Wanted

Someone for a Kiss

We’re looking for producers to join us in the second of London 100FM. You’ll work on the station’s music programmes.Music production experience in radio is necessary, along with rich knowledge of modern dance music. Please apply in writing to Producer Vacancies, Kiss100.

Father Christmas

We’re looking for a very special person preferably over 40, to fill our Father Christmas suit.Working days: Every Saturday from November 24 to December 15 and every day from December 17 to December 24 except Sunday, 10:30—16:00. Excellent pay. Please contact the Enterprise Shopping Center, Station Parade, Eastbourne.

Accountants Assistant

When you join the team in our Revenue Administration Unit, you will be providing assistance within all parts of the Revenue Division, dealing with post and other general duties. If you are educated to GCSE grade C level, we would like to talk to you. This position is equally suitable for a school leaver or for somebody who has office experience. Wealden District Council

Software Trainer

If you are aged 24-45 and have experience in teaching and training, you could be the person we are looking for. You should be good at the computer and have some experience in programme writing. You will be allowed to make our decision, and to design courses as well as present them. Pay upwards of ￡15,000 for the right person. Please apply by sending your CV to Mrs R. Oglivie, Palmlace Limited.

1. Who should you get in touch with if you hope to work in a radio station?

A．Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100.	B．Mrs R.Oglivie, Palmlace Limited.
C．The Enterprise Shopping Centre	D．Wealden District Council.

2. Which position is open to recent school graduates?

A．Producer, London Kiss.	B．Father Christmas.
C．Accountants Assistant	D．Software Trainer

3. What kind of person would probably apply to Palmace Limited?

A．One with GCSE grade C level.	B．One with some office experience.
C．One having a good computer knowledge	D．One trained in producing music programmes.

Think about what you did this morning. You get out of bed and get yourself ready for the day.Many people take for granted the fact that they are able to do this independently. Imagine for a moment that you couldn't dress yourself or make your own breakfast. Now imagine if this is how you will wake up for the rest of your life. For Ivy Krause, this is her reality.

Ivy has a medical condition known as Epidermolysis Bullosa (表皮溶解水泡症)，or EB, where the slightest touch can blister and even remove her skin. Ivy has the most severe form of EB where her skin is affected both externally and internally. Simple tasks like going to the toilet and getting dressed are made very difficult. Mobility is limited as Ivy's skin has become tight, and her fingers have fused together, with the only way to reverse this being surgery. EB is a very painful condition, and what is most heartbreaking is knowing that this beautiful, smiling, little girl is living in constant extreme pain.

This is where carers and trained babysitters come in. Yvonne McMullan has been caring for Ivy for the past 3 years, and said it has been both the worst and best experience. "It's hard. For her, especially at this age, she needs continuity of care. By having the same nurses treating her, Ivy knows that we love and care about her as much as she loves us. But without being there, you don't know just how sorrowful it is to see her in pain. It's heartbreaking."

Ivy is a fighter in almost every sense of the word. She has encouraged so many people to give back to the community and donate to charities who support the families of young children living with disabilities, even just to show appreciation to the gift of life and opportunity. Even though she is covered with bandages, her strong will for life is moving and inspiring, just like a butterfly, facing so many barriers which still does its best to come out of the chrysalis (蝶蛹).

4. What is wrong with Ivy Krause?

A．She doesn't know how to cook.	B．She can't live on her own.
C．She is particular for food.	D．She is too lazy.

5. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The reason for Ivy's illness.	B．The symptom of Ivy's EB.
C．The cures of treating EB.	D．The research on skin.

6. Which words can describe Ivy?

A．Generous and encouraging.	B．Optimistic and grateful.
C．Ambitious and caring.	D．Independent and unselfish.

7. What is the best title for the text?

A．A heartbroken babysitter	B．A strange case ever found
C．A butterfly beneath the bandages	D．The appreciation to the gift of life

Why Do People Blink Their Eyes?

People blink(眨眼) their eyes tens of thousands of times every day. Scientists have long believed blinking was an involuntary movement and served mainly to keep the eyeballs wet. But a new study suggests it has a more important purpose.

An international team of scientists from the University of California at Berkeley studied the blinking of human eyelids. The journal Current Biology published their findings. The team said they found that blinking “repositions our eyeballs so we can stay focused” on what we are seeing. They said that when we blink our eyelids, the eyes roll back into their sockets—the bony area that surrounds and protects the eyes. However, the researchers found the eyes don’t always return to the same position. They said this causes the brain to tell the eye muscles to reorganize our eyesight.

