Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tire. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired? Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated---those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.
1. What surprised the scientists a few years ago?
A. Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood.
B. Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn after a day’s work.
C. The brain could work for many hours without fatigue.
D. A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins.
2.According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?
A. Challenging mental work. B. Unpleasant emotions.
C. Endless tasks. D. Physical labor
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards the scientists’ idea?
A. He agrees with them.
B. He doubts them.
C. He argues against them.
D. He hesitates to accept them.
4.We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to ________.
A. have some good food.
B. enjoy their work
C. exercise regularly
D. discover fatigue toxins
Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has
other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion across cultures. For example, many people in Russia smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions, but we should not attempt to “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not
express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions
permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show
their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.
1.What does the smile usually mean in the U.S.?
A. Love. B. Politeness.
C. Joy. D. Thankfulness
2.The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ___ .
A. show friendliness to strangers.
B. be used to hide true feelings .
C. be used in the wrong places.
D. show personal habits.
3.What should we do before attempting to “read” people?
A. Learn about their relations with others.
B. Understand their cultural backgrounds.
C. Find out about their past experience.
D. Figure out what they will do next.
4. What would be the best title ?
A. Cultural Differences
B. Smiles and Relationship
C. Facial Expressiveness
D. Habits and Emotions
Donald Watson was a man who thought very much about the food he ate. He was born in Yorkshire， England , in September 1910. And he died in November 2005, at the age of 95. That is a very great age. Watson explained that it was because he never ate any food from animals.
When he was a boy, Watson stayed on a farm. .He loved to see the animals. He said that they gave so much to people. And all the animals were so friendly. Then , one day , he saw a man killing a pig . He was very sad. . From then on, Watson decided that he would never again eat meat .Twenty years later he decided that he wouldn’t eat anything from animals, such as milk, cheese or eggs. He became a vegan.
Watson formed a group called “The Vegan Society”. In its newspaper, The Vegan Society thought it was terrible and wrong to eat food from animals. At first, there were not many people who agreed with him. They thought it was crazy to do it .Most people thought it was too difficult and unhealthy. However, over time , more and more people began to agree with Watson and The Vegan Society.
People become vegans for many reasons. Watson and his friend stopped eating because they loved animals. They believed that it was wrong to hurt another living thing.
Now, people also become vegans for environmental reasons. Keeping animals takes a lot of resources， including water and food. Also, in some places, people are cutting down trees to create more land for cows. By avoiding food from animals, vegans hope to protect these forest areas.
Finally, just like Watson, some people believe that being a vegan is healthier. They believe that food from animals causes heart problems, a high body weight and many other health problems.
1. At first, Watson refused to eat meat____________.
A. because of his love for animals
B. because he has a lot of health problems.
C. because of environmental reasons
D. because keeping animals needed lots of resources
2.The underlined word “vegan” in paragraph 2 refers to a person_________.
A. likes keeping animals
B. protect animals
C. doesn’t kill any animals
D. doesn’t eat any product from animals
3. At first, most people think eating food from animals is_______.
A. hard B. reasonable
C. ridiculous D. unhealthy
4.The best title for the text is :___________.
A. Donald Watson : a new way to eat
B. Animal protection in England
C. The Vegan Society：a special group
D. Healthy eating habits
China has announced it’s abolishing its one-child policy. What difference has it made, statistically speaking?
400 million births prevented
The one-child policy, officially in place since 1979, has prevented 400 million births. Parents have faced fines and other punishments for having more children.
The majority of the decrease in China’s fertility rate(生育率) happened in the 1970s. It dropped from 5.8 children per woman in 1970 to 2.7 in 1978. Despite the one-child policy the rate had only fallen to 1.7 by 2013.
21:28-baby deaths rate
Since the one-child policy was introduced, baby girls have become more likely to die than boys.
In the 1970s, according to the United Nations, 60 males per 1, 000 live births died under the age of one. For girls the figure was 53. In the 1980s, after the one-child policy became official, the rate for both was 36. By the 1990s, 26 males per 1,000 live births died before the age of one - and 33 girls. The 2000s saw 21 boys per 1,000 live births dying and 28 girls.
1.16 boys born for every girl
Sexually selective abortions have been considered as a major cause of China's unusual imbalance.
Gietel-Basten, associate professor in social policy at Oxford University, says the births of many girls are not registered if parents have broken the rule by having two children, adding officials often turn a blind eye. It's estimated there are now 33 million more men than women in China.
4: 2: 1 families
With the ageing of China's population and the continuation of the one-child policy, a “4: 2 :1” home is the description given to households in which there are four grandparent, cared for by two working age parents, who themselves have one child.
By 2050, it’s predicted that a quarter of China's population will be 65 or older. The predicted decline in the number of people of working age is thought to have persuaded the government to drop the one-child policy.
1. When was the baby deaths rate for both boys and girls equal?
A. In the 1970s.
B. In the 1980s.
C. In the 1990s.
D. In the 2000s
2. What makes the one-child policy abolished according to the passage?
A. The decline of birth rate.
B. The rise of baby deaths rate.
C. The change of family structure.
D. The decline of working age people.
3. The passage sums up the one child policy by ________________.
A. number
B. example
C. contrast
D. analysis
假如你是红星中学李华，你的一位外国朋友所在的杂志社正在开展改进社会风气活动，请你根据下列要点，用英文写一篇征文。
1.不守公德现象; 2. 改进的方法； 3. 呼吁。
注意：
1．词数100左右； 2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意: 1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词; 2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Dear Tom，
I'm glad to hear that you are very interesting in Guoxue．Let me to give you a simple introduction to it．
Generally speaking，Guoxue refers to the excellent traditional Chinese culture，that includes philosophy，literature，history，music，painting and so on．Guoxue has been playing an increasing important part in China，especially for them students．Not only did it tell us how to study，but it also teaches us how to live．More and more Guoxue courses is given in schools of different levels all over China．
If you want to get better understanding of Guoxue，you are welcome to China to learn it，feel it and enjoy it．I'm sure you’11 benefit from living in two different culture．I'm looking forward to see you soon in China．
Yours，
Wang Kai
