This the best time and this the worst time；this is the time of great material richness and this is the time of desert of soul．Everyone seems to be rushing around for something but they have never fulfilled they dream．Everyone tries to seek happiness but it seems to be nowhere to be found．

When asked“what on earth can make you happy?”，most modern man would give similar replies such as becoming extremely wealthy，or getting promoted in work and then becoming very wealthy．When asked“what will you do with your wealth?”，they would make a long list of things they have been longing for．However haven’t you noticed the multibillionaires are not as happy as we common guys suppose them to be?Haven’t you noticed that the multibillionaire celebrities don’t even enjoy the fundamental freedom of going shopping with their own families without being followed by annoying paparazzi?

If we hinge our happiness on such big issues，we are bound to be unhappy all through our life, because those big issues might just occur to us once in a blue moon.

As Socrates once put it，“He is the richest who is content with the least，for content is the wealth of nature”．But how can we “be content with the least”?If you pay due attention，our life is loaded with little joys，sometime too little to be noticeable．Stop once in a while in your rush to your destination，look around and you will see that there are always little things worth cheering for. You got an“A”in a test．Good!You listened to all inspiring lecture．Great!You offered a helping hand to someone who had a flat tire! Amazing! Your dream girl／boy greeted you with a sweet smile!Fantastic!And so on and so forth!Let’s cheer for the little joys in life!

Please keep in mind that never should we wait to be happy!

1.What is the best title of the text?

A．Money means happiness． B．Happiness is all around us．

C．Dreams make our life rich．D．Satisfaction is unacceptable．

2.According to the text，which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness．

B．Desire for wealth makes people unhappy．

C．Great occasions are worth celebrating．

D．We should ignore little joys in our life．

3.What does the underlined phrase in the third paragraph probably mean?

A．Rarely． B．Regularly． C．Normally．D. Frequently．

4.According to Socrates，people who are“content with the least”are ___________.

A．greedy B．ambitious C．optimistic D．reliable

5.In the fourth paragraph，the author suggests that we should ___________.

A．set up great goals in life B．make full use of opportunities

C．enjoy even moment in life D．seek significant issues in life

Many people cannot start their day without first having a cup of coffee or tea．These drinks help them think clearly and feel more awake．This is because of caffeine，which helps to give a jump start to the nervous system．Now，a report says it may also boost long-term memory．

Mike Yassa is a neurobiology professor．He and other researchers wanted to know if caffeine could improve a person’s memory．He explains，“After you learn anything，it takes some time for that memory to strengthen．And over the first 24 hours is actually where most of the forgetting happens．So that is where we wanted to intervene with caffeine and see if we can help reduce this forgetting．”

They took 160 caffeine-free people and showed them pictures of everyday objects. These people were asked if the objects could be found inside the house， or outdoors．Then some of the subjects were given a caffeine pill．The others were given a placebo—a pill containing nothing. 24 hours later，the subjects were shown the exact same images from the day before．They were also shown images with slight differences，and some completely new images. Both groups correctly identified the exact same and completely new pictures．But those who took the caffeine pill were better at spottingthe pictures that were slightly different．

Professor Yassa says their answers helped to show the effects of caffeine on memory. And we find that if they are on caffeine they are much more likely to make the right decision．”

The amount of caffeine the researchers used in the study was similar to one cup of strong coffee．The researchers did not see any improvement to memory from smaller doses of caffeine or when it was given an hour before viewing the images．

1.What is the focus of the text?

A．Caffeine can make people addicted．

B．Caffeine can make people energetic.

C．Caffeine can improve long—term memory．

D．Caffeine can make people feel comfortable．

2.What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A．How the experiment was conducted．

B．Who took part in the experiment．

C．Which group of subjects did better．

D．What was used in the experiment．

3.In which section of a magazine can we read this text?

A．Culture． B. Technology． C．Health. D．Education.

