D

       The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana(大麻). That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to ten points off the user’s IQ.

       This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavorably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labeled(贴标签于，指……为，分类) the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as “infomania”.

       The noticeable drop in IQ is believed to be the result of the constant distraction of “always on” technology when employees should be concentrating on what they are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their minds remain fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to technology instead of focusing on the tasks in hand.

       The brain also finds it hard to deal with keeping lots of tasks in motion at once, reducing its overall effectiveness. While modern technology can have huge benefits, excessive(过度的) use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to his or her social life.

       Eighty volunteers took part in clinical (临床的)trials on IQ damage and 1,100 adults were interviewed.

       More than six in ten people polled admitted that they were addicted to checking their e-mails and text messages so that they examined work-related ones even when at home or on holiday. Half said that they always responded immediately to an e-mail and one in five would interrupt a meeting to do so.

       Furthermore, Informania is having a negative effect on work colleagues, increasing stress and disagreeing feelings. Nine out of ten polled thought that colleagues who answered e-mails or messages during a face-to-face meeting were extremely rude. Yet one in three Britons believed that it was not only acceptable, but actually diligent and efficient to do so.

67. What does the underlined part mean?

A. A person’s IQ drops ten points if he or she always checks electronic messages.

B. The person who has a higher IQ enjoys checking electronic messages.

C. The person who has a lower IQ enjoys checking electronic messages.

D. A person’s IQ is ten points higher if he or she always checks electronic messages.

68. What happens to people with infomania?

A. People with infomania can only concentrate on their tasks in hand.

B. People with infomania are addicted to smoking marijuana.

C. People with infomania can’t respond to technology immediately.

D. People with infomania can’t concentrate on their tasks in hand.

69. From the passage, we can learn that     .

A. about 550 interviewees responded to an e-mail immediately

B. about 670 interviewees responded to an e-mail immediately

C. about 40 taking part in clinical trials on IQ were addicted to checking e-mail

D. about 16 taking part in clinical trials on IQ refused to answer e-mails immediately

70. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. The regular use of text messages and e-mails can be compared to smoking marijuana.

B. Modern technology can damage a person’s mind.

C. The regular use of text messages and e-mails can harm your IQ.

D. Electronic messages can have effects on the user’s life.

D

The thing is, my luck’s always been ruined. Just look at my name: Jean. Not Jean Marie, or Jeanine, or Jeanette, or even Jeanne. Just Jean. Did you know in France, they name boys Jean? It’s French for John. And okay, I don’t live in France. But still, I’m basically a girl named John. If I lived in France, anyway.

This is the kind of luck I’ve had since before Mom even filled out my birth certificate. So it wasn’t any big surprise to me when the cab driver didn’t help me with my suitcase. I’d already had to tolerate arriving at the airport to find no one there to greet me, and then got no answer to my many phone calls, asking where my aunt and uncle were. Did they not want me after all? Had they changed their minds? Had they heard about my bad luck—all the way from Iowa—and decided they didn’t want any of it to rub off on them?

So when the cab driver, instead of getting out and helping me with my bags, just pushed a little button so that the trunk (汽车后备箱) popped open a few inches, it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me. It wasn’t even the worst thing that had happened to me that day.

According to my mom, most brownstones in New York City were originally single-family homes when they were built way back in the 1800s. But now they’ve been divided up into apartments, so that there’s one—or sometimes even two or more families—per floor.

Not Mom’s sister Evelyn’s brownstone, though. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted Gardiner own all four floors of their brownstone. That’s practically one floor per person, since Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted only have three kids, my cousins Tory, Teddy, and Alice.

Back home, we just have two floors, but there are seven people living on them. And only one bathroom. Not that I’m complaining. Still, ever since my sister Courtney discovered blow-outs, it’s been pretty frightful at home.

But as tall as my aunt and uncle’s house was, it was really narrow—just three windows across. Still, it was a very pretty townhouse, painted gray. The door was a bright, cheerful yellow. There were yellow flower boxes along the base of each window, flower boxes from which bright red—and obviously newly planted, since it was only the middle of April, and not quite warm enough for them.

It was nice to know that, even in a sophisticated (世故的) city like New York, people still realized how homey and welcoming a box of flowers could be. The sight of those flowers cheered me up a little.

Like maybe Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted just forgot I was arriving today, and hadn’t deliberately failed to meet me at the airport because they’d changed their minds about letting me come to stay.

Like everything was going to be all right, after all.

Yeah. With my luck, probably not.

I started up the steps to the front door of 326 East Sixty-Ninth Street, then realized I couldn’t make it with both bags and my violin. Leaving one bag on the sidewalk, I dragged the other up the steps with me. Maybe I took the steps a little too fast, since I nearly tripped and fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. I managed to catch myself at the last moment by grabbing some of the fence the gardeners had put up…

67. Why did the author go to New York?

A. She intended to go sightseeing there.

B. She meant to stay with her aunt’s family.

C. She was homeless and adopted by her aunt.

D. She wanted to try her luck and find a job there.

68. According to the author, some facts account for her bad luck EXCEPT that ________.

A. she was given a boy’s name in French

B. the cab driver didn’t help her with her bags

C. her sister Courtney discovered blow-outs  

D. nobody had come to meet her at the airport

69. The underlined phrase “rub off on” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.

A. have an effect on    B. play tricks on     C. put pressure on       D. throw doubt on

70. From the passage, we can know that _________.

A. the author left home without informing her mother

B. the author arrived in New York in a very warm season

C. her aunt’s family lived a much better life than her own

D. her aunt and uncle were likely to forget about her arrival

The meaning of the word “volunteer” may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means “one who offers his or her services．” There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage from beaches and parks．Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries．They are often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves．Volunteers don’t expect any kind of pay．

