Are you shy? If you are, you are not alone. In fact, close to 50 percent of people are shy. Almost 80 percent of people feel shy at some point in their lives. These days, shyness is becoming more and more common. Now, scientists are trying to understand shyness. They have some interesting ideas about why people are shy.
Is it possible to be born shy? Many scientists say yes. They say 15 to 20 percent of babies behave shyly. These babies are a little quieter and more watchful than other babies. Interestingly, these shy babies usually have shy parents. As a result, scientists think that some shyness is genetic.
Family size might cause people to be shy as well. Scientists at Harvard University studied shy children. They found that 66 percent of them had older brothers and sisters. As a result, they became shy. At the same time, children with no brothers and sisters may be shy as well. Growing up alone, they often play by themselves. They are not able to learn the same social skills as children from big families.
You may also be shy because of where you were born. When scientists studied shyness in different countries. They found surprising differences. In Japan, most people said they were shy. But in Israel, only one of three people said so. What explains the difference? One scientist says the Japanese and Israelis have different opinions of failure. In Japan, when people do not succeed, they feel bad about themselves. They blame (责备) themselves for their failure. In Israel, the opposite is true. Israelis, often blame failure on outside reasons, such as family, teachers, friends, or bad luck. In Israel, freedom of opinion and risk taking are strongly supported. This may be why Israelis worry less about failure and are less shy.
For shy people, it can be difficult to make friends, speak in class, and even get a good job. But scientists say you can get over your shyness. They suggest trying new things and practicing conversation. And don’t forget--if you are shy, you are not the only one.
1. What does the underlined word “genetic” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Passed down from parents. | B．Learned from friends. |
| C．Taught by teachers. | D．Made up by brothers. |
| A．Most little babies are born shy and quiet. |
| B．If you are shy now, you will be shy forever. |
| C．Many shy children have older brothers and sisters. |
| D．Most Israeli people are shy of expressing opinions. |
| A．genetics, grow--ups and birthplace | B．genetics, family size and birthplace |
| C．family size, grown--ups and failure | D．genetics, family size and freedom |
| A．blaming their failure on outside reasons |
| B．trying new things and practicing conversation |
| C．getting themselves away from their shy parents |
| D．trying to understand reasons for their shyness |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
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【推荐1】If you have ever been swimming in the ocean, you may have noticed that sea water is easier to float in than pool water. Here's why：
You'll need
Two clear bowls Food colouring Spoon Salt Two eggs
1.Fill bowls halfway with water.
2.Add 10 tablespoons of salt to one bowl，mix until it dissolves(溶解)，and then add several drops of colour.
3.Carefully put an egg into each bowl of water; and watch what happens.
What happens?
The egg in the plain water sinks. The egg in the saltwater floats.
(If the salt water egg does not float well，mix more salt into the bowl.)
The water and salt particles(粒子)in the salt water bowl are closer together than plain water particles are. They push harder against the' egg than the plain water particles do and the egg floats.
1. The purpose of the experiment is to explain_________. .| A．why the egg floats in the salt water |
| B．why people float more easily in the sea |
| C．how we can make the egg float in water |
| D．how the water and salt particles act together |
| A．The water is too hot. | B．The egg is not fresh. |
| C．The bowl is too small. | D．The salt is not enough. |
Courage is often thought to be one of the important spirits everyone needs. Then what is courage?
Courage is in everyday choices we make. Can you be kind to the new kid in class? Can you listen to the new person in your group?
When we become brave enough to face failure, we’ll be more confident to try new things and try again after we fail.
| A．Courage doesn’t always shout. |
| B．You should learn to speak in public. |
| C．It is the ability to do something difficult. |
| D．Or can you stand up for someone in need? |
| E．Learning to fail is another important part of courage. |
| F．Courage also means the smaller actions of our everyday lives. |
| G．Many people talk about connections between courage and fear. |
It’s late fall in the Arctic Ocean (北冰洋). Ice begins to form on top of the water, making it difficult for the white whales to find open areas to come up for air. “They have to come up to breathe.”says Donna Hauser, a marine biologist.
