Friendship continues to remain central to our lives. Friends often affect our health and energy. More and more people are increasingly turning towards their friends for support and sharing rather than just communicating with their relatives. We may have a very unclear understanding of what makes a friend but we all want to have a good number of friends around us. There are certain things you do to help you make friends or at least help you get close to people whom you want to make friends with.
The first step to make friends with people is to make them like you. If they don’t like you in the first place, it is unlikely that they’ll be eager to become your friends. To let someone know that you are interested in him, simple gestures like a little smile and calling him by his name can help. To make the other person feel important, you need to be a good listener and to encourage him to talk. Give your honest and sincere opinion, but do not make fun of him.
The second step is to develop trust in each other. You need to share opinions with this person and it is necessary for you to develop a habit of seeing things from his point of view. To become the best of friends, you must show concern and consideration for your friends’ desires and opinions.
The third and final step is to show your support and encouragement towards your friend. Moreover, you also need to be very clear about your expectations from your friend. If what you expect from the person you want to be a friend matches with what that person can and wants to do in friendship, the developing friendship between you and your friend is sure to be easy and successful.
【小題1】What can we learn about friends and friendship?

A．Friendship is not important in our life.

B．Friends have nothing to do with our health and energy.

C．Friends can provide us with support.

D．Relatives can not become friends.

【小題2】Which is the right order of making friends according to the writer?
① When you meet some problems, you ask him for help.
② When he is in trouble, you tell him your ideas.
③ You smile at him to let him know you like him.

A．②①③

B．①②③

C．③①②

D．③②①

【小題3】We can infer from the passage that _____.

A．you can’t call your friend by his name

B．friends should understand each other

C．there should be no secret between friends

D．friends don’t need support and encouragement

【小題4】What is the main purpose of the writer?

A．To tell us about the importance of making friends.

B．To tell us about the advantages and disadvantages of friendship.

C．To introduce the steps for making friends.

D．To tell us that friends are hard to make.

【小題5】What’s the meaning of the underlined word gestures?

A．身勢語

B．客人

C．猜測

D．表演

You speak, write a letter, and make a telephone call. Your words carry a message. People communicate with words. Do you think you can communicate without words?
A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you raise your hand in class, the teacher knows you want to say something or ask questions. You shake your head, and people know you are saying "No". You nod and people know you are saying "Yes". Other things can also carry messages. For example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. A sign on the wall of your school helps you to find the library. Signs on doors tell you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of signs around you and that you receive messages from them all the time? People can communicate in many other ways. An artist can use his drawings to tell about beautiful mountains, about the blue sea and many other things. Books are written to tell you about all the wonderful things in the world and also about people and their ideas. Books, magazines, TV and radios and films all help us to communicate with each other. They all help us to know what is going on in the world and what other people are thinking about.
【小題1】Can we communicate with each other without words?

A．Yes, some times we can.

B．No, we can't.

C．No. It's impossible.

D．Yes, we always do so.

【小題2】When we see somebody smile, then, he must be feeling ____.

A．a(chǎn)ngry

B．joyful

C．surprised

D．sad

【小題3】We can learn news from ____.

A．newspapers

B．radio

C．TV

D．ABC

【小題4】A sign at the bus stop tells you ____.

A．how many buses there are

B．what kind of bus it is

C．where the bus comes and goes

D．how much money you'll pay for the ticket

【小題5】What do you think is the quickest way to communicate with your friend in another city?

A．Writing a letter.

B．Making a telephone.

C．Drawing a picture.

D．Asking someone else to take a message.

My 10-year-old Donna said, “Mom, I made a new friend at school today. Can she come over tomorrow?” Donna was a shy girl and I wanted her to make some friends to bring her out of her shell.
“Sure, honey, that sounds great.” I said, thinking back to my own best friend, Lillian. We lived across the street from each other in Washington Heights, New York. We met at the age of 10, too. Like my daughter, I was shy, but Lillian drew me out. She was one of the friendliest people in school, with shiny black hair and a mile-wide smile.
In senior high school, Lillian went on a trip to Florida. This was the first time we had to be away from each other for a few days. “I’ll be back soon.” she told me. But three days later, Lillian’s sister told me that she had fallen into a river and hadn’t come out any more. Soon, my family moved to New Jersey. Whenever I thought of her, tears came into my eyes.
The next day Donna brought her new friend home. “Hi, Mrs. Loggia.” the little girl said. Her hair was so shiny and black and she shot me a big smile. “My name is Laura.”
My daughter’s new friend was so much like Lillian. I was still puzzled (迷惑) when Laura’s mom came to pick her up later that afternoon. I opened the door to let her in. “Judy!” she cried. “It’s me, Lillian’s sister, from Washington Heights.” Yes, my daughter’s friend looked familiar. She was Lillian’s niece.
【小題1】The underlined words in the first paragraph “to bring her out of her shell” mean ___________.

A．to help her become less shy	B．to help her become smart
C．to help her live happily	D．to help her walk out of her house

【小題2】Laura looked familiar to the writer because she ____________.

