Sometimes it's hard to let go．For many British people，that can apply to institutions and objects that represent their country's past﹣age﹣old castles，splendid homes…and red phone boxes．
Beaten first by the march of technology and lately by the terrible weather in junkyards（废品场），the phone boxes representative of an age are now making something of a comeback．Adapted in imaginative ways，many have reappeared on city streets and village greens housing tiny cafes，cellphone repair shops or even defibrillator machines（除颤器）．
The original iron boxes with the round roofs first appeared in 1926．They were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott，the architect of the Battersea Power Station in London．After becoming an important part of many British streets，the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s，with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them away to the junkyards．
About that time，Tony Inglis' engineering and transport company got the job to remove phone boxes from the streets and sell them out．But Inglis ended up buying hundreds of them himself，with the idea of repairing and selling them．He said that he had heard the calls to preserve the boxes and had seen how some of them were listed as historic buildings．
As Inglis and，later other businessmen，got to work，repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and villages as people found new uses for them．Today，they are once again a familiar sight，playing roles that are often just as important for the community as their original purpose．
In rural areas，where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive，the phone boxes have taken on a lifesaving role．Local organizations can adopt them for l pound，and install defibrillators to help in emergencies．
Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities．LoveFone，a company that advocates repairing cellphones rather than abandoning them，opened a mini workshop in a London phone box in 2016．
The tiny shops made economic sense，according to Robert Kerr，a founder of LoveFone．He said that one of the boxes generated around ﹩13，500 in revenue a month and cost only about ﹩400 to rent．
Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last．"I like what they are to people，and I enjoy bringing things back，" he said．
（1）The phone boxes are making a comeback ．
| A． |
to form a beautiful sight of the city |
| B． |
to improve telecommunications services |
| C． |
to remind people of a historical period |
| D． |
to meet the requirement of green economy |
（2）Why did the phone boxes begin to go out of service in the 1980s？
| A． |
They were not well﹣designed． |
| B． |
They provided bad services． |
| C． |
They had too short a history． |
| D． |
They lost to new technologies． |
（3）The phone boxes are becoming popular mainly because of ．
| A． |
their new appearance and lower prices |
| B． |
the push of the local organizations |
| C． |
their changed roles and functions |
| D． |
the big funding of the businessmen |
Sports are the base of my life, next to my mother who raised me when my dad left us. I have been into sports since I was six years old. I have known many coaches and heard hundreds of their tips, but they usually focused on drills to develop my skills and reach the next level of play.
When I was in Senior Two, I met the new school basketball coach, Brian Pawloski. I thought I was certain to be selected for the school team since I had been in it the year before. I showed up to the tryouts and put out about 90% effort since I thought I’d make it with no problem. That was a big mistake.
Brian Pawloski is the hardest-working coach I have ever met. He didn’t expect 100% effort, he expected 200% effort. One example: he once made us do 40 suicide drills for the 40 lay-ups (投篮) we missed in a game. Some think this is crazy, but it isn’t. After this conditioning practice, as we were getting a cup of cold water to drink, I said, “coach, that was the best practice I ever had.” I was completely sincere. This man was and is the person who influenced me most at my high school. He expects us to be excellent not just on the court but in the classroom. If I am not working on basketball, I am reading a book that he thinks will help us better understand life’s challenges, including Wooden, Coach, and The Screwtape Letters.
In the first two years I slacked off, not putting forth my full potential. Now, unlike the coaches of my youth, this man was interested in how he did off the court. He always made sure I kept up with my studies and was able to be trusted. I can honestly say that on other coach has given me so much advice on how to succeed in basketball, but more importantly, in life. My school is lucky to have such a great person to teach, coach and influence their students. I will always remember my high-school basketball days as one of the hardest times I have ever worked in my life not only in basketball but in my growth as an individual.Different from other coaches, Coach Brian ________.
| A．concentrated on skill training |
| B．trained the team to the edge of death |
| C．expected the team to do well in their studies |
| D．asked the team to do more reading than training |
The underlined phrase “slacked off” in the last paragraph probably means ________.
| A．paid no attention |
| B．showed no interest |
| C．had less passion |
| D．made less effort |
In the author’s eye, Coach Brian is ________.
| A．strict and helpful |
| B．hardworking and honest |
| C．skilled and cruel |
| D．professional and serious |
What’s on Your Pet’s Mind?
