A MENTORING(导师制) program is giving life changing opportunities to Banbury youth.

Young Inspirations was founded two years ago to provide mentoring sessions for students and unemployed young adults aged 11 to 21.

Alex Goldberg，the program's founder，said：“We set up Young Inspirations because we wanted to give young people experiences which will potentially be life changing and broaden their outlook.”

“We try to create work experience opportunities that will really make a difference to our youth.For example，we've secured internships(实习) with world?famous firms such as Honda.”

“At a time of funding cutbacks where schools are finding it more and more difficult to offer this kind of mentoring，it is extremely important that these opportunities are available both to help youth with their school work and grades and to give them opportunities which may help shape their futures.” Kieran Hepburn,14，is one of a group of Banbury youth who has benefited from the program so far.In October the Banbury School pupil was accompanied by Young Inspirations staff to Paris where he was an observer at the United Nations Educational，Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) International Youth Forum(论坛)．

The event was held for young people from around the world，to seek their views on how the future of youth and education should look.Kieran joined several hundred observers mostly in their 20s and was the only UK school pupil to attend the event.Kieran thinks the trip was a life changing experience.“Before we left I didn't quite know what to make of it but when we got there we didn't stop，it was amazing，” he said，“We went to three or four hours of debates each day and then did something cultural each afternoon.”

The main theme of the forum was how youth can drive change in political and public life.It dealt with issues(问题) such as drug abuse，violence and unemployment.

Kieran said：“It has really helped me to improve my confidence and social skills as well as my school grades and I was voted most improved pupil at school in August.”

The Young Inspirations mentoring sessions take place each Friday in Banbury.For details visit www.younginspirations.com.

1.The Young Inspirations mentoring program aims to? ______.

A．train staff for world?famous firms

B．offer job opportunities to young adults

C．provide youth with unique experiences

D．equip the unemployed with different skills

2.According to Alex Goldberg，it is difficult for schools to offer the mentoring due to ________.

A．the lack of support from firms

B．the cultural differences

C．the effect of unemployment

D．the shortage of money

3.We can learn from the passage that ________.

A．the visit to the United Kingdom was amazing

B．Kieran has made great progress in many aspects

C．the youth have found a way to solve their problems

D．the mentoring sessions are held every day except Friday

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Alex Goldberg，Founder of Young Inspirations

B．Young People Find a World of Opportunity

C．Kieran，Banbury School Pupil to Paris

D．Debates Help Youth with Their Grades

A MENTORING (导师制) program is giving life changing opportunities to Banbury youth.

Young Inspirations was founded two years ago to provide mentoring sessions for students and unemployed young adults aged 11 to 21.

Alex Goldberg，the program’s founder，said：“We set up Young Inspirations because we wanted to give young people experiences which will potentially be life changing and broaden their outlook.

“We try to create work experience opportunities that will really make a difference to our youth.For example，we’ve secured internships (实习) with world?famous firms such as Honda.

“At a time of funding cutbacks where schools are finding it more and more difficult to offer this kind of mentoring，it is extremely important that these opportunities are available both to help youth with their school work and grades and to give them opportunities which may help shape their futures.”Kieran Hepburn,14，is one of a group of Banbury youth who has benefited from the program so far.In October the Banbury School pupil was accompanied by Young Inspirations staff to Paris where he was an observer at the United Nations Educational，Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) International Youth Forum (论坛)．

The event was held for young people from around the world，to seek their views on how the future of youth and education should look.Kieran joined several hundred observers mostly in their 20s and was the only UK school pupil to attend the event.Kieran thinks the trip was a life changing experience.“Before we left I didn’t quite know what to make of it but when we got there we didn’t stop，it was amazing，”he said，“We went to three or four hours of debates each day and then did something cultural each afternoon.”

The main theme of the forum was how youth can drive change in political and public life.It dealt with issues (问题) such as drug abuse，violence and unemployment.

Kieran said：“ It has really helped me to improve my confidence and social skills as well as my school grades and I was voted most improved pupil at school in August.”

The Young Inspirations mentoring sessions take place each Friday in Banbury.For details visit www.younginspirations.com.

1.The Young Inspirations mentoring program aims to ________.

A．train staff for world?famous firms

B．offer job opportunities to young adults

C．provide youth with unique experiences

D．equip the unemployed with different skills

2.．According to Alex Goldberg，it is difficult for schools to offer the mentoring due to ________.

A．the lack of support from firms

B．the cultural differences

C．the effect of unemployment

D．the shortage of money

3.According to the passage，the forum focused on how youth can ________.

A．build up their confidence at school

B．find work experience opportunities

C．improve their social skills for the future

D．play an active role in the change of society

4.We can learn from the passage that ________.

A．the visit to the United Kingdom was amazing

B．Kieran has made great progress in many aspects

C．the youth have found a way to solve their problems

D．the mentoring sessions are held every day except Friday

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Alex Goldberg，Founder of Young Inspirations

B．Young People Find a World of Opportunity

C．Kieran，Banbury School Pupil to Paris

D．Debates Help Youth with Their Grades

Across the United States, there are several places where two independent towns grew together to become one city ---- but kept both their names.