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Most forgetting occurs within the first 24 hours．

B．Forgetting can be positively affected by caffeine．

C．The subjects were given different pills．

D．Yassa was disappointed with the result．

5.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．More caffeine means better memory．

B．Smaller doses of caffeine doesn’t work．

C．The time to take cafieine doesn’t matter．

D．Caffeine is taken before the experiment．

Scientists in UK have grown a living human "brain". The team at Aston University created tiny bunch of cells which act like a mini nervous system.

They believe it could help find a cure for worse mental conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Professor Michael Coleman is leading the research program. He explained, "We are aiming to be able to study the human brain at the most basic level, using an actual living human cell system. Cells have to be alive and operating efficiently to enable us to really understand how the brain works. "The experiment involves changing cells from a cancer tumour (腫瘤）and making them behave like brain cells.

Although far from finished, researchers hope the false brain cells will give them a greater understanding of how real brains work. This, in turn, could significantly further research into conditions which affect the brain. Neil Hunt, chief leader of the research group, said, "It is still very early days, but in the future the research could lead to a useful tool for looking into dementia (癡呆)."

The technique could also provide a way to carry on animal test and is being supported by the Humane Research Trust (HRT). The scientists predict that over the next ten years a million people will develop dementia. Professor Coleman believes their findings could change this. He said，"We hope our research will provide scientists with a new and highly relational human experimental model to help them understand the brain better and develop new drugs to control the related disease. However, the biggest challenge at present is that we are greatly short of fund, which will slow our research."

1.UK scientists grow a living human "brain" in order to ______.

A. study the structure of human brain B. make use of living human cell system

C. discover how human brain really works D. separate cells from a cancer tumour

2. According to Neil Hunt, research into brain cells ______.

A. will get finished as early as possibleB. will make people discover dementia

C. will affect the brain growth in many ways

D. will help to treat some diseases in nerve system

3. From the last paragraph，we can know that ______

A. the technique provided by HRT is immature

B. animal tests are no longer allowed by law

C. a million people suffer from brain diseases

D. the research program lacks financial support

4. The text is intended to ______.

A. tell us about a breakthrough in medical research

B. introduce a research program in human's brain

C. introduce the progress of drugs for dementia

D. tell us about health problem in nerve system

Scientists have been puzzled by the phenomenon that migrating birds fly not just in groups all the time, but in "V" formations and they have tried to figure out what benefit birds get from this particular formation. Now, a research group from University of London may have found the answer ― migrating birds fly in a "V" to save energy, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

When a bird flaps(振翅) its wings, it stirs the air around it and causes it to move indifferent directions. Scientist found in the study that the air creates an upward-moving wave at the tips of the wings, which means that if a bird flies around the wingtips of another bird, it can get a boost（抬高） from the rising air and therefore use less energy to stay in the air.

Apart form the "free ride" strategy, scientists were also surprised to observe that migrating birds timed their wing beats and adjusted their positions in a very precise way to maximize the lifting effect while avoiding areas where the air move downward.

"They're able to sense what's going on from the bird in front, where this 'good air' is coming from and now how to position themselves perfectly in it," lead researcher Steven Portugal told BBC.

In fact, the "V" formation has long thought to help birds fly more efficiently(效率搞地). A previous study showed that birds' heart rates went down when they were flying together in a "V" formation. Jet fighters were also found to be able reduce their energy use by up to 18% by staying near the wingtips of other jet fighters. Both of these findings led scientists to suspect that the "V" formation had an efficiency purpose, but until now they still lack proof.

"For scientists, the new study provides an insight into an interesting natural phenomenon. But it could mean even more for aircraft companies — helping them understand how they can imitate that with their plane formations to save fuel, said Portugal."

1.What is the author's purpose in writing this article?

A. To explain how birds benefit from migration.

B. To introduce how migrating birds find their way.

C. To tell some applications of migrating birds' "V" formations.

D. To report new findings about migrating birds' "V" formations.

2. According to the recent study, when birds migrate .

A. they don't change their lead birds during the whole journey

B. they fly in "V" formations to protect themselves against enemies

C. they form the shape of a "V" to make best use of the lifting effect

D. the air they stir around makes it hard for the birds behind to fly fast

3.What is the significance of the new study according to this article?

