题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
D
The arts, especially music, should be part of every school's lessons at every grade level. Students would be much smarter if they had some musical experience. They could improve their classroom skills, like paying attention and following directions. People develop all these skills when they learn music. Making music also lets children use their imagination. It provides students with a chance to try out their own ideas.
Music not only makes children better students, but also gives them something positive to do. In a music program, children can be part of a band instead of joining a gang (团伙). Parents can enjoy listening to their children's music instead of seeing them glued to a computer or TV screen. In a school band, students get to be part of a team. They can get along well with old friends and make new friends through music.
Music builds self-confidence, too. It gives children a sense of achievement and success. Making music is something for them to be proud of, and it lets kids practice performing in front of an audience. Music gives children an opportunity for self-expression, and that helps develop their self-confidence.
Once again, music is important because it can make children better students, give them something positive to do, and build their character. That is why music should be offered in every single grade in every school.
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
I love charity shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful that it had been flooded with donations. They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favorite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, though they don’t encourage this. They would rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.
C. its nice shopping environment D. its spirit of goodwill
C. deal with unwanted things D. raise money for patients
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
A
Spring is coming, and it is time for those about to graduate to look for jobs. Competition is tough, so job seekers must carefully consider their personal choices. Whatever we are wearing，our family and friends may accept us, but the workplace may not.
A high school newspaper editor said it is unfair for companies to discourage visible tattoos (纹身）nose rings, or certain dress styles. It is true you can’t judge a book by its cover, yet people do “cover” themselves in order to convey (传递)certain messages. What we wear, including tattoos and nose rings, is an expression of who we are. Just as people convey messages about themselves with their appearances, so do companies. Dress standards exist in the business world for a number of reasons, but the main concern is often about what customers accept.
Others may say how to dress is a matter of personal freedom, but for businesses it is more about whether to make or lose money. Most employers do care about the personal appearances of their employees, because those people represent the companies to their customers.
As a hiring manager I am paid to choose the people who would make the best impression on our customers. There are plenty of well-qualified candidates, so it is not wrong to reject someone who might disappoint my customers. Even though I am open-minded, I can’t expect all our customers are.
There is nobody to blame but yourself if your set of choices does not match that of your preferred employer. No company should have to change to satisfy a candidate simply because he or she is unwilling to respect its standards, as long as its standards are legal.
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
B
"Helicopter parenting" describes a style of raising Children where parents are over-protective and do too much. The term describes parents who hover over their kids at home and on the playground like a helicopter. Today, modern technology allows these helicopter parents to hover from even far away. They can give their children directions at any moment from anywhere.
Julie Lythcott-Haims wrote a book titled How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kids for Success. In her book, she gives readers a closer look at this parenting style. She also explains why parents should stop it.
Julie Lythcott-Haims says she experienced the effects of helicopter parenting firsthand when she worked as dean of first year students at Stanford University. The incoming students, or freshmen, she says, were very smart and accomplished on paper. But many were unable to take care of themselves. "They were turning to parents constantly for guidance, for problem solving, to have them make the choice about something."
Lythcott-Haims warns this kind of parenting has many short-term wins but long-term costs that harm the child. She uses an area common to most children—a playground. Lythcott-Haims suggests letting your child get a little hurt.
"If you do your child's homework, it will be perfect. That is what she calls the short-term win. The long-term cost is that your child may not feel capable. And they do not become a determined learner, meaning they will give up easily when faced with a difficult problem to solve." So what can parents do if they want to break the over-parenting "helicopter" cycle? Reading Julie's book, you can follow some ways to stop hovering over your children. In a word, when kids have all the skills to take care of themselves, they will be prepared for adulthood.
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
C
When you eat out in a restaurant, it is not unusual to hear people yelling, "Let me get this one!" and sometimes see them pushing or arm wrestling to fight for the privilege of paying the bill.
In fact, figuring out who will get the bill is always a headache for Chinese people at formal meals. Although the people hosting the meal are very likely to pay the check, it is a common practice to make a token effort to pay the bill, but you will embarrass them if you do end up actually chipping in some cash (凑钱).
In recent years, going Dutch has been embraced by many young people. But older generations who fear "losing face" still find it stingy and embarrassing to calculate each person's share of the bill.
But these days, thanks to digital payment apps, splitting the bill electronically is becoming a widely-accepted idea. Even people from older generations may be attracted to do so.
By scanning a QR code and paying their share via social networking tool We Chat and e-commerce app Alipay on their smartphones in one easy click, Chinese are finding it easier to save them the embarrassment of figuring out each person's payment when they order a meal.
"This function has made going Dutch less problems and more fun in China," Han Chen, a Senior 3 student from Jiangsu Xishan Senior High School says. "Because of their convenience, many of us are never without our phones. And person-to-person mobile payment services are incredibly easy to use and save the trouble, of dealing with change."
