1 . Some students get so nervous before a test. They do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources（资源）.
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored（得分） an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved（提高） their performance by an average of 5%. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated（不相关的） to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B-for those who did not.
"What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, and who'd done our writing intervention（干预）, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and grades. They were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these tests."
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What do the students start worrying about before an exam?| A．Whether they can pass the exams. |
| B．What other students do during the test. |
| C．Whether they have remembered the materials. |
| D．What kind of problems they will meet on the test paper. |
| A．Making the students focused on the test. |
| B．Asking the students to sit quietly before the test. |
| C．Having the students write about their worries about the test. |
| D．Asking the students to direct the attention away from the test. |
| A．became less nervous before the test |
| B．were better at controlling their feelings |
| C．did worse than those who wrote about their feelings |
| D．did better than those who wrote about their feelings |
| A．writing about our worries before an exam can work a bit |
| B．we can only write about our worries right before an exam |
| C．the best place to write about our worries is in the test room |
| D．it doesn't matter where we write about our worries before an exam |
2 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
3 . Reducing class size has traditionally been seen as an important way to improve a student's educational experience.
Many public opinion studies have shown that both teachers and parents favor small class size. Teachers who go on strike are often seeking lower classroom numbers among other better working conditions. Many often believe that smaller classes would permit teachers to give more personal attention to their student. This can theoretically lead to improved academic results for student.
But one recent study suggests there is not much research-based evidence to support this idea. The researchers say the idea of smaller class sizes has been studied and debated for many years. However, they noted a lack of clear research to support class size reductions.
The study notes that one of the main problems with reducing class sizes is that it can have very high costs. Increasing class size is one of the most common ways school systems control education spending. Financial limitations make it very difficult for many schools to reduce the number of students in the classroom.
The teachers' goal was to examine the major research studies already completed on the subject. They especially centered on studies that tried to measure whether the smaller class size resulted in greater success for students.
'The researchers conclude that there is some evidence to suggest that reducing class size may lead to some improvement in a student's rending achievement. But they said "the effect is very small." They found just a 53-percent chance that a randomly selected test score from a student from a small class would be higher than the selected score of a student from a lager class. For mathematics achievement, the result was 49 percent. This led the researchers to conclude that there would be little benefit to math students in a smaller class size.
1. Why do some teachers prefer reducing class size?| A．They believe it may help improve students' academic performance. |
| B．It'll greatly better their working conditions. |
| C．They think it will bring much attention to their efforts. |
| D．It will offer them more time to relax. |
| A．Making more profits. |
| B．Attracting more students to study. |
| C．Cutting down education expenses. |
| D．Handling the problem of a lack of teachers. |
| A．has nothing to do with students' scores |
| B．has a minor effect in some fields |
| C．has already led to greater academic success |
| D．isn't practical because parents object to it |
| A．The Future of the Class Size Development |
| B．People's Preference for Class Size |
| C．The Cost of Reducing Class Size |
| D．The Little Influence of Reducing Class Size |
4 . We’ve known for years that plants can see, hear, smell and communicate with chemicals. Now, reported New Scientist, they have been recorded making sounds when stressed.
In a yet-to-be-published study, Itzhak Khait and his team at Tel Aviv University, in Israel, found that tomato and tobacco plants can make ultrasonic(超声的)noises. The plants “cry out” due to lack of water, or when their stems(茎)are cut. It’s just too high-pitched(音调高的)for humans to hear.
Microphones placed 10 centimeters away from the plants picked up sounds in the ultrasonic range of 20 to 100 kilohertz(千赫兹). Human hearing usually ranges from 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz. “These findings can alter the way we think about the plant kingdom,” they wrote.
On average, “thirsty” tomato plants made 35 sounds an hour, while tobacco plants made 11. When plant stems were cut, tomato plants made an average of 25 sounds in the following hour, and tobacco plants 15. Unstressed plants produced fewer than one sound per hour, on average.
Perhaps most interestingly, different types of stress led to different sounds. The researchers trained a machine-learning model to separate the plants’ sounds from those of the wind, rain and other noises of the greenhouse. In most cases, it correctly identified whether the stress was caused by dryness or a cut, based on a sound’s intensity and frequency. Water-hungry tobacco appears to make louder sounds than cut tobacco, for example. Although Khait and his colleagues only looked at tomato and tobacco plants, they think other plants also make sounds when stressed.
