Discouraged by reading bad news daily and with his marriage failing, Canadian Neil Pasricha  decided to try to focus on the positive and come up with 1,000 simple, free, awesome things, posting one each day on a blog.

       Pasricha said his blog aimed to highlight life's simple pleasures, which were often taken for granted, such as finding forgotten money in a pocket, or fixing a TV set with a heavy blow.

       Little did he realize his blog would strike a nerve and attract 40,000 people a day to join his discussions on how to enjoy the last triangle of a potato crisp, or the pleasure of laughing so hard that you cry.

       Pasricha, aged 30, was amazed to win two Webby awards, known as "the Oscars of the Internet," something positive at a time when his marriage broke up and one of his closest friends committed suicide.

       "I turned the worst year of my life into my best year by focusing on the positive. " Pasricha told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Every day I try to find something that is happy, free and universal to share, like the smell of a bakery or when a cashier opens up a new line at a store. "

       Pasricha said when he began his blog in June 2008 he thought he might have trouble coming up with 1,000 simple, happy moments in life but now he is more than halfway through and ideas keep flooding in, from himself and from followers of his blog.

       "These moments can start a huge conversation. Most of our life is really about hitting green lights on the way home from, or waking up before your alarm goes off and realizing you have more time in bed. But it is those small moments we forget about."

       Despite the success of his blog, Pasricha does not want to change his daily life. “I travel regularly for an hour a day to work in the suburb. I like work because I like the people in my office. I’m not a writer and I don’t know how to use punctuations correctly. I just like observing the world and putting it down,” he said.

1.Neil Pasricha determined to post positive feelings or things on his blog because          .

       A．daily bad news and broken marriage saddened him

       B．1,000 simple, free, happy things excited him

       C．he wanted to forget his marriage life

       D．he wanted to make his blog successful

2.Which of the following will Pasricha probably NOT post onto his blog?

       A．Coming across an old schoolmate.

       B．Finding his lost dog come back home.

       C．Falling off his bike and getting injured.

       D．Buying his favourite book at a special price.

3.According to the passage, Pasricha         .

       A．gets ideas for 1,000 simple, free, happy things with trouble

       B．gets ideas for 1,000 simple, free, happy things on his own

       C．is on his way to collecting 1,000 simple, free, happy things

       D．has finished collecting 1,000 simple, free, happy things

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the poassage?

       A．Hard life for a Canadian blogger           B．Busy life for a Canadian blogger

       C．Great awards for a Canadian blogger     D．Great success for a Canadian blogger

 

（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Almost everyone likes to eat apples. Apples grow in nearly every part of the world. The United States produces more apples than any other country except France. The states of Washington and New York grow the most apples.   71   New York is on the east coast and Washington is on the west near Canada.

Apples are red, yellow or green. They are very popular in the United States.   72   Most American people are often too busy or too tired to cook dinner, so they often have their dinners very simply. Apple juice is also a popular drink and apple pie is the favorite sweet dish for many Americans.

  73   The trees there produce nearly five billion apples every year—one apple for every man, woman and child in the whole world.

  74   For example, “You are the apple of my eye.” means “You are actually the one I love best and care most.” In China, it is a custom in some places for the marrying couple to hold an apple in each one’s hand, promising that their marriage will be “safe” without anything bad and that their marriage will never be broken. “To apple polish” often refers to a man who fawns (奉承) on somebody for the purpose of getting some benefits. So you can easily get “apple polisher”. However, “in apple-pie order” usually has the same meaning as “in good order”.   75   In fact, it’s another saying about “compare two things that can’t be compared”.

A. The state of Washington is proud of its apples.

B. Apples play an important part in people’s health.

  There are many stories and sayings about apples.

D. Perhaps this is why “New York” is often called “Big Apple” by some people.

E. The apples in France are better than those in America.

F. Many people like to carry apples to work or to school to eat with their lunches.

G. It is likely that you hear about “compare apples and oranges”

 

 

Research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behaviors when they are watched. Do you?

A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation, collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box.

Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary

Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin,

the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being

watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behaviour.

Their report also referred to other research showing that this response of

behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans and

people respond this way unconsciously, or without realising it.

It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched.

A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are

around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning.

The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption ‘I Want You’. It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese.

