A recent study, published in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how dangerous it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a serious accident as a teenager driving alone.

   The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 pm, and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.

    Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic problem,” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for giving out licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is”.

Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (緩解) the problem is to have states set up so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a process with several stages. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself able to drive in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions before graduating to full driving rights.

Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies.

60. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?

   A. Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 pm.

   B. A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.

   C. Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.

   D. A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.

61. According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to _______.

   A. their lack of driving experience               B. their frequent driving at night

   C. their improper way of driving              D. their driving with passengers

62. According to Paragraph 3, which of the following statements is TRUE?

   A. Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.

   B. Driving is a skill too complex for teenagers to learn.

   C. Restrictions should be forced on teenagers demanding to take driving licenses.

   D. The licensing department is partly responsible for teenager's driving accidents.

63. A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that_________.

A. the licensing system should be improved

B. they should be forbidden to take on passengers

C. they should not be allowed to drive after 10 pm

D. driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule.

From hitting the mall with your girl fiends on a Saturday afternoon, to holiday spending on gifts that go under the tree, shopping could be called one of America’s favorite pastimes. For most people, it means some new clothes for work or a small trinket for a friend. For others, however, shopping is much more than an enjoyable pastime, and in some cases, it is a real and destructive addiction that can turn into a financial disaster. Compulsive shopping and spending are defined as inappropriate, excessive過度的, and out of control. Like other addictions, it basically has something to do with impulsiveness and lack of control over one’s impulses沖動(dòng). In America, shopping is embedded in our culture; so often, the impulsiveness comes out as excessive shopping. Sometimes this is referred to as “shopholism”. Shopping addiction can damage a person’s life, family, and finances. “No one knows what causes addictive behaviors, like shopping, alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling”, says a professor of applied health science. Some of the new evidence suggests that some people, maybe 10%-15%, may have a genetic predisposition to an addictive behavior, coupled with an environment in which the particular behavior is triggered引發(fā), but no one really knows why.” Individuals will get some kind of high from an addictive behavior like shopping.

What are the telltale signs that shopping has crossed the line and become and addiction? What should a concerned family member or friend look out for when they think shopping has become a problem? The behaviors can signal a serious problem:

·Shopping or spending money as a result of feeling angry, depressed, anxious, or lonely

·Having arguments with others about one’s shopping habits

·Feeling lost without credit cards — actually going into withdrawal without them

·Buying items on credit, rather than with cash

·Describing a rush or a feeling of euphoria with spending

·Feeling guilty, ashamed, or embarrassed after a spending spree(大買特買)

·Thinking obsessively about money

·Spending a lot time juggling accounts or bills to accommodate spending

“If someone identifies four or more of any of these behaviors, there may be a problem”, experts say. Treating a shopping addiction requires a multifaceted approach. There are no standard treatments for shopping addiction. Medications have been used, but with mixed results. Therapists also focus on cognitive-behavioral treatment programs. There is no quick and easy answer that will immediately cure a shopping addiction, and while treatment is a necessary part of solving the problem, so is behavior change on the part of the addict.

Some basic changes in behavior that will have a big impact on breaking a shopping addiction are recommended:

·Admit that you are a compulsive spender, which is half the battle.

·Get rid of checkbooks and credit cards, which fuel the problem.

·Don’t shop by yourself because most compulsive shoppers shop alone and if you are with someone you are much less likely to append more.

·Find other meaningful ways to spend time.

And keep in mind that while behavior change is clearly important to recovery, so is reaching out for professional help.(509)

1. The best title of this article is _________

   A. Should We Shop or Not?                  B. Shopping Behaviors, Good or Bad?

   C. Shopping Spree, or an Addiction?           D. The Dangers of Shopholism.

2. You should be carefully think about your shopping behavior if you ________.

A. are angry to go shopping

B. lost your credit card while shopping

C. are overjoyed and overwhelmingly excited to go shopping.

D. count your money while shopping

3. Which of the following statement is not true? ________.

A. Medication will not help to cure a shopping addiction

B. No one really knows why people get addicted to doing something which is no good to them

C. By the word shopholism, we refers to the impulsive and excessive shopping behavior

D. Shopping addiction can turn into a real disaster in one’s life

4. The most important way to get rid of the addiction is ________.

A. use credit card instead of checkbooks

B. change one’s behavior as well as seek professional advice

C. find somebody else to shop for you

D. go to a doctor for a standard treatment

Two Earthquakes in Two Months:

Comparing the Quakes in Haiti (海地) and Chile (智利)

Overview (概要) How do the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti compare? Here, students perform a gallery walk to learn more about the earthquakes from a specific point, and then do a specific research and presentation project or response activity. Finally, they seek answers to their unanswered questions.

