Gordon Brown was born in Scotland in 1951.His childhood was a brilliant success because of his intellectual strength.He was accepted into middle school at 10.At 16 he became the youngest student at Edinburgh University.
“At that time, he was a lucky boy, good at almost everything,” said his old friend Murray Elder.However, setbacks (挫折) fell on the brilliant boy.After a rugby injury, he became blind in his left eye.Before long, similar symptoms (症状) developed in his right eye.“I lay in the hospital bed in total darkness, uncertain about my future,” said Brown.
Looking back into the past, Brown didn’t complain about his bad luck.He even said: “One door closes; you can’t play rugby any more, so you focus on other things.”
Brown was interested in student politics in university, which helped a lot in his political career later in life.
In 1997, Brown was made Chancellor of the Exchequer (财政大臣).He has succeeded in giving the country a high rate of employment and the longest period of economic growth in its history.
Compared with his successful career, Brown’s family life is full of downs.He lost his first daughter ten days after her birth.His one-year-old youngest son has a deadly disease.“These accidents make me appreciate my life more,” he said.
1.Gordon Brown was successful in his childhood because he _____.
A.was very intelligent
B.went to middle school at 10
C.played rugby very well
D.became the youngest student at Edinburgh University
2.When Gordon Brown looked back on the past, he _____.
A.still had hope for the future
B.wished that he had not played rugby
C.believed that his door was closed
D.felt very sad about his misfortune
3. Which of the following is TRUE about Gordon Brown?
A.He didn’t like politics in university.
B.He became Chancellor of the Exchequer at 48.
C.He did a good job to improve the national economy.
D.He didn’t do well for the country’s employment.
4.From the last paragraph, we learn that Brown’s family life _____.
A.is as successful as his career.
B.is full of accidents
C.makes him upset about his life
D.is filled with good luck
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
If you saw another kid ride her bike too fast around a corner and fall down, you might ride your bike more slowly on that turn.Yes, we humans are very sensitive to others’ mistakes.And the same is true for other animals.Animals mess up all the time.They might eat poisonous leaves, fall off a tree or let their prey(猎物) escape.By watching others fail, an animal can avoid making the same mistakes, thus improving its chance of survival.
Scientists believe that one part of the brain helps animals process information about others’ mistakes.Cells(细胞) in that part appear to become more active when a person sees someone else making a mistake.But researchers didn’t know whether individual cells in this part of the brain play different roles in discovering mistakes.
To investigate（调查） the brain’s response(反应) to mistakes in more detail, the researchers taught a game to two macaques, a type of monkey.One monkey could press a yellow or green button while the other watched.If the first monkey pressed the right button, the team gave both animals a treat.Every couple of rounds, the two monkeys switched roles.Meanwhile, the scientists watched individual cells in the animal’s brains.
When the first monkey messed up the game by pressing the wrong button, a group of cells in the second monkey’s brain fired.But if the second monkey also made the wrong choice during its turn, some of the cells in that group didn’t respond.Those unresponsive cells reacted specifically to mistakes made by others, not to the monkey’s own mistakes.
Scientists believe other parts of the brain also might help people process information about another’s mistakes.“You start to think about this other person and see things from his angle.” Ellen de Brujin, told Science News.She studies the brain at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
1.According to Paragraph 1, animals’ ability to learn from others’ mistakes______.
A.helps them to survive better
B.used to be ignored by humans
C.is being lost because of humans
D.ensures that they will never fail
2.From the game the scientists taught to two macaques, we can see ______.
A.animals can avoid the same mistakes
B.which part of the brain is more active
C.how the brain processes information.
D.how the brain responds to mistakes
3.In the experiment mentioned, those unresponsive cells are only sensitive to _____.
A.the same buttons
B.the monkey’s brain
C others’ mistakes
D.one’s own mistakes
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
TOURNAMENT OF ROSES ----5 Days Los Angeles
Day 1 Los Angeles.( Sun.Dec.30)
Welcome to Los Angeles! This evening mixes with your traveling friends at the welcome reception.
Day 2 Los Angeles.( Mon.Dec.31)
Head to Pasadena for the always colorful ROSE BOWL FAMILY FESTIVAL and watch the floats (彩车)decorated with tens of thousands of flowers.This afternoon, you can take the included visit to the GETTY MUSEUM.This evening, join your travelling friends at a special New Year’s Eve DINNER AND DANCE GALA (盛会), complete with hats, party favors and live music.You’ll toast the New Year a little early tonight to consider an early morning departure (离开) to the Rose Parade.
Day 3 Los Angeles.Tournament of Roses Parade ( Tue.Jan.1)
Happy New Year! Get ready for one of the world’s most popular parades, and you’ll see it live! Globus has booked the GRANDSTAND SEATS at the beginning of the parade route for a good view.See the wonderful colorful floats, marching bands from around the world, and the famous people.