1. According to the report, why does a person behave better when he feels he is being watched?

         A. He does not want to be shamed by others.

         B. He needs to show he is a good person.

         C. He desires others to like him more.

         D. He feels he will receive some social reward.

2. The underlined word ‘coded’ (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to______.

         A. hidden            B. programmed     C. forgotten         D. leaned

3. What is the text mainly about?

         A. It describes changed behaviour when observed.

         B. It details ways to control people's behaviour.

         C. It tells how to make people work harder.

         D. It discusses different advertising methods.

4. According to the text, which of the following statements is True?

         A. People pretend to behave better when they are watched.

         B. Fish bite other fish in a fish tank when they are alone.

         C. People donate more money when they feel they are watched.

         D. Soldiers fought better during World War II because of a poster.

5. Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?

A. In a newspaper.                     B. In a scientific journal.

C. In an advertising magazine.           D. In a science textbook.

 

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

       Born in America , I spoke English ,not Chinese , the  language of my ancestors ．When I was three, my parents flashed cards with Chinese    36  at my face , but I pushed them   37   ．My mom believed I would learn   38    I was ready ．But the    39   never came．

       On a Chinese New Year’s Eve , my uncle spoke to me in Chinese , but all I could do was    40   at him , confused , scratching my head ．“ Still can’t speak Chinese?” He     41   me , “You can’t even buy a fish in Chinatown ．”

       “Hey ,this is America , not China．I’ll get some    42    with or without Chinese．” I replied and turned to my mom for     43    ．

       “Remember to ask for fresh fish, Xin Xian Yu ,” she said , handing over a $20 bill ．I     44   the words,  running downstairs into the streets of Chinatown．

       I found the fish    45   surrounded in a sea of customers．“I’d like to buy some fresh fish,” I should to the fishman．But he     46    my English words and turned to serve the next customer ．The laugh of the people behind increased     47    their impatience．With every   48  , the breath of the dragons on my back grew stronger—my blood boiling—    49    me to cry out ．“ Xian Sheng Yu , please．” “Very Xian Sheng ,” I repeated ．The crowd erupted into laughter ．My face turned    50   and I ran back home    51   , except for the $20 bill I held tightly in my pocket．

       Should I laugh or cry? They’re Chinese．I should feel right at     52    ．Instead , I was the joke , a disgrace （丢脸）to the language．

       Sometimes, I laugh at my fish      53   , but , in the end, the joke is on    54  ．Every laugh is a culture     55   ; every laugh is my heritage （传统） fading away．

1.A．custom            B．games          C ．characters     D．language

2.A．ahead            B．around          C．along           D．aside

3.A．when              B．before          C．unless           D．until

4.A．success            B．study           C．time            D．attempt

5.A．aim              B．joke            C．nod             D．stare

6.A．cared about        B．laughed at    C．argued with   D．asked after

7.A．right now         B．from now     C．at times        D．in time

8.A．decision           B．Permission    C．information    D．preparation

9.A．repeated          B．reviewed        C．spelled         D．kept

10.A．farm           B．stand          C．pond          D．market

11.A．guessed          B．forget           C．doubted       D．ignored

12.A．by             B．as              C．with         D．from

13.A．second          B．effort         C．desire           D．movement

14.A．forcing         B．allowing     C．persuading     D．leading

15.A．bright          B．blank         C．pale            D．red

16.A．open-mouthed    B．tongue-tied   C．empty-handed D．broken-hearted

17.A．service        B．home         C．risk            D．root

18.A．trade                 B．deed          C．challenge      D．incident

19.A．it              B．us              C．me            D．them

20.A．thrown               B．lost           C．divided      D．reflected

 

No one can change the weather. Nobody can control the weather. But if we read correctly the signs around us, we can tell what the more important changes in the weather will be. This way of telling what the weather will be like on the following day or two is called weather forecasting(天气预报).

For many centuries and in all countries, people have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasting. Rings around the sun are a sign of coming rain. That many people feel their joints(关节) hurt is a sign of wet weather. Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, but they fly near the ground if rainy or stormy weather is on the way. If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will become clear and fine. Such rainbows come in the evening. If the stars twinkle clearly at night, then fine weather will continue. If a fog appears in the morning just above a river, then the day will be warm. If the sunset is mostly red in colour, then the following day will be fine. If a rainbow appears in the morning, rainy weather will probably come.

Most of the above sayings have been made by the people who have used their eyes and brains to make weather forecasting.

1.Which of the following can be used here to replace(取代) the underlined phrase “on the way”?

A．away.

B．gone.

C．disappearing.

D．coming.

2.When you see the stars twinkle clearly at night, the weather will be _______.

A．warm

B．rainy

C．clear and fine

D．cold

3.Which of the following signs can tell the weather will probably be rainy?

A．A rainbow appears in the morning.

B．Some birds fly high.

C．The stars twinkle clearly at night.

D．Fogs appear in the morning just above a river.