Some people would go through anything just to achieve their dream. Kasia Siwosz is proof. For the final year student on the university women’s tennis team, the road to Berkeley, University of California was met with poor advice and misinformation from her home country and two unsuccessful stops along the way that fell short of expectations.
Born in Poland, Siwosz began playing tennis at seven years old and developed the skills that helped her earn a top-50 ranking among the ITF Junior division (国际网球联会青少年赛).. Siwosz wanted to do more with her life than just play tennis, which led her to seek chances that would also allow her to obtain a top education. While most who grow up in the U.S. are naturally accustomed to the American tradition of collegiate sports, such a custom is not as familiar in a country like Poland. “There’s no collegiate sports in Poland and no culture of sports and academic study there. You can only do one, not both,” Siwosz said.
Her desire to have a quality education led her to America to follow her dream. While Siwosz was talented enough to begin her collegiate tennis career, she could only attend community college because she missed the deadline to apply to four-year schools, mainly due to misinformation provided in her home country of Poland.
When she had earned all her credits and was able to transfer, Siwosz made the decision to attend Baylor in Texas. Her friends from Poland put in a good word for the university, saying that it was a good fit because there were many international players at Baylor. “I thought it would be a good idea, but it really wasn’t what I thought it would be,” Siwosz said. “I wasn’t happy at Baylor. The level of tennis was high, but the academic standards were no match and I just wanted more.”
After one year at Baylor, Siwosz’s luck finally began to change when she made the decision to transfer to Berkeley, which was due in large part to Lee, a former Berkeley student. Lee, who is a keen tennis player himself, met Siwosz four years ago in Texas. “I knew she was unhappy there,” he said. “I saw the opportunity for her to come here.” Siwosz visited Lee in Berkeley. “I ended up loving this place and this school,” Siwosz said. “I came here a lot over the summer, I gave it a shot and I ended up with a Berkeley education and a spot on one of the best college tennis teams in the country.”
What does “two unsuccessful stops” (Paragraph 1) refer to?
| A．Poland and the U.S. |
| B．Baylor and Berkeley. |
| C．The ITF Junior division and the Berkeley tennis team. |
| D．The community college and Baylor. |
Why did Siwosz want to leave her homeland for America?
| A．Poland had no culture of sports. |
| B．Berkeley had always been her dream university. |
| C．She wanted to play tennis and have a good education. |
| D．She wanted to improve her tennis skills and get a higher ranking. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．How Siwosz realized her dream. |
| B．How Siwosz left Poland. |
| C．How Siwosz became a top tennis player. |
| D．How Siwosz transferred from Baylor to Berkeley. |
Google is testing its newest high-tech device, Google Glass. Most of the technologies for Google Glass are already available on smart phones. Google has taken those same technologies and added them to eyeglass frames（眼镜架）. The company describes the glasses as wearable computers that would change the way people view others and the world.
"Google Glass is a tiny computer that sits in a lightweight frame, and rests neatly above your eye and it makes exploring and sharing the world around you a lot easier,” said Chris Dale, the Senior Manager of Communications for Google Glass.
The glasses have a tiny video screen and a camera that connect wirelessly to the Internet through WIFI, a smartphone, or a tablet computer. You can make and receive calls, send and receive texts, take pictures, record video or search the web. You control Google Glass using your voice, and a touchpad on the right arm of the frame.
Professor Marcia Dawkins is among a select group of people who have been given a chance to test out Google Glass. "I thought this is something I definitely need for my classroom and hopefully for my personal life too."
The Professor's Google Glass looks like a pair bright orange glasses, without the actual glass. But there's a tiny rectangular（长方形的）glass at the top right-hand corner. Through that glass, she has been recording video while biking. She also has been able to talk to her sister in Thailand, and she plans to use the device to teach a public speaking class.
But not everyone is excited about Google Glass. Some are concerned about possible risks to privacy.
John Simpson is the director of the privacy project at Consumer Watchdog.
"It is going to allow people to come in and spy on you and record that, without you knowing what is going on."
Filmmaker Chris Barrett showed just how easy it is to record people without them knowing it. His glass captured（捕捉）a man getting arrested after a fight. He shared the video on You Tube.
Also some are concerned about the use of facial recognition（面部识别）technology on Google Glass. But Google says it will not approve the use of such applications. The Internet company says it is still testing its new device, and it hopes to make Google Glass available to the public by early next year.The technologies Google has made use of for Google Glass are______.
| A．completely new |
| B．mostly already in use for smartphones |
| C．high-tech but out-of-date |
| D．all old |
Which of the following is not true about Google Glass?
| A．It’s a very small computer. |
| B．It’s very light in weight. |
| C．Everyone can buy it now. |
| D．It can be used for teaching by school teachers. |
While cycling, the Professor has used the Glass to ______.
| A．record video and chat | B．send emails |
| C．teach a class | D．spy on others |
What can be inferred from the passage？
| A．Google has done what it can to protect people’s privacy. |
| B．Google Glass may be used for bad purposes. |
| C．Most people feel worried about the use of the Glass. |
| D．Google Glass is more useful than smartphones. |
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. |