There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries. One of the most popular of these, even though it is fairly recent, is Mother’s Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The Ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria, during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”. The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However, over the years the custom was gradually forgotten and almost disappeared by the end of the 19th century.
Born in 1864 in Virginia, USA, Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend, she wrote to thousands of important people --- politicians, churchmen, doctors, city officials---and asked them to support her ideas: a special day of the year for thanking mothers.
In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother’s Day into the state. The date chosen was May 10---the second Sunday in May, which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis’s mother died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day throughout the United States.
Soon there was a Mother’s Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.
Anna Jarvis, a sad and disillusioned (大失所望的) woman died in 1948. The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. As with Christmas, the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi-million-dollar industry.
1.What is the story about? (no more than8 words)
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2.In which country was Hilaria celebrated as a festival? (no more than2 words)
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3.What did Anna Jarvis want to do for mothers? (no more than5 words)
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4.When is the date for Mother’s Day? (no more than5 words)
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5.Why was May 10 the date for Mother’s Day? (no more than10 words)
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根据对话内容，从对话后方框内的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，并将其标号填写在答题卷相应题号的横线上。选项中有两项多余选项。
Oh，Christina，is that you？How have you been？
I've been okay. I've just been busy with school. We really should get together and have a chat.
1.
I'd love to，but I'm leaving for Miami at 8 tonight because my brother is getting married on Saturday morning.
2. I hope that you have a nice time there.
Well，what are you doing now？Maybe we can go to the coffee shop and chat for a while.
I really wish I could， 3.
Tennis courts？ 4.I'm taking tennis lesson. My roommate is on a tennis team and she's gotten me interested in the sports. 5.A little，but I haven't played for years. When I come back from my trip，I'll join you in taking lessons.
OK. Just give me a call when you get back.
— I'll.
A. I didn't know you could play tennis.
B. but I'm on my way to the tennis courts.
C. Give him my best wishes！
D. Do you know how to play？
E. Have a good time！
F. How about joining me for dinner tonight？
G. Do you play well？
Monitoring the mood of a pet dog could be used as an early warning sign that an elderly owner is struggling to cope, a new report has claimed.
Researchers placed movement sensors (探测器) on dogs to track their behaviour and identified 17 distinct activities, including chewing, barking, sitting and digging.
This allowed them to map the normal behaviour of a healthy, happy dog, which means any changes can be monitored and could indicate an issue with their owner.
Nils Hammerla, part of the team from Newcastle University, said, “Humans and dogs have lived together in close relationships for thousands of years, which has led to strong emotional and social mutual bonds.”
“A dog’s physical and emotional dependence on their owner means that their well-being is likely to reflect that of their owner. Any changes such as the dog being walked less often, perhaps not being fed regularly, or simply demonstrating “unhappy” behaviour could be an early indicator for families that an older relative needs help. This is the first system of its kind which allows us to remotely monitor a dog’s behaviour in its natural setting.”
The team of academics, who presented their findings at the 2013 UbiComp conference in Zurich, created a hi-tech, waterproof (防水的) dog collar for the study.
Dr Cas Ladha, who led the study, said: “A lot of our research is focused on developing intelligent systems that can help older people to live independently for longer. But developing a system that reassures family and carers that an older relative is well without intruding on (侵犯) the individual’s privacy is difficult. This is just the first step but the idea behind this research is that it would allow us to support people without the need for cameras.”
A range of dogs was used for the study, as the team needed to map distinct behaviours that correlated between different breeds.
1.From the text, we know that Nils Hammerla ____________.
A. led the study and identified 17 activities of dogs
B. thinks some activities of dogs can reflect senior owners’ health
C. studied the relationship between humans and animals
D. developed a hi-tech, waterproof dog collar
2.The underlined word “reassure” in Paragraph 7 probably means ____________.
A. protect B. comfort
C. warn D. recognize
3.Which of the following is an advantage of the intelligent system mentioned in the text?
A. It can indicate that people aren’t well.
B. It can identify different activities of dogs.
C. It monitors an elderly owner without disturbing his privacy.
D. It lets people see the dog’s behavior clearly.
4.Which of the following could be the best title for the text?
A. Dogs’ mood can be an indicator of owners’ health
B. Strong bonds between dogs and their senior owners
C. Signs that your older relative needs help
D. A special way of taking care of the old
Without most people realizing it, there has been revolution in office work over the last ten years. Before that time, large computers were only used by large rich companies that could afford the investment. With the advancement of technology, small computers have come onto the market which are capable of doing the work which used to be done by much larger and expensive computers, so now most smaller companies can use them.
The main development in small computers has been in the field of word processor system, or WPS as they are often called. 40% of British offices are now estimated to have a word processor and this percentage is growing fast.
There are many advantages in using a word processor for both secretary and manager. The secretary is freed from a lot of daily work, such as retyping letters and storing papers. He or she can use this time to do other more interesting work for the boss. From a manager's point of view, secretarial time is being made better use of and money can be saved by doing daily jobs automatically outside office hours.
