Passage One

   Last week, I read a story about a 34-year-old British woman who is extremely afraid of metal forks. She’s been using plastic ones for 17 years because the sound of a fork rubbing against a panic attack.

   Strange, right? But She’s not alone. While popular phobias (恐惧症)about snakes and spiders might get all of the attention, there are a wide variety of not-so-obvious horrors that make people nervous.

   While some phobias might seem a bit silly, they can cause serious emotional distress. My co-worker Magda is terrified of pigeons, a phobia that is taking over her life, She won’t walk in certain parts of the city and runs screaming from the subway when one of these “rats with wings ”finds its way onto the platform . Another friend is disgusted with cheese. Once I saw her run away from a slice of it .So where does an irrational fear of cheese come from?

Are phobias something we inherit from our genes or do we acquire these unusual anxieties over time?

Ever since I can remember we inherit from our genes or do we acquire these unusual anxieties over time?

Ever since I can remember I have been unreasonably frightened of elevators. There was no terrible childhood experience and I am fine with confined spaces ,but something about elevators makes me nervous .And so ,when my boyfriend and I found ourselves trapped  in  an elevator last year -because these sorts of things always happen eventually -I was anticipating the worst .

While he gave me a suggestive eyebrow raise and proposed we “take advantage of  the  situation ,”I began screaming uncontrollably. I was far from turned on by the whole facing my worst nightmare thing.

However, after the fear subsided (消退)I realized that, yes, this was my greatest fear come true, and yet -it wasn’t all that bad. Nervous and inconvenient maybe, but terrifying? Not so much.

Liberating yourself from a deep-seated phobia can be a long and difficult process, but sometimes it can be as simple as confronting it head on.

21. The 34-year-old British woman is extremely afraid of metal forks because        .

A. she couldn’t bear their sound on plate

B. she is afraid that they may hurt her

C. she has never used them before

D. she has been injured by them before

22. The phrase “rats with wings”(Para.3)refers to        

A. devils   B. exotic rats   C. pigeons    D. strange birds

23.The author’s fear of elevators is the result of     

A. her dislike of being in closed spaces

B. her terrible experience

C. her phobia for no reason

D. her nervousness of being alone

24.After the fear subsided, the author realized that      

A. an elevator ride could be exciting

B. it was not as horrible as she had thought

C. her boyfriend’s help was important

D. she could have had a good time with her boyfriend

25. The purpose for the author to share her experience is to    

A. introduce what strange fears people have

B. explain why people have strange fears

C. illustrate conquering a fear can be difficult

D. encourage people to overcome their fears

Passage Two

    The American public’s obsession with dieting has led to one of the most dangerous health misconceptions of all times. Many television ads, movies, magazine articles, and diet-food product labels would have consumers believe that carbohydrates(碳水化合物)are bad for the human body and that those who eat them will quickly become overweight. We are advised to avoid food a such as potatoes, rice and white bread and opt for meats and vegetables instead. Some companies promote this idea to encourage consumer to buy their “carb-free” food products. But the truth is, the human body needs carbohydrates to function properly, and a body that relies on carbohydrates but is exhausted of this dietary element is not in good shape after all.

Most foods that wo consume on a daily basis like potatoes and rice are loaded with carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, carbohydrates have many health benefits; some fight diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease, and others help to prevent cancer and stroke. Cutting these foods out of your diet may deprive your body of the many health benefits of carbohydrates.

One of the best benefits of carbohydrates is their ability to help to maintain the health of our organs, tissues, and cells. Scientific studies have shown that one type of carbohydrate called fiber reduces the risk of heart disease. Carbohydrates also contain antioxidants（抗氧化剂），which protect the body’s cells from harmful particles with the potential to cause cancer.

This does not mean that the human body can survive on a diet composed entirely of carbohydrates. We also need certain percentages of proteins and fats to maintain healthy bodies. But carbohydrates certainly should not be avoided altogether. In fact, the food pyramid, the recommended basis of a healthy diet, shows that a person should consume six to eleven servings of breads and grains, as well as three to four servings each of fruits and vegetables—all carbohydrate-containing foods. It is easy to see why cutting carbohydrates out of a person’s diet is not a good idea.

The only way to know what is truly healthy for your own body is to talk to a nutritionist or dietician, who can help you choose foods that are right for you as well as guide you toward a proper exercise program for weight loss, or muscle gain. These professionals will never tell you to cut out carbohydrates entirely! The bottom line: listen to experts, not the advertisers!

26.As is used in Paragraph 1, the word “exhausted” most possibly means _____.

A. startled    B. starving   C. derived    D. deprived

27.According to the author, advertisers who sell “carb-free”products _____.

A. value consumers’ well-being   B. are not telling the truth

C. offer healthy options     D. are responsible for obesity

Which of the following is NOT one of the health benefits of carbohydrates ?

A. Prevention of stroke.    B. Prevention of cancer.

C. Prevention of fiber reduction   D. Prevention of heart disease.

29. It can be inferred from the passage that a healthy diet _____.

A. is low in carbohydrates and high in proteins and fats

B. contains equal amounts of carbohydrates and proteins

C. needs enough proteins but no fat for us to maintain energy

D. is balanced between carbohydrates, and proteins and fats

30. The main purpose of the passage is to _____.

A. describe the variety of carbohydrates

B. explain how to live a healthy life

C. promote more physical exercise

D. advocate a healthy diet

Passage Three

Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t so good at money-management. We take out home loans we can’t afford. We run up sky-high credit-card debt. We don’t save nearly enough for retirement.

