Below is adapted from an English dictionary

figure/fīg ə / noun, verb                             ●noun 1. [C, often pl.] a number representing particular amount, especially one given in official information: the trade /sales figures 2. [C] a symbol rather than a word representing one of the numbers between 0 and 9: a six-figure salary 3. [pl] (informal) the area of mathematics that deals with adding, multiplying, etc 4. a person of the type mentioned: Gandhi was both a political and a religious figure in Indian history. 5. the shape of a person seen from a distance or not clearly 6. a person or an animal as shown in art or a story: a wall with five carved figures in it 7. [C] the human shape, considered from the point of view of being attractively thin: doing exercise to improve one’s figure 8. [C] a pattern or series of movements performed on ice: figure-skating [IDM] be/become a figure of fun: be/become sb. that others laugh at cut a…figure: (of a person) to have a particular appearance He cut a striking figure in his dinner jacket. put a figure on sth.: to say the exact price or number of sth.

a fine figure of man/woman: a tall, strong-looking and well-shaped person figure of speech: a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual meanings in order to create a particular mental image or effect  figurehead: someone who is the head or chief in name only (with no real power or authority) ●verb 1. to think or decide that sth. will happen or is true: I figured that if I took the night train, I could be in Scotland by morning. 2. to be part of a process, situation, etc. especially an important part: My opinion of the matter didn’t seem to figure at all. 3. to calculate an amount or the cost of sth.: We figured that attendance at 150,000. [PHRV] 1. figure in: to include (in a sum): Have you figured in the cost of hotel? 2. figure on: to plan on; to expect sth. to happen: I haven’t figured on his getting home too late. 3. figure out: to work out; understand by thinking: Have you figured out how much the trip will cost? [IDM] It/That figures! (informal): That seems reasonable, logical and what I expect.

 

1. I didn’t really mean my partner is a snake; it was just a ______.

A. figure of eight     B. figure head     C. figure of speech     D. a fine figure                     

2.—She was coming late again.

—______! That’s typical of her.

A. It figures her out   B. It figures    C. It cuts a poor figure  D. She is a figure of fun

3.What does “watch my figure” in the sentence “Don’t tempt me with chocolate; I am watching my figure.” mean?

A. add the numbers   B. have sports      C. try not to get fat    D. watch games

4.No one can figure out the reasons for the Poland president plane crash in 2010. Here figure out means:_________

A. watch out     B. work out     C. understand well    D. break out

5.—Promise you don’t wear this kind of clothes? People will play a joke on you.

—I don’t care whether I am________. I just want to keep warm.

A. a figure of fun    B. a healthy figure    C. a figure head      D. a bad figure

 

The passengers on the subway who caught a glimpse of me may have thought I was strange. In particular a gentleman sitting opposite me was always staring at me, looking at the cheese bread on the floor in front of me and then staring back at me. A passenger probably dropped it by mistake and got off at a previous stop, but the gentleman might not think so. “Next stop, St. Patrick Station” — my stop was quickly coming up. I had few minutes to either take the cheese bread, which nobody else was claiming, or left it there.

In those few minutes I felt my pride getting in the way. “What would others on the subway think of me if I took the cheese bread? Would they think that I was poor and hungry? Would they think that I was stealing?” The ignorant thing to do was say “yes” to any of those self-imposed questions. Actually, they were just my own thoughts. Though I would leave the subway, walk a block to my office, get settled at my desk, and sit comfortably in my office for the whole day, I couldn’t get rid of the enormous sense of guilt and regret.

My thoughts once pushed me towards pride and ignorance, but finally I had to admit I was wrong. This missing cheese bread could be a gift for a homeless person who suffered from cold and hunger. So why not overcome a little bit of my pride and pass along so much kindness?

Just as the doors opened at my stop, I grabbed the cheese bread and left the subway. It felt awesome, but I didn’t care if people were looking at me or what they were thinking. Instead of going directly to my office as usual, I walked a few more blocks up to Queen’s park, where I often saw a homeless man sitting outside. I always wanted to give him something, but only today I walked toward him, who wrapped himself in a sleeping bag. I was full of satisfaction, and so did the homeless man, I thought.

1.The gentleman kept staring at the author because _______.

A.  he wanted to talk to the author

B.  he might think the author dropped the bread

C.  the author appeared too nervous

D.  the author was going to get off

2.The underlined word “self-imposed” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A. easily obtained              

B. strongly supported

C. deliberately created         

D. completely unaccepted

3.Why did the author grab the cheese bread when he got off?

   A. He noticed that no one was looking at him.

   B. He didn’t want to see the cheese bread to go to waste.   

   C. He remembered a homeless man at that very moment.  

 D. He valued kindness more than his own pride.

 

What if I took that big jump on my bike?What’s the worst thing that could happen if I go out at midnight?Should try smoking?The teen years can play out like a choose-your-own-adventure novel.

Teenagers must act on an endless parade of choices.Some choices.including smoking.Come with serious consequences.As a result, adolescents often find themselves trapped between their impulsive tendencies（-Just try it!)and their newfound ability to make well-informed and logical choices（-Wait, maybe that’s not such a good idea!）.

So what makes the teenager’s brain so complex? What drives adolescents-more than any other age group-to sometimes make rash or questionable decisions?

If you have ever thought that the choices teenagers make are all about exploring and pushing limits, you are on to something. Experts Experts believe that this tendency marks a necessary period in teen development.The process helps prepare teenagers to confront the world on their own. It is something all humans have evolved to experience-yes, teens everywhere go through this exploratory period.Nor is it unique to people:Even laboratory mice experience a similar stage during their development.