Materials Print copies of photographs, charts, documents and other visuals to display, as described below; computer (s) with Internet access (optional), research materials, handouts.

Warm-up Choose and prepare a “gallery” of photographs, graphics, news reports and other materials to display around the room to enable students to consider the 2010 earthquake in Chile.

Depending on course program, choose materials for the gallery that provide a window on the two quakes, through one of the following specific points, or the focus of your choice:

Earthquakes through History Putting the 2010 Chilean and Haitian quakes into historical view related to other earthquakes, including the 1960 Chilean quake and the 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami.

Rescue and Aid Considering domestic and international response to the disasters by militaries, governments and aid organizations, including rescue and recovery as well as efforts to provide food, water, health care and shelter to those affected.

Related The article Underwater Plate Cuts 400 Mile Gash compares several earthquakes:

Mr. Lin figured that the quake on Saturday was 250 to 350 times more powerful than the Haitian quake.

       But Paul Caruso noted that at least on land, the effects of the Chilean tremor (震動(dòng)) might not be as bad. For one thing, he said, the quality of building construction is generally better in Chile than in Haiti. And the fact that the quake occurred offshore should also help limit the destruction. In Haiti, the rupture (斷裂) occurred only a few miles from the capital, Port-au-Prince. The rupture on Saturday was centered about 60 miles from the nearest town, Chillan, and 70 miles from the country’s second-largest city, Concepción.

Read the article using the following questions.

       Questions For discussion with others and reading comprehension:

How does the 2010 Chilean earthquake compare to the 1960 Chilean earthquake?

       Why do scientists believe that the 2010 Chilean earthquake will not cause the same level of damage as January’s Haitian earthquake did?

How does the 2010 Chilean earthquake compare to the 2004 Indonesian earthquake?

What reasons do scientists give to explain why the Indonesian quake caused so much more damage than the recent Chilean earthquake?

64. Which of the following shows one of the reasons for slighter losses in Chile than in Haiti?

A. Position:

B. Power:

65. We can infer that the article Underwater Plate Cuts 400 Mile Gash includes ________.

   A. the causes of the 2010 Chilean earthquake and the 1960 Chilean earthquake

B. the comparison between the 2010 Haitian and the 2004 Indonesian earthquakes

C. the reason for the 2010 Chilean quake being more powerful than January’s Haitian earthquake

D. the reason for less damage in the 2010 Chilean quake than in the 2004 Indonesian earthquake

66. What is the passage most likely to be?

A. A program for research.                            B. A guide to earthquake study.

C. An advertisement for students.                       D. An introduction to quakes.

Everywhere you look, large quantities of information in the world are pouring. This data flood is already starting to transform business, government, science and everyday life. It has great potential for good — as long as consumers, companies and governments make the right choices about when to restrict the flow of data, and when to encourage it.

A few industries have led the way in their ability to gather and take advantage of the data. Credit-card companies monitor every purchase and can identify cheats with a high degree of accuracy. Stolen credit cards are more likely to be used to buy hard liquor than wine, for example, because it is easier to overlook. Insurance firms are also good at combining clues to spot doubtful claims: dishonest claims are more likely to be made on a Monday than a Tuesday, since policyholders (保險(xiǎn)客戶) who stage accidents tend to assemble friends as false witnesses over the weekend. By combining many such rules, it is possible to work out which cards are likeliest to have been stolen, and which claims are untrue. By analyzing “basket data”, supermarkets can make promotions to appeal to particular customers’ preferences. The oil industry uses supercomputers to help them before drilling wells.

But the data flood also poses risks. There are many examples of databases being stolen: disks full of social-security data go missing, laptops loaded with tax records are left in taxis, credit-card numbers are stolen by online purchase. The result can be privacy made public, identity stolen and cheats permitted large space. Rather than owning and controlling their own personal data, they very often find that they have lost control of it.

