In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
　　As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
　　A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
　　I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
　　Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.
　　While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
【小题1】What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A．She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

D．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

【小题2】Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

B．She had won a prize in the previous contest.

C．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

D．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

【小题3】The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because ________.

A．she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dream of becoming a writer

B．she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance

C．she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much

D．she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing

【小题4】What’s the author’s advice for parents?

A．Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

B．Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

C．Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

D．A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

At night, bats fly through the air, catching hundreds of insects and other small animals. But during the day, they hardly move at all. Instead, bats pass the time hanging upside down from a secret spot.
There are a couple of reasons why bats rest this way. First of all, it puts them in a position for takeoff. Unlike birds, bats can’t fly into the air from the ground. Their wings don’t produce enough lift to take off from a dead stop, and their hind legs are so small and underdeveloped that they can’t run to build up the necessary takeoff speed. Instead, they use their front claws to climb to a high spot, and then fall into flight.
During the hours when most enemies are active, bats gather where few animals would think to look and most can’t reach. This allows them to disappear from the world until night comes again. There’s also little competition for these resting spots, as other flying animals don’t have the ability to hang upside down. Bats have a unique physiological adaptation that lets them hang around this way without using any energy. For you to hold your fist around an object tight, you contract(紧缩) several muscles in your arm, which are connected to your fingers by tendons(腱)；as one muscle contracts, it pulls a tendon, which pulls one of your fingers closed. A bat’s talons(爪) close in the same way, except that their tendons are connected only to the upper body, not to a muscle. To hang upside down, a bat pulls its claws open with other muscles. To get the talons to take hold of the surface, the bat simply lets its body relax. The weight of the upper body pulls down on the tendons connected to the talons, causing them to hold tight. Therefore, the bat doesn’t have to do anything to hang upside down.
【小题1】Bats hang upside down because________.

A．they haven’t developed a pair of strong claws

B．they can’t start to fly from the ground directly

C．they have no hind legs to support their body

D．they can’t find quiet places to stay during the day

【小题2】The third paragraph tells us that bats’ hanging upside down_______.

A．is to save their energy for night movement

B．is a way to fight against flying animals

C．is a great way to hide from danger

D．is a skill to compete for the flying places

【小题3】Why can bats hang upside down easily?

A．Because their upper body is light.

B．Because they have strong muscles.

C．Because their talons are linked to muscles tightly.

D．Because their tendons are linked to their upper body.

【小题4】What is the passage mainly about?

A．The living habits of bats.

B．How and why bats hang upside down.

C．The importance of bats’ hanging upside down.

D．How bats use their energy at night.

We know that sugary sodas aren’t good for our bodies. Now it turns out that they may not be good for our minds, either. A new study of more than 260,000 people has found a link between sweetened soft-drinks and depression, and diet sodas may be making matters worse.
Americans drink far more sodas than people in other countries— as much as 170 liters per person per year. But the impact of this study isn’t limited to the United States. “Sweetened drinks, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical consequences. And they may have important mental-health consequences as well,” study author Dr Honglei Chen said in a statement.
The study studied 263,925 people between the ages of 50 and 71. Researchers followed their consumption of drinks like soda, tea coffee, and other soft drinks from 1995 to 1996 and then. 10 years later, asked them if they had been diagnosed with depression since the year 2000. More than 11,3000 of them had.
Participants who drank more than four servings of sodas per day were 30 percent more likely to develop depression than participants who did not drink sodas at all. People who stuck with fruit punch(鸡尾酒), had a 38 percent higher risk than people who didn’t drink sweetened drinks. And all that extra sugar isn’t the actual problem. Researchers say that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be to blame.
The study found a link but could not surely determine whether sodas and other sweet soft drinks cause depression. Still, the results “are consistent with a small but growing body of evidence suggesting that artificially sweetened beverages may be linked to poor health outcomes.”
But there’s a bright side for those who can’t live without their daily sodas. Adults who drank coffee had a 10 percent lower risk of depression compared to people who didn’t drink any coffee, according to the study. “Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk,” said Chen.
【小题1】What has the new study of more than 260,000 people found?

A．Sugary sodas aren’t good for the physical health of old people.

B．Americans have a special tooth for sweet foods.

C．Sweetened soft-drinks may increase the risk of depression.

D．Sweetened soft-drinks have important physical consequences.

【小题2】What do we know about the process of the study?

A．About twenty-six thousand people participated in it.

B．The oldest participants were below 80 when the study was over.

C．Most of the participants had depression when the study was over.

D．The study lasted more than ten years from the beginning to the end.

【小题3】We infer that the underlined word “aspartame” in Paragraph 4 refers to something that _____.

