It takes two to duet (二重唱), and one question for scientists is how these coordinated (協(xié)調(diào)的) performances arise — in birds. Are they the result of cooperation, a way in which one pair signals to others that they’ve got it together? Or are they the result of conflict, evolving to avoid one partner’s song interfering with the other’s?
A study of duetting in Peruvian warbling antbirds(蟻鳥(niǎo)) suggests that it might be a little of both, and that context is everything. Joseph A. Tobias and Nathalie Seddon of the University of Oxford show in Current Biology that sexual conflict can cause the female of a pair that normally cooperates to “jam” the male’s song by singing over it.
The researchers exposed antbird pairs to recorded songs of other antbirds and monitored the songs the pairs produced. In one experiment, they played the songs of an intruding pair. In this case, the resident pair “both are likely to lose their territory, so both should cooperate,” Dr. Tobias said. And they do. They produce a coordinated duet that in effect tells the intruders to keep away.
But when the researchers played the song of a single female, the pair behaved differently. “You’d expect the resident female to be highly motivated to defend her position in the partnership,” Dr. Tobias said. And that’s what occurs. The male sings its heart out, flirting(調(diào)情) with the single female, and the female of the pair does its best to interfere with the song by singing over it, apparently to make her mate less attractive to the other female.
“It’s clear that the male doesn’t like what she’s doing,” Dr. Tobias said. The behavior “breaks up what is otherwise a very cooperative situation into a more complicated signal,” he added.
It’s the first evidence of this kind of signal jamming among pairs, Dr. Tobias said.
And in that it leads the male to alter its song to avoid the female’s interfering notes, it shows that this kind of conflict could, over a long period, drive the evolution of coordinated song.
小題1:
What is the key factor of antbirds’ duet?

A．Their cooperation.	B．Their conflict.
C．The context.	D．Their instinct.

小題2:
How did the researchers conduct the experiment?

A．They put the antbird pairs back to nature and observe them.

B．They played different recorded songs of other antbirds.

C．They put an antbird to the other’s territory and observed.

D．They played the songs of an intruding pair.

小題3:
Why did the female bird sing according to Paragraph 4?

A．It wanted to show its singing talent to the partner.

B．It aimed at keeping the partnership with the male.

C．It wanted to frighten the other females.

D．It wanted to make her mate more attractive.

小題4:
Which of the following is the topic of this passage?

A．The special phenomenon about birds pairs.

B．The conflict of bird pairs.

C．The cooperation of bird pairs.

D．The piece of music for bird pairs.

Blind imitation (模仿)is self-destruction.To those who do not recognize their unique worth. Imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strenghth. Imitation is unacceptable.
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes (菜譜) and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意識(shí)地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.
In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.
Blessed is the person willing to act on their sundden desire to create somrthing unique.Think of the movies,books,teachers,and friends that have affected you most deeply.They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration,not desperation.The world is changed not by those who do what has been done brfore them,but by those who do what has been done inside them.Creative people have an endless resource of ideas.The problem a creator faces  is  not running out of material;it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.
Syudy your role models,accept the gifts they have given,and leave behind what does not server.Then you can say,”I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors”tragedies and  tory ,and know that they are cheering on.
小題1:Imitation proves useful when you        .

A．know you are unique

B．lose the bslance of life

C．begin to learn something new

D．get tired of routine practice

小題2:To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should________.

A．forget daily fear and pain

B．choose the right example

C．a(chǎn)sk others for decisions

D．stay away from stars

小題3:Acording to the author. The world moves on because of those who are          .

A．desperate to intruence others with their knowledge

B．ready to turn their original ideas into reality

C．eager to discover what their ancestors did

D．willing to accept others’ideas

小題4:The trouble a creator faces is          .

A．the lack of strong motivation

B．the absence of practical ideas

C．how to search for more materials

D．how to use imagination creatively

小題5:What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

A．To highlight the importance of creatively.

B．To criticize the characters of role models.

C．To compare imitation with creation.

D．To explain the meaning of success.