The white whales know it’s time to leave for warmer waters. So the group of about a hundred white whales swims south to the Bering Sea which separates the United States and Russia.
Halfway through their journey, the white whales find themselves swimming between two large ice floes (浮冰). Suddenly, they meet their main enemy—an orca (虎鲸). Luckily, orcas aren’t as good at swimming through ice floes as white whales are. So the white whales have time to speed up and swim away.
The white whales are safe, for now. “But before getting to their destination, they must pass through the Bering Strait (白令海峡) connecting the Arctic Ocean with the Bering Sea—before the narrow waterway freezes over. ” Hauser says.
The white whales finally make it to the Bering Strait, which hasn’t yet frozen over. After a few more days of swimming, they arrive at the Bering Sea.The white whales will rest, hunt, and play here until April, when they’ll swim back north.
1. The white whales find open areas to come up for ________ .| A．ice | B．air | C．food | D．water |
| A．Their brave fights. | B．Their large ice floes. |
| C．Their swimming skills. | D．Their smaller bodies. |
| A．The Bering Sea. | B．The Bering Strait. |
| C．The Arctic Ocean. | D．The United States. |
| A．In January. | B．In February. | C．In March. | D．In April. |
| A．White Whales Are in Danger |
| B．White Whales Are on the Move |
| C．How Can White Whales Live in Arctic Ocean? |
| D．When and Where Do White Whales Give Birth? |
The dragon (龙) is a great animal in Chinese culture. It brings the wind and rain. It is said that every year on the second day of the second lunar (阴历的) month, the dragon wakes up from its winter sleep and raises its head. Because of this, the day is called “Dragon Head-raising Day” (Longtaitou). This year, it falls on March 4. Old people believed that after Longtaitou, there would be more rain. And rain is very important to farming. So Longtaitou was the start of spring and farming.
People have many ways to celebrate the Longtaitou festival. The most popular one is to have a haircut. Many believe that a haircut during the first lunar month may bring bad luck to your uncles—mainly your mother’s brothers. They hope getting a haircut on Longtaitou gets rid of bad luck.
Among Chinese people’s festival traditions, there is always a place for food. During the Longtaitou festival, people eat food named after dragons. Noodles are called dragon’s beard (longxu). Dumplings are dragon’s ears (long’er). And spring rolls are dragon’s scales (鳞片) (longlin).
People also hold activities like dragon dancing on the day. In some places in Shandong province, people make dragon lanterns (灯笼) too. Small reed (芦苇) boats go down the rivers and carry the lanterns, which stand for people’s best wishes and good luck.
1. What did old people think of Longtaitou?| A．It was a good time for sleeping. | B．It was the end of Spring Festival. |
| C．It was the start of spring and farming. | D．It meant the weather would become colder. |
| A．It’s believed it will bring good luck to their uncles. | B．It’s believed that it will get rid of bad luck. |
| C．It may help their hair grow. | D．It may bring more rain. |
| A．noodles | B．dumplings | C．spring rolls | D．meat balls |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．To introduce a traditional festival. |
| B．To tell people how to avoid bad luck. |
| C．To make a traditional festival popular again. |
| D．To introduce some tasty foods and fun activities. |
【推荐2】With the development of the Internet, shopping on the Internet has become a common way in our life.
Here people can buy almost everything they need. Shopping on the Internet has a lot of advantages, of which the most important is perhaps its convenience. People don’t have to waste a lot of their energy and time to go from one shop to another to choose the things they like.
This is especially good for the old, the sick and the busy people who cannot go to the shops in person. The goods (货物) come in all shapes, sizes and colors on the Internet. All they need to do is to sit in front of their computers and click the mouse. The goods they order will be delivered (运送) to them in a few days.
