阅读理解

请阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

1.E-Learning courses are different from other TDSB courses in that _________.

A. they are given by best TDSB teachers

B. they are not on the day school timetable

C. they are not included on students’ reports

D. they are an addition to TDSB courses

2.What do students need to do before completing e-Learning courses?

A. To learn information technology on-line.

B. To do their assignments independently.

C. To update their mobile devices regularly.

D. To talk face to face with their teachers.

Chimps(黑猩猩) will cooperate in certain ways, like gathering in war parties to protect their territory. But beyond the minimum requirements as social beings, they have little instinct (本能) to help one another. Chimps in the wild seek food for themselves. Even chimp mothers regularly decline to share food with their children. Who are able from a young age to gather their own food.

In the laboratory, chimps don’t naturally share food either. If a chimp is put in a cage where he can pull in one plate of food for himself or, with no greater effort, a plate that also provides food for a neighbor to the next cage, he will pull at random—he just doesn’t care whether his neighbor gets fed or not. Chimps are truly selfish.

Human children, on the other hand are extremely corporative. From the earliest ages, they decide to help others, to share information and to participate a achieving common goals. The psychologist Michael Tomasello has studied this cooperativeness in a series of expensive with very young children. He finds that if babies aged 18 months see an worried adult with hands full trying to open a door, almost all will immediately try to help.

There are several reasons to believe that the urges to help, inform and share are not taught, but naturally possessed in young children. One is that these instincts appear at a very young age before most parents have started to train their children to behave socially. Another is that the helping behaviors are not improved if the children are rewarded. A third reason is that social intelligence develops in children before their general cognitive(认知的) skills, at least when compared with chimps. In tests conducted by Tomasello, the human children did no better than the chimps on the physical world tests but were considerably better at understanding the social world.

The cure of what children’s minds have and chimps’ don’t is what Tomasello calls shared intentionality. Part of this ability is that they can infer what others know or are thinking. But beyond that, even very young children want to be part of a shared purpose. They actively seek to be part of a ＂we＂, a group that intends to work toward a shared goal.

1. What can we learn from the experiment with chimps?

A. Chimps seldom care about others’ interests.

B. Chimps tend to provide food for their children.

C. Chimps like to take in their neighbors’ food.

D. Chimps naturally share food with each other.

2. Michael Tomasello’s tests on young children indicate that they _________.

A. have the instinct to help others

B. know how to offer help to adults

C. know the world better than chimps

D. trust adults with their hands full

3.The passage is mainly about _________.

A. the helping behaviors of young children

B. ways to train children’s shared intentionality

C. cooperation as a distinctive human nature

D. the development of intelligence in children

El Nino, a Spanish term for ＂the Christ child＂, was named by South American fisherman who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nino sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.

The weather effects, both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nino, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nino in 1997-98 helped American’s economy grow by $15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.

But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought(干旱) in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.

The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.

Simple improvements to infrastructure(基础设施) can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers(下水道) make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino’s harmful effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.

1.What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?

A. It is named after a South American fisherman.

B. It takes place almost every year all over the world.

C. It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.

D. It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean.

2.What may El Ninos bring about to the countries affected?

A. Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.

B. Droughts become more harmful than floods.

C. Rich countries’ gains are greater than their losses.

D. Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically.

3.The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that _________.

A. more investment should go to risk reduction

B. governments of poor countries need more aid

C. victims of El Nino deserve more compensation

D. recovery and reconstruction should come first

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To introduce El Nino and its origin.

B. To explain the consequences of El Nino.

C. To show ways of fighting against El Nino.

D. To urge people to prepare for El Nino.

Not so long ago, most people didn’t know who Shelly Ann Francis Pryce was going to become. She was just an average high school athlete. There was every indication that she was just another American teenager without much of a future. However, one person wants to change this. Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann as a track meet and was convinced that he had seen the beginning of true greatness. Her time were not exactly impressive, but even so, he seemed there was something trying to get out, something the other coaches had overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking. He decided to offer Shelly Ann a place in his very strict training seasons. Their cooperation quickly produced results, and a few year later at Jamaica’s Olympic games in early 2008, Shelly Ann, who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world, beat Jamaica’s unchallenged queen of the sprint(短跑).

＂Where did she come from?＂ asked an astonished sprinting world, before concluding that she must be one of those one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time, only to disappear again without signs. But Shelly Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder. At the Beijing Olympic she swept away any doubts about her ability to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold. She did it again one year on at the World Championship in Briton, becoming world champion with a time of 10.73—the fourth record ever.

Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile. She has a mental toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless. She grew up in one of Jamaica’s toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse, where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her mother and two brothers. Waterhouse, one of the poorest communities in Jamaica, is a really violent and overpopulated place. Several of Shelly-Ann’s friends and family were caught up in the killings; one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived. Sometimes her family didn’t have enough to eat. She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldn’t afford shoes. Her mother Maxime, one of a family of fourteen, had been an athlete herself as a young girl but, like so many other girls in Waterhouse, had to stop after she had her first baby. Maxime’s early entry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouse’s roundabout of poverty. One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track, and she was ready to sacrifice everything.

