Anna Schiferl hadn’t even got out of bed when she reached for her cell phone and typed a text to her mom, one recent Saturday. Mon was right downstairs in the kitchen. The text? Anna wanted an egg for breakfast. Soon after, Joanna Schiferl called, “If you want to talk to me, Anna, come downstairs and see me!” Anna laughs about it now. “I was kind of being lazy,” she admits.

These days, many people with cell phones prefer texting to a phone call. And that’s creating a communication divide, of sorts—the talkers vs. the texters. Some would argue that it’s no big deal. But many experts say the most successful communicators will, of course, have the competence to do both. And they fear that more of us are unable to have—or at least are avoiding—the traditional face–to–face conversations.

Many professors say it is not common to see students outside of class. “I sit in my office hours lonely now because if my students have a question, they email me, often late at night,” says Renee Houston, a professor at the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. “And they never call.”

As Anna sees it: “There are people you’ll text, but won’t call. It’s just a way to stay in touch with each other.” Some believe that scores of texts each day keep people more connected. “The problem is that the conversation isn’t very deep,” says Joseph Grenny, co-author of the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.

“The problem has been there since we’ve had telephones—probably since the time of a telegraph,” Grenny says. Texting is just the latest way to do that. Though they may not always be so good at deep conversations themselves, Grenny suggests that parents model the behavior for their children and put down their own cell phones. He says that they also should set limits, as Anna’s mom did when she made the “no texting to people in the same house” rule.

1.According to Paragraph 1, Joanna .

A. was very strict with her daughter

B. did not know how to use a cell phone

C. was angry that her daughter got up late

D. did not have any breakfast that morning

2.The underlined word “competence” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.

A. chance B. ability C. courage D. patience

3.In Joseph Grenny’s opinion, .

A. cell phones make people lonelier

B. telephones help people communicate clearly

C. texting helps people have deeper conversations

D. talking should be encouraged instead of texting

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Why is communication important?

B. How does texting affect kids at school?

C. Is texting ruining the art of conversation?

D. How can we avoid one-sided conversations?

Eco-friendly Car Racer

Can you image a car racer is so eco-friendly that its tyres are made from potatoes, its body is created from hemp (大麻) and rapeseed oil and it runs on fuel made from wheat and sugar beet? The one-seater racing car called Eco One is built by experts from Warwick University, who hope that Eco One will be adopted by the automotive industry. It is sold at $ 51,000.

Pollution-sensitive Dress

Don’t be caught outside unaware of pollution levels in the air. The pollution-sensitive EPA Dress by Stephanie Sandstrom notices pollution in the air accordingly. This dress – which is actually quite pretty – looks like you pull it from the bottom of the dirty laundry pile when the air is dirty. It might protect your health by advising you to stay indoors for the day, but it won’t do you any favor if you’re meeting with clients.

Eco-friendly Umbrella

Traditional umbrellas come with a fixed surface. Although it is changeable, you cannot replace it easily. This eco-friendly design is more flexible. It is actually only an umbrella skeleton without any surface, which can be folded, so you can put anything such as newspapers, plastic bags or whatever you want to serve as the protecting surface.

Eco-friendly Moss (苔蘚) Carpet

It is said that walking on fresh grass increases your blood circulation. The Moss Carpet, created by Nguyen La Chanh, looks at getting the grass to your feet. The mat includes ball moss, island moss and forest moss. The humidity (濕度) of the bathroom ensures that it grows well. And that’s why you need to place it there and not anywhere else.

1.According to Paragraph 1, we can find Eco One _____．

A. can seat one passenger and one driver

B. can’t be afforded by the public at present

C. is mainly made from some kinds of plants

D. will take the place of the traditional car industry

2.Why is EPA Dress designed?

A. To advise people to stay at home as often as possible

B. To keep users informed of the polluted levels in the air.

C. To make women look pretty even in the polluted air.

D. To stop people from meeting their clients if necessary.

3.Compared with traditional umbrellas, the Eco-friendly Umbrella _____．

A. is changeable B. hasn’t any surface

C. can be folded D. is made of newspapers

4.Where does the text probably come from?

A. A science report B. A personal blog

C. A health report D. An official document

Some people are like homing pigeons: Drop them off anywhere, and they’ll find their way around. Other people, though, can’t tell when they’re holding a map upside down. Are the directionally challenged just bad learners?

Not all of your navigational (導(dǎo)航的)skills are learned. Research shows that your sense of direction is innate. An innate ability is something you are born with. Your brain has special navigational neurons—head-direction cells, place cells, and grid cells (網(wǎng)格細(xì)胞)—and they help program your inside compass when you’re just a baby.

In 2010, scientists carried out an experiment to study baby rats’ neural activity in their brains. Although the rats were newborns, the researchers discovered that their head-direction cells (which help them recognize the direction they’re facing) were fully grown and developed. The rats, it seemed, were born with a sense of direction. And they hadn’t even opened their eyes yet!

Humans, of course, are not rats. But the hippocampus—the brain area we use for navigation—is similar in most mammals. If the rat’s compass develops this way, then it’s likely that a human’s compass does, too.

