Children exposed to “safe” levels of air pollution in the womb(子宫) develop brain damage that damages their concentration, a study has shown.
The research is the first too link common pollutants such as nitrogen(氮) dioxide and soot(油烟) to changes in the brains of unborn babies that mean they may struggle to focus at school in later life. The findings suggest that even comparatively clean city air could lead to worse academic performance and an increased risk of mental health problems such as addition or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(缺陷多动障碍).
In recent years scientists have found that children who grow up surrounded by air pollution are more likely to have a broad range of “neuro(神经)developmental” difficulties, including autism and various kinds of cognitive(认知) damage. However, only a handful of studies have looked at the ways in which the poisonous gases and microscopic particles(微粒) that mothers and young children take in affect the brain during critical stages of its growth.
A group led by Monica Guxens, of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, found that exposure to air pollution before birth appeared to have slowed the development of several brain regions that play an important role in people's capacity for selfdenial and sustained effort. This lack of inhibition could in turn cause “cognitive delays” when the children get older, the scientists argue in Biological Psychiatry.
“We need this function in our daily life，” Dr. Guxens said. “It controls our impulses(冲动) and our selective attention. Children need it to learn and for making decisions in later life. We're interested to see what will happen: is there going to be an impact on their academic work, are there going to be clinical implications? It might be that this will lead to problems later.”
The results were drawn from MRI scans of 873 children between the ages of six and ten in Rotterdam. Even though 99.5 percent of their mothers had lived with nanoparticle pollution levels well below EU legal limits while they were pregnant the pollution still appeared to have taken its toll(伤亡人数).
Children who had been exposed to more pollution in the womb did worse on a test of their ability to block out irrelevant stimuli(刺激). They also had thinner outer layers in the precuneus(楔前叶) and the rostral middle frontal regions of their brains, both of which are involved in cognitive inhibition, which refers to the mind's ability to tune out stimuli that are irrelevant to the task at hand or to the mind's current state.
Experiments on animals show that socalled fine particles are able to pass through the placenta and affect the brain of the fetus(胎儿). Dr Guxens said there were probably no such thing as a safe concentration of air pollution.
1. What is the main idea of the passage?| A．Children's brain growth slowed by “safe” pollution. |
| B．The safe level of air pollution for pregnant women. |
| C．Factors leading to children's poor academic performance. |
| D．The problems children have when surrounded by pollution. |
| A．Academic work. | B．The lack of inhibition. |
| C．Selective attention. | D．The ability for selfdial and sustained effort. |
| A．air pollution has claimed many lives of kids |
| B．people can't focus on air pollution enough |
| C．the majority of pregnant women are free from air pollution |
| D．kids exposed to more pollution have poorer cognitive inhibition |
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【推荐1】Pandas only consume bamboo — a poor quality diet low in fat. But they appear to have evolved to get the most out of what they eat, according to a new study.
Their gut bacteria (肠道细菌) change in late spring and early summer when bamboo is at its most nutritious — while it’s sprouting protein-rich green shoots. The bacteria make the pandas gain more weight and store more fat, which researchers said may compensate for a lack of nutrients later in the year, when bamboo plants have only fibrous leaves.
“We’ve known these pandas have a different set of gut microbiota during the shoot-eating season for a long time, and it’s very obvious that they are chubbier during this time of the year,” said lead study author Guangping Huang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
To investigate how the gut bacteria could affect a panda’s metabolism (新陈代谢), the team first collected the fees (排泄物) of eight wild giant pandas during both leaf-eating season and shoot-eating season and then examined how the feces samples differed. They found that a bacterium called Clostridium butyricum was more abundant in the pandas’ guts during the season when they enjoy the fresh bamboo shoots. Then, the researchers put the panda feces into lab mice. Then they fed the mice for three weeks with a bamboo-based diet that was similar to what pandas eat.
While mice are very different from pandas, it wasn’t possible to run such tests on endangered animals, said Wei Fuwen, a co-author of the study. “Mice have proven to be an effective model for studying the function of the gut microbiota,” Wei said. Researchers found mice with panda feces collected during shoot-eating season gained significantly more weight, despite consuming the same amount of food. “The gut bacteria were the only variable (变量) in this research,” Wei explained.
