"Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else can make you happier," the researchers from a team at the University（大學）of British Columbia and Harvard Business School reported.
Their experiments on 600 volunteers in the US showed people were feeling happier when they spent money on others.
The team asked their 600 volunteers about their income（收入），their daily costs, gifts for others and donations to charity. "No matter how much money each person made, those who spent money on others could get greater happiness than those who spent money only on themselves," Dunn said.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 workers at a company in Boston after they received an award of between $3,000 and $8,000. "Of course they felt happy after receiving the awards," they wrote in their report. "But when they gave the people in need $5, they were happier."
"The findings showed that as little as $5 could be enough to produce happiness on a whole day," Dunn said.
【小題1】 There were ______ people in all who took part in the experiments.

【小題2】The underlined word "experiments" means ______ in Chinese.

Do you still remember the terrible earthquake in 2008 in Sichuan, which killed at least 87,000 people and left millions homeless? On the twelfth day after the earthquake, Premier Wen Jiabao said, “A new Wenchuan will rise from the ruins（廢墟）.” Now his words have come true. Three years has passed and the worst-hit areas in Sichuan have risen from the ruins.

So far, 95% of the reconstruction projects（重建項目）have been completed. Nearly 3,000 schools, 1,000 hospitals and more than 5 million homes have been built. Now everyone has been provided with a home, a job and social security（社保）.
Dong Xinjun, a villager in Qingchuan, said volunteers from Zhejiang taught him how to grow mushrooms and now he makes about 3,000 yuan more than before every year.
Zhu Lihu, the headmaster of a village primary school in Qingchuan, told us that teaching equipment had been greatly improved. Now they have new classrooms, a library and a computer room with 20 computers.
On May 8th, 2011, Premier Wen Jiabao made his 10th visit to Sichuan Province after the earthquake. He visited a lot of middle schools and neighborhoods. At Beichuan Middle School, Premier Wen embraced a student named Zheng Haiyang, who lost both of his legs in the earthquake. The students told Premier Wen that their new school was very beautiful. And they would never forget that it was built with the hearts and strength of people across the whole country.
Premier Wen believes that the people in Wenchuan have a “strong will” and a “bright future”. They will never back down, but stand bravely on this land.
【小題1】 What is NOT provided for everyone in the earthquake-hit areas?

Lots of women don’t have breakfast and they have a lot of different excuses for that. Some say they don’t have time, some think they’re losing weight, and others just don’t like breakfast.
But the fact is that eating in the morning is very important, especially when you’re trying to lose weight. Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all. If your pizza is added with vegetables, that’ll be better.
Breakfast is one kind of meal that one should never miss; even one is trying to lose weight.
Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from eating too much later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that those who don’t have breakfast have a bigger chance of getting fat than those who have a morning meal every day.
So if you want to lose weight, you should eat something in the morning. Anything is OK. Having only coffee or orange juice or having no breakfast does harm to your health.
I have a good idea here. I sometimes eat last night’s leftovers for breakfast. It may sound crazy, but it really works for me! I find if I tell myself, “You can eat them tomorrow.” I will put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it yourself. You may save some pre-bedtime calories. Keep it and see how healthy you will be!
【小題1】 What kind of the following food is the best breakfast?

Do you still get free plastic(塑料) bags from the supermarkets?  
Free plastic bags are not allowed at shops and supermarkets in China, and people have to pay for them. The rule started on June 1, 2009. It came because our country tried to make litter less. Making super-thin (超薄) plastic bags has not allowed.
The Chinese once used about 3,000,000,000 plastic shopping bags a day, and they have caused pollution of the environment. The bags have become a main cause of plastic pollution because they are easy to break and people throw them away here and there. So the Chinese people are encouraged to bring their own bags for shopping.
What kind of shopping bag is the best to bring? Some students in Chongqing city have a good idea. They make their own shopping bags. They use old clothes to make cloth bags, and send them to their parents as presents. They also ask their parents and friends to use cloth bags instead of plastic ones. They think it is their duty to protect the environment.
【小題1】China made this rule because plastic bags were bad for the _______.

Parking has been a problem for drivers for a long time in Taizhou. The Transportation Department(部門) is mapping out a new plan for the city’s parking system. There are about 100 thousand cars on the road inTaizhou but only enough parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles. It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.
The number of the private(私人的) car owners is becoming lager and larger. In March, the city sent out 1,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to over 200 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts(專家) say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars.
By the year 2020, the number of cars in Taizhou will probably reach 200 thousand. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles. The center of Taizhou is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in these areas is not practical and doesn’t solve the problem. The idea of “ Park & Ride” system has been suggested. This means that underground train and city train should be developed quickly. Drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks nearby subway(地鐵) and bus stations and then they can ride public transport to go to the city center. Based on this idea, the city will cut down the number of parking lots in the city center and need higher parking fees(費用). But it will build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops.
【小題1】The underlined phrase “ mapping out ” in the first paragraph means _____.

