Believe it or not, forgetting some things helps your brain remember others! The brain is a complicated (复杂的) part of the body. Scientists will be learning about it for many years to come.

However, one thing that they have     32     is that your brain needs to forget some information. If it remembered everything, then pulling out a certain piece of information from lots of stored—up memories would be impossible. Let’s     33     your brain as a bucket (桶) that is filled with papers. How could you find one little note in all of that clutter (杂乱的东西) ?

According to the scientists, some forgetting is     34     a very natural and normal process, rather than a failure of memory. Our brains may want us to remember the     35     part of what we’ve experienced because that will be most helpful for us in the real world.

For example, let’s say you remember a friend’s phone number, but that friend moves away and gets a new phone number. Remembering the old number becomes     36     and may make it harder to remember your friend’s new number.

So your brain chooses important information to     37     and it clears out the rest. Now your memory bucket is much easier to sort through (整理) quickly.

But this isn’t a perfect system. Sometimes your brain     38     a thought that you wish it had kept, you can help it figure out which information you want by practicing those memories and facts or by using other memory     39    .

Joel Sartore is a writer, teacher, and photographer. His words and beautiful images show his love of photography and of the natural world.

Question 1: How did you become a National Geographic photographer?

My first job was for a newspaper. After a few years there, I met a National Geographic photographer. He liked my photos and said I should send some to the magazine. So I did. That led to a one-day job. And that led to a nine-day job, and so on.

Question 2: __________________________________________   

To get into National Geographic, you have to give them something they don’t have. It’s not enough just to be a great photographer. You also have to be a scientist, for example, or be able to dive under sea ice, or spend maybe several days in a tree.

Question 3: Is it hard to get a job as a photographer today?

It’s now harder to work for magazines. Technology makes it easy to take good pictures, which means there are more photos and photographers. Also, the Web is filled with photos from all around the world that are free, or cost very little. These photos are often good enough to be put in books and magazines. What the magazines need to do these days is to pay for these photos.

Question 4: I want to be a photographer. Do you have any advice for me?

Advice? Well, work hard. Be passionate (热情的) about every project you work on. Take lots of pictures in different situations. Look at others’ photos thoughtfully and learn from them. And be curious about everything. There’s something to photograph everywhere.

Every year, wildfires destroy millions of hectares of forest land. Homes are damaged, and thousands of people die. Smokejumpers help to stop this.

Smokejumpers are a special type of firefighter. They jump from planes or are lowered by helicopters into areas that are _________ to reach by car or on foot, such as the middle of a mountain forest. They race to put out fires as fast as they can.

At a fire site, smokejumpers first examine the land and decide _________ to fight the fire. Their main goal is to stop a fire from spreading or to slow its progress _________ ground-based firefighters arrive. Using basic equipment such as shovels (铲子) and axes (斧头), smokejumpers clear land of burnable material, like dry grass and dead trees. They carry water with them, too, but only a limited amount.

Most smokejumpers are men. The most important factors are your height and _________. Smokejumpers employed in the United States must be between 54 and 91 kilograms so they don’t get blown away by the strong winds or get _________ when they land.

The work is dangerous, and the hours are long. But for these firefighters, smoke jumping isn’t just a job. They _________ being able to jump out of planes, fight fires, and live in the forest. As 28-year-old Russian smokejumper Alexi says, “This is the best job for tough guys.”

We know animals have emotions. They can feel fear. We also think they feel love, since they have strong relationships with each other. So are animal emotions s    67     to our own? And do animals have a sense of humor?

A Parrot’s Joke

Sally’s parrot Bongo didn’t get along with her a    68     parrot, Paco. In fact, Bongo clearly didn’t like Paco at all! One day, Sally cooked a chicken for dinner. She started to cut the chicken with a knife.

“Oh, no! Paco!” Bongo said loudly and laughed. Sally laughed, too, and said, “That chicken is not Paco.” “Oh…no,” said Bongo. This time, she sounded d    69    . Then the parrot laughed at her own joke.

Yoga Dog

Jean enjoys yoga and so does her dog Buffy. W    70     Jean does yoga, Buffy carefully places her toys on Jean’s body. If a toy falls, Buffy runs to put it b    71    . Does this behavior have any real purpose? “She thinks it’s funny!” says Jean.

Animal Laughter

Can dogs “laugh”? Recent research shows that dogs can tell each other when they want to play. They make a special sound a kind of “laugh.”Psychologist (心理学家) Patricia recorded the sound. Then she played it to dogs and s    72     their behavior. “All the dogs seemed to like the laugh,” says Patricia. So do animals have a sense of humor? If laughter is a clue, then p    73     the answer is “yes!”.

Billy Ray Harris was homeless. He spent each day on the streets, begging for money or food. Every day, as he sat thinking about his life, he sometimes heard the sound of a coin or two dropping into his cup. One day, the noise was louder than usual. But he didn’t look up. A little later, when he looked into the cup, he could hardly believe what he saw. At the bottom was a big shining diamond ring.

Billy’s first thought was to go to the jeweller’s (珠宝店) and that’s exactly what he did. To his surprise, he was offered $4,000. Was this a mistake? But then he thought about his grandfather His grandfather always told him to do the right thing. Billy made up his mind. He had better keep the ring and maybe one day its owner would return.

Two days later, a young woman called Sarah came and asked if he had found anything unusual in his cup. Billy reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. When he saw the smile on Sarah’s face, he knew that he ________. She explained that she forgot putting her ring in her purse (钱包) that day.

Sarah was so moved that she posted the story on the Internet and set up an online appeal (呼吁) to raise money for Billy. Finally she had more than $185,000. Billy Ray Harris no longer spends his days begging. He has a home and a job.

80. 你觉得学校组织的心理讲座（lectures on mental health）是否有助于缓解压力（reduce pressure）？为什么？你还希望学校开展一个什么活动来有效缓解压力？说说你的理由，写一篇不少于60个词的短文。

（注意：1. 短文中不得出现考生真实姓名、校名等个人信息，否则不予评分。2. 照抄阅读语篇不得分）