1 . In a large survey of people's first memories, nearly 40% of participants reported a first memory that is likely to be fictional, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Current research indicates that people's earliest memories date from around 3 to 3. 5 years of age. However, the study from researchers at City, University of London, the University of Bradford, and Nottingham Trent University found that 38.6% of 6, 641 participants claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger, with 893 people claiming memories from age 1 or younger. This was particularly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults.
As many of these memories dated before the age of 2 and younger, the authors suggest that these fictional memories are based on remembered fragments(碎片) of early experience—such as a pram(婴儿车)，family relationships and feeling sad—and some facts or knowledge about their own infancy or childhood which may have been derived from photographs or family conversations.
“Further details may be unconsciously inferred or added, e. g. that one was wearing nappy when standing in the cot(幼儿床)," added Shazia Akhatr, first author on the study and Senior Research Associate at the University of Bradford.
“When we looked through the responses from participants we found that a lot of these first 'memories' were frequently related to infancy, and a typical example would be a memory based around a pram," explained Martin Conway, Director at the Centre for Memory and Law at City, University of London and coauthor of the paper.
“For this person, this type of memory could have resulted from someone saying something like 'mother and a large green pram'. The person then imagines what it would have looked like. Over time these fragments then become a memory and often the person will start to add things in such as a string of toys along the top," he added.
"Crucially, the person remembering them doesn't know this is fictional," Conway noted. "In fact when people are told that their memories are false they often don't believe it. This partly due to the fact that the systems that allow us to remember things are very complex, and it's not until we're 5 or 6 that we form adult-like memories due to the way that the brain develops and due to our maturing understanding of the world.
1. What does the underlined word "prevalent" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Unique. | B．Crazy. | C．Common. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Some people have clear knowledge about their own infancy. |
| B．Added details are an important clue to recall the childhood. |
| C．Most people claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger. |
| D．Talks between family members influence the earliest memories. |
| A．By making comparison. | B．By setting examples. |
| C．By analyzing data. | D．By referring to documents. |
| A．Many people's earliest memories may be fictional. |
| B．People's earliest memories can date back to 2 or younger. |
| C．The middle-aged and adults specialize in detailing their first memory. |
| D．Memories develop due to our maturing understanding of the world. |
2 . It was the first time I watched him carefully. Before this, Jack had just been the friendly young man assigned by the hotel to help me on trips into the wildlife park nearby. But then he caught my attention by asking me to shut up.
"It's just a garden spider, don't scream(尖叫)！ " he said, looking at the small thing with more love than I could find in others. I had indeed screamed, but a spider was on my clothes, and we were in the jeep in the middle of the wildlife park.
I wanted him to pick the thing up and throw it out of the jeep right at that moment. However, he did something quite else. He gently let the spider onto his own knee and drove on, as if nothing had happened. I sat there staring at the spider for any sudden movement --- if a tiger had walked by then, I would not have even looked at it.
I was frightened that the man was completely OK with a spider on his knee. About 15 minutes later, he pushed his knee forward to the dashboard (仪表盘)and the spider immediately climbed off his knee and onto the jeep. "The poor thing had been trying to get off me, " he said. " I only sensed that it was trying to reach the dashboard, so I helped him.
I wondered then about this man, who thought about the spider with such kindness. . Where and when did I lose my love towards the unfamiliar? Now, when faced with a row of ants in my way, my first thought is no longer to attack them. I just skip over them and we both carry on. The ants were already wise, but thanks to Jack, I learned to live with the not so beautiful bits of nature.
1. What does the underlined word “assigned” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Fired. | B．Sent. | C．Praised. | D．Interviewed. |
| A．She felt sick in the jeep. | B．She was afraid of visiting the park. |
| C．She had a spider on her clothes. | D．She wanted to catch Jack's attention. |
| A．Let it move onto his leg. | B．Throw it out of their jeep. |
| C．Feed it to the tiger walking by. | D．Put it on the jeep's dashboard. |
| A．A moving love story. |
| B．A wildlife park adventure. |
| C．A spider living in a nature park. |
| D．A love lesson learned from a young man. |
3 . When Peter Zhuo was a kid, he could barely hold pencil properly. He'd either wrap all his fingers around it or hold it uncomfortably between his middle and fourth finger. Through practice he managed to get it right when he was about eight. Now at 23, not only can he use a pencil competently, he's using it to change the world, one stroke at a time.
