阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
The vast majority of fitness trackers count your steps and are worn around the wrist, but now there’s a device that’s designed to be worn like a necklace and monitors tiny movements to improve your posture.
The Fineck device aims to address neck pain by tracking tiny movement, spotting bad habits and suggesting exercises via an accompanying app. Made from silicone(硅)and titanium(钛), Fineck monitors a wearer’s movement, balance, posture and movement thanks to sensors inside. The Mountain View California-based firm says that a high percentage of people suffer from neck pain and associated problems, probably caused by more individuals doing office jobs, which generally involve leaning over computer keyboard.
The device contains sensors, several different types of instruments to monitor movement, plus a monitor to shake. It connects to an IOS app via Bluetooth so that wearers can see their bad habits and play “neck training” games. The app warns of health risks and records a user’s activity to build up a customer personal health description. The necklace shakes to give smart advice, such as reminding wearers to sit up straight. The app also allows users to set goals, like many other wearables do. “Fineck is the first wearable device for your neck that tracks your neck activity and warn you when you are in a bad posture for too long. You can also exercise your neck with Fineck’s interactive games.” The company writes on Kickstarter. “No matter where you are and what you are doing at office, on the go, or simply just feeling bored, Fineck will bring you enriched exercise experience through motion sensing games and therapies.”
It also claims that it is “the world’s first titanium wearable device”. The metal is widely used in fashion stuff that you can wear or carry to match your clothes because it is lightweight, durable and does not tend to cause allergic(过敏的)reactions. It also offers additional features such as shaking to indicate alerts on a user’s smartphone, but it is not currently clear whether it can also be used like bands, to count steps, and so on.
The Fineck has a battery life of around seven days and takes one hour to charge. It is available to pre-order via Kickstarter from ＄69(￡44)and is due to ship in March next year.What helps the Fineck device to deal with neck pain?
| A．An accompanying app. | B．A necklace |
| C．Computer keyboard. | D．A remote control |
Besides allowing people to set goals, the iOS app also_____.
| A．improves your posture and suggests exercises |
| B．exercise your neck and does office jobs |
| C．alerts you to health risk and records your activity |
| D．counts your steps and addresses neck pain |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The Fineck takes an hour to charge and is available at any time. |
| B．Movie stars like to wear necklace made of silicone to match their clothes. |
| C．The device count the steps to help wearers to see their bad habits. |
| D．Neck-ache is something caused by using computers too much. |
We can infer from the passage that the Fineck device will_____.
| A．actually not cause allergic reactions. |
| B．enrich your life by providing “neck training” games |
| C．monitor a wearer’s movement due to the material it is made of |
| D．help to correct your improper postures |
Wealth starts with a goal saving a dollar at a time. Call it the piggy bank strategy(策略). There are lessons in that time-honored coin-saving container.
Any huge task seems easier when reduced to baby steps. I f you wished to climb a 12,000-foot mountain, and could do it a day at a time, you would only have to climb 33 feet daily to reach the top in a year. If you want to take a really nice trip in 10 years for a special occasion, to collect the $15,000 cost, you have to save $3.93 a day. If you drop that into a piggy bank and then once a year put $1,434 in a savings account at 1% interest rate after-tax, you will have your trip money.
When I was a child, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me that, if I wanted something, I should save money to buy it. We associate piggy banks with children, but in many countries, the little containers are also popular with adults. Europeans see a piggy bank as a sign of good fortune and wealth. Around the world, many believe a gift of a piggy bank on New Year’s Day brings good luck and financial success. Ah, but you have to put something in it.
Why is a pig used as a symbol of saving? Why not an elephant bank, which is bigger and holds more coins? In the Middle Ages, before modern banking and credit instruments, people saved money at home, a few coins at a time dropped into a jar or dish. Potters(制陶工) made these inexpensive containers from an orange-colored clay(黏土) called “pygg,” and folks saved coins in pygg jars.The Middle English word for pig was “pigge”. While the Saxons pronounced pygg, referring to the clay, as “pug”, eventually the two words changed into the same pronunciation, sounding the “i” as in pig or piggy. As the word became less associated with the orange clay and more with the animal, a clever potter fashioned a pygg jar in the shape of a pig, delighting children and adults. The piggy bank was born.
