阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　When people search online, they leave a trail that remains stored on the central computers of firms such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft．Analyzing what we're looking for on the Web can offer a remarkable understanding of our anxieties and enthusiasms．

　　UK writer John Battelle wrote on his blog, "This can tell us extraordinary things about who we are and what we want as a culture．"

　　Google's experimental service Google Trends, for example, compares the numbers of people searching for different words and phrases from 2004 to the present．

　　According to these graphs, sometimes people's interests are driven obviously by the latest news： when the Spice Girls, a pop group, announce a reunion, there's an immediate rush to find out more about them．Other results are strikingly seasonal： people go shopping online for coats in winter and sandals(凉鞋)in summer．

　　The most fascinating possibility is that search data might help predict behavior．Perhaps we search for a political candidate's name when we are thinking about voting for him or her．This information could clearly be useful to a marketer - it's already how Google decides which ads to show on its search results pages – or to a political campaign manager．

　　Marissa Mayer, a Google vice-president, argues that Google Trends correctly "predicted" George Bush's victory over John Kerry in the 2004 election．The graph clearly shows that Bush continued his lead over Kerry, in terms of search volumes, even when polls(民意测验)suggested the race was on a razor's edge．However, that's not always the case．For instance, the same approach predicted Hillary Clinton would beat Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 turned out to be wrong in the end．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　The ability of falling cats to right themselves in midair and land on their feet has been a source of wonder for ages．Biologists long regarded it as an example of adaptation by natural selection, but for physicists it bordered on the miraculous．Newton's laws of motion assume that the total amount of spin(旋转)of a body cannot change unless an external force speeds it up or slows it down．If a cat has no spin when it is released and experiences no external force, it ought not to be able to twist(转动)around as it falls．

　　In fact, the righting of a falling cat is similar to a magician's trick．The movements of the cat in midair are too fast for the human eye to follow, so the process is hard to understand．Either the eye must be speeded up, or the cat's fall slowed down for the phenomenon to be observed．A century ago the former was realized by means of high-speed photography using equipment now available in any drugstore．But in the nineteenth century the capture on film of a falling cat led to a scientific experiment．

　　The experiment was described in a paper presented to the Paris Academy in 1894．Two series of twenty photographs each, one from the side and one from behind, show a white cat in the act of righting itself．Grainy though they are, the photos show that the cat was dropped upside down, with no spin, and still landed on its feet．Careful analysis of the photos reveals the secret．As the cat rotates the front of its body clockwise, the back and tail twist(扭转)counterclockwise, so that the total spin remains zero, in perfect accord with Newton's laws．Halfway down, the cat pulls in its legs before changing its twist in the opposite way and then extends them again, with the desired end result．The explanation was that while nobody can acquire spin without force, a flexible one can readily change its direction．Cats know this naturally, but scientists could not be sure how it happened until they increased the speed of their views a thousand times as much．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　"Grandma, Grandma, tell us a story!" Four darling children sat by my feet, looking up at me expectantly．

　　Suddenly, we were interrupted by clapping．"Terrific, " the director said, stepping up to the stage from the aisle(过道)．“Except, could you kids face the audience a bit more?"

　　The kids shifted to face the empty seats, which would be filled in a few days for the church play．"Perfect, " the director said．"Now, Grandma, read to your grandchildren．" A pang of sadness hit me．If only I could read to my real grandchildren!

　　I had a granddaughter, but I'd never met her．Sixteen years earlier my son was involved in a relationship that ended badly．But out of it came a blessing： a baby girl named Lena．I hoped to be a grandmother to her-- but shortly after the birth, the mother moved without any address left．Over the years, I asked around town to try and find my son's ex-wife, but it seemed that she didn't want to be found．

　　I'd just joined this new church a week earlier, and was at once offered the part of Grandma in the play．At least now I could pretend to be a grandma．The rehearsals went well, and finally the day of the show arrived．The performance was great．"You all looked so natural up there, " one of my friends said．

　　Afterward, we went to the church basement for refreshments．I walked over to one of the girls in the play．Rehearsals had been in such a hurry that we never really got to talk．"How's my granddaughter?" I joked．

　　" Fine!" she answered．Just then, someone else walked up and asked the girl her name．

　　I wasn't sure I heard the girl's answer correctly．But it made me ask her another question．"What's your mother's name?"

　　She told me．I was still in shock．"And what's your father's name?" I asked．It was my son．

　　She'd only started going to that church a week before I did．Since that day of the play, we've stayed close．Not long ago, she even made me a great grandma．

阅读理解

　　Can storms in Africa cause asthma(哮喘)in the Caribbean(加勒比)?Islanders point to the desert insects that land on beaches after a 5,000-kilometer flight across the Atlantic．If they can use winds to get from one continent to another, so can clouds of dust that carry disease．

　　Scientists think that as Africa becomes drier, dust from expanding deserts is being blown away into Caribbean islands．A study in Barbados shows that asthma has increased 17 times since Africa's drought(干旱)began in 1973．

　　Other forms of life are suffering, too．Among them are the Caribbean's famous coral reefs(珊瑚礁), which began dying in large numbers in the 1900 s．Eugene Shinn of the U．S．Geiological Sudrvey(USGS)in Florida went to the virgin Islands to study the reefs．The tests he and his colleagues carried out showed that the coral was dying of disease caused by Africa microbes(微生物)from across the ocean．

　　William Sprigg of the University of Arizona is studying the problem as part of a major UN project．He says that dust is causing problems in the U．S．, too．

　　“We are just beginning to collect the evidence of airborne(空气传播的)dust influences on human health,” he told The Washington Post．

阅读理解

　　Being considered a leader in our society is indeed of high praise．Leadership means power, commands, respect and, most important, encourages achievement．Unlike vitamin C, leadership skills can't be easily swallowed down．They must be carefully cultivated．

　　Different from popular belief, most good leaders are made, not born．They learn their skills in their everyday lives．But which do they develop?How do they(and how can you )get others to follow?