It didn’t take long for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse. On a summer evening in Beijing in 2008, all those long, hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit. The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty, surrounded by criminals and violence, had written a new chapter in the history of sports.

But Shelly-Ann’s victory was far greater than that. The night she won Olympic gold in Beijing, the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighbouring streets stopped. The dark cloud above one of the world’s toughest criminal neighbourhoods simply disappeared for a few days. ＂ I have so much fire burning for my country,＂ Shelly said. She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centre in Waterhouse. She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons. She intends to fight to make it a woman’s as well as a man’s world.

As Muhammad Ali puts it, ＂Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision.＂ One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth.

1. Why did Stephen Francis decide to coach Shelly-Ann?

A. He had a strong desire to free her family from trouble.

B. He sensed a great potential in her despite her weaknesses.

C. She had big problems maintaining her performance.

D. She suffered a lot of defeats at the previous track meets.

2. What did the sprinting world think of Shelly-Ann before the 2008 Olympic Games?

A. She would become a promising star.

B. She badly needed to set higher goals.

C. Her sprinting career would not last long.

D. Her talent for sprinting was known to all.

3.What made Maxime decide to train her daughter on the track?

A. Her success and lessons in her career.

B. Her interest in Shelly-Ann’s quick profit.

C. Her wish to get Shelly-Ann out of poverty.

D. Her early entrance into the sprinting world.

4.What can we infer from Shelly-Ann’s statement underlined in Paragraph 5?

A. She was highly rewarded for her efforts.

B. She was eager to do more for her country.

C. She became an athletic star in her country.

D. She was the envy of the whole community.

5. By mentioning Muhammad Ali’s words, the author intends to tell us that ________.

A. players should be highly inspired by coaches

B. great athletes need to concentrate on patience

C. hard work is necessary in one’s achievements

D. motivation allows great athletes to be on the top

6. What is the best title for the passage?

A. The Making of a Great Athlete

B. The Dream for Championship

C. The Key to High Performance

D. The Power of Full Responsibility

任务型阅读

请阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。

注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词。

An Extension of the Human Brain

Other people can help us compensate for our mental and emotional deficiencies (欠缺)，much as a wooden leg can compensate for a physical deficiency. To be exact, other people can extend our intelligence and help us understand and adjust our emotions. When another person helps us in such ways, he or she is participating in what I’ve called a ＂social prosthetic (义肢的）system.＂ Such systems do not need to operate face-to-face, and it’s clear to me that the Internet is expanding the range of my own social prosthetic systems. It’s already a big bank of many minds. Even in its current state, the Internet has extended my memory and judgment.

Regarding memory: Once I look up something on the Internet, I don’t need to keep all the details for future use—I know where to find that information again and can quickly and easily do so. More generally, the Internet functions as if it were my memory. This function of the Internet is particularly striking when I’m writing; I’m no longer comfortable writing if I’m not connected to the Internet. It’s become natural to check facts as I write, taking a minute or two to dip into PubMed, Wikipedia, or other websites.

Regarding judgment: The Internet has made me smarter in matters small and large. For example, when I’m writing a textbook, it has become second nature to check a dozen definitions of a key term, which helps me dig into the core and understand its meaning. But more than that, I now regularly compare my views with those of many others. If I have a ＂new idea,＂ I now quickly look to see whether somebody else has already thought of it, or something similar—and I then compare what I think with what others have thought. This certainly makes my own views clearer. Moreover, I can find out whether my reactions to an event are reasonable enough by reading about those of others on the Internet.

These effects of the Internet have become even more striking since I’ve begun using a smartphone. I now regularly pull out my phone to check a fact, watch a video, read weibo. Such activities fill the spaces that used to be dead time (such as waiting for somebody to arrive for a lunch meeting).

But that’s the upside (好处). The downside is that in those dead periods I often would let my thoughts flow and sometimes would have an unexpected insight or idea. Those opportunities are now fewer and farther between.

书面表达

请阅读下面短文，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。

In recent years, internet voting has become increasingly popular in China. People not only cast on-line votes themselves, but also urge others to vote for competitions like the ＂Most Beautiful Teacher＂ and the ＂ Cutest Baby＂.

Li Jiang, a high school student, is invited to vote in the ＂ Best Police Officer＂ competition, organized by the local government to let the public have a better understanding of police officers’ daily work. Li Jiang visits the website and reads all the stories. He is deeply moved by their glorious deeds. He is already thinking of becoming a policeman himself in the future.

