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Technological change is everywhere and affects every aspect of life, mostly for the better. However, social changes brought about by new technology are often mistaken for a change in attitudes.
An example at hand is the involvement of parents in the lives of their children who are attending college. Surveys (调查) on this topic suggests that parents today continue to be “very” or “somewhat” overly-protective even after their children move into college dormitories. The same surveys also indicate that the rate of parental involvement is greater today than it was a generation ago. This is usually interpreted as a sign that today’s parents are trying to manage their children’s lives past the point where this behavior is appropriate.
However, greater parental involvement does not necessarily indicate that parents are failing to let go of their “adult” children.
In the context (背景) of this discussion, it seems valuable to first find out the cause of change in the case of parents’ involvement with their grown children. If parents of earlier generations had wanted to be in touch with their college-age children frequently, would this have been possible? Probably not. On the other hand, does the possibility of frequent communication today mean that the urge to do so wasn’t present a generation ago? Many studies show that older parents—today’s grandparents—would have called their children more often if the means and cost of doing so had not been a barrier.
Furthermore, studies show that finances are the most frequent subject of communication between parents and their college children. The fact that college students are financially dependent on their parents is nothing new; nor are requests for more money to be sent from home. This phenomenon is neither good nor bad; it is a fact of college life, today and in the past.
Thanks to the advanced technology, we live in an age of bettered communication. This has many implications well beyond the role that parents seem to play in the lives of their children who have left for college. But it is useful to bear in mind that all such changes come from the technology and not some imagined desire by parents to keep their children under their wings.
1.The surveys inform us of______.
A. the development of technology
B. the changes of adult children’s behavior
C. the parents’ over-protection of their college children
D. the means and expenses of students’ communication
2.The writer believes that__________.
A. parents today are more protective than those in the past
B. the disadvantages of new technology outweigh its advantages
C. technology explains greater involvement with their children
D. parents’ changed attitudes lead to college children’s delayed independence
3.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Technology or Attitude
B. Dependence or Independence
C. Family Influences or Social Changes
D. College Management or Communication Advancement
4.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in this passage?
I: Introduction P:Point Sp: Sub-point C: Conclusion
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
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Nowadays science has made great progress in every aspect and more and more really good inventions have changed our daily lives. However, the U.S. Patent Office has issued over 7.5 million patents (专利), and not all of them are quite so celebrated. Some good, some bad, and some crazy! The following lists some of the most unusual ideas that have come along.
Snake Leash (皮带)
In 2002, a patent was issued for a snake-walking leash. There are at least two major problems with this idea. 1) Dog leashes fit securely between the head and shoulders. A snake does not have shoulders; so it might slither (蜿蜒滑行) away. 2) Dogs are OK for public places because they are social animals, and people like them. Snakes are not OK for public places because they are not social, and some people are terrified of them.
Stadium Helmet
Americans are known for their love of sports. Unfortunately, good tickets to games are expensive, so some fans have to sit in the backward sections. This invention, patented in 2000, is designed for these fans. Featuring a built-in radio, binoculars (望远镜), a cooling fan, and a helmet for falling litter, this design transforms the stadium experience.
Bacon Alarm Clock
When you think about it, waking to the dreadful, blaring noise of an alarm clock is a terrible way to start the day. However, this clock could change that. You simply put a piece of frozen bacon in the alarm clock, set the alarm, and go to sleep. The clock gently wakes you up with the mouth watering smell of bacon the next morning, just like waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of mom cooking breakfast. Who said there’s no time to eat breakfast?
Toilet Lock
In 1969, a patent was issued for a really bad idea the toilet seat lock. First of all, fishing for your keys when you have to go seems very unpleasant. Then there is the possibility of losing the key altogether. What about guests? Just think that you would have to ask permission for the bathroom. Of course, there is the ultimate question: Why would you lock it in the first place?
1.Snake Leash was designed to .
A. take a snake for a walk B. keep off a snake
C. catch a snake D. keep dogs and snakes together
2.What can be inferred about the backward sections?