If we’re born with a sense of direction, then why are some people so good at getting lost? The scientists found that the two other cells—place and grid cells—developed within the first month. Place cells are thought to help us form a map in our mind, while grid cells help us navigate new and unfamiliar places. The two cells work together, and that’s where the trouble might be.

People who took part in a 2013 study played a video game that required them to travel quickly between different places. Monitoring their brains, the scientists found that grid cells helped the gamers recognize where they were—even without landmarks. According to researcher Michael Kahana, differences in how grid cells work may help explain why some people have a better sense of direction than others.

1.What did the 2010 research find?

A. Rats have a natural ability to recognize directions.

B. Rats’ hippocampus is different from that of humans.

C. Rats usually find their way without opening their eyes.

D. Baby rats have as many head-direction cells as grown-ups.

2.What do we know about our navigational neurons?

A. Place cells let us know how to read a map.

B. Grid cells help us reach the place we are going to.

C. They help us use a compass when we lose our way.

D. Place and grid cells grow later than head-direction cells.

3.Why are some people so good at getting lost?

A. They can’t remember landmarks.

B. Their grid cells can’t work very well.

C. They are unfamiliar with new places.

D. Their ability to follow directions is poor.

4.What is the text mainly about?

A. Human navigational skills.

B. The compass in rats’ body.

C. Why grid cells are useful.

D. How homing pigeons work.

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容, 從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

With the year coming to an end, a vacation is inescapable. Travelling in winters is never easy. Though air travel might sound as the most convenient way for winter travel, it also has its own shortcomings. The season of cold sometimes interrupts your travel plans. 1. We bring to you tips to keep in mind if you are air travelling in winters.

Early flights are on time

Early morning flights have been found to be more on time than the ones later in the day. 2. Any delay in the flight schedule during the day leads to a series of delay, the best way to avoid it is to fly early.

3.

Partner airlines can help you in times of delayed flights. Some airlines work in association with its partner airlines. In case your flight gets cancelled or delayed you can ask for a seat in the partner airline, provided that your airline supports it.

Join a club

4. When your flight gets delayed for hours you can access those clubs in the airport rather than being stuck in the terminal. Also, accessing to different travel agents is easier from the clubs as they assist you with various options available.

Consider a travel agent

At times when you are stuck with situations where your flight is delayed or cancelled, instead of dealing directly with the airline staff, it is best to lay the responsibility on your travel agent. 5.

A. Remember to phone bravely

B. Partner airlines can help

C. A member of a club is the best choice for most flyers on the whole

D. Flights get cancelled or delayed beyond what you have to deal with

E. Though you would have to wake up very early, yet it would rid you of a lot of troubles.

F. Your travel agent will act on your behalf and solve the issues so you needn’t solve the issues yourself.

G. Joining a club will sure make you pay some money, but if you are a frequent flyer it is the best choice for you

完形填空

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出可以填人空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。

Always Changing

Jack is leaving, and I’m feeling kind of sad.

You probably don’t know Jack, but you might be lucky enough to_________ someone just like him. He’s been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of years combining _________ professional skills with a sweet and gentle nature.

And now he’s moving on to an exciting new professional _________ . It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we’re_________ for him. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to him.

Life has a way of throwing these curve(曲線(xiàn)) balls _________ us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation, something comes along to _________ the recipe.

Our ability to cope with change _________ to a great degree, our peace, happiness and contentment in life.

But how do we do that? A friend of mine is fond of reminding us that “survivability depends upon _________ .” And then there’s Chris the California surf-rat, who once told me that the answer to life’s problems can be _________ in four words: “Go with the flow.”

I'm not exactly sure, but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of _________ —both good and bad. No matter how excellent your skill, there will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no _________ . The truly successful person expects the unexpected, and is prepared to_________ adjustments if the need should arise—as it almost _________ does.

That doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying to make all your _________ come true. It just means that when things come up that aren’t _________ in your plan, you work around them—and then you move on.

“Change, indeed, is painful, _________ ever needful,” said philosopher Thomas Carlyle. “And if memory has its force and worth, so also has _________ .”

We’re going to miss Jack. But rather than stay on the _________ of our parting, we’ll focus on our hopes for a brighter future—for him, and for us. And then we’ll go out and _________ everything we can to make that future happen. _________ our plans change—again.

1.A. know B. greet C. imagine D. recognize

2.A. good B. extra C. correct D. precise

3.A. agreement B. destination C. opportunity D. experience

4.A. pity B. pleased C. anxious D. curious

5.A. in B. at C. on D. with

6.A. try B. use C. provide D. change

7.A. protect B. produce C. preserve D. determine

8.A. habit B. belief C. adaptability D. communication

9.A. summed up B. put up C. made up D. held up

10.A. events B. records C. accidents D. problems

11.A. power B. trouble C. control D. difference

12.A. get B. make C. take D. have

13.A. never B. already C. seldom D. always

14.A. dreams B. promises C. decisions D. solutions

15.A. eventually B. immediately C. surprisingly D. exactly

16.A. and B. yet C. also D. even

17.A. future B. parting C. hope D. attempt

18.A. complaint B. sadness C. attention D. sympathy

19.A. do B. face C. seize D. demand

20.A. If B. After C. Until D. Before

閱讀下面材料，在空白處填入適當(dāng)?shù)膬?nèi)容（1個(gè)單詞）或括號(hào)內(nèi)單詞的正確形式

The Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the 1. (large) of the Earth’s oceans, 2. (cover) about 46% of the Earth’s water surface and 32% of its total surface area. It extends 3. the Arctic in the north to the Antarctica in the south, surrounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

The Pacific Ocean contains about 25,000 islands. The 4. (major) of them are found south of the equator. 5. water near the equator is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes (中緯度) for 6. (abundance) equatorial precipitation (赤道降水) throughout the year.