The best way to deal with the data flood is to make more data available in the right way, by requiring greater transparency in several areas. First, users should be given greater access to and control over the information held about them, including whom it is shared with. Google allows users to see what information it holds about them, and lets them delete their search histories or modify the targeting of advertising, for example. Second, organizations should be required to disclose details of security breaches, as is already the case in some parts of the world, to encourage bosses to take information security more seriously. Third, organizations should be subject to an annual security check, with the resulting grade made public (though details of any problems exposed would not be). This would encourage companies to keep their security measures up to date.

59. What is the best title for this passage?

A. Information Flood              B. Benefits of Data Flood

   C. Harms of Data Flood            D. How to Use Data in a Right Way

60. From the passage we can infer that ________.

A. lots of data are lost because of hardware problems

B. online purchases are becoming more and more popular

C. credit cards are not so secure to use and will go out of use very soon

D. insurance firms have to investigate before they confirm their policyholders’ claims

61. Which of the following is the writer’s opinion about how to deal with the data flood?

A. Personal information should be used for public benefits.

B. The users should be given the right to access public information.

C. Companies should update their measures to guarantee their data safety.

D. Organizations should keep their resulting grade of security checks unknown to the public.

62. From the passage we can conclude that _________.

A. the data flood makes peoples’ life less convenient and more expensive

  B. companies and insurance firms are responsible for the data flood

  C. the information flood is more useful to organizations than to individuals

  D. the information flood has both positive and negative influence on modern life

The population conference in Brasilia has now ended. One of the aims of the conference was for countries from each continent to look back at past experiences and to learn from them for the future.

In Europe

Population problems are different in different parts of the world.  For example, in many European countries the population is getting older. The birth rate is very low because many young people have only one child or none at all. People are living longer, too. On average, men tire to 76 and women to 78. By 2050 around 25 % of the population of some European countries will be over 60 years old.

This change has happened very fast within two generations. If governments had expected this change, they would have encouraged people to prepare more for old age. At the moment many old people are very lonely and often very poor. If people had expected to live so long, they would probably have saved more money for their retirement.

In Africa

In Africa, the problems of the future will be very different. There, the population is doubling every 24 years. Many families continue to have large numbers of children to look after older people and to help on the land. However, better medical services have increased life expectancy and more children survive to become adults. Research shows that the size of the family is connected with the standard of women’s education. If more girls had gone to school in the last 20 years, family size in Africa would probably not have continued to be so big.

In Asia

In contrast, the problem in Asia is not just population growth but also overcrowding in many cities. Traditionally, most people have lived in the countryside, but within the next 25 years more than 65% will live in cities. If Asian countries had expected this kind of change 20 years ago, they would have tried to provide more work and better education in the countryside. This is starting to happen now, but it may be too late.

56. What is the cause of African population problem?

A. Low birth rate and increased life expectancy. B. More older people, more children.

C. People’s moving from the countryside to the cities.

D. Better medical services and increased life expectancy.

57. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. In Europe it is normal to live to be 76 or more.

B. Medicine has changed population patterns.

C. Population problems are the same everywhere.

D. Many old people in Europe experience poverty.

58. What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Cities everywhere are becoming larger and larger.

B. Asian countries have tried to provide more work for people.

C. A lot of girls couldn’t go to school in Africa.

D. The older people in Europe are, the lonelier they will be.

In tough economic times, school counselors (顧問) don’t just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, they are looking for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. Nowadays, students and families need the guidance more than ever.

Counselors play a steadying role in schools as the economy weighs on families, college admission becomes even more competitive, immigration continues to reshape the population and state-testing pressures many students. They use computers to search through attendance data, grades and standardized test scores for kids who might need extra help.

Schlatter, director of guidance and counseling at Prince William County’s Woodbridge Senior High School, has checked attendance records against grades and test results to start peer groups (同年齡群體) for students who are failing classes but not skipping them. She said group counseling is another way to reach more students though it can be difficult. “Kids really do start helping and sharing with each other.”

At Fairfax High School, counselors found through surveys that students who transferred (轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)) to the school after ninth grade enjoyed school significantly less than those who had been there all four years. The counseling staff set up a special program and group for new arrivals in response, said Marcy Miller, the school’s director of student services. Counseling staff members also have started small study groups for students to prepare for state Standards of Learning exams, which Miller said have helped raise test scores. She said that some of the newest counselors have had some of the freshest ideas.