However, shopping on the Internet also has its disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that people can’t see the goods or try them on personally. Sometimes the real goods may not be the same as what they have seen on the computer.
The second disadvantage is that some shops on the Internet are not registered (注册). They will never deliver anything to you after they get the money from you. Once cheated, you will find that you have nowhere to go to complain.
1. The most important advantage of shopping on the Internet is ________.| A．convenient | B．cheap | C．special | D．expensive |
| A．People can’t see the goods or try them on personally. |
| B．People don’t like shopping on the Internet. |
| C．The real goods may not be the same as what they have seen on the computer. |
| D．Once cheated, you will find that you have nowhere to go to complain. |
| A．It’s good. | B．It’s bad. | C．It’s hard to say. | D．We don’t know. |
| A．Advantages of shopping on the Internet | B．Disadvantages of shopping on the Internet |
| C．Shopping on the Internet | D．How to do some shopping on the Internet |
【推荐3】To many students, joining social media “circles” is now more important than making new friends in real life. And it’s easy. If you have a mobile phone, you can download many apps such as Weibo, QQ and WeChat.
“I love to check my friends’ updates. I also enjoy news and jokes shared on social media,” said Wang Wei, 14, from a middle school in Shenzhen. While enjoying these, Wang distances himself from real life. “I love playing the plane-shooting game on WeChat, but have no interest in playing chess with my classmates,” said Wang.
Deng Yunyun, 14, from Xuhui Middle School in Shanghai, said that social media had influenced their normal lives. Last month, his school held a basketball match, and a student hurt his leg. Instead of giving him some help, students were busy updating their blogs about the accident, “I think they need to learn to balance their real and online lives, and what worries parents and teachers a lot is safety,” said Deng.
“Many students are happy to tell their interests and personal information to their social media ‘friends’. And this could bring them danger.” said Miss Wang, a teacher from Shenzhen. “For example, WeChat’s shake-shake function allows users to connect to other nearby users.” Also the police warn about the risks of making friends in this way.
“Be careful. Do not use the locating function at any moment, do not give your name, and do not post the photos of your community,” said Wang.
根据短文内容，判断下列描述是否正确。(T/F)1. Many students think joining social media “circles” is more important than making friends in real life.
2. According to the passage, playing some kinds of games on WeChat doesn’t keep the students away from the real life.
3. Nobody gave help when a student hurt his leg because his classmates were busy updating their blogs.
4. Paying too much attention to their social media “circles” could bring students danger.
5. Social media keep students away from real life and may also bring them danger.
“Well...” Mary answered, “I don't quite remember, doctor, but I will try to think.” She thought for a while and then said, “Yes, I remember now, doctor. When I married, I was twenty-two years old, and my husband was thirty then. Now he is sixty, I know, and that is twice thirty. And so I am twice twenty-two. That is forty-four, isn't it?”
1. Mary went to see the doctor because ________ .| A．she had a headache | B．she had a fever |
| C．she had caught a cold | D．she wasn’t feeling well |
| A．asked her some questions | B．examined her carefully |
| C．gave her some medicine | D．asked her to have a rest |
| A．You are no more than forty, are you? |
| B．Do you have a fever? |
| C．What is your age? |
| D．Have you had any medicine? |
| A．answered the doctor's questioned at once |
| B．answered the question after thinking for a while |
| C．just kept silent |
| D．refused to tell her age |
| A．forty-four | B．forty-five | C．fifty | D．fifty-two |
【推荐2】Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin — these great scientists (科学家) are all left—handed. Does this mean that left—handers are smarter than right—handers, as some people say?
Scientific studies show that left—handers have no higher IQ than right—handers. They are just good at different things.
Left—handers and right—handers usually use different sides of their brains (大脑) . Right —handers use the left side more often, but left—handers use both sides more evenly (均衡). We use the left side of our brain to work out problems. We use the right side to create (创造).
