________ Chai Jing said in her video about the smog has caused public concern.

A. That B. Which C. How D. What

Mike will become the first person in his family ______ college education.

A. finished

B. having finished

C. finishing

D. to finish

______ worries me that my daughter plays with her cellphone for a long time every day.

A. It B. What C. This D. That

What’s on Your Pet’s Mind?

In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one-year-old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to produce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”

At the time, most scientists didn’t believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn’t have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and nowadays more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.

“That’s why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said, “Some people actually called me crazy for trying this.”

Nowadays, we have more and more evidence that animals have all sorts of mental abilities. Sheep can recognize faces. Chimpanzees (黑猩猩) use a variety of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex the parrot became a very good talker.

Thirty years after the Alex studies began. Irene was still giving him English lessons up until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them.” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colors, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g. wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.

Another famous pet that proved some animals have greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.

One theory for dogs’ ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries and so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving (进化). While animals can’t do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intelligence, as well as physical appearance.

1.Irene wanted to find out __________.

A. what a parrot thinks

B. why a parrot can speak

C. how parrots make sounds

D. if parrots speak English

2.Alex learnt new words by __________.

A. singing them

B. reading them

C. writing them

D. rehearing them

3.The two dogs mentioned in the article could _______.

A. understand some words

B. recognize strange voices

C. copy human gestures

D. tell different colors

4.The article concludes that ___________.

A. our pets understand what we say

B. dogs may speak to humans one day

C. humans are related to chimpanzees

D. mental ability can evolve in animals

House Sitting

In many countries of the world people do what is called house sitting. It means that if owners of the house are going away, they want someone to come into their home and look after the house and maybe pets while they are away.

In Australia, many people travel. After people retire, they might buy a van and travel all over the country. 1.

So if someone wants to travel or go away for some reason, they might want someone in their home to care for it and keep the gardens tidy. House sitters might have to care for pets. Also, quite a few people have swimming pools in their back yard and they need cleaning. 2.I feel it is a great way of seeing the country, because you go and stay in a new city, get to meet new people, and have time to go sightseeing in a new area.

3. There are websites where you find the advertisements by people who want to travel, and by replying to the advertisement, you can make arrangements to go and look after their home.

There are some requirements to be a house sitter. You must be a trusted person, so that the home owner knows you will not steal anything. You must be able to go when the house owner wants you to go, so you need lots of free time.4. You need to be good with pets, able to care for cats and dogs, or other pets they may have.

Some house sitting jobs are just for a few days or a couple of weeks while the house owner have a short holiday. Sometimes it is for much longer. We have had one house sit for six months, while the home owner travelled to Europe.

5. Then you can travel to many different countries and stay there. One of the important things to get are references from the home owners where you have stayed. A reference is a written letter to say that you are trustworthy and have looked after their home well. You can show these letters to prospective house sitting jobs and they know you will do a good job.

A. I have done house sitting many times.

B. Thousands of people do this all the time.

C. It is also possible to do house sitting in other countries.

D. Generally you have many opportunities to get a house sitting job.

E. You must take a little care over what your description says about you.

F. This is an international house sitting service for all city and country areas.

G. You must have a good car, so you can travel to different parts of the country.

Working as a manager, Rebecca found it hard ______ between work and her family.

A. balancing B. to balance

C. to have balanced D. having balanced

______ full preparations, Tony was quite confident about the coming interview.

A. Make B. Made

C. To make D. Having made

—I didn’t know you play the piano. It sounds wonderful!

—Thank you! I ______ it when I worked in UK.

A. learned B. had learned

C. have learned D. learn

War started in our house in late July with a month to go before my first day of college. It was a battle of wills over what college I was to attend. Mom wanted me to attend a famous

school, and I wanted to go to a small writing college. Every night for two weeks, we argued, shouted and gave treatments until both sides went to bed with regrets.

It was mostly my . Since my junior year of high school, I had at being a nurse. I took all the science courses, and even worked as a in my town’s local hospital. My was to help the sick and be superwoman to the world.

Yet, graduation and college neared, it all changed. Treating the sick was

, but not what I was meant to do for the of my life. I could picture myself in hospitals, making rounds, and taking , but I couldn’t picture myself happy. It wasn’t the

I wanted.

