get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simple lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” she said. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Also Lyn changed from being a “fashionable, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things”. Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
●Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your emails every day.
●Make sure you spend some time talking to your family. Set aside one evening a week when you don’t turn on the television. Play cards and chat instead.
●Get a low-tech hobby. Every day, do something in the old-fashioned way, such as walking to have a face-to-face meeting instead of using the email or telephone. ●Don’t worry too much about life—laugh more! 55. The passage is mainly about ______. A. Problems with technology
B. Improvements of our life with technology
C. The important roles technology plays in our everyday life D. Major changes which will be likely to happen to technology 56. The writer uses the quote at the beginning of the story to ______. A. share a truth about life and lead in the topic B. tell us what life was like long time ago
C. make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen D. point out that you experience some big problems
57. Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940s house? A. Because they loved to live simple lives.
B. Because they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions. C. Because they were troubled by modern inventions.
D. Because living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them.
58. What do you think the underlined word “available” in the 1st suggestion offered by the writer means? A. be busy. B. be free. C. be able to. D. be found by others.
C
Why doesn’t Anybody Copy Apple
Apple’s products are the envy of the world. They have been spectacularly successful and are widely imitated, if not copied. The minute Apple releases a product, everyone knows how to compete. This idea that the basis of competition is set by Apple and then the race is on to climb the path of improvement is
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unquestionable. Apple releases a product that defines a category or dramatically changes the structure of an industry and it becomes obvious what needs to be built. But why everyone wants to copy Apple’s products but nobody wants to copy being Apple?
I can think of two reasons. Firstly, Apple is not worth copying because it’s not successful; secondly, Apple is successful but Apple cannot be copied because its success is a magical process. There is a great deal of evidence for the first hypothesis(假设). The idea of Apple being successful is not something reflected in its stock price. Being valued indeed lower than the average company in the S&P（标准普尔）500 indicates that to whatever degree Apple was successful in the past, it’s not seen by the vast majority of observers as successful in the future. Why should one bother copying Apple if it results in being punished with a low valuation? Why should one bother?
When it comes to the question what makes Apple successful, the answers regarding the cause of this success border on the mythical. The climax of this hypothesis is the “chief-sorcerer” theory of success which places one magician, like Steven Jobs, in charge of casting all the right spells(符咒).
What’s about Apple’s own opinion of what makes it tick? Tim Cook refers to a great team and integration (整合)of hardware, software and services as unique Apple advantages. It’s a better explanation. Integration is something that can take a long time, but it is possible with great effort. A few companies are starting to make moves in that direction, but efforts are half-hearted. There is no “move the Earth” panic to become an integrated company from Samsung, Google or Microsoft.
My own suspicion is that Apple is more aware of what makes it special than it lets out. However, as Tim points out, it’s complex, it’s subtle, but it’s not magic. It’s a process that requires a degree of faith and courage.
59. When a new product of Apple comes out, often it ______. A. ruins an industry dramatically B. starts a revolution of an industry C. puts itself in an unbeatable position D. is soon overtaken by imitated products 60. According to the passage, other companies don’t “copy being Apple” because _____. A. Apple is not a successful company B. it’s hard to find a powerful magician C. they have no access to relevant resources D. being Apple takes more than time and efforts 61. We can infer from Para. 5 that _____.
A. other companies are devoted to integration
B. Apple itself is fully aware of its unique advantages C. Apple will hold the leading position of this industry D. other companies don’t have a great team as Apple does 62. What does the author think of Tim Cook’s statement?
A. Convincing. B. Disappointing. C. Unquestionable. D. Acceptable.
D
The poverty line is the minimum income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. People with incomes below the poverty line are considered poor. Economists study the causes of poverty in order to find solutions to the problem.
As the general standard of living in the country rises, the poverty line does, too. Therefore, even with today's relatively high standard of living, about 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. However, if these people had stable jobs, they could have an acceptable standard of living.
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Economists suggest several reasons why poor people do not have jobs.
For one thing, more than half of the poor people in the United States are not qualified to work. Over 40 percent of the poor people are children. By law, children less than 16 years old cannot work in many industries. A large number of poor people are old. Many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, the normal retirement age.
Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of personal reasons: they are sick, they do not have any motivation, they have family problems, or they do not believe that they can find a job. Other poor people look for a job but cannot find one. Many poor adults never went to high school. Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer.
At the present time, the government thinks it can reduce poverty in the country in the following ways. First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers. Some of the poor who are qualified to look for jobs may find employment. Then they will no longer be below the poverty line.
Second, if society invests in the poor, the poor will become more productive. If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. Then it is more likely that they can find jobs.
Finally, if the government distributes society's income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non-poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. In 1975 over 18 million people in the United States received welfare.
Some economists are looking for better solutions to the poverty problem. However, at the present time, many people depend on welfare for a minimally acceptable standard of living. 63. The author's main purpose to write this article is_____. A. to define what the poverty line is B. to explain why some people live the poverty line C. to find solutions to the problem of poverty D. to show sympathy for those poor people 64. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Ten percent of the Americans live a poor life.
B. Poor people are those who love below the poverty line. C. The poverty line rises as the general standard of living rises. D. The poverty line tends to be at the same level.
