We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it’s an ingredient(配料) in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called “mole” and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers.
    Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
    The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Maya was an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
    When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too. Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion（消化）.
    In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
    Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.

21. It was ________that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.
   A. The workers in a chocolate factory           B. The Spaniards
   C. Americans                                                D. The owner of a chocolate factory
22. According to the passage which of the following statements is true?
   A. Nobody had the idea of adding sugar until the sixteenth century.
   B. The word “chocolate” comes from a Mexican word.
   C. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys like them.
   D. Workers must dry and roast the beans to remove the bitter taste.
23. The Spaniards think that cacao was a medicine because________
   A. it was strong and bitter.                             B. it was good for digestion.
   C. it cured man’s diseases.                       D. it was a kind of drink for good health.
24. Which is the right time order of the events about chocolate?
   a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.
   b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.
   c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.
   d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.
   e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.
   A. a-b-c-d-e　              B. c-d-e-b-a　　  C. c-d-a-b-e　　 D. c-d-b-e-a

    Who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams (1860 - 1935)

    Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She created shelters, education opportunities and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964)

    Rachel Carson was born in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania in America. The popular 1962 book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson made people realize the dangers and the harmful effects of pollution on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Angela Merkel (1954 -   )

    In 2005, Germans chose Angela Merkel as their first woman head of the country. She had been a scientist in the past. As Germany’s leader, she has had an effect on the whole world.

Sandra Day O’Connor (1930 -   )

    When Sandra Day O’Connor finished her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work because she was a woman. However, she became the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 after years of hard work.

Margaret Thatcher (1925 -2013)

    In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. She served until 1990, which made her the first British leader to serve three terms in a row. Because of her high standards and strong will, people called her Britain’s Iron Lady.

Marie Curie (1867-1924)

    Polish-born scientist Marie Curie discovered that some types of metal give off energy called radiation (辐射). Her research led to new medical treatments and arms. She received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and in Chemistry in 1911.

25.Who once won the Nobel Prize?

  A．Jane Addams and Marie Curie.

  B．Jane Addams and Margaret Thatcher.

  C．Marie Curie and Angela Merkel.

  D．Marie Curie and Rachel Carson.

26.We can infer from the text that Rachel Carson worked to _____.

  A．help the poor                                          B．spread geographic knowledge

  C．protect the environment                    D．protect the rights of women

27.What do Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher have in common?

  A．Both of them were scientists before coming to power.

  B．Both of them are the first woman head of their country.

  C．Both of them are famous for being strict.

  D．Both of them are still in office now.

28.Who once failed to find a job?

  A．Jane Addams.                                  B．Sandra Day O’Connor.

  C．Rachel Carson.                                D．Margaret Thatcher.

    Read a lot, I mean a lot! You have to increase your ability for reading. Many students are in the habit of reading only when their exams are approaching while some others read only what they are taught or things that must be read because it is in their curriculum. But listen to me now, I am telling you from my own experience that it is a very bad habit and it is not enough to improve your intelligence.

       You have to learn and get ready to become versatile in your reading. The fact that you are studying medicine in school does not mean that you should not know one or two things on politics.

       Many people have complained to me that they find it hard to read stuffs like novels but I just shake my head in pity for them because it is obvious they have failed to realize the truth in that wise saying by Margaret Fuller that “today a reader, tomorrow a leader!”

       When you read, you get to “see” so many places and it will be as if you have visited those places in real life. This is because reading will improve your imagination and creativity and understanding. You also get experience from learning about how people dealt with their various problems thereby saving you from going through the pains and difficulties they must have gone through!

       Reading will also help you in improving your vocabulary because you will certainly start coming across so many new words which you will try as much as possible to get used to with the help of the dictionary. The good thing about increasing your vocabulary is that it will also improve your thinking ability. After all, we think in words and the more words you know, the easier it will become for you to express yourself or your thoughts.

       And when you read, make sure you read so wide because the more you read, the more you know and the more you know the more intelligent you can become.

29. The underlined word “versatile” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _____.
A. interested           B. many-sided               C. content                    D. confident

30. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Increase your ability for reading                  

B. Read wide and improve your vocabulary
C. Reading improves your intelligence                 

D. Reading makes you a leader tomorrow

31. What is the benefit of knowing more words?
A. You will get used to referring to the dictionary when meeting with new words.
B. You will have less difficulty expressing your opinions.
C. Vocabulary will improve your creativity.
D. You can pass your exams with ease.

    Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
    While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.
    The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
    Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have other applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
    Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
    The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.
32. How are social robots different from household robots?
  A. They can control their emotions.                      B. They are more like humans.
  C. They do the normal housework .                      D. They respond to users more slowly.
33. What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?
   A. Communicate with you and help you with homework.
   B. Answer your questions and make requests.
   C. Take your family pictures and deliver milk.
   D. Obey your orders and remind you to take pills.
34.We can learn from the last paragraph that social robots will ______.
   A. be our workmates                                          B.train employees    

   C. improve technologies                              D. take the place of workers
35.What is the passage mainly about?
   A. A new design idea of household robots.
   B. Marketing strategies for social robots.
   C. Information on household robots.
   D. An introduction to social robots.

Although problems are a part of our lives, it certainly doesn’t mean that we let them rule our lives forever. One day or the other, you’ll have to stand up and say – problem, I don’t want you in my life.

   36    Problems with friends, parents, girlfriends, husbands, and children – the list goes on. Apart from these, the inner conflicts within ourselves work, too. These keep adding to our problems. Problems come in different shapes and colors and feelings.

But good news is that all problems can be dealt with. Now read on to know how to solve your problems.

Talk, it really helps. What most of us think is that our problem can be understood only by us and that no talking is going to help.    37    Talking helps you move on and let go.

Write your problems.    38    When you write down your problems, you are setting free all the tension from your system. You can try throwing away the paper on which you wrote your problems. By doing this, imagine yourself throwing away the problems from your life.

Don’t lose faith and hope. No matter what you lose in life, don’t lose faith and hope. Even if you lose all your money, jobs… you should still have faith.    39    

       Your problems aren’t the worst. No matter what problem you get in life, there’re another one million people whose problems are huger than yours.    40    Your problems might just seem big and worse, but in reality they can be removed.

       Go about and solve your problems because every problem, however big or small, always has a way out.

A. But the truth is that when you talk about it, you’re setting free the negative energies that have been gathering within you.   

B. When we have a problem, a pressing, critical, urgent, life-threatening problem, how do we try and solve it?

C. Tell yourself: when they can deal with their problems, why can’t I?

D. Of course, we’ve been fighting problems ever since we were born.

E. We can often overcome the problem and achieve the goal by making a direct attack.

F. Having a personal diary can also be of huge help if you don’t want a real person to talk with.

G. With faith and hope, you can rebuild everything that you lose.