Are you carrying too much on your back at school? You’re not alone. Back experts in the United States are worried that young students are having back and neck problems as a result of carrying too much in their backpacks (schoolbags)
“It hurts my back when I run,”said Oberlin Reyes, a student in Virginia. “It’s hard to go up the stairs with my backpack,because it’s too heavy,”
Oberlin was among students whose backpacks were weighed for a week in a recent study.
They had regular backpacks with two straps(帶子)to carry them, but a number of students with heavy loads had switched to rolling backpacks (which have wheels and can roll on the ground).
Shirley Park, whose backpack weighed 10 kilograms,said she changed to a rolling backpack because she was starting to have back  pain.
How much is too much?Experts say students should carry no more than 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight.
A few students had one suggestion to lighten the load:less homework.
P.S.( 附)Doctor’s suggestion:
1 Lighten the load. Clean out binders(活頁材料)and take home only the books you need that night.
2 Wide straps are better. They send out the weight over your shoulders more evenly(均勻)。 And be sure to wear both straps rather than hanging the pack over one shoulder.
3. Pack smart. The heavier things should be packed closed to the back.
4.Bend both knees when you pich up the pack ,and don’t just bend over  at the waist.(腰)
【小題1】“_________”is the main idea of the text.
A The problem of backpacks is worth studying.
B The problem made by heavy backpacks
C What is the best backpack for a student.
D      How to make students’backpacks light.
【小題2】According to Oberlin Reyes and Shirley Park, we know________.
A students have to do too much homework
B students have to carry several backpacks
C backpacks without wheels are bad for students
D too much homework leaves students no free time
【小題3】The expression “switched to” in the text perhaps means________.
A started to use  B turned to  C caught up   D used for
【小題4】According to the passage ,it’s better for a student of 40 kilograms to carry a backpack of _____at most by the words of experts.
A 10kg    B 8kg  C 6kg    D 7kg
【小題5】 If students follow the doctor’s suggestions they ________.
A may lighten their backpacks
B can learn how to help themselves
C may feel their backpacks are lighter
D will know how to wear backpacks

Look! There are thousands of people waiting to buy tickets home in the railway station. Each time when Spring Festival comes, buying tickets of train trip would be very hard. And things seem to be getting worse and worse, although we have greatly increased the mileage of railway network and speeded up trains. Why? It’s because too many people want to go back home to spend Spring Festival with their family. Many people become angry with the Ministry (部)of Railways.
They wonder why it is hopeless for them to get the tickets from the railway station(火車站)Instead, they sometimes can only buy them from ticket scalpers (票販) at much higher price.
The Ministry of Railways estimated(估計)that about 188 million passengers would travel by train during the 40-day peak (高峰) period surrounding the 2009 Spring Festival holiday. The number of travelers will be 8％ higher than that of 2008. This problem even drew the President Hu Jintao’s attention. He wrote a note to Liu Zhijun，Minister of the Ministry of Railways, asking him to take action to improve passenger convenience. Afterward, officials from the Ministry of Railways said they would try their best not to let any ticket-buyers spend Spring Festival at the railway station.
【小題1】 Many people can’t buy the tickets from the railway station, and they sometimes can only buy them from the scalpers_________.

   Many people are so busy these days that they have no time to cook at home. This becomes a problem because most families love home cooking! The food tastes good and a family meal can bring everyone together. In some families, meals are often the only chance everyone gets to see each other at the same time during the day.
Another reason people enjoy home cooking is that it is a way of showing love. A parent who makes some cookies is not just satisfying a child’s sweet tooth. He or she is sending a message (信息). The message says, “I care about you enough to spend an hour making cookies that you will eat up in 15 minutes if I let you.” There is also something about the smell of home cooking. The smell of cooking makes people happy. It makes most of us feel good and loved--even if we’re the ones doing the cooking! Next time you smell a cake making, stop for a moment and pay attention to your mood (心情，心境).
【小題1】Why do many people have no time to cook?

In most parts of the world, many students help their school make less pollution. They join in “environment(環(huán)境) clubs”. In an environment club, people work together to make our environment clean.
Here are the things students often do.
Turn off the water! Do you know that some toilets can waste(浪費) twenty to forty tons of water an hour?
In a year, that would fill a small river! In environment clubs, students mend those broken toilets.
No-car day. On a no-car day, nobody comes to school in a car—not the students and not the teachers! Cars give pollution to our air, so remember:
Walk, jump, bike or run.
Use your legs! It’s lots of fun!
No-garbage(垃圾) lunches. How much do you throw away after lunch? Environment clubs ask students to bring their lunches in bags that can be used again. Every week they will choose the classes that make the least garbage and report them to the whole school!
We love our environment. Let’s work together to make it clean!
【小題1】 Environment clubs ask students      .

We wanted to study how students at our school spend money. In order to study this, we made some questions to ask our classmates. First, we asked our classmates how much money they spent in one month. Then we asked how much money they spent on things like drinks, music, books, movies, computer games, and other things. Our math teacher helped us make a graph of our classmates’ answers.
Then we thought it would be interesting to compare these answers with our classmates’ expenses from last year. We used their answers to make another graph for their expenses last year.
Looking at the two graphs, it is easy to compare the expenses for the two years. Some of their expenses increased, but others decreased. This was a very interesting project for us.
注：⑴ graph 圖表  ⑵ expense消耗，消費