“Hey, little boy, will you support me when I’m getting old?” Wang Wenshan, 35, asked his newborn baby as he picked him up at home.
The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly growing economy and improving standard of living. As is the case with more and more developed countries, China faces an aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore, many Chinese families are falling into a 4－2－1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize that a problem is likely to happen ahead.
The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. Not long ago, the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a white paper on measures China is taking to help its elderly population. The paper said China’s population entered the aging period at the end of the 20^th century and the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of population, according to the white paper.
An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.
“I used to think that it’s not an issue for me to provide for the aged,” said Wang, whose parents and parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Wang’s father suffered a serious illness and afterward Wang began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.
After his father recovered, Wang opened bank accounts for each parent and deposited some money into the account every month to prepare for future uncertainties. In addition, he has to save money every month to provide for his son’s future education. “I’m now breaking my back working to support my family: saving pensions for the parents, my son’s education funds, and living costs.”
Wang also bought some commercial old-age insurance for himself. “We have to take precautions before it is too late, and many of my colleagues share the same view,” he said.
小題1: Which of the following is not caused by an aging society?

A．Social problem

B．The problem of the pension system

C．More pressure on the family

D．Unemployment

小題2:From the passage, we can infer _______

A．the aging people problem is one of the concerns for the Chinese government

B．China will encourage young couples to have more than one child

C．many people have realized the problem of aging society

D．children will not support their parents in an aging society

小題3:Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined word inevitably?

A．Surprisingly

B．Certainly

C．Hopefully

D．Unluckily

小題4:Form the text we can see that _______

A．China is the only country to face an aging society

B．Most of the developing countries face an aging society

C．countries with a large population face an aging society

D．more and more developed countries face an aging society

Could the Internet be totally free and should it be? Should the Internet be regulated? The recent disorder in the Arab world ____ by a disputed (有爭議的) video damaging the image of Prophet (先知) Muhammad shows the United States, which is busy ____ global Internet freedom, has paid a huge price ____ the lives of its diplomats.
In an unregulated Internet world, cheating, violence or rumors can ____ serious consequences. Many countries across the world are periodically suffering from “rumors” ____ by the Internet and social media.
The US-led West always promotes Internet freedom and ____ any regulation as investigation, but it should think twice if it calculates the heavy price that has been and has to be paid for “____”. Moreover, ____ the Internet in the West ____ to be free, with no obvious ____ and no limited sites, isn’t the structure of the main pages already hand-controlled, with selected press agencies and ____ occupying clearly dominating (顯著的) positions?
The Internet has helped fight injustice, ____ corruption in places so far apart as Indonesia, India and Latin America. But the Internet could be extremely ____ as well. Various racist or separatist organizations are using their Internet sites to fan ____. Those who are spreading hate are frequently using the Internet as their tool. No country can ____ to make the Internet absolutely free.
The question is how to keep free flow of information ____ while protecting children from unhealthy works, common citizens from ____ rumors and countries from unfair and damaging propaganda (宣傳) attacks. And who sets the limits?
The ____ is that there will never be a perfect system. Every country will have to ____ its own system, based on its culture, social ____ and the degree of danger it’s facing.

小題1:	A．led B．caused C．damaged D．a(chǎn)ttacked

小題2:	A．helping B．processing C．promoting D．improving

小題3:	A．for B．a(chǎn)t C．with D．off

小題4:	A．bring B．reach C．fetch D．take

小題5:	A．spread B．exposed C．delivered D．passed

小題6:	A．supports B．follows C．opposes D．dislikes

小題7:	A．free B．a(chǎn)ccessible C．a(chǎn)vailable D．healthy

小題8:	A．a(chǎn)s if B．even if C．so that D．in that

小題9:	A．happens B．intends C．offers D．a(chǎn)ppears

小題10:

A．interruption B．interference C．defence D．preference

小題11:

A．programs B．substances C．channels D．sources

小題12:

A．uncover B．strike C．prevent D．a(chǎn)void

小題13:

A．beneficial B．useful C．sensitive D．destructive

小題14:

A．expressions B．impressions C．passions D．a(chǎn)ffections

小題15:

