--- I am really struck by your spoken English. You speak so fluently. Have you been abroad?

---Yes. I ______ in London for two years.

A. have stayed B. stayed

C. had stayed D. have been staying

China made a commitment to the world in the Copenhagen Summit that by 2020, the carbon-intensity of its economy ______ fall 40% to 45%.

A. shall B. may C. must D. should

--- The film we saw last week is very romantic.

--- ___ I did not think it romantic at all.

A. With all due respect B. I beg to differ

C. As predicted D. I can’t agree with you more

I take the firm position that parents do not owe their children a college education. If they can it, they will certainly send them to the best universities. But they need not feel if they can’t. If the children really want to go, they’ll find a . There are plenty of loans and scholarships for the bright and ones who can’t afford to pay.

When children grow up and want to , their parents do not owe them a down payment on a house. They do not have the to baby-sit their grandchildren. If they want to do it, it must be considered a not an obligation (責(zé)任，義務(wù)).

Do parents owe their children anything? Yes, they owe them a great deal.

One of their obligations is to give their children a personal . A child who is constantly made to feel stupid and unworthy, constantly to brighter brothers, sisters, or cousins will become so , so afraid of failing that he (or she) won’t try at all. Of course they should be corrected when they do wrong, but it’s often better to let children learn their mistakes by themselves . All our parents should do is to trust them, respect them, tolerate (寬容) them and give them chances to try and fail. They must learn to stand . When criticisms (批評(píng)) are really needed, they should be with praises, with a smile and a kiss. That is the way children learn.

Parents owe their children a set of solid values around to build their lives. This means teaching them to the rights and opinions of others; it means being respectful to elders, to teachers, and to the law. The best way to teach such values is by deed and ________. A child who is lied to will . A child who sees no laughter and no love in the home will have difficulty laughing and loving.

No child asks to be . If you bring a life into the world, you owe the child .

1.A. find B. afford C. get D. accept

2.A. disappointed B. unhappy C. guilty D. dissatisfied

3.A. supply B. hope C. way D. hand

4.A. healthy B. honest C. eager D. wealthy

5.A. get a job B. get married C. go abroad D. live alone

6.A. time B. duty C. right D. energy

7.A. service B. pleasure C. habit D. favor

8.A. affair B. value C. belief D. ability

9.A. compared B. brought C. forced D. taken

10.A. unusual B. unsure C. unknown D. unfair

11.A. gently B. properly C. nearly D. possibly

12.A. in time B. now and then C. at once D. right now

13.A. honor B. failure C. progress D. test

14.A. mixed B. included C. balanced D. shared

15.A. it B. which C. whom D. what

16.A. consider B. refuse C. follow D. respect

17.A. blame B. experience C. example D. lesson

18.A. lie B. win C. lose D. cry

19.A. praised B. born C. alone D. poor

20.A. everything B. nothing C. anything D. something

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle: "No pain, no gain". He hardly watered his new trees, an attitude which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water.

So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he'd beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.

Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some 25 years ago. They were tall and strong.

I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb's trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to encounter hardship. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.

1.With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs often______.

A. kept watering them every morning

B. talked to them to get their attention

C. paid little attention to them

D. beat them to make them grow deep roots

2.What does the underlined word "Adversity" mean in the sixth paragraph?

A. Difficult living conditions.

B. Lack of moisture.

C. Enough care or attention.

D. Bad weather.

3.Which prayer does the author wish for his sons?

A. Have an easy life, without too much to worry about.

B. Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives.

C. Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life.

D. Meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future.

The power of humor and laughter is numerous. They entertain us and make us feel good. But, above all, we have discovered that humor and laughter are the best medicine. They relieve pain, reduce stress and anxiety, and are anti-aging and longevity facilitators.

They are extremely necessary for helping us to find and maintain a balance between life and work. However, they are slipping away from us. We have become far too serious. The only ones who still enjoy humor, laughter, fun and play to the fullest are young children. Children tend to laugh an average of 200 times a day. For adults, however, it is a totally different story.

In the 1950s people laughed on average 18 times a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 times a day.

As a matter of fact, a recent study found that people laugh 6 more times in the presence of one person but 30 more times in a group of people. You can get a chuckle(咯咯笑) from jokes you get on the Internet, but it is not the same as belly jiggling laughter (a deep laugh) you get when you interact with others.

Socializing with friends and relatives was much looked forward to. However, this is no longer the case. In fact, the majority of people can hardly find time, nor do they have the inclination towards socializing outside home. They turn to electronic media such as television, computers, the Internet, videos, CDs, and audio equipment, which can provide them with instant self-entertainment at the push of a button.