The surface circulation of Pacific waters is 7. (general) clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The exploitation of the Pacific’s mineral wealth is various, 8. is influenced by the ocean’s great depths. In shallow waters off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, natural gas is produced, and pearls 9. (harvest) along the coasts of Australia, Japan and the Philippines. One more thing worth 10. (mention) is that the Pacific’s greatest wealth is its fish.

短文改錯(cuò)

假定英語(yǔ)課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文，請(qǐng)你修改你同桌寫(xiě)的以下作文。文中共有10處語(yǔ)言錯(cuò)誤，每句中最多有兩處。錯(cuò)誤僅涉及一個(gè)單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號(hào)()，并在其下面寫(xiě)出該加的詞。

刪除：把多余的詞用(＼)劃掉。

修改：在錯(cuò)的詞下畫(huà)一橫線(xiàn)，并在該詞下面寫(xiě)出修改后的詞。

注意：1.每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；

2.只允許修改10處，多者（從第11處起）不計(jì)分。

Two men were traveling together while a bear suddenly met them. One of them climbed up into the tree. The other, seeing that he must be attacked, immediate lay on his back on the ground. When the bear came up, feeling him with his nose and smelt him all over, he held breath. The bear soon left him, for it’s said that a bear won’t touches a dead body. When he was gone, the other travelers went down from the tree. And he asked his friend that the bear had whispered to his ear. “He gave me a piece of advice,” his companion replied. “Never to travel with a friend who deserts you in the face of danger.”

書(shū)面表達(dá)

假如你是李明，上周你班同學(xué)就“畢業(yè)前我們?cè)摓閷W(xué)校做些什么？”進(jìn)行了討論。請(qǐng)你根據(jù)以下內(nèi)容要點(diǎn)，將同學(xué)們的建議用英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)一封信告訴你的筆友David, 并談?wù)勀愕南敕�及理由�?/p>

1.為圖書(shū)館捐書(shū)； 2.美化校園； 3.刻苦學(xué)習(xí)。

注意：

1.詞數(shù)120左右；

2.可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫；

3.開(kāi)頭已為你寫(xiě)好，不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

Dear David,

Last week we held an enthusiastic discussion on what we should do for our school before we graduate.

NASA-s New Horizons probe（宇宙探測(cè)器）flew by Pluto（冥王星）this morning, sending back history's first up-close looks at the vast freezing-cold world. Closest approach came at 7:49 a.m. EDT. To celebrate, NASA gave out the latest photo of Pluto. It showed a reddish world with an amazing heart-shaped feature on its surface.

After today's close encounter, all the nine solar system's traditionally recognized planets have now been visited by a spaceship-a huge project begun in 1962 when NASA's Mariner 2 probe flew past Venus, a planet in the solar system. More than l,200 scientists, NASA guests and important persons, including 200 reporters, watched the flyby live at New Horizons' mission control center.

That close encounter has been a long time coming. The$723 million New Horizons mission launched in January 2006 but began taking shape in 1989. "New Horizons is'a capstone mission'," Glen Fountain, mission project manager told Space, com. "It is the first completion of the observations of our solar system. It-s giving us a new idea about how we human beings fit into the universe."

New Horizons "faced a crazy number of challenges," Stern, a driving force behind New Horizons said, "So many people stuck with this for so long. They got knocked down; they stood up. They got knocked down again; they stood up again.”

In a coincidence, today's close approach falls on the 50th anniversary of the first flyby of Mars, another planet, which was completed by NASA-s Mariner 4 spaceship.

There are no longer nine officially recognized planets, of course. The International Astronomical Union regarded Pluto as “a dwarf planet" in 2006 in a decision that remains controversial（有爭(zhēng)議的）today.

1.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Ideas still vary in the identity of Pluto.

B. Only scientists could watch the flyby live.

C. Mars is the first planet visited by a spaceship.

D. New Horizons mission aimed to observe the solar system.

2.Glen Fountain may probably agree that _____________________．

A. it is the most difficult to land on Pluto in the solar system

B. New Horizons mission is a long and troublesome project

C. their strong determination leads to the successful flyby

D. people are likely to find new ways to fit into space

3.Which is the best title for the passage?

A.A New Horizons Probe

B. NASA's Huge Project

C. Pluto,a Controversial Planet

D. A Close Approach to Pluto

—May I try on the blue tie over there? This one does not match my shirt, you see.

—______. Just wait for a minute.

A. By no means B. That’s all right

C. Don’t mention it D. By all means