Originally you had to break the bank to get to the money, bringing in a sense of seriousness into savings. While piggy banks teach children the wisdom of saving, adults often need to relearn childhood lessons. Think about the things in life that require large amounts of money--- college education, weddings, cars, medical care, starting a business, buying a home, and fun stuff like great trips. So when you have money, take off the top 10%, put it aside, save and invest wisely.What is the piggy bank strategy?
| A．Paying 1% income tax at a time. |
| B．Setting a goal before making a travel plan. |
| C．Putting aside a little money regularly for future use. |
| D．Aiming high even when doing small things. |
Why did the writer’s parents give him a piggy bank as a gift?
| A．To delight him with the latest fashion. |
| B．To encourage him to climb mountains. |
| C．To teach him English pronunciation. |
| D．To help him form the habit of saving. |
The piggy bank originally was ________.
| A．a cheap clay container |
| B．a potter’s instrument |
| C．an animal-shaped dish |
| D．a pig-like toy for children |
The last paragraph talks about ________.
| A．the seriousness of educating children |
| B．the enjoyment of taking a great trip |
| C．the difficulty of starting a business |
| D．the importance of managing money |
Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone’s life?
If yes, don’t care about sex or age! Come and join us, then you’ll make it!
Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant
(No Pay with Free Meals)
Place: Manchester
Hours: Part Time
We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left. Don’t miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!
Role:
You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives. You will help them to develop new skills. You will help them to protect their rights and their safety. But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.
Skills and Experience Required:
You will have the right values and great listening skills. You will be honest and patient. You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you’ll have to help those people with different learning disabilities. Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.The text is meant to ________.
| A．leave a note |
| B．send an invitation |
| C．carry an advertisement |
| D．present a document |
What does the underlined part mean?
| A．You’ll arrive home just in time from this job. |
| B．You’ll make others’ lives more meaningful with this job. |
| C．You’ll earn a good salary from this job. |
| D．You’ll succeed in getting this job. |
The volunteers’ primary responsibility is to help people with learning disabilities ________.
| A．to get some financial support |
| B．to properly protect themselves |
| C．to realize their own importance |
| D．to learn some new living skills |
Which of the following can first be chosen as a volunteer?
| A．The one who has done similar work before. |
| B．The one who can drive a car. |
| C．The one who has patience to listen to others. |
| D．The one who can use English to communicate. |
Undoubtedly there are a few positive characters who are able to “rise above” their environment, who are able to impress the people with whom they come in contact in spite of their clothes.
Sometimes we read of some learned woman, who has “made good in her profession,” who says that she has not looked in a mirror for years; but such a woman is a rare exception, and one is not safe in gambling(赌博) with one’s chances of success by following her. It is not the positive characters with whom we are concerned, however, for they are few and somehow manage to take care of themselves. The vast majority of the race are not so blessed, and we need to observe but little to realize that with them the reaction of clothes is an important factor.
School girls should know that clothes may make a career; happiness and leadership in all the years of high school and college life may be affected by the story a Freshman’s clothes tell. Many a girl with a keen mind, who has a natural disregard for clothes, perhaps, or who has not been trained in the appreciation of beauty in clothes, has lost her opportunities for leadership and self-expression which by right her brain power should have given her.
One of the mental capacities which we all exercise and yet exercise most unconsciously is that of passing judgment on the people we meet. In a majority of cases the judgment is superficial(肤浅的) and inaccurate; but the estimate is made. Some people may not get their final judgment till they hear one talk and will judge one by the tone of voice and by what is said as the true index; but the vast majority will form an opinion based largely, if not entirely, on appearance. One tells the world daily of one’s ideals, ambitions or good breeding through dress; and it is told so plainly that “he who runs may read” and, perhaps, he who reads may run.According to the first two paragraphs, few people ________.
| A．care about their appearances |
| B．understand the art of dressing themselves |
| C．can catch others’ attention by dressing plainly |
| D．are able to dress properly without professional directions |
Who is the text intended for?
| A．Book writers | B．Women | C．Men | D．Fashion designers |
The author thinks it is ________ for most of us to judge the people we meet by what they wear.
| A．natural | B．foolish |
| C．surprising | D．necessary |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．Rise Above Your Environment |
| B．He Who Runs May Read |
| C．Dress to Impress |
| D．Art of Dressing |
Hair has always been an important sign of beauty. This is especially true for women. Next to the face, hair is one of the main qualities people look for when they consider a woman’s beauty. Whether long or short, curly or straight, hair often gets a lot of attention.
