【推荐3】At first sight, Alma Deutscher, a sixteen-year-old girl from England appears to be like any other typical teenager. She loves to skip rope, read and play with her younger sister. But this modest youngster, who composed her first musical work at age six, first short opera at age seven, and first full-length opera based on Cinderella at age ten, is anything but average. Though her parents downplayed(淡化)her extraordinary talent, young Alma is being described as “little Mozart” by the music world.

Alma’s opera based on the classic fairy tale, which she began writing at age eight, has a slight twist. Her Cinderella is a musician who meets her Prince Charming, a poet through a song. “In my Cinderella, she sings the beginning of a ballad—but at midnight she flees. Eventually, the prince finds her after asking all the girls of the country to sing the end of the ballad.”

The opera was first performed in Vienna, Austria on December 29, 2016, where the then eleven-year-old skillfully switched between the piano and the violin and received enthusiastic reviews. The young genius has since performed two new piano works, one in Australia and the other in China.

While this may appear to be a lot for someone so young, Alma is not worried. She says, “Of course I have to work hard. But all children have to work hard for exams, and at least when I work hard, I work hard for something incredibly exciting, like seeing my whole opera put on.”

Alma’s musical talent first came to light before she could even talk. Her parents recall that as an 18-month-old toddler, she was able to hum a perfect version of the children’s rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

However, Alma’s abilities only gained international attention in 2012, after a family friend posted a video online comparing her to Mozart. The family was suddenly swamped with media and Alma became an overnight star, dubbed “little Mozart”. This nickname makes her parents unhappy because they believe it puts added pressure on the young girl. They would instead prefer her to be called “a composer and musician”.

Alma does not want to be compared to the famous artist either, saying “There was only one Mozart, and I prefer to be little Alma.” Regardless of what she calls herself, the sixteen-year-old is changing the world of music forever!

1. Which of the following statement about Alma is WRONG?

A．She can play the piano and the violin skillfully.

B．She can write operas and compose music as well.

C．Her talent goes far beyond that of Mozart.

D．She displayed her talent for music at an early age.

2. What does the underlined word “twist”(Para 2) most probably mean?

A．Disadvantage.

B．Change.

C．Improvement.

D．Error.

3. What do we know about Alma’s Cinderella?

A．Cinderella meets her Mr. Right through a song.

B．It is a short opera based on the classic fairy tale.

C．The prince finds her with the help of a crystal shoe.

D．It enjoys a great success and has been performed in China.

4. What was Alma’s parents’ attitude to her fame?

A．Overexcited.

B．Concerned.

C．Happy.

D．Shocked.

【推荐1】It is not only praise or punishment that determines a child’s level of confidence. There are some other important ways we shape our kids — particularly by giving instructions and commands in a negative or positive choice of words. For example, we can say to a child “Don’t run into traffic!” or “Stay on the footpath close to me.” In using the latter, you will be helping your kids to think and act positively, and to feel competent in a wide range of situations, because they know what to do, and aren’t scaring themselves about what not to do.

Why does such a small thing make a difference? It is all in the way the human mind works. When we think, we automatically rehearse. For example, if someone offered you a million dollars not to think of a blue monkey for two minutes, you wouldn’t be able to do it. When a child is told “Don’t fall off the tree,” he will think of two things: “don’t” and “fall off the tree”. That is, he will automatically create the picture of falling off the tree in his mind. A child who is vividly imagining falling off the tree is much more likely to fall off. So it is far better to use “Hold on to the tree carefully.”

Clear, positive instructions help kids to understand the right way to do things. Kids do not always know how to be safe, or how to react to the warning of the danger in negative words. So parents should make their commands positive. “Sam, hold on firm to the side of the boat” is much more useful than “Don’t you dare to fall out of the boat?” or worse still “How do you think I’ll feel if you drown?” The changes are small but difference is obvious.

Children learn how to guide and organize themselves from the way we guide them with our words, so it pays to be positive.

1. Positive choice of words helps kids to____________.

A．do things carefully	B．build up their confidence
C．improve their imagination	D．learn in different situation

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．A child will act on what is instructed.

B．One can’t help imagining what is heard.

C．A child will fall off the tree when told not to.

D．One won’t think of a blue monkey when given money.

3. Which of the following commands helps kids to be safe?

A．Fasten your seat belt.

B．Don’t play by the lake.

C．How do you think I’ll feel if you get hurt?

D．Don’t you dare to walk through the red light.

4. The main idea of the passage is that _____________.

A．praise makes kids confident

B．right instructions keep kids safe

C．clear commands make kids different

D．choice of words can make a difference

【推荐2】What are dreams for? Sigmund Freud famously claimed that they reveal hidden truths and wishes. More recent research suggests that they may help us process intense emotions, or perhaps classify(分类) and consolidate(巩固) memories, or make sense of random neuron(神经) activity, or rehearse(排练) responses to threatening situations. Other believe that dreams have no evolutionary(进行的) function, but simply dramatize personal concerns.

Despite being largely unsupported by evidence, Freud’s view maintains a strong following around the world. Researchers found that students in the U.S., South Korea, and India were much more likely to say that dreams reveal hidden truths than to endorse better-substantiated(证实的) theories. In the same study, respondents said that dreaming about a plane crash would cause them more anxiety than an official warning about a terrorist attack.

Even if dreams can't foretell(预知) the future, they seem to expose our shared fascinations. The majority of dreams occur during REM sleep cycles(快速动眼期), of which the average person has four or five a night. A study of Canadian university students found the most common dream topics to be school, falling, being chased, and arriving too late for something.

For all the commonalities dreams exhibit, they vary across time—people who grew up watching black-and-white TV are more likely to dream in black and white—and culture. A 1958 study determined that compared with Japanese people, Americans dreamed more about being looked up, losing a loved one, finding money, being inappropriately dressed, or encountering an insane person. Japanese people were more likely to dream about school, trying repeatedly to do something, being paralyzed with fear, or "wild, violent beasts."

But even negative human dreams can have positive effects. In a study of students taking a French medical-school entrance exam, 60 percent of the dreams they had beforehand involved a problem with the exam, such as being late or leaving an answer blank. But those who reported dreams about the exam, even bad ones, did better on it than those who didn't.

So the next time you dream about an education-related experience in which you are both falling and being chased, don’t worry: It’s probably totally meaningless. Then again, your brain might be practicing so you’ll be ready if such an event ever comes to pass.

1. According to different theories mentioned in the passage, dreams may help people in various aspects EXCEPT ________.

A．healing the body	B．memory classification
C．preparation for a dangerous situation	D．understanding random neuron activity

2. The underlined word “endorse” in the passage probably means “________.”

A．check	B．advertise
C．support	D．measure

3. Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?

A．People all dream in black and white without any other color.

B．Humans have the longest REM sleep cycles among all animals.

C．Our dreams often reflect our emotions or anxieties in many forms.

D．People feel more stressed when encountering emergencies in reality than in dream.

4. According the passage, bad dreams are good because ________.

A．what you experience in dreams usually turns out to be the opposite

B．bad dreams can help us prepare beforehand to perform better in reality

C．it is a kind of comfort and relief to think dreams are usually meaningless

D．dreaming about bad things enhances(提高) our bravery and helps to drive away our fears