| 1. 难度：中等 | |
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I clearly remember the day when my little brother was born: January 1,1994. One of my favorite family photos shows me lying with my mother in the hospital bed, happy but unaware of the small, sleeping baby in the background. I stayed with my grandparents for the weekend of my brother’s birth, excited about my new brother but not yet aware of what having a little brother would mean. I didn’t truly realize what was going on until we were in the hospital room at Duke University—coincidentally ,the same room in which I had been born two years earlier. When I looked at my brother for the first time, I felt a mixture of fear and interest. Little did I know that small, pink creature would grow up to be one of my favorite people in the world. In reality, though I am two years older than my brother, I am more often than not the real baby in the family. I am very lacking when it comes to common sense. Instructions constantly confuse me and I frequently find myself totally puzzled by things like knowing how to start the washing machine or manage the storage settings on my iPhone. That’s where Gibson comes in. The poor kid has had to guide me through more tasks than I would care to admit, but he never complains. Though I should probably be told to figure it out myself, he always comes through. I’m envious of his ability to readily answer the ever-present, “What do you want to do with your life?” question at family gatherings. “Be a doctor,” he says—a solid answer, completely opposite to my shaky one, “Well, I’m an English major, so…” My brother truly is my best friend. No one understands me better, and there isn’t anyone else I would want to be stuck with in our family. I may not have a clear idea of where I’m headed, but he is stuck with me. 1.How did the author feel when he saw his brother for the first time? A. Angry and sad. B. Excited and moved. C. Curious and scared. D. Happy and interested. 2.What does the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph mean? A. My brother is the real baby in the family. B. In fact, I seem to be less mature than my little brother. C. My brother gets more love from the family than I do. D. I am growing more slowly than my brother. 3.What does the brother often help the author do? A. Help him deal with many daily tasks. B. Help him with his studies. C. Give him advice on how to choose a major. D. Comfort him when he is in a bad mood. 4.What is the best title for this text? A. My Strange Family Gatherings B. The Real Baby in the Family C. Stuck with Me—My Not-So-Little Little Brother D. The Feeling of Having a Brother
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| 2. 难度：中等 | |
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A man enters a store to buy milk. He walks out of the store with milk. That is all-milk. At the same time, a woman enters the same grocery store also to buy milk. She buys it. But she also buys chicken and lemons to make dinner that night. Then she remembers to buy food for her son to eat at school. She also gets a bottle of wine for drinks with friends and a birthday card for her husband’s niece. Then she gets coffee for breakfast, ice cream for dessert and remembers stamps to mail the bills. And don’t forget soap for the bathroom. And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store. Generally speaking, men do one thing at a time. Women do many. Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along—men and women think differently. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from eight to 22 years old. They found that male brains have more connections on one side of the brain, or hemisphere. In the female brains, they found more activity and connections between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason.” The right hemisphere is known as the “creative” side. Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-wrote the report. She says when women are asked to do something difficult they might use different parts of the brain. Men, she adds, generally use just one side of the brain. As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. There is a strong connection between the “understanding” and the “action” parts of their brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain when solving a problem. Women take a less direct path to find a solution. 1.The author mentioned the shopping in Paragraph 1 to___________. A. show women’s carefulness B. prove men’s quick action C. object to an opinion D. bring up the topic to be discussed 2.The main idea of Paragraph 4 is that ___________. A. women have two same brains on both sides B. men have more complicated brains than women C. different kinds of brain images have been studied D. men’s structure of brain is different from women’s 3.What causes the difference between men’s and women’s behavior? A. Watching things from different sides. B. Having different attitudes towards life. C. Using different parts of the brain to think. D. Reacting at different speed to problems.
