Relax. He is the same little boy you loved yesterday. I smiled trying to hold back the tears. “No, he isn’t. Yesterday I dreamed he would be an astronaut. Today I am hoping he will learn to talk.”
It was like some sort of cosmic joke. I could still recall the day that determined my fate. It was October in Ottawa and the summer breezes had given way to the autumn rainfall of leaves. The snow would begin soon. The crispness (清爽) of coming frost was in the air. My casually mentioning Wyatt’s behavior to Dr. Martin aroused his worries. He started asking me questions about Wyatt’s activities speech pattern and emotions. I still see clearly in my mind the cleanness of the room and all its belongings when the doctor turned to me and said, “He almost sounds autistic (自閉) .”
I couldn’t face that picture in my mind. I had to run to get away from this all too painful place that was reminding me of what was to be my child’s life-being strange.
I could not remember how many times I told myself, “This is normal. He is a little boy who is not talking yet,” when my asking questions met with his blank-eyed response in a restaurant; how many times I would tell myself, “He loves to play on his own for hours at a time and he never gets into trouble,” when Wyatt was playing games that no one else could imagine, let alone join in while other boys in the park were playing together or in small groups played around a sand pail(桶) or toy truck. My life was changing direction. So was Wyatt’s.
I started to hide Wyatt from my friends and neighbor especially from a good friend. It was too painful to let others know about my boy acting strange.
It was a Thursday afternoon and I found one half of a great pair of kitchen scissors was missing. They were unbelievably sharp and could be taken apart so they could be washed or the blades (刀片) sharpened. I knew Wyatt had taken the missing blade.
“Wyatt,” I began as patiently as I could, “Do you see this?” I held up the blade. “Do you know what this is?”
Wyatt put a bunch of Fruit Loops in his mouth. No response.
“Wyatt!” I forced eye contact with him. “Where are the other scissors? See these.” I showed him the half pair.
He smiled big. Ate Fruit Loops. Turned the TV on and off. Still no response.
I didn’t know what to do. It was really hard. “Wyatt,” I tried once more, “Mommy wants these scissors. Can you go get them for Mommy? It will make Mommy so happy if you bring me the scissors.”
“Watch Spongebob.” Wyatt asked as he slid down from his kitchen stool and ran off, leaving me shaking my head and wondering in exactly which way this situation was going to end badly.
Five minutes later, I turned my head to see Wyatt coming downstairs, his favorite doll in one hand, the missing half pair of kitchen scissors in the other. I immediately ran over and took it from him.
“Wyatt!” I hugged him. “Thank you for bringing me the scissors! Good job! You did it! These scissors need to stay in the kitchen. These are Mommy’s scissors!”
Wyatt laughed, looked at me straight in the eye and said, “Mommy so happy!”
I came close to tears. A realization dawned on me that he was the best gift I had ever gotten even though he was not as normal as other children. And why did I hide him from others as if he were some dark and terrible secret. No! He was my pride. It was a long, hard battle to get him to this point, expressing his wants and needs without turning to violence in embarrassment. With love and patience I have found the beautiful, happy boy who would teach me more about life.
And that is the solution.
小題1:From the first part of the story we can get to know that the son’s problem was _______ to the mother.

A．a(chǎn) heavy blow	B．a(chǎn) white lie
C．a(chǎn)n unforgettable lesson	D．a(chǎn) ridiculous experience

小題2:Why could the mother recall the day so clearly when the doctor told her his son’s illness?

A．the questions the doctor asked puzzled her.

B．the cleanness of the doctor’s room stuck her

C．His son’s illness was beyond her wildest expectation.

D．The sudden change of weather left her a deep impression.

小題3:According to the passage, which of the following indicates that Wyatt is not normal?

A．He never gets into trouble

B．He responds with blank eyes.

C．He plays with others for hours.

D．He likes watching TV programmes.

小題4:Wyatt brought the missing half of the scissors back to his mother because ____________.

A．his mother forced him to do that

B．he could get his favorite doll in reward

C．he intended to delight his mother

D．he realized that the sharp blade would cause danger

小題5:What seems to be the solution at the end of the passage?

A．Never hiding Wyatt from normal kids.

B．Turning to violence in disappointment occasionally.

C．Making Wyatt a kind and joyful boy with great care.

D．Helping Wyatt learn to talk and become an astronaut.

