阅读理解

　　We bet that on cold wintry days, many of you love to stay in your warm home and, every now and then, come out into the kitchen for a snack．Unfortunately, plenty of creepy-crawly critters(爬行生物)like to do the same thing!

　　Winter is the time when bugs(虫子)invade your house without an invitation．The season can be tough for such creatures．In winter the air is cold, the ground is hard and many trees have no leaves．So bugs do what they have to do to survive．

　　Monarch butterflies head south to warmer climates．Ants crowd in deep underground colonies and eat food they have been storing all year．Many insects go into a deep sleep called diapause．There’re different kinds of diapause, but all are similar to hibernation, a time when bigger animals become inactive in the cold．Insects go into an inactive period, too, but it often isn’t when the temperature drops．

　　They rely on more dependable signals in the environment．For example, many insects can tell how much sunlight there’s each day．They use that to tell themselves when to shut down．Bugs are cold-blood-ed, meaning that their inside temperature is the same as the outside．They can’t move much when it gets below 40 degrees Fahrenheit．So they search for any warm place．

　　They’re looking for protection．These guys have been doing this for 300 million years, so they don’t really know they’re coming into your house．The home is a recent event in terms of their evolutionary behav-ior．They enter through tiny cracks or come in unnoticed on your clothes or shoes．Remember that they may be invading your homes for warmth and food, but they don’t care about humans．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　It is unavoidable．The muscles weaken．Hearing and vision fade．We can't run, or even walk, as fast as we used to．We have aches and pains in parts of our bodies we never even noticed before．We get old．

　　It sounds miserable, but actually it is not．A study has found that by almost any measure, people get happier as they get older．

　　The survey covered more than 340,000 people nationwide, ages 18 to 85, asking various questions about age and sex, current events, personal finances, health and other matters．The survey also asked about“global well-being”by having each person rank overall life satisfaction on a 10-point scale．Finally, there were six yes-or-no questions：Did you experience the following feelings during a large part of the day yesterday：enjoyment, happiness, stress, worry, anger, sadness．The answers, the researchers say, show“hedonic well-being,”a person's immediate experience of those psychological states．

　　The results are good news for old people, and for those who are getting old．On the global measure, people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good about themselves, and then, life begins to throw curve balls．They feel worse and worse until they hit 50．At that point, there is a sharp turnaround, and people keep getting happier as they age．By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than they were at 18．

　　In measuring immediate well-being－yesterday's emotional state－the researchers found that stress falls from age 22 onward, reaching its lowest point at 85．Worry stays fairly steady until 50, then sharply drops off．Anger decreases steadily from 18 on, and sadness rises to a peak at 50, falls to 73, then rises slightly again to 85．Enjoyment and happiness have similar curves：they both decrease gradually until we hit 50, rise steadily for the next 25 years, and then fall very slightly at the end, but they never again reach the low point of our early 50s．

　　For people under 50 who may sometimes feel gloomy, there may be comfort here．The view seems a bit bleak right now, but look at the bright side：you are getting old．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Facebook, the world's largest social network, announced in July 2010 that it had 500 million users around the world．The company has grown at a rapid pace, doubling in size since 2009 and pushing international competitors aside．Its policies, more than those of any other company, are helping to set standards for privacy in the Internet age．

　　The company, founded in 2004 by a Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg, first began servicing Harvard students and then all high school and college students．It has since developed into a broadly popular online destination used by both teenagers and adults of all ages．In country after country, Facebook is making itself as the leader and often replacing other social networks, much as it defeated MySpace in the United States．

　　But it has also come to be seen as one of the new giants of the Internet, challenging even Google with a vision of a web tied together through personal relationships and recommendations．In a major expansion, Facebook has spread itself across other websites by offering members the chance to“Like”something－share it with their network－without leaving the web page they're on．

　　In November 2010, Mr．Zuckerberg introduced Facebook Messages, a new unified messaging system that allows people to communicate with one another on the Web and on mobile phones regardless of whether they are using e-mail, text messages or online chat services．

　　Like other social networks, Facebook allows its users to create a profile page and set up online links with friends．However, it has made itself different from competitors, partly by providing a special design and limiting how users can change the appearance of their profile pages, which becomes what many analysts see as the“default platform”(默认平台)of a new age of information organized around personal relationships．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　A good place to start is Stumptown Coffee Roasters in the Ace Hotel．It's always busy, and for a reason：it serves some of the best coffee anywhere．It's also one of the city's most handsome coffee bars, a great place to linger．