A.    introduction  B. company  C. accidentally   D. against    AB. sped  AC. apparent    AD. between  BC. institutional  BD. context  CD. influenced

  Comparisons were drawn between the development of television in the 20^th century and the spread of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries. Yet much had happened __47__. As was discussed before, it was not until the 19th century that the newspaper became the dominant pre-electronic medium, following in the wake of the pamphlet and the book and in the __48__ of the periodical. It was during the same time that the communications revolution __49__ up, beginning with transport, the railway, and leading on through the telegraph, the telephone, radio, and motion pictures into the 20th-century world of the motor car and the airplane. Not everyone sees that process in perspective. It is important to do so. It is generally recognized, however, that the __50__ of the computer in the early 20th century, followed by the invention of the integrated circuit during the 1960s, radically changed the process, although its impact on the media was not immediately __51__. As time went by, computers became smaller and more powerful, and they became “personal” too, as well as __52__, with display becoming sharper and storage capacity increasing. It was within the computer age that the term “information society” began to be widely used to describe the __53__ within which we now live. The communications revolution has __54__ both work and leisure and how we think and feel both about place and time, but there have been controversial views about its economic, political, social and cultural implications. “Benefits” have been weighed __55__ “harmful” outcomes. And generalizations have proved difficult.

For busy people, the idea of speed dating has really caught on in popularity. In a speed dating event, usually 8-10 __66__ go around from table to table, each spending 6-8 minutes at each one. From that, you may not know for sure if you want to __67__ something more with an individual, but, you will __68__ know if you don't want to.
The first thing that you will realize about speed dating is that it makes you __69__. Unlike a bar, where you might get a whole evening to __70__ check a potential partner out and to see what they’ve got, when it comes to __71__, you know that you only have a certain amount of time to put your best foot forward there. You’ll find the other participants are __72__ of this and will put their best foot forward.
An 8-minute speed dating will also give you a chance to see how someone __73__ under pressure. You may already know a little more about their __74__ if you find someone who can’t seem to make eye-contact. The best advice is to make eye contact, be open and direct. You’ll find that the __75__ time can make for some excellent opportunities to really shine, and there’s nothing like a deadline to make you more __76__! An important detail to keep in mind is that you will be __77__ to a dozen or more singles in a short time. Those who feel that there is an advantage in larger numbers will surely find this __78__.          
When you are looking for __79__, you may not want to do the long search, so think about speed dating and see what you can do to make sure that it works for you. __80__, give this exciting opportunity a try!
小題1:
A. lovers          B. couples             C youths               D. singles
小題2:

A．learn

B．have

C．explore

D．develop

小題3:

A．equally

B．hardly

C．definitely

D．eventually

小題4:

A．chase

B．hurry

C．focus

D．cheer

小題5:

A．constantly

B．frequently

C．occasionally

D．unexpectedly

小題6:

A．making friends

B．speed dating

C．family planning

D．home improving

小題7:

A．sick

B．fond

C．a(chǎn)ware

D．confident

小題8:

A．a(chǎn)cts

B．talks

C．lives

D．loves

小題9:

A．interest

B．background

C．intention

D．personality

小題10:

A．spare

B．limited

C．a(chǎn)ppointed

D．luxurious

小題11:

A．creative

B．passive

C．negative

D．objective

小題12:

A．introduced

B．devoted

C．mentioned

D．used

小題13:

A．demanding

B．surprising

C．convincing

D．a(chǎn)ppealing

小題14:

A．fun

B．love

C．friendship

D．a(chǎn)dventure

小題15:

A．In a word

B．As a result

C．On the whole

D．Believe it or not

In general, it seems reasonable to suppose that we should prefer peace and quiet to noise. And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially “too quiet”, an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a wide range of noise levels. Research supports this view. For example, Glass and Singer (1972) exposed people to short bursts of very loud noise and then measured their ability to work out problems and their physiological reactions to the noise. The noise was quite disruptive at first, but after about four minutes the subjects were doing just as well on their tasks as control subjects who were not exposed to noise. Their physiological reactions also declined quickly to the same levels as those of the control subjects.
But there are limits to adaptation and loud noise becomes more troublesome if the person is required to concentrate on more than one task. For example, high noise levels affect the performance of subjects who were required to monitor three dials at a time, a task not unlike that of a plane pilot or an air-traffic controller. Similarly, noise did not affect a subject’s ability to track a moving line with a steering wheel, but it did affect the subject’s ability to repeat numbers while tracking (Finkelm and Glass 1970).
Probably the most significant finding from the research on noise is that its predictability is more important than how loud it is. We are much more able to “tune out” long-lasing background noise, even if it is quite loud, than to work under circumstances with unexpected disturbance of noise. In Glass and Singer’s study, in which subjects were exposed to bursts of noise as they worked on a task, some subjects heard loud bursts and others heard soft bursts. For some subjects, the bursts were spaced exactly one minute apart (predictable noise); others heard the some amount of noise overall, but the bursts occurred at random intervals (unpredictable noise). Subjects reported finding the predictable and unpredictable noise equally annoying, and all subjects performed at about the same level during the noise portion of the experiment. But the different noise conditions had quite different after-effects when the subjects were required to proofread written material under conditions of no noise. The study shows that the unpredictable noise produced more errors in the later proofreading task than predictable noise; and soft unpredictable noise actually produced slightly more errors on this task than the loud predictable noise.
Apparently, unpredictable noise produces more fatigue than predictable noise, but it takes a while for this fatigue to take its toll on performance.
小題1:When talking about people’s difficulty in sleeping in the mountains, what can be inferred in the passage?