A．refuse B．a(chǎn)fford C．fail D．a(chǎn)ttempt

小題16:

A．unpolluted B．unskilled C．unoccupied D．uninterrupted

小題17:

A．evil B．meaningful C．untrue D．effective

小題18:

A．importance B．conclusion C．description D．possibility

小題19:

A．develop B．invent C．change D．study

小題20:

A．trends B．structure C．surroundings D．factors

In some urban centers, workaholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual．They accept the lifestyle as normal．Government workers in Washington D．C．, for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week．They do this because they have to; they do it because they want to．
Workaholism can be a serious problem．Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don't know
how to relax; that is, they might not enjoy movies, sports, or other
types of entertainment．Most of all, they hate to sit and do nothing．The lives of workaholics are usually stressful, and this tension and worry can cause health problems such as heart attacks or stomach ulcers．In addition, typical workaholics don't pay much attention to their
families．They spend little time with their children, and their marriages may end in divorce．
Is workaholism always dangerous? Perhaps not．There are, certainly, people who work well under stress．Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life．Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy．For most workaholics, work and entertainment are the same thing．Their jobs provide them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative．
Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work．It provides people with paychecks, and this is important．But it offers more than financial security It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they have produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say," I made that．" Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity; by working, they get a sense of self and individualism．In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others．
小題1:A workaholic is a person who____．

A．tends to work long hours

B．behaves in a strange way

C．has to do many social jobs

D．holds high social positions

小題2:What can be the problem of workaholism?

A．Being late．

B．Being lazy．

C．Being hopeless．

D．Being unhealthy．

小題3:According to some studies, most workaholics           .

A．live a hard life

B．regard work as something enjoyable

C．like to be under stress

D．a(chǎn)re good at both work and entertainment

小題4:What are the advantages one can get by working according to the text?
a． popularity      b． satisfaction      c． good payment
d． self-confidence  e． higher positions  f． social acceptation 

A．a(chǎn); b; d; e

B．b; c; e; f

C．a(chǎn); c; d; f

D．b; c; d; f

Men and women are still treated unequally in the workplace. Women continue to earn less, on average, for the same performance. Research has shown that both conscious(有意識的) and subconscious biases (偏見) contribute to this problem. But we’ve discovered another source of inequality: Women often don’t get what they want and deserve because they don’t ask for it. In three separate studies, we found that men are more likely than women to negotiate for what they want.
The first study found that the starting salaries of male MBAs who had recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon were 7.6%, or almost $4,000, higher on average than those of female MBAs from the same program. That’s because most of the women had simply accepted the employer’s salary offer; in fact, only 7% had attempted to negotiate. But 57% of their male counterparts--or eight times as many men as women—had asked for more.
Another study tested this gender difference in the lab. Subjects were told that they would be observed playing a word game and that they would be paid between $3 and $10 for playing. After each subject completed the task, an experimenter thanked the participant and said, “Here’s $3. Is $3 OK?” For the men, it was not OK, and they said so. Their requests for more money are nine times as many as the women’s.
The largest of the three studies surveyed several hundred people over the Internet, asking them about the most recent negotiations they’d attempted or started and when they expected to negotiate next. The study showed that men place themselves in negotiation situations much more often than women do.
There are several reasons accounting for the phenomenon. First, women often are taught from an early age not to promote their own interests and to focus instead on the needs of others. The messages girls receive—from parents, teachers, other children, the media, and society in general—can be so powerful that when they grow up they may not realize that they’ve made this behavior part of them, or they may realize it but not understand how it affects their willingness to negotiate. Women tend to think that they will be recognized and rewarded for working hard and doing a good job. Unlike men, they haven’t been taught that they can ask for more.
小題1:According to this passage, what causes the inequality in the workplace?

A．social bias

B．women’s poorer working ability

C．women’s worse academic background

D．women’s less negotiating

小題2:Which can be the result of the following survey, according to Para 4?
 
When do you expect to negotiate next?
小題3:Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Women are more likely to accept the employer’s salary offer.

B．Men tend to ask for more money than woman.

C．Women care more about other’s interest instead of themselves’.

D．Men believe that the better they work, the better they’re paid.

小題4:What will be discussed in the following paragraph?