If farmers could hear these sounds, said the team, they could give water to the plants that need it most. As climate change causes more droughts, they said this would be important information for farmers. “The sounds that drought-stressed plants make could be used in precision agriculture(精准农业),” said Anne Visscher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK.
Khait’s report also suggest that insets and mammals can hear the sounds up to 5 meters away and respond. For example, a moth(蛾子)may decide not to lay eggs on a water-stressed plant. Edward Farmer, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, is doubtful. He said that the idea of moths listening to plants is “a little too speculative”.
If plants are screaming for fear of their survival, should we be thankful we can’t hear them?
1. What did Khait and his team find from their research?| A．Plants made low-pitched sounds when in danger. |
| B．Plants were able to produce sounds in response to stresses. |
| C．Plants picked up a wider range of sounds when stressed. |
| D．Plants made ultrasonic noises to communicate with each other. |
| A．A plant reacted to different stresses with the same sound. |
| B．Cut tomato plants produced more sounds per hour than water-hungry ones. |
| C．Cut tobacco plants seemed to make weaker sounds than drought-stressed ones. |
| D．Tobacco plants might make louder sounds than tomato plants when short of water. |
| A．The potential applications of the research. |
| B．Challenges facing farmers in the future. |
| C．Farmers ‘contributions to the research. |
| D．What the future agriculture will be like. |
| A．practical | B．unsuspected | C．unsupported | D．complicated |
5 . An old man in a faded yellow shirt sat in a windowless room on a raised concrete form. The only source of heat came from somewhere beneath the plastic mattress and the rough blanket the blank-faced police woman had handed him after taking his thumb prints. He heard voices and metallic clang as the cell door swung open.
At the front desk a tired looking policeman handed the old man back his belongings, his worn-out cap and the Seiko watch that had stopped working the day his beloved Evelyn left. The policeman dramatically held the blue plastic bag at an arm's length to the old man who took it and made sure its contents were undamaged: the goat meat, palm oil, leaves and spices. He ignored the confused expression on the officer’s face and signed the document declaring he had been returned the possessions they had taken off him the night before.
No one spoke to him as he walked slowly towards the exit.
''Mr. Easy-nwa? '' He stopped and prayed to the God who now took care of Evelyn to please take him far away from this unhappy place of expressionless faces, clipped accents and people who did not even attempt to pronounce his name right.
''Ezenwa,'' He said and looked at a woman with tangerine lips, her name tag said Jessica Harlow, Social Services. ''A bit far from home'' she said as she drove fast and with confidence the way Evelyn used to. He wondered if she meant the 50 miles from Liverpool or the 50,000 miles from Enugu，a city in Nigeria. He did not bother replying as this woman had plenty to say about the weather, bad drivers, her daughter's school play...
At last she drew up outside the block of flats where he lived.
''Got here in the end''，said she seriously, ''Really Mr. Easy-nwa, if you keep getting lost, we will have to consider moving you into a home''.
''No need, I was not lost, '' he answered. He carefully rolled up the sleeves of the oversize bomber jacket he wore and turned on the tap to wash his hands, relieved the pipes were not frozen.
In a clean pan he placed the chopped pieces of goat meat. The herbs and spices that had taken him three months to track down, the uziza seeds had taken him into the heart of Granby Market in Liverpool, his uchanwu leaves down a shady back alley in Manchester, and yesterday, among other food items, the finest goat meat from a Sierra Leonean Butcher in Birmingham. That had taken some time, so much he missed the last train and when the police found him shivering outside the locked-up station, so cold he couldn't answer loudly enough the pink-faced big copper who yelled in his face, ''What's your name sir? '' spraying his face with spittle (唾沫)as he did so, leaving them with no choice but to search an exhausted, frozen old black man and finding him in possession of mysterious condiments (调味品)including a bag of dried bitter-leaf which could of course be mistaken for anything that resulted in him getting read his rights and charged with ...possession???
He lifted the lid of the bubbling soup, the room was filled with the rich and spicy scent of his culinary (烹饪的)effort. He served two bowls, taking the chipped one and placing the other opposite where Evelyn would have sat. He would tell her about his adventure, it was their anniversary and this was the perfect pepper soup to celebrate.