Two new studies suggest that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners.
One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week. The runners were observed on a treadmill machine (跑步機(jī)). Sometimes they wore running shoes. Other times they ran barefoot (赤腳).
Researchers from the JKM Technologies company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study.
They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot. They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for walking in high heels.
The study appeared in the official scientific journal of The American Academy of Physical Medicine.
The other study appeared in the journal Nature. It compared runners in the United States and Kenya. The researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
They divided the runners into three groups. One group had always run shoeless. Another group had always run with shoes. And the third group had changed to shoeless running.
Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first. That puts great force on the back of the foot. But the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot. That way they ease into their landing and avoid striking their heel.
Harvard’s Daniel Lieberman led the study. He says the way most running shoes are designed may explain why those who wear them land on their heels. The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first. Also, the heel generally has thick material under it to soften landings.
But the researchers do not suggest that runners immediately start running barefoot. They say it takes some training. And there can be risks, like running when your feet are too cold to feel if you get injured.
The study was partly supported by Vibram, which makes a kind of footwear that it says is like running barefoot. The findings have gotten a lot of attention. But the researchers say there are many problems in the way the press has reported in their paper. So they have tried to explain their findings on a Harvard Website.
小題1:What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Walking in high heels could cause less serious effects than running barefoot.

B．Two new discoveries encourage people to run in high heels.

C．Running in shoes is partly good to runners.

D．Two new studies prove running without shoes is beneficial to runners in most cases.

小題2:Which part of our body could be injured if we run in running shoes?

A．Toes.

B．Hips.

C．Feet.

D．Legs.

小題3:What can we learn from the passage?

A．The way that we run by landing on the front or middle of our foot could avoid damaging our heel.

B．We should start running barefoot in no time.

C．Running in modern running shoes could cause more serious effects than running in high heels.

D．We won’t be injured if we run barefoot.

小題4:What is the writer’s attitude towards the use of the modern running shoes?

A．Persuasive.

B．Negative.

C．Objective.

D．Supportive.

Our love of music and appreciation of musical harmony is learnt and not based on natural ability, a new study by University of Melbourne researchers has found. The researchers said previous theories about how we appreciate music were based on the physical functions of sound, the ear itself and a born ability to hear harmony.
The study shows that musical harmony can be learnt, and it is a matter of training the brain to hear the sounds. So if you thought that the music of some foreign culture (or Jazz) sounded like the crying of cats, it’s simply because you haven’t learnt to listen by their rules.
The researchers used 66 volunteers with a range of musical training and tested their ability to hear combinations of notes(音符) to determine if they found the combinations familiar or pleasing. They found that people needed to be familiar with combinations of notes. If they found the notes unfamiliar they also found the sound unpleasant. This finding put an end to centuries of theories claiming that physical functions of the ear determine what we find attractive.
The study found that trained musicians were much more sensitive to unpleasant notes than non-musicians. When they couldn’t find the note, the musicians reported that the sounds were unpleasant, while non-musicians were much less sensitive. This shows the importance of training or nurturing(培養(yǎng)) the brain to like particular sound of combinations of notes, like those found in jazz or rock.
Depending on their training, a strange chord(和弦) sound was pleasant to some musicians, but very unpleasant to others. This showed us that even the ability to hear a musical note is learnt.
To confirm this finding, they trained 19 non-musicians to find the notes of a random selection of western chords. Not only did the participants’ ability to hear notes improve rapidly, afterward they reported that the chords they had learnt sounded more pleasant -- regardless of how the chords were played.
The question of why some combinations of musical notes are heard as pleasant or unpleasant has long been debated. “We have shown in this study that for music, beauty is in the brain of the beholder(觀看者)”, a researcher said.
小題1:According to the study, people find foreign music quite unpleasant because_____.

A．they hear the music much too often

B．they don’t like the person playing it

C．they have no idea about how to listen

D．they have no born musical ability at all

小題2:Although non-musicians were less sensitive to music, they can still_____.

A．be trained to like particular music

B．make friends with real musicians

C．find the beauty of chords without training

D．enjoy the beauty of music when played by musicians

小題3:The 19 non-musicians were trained in order to show_____.

A．the brain likes particular combinations of notes

B．not a strange note was pleasant to all musicians

C．how the chords were played was very important

D．people’s ability to hear a musical note can be learnt

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

A．Love of musical harmony can’t be taught.

B．Love of music is not natural but nurtured.

C．Listening to music can improve your brain.

D．You can be a musician without being trained.

