Having lived in the house for so long, we found our kitchen looked old. We decided it was time to   1   the kitchen, and my husband and I were discussing   2   colors. The children, sitting nearby, suddenly all spoke together: “Not the measuring stick.”

“No,” I   3   them. “Not the measuring stick..”

The measuring stick isn’t a (an)   4   stick but the kitchen side of the door between our kitchen and dining room. Along the edge we’ve   5    each child’s growth by making a mark showing his or her   6   on every birthday. Over the years so many colored pens, pencils and markers have been used, that now, this white door is somewhat like an abstract painting.

Names and dates show different    7  , and I can tell by the script(手迹) who measured whom. An eight-year-old measured her three-year-old sister, a grandchild measured her grandmother, my husband measured me. At the parties, when this door   8   back and forth frequently, friends stop to   9   the names and dates. When we ask if they would like to be always remembered, they usually smile   10   and go back right up into place,   11   to be measured.

Many of those listed on the door are still  12  ; some have stopped. Some remain with us only in   13 . When my mother came to see my eldest daughter graduate from university, we measured her too. It was her last visit to our home.

We haven’t  14   the new kitchen color plan yet, but one thing is certain: whatever color we choose, the back of the kitchen door will always remain   15  , with lots of names and dates in various colors.

Minimalism (简约主义) is a term that describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is reduced to its most basic features.

As for me, minimalism functions well not in art or design, but in my daily life.

When I was packing for university, I found it extremely difficult to let go of some of the things I owned. I knew I couldn’t take everything with me, but I kept asking myself “how could I possibly throw this away?”, “what if I need it one day?”, and “what about all of the memories?” Now that I’ve moved, and left that stuff behind, I don’t even miss it. Whether or not I got rid of it, it barely makes a bit of difference to me now.

I’ve learned that over time people forget, or their need for a particular object eventually disappears. Either they store it away or they get rid of it.

You might think nostalgically（怀旧的） about the toys you cared about when you were a child, but what is making you smile now is not the thing itself but the memory of it. 1’ve heard it a hundred times, “you don’t need things to make you happy.” It takes something life-changing like moving across the country to realize how true this is.

Speaking of which, for a lot of people, minimalism is about able to move. It’s about being able to go almost anywhere at any time because you don’t have many possessions to carry. When you keep things you don’t need they become a burden that ties you to a place. Moving to university was a good time to let go of a lot of stuff. And when I visit for the holidays, I’ll probably get rid of even more, to lighten the burden.

Of course there are exceptions. There are some things that are irreplaceable, very rare or expensive or we simply love and cherish for some reason or another, since we are humans. But after we keep those, how much is left that we don’t really need?

Hence, minimalism. And why does minimalism bring happiness? That was a bit of a roundabout way of saying that, it’s because what really makes me happy is freedom. And the key to freedom is minimalism because minimalism reduces our attachment to things.

Attachment to too many objects creates a great mess and can severely hold back our freedom to do whatever we want, while minimalism helps us start new projects, move, travel, learn new things, work, expand, be debt-free, be healthy – really living life to our full potential.

I left the nest to fly onwards and upwards, I can’t do it with old things weighing me down. And that is why I have adopted minimalism with open arms.

1.In paragraph l, the writer gives the definition of minimalism to      .

A．introduce a topic                       B．present his own idea

C．describe a scene                        D．offer an argument

2.Many people don’t want to let go of some of their belongings because       .

A．they haven’t had any life-changing experiences

B．they fear their memories will be gone with the thrown-away stuff

C．they hope to live life to their full potential by storing things away

D．they may have to change their lifestyle because of the loss of them

3.Which of the following is NOT the reason why the writer favors “minimalism” in life?                          

A．It takes the burden off her while she is moving.

B．It reduces her attachment to her personal things.

C．It enables her to gain the freedom that she desires.

D．It helps her to realize how true life is.

4.By saying “there are exceptions”, the writer means       

A．little is left if we keep what we cherish most in our life

B．minimalism should be practised accordingly in different situations

C．minimalism is a method difficult to employ in reality

D．life is full of exceptions so it’s difficult to preserve what we value

5.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Minimalism brings happiness.

B．Minimalism is applied in many fields.

C．Minimalism makes people think nostalgically.

D．Minimalism is about able to move.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

It’s such a common event that you probably never asked yourself why you sleep.  ___1____ In fact, for sleep researchers, it’s one of the biggest unanswered questions in the field.

