“Mum, can I invite my classmate Brett over to stay tomorrow night, please? It’s

题型：不详难度：来源：

“Mum, can I invite my classmate Brett over to stay tomorrow night, please? It’s Friday, and we don’t have any ___.Can I, please?” Mum was sitting at the kitchen table. Dad was ___next to her, resting his head on his arms. Mum could ___that James wanted so badly to have his friend over.
“I’m so sorry, James,” she said.
“I’m never allowed to have friends come to the house? Why, Mum?” James asked sadly, almost in ___.
“I know it’s ___ for you,” Mum said softly. “But I’m just worried other people might think we’re a little… strange. And then they would make fun of you.”
“No, they wouldn’t, Mum,” James protested. “We’re not ___ at all. We’re just ordinary people.”
Mum sighed heavily. “To tell you the truth, James, my neck has been so painful that it’s given me a heavy ___. And your poor father –he doesn’t feel ___. He really needs a rest.”
“I can help, Mum!” James said. “___ I can make you and Dad feel better, can Brett come over? Please?”
“Well…”Mum began.
“Great! Thanks Mum!” James almost shouted. “Just sit there, don’t move.” He rushed over to the kitchen drawer and ___ what he needed –two spanners. “Hang on, Mum,” he said. “This won’t take a second.” After some ___, James was finished. With a smile of ___ on his face he said, “There! How does that feel?” “Oh, James,” Mum said. “That’s a much better! How did you do it?”
“Easy,” James said ___.” Dad had tightened your neck bolts (螺栓) too much! I just___ them slightly! I learned that in robotic science at school.”
“What about you father? Can you ___ him?” asked Mum.
“I’ll try,” James replied. He ___ up Dad’s hair at the back of his neck. and plugged the electric wire into Dad’s head. Then he turned the ___on. Dad opened his eyes and ___ immediately. “He just let his ___run too low, that’s all,” James said, “Shall I tell Brett to come over straight after school tomorrow?”
“I guess so,” replied Mum. “Your friends will just have to ___ that we are a very unusual family. Thanks, son!”

小题1:

A．chance

B．message

C．homework

D．difficulty

小题2:

A．asleep

B．reading

C．alone

D．standing

小题3:

A．explain

B．see

C．agree

D．doubt

小题4:

A．terror

B．tears

C．surprise

D．silence

小题5:

A．fair

B．easy

C．good

D．hard

小题6:

A．strange

B．normal

C．popular

D．anxious

小题7:

A．headache

B．loss

C．task

D．day

小题8:

A．ill

B．funny

C．sorry

D．well

小题9:

A．As

B．If

C．Since

D．Before

小题10:

A．kept

B．controlled

C．found

D．returned

小题11:

A．requests

B．thoughts

C．repairs

D．instructions

小题12:

A．sympathy

B．satisfaction

C．bitterness

D．politeness

小题13:

A．embarrassedly

B．gratefully

C．impatiently

D．proudly

小题14:

A．adjusted

B．collected

C．produced

D．covered

小题15:

A．greet

B．accompany

C．help

D．ask

小题16:

A．lifted

B．caught

C．gave

D．filled

小题17:

A．television

B．power

C．light

D．gas

小题18:

A．grew up

B．lay down

C．broke down

D．sat up

小题19:

A．food

B．temperature

C．battery

D．blood

小题20:

A．prove

B．expect

C．suspect

D．accept

答案

小题1:C
小题2:A.
小题3:B
小题4:B
小题5:D
小题6:A
小题7:A
小题8:D
小题9:B
小题10:C
小题11:C
小题12:B
小题13:D
小题14:A
小题15:C
小题16:A
小题17:B
小题18:D
小题19:C
小题20:D