A．They usually do not prefer peace and quiet to noise.

B．They may be exposed to short bursts of very strange sounds.

C．They prefer to hear a certain amount of noise while they sleep.

D．They may not have adapted to a higher noise level in the city.

小題2:What did Glass and Singer find in their noise experiment?

A．Problem-solving is much easier under quiet conditions.

B．Physiological reactions prevent the ability to work.

C．Bursts of noise hardly disturb problem-solving in the long term.

D．The physiological reactions of the control subjects declined quickly.

小題3:Researchers discovered that high noise levels are not likely to affect the __________.

A．successful performance of a single task

B．tasks of pilots or air traffic controllers

C．a(chǎn)bility to repeat numbers while tracking moving lines

D．a(chǎn)bility to monitor three dials at once

小題4: What does “take its toll on performance” in the passage probably mean?

A．Destroy the performance completely.

B．Have a negative effect on the performance.

C．Improve the performance greatly.

D．Have a positive influence on the performance.

When Gretchen Baxter gets home from work as a New York City book editor, she checks her Blackberry (黑莓手機(jī)) at the door. ‘I think we are attached to these devices in a way that is not always positive,’ says Baxter，who’d rather focus at home on her husband and 12-year-old daughter. ‘It’s there and it beckons (召喚). That’s human nature (but)…we kind of get crazy sometimes and we don’t know where it should stop.’
Americans are connected at unprecedented (前所未有的) levels一93% now use cell phones or wireless devices；one third of those are ‘smart phones’ that allow users to browse the Web and check e-mail，among other things. The benefits are obvious: checking messages on the road，staying in touch with friends and family，efficiently using time once spent waiting around. The downside：often，we’re effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.
That's why，despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever，2010 was the Year We Stopped Talking to One Another. From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook from work or checking e-mail while on a date，the connectivity revolution is creating a lot of divided attention，not to mention social anxiety. Many analysts say it's time to step back and reassess.
‘What we’re going to see in the future is new opportunities for people to be plugged in and connected like never before,’ says Scott Campbell. ‘It can be a good thing，but I also see new ways the traditional social fabric (社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)) is getting somewhat torn apart.’
Our days are filled with beeps and pings·----many of which pull us away from tasks at hand or face-to-face conversations. We may feel that the distractions are too much，but we can’t seem to stop posting，texting or surfing.
‘We're going through a period of adjustment and rebalancing,’ says Sherry Turkle and she wants to remind people that technology can be turned off.
‘Our human purposes are to really have connections with people,’ she says. ‘We have to reclaim it. It’s not going to take place by itself.’
小題1:What can be the best title for the passage?

A．2010: The year technology developed quickly.

B．2010: The year technology sped up our life pace.

C．2010: The year technology replaced talking.

D．2010: The year technology made communicating easier.

小題2:According to Paragraph l，Gretchen Baxter thinks_________.

A．the new technology always influences people’s life in a positive way

B．the new technology is so tempting that she could even put her daughter and husband behind

C．it is encouraging to see progress on the new technology every year

D．people are too dependent on the new technology to let go

小題3:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The wide use of mobile devices has nothing to do with the ‘traditional social fabric’.

B．Mobile devices play a less important part in American life.

C．Mobile devices create a lot of divided attention and social anxiety.

D．Many analysts speak highly of the wide popularity of mobile devices.

