1 . Goldfish have pretty boring lives, so maybe it’s a good thing they can only concentrate for nine seconds! But according to new research, humans are becoming like goldfish. Our attention span (时长) is getting shorter...and it’s all because of technology.
“We move quickly from one site to another on the web, ”says Doctor Ted Selker, a computer scientist from Massachusetts, “and we are losing the ability to concentrate.” With millions of websites to choose from, the attention span of the average internet user is just seconds. There are other digital distractions (分心) too: email, instant messaging and quickie movies on websites. Some people are worried about the effect on young people. “You need time to understand and think about what you read,” says Julia Wood, from London. “Young people search the net all the time and their brains become full of useless information but there is no time to make sense of it. I am trying to persuade my pupils to read more books, so that they concentrate on one subject for longer.”
Other teachers are trying more unusual methods to improve students’ concentration. Anne Savan, from Wales, was so worried about her students that she started playing Mozart during her science lessons. She says that it had an amazing effect: “The music made them calmer, and their concentration was much better.”
But not everyone believes that there is a problem. Ray Cole, an educational psychologist says: “On the web, young people learn to make quick decisions about what is and isn’t worth reading.
They might look at five unhelpful websites very quickly, before stopping and reading a sixth useful website more carefully. In a world with so much information available, this is an important skill.”
1. Why does the writer mention “goldfish”?| A．To analyze data. | B．To introduce a topic. |
| C．To settle problems. | D．To suggest a way out. |
| A．Skipping around the internet. | B．Time to digest information. |
| C．Traditional methods of reading. | D．Making decisions. |
| A．Receiving emails. | B．Texting messages. |
| C．Reading more books. | D．Watching quickie movies. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Unfavorable. |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Supportive. |
During lunchtime, Emma suggested going to the zoo to feed the animals and her mom agreed.
“We’ll stop by the bakery and pick some bread up. Now hurry and eat and then we’ll go. It’s going to be a lovely day. Grandma is coming with us. She’ll be here any minute,’ mom said.
Emma ate her lunch and then ran into her room to get her shoes. The problem was that she could only find one of them. She looked under her bed, but all she could see were dirty towels and pants. She moved some of her toys out of the way, but still couldn’t find her shoe. After she’d checked everywhere in her room, she ran into the kitchen. “Mom, I can’t find my shoe. Will you wait while I look for it?”she asked.
Her mom thought about how many times she’d told Emma to clean her room up. She whispered something to Emma’s grandma and then said to Emma, “You will have to stay home. Your dad and I will take Ryan to the zoo. Grandma will stay here with you.”
“No! Please wait for me. I want to go to the zoo,”Emma cried. “I’m sorry, Emma. I’ve told you a dozen times to clean your room and you ignored me. You can’t find your shoe now. It’s your own fault for not doing as I asked. You will stay home.”
Emma ran into her bedroom, crying. Her mom came to the door and said, “Emma, clean that room of yours before I get home. I’ve told grandma not to give you any sweets until you finish the work.” She went out to the car with Ryan and Emma’s dad and then they drove away.
注意：(1)所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
(2)应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
(3)续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
(4)续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
Emma sat on her bed and cried for a long time.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
Emma and her grandma were sitting at the table, eating when her mom, dad, and Ryan came home._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