Peter—who goes by the name Peter Draw felt the desire to draw with a purpose after meeting Daniel, a teenager with cerebral palsy(脑瘫), in November 2006. When Daniel first joined Peter's drawing class at the Spastic Children's Association of Singapore, Peter doubted if Daniel could even complete a drawing. But stroke by stroke the then 17-year-old did.
"His passion for drawing really touched me. I felt I should do more with my drawing and help children at the same time," says Peter, who has since taken on some mega projects to raise awareness for his cause.
Last October, he earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for drawing the world's largest caricature(人物漫画). His 360-square-metre drawing of Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan is twice the size of the previous record. Peter completed it in just three-and-a-half hours while the previous record-holder took three days.
And in December, he took on the challenge of drawing caricatures for 24 hours non-stop in order to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for the less fortunate. Peter completed 952 sketches(素描) during the time. The event raised $ 6, 000 through donations and his accomplishment earned him a mention in the Singapore Book of Records.
1. When Peter was a kid, .| A．he had difficulty using his pencil | B．he was unable to write a word |
| C．his fingers were flexible | D．he couldn't practice writing |
| A．learn drawing like Daniel | B．help children through his drawing |
| C．become an action actor like Jackie Chan | D．win a place in the Guinness Book of Records |
| A．profitable | B．impressive | C．interesting | D．scary |
| A．He donated$6,000 to build houses for the poor. |
| B．He drew the world’s largest caricature in three days. |
| C．He raised a lot of money for Daniel to treat his disease. |
| D．He drew 952 sketches in 24 hours to raise a lot of money. |
4 . Rachel Carson was concerned about what was happenig to the environment. So in her book Silent Spring, she warned that some chemicals were poisoning the air, the water, the earth, and all its creatures. She imagined a time when spring would not bring the rebirth of flowers, trees, and the songs of birds. The book became a bestseller, and Ms. Carson was in great demand as a speaker. People lisened to her because what she said made sense, and because she was a scientist who knew her facts.
Rachel Carson was primarily interested in the world of sea and shore, so she became a marine biologst for the government. She studied and recorded facts about the sea' s plant and animal life, their special characteristics, and the nature of their environments. In 1951, she wrote The Sea Around Us, which brought her honors, fame, and respect around the world.
Ms. Carson then devoted herself full-time to research and writing. One thing much on her mind was the effect of modern technology on the natural environment. One day, a distressed friend wrote her to say that a plane spraying(喷洒) DDT had flown over her yard, and the next day several birds lay dead. Carson decided to act.
For four years she studied the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in the United States, and then she wrote Silent Spring.
In her book Ms. Carson said that these pesticides would harm much more than insects. She explained that these poisons would pollute the environment. “Even if their effects are not immediately observable, they remain for years in the water and the soil, and they become part of the food eaten by animals and humans.
Besides, after a time, insects develop immunity to pesticides,” she said.
Recent studies have shown that pesticides can affect human brainwave activity and cause loss of memory and inability to concentrate. We should still remember Rachel Carson’s words, “I think we are challenged as we have never been challenged before to prove our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
1. Silent Spring is a book that__________| A．aims to raise people’s environmental awareness |
| B．stresses the importance of the cycle of nature |
| C．describes the author' s childhood experiences |
| D．asks people to enjoy the beauty of spring |
| A．curious | B．humorous | C．excited | D．worried |
| A．became world-famous due to Silent Spring |
| B．warned against the use of chemicals to kill insects |
| C．had a good knowledge of the planets in the universe |
| D．created a system for improving human brainwave activity |
| A．we should prove ourselves to be the ruler of this world |
| B．it's a chance for us to prove our mastery of nature |
| C．it's time for us to think about what we have done |
| D．settling on the earth is a challenge for humans |
5 . Kyle Cassidy and three other members of the Annenberg Running Group were stretching on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania, waiting for a few latecomers. The Penn colleagues and other community members meet three days a week for a roughly 30-minute jog and an occasional lecture. That's right― during some runs, one of them delivers a talk. Topics range from the brain to Bitcoin.
