Passage TwoWe all love a hero, and rescue dogs are some of the biggest heroes of all. You will often find them above and beyond duty to save someone, risking-and at times losing -their lives in the process.Rescue dogs are generally found in the Sporting and Hunting Groups, or from the traditional Herding Group. These types include the Bloodhound, Labrador retriever, Newfoundland, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, and Belgian Malinois-all of which are chosen for search-and-rescue duty because of their amazing physical strength, loyalty, and their tendency for mental stability.These types also have a keen sense of hearing and smell-to better locate lost individuals-and are often able to access hard-to-reach areas. As highly trained animals, they serve in many different fields, including specialist search, snow slide rescue, dead body location, and tracking.To overcome obstacles and succeed when performing the demanding duties of a search-and-rescue worker, a dog must display certain qualities. In addition to intelligence and strength, the dog must be swift, confident, easily trainable, adaptable, and have a high level of stamina（耐力） and endurance. A strong sense of group cooperation and an ability to engage in friendly play during "down" time is also required of search-and-rescue dogs.A rescue dog goes through many, many hours of intensive training to be fit for duty. Training is not for the faint-hearted. Certification training can take from two to three years, working three to four hours a day, three to six days a week, often in group, team-oriented sessions.Each search-and-rescue field requires different types of training. Rescue training, for instance, includes "air scenting"--where dogs are trained to smell the air for the victim's scent（气味）and then follow the scent to the person. This ability is crucial to finding victims trapped under collapsed buildings and snow slide.Which ability is most important for dogs to rescue people trapped in snow?

Passage FourSometimes I scratch my head when I read about the government's efforts to improve schools: new standards and tests to be applied, strict teacher evaluations, and threats of school closures and job losses. They frighten the school employees, not to mention the students. Instead of making people unable to solve problems or try new ideas-which is what fear does to us-research on school reform strongly suggests that policy-makers should encourage school leaders to take a more humane approach. In their study on the reform efforts of twelve Chicago public schools, Bryk and Schneider found that enabling positive social relationships between the adults was the key to successful school improvement and that trust was at the heart of those relationships.Trust in schools comes down to one thing: psychological safety or safety to speak one's mind, to discuss with openness and honesty what is and isn't working, to make collective decisions.Yet this kind of safety doesn't come easily to schools. According to Bryk and Schneider, the adults in school rely on each other to do their jobs correctly and with integrity （正直）. The challenge is that our expectations are very diverse based on our unique backgrounds.At one school where I taught, each teacher had different expectations about how much extra effort teachers should put into their work-a big difference between the teachers who left after the last bell and those who worked into the evening. And when expectations are unconscious or unspoken, it becomes impossible for others to live up to them.We also make assumptions about the intentions behind a person's behavior. As we all know, assumptions are often wrong. For example, parents and teachers may think the principal made a particular decision based on his career advancement rather than what's best for the students. If we don't feel psychologically safe to question our assumptions and expectations, trust flies out the window and our relationships suffer.What is meant by trust in school?

Passage FourSometimes I scratch my head when I read about the government's efforts to improve schools: new standards and tests to be applied, strict teacher evaluations, and threats of school closures and job losses. They frighten the school employees, not to mention the students. Instead of making people unable to solve problems or try new ideas-which is what fear does to us-research on school reform strongly suggests that policy-makers should encourage school leaders to take a more humane approach. In their study on the reform efforts of twelve Chicago public schools, Bryk and Schneider found that enabling positive social relationships between the adults was the key to successful school improvement and that trust was at the heart of those relationships.Thus in schools comes down to one thing: psychological safety or safety to speak one's mind, to discuss with openness and honesty what is and isn't working, to make collective decisions.Yet this kind of safety doesn't come easily to schools. According to Bryk and Schneider, the adults in school rely on each other to do their jobs correctly and with integrity （正直）. The challenge is that our expectations are very diverse based on our unique backgrounds.At one school where I taught, each teacher had different expectations about how much extra effort teachers should put into their work-a big difference between the teachers who left after the last bell and those who worked into the evening. And when expectations are unconscious or unspoken, it becomes impossible for others to live up to them.We also make assumptions about the intentions behind a person's behavior. As we all know, assumptions are often wrong. For example, parents and teachers may think the principal made a particular decision based on his career advancement rather than what's best for the students. If we don't feel psychologically safe to question our assumptions and expectations, trust flies out the window and our relationships suffer.What does the author say about the assumptions made about the intentions behind a person's behavior?

