单选题Passage Three One of the simple pleasures of a lazy summer day is to be able to enjoy a refreshing slice of watermelon either at the beach, at a picnic, or fresh from the farmer's market. Delicious and nutritious, watermelon is one of those guilt-free foods we can all enjoy: one cup of watermelon packs only about 50 calories! Watermelons are not only cooling treats for when the mercury starts to rise; they are also loaded with healthy nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, lycopene (番茄红素 ), and etc. Vitamins A and C and lycopene are antioxidants, which are substances that work to help get rid of the harmful effects of substances. Research has suggested that a diet high in fruits and vegetables that have plenty of antioxidants can reduce the risk of heart disease, some cancers, and some other dangerous diseases. A cup of watermelon provides 25% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C and 6% of the recommended daily value of vitamin A. Additionally, researchers have found that lycopene, a nutrient most traditionally associated with tomatoes, is found in equal or greater quantities in watermelon. Watermelons also provide significant amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B1, both of which are necessary for energy production. In combination with the minerals and vitamins already described, these B vitamins add to the high nutrient richness of watermelon. Due to its high water content (watermelon is 92% water by weight) and low calorie count, watermelon is a good choice to satisfy your hunger while you try to eat a healthy diet. Think of them as nature's answer to the heavily marketed "vitamin water" craze. Besides the textured, watery flesh of the fruit, watermelon seeds are also widely eaten as a snack. They are rich in iron and protein and are often pressed for oil or roasted and seasoned. So if you are planning on dining outdoor this summer, or simply looking for a quick and convenient refreshment to serve to unexpected company or reckless children, reach for watermelon. The kids will enjoy its crisp taste and messy juices, the adults will enjoy its refreshing flavors, and everyone will benefit from its nutritious value.

单选题This young man took a law degree with distinction and found a job in a well known law firm.

单选题The little girl felt increasingly uneasy while waiting for her mother at the bus-stop. A. difficult B. excited C. relieved D. restless

单选题Two dozen New Yorkers stood on the platform at the subway station,______ briefcases and newspapers. A. clipping B. clutching C. clashing D. clarifying

单选题At the beginning of a country's rise out of backwardness and poverty, more wealth does make a difference. However, citing surveys from China and South Korea, economist Richard Easterlin points out: "In these countries, per capita income has doubled in 20 years but overall happiness does not seem to have followed the same path." Economists are surprised, because GNP has long been thought the best indicator of human welfare. More GNP generally means more money for most people, and more money improves the quality of life, and that means happiness. But, perhaps, the survey suggests that more money can make you happy only if those around you do not share in your good fortune. General prosperity may fail to enhance individual contentment. Perhaps it is a matter of being aware of your advantage, not that you need to get the highest salaries or be the object of envy. Maybe, individual goals vary too much to be generalized. Maybe one has nothing at all to do with the other. Freud was well aware that economic success did not make people happy. Most psychoanalysts and therapists today would agree. He thought only the realization of a deep childhood desire could provide such satisfaction. Another problem is that people are poor reporters of their own states of mind. They will usually tell you what they themselves want to believe. To know if someone is really happy or not, you have to catch him or her in the act of happiness. Being happy or acting happy are more reliable indicators than thinking too much about it. Professional therapists also know that what makes people happy defies explanation, but what prevents them from being happy doesn't. Poor self-esteem undermines all feelings of success. Hunger and cold make it harder to relax and enjoy one's experience. Insecurity and failure to engage in one's work leave one dissatisfied. Anxiety penetrates all our perceptions and feelings, and brings us down. Economists can probably hope to measure how well our basic needs for security and health are met in society, and if those are reasonably OK, people tend to find the happiness they seek. Most of us want to enjoy life, spend time with our children, play at sports, sing, dance and travel. If we can do those things without dread, the amount of money we have is irrelevant.

单选题A recent survey has found that three out of four women won't marry a man without a job. A. outside B. in C. from D. beyond

单选题Some scientists are trying to {{U}}eliminate{{/U}} malaria by developing a GM mosquito that can't transmit the disease. A. remove B. fabricate C. enhance D. utilize

单选题The officer distributed among the youngster all the blankets and provisions, withholding himself only a canteen. A. keeping off B. keeping back C. keeping at D. keeping up

单选题This is a love that sprang up from friendship and blossomed into marriage. A. diverged B. separated C. distinguished D. originated

单选题It was dreadful to find oneself______in such a place. A. lonely B. alone C. lone D. lonesome