Winston-Salem is one of them. It’s a mid-sized city in what’s called the plateau（high land）, between the Atlantic Coast and the inland mountains in the state of North Carolina. The Winston part is a relatively new place, founded early this century. It’s home to the nation’s biggest open-air tobacco market.?

The giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s headquarters is in Winston-Salem, and Winston is the name of one of Reynolds’ best-known cigarette brands. Fast-growing Winston soon surrounded the much older town of Salem, so in 1913, people in the area voted to combine them into a single place.?

From a historical and tourist point of view, Salem, or Old Salem, as it’s called today, is the interesting and unusual part of town.?

Salem was founded in the 1700s by the Moravians. They spoke German, and their community was religiously based, with single men and single women living apart in separate dormitories. The Moravians greatly valued women’s work and brainpower. In fact, one of the nation’s oldest boarding schools for young women— the Moravians’ Salem Academy founded in 1772 — is still in operation. ?

Over the years, Salem lost its Moravian character. That all changed, though, when a nonprofit group began to rehabilitate the historic area. These days Old Salem is what’s called a living history museum, with exhibits, music, and tours of 18th-century houses, taverns and Moravian dormitory buildings just seven blocks from the tallest skyscraper in Winston-Salem.?

The historic community is booming again. Just as R. J. Reynolds is taking in millions of dollars making cigarettes across town, Old Salem is generating about $ 115 million a year in tourism revenue and donations.?

46. From the passage we can know that____________.?

A. Winston-Salem is the name of a city?   

B. Salem is home to the tobacco market?

C. the city Winston-Salem has two names   

D. Old Salem is the name of a tobacco brand

47. It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that__________.?

A. the two cities benefited each other?       

B. Salem developed faster than Winston?

C. R.J. Reynolds Company has moved into Salem?

D. the combination meets the wishes of the people

48. The city Salem is special for its__________.?

A. boarding school                             B. lifestyle and tradition?

C. respect for brainpower                 D. religious belief

49. The underlined word “rehabilitate” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to “_______”.?

A. reconstruct           B. evaluate             C. enlarge         D. decorate?

50. What will probably be talked about in the following part? ?

A. Some other attractions in Winston-Salem. ?

B. How Winston makes profits from tourism. ?

C. Other examples of cities combined by two parts.?

D. Something about the boarding school for women.

This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, ect. You know this because you’ve heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper. But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are going up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little.
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous. For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statement is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made a mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave our information that is different from his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightening strikes, but which is really more dangerous? If you think more about it, you will realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people in danger of a lightning strike. When you think about it again, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at the statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. To be warned is just to be prepared.
【小题1】What’s the author’s attitude towards the growing trend of reporting only part of the      
information?
Disapproving   B. Positive       C. Indifferent     D. Dangerous
【小题2】In the first paragraph, what does the writer suggest?

We like to think our intelligence is self-made; it happens inside our heads, the product of our inner thoughts alone. But the rise of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools has made many people question the impact of these technologies on our brains. Is typing in “Who has played James Bond in the movies?” the same as our knowledge about the names like Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig? Can we say we know the answer as long as we know how to rapidly get the information on Google?
Here the question is about how we define intelligence itself. The answer appears to be interesting, because the evidence from psychological studies suggests that much of our intelligence comes from how we coordinate ourselves with other people and our environment.
An influential theory among psychologists is that we're cognitive misers(认知吝啬者). This is the idea that we are unwilling to do mental work unless we have to. We try to avoid thinking things fully when a short cut is available. If you've ever voted for the presidential candidate(总统候选人) with the most honest smile, or chosen a restaurant based on how many people are already sitting in there, then you are a cognitive miser. The theory explains why we'd much rather type a zip code into Google Maps than memorize and recall the location of a place – it's so much easier to do so.
Research shows that people don't tend to rely on their memories for things they can easily access. Buildings can somehow disappear from pictures we're looking at, or the people we're talking to can be changed with someone else, and often we won't notice – a phenomenon called “change blindness”. This isn't an example of human stupidity – far from it, in fact – this is an example of mental efficiency. The mind relies on the world as a better record than memory.
Philosophers have suggested that thinking is really happening in the environment as much as it is happening in our brains. The philosopher Andy Clark called humans "natural born cyborgs(电子人)", those naturally capable of absorbing and combining new tools, ideas and abilities. In Clark's view, the route to a solution is not the issue – having the right tools really does mean you know the answers, just as much as already knowing the answer.
Rather than being forced to rely on our own resources for everything, we can share our knowledge. Technology keeps track of things for us so we don't have to, while large systems of knowledge serve the needs of society as a whole. I don't know how a computer works, or how to grow vegetables, but that knowledge is out there and I can get to benefit. The internet provides even more potential to share this knowledge. Wikipedia is one of the best examples – an increasingly large database of knowledge from which everyone can benefit.
So as well as having a physical environment – like the rooms or buildings we live or work in – we also have a mental environment, which means that when I ask you where your mind is, you shouldn’t point toward the centre of your forehead. As research shows, our minds are made up just as much by the people and tools around us as they are by the brain cells inside our skull.
【小题1】Why did the writer raise the questions in Paragraph 1?