A student newspaper reports that most students go to sleep at 1:30 am. Even if that’s an overstatement (夸张), it’s close to the truth. Scientists say teens should sleep nine hours each night. But that’s hard. Some are even “pulling all-nighters” (开夜车). These students must hand in their homework the next day but they haven’t done it. In the morning they don’t look healthy and you can tell who’s been doing it. One of my classmates did a survey on the topic. She found that most kids pull all-nighters to finish homework, but some do it for other reasons, such as playing computer games!
Maybe our lack(缺乏) of sleep is because of laziness — I think I’m a rather lazy student — or maybe it’s because we have too much to do in American high schools. I usually go to bed around midnight. If I stayed up past 1:30 am, I wouldn’t get any work done. I’d be falling asleep at my computer. My classes begin at 7:30 am. I’m partly awake in my first class. By the second, I’m a little sleepy. By my third class, I’m sleepy. By midday I’m finally fully awake. But by 3:00 pm, I’m slowing down again. Yet I get more sleep than usual students.
Most American high schools seem to have a similar(相似的) problem with sleepy students. High school classes start at 7:30 am, so students have to get up one and a half hours before that to get ready and catch the bus. It’s believed that lack of sleep can be bad for both grades and health. Some schools are paying attention. Classes in those schools start at 8:30 am.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence “it’s close to the truth” mean?

A．It doesn’t tell the truth.	B．It is quite true.
C．It is impossible.	D．I don’t think it’s right.

【小题2】Why do most of the teens have to stay up late?

A．They play computer games.	B．They watch videos late.
C．They have to do a lot of housework.	D．They have to do a lot of homework.

【小题3】When do students in most American high schools have to get up?

A．At 7:30 am.

B．At 6:00 am.

C．At 9:00 am.

D．At about 7:00 am.

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE according to the reading?

A．The writer usually stays up past 1:30 am.

B．The writer usually goes to bed around midnight.

C．The writer usually does a survey.

D．Many American students don’t get enough sleep, so they can have high grades.

【小题5】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Something has to be done to solve the problem of students’ lack of sleep.

B．Many American high school students are sleepy in class.

C．Many kids have too much homework to do.

D．Students can’t play computer games.

A very old lady won a million dollars in a lottery(彩票). Her son and her husband heard the news on the radio.
“How are we going to tell your mother?” the man asked. “The news might kill her!”
“That’s true,” the son said. “Perhaps we’d better speak to her doctor about it. He’ll know how to bring her the news gently.”
They told the old lady’s doctor about this.
“I’m glad you told me, ” he said “A shock(震惊), even a happy one, could give her a heart attack, leave it to me. I’ll find a way of bringing the news to her.”
The doctor thought about the problem for several days, then decided what he would say.
He called on the old lady and sat by her. He took her hand in his.
“Let’s play a game, my dear,” he said. “‘Let’s pretend(假装)’ game.”
“Oh, yes, ” the old lady said. “I love ‘Let’s pretend’ game.”
“Good, I’ll ask you a question first, ” the doctor said, “Then you can ask me one.”
He pretended to think for a few minutes. Then he said, “Tell me, what would you do if you won a million dollars in the lottery?”
“Oh, that’s an easy one,” the old lady said, “I’d give most of it to you, doctor, because you have been so good to me all these years, doctor!” But the doctor was now lying on the floor. He had died of shock.
【小题1】Who won a million dollars in a lottery?

A．The man.

B．The son.

C．The old lady.

D．The doctor.

【小题2】What does “heart attack” mean in Chinese?

A．攻击心脏.

B．惊喜.

C．心情.

D．心脏病.

【小题3】Why did the doctor play ‘Let’s pretend’ game with the lady?

A．Because he wanted to get the money.

B．Because he wanted to bring her the news gently.

C．Because he didn’t want to tell her the news.

D．Because he wasn’t honest.

【小题4】Who had died of shock?

A．The man.

B．The son.

C．The old lady.

D．The doctor.

【小题5】What’s the best title for the passage?