A. They are close to the center of a stadium.
B. They are for fans who have poor eyesight.
C. They are for fans who can’t afford to buy good tickets.
D. They are in the center of a stadium.
3.Which of the following inventions can help to save your time?
A. Toilet Lock. B. Bacon Alarm Clock. C. Snake Leash. D. Stadium Helmet.
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B
He is a lesson to every boy who ever picked up a basketball and dreamed that it would change his life.
The lights were never brighter and the crowds were never bigger for a homegrown sports hero than they were a quarter-century ago for Ray Hall. But his athletic achievements, as impressive as they are, are to my mind not what is most admirable about the man.
Known as “Sugar Ray” in his teens, Hall was rated among the country’s top 25 high school basketball players. An inner-city kid from a solid family, Hall took on the challenge of lifting Canisius College — still recovering from its failure — back to respectability, rejecting more favorable offers. His status of a savior (救世主) brought more pressure than any 18-year-old should have to handle. However, I watched him mature into the player who led Canisius back to daylight.
After college Hall played professionally in Italy and Greece for over 10 years until a car accident at 32 ended his basketball career. The news that he would never play again shocked Hall but unlike so many others he was ready for life after basketball. When I met Hall — still fit at 46 — for lunch Monday, he wore a cut-sharp gray suit, designer tie and blazing white shirt that screamed Success. “That was always the question — when the cheers end, where do you go? Who do you turn to?” he said. “It starts and ends with that person in the mirror.”
Hall got the concept of academics-first from his parents. He graduated from Canisius a semester early. “No matter how good of an athlete you are, you are just one injury away from losing it all,” he said. “But if you take care of things academically, you are prepared until you leave this earth.”
For the past 14 years, he has been in a computer sales job at Ingram Micro. He married his college sweetheart. They have three kids and a nice house in the suburbs. He figured out early what others learn too late: Athletics is part of a journey, not the destination.
Congratulations, Ray, you made it. In more ways than one.
1.Ray was regarded as a savior because ________.
A．he liked to take on challenges
B．he helped his team to regain its glory
C．he was faithful to his hometown city
D．he fought hard against failure at a young age
2.According to the writer, which of the following best describes Ray’s success?
A．Unlike other athletes, he was academically superior.
B．He defeated his injury and returned to the playground.
C．He enjoys a successful job and a happy family.
D．He has gained impressive athletic achievements.
3.What’s the right order of the events related to Ray?
a. He was rated among the best high school basketball players.
b. He was in a car accident.
c. He graduated from Canisius College.
d. He started his computer sales job.
e. He gave up his athletic career.
A．a, c, b, e, d B．a, c, e, b, d C．c, a, b, d, e D．c, a, e, b, d
4.We can learn from the passage that ________.
A．Ray was from an academic family
B．Ray was very mature in his teens
C．Ray was once desperate facing the cruel reality
D．athletics was not Ray’s final goal in life
5.What was the writer’s intention in writing this passage?
A．To describe the difficulties of being a professional athlete.
B．To explain the importance of choosing the right college.
C．To emphasize the need for a good education.
D．To warn against playing professional basketball.
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_____ in every aspect of his company’s business, Paul made himself busy day and night.
A. Being involved B. Involved C. Involving D. To involve
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It is quite apparent that competition surrounds every aspect of human life whether in the United States or the Amazon Rain Forest. Without it we would not have grown into primates(灵长类动物). Or we would probably still be struggling to sharpen a bronze tool while crawling around on four legs in search of meat. Without competition, Columbus wouldn't have discovered America and Edison would never have invented the light bulb.
Friendship, like all relationship between two people, involves competition. It isn't competition in a traditional sense because there are no goals to be scored and no prize. Perhaps the ecological definition—the simultaneous (同时的)demand by two or more organisms for limited environmental resources, such as nutrients， living space, or light- better explain it.