A．was Lillian’s niece

B．was as old as her daughter

C．was from Washington Heights

D．had shiny black hair and a big smile, too

【小題3】Why did the writer lose her best friend?   Because ____________________.

A．she moved to New Jersey

B．they were different from each other

C．her best friend travelled to Florida

D．her best friend lost her life on a trip

【小題4】“I knew we would be best friends forever.” is a sentence from the passage and should be put at the end of _______．

A．Paragraph 2

B．Paragraph 3

C．Paragraph 4

D．Paragraph 5

【小題5】We can infer (推斷) from the passage that______.

A．Laura is outgoing

B．Laura helps Donna a lot

C．Laura and Donna are of the same age

D．Judy moved to New Jersey because of Lillian’s death

Some children are natural-born bosses. They have a strong need to make decisions，manage their environment，and lead rather than follow. Stephen Jackson，a Year One student，“operates under the theory of what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine，” says his mother. “The other day I bought two new Star Wars light sabers (劍). Later，I saw Stephen with the two new ones while his brother was using the beat-up ones.”
“Examine the extended family，and you'll probably find a bossy grandparent，aunt，uncle or cousin in every generation. It's an inheritable trait，” says Russell Barkley，a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Other children who may not be particularly bossy can gradually gain dominance (支配地位) when they sense their parents are weak，hesitant，or in disagreement with each other.
Whether it's inborn nature or developed character at work，too much control in the hands of the young isn't healthy for children or the family. Fear is at the root of a lot of bossy behavior，says family psychologist John Taylor. Children，he says in his book From Defiance to Cooperation，“have secret feelings of weakness” and “a desire to feel safe.” It's the parents' role to provide that protection.
When a “boss child” doesn't learn limits at home，the stage is set for a host of troubles outside the family. The overly willful and unbending child may have trouble obeying teachers or coaches，for example，or trouble keeping friends. It can be pretty lonely as the top dog if no one likes your bossy ways.
“I see more and more parents giving up their power，” says Barkley，who has studied bossy behavior for more than 30 years. “They bend too far because they don't want to be as strict as their own parents were. But they also feel less confident about their parenting skills. Their kids，in turn，feel more anxious.”
【小題1】Bossy children like Stephen Jackson_________.

A．make good decisions	B．show self-centeredness
C．lack care from others	D．have little sense of fear

【小題2】The underlined phrase “inheritable trait” in Paragraph 2 means ___________.

A．inborn nature	B．developed character
C．a(chǎn)ccepted theory	D．particular environment

【小題3】The study on bossy behavior implies that parents_________.

A．should give more power to their children

B．should be strict with their children

C．should not be so anxious about their children

D．should not set limits for their children

【小題4】What is the passage mainly about？

A．How bossy behavior can be controlled.

B．How we can get along with bossy children.

C．What leads to children's bossy behavior.

D．What effect bossy behavior brings about.

International students in Christine Rhodes’ English class in Australia share their favorite places they have visited in Australia.
Canberra, the nicest city in Australia.   
Siggi Siebold from Germany
I went for a short holiday to Canberra because my son lives there. It’s the nicest city in Australia, a little bit similar to Cairns. There’re lots of big rivers and trees around the city.
The small city of Mount Isa
Indra Ekanayake from Malaysia
I came to Mount Isa six months ago. It’s a long way from Brisbane-about 2,000 km .It’s a small city, with a population of 21,000, but it has all the basic facilities(設(shè)施)such as a hospital, six schools and supermarkets. It’s a mining city. It’s hot and gets little rain. There’re two big lakes to keep the rainwater for drinking for the city.
Lake Moondarra and a mine
Ida Robb from Indonesia
In Mount Isa, there’s a dam called Lake Moondarra. On the weekend you can go there with your friends.People go fishing and even catch a crocodile. There’s a big mine in Mount Isa.Many people come to work in the mine and earn much money.It isn’t a beautiful green place, but many people love it.
My impression(印象)of Sydney
Namfon  Pitaxsin from Thailand
The fist time I came  to  Australia,I was happy. I traveled to Sydney. Four million people live there ,and many are  Asians. I saw the harbor (港口)，Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House and I went to see the koalas and kangaroos in Taronga Park Zoo. After that I went to the Thai restaurants. There is a revolving (旋轉(zhuǎn)的) restaurant, so you can eat and see the city.
【小題1】Why did Siggi Siebold go to Canberra?

A． Because it’s the nicest city in Australia.

B．Because her son lives there

C．Because it is similar to her hometown

D．Because there’re lots of rivers

【小題2】According to Indra Ekanayake, Mount Isa______

A．is a famous harbor in Ausralia

B．has a large population

C．probably doesn’t have enough drinking water

D．doesn’t have enough basic facilities

【小題3】Where is Lake Moondarra?
A.  In Canberra.      B. In Mount Isa.        C.In Brisbane.      D.In Sydney
64.The first time Namfon  Pitaxsin went to Australia, she________
A. saw some special Australian animals
B. met more Americans than Asians
C. ate in a revolving restaurant
D. enjoyed the music in the Opera House
【小題4】How many cities does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Two

B．Three

C．Four.

