Autumn blues? Let the sunshine in falling leaves, flowers, and cold winds. For many people late autumn can be a season of depression.
Those who suffer from “ the autumn blue” are often extremely tired, lack energy, need more sleep, feel increased appetite and gain weight. "The exact cause of this condition, often called seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is not known yet," says Chen Jue, associate professor at Shanghai Mental Health Center. "But recent studies indicate that weather change is influential and strongly suggest that this condition is caused by changes in the availability(得到) of sunlight."
One theory is that with decreased exposure to sunlight, the biological clock that regulates mood, sleep, and hormones is delayed, running more slowly in winter. Exposure to light may reset the biological clock. Another theory is that brain chemicals that transmit information between nerves, called neurotransmitters (for example, serotonin), may be altered in individuals with SAD. It is believed that exposure to light can correct these imbalances. "It is a sad season, but you can try to make it happy. Remember, spring always lives in your heart," Chen says. “Going outdoors to get some sunlight may reduce the tension that brings you the low spirits. Relax at work. Stretch, breathe deeply. Take a tea break. Think of your next vacation. Color treatment also works in handling low mood. Music also plays a role in treating autumn blues.”
小題1:Autumn blues is also called autumn________.

A．depression

B．sunshine

C．blue music

D．cold winds

小題2:From the 3rd paragraph we know that there _______ that can help to deal with autumn blues.

A．is no biological clock	B．is a real example
C．is no possibility	D．a(chǎn)re some ways

小題3:Which of the following is true according to the text?

A．The real cause for autumn blues is still unknown.

B．Autumn blues can be feelings of happiness.

C．People feel tired in autumn.

D．Weather doesn’t change people.

小題4:Which of the following CAN’T you do in order to deal with autumn blues?

A．Reset the biological clock regulating mood, sleep and hormones.

B．Eat more food very low in calories and sugar.

C．Keep the balance of nerves that transmit information.

D．Take outdoor activities or sports.

We had known for along time that flowers of different plants open and close at different time of day. Yet no one really understands why flowers open and close like this at special time. The question is not as simple as we might think, as recent experiments have shown. In one experiment, flowers were kept in constant (持續(xù)的）darkness. We might expect that the flowers ,without any information about the time of the day, did not open as they usually do. In fact, they continue to open at their usual time. This shows that they have some special ways of knowing the time. Their sense(感覺) time does not depend on information from the outside world. It is inside them: a kind of "inner (內(nèi)部的）clock". This discovery may not seem to be very important. However, it is later found that not just plants but animals have this "inner clock" which control（控制）the working of their bodies and influences their activities. Human beings, then, are also influenced by it. Whether we wish or not, itaffectssuch things in our life as our need for sleep or need for food.
小題1:Before the experiment arrived at a conclusion, people had thought that the flowers would____.

A．never open in constant darkness

B．change their usual time to open

C．open ahead of the time as they usually did

D．continue to open at usual time

小題2:The sense of time that flowers have is connected with_____________.

A．its age and size

B．light and temperature

C．a(chǎn) kind of strange power(力量）inside them

D．some unknown information from the outside world

小題3:What will happen if we make good use of the "inner clock"

A．We'll need less sleep or food.

B．We'll be able to sleep as long as we wish to.

C．We'll be able to change our work time when necessary.

D．We'll have more energy to do our work better.

小題4:What's the Chinese meaning of the underlined word" affects"

A．產(chǎn)生

B．影響

C．給予

D．依賴

Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy．After all, you probably sing or whistle when you are happy．
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy．However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason．Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory．
Do you know what a "territory" is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims as its own ．Only he and his family are welcome there ．No other families of the same species are welcome．Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome．If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout．Probably this would be enough to frighten him away．
If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him．A bird does the same thing．But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting （筑巢） season．So he's screaming （高聲尖叫） all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not．This screaming is what we call a bird's song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away．
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs．You can see that birds have a language of their own．Most of it has something to do with attracting mates and setting up territories．
小題1:Some scientists believe that most of the time birds' singing is actually

A．a(chǎn)n expression of happiness

B．a(chǎn) way of warning

C．a(chǎn)n expression of anger

D．a(chǎn) language of their own

小題2:What is a bird's "territory"?

