Love, success, happiness, family and freedom----how important are these values to you? Here is one interview which explores the fundamental questions in life.

Question: Could you introduce yourself first?

Answer: My name is Misbah, 27 years old．I was born in a war-torn area．Right now I’m a web designer.

Q: What are your great memories?

A: My parents used to take us to hunt birds, climb trees, and play in the fields．For me it was like a holiday because we were going to have fun all day long．Those are my great memories.

Q: Does your childhood mean a lot to you?

A: Yes．As life was very hard, I used to work to help bring money in for the family．I spent my childhood working, with responsibilities beyond my age．However, it taught me to deal with problems all alone．I learnt to be independent.

Q: What changes would you like to make in your life?

A: If I could change something in my life, I’d change it so that my childhood could have taken place in another area．I would have loved to live with my family in freedom．Who cares whether we have much money, or whether we have a beautiful house? It doesn’t matter as long as I can live with my family and we are safe.

Q: How do your get along with your parents?

A: My parents supported me until I came of age．I want to give back what I’ve got．That’s our way．But I am working in another city．My only contact with my parents now is through the phone, but I hate using it．It filters(过滤) out your emotion and leaves your voice only．My deepest feelings should be passed through sight, hearing and touch.

1.In Misbah’s childhood,      .

  A．he was free from worry

  B．he liked living in the countryside

  C．he was fond of getting close to nature

  D．he often spent holidays with his family

2.What did Misbah desire most in his childhood?

  A．A colorful life．                       B．A beautiful house.

  C．Peace and freedom．                 D．Money for his family.

3.How would Misbah prefer to communicate with his parents?

  A．By chatting on the Internet．            B．By calling them sometimes.

  C．By paying weekly visits．              D．By writing them letters.

4.If there were only one question left, what would it most probably be?

  A．What was your childhood dream?

  B．What is your biggest achievement?

  C．What is your parents’ view of you?

  D．What was your hardest experience in the war?

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers(生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features(特征) of clothes．What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men．Take a look at the way your clothes button．Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s form the left．Considering most of the word’s population----men and women----are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women．So why do women’s clothes button from the left?

History really seems to matter here．Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants．For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier．On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too．Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.

Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning form the left is still the standard for them．Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change．At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned form the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right．After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch．Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.

1.What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

  A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years.

  B．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s.

  C．It woks better with men than with women.

  D．It fails to consider right-handed people.

2.What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?

  A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons.

  B．They were interested in the historical matters.

  C．They were mostly dressed by servants.

  D．They drew their swords from the left.

3.Women’s clothes still button from the left today because         .

  A．adopting men’s style is improper for women

  B．manufacturers should follow standards

  C．modern women dress themselves

  D．customs are hard to change

4.The passage is mainly developed by          .

  A．analyzing causes                            B．making comparisons

  C．examining differences                    D．following the time order

The term “multitasking” originally referred to a computer’s ability to carry out several tasks at one time．For many people, multitasking has become a way of life and even a key to success．In fact, some excellent mental aerobic exercises (大脑训练) involve engaging the brain in two or more challenging activities at a time．Although checking e-mail while talking on a phone and reading the newspaper may be second nature for some people, many times multitasking can make us less productive, rather than more．And studies show that too much multitasking can lead to increased stress, anxiety and memory loss．

 In order to multitask, the brain uses an area known as the prefrontal cortex (前额叶脑皮层)．Brian scans of volunteers performing multiple tasks together show that as they shift from task to task, this front part of the brain actually takes a moment of rest between tasks．You may have experienced a prefrontal cortex “moment of rest” yourself if you’ve ever dialed (拨电话) a phone number and suddenly forgotten who you dialed when the line is answered．What probably occurred is that between the dialing and the answering, your mind shifted to anther thought or task, and then took that “moment” to come back．Research has also shown that for many volunteers, job efficiency (效率) declines while multitasking, as compared to when they perform only one task at a time.

Multitasking is easiest when at least one of the tasks is habitual, or requires little thought．Most people don’t find it difficult to eat and read the newspaper at the same time．However, when two or more attention-requiring tasks are attempted at one time, people sometimes make mistakes．

 We often don’t remember things as well when we’re trying to manage several details at the same time．Without mental focus, we may not pay enough attention to new information coming in, so it never makes it into our memory stores．That is one of the main reasons we forget people’s names---even sometimes right after they have introduced themselves．Multitasking can also affect our relationships．If someone checks their e-mail while on the phone with a friend, they may come off as absent-minded or disinterested．It can also cause that person to miss or overlook key information being passed on to them．

1.Why are some mental aerobic exercises designed to engage people in multitasking?

     A．To make them more productive．       

       B．To reduce their stress and anxiety．

  C．To develop their communication skills．

  D．To help them perform daily tasks more easily．   

2.According to Paragraph 2, why may a person suddenly forget who has called?