D．Five

Beauty has always been regarded as something admirable. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal consultants (顧問) give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive persons. But in the executive circle (政界), beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive thing for a man’s rise, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to be the reasons for their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives.
Why are attractive woman not thought to be able? An attractive woman is thought to be more feminine (女性的) and an attractive man more masculine (男性的) than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the "masculine" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. Anne Bowman recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候選人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked lo rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the woman who had been ranked most attractive always received the fewest votes.
【小題1】In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness _____.

A．strengthens the feminine qualities required

B．makes women look more honest and capable

C．is of great importance to women

D．often enables women to succeed quickly

【小題2】Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____.

A．turns out to be an obstacle to men

B．a(chǎn)ffects men and women alike

C．has as little effect on men as on women

D．is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women

【小題3】It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____.

A．practical

B．old-fashioned

C．prejudiced (偏見的)

D．serious

【小題4】The author writes this passage to _____.

A．discuss the negative aspects of being attractive

B．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive

C．demand equal rights for women

D．emphasize the importance of appearance

Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.
Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference.
Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.
“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways-scientists or actors, for example-may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.
In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires-not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health-rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap (差距). Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income,” says Michalos.
Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad. “Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen.
In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, but negative emotions much less often. Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic about their goals, only setting ones that they know they can achieve. But Carstensen thinks that with time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make hem happy and let go of those that don’t.
“People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”  
【小題1】According to the passage, the feeling of happiness

A．is determined partly by genes	B．increases gradually with age
C．has little to do with wealth	D．is measured by desires

【小題2】Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs ______.

A．make them feel much better	B．provide chances to make friends
C．improve their social position	D．satisfy their professional interests

【小題3】Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more__________.

A．optimistic

B．successful

C．practical

D．emotional

【小題4】Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if__________.

A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger

B．they have a stronger desire for friendship

C．their income is below their expectation

D．the hope for good health is greater

Modern life is impossible without travelling. The fastest way of travelling is by plane. With a modern airline you can travel in one day to places which it took a month or more to get to hundred years ago.
Travelling by train is slower than by plane, but it has its advantages(便利). You can see the country you are travelling through. Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining-cars. They make even the longest journey enjoyable.
Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different parts of your country on them. Ships are not so fast as trains or planes, but travelling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.
Many people like to travel by car. You can make your own timetable. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like. You can stop wherever you wish where there is something interesting to see, at good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or at a hotel to spend the night. That is why travelling by car is popular for pleasure trips, while people usually take a train or plane when they are travelling on business.
【小題1】From the passage, we know the fastest way of travelling is          .

A．by train

B．by sea

C．by plane

D．by car

【小題2】If we travel by car, we can           .

A．make the longest journey enjoyable	B．travel to a very far place in several minutes
C．make our own timetable	D．travel only fifty or one hundred miles a day

【小題3】When people travel on business, they usually take               .

A．a(chǎn) plane or a car

B．a(chǎn) car or a boat

C．a(chǎn) boat or a train

D．a(chǎn) train or a plane

【小題4】How many ways of travelling are mentioned in the passage?

A．Four

B．Three

C．Two

D．Six

Do’s and Don’ts in Whale(鯨)Watching
The Department of  Fisheries and Oceans has developed guidelines for whale watching in Johnstone Strait,where killer whales are found on a daily basis each summer. It is strongly recommended that vessel(船只)operators follow these guidelines for all kinds of whales.
● Approach whales from the side, not from the front or the back.
● Approach no closer than 100 metres, then stop the boat but keep the engine on.
● Keep noise levels down-no horns, whistles or racing of engines.
● Start your boat only after the whales are more than 100 metres from your vessel.
● Leave the area slowly, gradually moving faster when you are more than 300 metres from the whales.
● Approach and leave slowly, avoiding sudden changes in speed or direction.
● Avoid disturbing groups of resting whales.
● Keep at low speeds and remain in the same direction if travelling side by side with whales.
● When whales are travelling close to shore, avoid crowding them near the shore or coming between the whales and the shore.
● Limit the time spent with any group of whales to less than 30 minutes at a time when within 100 to 200 metres of whales.
● If there is more than one vessel at the same observation spot, be sure to avoid any boat position that would result in surrounding the whales.
● Work together by communicating with other vessels, and make sure that all operators are aware of the whale watching guidelines.
【小題1】For whom is this text written?

A．Tour guides.

B．Whale watchers.

C．Vessel operators.

D．Government officials.

【小題2】When leaving the observation areas, the vessel should ________________.

A．move close to the beach

B．increase speed gradually

C．keep its engine running slowly

D．remain at the back of the whales

【小題3】What is the shortest safe distance from the whales?

A．400 metres.

B．300 metres.

C．200 metres.

D．100 metres.