A. It might inspire aircraft companies to think of ways to improve efficiency.

B. It has proved that the "V" formation can improve in efficiency in many fields,

C. It has led scientists to discover that birds' heart rates go down when they fly in a "V".

D. It shows that the best formation of jet fighters in battle should be a "V" formation.

4. The underlined word "imitate" in the last paragraph most probably means "".

A. useB. copyC. changeD. learn

The preventive measures for forest fires include some preemptive(搶先)methods that can help reduce the risks of fires and control their severity and spread，and thus, maintain ecological balance and protect resources．Close monitoring of forest fires caused by natural factors can help prevent their spread to a large extent．To contain forest fires，fire departments usually use water and chemical fire retardants(抑制劑)that can be dropped from planes and helicopters．To control the spread of a wildfire．firefighters usually create a control line by removing all fuel from an area so that the fire cannot travel across it．

Controlled burns are often employed by government authorities to reduce fuel buildup，and clean up the fallen leaves，and thus，prevent the spread of forest fires to a vast area．Regular controlled burns can also help maintain biodiversity(生物多樣性)，as the smoke and heat produced in the process can facilitate(促進)the growth of seeds of certain plant species．Apart from these，responsible human behavior can help reduce the number of forest fires to a great extent．In fact，we can reduce the number of wildfires dramatically by not leaving behind any source of fire in the forest.

Forest fires can affect climate and weather to a great extent，besides causing severe damage to valuable trees．Wildfires can increase the level of greenhouse gases(water vapor, carbon dioxide，etc)，and therefore increase pollution and global warming．However, they are also an important part of the ecosystem，and many plants depend on the heat and smoke generated by wildfires for their growth and reproduction．But large wildfires can cause extensive damage to the ecosystem，which again highlights the importance of effective control and prevention of forest fires·

1.What may be the best title for this passage?

A．Control and Prevention of Forest Fires

B．How to Keep Ecological Balance

C．Effects of Forest Fires

D．Methods of Fire Spread Control

2.Firefighters get rid of all fuel in all area in order to ____________．

A．keep close monitoring of forest fires

B．prevent the forest fire from occurring

C．protect the animals there

D．stop the wildfire from spreading

3.The government arranges some controlled burns to_______________．

A．burn the rubbish and keep the forest clean

B．help keep ecological balance of nature

C．reduce fuel buildup and limit forest fires spread

D．provide reasonable conditions for some plants’growth

4.A controlled forest fire may play a positive role because ________________.

A．a new forest will appear soon

B．it promotes the development of some seeds

C．nature keeps its balance only by wildfires

D．it makes the trees grow faster than before

5.The last paragraph tells us that _______________．

A．the greenhouse gases are caused mainly by wildfires

B．wildfires have both positive and negative effects

C．people should be aware of the necessity of wildfires

D．all the valuable trees disappear owing to wildfires

Caffeine not only gives us a daily jump start, but new research suggests it also can strengthen long-term memory.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, nearly 90 percent of people worldwide consume about 200 milligrams of caffeine each day. That' s equivalent to about one strong cup of coffee a day. Writing in " Nature Neuroscience" , Johns Hopkins University researchers say their findings show that caffeine strengthens certain memories for up t0 24 hours after being taken in.

" We've always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects (促智效果) , but its ,particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail in humans, " said senior author of the paper Michael Yassa. " We re- port for the first time a specific effect of caffeine on reducing forgetting over 24 hours. " Conducting a double-blind trial, the researchers worked with a test group of people who didn't regularly consume caffeinated products. Five minutes after studying a series of images, the test subjects were given either a placebo(無效對照劑) or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet.

To check the caffeine levels of their test subjects, the research team took saliva samples (唾液樣品) from them before they took their tablets and again one, three and 24 hours after- wards.

Both groups of test participants ( those who took the placebo and those who took the caffeine tablet) were tested the following day to see if they could recognize the images they' d seen the previous day.

