1 . At present, I was diagnosed(诊断) with a kind of attention disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.
In my first literature class, Mrs. Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, “Mrs. Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it.”
She glanced down at me through her glasses, “You are not different from your classmates, young man.”
I tried, but I didn’t finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.
In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn’t get much education. But Louis didn’t give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots(点), which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.
Wasn’t I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was not different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?
I didn’t expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs. Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day-with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: “See what you can do when you keep trying?”
Inspired and touched, I began to keep trying hard in my study and struggled against attention disorder. I believe one can find his way out of predicament with determination and efforts.
1. The author didn’t finish the reading in class because .| A．he was new to the class | B．he was tired of literature |
| C．he had an attention disorder | D．he wanted to take the task home |
| A．He had good sight. | B．He made a great invention. |
| C．He gave up reading. | D．He learned a lot from school. |
| A．Angry. | B．Impatient. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Encouraging. |
| A．sorrow | B．destination | C．difficulty | D．fortune |
2 . Gym class was not considered important at the private school I attended from kindergarten to Grade 6 and the words "movement skill development" would have caused brows to wrinkle.
For Grades 7 and 8 I moved into the public school system. It was the early 1980s and we had to wear green gym shorts and white T-shirts with the school crest(饰章)on them. We had to climb ropes. We had to go for long runs in the valley beside the school and excuses were not allowed.
My mom, also somewhat of a "non-sporty mom", wrote me notes to get me out of this nightmare once a month. And when she didn't, I sometimes forged my own. One day I arrived for gym class with my note explaining why I could not participate. It was signed by my "mother". There were at least two classes of Grade 8 girls sitting on the side of the hill when I boldly(冒失地) presented my note. The PE teacher asked me why my mother's signature looked so messy. What I said next might be the finest example of just how stupid I was when I was13: "It's messy because she signed it while she was driving."
My classmates giggled(傻笑) nervously. I thought maybe I had pushed things too far but wasn't at all prepared for what happened next. The teacher grabbed my ear and dragged me all the way up the millions of stairs, through the miles of hallways, and into the principal's office. That was where my memories from junior high gym class ended.
The next year I went to the first day of Grade 9 gym with a positive outlook, high hopes, and good intentions. But all I ended up developing was the habit of hiding in the girls' bathroom for the duration of the class.
When my counsellor(辅导员) called a meeting between me and the gym teacher later that year, I remember the teacher looking at me and saying, "I wouldn't know this girl was in my class if I hit her with my car."
1. What is the author's impression of her gym class?| A．It was great fun before Grade 6. | B．It was dull and terrible all the way. |
| C．It helped her improve sports skills. | D．It was tiring but interesting at public school. |
| A．improved | B．gathered | C．created | D．discovered |
| A．She told a lie to the teacher. | B．She had an argument with others. |
| C．She made the same mistake repeatedly. | D．She was too careless in signing her name. |
| A．At the beginning of Grade 9. | B．In the early eighties. |
| C．In the middle of Grade 8. | D．During Grades 7 and 8. |
3 . What do the random, scribbled (潦草的)drawings crowding the margins (页边空白处) of most high school students' papers mean? When a student is caught doodling (乱画) in class, he will probably be criticized for daydreaming. But doodling while listening can help with remembering details, rather than implying that the mind is wandering, according to a study published in the scientific journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.
In an experiment conducted by the Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, 40 subjects were asked to listen to a two-minute tape giving several names of people and places. Half of the participants were asked to shade in shapes on a piece of paper at the same time, without paying attention to neatness, while the rest were given no such instructions. After the tape had finished, all participants in the study were asked to recall the names of people and places. The doodlers recalled on average 7.5 names of people and places, compared to only 5.8 by the non-doodlers.
“If someone is doing a boring task, like listening to a dull telephone conversation, they may start to daydream.” said study researcher, Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology, University of Plymouth. “Daydreaming distracts them from the task, resulting in poorer performance. A simple task, like doodling, may be sufficient (足够的) to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task.”
“In psychology, tests of memory or attention will often use a second task to selectively block a particular mental process. If that process is important for the main task, then performance will be impaired. But my research suggests that in everyday life doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction (分心) that we should try to resist doing.” said Andrade.
Dan Ware, a social study teacher, used to consider doodling a distraction from learning, but after teaching kids with all personality types he learned scribbling away during lectures helps certain students remember more information. “In my first few years of teaching, I thought, ‘Well, this kid isn’t paying attention. He’s daydreaming.’ But I had some really powerful experiences with students and came to understand in many cases that was their way of focusing, and those students were probably paying more attention than other students.” Ware said.
1. What do we know about the participants involved in the experiment?| A．Some were asked to note down the information neatly. |
| B．Some were asked to memorize the names they would hear. |
| C．Some were instructed to listen to the tape with full attention. |
| D．Some were instructed to make random drawings on paper. |
| A．Improved. | B．Weakened. |
| C．Stopped. | D．Repaired. |
| A．Doodling helps some people focus. | B．Doodling makes a dull task interesting. |
| C．Students who doodle perform poorly. | D．Students who doodle lack concentration. |
| A．Daydreaming Can Sharpen Study Skills | B．Doodling Can Help Memory Recall |
| C．A Wandering Mind Improves Productivity | D．Distractions Harm Academic Performance |
