The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place

Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.
    Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food labels.
    On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don’t have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
    The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrient. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
    Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological harm that comes from using them.

69. From Paragraph 1, we can learn that ________. 
A. diet products fail to bring out people’s potential
B. people have difficulty in choosing diet products
C. so-called diet products are misleading people
D. people are fed up with various diet products
70. One psychological effect of diet products is that people tend to _____. 
A. try out a variety of diet foods
B. hesitate before they enjoy diet foods
C. pay attention to their own eating habits
D. watch their weight rather than their diet
71. In paragraph 3, “gains come without pains” probably means______.
A. losing weight is effortless
B. it costs a lot to lose weight
C. diet products bring no pain
D. diet products are free from calories

72. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage

CP: Central Point      P: Point       Sp: Sub-point(次要点)   C: Conclusion

The boy didn’t say anything,        , of course, made his parents very angry.

   A. that                 B. which            C. it              D. what

How to improve your vocabulary

 Vocabulary is a key part of learning a new language.   36    Maybe you can’t learn a hundred new words a day, but you can learn one or two a day, totaling thousands of new words over the years. Here are some tips for building up your vocabulary.

Make a plan to learn new words. If you want to improve your vocabulary more quickly, you have to make at least a small promise.     37       

Make you vocabulary practical.  38  For example, learn more of your trade language---- the words that are commonly used in your business or hobby or vocation(职业). Find better, fresher, clearer words to express what your friends are talking about.

 39   As you read, if you come across a new word that you don’t understand. Don’t miss it. Take the time to look it up in a dictionary. Write it down and use it later.

When you learn a word, use it immediately and frequently. Put your new word into conversation with as many different people as you can.   40   Use it in sentences. Write it on a card and practice it while waiting for red lights.

A. Start learning where you are.

B. They’re highly reusable.

C. Repeat it to yourself.

D. When you’re writing something, use a dictionary frequently.

E. Decide to learn one new word every day or two.

F. Start by learning the words that can express what’s most important to you.

G. The more you read, the more words you’ll see, and the more you’ll understand.

A new study says electronic toys are not helping babies learn.

"Even if companies are marketing them as educational, they're not teaching the babies anything at this time," said Anna Sosa the study's author.

Researchers listened to audio(声音的)recordings of parents playing with their babies aged 10 months to 16 months. The researchers compared the experiences when the children played with electronic toys, traditional toys such as blocks, or when the children looked at books. What they found is that parents talked less with their babies when the babies played with electronic toys.

Why is this important? Research shows that how quickly children develop language is often based on what they hear from parents. When the infants played with electronic toys, parents said little to their children. But with traditional toys, such as blocks, parents shared the names and descriptions of the animals, colors and shapes as their children played. There was even more information given by parents as their babies looked at the pictures in books.

Of course, there is no need for parents to throw out electronic toys, but they should look at their infants’ play with such toys as entertainment, not a learning experience.

Toy Industry Association spokeswoman Adrienne Appell responded to the study. She said it is important that parents make time to play with their children. "Playing is a way that kids can learn so much, not only cognitive(认知的) skills, but social and developmental skills," she said. She added that play should be balanced, including time for just "make believe" activities, as well as traditional and electronic toys.

21. What’s Anna Sosa’s attitude towards companies claiming that their toys are educational?

A. supportive               B. indifferent     C. uninterested      D. doubtful  

22. We can learn from the text that babies in the research __________.

A. liked traditional toys better than electronic toys

B. interact less with their parents when playing with electronic toys

C. talked little with their parents when playing with electronic toys

D. listened to audio recordings of their parents

23. Children develop language more quickly when their parents __________.

A. read them picture books often                  B. teach them how to speak

C. buy them a lot of toys                                    D. throw away their electronic toys

24. According to Adrienne Appell, playing __________.

A. can’t take the place of learning

B. shouldn’t take most of children’s time

C. is good to children’s overall development

D. can’t develop children’s cognitive skills

 文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。

删除：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

One Monday morning,  Mr Li, a famous scholar and schoolmate of our school was invited deliver a speech to us Senior 3 students. Mr Li graduated from our school twenty years ago but then studied in Beijing University. Instead of being a programmer, he followed his heart and become a musician after the graduation. He is now a well-known musician.

