It seems that the great desire among the young is to be popular. The desire to be popular can force you into looking and acting like everyone else. You can lose yourself in a sea of identical hairstyles and thinking styles.
I was forced to think about popularity not too long ago in a talk I had with my daughter. Margy had to change schools when my busy work schedule made it necessary for me to move houses. I suppose that, for a girl in her teens, entering a new school is like spending a season alone in the tropical jungles. At least that’s how Margy found it at first. However, as the school year drew to a close, one student after another came to her. I told Margy that I would have been more concerned if she had been an instant social success in her new school. Nobody can please everyone. If you try to do so, you will find values as lasting as soap bubbles blown into the air.
Some teenagers claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in a certain way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon into a larger cocoon.
I know that it has become harder for a young person to stand up against the popularity wave. Our way of life makes a young nonconformist stand out like a Martian. These days there’s a great barrier for the young person who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. Well, go to it. Be yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts.
1.Why was the author worried about his daughter’s popularity in her new school?
A.She might find no true friends.
B.She would ignore her academic performance.
C.She had no idea of her own.
D.She might betray her true self.
2.What does the author think of most teenagers?
A.They’re afraid of getting lost in life.
B.They have difficulty understanding each other.
C.They lack the courage to be truly different.
D.They find it hard to gain popularity as expected.
3.What is the probable meaning of the underlined word "nonconformist" in Paragraph 4?
A.Someone who cares about others’ opinion.
B.Someone who desires popularity greatly.
C.Someone who behaves in his own way.
D.Someone who wants to please others.
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A.To persuade readers to pursue valuable popularity.
B.To tell parents how to guide their children.
C.To criticize the present values and beliefs.
D.To suggest a good way to be popular.
Ever feel like you’ve been hit on the head after a bad night’s sleep? According to scientists, the thought isn’t as unbelievable as it seems.
A study found going without sleep for just one night causes changes in the brain similar to those that occur after a blow to the head. The researchers said the healthy young men examined in the study showed a sudden increase in the same chemicals which indicate brain damage. Professor Christian Benedict, of Uppsala University, Sweden, explained that the chemicals NSE and S-100B are biomarkers for brain damage, such as concussion(脑震荡). He said, "What we found was their levels in the blood rose in the group that went without sleep for a night. This was not to the extent that would happen after a head injury, for instance, but it was still significant. During sleep, the brain cleans poisonous substances off itself."
Benedict also said previous studies which linked a lack of sleep with increased risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis could applaud his study. The rise of the chemicals in the blood after sleep loss may suggest not getting enough sleep contributes to a loss of brain tissue, he explained. Benedict, whose study is published in the journal Sleep, added, "In conclusion, the findings of our experiment indicate a good night’s sleep may be critical to maintaining brain health."
A third of the UK population suffer from sleep-related problems, while the average person now sleeps for only seven hours a night, compared with almost nine a few decades ago. Many scientists believe irregular sleeping patterns lead to illnesses ranging from aches and pains to heart disease, while less than eight hours’ sleep a night can lower the IQ the next day.
1.If you don’t sleep for a night, what will happen?
A.NSE and S-100B will increase.
B.The brain damage will be likea head injury.
C.You will suffer from concussion.
D.The brain will get rid of poisonous substances.
2.What do we know about previous studies?
A.They found reasons for brain disorders.
B.Their findings were published inSleep.
C.They were supported by Benedict’s study.
D.They focused on brain health.
3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.UK people have the worst sleep.
B.Man’s intelligence is affected by sleep in a way.
C.People were smarter in the past.
D.A lack of sleep causes all brain-related problems.
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A.Eight hours’ sleep is important.
B.Regular sleeping patterns improve health.
C.Sleep loss is close to a blow to the head.
D.Human brains work during sleep.
We may not be aware of it, but ordinary family homes in the U.S. and the rest of the world are not energy-efficient.