In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one-year-old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to produce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”
At the time, most scientists didn’t believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn’t have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and nowadays more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.
“That’s why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said, “Some people actually called me crazy for trying this.”
Nowadays, we have more and more evidence that animals have all sorts of mental abilities. Sheep can recognize faces. Chimpanzees (黑猩猩) use a variety of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex the parrot became a very good talker.
Thirty years after the Alex studies began. Irene was still giving him English lessons up until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them.” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colors, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g. wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.
Another famous pet that proved some animals have greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.
One theory for dogs’ ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries and so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving (进化). While animals can’t do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intelligence, as well as physical appearance.Irene wanted to find out __________.
| A．what a parrot thinks |
| B．why a parrot can speak |
| C．how parrots make sounds |
| D．if parrots speak English |
Alex learnt new words by __________.
| A．singing them |
| B．reading them |
| C．writing them |
| D．rehearing them |
The two dogs mentioned in the article could _______.
| A．understand some words |
| B．recognize strange voices |
| C．copy human gestures |
| D．tell different colors |
The article concludes that ___________.
| A．our pets understand what we say |
| B．dogs may speak to humans one day |
| C．humans are related to chimpanzees |
| D．mental ability can evolve in animals |
I watch documentaries, not movies．I read history books, not fiction．I use every free moment to accomplish one of the tasks on my never-ending checklist, and I am completely filled with thoughts of productivity．An hour sleeping is an hour wasted．And like the rest of 21st century America, I like it．But this fixation on productivity is increasingly destroying character and transforming men into robots.
New York Times columnist David Brooks warned American University students of this cultural decline in a speech．“We cut off all things spiritual and emotional in a competitive urge to stand out”, he said, “The pressure to succeed professionally, to acquire skills, to do the things you need to do to succeed in an information age economy really became the overwhelming（难以应付的） pressures, and it sort of eclipses the thinking about character and morality.”
Many students happily go to college, viewing it as a next step on their rise to professional achievement．Forcing as many success-building activities into their schedules as they can, they enjoy keeping busy with little sleep．“Today’s outstanding kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-improving activity to the next,” Brooks wrote in an article, “We fear failure more than we desire success.”
A century ago, college was about character building．Today, our characters are in decline．We are experts on economics, material things and professional skills．We fail to discuss and understand relationships, emotions and all things spiritual．
Philosopher Karl Popper divided the world into two categories: Clocks and Clouds．Clock problems are those that can be taken apart, examined and solved through deductive reasoning（演绎推理）．Clouds cannot be taken apart．Cloud problems represent whole systems that need to be understood in a different way.
“When we have a Cloud problem, we try to turn it into a Clock problem,” Brooks said．And in a reason-centered culture, adding titles to one’s resume becomes a trend．At American University, 85 percent of seniors (and 89 percent of business majors) graduate with at least one practical experience which is often helpful to a student’s future career, but can sometimes draw focus away from academics.
To prevent the death of man’s character, Brooks urges rediscovering our human natures through falling in love．And by love he means love for a task, job, or another person．“Synchronicity is key to happiness,” he said．Rather than crazily increasing our long lists of accomplishments, we need to lose ourselves in what we do, and success will come on its own.From Paragraph 1, we can learn that people __________.
| A．are controlled by time |
| B．are keen on reading books |
| C．are changing their characters |
| D．are eager to achieve more |
In Paragraph 2, the underlined word “eclipses” means _________.
| A．deletes | B．weakens |
| C．worsens | D．emphasizes |
The last paragraph mainly tells us that __________．
| A．love is more important than focus |
| B．the focus on human natures counts |
| C．more work contributes to happiness |
| D．success comes from devotion to work |
The purpose of this passage is to __________.
| A．bring awareness to character building |
| B．stress the importance of productivity |
| C．warn about the pressure to seek success |
| D．criticize students’ desire for achievements |
Everyone procrastinates．We put things off because we don’t want to do them, or because wehave too many other things on our plates．Putting things off—big or small—is part of being human.