A．can reduce the harm of sweetened drinks

B．is used to reduce the risk of depression

C．is mainly used to make fruit punch

D．is used to make something .sweet

【小题4】It is implied in the passage that ______.

A．more research is needed to confirm the new findings

B．the new findings aren’t consistent with any previous findings

C．cutting one’s sodas intake will surely reduce one’s depression

D．the new findings won’t have an impact on people’s drinking habits

【小题5】What should you drink in order to reduce the risk of depression?
A. Sodas.
B: Unsweetened coffee.
C. Sugary coffee.
D. Fruit punch.

Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems．While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves．University of Missouri（MU） researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient．
“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density（密度）”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU．“The radioisotope（放射性同位素） battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries．”
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro / nanoelectromechanical systems （M/NEMS）．Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe．
“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems．”
His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor（半导体）．Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor．
“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure（晶体结构） of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem．”
Together with J．David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery．In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials．Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair
【小题1】The text is most probably a ________．

A．science news report	B．book review
C．newspaper ad	D．science fiction

【小题2】Liquid semiconductor is used to _________．

A．get rid of the radioactive waste

B．test the power of nuclear batteries

C．decrease the size of nuclear batteries

D．reduce the damage to lattice structure

【小题3】According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______．

A．uses a solid semiconductor	B．will soon replace the present ones
C．could be extremely thin	D．has passed the final test

【小题4】Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________．

A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied

B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used

C．to describe a nuclear-powered system

D．to introduce various energy sources

The medical world is gradually realizing that the quality of the environment in hospitals may play a significant role in the process of recovery from illness.
As part of a nationwide effort in Britain to bring art out of the galleries and into public places, some of the country's most talented artists have been called in to transform older hospitals and to soften the hard edges of modern buildings. Of the 2,500 National Health Service hospitals in Britain, almost 100 now have significant contemporary art in corridors, waiting areas and treatment rooms.
These recent initiatives(首创) owe a great deal to one artist, Peter Senior who set up his studio at a Manchester hospital in northeastern England during the early 1970s. He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society and that art should be enjoyed by a wider audience.
A typical hospital waiting room might have as many as 5,000 visitors each week. What a better place to hold regular exhibitions of art! Senior held the first exhibition of his own paintings in the outpatients waiting area of the Manchester Hospital in 1975. Believed to be Britain's first hospital artist, Senior was so much in demand that he was soon joined by a team of six young art school graduates.
The effect is striking. Now in the corridors and waiting rooms the visitor experiences a full view of fresh colors, playful images and restful courtyards.
The quality of the environment may reduce the need for expensive drugs when a patient is recovering from an illness. A study has shown that patients who had a view onto a garden needed half the number of strong pain killers compared with patients who had no view at all or only a brick wall to look at.
【小题1】The underlined part "to soften the hard edges of modern buildings" in Paragraph 2 means"________".

A．to decorate hospitals with art collections

B．to make the corners of hospital buildings round

C．to change people's attitude toward hospitals

D．to replace the old buildings with modern buildings

【小题2】Peter Senior is a(n) ________.

A．doctor interested in arts

B．artist who refuses to hold art exhibitions in hospitals

C．pioneer in introducing art into hospitals

D．artist who owns a great deal of property

【小题3】The improvement of the hospital environment seems to be effective in ______.

A．making it unnecessary to give drugs to patients

B．helping the modern artists regain their status in society

C．calling in more talented artists to hospitals

D．helping patients recovering from illness

【小题4】The writer’s attitude towards the effect of art exhibitions in hospitals is ______.

A．suspicious

B．positive

C．neutral(中立的)

D．unfavorable

When you travel in South America, you’d better pay attention to the following three kinds of dangerous South American animals.
Piranhas（水虎鱼）
Although only a small number of piranhas are considered to be dangerous to humans, the red-bellied piranha is definitely one of those. Evidence has shown that a large group of piranhas can absolutely eat a herd of large animals crossing the river, leaving only bones. This fish lives in the freshwater streams of South America, and they can smell the blood from far away and launch attacks swiftly. It is said that they are only dangerous to humans if the water volumes are less and lower.
Anacondas（水蟒）
This South American monster of a creature often appears in the films or your nightmares！They have weighed over 230 kilograms. It is often considered to be the biggest snake in the world. You certainly don’t want to get caught alone with this snake due to its method of attacking and killing its victim. It is indeed a remarkably different brand of snake type as it regularly coils（缠绕）around all over its target, increasing the pressure until eventually its victim dies. Its jaws are powered by large muscles that produce enough power for its over 100 sharp teeth to pass through the thick skin of an crocodile. They don’t have poison. Sometimes they prefer to camouflage themselves so they look like their surroundings and swiftly draw back when humans are near.
Golden Poisonous Frogs
The golden poison frog might be the most-deadly of the South American animal, which is protected by means of poison. This very small frog, less than 55 mm in length, packs enough punch（效力）to take down a pair of African bull elephants. This apparently harmless frog has always been known to have killed people who have touched it directly. It’s also been noted that chicken and dogs have died by contacting things on which a golden poison frog had wandered! In intense colors, they normally look attractive to their targets.
【小题1】What can we learn about piranhas from the passage?

