A few years ago, I stood in a small classroom just outside of New York City, watching a high schooler named Serena Stevenson answer math questions. A teacher read out numbers—74,470, 70,809, 98,402—and Stevenson added them in her head. For each question, she closed her eyes, and then the fingers of her right hand began to move. She answered most of the problems correctly.
The key to her success was an ancient technology called the abacus (算盘). Stevenson used a practice called “mental abacus”, imagining the abacus in her mind and then using her fingers to work through the problems.
From watching Stevenson, I knew that gaining skill at the abacus was more than a matter of counting beads (珠子), so I decided to sign up for an abacus course with my two daughters to see if we could also improve our math skills. I was one of the many who had some math doubts and I felt a touch of fear. My normal solution was escape, and if I had to calculate something like a percentage change, I would go online.
Then after a few abacus classes and a good amount of practice, math seemed a little less frightening. I didn’t become Euclid, the founder of geometry (几何学). But the practice brought my numerical fears down. This is a time-tested power of the abacus. Confidence grows easily in the device (设备), and abacus students are less likely to be nervous about an upcoming math test, according to one study. Part of the reason, it seems, is that practice and results appear to move in step.
My kids gained much as well. My youngest daughter could work out those math problems that once confused her, while my older child brought her abacus to school to show it to her classmates and teacher. These were just small successes for them, but that was how they finally developed confidence.
1. What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To prove the difficulty of math. | B．To introduce the topic of the abacus. |
| C．To show the cleverness of Stevenson. | D．To stress the importance of abacus learning. |
| A．He was weak in math. | B．He was good at computer. |
| C．He regarded math as useful. | D．He had a close relationship with kids. |
| A．All roads lead to Rome. | B．It’s never too late to learn. |
| C．Faith can move mountains. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
| A．How I develop confidence | B．The secret to my success |
| C．The power of abacus | D．A rough ride—learning math |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】It is important for you to be a good listener in class. Much of what you will have to learn will be presented verbally (口头上) by your teachers. Just hearing what your teachers say is not the same as listening to what they say. Listening is a cognitive (认知的) act that requires you to pay attention and think about and mentally process what you hear. Here are some things you should do to be a good listener in class.
*Be Cognitively Ready to Listen When You Come to Class.
*Be Emotionally Ready to Listen When You Come to Class.
*Be an Active Listener.
*Meet the Challenge. Don’t give up and stop listening when you find the information being presented difficult to understand. Listen even more carefully at these times and work hard to understand what is being said.
| A．Listen with an open mind. |
| B．Your attitude is important. |
| C．Taking notes requires you to make decisions about what to write. |
| D．Don’t give in to these inconveniences. |
| E．Make sure you complete all assigned work. |
| F．You can think faster than your teacher can speak. |
| G．Don’t be reluctant to ask questions. |
【推荐2】The Internet can provide a wealth of educational resources for small children, if you know where to look.
Enchanted Learning
Enchanted learning is a great website for children, and I know several teachers who rely on it for materials for their classrooms. Most of the information is free, but for $ 20.00 per year, you can purchase a membership that allows you to have access to the site without the advertising. The pages here are great. There are colored pages and worksheets for toddlers (学步儿童) and school-age children.
Starfall
Starfall is another good educational website for small children. Teachers often use this website in classrooms. It emphasizes reading skills for early learners. The website is aimed at first-grade-level learners, but it has tools that can help all children from pre-K to second grade. The website has reading activities, worksheets to download, and a store where you can purchase educational materials for your children.
Sesame Street Workshop
Kids love Sesame Street, and it is always educational. This is one of the funniest websites online for children because it is very well animated and has great sound effects. The website has games and stories for small kids, and they can create letters at the post office and mail them to their favorite characters.
1. Why does Enchanted Learning offer purchasing memberships?| A．Charging for the information. |
| B．Charging for downloading materials. |
| C．Giving access to the site without the ads. |
| D．Providing unlimited search for more pages. |
| A．Enchanted Learning | B．Starfall |
| C．Sesame Street W orkshop | D．Colored pages |
| A．To introduce. | B．To discuss. | C．To persuade. | D．To educate. |
【推荐3】It can be tough to pull kids away from their computers and mobile devices these days. While they’re playing games, wouldn’t it be great if they could be learning at the same time? Good educational apps offer fun challenges that teach specific grade-level skills. Here are four apps that combine fun and learning.
Understanding Math ($3.99; iOS)
Understanding Math goes beyond basic comprehension to gain a deeper understanding of the whys and hows of math. The app tracks your child’s progress to determine strengths and weaknesses in different skill areas, and you can customize (改制) your child’s learning experience to suit the needs.