In response, supporters of financial-literacy education are moving with renewed enthusiasm. School districts in states such as New Jersey and Illinois are adding money-management courses to their curriculums. The treasury and Education departments are sending lesson plans to high schools and encouraging students to compete in the National Financial Capability Challenge that begins in March.

Students with top scores on that exam will receive certificates—but chances for long-term benefits are slim. As it turns out, there is little evidence that traditional efforts to boost financial know-how help students make better decisions outside the classroom. Even as the financial-literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade, scores have been falling on tests that measure how well students learn about things such as budgeting, credit cards, insurance and investment. A recent survey of college students conducted for the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found that students who’d had a personal-finance or money-management course in high school scored no better than those who hadn’t.

“We need to figure out how to do this the right way,” says Lewis Mandell, a professor at the University of Washington who after 15 years of studying financial-literacy programs has come to the conclusion that current methods don’t work. A growing number of researchers and educators agree that a more radical approach is needed. They advocate starting financial education a lot earlier than high school, putting real money and spending decisions into kids’ hands and talking openly about the emotions and social influences tied to how we spend.

     Other initiatives are tackling such real-world issues as the commercial and social pressures that affect purchasing decisions. Why exactly do you want those expensive brand-name shoes so badly? “It takes confidence to take a stand and to think differently,” says Jeroo Billimoria, founder of Aflatoun,a nonprofit whose curriculum, used in more than 30 countries, aims to help kids get a leg up in their financial lives. “This goes beyond money and saving.”

31. The financial-literacy education is intended to _____________.

A. renew Americans’ enthusiasm about money -management

B. increase  Americans’ awareness of the financial crisis

C. help Americans to overcome the financial crisis

D. enable Americans to manage money wisely

32.According to the author ,the National Financial Capability Challenge will be ____________

A. ineffective            B.rewarding

C. costly                D.well-received

33.By saying that “the financial-literacy movement has gained steam”(Para.3),the author means that the movement ______________.

A.  has received much criticism

B.  has been regarded as imaginative

C.  has been more and more popular

D.  has gone through financial difficulties

34. Lewis Mandell suggests that we should figure out how to __________.

A.  manage  money in a more efficient way

B.  carry out financial-literacy education properly

C.  improve  the social awareness of financial education

D.  help students score better in money-management courses

35. Jeroo Billimoria is most likely to agree that commercial and social pressures make one’s purchasing decisions ________.

A.  acceptable                 B. Difficult

C.  feasible                   C. unwise

Passage Four

Cheating is nothing new. But today, educators and administrators are finding that instances of academic dishonesty on the part of students have become more frequent- and are less likely to be punished – than in the past. Cheating appears to have gained acceptance among good and poor students alike.

Why is student cheating on the rise? No one really knows. Some blame the trend on a general loosening of moral values among today’s youth. Others have attributed increased cheating to the fact that today’s youth are far more pragmatic (实用主义的) than their more idealistic predecessors. Whereas in the late sixties and early seventies, students were filled with visions about changing the world, today’s students feel great pressure to conform and succeed. In interviews with students at high schools and colleges around the country, both young men and women said that cheating had become easy. Some suggested they did it out of spite for teachers they did not respect. Others looked at it as a game. Only if they were caught, some said, would they feel guilty. “People are competitive,” said a second-year college student named Anna, from Chicago. There’s an underlying fear. If you don’t do well, your life is going to be ruined. The pressure is not only from parents and friends but from oneself. To achieve. To succeed. It’s almost as though we have to outdo other people to achieve our own goals.

Wdward Wynne, a magazine editor, blame the rise in academic dishonesty on the schools. He claims that administrators and teachers have been too hesitant to take action. Dwight Huber, chairman of the English department at Amarillo, sees the matter differently, blaming the rise in cheating on the way students are evaluated. “I would cheat if I felt I was being cheated,” Mr. Huber said. He feels that as long as teachers give short-answer tests rather than essay questions and rate students by the number of facts they can memorize rather than by how well they can put information together, students will try to beat the system. “The concept of cheating is based on the false assumption that the system is legitimate and there is something wrong with the individuals who are doing it,” he said. ‘That’s too easy an answer. We’ve got to start looking at the system.”

36.Educators are finding that students who cheat               .

A. have poor academic records

B. are more likely to be punished than before

C. tend to be dishonest in later years

D. are not only those academically weak

37. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A. Students do not cheat on essay tests.

B. Students’ cheating has deep social roots.

C. Punishment is an effective method to stop cheating.

D. Reform in the testing system will eliminate cheating.

38.Which of the following points of view would Mr. Huber Agree with?

A. Parents must take responsibility for the rise in cheating.

B. Punishment for cheaters should be severe in this country.

C. Students who cheat should be expelled from school.

D. Cheating would be reduced trough an educational reform.

39.The expression “the individuals” (the last paragraph ) refers to               .

A. teachers

B. parents

C. students who cheat

D. school administrators

40. The passage mainly discusses          .

A. people’s tolerance of students’ cheating

B. the decline of moral standards of today’s youth

C. factors leading to academic dishonesty

D. ways to eliminate academic dishonesty"