单选题 Last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared a war on paper textbooks. "Over the next few years," he said, "textbooks should be out of use." In their place would come a variety of digital-learning technologies, like e-readers and multimedia Websites. Such technologies certainly have their place. But Duncan is threatening to light a fire to a tried-and-true technology—good old paper—that has been the foundation for one of the great educational systems on the planet. And while e-readers and multimedia may seem appealing, the idea of replacing this learning platform with a widely promoted but still unproven one is extremely dangerous. A renowned expert on reading, Maryanne Wolf, has recently begun studying the effects of digital reading on learning, and so far the results are mixed. She worries that Internet reading, in particular, could be such a source of distractions for the student that they may cancel out most other potential benefits of a Web-linked, e-learning environment. And while the high-tech industry has sponsored substantial amounts of research on the potential benefits of Web-based learning, not enough time has passed for successive studies to demonstrate the full effects. In addition, digital-reading advocates claim that lightweight e-books benefit students' backs and save schools money. But the rolling backpack seems to have solved the weight problem, and the astounding costs to equip every student with an e-reader, provide technical support and pay for regular software updates promise to make the e-textbook a very expensive option. My point is that we shouldn't jump at a new technology simply because it has advantages; only time and study will reveal its disadvantages and show the value of what we've left behind, which brings us back to paper. With strength and durability that could last thousands of years, paper can preserve information without the troubles we find when our most cherished knowledge is stuck on an unreadable floppy disk or lost deep in the "cloud." Paper textbooks can be stored and easily referenced on a shelf. They are easy to read and don't require a battery or plug. Though the iPad and e-readers have increasingly better screen clarity, the idea that every time a person reads a book, newspaper or magazine in the near future they will require an energy source is frightening. The digitization of information offers important benefits, but before we tear into pieces the last of the paper textbooks, let us pause and think more about it.

单选题Passage Four Severe climate change was the main driver behind the birth of civilisation, a scientist said yesterday. An increase in harsh, arid conditions across the globe around 5,000 years ago forced people to start living in stable communities around remaining water sources. "We can certainly say that the earliest civilisations arose on the backdrop of increasing dryness, which are driven by natural, global-scale changes in climate," said Nick Brooks of the University of East Anglia. "The cultural transitions track changes in environmental conditions quite closely." Dr. Brooks said his research turned traditional ideas of how the world's first civilisations started--such as those in Egypt, China, the Indus Valley region and South America---on their head. Many anthropologists think that civilisation was spread gradually among populations after it began in some part of the world. 'A current popular theory is that the world's first civilisation developed because it could; the environment was relatively friendly," said Dr. Brooks. "This is based on the argument of the last 10,000 years being climatically very stable and quite conducive to flourishing of agriculture and large, urban civilisations." But Dr. Brooks argued that civilisation arose instead from environmental calamities. His work is focused on the Sahara region, where he says the cultural history shows that, around 5～10,000 years ago, the humid areas there abruptly changed into the Sahara desert we see today. The Garamantian tribe, which lived in what is now south-west Libya more than 3,000 years ago, emerged when the land there dried out. After this period, we see the first stone structures, the beginnings of urbanisation, agriculture and the development of novel technologies to access ground water, such as wells," said Dr. Brooks. "What we see here is the story of people responding to the environmental change with the drying up of the region. That leads to the emergence of the Garamantian state." He added that the stow was similar in the other cradles of civilisation around the world. Without the driving force of climate change, human societies might have evolved far more slowly, said Dr. Brooks. "Maybe we would have remained village farmers and herders, hunter-gatherers and so on," he said. "Perhaps you'd have a less population-dense kind of civilisation./

单选题Directions: In this section, you will hear nine short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation a question will be asked about what was said. The conversations and the questions will be read only once.

单选题He failed to completely achieve the aim ______ by the teacher at the beginning of the term. A. brought forth B. set forth C. come up D. put forward

单选题The Bush administration lifted sanctions on Pakistan and helped fund counter-terrorism operations ______ her cooperation. A. in the eyes of B. in comparison with C. in regard to D. in return for

单选题Having been an office secretary for some years, she always ______ chores in a responsible way. A. goes on B. goes for C. goes without D. goes about

单选题These researchers intend to ______ this research until there is some substantial finding.

单选题The English writing of college students in China is generally redundant for lack of specific words． A．ambiguous B．wordy C．unconvincing D．stereotyped

单选题Observers commented that loss of independence was too high a(n) ______ to pay for peace. A. cost B. expense C. expenditure D. price

单选题Mayor Pat Patterson said this new initiative ______ improving parking and pedestrian access. A. involves B. evolves C. dissolves D. resolves