Ken Onyia, UK (Nigeria) Commonwealth Sport Short Story Prize
1. Why was Mr. Ezenwa taken to the prison for a night?| A．He was too weak to move. |
| B．He couldn't find his way back home. |
| C．He then had nowhere else to go. |
| D．He was suspected of possessing drugs. |
| A．his thumb print was taken immediately |
| B．the policeman was confused about what he had |
| C．a social worker was assigned to drive him back home |
| D．the policeman was so kind as not to damage his belongings |
| A．He collected all sorts of valuables as presents. |
| B．He cooked native food as a surprise for his wife. |
| C．He prepared a special Nigerian pepper soup carefully. |
| D．He travelled a lot, attempting to get his wife back. |
| A．Hopeless and pessimistic. | B．Affectionate and persistent. |
| C．Mysterious and troublesome. | D．Energetic and sympathetic. |
6 . Before he sailed round the world alone, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.
The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail.His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August 1966, at the age of nearly 65, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life.
Chichester covered 14100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone. He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.
After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London: "I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again."
Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May 1967, he arrived back in England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him.Queen Elizabeth II knighted(授以爵位) him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had used almost 400 years earlier to knight Sir Francis Drake after he had sailed round the world for the first time.The whole voyage from England and back had covered 28,500 miles. It had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.
1. What can we learn about Chichester?| A．He failed the solo transatlantic sailing race in 1959. |
| B．He was a brave and determined man. |
| C．The second half of his voyage was not as dangerous as the first half. |
| D．The radio message expressed his concern about the sailing. |
| A．She called on the English to learn form him. |
| B．She was waiting to congratulate on his success in sailing. |
| C．She thought poorly of his achievements. |
| D．She knighted him for praising him. |
| A．Anyone who had sailed alone traveled less than 7050miles before 1966 |
| B．Chichester sailed round the Atlantic in 1931 |
| C．Most of the English retire at the age of 65 |
| D．Chichester died of lung cancer in 1967 after he went back to England |
7 . I work with Volunteers for Wildlife, a rescue and education organization at Bailey Arboretum in Locust Valley. Trying to help injured, displaced or sick creatures can be heartbreaking; survival is never certain. However, when it works, it is simply beautiful.
I got a rescue call from a woman in Muttontown. She had found a young owl(猫头鹰) on the ground. When I arrived, I saw a 2-to 3-week-old owl. It had already been placed in a carrier for safety.
I examined the chick(雏鸟) and it seemed fine. If I could locate the nest, I might have been able to put it back, but no luck. My next work was to construct a nest and anchor it in a tree.
The homeowner was very helpful. A wire basket was found. I put some pine branches into the basket to make this nest safe and comfortable. I placed the chick in the nest, and it quickly calmed down.
Now all that was needed were the parents, but they were absent. I gave the homeowner a recording of the hunger screams of owl chicks. These advertise the presence of chicks to adults; they might also encourage our chick to start calling as well. I gave the owner as much information as possible and headed home to see what news the night might bring.
A nervous night to be sure, but sometimes the spirits of nature smile on us all! The homeowner called to say that the parents had responded to the recordings. I drove over and saw the chick in the nest looking healthy and active. And it was accompanied in the nest by the greatest sight of all — LUNCH! The parents had done their duty and would probably continue to do so.
1. What is unavoidable in the author’s rescue work according to paragraph 1?| A．Efforts made in vain. |
| B．Getting injured in his work. |
| C．Feeling uncertain about his future. |
| D．Creatures forced out of their homes. |
| A．To rescue a woman. |
| B．To take care of a woman. |
| C．To look at a baby owl. |
| D．To cure a young owl. |
| A．A new nest. |
| B．Some food. |
| C．A recording. |
| D．Its parents. |
| A．It’s unexpected. |
| B．It’s beautiful. |
| C．It’s humorous. |
| D．It’s discouraging. |
8 . When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to bear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.
1. What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?| A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said. |
| B．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| C．He told her to write down all that her“enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
| D．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
| A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
| B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
| A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
| A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
| B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father |
| D．My Childhood |