　　Stumptown is strategically close to the Marc Jacobs show at the Armory on Lexington Avenue at East 26th Street．Also close by is the coffee bar at Maialiano, the restaurant on the ground floor of the Gramercy Park Hotel．If your expense account can weather it, you could go to Eleven Madison Park, a temple to fine dining that offers some of the most expensive coffee in New York; ask for a place at the bar, ask for the Chemex and settle in for the show．

　　New York's coffee scene is exploding, even in once-desolate neighborhoods．Here's a shortlist that will serve you no matter where you are in Manhattan．

　　Bluebird Coffee Shop(East Village), sunny and adorable; get the cortado and the brown butter ginger cookie．

　　Culture Espresso Bar(Midtown), always busy, and always excellent．

　　Everyman Espresso(Union Square), a tiny coffee bar in the lobby of an off-Broadway theater; one of the few places that makes AeroPress coffee．

　　Gimme(NoLIta), small and crowded, a classic European-style espresso bar．

　　Peels(the Bowery), a serious coffee bar and build-a-biscuit breakfasts, and just across the street from Billy Reid．

　　RBC NYC(TriBeCa), an extensive collection of gadgets and beans, coffee shop for coffee nuts．

　　Saturdays Surf(SoHo), surf store with limited-edition sneakers and a coffee bar．

　　Third Rail(Washington Square Park), one of the city's best t coffee bars, and one with cozy and quiet environment．

　　Whitney Museum of American Art(Upper East Side), a new coffee cart on the garden level of Breuer's Brutalist masterpiece．

　　Our coffee map offers more choices within Manhattan．Or, if you have an iPhone, you can download the Filter, a free guide to coffee throughout New York City from our site．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　The public has responded with active support for an NPC deputy's proposal(人大代表提案)to extend the Spring Festival holiday from 3 days to 10．More than 78 percent of about 27,600 respondents voted in favor of the idea of Li Jing, who is also the mayor of Meishan city in Southwest China's Sichuan province．

　　Li said the Spring Festival holiday was too short for family reunions, especially for the nation's 220 million off-farm workers．With hundreds of millions of people on the move during such a short time, the holiday puts great stress on the public transport system and holds back tourism, he added．

　　He suggested the holiday be extended and cover the three connected weekends, which means the public could take a total of 16 days off and the floating population could spend the Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the Spring Festival, with their families．People would then have enough time to fully enjoy the traditional holiday with their families, Li said on Friday．

　　Most online voters agreed that extending the holiday will reduce the burden on public transport and strengthen family ties．“The Spring Festival is an occasion for family reunions and should be longer than the National Day holiday,”one responder said in an online post．“Every year, I wish I could spend more time at home for the Spring Festival, but I always have to go back to work．I hope the NPC will approve this proposal．”

　　Most of the about 10 percent who opposed the idea referred to difficulties readjusting to work after the break．Some pointed out that office morale was generally low during the first week after the holiday．“After the six-day holiday, many people come back to work feeling absent-minded,”one respondent said．

　　Another 10 percent said lawmakers should carefully study the influence before they make any decisions on holidays．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Lisa was running late．Lisa, 25, had a lot to do at work, plus visitors on the way：her parents were coming in for Thanksgiving from her hometown．But as she hurried down the subway stairs, she started to feel uncomfortably warm．By the time she got to the platform, Lisa felt weak and tired-maybe it hadn't been a good idea to give blood the night before, she thought．She rested herself against a post close to the tracks．

　　Several yards away, Frank, 43, and his girlfriend, Jennifer, found a spot close to where the front of the train would stop．They were deep in discussion about a house they were thinking of buying．

　　But when he heard the scream, followed by someone yelling,“Oh, my God, she fell in!”Frank didn't hesitate．He jumped down to the tracks and ran some 40 feet toward the body lying on the rails．“No!Not you!”his girlfriend screamed after him．

　　By the time Frank reached Lisa, he could feel the tracks shaking and see the light coming．The train was about 20 seconds from the station．

　　It was hard to lift her．She was just out．But he managed to raise her the four feet to the platform so that bystanders could hold her by the arms and drag her away from the edge．That was where Lisa briefly regained consciousness, felt herself being pulled along the ground, and saw someone else holding her purse．

　　Lisa thought she'd been robbed．A woman held her hand and a man gave his shirt to help stop the blood pouring from her head．And she tried to talk but she couldn't, and that was when she realized how much pain she was in．