But on this day last January, it would not be their normal run. The first clue that something was off was the man who sprinted past them. "Running at an amazing pace," Cassidy told Runner's World admiringly. Cassidy discovered why the sprinter was so fleet of foot when another man ran by, yelling, “Help! He took my phone and laptop!"
At that, the group did what running clubs do: They ran, trailing the suspect down the streets of Philadelphia until he ducked into a construction site. The runners split up. Cassidy ran around to the far side of the site to cut the thief off while the others wandered the neighborhood hoping he had dumped the loot （赃物）in a backyard.
No luck. So they decided to ask residents whether they'd seen the guy. When they knocked on the door of one row house, they were in for a surprise. Unknown to them, he had already emerged from the construction site—and was hiding behind a bush by that very house. As the owner opened the door, the suspect darted out from behind the bush ... and right into the arms of campus police, who'd joined the chase shortly behind the runners.
The members of this running group are not hard-core athletes. But they do understand the benefit of a little exercise. ''Running is typically a useless sport where you turn fat cells into heat," Cassidy told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "But occasionally it can be useful, and here was one of those opportunities."
1. Why do the group members gather together?| A．To do some stretching. | B．To have a regular run. |
| C．To deliver a lecture. | D．To cover some topics. |
| A．Dashed. | B．Pushed. |
| C．Jumped. | D．Escaped. |
| A．the assistance of the runners | B．the owner of the row house |
| C．the campus police on patrol | D．the joint efforts of the people |
| A．Athletic and generous. | B．Courageous and ambitious. |
| C．Helpful and humorous. | D．Thoughtful and demanding. |
6 . Growing up, I wanted to be just like my mom. She was kind. People always seemed to feel comfortable in her presence. For years, she was a volunteer in our community. I loved going to the local nursing home with her where she taught a ceramic class.
On one summer day, Mama told me to get changed and meet her at the car.
I had planned to spend the day at the lake with friends. Why did she have to ruin everything? I imagined the cool lake water. Annoyed, I climbed into the car and slammed the door shut. We sat in silence. I was too upset to make conversation.
“Tasha, would you like to know where we are going?” Mama asked calmly.
“No,” I said.
“We are going to volunteer at a children’s shelter today. I have been there before and I think it will benefit you,” she explained.
When we reached the shelter, Mama rang the doorbell. Moments later, we were greeted by a woman. She led us to the front room where all of the children were playing. I noticed a baby whose body was scarred with iron marks. I was told it was because she wouldn’t stop crying. The majority of the children had noticeable physical scars. Others hid their emotional wounds.
As I took in my surroundings, I felt a gentle tug on my shirt. I looked down to see a little girl looking up at me. “Hi. You want to play dolls with me?” she asked. I looked over at Mama for reinforcement. She smiled and nodded. I turned back and said, “Sure.” Her tiny hand reached up and held mine, as if to comfort me.
My mom taught me a worthy lesson that summer. I returned to the shelter with her several times. During those visits, some of the children shared their troubled pasts with me and I learned to be grateful for what I had. Today as I try to instill(逐渐灌输) these values in my own child, I reflect back to that experience. It was a time that I will never forget.
1. The author admired her mom for ________.| A．her kindness to others | B．her excellent teaching |
| C．her quality of honesty | D．her positive attitude to life |
| A．excited | B．surprised |
| C．angry | D．worried |
| A．were often punished by staff | B．weren’t allowed to go outside |
| C．were once treated badly | D．all suffered from mental illness |
| A．truth | B．support |
| C．comfort | D．help |