Felix Sommer, a scientist in Germany, noted that the number of pandas involved in the study was small and the experiment had only been performed once. Sommer, who has conducted similar research on hibernating brown bears, also stressed the researchers had not found a cause-and-effect relationship between the bacteria and weigh gain.
1. The bacteria in panda’s gut change in early summer to ______.| A．make pandas get the most out of their food | B．increase pandas’ physical desire for food |
| C．help pandas digest food high in fat | D．make pandas develop slower |
| A．Taller. | B．Friendlier. | C．Smarter. | D．Fatter. |
| A．They will become endangered. | B．They are very similar to pandas. |
| C．They were variables in the research. | D．They were a good substitute for pandas. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncaring. | D．Unclear. |
【推荐2】If you’ve ever been bitten by a mosquito, you know how frustrating their bites can be.
Why does a mosquito bite itch?
When a mosquito bites you, it pierces the skin using a special mouthpart to suck up blood and injects saliva (唾液) into your skin. Mosquitoes’ saliva has lots of proteins in it, some of which our body recognizes as foreign, and our immune cells spring into action to try to fight them.
What helps resist the urge to scratch?
“Don’t scratch” is the advice that most experts and health professionals give. As hard and sometimes unrealistic as it can sound, scratching inflames (发炎) the skin, and the inflammation makes the skin itch more. “
Instead, there are dozens of creams and sprays that promise itch relief as well as home remedy (疗法). Choose what’s right for you can often come down to trial and error. In general, all of the various anti-itch creams are very similar. There is no scientific evidence these remedies work, and they can come with their own precautions or side effects.
Some people can have serious allergic reactions to mosquitoes, although in practice it is rare, Vosshall said. If you experience severe symptoms such as breathing trouble, you should seek medical attention immediately.
| A．When to seek medical attention? |
| B．What to do with a mosquito bite? |
| C．It’s not the bite that causes the itch |
| D．The more you scratch, the more they itch |
| E．The little red bumps swell up almost immediately |
| F．Scratching can cause secondary infections and prolong the irritation |
| G．In fact, the best remedy to fight the itch is to prevent a bite in the first place |
【推荐3】If you could be anybody in the world, who would it be? A few people have experienced what it might be like to step into the skin of another person, thanks to an advanced virtual reality device. Rikke Wahl was one of the participants in a body switching experiment at the Be Another lab. She switched with her partner, using a machine called The Machine to Be Another and temporarily became a man.
The set-up of the experiment is relatively simple. Both users wear a virtual reality headset with a camera on the top. The video from each camera is sent to the other person, so what you see is the exact view of your partner. To get used to seeing another person’s body without actually having control of it, participants start by raising their arms and legs very slowly, so that the other can follow along. Eventually, this kind of slow synchronized (同步的) movement becomes comfortable, and participants really start to feel as though they are living in another person’s body.
Using such technology may transform people’s behaviour afterwards — potentially for the better. Studies have shown that virtual reality can be effective in fighting racism — the bias (偏见) that humans have against those who don’t look or sound like them. Researchers at the University of Barcelona gave people a questionnaire, which measures the strength of people’s associations between, for instance, black people and adjectives such as good, bad, athletic or awkward. Then they asked them to control the body of a dark skinned digital character using virtual reality glasses, before taking the test again. This time, the participants’ bias scores were lower. The idea is that once you’ve “put yourself in another’s shoes” you’re less likely to think ill of them, because your brain has internalized the feeling of being that person.
The creators of The Machine to Be Another hope to achieve a similar result. “At the end of body switching, people feel like holding each other in their arms,” says Arthur Pointeau, a programmer with the project.
1. Which of the following best explains “switching” in paragraph 1?| A．establishing | B．exchanging | C．demonstrating | D．transforming |
| A．Our feelings are related to our bodily experience. |
| B．We can learn to take control of other people’s bodies. |
| C．Participants will live more passionately after the experiment. |
| D．The Machine to Be Another can help people change their genders. |
| A．They struggled strongly against racism. | B．They scored lower on the test for racism. |
| C．They changed their behaviour dramatically. | D．They were more intolerant of those unlike them. |
| A．Technology helps people realize their dreams. |
| B．Our biases could be removed through experiments. |
| C．Virtual reality helps promote understanding among people. |
| D．Our points of view about other people need changing frequently. |
【推荐1】Recalculating the global use of phosphorus(磷), an important fertilizer element of modern agriculture, a team of researchers warns that the world's stocks may soon be in short supply and that overuse in the industrialized world has become a leading cause of the pollution of lakes, rivers and streams.