A．Piranhas are the most dangerous animals.

B．Piranhas like to live in the deep seabed.

C．Piranhas may attack human beings when the water level is low.

D．Piranhas only attack human beings when they cross the river in groups.

【小题2】How does an anaconda kill its victim according to the passage?

A．It often uses its poison to kill its victim.

B．It often uses its strength to kill its victim.

C．It kills its victim mainly using its powerful teeth.

D．It kills its victim with the help of other snakes.

【小题3】The underlined word “camouflage” in Paragraph 3 means “________”.

A．hide itself by appearing like the surroundings

B．terrify and capture the enemy by making much noise

C．move around to search for delicious food

D．give off harmful gas to kill the targets

【小题4】Chicken and dogs are mentioned in Paragraph 4 to show that ________.

A．no animals can survive the poison of the golden poison frog

B．they like to wander along the path of the golden poison frog

C．the golden poison frog likes eating them most

D．the poison of the golden poison frog is deadly

Monitoring global warming usually requires a Ph. D. and enough maths to glaze your eyes. But that Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant track（记录）what climate change is doing to five different plants in Tucson, Arizona and they are only in the second grade.
“We are collecting data because the weather is changing and the plants are blooming,” Ruby explained.
Scores of other students at Borton Primary Magnet School and Sunnyside High School in Tucson are heading outdoors to be part of a new scientific push to figure out how the biological timing of the earth is changing. It’s a research project that the average person, even a kindergartner, can join in.
The National Phenology（生物气候学）Network is calling on volunteers to help track early spring blooms and eventually changes in animals caused by global warming. It’s called Project Budburst. When it was first open to the public last year, thousands of people participated in 26 states.
“All people can contribute to it by tracking the timing of flowering events or leaf-out events for plants and animals in their backyard,” said Phenology Network director Jake Weltzin. He calls the volunteers “citizen-scientists.”
The idea is that tracking flowers blooming—especially lilacs（丁香）; which everyday people have helped track for decades—is fairly simple. The Website http://www.Windows.ucar.edu/ citizen_science/budburst/index.html gives directions on what to look for in different parts of the country.
University of Maryland professor David Inouye said it’s so easy to figure out what’s blooming that a lack of special knowledge isn’t a problem.
University of Arizona ecology graduate student Lisa Benton coordinated（协调）the Tucson high school students as they looked at plants five minutes from their high school. Each student has specific guidelines and she’s been happy so far with the data she is getting. For his part, second-grader Francisco said he had fun helping out.
“I like going out in the desert,” he said. “I want to be an Einstein.”
【小题1】Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant are monitoring global warming by __________.

A．watching early spring blooms and changes in animals

B．studying the biological timing of earth

C．collecting data of the local weather

D．tracking the early spring blooms of some local plants

【小题2】Those who participate in Project Budburst are mostly ___________.

A．ecology college graduates	B．high school students
C．common people	D．experts

【小题3】What David Inouye says suggests that ____________.

A．the study carried out by students is convincing

B．the students still need special training to study climate change

C．it is difficult to study climate change

D．to figure out what’s blooming needs special knowledge

【小题4】Who is primary school student joining in the Project Budburst?

A．Lisa Benton.	B．David Inouye
C．Francisco Lopez.	D．Jake Weltzin.

【小题5】We can conclude from the passage that _______.

A．changes in animals caused by global warming happen earlier than those in plants

B．the biological timing of earth is changing because of climate change

C．the effect of climate change in Tucson, Arizona can be hardly noticed

D．all the plants in Tucson, Arizona are blooming earlier because of climate change