小題4:What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Something must be done to get connection with people in reality again·

B．Using mobile services can help people get connection with each other.

C．Mobile services have a strong impact on people’s life.

D．The connection with people can happen naturally.

A person steps on what seems like solid ground but discovers with horror that the ground is giving way underfoot. The person struggles desperately but is trapped. There is no escape. Slowly the person sinks deeper and at last is gone. The solid ground was solid only in appearance. It was actually quicksand, which is a deep mass of fine sand mixed with water.
How is quicksand formed? Water pushes up from below the surface and is held by the sand. The grains of sand are forced apart by the water. They cannot hold any weight. The subsurface water may have come from a spring, a river, or a stream. Sometimes pools of water near beaches become filled with sand. When the soil under these pools does not allow for good drainage(排水), the sand can become stretches of quicksand.
Is it true that a person who steps into quicksand is doomed to die? No, for people have fought their way from quicksand to firm land again. It is panic(恐慌) that creates the condition that can result in death, for the more a person struggles, the worse matters become. Quick movements will make the sand yield for a time, but then it rushes back and settles solidly around the body.
People trapped in quicksand should either lie back with arms outstretched, or not move at all. When the weight of the sand around his body has displaced equals that person’s weight, the victim will stop sinking. With feet held still, and with slow movements of the arms, as in the backstroke(仰泳) in swimming, people have managed to roll to safety and reach firm ground.
小題1:Quick movements by a person trapped in quicksand will _______.

A．help the person reach firm ground

B．help prevent panic

C．make the same sand yield temporarily

D．make the sand hold the person’s weight

小題2:Quicksand is _______.

A．a(chǎn) mass of fine sand mixed with water	B．formed only along rivers
C．found below subsurface water	D．solid ground

小題3:Which statement does the article lead you to believe?

A．Stretches of quicksand are found only under the sea.

B．People should never try to escape from quicksand.

C．It is hard to keep calm if you fall into quicksand.

D．Only heavy people can be trapped in quicksand.

小題4:The passage mainly tells about _______.

A．what solid ground looks like	B．the nature of quicksand
C．stepping into quicksand	D．escaping from quicksand

Nowadays, there’s a lot of debate about single sex education since it has begun to regain its popularity recently. According to long term studies of children from around the world, students achieve more and learn better in single sex schools.
An Australian study of 270,000 students found that both boys and girls performed much higher on standardized(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化) tests when they attended separate schools. During an experiment in Virginia in 1995, 100 eighth graders were separated just for math and science courses. Almost immediately, the girls began to achieve more, become more confident and take part more often in class activities.
In 2001, a British study concluded that nearly every girl regardless of (不論) her ability or socio-economic status performed better in single sex classrooms than co-ed ones. The study of 2,954 high schools and 979 primary schools showed that while boys at the lowest levels in study improved the most in single sex schools, single sex education was particularly beneficial (有益的) to girls. Every one of the top 50 private elementary schools and top 20 private high schools in Britain are single sex schools.
Girls became more confident in themselves as students and earned higher scores on their College Board and Advanced Placement examinations. A quarter of the female members of the US Congress and one-third of all female members of Fortune 100 boards graduated from all-women’s colleges.
While the statistics are not as dramatic for boys, however, boys tend to soften their competitive edge and become more cooperative in a single sex setting. They can just be boys and not worry about what the girls might think.
Single sex education has a pleasant way of encouraging children to be fearless, to be curious, to be enthusiastic --- in short, to just be themselves. Children are subjected (屈從于) to pressures from every quarter to become adults before they are ready to do so. They grow up too quickly. Why not let them be children for a few more years? Single sex education with its gentler, more controlled social atmosphere is just the right answer for many children.
小題1:   With the experiment in Virginia in 1995, the writer wants to show that        .

A．single sex education has become popular in recent years

B．the effect of single sex education on girls is immediate

C．students at separate schools are better prepared for standardized tests

D．both boy and girl students achieve more and learn better in single sex schools

小題2:According to the article, which of the following statements about single sex education is TRUE?

A．Girls’ performances in single sex classrooms are determined by their ability and socioeconomic status.

B．In all-boys schools boys with the worst academic performances improved the most.

C．Single sex education was particularly helpful for boys.

D．There are more single sex schools than co-ed schools in Britain.

小題3:   In the article, the underlined phrase “soften their competitive edge” probably means        .