As in nature, high school life is governed by a set of laws, similar to a shortened version of Darwin's theory of evolution, overpopulation, and competition. There is an abundance of high school students and to distinguish them, ranking and categorizing(分类)take place. In high school, friendships learn to co-exist with competition even though at times the relationship is rough. In fact, in some circumstances, competition is too much of a burden for a friendship to bear, causing it to fall apart. College admission is the final high school objective. Four years of hard work is to achieve good grades, and a student's fate is determined not only by these achievements, but by the records of thousands of other seniors trying to achieve a similar recognition.
Nevertheless, by necessity, competition between students exists in all aspects of high school life. It sets and improves the standards in everything from sports to school work. A healthy, friendly competition can have only benefits, but when it becomes too fierce, jealousy can tear friendships apart. Yet, despite all this, without competition, we would be lost.
1.What does the ecological definition mainly explain?
A. How friends compete with each other.
B. How to win the competition.
C. What the result of competition is.
D. What competition exactly is.
2.According to the writer, what causes the high school students to compete?
A. The number of them is too large.
B. Friendship is a burden for them.
C. They know the laws of nature well.
D. They are divided into different groups.
3.Which best describes the relationship of friendship and competition?
A. Friendship is always based on competition.
B. The degree of competition is vital to friendship.
C. Competition is terribly harmful to friendship.
D. Competition is a result of lost friendship.
4.What does the author think of "competition"?
A. The results of competition are out of control.
B. Competition becomes fiercer in high school.
C. Competition is certain to happen at schools.
D. Friendship is not as important as competition at schools.
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Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives. Self-confident people tend to see their lives in a positive light. 1.. The good news is that self-confidence really can be learned and built on. 2..
★ 3.
It’s easy to lose confidence if you can’t discover your positive attributes, your limitless potential and the beauty of your own existence. Make a list of all the things you, re proud of in your life. It might be as simple as driving your car or giving a speech. Keep the list close by and add to it whenever you do something you’re proud of. When you’re low in confidence, pull out the list and use it to remind yourself you are so excellent.
★ Be prepared to fail with confidence
Self-confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that you are a worthless person. So if you suffer a setback, the best thing you can do is to recognize it, apologize, and make a plan for avoiding it in the future. 4.. Tow self-confidence is often caused by the negative thoughts running through our minds on an endless track.
★ Be comfortable with fear
You may think that people who are self-confident are never fearful. This simply is not true. Fear means you are at your growing edge. Perhaps your fear is speaking in front of a group, introducing yourself to someone you don’t know, or asking your boss for a raise.
★ Look in the mirror and smile
Studies surrounding what’s called the “facial feedback theory” suggest that the expressions on your face can actually encourage your brain to register or intensify certain emotions. So by looking in the mirror and smiling every day, you might feel happier about your appearance, and to accept the way you look. 5..
A.Look at what you’ve already achieved
B.Don’t let the failure make you think you don’t have what it takes to achieve your dreams
C.Those who lack self-confidence, however, are more likely to have a negative perspective about the life
D.Try some of the tips listed below to help you stay confident
E.This will also help you feel more confident in the long run
F.When you are able to confront what you fear, you will gain self-confidence
G.Think about who in your life can really help you build up confidence
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One of the questions surrounding climate change is how it might affect the food supply for a growing global population. A new study suggests that researchers have been overlooking how two key human responses to climate—how much land people choose to farm, and the number of crops they plant—will affect food production in the future. The new study focused on the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, an emerging（新兴的）global breadbasket（产粮地区）that as of 2013 supplied 10 percent of the world’s soybeans. The researchers used variations in temperature and precipitation（降水）across the state over an eight-year period to estimate the sensitivity of the region’s agricultural production to climate change. Those historical comparisons can help in making predictions about the sensitivity of agriculture to future climate change.
The study found that, if the patterns from 2002 to 2008 hold in the future, an increase in average temperature in Mato Grosso of just 1 degree will lead to a 9 to 13 percent reduction in overall production of soy and corn. “This is worrisome given that the temperature in the study region is predicted to rise by 2 degrees by 2050,” said Avery Cohn, who led the study.