Then, I realized I had been creating and writing stories for as long as I could . I loved it, and writing was what I had been doing as a . It was going to be my career. And it had to be.

On August 1st, Mom and I sat down at the dinner table and I told her that she had every

to choose where to spend her money, just like I had every right to decide where I wanted to go to school. If it was her choice not to any of my college education, then I would take a year off to work and earn money so I could go to the college I wanted.

Standing by my decision to be a writer had my firm belief to my mom. Finally we were at , and she decided to support me, which the world to me.

Before that time, I had never stood up my parents on any major decision. Choosing which college to attend me to become a separate and complete adult. I am now finished with my first semester as a Professional Writing major and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

1.A. cooking B. gardening C. nursing D. writing

2.A. medical B. warm C. mental D. silent

3.A. success B. duty C. fault D. turn

4.A. wondered B. aimed C. pointed D. looked

5.A. student B. volunteer C. graduate D. doctor

6.A. goal B. job C. task D. post

7.A. before B. after C. until D. as

8.A. rough B. noble C. mild D. tough

9.A. rest B. part C. whole D. half

10.A. notices B. examinations C. temperatures D. drugs

11.A. future B. effect C. drill D. idea

12.A. see B. wait C. find D. remember

13.A. process B. hobby C. rule D. business

14.A. chance B. time C. right D. ability

15.A. finance B. expect C. raise D. offer

16.A. doubted B. followed C. shaken D. proven

17.A. peace B. war C. ease D. play

18.A. attached B. applied C. devoted D. meant

19.A. for B. against C. over D. by

20.A. forced B. promised C. allowed D. reminded

This summer, Monika Lutz’s life took an unusual turn. Instead of heading off to college, the high school graduate packed her bags for a Bengali jungle. Lutz, like a growing number of other young Americans, is taking a year off. Gap(间隔) years are quite common in Britain and Australia, but they are just beginning to catch on in the U.S. Lutz, who grew up in Boulder, Colo., has put together a 14-month schedule that includes helping deliver solar power to some communities in India and interning (实习) for a fashion designer in Shanghai---experiences that are worlds away from the lecture halls and university dormitories that await other students. “I could not be happier,” she says.

Why are students attracted to the gap-year concept? According to new survey data from Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, education-policy experts and co-authors of The Gap-Year Advantage, the most common reason for this is to avoid burnout. “I felt like I was focused on college as a means to an end,” says Kelsi Morgan, an incoming Middlebury College freshman who spent last year interning for a judge in Tulsa, Okla., and teaching English at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The hope is that after a year out of the classroom, students will enter college more energized, focused and mature. That can be an advantage for colleges too. Robert Clagett, dean of admissions at Middlebury, did some research a few years ago and found that a single gap semester was the strongest predictor of academic success at his school.

Most experts recommend securing a spot in college before taking a gap year and warn against using the time off to lengthen your resume. “Most admissions folks can see right through that,” says Jim Jump, the academic dean of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va. But for students like Lutz, who, after getting rejected from five Ivies, decided to take time off, a gap year can help focus interests. Lutz now plans to apply mostly to non-Ivies that have strong marketing programs. “This experience has really opened my eyes to the opportunities the world has to offer,” she says.

But at least one education expert doesn’t want schools spreading the gap-year message. In a study that followed 11,000 members of the high school class of 1992 for eight years after graduation, Stefanie DeLuca, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, found that, all things being equal, those who delayed college by a year were 64% less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than those who didn’t. DeLuca did not say whether these students voluntarily started college late, but at the very least, her work indicates that taking a gap year doesn’t guarantee success. “I’m not going to say that time off does not have benefits,” says DeLuca. “But I think we should not be so enthusiastic.”

1.The students take gap years mainly because ______.

A. they want to be more unusual

B. they want to refresh themselves

C. some experts advise them to do so

D. their parents think it good for them

2.According to Lutz, the gap year has made her more ______.

A. energetic B. relaxed

C. practical D. enthusiastic

3.Stefanie DeLuca probably agrees that ______.

A. students should think twice before taking gap years

B. taking gap years enables students to achieve success

C. schools should encourage their students to take gap years

D. taking gap years increases students’ chances of getting a good job

4.What’s the author’s attitude towards gap years?

A. Sceptical. B. Positive.

C. Disapproving. D. Objective.