The test included showing the test subjects another series of images that included some new images , those that were shown the previous day, as well as other images that were similar, but not the same as those they had viewed earlier.

The researchers found that more members of the group who were given the caffeine tablets were able to correctly identify some of the new images as " similar" to previously viewed images rather than incorrectly identifying them as the same.

"We also know that caffeine is associated with health and longevity(長壽) and may havesome protective effects from cognitive decline like Alzheimer' s disease (阿爾茨海默癥). " said Yassa.

1.The purpose of the new research is

A. to survey how much caffeine people consume a day

B. to write the paper " Nature Neuroscience"

C. to prove caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects

D. to examine caffeine ' s memory-strengthening effects in detail

2. During the research ,the researchers did the following things EXCEPT

A. giving the test subjects placebos or caffeine tablets

B. checking the caffeine levels of the test subjects

C. encouraging the test subjects to drink more coffee

D. showing the test subjects series of images

3. How did the test subjects show the caffeine ' s memory-strengthening effects?

A. By recognizing images they ' d seen the previous day.

B. By taking the caffeine tablets instead of placebos.

C. By identifying the new images as the same.

D. By telling the differences between new images.

4. What will the next part of the text possibly talk about?

A. Ways to achieve health and longevity. B. The effects caffeine has on health.

.C. The treatment for Alzheimer' s disease. D. The harmful effects of cognitive decline.

Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits—including making your brain sharper.

Yes, it turns out that overweight may damage cognitive functions (認知功能) such as memory and attention. There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance. Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions, according to a new research led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University.

Growing evidence suggests that being fat is linked to cognitive deficits (缺陷). So Gunstad and his team guessed that losing weight might improve mental function. For their study, they measured memory and attention in a group of 150 overweight participants, some of whom had some kind of operation for weight loss and some did not. All of the volunteers completed mental skills tests to assess their abilities of memory and attention at the beginning of the study, and again 12 weeks later. To begin with, about 24% of the patients showed damaged learning and 23% showed signs of poor memory when tested. At the end of the study, those who had lost weight after operation improved their scores into the average or above average range for cognitive functions. Scores for the volunteers who didn’t lose weight dropped even further.

The study helped Gunstad to find out whether losing weight had any effect on mental function. Now that he’s seen the positive effect that weight loss can have on memory and attention, he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way—eating healthier and getting more active. He expects that losing weight in this way will have a similarly positive effect on the brain. “If we can improve the condition with operations, then we can probably produce the same change with behavioral weight loss as well,” he says.

1. There is less research on overweight and cognitive functions because researchers _____.

2. The result of Gunstad’s study shows that ______.

3. What is Gunstad planning to prove next in his research?

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

Sometime in the next century, the familiar early-newspaper on the front porch (門廊) will disappear. And instead of reading your newspaper, it will read to you. You'll get up and turn on the computer newspaper just like switching on the TV An electronic voice will distribute stories about the latest events, guided by a program that selects the type of news you want. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on this brief story? A simple touch makes the entire text appear. Save it in your own personal computer if you like. These are among the predictions from communication experts working on the newspapers of the future. Pictured as part of broader home-based media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers will unite print and broadcast reporting, and offer news and analysis with video images of news events.

Most of the technology is available now, but convincing more people that they don't need to read a newspaper is the next step. But resistance to computer newspapers may be stronger from within journalism. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be that the present generation of journalists and publishers will have to die off before the next generation realizes that the newspaper industry is no longer a newspaper industry. Technology is making the end of ' traditional newspapers unavoidable.

Despite technological advances, it could take decades to replace newsprint with computer screens. It might take 30 t0 40 years to complete the changeover because people need to buy computers and because newspapers have established financial interests in the paper industry.

1. Which of the following is NOT an advantage of computer newspapers?

A. They are cheaper than traditional newspapers.

B. They are more convenient to read.

C. You can choose the kind of voice you want to hear.

D. You can easily save information for future use.

2.Which of the following is a reason why it will take a long time to complete the changeover?

A. The technology is impossible now.

B. Computer newspaper s are too expensive.

C . The popularization of computers needs a long time.