When Hurricane Phailin hit India in late 2013, it became the largest storm to strike the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm affected more than 12 million people in India and neighboring countries, and damaged or destroyed many houses. However, good news is that cleverly-designed beach house created by architect Ray Huff can survive such strong winds and storm waves.
Located on the shore of an Indian island, Huff’s award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane Phailin.
Huff pointed out that many houses built along shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement(執(zhí)行) of building codes wasn’t strict. After Phailin’s attack, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house should be able to stand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour.
At first sight, Huff's house looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble “a large party lantern” at night, according to one observer. But looks can be misleading. The house’s wooden frame is reinforced(加固) with long steel rods to give it extra strength.
To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on pilings---long columns of wood anchored(固定) deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also balance the house above storm waves. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead of running into it. “These swells of water come ashore at great speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.
Huff designed the wooden pilings to be partially hidden by the house’s ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with its pant legs pulled up,” said Huff. In case of a storm wave, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.
小題1:After Hurricane Phailin, new houses built along shore line are required_____.

A．to be easily reinforced

B．to look smarter in design

C．to meet stricter building standards

D．to be designed in the shape of cubes

小題2:The award-winning beach house is quite strong because____.

A．it is made of redwood

B．it is in the shape of a shell

C．it is strengthened by steel rods

D．it is built with wood and stones

小題3:Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on wooden pilings in order to _____.

A．support the weight of the house

B．a(chǎn)llow the waves to run through the house

C．a(chǎn)nchor stronger pilings deep in the sand

D．prevent water from rushing into the house

小題4:The main function of the shell is_____.

A．to give the house a better appearance

B．to strengthen the pilings of the house

C．to protect the wooden frame of the house

D．to slow down the speed of the swelling water

“The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful，” says Plato. Self­control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (沖動) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral (道德上的) freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whom the gods would destroy they firstmake mad” “Keep cool”， says George Herbert, “for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger，” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly(愚蠢) and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self­control is man's last greatest victory.
If a man lacks self­control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self­confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self­control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.
小題1:What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?

A．The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself.

B．One's moral freedom is based on the control of himself.

C．To control oneself is the most difficult in one's life.

D．If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful.

小題2:What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad”？

A．If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first.

B．If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy.

C．If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished.

D．If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods.

小題3:If a man lacks self­control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT ________.

A．the very backbone and nerve of character

B．the patience and power to control himself

C．self­confidence

D．strong feelings

A smart phone (智能手機(jī)) is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing abilities than a common phone. The first smart phones enabled the users to send and receive emails. Later models added the function of portable media players, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation (導(dǎo)航) units to form one multi-use device. Many modern smart phones also include touchscreens and web browsers (瀏覽器) that display web pages.
A recent report says we spend an average of two hours and 40 minutes each day looking at a smart phone. That doesn’t mean making calls, but playing phone games and browsing the Web.
Nowadays we always find people checking emails in a restaurant, taking a picture of the food when it arrives, or checking a message during a conversation instead of traditional communication. It’s no secret that our lives are being affected by our smart phones obsession.
However, this phenomenon has never been presented so vividly as in the short YouTube film I Forgot My Phone. Despite only being online for a few days, it's already been viewed more than 10.5 million times. Whether it will be screened in the cinema remains to be seen.
Ironically, YouTube’s data show that the site gets a billion views per day from mobile devices, so a lot of those people watched it on their phones.
The short film, written by and starring actress Charlene Deguzman, shows groups of people in various social situations, the majority of whom are absorbed in their phones instead of the world around them. To a certain extent, we all do it.
小題1:People prefer a smart phone to a common one, because the latter only can help us ______.

A．check emails

B．send messages

C．find the destination

D．watch a video

小題2:The underlined word “obsession” in the third paragraph most probably means “______”.

A．devotion

B．contribution

C．a(chǎn)ddiction

D．emotion

小題3:Which of the following is right?

A．People spend as average of two hours and 40 minutes each day using smart phones.

B．The film hasn’t been put on in the cinema.

C．The film is written by an actor named Charlene Deguzman.

D．The film has already been viewed more than 105 million times in the first few days.

小題4:When the writer mentions the number of people watching the film from mobile devices in the fifth paragraph, he mainly feels ______.