Word Creativity Kit ($2.99; iOS)
Word Creativity Kit aims not only to make creative writing fun but also build up grammar rules. The app presents a series of words from seven categories, such as space or fantasy. Kids add their own words to finish the complete thoughts that these words have inspired.
Barefoot World Atlas ($4.99; iOS)
Barefoot World Atlas helps kids learn about geography and world cultures with a touch of the screen. Each region features a set of subtopics from wildlife and natural features to native, and architecture. These facts and illustrations are delivered in photographs, sounds, and hundreds of mini videos.
My Grades & Homework ($80.99; iOS)
A combination of grades and homework tracker, My Grades &Homework can help your child stay organized and on top of the progress in school. A convenient calendar and course list format offer a glance at your child’s assignment schedule that he or she might not normally get from standard homework planners.
1. Which app is beneficial to children’s writing skills?| A．Understanding Math. | B．My Grades & Homework. |
| C．Barefoot World Atlas. | D．Word Creativity Kit. |
| A．They need purchasing when downloading. | B．They help children improve their grades. |
| C．They make studies fun by mini videos. | D．They inform parents of their children’s progress. |
| A．To encourage parents to prevent their children from playing games. |
| B．To advocate more educational apps combining fun and learning |
| C．To introduce four educational apps for readers to buy and use. |
| D．To ask readers to design more interesting educational apps for children. |
【推荐1】Can you imagine four hours of your day getting to and from work? For the last eight years, Jo Meade rode her bike each Sunday on a 16-mile round trip to her job washing dishes. It took more than an hour each way. Other days of the week she would spend two hours on three buses from her apartment to get to the other work, for a four-hour round trip.
That was the “before” part of her life. The “after” part of her life was started by the community Police Officer Trevor Arnold, who delivered a used car to her with the help of a car dealer and other donors.
Arnold, who spotted Meade, red and sweaty, riding her bike in the worst heat this summer, decided he would het her a car. He intended to quietly buy her a used car out of his own pocket so he turned to his friend Kody Slaght, a car salesman to ask about a car priced $1,000. That wasn’t enough for a reliable ride, Slaght said, but the dealership said they would find a good car for her at a good price. Soon others were donating. Slaght and Arnold wouldn’t say how much the car cost, but the value is about $4,000.
Arnold said he was motivated by Meade’s work ethic（职业道德）to help. “I see a lot of hardworking people nut that’s when they are at work. Can you imagine spending four hours of your day getting to and from work?” he said.
Meade’s boss said she was awesome and really reliable when she worked and she got along with others. “She’s willing to rise the three buses to get in here on her day off if we need her too.”
Meade said she was planning to buy a car, “but I haven’t been able to afford it,” she said. “Trevor, he is a very good guy. I did not expect this.”
1. What can we learn about Jo Meade’s work?| A．It’s free but low-paid. |
| B．It’s not worth her devotion. |
| C．It’s competitive and high-paid. |
| D．It’s time-consuming on the road. |
| A．The car was too expensive for Meade. |
| B．The car was beyond Arnold’s affordability. |
| C．The car had been donated to another person. |
| D．The car was not in good condition of driving. |
| A．His sympathy for Meade. | B．His duty as a policeman.. |
| C．Her commitment to work. | D．Her desire for a better life.. |
| A．Normal. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Embarrassed. | D．Disappointed. |
【推荐2】In the spring of 2013, my wife and I opened Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Opening a community-minded independent bookstore was a dream we’d shared. We were in our late twenties, pursuing adream.
When opening day arrived, we unlocked the door and held our breath. One by one, people walked inside, paged through new books, and discussed favourite authors. The bookstore came alive.
That morning, I had set out a typewriter on our lower level for anyone to use. It was a community-building experiment: What if people could walk into a bookstore and type anything they wanted?
The first typewriter I ever fell in love with was my grandfather’s -a 1930s Smith Corona. My memory of him is limited to impressions: visits to his Florida apartment, beach picnics, and a fascinating black typewriter on his writing desk. One year, long after he passed, Grandma gave me his Smith Corona for Christmas. At the time, I was a struggling writer. Seeing his old typewriter again stirred something in me. His typewriter made writing fun again. And for the first time since his death, I felt connected to him, to a past I never really knew.
The typewriter I set out on opening day was a light blue Olivetti Lettera 32. I inserted a clean piece of paper and let it be: the world’s smallest publishing house, waiting for an author. One of the notes I found that first day was: Thank you for being here. I didn’t see the typer’s identity, so it appeared as though the typewriter itself was thanking me. Soon, more notes accumulated. Typewriting had become part of our bookstore’s identity.