　　Police and fire officials soon arrived, and Frank told the story to an officer．Jennifer said her boyfriend was calm on their 40-minute train ride downtown－just as he had been seconds after the rescue, which made her think about her reaction at the time．“I saw the train coming and I was thinking he was going to die,”she explained．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

CAR HIRE

　　Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday．There are so many interesting places to visit, and if you enjoy seeing more than just the city center, there's no better way to explore than by car．

　　CONDITIONS OF HIRE：

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Are you working on your typing skills to make you become a more efficient worker?That may be all for nothing as Intel believes that we will be able to manage our computers with our brains by 2020．

　　Intel and its research partners are studying how the brain acts when it thinks．For example, scientists have found that people's brains react in a similar way when they are asked to think of a bear．Through some equipment that can also find this sort of brain activity, Intel thinks that it will be able to read and translate this into an input system tanks to an implantable chip in the brain．

　　“We are trying to prove you can do interesting things with brain waves．”Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau told Computerworld．“Eventually people may be willing to be more devoted to brain implants．”Even if thinking about a bear isn't enough to show that you want to copy something, Intel still thinks that there is a future in suing your brain instead of the keyboard．“If we can get to the point where we can find specific words, you could mentally type,”he added．“You could compose characters or words by thinking about letters flashing on the screen．”

　　While this may all sound impractical or even inconvenient for present time, Intel thinks that it's possible．

　　“I think human beings are very adaptive,”said Andrew Chien, vice president of research and director of future technologies research at the Intel Labs．“If you had told people 20 years ago that they would be carrying computers all the time, they would have said,‘I don't want that．’Now you can't get them to stop．There are a lot of things that have to be done first but I think implanting chips into human brains is possible．”

　　Make good use of your mouse and keyboard set-up before they're old-fashioned．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Car-free neighborhoods exist all over Europe．A quarter of households in Britain live without cars．Vauban in Germany is one of the largest car-free neighborhoods in Europe．If you live in the district, you are required to confirm once a year that you do not own a car-or, if you do own one, you must buy a space in a multi-storey car park on the edge of the district．

　　Vehicles in most of the European car-free areas are physically stopped from entering the streets where people live．Exceptions are made for emergency vehicles and removal vans but not for normal deliveries．A few parking spaces nearby are available to buy(usually around one space for every five homes)and a few are reserved for car club vehicles．Cycling is a vital means of transport．

　　Car-free areas of this kind exist in Amsterdam, Vienna, Hamburg and so on．There is even a small one in Edinburgh．

　　There is another form of car-free development．Recently we have overlooked its potential．Most pedestrianzed(步行)city or neighborhood centers in Britain are almost entirely commercial．But a few farsighted councils have brought back housing and residents, without cars or parking, into city centers that would otherwise be deserted after 6 pm．

　　Car-free UK was set up to improve European-style car-free development in this country．We are not anti-car, but pro-choice．We have recently run public meetings in London to set up a new car-free association for London, which is beginning to look at areas of the city from which traffic could be removed．We know considerable potential demand exists for traffic-free housing in London, and probably in a number of other major cities．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Sitting on the peaceful coast of Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, watching the sun move quietly into the sea, you shouldn't forget that Charles Darwin(1809－1882)arrived here in 1835．He stayed on the islands for five weeks, observing various animals．This finally inspired his famous work, On the Origin of Species．You can certainly follow Darwin's footsteps and enjoy a trip from four to seven days to the islands．

　　The islands are certainly a paradise for wildlife, as there are no natural killers on the islands and the number of boats and visitors is under government control．Though you cannot walk freely as Darwin did about 200 years ago, each day is as impressive as it could be．

　　The most well-known animals of the Galapagos is the giant tortoise, which can be seen moving slowly around the highlands of Sanra Cruz, the second largest island in the archipelago(群岛)．Some of these creatures are so old that they might have been seen in their youth by Darwin himself．

　　Despite strict control over activities and timing, your stay on the Galapagos will be remembered as a chain of incomparable pictures：diving with sea lions that swim and play within inches of you; feeling small sharks touch your feet as you swim; and, most magically, seeing a whale and her baby surface with a great breath of air．

　　Travelling between the islands and observing the wildlife that so inspired Darwin, you will feel as though you are getting a special view of an untouched world．At night you will sleep on board the ship, leaving the wildlife in complete occupation of the islands, which are as undisturbed now as they have been since the beginning of time．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)