【推荐1】Born in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, 30-year-old Dong Yaxue, a Chinese researcher working for NASA is currently a member of NASA's MAVEN(Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) team.

On Nov 5, Dong was invited to speak at a NASA news conference, in which the organization said the atmosphere on Mars can be stripped by solar winds. She is the first Chinese female scientist to participate in a NASA news conference.

Dong graduated from Chengdu's Shishi High School in 2003 and was later admitted by University of Science and Technology of China. She got her master's and doctor's degree in astrophysics from Rice University in the United States.

Last year, Dong joined the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado and began working for MAVEN after handing in her resume and taking part in a phone interview. Now her main job is to analyze satellite data and compare the results to theoretical predictions.

“The findings released during the new conference are very important and may change the content of school textbooks.” Dong told Chengdu Business Daily.

“It has also provided new information and guidance for future Mars exploration.”

Interested in technical work, Dong said she was never bored at work and will continue focusing on data analysis next year.

“This is the first time that my job got so much attention.” She also added that she found great pleasure in both exploring Mars and eating hot pot.

He Jianming, Dong's high school teacher, said that physics is difficult for many girls but not for Dong Yaxue. As a middle school student, she won first prize in the national physics contest.

He said Dong was not the top student in her school. “she never got first in the class, usually ranking tenth to twentieth. But her scores of all subjects were even.”

1. Which of the following statements is NOT right according to the passage?

A．Dong is the first Chinese scientist who appeared in a NASA news conference.

B．Dong devotes herself to analyzing data and comparing the theoretical predictions.

C．The findings released are landmarks, which may change what we are learning.

D．Dong's outstanding performance does great credit to his mother school.

2. In which section of a newspaper may this text be taken from?

A．Entertainment.

B．Military.

C．Politics.

D．Sci-Tech.

3. What's the meaning of the underlined word “even” in the last paragraph?

A．excellent

B．embarrassing

C．balanced

D．unstable

【推荐1】Society tells us that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. A new study published in Human Development points out that using a childlike way of learning can help people of any age take on and deal with new difficult tasks.     1    .

Venture (冒险) outside your comfort zone. As adults, we tend to use similar skills day in and day out: We take jobs in fields we’ re already good at, drive on the same roads to the same places, and fall into routines we re comfortable with.     2     Changing to something more difficult may have more cognitive benefits.

    3     A fear of making mistakes is another reason why adults are so slow to learn new things; if we try and fail, we can face criticism, lose money, or get fired. That’s why it’s important to build up a support network of people — at work and at home — who allow you to make mistakes and learn from them.

Make a serious commitment and don’t give up.     4     If you can afford it, spending money on a new goal — for example, booking a trip to Rome to practice your Italian — might also make it harder to just give up.

Learn more than one thing at once. We tend to pay attention to one hobby or one skill. But dividing that time and energy into three or four areas will stretch your brain in all different directions.     5     For example, maybe you started learning a new language last year, and this year you add singing lessons, and next year you try something else. You can add things gradually to what you can handle.

A．Turn to your friends and family.

B．The following ways will do the trick.

C．Surround yourself with encouraging people and no fear for mistakes.

D．Telling friends about your new goal can help keep you motivated.

E．But all this similar routine limits the parts of the brain that we’re using regularly.

F．That doesn’t mean you should start all the new hobbies all at once, though.

G．So feeling comfortable can reduce stress and make you happier and more productive.

【推荐2】Many people wonder what they can do to become well-rounded and competitive while increasing their rate of success.     1    

       Be willing to expand your mind. Rid yourself of assumptions and convictions so that you can be open and receptive to new information.     2     You will eventually come across information that challenges your worldview. Rather than remaining resting in your comfort zone, use this time to stop, reflect and shed light on these ideas in a way that can develop and expand your vision.
       After the mind has been ready, the next step is application.     3     Learning information you can use in your daily life is very important to having a continuous desire to further advance your education. Skill-based learning, for example, is useless if it isn’t applied. Reading a book on automobile repair isn’t the same as physically changing the oil or tire on your car. Reading about art isn’t the same as picking up a brush. If your knowledge can be directly applied in a functional and fun fashion, put it into practice! Many people learn by being hands-on.
       Surround yourself with like-minded individuals and try to always take something valuable away from your daily interactions.     4     If you come across anything that confuses you, ask them! Never be too prideful, for each question you don’t ask is a missed opportunity!
           5     Commit to expanding your mind, continuing your education and becoming a student of life. Use the world as your classroom, and always come away with a lesson. Remember to cultivate your mind so it is prepared to expand, blossom and grow. And share your fountain of knowledge.

A．Go ahead and challenge yourself today.

B．Create a to-learn list just as you would a to-do list.

C．There are so many things they can do to achieve their goal.

D．You can find a large number of outstanding people in your school.

E．This at times may even contradict what you have always believed to be true.

F．Many people are professionals in their field and have valuable information and insight to share.

G．An often overlooked yet simple way to improve is to increase your knowledge by being a self-starter.

【推荐3】My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in the Cub Scouts (童子军团) only a short time. Once he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give them all to his father. That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. The piece of paper was a set of instructions about how to build a wooden racing car. Gilbert's father laughed when he read the instructions. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.
Finally, I stepped in to see if I could figure it all out. Having no skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the instructions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. Within days, his block of wood was turning into a pinewood racing car.
Then the big night came. With his pinewood racing car in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race. As the race was done in elimination fashion (淘汰赛形式), you could keep racing as long as you were the winner.
Finally, it was between Gilbert and the fastest­looking car there. As the race was about to begin, Gilbert asked if they could stop for a minute, because he wanted to pray. Then the race stopped.
Gilbert prayed in earnest for a very long minute. The Master came up to Gilbert and asked the obvious question, “So you prayed to win, Gilbert？”
My young son answered, “Oh, no Sir. It wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked him to make it so I don't cry when I lose.”
Children seem to have wisdom far beyond us. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to control the race, make us the champion, or remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get through what lies in our way.
1. Gilbert's father thought the task given by the Cub Scouts could________．

A．be no trouble at all

B．be too easy for Gilbert

C．be beyond Gilbert's ability

D．require no skills

2. Who finally made the pinewood racing car?

A．Gilbert.	B．Gilbert's father.
C．Gilbert's mother.	D．The whole family.

3. What can we learn about Gilbert?

A．He made it in the final race.

B．His performance inspired his mom.

C．He thought the Master unfair.

D．He was very afraid of losing the race.

4. The author writes this passage to tell us that ________．

A．adults should communicate more with children

B．we should have faith in our ability to win

C．victory is the power to overcome difficulties

D．friendship is more important than winning