But don’t think there is nothing else yo...

Your handwriting is really too bad to read; I can hardly _____ what exactly you are trying to say.

The word doping is probably from the Dutch word dop, the name of an alcoholic drinks make of grape skins used by Zulu soldiers in order to encourage their bravery in battle. The term became current around the turn of the 20^th century, originally referring to illegal drugging of racehorses. In 1928 the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) became the first to ban the use of doping. A reliable test method was finally introduced in 1974.

The practice of enhancing athletes’ performance through foreign substance or other artificial means, however, is as old as competitive sport itself. The most famous doping case of the 1980s concerned Ben Johnson, the 100-meter champion who tested positive for stanozolol(司坦咗醇) at the Olympic Games in Seoul, 1988.

The main front in the anti-doping war has rapidly shifted to blood doping since 1970s. Blood doping is the practice of adding red blood cells to the bloodstream in order to improve athletes’ performance. The blood is usually processed in order to create a concentration of red blood cells, and then freeze them until needed for transfusion(输血) back into the athlete shortly before the event. The extra red blood cells will deliver more oxygen and other essential elements to the athlete’s muscle tissues.

Just like any other problem, the only way to solve it is through education. Many high school sports programs now have people come in to talk to them about out the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs. Young players must be fully clear on the rules and what substances are banned. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has an easily accessible list of what substances are banned, how they are tested for and why they are banned on its website. This way, young players are clear on what they can put in their bodies. This is also a good way to educate players on the danger of the substances they may be tempted to use.

1.The word “enhancing” in the first sentence of the second paragraph means “_____”.

2.What can we know from the third paragraph?

3.The word “people” in the second sentence of the fourth paragraph probably refers to _____.

4.Which statement best matches the last paragraph?

Televisions, stereos, telephones, and computers have changed the way we spend our time and what we know about the world. Some of the changes brought about by these material possessions have improved our way of life, but others have made it worse. Our young teenagers turn on the television, play the stereo, play games on the computer, talk on the telephone, and eat all the same time. This drives me right up the wall to instant insanity(精神失常).

However, teens of today place too great an importance on material property. They spend an average of several hours a day watching television, listening to stereos, playing on the computer, playing video games, and talking on the telephone. Families no longer watch television together and there is great lack of communication. Materialism is evident when an otherwise intelligent teenager drives their parents crazy, and into debt, when misusing communication equipment. Teens judge and admire other teens for what they own and have, rather than for what they are or what they can do. They no longer care about values, like honesty, integrity(正直), freedom, talent, quality and other values and morals.

However, good or bad, communication devices are here to stay. It is up to us, as parents, to stop our beloved teenagers from misusing and abusing our communication equipment and devices. We need to avoid the problems they present and to make the most of their opportunities they possess and hold for us all.

1.The writer’s attitude toward the modern material possessions is generally _____.

2.According to the writer, teens’ overuse of communication equipment can do harm to _____.

3.The writer attributes (归咎) the unsatisfactory behavior of teens to _____.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that the writer seems to be most annoyed at ______.

According to US research, it can take up to ten years to become a near-native English speaker. Asian and Spanish students took between five and ten years to reach native speaker performance in English-only schools. Fluency obviously doesn’t happen overnight. But time can definitely make you a better speaker.

After testing his own memory, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that humans forget most of what they learn in the first 20 minutes.

So cramming right before a speaking exam is not likely to be as effective as practicing regularly over time. The more you practice, the more familiar new words will become. In the classroom, studies have also shown that repeating oral tasks improves a speaker’s performance.

One of the best repetition exercises is the 4/3/2 technique. Speakers give the same talk to three different listeners with a progressive decrease in delivery time, starting at four minutes, then three, and finally two minutes. This exercise has been proven to help learners speak faster. It can also result in less hesitation and more grammatical accuracy. While time dose make a difference when it comes to speaking perfect English, it would not hurt to brush up on your other language skills.

Studies have also shown that reading can increase your speaking vocabulary. After one month of an extensive reading program, a 27-year-old student of French became more familiar with 65 percent of the new words.

Aside from choosing the right learning methods, having certain personality traits may also help. US linguistics expert Stephen Krashen believes those with high motivation, self-confidence and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for speaking success.

Krashen says students who don’t have these qualities are more likely to have a “mental block”. “Even if they understand the message, the input will not reach the part of the brain responsible for language acquisition,” he writes in his book Principles and Practice in second Language Acquisition.

1.According to the passage, if you want to be a near-native speaker, you need _____.

2.The author put forward the 4/3/2 technique just to show that _____.

3.The example of a 27-year-old student of French in the passage mainly means that _____.

4.The underlined phrase “linguistics expert” means a person who is quite expert at _____.

Vincent van Gogh was not always an artist. In fact, he wanted to be a(n) __21  and was even sent to the Belgian __22  community of Borinage. He discovered that the miners there __23  deplorable(悲惨的) working conditions and poverty-level wages. Their families  __24__  simply to survive. He felt concerned that the small amount of money he received from the church __25  him a moderate life-style, which, __26 , seemed to him unfair.

One cold February evening, while he watched the miners trudging(步履艰难)home, he __27  an old man staggering(蹒跚)toward him across the fields, __28 in a burlap sack for warmth. Van Gogh laid his own clothing out on the bed, __29 enough for one change, and decided to give__30 away. He gave the old man a suit of clothes and gave his overcoat to a pregnant woman whose __31 had been killed in a cave-in.

He lived on starvation rations and spent his money on __32  for the miners. When children in one family had fever, though __33  himself, he packed up his bed and took it to them.

A (an) __34  family in the community offered him free room and board. Van Gogh __35__ the offer, stating that it was the final temptation he must reject if he was to __36  serve his community of poor miners.

He believed that if he wanted them to __37  him, he must become one of them. And if they were to learn of love through him, he must love them enough to __38  with them.

He was aware of the wide chasm(鸿沟)between words and actions. He knew that our lives always __39  louder and clearer than words.

Others are “ __40 ” carefully to your actions. What are you saying to them?