Left— handers are good at creative things such as music, art and science. But it's not all good news for them. They often forget names and places.
August 13 is Left—Handers Day. Left—handers make up just 7 to 10 percent of the world's population(人口)，according to the United Nations (联合国). They have to learn to use right—handed things. Life can sometimes be hard for them.
1. The writer gives the names of some famous scientists to__________.| A．tell what the story is about |
| B．show us that left—handed people are funny |
| C．show that all great scientists are left—handed |
| A．Left—handers are smarter than right— handers. |
| B．Right—handers are smarter than left—handers. |
| C．The two groups are good at different things. |
| A．working out problems |
| B．doing scientific studies |
| C．remembering names and places |
| A．They should learn to create things. |
| B．They should learn to use right—handed things. |
| C．They should learn to use the left side of their brain. |
| A．How do our brains work? |
| B．Why are all great scientists left—handed? |
| C．Are left—handers really smarter than right—handers? |
We know that the traffic jam happens in many places, especially in big cities. What are reasons for the problem? On one hand, some people think that they should have a car when they have enough money, and then it’s easy to go out and they can feel comfortable. On the other hand, a growing number of people hope to use their cars to show off (炫耀). What’s more, years of research has shown that one of other reasons for the traffic jam is the driving habit. For example, many young people enjoy driving very fast, so they can feel excited. At last, most of them hardly care about the speed rules.
Many governments are working at how to make the traffic better. In my opinion, firstly, the governments should educate those people who have cars or plan to buy cars. The governments must make them know that the traffic jam is very serious, and set up a much more perfect traffic system to solve the traffic pressure.
1. What does the underlined word “jam” mean in Chinese?
| A．事故 | B．堵塞 | C．规则 | D．肇事者 |
| A．Because there are not enough ways of transportation. |
| B．Because there are fewer speed rules. |
| C．Because there are more and more cars on the roads. |
| D．Because the speed rules make young people have a bad driving habit. |
| A．The reason for the traffic jam is that people have too much work. |
| B．The reason for the traffic jam is that more and more people drive cars. |
| C．The reason for the traffic jam is that some people want to show off. |
| D．The reason for the traffic jam is that some people don’t have good driving habits. |
| A．They should educate those people who are young. |
| B．They should set up a much more perfect traffic system. |
| C．They shouldn’t allow people to buy so many cars. |
| D．They should make people know the difficult to solve the problem of the traffic jam. |
| A．Different traffic problems. |
| B．Reasons why people want to buy cars. |
| C．How drivers should drive. |
| D．The traffic jam, reasons for it and solutions. |
【推荐1】Reading books is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons（原因）.
First, reading books is fun. You can always keep yourself happy if you like reading. This is especially useful when the weather is bad. It is a relaxing hobby, too. You can really become lost in a book.
Next, you can read a book anywhere: in a car, in a waiting-room, on a plane or in bed. All you need is a book! Reading is a convenient hobby as it is easy to stop and then start again.
Another good reason for reading books is that it is useful. If you read as a hobby you will get better and better at it. This makes you read faster and become easier at understanding what you read. If you read enough, you will probably find that your schoolwork becomes much better.
Some people say that reading is out of date（过时的）. This is not true. You can read on computers, and the more you read, the better your computer skills will be.
Good readers are most likely to be good writers, too. They are usually good at spelling as well, and have more things to write about. Reading books is a wonderful hobby. Why not start reading right now?
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. Reading books is a good hobby. How many reasons are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. |
| A．方便的 | B．复杂的 | C．可能的 |
| A．Reading books is bad for schoolwork. |
| B．Reading books helps you study better. |
| C．Reading books is out of date. |
| A．the best place to read books | B．why reading is a good hobby | C．how to become good readers |
【推荐2】I’ve always found comfort in food. Every Friday, my family would get together for a pizza. Before dance class, I always ordered a sandwich. When I felt sad, an ice cream could solve everything.