65. Most of the American poor people are not qualified for employment because____. A. they do not have any motivation to work B. they are not very self-confident C. they are too young or too old to work D. they have physical and family problems 66. We may conclude from the passage that____.
A. better solutions to the poverty problem are not yet found B. welfare will enable people to be rich
C. poor people are bound to go out of the poverty line D. employment is the best solution to the poverty problem
E
Doctors sometimes prescribe light therapy to treat a form of depression in people who get too little morning sun. But too much light at other times may actually cause such mood disorders. Long-lasting
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exposure to light at night brings depression, a new study finds, at least in animals.
The new data confirm observations from studies of people who work night shifts, says Richard Stevens of the University of Connecticut Health Center. Mood disorders join a growing list of problems, including cancer, obesity and diabetes—that can occur when light throws life out of balance by disturbing the biological clock and its timing of daily rhythms.
In the new study, Tracy Bedrosian and Randy Nelson of Ohio State University exposed mice to normal light and dark cycles for four weeks. For the next four weeks, half of the animals remained on this schedule, and the rest received long-lasting dim light throughout their night. Compared with animals exposed to normal nighttime darkness, those getting dim light at night lost their strong preference for sweet drinks, “a sign they no longer get pleasure out of activities they once enjoyed,” Bedrosian says.
In a second test, animals were clocked on how long they actively tried to escape a pool of water. Mice exposed to night lights stopped struggling and just floated in the water—a sign of “behavioral despair”, 10 times as long as animals that had experienced normal nighttime darkness. All symptoms of depression disappeared within two weeks of the animals returning to a normal light-dark cycle, the researchers reported. The scientists also could quash the behavioral symptoms by injecting the brains of animals with a drug that prohibits the activity of certain molecules linked with human depression. This finding further suggests that light at night may cause something related to depression.
Human studies linking nighttime light and mood disorders are important but can’t easily detect molecular underpinnings (分子基础) as animal studies can, says George Brainard of Thomas Jefferson University. The new work, he says, suggests that the change of the biological clock by light at night can be “an extremely powerful force in regulating biology and behavior.” 67. After being exposed to continuous nighttime light, the mice ______.
A. changed their preferences B. escaped from the water more eagerly C. remained active as before D. showed less interest in their favorites 68. What does the underlined word “quash” in Para. 4 probably mean? A. study B. predict C. ease D. cause 69. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______. A. light at night may have practical value B. the biological clock is beneficial to humans C. human mood disorders cannot be healed easily
D. human studies are more important than animal studies 70. What is the main idea of the passage? A. Nighttime light may cause depression. B. A drug has been found to cure mood disorders. C. The study on animals can be applied to humans. D. Human biological clock can be controlled by light.
第四部分： 书面表达（共两节，满分5０分）
第一节 完成句子 (共10小题，每小题2分，满分20分)
阅读下列各小题，根据汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。
71. He also urged that Chinese business operating in foreign markets ______________________such
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as by engaging in charitable activities and disciplining their Chinese employees. (assume) 他同时也敦促在国外经营的中国企业履行他们的社会责任，如参加慈善活动和严格要求中国的员工。 72. Over the past decades, China has also sped up its investments abroad. In 2012, it reached $77.2 billon, ______________in the world. (rank)
在过去的几十年里，中国加速了在海外的投资。2012年中国在海外的投资达到了772亿美元，在世界上排名第五。
73. ________________________he alone can effectively solve the problem. (slim) 他一个人解决这个问题的可能性很小。
74. The contribution that he made ____________ of environmental protection is applauded. (promote) 他在提高人们的环境意识上所作出的贡献得到了人们的赞许。
75. January 3, 2013, a HBV carrier held a board _________________ “Hug me, and keep warm”, aiming to attract people’s concern about people like him. (read)
2013年1月3日，一个乙肝病毒携带者举着一块牌子，上面写着“求温暖，求拥抱”，旨在引起人们对于像他那样乙肝病毒携带者的关心。
76. The boy had a big smile on his face as if ______________________ from some sort of prison. (set) 这个男孩笑得非常灿烂，就像刚从某个监禁中释放出来一样。
77. Resolve allows us to nurture a new dream, improve an existing dream or even begin over ________________. (necessary)
决心会让我们生发新的梦想，完善现有的梦想或者在有必要的时候重新开始。
78. A great life is the result of starting. It is what you do today ___________________ in your life tomorrow. (difference)
非凡人生源于行动。今天的行动将会对你的明天产生影响。
79. The answer is very simple. It consists in ______________________their problems. (do) 答案很简单。这取决于他们如何处理自己的问题。
80. So__________________ to spend my spare time with them that I found myself on constant visits to them. (feel)
我觉得和他们一起度过闲暇时光很有趣以至于我经常去看望他们。
第二节：短文写作 (共1题，满分30分)
请你结合事例，写一篇短文，谈谈你对下面这则谚语的理解。
Constant dropping wears the stone. 注意：
1. 无需写标题。
2. 除诗歌外文体不限。
3. 文中不得透露个人信息和学校名称。
4. 字数为120左右，若引用提示语不计入总词数。
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