But is it all good? If a lot of daily secretarial work can be done automatically, surely this will mean that fewer secretaries will be needed. Another worry is the increasing medical problems related to work with visual display units (显示器). The unease of a slow loss of sight among people using word processors seems to have risen greatly. It is also feared that if a woman works at a VDU for long hours, the unborn child in her body might be killed. Safety screens to put over a VDU have been invented but few companies in England bother to buy them.
Whatever the arguments for and against word processors, they are a key feature of this revolution in office practice.
1.Ten years ago, large computers were only used by large companies because _________.
A. small companies did not have enough money to buy such expensive computers
B. large computers could not do the work that small companies can do today
C. large computers did not come onto the market
D. small companies did not need to use this new technology
2.According to the writer, the main progress made in office work over the last ten years is ________.
A. the saving of time and money
B. the use of computers in big companies
C. the wide use of word processors
D. the decreasing number of secretaries
3.We can infer from the passage that with the use of word processors, _________.
A. some secretaries will lose their jobs
B. all jobs can be done automatically outside office hours
C. medical problems related to work with a VDU must have increased
D. the British companies will make less money
4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. There are both advantages and disadvantages in using a word processor.
B. The British companies care much for the health of the people using word processors.
C. The technology in the field of computers has been greatly advanced over the last ten years.
D. Using word processors, secretaries can get more time to do more interesting work for their bosses.
A small piece of fish each day may keep the heart doctor away. That’s the finding of a study of Dutch men in which deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among those who consumed at least an ounce of salt-water fish per day compared to those who never ate fish.
The Dutch research is one of three human studies that give strong scientific support to the long held belief that eating fish can provide health benefits, particularly to the heart.
Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, with more than 550,000 deaths occurring from heart attacks each year. But previous research has shown that the level of heart disease is lower in cultures that consume more fish than Americans do. There are fewer heart disease deaths, for example, among the Eskimos of Greenland, who consume about 14 ounces of fish a day, and among the Japanese, whose daily fish consumption averages more than 3 ounces.
For 20 years, the Dutch study followed 852 middle-aged men, 20 percent of whom ate no fish. At the start of the study, average fish consumption was about two-thirds of an ounce each day, with more men eating lean fish than fatty fish.
During the next two decades, 78 of the men died from heart disease. The fewest deaths were among the group who regularly ate fish, even at levels far lower than those of the Japanese or Eskimos. This relationship was true regardless of other factors such as age, high blood pressure, or blood cholesterol（胆固醇）levels.
1.In which section of a newspaper can we read this passage?
A. Ads B. Movies
C. Briefs D. Health and Diet
2.The passage is mainly about _________.
A. the high incidence of heart disease in some countries
B. the changes in people’s diet
C. the effect of fish eating on people’s health
D. the daily fish consumption of people in different cultures
3.The phrase “this relationship” in paragraph 6 refers to the connection between ____ and the level of heart disease.
A. the amount of fish eatenB. regular fish-eating
C. the kind of fish eaten D. people of different areas
4.From the passage we know the author is most probably ___________.
A. a heart doctor B. a science researcher
C. a supporter of healthy eatingD. a university student
Last week I was riding my special motorbike and then stopped at a convenience store. As I was getting my wheelchair off the back, a man watched me from his car and I noticed a wheelchair in his back seat. We spoke for a moment and I asked him about the wheelchair. He answered that it was for his daughter. “Well, do you think she would like to go for a ride on my motorbike with me?” I asked. He seemed shocked that a total stranger would ask him this. He thought about it for a second and said, “OK, as long as I can follow you.”
He introduced me to Amy and he sat her on my back seat. Her father followed me for a few miles and she talked non-stop about what she wanted for Christmas.
As we came back to the convenience store, she said, “This ride is the best Christmas present I could ever receive. I have been in a wheelchair my whole life and didn’t know I could do this.” I told her about some of the other things I do (ski, travel the world by myself, etc.). As her father was taking her off my bike, she turned to him and said, “Oh Daddy, I’m going to be OK. Mr. Bryant does all kinds of things, and I will too.” Her father turned away as a tear of joy rolled down his cheek. He hugged me and said, “I was sitting here praying for a gift for Amy that would encourage her. She often felt that her life was dull compared to other children. God answered my prayer just now. Now I pray that God will bless you for your gift to Amy today.” I believed what he said. Being kind and thoughtful to others, we can be an answer to prayer.
1.How did the father feel at first when the author invited his daughter for a ride?
A. He was happy because his daughter could gain excitement.
B. He felt surprised because he didn’t know the author.
C. He was moved because the author offered to help his daughter.
D. He felt nervous because he was worried about his daughter’s safety.
2.What can we know about the author?
A. He was a disabled man.
B. He worked in a convenience store.
C. He often helped people who were in trouble.
D. He usually drove too fast.
3.According to the passage, the girl ____________.
A. used to be a completely healthy person
B. was not allowed to do some fierce sports
C. usually felt sad about life due to her disability
D. was unwilling to communicate with a stranger
4.What did the author’s gift refer to according to the girl’s father?
A. The motorbike. B. The wheelchair.
C. The blessing.D. The ride.