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| 3. 难度：中等 | |
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We know that hugs make us feel cosy inside. And this feeling could actually ward off stress and protect the immune (免疫) system, according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University. It’s a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that comes with interpersonal conflict. “We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety, ” the study’s lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. “We have tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and thus protect a person against infection.” In the experiment, over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知到的) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks. They were asked about the frequency that they engaged in interpersonal conflict and received hugs that day. Then, the researchers exposed the participants to a common cold virus, and monitored them to assess signs of infection. They found that both perceived social support and more frequent hugs reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. Regardless of whether or not they experienced social conflicts, infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms. “This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress,” Cohen said. “The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.” If you need any more reason to wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fears, improve heart health and decrease feelings of loneliness. 1.In Paragraph 1, the underlined words “ward off “can be replaced by ____. A. produce B. increase C. prevent D. support 2.Dr. Sheldon Cohen’s experiment shows that ____. A. hugs can hide serious illness symptoms B. social conflicts can monitor signs of infection C. social support can reduce the risk of having a cold D. depression and anxiety result from less social support 3.The passage aims to convey that ____. A. hugs can have protective effects B. social support can cure diseases C. interpersonal conflicts cause infections D. stress can weaken our immune system 4.The passage is most likely to be found in ____. A. a social science magazine B. a commercial brochure C. a medical report D. an academic essay
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| 4. 难度：中等 | |
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Imagine having an idea, drawing it on paper, bringing it to a store and seeing it turned into a physical object. This is now possible with the help of 3D printers. Such machines were once used just by universities and big companies, but now, stores with 3D printing services are appearing around the United States. Bryan Jaycox and his wife opened The Build Shop LLC in Los Angeles two years ago. The store is filled with tools like a laser cutter, an industrial sewing machine and 3D printers. The Jaycoxs offer 3D printing classes and services for anyone who is interested. "I think 3D printing is going to be huge. It's going to have a huge effect on society as a whole." One of the students in a recent class was KiChong Tran. He plans to open a 3D printing business in Cambodia. 3D printing services are becoming available for American consumers. The UPS Store is a nationwide retailer (零售商 ) that provides shipping, copying and other services. The UPS Store recently put 3D printers in three of its independently-owned stores. Burke Jones owns one of the stores in San Diego. "The demand has been amazing. It's been much more than I would have imagined." The UPS Store plans to add 3D printers in three more stores. At The UPS Store, the cost of the object depends on the amount of materials used. The store charges up to $95 an hour to design the object with computer software that creates a digital file to guide the printer. Mr. Jaycox predicts that within five years, 3D printing technology could become more popular. But KiChong Tran says even current technology can make a difference in a developing country like Cambodia. "With 3D printing, you can give them tools; you put it in their hands so they are responsible more for their own development and they learn skills beyond just learning English and becoming a tour guide or something like that or working at a bank; you can actually create things that give value to the world." He says it's not just in Cambodia but anywhere where there is a 3D printer that it can turn a good idea into reality. 1.The purpose of the passage is to _ A. attract consumers to buy 3D printers B. explain the importance of 3D printing C. introduce a new technique-3D printing D. describe the rapid development of technology 2.The Build Shop LLC is a store . A. promoting 3D printers B. offering 3D printing classes and services C. selling sewing machines D. known for tools like laser cutters 3.At the UPS Store, the price of a 3D object depends on A. the person who makes it B. the materials to make it and time to design it C. the size of the object D. the labor service it needs 4.The attitude of KiChong Tran towards the development of 3D printing technology is A. positive B. objective C. uncertain D. critical
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| 5. 难度：中等 | |
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根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。 For people with thousands of pages to read, speed reading seems like manna （甘露） from heaven. In addition, speed reading helps lighten the load of information you have to absorb since it provides a filter that you can use in screening all bits of information before you approach it. 1. Examining how much information you need will help you identify how you should read a certain document to maximize your learning and comprehension. Thorough reading may no longer be necessary in some cases, such as when you only need an outline of a certain document. Another skill that can ease the burden of a reader is the ability to read words in blocks. Make sure you do not spend too long on a certain block. 2. This will also make reading less tiresome and boring. To master this important skill, you have to practice reading more and more words in a certain block at a time. A suggestion shared by some experts regarding this step is to increase the distance between you and the document you are reading. If you can read more and more words in one block, you can cut down on the time it usually takes you to read a certain text and you will be able to read more in a shorter period. Readers should also practice reducing the number of times they go back to previous sections or blocks. Using a pointer such as the tip of a pencil or pen can also help to make the flow of your reading smoother and faster. 3. Thus, your speed in reading will largely depend on the speed of the movement of your pointer. If you still find yourself confused about the topic even after you have finished reading the document, do not re-read right away. Re-reading immediately will just lead to slower speed in reading. 4. Getting your own reading corner will also help. 5. Continue practicing and practicing the techniques aforementioned and soon, you'll achieve the reading speed that will work best for you. A．In this technique, your eyes will follow the tip of the pointer． B．This saves time and reduces the effort that you have to make． C．Taking a short break first is recommended before reading the material again． D．As a final note, the most important point is consistent and deliberate practice． E．Your invaluable time can be saved if you can have your reading speed doubled． F．The first step to increase your reading speed is to identify the specific information you need． G．Reducing the time you spend on a specific number of words in a block will make no big difference．
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