The workplace does not fare(進(jìn)展) much better. Due to the pressures to produce more in the same or fewer hours available and to compete, for example, in a manufacturing field with cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, humor and laughter in the workplace have gradually eroded（逐漸毀壞） away.

I have developed a real appreciation, perhaps closer to a strong desire for the power of humor and laughter. This encouraged me to write my first book titled “The Power of Humor” and subsequently my second book titled “Kids Say the Goggonest Things” based on the natural humor, laughter, play and fun that kids experience and they freely share with parents, grandparents and teachers.

From writing about humor and laughter, people start to ask me to speak up for them. To date, I have developed a number of humor-laughter topics that I use in my keynote presentations. You are invited to subscribe to my free monthly e-magazine “The Humormeister’s Forum” by clicking on the Free Humor E-zine navigation button on the website.

1.According to the author, laughter is leaving us partly because ________.

A. we treat everything in a serious way

B. it relieves pain, reduces stress and anxiety

C. we fail to maintain balance between life and work

D. the pace of change in our lives is becoming faster

2.The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

A. getting a deep laugh nowadays is difficult

B. we can entertain ourselves with the help of the Internet

C. people laugh more heartily when spending time with others

D. researchers have made a new discovery about the effect of laughter

3.The underlined word ?inclination? in Paragraph 5 most probably means ?________?.

A. destination B. tendency

C. attitude D. approach

4.Which of the following articles can we most probably find in ?The Humormeister?s Forum??

A. The power of honesty.

B. Don?t be your own worst enemy.

C. Live life purposefully: The relationship within.

D. Funny Christmas stories to share with your loved ones.

Conventional wisdom says that hardship can make us old before our time. In fact, a new study suggests that violence not only leaves long-term scars on children?s bodies, but also changes their DNA, causing changes that are equal to seven to ten years of premature aging.

Scientists measured this by studying the ends of children?s chromosomes(染色體), called telomeres, says Idan Shalev, lead author of a study published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Telomeres are special DNA sequences which prevent the DNA in chromosomes from separating. They get shorter each time a cell divides, until a cell cannot divide any more and dies.

Several factors have been found to shorten telomeres, including smoking, radiation and psychological stresses such as being treated badly when young and taking care of a chronically ill person.

In this study, researchers examined whether exposure to violence could make children’s telomeres shorten faster than normal. They interviewed the mothers of 236 children at ages 5, 7 and 10, asking whether the youngsters had been exposed to domestic violence between the mother and her partner; physical maltreatment by an adult; or bullying. Researchers measured the children’s telomeres—in cells obtained by swabbing the insides of their cheeks—at ages 5 and 10.

Telomeres shortened faster in kids exposed to two or more types of violence, says Shalev. Unless that pattern changes, the study suggests, these kids could be expected to develop diseases of aging, such as heart attacks or memory loss, seven to 10 years earlier than their peers.

Shalev says there is hope for these kids. His study found that, in rare cases, telomeres can lengthen. Better nutrition, exercise and stress reduction are three things that may be able to lengthen telomeres, he says.

The study confirms a small ­but­ growing number of studies suggesting that early childhood adversity imprints itself in our chromosomes, says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

1.The new study found that ________.

A. hardship can change a child?s aging

B. violence leaves scars on a child?s mind

C. violence can speed up a child?s aging

D. hardship has a long ­term effect on a child?s mind

2.According to the text, telomeres ________.

A. are at the ends of people?s chromosomes

B. can help prevent DNA from separating

C. can make a cell die quickly

D. become shorter before they die

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. Violence can cause quick cell division in children?s body.

B. Researchers measured the children?s telomeres from their legs in the study.

C. Being treated badly will make a child?s telomeres shorten faster.

D. Children who have shorter telomeres may have a heart attack earlier.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. Violence Aging Children?s DNA

B. Children?s Changing DNA Patterns

C. Violence and Telomeres

D. The Function of Telomeres

This is an excerpt from Emma Watson?s speech at the United Nations headquarters.

Today we are launching a campaign（called "He For She"）. I am reaching out to you because we need your help. We want to end gender inequality, and to do this, we need everyone involved. This is the first campaign of this kind in the UN. We want to try to involve as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change.

I started questioning gender-based assumption a long time ago. When I was 8, I was confused being called bossy because I wanted to direct a play that we put on for our parents, but the boys were not. When I was 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media. At 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of a lot of sports teams because they didn’t want to appear masculine. At 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

I decided that I was a feminist. This seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminists. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one? I’m from Britain and I think it is right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men.

But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. These rights, I considered to be human rights, but I am one of the lucky ones.