A．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice．

B．A place where other bird families are not accepted．

C．An area for which birds fight against each other．

D．An area which a bird considers to be its own

小題3:Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?

A．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away．

B．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears．

C．Because they want to find outsiders around．

D．Because they want to invite more bird friends．

小題4:How does the writer explain birds' singing?

A．By comparing birds with human beings．	B．By reporting experimental results．
C．By describing birds'daily life．	D．By telling a bird's story．

Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
TV channels will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.
Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots — they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere — in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there are devices（設(shè)備）that connect directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.
Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
小題1:We can learn from the passage that some big companies prefer robots to human workers, because human workers __________.

A．often ask for more pay

B．can work 24 hours a day

C．a(chǎn)re not clever enough

D．a(chǎn)re often late for work

小題2:The underlined word “conquered” in Paragraph 5 most probably means ________.

A．discovered

B．treated

C．caused

D．cured

小題3:It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that _________.

A．few diseases will attack people by 2050

B．there will be no blind and deaf people by 2050

C．medical technology will be more effective by 2050

D．devices are connected directly to the brain to help people hear

小題4:What is the author’s attitude towards the cloning technology?

A．The author does not support the use of cloning technology.

B．The author thinks human cloning is impossible.

C．The author does not really support the idea of human cloning.

D．The author is quite excited about human cloning.

小題5:According to the passage, which of the following can be realized today?

A．Read newspapers on a computer.

B．Make a space shuttle to go into the land.

C．Use computers to control car speed.

D．Choose TV programs freely from a “menu”.

Most people believe they don't have imagination. They are wrong. Everyone has imagination, but most of us，once we became adults, forget how to access it. Creativity isn't always connected with great works of art or ideas. People at work and in their free time routinely think of creative ways to solve problems. Maybe you have a goal to achieve，a tricky question to answer or you just want to expand your mind! Here are three techniques to help you.
This technique involves taking unrelated ideas and trying to find links between them. First，think about the problem you have to solve or the job you need to do. Then find an image，word，idea or object，for example，a candle. Write down all the ideas/words associated with candles：light，fire，matches, wax，night，silence，etc. Think of as many as you can. The next stage is to relate the ideas to the job you have to do. So imagine you want to buy a friend an original present; you could buy him tickets to a match or take him out for the night.
　  Imagine that normal limitations don't exist. You have as much time/space/money，etc. as you want. Think about your goal and the new possibilities. If，for example，your goal is to learn to ski, you can now practice skiing every day of your life (because you have the time and the money). Now adapt this to reality. Maybe you can practice skiing every day in December，or every Monday in January.
Look at the situation from a different point of view. Good negotiators use this technique in business，and so do writers. Fiction writers often imagine they are the characters in their books. They ask questions: what does this character want? Why can't she get it? What changes must she make to get what she wants? What does she dream about? If your goal involves other people, put yourself “in their shoes”. The best fishermen think like fish!
小題1:According to the passage, when we become adults, _________ .

A．most of us are no longer creative	B．we can still learn to be more creative
C．we are not as imaginative as children	D．we are unwilling to be creative

小題2:The second technique suggests that you just imagine

A．setting a goal is as simple as skiing

B．new possibilities will soon appear

C．December and January are the best months for skiing.

D．you have every resource to achieve your goal

小題3:The phrase “put yourself in their shoes” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______  .

A．dress yourself like them	B．think as they would
C．do as they ask you to	D．put on their shoes

小題4:We learn from the third technique that a good salesman should ask himself “ _________ ?”.

