December 21, 2012 marks the completion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar.

Rather than being an end－point, this cycle that is closing is naturally I followed by the start of a new cycle. What this new cycle has in store for humanity is a mystery that has yet to unfold...

The recent 2012 movie serves to alert a targeted 140 million people, in case they too haven't already heard the news. Unfortunately, however, the movie does a disservice because it distorts the message of this ancient prophecy (预言) by associating it with fear and destruction, as described by the movie's global disaster scenario (场景), rather than the themes of transformation and renewal the prophecy is actually based on.

In other words, the global scenario of the 2012 movie is not based on any facts. As Emmerich clarifies，“We only used the fact that the Mayan calendar ends. That gave us the year.” Emmerich said after checking out the range of 2012 books on Amazon, he realized, “...there are so many (theories) that, in a way, you can just create your own.” He shares that “2012” was tacked on as a title to his disaster movie because it is something “people believe” and it made the movie seem more “real.”

Interestingly, Emmerich's underlying motivation for the movie seems to be genuine concern about the course we are all on as modern society. As he states, “I hope we are not ruining our planet. I really believe that, if we keep going and doing what we are doing, we will not be leaving the planet how it should be, for our kids. That has been going on for generations. It just very sad to see and read the news, every day, and see what these people are fighting over. It's like they don't  understand that the clock is ticking.”

6. According to the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar, December 21,2012 is the day on which ________.

A. the world will end with many disasters

B. the old age will end and a new one will begin

C. there will be a world flood

D. the world can survive many disasters

7. Which of the following is TRUE about the movie 2012?

A. It is intended to explore what is in store in the new cycle.

B. It tells us about the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar as it is.

C. It is just based on the director's ideas.

D. It describes the ancient prophecy vividly.

8. What Emmerich says suggests that ________.

A. he is quite concerned about the present situation on the earth

B. he is regretful that people have misunderstood his movie

C. he himself believes what is described in the movie

D. he just wants to attract viewers by the disaster scenario

9. By this passage, the author intends to ________.

A. tell us about what the movie 2012 is all about

B. help the director to promote his film

C. tell us what we should learn from the movie 2012

D. explain whether we can trust the ancient prophecy

10. The underlined word “distort” in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A. change something in a wrong way

B. convey the original meaning

C. describe something clearly

D. give more proof to something

About half American teenagers do not get enough sleep on school nights.They get an average of sixty to ninety minutes less than experts say they need.
One reason for this is biology.Experts say teens are biologically programmed to go to sleep later and wake up later than other age groups.Yet many schools start classes as early as seven in the morning.As a result，many students go to class feeling like sixteen?year?old Danny.He is an active teen— except in the morning.“Getting up in the morning is pretty terrible.I’m just very out of it and tired.Through the first and second period I can hardly stay awake,” he said.
Michael Breus is a psychologist.Teens，he says，need to sleep eight to nine hours or even nine to ten hours a night.He says sleepy teens can experience a form of depression(消沉) that could have big influence on their general well being.It can affect not just their ability in the classroom but also on the sports field and on the road.So what can schools do about sleepy students？The psychologist says one thing they can do is to start classes later in the morning.Studies show that students can improve by a full letter grade in their first and second period classes.
Eric Peterson is the head of St.George’s School in the northeastern state of Rhode Island.He wanted to see if a thirty?minute delay(推迟)would make a difference.It did.He says visits to the health center by tired students decreased by half.Late arrivals to the first period fell by a third.And students reported that they were less sleepy during the day.Eric Peterson knows that changing start times is easier at a small school like his.But he is hopeful that other schools will find a way.
【小题1】What’s the best title for the passage?

第二部分: 阅读理解（共20小题, 每小题2分，满分40分）
第一节请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A    
12-year-old John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan. “I’ve liked trains probably from the day I was born,” he told Good Morning America. “When I was very little,” he said, “my grandpa got me a train model. I would just watch it go round for hours and hours.”
When Robertson finally had the opportunity to ride on a train, he felt great. His journey was so mind-blowing that he couldn’t keep it to himself: he decided to take all his classmates to go on a ride with him. When he found that some of his classmates couldn’t pay the fares, he spent money he had saved by collecting cans (罐子) and bottles and raised more than ＄1,000 for them.
That train was such a happy one that he made it yearly action. “It never gets boring for some reason; it’s just very fun,” he said. “It really lets people get away from their busy life and have fun.”
Every October, Robertson takes a new group of disabled children to ride the train — but now, he has a problem. Several disabled children were refused because the train was not accessible (可用的) to disabled people. “He was angry to think that children of his own age couldn’t ride a train,” his mother said.
But he wouldn’t say no: he recently sent a letter to the train office for help. To his surprise, the leader, Ty Pennington, took the letter seriously. He said that he and his workers would work on making a train accessible to disabled people.
41. The first time John Thomas Robertson took a train, he_______
A. felt extremely happy.           B. was frightened by it.
C. watched it for hours.            D. acted as a driver.
42. John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan, because he _______.
A. was taken on a train the day he was born.
B. his grandpa once worked on the train.
C. took a group of disabled children on board a train.
D. was greatly attracted to trains since early childhood.
43. The underlined word “mind-blowing” can be replaced by “_______”.
A. exciting       B. frightening       C. surprising    D. disappointing
44. The disabled children were refused to get on the train because _______.
A. they couldn’t afford the train tickets
B. Robertson had not saved enough money for tickets
C. the train didn’t have special services for them
D. the workers there would not allow them to do so
45. According to the passage, we can see that Robertson is a(n) _______ child.
A. honest and crazy     B. kind and helpful
C. clever but boring     D. lazy but kind