Most studies of this kind look only at the extent to which climate shocks affect crop output. But researchers can miss critical dynamics（动力）that can affect overall output, says Leah VanWey, one of the study’s senior authors. “If you look at output alone, you’re not looking at all of the information because there are economic and social changes going on as well,” said VanWey.
If output decreases, farmers may put less land area into production because it’s not profitable. Farmers may also vary the number of crops they plant in a growing season. Double cropping is common in Mato Grosso. But if the weather is bad, farmers may change their decision to plant a second crop.
1.The value of the new study lies in _________.
A.increasing the number of crops people plant
B.focusing on an emerging global breadbasket
C.making predictions about human responses to climate change
D.controlling people’s choice of their farming area and crop numbers
2.According to Avery Cohn, by 2050, the overall production of soy and corn will _________.
A.remain almost unchanged B.decrease by more than 9%
C.increase by from 9% to 13% D.decrease by more than 18%
3.What can we know about the similar studies mentioned in paragraph 3?
A.They can’t provide exact information to farmers.
B.They don’t take into consideration some key factors.
C.Their discouraging results largely affect overall crop output.
D.They pay too much attention to economic and social changes.
4.What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A.Farmers’ possible reactions to climate shocks.
B.Possible climate change in Mato Grosso.
C.The benefits of double cropping in Mato Grosso.
D.Farmers’ decision on planting crops in the future.
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Mass communication has been growing and affecting the way communities and people behave. At every stage of the development of communication, from the telegraph to the Internet, societies have had to adapt to its effects. But have the effects been more positive or negative?
The saying “Knowledge is power” has been an excellent motivator for people to improve their lives, but today the massive amount of information available through the Internet doesn’t always seem to to be helping people in the way we had hoped.Rather than improving people’s lives and bringing us closer together, the information age is making us more divided and irresponsible.
Nevertheless, many people find comfort in their virtual worlds and are happy to connect with real-life friends and online friends from the familiar surroundings of their living rooms.However,being able to reinvent themselves online and be whoever they want to be leads to the question of whether they are losing their identities by living in a virtual world. It’s not all bad news,however. Mass communication has helped change some attitudes for the better. Take our views on the environment for example. Internet campaigns by governments and other organizations have helped popularize the ideas of recycling, protecting wildlife and reducing pollution.
Modern electronic communication now influences every aspect of our lives-it is a powerful tool that has raised some concerns for society.However,it has also brought countless benefits to society. At the end of the day, it can be used both for good or evil, which largely relies on the morals and sense of responsibility of the individual or community involved. In short,it needs to be used with care.
1.According to the text, the information age today _______.
A. helps people improve their lives
B. fully shows “ knowledge is power”
C. makes people feel more connected to others
D. fails to achieve our expectations sometimes
2.What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
A. People only connect with online friends.
B. Online friends can be comforting for all people.
C. Virtual lives can make people clear of who they are.
D. The Internet helps to raise our environmental awareness.
3.What can be known about electronic communication in the last paragraph?
A. It should be used in a cautious way.
B. It does more harm than good to society.
C. Its side effects can’t be handled by individuals.
D. It should be strictly controlled by the government.
4.What does the text mainly talk about?
A. The comfort of the virtual worlds.
B. The effects of mass communication.
C. The development of mass communication.
D. The way to use modern mass communication.
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Technological life is and will be a series of upgrades and the rate of advancement is increasing. If we are honest, we must admit that one aspect of the ______ upgrades and eternal becoming of the technium (技术元素) is to make holes in our heart. One day not too long ago we（all of us）decided that we could not live another day ______ we had a smart phone; a dozen years earlier this need would have ______ us. Now we get angry if the network is slow, but before, when we were ______ , we had no thoughts of the network at all. We keep inventing new things that make new ______ , new holes that must be filled.
Some people are furious that our hearts are pierced (刺穿) ______ by the things we make. They see this ever-neediness as a devaluing of human nobility, the source of our ______ discontent. I agree that technology is the source. The momentum of technologies pushes us to chase the ______ , which are always disappearing beneath the arrival of the next newer thing, so satisfaction continues to retreat from our ______ .