A．what do I usually do	B．what did my boss tell me to do
C．what are my customers' needs	D．how should I sell my products

The laptop is a machine which can be a mobile office；it can be used to entertain us and people can play computer games on them. One machine can perform many tasks at the same time. As technology grows，the size of the new laptop machines is decreasing. Now laptops are lighter，have smaller screen sizes，and perform better. Smaller screen laptops，which are more convenient to take along with，have been specially designed for professionals. Huge display screen laptops are still used by graphic(繪畫的)designers and those who like playing computer games.
Laptops are advanced machines，and they can be very expensive. When we spend much money on something，we should take good care of it. I know some people who buy a new laptop every year. The reason they do this is that the old one either is broken or has some problems which cannot be fixed. Common problems are the breaking of the screen，the breaking of joints of the laptop，display problems，and keyboard problems.
Different problems will always come up with machines，and they cannot be avoided(避免)．Old machines will always have to be replaced by new ones. However，if we are more careful and handle our laptops with care，they will last for a longer period of time，and they will perform better. This is not a hard thing to do，but it will greatly increase the life and performance of laptops.
小題1:According to the first paragraph，the laptop is a machine which________.

A．is being used by more and more people in the office

B．will take the place of desktops sooner or later

C．is specially designed for people who like playing computer games

D．can be used for both work and entertainment purposes

小題2:The underlined word in the first paragraph means “________”．

A．becoming smaller

B．becoming more important

C．becoming more popular

D．becoming better

小題3:We infer that graphic designers still use huge display screen laptops most probably because________.

A．huge display screen laptops are very cheap

B．small display screen laptops are not on sale yet

C．they can see their drawings more clearly

D．they also want to play computer games

小題4:What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A．That laptops can only be used for one year.

B．That laptops are not as good as desktops.

C．That the prices for laptops are too high.

D．That laptops may have problems which cannot be fixed.

Have you wondered why different animals or pests have their particular colors? Colors in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves.
Birds, especially seagulls are very fond of locusts, but birds can’t easily catch locusts because locusts change their colors together with the change of the color of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But when crops are ripe, locusts take on exactly the same brown color as crops have. Some other pests with different colors from plants are usually easily found and eaten by their enemies. So they have to hide themselves in terror for lives and appear only at night.
If you study the animal life in any part of the world, you will find the main use of coloring is to protect themselves, bears, wolves and other beasts move quietly through forests. They are usually invisible to the eyes of hunters, because they have the color much like the barks(樹皮) of trees.
An even more strange act remains to be noticed. A kind of fish living in seas can send out a kind of very black liquid when it faces danger. While the liquid is over, its enemies cannot find it, and it quickly swims away. Thus, it has existed up to now though it is not powerful at all.
小題1:This passage mainly talks about ______.

A．the change of color in locusts

B．the protective coloration of animals and pests

C．how a certain sea fish protects itself

D．a(chǎn)nimals or pests can dye themselves different colors

小題2:Locusts are ______ but they aren’t easily wiped out(消滅)by their enemies because _______.

A．a(chǎn)nimals; they are powerful enough

B．beasts; they are dangerous to their enemies

C．pests; they take on the same colors as crops

D．birds; they fly very fast

小題3:What does the underlined word “invisible” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．can’t be seen

B．can be seen

C．can’t move

D．can’t change

Language-learners who say they never or hardly ever use dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. So they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations (翻譯) of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables (音節(jié)), they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionary.
小題1:Students who never use dictionary speak well but write poor, because_______

A．They can’t remember words.

B．They may make mistakes.

C．They are not interested in writing.

D．They are afraid of writing.

小題2:According to the passage, which of the following is right?

A．Students who never use dictionary can speak well and write well.

B．Whatever new words you meet while reading, just look them up in the dictionary.

C．Small two-language dictionaries are bad for learning English.

D．An English word only has one translation.

小題3:When does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary in reading?

A．At the beginning of the reading

B．At the end of the reading

C．During the first reading

D．After the first reading

小題4:This passage mainly tells us        .

A．that students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries

B．what were the defects (缺點(diǎn)) of small two-language dictionaries

C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries

D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

小題5:Which is not mentioned in this passage?

A．How to make good use of a dictionary.

B．When to use a dictionary.

C．How to improve spoken English.

D．How to practice reading fast.

