1 . Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play, catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, extra learning trials (尝试) increase the length of time we will remember it.
In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.
The multiplication tables (乘法口诀表) are an exception (例外) to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.
The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习) for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one’s future development.
1. What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?| A．People remember well what they learned in childhood. |
| B．Children have a better memory than grown-ups. |
| C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words. |
| D．Stories for children are easy to remember. |
| A．presenting research findings |
| B．setting down general rules |
| C．making a comparison |
| D．using examples |
| A．Commonly accepted rules. |
| B．The multiplication tables. |
| C．Things easily forgotten. |
| D．School subjects. |
| A．It’s helpful only in a limited way. |
| B．It leads to failure in college exams. |
| C．It’s possible to result in poor memory. |
| D．It increases students’ learning interest. |
2 . Can you imagine a cloud floating in the middle of your room? Do you want to know what it feels like to fly like a bird? Find your answers in Time Magazine's 25 "Best Inventions". Here, we have picked out the most interesting 4 to share with you.
Talking Gloves
Ever felt confused by the sign language used by disabled people? Here is the "helping hand" you need. Four Ukrainian students have created a pair of gloves that helps people with hearing and speech problems communicate with others. The gloves are equipped with sensors that recognize sign language and translate it into text on a smartphone. Then the smartphone changes the text to spoken words.
Google Glasses
Google Glasses are like a computer built into the frame of a pair of glasses. With its 1.3-centimeter display, the glasses allow you to surf the Internet and make calls without even lifting a finger. The glasses also have a camera and GPS mapping system. Users can take and share photos, check maps and surf the Internet just by looking up, down, left and right.
Indoor Clouds
It's not virtual.That's a real world. Dutch artist Smilde managed to create a small but perfect white cloud in the middle of a room using a fog machine. But it required careful planning—the temperature, humidity（湿度）and lighting all had to be just right. Once everything was ready, the cloud formed in the air with the machine. But it only lasted for a short while.
Wingsuits
The suit fulfills your dreams of flying like a bird.Well, not exactly flying, but gliding（滑翔）through the air. It increases the surface area of the human body, which makes it easier for people to float in the air. Fliers wearing wingsuits can glide one kilometer in about 30 seconds.
1. Who will probably be the users of “Talking Gloves”?| A．Disabled people | B．Normal people. |
| C．Trained people. | D．Working people. |
| A．By moving the mouse. | B．By tapping the keyboard. |
| C．By moving the eyeballs. | D．By pressing the button. |
| A．Talking Gloves. | B．Wingsuits. |
| C．Google Glasses. | D．Indoor Clouds. |
3 . Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning experiences increase the length of time we will remember it.
In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.
The multiplication tables(乘法口诀表) are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.
The law of overlearning explains why cramming(突击学习) for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one’s future development.
1. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 1?| A．Stories for children are easy to remember. |
| B．Children have a better memory than grown-ups. |
| C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words. |
| D．People remember well what they learned in childhood. |
| A．presenting research findings | B．setting down general rules |
| C．using examples | D．making a comparison |
| A．a result of overlearning | B．a special case of cramming |
| C．a skill to deal with math problems | D．a basic step towards advanced studies |
| A．It leads to failure in college exams. | B．It’s helpful only in a limited way. |
| C．It’s possible to result in poor memory. | D．It increases students’ learning interest. |
4 . A handsome man can earn a fifth more than a plainer colleague (同事) but a beautiful woman is not paid a penny more than her average-looking colleague, new research has shown.
The study by senior economists (经济学家) found that being good-looking meant male workers could earn 22 percent more than average-looking colleagues. Researchers said good looks did not give women a similar advantage.
Andrew Leigh, the former economics professor at the Australian National University who co-authored the report, said: “Beauty can be a double-edged sword for women.”
“Some people still believe good looks and intelligence (智慧) are incompatible (矛盾的) in women so a good-looking woman can’t be that productive, but it doesn’t affect men’s pay.”
He said that although he believed good-looking women may also earn more, the research did not support his theory.
The research found that handsome men in all jobs, from manual labour to highly-paid professional careers, can earn 22 percent more than their colleagues doing the same work.
Men with below-average looks face a battle in the office, with ugliness reducing a man’s earnings by 26 percent compared to an average-looking worker.
