Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress. They also found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five.The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.

The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.

Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

1.When will people become happier and experience less worry?

A. 18 years old     B. 80 years old     C. 50 years old    D. 25 years old

2.What does the underlined word“emotions”mean in Paragragh Two?

A. 體力           B. 情感          C. 智力         D. 目標(biāo)

3.Who has the most sadness, stress and worry?

A. a fifty-year-old man             B. a fifty-year-old woman

C. a twenty-five-year-old woman       D. a twenty-five-year-old man

4.According to the last paragraph, why may people be happier at an older age?

A. They are more thankful for what they have

B. They have better control of their emotions

C. They spend less time thinking about their bad experiences

D. All of the above.

任務(wù)型閱讀 (10)

Every year people celebrate the Spring Festival in China. It is usually in January or February. It’s the most important festival in China. So before it comes, everyone buys many things. And they often make a special kind of food called dumplings. It means(意思是) ‘come together’. Parents always buy new clothes for their children and children also buy presents for their parents.

On the Spring Festival Eve (除夕), all the family members come back home to have a big dinner. When they enjoy the meal, they give the best wishes to each other for the coming year. After dinner, all the family stay up until midnight to welcome the New Year. They sing, dance and play cards.

On the first day of the new year, people put on new clothes and visit their friends. They say ‘Happy New Year!’ to each other. They all have a good time during the festival.

1. When is the Spring Festival in China every year?

2. What do people do before the Spring Festival comes?

3. What do ‘dumplings’ mean?

4. What do children get from their parents ?

5. Do people have fun at the Spring Festival?

Walt Disney，the great film-maker was born in Chicago in 1901.  His greatest wish was to be a famous ___1___.  When he was young, he went to a __2___ office in a city named Kansas.  There he had some friends __3__.  He took some pictures with himself and wanted to get a job.  But he had no __4_.  They looked at the pictures and said, “Sorry, young man, we don’t think there is __5__interesting in your pictures. ”
But he didn’t lose    6_  .  He went on to draw pictures.  His family was __7__.  One day a mouse came into his room and played on the floor.  He stopped __8 _ and watched it.  The mouse came to him and sat on his desk, so he gave the mouse a piece of bread.  Then the mouse came nearer and was given more bread.   9  this way after some days the mouse became his good friend.
Disney went to the west of the USA after a few years.  He tried to get work as an artist, but he wasn’t still   10  .  One day he remembered the cute mouse.  He picked up his pencil and began to draw.  He drew some different pictures of the mouse.  He called it Mickey Mouse.  Now most people knew and loved him all over the world.

Walt Disney began to make cartoon movies when he was young. But he didn’t have much money and he didn’t always have enough to eat. One day a mouse ran near his desk when he worked in his small office.

“Would you like to be my pet? ”Disney asked the mouse. He caught the mouse and kept it as a pet. A few years later, Disney decided to make a cartoon about it. “I am making a cartoon about a mouse named Mortimer,” he told his wife. “Mortimer Mouse? I think Mickey Mouse would be a better name.” She said. “You are right!”  Disney agreed and made many Mickey Mouse cartoons.

People all over the world saw Mickey and loved it. Mickey Mouse made Disney famous. Then come Donald Duck, and Goofy Dog and others. Disney began to make full length (長(zhǎng)) cartoons. Then he made cartoon movies for television. Millions of children watched the shows every week.

In California, real boats, castles (城堡), trains, mountains, rivers, all in one beautiful park. Millions of people came to Disneyland. He died in 1966, but the world will not forget him quickly. Mickey Mouse and all his cartoons will help us to remember him.

1.When Disney began making cartoon movies,          .

A．he was very poor                       B．the mouse helped him

C．his wife knew nothing about it              D．People didn’t like Cartoons at all

2.This passage mainly tells us       .

A．how Disney make Cartoon movies           B．how Disney built Disneyland

C．something about Disney’s childhood        D．something about Disney’s life

3.Which of the flowing sentences is true?

A．Disney’s wife asked him to make a cartoon about the mouse.

B．Mickey Mouse was the name suggested by Disney’s wife.

C．Disney caught a mouse and made a cartoon about it at once.

D．People will remember Disney because of the Disneyland.

When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I could make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have three-day passes (通行證) posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers.

??? It was Christmas Eve when I arrived, and a light snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood. There were lights, all colors, and ornaments (裝飾物) shining against the green of a pine.

??? “Where did it come from？” I asked.

??? “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn’t have had one just for myself, but when you called--- oh, such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon…”

??? The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Krystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached about a little awkwardly (難看地) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with pleasant smell of Christmas.

??? “It’s not like the ones you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn’t know where to look. But I couldn’t be picky.”

??? “Don’t worry, ” I told her. “It’s perfect.”

It wasn’t, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.

1. When the writer got home, ________.

A. it was December 23?????????????

B. it was snowing heavily

C. he found a Christmas tree in the living room????????????? ???

D. the Gates boy was cutting a Christmas tree for his mother

2. From the passage, we can conclude（推斷） that ________.

A. the writer used to cut very beautiful Christmas trees??? ????????????? ?????????????

B. his mother didn’t like perfect trees????????????? ????????????? ?????????????

C. his mother didn’t want to have a tree???

D. the writer wouldn’t have a tree cut by someone else

3.“All Christmas trees are perfect”, because they can remind you of ________.

A. the wartime????????????? ? B. the green of a pine?????????????

C. the pleasant smell??? D. the sweet home

4. The best title for this passage would be “________”.

A. How to Choose a Christmas Tree

B. How Soldiers Spent Christmas

C. The Perfect Christmas Tree

D. The Christmas Without a Tree