During the first decade of the 21st century, a popular and new word has come into our vocabulary. That word is Facebook. This is the most popular social networking website on the Internet. There are about 350 million active users on this website. The main idea of Facebook is that you can keep in touch with all your friends around the world who has Facebook. In the 350 million users on Facebook, 67% of them are between the ages of 13-25. More than 35 million users update their status every day. 2.5 billion Photos are added each month.
The highest age groups who use Facebook are teenagers. Most of them keep the website running whenever they are using the computer and general teens nowadays are always on the computer, if they aren’t in school or when they aren’t asleep. I feel that teens should focus on their schoolwork or be socializing with their friends in person or exercising. Facebook is just changing the new generation of youngsters completely because the teenage life is one of the most important stages of life and wasting it on Facebook is not encouraging this in any way. It is also a complete distraction (分心) to their mind, for they would turn to Facebook just to check if there was anything updated among their friends.
Remember back in the good old days, when teens would do their homework handwritten, play sports and hang out with friends. Today, most teens would only speak to their friends on Facebook, while we can see them battling obesity as they stare at their friend’s message on their wall. In summary, teens don’t have a life because they are on Facebook 24/7, except for those who don t use Facebook or occasionally do.
Facebook is also where people can see the conflicts among their friends, virtual arguments, relationship status and updates, who is in whose ‘top friends, and so on. You can join groups, post pictures and videos, play games, and invite friends to parties. Mainly, all this would just disturb people into living life to its fullest.
1.The figures in Paragraph 1 are mentioned .
A. to show Facebook’s increasing popularity
B. to present the influence of the Internet
C. to attract more teens to use Facebook
D. to prove our life pace is getting higher
2.Facebook influences teens mostly in that .
A. it shortens teens, sleeping time
B. it encourages teens to change their life
C. it wastes teens, time and distracts their mind
D. it holds teens back from communicating with others
3.The author would probably approve the following teens’ behaviors EXCEPT .
A. doing their homework handwritten
B. hanging out with friends more
C. battling obesity by playing sports
D. speaking to friends on Facebook frequently
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A. Facebook Wastes Teens’ Life
B. How to Live Your Life to the Fullest
C. Technology Destroys a New Generation
D. Modem Communications Brings about Problems
He wrote that the “human mind is capable of excitement without the application of unpleasant and violent stimulants (刺激物)”. And it appears that simply reading these words by William Wordsworth proves his point.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the writing of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and the like had a beneficial effect on the mind, making it active and excited by catching the reader’s attention and leading to moments of self-reflection.
Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their original form and in a modem translation. And according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more challenging writing and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the simple readings.
The research also found poetry, in particular, increased activity in the right brain, an area concerned with “autobiographical memory”, which helped the readers to reflect on their own experiences in light of what they had read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books.
The brain responses of 30 volunteers were monitored in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in its original and modern form. In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, “A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded”, before reading the simpler, “A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged”. Shakespeare’s use of the adjective “mad” as a verb caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward version.
The next part of the research is looking at the extent to which poetry can affect psychology and provide benefit. Volunteers’ brains were scanned while reading four lines by Wordsworth, and four “translated” lines were also provided. The result showed that the first version caused a greater degree of brain activity.
“Poetry is not just a matter of style. It is a matter of deep versions of experience that add the emotional and biographical to the cognitive (认知的),” said Professor Davis, leader of the researchers.
1.The words by William Wordsworth in Paragraph 1 are used to .
A. prove the poet’s point B. introduce the topic
C. serve as an example D. stress the importance of reading
2.What is the beneficial effect of reading classics on the mind?
A. It excites the reader’s mind. B. It reflects the reader’s experience.
C. It catches the reader’s attention. D. It monitors the reader’s brain activity.
3.What method is mainly used in the experiment?
A. Comparing responses. B. Analyzing data.
C. Observing activities. D. Testing ability.
4.According to Professor Davis, poetry can affect the mind mainly because of .