Writing in the Feb. 14 edition of the journal Environmental Research Letters, Stephen Carpenter of the University of WisconsinMadison and Elena Bennett of McGill University report that the human use of phosphorus, primarily in the industrialized world, is causing the widespread eutrophication of fresh surface water. What's more, the minable global stocks of phosphorus are concentrated in just a few countries and are in decline, posing the risk of global shortages within the next 20 years.
"There is a finite amount of phosphorus in the world," says Carpenter, one of the world's leading authorities on lakes and streams. "This is a material that's becoming rarer and we need to use it more efficiently."
Phosphorus is an essential element for life. Living organisms, including humans, have small amounts and the element is crucial for driving the energetic processes of cells. In agriculture, phosphorus mined from ancient marine deposits is widely used to boost crop yields. The element also has other industrial uses.
But excess phosphorus from fertilizer that washes from farm fields and suburban lawns into lakes and streams is the primary cause of the algae blooms that destroy freshwater ecosystems out off kilter and degrade water quality. Phosphorus pollution poses a risk to fish and other water life as well as to the animals and humans who depend on clean fresh water. In some instances, excess phosphorus sparks blooms of toxic algae, which pose a direct threat to human and animal life.
"If you have too much phosphorus, you get eutrophication," explains Carpenter of the cycle of excessive plant and algae growth that significantly degrades bodies of fresh water. "Phosphorus stimulates the growth of algae and weeds near shore and some of the algae can contain cyanobacteria(蓝菌), which are toxic. You lose fish. You lose water quality for drinking."
The fertilizer fueled algae blooms themselves amplify the problem as the algae die and release accumulated phosphorus back into the water.
Complicating the problem, says Carpenter, is the fact that excess phosphorus in the environment is a problem primarily in the industrialized world, mainly Europe, North America and parts of Asia. In other parts of the world, notably Africa and Australia, soils are phosphorus poor, creating a stark imbalance. Ironically, soils in places like North America, where fertilizers with phosphorus are most commonly applied, are already loaded with the element.
Bennett and Carpenter argue that agriculture practices to better conserve phosphate within agricultural ecosystems are necessary to avoid the widespread pollution of surface waters. Phosphorus from parts of the world where the element is abundant, they say, can be moved to phosphorus deficient regions of the world by extracting phosphorus from manure, for example, using manure digesters.
1. The word “eutrophication” (Line 4, Para.2) most probably means __________ .| A．pollution | B．excess of nutrients |
| C．increase of algae | D．growth of bacteria |
| A．It is used in industry. |
| B．It is used to increase crop yields. |
| C．It is used to drive the energetic processes of cells. |
| D．It is used only in small amounts in living organism |
| A．Environmental problems exist only in the industrialized countries. |
| B．Agriculture practices should conserve phosphate within agricultural ecosystems. |
| C．Phosphorus can be created by using manure digesters. |
| D．Soils are not short of phosphorus in Africa and Australia. |
【推荐2】A young sperm whale discovered dead off the coast of Spain died from eating a lot of rubbish. About 64 pounds of rubbish， including plastic bags， ropes and fishing nets， was found inside the sperm whale＇s dead body.
The 32-foot-long whale was discovered near the small holiday place of Cabo de Palos in the southeast Murcia area in February. Officials at the EI Valle Wildlife Reserve Center found that it had died because it was unable to remove the rubbish from its body.
The animal＇s sad death has prompted Murcia＇s government alongside the European Environmental Association and the European Fund Regional Development， to start some actions against ocean waste.
Consuelo Rosauro， the government＇s director for the natural environment， said， ＂The plastics in seas and oceans are one of the biggest dangers to the protection of wildlife in the world. ＂＂Many animals get caught in the rubbish or eat a lot of plastics， which end up causing their death， she added. ＂The problem is common in the Murcia area， and we must solve it by taking clean-up actions and，above all， increasing awareness of local people.