Customers and friends began encouraging me to turn these notes into a book. At first, I was hesitant. But then I read through the piles of messy, typewritten pages again. Some made me tear up; many made me laugh out loud. They shouldn’t be locked inside my filing cabinet at home. Inside our store, surrounded by books that have been labored over by authors, editors, and marketers, there’s a way for people to publish directly into the world in permanent ink spelling errors and all.
1. Why did the author set out a typewriter in the bookstore?| A．To honour his grandfather. |
| B．To provide convenience to customers. |
| C．To offer people a way to express themselves. |
| D．To respond to community residents’ requirement. |
| A．Curious. | B．Amused. | C．Surprised. | D．Inspired. |
| A．There was a publishing house in the bookstore. |
| B．The bookstore was famous for its unique typewriter. |
| C．The typewritten notes were full of spelling errors. |
| D．The author would publish a book consisting of those notes. |
| A．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
| B．Everyone can be a writer of his own life. |
| C．It only takes a typewriter to be an author. |
| D．Books are the ever-burning lamps of accumulated wisdom. |
【推荐3】This 13-year-old just did the bravest thing ever. Or shall I say, two bravest things…Paris Harvey not only hit back at her bullies(欺凌)but she did so by facing her biggest fear-putting on her bathing suit in public.
The Kent-based teenager suffers from a metabolic (新陈代谢的)condition, which means she gains weight quickly and struggles to lose it. She was also born with dysplasia, so her left leg is 1. 5 cm shorter than her right and she has pins in her joint（关节）which cause her not to walk as other children. These two conditions lead to people calling her fat and mocking her for " walking like a penguin".
"I got bullied in the past and after a while, you start to believe what people say. I became really unsure about how 1 looked," said Paris. "I can be eating the same food as the next person but I gain weight. It's not like I'm sitting at home all day eating potato chips. But I felt like I shouldn't have to explain myself. "
So, over Bank Holiday Weekend, Paris decided Io finally face her biggest fear-putting on her bathing suit at the beach. And guess what? She not only faced her fear but she embraced （拥抱）it too by taking pictures and posting them on Twitter! The pictures went popular with over 337K likes on Twitter. Even though Paris did receive negative comments from people saying she was “promoting obesity" , she chose to "focus on the support because hate is nothing compared to love". "I feel like we should embrace who we are," Paris said. "I'm not making myself a model but 1 want to show people that it doesn't matter what size you are-you are born into that body.
1. What does the underlined word “mocking" in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Putting up with. | B．Laughing at. |
| C．Appealing to. | D．Taking care of. |
| A．She ignored what others said about her. |
| B．She lost her confidence in herself. |
| C．She began to eat junk food all day. |
| D．She fought back against those who bullied her. |
| A．She dressed herself up as a model. |
| B．She explained to everyone that she was not fat at all. |
| C．She put on her swimming suit in public. |
| D．She took some photos with others. |
| A．stubborn | B．cautious | C．enthusiastic | D．optimistic |
【推荐1】Lauren Elizabeth Pirie Bath, until a few years ago, was a chef, and a happy one at that time, but she wanted more out of life. She decided to travel. At that time, Lauren discovered blogging and found that she took pretty good pictures. So she decided to post pictures on her blog. In less than 18 months, there were over 200,000 people reading her blog! At first, Lauren only regarded it as a hobby, but companies started paying her to take photos and publish them. In 2013, she was determined to make her dream come true: to become Australia’s first professional photo blogger. It was a challenging job, but she did it. Now Lauren spends three weeks out of every month travelling and has over 464,000 fans following her online.
First visiting Western Australia for work in 2013, Lauren fell in love with northern WA and has been back six times. She has made over 140 work trips, but the best work trip ever was to Broome in the Kimberley region.
“It is extremely beautiful and I can experience the indigenous Australia there more than anywhere else. The Kimberley region, in particular, is unique and untouched.” She told the interviewer, and as a photographer, Lauren loves the bright light and amazing colours: red rocks, green plants, blue-green waters and blue skies.
To work full time in travel, she has to love nature and tries to take every opportunity to get outside and admire the natural world. She loves to photograph the rising sun, as well as enjoys photo graphing animals such as dolphins and kangaroos.
Lauren uses the photography to make an impact on people, especially when it comes to environmental issues. Today she has been photographing a crocodile swimming close to the boat the Kimberley Quest all day. When she posts the picture online, she will make a comment about how bad it is to feed wild crocodiles. This crocodile is used to passengers throwing food from boats and now she is becoming familiar with humans. Over time, this could make her a danger to people living to the area. If everyone can do something to make others aware of the problem, then that’s part of the solution.