　　Always give credit．Many leaders note that the most efficient way to get a good performance from others is to treat them like heroes．Giving public credit to someone who has earned it is the best leadership technique in the world．It is also an act of generosity(慷慨)that's never forgotten．

　　Giving credit is more effective than even the most constructive criticism(批评), which often hurts rather than helps．Kenneth Blanchard, the author of The One-Minute Manager, agrees．“Catch people doing something right!” he says．Then tell everyone about it．

　　Take informed risk．(冒险)．“The best leaders know that taking a risk is not a thoughtless exercise,” says management adviser Marilyn Machlowitz．“Sky divers don't go up in an airplane without checking the parachutes beforehand．”

　　Because the idea of risk also carries with it the possibility of failure, many of us usually wait for others to take charge．But if you want to be a leader, you must learn to fail-and not die a thousand deaths．Pick yourself up and start all over again．

　　Encourage enthusiasm．(热情)“When people understand the importance of work, they lend their mental strengths,” says Lee Ducat．But when they get excited about the work, all their energy gets poured into the job．That's a great force!Is this the best way to create excitement?Be enthusiastic yourself-You will be followed by everyone．

阅读理解

　　Practise speaking as often as you can．Speaking to yourself is good practice．

　　Compare your pronunciation with the master version(原版)to see how you can do better and have another go．If you do this several times, you will find that each time is better than last．

　　It helps if you can learn with someone else．If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working．

　　Practise improving ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously(本能地)，even if you don't know the exact words or phrases．Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time．Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to make yourself understood．

　　Guesswork is an important way to learn a new language．When listening to recorded material, you aren't expected to understand everything first time round．If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time．

　　A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don't try to learn too much at once．It's best to study frequently, for short periods of time．Take at most six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them．Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, and then come back to them later．

阅读理解

　　Recently, a scientist did some experiments．He left a group of 4-year-olds in a room with a bell and a candy．If they rang the bell, he would come back and they could eat the candy．If, however, they didn't ring the bell and waited for him to come back on his own, they could then have two candies．

　　In videos of the experiment, he can see the children kicking, hiding their eyes－trying to exercise self-control so they can wait and get two candies．The results are different．Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute．Others lasted 15 minutes．

　　The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores．They got into better colleges and had better adult success．The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to have received worse teacher and parental evaluations(评价)10 years later and were more likely to have drug problems at age 32．

　　The experiments are worth noting because people spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve education, how to become rich．But when the result is not good, they will come back to ask "how do we get people to get the sort of self-control that leads to success?" This is the way to enter the world of human nature．

　　So these experiments along with everyday experience, tell us that self-control is most important．Young people who can sit through sometimes boring classes to get a degree can work hard in order to learn a language well．They can avoid drugs and alcohol．For people without self-control skills, however, school is a series of failed ordeals(煎熬)．No wonder they drop out and their later life is a group of foolish ideas, such as drug use, stealing and so on．

阅读理解

　　Teenagers in England do many as the same things as children in America do．They enjoy sending messages on their mobile phones and they also like swimming, listening to the latest music, watching TV and surfing the Internet．How do teenagers in England spend their free time and holidays? Let's follow Sally, a British teenager, and spend five days with her during her school holiday．

Day One

　　Get up early in the morning．Dinner was at 6∶30 p. m．After that, she finished her English homework．Then she surfed the Internet．

Day Two

　　Sally and her mother paid a visit to their friends and went swimming together．Later, they went shopping for clothes and books, and had dinner in a restaurant．

Day Three

　　She went to the supermarket with her mother to buy fish and chips for lunch as well as some pens．After she got back home, she spent the next few hours surfing the Internet and watching TV．

Day Four

　　She surfed the Internet．Her mother took her out for lunch before she went to work．She then read stories after lunch．

Day Five

　　She woke up at 2 p.m., and so did her mother．They went to a park．Her mother met some friends there．When they got home, it was already time for dinner．Afterwards, she did her homework until 10 p. m．

阅读理解

　　Music is an international language．The songs that are sung or played by instruments are beautiful to all people everywhere．

　　Popular music in America is what every student likes．Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class and at lunch．Students with cars buy large speakers(扬声器)and play the music loudly as they drive on the street．

　　Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work．They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, politics, and activities of the American people．But most of the radio broadcast is music．

　　Pop or popular music singers make much money．They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in every state．Once the popular singer is heard throughout the country, young people buy his or her tapes．Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer．Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her．Now the singer has become a national star．

　　Besides pop music, there are two other kinds of music that is important to Americans．One is called folk music．It tells stories about the common life of Americans．The other is called western or country music．This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching．Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music．

阅读理解

　　Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city．The building next door was only a few feet away from mine．There was a woman who lived there and whom I had never met, yet I could see her seated by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading．

　　After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty．Everything was unclear through the dirty window．I would say to myself, “I wonder why that woman doesn't wash her window．It really looks terrible．”

　　One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside．

　　Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest．What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly seen．Her window was clean!

　　Then it dawned on me．I had been criticizing(批评)her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window．

　　That was quite an important lesson for me．How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings?

　　Since then, whenever I wanted to judge(评判)someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see others' world about me more clearly．