About 19 billion pounds of plastic waste ends up in the world＇s oceans each year. Researchers say that the amount of plastic waste will be twice as much as it is now by 2025 if quick action is not taken.
The sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales and the largest predators（食肉动物） They will move seasonally for feeding and giving birth. They are fond of living together， and even 300 sperm whales live in a group. The females work together to protect and look after their young. Females give birth every four to twenty years and care for the young ones for more than ten years. A grown sperm whale has few natural enemies But it does not mean they are totally safe. At least they face the problem of rubbish now.
1. Why did that sperm whale die？| A．Because it could not find food. | B．Because it was already too old. |
| C．Because it had eaten too much rubbish. | D．Because it could not leave the rubbish around it. |
| A．The protection of wildlife is very hard. |
| B．The locals＇awareness of protecting wildlife should be raised. |
| C．Local people have thrown much rubbish in seas |
| D．There are many actions dealing with rubbish in seas. |
| A．Sperm whales can die easily. | B．People really care about wildlife. |
| C．A lot of wildlife is in danger now. | D．Pollution in seas and oceans harms wildlife. |
【推荐3】The microplastics(微型塑料) problem in the oceans has made its way to sea turtles in a big way. A new study has found microplastics in the stomach of every single turtle they tested—a total of 102 sea turtles.
The researchers tested more than 100 sea turtles from all seven kinds and three different oceans, and they were looking for man-made things less than 5 mm long. The most thing the team found were fibers (纤维), which most likely came from clothing and fishing equipment.
“The influence of these particles (颗粒) on turtles is unknown,” said Emily Duncan. “Their small size means they can pass through the stomach without causing a problem, as is frequently reported with larger plastic pieces.”
The researchers found more than 800 man-made particles in the turtles, but since they only tested part of the stomach, they believe the total number of particles could be 20 times higher. They don't know how the turtles take in the particles, but they think they are from polluted seawater and polluted plants.
Professor Brendan Godley said that eating microplastics isn't the biggest problem to sea turtles at the moment, but it is a clear sign that we need to do a better job watching global waste.
This turtle study shows that we need to reduce the amount of plastic waste, so we can keep clean and healthy oceans for future people.
1. The underlined part in paragraph 1 probably means “_________” .| A．has gone into | B．has made great effect on |
| C．has been walking to | D．has tried to escape from |
| A．By giving examples |
| B．By comparing sea life |
| C．By studying different sea animals |
| D．By testing turtles from different oceans. |
| A．stop killing sea animals | B．find out more plastic waste |
| C．control pollution to oceans | D．carry out further researches |
【推荐1】April 23 marks World Book and Copyright Day. Here are four widely praised books which received agreeably high scores on Douban in China.
The Death of a PrincessThe Death of a Princess is a work of legal history. The author describes in detail the classic case of Princess Lanling of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), who was beaten by her husband and suffered the loss of her baby, leading to her death, exploring important and profound legal and married moral issues such as domestic violence and the low status (地位) of women.
Delivering Packages in BeijingAuthor Hu Anyan has worked as a delivery man, a night shift stock picker, a convenience store clerk and a security guard. He transforms the bits and pieces of everyday life and the joys and sorrows of work into a sincere narrative. He finally realizes that a life filled with anger is not worth living.
The Annoyance of the GodsAuthor Ma Boyong, who has written The Longest Day in Chang’an, uses the classic Journey to the West as a backdrop to describe a series of workplace issues, such as how to write a work report during a project and how to respond to emergencies.
Bright NightWritten by Choi Eun-young, the book is a female version of Yu Hua’s To Live. It tells the story of the friendship and struggle of four generations of women. The women in the book are no longer characters to be pitied against one another, nor do they play supporting roles in the lives of men.
1. Which of the following explores the low status of women in society?| A．Bright Night. | B．Delivering Packages in Beijing. |
| C．The Annoyance of the Gods. | D．The Death of a Princess. |
| A．describes his delivery job |
| B．shares his own stories |
| C．narrates his transformation |
| D．explores people’s life in Beijing |
| A．Children. | B．Men. | C．Women. | D．Seniors. |
【推荐2】A fourth color might be added to traffic lights to better realize the potential of self-driving vehicles, as stated in a recent paper by researchers at North Carolina State University in the US.