But procrastination does have consequences．When your procrastination leaves you feeling discouraged, it is time to take action, and one of the best ways to get rid of it is to make an un-schedule.
An un-schedule is a weekly calendar of all the ways in which your time is already accounted for．You consider not only your timed commitments such as classes and meetings, but also your untimed activities such as meals, exercise, time with friends, and the like．Once you have made your un-schedule, you may be able to see your time is often filled with more activities than you realize, for instance, that you really don’t have five hours to spend writing on the night before your paper is due．Procrastinators’ views of time tend to be unrealistic, and the un-schedule can help you outline a realistic plan．By planning accordingly, you will not only get a better night’s sleep, you may also end up with a better paper．
The un-schedule might also be a good way to get started on a larger project, such as a term paper or an honors paper．You may think that you have “all semester” to get the writing done, but if you really map out how much time you have available to write on a daily and weekly basis, you will see that you need to get started sooner, rather than later．In addition, the un-schedule may reveal especially busy weeks or months, which will help you budget time for long-term projects.
Perhaps most importantly, the un-schedule can help you examine how you spend your time．You may be surprised at how much time you spend watching television, and decide to make a change．It’s especially important that you build time for fun activities into your un-schedule．Otherwise, you will procrastinate in order to steal time for relaxation.
You can also use the un-schedule to record your progress towards your goal．Reward yourself for your small successes．Seeing what you’ve achieved will help reinforce（强化）the productive behavior, and you will feel more motivated in the following process.
As you explore ways to conquer procrastination, don’t expect overnight transformation．You developed the habit over a long time; you aren’t going to stop magically．But you can change the behavior, bit by bit．If you start to make an un-schedule now, you will eventually develop new habits．From Paragraph 2, we can know that procrastinators __________.
| A．usually have sleeping problems |
| B．tend to be unrealistic in daily life |
| C．spend more time in doing exercise |
| D．often fail to notice untimed activities |
Which of the following statements best reflects an un-schedule?
| A．“Now I have more time for fun.” |
| B．“I can start my big project later.” |
| C．“I’ll treat myself to a movie for my progress.” |
| D．“I’m going to have more time to finish my paper.” |
According to the writer, people need to make an un-schedule because of their __________．
| A．interests in doing things differently |
| B．determination to try out new things |
| C．inability to manage time properly |
| D．lack of concentration on a project |
The author writes the passage to __________.
| A．show concerns |
| B．offer suggestions |
| C．express dissatisfaction |
| D．make comments |
Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you’ve completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we’ve accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of ageing as wrinkles and grey hair．But now a new book suggests that we’ve got it all wrong.
According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age．In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s—much later than previously thought.
Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we retain them, and even produce new ones well into middle age．For years it’s been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age．But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.
This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years．It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive(认知的) tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s．Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving.
Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed—how fast you can push a button when ordered．However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond．In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.
Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with ageing．A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions．It is thought that when we’re younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we’ve learned our lessons and are sub-consciously aware that we have less time left in life: therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy．Barbara Strauch probably agrees that ______．
| A．the young are better at handling important things |
| B．people’s brains work best between their 40s and 60s |
| C．ageing leads to the decline of the function of the brain |
| D．wrinkles and grey hair are the only symbols of ageing |
The continuing research has found older people perform better on _____ .
| A．vocabulary tests |
| B．number ability |
| C．perceptual speed |
| D．body balance |
People are happier with age because ______.
| A．they learn to value the time left |
| B．they know how to share feelings |
| C．they cannot focus on negative aspects |
| D．they do not realize the possible dangers |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．People get wiser with age． |
| B．People get more forgetful with age． |
| C．People get happier with age． |
| D．People get more self-aware with age． |