Global Positioning Systems are now a part of everyday driving in many countries. These satellite-based systems provide turn-by-turn directions to help people get to where they want to go. But they can also cause a lot of problems, sending you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost. Many times, the driver is to blame. Sometimes a GPS error is responsible. Most often, says Barry Brown, it is a combination of the two.
Barry Brown is with the Mobile Life Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. The center studies human-computer interaction, or HCI, especially communications involving wireless devices. We spoke to Mr. Brown by Skype. He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States. There he borrowed a GPS-equipped car to use during his stay.
Barry Brown: “And they just plugged in an address and then set off to their destination. And, then it wasn’t until they were driving for thirty minutes that they realized they had put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived. They actually put their home address in. So again, the GPS is kind of “garbage in garbage out”. Mr. Brown says this is a common human error. But, he says, what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings, or failures, of GPS equipment.
Barry Brown: “One problem with many GPS units is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn. Because they just give you the next turn, sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it’s going to the wrong place.”
Barry Brown formerly served as a professor with the University of California, San Diego. While there, he worked on a project with Eric Laurier from the University of Edinburgh. The two men studied the effects of GPS devices on driving by placing cameras in people’s cars. They wrote a paper based on their research. It is called “The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving with GPS.”
Barry Brown: “One of the things that struck us, perhaps the most important thing was that you have to know what you’re doing when you use a GPS. There are these new skills that people have developed. There are these new competencies that you need to have to be able to use a GPS because they sometimes go wrong.” Barry Brown says this goes against a common belief that GPS systems are for passive drivers who lack navigational (导航) skills.
“The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving with GPS” lists several areas where GPS systems can cause confusion for drivers. These include maps that are outdated, incorrect or difficult to understand. They also include timing issues related to when GPS commands are given.
Barry Brown says to make GPS systems better we need a better understanding of how drivers, passengers and GPS systems work together.
【小题1】What is the best title for this passage?

A．Is GPS system reliable to use?	B．What is the use of GPS?
C．How to make the most of GPS?	D．Blame! GPS or Passengers?

【小题2】What is the implication of the underlined part?

A．GPS is just a garbage device.

B．GPS will not correct human errors.

C．GPS adjusts your wrong destination.

D．GPS is just as smart as human beings.

【小题3】Which is NOT mentioned as a GPS shortcoming in the passage?

A．Small screen.	B．Timing of commands.
C．Outdated maps.	D．Dear cameras GPS uses.

【小题4】According to the passage, people commonly believe that ___________.

A．you have to know where to go when using GPS

B．you need to have new competencies to use GPS well

C．GPS is proper for drivers with little sense of direction

D．GPS is fit for people having good understanding of maps

Recently there was a major discovery in the scientific research—the mapping of all DNA in a human gene（基因） is complete．Couple of years ago, this seems an impossible task for scientist to accomplish．All this progress in science leads us to believe that the day, when the human being will be cloned, is not far away．Human cloning has always been a topic of argument, in terms of morality or religion．
Taking a look at why cloning might be beneficial, among many cases, it is arguable that parents who are known to be at risk of passing a genetic limitation to a child could make use of cloning．If the clone was free of genetic limitations．then the other clone would be as well．The latter could foe inserted in the woman and allowed to ripen to term．Moreover, cloning would enable women, who can't get pregnant, to have children of their own．
Cloning humans would also mean that organs could be cloned, so it would be a source of perfect transfer organs．This, surely would be greatly beneficial to millions of unfortunate people around the world that are expected to lose their lives due to failure of single （or more） organ （s）．It is also arguable that a ban on cloning may be unlawful and would rob people of the right to reproduce and limit the freedom of scientists．
Arguments against cloning are also on a perfectly practical side．Primarily, I believe that cloning would step in the normal "cycle" of life．There would be a large number of same genes, which reduce the chances of improvement, and, in turn, development—the fundamental reason how living things naturally adapt to the ever-changing environment．Life processes failing to do so might result in untimely disappearance．Furthermore, cloning would make the uniqueness that each one of us possesses disappear．Thus, leading to creation of genetically engineered groups of people for specific purposes and, chances are, that those individuals would be regarded as "objects" rather than people in the society．
Scientists haven't 100 per cent．guaranteed that the first cloned humans will be normal．Thus this could result in introduction of additional limitations in the human "gene-pool"．
Regarding such arguable topics in "black or white" approach seems very innocent to me personally．We should rather try to look at all "shades" of it．I believe that cloning is only legal if its purpose is for cloning organs; not humans．Then we could regard this as for "saving life" instead of "creating life"．I believe cloning humans is morally and socially unacceptable．
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Genetic limitation will be beneficial for some women

B．A large number of genes will prevent us from developing

C．Prohibition of cloning might limit the freedom of scientists

D．First cloned humans might be normal according to scientists

【小题2】What's the author's opinion on cloning?

A．Cloning should be entirely banned．

B．Cloning should be used in creating life．

C．Cloning will take away the right to reproduce．

D．Cloning is acceptable if it is used for cloning organs．

【小题3】Where can you read this article?

A．In a story book

B．In a magazine

C．In a science fiction

D．In a brochure

【小题4】Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?