My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume that I would end up nowhere because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of those.

Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend you a formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too. Because to date, I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it will make them less of a man, or less of men. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality, either. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive, both men and women should be free to be strong. This is what "He For She" is about. It’s about freedom.

You might be thinking: who is this Harry Potter girl? What is she doing at the UN? I’ve been asking myself at the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem and I want to make it better. And having seen what I’ve seen and given the chance, I feel my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said all that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.

In my nervousness for this speech and in my moment of doubt, I told myself firmly: If not me, who? If not now, when? If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you, I hope those words would be helpful. Because the reality is that if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me it will be nearly 100 before women can be expected to be paid as same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the 16 years as children. At current rate, it will be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have secondary education. We are struggling for a uniting world, but the good news is we have a uniting movement. It is called “He For She”. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself: if not me, who? If not now, when?

Thank you.

1.The campaign “He For She” aims to ________.

A. give women more freedom than men

B. give men more freedom than women

C. involve everyone to struggle for the end of gender inequality

D. involve as many men and boys as possible to live a free life.

2.We can know from Emma Watson’s personal experience that _________.

A. feminism has become an unpopular word

B. her parents didn’t love her because she was born a daughter

C. she was called bossy because she didn’t want to appear masculine

D. her mentors treated her the same way they treated boy students.

3.What does the underlined sentence mean?

A. Good men and women doing nothing leads to evil forces to develop.

B. Good men and women need to do nothing to defeat evil forces.

C. The victory of evil force leads to good men and women doing nothing.

D. It is necessary for good men and women do nothing to combat evil forces.

4.In the speech, Emma calls on people to ________.

A. participate in the campaign actively and take actions

B. admit that men and women should be equally paid

C. pay more attention to men suffering from mental illnesses

D. believe in her although she acted in the Harry Potter series

Until just a few years ago，we doctors believed that the brain stopped making new neural(神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的)connections (meaning that your memory began to get worse)when the body stopped developing，usually in your early 20s. And we knew that，like any other body part，neurons weaken as we age. Loss of brain function due to neural breakdown was assumed to be a normal，unavoidable part of aging.

It turns out that we were wrong. In the past few years，it has been discovered that you can，in fact，make new neurons starting in your 20s and continuing well into old age. You can literally rewire the brain with new parts as the older parts wear out. How？Simple：Keep learning. Just as your body can pack on and condition new muscle，your brain can rebuild used-up neurons.

How strong is the evidence for this？Strong enough that a $200 million industry devoted to brain boosting software (products like Brain Age，MindFit，and Lumosity that supposedly improve your memory function)has sprung up out of nowhere. All“mental fitness”means are keeping your memory intact(everything from phone numbers to how to throw a football)．So what can you do to stay smart?

Keep blood pressure down. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop cognitive impairment later in life.

Eat more vitamins. Like E(in nuts and sunflower seeds)，B6 and B12(beef，tuna)，and folic acid(leafy greens，citrus，berries)，which help keep your brain’s chemistry in balance.

Exercise your brain. This is the best way to rebuild and strengthen those precious neurons. Learn to play chess or the guitar. When you’re at a stoplight，try to recall the starting lineup of the 1983 Celtics. See a movie that doesn’t feature Ben Stiller. Or read，like，a book.

Title：How to keep the 1.________smart？

A group of frogs （青蛙）were traveling through the woods. And two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs didn't listen and tried to jump out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop. Finally, one of the frogs heard what the other frogs were saying and gave up, so he died.

The other frog went on jumping as hard as he could. Once again, the other frogs cried at him and told him to stop and just allow himself to die. He jumped even harder and finally made himself out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Didn't you hear us?" The frog explained to them that something was wrong with his hearing. He thought they were encouraging him the whole time.

There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift him or her up and help them make it through the day. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words—anyone can speak bad words that rob another of the spirit to go on in difficult times. But an encouraging word can go such a long way.

【寫作內(nèi)容】 1. 用約30個(gè)詞概括上面這篇文章的內(nèi)容。

2. 以約120個(gè)詞就“語言的力量”發(fā)表你的看法和感受，內(nèi)容包括：

(1) 語言在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的正負(fù)面影響；

(2)舉一個(gè)發(fā)生在你或你認(rèn)識(shí)的人身上的例子，說明語言的正或負(fù)面的影響；

(3) 日常生活中，我們應(yīng)該如何利用好語言，讓語言產(chǎn)生積極的影響。

【寫作要求】 在作文中可以使用自己親身的經(jīng)歷或虛構(gòu)的故事，也可以參照閱讀材料的內(nèi)容，

但不得直接引用原文中的句子。