Most of their energy goes to heating and cooling, and a lot of it is wasted, as warm air and cool air escape through fireplace chimneys and thin or poorly fitting windows and doors. A passive house loses almost none."Imagine a thermos(保温瓶),"said housing developer Brendan O’Neill."You have insulation(隔绝) everywhere, and it’s basically completely sealed. And so the idea is to build a house like a thermos. So the windows are sealed. There’s insulation completely surrounding the building. We make it as sealed as possible."
A 147-square-meter passive house, presented by O’Neill Development Corp. as a demonstration unit just outside Washington, was brought to the site in two boxes. "Once it’s set and put together, it takes about four weeks to complete the outside construction, to put down carpets," O’Neill said. "If everything is set in place, you put a house like this together in about four months.”The total cost of building it was $325,000, or about 17 percent more than constructing an ordinary house. But its utility(公用事业) bill is only around $20 monthly, or one-tenth the amount for the average house of the same size.
While passive houses have been around for a long time, the idea has never taken root in the U.S. There was no driving force to push it.
However, David Peabody, an architect who designs passive houses said, "I think climate change is now becoming a larger issue. And I think building standards are catching on to that. So people are becoming more aware of energy."Peabody said the cost of building passive houses could come down."What really makes sense for truly affordable housing," he said, "is to build multi-storey buildings."
1.Why aren’t ordinary family homes energy-efficient?
A. Building them wastes much energy.
B. Their energy mainly goes to heating and cooling.
C. Their sealing performance is poor.
D. They have no insulation around at all.
2.What is the feature of a passive house?
A. There’re no windows or chimneys.
B. There’s little space to place furniture.
C. Its building cost is relatively high.
D. It takes about four weeks to build one.
3.What’s David Peabody’s attitude to the future of the passive house?
A. Cautious.B. Optimistic.C. Skeptical.D. Concerned.
假如你是李华，你的英国笔友Bill 来信询问你家乡是否有雾霾（smog）、情况如何。请按下面提示写一封电子邮件:
1. 感谢他的关心；
2. 简要介绍本地雾霾情况及给人们生活带来的危害；
3. 人们已经认识到雾霾天气的危害，正采取各种措施减少其发生。
注意：1.字数100左右；
2.不要逐字翻译，可适当增加细节以使行文连贯；
3.开头结尾已经给出，不计入总数。
Dear Bill:
I’m glad to receive your letter. Thank you for your caring for the weather and my health.
_______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Yours Sincerely,
Li Hua
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。文中有10处语言错误。每句中至多有两处错误。请在有错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏符号（∧），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。
John, a heavy smoker, once feel bad-tempered. His hands started shaking and he coughed a lot, so he turned to his doctor for help. “Quit smoking,” the doctor advised. Find the advice sensible from several points, such as money, healthy, and cleanliness, John decided to give up smoking. However, for several hour without a cigarette, John was nervous and had a difficulty in concentrating, inability to sleep, what made him more hungry for a cigarette. He said to himself, “One more, I will quit it tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a suitable day of me to break away from the bad habit…” Then he picked up a cigarette which made her relaxed. Again and again John made up his mind to do it “tomorrow”. Today John is still addicted for smoking.
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当词或使用括号中词语的适当形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为41---50的相应位置上。
Online shopping is coming into fashion in most cities, where people are able to make full use of the rapidly-developed internet technology. Nowadays, can we find a person 1. has not experienced online shopping? Definitely not.
Online shopping 2. (welcome) by most people due to various reasons. From the perspective of consumer, it can save some time for people who don’t have much spare time. Just click the mouse, they can get 3. they want while staying at home. For the retailers, it can cut some costs for those who don’t have much circulating funds. 4.(compare) with the traditional trade mode, they don’t have to spend money in renting a house. 5. , there are still some disadvantages in online shopping. First, a face-to-face deal makes online shopping less 6. (rely) and trustworthy. Second, people will lose 7. fun of bargain.
8. is undeniable that shopping on the internet has become an irresistible trend in modern society. It’s of great urgency that we need to make the relative laws 9.__ the rapid growth of online shopping. Only in this way can we enjoy the pleasure and 10. (convenient) of online shopping without the concern of being cheated.