The first time I thought about my weight was when I was 11 at a summer camp. As I looked at other girls, I could see their flat stomach. When I returned, I started to question my appearance. That’s when I started hating my body.
My worry was a nagging voice in my head. Every time someone said something about my body, that voice grew louder. And because I didn’t want to give anyone the chance to judge me, I hid myself away. I stopped going out with my friends and instead spent weekends in bed, feeling weak and tired out.
When I badly needed something good in my life, I was picked for the school lacrosse (曲棍球) team. My coach found a talent in me.
I had viewed my body as a problem. But the way my coach talked about the power in my muscles made me want to believe in myself. The more strength I had in my legs, the more stable (稳固的) I’d be when attackers tried to attack me. The more muscles in my shoulders, the harder I could drive toward the goal.
Every part of my body had a purpose, even the parts I hated. My coach focused my attention on improving the power I already had and so I started to believe that what I had was pretty great.
But I didn't feel like an outstanding player on the team. I was just another girl working toward a goal with my teammates.
1. What did the author realize during the summer camp?| A．Others disliked her body. | B．Her stomach was too flat. |
| C．She had a weight problem. | D．She was looked down upon by others. |
| A．烦人的 | B．多余的 | C．犹豫的 | D．低沉的 |
| A．She was attacked by a disease. | B．She was too tired after losing weight. |
| C．She had no friends to play with. | D．She wanted to avoid meeting others. |
| A．She had a gift for that sport. | B．She needed to set higher goals. |
| C．She would become a famous star. | D．She had lots of muscles but no brains. |
| A．Success is built on failure | B．Everybody is unique in the world. |
| C．Little people can make big success. | D．We need to pay attention to health problems. |
【推荐3】A little stream(小溪）ran down from a high mountain far away. It went through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert. The stream then thought, “I overcame so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing this desert !” But when she decided to start her journey, she found herself gradually disappearing into the sand. After many tries, she still failed.“Maybe it’s my destiny(命运) ! I’m not destined （命中注定）to reach the vast（广阔的） ocean in the legend（传说）, ”she thought sadly to herself.
At this time, a deep voice came, saying, “If a breeze（微风） can cross the desert, so can a river.”It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream replied, “That’s because a breeze can fly, but I can’t.” “That’s because you stick to what you are. If you’re willing to give it up, and let yourself evaporate （蒸发） into the breeze, it can take you across, and you can reach your destination(目的地）,” said the desert in its deep voice.
The little stream had never heard of such a thing. “Give up what I am now and disappear into the breeze? No! No!”She could not accept this idea. After all, she had never experienced anything like it before. Wouldn’t it be self-destruction（自毁）to give up what she was now ?
“How do I know if this is true?” asked the little stream.
“The breeze can carry the vapor（蒸汽） across the desert and let it leave as rain . The rain will form a river again ,” answered the desert .“Will I still be what I am now?” asked the little stream.“Yes, and no. Whether you’re a river or vapor, your nature never changes. You stick to the fact that you’re a river because you don’t know your inner nature,” answered the desert.
Hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the breeze（微风）. which carried her to the next stage of her life. Perhaps you can try asking yourself these questions: What is my inner nature? What is it that I cling （紧抓） to? And what is it that I really want ?
1. Before the stream reached the desert, she didn't ______ .| A．believe in herself . | B．meet any difficulties |
| C．want to cross the dessert | D．worry about the journey to the ocean |
| A．stream | B．breeze | C．vapor | D．desert |
| A．change its form | B．disappear into the desert |
| C．stick to what it is | D．turn to another stream for help |
| A．the rain | B．the desert | C．the breeze | D．the mountain |
| A．The road to success is not always easy. |
| B．We should do the right thing whatever others say. |
| C．Our lives can be as difficult as the little streams. |
| D．To succeed, sometimes we should change the way we used to be. |