解析

【文章大意】本文是一篇科幻短篇小说。James今天没作业，他想邀请同学到家里玩，去征求母亲的同意。母亲拒绝，因为母亲的头痛以及父亲的残疾，令母亲觉得James的同学会认为家里挺怪异的，由此James会遭受嘲笑。但聪明的James灵活运用了课堂上学到的机器人科学知识，使父母亲两人都改变了不舒服的境况。因此获得了邀请同学到家玩的许可。
小题1:C 考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。星期五，没作业，因此邀请同学到家玩。 chance 机会；message 信息；homework 作业；difficulty 困难。
小题2: A. 考查形容词，动词词义辨析及语境理解。下文说父亲残疾，需要休息；而在这段描绘了父亲头伏在胳膊上（resting his head on his arms），可以想象出父亲感觉不舒服，正在睡（下文说接通电源后父亲就张开了眼睛）。asleep 熟睡； reading 阅读；alone 孤身一人；standing 站立。B，D选项不符合上下文语境；父亲明显在母亲身边，并不是一个人，所以C选项错误。
小题3:B 考查动词词义辨析及语境理解。从James的请求及其语气，母亲显然看出他急切想让同学到家玩。see 看出，明白；explain 解释；agree 同意；doubt 怀疑。
小题4: B考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。当遭到母亲的不允许后，他伤心地问（James asked sadly）为什么，很可能几乎含着眼泪。 terror 恐惧； tears 眼泪； surprise 惊奇； silence 沉默。
小题5:D 考查形容词词义辨析及语境理解。fair 公平；easy 容易； good 良好； hard 艰难。James从来没邀请过同学来家玩。而现在遭到母亲的不许可，对于他来说，星期五没有同学来是很伤心，很难熬的一天。应当说是不公平的一件事，所以A选项错误。
小题6:A考查形容词词义辨析及语境理解。上文介绍过母亲不同意James的要求是因为担心他同学会认为家里异常而嘲笑他（But I’m just worried other people might think we’re a little… strange.）。这里James反驳说，他认为家里很寻常（We’re just ordinary people。），一点不古怪。 Strange 奇怪；normal 正常；popular 流行；anxious 焦急。
小题7:A考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。母亲的感受，脖子疼导致头痛得很厉害。Headache 头痛；； loss失去，损失；task任务；day天，日子
小题8:D考查形容词词义辨析及语境理解。可怜的父亲需要休息（He really needs a rest.），很可能身体感觉不舒服。ill 生病的；funny滑稽的；C. sorry难过的；well健康的（形容词）。A选项与D选项意思正好相反。
小题9:B考查连词词义辨析及语境理解。James 问话的意思是，要是他能使父母亲舒服点，他的请求是否可以满足。该句逗号前后存在逻辑上的条件关系（“_44__ I can make you and Dad feel better, can Brett come over? Please。）As随着； If 如果；Since自从；Before在…之前。
小题10:C 考查动词词义辨析及语境理解。James跑向厨房，拉开抽屉，找到他所需要的东西。 kept保持；controlled控制；found找到；returned 归还。感觉下文可知他用找到的扳手来修理父母亲身上的故障。
小题11:C考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。James 找到扳子后，做些修缮和调整，让母亲更舒服点。requests请求；thoughts想法；repairs维修；Instructions 指示，说明，James不仅说了，而且做了，所以此词不符合文意。
小题12:B 考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。不花几秒钟，James就调整好母亲脖子上的绷带，因此露出了满意的微笑。 sympathy同情心；satisfaction满意； bitterness难过，苦涩； politeness 礼貌。
小题13:D考查副词词义辨析及语境理解。母亲感觉好多了，并问他是如何做到的。James显然是自豪地回答，那简单！句中的形容词easy说明他很自豪。embarrassedly尴尬地；gratefully感激地；impatiently不耐烦地；proudly 自豪地；
小题14:A 考查动词词义辨析及语境理解。James找到了母亲不舒服的原因是父亲把螺栓扭得太紧（Dad had tightened your neck bolts (螺栓) too much!），他只不过调松些。adjusted调整；collected收集，整理；produced生成；covered 覆盖，采访。
小题15:C考查动词词义辨析及语境理解。由上文可知爸爸的身体也不好，所以妈妈请求James也帮爸爸。greet问候；accompany陪伴；help帮助；ask 请求。
小题16:A考查动词词义辨析及语境理解。把父亲脖子后的头发拢起，要插入了一根电线。lifted提高，举起；caught抓住；gave给予；filled 充满。
小题17:B 考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。television电视； power权力，电；light光线，灯；gas汽油；把电线插入父亲的脑袋里（plugged the electric wire into Dad’s head. ），然后接通的是电源。James想给爸爸充电了。C选项是电灯的意思，不符合语境。
小题18:D考查动词短语词义辨析及语境理解。 grew up成长；长大；lay down放下； broke down出故障，身体垮掉；sat up 坐起来。父亲原先是伏在胳膊上睡，一接通电源，他张开了眼睛，立即坐了起来，说明爸爸的问题好了。
小题19:C考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。food食物；temperature温度；battery电池； blood 血。接通电源，父亲就没睡意，更舒服了。说明爸爸身体不好可能是因为体内的电池电量不足。
小题20:D 考查名词词义辨析及语境理解。 James运用自己的聪明才智使得父母亲都感觉舒服了，他的朋友但会接受这确实是不寻常的一家。prove证明；expect期待；suspect怀疑； accept接受。