Gerrit Maus is the lead writer of the report. He serves as an assistant professor of psychology at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Maus said, “Our eye muscles are quite sluggish(迟缓的) and imprecise, so the brain needs to constantly adapt its motor signals to make sure our eyes are pointing where they’re supposed to. Our findings suggested that the brain measures the difference in what we see before and after a blink, and commands the eye muscles to make the needed corrections.” The researchers said that without such corrections our surroundings would appear unclear and even jumpy. They said the movement acts “like a Steadicam(摄影稳定器) of the mind.”

The researchers said they asked volunteers to sit in a dark room while staring at a small dot on a flat surface. They used special cameras to follow the volunteer’s blinks and eye movements. After each blink, the dot was moved one centimeter to the right. The volunteers did not notice this, but the brain did. It followed the movement and directed the eye muscles to refocus on the dot. After the dot was moved in this way 30 times, the volunteers’ eyes changed their focus to the place where they predicted it would be.

Professor Maus said, “Even though participants did not consciously register that the dot had moved, their brains did, and adjusted with the corrective eye movements. These findings add to our understanding of how the brain constantly adapts to changes, commanding our eye muscles to correct for errors in our bodies’ own hardware.”

8. According to the new study, blinking eyes can ______.

A．serve to keep the eyeballs wet	B．reposition eyeballs to stay focused
C．consciously correct eye movements	D．make our eyes adapt to motor signals

9. From the experiment, we can learn that _____________.

A．volunteers could see the moving dot with special cameras

B．the eyeballs could stay in the place as they were predicted

C．participants were aware of the dot’s movements to the right

D．the brain commanded the eye muscles to refocus on the dot

10. The underlined word “register” in Paragraph 5 probably means ______.

A．realize

B．refocus

C．reserve

D．reason

11. This passage shows that ______.

A．eye muscles are quite inactive and imprecise

B．the research is of great value in the eye movement

C．the brain plays an important role in seeing things clearly

D．volunteers control their blinks to follow the changes of the dots

What did your school smell like? Was it noisy or peaceful? It might not seem important, but a growing body of research suggests that smells and sounds can have an impact on learning, performance and creativity．
Bridget Shield has been conducting studies and advising people on the effects of all sorts of noises, such as traffic and sirens, as well as noise made by the children themselves． "Everything points to a harmful impact of the noise on children’s performance, in numeracy, in literacy, and in spelling,” says Shield．
Shield says the sound of “babble” －the chatter of other children, is particularly distracting in the classroom．。People are very distracted by speech-particularly if it is understandable, but you’re not involved in it．” This phenomenon is also known as the irrelevant speech effect, she says, adding that “it’s a very common finding in open-plan offices as well．’’
In a series of studies published last year, Ravi Mehta found that people were more creative when the background noises were played at a medium level than when volume was low． Loud background noise, however, damaged their creativity． Ravi Mehta suggests there maybe some benefit to playing music or other sounds in an art class or other situations where creativity is the key．
Many teachers all over the world already play music to students in class． Many are inspired by the belief that hearing music can boost IQ in their tasks, the so-called Mozart effect． While the evidence actually suggests it’s a guess to say classical music boosts brainpower, researchers do think pleasant sounds before a task can sometimes lift your mood and help you perform well, says Ravi Mehta," If you like the music or you like the sound-even listening to a Stephen King novel-then you did better． It didn’t matter about the music,“ he says．
However, it’s worth considering that music is not always helpful while you’re trying to work． Trying to perform a task which involves serial recall - for instance, doing mental mathematics-will be distracted by sounds with audio variation, says Ravi Mehta． Songs with lyrics, on the other hand, are more likely to interfere（干扰）with tasks that involve languages-such as reading comprehension．
This isn’t the only sense being related to affecting learning．
12. The second paragraph implies that _________.

A．general noise also has a harmful effect．

B．students are sensitive to noise．

C．some children need special sounds to do tasks．

D．children aren't affected by their own noise．

13. The irrelevant speech effect refers to the fact that _________.

A．you don’t understand what others are talking

B．you are interrupted by the chatting of others

C．you are unwilling to chat with other people

D．you find what others are talking irrelevant to you

14. According to the text, Ravi Mehta believes that __________.

A．music matters when you want to do better．

B．music will help you do mental arithmetic．

C．any music can be beneficial as long as you like it．

D．songs with lyrics will improve your reading comprehension．

15. What might be discussed in the following paragraph?

A．Whether music is helpful all the time．

B．What sound can promote a person’s creativity．

C．When smell can improve students’ behavior．

D．How smell affects children’s performance．