Passage ThreeEating an apple a day doesn't keep the doctor away, but it does reduce the amount of trips you make to the drug to the drug store per year. That's according to a new study that investigates whether there's any truth in the old saying.A team of researchers led by Dr. Matthew Davis, of the University of Michigan School of Nursing, asked 8,399 participants to answer survey questions about diet and health. A total of 753 were apple eaters, consuming at least 149g of raw apple per day. The remaining 7,646 were classed as non-apple eaters. When both groups answered questions on trips to the doctor and trips to the drug store per year，the apple eaters were found to be 27% less likely to visit the druggist for drugs.Trips to the doctor were not significantly affected by apple consumption，though. "Evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. However, the small number of US adults who eat an apple a day does appear to use fewer prescription medications," the study concludes.Apple eaters were also found to be less likely to smoke and be more likely to have a higher educational attainment than non-apple eaters. While apples do not compete with oranges ,they do contain some immune （免疫的） system-increasing vitamin C, which may be why apple -eaters visit the druggist less. With over 8mg of vitamin C per medium-sized fruit, an apple can provide roughly 14% your daily recommended intake.Previous studies have also linked apple consumption to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes （二型糖尿病），improved lung function and a lower risk of colon （结肠） cancer.What can we learn from the passage?

Passage TwoWe all love a hero, and rescue dogs are some of the biggest heroes of all. You will often find them above and beyond duty to save someone, risking-and at times losing -their lives in the process.Rescue dogs are generally found in the Sporting and Hunting Groups, or from the traditional Herding Group. These types include the Bloodhound, Labrador retriever, Newfoundland, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, and Belgian Malinois-all of which are chosen for search-and-rescue duty because of their amazing physical strength, loyalty, and their tendency for mental stability.These types also have a keen sense of hearing and smell-to better locate lost individuals-and are often able to access hard-to-reach areas. As highly trained animals, they serve in many different fields, including specialist search, snow slide rescue, dead body location, and tracking.To overcome obstacles and succeed when performing the demanding duties of a search-and-rescue worker, a dog must display certain qualities. In addition to intelligence and strength, the dog must be swift, confident, easily trainable, adaptable, and have a high level of stamina（耐力） and endurance. A strong sense of group cooperation and an ability to engage in friendly play during "down" time is also required of search-and-rescue dogs.A rescue dog goes through many, many hours of intensive training to be fit for duty. Training is not for the faint-hearted. Certification training can take from two to three years, working three to four hours a day, three to six days a week, often in group, team-oriented sessions.Each search-and-rescue field requires different types of training. Rescue training, for instance, includes "air scenting"--where dogs are trained to smell the air for the victim's scent（气味）and then follow the scent to the person. This ability is crucial to finding victims trapped under collapsed buildings and snow slide.What is the passage mainly about?

Passage OneDebate is a valuable way to practise communicating. It can also bring long-lasting rewards, especially for people working with Western businesses. The main activity of debate is presenting one's opinion and supporting it with evidence, such as statistics or facts. It is a way of persuasive communication.Charles Lebeau helped create the "Discover Debate" method. He says debate is important to understanding how people communicate in Western business Successful debaters learn how to give their opinion reasons and support. "What we are trying to do is to develop a kind of thinking or approach to discussion and how to interact（交流） with someone else's opinion , rather than brush their opinion aside.Debate skills are also important in selling a product, he says .In that situation, the judges are the customers. "So on Monday, for example, one company may come in and present their case to the customer and they'll make as strong a case as they can. On Tuesday, the next day, another company will come in and present their case to the customer. Usually the party that can present the strongest case wins."Debate also strengthens critical thinking. In other words, it helps students learn to ask questions and try to understand someone s reasons and evidence.Mr. Lebeau points out that successful debaters learn to listen carefully to what other people are saying. Then, they look for the weak points in someone else's opinion or argument. He says debate teaches a systematic way of questioning.Successful debaters also learn to think from someone else's point of view. Mr. Lebeau says debate help broaden the mind. "There's an expression in English: don't criticize another person before you have walked in their shoes. I think the wonderful thing about debate is, it puts us in another person's shoes."Why is debate important?