A．a(chǎn)ct in a kindly manner	B．become less competitive
C．lose interest in something	D．take advantage of something

小題4:   What is the main point of the article?

A．Ways to reduce pressure and help children grow.

B．The reason why girls perform better than boys at school.

C．The advantage of single sex education.

D．The development of single sex education in different countries.

On the day Apple debuted the often-delayed white-colored iPhone 4, the company’s marketing department gave a nod to the product’s troubled history.
“Finally.” read the big headline Thursday above a picture of the white phone on the homepage of Apple. com.
The white model was supposed to ship alongside the black one at the iPhone 4’s launch（推出） last June. But design and manufacturing complications delayed the process by 10 months, catching Apple off guard, executives say.
As CNN reported last month, earlier test models of the white iPhone 4 produced unclear photos, especially when the flash（閃光燈） was used. Its whiteness confused the proximity sensor （距離傳感器） , which detects when the phone is held next to someone’s head and turns off the touch screen to save battery life.
These problems weren’t present in older iPhones that came in white because they didn’t have flash photography; the proximity sensor was unaffected because the front side of previous models was black.
“We thought we were there a year ago, or less than that, when we launched the iPhone 4, and we weren’t,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s chief marketing executive, said in an interview. “It’s not as simple as making something white. There’s a lot more that goes into both the material science of it —how it holds up over time…but also in how it all works with the sensors. “
Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White predicts that the white model could help drive sales of Apple’s phones. He says Apple could sell 1 million to 1. 5 million every three months until the next iPhone model is unveiled, which is expected to be this fall.
Forty-five people were lined up at Apple’s flagship New York store Thursday morning to buy white iPhones, according to a CNN Money report.
小題1:
The reason why white-colored iPhone 4 was delayed by 10 months is that _______.

A．it’s always sold out due to its popularity

B．it met some problems concerning design and manufacture

C．it lacked white manufacturing materials

D．its proximity sensor can’t save battery life

小題2:
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．There are multi-colored models of iPhone 4.

B．The same design problems were also found in older white iPhones.

C．IPhone4 will be launched this fall.

D．Originally designers thought they could solve the problems before iPhone 4 was launched.

小題3:
What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Why the White iPhone 4 Took So Long

B．The History of iPhone 4

C．The Attraction of White iPhone 4

D．The Design and Manufacture of iPhone 4

小題4:
What does the underlined word “unveil” in the last paragraph mean?

A．to remove one’s mask from his face

B．to remove a cloth from something, especially as part of a ceremony

C．to show to the public for the first time

D．to disappear from the public for the first time

When my grandmother was raising me in Stamps, Arkansas, she had a particular routine（慣例）when people who were known to be whiners entered her store. My grandmother would ask the customer, “How are you doing today, Thomas?”
The person would reply, “Not so good today, Henderson. You see, it’s this summer heat. I just hate it. It just makes me tired. It’s almost killing me.’ Then my grandmother would stand calmly, her arms folded, and say, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
As soon as the complainer was out of the store, my grandmother would call me to stand in front of her. Then she would say the same thing she had said at least a thousand times, it seemed to me. “Jane, did you hear what so-and-so complained about?” And I would nod. Grandmother would continue, “Jane, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and black and white, but they will never wake again. Those dead people would give anything, anything at all for just five minutes of this weather that person was complaining about. So you watch yourself about complaining, Jane. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”
I have learned a lot from my grandmother. Her opinions always hit the nail on the head. Whining is not only impolite, but can be dangerous.
小題1:
The underlined word “whiners” in paragraph 1 refers to those people who ________.

A．think little of themselves	B．enter a store regularly
C．a(chǎn)re afraid of hot weather	D．complain often

小題2:
From what the author’s grandmother said, we can infer that ________.

A．she tried to comfort the whiners	B．she was impolite to the whiners
C．she was against whining	D．she shared the whiners’ opinions

小題3:
The author’s grandmother told her to ________.

A．be sympathetic(同情) to the dead	B．treasure（珍惜）every moment of her life
C．keep away from the whiners	D．get used to things she disliked

小題4:
What is the purpose of the author in writing the passage?

A．To show that complaining is not only rude but harmful.

B．To tell us a story about her grandmother.

C．To show how to live one’s life to the fullest.

D．To tell us people’s different attitudes towards complaining.