Stop and think about it for a second. Why should we sleep? ____2_____ But we sleep every night, even when we have had plenty of rest. There are，no doubt，several different answers to this question, but let’s just consider one general purpose of sleep: ____3_____ Human beings are creatures that are normally active during daylight hours, when our senses function most effectively.  ____4_____ We can’t see objects well, our color vision is entirely lost, and we don’t have the smelling or hearing sharpness of other animals.  So it actually does make sense to have us stay where we are during the dangerous period when night-waking animals are walking here and there. And one sure way to make sure we don’t fall down everywhere and get lost or eaten is to have us not move for seven or eight hours, rising again only when the light is back and our survival chances are better.

It’s not the only reason we sleep. ____5____Perhaps even the most important one.

A. Is it because we get tired?

B. Should that put human beings in a terrible situation?

C. But from a scientific point of view, this is far from an ordinary matter.

D. But in terms of evolution, it may have been one of the first reasons.

E. Furthermore, if you were designing an animal, would you have it come into long periods of unconsciousness every twenty-four hours? 

F. Sleep as a survival approach.

G. At night, humans do rather poorly.

Having lived in the house for so long, we found our kitchen looked old. We decided it was time to   1   the kitchen, and my husband and I were discussing   2   colors. The children, sitting nearby, suddenly all spoke together: “Not the measuring stick.”
“No,” I   3   them. “Not the measuring stick..”
The measuring stick isn’t a (an)   4   stick but the kitchen side of the door between our kitchen and dining room. Along the edge we’ve   5    each child’s growth by making a mark showing his or her   6   on every birthday. Over the years so many colored pens, pencils and markers have been used, that now, this white door is somewhat like an abstract painting.
Names and dates show different    7  , and I can tell by the script(手迹) who measured whom. An eight-year-old measured her three-year-old sister, a grandchild measured her grandmother, my husband measured me. At the parties, when this door   8   back and forth frequently, friends stop to   9   the names and dates. When we ask if they would like to be always remembered, they usually smile   10   and go back right up into place,   11   to be measured.
Many of those listed on the door are still  12  ; some have stopped. Some remain with us only in   13 . When my mother came to see my eldest daughter graduate from university, we measured her too. It was her last visit to our home.
We haven’t  14   the new kitchen color plan yet, but one thing is certain: whatever color we choose, the back of the kitchen door will always remain   15  , with lots of names and dates in various colors.

“Any time! Any where! Decades ago there was no such thing” – “Communication”.

Then, September 7th 1987, the global system for mobile communication or GSM was born. And international agreements that laid out the standards, regulations and practices gave rise to a global mobile phone industry.

To be honest, the world’s first mobiles were not so attractive and the range of effectiveness wasn’t very good. But they became a must-have among those wealthy people who could afford that. However, by advantage of GSM which has many different elements to it, we can all enjoy the ability to go around the world in 217 countries, land in that country and know that a phone would work.

There are other cell phone systems using different technology in the world. The majority of the United States and parts of South America have been using something called CDMA which is very rare in Europe. In some Asian countries like China, GSM and CDMA both exist at the same time. But the GSM Association claims 85% of the global mobile phone market. They estimated there are now about 2.5 billion different users who make more than 7 trillion minutes of calls everyday, and that’s not all.

20 years later, the mobile phone is so much more than just a phone. You can use it to send text messages, take pictures, show video, even surf the internet.

“The phone itself is involved from just being a communication tool, to be a tool for round-the-clock connectivity, you can not live without it even in a minute.” Mobile consultant Nick Lane also points out with so many customized styles and features, your mobile phone will become a symbol of you.

Where will the global mobile phone industry be in another 20 years? Certainly, there will be more connections than better coverage. As for where else technology will take us, one can only imagine.

1.According the passage, we can know that GSM is ____________.

A. a global-used mobile phone                   B. a global mobile phone industry

C. a global mobile phone association           D. a global mobile communication system

2.It's most difficult to find a CDMA mobile phone in ____________.

A. the United States              B. South America               C. Europe                 D. China

3.From this passage, we can infer that ____________.

A. as soon as the first mobiles appeared, they became popular and many people have one

B. with a GSM mobile phone, you can make a phone call in most parts of the USA

C. there are only two cell phone systems in the whole world: GSM and CDMA

D. most of the mobile phone users in the world now are using the GSM mobile phone

4.By pointing out “your mobile phone will become a symbol of you”, what does Nick Lane want to tell us about the mobile phone in the future?

A. You can have a mobile phone with the unique look and functions as you like.

B. Others can find us without any difficulties if we carry our mobile phone.

C. The mobile phone can be used as a permit when you enter some places.

D. The mobile phone we carry can show others how wealthy we are.

5.What does the writer feel about the GSM development in the following 20 years?

A. Satisfied.　　          B. Worried.　　             C. Confident.　　        D. Confused.