In his speech, he said that it was his hard works and efforts that made him who he is today. Though the circumstance was hard, he made fully use of everything to study, which contributed to be admitted to Beijing University. His speech was so inspired that all the students present expressed that we would work harder for a bright future.

Why is pink or purple a color for girls and blue or brown for boys'?

The answer depends largely on cultural values as well as personal experiences. To the Egyptians, green was a color that represented the hope and joy of spring, while for Muslims, it means heaven. Red is a symbol of good luck in many cultures. In China, children are given money in a red envelope to bring good fortune in the New Year. For many nations, blue is a symbol of protection and religious beliefs. Greek people often wear a blue necklace hoping to protect themselves against evils( 灾祸 ).

People's choice of colors is also influenced by their bodies' reactions toward them. Green is said to be the most restful color. It has the ability to reduce pain and relax people both mentally and physically. People who work in green environments have been found to have fewer stomach aches.

Red can cause a person's blood pressure to rise and increase people's appetites(食欲). Many decorators will include different shades of red in the restaurant. Similarly, many commercial websites will have a red "Buy Now" button because red is a color that easily catches（吸引） a person's eye.

Blue is another calming color. Unlike red, blue can cause people to lose appetite. So if you want to eat less, some suggest that eating from blue plates can help.

The next time you are deciding on what to wear or what color to decorate your room, think about the color carefully.

20. Muslims consider green as a symbol of heaven mainly because of their         .

A. cultural values                                           B. commercial purposes

C. personal experiences                                        D. physical reactions to the color

21. Why will many commercial websites have a red “buy now” button?

  A. To relax people physically.              

  B. To increase people's appetites.

  C. To encourage people to make a purchase（购买）.

  D. To cause a person's blood pressure to rise.

22. What color might help lose weight according to the text?

A. Red,           B. Green.          C. Blue.             D. Purple.

23. Which of the following would be the most proper title for the text?

A. Colors and Human Beings                  B. The Cultural Meaning of Color

C. Colors and Personal Experiences       D. The Meaning and Function of Color

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。  
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(/\)，并在其下面写出该加的词。   
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。  
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。  
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；  
           2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。 
     The Internet is playing a important part in our daily life．By the net，we can

learn about news both home and abroad and some others  information as well．We

 can also make phone calls，send messages by e-mail，going to net schools，and

  learn foreign languages by ourselves．Beside，we can enjoy music，watch sports

matches，and play the chess or cards．The net even helps them do shopping，make

 a chat with others and make friends with them． In a word，the Internet has made our

 life more easier．   

 The few who cannot see the real person inside my body do not make me       , and I just ignore them.

A. annoyed    B. adopted    C. ashamed     D. absurd

 His career ______ off since he ______ the important decision on reason rather than on emotion.

A. has taken; was based on                           B. is taking; was based on

C. has taken; based                                 D. took; based

A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off （打盹）at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.

“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.

Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level，she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.

Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.

Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at night and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice –their bodies are going through a change of sleep patters.

All of this makes the transfer(转移) from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning  ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it comes to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first bell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.”

24. Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because ________.

A. it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime

B. it is biologically difficult for students to rise early

C. students work so late at night that they can’t get up early

D. students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early

25. The underlined phrase “nod off” most probably means “ _______”.

A. turn around      B. agree with others    C. fall asleep        D. refuse to work

26. What might be a reason for the hard transfer middle school to high school?

A. Adolescents depend more on their parents.

B. Adolescents have to choose their sleep patterns.

C. Adolescents sleep better than they did at childhood.

D. Adolescents need more sleep than they used to.

27. What is the test mainly about?

A. Adolescent heath care.             

B. Problems in adolescent learning.

   C. Adolescent sleep difficulties.        

   D. Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns.

Mark Zukerberg is the founder and CEO of Facebook, an extremely popular social working website that started in the United States.

Now, millions of student users visit Facebook daily and the website is one of the top ten most widely visited sites on the internet worldwide. College and high school students use Facebook to communicate with friends and share both information and pictures for free. The company earns money through advertising.