63. We can learn from the passage that __________.

A. counselors don’t wait for kids to come to ask for help now

B. counselors are trying to help people with economic problems

C. counselors have made college admission less competitive

D. counselors are trying to reach more kids in need of help

64. The author uses the example of Fairfax High School to show that ________.

A. counseling work is obviously effective

B. many students transfer there for help

C. new arrivals will no longer skip classes

D. counseling means little to new arrivals

65. What would the author most probably discuss in the following part?

A. What assistance they can offer.

B. The significance of their counseling job.

C. Other approaches to counseling at-risk kids.

D. The barriers of counseling the students with troubles.

66. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A. Guiding Hands Find New Ways                         B. Small Study Groups Raise Test Scores

C. Transferred Students Need More Help            D. Tough Times See More At-risk Kids

A technical secondary school in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province, planned to order Korean-style school uniforms for students, but parents opposed the move, believing that the new uniforms looked too good and would encourage early romances among the students, the Jinling Evening Paper reported Monday.

Parents

“My daughter was so excited about the Korean-style uniform, saying it’s her dream to wear mini-skirt to school every day,” a mom surnamed Cheng complained. “My daughter also called her classmates to talk about how handsome the boys looked in the uniform!”

Cheng looked on the Internet and found that most Korean schoolboy uniforms are similar to western suits. “They are so handsome! My daughter is a fan of Korean fashion, that’s why she is crazy about the uniform!” Cheng said. “If the students wear such beautiful uniforms, how can they study well? I prefer the sports wear which makes me think of health and positive thinking.”

School

“The plan to change the current school uniform from sports wear has been cancelled,” an employee of the school told the Jinling Evening Paper.

“The students dislike the current uniform, so the school took advice from the students last November, knowing that most of students prefer Korean-or Japanese-style school uniforms. We know cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou have changed their sports wear school uniforms to more fashionable uniforms,” an employee surnamed Lin said.

“However, we had to stop the plan because many parents are strongly against it. Some parents think it’s just a way for the school to make money, and others think the new uniforms will take students’ attention away from their studies,” Lin said.

When asked about the possibility of problems with early romance between students because of the more fashionable uniforms, Lin said he hadn’t considered it. He, however, agreed that the Korean-style uniform makes the students more charming.

Students

The students are very disappointed about the school’s final decision. They think the sports wear uniforms make them look androgynous (難分性別).

They said the Korean-style uniform has many advantages such as raising interest in class; lifting confidence; improving solidarity and creating good temperaments.

As for concerns about romance, the students believe that love is love and bears no relationship to the uniform.

Education department

“We don’t have a unified (統(tǒng)一的) standard for school uniforms. The schools can choose their own styles. Either sports wear or uniforms are ok,” an official from the Nanjing Bureau of Education said.

As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn’t help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled children who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment: my husband and I probably won’t be able to buy a house until we’re in our 40s, and we too are burdened by student loans(貸款). But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn’t they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?

Consider some of these views shared in the Slate story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won’t be able to have children for at least a decade because they can’t afford to buy a house yet.

I read that, and I thought, what planet is she living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury(奢華), not a fertility requirement.

A 26-year-old in the story despairs(絕望) that he can’t afford to get a Ph.D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.

Yes, it’s sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people’s expectations are slowly adjusting, but today’s 20-somethings grew up at a time when everyone’s wealth appeared to be expanding. Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments. “So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means,” says Kobliner.

This recession(衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful－for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day－than on longing for some kind of luxury life.

67．What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?

       A．They expect everything to be easy for them.

       B．They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans.

       C．They are reluctant to face all of the challenges.

       D．They are burdened by student loans.

68．The underlined word “fertility” in Paragraph 3 probably means        .

       A．baby production         B．pleasant       

       C．baby comfort                     D．essential

69．Which of the following is not one of the complaints of the 20-somethings?

       A．They can’t have children for at least a decade to buy a house.

       B．They have only one-bedroom apartment to live in.

       C．They can’t buy a house until 40 because of student loans.

       D．They despair at not being able to afford a Ph.D. in literature.

70．What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?

       A．To tell us what the author’s attitude towards the 20 – somethings.

       B．To explain why young people can’t afford to buy a house.

       C．To suggest what we should do when young people’s high hopes create despair.

       D．To explain what the 20 – something’s high expectations are.