About half American teenagers do not get enough sleep on school nights.They get an average of sixty to ninety minutes less than experts say they need.

One reason for this is biology.Experts say teens are biologically programmed to go to sleep later and wake up later than other age groups.Yet many schools start classes as early as seven in the morning.As a result，many students go to class feeling like sixteen?year?old Danny.He is an active teen— except in the morning.“Getting up in the morning is pretty terrible.I’m just very out of it and tired.Through the first and second period I can hardly stay awake,” he said.

Michael Breus is a psychologist.Teens，he says，need to sleep eight to nine hours or even nine to ten hours a night.He says sleepy teens can experience a form of depression(消沉) that could have big influence on their general well being.It can affect not just their ability in the classroom but also on the sports field and on the road.So what can schools do about sleepy students？The psychologist says one thing they can do is to start classes later in the morning.Studies show that students can improve by a full letter grade in their first and second period classes.

Eric Peterson is the head of St.George’s School in the northeastern state of Rhode Island.He wanted to see if a thirty?minute delay(推迟)would make a difference.It did.He says visits to the health center by tired students decreased by half.Late arrivals to the first period fell by a third.And students reported that they were less sleepy during the day.Eric Peterson knows that changing start times is easier at a small school like his.But he is hopeful that other schools will find a way.

1.What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Later classes，fewer sleepy teens

B．Early birds have good food

C．Early to bed and early to rise

D．Fewer classes，more happiness

2.The underlined word“this”in the second paragraph refers to________.

A．teenagers’ staying up

B．teenagers’ getting up late

C．teenagers’ not getting enough sleep

D．teenagers’ not studying seriously

3.Michael Breus thinks that________.

A．teens should get up early

B．teens need enough sleep to be lively

C．depression is common in teens

D．the first period class should be cut off

4.The last paragraph tells us________.

A．Eric Peterson visits the health center every day

B．it’s not easy for Eric Peterson to change start times

C．students in St.George’s School can get up later than before

D．students in St.George’s School aren’t late for school any more

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A．Danny is a lazy boy and always late for school.

B．Teens should go to bed early and get up early, too.

C．The psychologist has no idea how to solve the problem.

D．Enough sleep makes a healthy and active student.

　　Rats eat our food or make it so dirty that it isn't fit for people at all. That's why people often kill them by laying down poison. After a day or two, they find the poison still there. The rats haven't touched it, even though it is near the food which they eat. People think they must be clever and cunning. Some scientists have been trying to find the best way to poison rats. They have watched to see just what a rat does day and night. They have found out that rats aren't so clever. They are just very shy.

　　Rats usually live in holes. They run from these holes to the places where they eat and drink. They have special paths on which they travel each time. So they know their paths quite well.

　　If anything new, such as stone or wood, is put in the path, the rats won't go near it at first as they are too frightened. It will take them many days to get over the fear. They are also frightened to go near a place that they know, where something has been taken away. If a path goes around a rock, the rats follow the same path around the rock each time. If the rock is taken away, they will still run round the place where the rock was! They won't cross the empty place, which is now open to them, even though it would be quicker.

　　Rats will always keep away from anything unusual to them. That's why they won't eat poison on the first or second night. They usually won't go anywhere near it for about four days until they get used to being there. Even then they only eat a little at a time.

　　If people want to kill rats with poison, all they have to do is to leave it out for a few days. Once the rats have got used to it, they will eat it and die.

　　1．This passage mainly tells us

　　　　A. how a rat destroys our food

　　　　B. how to poison a rat

　　　　C. what's a rat's habit

　　　　D. poisoning a rat is not easy

　　2．How does the writer feel about rats?

　　　　A. They are clever and cunning.

　　　　B. They are the most dangerous enemy.

　　　　C. They are smart and shy.

　　　　D. It's easy for them to get close to an unknown object.

　　3．________ rats have special paths to travel each time.

　　　　A. Because they live in holes most of the time

　　　　B. To find more food to eat and water to drink

　　　　C. In order not to eat anything poisonous

　　　　D. To protect themselves

　　4．If you want to kill a rat, ________.

　　　　A. you should make it get used to the poison

　　　　B. you should drive it out of the hole

　　　　C. you should place a rock on the path along which it runs

　　　　D. you should make it get over the fear to cross the empty place