When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.

Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export. Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.

Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans.

1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. How Columbus found Costa Rica.

B. How Costa Rica got its name.

C. What the Costa Ricans wore.

D. What language the Costa Ricans spoke.

2. The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.

A. pink and red B. yellow and orange

C. blue and green D. grey and black

3. In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.

A. can choose to stop schooling at any time

B. study in the same school

C. do not have to go to school at all

D. must go to school

4. From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.

A. help their parents pick coffee beans

B. have their examinations

C. have lessons every day

D. help their parents decorate their houses

You can't always predict a heavy rain or remember your umbrella. But designer Mikhail Belyaev doesn't think that forgetting to check the weather forecast before heading out should result in you getting wet. That's why he created Lampbrella, a lamp post with its own rain－sensing umbrella.

The designer says he came up with the idea after watching people get wet on streets in Russia. “Once, I was driving on a central Saint Petersburg street and saw the street lamps lighting up people trying to hide from the rain. I thought it would be appropriate to have a canopy(傘篷)built into a street lamp，” he said.

The Lampbrella is a standard－looking street lamp fitted with an umbrella canopy. It has a built－in electric motor which can open or close the umbrella on demand. Sensors(傳感器)then ensure that the umbrella offers pedestrians(行人)shelter whenever it starts raining.

In addition to the rain sensor, there's also a 360° motion sensor on the fiberglass street lamp which detects whether anyone is using the Lampbrella.After three minutes of not being used the canopy is closed.

According to the designer, the Lampbrella would move at a relatively low speed, so as not to cause harm to the pedestrians. Besides, it would be grounded to protect from possible lightning strike. Each Lampbrella would offer enough shelter for several people. Being installed(安裝) at 2 meters off the ground, it would only be a danger for the tallest of pedestrians.

While there are no plans to take the Lampbrella into production, Belyaev says he recently introduced his creation to one Moscow Department, and insists his creation could be installed on any street where a lot of people walk but there are no canopies to provide shelter.

1. For what purpose did Belyaev create the Lampbrella?

A. To protect people from the rain.

B. To predict a heavy rain.

C. To check the weather forecast.

D. To remind people to take an umbrella.

2.What do we know from Belyaev's words in Paragraph 2?

A. It rains a lot in the city of Saint Petersburg.

B. His creation was inspired by an experience.

C. Street lamps are protected by canopies.

D. He enjoyed taking walks in the rain.

3.What does Paragraph 5 mainly tell us about the Lampbrella?

A. Its moving speed. B. Its appearance.

C. Its safety. D. Its installation.

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. The designer will open a company to promote his product.

B. The Lampbrella could be put into immediate production.

C. The designer is confident that his creation is practical.

D. The Lampbrella would be put on show in Moscow.

Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.

At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (細菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精煉米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins. The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.

Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.

1. Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.

A. help the Javanese with their illness

B. find ways to grow better crops

C. do some research about the island

D. spend his holiday

2. Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?

A. To eat them.

B. To make money by selling them.

C. To give the Javanese a surprise.

D. To carry out his experiments.

3. If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.

A. eat more rice B. eat vitamin pills

C. eat some chicken D. eat more meat

4. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful

B. the Javanese didn’t like vitamins

C. beri-beri was caused by chickens

D. the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ

Until just a few years ago，we doctors believed that the brain stopped making new neural(神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的)connections (meaning that your memory began to get worse)when the body stopped developing，usually in your early 20s. And we knew that，like any other body part，neurons weaken as we age. Loss of brain function due to neural breakdown was assumed to be a normal，unavoidable part of aging.

It turns out that we were wrong. In the past few years，it has been discovered that you can，in fact，make new neurons starting in your 20s and continuing well into old age. You can literally rewire the brain with new parts as the older parts wear out. How？Simple：Keep learning. Just as your body can pack on and condition new muscle，your brain can rebuild used-up neurons.

How strong is the evidence for this？Strong enough that a $200 million industry devoted to brain boosting software (products like Brain Age，MindFit，and Lumosity that supposedly improve your memory function)has sprung up out of nowhere. All“mental fitness”means are keeping your memory intact(everything from phone numbers to how to throw a football)．So what can you do to stay smart?

Keep blood pressure down. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop cognitive impairment later in life.

Eat more vitamins. Like E(in nuts and sunflower seeds)，B6 and B12(beef，tuna)，and folic acid(leafy greens，citrus，berries)，which help keep your brain’s chemistry in balance.

Exercise your brain. This is the best way to rebuild and strengthen those precious neurons. Learn to play chess or the guitar. When you’re at a stoplight，try to recall the starting lineup of the 1983 Celtics. See a movie that doesn’t feature Ben Stiller. Or read，like，a book.

Title：How to keep the1.________smart？

高三年級是高中生活的最后一年， 這一年中，學生們面臨著沉重的升學壓力。因此，很多學生課間也坐教室里用功，但學習效率和成績并不理想。由此你想告訴他們：適當?shù)男菹⒑苡斜匾��，F(xiàn)在就請你以“A Ten-minute Break”為題，按下列要點寫一篇短文，讓這些同學從中有所啟發(fā)。要點如下：

十分鐘的課間休息很有必要。 2．要注意適當?shù)男菹⒎绞健?3．你是怎樣利用這十分鐘的。 注意：詞數(shù)120左右。

When I reached front door, I suddenly saw strange sight last night.

A. the; 不填 B. a; the

C. 不填; a D. the; a

People have always been ________ about exactly how life on earth began.

A. curious B. excited

C. anxious D. careful

Some parents are just too protective. They want to ________ their kids from every kind of danger, real or imagined.

A. spot B. dismiss

C. shelter D.distinguish

—Her father is very rich.

—________ She wouldn't accept his help even if it were offered.

A.What for? B. So what?

C.No doubt. D.No wonder.

Nobody can deny that a fine house is a ________ of status and wealth.

A. symbol B. resource C. sign D. force