A．The suggestions given to women.

B．The warnings to men.

C．Another reason for women’s not asking.

D．Another reason for men’s asking.

WHEN there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PLOS One, people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces. Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry. The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling.
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments.
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking.
The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest. However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted.
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them. Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted.
The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices. They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces.
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts (本能) about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them. The temptation (誘惑) to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.”
小題1:Which of the following can be a proper title for this passage?

A．What kind of face do you trust?

B．Who did the experiments?

C．Why do you trust him or her?

D．Why did they do the experiments?

小題2:According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?

A．A sad face.	B．A smiling face.
C．A crying face.	D．An angry face.

小題3:Which of the following about the experiment is TRUE?

A．The trustworthy faces were given good information.

B．Researchers took photos of the 40 people’s faces in college.

C．Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces.

D．Participants liked to choose the faces with good information.

小題4:What did the researchers learn from their experiment?

A．People can’t refuse temptations.

B．People always do things with their instincts.

C．People often judge strangers by their faces.

D．People don’t trust strangers with sad faces.

A new study suggests that sad music might actually arouse positive emotions. The finding helps to explain why people enjoy listening to sad music, say Ai Kawakami and her colleagues from Tokyo University of the Arts and the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan. Ai Kawakami and her colleagues asked 44 volunteers, including both musicians and nonspecialists, to listen to two pieces of sad music and one piece of happy music. Each participant was required to use a set of keywords to rate both their perception(觀念) of the music and their own emotional state.
The sad pieces of music included Glinka’s La Separation in F minor and Blumenfeld’s Etude Sur Mer in G minor. The happy music piece was Granados’s Allegro de Concierto in G major. To control the “happy” effect of major key, they also played the minor key(小調(diào)) pieces in major key, and vise versa.
The researchers explained that sad music aroused contradictory emotions because the participants of the study tended to feel sad to be more tragic and less romantic than they felt themselves while listening to it.
“ In general, sad music causes sadness in listeners, and sadness is regarded as an unpleasant emotion. If sad music actually arouses only unpleasant emotion, we would not listen to it,” the researchers wrote in the study.
“Music that is believed as sad actually causes romantic emotion as well as sad emotion.And people, regardless of their musical training, experience this ambivalent(矛盾的) emotion to listen to the sad music,” added the researchers.
Also, unlike sadness in daily life, sadness experienced through art actually feels pleasant, possibly because the latter does not cause an actual threat to our safety. This could help people to deal with their negative emotions in daily life, concluded the authors.
“Emotion experienced by music has no direct danger or harm unlike the emotion experienced in everyday life. Therefore, we can even enjoy unpleasant emotion such as sadness. If we suffer from unpleasant emotion aroused through daily life, sad music might be helpful to alleviate negative emotion,” they added.
小題1: People enjoy listening to sad music because _______.

A．sad music may help arouse positive emotions

B．sad music can make people relax

C．Sad music has a positive effect on people’s health

D．many experts recommend people to listen to sad music

小題2:We can learn from the passage that _______.

A．sad music only causes sadness in listeners

B．Only musicians were invited to take part in the survey

C．The volunteers were asked to listen to three pieces of music in all

D．Granados’s Allegro de Concierto in G major can cause positive emotions

小題3:The underlined word “alleviate” in the last paragraph means “         ”.

A．a(chǎn)dd

B．strengthen

C．cause

D．reduce

小題4:What is the main idea of this passage?

A．People should listen to sad music.

B．Happy music can make people sad.

C．Sad music may actually cause positive emotions.

D．Sad music is really bad to people.