A．encouraged

B．depressed

C．proud

D．satisfied

If you planning to study in the United States, you need to consider several factors （因素）. Everyone has different opinions about where is the best place to live in. Also, the best places to live in are not always home to the best schools. What’s more, many schools specialize in different areas of study. They Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, is a great school for computer science. And if you want to study oceanography, your interests may be better served by attending school in a place which is near the ocean.
Now I will tell you about which states I believe are the best to live in. California is a nice state. Northern California especially has very good weather. As for me, I enjoyed the time I spent in Massachusetts, Virginia and Mary land. These states have a lot of history and culture. The weather is not so perfect as that in California, but is still quite nice. My favourite of America is the Midwest. Middle America, I think, is home to the true American sense of values. Besides, there are many good universities, too.
Also you need to think about your likes and dislikes and then research the different areas. You like sunshine and hate snow? Then you probably won’t like the Midwest or even the Northeast. Open space, nature, peace and quiet? Then you’d better stay away from America’s larger cities. Are you interested in government? Then Washington D.C. is the only place for you. Whatever you decide, put some thought into it.
小題1:From the first paragraph we can infer that in the USA          .

A．a(chǎn)ll colleges and universities lie in big cities

B．a(chǎn)ll colleges and universities lie in beautiful places

C．famous colleges and universities lie in nice places

D．famous colleges and universities may not lie in nice places

小題2:____should be considered first if you want to study in the USA.
A. The climate 
B. The scenery 
C. The study condition    
D. The living condition
小題3:The writer likes Middle America best because           .

A．he feels the real character of the nation here

B．the weather is fine here

C．the life is full of excitement

D．he likes sunshine and hates snow

小題4:The passage mainly              .

A．tells us something about American universities

B．gives us some advice on studying in America

C．lets us know about America

D．describes the scenery of America

New crime prediction software should reduce not only the murder rate, but the rate of other crimes. Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software has already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation(緩刑) or parole(假釋) are most likely to murder and to be murdered.
“When a person goes on probation or parole he is supervised(監(jiān)督) by an officer. The question is ‘what level of supervision is appropriate?’” said Berk. It used to be that parole officers used the person’s criminal record, and their judgment to make decisions.
“This research replaces those seat-of-the –pants calculations,” he said.
Technology helps determine level of supervision. On average there is one murder for every 100,000 people. Even among high-risk groups the murder rate is one in 100. Predicting such a rare event is very difficult, but advances in computer technology works.
Years ago, the researchers made a dataset of more than 60,000 various crimes. Using the software they developed, they found some much more likely to commit murder when paroled or probated. They could identify eight future murderers out of 100.
Berk’s software examines roughly two dozen variables(可變因素), from criminal record to geographic location. The type of crimes, and more importantly, the age at which that crime was committed, were two of the most predictive variables.
“People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” said Berk. “ What really matters is what that person did as a young individual. Predicting future crimes sounds well. But we aren’t anywhere near being able to do that.”
“Berk’s scientific answer leaves policymakers with difficult questions. By labeling one group of people as high risk, and supervise them closely, there should be fewer murders, which the potential victims should be happy about. It also means that those high-risk individuals will be supervised more aggressively. For human rights advocates, that means punishing people who, most likely, will not commit a crime in the future,” said Bushway. “It comes down to a question of whether you would rather make these errors or those errors.”
小題1:The underlined words(in Para.3) probably mean___. 

A．calculations based on subjective opinions

B．calculations based on widespread voting

C．calculations made by advanced technology

D．calculations based on serious considering

小題2:For 650 people with crime records, how many potential murderers would the software find?

A．6.5.

B．13.

C．52.

D．65.

小題3:From Para 7, we can infer that______.

A．the technology developed by Richard Berk will soon be widely used in the US

B．the technology would not be widely accepted in the short term

C．whether a person murders or not largely decided by his upbringing while young

D．if a person murdered when he was fifty, he is sure to murder again while on probation

小題4:Bushway’s attitude to the technology put forward by Richard Berk is ____.

A．positive

B．negative

C．objective

D．indifferent

小題5:Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Closely Supervise Potential Murders

