What’s your idea about success? Some people say that beginners have all the luck, while others believe that success    1 only with practice. In fact, I feel both of these statements (陈述) are not true all the time. Each is true in some ways    2   not in others.
For example, I went to a drawing competition many years ago and   3   surprisingly. As a prize, I got a film ticket to see “Titanic”. I was really   4  because it was the first time I had taken part in any competition, Thinking that I might be lucky again, I  5  joining in other art competitions, But the result was that I   6  won again. I accepted the fact that the other people had a  7  artistic ability than I did. Art was not something I was especially interested in and I had never practiced the different art skills. So, the  8 I produced were not of a very high standard(水平).
These experiences taught me a lot. Though I might have been lucky  9 , I also need to put in hard work. As we know,  10 makes perfect. So I believe success builds on less luck and chance.

A policeman was sitting in his car on the side of Highway 25, hoping to catch  speeders．After a while，a car full of elderly women slowly rolled by. The policeman  realized that the slow—moving car was a danger to other drivers on the highway, so he decided to ask them to pulled up．After the car had stopped on the side of road, the policeman got out and came to the car to speak to the drive. He said, “The speed  limit(限制)on this highway is fifty-five miles per hour．Why are you driving so slowly?” “Well，officer，I’ve seen a lot of signs on this highway that say‘ twenty- five’ not‘fifty—five'，”the old woman politely replied．

“Ma'am．”the officer told the driver．“those aren’t speed mean that you are driving on Highway 25．”

 “Oh，silly me．I didn't know．I'm sorry，officer．I'll be more carefully in the future .”she replied．

Then the police officer looked in the backseat of the car．He noticed that the elderly passengers looked frightened and were shaking with fear. The officer asked the driver，“What，s wrong with them? They 1ook like they ’ve been frightened to death by something.”

    The driver replied，“0h，they’ll  be all right in a minute．You see, we just got off Highway 120．”

1．The policeman stopped the car because the car was______.

    A．running too slowly         B．running too fast

    C．over crowded(过分拥挤)     D．full of elderly people

2．The driver is _________ ．

    A．a young man       B．an old man

    C．a girl            D．an old lady

3．If you drive on Highway 25，you should drive ________ miles per hour.

  A．at most 25         B．at most 55

  C．at least 120       D．at most 120

4．The passage hints(暗示)that _________.

  A．the Highway 1 20 is frightening

B．you can drive at any speed 0n highways as long as you don’t break the limit 55

C．the driver adjusted(调整)the driving speed by the number of the highways

D．the driver of the car understands the signs 0n the highway very well

It's time for school! But on May 14th, 170 students at Duncanville High School in Texas, US, were told to go back home.Why? Because they were wearing the wrong clothes to school. Schools in the US don't always ask students to wear uniforms. But they have dress codes(着装要求). For example, Duncanville High School tells students to wear belts, shirts without logos （标识）.Schools' most-hated clothes are different.
In 2011, the saggy ( 松 垮 的 ) trousers law was passed in Florida. It stops students from wearing trousers that show body parts.
Now, "the favourite new target ( 目 标 ) of the school dress code" is leggings( 紧 身 裤 ), reported the Associated Press. Some schools don't allow leggings. Other schools ask students to wear a shirt or a skirt over leggings.
Some students complain  (抱怨)   that schools are going too far. But schools say dress codes help protect students' safety and make sure they grow up with good taste."We want to teach them that they must meet the expectations (期望) not only here in school, but also outside school," said Andre Smith.
【小题1】What happened to 170 students at Duncanville High School on May 14th?

Sorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the young age of 30. It used to be thought that this couldn't be helped, but new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to work faster. "Your brain is a learning machine," says University of California scientist Dr. Michael Merzenich. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that's required is the practice designed just for the purpose: a few exercises for the mind.

Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to speed up the process（过程） in which the brain deals with information (positscience.com). Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to better speed and accuracy （准确性）.Over the course of training, the program starts asking you to tell sounds (between "dog" and "bog", for example) at an increasingly faster speed. It's a bit like tennis instructor, says Merzenich, hitting balls at you faster and faster to keep you challenged. You may start out slow, but before long you're pretty quick.

The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly plastic. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may even speed up while in the process. To keep your brain young and plastic you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you：playing table tennis or bridge, doing crossword puzzles, learning a language.... "When it comes to preventing ageing, you really do 'use it or lose it'," says Barbara Sahakian, professor at Cambridge University.

51. According to the new studies, what will happen to our brains?

A. They will not start slowing down until the age of 30

B. They will start working slowly after the age of 30

C. They can work as well as at a young age through certain exercises

D. They can not be improved once they start to slow down

52. The writer mentioned many ways to speed up your brain, EXCEPT_____

A. doing a million new activities　　

B. sleeping as much as possible　

C. playing some intelligent games

D. playing table tennis

53. What can we learn from the text?

A. Using right tools is important for brains’ work.　　

B. Brain research deals with information from the Internet　

C. Dr. Merzenich is a scientist in computer,

D. Many activities can keep our brains young.

54. Which of the following agrees with the writer’s idea?

A. The train methods work better for the old.

B. People should train the brain to stop it from aging.

C. The training of the brain should start at an early age.

D. It is necessary to take part in as many activities as possible.

55. Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A. If you are 71 years old, your brain is too old to train.

B. You can eat the food to keep your brain young and plastic.

C. Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to train brains.

D. You will feel younger when you train your brain.

Whenever there's a terrible storm, there are plenty of sad stories. Many people lost their houses, their cars and their pets. But sometimes these stories have happy endings too.
A family in New Jersey, US, had a cat named Vivien. She is very smart. She could even draw with her wet paws on the floor. They all love her very much. When hurricane (飓风) Sandy hit America in October, they moved to a safer place-13km away from home. Sadly Vivien went missing. The whole family were worried about her. They put up posters on the Internet to look for her. All the nine family members searched wherever they thought she could stay, but they didn't find it. The family thought Vivien was gone forever.
But six months later, Vivien showed up at their house, according to Yahoo News. They considered her return as a wonder. No one can be sure where Vivien was for all that time.
Many animals are good at finding their way home. People usually say that dogs and cats find their way home through using their sense of smell.
But that doesn't explain how Vivien found her way back. Hurricane Sandy blew away the normal smells of home.
"I wish she could talk," said her owner.
【小题1】From the passage we know Sandy is a