   At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer services that can help other people．Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new idea of what being a volunteer means．She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa’s homes in Calcutta．The following is her story．

   “I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school．We watched a video about her work in India and all over the world．I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human being that after I graduated from high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work．So with two friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks．”

   “I was asked to work in a home for sick people．I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch．I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer them up．I felt it was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them．To be honest, I don’t think I was helping very much．It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world．”

According to the text, a volunteer refers to a person who ______．

         A．is willing to help those in need without pay  

         B．can afford to travel to different places

         C．has a strong wish to be successful          

         D．has made a big fortune in life

Tracy started her work as a volunteer _______．

         A．after she met Mother Teresa              

         B．after she finished high school

         C．when she was touring Calcutta            

         D．when she was working in a hospital

Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?

         A．She liked to work with Mother Teresa．     

         B．She had already had some experience．

         C．She was asked by Mother Teresa’s example．  k.s.5.u

         D．She wanted to follow Mother Teresa’s example．

A few years ago I had an “aha!” moment regarding handwriting.

I had in my hand a sheet of paper with handwritten instructions on it for some sort of editorial task. It occurred at first that I did not recognize the handwriting，and then I realized whose it must be. I finally became aware of the fact that I had been working with this colleague for at least a year，maybe two，and yet I did not recognize her handwriting at that point.

It was a very important event in the computerization of life—a sign that the informal. Friendly communication of people working together in an office had changed from notes in pen to instant messages and emails. There was a time when our workdays were filled with little letters，and we recognized one another's handwriting the way we knew voices or faces.

As a child visiting my father’s office，1 was pleased to recognize，in little notes on the desks of his staff，the same handwriting 1 would see at home in the notes he would leave on the fridge—except that those notes were signed “dad” instead of “RFW”.

All this has been on my mind because of the talk about The Rise and Fall of Handwriting，a book by Florey. Sire shows in her book a deep concern about the fall of handwriting and the failure of schools to teach children to write well，but many others argue that people in a digital age can’t be expected to learn to hold a pen.

I don’t buy it.

I don’t want to see anyone cut off from the expressive，personal associations that a pen still promotes better than a digital keyboard does. For many a biographer，part of really getting to know their subjects is learning to read their handwriting.

What some people advocate is teaching one of the many attractive handwritings based on the handwriting of 16th-century Italy. That may sound impossibly grand—as if they want kids to learn to draw by copying classical paintings. However，they have worked in many school systems.

51. Why was the author surprised at not recognizing his colleague’s handwriting?

A. He had worked with his colleague long enough.

B. His colleague’s handwriting was SO beautiful.

C. His colleague’s handwriting was SO terrible.

D. He still had a 1ot of Work to do.

52. People working together in an office used to ____________.

A. talk more about handwriting

B. take more notes on workdays

C. know better one another's handwriting

D. communicate better with one another

53. The author’s father wrote notes in pen _________.

A. to both his family and his staff

B. to his family in small letters

C. to his family on the fridge

D. to his staff on the desk

54. According to the author，handwritten notes _______.

A. are harder to teach in schools

B. attract more attention

C. are used only between friends

D. carry more message

55. We can learn from the passage that the author __________.

A. thinks it impossible to teach handwriting

B. does not want to lose handwriting

C. puts the blame on the computer

D. does not agree with Florey

The United States is full of cars. There are still many families without cars, but some families have two or more. However, cars are used for more than pleasure. They are a necessary part of life.

Cars are used for business. They are driven to offices and factories by workers who have no other way to get to their jobs. When salesmen are sent to different parts of the city, they have to drive in order to carry their products. Farmers have to drive into the city in order to get supplies.

Sometimes small children must be driven to school. In some cities school buses are used only when children live more than a mile away from the school. When the children are too young to walk too far, their mothers take turns driving them to school. One mother drives on Mondays taking her own children and the neighbors' as well. Another mother drives on Tuesdays, another on Wednesday, and so on. This is called forming a car pool. Men also form car pools, with three or four men taking turns driving to the place where they all work.

More car pools should be formed in order to put fewer cars on the road and use less gas. Too many cars are being driven. Something will have to be done about the use of cars.

The United States is filled with cars, but             .

       A. not every family has a car       B. few families have two cars or even more

       C. every American has a car      D. every family has a car

What's the main idea of the second paragraph?

       A. Workers drive cars to offices and factories   B. Salesmen drive to carry their products.

       C. Farmers drive into cities to get supplies.     D. Cars are widely used.

Which statement is true according to the third paragraph?

       A. Small children are driven to school. 

B. All children go to school by bus in some cities.

       C. Mothers drive their children who can't walk to school. 

D. School buses pick up all children.

Mothers form car pools in order that             .

       A. they can drive to school   

B. they can take turns driving their children to school

       C. they reach school quickly  

D. they can drive their children to school in time

The traffic in and around cities is a great problem because              .

       A. too many cars are being driven       B. there are too many car pools

       C. people put fewer cars on the roads   D. there is less gas