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke(唤起) an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth．Language is the tool of my trade．And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with．
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks．Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English．But I feel embarrassed to say that．It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness．I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example．But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions(认识)of the limited English speaker．
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her．I was ashamed of her English．I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say．That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect．And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her．
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal(内在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure. I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show: her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts．
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
Will it matter if you donˈt take your breakfast? Recently a test was given in the United States. Those tested included people of different ages, from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given all kinds of breakfasts, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Special tests were set up to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast. The results show that if a person eats a proper breakfast, he or she will work with better effect than if he or she has no breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person works with his brains. If a student eats fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen with more attention to class.
Opposite to what many people believe, if you donˈt eat breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch, and end up gaining weight instead of losing. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
A popular saying goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” However, that’s not really true. Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn’t matter if the words come from someone else or ourselves—the positive and negative effects are just as lasting.
We all talk to ourselves sometimes. We’re usually too ashamed to admit it, though. In fact, we really shouldn’t be because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves loud is a healthy habit.
This “self-talk” helps us encourage ourselves, remember things, solve problems, and calm ourselves down. Be aware, though, that as much as 77% of self-talk tends to be negative. So in order to stay positive, we should only speak words of encouragement to ourselves. We should also be quick to give ourselves a pat on the back. The next time you finish a project, do well in a test, or finally clean your room, join me in saying “Good job!”
Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have. But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. For example, when returning an item to a store, we might use warm, friendly language during the exchange. And the clerk will probably answer in a similar manner. Harsh (刻薄的) and critical language will most likely cause the clerk to be defensive.
Words have power because of their lasting effects. Many of us regret something we once said. And we remember unkind words said to us! Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves: Is it true? Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn’t pass this test, then it’s better left unsaid.
Words have power: both positive and negative. Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively. We can offer hope, build self-esteem (自尊) and motivate others to do their best. Negative words destroy all those things. Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours.
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
B
If you live in a big city, there are many things to drive you crazy on your daily route, and it’s not just overcrowded subway trains.
Vicky Zhao is a mainlander working in Hong Kong. For her, one thing she can’t put up with is people standing on the wrong side of the escalator(自动扶梯) in subway stations. “Escalators help us move faster and save time. It isn’t a place to rest,” the 24-year-old says. “I often see tourists block the way with their suitcases or chatting on the escalators during rush hours. It annoys me to no end.”
Admitting she is not the patient type, Zhao says things are much better in Hong Kong than in cities on the mainland where “stand right, walk left” signs are often ignored.
The logic behind the “stand right, walk left” escalator etiquette(礼仪) seems obvious. Even though you may want to catch your breath while you’re transported up or down, you should still consider others and leave enough space for people in a hurry, so that they can run and catch the train.
Many cities’ escalators, including London’s and Beijing’s, use the “stand right, walk left” system to speed up the flow of people. (Australia is an exception and you should stand on the left side instead.) But some cities discourage people from moving on escalators out of safety reasons. In Hong Kong’s subway stations there are regular announcements asking people to “stand still” on escalators. Even so, most people in this fast-paced city observe the “stand right, walk left” etiquette.
But the people who stand on escalators defend themselves by telling the walkers not to be so impatient. The BBC quotes one stander as saying: “If the person is in such a rush, why not just take the stairs? Even when the escalator is packed and there’s nowhere to move, I see these same people complaining about not being able to pass.”
Whatever the escalator etiquette is in the place you live or visit, do what most people are doing and always be mindful of others: leave enough space between each other, don’t stay at the end of the escalator, and if someone is blocking your way, a simple “excuse me” is enough.
题型：阅读理解 题类：其他 难易度：难
年份：2016
D
On the highspeed train Avignon to Paris, my husband and I landed in the only remaining seats on the train in the middle of a car, directly opposite a Frenchwoman of middle years. It was an extremely uncomfortable arrangement to be looking straight into the eyes of a stranger. My husband and I pulled out books. The woman produced a large makeup case and made up her face. Except for a lunch break, she continued this activity for the entire threehour trip. Every once in a while she surveyed the car with a brighteyed glance，but never once did she catch my eye. My husband and I could have been a blanket wall.
I was amused, but some people would have felt uncomfortable, even repulsed (厌恶的). There is something about making up in public that calls up strong emotional reactions. Partly itˈs a question of hygiene. And itˈs a matter of degree. Making up—a private act—has a way of neglecting the presence of others. I was once seated at a party with a modelactress who immediately waved a silly brush and began dusting her face at the table, demonstrating that while she was next to me，she was not with me.
In fact, I am generally prohibited from making up in public, except when I am in the company of cosmetics moment. In a gathering more professional than social, I would do so.
Kathy Peiss, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst says that nosepowdering in the office was an occasion for outrage in 1920ˈs and 30ˈs. Deploring (强烈反对) the practice as a waste of company time, trade journals advises managers to discourage it among workers. Peiss theorizes that it was femaleˈs making up in what has been an allmale field that disturb some gentlemen.
Peiss tells me that after the 30ˈs, pulling out a makeup case was no longer an issue. It became an accepted practice. I asked if she feels free to apply lipstick at a professional lunch herself. Sounding mildly shocked, she says she would save that for the privacy of her car afterward. Why? Because it would be“a gesture of inappropriate feminity(女性化)．”One guess is that most professional women feel this way. There is evidence of the popularity of the new lipsticks that remain in place all day without retouching.