Many other companies have been rumored(谣传) to be interested in buying Facebook. Just a few years after Mark started the company, he was approached by Terry Semel, who was the CEO of Yahoo. Terry offered Mark one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) to sell Facebook to Yahoo. Mark said no, though. He lives for his dream even at the very beginning. He knows this. Maybe he was smart. Now Facebook is rumored to be worth billions of dollars and bigger companies like Microsoft or Google want a share of the company. Some private firms are also interested. Facebook could sell 15 billion dollars if Mark decided to sell it at all. Perhaps Mark will just keep working from his California office to continue his dream of building something cool.

32. Facebook makes money from_____.

A. members         B. students          C. pictures         D. advertisements

33. Terry Semel was the CEO of ______.

A. Microsoft        B. Yahoo           C. Google        D. Facebook

34. The underlined word “this” (Paragraph 3) most probably refers to _______.

A. buying companies                 B. fighting rumors

C. sharing information              D. his dream

35. Which of the following words best describe Mark Zukerberg according to the passage?

A. Determined       B. Humorous           C. Gentle   D. Selfless

﹣What's it that cost him the performance？

﹣______ experience．He was always very nervous．（　　）

A．Lacked B．Being lacked      C．Lacking       D．To be lacked

To Whom It May Concern:

On March 5, 2012 , I bought a Perfect Muffin Kit(松饼粉) from your store at Midfield Shopping Center. The cashier who assisted me was George. George was very friendly and told me that the Perfect Muffin Kit would live up to the guarantee on the box: “Perfect Muffins Every Time!”.

Unfortunately, this product did not live up to what it promised. The muffins I made were far from perfect. I followed the directions in the package very carefully. First, I removed the bag of mix from the box. Then, I poured it into a bowl. Next, I added the correct amount of water to the mix and stirred it. According to the directions, after stirring the mixture, I added half a cup of dried prapes, nuts, berries, or another favorite ingredient(配料). My favorite ingredient happens to be hot sauce (沙司 ). I find that a bit of hot sauce makes pizza and soup taste very delicious. So, continuing to follow the directions, I added half a cup of hot sauce to the mix and stirred it. Finally, I poured the mix into muffin tins and baked it in the baker at 350 degrees for exactly 20 minutes.

When the muffins finished baking, I was very excited to eat the “Perfect Muffins” as promised on the box. You can imagine my disappointment when, upon tasting the muffins, I discovered that they were not perfect. These muffins were, in fact, absolutely terrible. Not even my dog was interested in eating these supposedly “perfect” muffins.

I would appreciate a full refund of $3.99 for this product as soon as possible. Enclosed are the receipt, the empty box, and one of the un-perfect muffins so that you can experience it for yourself. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Michelle Bauer

21. This letter is most likely addressed to _______.

A. a local storeowner         B. the owner of the muffin mix company

C. the clerk at a local muffin bakery    D. George, the cashier who sold the muffin mix

22. The tone of the author can best be described as ________.

A. embarrassed    B. hopeless     C. disappointed      D. disgusted

23.The author was unhappy with the product because________.

A. the directions of the product contained a mistake

B. it was not up to the promise made on the box

C. it was too difficult to follow the directions

D. it was worth less money than she paid for it

24. The author’s main purpose in writing this letter is to ________.

A. prevent others from making the same mistake

B. persuade the company to change the wording on their box

C. complain about how bad the muffins tasted

D. get back all the money paid from the shop

Chinese scientists have made great advances in satellite technology,         I suppose is of great significance to all mankind.

A. in which case    B. for which reason

C. which    D. what

学校的体育馆有很多问题，如使用率不高、设施陈旧等。假如你是李华，请你用英文给校长写一封100-120词的信，就如何改善体育馆，更好地发挥其作用，提出一些建议，并说明理由。

注意：1. 建议不少于两条。

2. 文中不得透露个人姓名。

3. 信的抬头与落款已给出（不计入词数）。

Dear headmaster,

I’m writing to talk about the stadium of our school. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                             Yours sincerely

                                                                  Li Hua

  William Shakespeare is probably __66__most famous English-language writer ever.