Day 4 Los Angeles.( Wed.Jan.2)
This morning view the individual floats in the POST PARADE VIEWING AREA.For many this is the most exciting part of the entire event.Be sure to bring your camera and plenty of film! Another special dinner tonight—a special GLOBUS FAREWELL CELEBRATION DINNER.
Day 5 Los Angeles.( Thu.Jan.3)
The tour ends today, with tour guests departing on individual schedules.
1.What activity can visitors enjoy on Dec.31?
A.Tournament of Rose Parade.
B.A farewell celebration dinner.
C.Post parade viewing area.
D.A dinner and dance gala.
2.The underlined word “Globus” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.
A.the travel agency B.the local government
C.Los Angeles D.Roses Parade
3.According to the passage, you should bring your camera on ________.
A.Day 2. B.Day 4 C.Day 3 D.Day 5
4.You can most probably read the passage in a ________.
A.textbook B.news report
C.travel guide D.history magazine
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Let’s face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games.And it’s driving their parents nuts.
Sure, there are real dangers connected with all this screen time—everything from cyberbullying(网络欺凌) to couch-potato obesity.Not to mention driving while texting, and shortened attention spans(持续时间).
Douglas Gentile, who studies the effects of media on children, says texting, Facebook and video games are not naturally bad.Nor are they naturally better or worse than watching TV, although they do lead to different risks, such as cyberbullying.
But research has shown that the more time kids spend in front of screens—whether it’s TV or instant-messaging—the worse their school performances are.“That doesn’t mean it’s true for every kid, but it makes sense, that for every hour a kid is playing video games, it’s an hour that they’re not doing homework or reading or exploring or creating,” he said.If screen time is taking the place of doing their homework, that’s bad.But if their homework is done, well, so what?
The study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal satisfaction are.Gentile said the influence of screen time on school work can be reduced by what he calls “protective factors”.Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued.“If you had all these protective factors, then that one little risk factor, who cares?”
One thing parents should worry about is the way electronic devices encourage multitasking（多任务处理).
“As adults, your response speeds up, you’re quicker to look over your shoulder and notice little noises or lights.However this is not what the kids need when they get to the classroom.Scanning to see when the next message comes may not be good for kids.The more distractions(分心的事物) you have, the worse your performance is.” Getting kids to turn off their phones, iPods in order to let them concentrate（集中) on homework is a fight worth having.
1.What statement may Gentile agree to?
A.Kids get bad marks when using Facebook.
B.TV or texting affects kids equally.
C.Kids prefer video games to books.
D.Watching TV is better than playing video games.
2.By saying “one little risk factor”, Gentile referred to ________
A.love for reading B.valuing education
C.screen time D.good teachers
3. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that________.
A.kids can give quick answer to questions if texting
B.Multitasks aren’t really good for every kid
C.electric devices increase the attention of kids
D.kids perform well if doing many tasks together
4.What might be the most suitable title for the passage?
A.Are kids suffering cyber bullying on Facebook?
B.Are texting and Facebook worse for teens than TV?
C.Are kids willing to turn off their electric devices?
D.Are texting causing kids to lose interest in reading?
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Most Beautiful of All
1. .Autumn was in the air.Rich, pleasant reds, painted by nature’s hand, were coloring some of the trees.On the ground a carpet of dry leaves had begun to form along the path. 2. .High in the sky we noticed a V-shaped flock of birds heading south for the winter.As we walked along, I smiled.Beauty was all around us.It felt so good to be out in nature.I felt blessed to be watching nature’s glorious creation at its best.
3. .She was an elderly lady with gray hair.She wore old jeans and work boots.Her sweater was worn out in places.She was carrying a trash bag in one hand and a pointed stick with a nail driven through it in the other.As she slowly made her way towards us, she stopped to jab (刺) a piece of trash that she had seen on the ground with her stick. 4. .When we met she smiled and said hello to us.Her teeth were cracked and worn, but her voice was as youthful as I had heard in many a day.We talked for a bit and I thanked her for making our nature more beautiful with her work.She smiled again and said, “I just do what I can before continuing down the path.”
5. .May we all have as lovely a life as her.
A.They smelled wonderful and crunched (发出碎裂声) under our feet as we walked along.
B.Then, she approached and asked us whether we had any trash.
C.I decided to take my sons for a walk the other day.
D.As is often the case, we are too busy to find the beauty of nature.
E.As we turned a corner along the walking trail, I noticed a woman slowly making her way towards us.
F.Of all the things I saw that day, she was the most beautiful.
G.Then, quickly and neatly, she placed it in the trash bag.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
It was Mother’s Day, but our mother was far away from us.I decided to drive to the with my wife and our children to flowers.