举一反三

(Q =" Question;" A = Answer)
Situation I
Q: If someone sits right next to me in an empty movie theater, is it rude to move?
A: Maybe, but nobody will fault you for it. Chances are that close sitter doesn"t realize he disturbs you, so he may miss your annoyance. You undoubtedly aren"t the first person he"s met who needs enough room. Forgive his bad judgment, move quietly and enjoy the show.
Situation II
Q: If I use the bathroom at a store, do I need to buy something?
A: Consider frequency and urgency. Is this a one-time or an emergency? If so, you don"t have to buy anything, but it would be kind if you did. However, if you regularly use the bathroom at this place, then you are a customer, and you should act like one.
Situation III
Q: If someone is talking loudly on the bus, is there a nice way to ask him to keep it down?
A: No. Try other means.1) Stare at him until he gets aware of it and quiets down. 2) Lift your finger in a silence motion(动作)and smile. 3) Put on earphones and ignore him.
Situation IV
Q: If I remember my friend"s birthday a day late, should I apologize or just wish her a happy birthday like nothing happened?
A: This is the reason why the word belated was invented. "Happy belated birthday!" is short for: "Well, I know I forgot, but then I remembered. Forgive me and happy birthday."
Situation V
Q: Can I lie about seeing a text because I was too busy or lazy to respond(回复) to it?
A: Don"t lie. Receiving a text does not mean you need to respond to it. Why waste a perfectly good lie when the truth will serve? "Yes," you can say if ever asked, "I saw it." No explanation is needed as to why you don"t respond.
小题1:You will get annoyed in a theater when .

A．a person is too active

B．a person is too rude to you

C．a person talks too loudly

D．a person sits too close to you

小题2:How will you quiet someone down in a public place?

A．By making fun of him continuously.

B．By looking purposefully at him.

C．By talking to him directly.

D．By pointing angrily at him.

小题3:The underlined word "belated" in Situation IV probably means .

A．predicted

B．returned

C．cancelled

D．delayed

小题4:What is the passage mainly about?

A．Modern ways to mind your manners.

B．Different ways to change others" manners.

C．Proper manners to offer help to others.

D．Good manners to talk to people.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Let"s say you want to hit the gym more regularly this year. How do you make that happen? Consider putting the habit loop to use.
Here"s how it works:
A habit is a 3-step process. First, there"s a cue, something that tells your brain to operate automatically. Then there"s a routine. And finally, a reward, which helps your brain learn to desire the behavior. It"s what you can use to create-or break-habits of your own.
Here"s how to apply it:
Choose a cue, like leaving your running shoes by the door, then pick. a reward-say, a piece of chocolate when you get home from the gym. That way, the cue and the reward become interconnected. Finally, when you see the shoes, your brain will start longing for the reward, which will make it easier to work out day after day. The best part? In a couple of weeks, you won"t need the chocolate at all. Your brain will come to see the workout itself as the reward. Which is the whole point, right?
小题1:Which of the following best fits in the box with a “?” in THE HABIT LOOP?