Recently the busiest person on the Internet is absolutely Yuanfang, a fictional figure from the Chinese TV series “Detective Di Renjie”. In the TV series, Li was often asked by Di, “How do you see it, Yuanfang?” Then, the dialogues between them help advance the plot. Now, the casual pet phrase is used as many as 2.5 million times by netizens in a single day, according to statistics.
In fact, it is not the first popular sentence pattern on the Internet. Many other types of popular network words include those evolved from “the slogans of Vancl(凡客網(wǎng))” and actor’s lines of “The Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan”.
The explosive spread of the sentence “How do you see it, Yuanfang?” again proved the vast power of the network spread. The appearance of a buzzword(流行詞) on the Internet may be coincidental, but the spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social and cultural phenomenon. It is more noticeable that the spread is not a deliberate choice but by chance. Usually, everyone has known about it, except the one concerned.
The appearance of buzzwords is resulting from the agreement of netizens. If something is new and interesting enough, it will cause public attention.
The rise of these buzzwords also benefits from their strong “adhesive(粘著的) force”. After analyzing these buzzwords, we find that they have a common character, namely “novel in structure but empty in content”. Therefore, any concrete contents can be added in these buzzwords, creating fantastic results.
Taking the “Yuanfang-style” as an example, its popularity displayed a social mentality of questioning. Although it seems a little funny to ask “Yuanfang”, a fictional character, and some people even find it boring. This way of asking a question reveals a valuable quality-listening. The Internet provides a space for everyone to express their views, but it also causes controversies. What’s your opinion, Yuanfang?
小題1:We can learn from the passage that Yuanfang        .

A．is the busiest person in modern industrial societies

B．plays an important role in a Chinese TV series

C．is a fictional figure currently popular with netizens

D．starts a social and cultural phenomenon by himself

小題2:What does the underlined words “a deliberate choice” in Paragraph3 mean?

A．a(chǎn) choice made on purpose	B．a(chǎn) choice made by accident
C．a(chǎn) choice done in person	D．a(chǎn) choice done at ease

小題3:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The dialogues between Di Renjie and Yuanfang help understand the network buzzwords.

B．The “Yuanfang-style” suggests once again that the power of the network spread is quite vast.

C．The spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social development of structure and content.

D．The result of the netizens’ agreement directly leads to the rise of some socially strong problems.

小題4:What can we infer from the last passage?

A．People benefited from the Internet on which they can learn a lot about real society.

B．People learned about some controversies from the Internet and decided to deal with them.

C．People provided a space through which they can display their own criminal mentality.

D．People found out a place where they can question and express their different views.

Should students do the grading?
The Supreme Court says the practice doesn’t violate(侵犯) a student’s right to privacy, but is it right for students to grade one another?
Walter Potenza, California
The Supreme Court was absolutely correct to say it’s OK for students to grade one another’s homework, quizzes, and tests: in fact, it’s a great idea.
By grading one another’s papers and seeing the problems their classmates have, students double their exposure(暴露) to the troubles that they may meet on future exams and tests. Grading one another’s papers may be one of the best ways for students to reinforce within themselves the ways to master the most difficult parts of what they are learning.
Teachers are underappreciated and underpaid for the number of hours they have to work to be able to teach really well. Grading all their students’ papers can take hours. Some of that time and energy can be saved by spending a few minutes in class, while providing an extremely valuable learning experience.
I understand that some individuals are sensitive to their classmates seeing their work or grades. Any good teacher would be considerate of students who don’t want their classmates to grade their assignments.
Winston Smith, North Carolina
A girl moves back as her classmate announces her failing test grade and hands her the paper. The quiet classroom heats up.
With the increase in student grading over the past few years, scenes like this have become a bitter reality in schools across the nation. Teachers and schools should not advocate student grading and public announcement of grades because it provides a violation of privacy for students and causes unfair judgments and treatment by their classmates.
Since 1974, a law known as the Buckley Amendment has forbidden the release of education records in order to protect the privacy of students and their families. I strongly disagree with the Court’s ruling that this law does not include student grading.
I can think of no greater violation of privacy than the exposure of one’s personal information to a group of peers(同齡人). This can be very embarrassing. Releasing this sort of personal information should be avoided, especially by institutions that seek to provide a supportive environment during essential years of human development.
小題1:The underlined word “reinforce” has the same meaning as “_________”.

A．change

B．imagine

C．strengthen

D．create

小題2:Walter Potenza suggests that ______________.

A．teachers should set aside some time to grade students’ papers

B．the Supreme Court should do more research on students grading

C．teachers should guide students on how to grade homework

D．teachers should be careful not to hurt those sensitive students

小題3:By mentioning the example of a girl, Winston Smith wants to ____________.