For example，laboratory experiments show that young mice stay close by their mothers for safety. As mice grow．their behavior does too．“When they reach puberty，they’re like，‘I’m gonna start checking out how this environment looks without my mom，…explains Beatriz Luna,of the University of Pittsburgh．

As a developmental cognitive neuroscientist，Luna studies those changes that occur in the brain as children develop into adults．She and other researchers are showing how the teen experience can lead to powerful advantages later in life．Take mice again：Young mice that explore most tend to live longest——that is，unless a cat eats them，Luna adds．

1.What is the best title for the text?

A．Teenagers make endless choices

B．The teenage brain drives them to be different

C．How the teenage brain develops

D．Researches about the teenagers

2.What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?

A．It means “you are wrong”.

B．It means“you lose your way”．

C．It means“you get the point”．

D．It means“you are off the point”.

3.According to the text,the teenager who explores most wiIl

A．make no mistakes in his life．

B．have advantages over others.

C．loSe his confidence even his life.

D．experience no failure and live Iongest.

4.What does the writer want to tell us by taking mice for example？

A．young mice try to look for safety.

B．Young mice like to stay with their mothers.

C．Mice also experience a period to explore the world.

D．Mice experience different stages.

5.What may the text discuss in the next part?

A．How call a teenager make right choices

B．Why the parents shouldn’t allow teenagers to smoke

C．What has been discovered in the lab experiment．

D．What really goes on in the teenage brain.

 

The passengers on the subway who caught a glimpse of me may have thought I was strange. In particular a gentleman sitting opposite me was always staring at me, looking at the cheese bread on the floor in front of me and then staring back at me. A passenger probably dropped it by mistake and got off at a previous stop, but the gentleman might not think so. “Next stop, St. Patrick Station” — my stop was quickly coming up. I had a few minutes to either take the cheese bread, which nobody else was claiming, or leave it there.

In those few minutes I felt my pride getting in the way. “What would others on the subway think of me if I took the cheese bread? Would they think that I was poor and hungry? Would they think that I was stealing?” The ignorant thing to do was say “yes” to any of those self-imposed questions. Actually, they were just my own thoughts. Though I would leave the subway, walk a block to my office, get settled at my desk, and sit comfortably in my office for the whole day, I couldn’t get rid of the enormous sense of guilt and regret.

My thoughts once pushed me towards pride and ignorance, but finally I had to admit I was wrong. This missing cheese bread could be a gift for a homeless person who suffered from cold and hunger. So why not overcome a little bit of my pride and pass along so much kindness?

Just as the doors opened at my stop, I grabbed the cheese bread and left the subway. It felt awesome, but I didn’t care if people were looking at me or what they were thinking. Instead of going directly to my office as usual, I walked a few more blocks up to Queen’s park, where I often saw a homeless man sitting outside. I always wanted to give him something, but only today I walked toward him, who wrapped himself in a sleeping bag. I was full of satisfaction, and so did the homeless man, I thought.

1.The gentleman kept staring at the author because _______.

A．he wanted to talk to the author

B．he might think the author dropped the bread

C．the author appeared too nervous

D．the author was going to get off

2.The underlined word “self-imposed” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A．easily obtained

B．strongly supported

C．purposely created

D．completely unaccepted

3.Why did the author grab the cheese bread when he got off?

A．He noticed that no one was looking at him.

B．He didn’t want to see the cheese bread to go to waste.

C．He remembered a homeless man at that very moment.

D．He valued kindness more than his own pride.

 

The passengers on the subway who caught a glimpse of me may have thought I was strange. In particular a gentleman sitting opposite me was always staring at me, looking at the cheese bread on the floor in front of me and then staring back at me. A passenger probably dropped it by mistake and got off at a previous stop, but the gentleman might not think so. “Next stop, St. Patrick Station” — my stop was quickly coming up. I had few minutes to either take the cheese bread, which nobody else was claiming, or left it there.
In those few minutes I felt my pride getting in the way. “What would others on the subway think of me if I took the cheese bread? Would they think that I was poor and hungry? Would they think that I was stealing?” The ignorant thing to do was say “yes” to any of those self-imposed questions. Actually, they were just my own thoughts. Though I would leave the subway, walk a block to my office, get settled at my desk, and sit comfortably in my office for the whole day, I couldn’t get rid of the enormous sense of guilt and regret.
My thoughts once pushed me towards pride and ignorance, but finally I had to admit I was wrong. This missing cheese bread could be a gift for a homeless person who suffered from cold and hunger. So why not overcome a little bit of my pride and pass along so much kindness?
Just as the doors opened at my stop, I grabbed the cheese bread and left the subway. It felt awesome, but I didn’t care if people were looking at me or what they were thinking. Instead of going directly to my office as usual, I walked a few more blocks up to Queen’s park, where I often saw a homeless man sitting outside. I always wanted to give him something, but only today I walked toward him, who wrapped himself in a sleeping bag. I was full of satisfaction, and so did the homeless man, I thought.
【小题1】The gentleman kept staring at the author because _______.

A．he wanted to talk to the author

B．the author appeared too nervous

C．the author was going to get off

D．he might think the author dropped the bread

【小题2】The underlined word “self-imposed” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A．easily obtained	B．deliberately created
C．strongly supported	D．completely unaccepted

【小题3】Why did the author grab the cheese bread when he got off?

A．He noticed that no one was looking at him.

B．He didn’t want to see the cheese bread to go to taste.

C．He valued kindness more than his own pride.

D．He remembered a homeless man at that very moment.