D. Traditional newspapers are easier to read.

3. It can be inferred that journalists are against computer newspapers because _______ .

A.they don't know how to use computers

B. they think computer newspapers take too much time to read

C. they think the new technology is bad

D. they have been trained to write For traditional newspapers

4. We can infer from the passage that

A. all technological changes are good

B. new technologies don't always replace old ones

C. new technologies will eventually replace old ones

D. traditional newspapers are here to stay for another century

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A. Computer newspapers are well liked.

B. Newspapers of the future will be on the computer.

C. Newspapers are out of fashion.

D. New communications technology.

Scientists have long puzzled over how iguanas, a group of lizards(蜥蜴) mostly found in the Americas, came to live in the isolated Pacific islands of Fiji and Tonga. Some scientists used to suppose that they must have traveled there on a raft, a journey of around 5,000 miles from South America to the islands. There are documented cases of iguanas reaching remote Caribbean islands and the Galapagos Islands on floating logs. But new research in January by Brice Noonan and Jack Sites suggested that iguanas may have simply walked to Fiji and Tonga when the islands were still a part of an ancient southern supercontinent.

The ancient supercontinent was made up of present-day Africa, Australia, Antarctica and parts of Asia. If that’s the case, the island species would need to be very old. Using “molecular (分子) clock” analysis of living iguanas’ DNA, Noonan and Sites found that, sure enough, the lineage of iguanas has been around for more than 60 million years—easily old enough to have been in the area when the islands were still connected by land bridges to Asia or Australia.

Fossils (化石) uncovered in Mongolia suggest that iguanid ancestors did once live in Asia. Though there’s currently no fossil evidence of iguanas in Australia, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were never there. “The fossil record of this continent is surprisingly poor and cannot be taken as evidence of true absence,” the authors write.

So if the iguanas simply walked to Fiji and Tonga from Asia or possibly Australia, why are they not also found on the rest of the Pacific islands? Noonan and Sites say fossil evidence suggests that iguana species did once inhabit other islands, but went extinct right around the time when humans settled in those islands. But Fiji and Tonga have a much shorter history of human presence, which may have helped the iguanas living there to escape extinction.

The researchers say that their study can’t completely rule out the rafting theory, but it does make the land bridge theory “far more reasonable than previously thought.”

1. What did some scientists previously believe about the iguanas?

   A. They were once discovered in America.     

B. They traveled by raft to Fiji and Tonga.

   C.  They could survive in poor living conditions.

D. They moved to Fiji and Tonga from Australia.

2.According to Noonan and Sites, 60 million years ago ____.  

A. the land of the world was a supercontinent  

B. Fiji and Tonga were connected to Asia or Australia

C. Africa, Australia and America were a continent

   D. iguanas walked to Fiji and Tonga from Africa

3.The underline word “l(fā)ineage” in Paragraph 2 probably refers to ____.

   A. conditions in which creatures can survive

B. the change in ancient plants and animals.

C. the line of generations of an ancestor

D. the habitat of a type of an ancient animal

4. What is the main topic of this passage?  

A. The life span of animals living on the ancient supercontinent.

B. The two islands being home to several iguana species in the Pacific region.

C. The fossil evidence suggesting iguanas’ ancestors’ swimming to Fiji and Tonga

D. By raft or by land — how did iguanas reach the tiny Pacific islands?

手機是當今社會必備的一種交流工具，但是對手機的過度依賴確成了社會的一種普遍現(xiàn)象。請閱讀下面的漫畫，按要求用英文寫一篇短文。

要求：

1. 描述漫畫內容；

2. 分析漫畫所揭示的問題；

3. 提出你的看法。

注意：

1. 短文開頭已給出，不計入總詞數；

2. 考生可適當發(fā)揮，使文章內容充實、連貫；

3. 詞數120左右;

4. 文中不能出現(xiàn)考生的具體信息。

It is common that we use cell phones as a means of communication for its convenience. However, the fact that people are getting addicted to cell phones cannot be ignored.