the Spanish word cerveza originates from the Greek goddess of agriculture, Ceres.
A vitamin-rich porridge, used daily, beer is reported to have increased health and longevity and reduced disease and malnutrition (营养不良). The self-medicating properties of alcohol-rich beer also eased the tensions and stresses of daily living in a hostile world. The use of yeast (酵母) was not yet known at that time. The success of the fermentation process was left to chance, as the brewers unknowingly relied on yeast particles in the air.
Considerable scientific research took place in breweries (酿酒厂) in the 19th century. A famous work from 1876 by Louis Pasteur was Studies Concerning Beer where he revealed his knowledge of micro-organisms. By establishing that yeast is a living microorganism, Pasteur opened the gates for accurately controlling the conversion (转换) of sugar to alcohol.
Another discovery in beer brewing was the work of Christian Hansen, a Danish scientist, who successfully isolated a single yeast cell and induced it to reproduce on an artificial culture medium. With the resulting yeast multiplication (繁殖) methods, the purity of the fermenting process has been improved.According to the passage, who was the first to brew beer?
| A．The Greeks. | B．Christian Hansen. |
| C．Louis Pasteur. | D．The Sumerians. |
The last two paragraphs mainly talk about .
| A．the function of micro-organisms |
| B．the success of the fermentation process |
| C．two scientific discoveries about brewing |
| D．the results of yeast multiplication methods |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Grain was the first crop used to brew beer. |
| B．There are some yeast particles in the air. |
| C．The word “beer” originates from Latin. |
| D．Modern beer contains more alcoholic. |
Which would be the best title for the text?
| A．The beer culture. | B．The history of beer. |
| C．The earliest brewery. | D．Methods of brewing beer. |
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) have invented a new term that describes dangers associated with cigarette smoke: third-hand smoke. Study results published in January, 2009 discuss how third-hand smoke is especially dangerous for children.
Have you ever walked into a room that had the smell of cigarette smoke, regardless of the fact that a fan was moving the air and no one was smoking at the time? This is what researchers are calling third-hand smoke — and it represents the poisonous deposits (存积物) that are left behind long after a cigarette is put out.
Cigarette smoke contains gases and small particles that are deposited on every surface it comes in contact with, for example, the smoker’s hair and clothing, or the environment the cigarette was smoked in. It’s dangerous for young children who may crawl on polluted surfaces. Third-hand smoke is a serious health risk for our kids, especially those who live in the homes of smokers.
Jonathan Winickoff, lead author of the study, explains, “When you come into contact with your baby, even if you’re not smoking at the time, he or she comes in contact with those poisons. And if you breast-feed, the poisons will transfer to your baby in your breast milk.” Winickoff adds however, that nursing a baby if you’re a smoker is still a better choice than bottle-feeding.
Researchers involved in the study also surveyed more than 1,500 families in an effort to learn about adult attitudes regarding the danger third-hand smoke represents to their children and how that might affect smoking in the home.
Approximately 95 percent of nonsmokers and 84 percent of smokers believe that secondhand smoke is dangerous for children.
On the issue of whether third-hand smoke threatens the health of children, 65 percent of nonsmokers and 43 percent of smokers felt that third-hand smoke harms kids. When asked about rules regarding smoking in the home, approximately 88 percent of nonsmokers said they don’t allow smoking, while only 27 percent of smokers forbid smoking in the home.
However, both non-smokers and smokers who felt that third-hand smoking was harmful to children’s health were more inclined to (倾向于) restrict smoking in their homes. The study led by Jonathan Winickoff focused on _______.
| A．bad influences long after a cigarette is smoked |
| B．third-hand smoke and secondhand smoke |
| C．the bad effects of smoking on common people |
| D．the terrible smell of cigarette smoke |
How does the text explain what third-hand smoke is?
| A．By telling results of a survey. |
| B．By giving statistics. |
| C．By making comparisons. |
| D．By giving an example. |
The following measures to prevent the effect of third-hand smoke are effective except _______.
| A．keeping kids out of room when you smoke |
| B．cleaning the house to get rid of poisons |
| C．making yourself clean before contacting kids |
| D．trying to forbid smoking in home |