A. its style B. its meaning
C. its depth D. its writer
TRAVEL TIPS & INFORMATION
Drukair flight timing
Due to the geographical location, Paro airport in Bhutan is severely dependent on weather condmons, so the schedule timings are likely to change without advance notice Travelers are therefore, requested to check with Drukair offices for the latest information. Drukair rights without assigning any reason to cancel, reschedule, or change the route of the journey. The reporting time for your flight is two hours before flight departure (离开). All counters will close 40 minutes before scheduled departure of the flight.
Documents Required for travel by Air (in case the passenger is a patient)
1. Fit to travel by air certificate signed by a physician.
2. Child Health Card or Birth Certificate if the patient is minor and travelling to India and passport if travelling to other countries.
3. Reservation of 5 seats in case stretcher (担架) is required and your reservation should be one day ahead of departure.
4. Passengers with walking difficulties should request for wheelchair assistance at the check-in counters.
For all travel requirements, please contact the nearest Drukair booking office or a travel agent.
Security
According to security regulations, passengers are advised:
• Not to accept any baggage/ packet from unknown persons.
• Not to leave baggage unobserved at anytime especially within airport area.
• Unattended baggage may be removed by Airport/ Security staff as object of suspicion.
• To declare before check-in, if carrying any arms or explosive substance.
• To remove battery cells/ dry cells from radios, transistor sets, two-in-ones and other such electrical/ electronic items and hand them over to the airline staff before security check or carry them in registered baggage.
1.The flight timing depends largely on .
A. the geographical location B. the travelers, reservation
C. the weather condition D. the route of the journey
2.If the passenger is a patient, .
A. a physician should be asked to accompany
B. wheelchair assistance can be provided for free
C. Child Health Card should be brought with
D. the seats for stretchers must be reserved in advance
3.According to security regulations, passengers are advised .
A. not to accept any baggage from others
B. not to leave baggage unattended in the airport
C. to declare if carrying any arms when checking in
D. to remove battery cells from your registered baggage
Charles was always hardworking in school. He had decided that his first object was to get his lessons well, and then he could play with a good conscience. He loved playing as well as anybody, and was one of the best players on the ground. I hardly ever saw anybody catch a ball better than he could. When playing any game, everyone was glad to get Charles on his side.
Charles would sometimes stay in at break. This, however, was very seldom; it was only when the lessons were very hard indeed. Generally, he was among the first on the playground, and he was also among the first to go into school when called. The teacher could not help liking him, for he always had his lessons well committed, and never gave him any trouble.
When he went to college, the teacher gave him a good recommendation. He was so thoroughly prepared for college that he found it very easy to keep up with his class, and had much time for reading interesting books.
At last he graduated and received his degree. His father and mother, brothers and sisters, came to his graduation ceremony. They all felt excited and loved Charles more than ever. Many situations of profit were opened to him; for Charles was now an intelligent man, and universally respected.
1.When playing, everyone wanted to be with Charles because .
A. he was skilled in games
B. he was recommended by teachers
C. he seldom went out to play games
D. he respected all the students and teachers
2.Charles wouldn’t go out to play when .
A. the weather was bad B. he made some trouble
C. he wanted to read D. the lessons were difficult
3.The underlined word “committed” in paragraph 2 can be replaced by .
A. designed B. done
C. taken D. examined
4.Why could Charles find much time reading interesting books?
A. Because he didn’t have much homework to do.
B. Because his teacher recommended him to do it.
C. Because he had laid a solid foundation for study.
D. Because reading was the only thing he could have fun with.
假定你是李华，得知外教Mr. Hall寒假不回国，想邀请他到你家过春节。请给他写一封信，内容包括：
1.时间；
2.一同过节的家人；
3. 春节的活动和美食。
注意：1. 词数100字左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
词汇：the Spring Festival Gala 春节晚会
Dear Mr. Hall
I’m Li Hua , your student in the school
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes!
Yours,
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。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误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。
Silina used to dreaming of being a singer and she has relied her confidence to practice singing for 10 years. Although she was turned up by many bands because she was overweight, she never gave up and stuck to sing. At the same time, she has lost weight successful by keeping a balanced diet and exercising regularly, in which has earned her success. Now his voice is familiar to everyone. She attaches great importance on not giving up and working hard! When talked about her past, she said: “Success is not always the easy thing and if we want to succeed, we must devote ourselves to it.”