Passage FiveAn interesting project called Blue Zones is recording the lifestyle secrets of the communities with the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world.The people in the five regions in Europe, Latin America. Asia and the US that live to be 100 have a lot going for them. Genes probably play a small role, but these folks also have strong social ties, tightly-knit families and lots of opportunities to exercise.As we were examining the dietary secrets of the Blue Zones, as described in author Dan Buettner's latest book, The Blue Zones Solution, we were struck by how essential tea drinking is in these regions. In fact, Buettner's Blue Zones Beverage Rule--a kind of guideline summarized from his 15 or so years of studying these places--is: "Drink coffee for breakfast, tea in the afternoon, wine at 5 p.m."Science has plenty to say about the healthful virtues of green tea. Researchers are most enthusiastic about the components in green tea, as well as foods like cocoa. Why might they help so many Okinawans in Japan break 100? Some components in green tea can lower the risk of stroke, heart disease and several cancers. One review study also found that drinking green tea can slightly improve metabolism（新陈代谢）.If you find yourself on the island of Ikaria, the Greek Blue Zone in the middle of the Aegean, you won't be offered any tea made with tea leaves. Instead, Ikarians typically make their daily cup of tea with just one fresh herb that they have picked themselves that day--either rosemary, wild sage, oregano, marjoram, mint or dandelion, all plants that may have anti-inflammatory（消炎的） properties, which may help lower blood pressure. This could explain Ikaria's very low dementia （痴呆） rate, since high blood pressure is a risk factor for the disease.What might be the best title of the passage?

Passage FiveClaude-Oscar Monet (1840 -- 1926) was a French artist and a leading member of the Impressionist group of painters. Born in Paris, Monet spent his childhood in Le Havre. There he met a local artist, Eugene Boudin. Who encouraged him to become a landscape painter.In 1859, Monet went to Paris to study at the Academie Suisse. Between 1860 and 1862, Monet served in the army in Algeria ( 阿尔及利亚 ). He returned to Paris where he met most of the major artists of the erA. In 1870, Monet married Camille Doncieux. To escape the Franco-Prnssian war, they moved to London Back to France, they settled at Argenteuil, a boating centre on the Seine (塞纳河 ) which drew many other Impressionist painters. Working from nature was a particular symbol of the Impressionist movement, and one that Monet valued, reflecting in his paintings the ever-changing impact of light and weather conditions.In 1872, he visited Le Havre where he painted "An Impression, Sunrise". When exhibited in 1874, part of its title was used by a critic to label the whole movement "Impressionism".Monet's wife died in 1879, and he set up home with Alice Hoschede, the wife of one of his most important sponsors. During the 1880s, Monet traveled through France painting a variety of landscapes. He gradually became better known and for the last 30 years of his life he was regarded as the greatest of the Impressionists.From 1890 he began to paint a series (系列 ) of pictures of one subject, including "Haystacks" "Rouen Cathedral" and " Waterlilies ". The latter were painted in the fine garden Monet created at his house at Giverny, where he lived from 1883 on. He painted them over and over again, most significantly in a series especially for a museum in Paris.What is said about the painting "An Impression, Sunrise"? ( ) 

Passage TwoGenerations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is essential to one's life. Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have been told, and told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip. But for many people, the thought of food as the first thing in the morning is never a pleasure So despite all the efforts, they still take no breakfast.Between 1977 and 1983, the latest year for which figures could be obtained, the number of people who didn't have breakfast increased by 33%from 8.8 million to 11.7 million--according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America．For those who dislike eating breakfast, however, there is some good news.Several studies in the last few years have shown that, for adults especially, there may be nothing wrong with omitting breakfast. "Going without breakfast does not affect work," said Arnold E. Bender, former professor of nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College in London, "nor does giving people breakfast improve work." Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better work is surprisingly inadequate(不充分) ,and most of the recent work involves children, not adults. "The literature," says one researcher, Dr. Earnest Polite at the University of Texas, "is poor."What does the word "literature" in the last sentence refer to? ()  

Passage FourIdeas about polite behaviour differ from one culture to another. Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open. People here change jobs and move house quite often. As an result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only ma short time, and they need to get to know people quickly. So it's normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal.On the other hand, there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long-term relationships are more important. A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business. But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society.To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first. On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it's no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don't want to answer.Cross-cultural differences aren't just a problem for travelers, but also for people in daily life. Some societies have " universalist'' cultures. These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way. "Particularist" (强调特性的)societies also have rules, but they are less important than the society's unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person. So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person.Who do Malaysians prefer to start business with according to the passage? ( )