1. What made Lauren decide to change her job?| A．She desired to travel. |
| B．She wanted more out of life. |
| C．Companies paid her to take photos. |
| D．Many people read her blog in a short time. |
| A．Foreign. | B．Native. | C．Attractive. | D．Familiar. |
| A．To tell people the crocodile is in danger. |
| B．To show her wonderful photographing skill. |
| C．To emphasize the importance of environmental protection. |
| D．To remind people of the consequences of feeding wild animals. |
【推荐2】In the summer of 2015, Brian Peterson and his wife Vanessa had just moved to Santa Ana, California. Outside the couple’s fourth-floor apartment, a homeless man was often yelling (叫喊) on the street corner, sometimes keeping them awake at night. Peterson would pass the man on his way to his job as a car designer, but they never spoke.
One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading a book about the power of love in action, when his quiet was influenced by the homeless man. Inspired (赋予灵感) by the book’s message, Peterson made an unexpected decision: He was going to go outside and introduce himself.
In that first conversation, Peterson learned that the man’s name was Matt Faris. He’d moved to Southern California from Kentucky to look for a job in music, but he soon fell on hard times and ended up living on the street for more than twenty years. “It was the strangest thing to me,” Peterson thought of their first conversation. “I saw beauty on the face of a man who probably hadn’t had a shower in close to a year. And his story, the life inside of him, moved me.” And even though Peterson, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, hadn’t picked up a paintbrush for about eight years, he found himself asking if he could paint Faris’s portrait (肖像). Faris said yes.
Peterson’s connection with Faris led him to form Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit (非营利的) organization focusing on befriending and painting portraits of homeless people. Peterson sells the portraits with the owners’ permission and puts the earning into the organization, which helps many poor people.
1. What can we learn about Peterson from paragraph 1?| A．He moved to California alone. |
| B．He learned a lot about the homeless man. |
| C．He helped the homeless man to be a car designer. |
| D．He was influenced by the homeless man sometimes. |
| A．He wanted to ask Faris to keep quiet. |
| B．He hoped to paint a portrait for Faris. |
| C．He planned to share a book with Faris. |
| D．He was inspired by the book he was reading. |
| A．Peterson shared a photo with Faris |
| B．Peterson was touched by Faris’s story. |
| C．Peterson told Faris about his bad luck. |
| D．Peterson offered to take Faris to have a bath. |
| A．Brave. | B．Proud. | C．Caring. | D．Honest. |
【推荐3】Five-year-old Mustafa is smiling for the first time in ages. She did not receive a new toy or her favorite candy; rather, she got a wig (假发).
Mustafa had to go through painful procedures after being diagnosed with cancer at an early age. Her father expressed her sadness when she lost her hair after months of chemotherapy (化疗). “She saw children of her age jumping in playgrounds and spending hours styling their hair, while she couldn’t. Losing her hair made her hopeless, negatively impacting her response to treatment,” the girl’s father said.
Coming from a less fortunate family, Mustafa now sits in a humble hairdresser’s in Cairo, sliding her fingers through her new long hair as she looks in the mirror with fresh enthusiasm. Behind that smile and renewed confidence is Salam, from Egypt, who has been personally funding and designing free wigs for children with cancer to give them power to defeat their illness.
Salam took up his mission when he saw a viral video on social media of a young cancer patient who was excited at receiving a new wig. It was the moment when he decided to provide free wigs to children with cancer to lift up their spirits. “Many families can barely afford expensive cancer treatment costs, let alone costly cosmetic services that can play a huge role in restoring children’s confidence and giving them strength to continue their treatment,” said Salam.
As part of the self-funded initiative, Salam purchases the necessary requirements to make a wig, while his father helps design hairstyles to serve different children. So far, Salam has helped over 15 children walk out of his shop empowered with big smiles.
Despite the several challenges, Salam said making wigs gives him as much happiness as it does for his young customers. “Children need the emotional and moral support to go through this tough illness.” He added, “Losing their hair drives them to withdraw into themselves out of fear and embarrassment. I cannot help in their treatment, but I can help them get through it.”
1. Why are a toy and candy mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To indicate the girl’s age. | B．To imply a serious illness. |
| C．To show the shortage of toys and candies. | D．To highlight the value of the wig. |
| A．Hairstyle matters much. | B．Sports benefit Mustafa. |
| C．Hair loss depressed Mustafa. | D．Mustafa’s treatment failed. |
| A．His sympathy. | B．Family support. |
| C．Government fund. | D．Mustafa’s enthusiasm. |
| A．Cautious and innovative. | B．Inspiring and talented. |
| C．Sensitive and empathetic. | D．Ambitious and sensible. |