B．Measures Taken to Prevent Criminal Behavior

C．Technology Revolutionizes Judges’ Way of Working

D．Software is Developed to Predict Criminal Behavior

Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thread was made from animal muscle and sinew (腱). And the earliest needles were made from bones. Since those early days, many people have been involved in the process of developing a machine that could do the same thing more quickly and with greater efficiency.
Charles Wiesenthal, who was born in Germany, designed and received a patent on a double-pointed needle that eliminated the need to turn the needle around with each stitch (縫合) in England in 1755. Other inventors of that time tried to develop a functional sewing machine, but each design had at least one serious imperfection. ,科Frenchman Barthelemy Thimonnier finally engineered a machine that really worked. However, he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.
American inventor Elias Howe, born on July 9, 1819, was awarded a patent for a method of sewing that used thread from two different sources. Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point, and it used the two threads to make a special stitch called a lockstitch. However, Howe faced difficulty in finding buyers for his machines in America. In frustration, he traveled to England to try to sell his invention there. When he finally returned home, he found that dozens of manufacturers were adapting his discovery for use in their own sewing machines.
Isaac Singer, another American inventor, was also a manufacturer who made improvements to the design of sewing machines. He invented an up-and-down-motion mechanism that replaced the side-to-side machines. He also developed a foot treadle(腳踏板) to power his machine. This improvement left the sewer’s hands free. Undoubtedly, it was a huge improvement of the hand-cranked machine of the past. Soon the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical, it could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. The Singer sewing machine became the first home appliance, and the Singer company became one of the first American multinationals.
However, Singer used the same method to create a lockstitch that Howe had already patented. As a result, Howe accused him of patent infringement（侵犯）. Of course, Elias Howe won the court case, and Singer was ordered to pay Howe royalties（版稅）. In the end, Howe became a millionaire, not by manufacturing the sewing machine, but by receiving royalty payments for his invention.
小題1:Barthelemy Thimonnier’s garment factory was burned down because _____________.

A．people did not know how to put out the fire

B．Elias Howe thought Thimonnier had stolen his invention

C．the sewing machines was couldn’t work finally

D．workers who feared the loss of their jobs to a machine set fire

小題2:Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?  

A．Singer is an American inventor and manufacturer.

B．The Singer sewing company became more practical.

C．The foot treadle helped to make the sewer’s hands free.

D．Singer made improvements to the design of sewing machines.

小題3:Why did the court force Isaac Singer to pay Elisa Howe a lifetime of royalties?

A．Because the judge was against Singer for his surly attitude.

B．Because Howe had already patented the lockstitch used by Singer.

C．Because Singer had borrowed money from Howe and never repaid it.

D．Because Singer and Howe had both invented the same machine.

小題4:Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A．A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

B．The Case between Howe and Singer

C．Patent Laws on the Sewing Machine

D．The Early History of the Sewing Machine

The purpose of a letter of application(求職信)is to help you to“sell”yourself. It should state　　the job you want, and should tell what your abilities are and what you have　　. It should be simple, human, personal and brief without　　out any necessary facts.
In writing a letter of application, keep in　　that the things a possible employer is most　　to want to know about are your qualifications(條件), your achievements and your aims. The opening paragraph is perhaps the most important part. 　　the first few sentences fail to　　the reader’s attention, the rest of the letter may not be　　at all. Try to key your opening remarks to the needs or interests of the employer not　　your own need or desires. For example, instead of beginning with “I saw your　　in today’s newspaper”, you might say“I have made a careful　　of your advertising during the past six months”or“I have made a survey in my neighborhood to find out how many housewives　　your product and why they like it. ”
Try to　　generalities(概述). Be clear about the kind of job for which you are now　　. College graduates looking for their first positions often ask“What can I　　in a letter? Employers want experience—which, naturally, no　　has. ”The answer is that everything you have ever done is　　.
It is important to write a good strong closing for your letter. 　　a specific request for an interview or give the possible employer something definite to do or expect. An excellent　　is to enclose(內(nèi)附)a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your letter. That makes it　　for a possible employer to get in touch with you.

小題1:	A．easily B．carefully C．obviously D．clearly

小題2:	A．done B．found C．known D．heard

小題3:	A．sending B．leaving C．taking D．picking

小題4:	A．brain B．sight C．mind D．order

小題5:	A．probable B．possible C．a(chǎn)ble D．likely

小題6:	A．While B．Although C．If D．As

小題7:	A．win B．pay C．show D．fix

小題8:	A．kept B．read C．written D．continued

小題9:	A．from B．for C．into D．to

小題10:

A．a(chǎn)rticle B．report C．a(chǎn)dvertisement D．introduction

小題11:

A．watch B．study C．search D．discussion

小題12:

A．use B．make C．sell D．change

小題13:

A．gain B．remember C．protect D．a(chǎn)void

小題14:

A．a(chǎn)pplying B．losing C．preparing D．fitting

小題15:

A．offer B．supply C．provide D．mean

小題16:

A．worker B．manager C．owner D．beginner

小題17:

A．success B．experience C．practice D．development

小題18:

A．State B．Ask C．Make D．Get

小題19:

A．result B．idea C．promise D．decision

小題20:

A．easier B．happier C．cheaper D．safer