Self-driving vehicles can do more than just drive—they are able to sense their surroundings and upload information. The added white lights would be used to signal to human drivers that autonomous vehicles are managing the upcoming traffic flow intelligently. “The white lights will tell human drivers to simply follow the autonomous vehicle in front of them.” one of the study authors Ali Hajbabaie told the university’s website.
Simulated(模拟的)models showed that autonomous vehicles were able to improve traffic flow on their own. Introducing the white light also has a positive effect on reducing fuel consumption. The higher the percentage of autonomous vehicles at a crossing, the faster the traffic moves, reducing about 40 to 99 percent of the total delay time.
As self-driving technology thrives, much infrastructure(基础设施)is needed. To begin with, the vehicle’s network that collects data about the environment and shares the data with other vehicles needs to be intelligent. High-precision maps are needed for autonomous vehicles to plan routes in detail. They can provide both updated information on traditional maps and real-time changes, such as accidents. For example, when driving around a curve, the navigation(导航)system in the vehicle needs to calculate the safe speed based on the map’s information. And if the area is foggy, the network has to alarm the other cars to slow down.
1. What is the purpose of adding a white light to traffic lights?| A．To warn self-driving cars to stop. | B．To signal human drivers to pass the cars ahead. |
| C．To help driverless cars assess traffic conditions. | D．To tell human drivers to go after the cars in front. |
| A．Increased road safety. | B．Less time stuck in traffic. |
| C．Reduced fuel efficiency. | D．Unpredictable traffic patterns. |
| A．To calculate a safe speed for vehicles. | B．To provide real-time weather updates. |
| C．To reduce the risk of traffice accidents. | D．To offer real-time data on road conditions. |
| A．Innovating the Future. | B．Lighting up the Way. |
| C．Overcoming the Obstacles. | D．Going for Driverless Vehicles. |
【推荐3】Although air travel comes with jet lag, delays and awful food, it offers a brief digital detox—a precious few hours away from the wave of emails, messages and app announcements. But not anymore, In flight Wi-Fi is getting faster and cheaper, and is an increasingly common offering on budget and flagship airlines.
But how does in-flight Wi-Fi actually work? To simplify, there are two ways for an internet signal to reach your device when you’re up in the clouds. The first is via ground based mobile broadband towers, which send signals up to the aircraft’s antennas (天线). As you travel into different sections of airspace, the plane automatically connects to signals from the nearest tower, so there is (in theory at least) no interruption to your Internet. But if you’re passing over large areas of water or particularly remote zones, connectivity can be an issue.
The second method uses satellite technology. Planes connect to satellites in space (35,000 km above the planet), which send and receive signals via receivers and transmitters. Information is transmitted to and from your smart phone via an antenna on the top of the aircraft. These are the same satellites that are used in television signals and weather forecasting. Information is passed between the ground and the plane via the satellite.
All of that technology is expensive. The costs are usually passed on to customers. Over half of the world’s aircraft will be equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi within the next few years. It is set to become a billion-dollar industry by 2020. In the near future you’ll need to find a better excuse than “Sorry I missed your message—I was on a plane”.
1. What sends signals up to the aircraft’s antennas?| A．Internet companies. | B．Ground-based receivers. |
| C．Budget and flagship airlines. | D．Ground-based mobile broadband towers. |
| A．Aircraft passengers. | B．Satellite company. |
| C．Broadband towers. | D．The local government. |
| A．It serves every customer. | B．It has a bright future. |
| C．It develops very slow. | D．It’s a high-tech industry. |
| A．How to Use In-flight Wi-Fi? | B．Why Only Some Airlines Have In-flight Wi-Fi? |
| C．Why Is In-flight Wi-Fi Expensive? | D．How Wi-Fi Works on a Plane? |
【推荐1】I don't know her name and honesty, I never really cared to. At least that's what I've told myself over the years. The details of who my birth mother was, why she gave me away, where she came from, who her people are — for so very long, none of that mattered to me. Bettye and Jimy Millner are my parents. Adoption stories aren't always so desperate; sometimes they are quiet and the children are satisfied, and the forever parents are good and life moves on. That was my story.