A．A Sad Shock	B．A wonderful Shock
C．An Interesting Shock	D．A Lucky Shock

A famous foreign company in China wanted a Clerk for its public relation department (公关部).
A beautiful girl with a master's degree(硕士学位) went through a lot of challenges and her name was on the list. In the final stage she faced an interview together -with another girl. Both of them were outstanding,
not only in looks but also in education.
The girl was successful in the interview. It seemed that she would get the chance. At last the examiner asked her, "Can you come to the office next Monday?" Shocked by the unexpected question, the beautiful girl couldn't make a decision at the moment, so she said, "I have to talk with my parents before I give an answer. " The examiner felt surprised but said calmly, "If so, let' s wait till you are ready. "
The next day, the girl came to tell the examiner that her parents had agreed to let her begin work next Monday. But the examiner said regretfully (遗憾地), "Sorry, another suitable candidate (选手)has got the job. You had better try another place. "The beautiful girl was surprised. She asked for an explanation(解释) and was told, "What is needed here is a person who knows her own mind. "
That was how a good opportunity right under the nose of a beautiful girl ran away.
【小题1】 The beautiful girl wanted to ask her parents for advice because_________

A．she didn't like the job	B．she didn’t expect the examiner would ask such a question
C．she didn't want to answer the question	D．her parents would be angry if she didn't ask them

【小题2】 We can learn from the passage that__________

A．the company lost its best clerk	B．no girl got the job
C．the other girl who failed at the last interview might get the job
D．the examiner was very pleased with the girl

【小题3】The examiner regarded_________as the most important.

A．a person's confidence	B．a person's knowledge
C．a person's age	D．a person' s beautiful looks

【小题4】 The underlined phrase "right under the nose of" probably means________

A．就在鼻子下

B．想要得到的

C．没有把握的

D．就在眼前的

【小题5】 The best title for the passage above might be___________

A．Make Decisions With Your Parents	B．A Successful Interview
C．Use Your Own Mind	D．Answer the Examiner's Question Quickly

A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow (乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain (笔试).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge (挑战). The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended (假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick? “
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride (自大) ! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life...”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
【小题1】What’s the correct order of the following events?
a. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
c. The crow had to ask the swan for help.
d. The swan accepted a challenge of performing flying tricks.

A．a, d, b, c

B．a, b, d, c

C．d, a, c, b

D．d, c, a, b

【小题2】What does the underlined word “exhausted” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Tired.

B．Bored.

C．Nervous.

D．Frightened.

【小题3】What do we learn from the passage?

A．Practice makes perfect.	B．The early bird catches the worm.
C．No pains, no gains.	D．Pride goes before a fall.

If you go to Finland, you’ll be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high class Benz with a fare (票价) of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then get off without paying your fare. And the driver would not show the least sign of worry.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends and dine free of charge.
With so many loopholes (漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “pretty advantages”. But the strange things is, all the taxi-passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. As the Finns always act on good faith and always show an attitude of “which is which” and “what is what” in everything they do, so to live in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”. In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to take precautions (预防措施) against others?
【小题1】The word “foolish” probably means _____________.

A．friendly

B．careful

C．strange

D．funny

【小题2】Why wouldn’t the driver show the least sign of worry? Because _________.

A．he is sure that the passengers always act on good faith

B．he is afraid to make the passengers angry and unhappy

C．he thinks the passengers may be too poor to pay him

D．he is sure that the passengers are really in trouble

【小题3】The dining rooms in all big hotels ___________.

A．check the guests’ registration card carefully

B．give people meals without paying

C．serve their guests free of charge

D．only serve their guests free breakfast

【小题4】What’s FALSE according to the passage?

A．No one takes advantages although there are many loopholes.

B．All the taxi-passengers come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business.

C．Not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms.

D．Finland is heaven for immoral people because they can always take advantages freely.

【小题5】The sentences “which is which” and “what is what” show that __________.

A．the Finns are foolish

B．the Finns take things seriously

C．the Finns are busy making money for the family

D．the Finns never take precaution against others