Su Hua is invited by his uncle to vote for his cousin in the ＂ Future Singer＂ competition. He has already received three similar invitations this week. His uncle tells him that if his cousin wins the competition, the family will win an overseas tour for free. Su Hua likes his cousin very much, but he finds other singers perform even better. To vote, or not to vote? This is a question that troubles him very much.

【写作内容】

1. 用约30个单词写出上文概要；

2. 用约120个单词阐述你对网络投票的看法，并用2~3个理由或论据支撑你的看法。

【写作要求】

1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；

2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；

3. 不必写标题。

【评分标准】

内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

You probably know who Marie Curie was,but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson.Of the outstanding ladies listed below,who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams(1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community(社区)by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson(1907-1964)

If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O’Connor(1930-present)

When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator(参议员) and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

Rosa Parks(1913-2005)

On December 1,1955,in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.

1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?

A. Her social work.

B. Her teaching skills.

C. Her efforts to win a prize.

D. Her community background.

2. What was the reason for O’Connor’s being rejected by the law firm?

A. Her lack of proper training in law.

B. Her little work experience in court.

C. The discrimination against women.

D. The poor financial conditions.

3.Who made a great contribution to the civil-rights movement in the U.S.?

A. Jane Addams. B. Rachel Carson.

C. Sandra Day O’Connor. D. Rosa Park.

4.What can we infer about the women mentioned in the text?

A. They are highly educated.

B. They are truly creative.

C. They are pioneers.

D. They are peace-lovers.

Grandparents Answer a Call

As a third-generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never planned to move away. Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children, she politely refused. Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms. Garza finally say yes. That was four years ago. Today all three generations regard the move as a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.

No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing. Even President Obama’s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study by grandparents. Com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson ’s decision will influence grandparents in the American family. Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.

“In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn’t get away from home far enough for fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,”says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grand , a magazine for grandparents.“We now realize how important family is and how important it is”to be near them, especially when you’re raising children.”

Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead. Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.

1.Why was Garza’s move a success?

A．It strengthened her family ties.

B．It improved her living conditions.

C．It enabled her to make more friends.

D．It helped her know more new places.

2.What was the reaction of the public to Mrs. Robinson’s decision?

A．17% expressed their support for it.

B．Few people responded sympathetically.

C．83% believed it had a bad influence.

D．The majority thought it was a trend.

3. What did Crosby say about people in the 1960s?

A．They were unsure of themselves.

B．They were eager to raise more children.

C．They wanted to live away from their parents.

D．They had little respect for their grandparents.

4.What does the author suggest the grandparents do in the last paragraph?

A. Make decisions in the best interests of their own.

B. Ask their children to pay more visits to them.

C. Sacrifice for their struggling children .

D. Get to know themselves better.

I am Peter Hodes , a volunteer stem cell courier. Since March 2012, I’ve done 89 trips—of those , 51 have been abroad. I have 42 hours to carry stem cells（干细胞）in my little box because I’ve got two ice packs and that’s how long they last. In all, from the time the stem cells are harvested from a donor(捐献者) to the time they can be implanted in the patient, we’ve got 72 hours at most. So I am always conscious of time.

I had one trip last year where I was caught by a hurricane in America. I picked up the stem cells in Providence, Rhode Island, and was meant to fly to Washington then back to London. But when I arrived at the check-in desk at Providence, the lady on the desk said:“Well, I’m really sorry, I’ve got some bad news for you—there are no flights from Washington.” So I took my box and put it on the desk and I said:“In this box are some stem cells that are urgently needed for a patient-please, please, you’ve got to get me back to the United Kingdom.” She just dropped everything. She arranged for a flight on a small plane to be held for me，re-routed(改道)me through Newark and got me back to the UK even earlier than originally scheduled.

For this courier job, you’re consciously aware that in that box you’re got something that is potentially going to save somebody’s life.

1.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “courier” in Paragraph1?

A. provider B. delivery man

C. collector D. medical doctor

2.Why does Peter have to complete his trip within 42hours?

A. He cannot stay away from his job too long.

B. The donor can only wait for that long.

C. The operation needs that much time.

D. The ice won’t last any longer.

3. Which flight did the woman put Peter on first?

A. To London. B. To Newark.

C. To Providence. D. To Washington.

The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness,or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap(间隙) with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person’s needs.

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and

suddenly stops, what may be implied(暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic udner discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing(治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

1.What does the author say about silence in conversations?

A. It implies anger.

B. It promotes friendship.

C. It is culture-specific.

D. It is content-based.

2.Which of the following people might regard silence as a call for careful thought?

A. The Chinese.

B. The French.

C. The Mexicans.

D. The Russians.

3.What does the author advise nurses to do about silence?

A. Let it continue as the patient pleases.

B. Break it while treating patients.

C. Evaluate its harm to patients.

D. Make use of its healing effects.

4.What may be the best title for the text?

A. Sound and Silence

B.What It Means to Be Silent

C.Silence to Native Americans

D.Speech Is Silver; Silence Is Gold