I discovered my adoption certificate while peeking (窥探) in my parents' private papers. I was 12 and shocked and too scared to say anything or ask any questions because I had no business peeking into that metal box, for one, and two, saying it out loud would make it a reality I wasn't ready to digest or accept. My parents had kept it a secret and I also put it deep into my heart.
That changed, though, when I got pregnant with my first baby and the questions started: “What's your health history?” “Do healthy pregnancies run in your family?” “What's in your blood?” My doctors wanted details. I couldn't give them. Suddenly, the information I thought wasn't important actually was. What's in your blood?
That's an answer I'll never truly have. The night we buried my mother — she died without knowing I knew about my adoption — my father gave me a small piece of my story: Someone had left me in an orphanage, and four days later, he and my mom went looking for a little girl and found me in a corner bed in the basement, arms outreached, ready to go. That was the beginning and end of my “birth” story.
Over the years, I've used my imagination to fill in that story with color and light and grace: Maybe my birth mother was young and scared and couldn't imagine raising a baby on her own. Maybe she was forced to leave me in an orphanage by a family that refused to support her and her child. Maybe she was in a bad relationship and feared her baby would get involved in the violence. There are so many ways that it could have ended badly for me, a little defenseless baby. But instead, this woman, this angel, gave me life, and then gave me life again by giving me away.
I have two moms who loved me.
I am the lucky one.
1. I didn't tell my parents that I knew I was adopted because________.| A．I was afraid of being abandoned |
| B．I was not allowed to read the file |
| C．I doubted whether it was true or not |
| D．I was too young to accept the news |
| A．I knew why my real mother gave me away. |
| B．My mother told me my birth story before her death. |
| C．I knew who my real mother was before I got pregnant. |
| D．My father told me my birth story after my mother died. |
| A．forgetful | B．forgiving | C．imaginative | D．inconsiderate |
【推荐2】The National Gallery
Description:
The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th- to 15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronese.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th- to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours:
The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm (Fridays 10am to 9pm) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There:
Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).
1. Where is the National Gallery?| A．on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. |
| B．on the south side of Trafalgar Square in London. |
| C．on the west side of Trafalgar Square in London. |
| D．on the east side of Trafalgar Square in London. |
| A．The 13th. | B．The 17th. | C．The 18th. | D．The 20th. |
| A．In the East Wing. | B．In the main West Wing. |
| C．In the Sainsbury Wing. | D．In the North Wing. |
| A．Piccadilly Circus | B．Leicester Square | C．Embankment | D．Charing Cross |
【推荐3】This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. As I searched the name, I found that there were two famous people having the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts（花生）, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; let the coin decide. I flipped(掷) a coin and Ah! Tails (背面)! My report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.
Weeks later, I stood in front of the classroom and proudly read my homework. But things started to get strange. I looked around the room, only to find my classmates with big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes and my stone-faced teacher. I was completely lost. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Oh well, I dropped the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American War of Independence.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that my teacher meant that George Washington?
Of course, my subject result was awful. Sad but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to the headmaster Miss Lancelot, but she said firmly: No re-dos; no new score. I felt that it was not fair, and I believed I deserved a second chance. So I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, I sat in the headmaster’s office again, but this time a completely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the terrible moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster told me I was good enough to skip(跳过) the 6th grade and started the 7th grade next term.
1. The task I received was to find information about ________.| A．uses for peanuts |
| B．American War of Independence |
| C．George Washington |
| D．my headmaster Miss Lancelot |
| A．The Internet | B．My classmates |
| C．My grandpa | D．A coin |
| A．I was too proud of my homework |
| B．I mistook what the homework was about |
| C．the whole world suddenly became quiet |
| D．the teacher’s face turned to a stone |
| A．worked harder to prove my ability |
| B．started to study from the 7th grade |
| C．was so frightened at the awful result |
| D．was given a second chance to redo the work |
| A．the headmaster didn’t like the writer at all |
| B．the writer’s classmates felt sad at his mistake |
| C．the writer knew little about American history |
| D．the writer’s grandpa was a very wise man |
| A．Seeing is believing. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．One is never too old to learn. |
| D．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