A．He may leave his prefrontal cortex temporarily damaged．

B．He is probably interrupted by another task．

C．He is probably not very familiar with the person he has called．

D．He may need a rest between dialing and speaking.

3.People tend to make mistake when ____.

A．they perform several challenging tasks at a time．

B．new messages are processed one after another

C．their relationships with others are affected

D．the tasks require little thought

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Multitasking has become a way of life．

B．Multitasking often leads to efficiency decline．

C．Multitasking exercises need to be improved．

D．Multitasking enables people to remember things better．

The elephant was lying heavily on its side, fast asleep．A few dogs started barking at it．The elephant woke up in a terrible anger: it chased the dogs into the village where they ran for safety.

That didn't stop the elephant．It destroyed a dozen houses and injured several people．The villagers were scared and angry．Then someone suggested calling Parbati, the elephant princess.

   Parbati Barua's father was a hunter of tigers and an elephant tamer．He taught Parbati to ride an elephant before she could even walk．He also taught her the dangerous art of the elephant round-up -- how to catch wild elephants.

   Parbati hasn't always lived in the jungle．After a happy childhood hunting with her father, she was sent to boarding school in the city．But Parbati never got used to being there and many years later she went back to her old fife．"Life in the city is too dull．Catching elephants is an adventure and the excitement lasts for days after the chase," she says.

   But Parbati doesn't catch elephants just for fun．"My work," she says, "is to rescue man from the elephants, and to keep the elephants safe from man." And this is exactly what Parbati has been doing for many years．Increasingly, the Indian elephant is angry: for many years, illegal hunters have attacked it and its home in the jungle has been reduced to small pieces of land．It is now fighting back．Whenever wild elephants enter a tea garden or a village, Parbati is called to guide the animals back to the jungle before they can kill.

   The work of an elephant tamer also involves love and devotion．A good elephant tamer will spend hours a day singing love songs to a newly captured elephant．"Eventually they grow to love their tamers and never forget them．They are also more loyal than humans," she said, as she climbed up one of her elephants and sat on the giant, happy animal．An elephant princess indeed!

1.For Parbati, catching elephants is mainly to             .

     A．get long lasting excitement               B．keep both man and elephants safe

     C．send them back to the jungle            D．make the angry elephants tame

2.Before Parbati studied in a boarding school,             .

     A．she spent her time hunting with her father

     B．she learned how to sing love songs

     C．she had already been called an elephant princess

     D．she was taught how to hunt tigers

3.Indian elephants are getting increasingly angry and they revenge because __________.

     A．they are caught and sent for heavy work                

     B．illegal hunters capture them and kill them

     C．they are attacked and their land gets limited

     D．dogs often bark at them and chase them

4.The passage starts with an elephant story in order to explain that in India _________．   

     A．people easily fall victim to elephants' attacks

     B．the man-elephant relationship is getting worse

     C．elephant tamers are in short supply

     D．dogs are as powerful as elephants

阅读下面对话，掌握其大意，并根据所给首字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

Jane:Mum,What will the weather be like tomorrow? Have you heard the weather report today?

Mum:Yes, why do you pay much more (1.)a        to something about the weather??

Jane: Oh,we’ve planned to go for a (2.)p         .

Mum:The radio gives us the (3.)i          that there’ll be rain..

Jane: What a (4.)p         ! Our plan can’t be (5.)c         out.

Mum:You know sometimes the (6.)w         makes mistakes.

Jane: I hope he’s made a mistake again this time.

Mum:Why not play computer (7.)g         at home if it rains ?

Jane: I'm afraid I (8.)p         to go to the (9.)m         rather than do that.

Mum: OK．It's good to see an interesting film on (10.)r         days.

你所在的城市即将举办国际贸易博览会。有关部门现向全社会招聘志愿者。要求：

(1)具有为国际友人服务的热情；

(2)掌握丰富的文化知识，既是服务人员，也是文化的使者；

(3)具有流利的英语表达能力，能做好沟通工作。

假如你叫李华，请根据以上要求，写一封想作博览会志愿者的申请信。

　　要求：字迹工整，100词左右。开头已写好，不计入总词数。

　　生词：国际贸易博览会 the International Trade Exposition

Dear Sir or Madam：

Thank you for taking your time to read my letter．……

 -------May I borrow your paper?

------ ______.

A. By all means        B. Never mind     C. You are welcome  D. Don’t mention it

 Most of ______ we call geniuses are successful only because they have made extraordinary efforts.

A. which                B. that                  C. whom                    D. what

 According to an old proverb，a red sky at night often        fine weather the next day．

A．indicates         B．impresses      C．obtains          D．occurs

 I had to ______ because someone else wanted to use the phone.

A. hang on                     B. keep up         C. hang up             D. ring up