Some of the United States’ biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive schools, even as they continue to extend government-backed loans to students at eh nation’s top universities.

Citibank has been among the most active in rebuilding the list of colleges it serves. JPMorgan Chase, PNC and SunTrust say have not dropped whole loan plans, but are cutting colleges. Some less-selective four-year colleges, like Eastern Oregon University and William Jessup University, say they have been dropped by some lenders.

The practice suggests  that if the credit crisis and poor conditions in the student loan business continue, some of the nation’s neediest students will be hurt most. The difficulty of borrowing money may keep them from attending school or force them to take a semester（學(xué)期） off.  For those who have got student loans, they will end up with less attractive terms and may run a greater risk of dropping out if they have to change lenders in the middle of their college year.

Tuition and loan amounts can be quite small at community colleges. But these institutions, which are a stepping stone to other educational programs or to better jobs, often draw students from the lower ranks of the economic classes. According to the most recent data, about a third of US graduates took out loans, a majority of them guaranteed by the government.

“If put too many obstacles in their way to get a loan, they ’ll take a third job or use a credit card,” said Jacqueline K. Bradley, assistant director for financial aid at Mendocino College. “That almost guarantees that they won’t be as successful in their college career.”

Some loan companies have stopped the students loan business entirely, viewing it as unprofitable in the current environment. Students attending first-class, expensive, public and private four-year universities can expect to remain plentiful. The banks generally say these loans are bigger, more profitable, and less risky, perhaps in part because the banks expect graduates from these universities to earn more.

So far, financial aid administrators say they have been able to find some lenders that students can switch to, but this is costly to students--- in money and time.

59. Who will be the most upset at the news?

       A. A poor students at a top university.          B. A poor students at a community university.

       C. A bank clerk dealing with student loan business.

       D. A teacher from a for-profitable university.

60. With too many obstacles in their way to get a loan, students will probably __________.

       A. switch to top universities                       B. cancel their credit cards

       C. fail in their exams                                 D. win a scholarship

61. When they say something is “government-backed”, you mean it is ___________.

       A. guaranteed by the government                B. dropped by the government

       C. against government                               D. for government

62. What is the best title for the passage?

       A. The students loan business in America.    B. Banks and universities in America.

       C. Student loans start to drop colleges.        D. Credit crisis starts to affect loans.

Although women lead healthier, longer lives, the cruel opinion that they become "old” sooner than men is widespread in the workplace, research shows. 

     A survey of more than 2,600 managers and personnel professionals showed that age discrimination is not only common in the workplace, but is shot through with inconsistencies (矛盾).

     Six in ten managers reported being a victim of age discrimination -- usually because they were turned down for a job for being too old or too young. Yet more than a fifth admitted that they used age as an important standard.

     Although the survey found widespread agreement that older workers were better than younger colleagues when it came to reliability, commitment (承擔(dān)義務(wù)), loyalty (忠誠(chéng)) and customer service, these qualities were not necessarily considered to be worthy of advancement.

     A large number of persons believed that workers between 30 and 39 had the best promotion chances, with only 2 per cent giving examples of 50-year-olds or above.

     There was evidence that people were considered old at different ages in different jobs. A young man working in IT said he was considered too old by the age of 28.

     In fact there was no evidence to suggest that older workers were less valuable to companies than younger workers, in fact the opposite was often true because older workers often brought experience.

     The findings also suggested that the Government's ideas on age in the workforce may also be out of step with reality.

64.Which is the discrimination mentioned in this passage?

  A. The healthier women are, the sooner they will lose their jobs.

   B. Society knows women should be respected, but it doesn't offer them any jobs.

  C. Female managers respect male workers, but male managers don't respect female workers.

  D. victims of age discrimination consider age as an important standard.

65.Older workers are better than younger colleagues because they have many advantages except that they are _____.    

   A. dependable     B. married       C. faithful     D. helpful

66.Why does the writer mention a young man working in IT?

   A. Because the writer thinks it a pity that this young man is old.

   B. Because it's an example of different age standards in different jobs.

    C. Because IT industry is developing too fast.

    D. Because the writer doesn't think the young man is old.

67. Which statement is true according to the writer's attitude?

    A. The present age standard doesn't go with reality.

    B. The present age standard is reasonable.

    C. women should work longer than men.  

    D. Young workers should learn from old workers.