____67____(history) think Shakespeare was born _68_ April 23 in 1564. They believe he died exactly 52 years later, on the same day! But historians and the rest of us actually know very _69__ about the personal life of Shakespeare. Some researchers even suggest that he ___70__(do not)write all the plays _71__are credited to him.

But, let us put all the mystery aside. What we do know is this: the language of Shakespeare is alive and well in modern, everyday English.

___72__an English-speaker knows nothing about Shakespeare, they will surely know some of his expressions. And I am not talking about___73__ (say) like "to be or not to be" or "wherefore art thou Romeo." Most people know those lines come from Shakespeare.

The playwright___74___ (invent) many more words and expressions that we continue to use every day. Perhaps this is best ___75___(explain) as a theatrical production. As Shakespeare wrote, "All the world is a

________ he has been living on a different planet, he probably knows that there's a new version of Windows—it's called Vista.

A. Once  B. Unless  C. Though  D. If

    I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on Christmas Day.It was always 41 inthe emergency room on this day;so I was not expecting any patients.

When I was complaining  about 42 on such a beautiful festival,five  people showed up at my desk-a pale woman and four small children.                      

   “Are you all sick?” I asked in a(n) 43 way  because they seemed all right.

   “Yes,” the woman answered  44  and lowered her head.

    But when they started to present their problems, things got a little vague.Two of the  child had headaches, 45 the headaches weren't accompanied by normal body langua-ges  such as holding the head.Two children had caraches,but neither of them could tell me 46 ear was in pain.The mother complained of a cough,but she scemed to be 47 .

     Something was wrong. I didn't say anything but explained that it might take a while 48 a doctor could meet them. “Take your  49 , please,” the mother  respon-ded.Then  I checked their charts — no address. Suddenly I knew, they were homeless and  the hospital was 50 .

The family huddled（蜷缩）together under the Christmas tree, smiling and talking with each other sweetly. Quietly, I went back to the nurses’ station and told them what happened in the waiting room. It was just like God sending us a gift on Christmas Day. The nurses’ station suddenly came back to life. All the nurses went into action for “a Christmas emergency.”

     We  56  our meals for our Christmas “patients”. We also  put together oranges and apples  57  present.Usually We just tried to 58  the physical needs of our patients.But today ,we worked hard to exceed(超越）the needs of a  family who only  59  a warm place on Christmas Day.

    Later, when the family was leaving ,the four -year-old girl ran back and gave me a 60 . “Thanks for being our angeltoday,”she    whi spered in my ear.

41. A.quiet         B.noisy           C.bright          D.dark

42. A.studying      B.talking         C.working         D.playing

43. A.suspecting    B.expecting       C.forgetting      D.accepting

44. A.excitedly     B.surprisedly     C.weakly          D.strongly

45. A.or            B.so              C.and             D.but

46. A.what          B.which           C.how             D.why

47. A.explaining    B.understanding   C.promoting       D.pretending

48. A.unless       B.before           C.after            D.when

49. A.money        B.breath           C. break          D.time

50. A.warm         B.cold             C.big             D.small

51. A.quarreling   B.fighting         C.chatting        D.eompeting

52. A.mother       B.family           C. girl           D.boy

53, A.job          B.luck             C.chance          D.gift

54. A.space        B.earth            C.life            D.  school

55. A.traffic      B.medical          C.political      D.history

56. A.look out     B.gave out         C.turned out     D.put out

57. A.for          B. as              C.on              D.in

58. A.meet         B.cut              C.increase        D.miss

59. A.built        B.escaped          C.wanted          D.refused

60, A.cake         B.bag              C.kiss            D.visit

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文，文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

I felt delighted to be informed the news that I would be our Student Union’s next minister of health. Therefore, when I calmed down, I began to realize what challenging the job would be. I can still remember the first time I hold a meeting with all the members, that was a real challenge for me. With so many eyes fixing on me, I struggled to speak as my face and ears turned complete red. I had never felt so nervous ago.

Although I went through a series of difficulty, I gained a lot as well — a plenty of new friends, the ability to communicate and an improvement in my organizational skills.

— We are going on holiday for a few days next week.

— ______. How I wish I could get away for a while like you!

A. I can’t agree more                         B. It’s complete nonsense 

C. It’s a pity                                      D. I really envy you