A．Pick a new cue.	B．Form a new habit.
C．Choose a new reward.	D．Design a new resolution.

小题2:According to THE HABIT LOOP, you can stick to your plan most effectively by______.

A．changing the routine	B．trying it for a week
C．adjusting your goal	D．writing it down

小题3:What"s the purpose of putting the habit loop to use?

A．To test out different kinds of cues.

B．To do something as a habit even without rewards.

C．To work out the best New Year"s resolution.

D．To motivate yourself with satisfactory rewards.

小题4:“This year when I see the Harry Potter poster, I will read 30 pages of an English novel or an English newspaper in order to watch TV for half an hour." What is the cue in this resolution?

A．The Harry Potter poster.

B．Reading 30 pages of an English novel.

C．An English newspaper.

D．Watching TV for half an hour.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Willi around 100 students scheduled to be in that 9 am Monday morning lecture, it is no surprise that almost 20 people actually make it to the class and only 10 of them arc still awake after the first IS minutes; it is not even a surprise that most of them are still in their pyjamas (睡衣). Obviously, students are terrible at adjusting their sleep cycles to their daily schedule.
All human beings possess a body clock. Along with other alerting (警报) systems, this governs the sleep/wake cycle and is therefore one of the main processes which govern sleep behaviour. Typically, the preferred sleep/wake cycle is delayed in adolescents, which leads to many students not feeling sleepy until much later in the evenings. This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the "night owl" schedule of sleep.
This is opposed to the "early bird" schedule, and is a kind of disorder where the individual tends to stay up much past midnight. Such a person has great difficulty in waking up in the mornings. Research suggests that night owls feel most alert and function best in the evenings and at night. Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people can be classified as "night owls" and only 10 percent can be classified as "early birds" - the other 70 percent are in the middle. Although this is clearly not true for all students, for the ones who are true night owls this gives them an excellent excuse for missing their lectures which unfortunately fall before midday.
小题1:What docs the author stress in Paragraph I?

A．Many students are absent from class.

B．Students are very tired on Monday mornings.

C．Students do not adjust their sleep patterns well.

D．Students are not well prepared for class on Mondays.

小题2:Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 2?

A．Most students prefer to get up late in the morning.

B．Students don"t sleep well because of alerting systems.

C．One"s body clock governs the sleep/wake cycle independently.

D．Adolescents" delayed sleep/wake cycle isn"t the preferred pattern.

小题3:Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "classified"?

A．Criticised.

B．Grouped.

C．Organised.

D．Named.

小题4:What docs the text mainly talk about?

A．Functions of the body clock.

B．The "night owl" phenomenon.

C．Human beings" sleep behaviour.

D．The school schedule of "early birds".

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Women are friendly. But men are more competitive. Why? Researchers have found it"s all down to the hormone oxytocin (荷尔蒙催生素). Although known as the love hormone, it affects the sexes differently.
"Women tend to be social in their behavior. They often share with others. But men lend to be competitive. They are trying to improve their social status," said Professor Ryan.
Generally, people believe that the hormone oxytocin is let out in our body in various social situations and
our body creates a large amount of it during positive social interactions (互动) such as falling in love or giving birth.
But in a previous experiment Professor Ryan found that the hormone is also let out in our body during negative social interactions such as envy.
Further researches showed that in men the hormone oxytocin improves the ability to recognize competitive relationships, but in women it raises the ability to recognize friendship. Professor Ryan"s recent experiment used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37. Half of the participants（参与者）received oxytocin. The other half received placebo (安慰剂).
After a week, the two groups switched with participants. They went tlirough the same procedure with the other material.
Following each treatment, they were shown some video pictures with different social interactions. Then they were asked to analyze the relationships by answering some questions. The questions were about telling friendship from competition. And their answers should be based on gestures, body language and facial expressions.
The results indicated that, after treatment with oxytocin, men"s ability to correctly recognize competitive relationships improved, but in women it was the ability to correctly recognize friendship that got better.
Professor Ryan thus concluded: "Our experiment proves that the hormone oxytocin can raise people"s abilities to better distinguish different social interactions. And the behavior differences between men and women are caused by biological factors (因素) that are mainly hormonal."
小题1:What causes men and women to behave differently according to the text?