Each hair on a person’s head grows from a single tube-like hole in the skin called a follicle. People are born with all of the hair follicles they are ever going to have. The average person has about one hundred thousand hair follicles. They begin to form around the third month of pregnancy.
Each hair grows independently of other hairs. There are three periods of hair growth. Not all hairs experience the same period of growth at the same time. The period of active growth is called Anagen. During this period, hair grows at a rate of about three tenths millimeters a day, or one centimeter a month. About 85 percent of hair follicles are going through this process at any given time. This period can last from two to six years.
The Catagen period of hair growth comes next. It is then that hair growth begins to slow down. This period usually lasts two or three weeks. Finally, hair growth comes to a complete stop and the hairs begin to fall out. This period is known as Telogen. It affects about 15 percent of all hairs at a time.
On average, a person loses between 50 and 100 hairs every day. Since each hair grows at a different rate, this process is overlooked. Once the Telogen period has ended, the hair growth process begins again.What does the underlined word “They” in the 2nd paragraph refer to?
| A．The babies | B．The hairs |
| C．The follicles | D．The pregnant women |
Anagen is the period when ________.
| A．hairs grow the fastest |
| B．hairs grow at a different rate |
| C．hair growth comes to a stop |
| D．85 percent of hairs are growing |
When some hairs are experiencing the period of Telogen, they ________.
| A．grow very quickly | B．slow down their growth |
| C．stop growing | D．affects other hairs’ growth |
Which of the following shows the process of hair growth?
| A．Anagen → Telogen → Catagen |
| B．Anagen → Catagen → Telogen |
| C．Anagen ↗ ↘ Catagen ← Telogen |
| D．Anagen |
↗ ↘
Telogen ← Catagen
C
chemistrynerd |
US High School Teacher |
As a science teacher, I also want to incorporate literacy(读写能力) and reading into science. I thought it would be cool to have something called “Article Fridays” (or monthly, and maybe a more creative name) where students read articles and summarize them on different chemistry topics that they find interesting. I’d have a couple students each time share what they found, and they’d all hand them in. I work on a block schedule(模块教学计划) so I’m not sure exactly how this would work. Does anyone have creative ideas on how to get kids thinking of science that’s in the ‘real world’? I’d probably do this with my Honors or AP classes.
 |
Caesar753 |
I like the idea, but not for just Honors/AP. I think that all students can work on improving their literacy. Besides, this is a good way to connect your content to current events. You’ll need to find high-interest articles that grab their attention and keep it. I’m not sure that I would devote an entire block to this activity because it might get boring even with high-interest articles.
 |
MyrisophilistHigh school Life Science |
I’m really into literacy and science as well, so PM me about it anytime! 
Do your students have Internet access in the classroom? If so, that opens up a world of resources. I put a ton of resources seeds on my website that relate to each class I teach. The New York Times Learning Blog has so many ideas on incorporating news into every subject. I highly recommend spending some time going through their resources. Here are a few I’ve bookmarked:
12 Ways to Learn Vocabulary with The New York Times
Great Ways to Teach Any Day’s Times
Teaching TopicsChemistrynerd is worried that ________.
| A．his students show no interest in his class |
| B．his students pay no attention to reading or writing |
| C．what his students learn is too difficult to understand |
| D．what his students need is not only science knowledge |
What can Caesar753 most possibly be?
| A．A college student | B．A college principal |
| C．A high school teacher | D．A high school student |
According to Myrisophilist, the underlined letters “PM” means ________.
| A．Private Message | B．Pardon Me |
| C．Password Maybe | D．Afternoon |
Myrisophilist’s teaching ways couldn’t be useful without ________.
| A．newspapers | B．the Internet |
| C．block schedules | D．other teachers’ help |