Former male model Ian Mitchell, 28, who has a first class degree in history from Edinburgh University and now works for a cosmetics (化妆品) company, told the Sunday Times: “It gives you confidence, and I suspect people tend to warm to you more quickly.”
The study, named Unpacking the Beauty Premium, was the largest exercise of its kind and repeated a survey from 1984 to see if the beauty premium had changed.
Leigh said the research showed people in the workplace were “lookist (以貌取人的) ” and he hoped the findings would encourage employers to remove their prejudice(偏见).
1. What has the research found?| A．Handsome men have an advantage in their jobs. |
| B．Appearance plays an important role at work. |
| C．Male workers pay more attention to their appearance. |
| D．The more beautiful a female is, the lower their intelligence is. |
| A．beauty is a double-edged sword for workers |
| B．good-looking females are likely to earn more |
| C．employers have prejudice in employing workers |
| D．more attention is paid to appearance now than before |
| A．earn 26% less than handsome men |
| B．earn 26% less than average-looking men |
| C．earn as much as average-looking men |
| D．earn 22% less than average-looking men |
| A．Good-looking men are more likely to earn more. |
| B．Men and women should be treated equally in interviews. |
| C．People should pay more attention to their appearance. |
| D．Beautiful female interviewees aren’t popular in interviews. |
In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea,
Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might
The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots,
Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which
Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius,
Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat
One afternoon, my son Adam asked me, “Are all people the same even if they are different in color?”
I thought for a minute, and then I said, “I’ll explain,
At grocery store, we
“People are like apples. They come in all
Then, I took each of the apples and peeled（削皮）them,
“Okay, Adam, tell me which is which.”
He said, “I
He took
He totally
| A．although | B．so | C．because | D．if |
| A．stop | B．start | C．turn | D．stay |
| A．expressive | B．encouraging | C．informative | D．interesting |
| A．bought | B．counted | C．saw | D．collected |
| A．check | B．mention | C．answer | D．improve |
| A．size | B．type | C．shape | D．class |
| A．worried | B．satisfied | C．proud | D．curious |
| A．ordinary | B．normal | C．different | D．regular |
| A．outside | B．whole | C．table | D．inside |
| A．still | B．even | C．only | D．ever |
| A．examining | B．measuring | C．drawing | D．packing |
| A．keeping | B．placing | C．pulling | D．giving |
| A．on | B．toward | C．for | D．in |
| A．mustn’t | B．can’t | C．shouldn’t | D．needn’t |
| A．each one | B．each other | C．the other | D．one another |
| A．admit | B．consider | C．decide | D．believe |
| A．big bites | B．deep breaths | C．a firm hold | D．close look |
| A．just | B．always | C．merely | D．seldom |
| A．put away | B．get down | C．hand out | D．take off |
| A．made | B．took | C．got | D．did |
University tuition fees (学费) are currently capped at £3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.
In the researeh, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average £ 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just £ 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than £ 10.000. Average debts for graduates are £ 12，363.
Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."
Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweathcr. aged 15. from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money.
1. Which of the following can be found from the five-year researeh project?
| A．Students understand personal finances differently. |
| B．University tuition fees in England have been rising. |
| C．Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings. |
| D．The students' payback ability has become a major issue. |
| A．to raise the student loans | B．to improve the school facilities |
| C．to increase the upper limit of the tuition | D．to lift the school building roofs |
| A．are too young 10 be exposed 10 financial issues |
| B．should learn 10 manage their finances wellC- should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans |
| C．benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance |
| A．Many British teenagers do not know money matters well |
| B．Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts. |
| C．Financial planning is a required course at college. |
| D．Young people should become responsible adults. |
8 . In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bikes to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bikes to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.
For several years, this group had been trying to get the city government to help bike riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes(车道) for bikes on some of the main streets, because when bike riders must use the same lanes as cars there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.
But no bike lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea—they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets don't like the idea—they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.
The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park—the largest place open ground in New York—is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bikes only.
1. In New York, a group of bike riders ．| A．are keeping practicing for health |
| B．have no cars of their own |
| C．are complaining there are not enough buses |
| D．are trying to settle the problem of air pollution |
| A．bikes should be used instead of cars |
| B．bike lanes should be drawn |
| C．fewer buses or cars should be used |
| D．the number of special lanes should be decreased |
| A．they will make cars and buses run slowly |
| B．they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks |
| C．they will make the city more beautiful |
| D．they will prevent accidents |