A．show her weak points

B．criticize the student grader

C．tell us she is not a good student

D．present the negative effect of student grading

小題4:What does Winston Smith seem to agree?

A．Student grading is not related to families’ privacy.

B．The Supreme Court should change its decision.

C．The Buckley Amendment doesn’t apply to student grading.

D．Student grading is OK, but not public announcement of grades.

Tears came into this mother’s eyes when she talked about waking up her son. Every morning, her ten-year-old boy puts up one finger with his eyes still closed, begging for one more minute to sleep.
Why is he so sleepy? Because, like thousands of student “early birds” in China, he has to get up before 6 a.m. every morning.
School students usually need eight to ten hours’ sleep a night. But in Shanghai, it’s reported that 90% of the students do not get enough sleep. And studies show that without a good night’s sleep, students seem to be weaker than they should be. Many become near-sighted as a result.
Li Ming, a student at Qinghua High School, said that he usually goes to bed after 11 p.m. But when he has exams coming up, he can stay up as late as midnight. This “night bird” lifestyle has made many students nod off in class. Li Ming said that it is during afternoon classes that he feel most sleepy. “My parents are usually happy to see me studying so late,” he said. “They think I work very hard and they make me cups of coffee.”
However, not all parents are happy about this. “My daughter gets up so early. She looks tired and it really hurts me.” said one of the parents. Why don’t so many students get enough sleep? Now many members of society began to think about it.
小題1:Why did the ten-year-old boy’s mother talk about waking up her son with tears in her eyes?

A．Because her son’s lack of sleep hurt her but she had to wake him up.

B．Because her son wasn’t good at lessons.

C．Because she thought her son was too lazy.

D．Because her son was badly ill.

小題2:Which is NOT the result of lack of sleep?

A．The body’s weakness.	B．Nodding off in class.
C．Near-sighted eyes.	D．Poor academic developments.

小題3:How does Li Ming’s mother feel to see him studying late?

A．Sorry.

B．Worried.

C．Not unhappy.

D．Angry.

小題4:Which one is True according to the passage?

A．All the parents hope their children stay up.

B．No students complain about their lack of sleep.

C．Most students watch TV or play computer games deep into night.

D．Some parents are worried about the fact that most of the students don’t have enough sleep.

Alcohol is often taken as a symbol of a special celebration or as a sign of friendship. So it is       to see people toasting with a large glass of alcohol to the health or fortune. Unfortunately, every year, alcohol also ruins thousands of lives and destroys many happy families.
Some people drink alcohol to     their tension or pain. They mistakenly think that through drinking, they can     from their problems and worries. But it is never a    . During those hours of drinking, alcohol only numbs their senses and makes them forget their worries. However, when they wake up, their problems are still unsolved.
A     alcohol drinker is running the great risks of getting heart diseases and liver failure. Too much alcohol taken into the body system, death will     occur. Alcohol also affects unborn babies disastrously. Those pregnant mothers with     alcohol in their blood system risk causing their unborn babies to suffer from defects (缺陷) at birth.    , babies are innocent victims due to their mothers’ mistakes. Therefore they should be extremely cautious of any alcohol and it is better to     all drinking during pregnancy.
Drunken driving is one of the worst     of alcohol abuse. Every year, many lives are lost due to    driving on roads and highways. A drunk driver cannot see and judge the distance clearly and will find it difficult to control his vision and     on the road, so he fails to control over his reflexes. That is how accidents occur. Not only does he hurt himself but also other innocent road users.

小題1:	A．normal B．ideal C．common D．regular

小題2:	A．increase B．create C．produce D．relieve

小題3:	A．differ B．escape C．solve D．cancel

小題4:	A．solution B．success C．fact D．decision

小題5:	A．social B．a(chǎn)ddicted C．heavy D．light

小題6:	A．seldom B．hardly C．eventually D．strongly

小題7:	A．proper B．excessive C．little D．no

小題8:	A．After all B．Above all C．First of all D．All in all

小題9:	A．run out B．leave out C．carry out D．cut out

小題10:

A．reasons B．effects C．causes D．examples

小題11:

A．normal B．careless C．dangerous D．drunken

小題12:

A．judgment B．patience C．emotion D．imagination