After we arrived, we went hiking , played games, and collected all kinds of flowers and so on.How happy we were! Finally, though, we had to our car and got ready to go back home.While the kids chatted and I drove, my wife sat behind me, surrounded by her flowers, a(n) look in her eyes.
Suddenly my wife to me, “Stop the car.Stop right here!” I could ask her what had happened, she was out and up a nearby grassy hill with the lilacs (丁香花）still in her arms.At the of the hill was a nursing home and , because it was such a beautiful spring day, the were outdoors talking with relatives.
My wife went up the hill, where an elderly patient was sitting in her , alone with her back to most of the others.My wife the flowers to her and said something.The patient her head and smiled.They talked for a few before my wife ran back.As the car away, I found in the mirror the woman with the lilacs.
“Mom,” the kids asked, “Who was that? Why did you give her our ? Is she somebody’s mother?” My wife said, “I didn’t know the old woman.But it is Mother’s Day.And she seemed so .Who wouldn’t be cheered by flowers? ,” she added, “I have all of you, and I still have my , even if she is far away.That woman needed those flowers more than I did.”
Now, every May, our own yard is with lilacs.Every Mother’s Day we drive to the countryside to gather flowers and sow more seeds in our yard.And every year I remember that lonely old woman in her wheelchair, and her smile on her face.
1.A.downtown B.street C.supermarket D.countryside
2.A.plant B.gather C.buy D.send
3.A.push B.run C.take D.start
4.A.amazed B.bored C.tired D.pleased
5.A.apologized B.called C.shouted D.talked
6.A.As B.Before C.When D.Until
7.A.went B.fell C.rolled D.jumped
8.A.back B.foot C.top D.edge
9.A.doctors B.villagers C.visitors D.patients
10.A.yard B.wheelchair C.garden D.room
11.A.packed B.threw C.handed D.showed
12.A.raised B.dropped C.shook D.swung
13.A.years B.weeks C.minutes D.days
14.A.put B.sped C.pulled D.dragged
15.A.waved B.danced C.circled D.ran
16.A.money B.food C.gifts D.flowers
17.A.sick B.weak C.kind D.lonely
18.A.Surely B.Besides C.However D.Generally
19.A.daughter B.aunt C.mother D.sister
20.A.grown B.planted C.decorated D.painted
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Every year, approximately 1.6 million tons of soil flows into Yellow River, China’s second 1. (long) river.The soil contains materials to keep the natural balance of the area.Over time, a lot of soil 2. (remove),which has caused serious erosion of the land 3. the River.In some areas in Shanxi Province, this has destroyed almost all the land, and has forced many local farmers 4. (move) to other areas.
5. is a huge job to control Yellow River erosion.Many people believe this kind of work is best done by government or international 6. (organize).You may agree with this point of view.If7. , it is time for you to think again.
In fact, it is you 8. have the most important role to play in stopping Yellow River erosion.Did you know the importance of your 5 yuan? For a start, it can buy you a tree, 9. will help make soil stay on the land.On land with rich soil, local farmers can grow crops to make 10. living, with the money they earn from their crops, farmers buy goods or services.This helps to develop local economies.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
单词，短语，语法填空（15x1=15)
1.It is known that many types of cancer can now be c________.
2.The children are the helpless ________ (受害者) of the fighting.
3.The government has ________ (宣布) that public spending will be increased.
4.Unfortunately a big nose seems to be a family ________ (特征).
5.The clear reasons for the disaster are difficult to ________ (分析).
6.The woman has ________ (安排) for her son to have swimming lessons.
7.She has given the police a very full ________ (描述) of the robber.
8.There’s a strong ________ (可能性) that it will rain today.
9.We were very glad to see the injured boy well ________ (attend) in the hospital.
10.The rising number of car crimes is a(n) ________ (全国范围的) problem.
11.The tour g________ showed us the way across the mountains.
12.If you want to start the machine, p________ the button.
13.According to the t________, the bus should have come in at 9:00.
14.We are still relatively ________ (乐观的) that the factory can be saved.
15.The woman has two children from a(n) ________ (早先的) marriage.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
某英文网站正在开展关于填报志愿时首先考虑专业还是学校的讨论。请你根据下面所给的要点提示，用英语写一篇短文，描述学生中存在的两种看法，并谈谈你自己的看法，将此文在该网站的BBS上发表。
| 观点 | 理由 | |
| 1 | 首先选择专业 | 1． 可以学习自己感兴趣的 东西； 2．便于将来从事自己喜爱的工作 |
| 2 | 首先选择大学 | 1．学习环境对人的成长很重要； 2．名牌大学的毕业生在求职时常会受到青睐。 |
| 3 | 你的看法（内容由考生自己拟定） | |
注意：1.词数：100左右。开头已为你写好，不计入总词数；
2.内容可适当发挥，注意行文连贯。
Every student will be faced with the question after he passes the college entrance examinations: Should we choose a good major or a good university first?
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析