But I celebrate the never-ending discontent that technology brings. We are different from our animal ancestors in that we are not ______ to merely survive, but have been incredibly busy ______ new itches that we have to scratch, new desires we've never had before. This is the trigger for our ingenuity and growth.
We cannot expand our self, and our collective self, ______ making holes in our heart. We are ______ our boundaries and widening the small container that holds our identity. It can be painful. Of course, there will be rips and tears. Late-night infomercials (信息广告) and endless web pages of about-to-be-out-of-date gizmos(新玩意儿)are hardly uplifting techniques, and the path to our ______ is very boring, and everyday. When we imagine a better future, we should factor in this constant ______ .
1.A.ceaseless B.effortless C.meaningless D.regardless
2.A.whether B.once C.while D.unless
3.A.dismayed B.astonished C.delighted D.bothered
4.A.tactless B.humble C.innocent D.suspicious
5.A.longings B.findings C.understanding D.warnings
6.A.thus B.yet C.even D.rather
7.A.half-hearted B.continual C.peculiar D.social
8.A.wildest B.latter C.newest D.utmost
9.A.grasp B.era C.sight D.share
10.A.allowed B.content C.privileged D.spontaneous
11.A.wrapping up B.smoothing over C.carrying out D.making up
12.A.through B.against C.without D.despite
13.A.defining B.stretching C.overstepping D.marking
14.A.enlargement B.formation C.sensation D.pleasure
15.A.demand B.tolerance C.companion D.discomfort
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The greatest scientific breakthroughs of 2014 have affected all aspects of modern life, from medicine, to space exploration, to the future of renewable technologies. Scientists all over the globe are publishing their findings and treating patients with new medicines and techniques that are changing everyday life for the human race, and adding to our vast banks of scientific knowledge.
Irish teens make a breakthrough in crop yields（产量）
16-year-old Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey, and Sophie Healy-Thow won the Google Science Fair2014, with their project “Natural Bacteria Fighting World Hunger”.
While learning about the food shortage in Africa, the three teens got thinking about how they could help. What they found may change the future of worldwide food production.. They experimented and were able to reduce germination（发芽）time by 50%and increase plants’ yield by up to 74%.
This could create the possibility of increased crop yields and reducing crop loss due to bad weather.
Cancer is cured?
In May 2014, the Mayo Clinic published a study in which they treated a 50-year-old female patient’s blood cancer with the measlesvaccine（麻疹疫苗）.After receiving the vaccine, Stacy Erholtz’s body is completely free of cancer.
Stephen Russell, who led the research, said, “It’s a landmark. We’ve known for a long time that we can introduce a virus into the blood and destroy cancer in mice. Nobody’s shown that you can do that in people before.” The measles vaccine will not work for all types of cancer, but is an unbelievable step forward.
Water found on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
In April, scientists announced that NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovered a body of water on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn（土星）. Enceladus is an icy moon about 300 miles in diameter （直径）.and its mysterious body of water appears to be 5 miles deep, around the size of Lake Superior.
Scientists have also discovered that the body of water features a rock is a possible sign of conditions good for the development of life.
1.The text is mainly about _______.
A. the new findings in medicine
B. the greatest scientists in 2014
C. the new techniques in space exploration
D. the greatest scientific breakthroughs of 2014
2. What’s the aim of the three Irish teens’ Project?
A. To attract Google’s attention.
B. To do research on Africa’s soil.
C. To solve the problem of world hunger..
D. To understand different plants’ germination time.
3. What can be inferred about the Mayo Clinic’s study?
A. Blood cancer is very is very easy to cure.
B. All kinds of cancer will be cured soon.
C. Medical experiments on people are not allowed.
D. The research is a breakthrough in cancer treatment.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. Enceladus is a warm moon
B. Enceladus may be suitable for life.
C. Enceladus is as big as Lake Superior.
D. Enceladus has several rocky sea floors.