Learning a Second Language
Some people learn a second language easily. Others have trouble learning a new language. How can you help yourself learn a new language, such as English? There are several ways to make learning English a little easier and more interesting.
The first step is to feel positive about learning English. If you believe that you can learn, you will learn. Be patient. You do not have to understand everything all at once. It is natural to make mistakes when you learn something new. We can learn from our mistakes. In other words, do not worry about taking risks.
The second step is to practice your English. For example, write a diary every day. You will get used to writing it in English, and you will feel comfortable expressing your ideas in English. Several weeks later, you will see that your writing is improving. In addition, you must speak English every day. You can practice with your classmates outside class. You will all make mistakes, but gradually you will become comfortable communicating in English.
The third step is to keep a record of your language learning. You can write this in your journal. After each class, think about what you did. Did you answer a question correctly? Did you understand something the teacher explained? Perhaps the lesson was difficult, but you tried to understand it.
You must be positive about learning English and believe that you can do it. It is important to practice every day and make a record of your achievements. You will enjoy learning English, and you will feel more confident in yourself.
小題1:To feel positive about learning English means _______.

A．if you are patient, you will learn

B．you can understand everything all at once

C．if you make mistakes, you can learn from your mistakes

D．if you believe you can learn, you will learn

小題2:When you learn English, you do not need to ______.

A．be patient	B．make mistakes
C．express your ideas in English	D．understand everything all at once

小題3:What is not helpful for you to enjoy learning English?

A．To communicate in English.

B．To worry about taking risks.

C．To think about what has been done after each class.

D．To make a record of the achievements.

小題4:What is the main idea of this passage?

A．It is very important to learn a second language.

B．Some people learn a second language easily while other people do not.

C．There are ways to help you learn a second language more easily.

D．Don’t worry about taking risks when learning a second language.

小題5:What does the underlined word “journal” in the 4^th paragraphmean?

A．Diary

B．Composition

C．Poem

D．Newspaper

An earthquake happens when two plates rub (碰撞) together. The earth plates travel in different directions and at different speeds. If one plate is slowly forced underneath the other,  pressure builds up until the plates break apart. This process causes the ground to move. It is an earthquake. In other words, earth-quakes are the shaking of the earth’s surface caused by the earth’s rocky outer layer as a result of the energy stored within the earth. The strain within the rocks is suddenly released (釋放).
The damage an earthquake causes depends on where it is and the time it is happening. If an unpopulated region is struck, there will be low loss of life or property. If it hits a large city, there may be many in-juries and much destruction. Many of the areas at risk are largely populated now. Major earthquakes hitting those areas today could produce terrible damage.
Actually, there are several million small earth-quakes every year.  Large earthquakes such as the 1964 Alaskan quake that measured 9.2 on the Richter scale, cause millions of dollars in damage. In the last 500 years, millions of people have been killed by earth-quakes around the world — including 240,000 in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China.
A 60-second or less earthquake can cause devastation that continues for years after the first tremor (小震). In 1972, a series of severe earthquakes struck Managua, Nicaragua. Fifteen years later, the city still looked the way it had a week after the earthquake hit, because the country did not have the necessary money to rebuild it.
The shaking of the earth is sometimes not the greatest disaster. It is in the ensuing fires and floods that often the greatest damage occurs. In the 1906 earthquake, it was the fires caused after it that did the majority of the damage. An earthquake can also destroy dams high above a city or valleys, causing floods to sweep down and sweep away everything in their path.
小題1:Which of the following is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．An earthquake comes from inside the earth.

B．The earth has great energy in storage.

C．How the earth plates move.

D．How an earthquake happens.

小題2:How many examples are used in the passage to show the damage and destruction earthquakes cause?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

D．Six.

小題3:Which of the following is mentioned to show that an earthquake can kill too many people?

A．The 1964 Alaskan quake.

B．The 1976 Tangshan earthquake.

C．The 1972 Managua earthquake.

D．The 1906 earthquake.

小題4:The underlined word “ensuing” in the last paragraph probably means ______.

A．causing too much heat and great damage

B．causing many injuries and much destruction

C．happening as a result of another event

D．happening suddenly and unexpectedly

小題5:By giving the example in Paragraph 4, the author wants to show that ______.

A．a(chǎn)n earthquake doesn’t last long

B．the damage can last long

C．people in Managua suffered too much

D．Nicaragua is still a poor country