A．Placebo.	B．Oxytocin.
C．The gesture.	D．The social status.

小题2:What can we learn from Professor Ryan"s previous experiment?

A．Oxytocin affects our behavior in a different way.

B．Our body lets out oxytocin when we are deep in love.

C．Our body produces oxytocin when we feel unhappy about others" success.

D．Oxytocin improves our abilities to understand people"s behavior differences.

小题3:Why did Professor Ryan conduct the recent experiment?

A．To test the effect of oxytocin on the ability to recognize social interactions.

B．To know the differences between friendship and competition.

C．To know people"s different abilities to answer questions.

D．To test people"s understanding of body language.

小题4:The author develops the text by______.

A．explaining people"s behaviors

B．describing his own experiences

C．distinguishing sexual differences

D．discussing research experiments

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

People aren’t walking any more---if they can figure out a way to avoid it.
I felt superior about this matter until the other day I took my car to mail a small parcel. The journey is a matter of 281 steps. But I used the car. And I wasn’t in ay hurry, either, I had merely become one more victim of a national sickness: motorosis.
It is an illness to which I had thought myself immune(), for I was bred in the tradition of going to places on my own two legs. At that time, we regarded 25 miles as good day’s walk and the ability to cover such a distance in ten hours as sign of strength and skill. It did not occur to us that walking was a hardship. And the effect was lasting. When I was 45 years old I raced –and beat—a teenage football player the 168 steps up the Stature of Liberty.
Such enterprises today are regarded by many middle-aged persons as bad for the heart. But a well-known British physician, Sir Adolphe Abrhams, pointed out recently that hearts and bodies need proper…… is more likely to have illnesses than one who exercises regularly. And wlaking is an ideal form of exercise--- the most familiar and natural of all.
It was Henry Thoreau who showed mankind the richness of going on foot. The man walking can learn the trees, flower, insects, birds and animals, the significance of seasons, the very feel of himself as a living creature in a living world, He cannot learn in a car.
The car is a convenient means of transport, but we have made it our way of life. Many people don’t dare to approach Nature any more; to them the world they were born to enjoy is all threat. To them security is a steel river thundering on a concrete road. And much of their thinking takes place while waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
I say that the green of forests is the mind’s best light. And none but the man on foot can evaluate what is basic and everlasting.
小题1:What is the national sickness?

A．Walking too much

B．Traveling too much

C．Driving cars too much

D．Climbing stairs too much.

小题2:What was life like when the author was young?

A．People usually went around on foot.

B．people often walked 25 miles a day

C．People used to climb the Statue of Liberty.

D．people considered a ten-jhour walk as a hardship.

小题3:The author mentions Henry Thoreau to prove that

A．middle-aged people like getting back to nature

B．walking in nature helps enrich one’s mind

C．people need regular exercise to keep fit

D．going on foot prevents heart disease

小题4:What is compared to “a steel river” in Paragraph6?

A． A queue of cars

B．A ray of traffic light

C．A flash of lightning

D．A stream of people

小题5:What is the author’s intention of writing this passage?

A．To tell people to reflect more non life.

B．To recommend people to give up driving

C．To advise people to do outdoor activities

D．To encourage people to return to walking

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案